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Show -T- TALES OF TRAVELERS. Catholic educators, heads of colleges-and universities uni-versities fraternized for a week in New York and adjourned the other day. Xot enough of the proceedings 'have reached the public to provoke comment or speculation, but it is presumed that ( Catholic . education, ' secular and religious, was .thoroughly and comprehensively threshed out and the advocates of "higher education" spun-plausi-j ble arguments to introduce it in the school. Later on we shall know all about it. About the time our Catholic pedagogues were discussing plans for the future, two priests of national na-tional reputation were aboard two ships bound for Europe, and by this time are enjoying their vacation vaca-tion on land. Father Phelan of St. Louis, editor of the Western Watchman is one of those priests; Father Yorke, of San Francisco, editor of the Leader, the other. Although these two are much alike in mental strength, forceful oratory and' incisive diction, it is not assumed that mental telepathy communicated communi-cated the thought of one to the mind of the other when both, sat down to write their observations i aboard ship. It is only a mere coincidence that both were moved to the same reflections at the same time. It may turn out that these reflections could be usefully applied to the propositions urged by the Catholic Educational association. We shall see. Here is a couple' of paragraphs taken from Father Phelan's letter to the Western Watchman: "This tendency to travel is one of the hopeful .signs of our times. Travel is a great civillzer. - It Is strange to see how the hundreds of people who . see each other for the first time on a ship's deck regard each other. For the first few days they scarcely salute! Then they gradually thaw out, and by the end of the journey are the fastest friends.' -The savage that is in us all fears his fellow. The time when every man wa's the enemy of every other man is not wholly passed; a lingering drop of savagery tarries in the veins of the most enlightened of us. Perhaps the two most intimate inti-mate travelers on this ship today are a priest and a Campbelite preacher, who never spoke to a priest before. be-fore. The six hundred Who live and, breathe and eat and sleep in this little world of floating expectations will remember each other as long as life lasts, and will recall with pleasure the few all too brief days they spent together. "Travel is a great evangel izer. There are a half dozen Protestant ministers on this ship; but the priests are the only clergymen recognized by all. A special reverence is paid them. What they do and say is noticed; and where they propose going and what sights they intend seeing become doubly, interesting because of them. It seems that every minister on board ship is ready with an apology for his office and presence One reason for this is: the priest is the most perfect cosmopolite in the world. The farther he is away from home the nearer home is he. He lands in Paris or Cologne, or Berlin, or Vienna, or Rome, and he is to the manor born. Every altar in Europe is his. He raises his hand to bless, and every head -bows. He is a German in Germany; a Roman in Rome; and a Catholic priest everywhere." That confirms the interest which the inquiring non-Catholic now takes in a religious belief which is positive and consistent, and the desire to get all the knowledge he can from persons capable of imparting it. Father Yorke is. more luminous in observation. Here is an extract from his letter to the Leader: "On board ship you are thrown Tn with "all sorts and conditions of men. That ' is, if you don't wrap yourselfup in your dignity or enthrone yourself in the refined seclusion . of the ladies' cabin. The smoking room is the great arena. Jew and Gentile barbarians, Cretes and the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Mesopot-amia, meet there on equal terms. Many of the men were English, some Scotch, among whom was Dalrym-ple, Dalrym-ple, the street car expert who was brought to Chicago to report on the municipalization of the street railways. rail-ways. Some were from New Zealand, but the majority were Americans. They were for the most part people going on pleasure trips or returning therefrom. The absence of traveling commercial men was noticeable, but I suppose they frequent the fast steamers that sail from New York. "One of the benefits of a trip like this is that it gets a man out of a rut. The priest especially is so cut off by his calling, his associations, his habits, that he lives in a world of his own, and knows not how the great world of men is moving on about him. Sometimes Some-times I imagine our parish houses are like diving-bells. The rails of the sanctuary are an ever-rising, ever-thickening ever-thickening Chinese wall. "This was brought home very forcibly during tho lust few days. Every subject under the sun is discussed dis-cussed in the smoking room, but, as all roads lead to Rome, somehow or other every subject seems to lead up to religion. Man is naturally a religious animat, and his thoughts, no matter how wide they may circle, cir-cle, eome.back again and again to this center. And, sure as fate, whenever the subject of religion is brought up, the Catholic Church comes in by hook or "oy crook. In the crowd of fifteen or twenty men who foregathered in a certain corner there was not, to my knowledge, a single Catholic. They were professional men, business men, college men, keen, earnest, gentlemanly, gentle-manly, of all denominations and of none, but, no matter mat-ter whether they began with Mrs. Eddy or the Book of Genesis, the thread ran through to the Church of Rome. I - "Here is what set me thinking about our exclusive-hoss. exclusive-hoss. These men knew the Church as a great institution. institu-tion. They were from the cities where'cathedrals, hos-i hos-i pitals. colleges, stared them every day in tho face. They respected the Church, as every modern man will, for her" material success. The bishops and priests are good business men. They pay their debts, and there Is no haggling and bargaining with vestries and trustees. When you are dealing with the Catholic Church you know who you are dealing with, and a contract is a contract. But here is the rub. Of the interior of tho Church, of her purple, her life, her doctrines, they know no more than if there were not a single Catholic from Maine to California. "I cannot bring myself to believe that this ship's company is exceptional. They are not from the backwoods. back-woods. They come from such centers of culture and business as Boston, Chicago, Memphis. On any other subject I would take them to be representative Americans, Ameri-cans, and therefore I am compelled to believe that they also represent the non-Catholic American mind in its 'relations to the Church. "Some question came up about a point of belief. I 1 don't remember now what it was, but I gave the Ordinary, explanation. It was not exactly a catechism question, but one that involved a little history and philosophy. The questioner seemed to be satisfied, but he added: "Your ordinary lay Catholic would not give that explanation; he would not know it." "Precisely," I said; "it is none of your business to expect it from him. If you want an opinion on a legal difficulty, you don't stop the man on the street; you consult a lawyer. Now, just as it is the lawyer's bus'ness to answer legal questions, so it" is. my business to know and answer religious questions. That is part of my training. Six- , teen centuries ago a very distinguished man said that, while it was "necessary, for the baker and the cobbler to have served an apprenticeship to their trades before be-fore any one would give them work to do, every man thinks himself competent to decide all matters of religion, re-ligion, and Ihe more so the less he knows about religion." re-ligion." v - "But, while that answer is satisfactory enough as a retort, one can't help inquiring, Why can't the Catholic laltyknow more and do more than they are doing?. I was never so 'astonished, never so edified, by the anxiety to know about the Church, and the patience pati-ence to listen to often. long 'explanations. I have been sitting night after night, in a corner, with my back to the wall, while they fired question after question, until un-til the steward in despair fired us, questions and all, at midnight. There was absolutely no disrespect, none of the old style contentious argument, but a consuming desire to know and a readini?sa to accept the reasonableness reason-ableness of our position, even though they might not receive the grounds on which we based our argumentation." argumen-tation." . Of late, readers of Montana daily newspapers are astonished at the mild editorial reproof taking tho place of -the vitriolic condemnation which, since the days the late Marcus Daly locked, horns with Senator Clark, has been the strong asset of jornalism in that state. It is a hopeful and sano sign of rapprochement of factions of the same political party, gratifying to all but the political grafter and. his ally, the walking delegate. As the newspapers of Montana have been the subsidized ' upholders of strife in the past, the suddenness of. this change might cause suspicion of sincerity and doubt of longevity. Opposed to such suggestion is the unanimity of 3pirit to promote the business interests of the "people -reflected by the leading papers pa-pers of Butte and Helena. This is visible in the encouragement given to the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. .Paul to enter the state and compete with the Great Northern and Northern Pacific, and to allow Jim Hill do his own fighting. ''Toot your horn even if you don't sell a clam" applies to Montana Mon-tana as well as Utah. Father Yorke thinks there should be some way-of way-of reaching people of this class. He believes the clergy can never do the work, for the' reason that they are too specialized and must remain specialized special-ized for the 'domestic needs of the Church. It is the work for the laity and they can be easily fitted for it, he says. How? If in the first place they knew more than the mere catechism, and if, in the second place, they had zeal and interest. , This brings us -back to the Catholic Educational Educa-tional association and the plans they may have considered for "higher education." If the education educa-tion imparted is insufficient to confront' the inquiry in-quiry of such person9 described aboard ship, vit fails to accomplish the end for which religion is instituted the salvation of souls through knowledge knowl-edge 'of the true faith.' . 1 |