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Maps, plates, charts, etc.. may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too largo to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: L'exemplaire fiimA fut reproduit grice h la gAnArositA de: S.l «:i:t 'VA / > <- ■ i - V, ■ —• ■ . ■ » t ^ I A SEBMON i:qiv SAINT PATRICK'S DAY. r I ExA«AnelectumdepIebemea; Veritas mea et ml«ricordia cum ip«,, «t m nonun, m^ ex,lubi«ur cprnu eju,.-P,„/„ jg ; ver„. 20 and 25. Ih.re.,d»ed„ycbo«,««,.,f«,„ amongst my people; my truth ani ttjjui^c, .hall.be with him, MJn my name shall hj, ppwer be exdted. If it be justly cftn«a<5rcd a Jifflcult task, adequately to portray, in terms sufficiently significant, a simple sen- sation of the mind, which, flitting by, is received by the will, nurtured by the understanding, and tenderly fon- died m the heart; how superlatively more difficult must be the attempt to describe in wowls, the feelings of thkt human soul, whose every power- feels surcharged with a sacred anxiety to catch at every ray, and cherish every hope which characterized hfer happier and more youthful days; feelings, which a subject like the present is not likely to assuage, which the Anniversary of this solem- nity would enhance in all their bearings, and array in all, their native lustre. Such then, my brethfern, are the. sensations which throb in every vein, and search to ac-. €oropany ev^ry thought of mine, while I would picture to the eyes of your understanding, the eminent sanctity of one of the most illustrious, the most distinguished, aiid one of the most miraculous of the Saints of God. I am already apprehensive of my own inability, and begin to feci the weight of the subject I am about to undertake. Be not therefore surprised if I pause for a moment, it is merely to indulge what none could suppress; because^ when I see around me in this sacred temple, assembled on such a solemn occasion, far, yes, very far remote from the land that gave them birth, a portion of that people, whose magnanimity has reached to the remotest corners of the civiUzed world; whose unbounded hospitality is more than sufficient to characterize the sanctity of their isle; whose unbending constancy to maintain inviolablcj ^d shew, in all its pristine greatness, the purity of that faith which they received from their forefathers, merits a title sufficiently illustrious to deck the proudest annalsj that the vista of tJrni* ran treasure in the sacred records of futurity. I say, when I see united, a people distin- guised for so many virtues, for the purpose of solemniz- ing with their wonted zeal, and marked aftection, the an^* niversary of that glorious Apostle, to whom, under God, they owe their delivery from the depth of impiety, and the darkness of infidelity. I must admire such zeal, while I applaud the devotion by which it is inspired, I feel apprehensive only on my own part, lest from, any defect of mine, you should be wanting in a knowledge of that eminent sanctity, with which it has been the will of God to endow the Apostle of our island: and as it sometimes happens that the purest gold, and the richest diamonds are left neglected and alone, either by the husbandman who knows not how to appreciate their just value, from i a want of that information, which could benefit the soci« ety of which he i& a member, or hy the inhabitants of those countries, whose exuberance discloses, from the bowels of a richer earth as its natural effusions, the most exquisite productions, as well of the vegetable as the mi- neral species, so that such abundance tliere, rather than a desir« to extend them for the public utility, renders useless and unprofitable, what nature in her negligence ndorned) and what man in his folly despised. It is even so with many Christians of th^ present day, my brethern; who, living in the effulgence of Gospel truth, when they contemplate the heroic virtues and exalted sanctity of tht Saints of God, whose glowing lustre plays in the imagina- tion, delights the will, but leaves the understanding un- bending and unbent; are so far from communicating to others for the embellishment of their understanding or spiritual nutrition of their soul, the iUystrious examples of the Saints of God; that rarely they deriye any benefit themselves. The ca,use of this negligence may be proper-, ly reduced to three principal heads. First; the generality of Christians allow their minds to become engrossed and distracted by cares of less importance. The second cause is nearly allied to the first; because the mind thus em- ployed, and consequently indisposed, becomes inatten-^. tive, and seems only for a moment to indulge a reflection, which leaves no lasting impression. The third is owing to a remissness in earnestly demanding of Almighty God, the graces necessary to enable the soul sufficiently to con- sider and esteem the virtuous actions of his own elect. I therefore feel particularly anxious, that you bestow all your attention on a subject, which, as the present seem* ^mply to demand it, lest through my incapability, or 6 your own inattention^ you may Icarn to undervalue these great bles$ings of heaven, which are dealt amongst men. I feel obliged (nor can it seem foreign to my purpose,) tQ preface in as brief a manner as possible, the infant $tate of our parent isle, before the light of Christianity /irst beamed on her borders. I do so, in order to make appear the almost insurmountable difficulties, which, our i^iaint underwent in order to reclaim that people to the liljht of Christianity; and at the same time that you, my brethren, by knowing the magnitude and danger of his labours, can with more ease, learn how to appreciate them. If I briefly sketch over some of the memorable notions connected with his parek?tage and birth, together with the time of his landing on the Irish coast ,^ it is that you may conceive how, in the person of Saint Patrick, the wisdom of the Lord is made manifest in his bounty to man, and the virtues of the righteous are not forgot- ten. Permit mft therftfore, my hrftthern, while I trespass on your patience, but as short a time as to me shall seem, possible, most earnestly to solicit your attention. It is the^ opinion of some of the most eminent writerg of the present day, who laboured more to enlighten tlian divide, whose principles were too honorable to allow par-r tiality to usurp the dominion of truth, or bigotry to sup- plant the powers of reason, and in whose honest candor we can impiicitely confide, that of all nations on the face of the globe, there was none which seemed to treasure up with, such scrupulous attention, in the annual regis- ters, the leading or particular actions of each elapsing year, and in the pandects of dieir nation, the legitimate succession and hereditary right of each succeeding rulep, vho either governed himself or bore a part in the>go« . ; YGrnmetit of the land; as have done the Irish, purely ati& Icjgitiniately, for tlie spncje of many succeeding ages, until the impious career ot* maddening ambition seemed to stalk through the land, as the twin-born sister of an un- bridled, unrestrained licentiousness; which, waxing at length to a certain age, and a certain independence, be- came the fruitful parent of the most vicious and servile usurpation; and in the plejtditude of such adoptive pow- er, like an eagle with expanded talons, when he watches to pounce on his pray; not with less insolent power, those harpies went to destroy, by every possible means, hun- «)reds of precious volumes, as well sacred as profane, and tlius perished, in one moment, what the wreck of time, nor the envy of man, nor the mouldering vista of whol^ ages, could not have destroyed; and it is to this alone we can justly attribute the strange inconsistencies, the gross absurdities, the faithless plagiaries, which characterize the greater part of the historians, who suught as basely as disingenuously to attaint th« native lustre and pristine greatness of our Saintly Isle: to this, as its pai'ent source^ may be attributed that want the world now deplores, of those wholesome laws, and wise maxims, whose scatter- ed fragments, after Escaping the common wreck, are re- vered even to this day in every country and clime, as well by the learned Statesman as the sublimer Poet; and hence arises the difficulty of preserving for posterity the mere gleamlngs of truth, amongst the cavils of party, the ambition of men, and the licentiousness of the age. It is, however, almost universally allowed by the most en- lightened historians, as well ancient as modern, that Ire- land was peopled at a very early age. The celebrated .vxai««« uy uie self conviction, that such wanton ,. I 21 ■ I '' tj'ranny should be one day atoned for; surely such cru- elty, such villuny, such unexumplcd barbarity, such de- solatin«r and unheard of spoilution; in a word, such a con- tinual and almost uninterrupted chain of devastating u- surpation as Ireland then suflered, cannot be widtout a cause, nor such cruelties withous a crime. Listen then, my brethren, in order that you may learn tlie magnitude of her crjme in the hcinousness of her offence. The first charge is that of high treason, because that faith which she received from hqr forefathers, and which the Apos- tle of Christ brought into her land, she resolved to main- tain with the hist drop of her blood, and expire in pro- nouncing die sacred tenets which support its basis. And now contemplate tlje greatness of her vrime, since this is her only treason. What threats, what pains, what cru- elties and carnag;e, has she not undergone, in order that ghe might be uncatholiqized: but th^ sons of Ireland dis- regarded the threats of man, while she kept inviolable the laws of God, and the maxims of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and it is thus that the love of religion was soon, termed high treason, by her faithless sister, and so faith- lessly was she persecuted as such. If she exhorted her children to keep unbroken the faith of Christ and the religion of their fadiers, it is then, oh! yes, it is then she was denounced as a traitor, and her children were palled rebels to the State; in those days, were a catholic to en- deavour to protect his property, he might expect to be prosecuted as a murderer or a midnight robber; because to be a Catholic, was to be persecuted,^ despoiled, de- prived of all property and confidence, and to be a mere Catholic was to suffer death, by the meanest vagrant whose hardened feelings encouraged him to do so. Ask not then, my brethren, the cause why Ireland suffered so much: behold in this the extent of all hpr fnnlfc Qn#1 fhe enormity of her most heinous crimes; and to deny one word of this, I defy the most bigoted heart, and tlic most scrupulous investigator. No, my brethren, these facts are too well recorded, to sufier a denial, they are too strong for bigotry to oppose, or falsehood to colour; it was her faith alone that rendered Ireland politically degraded; and it is that same faith wliich seems to destine their mis- fortunes at home, a means of enlightening otiier nations abroad} it was lately remarked, as well by an eminent divine as a learned civilian, who cpmmunicated it to m^ that it seemed to be the will of the Lord to disperse a portion of that people, who suffered so much for the faith of Christ, throughout the different parts of the habitable world, where the Catholic faith, and the maxims of Chris*, tianity, are less known, in order that they may call to dio faith of Christ, those who are a3 yet separated from the Church. Tliis remark I take as judicious, and worthy the attention of the faithful, because who will question the will of the Lord, and who will be his counsellor. I am certain there c^u be no surer sign of the love of God towards a people, tl)^n the persecutions and misfortunes they suffer from the malice of man.. It is thus y^e must attribute to the Irish missioparies in India, the vast num- ber of persons that every day are leaving the darkness of' impiety and embracing the Catholic faith. What nation has not heard of their attachment to their religion? Has not Africa shared in the pious zeal of Irishmen, until the savages themselves began to own, through their, agency, the sovereign povk^er, and everlasting dominion, of the> only true and living God? And after this manner, all Europe seemed to share in the labours of the sons of that saintly isle, either conquering in their armies in the field,, or braving the more inclcm^n^ storms of the main, or teaching the rude and unl; a i -^d Indian to adore his God ; in the lonely haupts of .«;ouie sequestered forest. Are th<^v Ipss activf in tlio Monr iixJ^nw^Alt 1 «r»*.4-,,..^ 4-^ ^^.. «^4. I I '^- 21 And let tlie rich, llie independent, the floiirisliing, and happy, State of Catholic Maryland, htiir rhi> first testi- mony to my assertion; let New- York, in the splendour of her greatness, let Baltimore and Charleston thank the wisdom of their prelates and the zeal of their Catholic pastors for the enjoyment of that social hal-mony, that religious and happy concord, which peculiarly character- izes each of these happy States; but these are Catholic pastors for the most part^ and these are Irishmen: is their ardour Ibr die establishment of their ancient faith, less conspicuous amongst the snowy mountains of Canada? TliL' circumstances attending their pitiful situation, seems amply to declare the contrary; you all know, and most of you have been eye witnesses, my bretliern, to what the Irish generally suffer in this country, before they can establish themselves in these colonies; it is, however, l)y Irishmen that the most part of the townships are peopled; it is by Irishmen that the canals are made and most part of the public works are performed: but contending with all these difficulties, have they at any time neglected, or contemned that religion, for which their forefathers suffered so much; far from it, for their principal and almost their most anxious care, is to establish a house of worship to their Creator: if, however, this be not practi- cable in their societies and assemblies, in the lonely re- cesses of some neighbouring forest, you could find them recount to their children, and practice in their conduct, xlic maxims and tenets of the religion which they profess. Who can cease to commend their spirit of religion, of applaud their intrepidity and stedfastness, when he con- siders their amazing and unexampled perseverence, in the midst of dangers which threatened immediate des- truction, or a more protracted starvation; but why do I recall these painful reflexions, which I already feel re- doubles tlie ardour of their sensutiuns, and wldie they 24 i u- itit from my tongue, make an impression on my hearty of wliich it would be unsusceptible were it not Irish, and were the happiness of that nation, and the prosperity of her sons, in whatever clime they may roam or land they possess, truly not to be my earliest joy, my fondest hope, and the dearest link that binds unstained, the most un- biased, the most endearing, and the most sacred affec- tions of my soul; yes, my brethern, a minister of the Gospel of Christ, I would spurn with contempt whoever would bush at the expositions of its maxims, and that open candour that pronounces to the world, that to be Catholic is to be loyal to the Sovereign, feithful to the State, and charitable to all men; and that to be Irish because of her catholicity, is not to be degraded. I then recal these re- flections, my brethern, that after having endured so much in your own native land for the love of the God you adore and the religion you profess, you may learn to appreci- ate the happiness you can now enjoy in the unrestricted exercise of the religion you revere, and the love of the triunity and unitrinity which you profess to adorea I do so that you may learn to pay that obedience and respect to the civil authorities of the State, which are authorized by law and sanctioned by the Gospel of Christ, and on which depend the harmony of peace, and the well-being of the community. I mention it, that you may justly es- teem the life and actions of the illustrious Apostle of Jesus Christ, for the celebration of whose solemnity we are this day assembled, by handing down to the latest posterity, the signal marks which pronounced him the Apostle of Ireland, and the chosen emissary of the Lord ; that thus by imitating his actions in this life, and there- by procuring the happiness of your neighbours of every denomination, you may arrive at length at the haven of immortal bliss, which I wish may be the portion of every member in this society. Amen. Vl