ST. PATRICK'S DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume VI, Issue 1590, 17 March 1875, Page 2

ST. PATRICK'S DAY.

St Pa'rio«'s Day ! -=t P-t-icVsßayj Oh, thou tormenting I, ish iay ; I'vo Kf)t th c buzzing in ruy brain, Ao<i ciuEot tarn thee oal ughin. Apteb the starry torn of midnight the m e l-.es of the Hobson Bcind turned out and paraded the city, playins; in their best atv] " St 'Patrick's Day in the mornino" +1! " Irish Emigrant;," and stver.il other'live]! Hibernian airs, followed by a large number of persons who appeared to enjoy tha seen* wuh a true relish. St. Patrick's day is b no means a general, but only a partial holiday. The banks are closed but the show are mostly left; open for trading purposes Thare arc few young persons, however, even in Auckland, who would object to keeping St. Patrick's or any other Saint's day in fro lie and idleness. A variety of contradictory and improbable stories are told about the tutelar Saint of Ireland. Some say he was 1 Scotchman, others an Irishman, and others a Frenchman. Nobody therefore seems truly to know to what nationality St. Patrick be.' longed, whether theland of the thistle, of the the'shamrock, or the lily ; and it matters but little, so long as his familiar name is the ccV t«n sign of a holiday, and his moral example of use to those who venerate his memory The traveller in Ireland still hears— Stories old and quaint About the patron Saint.

and is led to imagine that St. Patrick visited Ire'and for fne benefit; of witty guides andfo piomote rrririh in wet weather. It ia not improbable but; that, a 1 housand years hence Jonathan Swifr, may exercise a similar influence in the same dear isle of the O'Conntl'fl snd O'Cailsghan's. The legends and miracles of St. Patrick ara numeious and what he did and what he did not would fill a large volume. If the Rev. Saint visited Ireland for the sake of making the heart glad in such a humid clim ite as thut of the green isle ; if he did diive all ths snakes out of the land, if he did lead the people, through the priesthood, to the shrine of liberty, then indeed may he claim the merit of a public benefactor. The true-born Irishman, however, who venerates the saintly memory, mi Idly rebukes that levity of mind which would lead to the conclusion that St. Patrick worked half the absurd miracles attributed lo him in the poetic legends and superstitions of Ireland, and reclothes the holy man with his ancient apostolic dignity. We believe that Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, Scot, land, is generally accepted as the birth-place of St. Patrick, where he was born in 373, and that in bis 120 th year he died at Saul Abbey, couDty of Down ; but respecting the place of his burial, there have been as many disputes among his followers, as there were' among .the citizens of Athens as to the resting-place of Homer. St. Patrick, it is written, having formed a design of converting the people of Ireland (o the Christian faith, travelled on the Continent, the better! to qualify himself for the undertaking. He w?s at length sent by Pope Celestine as» missionary to Ireland, and landed at Waterford in 441, where he began his arduous labours. He founded the See of Armagh, and several schools ; he was also an author, and wrote several books, which, in the year 1656, were collected and published by Sir Jame3 Ware. The Christian morality which S". Patrick is said to have enforced in his example and teachings, are truisms. To love, to forgive, to endure, and to contend for the right are precepts of inestimable valu* in themselves, ami have a sublime significance when embodied in the deeds and sufferings of noble men, and St. Patrick, whose name is still held reverently and murriJy in Auckland to-day, for ought -m know,"might have been one of them. Service was held in the Cathedral this morning, and at the 7.30 mass the Hibernian Society attended in a body. The customary patberin^ of all the schools connected with the Church was postponed, in consequence of the prevaler.ee of measles, nut a .number of children connected with various school* met and amused themselves. At ten o'clock the Hibernian Society, wearing tbeir sashes and preceded by their band, marched in pfo*1. cession from St Patrick's Hall, Wyndhantj street, to the station, where they embarked for the sports at Ellerslie.