ST. PATRICK. TO THE EDITHUR O' THE POSHT.

Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 69, 24 March 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

ST. PATRICK. TO THE EDITHUR O' THE POSHT.

Sib — Of all tho niton that iver I pa«lit in this world (and bechuno ourselves I've had many a quaro one in mo timo), laslit nite bangs Bannagher, an* iif coorweyeknowthe gintlemen that Bannagher banged. Tare an onus, but tho holo house has been in a roglar uproar aftlicr rendin yer account o' the rivirend Misther Dhriver'n discourse o' Sunday lnsht, fur Biddy an' myself have laffed that much over the .sannon that I'm afenrd we've done ourbelves say-ree-us injury. I've hud to go to the ixpinse o' getting two por-us plashtcra fur her buck an* sides ; an' the lump that's riz in me own bhtomaek wid the liiffin' I've had to ray-juico bo tukin' rcglar doges o' Kinihan's rale ould Innishowen, at short inthorvals. Faix, I'm nfoard that Biddy's not goin' to got over it so aisy ; an' if auything happens to her, ba tho powers o' mud, I'll hould aithor yersolf or the rjvirind gintleman rishponsible. 'Ponmeconshince, ' but tho rivirind gintlemnn's a grate thay-o-logiim intirely. Oeh, but its he's the bhoy that has got Irish hishtory aff be hart, an' no mishtake. Lishten to this: — "The Irish race delite-id in the obskurity o' their origin an' luved to trace back their an- I sisthry until it bekamo losht in tho dinse misht o' pree-hishtoric times." Luk at that now, for book larnin*. Bo gol, its a mighty fine scoolmashther he'd make intirely, an' I'd shtrongly 'advise the rivirind gintleman to open an akadamy fur shmall bhoys at onco. But how does his rivirince rayoonßilo sich argimint as this. In -one placo ho says that "it was quite sartin that tho faith had gained a firm f uttin' in tho land prior to the advint o' Patrick," and in another place that "his hart naturally turned to the bonited dwellers in Ireland." Begorra, I'm inclined to think that if, acoordin' to the rivirind gintleman's own showiu', " the faith had gained a firm futtin' in the land," the people coodn't have been so "bonited" afther all. Ay coorae, I'm only a poor ould ignorant Irishman, an' don't pritind to know much about sich deep lamed matthers. As to the matthor o' Sfc. Patrick's conßecrashun, I'd advise mo rivirind frind to lave that alone, an' not bo bothorin' his hed wid sich pirplixin questions. Uaix, it was a grate shamo for tho Pope, so it was, that was in tho habit o' writin' sich "vol-yoonis o' lotthers" not to have "pinned a lino fur tho misshunary's oncouragemint." Isn't it a wondher tho rivirind praicher didn't say a word about St. Patrick's wif o ? Tare an ouns, but surely that was a grato oversito on his part. Och, bhoys, but if St. Patrick an' Missis St. Patrick lived in our times, woodn't there bo a fine set out intiroly. Suro an' they'd get a grand tay meetin' an' a prisintayshun o' a bit o' plate to Missis St. Patrick, afore settin' out to convart the poor haythins. Ton my conshince, I'm right plazed to find that his rivirince dhraws the same conclooshun as myself in regard to the hymn that St. Patrick wrote whin goin' out to meet tho fire-worshippers. . Its as piano as the nose on my face, that he was not what somo igiiornnt peeplo took him to be. Siiro, W rivirince knows as well as I do meself that that same hymn was the " TVearin' o' the Green '" itself, an' no less. But don't ye think it was a grate mistake fur the church to cannon -ize him as a saint, an' give yez all a handle to his name, just on the words o' tho lazy ould monks? An' isn't it wondherful intirely, as his rivirince lays aich a shtrong claim to St. Patrick, an' is sich an admirer o' the saint an' his wurk, that, as he says, his " religious system was largely monastic," that he doesn't folio' the saint's examplo nowadays, an' go in fur monasteries, an' sich Jake? Be gol, I'm o' tho ipinyiu that the rivirind gintleman's got tho self -same idaya in his hed, an' I'd not bo the lasto surprized to see him commmciu' to build afore long. There'll bo a fine chance fur him soon to get a nice bit o' chape land that'll shute all to pieces on Mount Cook, whin the gaol's pulled down. In the meantime, I'd jist like to giv' mo rivirind frind a word o' advice at parrin' fur the prisint. But before I procade, Biddy has axed mo to shtate that his rivirinco hasn't kept his word, namely, to " disprove the afrigince (that's a mightybig -word) o' tho claim xhat St. Patrick belongs to our side o' the house." She says she'll give his rivirince a week from date to support his shtatemints be coatin' authorities, an' if ho fails to come up to time sho intinds to dialling© him to debate the quistion on tho reclaimed land. In conqlooshun, me advico is this : Don't be concarned the lasto taste about tho boys an' girls o' Paddy's land. I'm .very sorry yor so much throubled in yer mind about thim, bokaso there's no necessity for it. We're all woll able to luk afther ourselves, and, abovo all, can mind our own business, an' whin wo require yer sympathy an' yer prayers wjb'll ax ye fur them. If ye'vo any sparo timo yo might pray for sinse to lave dauint peeplo alone. Hopin' yor rivirince will take the hint, an' turn yer attention to a moro profitable field, where yo'll have plenty o' scope fur yer sympathy, &c, I am, &c, Mick M'Quaid. 23rd March, 188 G.