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Whilst our thoughts thus go
back to the early days of our Country, and lovingly dwell upon the coming
of our forefathers, it is right that we glance over present conditions,
and endeavor to understand the relationship that should exist between the
Scottish Catholic celebration of 1922 and the future of our Country as a
whole. It was not for idle show, nor to indulge a feeling of empty vanity
that the movement was projected. It was rather to give practical
expression to the feelings of gratitude, that dwell in the hearts of the
present generation, and at the same time to teach the lesson that no
people, who hope to live in history can afford to leave in oblivion the
memory of those, whose early sacrifices prove the foundation of their
present greatness.
A country without monuments
is often a country without real national ambition. It is lacking in at
least one of the strongest incentives, that go to create an active public
spirit; and perhaps this is the reason, so many of the present generation
in Prince Edward Island are so slow in assuming the burden of true
citizenship, and in contributing according to their opportunities, towards
the upbuilding of our common country. Monuments serve an excellent purpose
in this regard. They reflect the glories of the past; they fire the
enthusiasm of the present; they furnish lofty ideals begotten of what is
best and noblest in our history, and stimulate to greater achievements by
the example of those, whose names enshrined in stone and marble bid
defiance to time and change.
"For to live in hearts we
leave behind is not to die."
This is as yet a new
country, comparatively speaking, and with the exception of the family
headstones that deck our cemeteries, we are a people practically without
monuments. Until latter years our people were so engrossed with the cares
and difficulties of making a living, that they had little time to give to
recording or commemorating the deeds of the past. But now, that a brighter
era has dawned and easier circumstances prevail, it is right and just that
they should turn their minds to a consideration of the various agencies,
that have conspired to bring about the material and social development
that obtains in the country at the present day; and in this way they will
naturally be moved to revere the memory of the men and women of the past,
whose whole-souled devotedness and spirit of sacrifice made present
conditions possible. Theirs it was to fell the forest, and clear the land
amid circumstances that to a weaker race would have been intolerable; and
surely it is the bounden duty of those, who reap in comfort the harvest
they sowed amid incredible privations, to cherish their fair fame, and to
see to it that their memory shall not fade from the land, that owes so
much to their generous sacrifices. |
