To be of service to the Church, and, through Her to our Country, is the sole ambition we have had before us in gathering together in book-form stray sheaves of thought, published here and there, during the course of the last few years.  We are quite convinced that a clear vision of the problems facing the Church in Western Canada will awaken a sense of the responsibility which they entail for every Catholic in the land.

Our views and suggestions in the matter are but those of a humble soldier who belongs to the rank and file of the great Catholic army.  But often a private in the firing line can suggest a plan of action which, when corrected or modified at headquarters, proves to be of some benefit to his battalion.  This explains the dedication of our humble effort to the Hierarchy of Canada.  For in problems which affect the Church, we would not lose sight of this supreme truth:  “The Holy Ghost has placed the Bishops to rule the Church of God, which He has purchased with His own blood.”—­

(Act XX, 28)

St. Peters Rectory,
  st. John, N.B.

On the Feast of the “Immaculate Conception,” December 8th, 1920.

PART I

RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS

“It is surprising how at the bottom of every political problem we always find some theology involved.”

  —­(Proudhom)

CHAPTER 1

The call of the west[1]

A Call from the West

Who has not heard the call of the West?  Like the blast of the hunter’s horn in the silent forest, its thrilling and inviting sound has awakened the echoes throughout the land.  Springing from the granite heart of our mighty Rockies, that call comes through their valleys, is heard over the “Great Divide” and whispers its way to the foothills.  Soft as the evening breeze, strong as the howling blizzard, we hear it across the prairie, gathering as it were, on its triumphal march to the East, something of the immensity of the plains and freshness of the lakes.

In the din of our manufacturing cities, in the quietness of our towns and villages, by the rivers and winding bays of our Maritime Provinces, along the peaceful shores of the St. Lawrence, the call of the West has been heard.

Its alluring sound has cast a spell upon our youth, the hope of the country.  Faces flushed with the bright hues of life’s dawn, eyes sparkling with the fires of early youth, instinctively turn to the West.  From all points of Eastern Canada young men and young women are leaving for that mysterious land of brilliant promise and great possibilities.