< Page:Famous Living Americans, with Portraits.djvu
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JAMES GIBBONS 193

value as a man and as a leader is the fact that he is most revered and best beloved by the members of his own house- hold, by the priests and people of his immediate jurisdiction. His national — and even international — distinction, howev- er, has been achieved more perhaps by what he has done in ad- dition to his official work. In other countries, especially in Europe, he is popularly and admiringly known as * * the Amer- ican Cardinal," and it is frequently observed both here and abroad that he has done more than all others to make Ameri- ca known and understood by the world. The address deliv- ered in Bome at his installation as pastor of his titular church, Santa Maria in Trastevere, shortly after his elevation to the cardinalate was, under the circumstances, of tremendous sig- nificance. It is worth while to quote the two paragraphs of the famous address which elicited world-wide comment and the proud approval of all Americans :

  • * For myself, as a citizen of the United States, and without

closing my eyes to our shortcomings as a nation, I say, with a deep sense of pride and gratitude, that I belong to a country where the civil government holds over us the aegis of its pro- tection, without interfering with us in the legitimate exercise of our sublime mission as ministers of the Gospel of Christ. Our country has liberty without license, and authority with- out despotism. She rears no wall to exclude the stranger from among us. She has no frowning fortifications to repel the invader, for she is at peace with all the world. She rests secure in the consciousness of her strength and her good will towards all. Her harbors are open to welcome the honest immigrant who comes to advance his temporal interests and to find a peaceful home.

    • But while we are acknowledged to have a free govern-

ment, perhaps we do not receive the credit that belongs to us for having, also, a strong government. Yes, our nation is strong, and her strength lies, under the overruling guidance of Providence, in the majesty and supremacy of the law, in the loyalty of her citizens, and in the affection of her people for her free institutions. There are, indeed, grave social problems now employing the earnest attention of the citizens

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