o make to the great upbuilding of
our Country. There is in every problem an ethical side, an unchanging
and unchangeable principle, the bedrock on which it rests. This
principle, the Catholic doctrine possesses; we know it, we are sure of
it. Why not then have that aggressiveness of militant Catholics who
take advantage of every opportunity, without being obtrusive? Are we
not too apologetic in our Public life? We would not suggest in the
least to be discourteously aggressive, although at times we are tempted
to do so and seem justified in our retaliation. But there is no reason
why we should apologize for our principles, for the solutions we have
to offer. The sun of Canadian liberty shines also for us and for what
we stand; we have our place under the shade of the "Maple Leaf."

May we add a word for our non-Catholic friends. They also have duties
towards Public Opinion in its relation with the Catholic Church.

_Receptiveness of mind_ is, in our estimation, the first and most
important duty of the non-Catholic. Open-mindedness was named by
Confucius "mental hospitality." It opens the door to truth by allowing
ourselves to be convinced by the strength of argument and the weight of
evidence. This state of receptivity permits the mind to correct its
distorted vision, and to see facts and principles as they really are.
Freedom of mind enables those who possess it to see things in their
true proportions.

_Fair-mindedness_ will overcome prejudice, the great obstacle in
matters of Religion. Prejudice is made of a coarse and impenetrable
fibre, of a close woven texture; it is the product of numerous and
various influences. The ordinary causes of this pre-judgment or mental
torsion are an habitual intellectual outlook resulting from education
and surrounding influences, and a mental laziness which fails to
question its own attitude and to pursue principles to their logical
conclusions, and problems to their solution. This explains how
reluctantly the mind, in religious matters particularly, will accept
views contrary to those with which it has been familiar since early
youth and which time and surroundings have but strengthened. A
straight-forward appeal to _fairmindedness_ is alone able to break down
this barrier.

Duties are in proportion to the responsibilities they entail. Public
Opinion, as we have seen, is a tremendous power but it is the power of
a high explosive which misdirected and ill-used wil