Poetical sentiment and religious feeling he thus happily blended,
as they should ever be, directing and influencing man's action
in his relations and intercourse with woman.

Three essentially poetical sentiments exist in man,
says a distinguished writer: The love of God, the love of woman,
and the love of country -- the religious, the human,
and the political sentiment. For this reason, continues the same writer,
wherever the knowledge of God is darkened, wherever the face of woman
is veiled, wherever the people are captive or enslaved, there poetry
is like a flame which, for want of fuel, exhausts itself and dies out.
On the contrary, wherever God reigns upon His throne
in all the majesty of His glory, wherever woman rules
by the irresistible power of her enchantments, wherever the people are free,
there poetry has modest roses for the woman, glorious palms for the people,
and splendid wings with which to mount up to the loftiest regions of heaven.

Father Ryan also won distinction as an orator, a lecturer, and an essayist,
having contributed to several of the leading journals and magazines
of the country. His oratory was not of the cold and unimpassioned kind
which falls upon the ears but fails to make an impression on the heart.
He did not lose sight of the fact that the chief end and aim of oratory
is to arouse men to a sense of duty, deter them from the commission of evil,
and inspire them with high and holy purposes and noble, generous resolves,
the accomplishment of which demands that the living, breathing spirit or soul
should be infused into the words. Though the unction of divine charity
can alone give efficacy to man's words, yet man must not appear to be devoid
of those qualities and attributes which contribute towards making
a lasting impression upon the minds and hearts of those
whose interests are presumed to be dear to him. This was the spirit