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True American. [volume] (Steubenville [Ohio]) 1855-1861, February 15, 1855, Image 2

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to of impoactkiog tad of developing the
ttotrves npon whioh each discreditable and
urightoooi proceedings rest I shall
. leave to those, who have more bitterness (?)
ef temper than I possess to show that,
though newly revived, the charge is as old
M thejhoetility of Paganisrnjo Christian
yj fad thathose-ho are .yitiating pub-
1k sent$m(ot iarthus mjhistering to ?the
appotitl IhlcKthey jkave made morbid,
have t&i1'ptototyppe(5n the malignantB
lrho crncifv the Fayiour." f
Again, he sayeH j , v
"It w menrit w cowardly; aswell as
fiJee, for an man, or (let f men, to assert,
$hayncomlining "excludo all Catholics
trom office, they doo ttofe than exercise
the right not to voto for individuals. 'V
There can be no mistaking this. , The
Know Nothings say this, arid no other
lass jay jfy JSut this wltolcsale vulgar
f qeumtaiutiou ia not ''opposing the Know
Again, the gentleman saye:
"Atheism is now at work, as it ever has
tea busy, against the christian faith and
. ehristian prohibitions. It assajls the Bo
man Catholic first, because that creed is
f mdreltnsiTe,' and - without considering
vCnri6tB?eErare yielding themselves, uu-
' 1 . i onsoiettsiy; co-workers with infidelity, by
-' their " active ; hostility ! to each other. If
( iihil county is to full by any other means
- - (ban 'ordinary1 decay or local convulsions,
w. TIM. fcfV II1VU.11I Ml . A Ul I. . . L
-'. 'r ' Here the Know Nothings are denounced
auder the head of "nrhMsta." r. 'if nntM
atheist, as men yielding themselves as
eo-workers with infidelity."
? i r '! coNcttsioN kixt wm.
t ?.;.,'. ,......, jProm the Wheoling Gatette.
-HENRY A. WISE AND KNOW
, NOTHINGISM.
" ;'8pnrn not a seeming error, but dig below
iU lurface for the truth, and beware of seeming
;,.;trothi, that grow on the roots of error; for
I verily there U something so true that the damps
of error hare not warped it. Verily there is
totbingsofalfetbat a sparkle of truth it not
in it.'
Tl'PPB.
; " The long electioneering letter of Henry
A." Wise is paraded in many of our party
papers as an unanswerable argument against
the principles of the American movement,
and the pretensions of the American party.
Ably and eloquently written the, broken
links ia the chain of argument are hung
with garlands' of rhetoric; richness of
its. style goes far to mark the paucity
of its logio but strip it of these decora
tions and the locks of its strength are
.. horn. ; It then becomes a piece of special
, pleading, and betrays at once the skillful
lawyer's tactics of assuming an- attitude
more and more confident as his case be
comes more and more desperate. Indeed
, one might almost conclude that the author
had pursued his legal studies under the
instruction of Aaron Burr, but had advan
ced one step further, and conceives' truth
to be, as the latter once defined law,
"anything that is hdlilly asserted and plau
sibly maintained."
His first argument against Know Noth-
ingism is based on the ground of its being
"a secret association for political ends."
Its secrecy is its great crime. Against
this he protests with all the eloquence of
anxious and alarmed patriotism. The idea
of so powerful an instrument wielded in
secret, his imanination has invested with
untold terrors. Like a warning spectre, it
seems to haunt every highway and by-way
of political life. Like the flaming sword,
' it seems to turn every way to guard the
forbidden Eden the lost Paradise of
nice. Impotent to resist its terrible effi-
eiency, he denounces it as not only without
'necessity,' But as being, by its secrecy,
"against the spirit of Magna Chtirta," and
its antagonism to the very basi3 of Anion-
caft rights.' What is our Magna Cliarta ?
our "basis of American rights ?" What
'is it but our constitution ? and what is
that' constitution but the matchless work
of a' political body, the most auguet that
ever gathered, sitting in secret; discussing
ia secret, acting in secret, and therefore
j acting the more safely and the more effi
' ciently? Authentic history tells us that
when the convention met to frame that
constitution, beforo they began their
mighty task, "the doors were closed, and
an, injunction of secrecy never removed,
was placed on the debates. The members
were not even allowed to take copies of the
entries 'on the journal. At the .final ad
journment, in accordance with a previous
j Tote, that Journal was entrusted to the cus-
tody of Washington." Tims day after day,
month after month, that august assembly
with out peerless Washington at its head.
at In council, to all intents and purposes,
for thd time being, 'a secret association
for public cuda." . What were these ends?
To translate our revolution into a republic,
to vitalize the confederacy into a Union,
and from' Chaos to bring forth a Constitu
tion1' All this they did. Nay, more.
For in that Constitution they not only cs
tablishod tho policy of 6ecrct political or
1 ?Jl 'A. 'i . . '1 i 1 II 1 1 ' .
legisiaiive aouon, out iaia aecp ana strong,
the basis and principle of the American
m6Temenfc. They expressly provided that
either branch of our national legislature
might, at any time," keep, even fioni the
people their masters, 'anything that, "in
their judgment, " requires secrecy." It
will not answer this merely to say the cases
are hot parallel. Inasmuch as they differ,
by so much Is thd argument in our favor,
1'orj if ecrut logiuWiun. is We m the
IftReV sf a 6w rprAttiTM, if a
vention shall frame in secret a great Fed
eral Constitution without danger, then
surely when a secret organization spreads
itself among the people, the tfne t rarce of
aumoniy, u repuDucaniam oe iruoi ine
danger 'must .become lsss. If Mr. Wise
bac' lived io that duy, and -coming to the
door of Inpeodenoo Ilall, and finding
himself excluded,' he had given vent to
his indignation, his denunciation of secrecy
would .have been as legitimate against that
convention as against the secret operation
of any political organization whatever.
Probably, tsing the very language of his
letter; 'he would have said : ''Why should
any portion of the people desire to retire
in secret to do something which all may
not know toward some political end ? If
it bo good, why not make the good known ?
Why not think it,' speak it, write it, act
it out, openly and aloud ? Or is it evil
which loveth darkness rather than light?"
What a pity that the sago of Accoraac
could not have dropped these gems of
warning wisdom into the ears of Washing
ton and Franklin. Whatever may be the
weight of other objections, to say that se
cret political operation ia "against the
spirit of our Magna Charta, is to falsify
the great truths of our history.
But Mr. Wsse lays,' "a cautfus may sit
in secret to consult on the general policy
of a great public party. This may be ne,
cessary. Now, what subtility of sophistry
can ever prove that if it is right and neces
sary for the leaders of a party to operate
in secret, it can be wrong for the whole
party the people themselves to operate in
the same way. 'Reautiful democracy ! ;
Surely Mr. Wise supposes ours to be the
crovernment of au oligarchy. At least
these principles that he avows when com'
bined, contain the very essence of that
most odious of all tyrannies. Yes, it is
right and necessary that the leaders of a
party in eeeret, shall digest schemes of
8elf-aggnindisenient,plans of party triumph,
policy that shall curse a nation ; but when
the people, alarmed for their liberties, and
hopcles of their rulers, arouse themselves
to preserve the matchless guerdon of their
forefather's toils,, their trials, and their
blood, and to guard and save the monu
ment of their greatness and their glory,
then they, sons of the men of '76, are to be
thrust back and told, "We, your leaders,
will retire in secret caucuses to consult for
you, to think for you, to act for you. This
is necessary and convenient, but you, if
you hide yourselves from our eyes to ope-
rate yourselves, you rebel "against the
spirit of Magna Charta." Then the peo-
ple ask, "why should any retire in secret
to do something which all may not know and the dispensers of those kindly sympa
of, toward some political end ? If it be thies and fraternal charities, that, in this
good, why not make the good known ?
Why not think it, Bpcak it, write it, act it
out, openly and aloud ?" And Mr. Wise
answers only, "3Iagna Charta is against
you." He might as well add, with the
English tyrant, "What have the people to
do with the laws but to obey them ?"
Convince the people that Magna Charta is
what Mr. Wise makes it, and they will
trample it in the dust
But again, as if to surpass even himself
in reckless inconsistency, Mr. Wise says,
"I belong to a eeeret society, but for no
political purpose." How do we know ?
What is its purpose 1 If a secret organi.
zation whose great aim is known and avow
ed openly, be dangerous, how much more
one whose object and operation are both
hidden? Even if it be true that Mr.
Wise's secret society has no 'political'
purpose, how, on' that account, do his ob
jections apply less forcibly than to others ?
Is he not condemned out of his own mouth?
'flf it be good, why not make the good
known ? Why not think it, speak it, write,
act it out openly and aloud ?" This is his
own doctrine. These are his own words.
Truly, he has "taught bloody instructions,
which being taught, return to plague the
inventor." . But the history of the past
....... 1V...1 1 1 t. ll. -
r - p ' i i T-i- ir
iorce or circumstances, pecome political in
its objects and in its operation. In 1829
Masonry and anti-Masonry became the
tests of political orthodoxy in the State of
Pennsylvania. For ten years, every gu-
l l 1 1 i r .1
ueraaiwitti cunuwuie, ana most oi tnose
r ii -it .1- r . 1
ui-uer uuiccs erC electee, or aeicatea
on tnnt issue aione. in loao, wncn v&-
vid R. Porter received 127,821 votes as
the Masonic candidate, was not every lodge
in the State, for the time being, necessa-
rily, 4"a secret organization for political
ends ?" Have not the secret temperance
societies of New York, just now, by their
aid, secured the election of Clark, as Gov-
ernor.
Thus any secret organization, whatever
.
may be its original design, is liable, at any
::'! ti :i -
. . . '
wLui, w mvwihq tiuiiiiui iu ua umeeiD. 114
operation, its results. "W hat then be
comes of Mr. Wise's distinction between
'secret associations for political ends,' and
those with no avowed object, but which
may, at any moment, become political?
A distinction without a difference, it does
not riso to tho dignity of sophistry,
such petty-fogging subtilities belong to the
dignity of statesmanship J Do they be
come a candidate tor tho highest offico
. - ... . .... ' .
about in his own person a full share of
-
common soyeroigntywhero all aro bound
alike to a government, whose power is the
popular will," and . whose strength is but
moral force what is the peril of secret as-
soeistione? ,fWill eighWwd freemen
plot 'by stealth' to destroy the institutions
which it is the interest, the boast,, the
glory of all to preserve f If these organi-
rations are dangerous to our liberties and
subversive of our rights, would Washing
ton and Franklin have been the friends
and founders of such t "Did they under
stand our Magna Charta 1 ' Lid they com
prehend the 'basis of American rights ?"
No, Mr. Wise, it is only despotism that,
from the earliest, has dreaded these asso
ciations. Tyrants knew and trembled as
they remembered that the power which
had swept away thrones and dynasties, had
so often been nourished in the silent se
crecy of a few chosen souls, until it gath
ered strength to go forth openly and grap
ple victoriously with hoary wrongs and sys
tems of oppression. Ilcnce it is that these
associations are forbidden in Russia and
Austria, in France, Italy and Spain, and
in every country where rulers usurp power
at war, alike with the liberties of the peo
ple Hence, too, the papal power has
pronounced upon them its anathema mar
anathema. Archbishop Kendrick, of Bal
timore, last year, published a decree of
the Holy Seo,' denying to all members of
secret societies the 'sacrament and the
right of church burial.' And this, too,
while the society of Jesuits, within the bo
som of the Popish church, is the most wide
spread end threatening of all secret socie
ties, its members initiated by Pagan rites
and bound by bloody oaths. But yet, it is
not strange that Popery should feel to
ward these associations something of its
old hatred. During her long persecutions,
prior to the Reformation, the Albigenses,
the Walden6es, and other early Christians,
found only in secret associations, hidden
from papal spies, safety in worshipping
God. In such associations, too, through
the long night of the dark ages, did knowl
edge and liberty keep kindled their feeble
light, till the world, aroused from the sleep
of ages, lit then the thousand torches
whose mingled radiance threw over the
earth the blaze of a lighter era the morn
ing dawn of this noonday age. That the
operation of these associations, whether
social or political, has ever been, on account
of their soorecy, dangerous and detrimen
tal to the best interests of man, there is no
fact of history to confirm, if there be, we
challenge Mr. Wise, learned in the lore of
the pant, to point it out. If there is not,
let us not be alarmed at the imagined dan
gers foretold by frightened candidates.
No, these associations, the offspring of
freedom or the love of freedom, by their
fruits, have proved themselves the conser-
vators of knowledge, the friends of liberty,
world of cold tics and false hearts, has
shed upon them the blessing of 'him that
was ready to perish.' If their operation
is secret, surely 'Ho who sceth in secret
has 'rewarded' them openly.
But after denouncing the Know Noth
ings as a secret association, whose objects
are hidden, Mr. Wise claims to under
stand their principles and proceeds to de
nounce these also in the most unmeasured
terms. The exclusion of foreigners from
office he declares 'contrary to the spirit of
our laws,' and 'against Americanism itself.
In answer to his eloquent tirade of three
columns, against this great principle, that
the simple fact that this principle is based
in our Constitution and confirmed not only
by the 'spirit' but the letter of our laws
Our Constitution expressly provides that
fno person except a native born citizen
. .
nn Tinvcnn nvrtrmt n uittvv linn v piti'pn
or citizen of the United States at the time
of the adoption of the Constitution shall
be eligible to the office of President. Now,
as President and Vice President were orig
inally voted for without distinction, tho
same exclusion extended to both of these
offices. Here is the American doctrine
undisguised. The principle is the same
ia Bniall offices as in great. ! If it is right
I ! ' T !l V. in iV.nl
i . 1 1 n tit I. z. . 1 1 . .i : ai .vitakI
otner i w nere is tne umeruuee i van
even Mr. Wise draw any line of limita
tion ? For the most important, tho wis-
dom of our fathers interposed the solemn
barrier of the Constitution against foreign
1 it. -il il I. A. it.- e
ers, me omers uiey.iuu io mo iorce oi
1 i i- - i e ;
puwio opinion, tue ieSSou8 ox experience,
ana tue exigencies oi me nour. xneso an
I conspire to teach us that tho principle is
good and to point us to its wider applica-
tion. Catholicism itself recoguizes and
adopts this philosophy of patriotism
Every Cardinal of Romo who is eligible to
tho Papal throno must bo 'a native born
Italian.' Mr. Wise extols the 'Virginia
Bill of Rights' as a specimen of perfection,
I i,i j. x in i t
a "e Pre8CDl Pouc? 08 JUBl anu "oerai-
r .i r i t i il Ti-ll 1
ln tne constitution appenaca to mat am
lnf RicrbtH. I find this remarkable Trrivis-
1 r j t
ion . 'No person, shall bo eligible to the
offico of Governor of this State unless ho
be a native citizen of the United States.'
Now, Mr. Wise, is this 'just and liberal V
If Louis Kossuth had been for twenty
years a citizen of Virginia, Mr, Wise con
D0 Bidcrs it 'just and liberal to exclude him
,rom Dc,DS ni8 own rival 101 ine wnce
- Governor, and tliattoo by tho Constitution
in exicnu 1,10 exclusion,
i i i it.. . i
the "uu" " Ufe"", -
i it . .. i . , i ... : -1 . ir
"wueeoasuiK.ut.y i is mis iiocraiity i
Kut Mr- Wise is Dot lcss contradictory
a m an(her branch of his argument.
points to tno pi ido ana love of country in
J nativ hrti' " uffioieut terrier
against foreign influence. Speaking of
our country, he says, 'nowhere is there
suoh4 trained natred of kings, lords, and.
aristocracies, nowhere are sons and daugh
ters so educated to liberty, nowhere is
there a country whose people have, by
birthright," a tithe of what our people have
to make them love tho land whioh is their
country, and the spot which is their home.'
Now, if all this be true, and it certainly
is, does it not furnish the most irrefutable
of all arguments to prove that these same
Americans, more deeply imbued than any
others can be with the Bpirit of their own
institutions, are more fitted than any others
can be, to guide the destiny of that Anier
ioa they know and love so well ? Yes,
there. is truth beyond the reach of logic, in
patriotism. There is a reality in tho love
of one's native land that, though it admits
of no analysis, attests itself by all that
gives eloquence to history, and illustrates
itself by all that sheds the glory of hero
ism on action. This has inspired the
great excmplaries who have taught the
world lessons of immortal freedom, and
sustained the martyr-heroes who have scal
ed these teachings by a life-long sacrifice
and a death triumph. It is an innato,
holy, inerradica passion. It is nature's
divine decree, nor is it in human power to
repeal that law which dates before all in
struction, which springs up without knowl
edge, of whose beginning memory holds
no record, and whose empire over the hu
man mind is so universal that thcro scarcely
"Breathes a man with soul so dead .
Who never to himself has laid
This is my own, my native land.
Whose soul hath not wiihin him burned,
As home his footsteps he has turned
' From wandering on some foreign strand."
Amid the perils that encompass our nation's
pathway, shall not lay hold of this sacred
principlo as a safeguard of our liberties ?
Was it not the Father of our Country
himself who nointed us to it? lie, it
was who left us these words of solemn
warning : 'Against the insidious wiles of
foreign influence, the jealousy of a free
people should be constantly awake. It is
one of the most baleful foes of a Republi
can Government. Have we not found it
so ? Have we not seen the sources of our
sovereignty corrupted by floods of foreign
paupers and convicts crowding our politi
cal auction ? At this very hour are not
two of Virginia's nearest 6ister States-
Ohio and Pennsylvania burdened, cursed
and desolated by Intemperance, because
the influence of their thousands of foreign
ers trained to habits of debauchery under
governments that seek thus to rob the peo
pie of tho power to obtain or tho inclina-1
tion to enjoy liberty was arraigned against
tho will of a majority of their native born
citizens and thus defeated a law that might
have shed joy on hearts now hopoloefl, and
filled with plenty, homes now desolate ?
Such are its workings. Are influences
like these without danger ? Standing as
our country docs, 'heir of all tho ages,
foremost in the files of Time,' it becomes
her sons to be liberal, to be tolerant, but
first of all to be true to their high trust
and guard with sleepless vigilance the
matchlessboon of their American birth
right.
But the American party, without asking
any constitutional or legal power, refused,
by their own voluntary suffrage, to elevate
Roman Catholics to office. This Mr. Wise
pronounces not only 'bigotry,' 'intoler
ance, 'persecution
the Reformation and of Protestantism.'
. , , -t.
out wnn siaruea piety, no acprecates it as
1 . - . -
'opposed to the Faith, Hope and Charity
of the Gospel.' now specious a mask is
liberality! He points to our guarantees
for religious liberty, for freedom of con
science. , They are truly among tho glories
of our system, but they belong not to this
question. I yield to none in hatred of
bigotry, intolerance, sectarianism. For
that reason I will never so far endorse it as
I to promote any man who claims his own
'
thrust it upon all others, by the despotism
of Church and State union. In tho name
1
of liberalism, and impelled by a hatred of
'intolerance' we oppose all such. In doing
this are wo too intolerant ? Aro we. as
jr w; 'nVhh'nrr tho W1
I ' "
fire ?. j gajd th(J que9tion of freeJom f
conscience belongs not to this issuo. Is it
not true ? Hoes the Amoriean party pro
pose any interference with the full, free
exercise of the Catholio in his worship
whatever? None whatever. It guards
him in his" faith, howovor false.
tees to him his rights as a citizen
cures to him the elective franchii
refuses to forget patriotism, and elevate to
offices of trust thoso who are vet fatted
tu0 throneg of the oi ffor(j.B dc8poti8m)
t. i 1.1 ... -i i i ' . i
by shackles civil and political, not less
than religious. It would exclude Cntho
lies from office, not on account of their re
ligion, but because of their politics. For,
distort it as you may, tho truth is undent
able that every Catholio 'is bound by
creed to now certain political theories,
DOun(j
in allegiance temporal no less than
i i. - t ; ..:. c!.l ii..
. .
ot Br.;ritual
. a c:
m, w u ureij:u tyraut. oiuco
rGnownod nildebrand. as Grerrorv VIT.
' -
TestoKA, eight hundred years ago, to Papal
bound to tho papal throno in this double
i i . -
Tassalago. Whilo a pricst-king, as the
head of that Church, holds in one hand
He the keys of St. Peter, and in tho other
iwordof the Caars,it cannot be other-
wise. This tame Gregory VII, who de-
throned Henry, Emperor of Germany,
and gave his crown to Rodolph, declared
in the Roman Council, in 1706, that 'the
power of binding or loosing tho kingdoms
of the earth was given by God himself to
the rope.' Since that hour tiq Roman
Pontiffs have ' claimed, and exercised
wherever they had the power, temporal
and spiritual jurisdiction, over all the
kings, princes, states and governments of
the world. Pope Julius, in 1510, deposed
Louis, King of France, and anathematized
him and all who should aid him. In 1535,
Paul IU, issued a sentence- pf deposition
against Henry '"VTII, of England." aPius
V, in 1570, issued a decree of deposition
against Queen Elizabeth. In that deoreo
he absolves all her nobles and subjects
from their oath of allegiance to the Eng
lish Crown, and declares that God appoin
ted the Roman Pontiff 'ruler of all nations
and all kingdoms,' that he may 'dissipate,
pluck up, ruinate, plant or build.' Bar
ronius, a great Catholio authority, declares,
'there can- be no' doubt 'of it but that the
civil principality is subject to tho sacerdo
tal; and that God hath-made the political
government subject to the dominion of the
spiritual Church.' Such is not Qatholio
religion, but such are Catholio politics.
Such is the doctrine of the Roman Hie
rarchy, claimed by its Popes, taught in it,
and confirmed and sanctioned in its 'in
fallible' Councils. Such arc the monstrous
assumptions of temporal power claimed by
this politico-eoclcsiastioal usurpation that,
in past ages, thundered, from the Varticnn,
its edicts as the law of nations from tho
Pyrenees to tho Vistula, and made the
'seven hilled city' again tho mistress of the
world. " '
But it is denied that tho Roman See
now claim this .temporal jurisdiction. In
the first place, the decrees of Councils
being held infallible must remain forever
immutable. Tho Councils of Toledo and
of Trent both distinctly decree this doc
trine of spiritual above secular power.
Has any Pontiff or Council ever denied or
disclaimed it ? Never. Enlightened Cath
olics do not dare to deny that such is the
faith. Brownson's Review, one of the
stable Catholio journals in this country,
fully avows this doctrine. It says; 'if the
Pope directed tho Roman Catholics of this
country to overthrow the Constitution, to
sell the nationality of the country as a sov
ereign state, and annex it as a dependent
province to Napoleon's crown, they would
bo bound to obey. In 1848 Daniel
O'Connel, discussing in the British Par
liament, a great 'political' measure, said,
'if the Bishops make a declaration for this
bill I will never again be heard speaking
against it, but will submit at once to that
decision. Thcv have onlv to decide and
v ,
they close my mouth, they have only to
determine and I obey. Suoh is the duty
of all Catholics.' Addressing the Catho
lics he said, 'you should do all in your
power to carry out the intentions of His
Holiness tho Pope. Where you have tnc
electoral franchise give it to none but those
who will ajsist you in so holy a struggle.
Again, says Brownson, 'Protestantism of
every form has not, and never can have
any rights, where Catholicity is trium
phant.' 'Let us daro assert the truth in
the faco of the lying world, and instead of
pleading for our Church at the bar of the
State, summon the State itself at the bar
of the Church, its divinely constituted
indyc.
lirh ftrA ltd neeiinin(iAn. i t I
L i
But worse than this, the Roman Pon-
uu BUiuU ,u uiemhciveB me power to
1. it. 1 .
auuuer men irom tneir reunions to the
, un v cuvu, w uiu tuciraiicgi-
ancc to the government. This is the
creed of tho church and tho voice of her
councils. JJishop 1 urcell confessed it in
nis ocbato witn Alexander Lampbcll, in
1847, and cited the situation of Washing-
ton ana tne sworn otneers ot iving (ieorgc
xx., Wuu Jf lB turning oi
our revolution, as paraiici, ana ns showing
.v r .., T.w.uuug uu ram.-
" roHSUeu wanacrous SUDteriUge I talis to
aueiupw vinuicato perjury Dy assaumg
..vi..v, ,rUDu..,Kiuu mm
u i;i.uw Fuiul8. i neir oatn oi auegi-
ancc was a covenant with conditions.-
One of their complaints against the Kinc
-
waa uhu u .way vne enarters
on which that covenant rested, thus ma-
lrinr il A T7it ma V.Aah
uu U1UMU al" ever
reBleu ouu,0 souisoi tnose wno, in tne
.1 .-it.. I.. ,i i . ..
vow, mstory, proua oi tne record, will
f i . ,i . ...
uc,0. iui8cv. . . .
iiui tne Latnoiic-s privilege ot perjury
ii r .
was settiea ny niguerautnonty man Bishop
Purcell. Gregory VII, who rendered the
papal power independent of the imperial
aeoiarea, tnrougn the tounoii ot Kome,
'We do, by our apostolic authority, absolve
his a11 hose from their ath of fidelity, who
u' uuuuu lu Citu"""u""-Hieu F-
' ! .1 1 1 . .i i i ..
iner Di aui7 or oatn ana m unloose them
from evp.rv t,! nf nliAflionpo ' firnrtnmYK
uie --b"v "
i -
'al down the general principle in its un
' ..... ..
isgca "na unmistakable odiousncss
i . . . . ...... .. .
miJ ana am7 incm, all oaths or sol
emn agreement to the contrary notwith-
standing.' . , , '.' . .
the . In the face of all theso undeniable facts,
is it not utterly absurd to call tho catholio
creed a 'roligion' merely f. Do these ua -
, it guaran- uecuou1' Bae -to eacn otner- to keep them out of office ? And how ut-
111 i 1
,it sc- BUOm."u piougo oi tucir -lives, iortune terly insignificant are tho party issues of
w ana Bacrea nonor- llow they k0P tne" tho hour cotnnarcd with tho frrcat rniPstU
bounded prerogatives belong to the spirit-
uality.of the; phnroh'-as -fuchf Is 'the
kingdom of Chris.'.' of 'this world V H&
it not been abundnnt.lv nmrnd that the
. j t i
Papal See s not only a- spiritual . supre-
macy but a-temporal usurpation aiming at
world-wide, dominion ? , Do not the edicts
of Popes,, the decrees of Councils, the con
fessions of catholio authorities, and the
lessons ofj history, all attest that every man !
who acknowledges the King of Rome to
be the 'Vicar of God,' owes to him a double
allegiance f The aim of Papal power has
ever been. not; less .temporal donliuion
than ecclesiastical sovereignty. It claims
to bo the dippser and dispenserfof the
kingdoms and commonwealtW of the! earth
M.' Wise himself savs. Weu?nfirR. in'thfc
name of the Pope and Mother Church, took
possession of North America, to have1 and
to hold the same to their heirs, and against
the heathen fuera . Again ho aays. 'His
Holiness the Pope wjis tho grent grantor of
all the new' countrVof North America.'
Our 'national title' to this country he ba-
scs
on these papal grants. But these
grants are all based on the condition that
the country granted is ruled under Popish
supremacy. A territorial grant never -is- '
hucu irom uie vancan on any otner terms.
Hence the 'national title' to the United
States reverts to the Papal See, and I ask
' .
Mr. Wise if it has ever resigned its claim.
Thus the Pope, with Mr, Wise for his at-
torney, makes out a valid claim , to this
whole country. It will certainly require
Mr. Wise sometime to prove, by argu-
mcnts like these, that Papacy does not
usurp 'TF.Mr.OEAL TOWER. .
. Mr. Wise auotes the exposition of poll-
tical liberty given by the Archbishop to
KW John. This esa is ns fatal to his
argument as the last. The King, in an
swer to the exactions of the Pope, says to
the Roman Legato :
"So tell the Pope, that no Italian priest
Shall tithe or toll in ourdominions ;
Though all the kings of Christendom,
Are led so grossly by this meddling priest,
Dreadingthe curse that money rosy buy out,
And by the morit of vile gold, dust, dross,
Purchase corrupted pardon of a man,
Who, in that sale, sells pardon from himself ;
Yet, I alone, alone do we oppose foes"
Against the Pepe, and ctunt his friends my
' In the true spirit of Papal assumption,
the Legate answered : .
"Then, by the lawful power that I h aye,
Thou shalt stand cursed, and excommunicate;
And blessed shall he be that doth revoit
From his allegiance to an heretic ;
And meritorious shall the hahd be called,
Canonized, and worshipped as a saint,
That takes away, by any secret course,
Thy hateful life."
This is no fiction of poetry. The bull
of deposition issued by Innocent ' III
against this same King John was nearly
in these words. Thus all history, even Mr.
Wise's own selections, prove that the Cath.
olio creed is a policy not less than a reli-
gion. How docs Mr. Wise dispose of this
difficulty? now does ho disprove this
dangerous temporal influence ? Here is
his profound argument. IIo says, 'svp-
p:sc it to Ir, so, there areworse sects 'among
us, whom the Know Nothings pretend not
to assail. There are the Mormon polyga- of both is threatened Each arouses to the
mists; thcro are the spiritual rappers; rescue If Truth is established, their pow
and there is a seel which aspires not only cr is departed. The Reformer work-the
to destroy free government, but tho great people's hope-is doomed. The king of Eng
globe and all that inhabit it the millenial lan(l denounces it. Bavaria. Brandcn.
Millcritcs." Is this the logio of states-
1
Who to such pitiful resorts. No, Mr. Wise,
vnn cannot thus p.nrnr vonr rptront hv kid
L:t ,nA B!,mmc.A indito. Th rrmi
iPsno 0f the whole question, whether a
Catholio owes an allegiance that politically
unfits him for offices of trust or power, you
have not dared to rooet and discuss. The
fact3 oddnecd to prove that such is ' the
caso the truths of History. Meet this,
the reai ;ssuo 0f fa case or soknowicd .
Uko an outSpken Virginian, its impregna-
bil5t- Leave faiso 5ssuog. 0n rcli iou
iibertjj you write eloquently, but it touch-
e, not this question. On 'gospel' subjects
y0ur uncuon 1B undeniable, but this is a
nA1Utftnl nwnmnnt. W U.M,aM ,.
frages from Catholics bocauo of theirs-
ul(Kai theories. Is this 'proscription,'
'nGrSccut on V In 1840. wbnn vnn wnr
. r - ,
plotting in 8Ccret caucusc9 with ' Whigs
I nA a, -n :
O I ttUU 11 J UUI wOlUUUItlUlj HUHJ
you 'persecuting' them ? In 1854 when
you wero plotting with Democrats against
.. ... - . .
vour o d a cs. the WMw. ia it. nfciW.
' '
ance in vou that impels vou to so work
I r c i
0f tho preservation of our national liber
tiosr
jut it ;3 amwi the SD;rit of tllQ Tfn,
mation nnd protestantism.' Who shall de-
Lido this? Henry A. Wise, or' Martin
Luther and History? For eight centu-
r;cS Mevious to the Reformation. Enrnne
had been one vast sacerdotal state. Kin
and Emperors had held their power by the
patronage of Topes. Docile agents
I " o
Rome's terrible decrees, thoy, to secure
i. i . .
i - - . r . . , . v .v i'
ner suprenmcy, vaimy strove to purgo their
- nlmn of hnrcsv bv tl, nf
' J -J "
Heving subjects. . In 1580, when Clement
. i "
- Church against the enomies of the , faith.'
Tho Emperor kissed the Popo's red slip-
per, and answored:'!' swear' to he, with
all my power and resources, the' perpetual
. '
I defender of tho pontifical dignity of thejtoachifigsmake usthoheu-sofallpagti.
1 Church of Rome. This UVrnt a tingle fl-1 ! not thu whole iytm,: wVcrt w'rtrp&n
lustration of the close and indisa'ilubjs
union of the Romish Church with the
State of the oneness of her religion and
her politics. Against her assumption of-
temporal power, not less than agtdnst br
ecclesiastical abuses and usurpations wt
'the spirit ot the Reformation' roosed. It
was part of the- mission of 'Protestantim'
to break the spirit of this influence, to give
men cjvfl liborty as. the basis of spiritual
freedom. The famous JProtett addressed
to the Diet of Spires in 1529, whioh give
the name of 'Protestant' to the follow
ers of the new Faithi denounces, in its very
first paragraph, this arbitrary usurpation
of 'civil power.' Luther, at the gate of
Wittenberg, declared: 'The Pope hae
three Crowns ; the first is against God, for
1)0 condemns religion ; the second is against
ftne Emperor, for he Coiidems the-secular
power; the third is agamat society, for he
condemns marriage.' Io his followers he
8aid 'If you do not contend with your
whole heart against this impious govern-
ment of the Pope, you cannot be saved.
Again, speaking, in a letter to Melancthon,
of tho dangers and abuses of this double
despotism, he says, 'thus Satan is alwaye
harping jon . the same string, and the
strength of the civil power is the only one
which the myriad-wiled spirit is able to find
Y m i t
.nganiBiyesun winst. . .v-
Even tho mild Melancthon said : 'the
great cause of our grief is, thnt the law of
the Pontiffs and tho reign: of the Pope not
only endanger the souls of men but re-
vivo them temporally.' In his defence
before the Diet of Woirms Luther said
'The human doctrines and. laws, of the
V"V emuugie, torment ana vex . tne
consciences of believers, whilo the crying
and perpetual extortions of Rome swallow
up the wealth and riches of Christendom.'
Thus is this American principle of hostili
ty to the monstrous pretensions and world
wide usurpations of Popery so fully accor
dant with the 'spirit of the Reformation
of Protestantism that it docs but echo
the solemn warnings and tho lofty catri-
ot;Bm that jn thc;r hmf of trjaj fc ,
from tho hearts of their immortal champi
ons. . .
Speaking of tho Reformation, Mr. Wise
says : 'I he translation of the Bible was the
chief engine in the great work. It wae
thrown open to all ranks and conditions to
own and to read.' ne speaks exultinelt
of its influence and power. Yes, for agea
tho Romish Church had shut this fouut aia
of light from the people. But, during hie
captivity in tho Castlo of Wartburg,. La
ther was preparing to unseal it. The day
of his release he finished his translation of
the new Testament. The people, tired of
scholastic theology, eagerjy welcomed the
s!mPle Christianity ; which thus arose frptt
tho oblivion of centuries.
The Reformation now left the Church
an tDC cloister to make its abode in the
hearts and at the hearths of the people,
But n3 tnc7 rejoiced, Romo trembled.
The ,iara of the papacy was shaken by the
roar of tll0ir exultation. The priest ia his
confessional, and tho prinoe in his palace,
were tartled at. tho sound. The dominion
onrg, Saxony, and all the states ia vasal-
ago to tho Vatican, decreed that story
copy of the Billo shall be seized by the
magistrates.-Sacriligious bonfires blase
with the sacred pages bnt the deep heart
of tho people is touched and ouiokened.
and tho mysterious power that gives energy
to their faith baffles the reach of their per-
secutors.
Thus did Papal Rome essay to stifle -thi
renovated Faith as fifteen hundred years
More pagan Rome had sought to crush
that Creed in its birth-hour; Since it decreed
Luther's Bible to the flames it has abated'
nothing of its hatred to tho Book that op-
poses its simple and sublimo truths to ' thi
traditions of the fathers and the authori-
tics of Councils. Pope Phis IX. jn hi
winwHft1 WIa. . iTfck .V,
trine or ravings in defence of liberty ht
conscience, is a most pestilonfial error-a
nest of a 1 others most tn hn ArnnA.A
"-jvu in
State." Thus Papicy would shut light '
rrnm J, tt - ... ".
vm uvi 111.UUJO. 1 CI WtHBOll ill QBrK-
n ess. Her power is the ignorance of her
subjects'; Shall America -nourish,' witH
... '
FrepdoniRhlnnfl. ftUmm t A !.
' m uMuuunuii ,
Has she rot sonrfit to hn,mV -W -km.
from our Common ' Schools? Our schools:
the boast, tho glory of our 'system,' the
ramnarts of our nntinn'a rmr, ' a. ht
r - " ""-"' am X'lT,
- ' Wise says truly 'the Biblo was tho chief
on rrtnn In l si T II . 1 Vi
6,,iv ,u " gicus ror& oi tne iteiorma
tion." Is it not equally necessary as the
guardian and conservator of what' we: now
possess? Is the duty of self preservation
incomoatable even vUh h fuv, .'t.-
. - "v iaibU
ana onarity ot the gospelr - w t- '
But not only does Catholicism, proscribe '
tho Bible, which the Council of Tolosb
of expressly forbids to tho people but 'elm
i.. . - ' - -
irecaom ot man. The Council of Trent
w M Uafl, an.:, v
i v miuu run i ni nnii rvr i r
l " bxooiuii, ueereeu mat a iianu
commission of Consorshin should 'under
the great works of tho past that teaeh'thV-
f i ' . ri
thors are Looke, Milton, Bacoh "Luther"
Calvin, Melancthon, Sir Matthew Hale
Jeremy Taylor, and a host of other' immor'
tal names of those whose wisdom and whose 1
ins
i

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