THE AMERICAN.
1lU UtUWH I t liOVL
Tim Vh jrrh if Room, In lis rcrlesl.
lU-nl and rtHti-l rsH, l a system
?f tgimtlc fraud, l luoUtii and slavery.
This I. Ihm-h lu dMlngttlhlijr char-j
aeter (or llm past I veais. Tim i
nionlron unit unwarrantable Asump
t Ion of Urn right to dictate , and con
trol the consclenee of mankind has
iieen t hn I n Mm me it I employed ly lU
hierarchy In perpetuate llm more than
"Kgypllnn bondage," over tho minds
f million of tho liiiniiin race, lis
history, It lis seopo In civil nml
tellglous matter h not toleration, nor
Ireed-nn, nor epialily, but supremacy.
All oilier interests iiiihI bo sub
nidhiited tti hern. Nothing less will
ntisfy her clalmr. When nml where
-ho hiiH the power f asserting theeo
ilrtini of supremacy olio train pIH on
i. II other liuniiin rights, nml compels
obedience to her stern mandates.
This has been her history In tho past,
(bir experience of her working anil
aims nt tli present in identically tho
shiiio. It U not possible that it could
tui otherwise. Why? lleciiuso tho
proud boast of Homo which Is over
ihiuntingly emblazoned on her banners
in ''Sompcrcadem," that Is, always tho
samo, Ami wo know, too, that tho
boast ami tho prido of her votaries is,
"Roman Cut holies lirst, and Citizens
nfter, If 3011 pleasn,"
In view of thoHo facts, It surely bo
lollies n serious, nml nil-Important
question with American citizens how
I ng, nuil to what extent will thoy
t derate such attempts at supremacy ?
Remember that Is tho genius of Romad
Urn; and sho U always tho name, as
unchanged ns slio Is unchangablo' in
her faith, her doctrine, her prnctlco,
and, of course, her alms. "Will tho
American people, then, passively sub
mit to tho dictation, In civil ami re
ligious 111 utters to n priest of Homo?
Will they tamely surrender their birth
right of freedom to liny occlos'nstlcal
or political domirmtion P Will tho free
genius of tho American people blindly,
or unthinkingly nccept tho thraldom
( f an Italian bishop and his emissaries?
Will tho loyalty to tho frco Institutions
of our republic to secure which pa
triots fought and bled bo now set aside
n a thing of no value? Will the
sncred am inestimable blessings of
civil nml religious liberty bo sufl'ercd
to bu usurped by onomles of both.
, Hut, some will answer, theso aro not
endangered. Aro they not? "Oh I
fools and slow of heart" (0 reallzo that
It Is whilst "men slept, tho enemy sowed
tares." Ho, too, whilo wo aro sleeping,
tho emissaries of Homo aro ever on tho
alert, ever watchful, ever seeking In
every form to control tho Institutions
and government of our country, To
do this thoy mil avail themselves of
every posslblo means, especially of a
class of politicians who nro over willing
to Identify themselves with Homo, and
who, like tho degenerated priests of
Israel, clamor for "a llttlo olllce, that
troy oat broad." Provided they bo
come tho ready and willing tools of tho
emissaries of tho Papacy, they nro so
rewarded but at what a cost ?
Humanism, wo sny, Is both a political
and nn ecclesiastical system. It Is
specially Important to remember this
la a series of nrticlos wo shall trout of
Its phase, Tim above Is simply an
introduction, In the following w
must substantiate th statement mln
that Hi s system of gigantic fraud,'
delusion, and slavery, This w will
undertake to prove by an appeal t her
own stsmbml of flth, and doctrine,
and practice, ss taught and enforced
by her bishop and priests, and be
lieved In by the great bo.ly (if their coreligionists-
and by tho dearest testi
mony of scripture, history, and com
mon sense,
Hut Koine will sny,oh Roman Cathol
icism I dilTercnt now In faith and
practice to what It was in tho niedhwal
ages. Why not "let tho past dead
bury Its (lend "
Is It different V Allow themselves,
please, to spenk. Their church never
changes. Is not this enough ? What
ever in faith, In dogma, In practice, tho
Church of Homo was In all ages In her
history tho same sho Is today without
change tho same sho will ever con
tinue in her history. This Is hor own
claim, wo cannot go beyond it.
Protestants, as a rulo, aro culpably
ignorant of tho tenets of Romanism.
Few of them take tho trouble or inter
est to Inform thomsolvos on its
tendoncy or teaching. If thoy did
they would at onco know that it could
not essentially chango without destruc
tion; and that honco It professes to bo
unchangeable.
Tho creed of Popo Pius IV, bearing
date November, 1551, affirms that tho
"church hath held her doctrines ns sho
now holds them." Popo Gregory XVI,
In l.is encyclical letter of August 15th,
18!12, says: "Ever bearing In mind
that tho universal uhuroh suffors from
every novelty, ns well ns tho admonition
of tho Popo, Bt. Agatha, that from
what has boon regularly defined,
nothing can bo taken nwny, no Innova
tion Introduced thero, no addition
made, but that it must bo prosorvod
untouched as to words and moaning
Again ho declares, It Is no loss absurd
than Injurious to hor (Church of Home)
than anything by way of restoration,
or regeneration, should bo forced upon
her as necessary for hor soundness or
Increase, as If sho could bo thought
obnoxious to decay, to obscurities, or
to nny other such Inoonvonlonoes."
Please, boar in mind that those aro the
words of Infallibility I Again, Mr.
Charles Butter In his book of the Roman
Catholic church, states, "It is, Indeed,
most truo that tho Roman Catholics
believe tho doctrines of their church to
bo unchangeable, and that It is a tenet
of tholr creod that what their faith ever
has been such it now Is, and such It
ever will bo.
Now, ns Roman Catholics claim this
immutability, can wo bo charged with
iincharltablenoss In showing forth Its
truo nature, tendency, design, faith,
and practice as a system.
Tho Protestant world has boon asleep
for nearly tho past two hundred years
regarding tho Papacy. Moanwhllo It
has boon wakefully using every strnto
gem, and strenuously employing overy
nioans and agency not alone for Its
preservation, but for Its extension.
Recently in this city much has been
said and written regarding tho beauty
and purity, superior merit and sanctity
of a life of enforced celibacy among
the DrioHtbood. Before wo traoo tho
origin, history, and pmctUsl result of
untishirsl and noiljtlurl restraint m
human nature, w wish distinctly td
st Kt a tli si will mk no assertion
reepl what ran lx substantiated by
llm testimony of net of parliament,
decree of llmlr own councils, the
records of legislation, and iho con
fessions of their own writers.
As setting forth In general terms Iho
pernicious fruits of celibacy read whal
Iho Rev. Joseph lllanco White, who
was a Hpnnlrfh priest of great colobrlcty,
and of unquestionable veracity, says
of tho character of ihe clorgy of his
country?
"My feelings aro painfully vehement
when I dwell upon this subject. That
neither tho freedom I havo enjoyed so
many years, nor tho last rcposo of the
victims, the remembrance of whom still
wrings tears from my eyes, can alloy
the bitter pangs of my youth; aro
proofs that my views arlso from a real,
painful, and protracted exporlonco.
Devoted to tho ecclesiastical profession
from tho ago of fifteen, when I received
the minor ordors, I lived in constant
friendship with the most distinguished
youths, who, in my town wore pro-
paring for tho priesthood. Men of tho
first eminonco in tho churoh were tho
old friends of my family, ray parents
and my own spiritual directors. Thus
I grow up, thus I contlnuod in man
kind, till, at tho ago of five and thirty,
religious oppression and that alono
forced mo away from kindred and
country. Tho Intimacy of friendship,
tho undisguised converse of sacramental
confession, opened to me the hearts of
many, whoso exterior conduct might
have deoelvod a common obsorver.
Tho ooarso f ranknoss of associate dis
soluteness loft indood no secrets among
the spiritual slaves, who, unablo to
separate tho laws of God from those of
tholr tyrannical churoh, trampled both
under foot in riotous despair. Such
are the souroes of the knowledge I
possess. God, sorrow, and remorse
are my witnesses.
A more blameless, ingenious, ro
llglous sot of youths than that in tho
enjoyment of whose friendship I passod
tho best years of my Ufa, tho world
cannot bonst of, eight of us, nearly all
of tho same ago, lived in the olosost
bond of affection, from sixteen till one
and twenty; and four at least, con
tinued in the s'umo Intimacy till about
thirty-five. Of this knot of friends,
not one was tainted by tho breath of
gross vlco till tho church had doomed
thorn to a llfo of celibacy, and turnod
tho best affections of tholr hoart into
crime It is tho very roflnomont of
churob cruelty to say thoy woro froo
whon they deprived thomsolvos of tholr
natural rights. Loss, indued, would
bo tho unfoullngnosi of a parent, who,
watching a moment of genorous ex
citement, would deprive a son of his
blrth-rlght, and doom him by a vol
untary act, to plno away through llfo In
want and misery.
A virtuous yotHh of one-and-twonty
who Is mado to believe christian per
fection inseparable from a llfo of col
Ibacy, will easily overlook tho dangors
which bosot that stato of lifo, Thoso
who mado, and thoso who still support
tho unnatural law, which turns tho
mistaken piety of youth into a souroo
of future vloo, ought to have loarnod
mercf from their own nperlsne, but
priest whohss waded ( most do)
through llm niirr slough of a llf of
Incessant temptation, fulling and rising,
stumbling, struggling, and falling
Again, without at one cttng off
Catholicism with rhrlsllanlly, con
t ct, generally, habits of mind not
unlike thoso of the guards of oriental
beauty. Their hearts havo been seared
with envy.
I cannot think of tho wanderings of
tho friends of my youth without heart
rending pain. One, now no more,
whoso talents raised htm to 0110 of tho
highest dignities of tho church of Spain
wa9, for many years, a model of purity.
Whon, by tho powerful Inlluonoo of his
mind, and tho warmth of his devotion,
this man had drawn many Into tho
clerical and religious lifo, (my youngest
sister among tho latter), ho sunk nt
onco into tho grossest and most daring
profligacy. I hoard him boast that the
night beforo tho solemn procession of
Corpus Christ!, where ho appeared
nearly nt tho hoad of his chapter, ono
of two children had been born which
his two concubinos brought to light
wlthm a fow days of each other. Tho
intrigues of ambition soon shared his
mind with tho pursuit of pleasure; and
the fall of a Potentate, whom ho took
the trouble to instruct in tho policy of
Machlavol, involved him in danger and
distress for a lime. Ho had risen
again Into court Influence when death
cut him off in tho flower of llfo. I
had loved him when both our lives
were pure. I had loved him when
Catholicism had driven us both from
the path of virtue; I still lovo, and will
love his memory, am hope that God'
morcy lias pardoned his lifo of sin,
without imputing it to tho abettors of
the barbarous laws which occasioned
his spiritual ruin."
Such, more or loss, hns boon tho fato
of my early friends whoso minds and
hearts wore much above tho oommoi.
standard of tho Spanish clergy. What
then need I say of tho vuliv crowd of
priests, who, coming, ns tho Spanish
phaso has it, from coarso swaddling
clothos and raised by ordination to a
rank of lifo for which they havo not
boon prepared, mlnglo vlco and
superstition, grossness of feeling, and
prido of ofllco In tholr character ? I
have known tho best among them; I
havo hoard their confessions; I have
hoard tho confessions of young persons
of both sexes who fell under tho In
fluence of their suggestions and
example; and I do (ledum that nothing
can bo inoro dangerous to youthful
vlrtuo than their company. How many
souls would bo saved from crime, but
for tho vain display of pretended super
ior vlrtuo which Homo demands of her
clorgy I Taken from White's prac
tical and internal ovldenco against
Catholicism, pages 132-137, 8vo., 2nd.
edition. London. 182(1.
A Minis run.
Goto Denver on tho Past Vostlbulod
Kx press of tho Union 1'uelllo ami par
tako of tho elegant meals served in the
Pullman Dining Car running on this
train,
Through Pullman Palace Sleepers
between Denver and Now Orleans via
tho Union Paolllo only,
