The pilot and transcript. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1840-1841, 1840-07-25
MR.vANBUREN AND THE CATIEO-


Lies.
The Albany Argus denies that Mr.. Van Buren,
took anv part in the attempt to exclude Catho;
lies from office of profit trust, in the State Of
New York We have now before us the Catho-
lie Herald of the 9th of January, 1884, which
contains an extract from the Catholic Miscella-
nv, edited by the Right Rev. Bishop England,
which we give below, at large. This paper was
placed in our hand by an Irish Catholic, who
vouched for the truth of the facts here stated,
and the paper contains on its face the evidence
of the truth of the charge then made. It was
not made in reference to Mr.. Van Buren, as
candidate for the Presidency. The fact stated
was given as part of the political prescription to
which the Catholics-to whom we arc indebted
for the first declaration of religious liberation
had been subjected The fact is not stated by an
opponent of Mr.. Van Buren,, for the purpose of
being used against him, but as an historical
truth, evincing the progress of religious liberty.
We will retain this paper, in our office, that any
one who doubts, may see for themselves. The
article is as follows:
From the Catholic Miscellany.
NORTH CAROLINA.
We observe by our papers, that the Hon VIM.
CASTOR, of Newbern, has been appointed by the
legislature of the state of North Carolina ts the
office of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, in
place of the late Chief Justice Henderson.
That this distinguished citizen should have
been invited and requested, as report says he has
been, to accept the place, cannot be a matter of
establishment. Few are probably his equals in
the sce-ice of the law; few have attained the
rank which he has long held as an advocate and
| l.. IL
reputation for integrity In the legislative as
sembly of his own state, and in the hall of Con-
gress, he has sustained the fame of North Caro-
| lima. And the voice of numbers was frequently
as.d, to call him forth from the retirement that
he preferred to eminent places in the office of the
general government And now in accepting the
station to which he has been elected by the suf-
frages of the Legislature, MIR. Castor makes
very serious sacrifice Of income.
The exhibition of the individual, however, is
not the object which we proposed to ourselves in
the penniDg of this article. We view the fact of
Mr.. Gaston's appointment as the vindication of
North Carolina from charge of most oppro-
brious nature. twas believed that by an unfor-
tunate passage in the provisions of her constitu-
ton, no Romon Catholic was eligible to any CT
vll Office within her territory. Mr.. CASTOR is
one of the most consistent practical members of
the Roman catholic church, at this side of the At
lantic. This fact was known to every member
of the assembly that elected him to one of the
highest and most important civil offices in the
state. And their appointment thus shews that
the passage cannot bear that construction. Nor
were they taken by surprise, for this has long
besn subject of discussion amongst the iurists
Of the state, and has occupied, to the writer's
knowledge much of the serious thought of Mr.
Gaston's two predecessors in the Office of Chief
Justice, as well as of other eminent legal men of
North Carolina. Frequently has it been discuss
ed in reference even to this gifted Of the state
And after mature examination, opinion has set
tied down into the result; that whatever might
have been the Intention of the trainers of the
stitution; if they sought to exclude Catholics,
they failed in their effort-and their bigotry was
baffled by their blunder. Thus the state is re-
deemed from the discredit in which it was sought
to involve her.
Originally, the majority of the States adopted
constitutional clauses excluding catholics from
places of trust or profit, but their good sense led
| to the repeal 1t is long time since Mr..
Van Buren,, at the commencement of his politi-
cal career, sought to exclude Francis Cooper, the
first catholic selected by the citizens of N. York
to their legislature, from his seat, because Mr..
| Cooper refused to take oaths incompatible with
This conscientious conviction: for New York then
| had Test-Oath as a qualification for Office, but
the legislature Of that state, in the cause OF Coop
err left the present Vice President in very sleh-
der minority, and the offices of the state as vel
as the seats in her assembly have since been open
| TO Catholics. We rejoice to see that North Car
DINA has been disenthralled by her Legislature
New Jersey stands alone. Yet perhaps upon ex-
animation her provision will also be found a
mere brutarll .tislnlen. Perhaps Catholics are
eligible to office in New Jersey, Notwithstanding
the disposition of the compilers of the consttu-
ton to exclude them.