The pilot and transcript. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1840-1841, 1841-01-20

I
cretary of State of the United States, charging
them ''with having interfered in the concerns of
the Church, in way in which he neither could
or ought" Indeed, he has gone so far as to OBJ
tain and publish tho opinions of two eminent
Catholic lawyers, to prove that their interior
enee with the ecclesiastical jurisdiction" of the
Pope in this country was unconstitutional. Do
you not see that the exercise of this 'jtaisdtc-
tior" may become oppressive to you as Catho-
lies, and that you and your clergy are deeply
interested in asserting and maintaining your
civil rights, free from any undue influence what
soevera The Inqu sition has contested the au-
thrifty Of judges, nOblss, kings, emPerors, and
even Of the Pope himself. 1t has set at defiance
the power Of the people, and its victims have
been protesting Catholics, even the most emf
nently pious, for pure religion, even in the Ca
tholic faith, hath invited persecution and pro
yoked condemnation. Il repeat, that speak
nat of the Catholic faith. l speak of the abuses
that have been praetised in the name OF the Ca
tbolie religion, and in conectisn with the fact
that there is nothing in the Constitution Of the
General Government, which can prevent the
| Rgta0iISnInCnI
grating it upon the constitution of any indii
vidual State, and that it is in the power oil
designing men, wherever they control the le-
eisIat1on Of single state to establish the lnqui-
sltion as part of its civil polity You, the Ca
tholics of the United States, as deeply inter-
ested as we, the Protestants, in preventing this;
and to discuss how far the purpose of Bishop
hail
ows this event, is a measure which you should De
the last to condemn 1t will not do for him to say
that the prejudices, which exists in the minds of
Protestants are unlounded. 1t will not do for
him, in his character of Inquisitor General, to
prescribe all investigation, and to daneunce all
who may question the integrity of his purpose.
We, the Protestant people of the United States,
have opened our doors, and permitted him to
come among US. He is suspected OF harbourlng
deep designs against our peace and your liberties.
It will not do for him, astranger, whom we have
made welcome, to denouncc us when we propose
to enquire into the truth ofthese suspicious That
he is suspected, he admits. Instead OF argu-
ments to prove his innocence, he gives US inso-
lent denunciation, and thereby confirms eur ap-
prehensions of his guilt; and it is striking Tea
ture of this controversy, that,as it was in Spain,
so it is here; to resist the authority OF the In
quisitor General Immediately brings up the idea
of the Scalp and the "gibbst," The power, by
which he now acts, is denunciation. As yet he
cannot go beyond this, but he has an organised
corps throughout the United States, more effici-
emit IN proportion to its number than any other
political body in the country, and that influence
has been brought to bear with all its energy, Tor
the purpose of crushing this press. 1t is intend
ed that l shall be victimiZed and held up as
warning, admonIshlng all other editors OF the
danger of daring at any time to question any
act of his, whatsoever. 1t is now no longer de-
MED that an association has been formed in Eu-
rope under the especial auspices of the Emperor
of Austria, and under the guidance Of Prince
Metternich, for the spread OF the Catholic reli-
gion in this country; and it has been directly
charged that the objects Of this association is the
overthrow Of our free institutions. When we
see the combinations which have been formed In
Europe, and the bearing which they have upon
public liberty-when we look back upon the
history of the Roman Church, and more esPe-
cially on the history of the inquisition, and con-
slider the prosecutions of the Moors and of the
wealthy JOYS Of Spain, we are admonished oil
the necessity Of constant vigilance confess
that new views have been presented to my mind
The danger is startling, and the people of the
South especially have great cause for alarm
! The Ineuisition is an organized Political body.
1t acts with deliberate purpose. its approaches
are slow but constant Backed by he'power Of
the Holy Alliance, it is not surprising that they
should entertain a purpose of obtaining Politi-
cal control ip this country. With large sur
plus population, whose condition would be great
ly improved thereby, thsy can pour in upon us
a tide of emigration, which, taking possession Of
the northwestern States, will become appropri-
ate instruments in the hands Of designing men
4 Tor converting our government into despotisni.
This, once established, the Roman Catholic re-
ligion viii be established with it, and all the
horrors of the Inquistion must follow in its train
Bishop England is already the Legate of his
Holiness, the Pope, clothed with full power to
build pp Q national church in Hayti. In his
liefter in reply to Mr.. Forsyth, be asserts the
power of the Pope to "Iegislate" on the subject
Of slavery and the slave trade, and insists upon
the obligation ofsuch "legislation" upon Catho-
lie communities. The Pope has already required
the Jesuits to dispose Of their slaves, and pas,
upon one occasion at least, attempted to exer-
else civil jurisdiction in relation to private
property in the United States,
Who does not see in these things the elements
ofa power, which may hereafter desolate our
Hand with the flames of civil war, for the pur-
pose of oy erturning our free institutions. And
it is for sounding the alarm in the sight of these
dangers--it is for proposing to disenss the truth
ofgthese propositions, that | have been denounc-
| ed and proscribed by committee constituted