Daily national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1854, 1854-02-03
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.

held in the city of New York on Thursday OF
last week, for the purpose of adopting, measures
to secure the influence Of our Government in
the protection of the principles Of religious
freedom, and especially in the protection of
American citizens in the enjoyment of their
rights of conscience and Of religious worship,
and to bury their dead in such way as to them
may seem most appropriate, in foreign lands.
In the call for this meeting it was remarked
that ~ the enjoyment Of these rights is freely
granted and fully guaranteed to all people, Of
all nations who, on account Of business or
pleasure, visit our country, and the reciproca-
ton Of them on the part Of others toward our
citizens ought no longer to be withheld"
The speeches delivered at this meeting, and
the letters there read, were Of an interesting
character; but from among them we select tho
following, from q statement made by Rev. DR..
Baird, of the Presbyterian Church We trust
this statement may be read by the distinguish
ed parsonage who asks, in certain letter Of
which M. Bedini has been the bearer, that the
President Of the United States will extend his
protection over Roman Catholics in this ooun-
try.
IT. In our immediate vicinity lies the island
of Cuba, in whose ports hundreds and thou
sands Of American mariners are annually to be
seen, and to whose cities and plantations hum
dreds Of our merchants and invalid citizens an
nually resort, in the prosecution Of business or
in quest of health. Many 90 thither to die !!
And yet, to this day, there is neither an Amer
lean Protestant chapel nor chaplain for the
spiritual instruction and care of our seamen,
and others of our countrymen, or for their gui-
dance and consolation in the most fearful Of
all hours-the hour of death far from their
homes and their friends When the attempt
was made a few years ago, by the American
Seamen's Friend Society, to have Protestant
religious services conducted aboard American
ships at Havann, the chaplain was compelled
to desist, because it was not only required that
he should 'domiciliate and take the oath Of
allegiance to the Queen of Spain, but also that
he should swear that he was a good Catholic
As these words signify Roman Catholic in
that land, no conscientious Protestant could or
holds good Of Porto Rico, the other principal
Spanish island in the West Indies
aThere is no American Protestant chapel or
it is believed that it would be difficult, If not
to establish one. In some countries
in South America as well as in Central Amer.
lea, there would be difficulties to encounter !;
vet they would be far less formidable it is be-
leved, than in Mexico and Cuba.
ain Italy itself, the central country Of Chris
tendon, with the exception Of the kingdom of
Sardinia, no religious service could be held by
an American Protestant minister for the bene-
fit of his countrymen, unless in the house Of "a
diplomatic or consular agent beneath the
American flag, and, as it were, on American
ground This is SO, even in Rome, the capital
of the Christian world, as some vauntingly
claim. Although the Roman Catholic Church
is permitted to enjoy, in these United States,
seven-eighths, at least Of whose inhabitants
are Professionally all the rights and privileges
that any Protestant Church does, yet Ameri-
can Protestants are denied the right to have
church in Rome, or even a chapel, unless ur-
der the precarious condition of enjoying the
patronage Of and connected with, the Ameri-
can Embassy.
aNor is the state Of things in Spain or in
Austria moro favorable than in Italy; in fact
it is less go; whilst in Portugal, according to
the new penal code, promulgated on the 10th
Of December, 1852, the celebrating Of public
acts Of worship not that Of the Catholic reli-
gion' is punishable with imprisonment Of from
one to three years, and to fine proportional
to the income of the transgressor Of the law
1t is obvious that Protestant church or chap
ell, even for foreigners, could not be opened in
the Portuguese dominions since this law went
into effect without mourning the most serious
risk. And all this done in the middle of the
nineteenth century, and by nation which owes
its very existence at this day to Protestant
England!
al. American Protestants arc exposed TO
insult and serious mal.treatment in Mexico,
Central America, all South America, Cuba,
Porto Rico, Spain and Portugal, nearly all cf
Italy and Austria if when they meet process
sion, with q priest at its head, carrying the
Host they do not render what are there con-
sidered to be acts of alteration, but which they
conscientiously deem to be idolatrous and con-
trary to the Word Of God. Every year the
truth of this assertion is confirmed by Disgrace
full outrages, in word or deed, perpetrated in
those countries.
all. As to tho burial Of their dead, Amer.
can Professionals find very serious difficulties in
several Of the countries just named Until
very recently-nor are we sure that IL is not
so still-they would have been compelled to
carry the bodies Of their deceased friends from
Madrid, the capital Of Spain, to Malaga, Glib
raltar, to Lisbon, TO find q burial for them.
English Professionals we're subject TO the same
shameful indignities. Even within the last few
months Lord Howden, tho British ambassador
at the Court Of Spain, has been in earnest COR
respondence with the Spanish Government, in
relation TO tho right Of English Professionals,
not merely TO have at Madrid cemetery,
(which, at length, they are permitted 70 pos.
scss but also TO have the bodies Of their de-
ceased friends carried to the grave in hearsr,
and proper religious ceremonies performed in
the cemetery, at the intcrment There il a
report that he has succeeded, but we are not
sure OF il.
"Iu many places in italy, American Protest
ants arc subject to much inconvenience in being
required to bury their dead at very unseasona-
BILE hours In some countries, through fear of
violence, they are compelled TO bury their dead
in stealthy manner, and almost as unceremo-
niously rs they would brute bcnst.
"a few years ago, highly respectable
American merchant fof neirhboriDp cityl