Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1854-12-13

Erfssly Tor seCItC1 wv lho prosecution ul
Ihonofaho purposes.
npi there arc evils resulting from such
\ sasociaiions which ought not 10 be over.
looked. In a republican government the
bAss Of our security is public confidence.
Y. Whaleyer strikes ot public confidence,
slf'k at republlcansm. When the whig
NWfty beats the democratic party upon an
jusue made public, the defeated party gives
*pp the contest as honorubly settled. In
surn he openly gains for his own party an
M equal triumph, and the opposition as quiet.
"a ly acquiesce in their overthrow. Ii was
done openly; they saw how it was done,
and are satisfied.
Bot IN the success Of secret political so.
cieties public confidence is undermined it
gives way; a reign Of terror commences /;
another SECRET organization, know some.
things, are organized and they too, may
triumph, and the dismayed know.nolhings,
may not so tameIy submit. They in re.
venge, apply the munitions Of secret war.
fare. Long before the charter was granted
to any of these organizations, midnight
was deemed an auspcous time for secret
dcpredatons, and no more powerful means
than the spark of fire, or the simple mod.
ern invention appropriately called luciler
matches, would be needed 10 assist in Sc
cret resistance to the superior trick of the
Y Victorious party.
No less sacred a citadel than the tenn.
pie Of worship and family alter will be
lighted up and illumine the earth with their
fires. Aye, sir, already has this internal
work begun under the auspices of this
modern institution Of retorm-already
have Catholic churches been burned to the
ground or battered down by the hands Of
the awless, irresponsible mob, patroniz zed
BY those graceIess demagogues who would
relorm the world and maintain the super.
excellent character of Christiangenllemen,
whilst they use for enormuos crimes min.
ions heated by mad ianaticism, the worst
and bascst of the whole family OF man.
Where is the church. burning to end un.
3 der the auspices of such aG extended, and
powerful, and sly, and hearlless band .
All Of your churches may lie in ruins up
on the earth. Then may your monster.
les and nunneres share the same fate
y By this time church.burning may become
fashionable, and the hand long trained to
incendlarlsm may with the same facility
Try his experiment upon the Methodist
n churches, which, like Catholic churches,
n may be devoured by flames. But the dwe.
\ lngs Of priests and the houses Of Meiho.
r dist preachers, may endure n similar fate
as they become subject to the overruling
mandates Of King Mob Indeed, the fore.
bodings 10 one accustomed to melancholy
} feelings are truly frighlf& To the sober.
minded the fearful results Of such organ.
izaiions promise no less than the over
throw OF our free government. 1t was
their secret political reformation which
preceded the French revolution, and con.
tnbuted to the trophies of Marat and Rob.
esperre. The results are plain and nat.
ural, and it requires far more Of lurlitudc
than wisdom to ioresee a nation Of Chris.
tian republicans giving way to vandalism
until she is overcome with a pure barbar.
quarters beneath the hospital throne of an
absolute dcspotism. 1t surely requires nc
vast stretch Inauguration 10 travel back
to the reign of our Catholic and Protestant
I English Kings and Queens, who have lel
nothing to posterity but Il loalbsome mem.
/ ory OF their prosecutions inflicted upon
Conscientious men for no other crime thar
The voluntary worship Of the living God
Indeed, sir, the memory Of the illustrou'
Calvin has been soiIed by the reflection o
prosecutions inflicted upon his dissenting
contemporary, Servetus. New England
N both the cradle and the grave of true LTD
erty, destroyed the portrait Of her PIym
outh land by interposing the trighttuI spec
tacle of hanging Quakers and Baptists 70
their opinions; and who that has absolute
power has not thus appropriated it onC
with a generous iorgetiulness these ou
mutual wrongs and mutual sufierings art
consigned TO oblivion.
What high.mnded, intelligent Catholic
or Protestant would see these scenes re
enacted upon the continent of America
though they were regulated by law? Who
in the name Of liberty, would seek thei
introduction by mob violence, under the
sacred garb of religion, wearing the sacer
dotal robes of the temple Of God! Their
may be wrongs in every ecclesiastical or
ganizution. lfthey conflict with the right
Of citizens, the law under our constitution
is abundantly able to correct the evil
they do not conflict with these rights,
remains question with man and his Ma
ker without an intervening power.
There may be a wrong in our law
which is not sufficiently scrutinizng an
severe in the prohibition Of the emigrato
Of foreign criminals; if that be so, Ie
those laws be amended, and every honor
able foreigner will rejoice in the dlstinc
\ ton which is made between virtue an