Washington sentinel., 1854-07-18

is a secret society bound together by the most
solemn and terrible oaths-l kaoic not its name
-llaughter.J Inquire of whom you may, and
the answer will be " ] don't know" Roars Of
laughter.l And from all the information I can
get am inclined to believe that know moth
ings" is their name. Tremendous roars Of
| laughter.
was about to say, and presume that the
facts connected with your recent election in
this city have furnished you with sufficient eyi-
dence upon the subject have been informed
that there exists in the bosom of this new poiti.
cal organization, a secret political society.
bound together by the most terrible oatl,s, to
prescribe every man, whether naturalized or
not, or whatever his political or religious senti,
ments, who had the misfortune to be born in o
foreign CLINE, and, like our ancestors, driven
| by political or religious prosecutions to flee
from their native land and seek an asylum in
America. lsthere such an organization among
you? Cries of "yes,n eyes" "There isl
| There is.n]
| 1t is also said, and with how much truth you
have much better opportunities of knowing
than i Tor OF this 4 kaoaonothing, Iroars Of
laughter, that this secret society which controls
the nominations and directs the movements of
the allied forces against the democracy, binds
It's members by the most solemn obligations to
prescribe every man who worships God accord
| ing to the Roman Catholic faith, no matter to
what race he may belong or where he was born.
| LCries "That is it" "They do" They do.nl
tits also said that your recent city election
was controlled by this society-that your city
government is now being managed under its
auspices, and that the whole patronage of the
city is distributed under its direction and an
accordanes C; ~iM as principles o prescription
lCrles THAT is So" ut is" " 1t is" from all
sidesI
This secret society whose members profes s
TO know nothing" with the view of concealinp
their political designs are said to have their
branches and auxiliary societies in every citv.
town, and village, AID to be in alliance with
this great northern sectional party, which pro.
claims open war upon the institutions of one-balf
OF the States and upon the Constitution of the
United States isnotsurprisingthat apolitical
society, whose efficient secret Organization en-
ables them to conceal their plans while tbev
hold out inducements of power and patronage
to persons to assume their proscriptive obliea.
tlons with the assurance that they can conceal
the hand which strikes the blow, and thus avoid
the odium and responsibility of the act. while
they revel in the spoils of victory--I saw it is
not surprising that such political organiza-
ton should prove formidable and even irresisti.
bic in Its first eforts, when the specific objects
and principles Of the society were unknown 10
the community and before the people could be
aroused to a just sense of their danger
speak of the society and of its principles Of
action here ard wherever else they have
triun1phed in The recent elections; for I am
not aware thst / am personally acquainted
with any one nan who has taken upon himself
their obligations and enrolled his name upon
their books
No principle of political action could have
been devised more hostile to the genius of our
institutions, more repugnant to the Copstitu.
ton than those which are said to form the test
OF membershiP in this society of know moth |
ings." 10 prescribe man in this country on |
account OF his birth place or religious faith is
subversve of all our ideas and principles of
civil and religious freedom. 1t is .revoltino to |
our sense of Justice and right 1t is derogato-
ry to the character of our forefathers. who
we're all emigrlnts from the old world. some at
an earlier ant some at later period. They |
once bore allegiance to the crowned heads OF |
Europe. The, too, suffered the torments of I
civil and religious persecution, the fury of |
which tore then from their native homes and
forced them to seek new ones on the shores of |
America. lnceed, the settlement Of this CONT
nent, the deveopment Of the thirteen united
colonies, the declaration of independence. and
the establishment of this glorious republic.
may all be trieed back TO the accursed sp;rit
OF persecution The Pilgrim fathers fed be.
fore their Prosecutors from England to Hol.
land, and theice TO Plymouth rock, that thew
might be permitted to worship God apreeably
to their own faith. The same spirit com pelled
the Quakers to seek refuge in the wilderness
under William Penn, whose name they inn
parted to the coIntry they inhabited, and from
which the good I'D commonwealth Of Pennsyl.
yanla has arisenin her glory and majesty.
lour own BEAUTIFUL city of Philadelphia
STANDS living monument, and trust it may
stand an eternal monument, Of their gratitude
to God for having removed them from the
scenes OF their tnubles to quiet and peaceful
home on the bans Of the Delaware, which, in
the tullness Of thar hearts and in faith that the
spirit ofreligious ,ersecution would never again
reach them nor ipring up among them, they
called the 'CITYo' BRoTHERLY Love" [Cheers
and applause.
The Catholics, Who in turn, were oppressed
and pursued by.hose who had felt the rod of
their power, found an asylum upon the banks
OF the Chesapeake,and called their little colony
after their favorite Queen Mary, to which cir.
cumstance the Suite of Maryland owes her
name and her Origin.
The gallant cayaiers who, after having per-
secuted the pilgrim and driven them from the
kingdom under Chses l., we're in turn routed
and pursued by Cromwell with his invincible
army of Round Hads, until they fed to vir-
glniaa, where they established the Church Of
England.
The Huguenots, Who settled in South Caro-
Iina, were also refugees from religious perse-
cutlon. Thus it wi be seen that the different
colonies were the representatives Of the various
religious sects in Erope, who bad each been
prosecuted and hadnearly all prosecuted each
other IN turn, until, y the strange vicisstudes
OF fortune, they wen driven from their native
land and forced to eek an asylum upon this
continent, where eaa could be protected in the
worship Of God in lccordance with the faith
ne had embraced. In proportion as they be-
came tolerant and ust in matters of religion
they became libera and enlightened in respect
10 the true principles Of civil government.
when the revolution broke out, Ia defence Of
their civil and political rights each and all Of
these colonies rallid under the banner Of their
common country. The revolution established
their independence by converting the depend
ent colonies into distinct sovereign States. !
L et twas not untilhe adoption of the Constitu.