New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-11-22
WHITTIER WE TEND,

The patry, canupg drlVel ABOUT counting the
"Iri.h vote" has very nearly exhausted itself
and we may now fairly ask rejecting aud liberal
Protestants to consider what 10 to be the effect Of
the "Know Nothing" crusade on the Roman
Catholic portion ofour people.
Let it not be forgotten that there is no question
now in order as to the propriety Of having Cath
olics among US. They have been settled within
the original Thirteen States more than two hun.
dred years, and within the present limits Of our
Union still longer. There are Catholic congre-
cations now worshiping in these United States on
ground which was consecrated TO religious uses
by Catholic priests before the Msyfower landed
her precious cargo on Plymouth Rock-before the
Cavaliers made their first settlement at James.
town. No buildings but savage wigwams existed
on this Island long after Catholic churches were
filed with devoted worshipers at ST. Augustine,
at Santa Fe, and at other points within the bound
srie, flour Union. The right of those who choose
to worship God after the Catholic ritual is neither
stronger nor weaker on this account but it lie sb-
surd to call the faith and worship of the fret civ
ilized settlers of this country an alien religion"
or the fellow citizens and fellow Christians OF our
Chief Justice and Postmaster. General "foreign-
GERS" Their religion may be very bad one;
but it certainly is no novelty here, and it is not to
be exiirpated by political demonstrations and the
lottery of the ballotbox. five desired to punish
men directly for being Catholics, the Federal
Constitution happily would not let US. The Cath
olics are here and will remain here-some Three
Millions in number and rapidly increasing. How
do you expect to diminish this number or weaken
the tenacity of their adherence to Rome
Unless all History be lie, you Twill accomplish
nothing by persecution, whether with thumb
screw or ballot. Even if you could thus induce
few hypocrites and timeservers to slough off from
the compact body, you would rather strengthen
than weaken it by the operation. An honest man
will not be prosecuted out of even bad church,
much less into better one, You may silence him
by force, but you do not thus convince him. The
doctrines he held ooldly or formally become en-
desred to him by suffering for their sake his buru
ing hatred of his prosecutors warns into zeal his
attachment to the creed for which he is stigms-
TIED. and the Indifferent or skep.ical believer
becomes deyotee and fanatic under the i'm
pulse of the fires intended to roast his creed on.
of him. Such is the general rule.
Now it is easy to say, I'VE don't persecute
"we war ON no mans rights we only refuse our
"votes to men We deem unfit, &c, &c, but
nobody is deceived by this. If you proclaim
class or sect unworthy of Office because of their
church or creed, you do prosecute, and every im-
partial observer perceives it. Whenever a ma
jority Of the people shall see fit to make the re-
lieious convictions of the minority reason for
their exclusion from Office, there will be planted
root of bitterness from which will spring upas
to overshadOw and poison our children's children.
We have promised that the Catholics are here
that they are rightauy here-and that they
cannot be annihilated nor exled What are We
to do with regard to them
Our answer is-Treat them exactly as we do
other people. Conceie, to the fullest extent,
their right TO be here and to believe as they
see fit. Invite and urge them to send their chill
dren to our schools, and do every thing possible
10 instruct enlighten, and Americanize them.
"i'e them every possible reason to love our COM
ny and delight in her free institutions. And
men, IL 'here be anything despotic, intolerast
oehgn'ta and retrograde in the genius or policy
OF their Church, they viii either remodel il in
accordance with their better ideas, or they will
come out of it, So sure are we of this thai ua
are willing to make any concession 70 get the
Catholic children into our Common S,hoo,s .nd
have them educated there. Ii the n.-e,,, 80.
still Irish or Germans, we deem il more inn.
portant that no e1ertiOn be spared to make the
children truly Americans. He who obs.ruct.
this by insisting that the Catholic children shall
be constrained to listen to the reading of any
Protestant version Of the Bible, or to any reI-