American Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1855-1860, 1855-06-21
KIRWAN'S LETTERS.
TO THE RIGHT REV. JOHN HUGHES, BISHOP
OF NEW YORK.
LETTER XI.

| LIZ EN- Al.
MY DEAR SIR.-In my last letter, l sub
mitted TO your decision the question
whetl er or not the Roman Catholic is
church of Christ, after briefly stating t
you how some things bearing on its truth
ful decision strike me. design the pres
ent letter to have no very remote bearing
upon the same question; and would asl
you to give it the degree of consideration
to which, in candour, you may deem it
statements entitled.
In reading the prophecies of the OLD
Testament, l find that they all speak will
the most glowing anticipations of the ye
future Kingdom of Messiah. That kingdom
was to produce the civil, moral, and spirit
ual renovation of the world. When
turn over to the New Testament, | find
that on the birth of Messiah, the Angel o
the Lord stated to the shepherds that he
came to bring them good tdings of great
joy which should be to all people. And
having announced the birth of the Saw
iour in the city of David, he was suddenly
joined by multitude of angels; singing,
"Glory 10 God in the highest, and on
earth peace, good will toward men," The
Old Testament and the patriarchs,
pophcts, and apostles, all unite in teach
ing us that the effect of Christianity upon
our world would be to restore it to its
primcval state, and to re-instamp upon the
heart of man the lost image of his Creator.
Now, how far has Popery fulfilled these
predictions, and the. reasonable expecta-
tions of the faithful, founded on them? In
other words, what are the fruits of Pope
ry? Our Saviour tells us that good tree
yields good fruit,-a bad tree bad fruit.
And with this test in view, my object in
the present letter is to state TO you how
some things strike mo.
What has been the effect ofPopery up
on human liberty? Permit me to use the
word liberty" in its widest sense. AS to
civil liberty, it has been its unchanging
enemy. 1t has never permitted spark of
| liberty to glow for an hour when it could
extinguish it. There is not in Europe, at
the present hour perhaps not on earth,
greater civil despot than the Pope. The
man that, in Italy, writes page, or makes
a speech in favour of liberty, must fly the
kingdom, or be dragged to dungeon And
we are to judge of Popcry, not by its
pliability where it cannot rule, but by the
way which it shows its heart where it
can do so without let or hinderance.
Kings as well as people have groaned
under its tyranny. Henry ". of Ger
many was made by the Pope to stand
three days in the open air, with bare head
and feet. Fredric l. was made to hold his
stirrup. lie caused Henry III. of Eng
land to be scourged on the tomb Of Thorn,
as a Beckett. And the present state of
Spain, Austria, Italy, show the effects of
Popery on civil liberty.
1t is equally the foe of mental liberty.
The Bible is without any authority,
save what your church gives it. And the
Bible must teach nothing save what your
church allows. And man must believe
nothing save what the priest permits.
And philosophy must teach nothing save
what the church sanctions. You know
that for this last offence Calico was sent
to study. astronomy in prison. Pure Po-
perry and real liberty, never have brcathed,
and never can, the. same atmosphere.
The principle of your church is to allow
nothing that bows not TO its yoke,
What has been the effect of popery up
on human knoOledges When Christiani-
ty like new sun rose upon the world,
there was much that might be called educa-
ticn in the Roman Empire. The obvious
effect Of Christianity was to extend it.
After the lapse of some ages, popery by
gradual stages crept, serpent-like, to the
high places of power. How soon after
wards the lights of learning go out; how
soon the dark ages commence and roll on
as if they were never to end! And those
centuries of darkness form the golden
age of your church. And what spirit
did it manifest on the revival of learning
in England after the sacking of Constan-
tinople, and at the Reformation? Leo X.
prohibited every book translated from the
Greek and Hebrew. This blow was aim
ed at the Bible. He forbade the reading
ofevery book published by the Reformers.
He communicated all who read an
heretical work. The Inquisitors prohibi-
ted every book published by sixty two
different printers; and all books printed by
any printer who had ever published book
of heresyl Nor has one of these prohib-
itions been ever recalled. At this hour,
the noblest products of human genius are
under the ban of your church; and the In
dex Expurgatorius is in full operation at
Romel
And what has been the effect ofall this
upon human knowledge? Look into the
countries; for an answer, where your
church rules undisturbed. The mobiles
and people, in Spain, Portugal, Austria,
Sardinia, Sicily, are sunk into almost the
same state of ignorance. Upon the intel
lectual degradation of Catholic Ireland l
have already dwelt The Book of books
which the Lamb died to unseal, your
church has re-sealed; it has laid an EN-
bargo upon human knowledge; it allows
the people to read only what it permits;
and it permits only what tendsto rivet its
chains, and to perpetuate the darkness
which is its natural element. When the
Reformation occurred, the retrograde
movement Of the world towards ignorance