Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1855-06-15
The Religious Question.

At the recent Barker presentation, IN New York,
the Hon. James Brooks Of the Express, was called
out, and made speech. In regard to the question
Of religious persecution, he used the following just
and appropriate language
81 make war, and am sure you make war
upon no mans religion. [Cres of "No, noll
What care you or what a man thinks before his
God OF transubstantiaton, or the immaculate con-
ception, or any of these technicates of religious
profession, provided he abjures his allegiance as
has been said before this evening, to all foreign
powers, spiritual aud temporary What care you
what he thinks Of the Virgin MaryY What care
you II he has his religious profession in Latin,
| instead Of in Anglo-Saxon EnglishY What care
you what he thinks of this transubstantiaton, or
| of this immaculate conception / A laugh. 1t is
not, then, to the Roman Catholic religion that you
and are opposed. Ii is not TO the religion of the
foreigner who comes here, but il is to his temporal
| and spiritual allegiance to foreign Power from
which we require his heartfelt aburaton. [Cheers.
All other religious bodies have abured that al
legiance The Episcopalians- from whom sPrang
| they but from the Church of England? From
whom was their organization but from some Arch
bishop of Canterbury, three thousand miles across
the ocean? But in l776, when we made our De-
claration of Independence, they abjured all tenn
poral and spiritual allegiance, and established their
own bishops and archbishops upon American SOIL
the creation ofther own American people (Cheers.
The abjuration of temporal allegiance, we are
often told though increduously on our part exists
on the part of the Roman Catholics 1t is not
enough that man is independent in the goods
and chattels of the world that he may possess
IT is necessary that he should be independent in
body, in spirit, and in mind also. Whenever the
Roman Catholics Of this country, adhering faith.
fully to their relgonfor their religion is better
than no religion In my judgment and opinion
whenever they will abjure all sorts of allegiance
whatever to the foreign dominion Of the Pope Of
Rome, and to the hierarchy Of Rome-to its spirit
ual and temporal subjugation-they will have done
what the Methodists have done, what the Episco-
paians have done, what the followers of Luther
and Calvin have done-they will have done in
1855 what other religious bodies did sixty or seven
ty years ago. [Cheers.
Let it not then be said that we make war upon
the Roman Catholic religion. Nothing would give
me more pleasure than to see every Roman Cath
Ole church among our Irish and German popula-
ton an independent American church, receiving
no archbishops or bishops from four thousand
miles across the ocean, not living and breathing
and existing only by the fiat of the Vatican, but
holding all their rights and privileges under the
authority OF an American government and an
American constitution. Cheers.
deny then, the imputation that any of us make
war upon the Roman Catholic religion. 1t is a
hierarch, and government and class of nobility
alien and foreign to our institutions, that ought
never to exist among US, and that ought, as soon
as possible, TO be overthrow. [Chcers. Let the
Irish and German people understand, that if they
are independent temporarily and spiritually of any
foreign power, we leave whatever they may think
of Reconsideration, of Latin Masses Of the Vir
gin Mary, and Of the Immaculate Conception, as
matters between them and their God with which
we have nothing whatever to do in our political
action"