Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1855-04-15


o,istcs lie good; aud fourth That he most fatal
heresy upo4 yarth is tie eiI~rt losuppEess t.ovghb
for il ieaas 10 siaeEy taal the shts and
relation ,ips mar lst it mus be gFanted ti'at
iFary poSsrup1sut hasttssilsi to p7oscribea man
for bis Ii5nish O. aayot fithg tya dsnyinslis
oiz uslip t may, By The sanne Reasoning, dispcs-
sess him Of his properly, cfhs right to edHcaiehis~
child, &c, as in Tie act aloye.
Grant that the monastic evidences Of Rsmanlsm
are desiipg 70 breathe their pestent'ai 'nhaehee7
upon this fair inheritance Of Freedom; admit thsts
the Ultramontar;sn Of councils bishops and priests
protected by The slipends Of Foreign A liances,
would SEEK to subyert cur free institutions, and
prowl here IS elsewhere over the ignorance and
degradation Of their kind believe that their follow
ers ard supporters generally have such lassude Of
the natural conscience as to fear 10 breathe the air
Of freedom; that they hang upon the smiles or
cringe beneath the fowns Of sanity hypocrisy
is this an apology for initiating them? Is our
strength in their weakness? Cen freedom be pre-
served by tendencies to brute force? Can man
be just to the slavery of his fellow men by becom-
ing slave himself? Can we be Protestants by
becoming Romanists? Most assuredly we become
such whenever and wherever we initiate their acts
ofrelgious intolerance; herpersecutions for opin
ions sake. Can the high stand of American In
tjtutions be preserved by descending in our policy
TO the dregs of humanity, now being consumed eve
rywheIe, where men dare TO be menf Can men,
who have come to know that Freedom is our birth
right from God, descend to initiate the miserable
policy of the ages past, by supposing that we can
preserve it by violating its privileges in others
| This is the question. Not whether Romanism or
Professionalism is the full measure of knowledge and
PURITY and UNITY, tat mankind can attain,
"world without end" Political parties may
indeed boast of an inglorious retreat from all the
honorable and patriotic purposes of their organza-
ton. if their brightest triumph is secret plotting
against the liberties of their fellows. Well indeed,
nav such combatants shrink beneath the vulgar
gaze even of those Catholics they would plumber
of their conscience ike themselves, they
have not the eandor to be free. What consum-
nation can they gain that will not be trophy of
shame and wrong? Is it Office? What patriot
would accept an Office won by the secret circum-
venting of men, whose glory is the concealment Of
their purposes. Is it the prevention Of emigration
| This is impossible; for God, who made the hearts
to seek home made the winds and waves that
bear them to our shores? Is it the destruction Of
| Roman Catholicism When were principles
ever Destroyed by persecution or infringe
ment upon the rights of those who held
| Their ?--all error must de--truth alone is eter-
| nal Or is tive blush to write it's it to show
the moral grandeur Of American Institutions, and
! the wondrous might Of American mind that it
must organize in secret cabals and meet at mid
night to devise ways and means TO profit by the
prejudice or laudable disgust of natirs Americans at
TIE superstitious folly and serve degradation Of
| the victims of foreign despotisms, driven TO our
protection and helpl VIII we perpetuate free
| thought by suppressing its expression? Would we
crown our brightest hopes by plotting against the
hopes of others7 Wewould then obliterate the hor.
rors of monasees and secret concaves of priests by
secret societies. We would avoid papal bulls by
pronouncing an edct that would Danish man from
the highest and hottest conceptions OF his being as
mani We would adju3ieate upon our interests by
| infringing upon the rights of another We would
emancipsle though! from the thraldem of tradition
that holds the soa lfeless as thetoy and tool of a
priest, by enslavinS it to the decisions of mid
night counselo Of secret oaths and concealed meas
ures of policy. Great advocates of the claims of
Protestankssul, tisse great promoters of the ele-
walton Of Humanity Great and noble undertake
ing; while syowing the capacity of man for self
government, striving to plaintiffs standard upon the
bosom Of the oppressed Aad this is called An,eri-
oGRi Were it indeed American, we might sing
the requiem of Liberty and bury the hopes of the
world