The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-02-01
NO.. 1922.


Mr.. CHANDLER. Or, If the spirit of con-
quest and cruelty should seize upon the wearer
of the tiara, and he should seek to subjugate
Italy by improper assumptions, and, by crime,
provoke the arms of other nations against his
own city, l could look on the chances of the
defeat of his army as coolly and as compla-
Gently as on the misfortunes and punishment
of any other ambitious monarch and, safe in
my love of right, and in the enjoyment of my
religious creed, and the comforts of my home,
| could say, " Let the Voscians plough Italy,
and harrow Rome"
Mr.. Chairman, do not wish to attract at
tention by defamation wish to state simply
and distinctly, but very emphatically, what are
the opinions of Roman Catholic to the
influence of the dogma of Papal supremacy on
political allegiance and my own opinion have
given. But since some exception was made in
my behalf-an exception which / cannot adj
nit, though | thank the honorable gentleman
for the courtesy with which it was expressed
and since it may be asserted that as a republi-
can and layman, / could not be supposed to
understand all the relations and influences of
the dogma of the supremacy of the Pope let
me add, that what l assert as my belief of the
entire political independence of every Roman
Catholic out of the Papal States-poitical III
depenence, / mean, of the Chief Magistrate of
that State-is fully held, and openly asserted
and approved by every Catholic bishop and
archbishop of the United States
| have not time here to quote from the wri-
tngs of all those who have published their
opinions upon the subject nor shall | have
space to copy them in my published remarks ;
but l may say that such are the views which
have learned from them in conversation,
and such is the view of the late DR.. England,
a Roman Catholic Bishop Of Charleston, a
divine whose erudition and whose wellestab-
Iished fame gave consequence to all he as
| serted, and whose zeal for the church of which
he was a distinguished prelate, and whose
lofty position in the estimation of the sovereign
Ponhf rendered it unlikely that he would I'M
derrate the Papal power.
Extract from a letter of Bishop England to
an Episcopal clergyman, vol. 2 pages 25O-5l :
This charge which you make upon the Pa
pists is exactly the same charge which the
Jews were in the habit of making against the
Apostles. From that day to the present, we
have met it as we meet it now. We have a
kingdom. it is true, in which we pay no obedi.
ence to Caesar but our kingdom-is not of this
woodland whilst we render unto God the
things that are Gods, we render unto Caesar
the things that are Caesars To the successors
of the Apostles we render that obedience which
is due to the authority left by Jesus Christ,
who alone could bestow it. We do not give
it to the President; we do not give it to
the Governor we do not give it TO the Con-
gress I; we do not give it to the Legislature of
the Stakeholder do you nor do they claim
it nor would we give it if they did, for the
claim would be unfounded. We give to them
everything which the Constitution requires :
you give no morc-you ought not to give more
Let the Pope and cardinals, and all the powers
of the Catholic world united, make the least
encroachment on that Constitution, we will pro-
tect 1t with our lives Summon n general
council-let that council interfere in the mode
oil our electing but an assistant to n turnkey of
a prison-we deny its right, we reject its usurp-
alton. Let that council Law tax of one cent
only upon any of our churches; We will not
pay it. Yet we are most Obedient Pdpists: we
believe the Pope is Christs vicar on EARTH SUI
preme visible head of the church throughout
the world, and lawful successor to st. Peter,
Prince of the Apostles We believe all this
power is in Pope Leo XII, and we believe that
a general council is infalible in doctrinal deci-
sions. Yet We deny to Pope and council united
any power to interfere with one title Of our
political rights, as firmly as we deny the power
of interfering with one title of our spiritual
rights to the President and Congress. We will
obey each in its proper place, we will resist any
encroachment by one upon the rights of the
other. Will you permit Congress to do the du-
ties of your Convention?
Here is another extract from the writings Of
the same Roman Catholic prelate:
Kings and Emperors Of the Roman Catho-
lie church have frequently been at war with
the Pope. Yet they did not cease to be MEN,
bers of the church, and subject to his spiritual
jurisdiction, although they resisted his warlike
attacks. Any person in the least degree ac-
quainted with the history of Europe, can easily
refer to several instances. The distinction
drawn by our blessed Saviour, when he stood
in the presence of PLATE, was the principle of
those rulers. They were faithful to the head
of the church, whose kingdom is not of this
world, but they repealed the attack of an enc
my to their rights. You, sirs, acknowledge
the authority of bishops. Suppose bishop
under whom you were placed, proceeded to
take away your property; could you not defend
your rights at law without infringing upon his
spiritual authority? Are you reduced to the
dilemma of being plundered or of denying an
article of your religion? Can you not keep
your property, and deny the right of the bishop
to take it away, and resist his aggression, ut
the same time that you are canonically obe-
dent? Can you not be faithful to him as
bishop, and to yourself as man? Thus sup
pose the Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal
Church of Maryland claimed some right which
he neither had BY your church law nor by the law
of the State. You may, and ought to, resist the
aggression. Yet you would not be unfaithful to
him. Let the Pope be placed in the same pre-
dicament; can be faithful to the Pope and to
| the Government under which live. / care not
whether that Government be administered by
Papist, by a Protestant, by n Jew, by Mo
hamfnedan, or by Pagan. 1t is, then, untrue
| to'assert, as you have done, that consistent
atct md 1pff FIJI &c
Administration, must be incompatible"
DIR. Kenrick, Archbishop of Baltimore, one
of the most learned of the Roman Catholic
Church, asserts, positively, that the temporal
power of which we speak was never claimed bv
the Church, and he challenges the production
of single decree or definition in which this
power was propounded as an article Of faith.
"Such," says the learned Bishop, "dOes not
exist"
DIR. Troy, Archbishop of Dublin, in his Sup
plement to the Pastoral Instruction, saws, " The
deposing power Of Popes never was an article
of faith, or doctrine of the Catholic Church,
nor was it ever proposed as such by any coun-
| Gil, or by any Popes themselves, who exercised
| it."
Archbishop Hughes, of New York, is equal
ly explicit on this point. And might fill vol
umes with citations to prove my position.
A council of the Catholic Church in Balti-
more has expressed the same idea in the most
emphatic terms.
| Mr.. Chairman, since i began to speak here,
l have received treatise, by Bishop Spaul,
ding, Of Kentucky, on this very subject, sus.
tanning my view. 1t is timely and acceptable
Offering, by lady in the gallery, to the spirit
| Of truth, and her influence will assist to pro.
mote and reward attention throughout the
House, as the woman's offering Of ointment
from the alabaster box was scattered over the