Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1855-01-26

against Papacy They are learned active, and
"poitic, too as any brotherhood of monks.
I" They need no such political organization to de-
fend their faith. "In the name Of their religion,
he exclaims, Task, why mol rely on GodF"F Sir
they have no right TO rely on God alone. They are
God-appointed sentinels.
Not to the slothful, not TO the incident, not to
the idle and lazy of his followers does God give
his rewards The servant who hid his talent and
returned it unimproyed to his master, was driven
away. He who had improved It, was made master
over many things, and admitted to enter into the
service Of the Lord.
Watch and pray" is the Divine injunction
which, If it needs any Interpretation, means HOPE,
and WORK. Shall the lion rely on his strength
and not use his musclesy Then the lamb could
devour him. Sir, there is a practicabiity in all
these Divine njunctions, which is well illustrated
by the lives of the reformers in the seepless vig
lance and active energy of their labors. This prac
ticablity is more humorously carried out by Crom-
well in his great battles, The renowned comman-
der always went into battle with prayer to Cod
but not prayer merely--his words were: " Bless
God and PICK YOUR FLJsrs." II was by this practi-
cal working of his faith with his ceaseless vigilance
and activity that he was enabled TO effect reyo-
luton which made his name immortal, and aided
|
tree Of English liberty And to this practical work
ing of the Divine inunctons trust that all Protes-
tants will bend their energies, and not be deluded
by any dream of fancied security. The Protestant
clergy are Godappointed sentinels. warn them
not to be lulled to Sleep warn them by the fate
Of Alectryon warn them by the fate of Argos; !
warn them by the fate Of the Improbable servant.
NO LAW PROPOSED AGAINST CATHOLICS.
But we are told that the constitution declares
II. .A.luvI h.. n
qualification to any office or public trust under the
United States" That in the first article of the
amendments to the constitution, it Is declared
:" that Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment Of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof" What is the meaning of this 7
1t means that Congress shall pass no law making
religious test q qualification for Office. And it
leaves every individual free to say that he viii or
win not uote for man for Office who processes GER
tain religious principles or holds certain religious
creed. ..al..3 ..asI s.a ,s.g w a
Does the American party propose to enact any
law to exclude from Office Roman Catholics? No,
sir. It says for its members, we will not vote for
Roman Catholics; and when we get the power,
we will, as party, turn out Roman Catholics, and
put in Protestant natives, as party rule--a rule
which has been exercised time out Of mind by
the Democratic and Wing parties in this coun-
try. You may call it prescription, if you choose ;
as rule Of action, by both the great defunct par
ties
/ have sworn, upon more occasions than one, to
support the Constitution of the United States, and
there is no clause in it for which have more rev.
erence than that which secures to all men the free
dom of religious opinions. The American party
will never infringe that sacred clause of the Con-
sttution. The war 1t wages Is a war for the free
dom of religions opinion 1t wars against the ty-
aar,iroa r,r;vslo0o
of laying pure Bible before the laity of the Ro-
man Catholic Church; and demands that they be
permitted to read and interpret. 1t aspires to
reformation of the schools.
We do not wish American children to. be taught
from their infancy to reject portions of the sacred
Scriptures and to "believe in apostolic and eecle
siastcal traditions" as their faith requires, as viii
be seen from this extract from the Roman Catholic
prayer book:
clesiastical traditions also admit the sacred Scrip
lures according to the sense in which our Holy
Mother the Church has held and does hold them, TO
whom it belongs to Judge Of the true sense and inter
take and interpret them otherwise than according to
the unanimous consent of the Fathers"
1t is time to dissipate these blind teachings. II
is time the young mind should be allowed to see
the beauty Of thought, the value Of logic, the power
of reason, the necessity of investigation.
What kind of freedom of religious opinion is it,
when the child is taught from infancy to think
alone through the priests? When Protestant books,
primers, and catechisms are torn from the hand Of
the child, and burned as heretical? When every
fibre of the young intellect is strung with the argu
ments of superstition, overpoweringly imposed by
the gorgeous displays Of the Catholic altar Of paint
ings, and music, and symbols.
propose no law to invade the sanctity of the
Roman Catholic altar to touch, with rude hands,
the sacerdotal robe. invoke public opinion. /
would expose its absurdties rebuke Its idolatries,
ridicule Its mockeries. Sir, TO see the unlettered
PERUVIAN bowling and kneelng to the SUN, and
worshipping 1t as the great God Of Light, an adj
mitted omnipotence, is not surprising; nay, sir,
there is something awfully solemn grand and en-
nobling in the superstition. 1t exhibits the open
and humble admission of an overriding Divinity.
But to see the best educated men Of the country
bowling down TO images, and baptising bells, to
scare a,cay, Nth their sotds the evi spirits Of the
air, Is indeed humiating But a week ago In
New York. this mockery Of baptising bells came
of with all solemnity.
Sir, We do not wish our children taught that a
bell can scare array the devil. We wish to teach
American wives that their husbands are their only
confessors American children that their fathers
and mothers are their only confessors. To correct
these evils We invoke public opinion, and proclaim
that we intend to practice party prescription. We
ASK no law OsH gtpe US pure odttot ooI' ..tsl r
And let no native suppose that he has before
him an easy task. The Roman Catholic Church
has already acquired immense power in America.
Their system is never to rehnquish inch of soil
They do not build log cabins to preach in they
make no perishable plank houses TO preach in,
they are not humble enough for that They
leave that to the hereficai Methodists, Baptists,
Presbyterians, and others. In their staggering
pride, they forgot that the fathers Of the Church
were Fishermen" and "tent-mskers" When
they build an edifce, its foundation is laid deep in
American SOIL and its spires rise high into the
American heavens They are already millions
This enemy is formidable. Then let every man
60 to work-let every Protestant be a sentinel on
the watch-towers Of liberty. ~
The Richmond Penny Post relates the fol.
lowing instances, occurring within the editors
own personal knowledge, which exhibit the
favorable sentiments many intelligent and
educated foreigners are known TO entertain
towards the American party:
"A gentleman, of Irish birth and blood but a
| man who knows something, sat down in our Office