The true Democrat., 1855-09-18
T lpltt tiIc DGlliOCIdl! John Wilson's Letter.

MR. EDITOR:-l have lust Waded through the four and half columns of trash which l find in the Shield of August 26th, having ap- pended thereto the name of John Wilson, This so called letter of Wilson's to the Presi- dent, contains more islanders and more calumny, than l ever before met with i'll double the space, so much so that would doubt its paternity, did not know that the principles of the know nothing party tend to absolute cowuption.-- The document is the result of d combination of a fair command of language, a vvidini3gina- ton, and total dostituriou of principle. Like every document that has come under my ob- servation, circulated by the know nothing par ty, it contains not more than one grain of truth to pound of falsehood
 One ot the falSeAoods that 1t contains, Is the charge that Catholics owe a temporal allegiance to the Pope This is iaise-John Wilson, or whoever wrote that letter, knew t to be false. It has been exploited a thousand times. It was denied in a council of the bishops and arvhbishops of tho United States, held at Bal tmorc in 1916, iu letter ny them addressed to the Pope, and by him approved and con- hrmed. It has been denied by every bishop and priest with whom l have ever conversed on the subject. It IS given the lie by the fact that every bishop and priest in the United States, of foreign birth, and who has been here long enough, is naturaiized; having taken the oath of allegiance to this government, and renounc- ed allegiance to all foreign princes, potentates and powers, particularly that to which they were subjects. It is given the lie in the fact that Bonaparte, a temporal prince, the Emperor of a nation of Catholics made war on the Pope, as temporal prince, took him prisoner, and held him as such for years, vet Bonaparte's Catholic troops never rebeled against him, ne- yer refused to fight their Catholic brethren, and we never heard of even single deserion. It is given the lie in the fact that other Catholic princes of Europe, have made war on the Pope, and their Catholic sub jects never deserted them It Is given the lie in the fact that the Catholic church inculcates upon all of her children strict obedience to the laws and government under which they live, and that every Sunday, in every Catholic church n the Union, in which divine service is held, there are prayers offered up for the temporal welfare of the tempo ral rulers among Us, and all those in authO- nty.
 And in this connecticut l will state that the term "aHegia1ace' has relation only to civil matters It is so treated by photographers; see Webster and others and is 50 treated in law; see Bouvier vol. l, page 93,-also Blackstone and Kent. Allegiance is ire Iuently used as
 
 Catholics recognize in the Pope; but it Is a msapplication of the term. Allegiance is the tie which binds the citizen to the government
 ill return for the protection which the govern ment affords him. owe allegiance, first to the State of Arkansas, then in all things not in- compatible with that to the United States- Catholics recognize the authority of the Pope in spiritual matters, but owe him no allegi~ ance.
 Another falsehood reiterated in John Will sons letter, is that the Popes nuncio, Cardinal Bedini, at Madrid, Spain, knew of the arrange ment of President Pierce's cabinet before the inauguration. One Kenneth Rayner is the au- thor of this lie and when called on for his au- thority gave Daniel M. Barrnger late United States Minister at the court of Spain. MT. Baringer wrote to Rayner, correcting this state- ment, but hesuppressed his letter. What Bar ringer did state to Rayner, as he now states over his own signature, is that before he had any certain news of the formation of the cabinet and while its constitution was still in doubt, and the subject of conjecture in the public mind at Madrid, he Cardinal Bedini,) told me that Mr. Campbell was appointed and was a Catholic, which was the first information l, Barringer,) had of either fact.' And he (Barringer) espc- caly denies that he stated that Bedini knew anything about 1t before the appointment was made. John Wilson may never have seen the denial of Barrnger, and may stand in the atti- tude Of man who repeats lie as truth, knoac- ing nothing about it. Possibly one of the car dinal principles of know nothingism.) But the editor of the Shield must have known of Barringer's denial, when John Wilson's letter was published.
 | It is with such falsehoods as these that this letter teems-so numerous that it would take a volume to refute them.
 John Wilson's statement of the rise of the know nothing party is as false as any other part of his letter. Perhaps when the know noth- ings arose, they never calculated to become an element in the politics of the country--were satisfied with carrying municipal elections in northern States. But the whig party and de- mocratic party had approached so near together in their principles, that the greatest difference between them was the name. The democratic party possessed all the elements of strength and popularity within itself, regardless of who should lead 1t. Its name gave 1t popularity with the masses, and its principles had receiv- ed the endorsement of an immense majority of the people and the States. The presidential election of. 1852, had broken the whig party in- to fragments There was no man among them with power and influence to rally them.- Though respectable party in each State, they had no national identity of principle. The re- spective leaders determined "that it would ne- yer do to give it up so, Mir. Brown"-never do to let the democracy remain in power without a struggle. As Whigs they could do nothing.