The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1855-07-18

them more and more unapproachable by
Protestant instruction. twill create SYM
pathy, and thus open wide the door to
proseiytism, and it will put the Church in
an attitude far more attractive as the VIC
tim Of an unjustifable crusade than it is
at all entitled to assume from its intrinsic
charms. How long is the world to be
learning the lesson and never coming to
the knowledge of the truth, that all means
but reason and love to effect the opinions
of men, only result in strengthening at
tachment to their original convictions?-
The principle Of the opposition to Popery
Is vicious. and the more completely it is
carried into enr.ct, the more disastrous will
be the result. The more complete the
political victory over Popery, the more it
win be benefited. The only elective
as it is the only lawful, general, and per-
manent agency of opposition to the Popish
Church-is the true Protestant Church of
Christ under the various forms. We have
no RIGHT to complain of the inefficiency OF
a means until we have employed it and
fully tested all its capacities. Let the
people of the United States double their
support of the great domestic missionary
work, and they may safely abandon all po-
litical agitations against the Catholic
Church.
We object again to the American party,
thatit is condensing the Catholic and For
eicn element in our population into po-
itical body distinct from the mass of our
citizens, armed with all their power to do
mischief and animated by all that hostility
which is natural to men suffering under an
ostracism of their religion and birth, pro-
voked by en- attempted to diminish their
full equality with other citizens. Now
what does Know Nothingism propose to
do for the remedy of this evil which it has
created? It only proposes to render
Catholic and Foreign citizens ineligible
to Office. 1t leaves them the power to
vote, and the right of unlimited emigra-
tion in the future-the two great means
of mischief, if they are pleased to use them.
There can be no remedy for the Pope's
CONTROL over the catholic vote, except in
taking away the elective franchise alto
gether. Now it is, to say the least of it,
the most manly and honest policy to pro-
hibit the entry of q Catholic and For
eigner altogether into the country, and to
the rights of citizenship, rather than invite
them to come and then begin to annoy
them by whole series of political disabil-
tiles, which are assumed to be essential to
q defence of the Know Nothing creed, on
both the issues it has raised, is a logical
and q practical blunder from its own pre-
misses. 1t assumes in the strongest sense
of an existing fact, not as logical infer
ence from the Catholic creed, the absolute
incompatibility Of the Catholic Church
and the free institutions of this country.
This is its premise its inference is to rem
der the ,indevidual Catholic ineligible to of
fee; the true inference from the premise
as they construe it is, that the Catholic
Church ought not to be tolerated at ALL
On the other issue, the premise is, that
the foreign element in our population is
dangerous to the government, the inference
is, the reduction of part of the right of
citizenship-the ineligibility to Office, in
the foreigners already here, and an exten-
sion of the term of naturalization. The
true inference is the prohibition of our
emigration for the future, and the avoid
ance of everything that would exasperate
the foreign element already in the midst
of us; the careful observance of everything
which would tend to strengthen their at
tachment to the institutions of the eoun-
try. These are the results which logical
ly issue from the premises of the Know
Nothing creed, and which they are logi-
cally required to assume.
But they dare not do it: the measure
they propose to adopt-the exclusion from
ofice-is ridiculously incomplete as a
practical expedient: it is most impotent
and lame conclusion, as logical inference.
It is absolutely necessary, either to cease
this political crusade against large masses
of our people, or to make it effectual to ac-
cemplish, not only the ends it holds in view,
Dut TO pfeVent the lHcluenI evils tHe eHOrC
atreforn has created in its progres. Moth
ing short of far more effective diminution
of the common rights of citizenship than
has yet dared to assume the shape of a
public proposition, will meet the ends
which the American party are seeking to
accomplish 1t is absurd to admit large
classes of men to all the common rights
aof citizenship, except one, and that by no
means the most important one. IF there
is reason why they should be de-
prived of one, they should be deprived Of
all. Hit is right to allow them to vote,
it is right to allow them to be voted for;
the one right is almost if not altogether,
the correlative of the other. Any argu-
ment which would prove man disquali-
fed for Office, would prove him disquali-
fed to vote. There may be special reasons
why particular Offices, involving the repre-
sentation of policy, should be exclusively
occupied by native-born citizens; but is
very different in nature, and proceeds up