American Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1855-1860, 1855-11-29

spiritual power ofthe Pope can give no Sc
-curity of their allegiance to any govern
mentI but all Roman Catholics acknow-
ledge this; therefore they can give no secu-
rity for their allegiahce.
PThe power Of granting pardon for all
sins--paSt, present,and to come-is, and
has been, for many centuries, one branch
Of his spiritual power But those who
acknowledge him TO have this spiritual
power can give no security for their ale
glance, since they believe that the Pope
can pardon rebellion, high treason. and all
other sins whatsoever. The powar Of dis
pensing with any promise, oath, or vow, is
another branch of the spiritual power of
the Pope, and all acknowledge his
spiritual power must acknowledge this
But whoever acknowledges the dispensing
power ofthe Pope can give no security for
his allegiance TO any government. Oaths
and promises are gone; they are light as
air-A DIsPENsArIoN MAKES THEN ALL NULL
AND VOID. Nay, not only the Pope, but
priest has power to pardon sins
"This is an essential doctrine of the
Church of Rome. Bat they that acknowl.
edge this cannot possibly give any security
for their allegiance to any government.-
Oaths are no security at all; for the priest
can pardon both perjury and bigh treason.
Setting their religion aside, it is plain that
upon principles of reason, no government
ought to tolerate men who cannot give any
security to that government for their ale
glance and peaeeable behavior. But this
no Romanist can do, not only while he
holds that mo faith is to be kept with her
etics," but SO long as he acknowledges Ell
ther priestly. absolution or the spiritual
power Of the Pope.
"If any one pleases to answer this, and
sign his name, | shall probably reply. But
the productions Of any anonymous writers
| do not promise to take any notice of.
'"I am, sir,your humble Serv't,
"JoHN WESLEY.
"City Road. Jan. 81, 1789."
Knox and Wesley were right. Perse-
cution (if you call II by that name) never
aided bad cause. Henry VIII crushed
the power of the Pope in England with
scarcely an effort. Bloody Mary revived
it. When Elizabeth assembled the throne.
she laughed at his Interdcts, and her sub
jects followed her example. The law
made and rc-nade Catholicism at pleas
ure. Ireland is no exception. There
indeed they clung to the national faith
with moro tcnacily than elsewhere But
\ it must be remember that the laws to
suppress it were not Irish laws. The
Priest found his most efficient ally in the
universal hatred of the oppressor. If
their own parliament, unfettered by Eng
land, had enacted the same statutes, they
would have been received without ques
ton, and enforced without difficulty
Even as it was, however hateful the source
from which the law sprung, it did much
to cripple the cause Of Rome. Before
England changed her policy, and passed
What is called the Emancipation Act"
there were but seventeen Jesuits- in Ire
land. Since that act of federation the num-
Der has swelled to four hundred: A fact
so full Of meaning ought not to be over
looked and cannot be misunderstood.
Another objection to this Popish argu'
ment against persecution is that it assumes
the total deprayity of the American people.
1t says in so many words that they are
ready to prove recreant to Heaven if it will
advance a party purpose that because
one party assals a religion which they be-
lieve to be false and blasphemous, the 9TH
er party although equally opposed to it
will encourage and defend it, in order to
prevent party injury to themselves, or
to inhict one upon their opponents. l
think better of my countrymen-I hope
they think better of themselves, and that
they will repudate the leaders who. by
the use of such arguments plainly show
how low is the estimate they place upon
popular intelligence. and popular virtue
If all are not protesting Christians-if
many have grievous sins 10 atone, there
are yet none l trust without the hope OF
redemption through the SAVIOUR. Blot out
that hope. and existence becomes rayless
and cherries. Every flower loses its, per-
fume, and every star that gems the Heav-
ems speaks only Of eternal torture. 70 bar
ter il away, and for less than mess of
pottage; is folly too wild. sin too insx
piab!e to command my belief updn any
human evidence. $40 .atl a'lf
Your letter, General, reminded me Of the
course of the school boy, who in getting
his lesson skipped Tie hard places. Allow
me to say, without the least disrespect,
that you did good deal Of Skipping
T Among other hard places, was the claim
of temporal power on the part of the Pope,
You could not deny, and you would not
admit. The denial of any such claim on
the part of the Pope was; | think. first
made by Mr.. Chandler, in the House oI
Representatives, and you recollect the kind
of proof he adduced to sustain him. The
Catholic cause was on trial before tho Par
lament of Britain, and the Church fur
nished the evidencs for itself. There
would be little need for our criminal courts
if the offenders own statement was suffi-
cient to justify acquittal. Iprefer to rely
upon testimony of less equivocal charac,
ter. s.4-. l1t sH- II
For the frst six centuries after the deatl
, of the humble fisherman whom the Pope;
5 professed to take rs their model, and the
. founder of the Church, they made bu
r little pretention to temporal power. Bu
as time wore on, corruption after corrup
ton and error after error crept in. They