American Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1855-1860, 1855-05-10

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tend. Tie traveller in Europe need not be
told when he crosses the lines that sepa- 4
rate Papal from Protestant states; the OBJ i
vious marks Of higher civilization declare
the transition with almost as much, plain Il
ness as would broad river or a chain of y
mountains Popery, with infalIible GER
iainty, degrades man. Do you ask how?
In this wise. fnte eeR asA
1t takes from him the Bible, the reveal
ed will Of God, with all its clear light, with
all its high motives to excite the soul to
high and holy action; and without which
neither civilization nor religion can be long
maintained Papal countries are coun-
tries without the Bible.
1t withhlods from the people all right
moral instruction. 1t suppresses the
preaching of the gospel, and substitutes for
It the dumb show Of the Mass The Apos-
ties turned the world upside down by
preaching: but in Papal countries there is
generally no preaching. venture the
assertion that there are multiLudes of Cath
olc churches in Catholic countries where
sermon would be as great rarity
as would be the saying Of mass in
Scottish kirk! And is it not one of the
seven wonders of the day, that the prasent
Pope, the pretended successor of that
warm-hearted preacher, Peter, has preach
ed sermon, the first preached by Pope |
in three hundred years.! Could Peter re-
turn TO Rome, unless his long absence
from the body has cooled his generous but
impetuous spirit, l am afraid he would
treat his pretended successors as roughly
as lie once did Malcbus. lI
withholds from the people the benign
influences of Christianity, the great ele-
ment in the development of civilization
Il withholds the Bible--the sennon;-itI
has instituted worship which wants moth
ing of heathenism but the name;--that
worship is performed in a language now
unspoken by any living people;-it it ex-
cludes all reading from the people but such
as the priest permits--actihg on the priu
ciple that ignorance is the mother Of devo-
tion, it erects no school for the Instruction
Of the common mnd;--it substitutesathe
feast day for the Sabbath;--th saints and
Virgin Mary for the Saviour;--confessions
and penances, for faith in Christi
reverence for places, unmeaning rites, re-
, lies, for the fear ofGod. Sir, Isay it with
deep sorrow. Pope,y is not Christianity.
1t is fearful perversion of the religion of
God;--and for the evidence of these asser-
| tions again point you TO its influence up
. on the people where there is nothing 20
, eounteract it. 1t has degraded the once
noble Castilian until there is now none so
mean as to do him nce;--Italy, once
! the seat Of empire, it has reduced to fee
!, Ibleness;--and the once chivalrous Italian,
!. who carried the eagles of bis country TO
the extremes of the world, to an ignoble
. slave. And it has rendered our noble
= hearted, noble minded, impu,sive country
men, the hewers OF wood and drawers Of
!, water in all the countries to which they
/ emigrate. The degradation of Ireland,
: which has made it a by-word, | charge up.
! on Popery. If the priests of ireland WOE
q give the quarter of what they receive fol
# praying souls out Of Purgatory, to the sus
! tanning of common schools among the peo
: pie, there might be three or more sucl
,s schools sustained in every parish in tha
% bleeding, famishing, yet noble country
% and its sons would have an opportunity o
!. rising to. that position to which their ma
tive wit, eloquence and genius entitlt
~ them.
These, sir, are, in brief my reasons TO
! asserting that the effect of your religion i
/, to make the masses of your people super
4 stitious. They have no intelligent view
/ of God. They know nothiugabout the plal
= of salvation. Sacraments and ceremonie
=, exert an underlined, mysterious influence
# # The priest exerts ghostly, fearful power
40 before which the ignorant believer slayish
- " crouches, and of which lie stands ia
~ ~ more in awe than he does Of the God wh
ne has made him.
I 81 And the very causes which render tn
y masses superstitious, operate in an oppc
site direction upon the intelligent, an
&C drive them into infdelity. They reaso
Il about Your doctrines as the earl of Mu
'e, grave is said to have done with prize
IN who was sent to him by James II. of Ene
ne land, to convert him to Popery "Sir,
Gu said he, 81 have convinced myself by muc
reflection that God made man; but cann
lar believe that man can make God"
.LtI NV GEAR SIT, flhe udyS OF Iopefy ~
!n m numbered, The Bible is against it, C
lth ilization is against it. The mind of tt
as' world is against it. Good people now prt
me for its downfall as earnestly as they do f
III that of Mahometanism. II may live thr
= centuries yet to come; BUTT will be as ]
ra- daism now lives; or as Paganism lived
* * many dark corners Of the Roman wor
in- long afterits conversion to the Christi
me faith But my own fearis that the Pap
ers world, both as toits mind and its masst
q %ose will become suddenly .in6del, as in Franc
anl,e9 tne and then pour down its legions upon /
S'; church of God, to blot ont its existent
az The Romish church istone of the ''gat
&C. of hell, "twhich has poured forth armies
M the aliens in opposition to the church
- Christ; but it has never, norjwillFit ey,
ma prevail against it. a tsfae
u!- M '~r@ With great respect, yours,
MI KIRWAN.
nco ----l---- -----1 . -l----Z-
me Good breeding is q guardsupon I
s.A tl,ct -