Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1855-09-20
Papai superstition Bishop McGiips
Letter.

tho epidemic al Norloih ""o "J"e6
by the Almighty to punish the people OF that
city for their participation in the American
cause. that Right Reverend Prelate has pub
lished what he did say upon the subject we
publish his letter in full in another column.
We infer from this letter Bishop Mcdins
meaning to be, that God punished ana re-
warded mankind in old times for their good
or bad deeds and that he performs occasional
acts Of the same character now. That tne pre-
vailing epidemic is sent upon us for purposes
of national chastiscment, and assuming the
Catholic Church to be tho only orthodox form
Of religious faith and further, that the Ameri-
can Order has been organized to prosecute the
only true Church--He infers that the Ameri-
can Order represents the special sin which Goa
sends the yellow fever to punish.
This is the second attemptto make the yell
low fever take sides in politics. IT was re-
Gently reported that the Protestant clergy had
fed from Norfolk, and tho nuns and priests
had filed their places. This was in due time
corrected. The death list showed BY Its melan-
choly testimony that physicians and divines Of
every persuasion had FASTENED TO the scene q
suffering, and died at their posts. Contribu-
lions for aid flowed in from every quarter, and
,hoso genuine Sisters Of Charity--the Ameri-
,.,n ladies of Baltimore, Richmond, and other
eities--not only ministered to the miseries Of
the HELPLESS and afflicted; but even contended
amongst themselves for the care and nurture
Of the orphans Of pestilcnce. These facts show
that humanity possesses no particular creed,
but all--Catholic, and Protestant, lay and cler-
nv, saint and sinner---haye done everything ID
their power to relieve this great calamity.
Bishop McGil next endeavors to make til:
vomito define its position. He gives it as his
opinion, that its mission is to punish the sins
of the American Order.
He adroitly employs an existing calamity to
prove to his own Church that God has taken
sides in this controversy. We quarrel with no
mans faith. II people choose to believe in
modern miracles, wrought through priestly
agency; if they choose to surrender the right
Of private Judgment, and resort to mortal in
t,rpretation--they have an unquestioned right
10 do so. Nay, more-it is our duty to de-
fend them in the enjoyment and exercise OF
that faith, howsoeyer variant from our own,
because they have constitutional warrant for
freedom of faith and worship.
But when the profession Of a particular faith
assumes that Professionalism is sinful, be-
cause a heresy," and the opinion proiessed
by large portion Of the people Of the United
States is>even yet more sinful, and worthy, in
~, a.:.;o,. ~ n;,;na r,,n;ob,nant n 10 of
this moment so gross an interruption Of those
active sympathies, which are pouring oil into
the wounds Of suffering community--it is
80 selfish an effort TO pervert common calam-
lily to the advantage Of a polemical party, that
we cannot permit il to pass without calling
the attention of the public to its injustice.
For ourselves we dcprecate the introduction
Of superstition which has been SO pernicions
elsewhere. If God Furnishes the political sins
of mankind, and priesthood has the right to
designate the particular sins, it must follow
that men are no longer free and fearless They
no longer form their opinions according to their
own conscientious convictions Of right, but
must wait the ecclesiastical exposition, fearful
that if they 30 astray, and maintain sinful
opinion, there win follow physical punish
ment Inflicted by Divine anger.
We consider the introduction Of supersti-
ton, as an element Of American politics SO
dangerous. that we must be permitted to show
the improbabilities Of Bishop McGills theory,
Ivy few contradictory cases which occur
T. us:
The cholera arose in Asia, it spread over all
Europe, crossed the Atlantic, and has become
permanent, though an eccentric disease Of
this country II has visited the foreign pop
ulation in Cincinnati, St Louis Chicago, and
elsewhere, we believe, with peculiar severity.
Other portions Of the United States have es-
capped altogether. The yellow fever is an cs-
tablished disease in the Southern ports and
countries Of this continent and the islands adj
iacent It appears periodically in New Or
leans and Mobile. 1t has at times almost de-
populated Pensacola, and its occasional visits
TO every Atlantic city prove that the ordinary
intercourse Of commerce, and the want of due
sanitary vigilance, are adequate causes for its
Introduction and appearance. The theory has
been advanced some time since that this dread
inl disease is making progress along the
coast Of the United States. II has in three
successive seasons progressed from New Or
leans TO Norfolk, presenting type Of peculiar
malignity, and inlicting upon Charleston, Sa-
vannah, and Mobile, fearful rayages When
the proguosis Of an epidemic has been pro-
nounced, when the law Of its progress docs not
differ from that Of other cpidemcs, and the
history Of the disease comedies with the pre-
diction, we cannot see anything except natu-
raj causes, either in the origin or the prcra-
lcnce OF the disease Wars, famine, endemical
diseases and casualties, are sent for thepurpose,
no doubt Of punishment, or TO add to the nor
nal ratio Of human mortality. But the motive
with which God sends these Affections is alike
inscrutabc to all men. Priests know, profes- |
sionally, less on the subject than the physician
the metcorologist or any other scientific stu
dent Of natural causes. These last men,
4 4. n -. nj