Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1856-03-05
KIRwAN on THE ARCHBISHOP.
THE ARcHAIsHoP THINKS HIS CHURCH IS
INCREASING: ElRWAN THINKS NOT


INCREASING: KlRwAN THINKS NOT.
"Archbishop Hughes, in his recent lecture
in Baltimore, expressed the opinion that the
Roman Catholic Church in this country ca n
anticipate little increase to its numbers or
strength from immgrationi and that the fu-
ture hopes of the Church must be based upon
its retaining its present numbers, and upon the
increase from conversions. He thinks the pre-
sent condition of the Church, and the numer-
Gus accessions which, he says, have been made
to it from converts Of American birth, justify
the most saDguine expectations in this regard
We clip the above from the papers, as
brief synopsis of lecture delivered recently
in Baltimore by Bishop Hughes of this city,
The bishop has so utterly fallen from the posi-
tion he once occupied, that his opinions, on
any subject, weigh not feather beyond the
iliterate circle of which he is the centre; and
on this account we might be excused from no.
tieing the above characteristic paragraph We
supposed, also, that his tremendous effort to
raise the window, and, with covered hands, tn
cast out that vile insect, Brooks, had so COM
pletely exhausted his powers, that should
not hear of him again, until they had sufficient
time to recover. We supposed that he would
have confined himself to the duties of his Of
flee, which are, mainly, mumbling masses,
watching the political vane so as to know
where, and for what party, to set his traps,-and
outstanding the income of the Calvary Gem
etery." We expected, occasionally, to hear
OF his gracing mass meeting of Irishmen met
to consult, and to fight, about the liberation
OF Ireland or q lecture in the Tabernacle, by
the poor, feeble, tickle, fallen Bishop Ives,
who has discovered since he hung his trinkcts
over the tomb of St. Peter, what blessing it
that printing was so long undiscovered,
ard what blessing ignorance is, because it
compels ignorant people to learn divine truth
from the priests lips, that cannot lie, instead
of learning it from the printed page, which
may lie - But the bishop has disappointed
our suppositions, and our expectations, and he
has venturcd another experiment upon the
credulity of the public, of which the above is
given as the substance. Let US briefly analyze
the assertions Of the pretentious paragraph.
1. ''The Catholic Church in this country
can anticipate little increase to its members OF
strength from immigration This sentence
is designed, no doubt, to lull the apprehep-
sions of Protestants, on the one hand, and to
excite prejudice against the Known othings
on the other. Many are alarmed at the inflax
Of tue squalid Popish population that infest
our seaboard, and that are crowding all the
ways of access to the interior of the country.
They are everywhere, like the frogs of Egypt,
and they are just as much, and as little to be
feared. Since the beginning of the Russian
war, and since the opening of the present ref
ormation in Ireland, and since the increasing
benefits Of the 'sencumbered Estates Bill''
there, have been made apparent, emigration
has been greatly diminished from ireland and
Germany. But when the war is ended, and
when high prices and low wages again rule,
the tide viii rise to its full again and papists,
as poor as priests can make them, will be pour
ed in shp-loads on our shores. And the par
tial check, for obvious causes, is laid at the
door of the Know Nothings, every one of
whom the pious bishop loves with the love he
bears to Erastus Brooks. Time will prove the
bishops assertions to be utterly baseless.-
Protestants need not be alarmed; but the pa
pists will come. And the more the better.-
And the Known othings have sins enough TO
answer for without having charged upon them
the effects of the causes above stated. We
have not a doubt but that one hundred thous-
and Irish in this country are now laying aside
from their earnings enough to bring as many
more of their friends here within the next
year. And every one .iaat comes will be sure
TO be followed 10y one or two others.
=, s'Thc future hopes of the Church must
be based upon its retaining its present num-
bers, and upon the increase from CONVERSIONS
Here the hopes of popery are made to rest up
on two legs. The right leg is, 'sretaining its
present NUMBERS that is, retaining those who
are now papists, with their children, and de-
scendants. But this is impossible. In Italy,
in Sardinia in Spain, and even in Ireland, the
most servile and priest-ridden country on the
globe, the church cannot retain the people
within its pale. They beard the Pope-they
exile his impertinent bishops who would put
the crozier above the crown-they send home
his Nuncios-they denounce the priests as
peridous robbers-they protest against the
dogmas and claims Of the church. Can it be
otherwise in the United States! Nobody
knows better than John Hughes the extreme
difficulty CT keeping even the Irish in the ira
ces here. Just rapidly as they exchange
their brogucs for shoes, and their native frieze
coats for broadcloth, and their potatoes and
oatmeal for meats and bread, are they rising
TO the region where men assert the right to
think for themselves. And when men think
for themselves, it is all over with the priest
If this is SO with the raw material, what must
il be with the children, brought up amid our
schools, and all our institutions, which are to