The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-08-07
little of the rack, the gibbet, and other inquisi.
fov.oI

little of the rack, the gibbet, and other inquisi
torial convenences ?"
ooh, no indeed, jamie not in this day
The rack and the gibbet, as your mother says
belong to the past; and can no more come for
ward into our times, in our land, than those
very days and years themselves, that are back
there, can come"
She said no more; for Mrs. Hadden came
in, with her large work basket in her hand, and
calling Mr.. Tillotson. the farmer, in from the
dining room, where they had been sitting, tell
ing him that he would find the sitting room the
warmest that cold day. We've been talking
about this Know Nottingham" said she to Ada
a. the latter was drawing up large chair for
Mr.. Tillotson Sand it is perfectly inconceiv.
able TO me how he can have such dread of any
religious Sect in this day. He don't know
that all the old barbariSns, those of Popery
and all, ESQ far as enlightened nations are con.
cerned, that is, have turned to mere petrifac-
tons away back there in their places; that
there they are, each in the self-same spot in
the earth, where it stood, when the spirit that
had, day by day, year by year, outgrown it, left
it, to enter fresher, more humane forms. The
spirit lives, you see, Mr.. Tillotson. 1t is the
same spirit living on, seeking its way to the
light, taking upon itself one form after another,
each form the legitimate one of its time, the
legitimate one of no other time. Don't you
see?n
"What do you make out to be the form, the
legitimate form, of this timer"
Mr.. Tillotson, by the way, although a well.
read man, so that he fully comprehended the
meaning of Mrs. Hsdden's long words, had far
less language than that lady, so that he always
stumbled upon undertaking to quote her liter
ally.
"Look about you, and see all that we are
doing, all that we feel, in this day." replied
Mrs. Hadden, speaking with the resdiest flu.
ency. awe hate the scaffold We hate it so
intensely, that we hate the law, the jury, and
the Judge, that place even the murderer there
should do it, as true as live, if didn't rea-
son and work upon myself. The spirit of this
time is an enlightened spirit. / hate to say
enlightened spirit for this is mere parrot
phrase, in the way half the people use it. What
| mean is, that there is light here, light there,
| light almost everywhere, so that, if one does
ever so bad deed-for instance, if you, Mr..
| Tillotson, commit a murder, ], at this stage of
! enlightenment, am not a blind brute, to Judge
you, without looking an instant at circumstan-
ces, as if you were a brute; to employ all the
brute force l can call out, to put you to
death Of torture the more torture the better.
People used to do this, Catholics and Protest
ants. People will never do it again, neither
Catholics nor Professionals"
Mr.. Tillotson was silent, thinking the matter
over; and Ada told Mrs. Hadden about the
Catholic editorial that was giving James 30
much trouble.
eyes, ] saw it. They showed it to me-"
said Mr.. Tillotson, turning again, thoroughly
aroused, to address James.
James bowed, his face flushed with excite
ment.
"That is nothing" said Mrs MADDEN. "Don't
you sect When | was in Philadelphia, two
years ago, l attended Catholic services one
morning, at St. Johns church, and heard
sermon from-I don't remember what the
text was-but it was some of those passages in
which Christ speaks of the kingdom of light
and the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of
this world, the kingdom of God. And the
priest Ia fine, venerable man he was with the
gentleness of John about him, and at the
same time the zeal of Peter,) defined what
and where the two opposite kingdoms are, of
course. Of course, believing, as 1 have no
doubt, he sincerely did, although was, and
sm now, sincerely sorry ter the nature OF hio
belief,) he could do nothing less than place
the church, the Catholic church, in the king
dom of light ali ont of the church in the king
dom of darkness-as be did, in plain terms.
He said, his voice trembling with his zeal and
emotion, You will ask me why say this to
you so often? My answer is, / say 1t SO often,
because it is one of the greatest and most sol
emn of all truths Well, so you see, all of you,
how it is with the Catholics. You see that
all Protestants are to Them precisely what those
we call 'impenitent sinners are To rs, who
are in the Protestant churches. Think how
some of US denouace and threaten them
Think whether we have any concessions to
make to them, as sinners, / mean, or eyer will
have. But who of US, that denounce and
threaten the most, that concede the least, ever
think of such thing as employing physical
torture, or any sort of mere brute force and
prescription, against them, in this day? You
all know, though, what we did, we Protestants,
l mean, to all the Quakers VIC came across,
less than two centuries ago. how we bapishad
them, put them to death, and hunted them, as
if they were mad dogs. / wonder if we would
do the same, in these times, toward any sect
that could arisel 4"
I" We wouldn't" began James, coloring.
"No!" interrupted his mother; "but we
are Protestants still, even as we were Protest
ants then. The Catholics would not, here in
this land, and in this age, any more than we
would for Catholics are men and women, Just
al Protestants are. Like us Protestants, they
are moulded to a certain extent, in all the spirit
and practices of their natural and social life,
and in a greater degree, no doubt, than we any
of know of their spiritual life, too, by all the
cooperating influences of our times. And let
mel
"You're-it seems to me, you're little too
fast there, Mrs. Hadden," interposed Mr.. Tillot-
son, speaking earnestly. at seems to me,
that while the great company of Professionals
comes forward more and more into the light,
the great entire body of Catholics stay back in
the dark; as Mr.. Gusts said-'In the dark
ness of which Popery was born, and to- -
Il wonder if Mr.. Gusts has positive histori-
cal information of the birthplace, or the birth
day, of Catholicism" asked Mrs. Hadden, pre-
pairing to 60 on with her sewing.
81 suppose not" answered Mr.. Tillotson.
1 don't suppose he knows anything about it,
any more than 1 do; and don't know but
very little, / confess. know everybody calls
it dark religion"
II don't know why it need be dark reli.
gion, to Us who can read and listen" said Mrs.
Hadden, measuring her seams. "Some of the
best and most learned men that have eyer lived,
the authors of the Port Royal, Pascal, Massil-
Ion, Nicole, st. Bernard, Fenelon, and host
besides, have written and left 1t for us, to read
what their faith is, aud their morality. Their
pulpits and their seminaries are teaching it at
this day, all over our land. We don't read, or
listen, this s true that in one sense the reli-
gion is Q dark oae to ~. Ada, DEAR" she said,
turning to her cousin, as il she ysnted to drop
the subject, "what can do With these seams1
There are as many lengths as there are edges.
It's the way l always spoil everything in the
cutting. always measure, too, twice as much
as you do"
Under cover of their consultation and adjust
ment of edges, James ventured to say
Esquire HALEY says their ceremonies
mummeries, he calls them-are the most ridie-
uloua of ANYTHING he ever saw"