Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-08-18

ways justify their publication to the eye Of pru-
dence because of their tendency to create breac hes
OF the peace. IL evils exist, and the laws are
violated by persons In office, the law affords a
remedy: The Mayor or any policeman may be
| indicted for acts Of omission or commission; and
person who is unwilling TO take the response
bilitv OF legal proceeding has no right to the
sympathy Of the public when his violent Ian
guage has provoked, not justified, an assault.
eve have been and the community has been
long aware Of the Ill conduct of more than one
administrative and judicial functionary, but we
| have abstained from assaling the private char
acter even of public man. We have not thought
ourselves public censOrs still less tribunal to
Judge and punish. We can publish public
| things-we will never violate private character
We are of opinion that to ridicule and jeer our
hands Of those In power, and that scurriIity
however much it may increase the notoriety of
journal, does but little for its character Official
character we leave the law leaves 1t to the
judgment of the tribunal when invoked legally
and when not so fragrant as to require that re.
dress, to the unexcited opinion Of the public"
Now, as to the Americans charges of Sou
rility and Of assaults on private character, Sc.
1t is wholly uncalled for, none of the articles
In the Exchange, relative to this matter, at
least, contains anything Of that description
The first article was q commendable denun-
citation of outlawry, and a dignifed statement
| sAS pNO3C oEu OUfCtM cu0Iacter
Of member of the Baltimore police force.
subsequently, the editors of the Erchanee
have only denounced that gross injustice to the
community on the part of the Mayor, pslice
force, magistrate, and the States ATTORNEY.
which has saved the rufians from merited pun.
ishment. The only motives We can perceive
for the Amle1can's course, is, sympathy for
the rufians and the fact that the Erchaups is
its successful rival for the business of the CON-
mercial circles of Baltimore, and most pitiable
motives these are, truly.
The CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED
SrArEs-WNfnd in late number of the New
| York Heraidfhe following important and very
interesting (satisticaD synopsis of the progress
of the Catholic Church in this country:
"In connection with The LAYING of the corner
| stone Of st. Patrick's Cathedral, we published
Yesterday very Interesting sketch of the rise and
progress OF the Catholic Church in this city No
one can read that sketch without feeling Of won
| DER and surprise And vet the history of the
Catholic Church in New York is but a counter
part OF its history In the United States Fifty
years ago there were In the whole United State.
one diocess, two bishops, sixty eight priests,
eighty churches, two ecclesiastical institutions
| one college, and two female academies At that
Time the entire population Of the country was
| seven millions. Assuming the present population
or the country to be twenty-eight miliions-fvr
miilions more than the census of 1850 showed
1t would follow that We had quadrupIed our
population in the last half century Had the
progress Of the Catholic Church barely kept pace
with the progress of population, there should be
at the present day, on the basis of the foreyoing
statement, four dioceses, eig ht bishops two bun
dred and seventy-two priests, three hundred and
twenty churches, eight ecclesiastical institutions
four colleges and ei9 bit female academic, belong
Ing TO that denomination.
>" But how do the figures actually stand
why, In this single archdiocese they are more
man doubled, as we showed by our article yes
terday. In the whole United States instead Of
| four diocescs (Which proportionate increase
would have given) there are forty-one instead Of
eight bishops, there are thirty nine, and two
apostolic Wears; instead of two hundred and
seventy two priests, there eighteen hundred
and seventy-two; instead of three hundred and
twenty churches, there are two thousand aud
nfty-three, besides eight hundred and twenty
nnf stations; instead OF eight ecclesiastical in
situations, there are thifty-fve; instead of four
colleges, there are twenty-nine and instead Of
eight female academies there re hund red and
thlrty-four. In other words, taking the number
OF priests and Of churches as a basis of compu-
tation, the Catholic church has Increased with n
the last half century, seven times fast as the
population.
These are remarkable facts and statistics and
may well challenge the astonsh ment and consid
Grafton OF all men Towhat cause is this unpar-
aieiied growth Of the Catholic church in this
country to be attributed Tue PRINCIPAL cause
OF course Is to be found in the Immense emiprd,
t1on here from the Catholic countries Of Europe:
but still the Catholic emigration shouId hear IN
that OF all others the proportion of 10
one, to make that the only cause, and statistics
will show that no disproportion exists still the
Immense influx Of Catholics to our shores must be
set down as the ponde rating cause of this won
derful growth Of the Catholic church here
"There are, however, other potent causes that
have operated to the same end Catholicism has
Deem tue great conservative religion of the United
states The Catholic church will not tolerate any
Innovation u brushes out all heresies, and is the
foe to everything in the shape of sisms Aboli-
tionism and spiritualism It utterly discounte-
nances. Its confessional system enables IL to
detect ard weed ont the first traces of doubt or
inHdelity in the minds Of its subject: and hepr.
it is not liable to those OBJECTIONS which brs,k nm
all other churches into such infinitessinal parts
Thus while the Methodist, Baptist and other
churches, have broken to pieces on the slavery
question, the Catholics have stood aloof and
avoided the danger, and hence their church pre-
have described -
The Herald hits the nail on the head in
concluding that the conservative influence of
the Catholic church, as manifested in this
country, has, of late years especially, greatly
served to gain friends for it among those who
have aught to lose by the failure of the com.
munity to recognise the obligations of indvid.
uals to higher authority than their own pas
sions and prejudices, which, under the name
| OF religion, are so extensively pandered to ia
those sections Of the Union where so many of
the churches are in fact but little else, save
temples for the qualification Of the hatred of
their frequenters, and for burning the incense
| of praise to themselves. Thousands in all the
States of the Confederacy, educated to dislike
the Catholic religion intensely in view of the
fact that its influence is directly antagonistic
to that of the bastard esprit of the age
which teaches that man is accou ntable only to
himself SO long as he can manage to keep clear
| of the meshes CT the law have come to regard
| its spread here with unaloyed favor
Another powerful cause why the Catholic
Church is so rapidly increasing in all the ele-
| ments of substantial power in the land, while
| SO many other Christian Churches are losing
| wealth and their hold on the minds of men, is
| Of course in the superiority of its discipline
| and the completeness of the devotion of its