, 1860-02-28

An American DEMOCRAT Apr.nudinE
The Sacrtlc~c.

Editors Press and Tribune:
In your paper Of yesterday, under the head
of"An Inquiry" you ask if any ofyour readers
have "auywhere seen detailed account ol the
recent Bible burning. by order Of IN Archbishop
ut Bogota, which was Witnessed by Drigadicr
General George Wallace Jones, late Senator in
Congress from Iowu, aud now Minister Plenipo-
tentiary aud Envoy Extraordinary to New Gra-
nada, without word OF remonstrancc i'll tile
name of the Bible reading people whom he rep
resents, &C., and where IN account Of the same
CHI be founiy'
In response to this inquiry, would say TINT
have both seen and read number Of accounts
Of the bible burning which Tou refer to, in ya-
rious newspapers, both secasar und religious,
and that you will find reference to the subject
{and the first which saw in the n. \. Ddity
Tins of JAM 81, 1860, and which is contained
in letter from the regular correspondent OF
that paper from. Panama, who signs Ills name
"F. ". r." and whose communications have
long been considered Of high character. His
rcfcre- &C 10 the subject is in the following lam
guage: tin Bogota it appears the priests hare
''beeM amusing themselves by burning Bibles.
"a Mr.. Duf1icld, agent Of British Bible Society,
"has for the past three years driven brisk
"traac ut Bogota, Quito and Lima By the
"sale of Protestant Bibles. 1t is said all these
"Bibles that could be collected were piled up
sin front Of tho door Of the Archbishop, and
"made big bonfire Of, by his order. ataid great
"rejoiciug on the part Of the people, music,
"kc" The same correspondent, in writing to
The same paper, and whose communication can
be found in the n. y. Daily Tiim.s, Of Feb. II,
1860, again refers to the same subject, in the
following language: "The Titmpo notices the
"Iute Bible burning in Bogota, of which in
"formed you in my last, us follows: The Arch
bishop and his clergy attracted crowd OF
"tlc curious, who, instead Of hanging their
"heads in shame, helped him to burn in front
"uf his palace, eight hundred volumes OF books
"wh,ch they said were prohibited, probably be-
"csuse they contained the truth. They we're
"libles, without notes, as they were translated
.from the original, works Of Gibbon and Of
" Guizof, Of Dumae, and Sue, and VIC do not
"kpow what other authors. How anxious some
*iolks are that nc should return to the epoch
':of the ferocious inquisi.ion! 1t is q shame
"that such an outrage should occur among the
"thc people Of this continent, aud this when it
ais claimed that we are advancing in intelli~
cencc aud civilization. Superstition hns
"rcachcd u point here, in certain circles, hu"
Initiating to the country. We learn that
"thesc sumc clergy, with sticks in hand, stirred
| cup the fire, md that guard furnished by the
authorities, kept space clear for t@cir opera
tious To characterize acts like these, lau-
ruase is at fault" Mr. "F. IF. r." then con-
t;uues: "a letter from I'll officer Of the United
estates sloop-of- war l'rcb!c, lately at Cartlla-
| ".sna, says that the British C'saryt protested
!" against the act, but the United stat<s Nais'*r
"rtsident, Hon. George ". Joa's, late United
estates Senator from Iowa, attended fh+ .}ttt.
and tootti on ,riA eriitat *ati* *faetion. fthis
..be 50, it is only another evidence OF the cor
/ ".cctncss Of the opinion with which have be-
| q cou,c Impressed from long residence in
4s Catholic countries, that if the United States
"must send diplomatic agents Of that faith
| abroad, they should be sent to Protestant
"couutries." You will see By the same letter
| TINT our Minister resident to Guatemala and
t Honduras, Hon. Beverly l.. Clark Of Kentucky,
bas recently entered the Catholic Church, and
that the ceremonies Of abjuraaion Of the old,
| and tile confession Of the new, faith, was per-
forn,e,, in the cathedral Of the city Of Guatema'
Ia with great pomp and parade.
The aboye ACCOUNTS arc the only ones which I
have now at hand, although have seen refer.
cnce 10 the same thing in other newspapers. l
NH glad to render any assistance which can,
to call the public attention to an outrage so re-
voting to the moral aud religious sentiment Of
the uge, Us is herein referred to, and trust that
our Government is not get quite SO lost to all
dccency as to permit on occurrence Of the Kind
to pass unnoticed.
Thesta,cmcnts made by "F. ". T., as to ths
conduct Of our Minister resident. hon. George
W.<Joncs, should command some attention, &c
I hare no where seen them commented upon O.
refuted. Very respectfully. yours, ETC.,
ELLIOTT ANTHONY.