Delaware State journal and statesman., 1861-10-15

ne .s' pe sifeh ny genius IN authority, and II
e, either from the lips of the President or the Col
u mander-n-Ch of our armies. Neither IN,
ir as yet be prepared to utter il but, il this n
ton has future, if its destiny is, as we ha'
ut hllherto boasted, TO prove what man may
Il when and where he has the liberty to he hipsel
,e uttered by one or the other il ere long will h
D, and IN tones that will ring out through the whol
IN ei'ilized world now anxiOusly listening to heu
e u. The Union is aud must be sacred 10 libert,
here man must be man, nothing more, and notl
5, ing less Slaves must not breathe our atmo.
d phere; and we must be able to adopt the prou
IS noast OF our mother country, "a the slave thr
r touches our soil is Free" This is the destiny {
y TINS New World, if destiny it have-the destin
p our fathers tOied for, fought for bled for, an
IS 70 TINS we their children must swear to be faitl
n iul, or die to the last mau
II We have spoken thus far as the American. III
y patriot, and the devoted defender of republica
!, institutions; but we must be permitted also
/; speak as the Catholic publicst. We have. froI
e the nrst' maintained, and with the fullest apprc
Q Dhuon oil the Catholic authorities in this coui
3 Try, that Catholic morality epjoins upon al
Gathoncs' Whatever their rank or dignity, to b
+ loyal 10 the legitimate Government Of thei
country, and to be ready to defend il when call
Gu upon, at the sacrifice of their property, ant
even Of their lives. That the Federal Govern
nent is the legitimate Government of the Amer.
lean nation, no Catholic can reasonably donbt
we may, as Catholics, lawfully resist tyranny or
usurpation, but we cannot conspire to overthrow
legitimate Government, which has mt trans.
cehaed It's constitutional powers or resist its
authority without faing not only in our civil.
put IN our Catholic duty. The Federal Govern
ment is no usurpation 1t is o legitimate dow
elhlhang, and it has never lost its Legitimacy Inv
any act OF tyranny or oppression. No such act
mas Deen or can be pretended. Rebellion against
IT. therefore, is not only a crime but sin. The
| nrlnnlnlR utaIs -
Gu ior years against the revolutionsts in Europe
ana lt has been on the ground that such is The
teacnlng OF the Catholic religion, that we have
| repeled with indignation the charge broupbt
against US by know-Nothings that Catholics are
not anu cannot be loyal American citizens We
nave labored, in opposition to the Know-Nolh-
| lngs 10 SHOW that Catholics are bound by their
| very religion 10 be loyal; and we have ventured
TO assert that, if the Republic were threatened
or an attempt made to dsmember the Union.
Catholics would be the first to rush TO its resoue
and the last to desert it,
| Ihe assertion we Ventured has not been en.
tirely justified. The conduct of our Catholic
population, especially that of their leaders. has
not wholly answered our expectations of the
twelve Journals in the English language. pub.
nsheu IN this country, and professedly devoted
70 catholic interests, we can name only JNe
Cdhaohc' published at Pittsburgh, aud The Ttblef
In TINS city, as decidedly loyal. The TsleoraDh
and Advocate, published at Cincinnati. il oeea-
sionally loyal, and so also, perhaps, is The Buf
Jdto Sentinel. The Metropolitan Record was,
Wlen last we read it, striving hard to be on both
sues. All the rest are really Secession sheets.
aud exert, whether ayowedly OF not, all their
innaence against the Federal Government and
IN favor Of that of the Southern Confederaev.
for we count every journal favorable to the Sc
cessioniats, that opposes the war, and clamors
lor peace Or the clergy, the greater part of
whom have been born or educated abroad n
large majority have Southern sympatbies. and n
portion Of them, small minority, we hone. are
decidedly disloyal. The Bishop of Charleston
south Carolina, sang, we have been told, the
| re Oeum over the fall of Sumter Much allow
ance, no doubt, must be made for bishops and
priests residing in Rebel States and il would be
100 much to ask them to proclaim on all occh-
sons and under all circumstances Union senti-
ments their silence may often be excusable
and sometimes justifable. Still they are bound
by their religion to instruct their own people in
their duty OF fidelity to the Government Of Che
Union, and they have and can have no authority
under that religion or in oOnsonance with IL. 10
hold disloyal sentiments, denOunce the love
States, and sing zs Deams over che defeats of
tue Government TO which they owe allegiance
The bishops, both of Charleston aud Richmond
appear to have done this; and, if they have
uone so, no reverence or respect for their Epis-
copal character should be allowed to exeuse
their treason, or make us hesitate to CHARGE
them with violating their Catholic duty, and
doing all 10 their power to justify the Know |
Notnings In their grave charges against the 10y
atty OF Catholics Catholic morality is an obi |
gatOry on priests and bishops as it is on laymep.
and from its obligations, they can neither absolve
themselves, nor be absolved even by the Pope.
The right of the Supreme Pontiff to absoiye
from their oath of allegiance the subjects of a
prince who, according to the law of God, and
the Constitution of the realm or empire, has
forfeited his right to reign, we have uniformly
maintained, and still hold; but we have never
maintained, and cannot maintain, that he has
the right to absolve from their allegiance the
subjects Of prince who holds his power lepiti-
matey, and has done nothing to forfeit his
trusts and certainly we cannot concede to sim
pie bishops and priests power which We do not |
and cannot concedo to the Supreme Pontf
himself. We do not, in such case, deny the |
absolving power to their chief in order to claim |
it for them.
But we are gratified to know that the Catholic |
people, moved by their loyal and patriotic
instincts are nobly redeeming their Church from |
the false position in which the disloyalty or
mistaken policy of the majority of their jour
malls and a portion Of their bishops and clergy,
have had tendency to place her. Though, for
the most part, welded to the Democratic party,
which has brought the country to its present
critical state, and bitterly prejudiced against the
party that elected our present Chief Magistrate,
and especially against New England Yankees,
regarded by them as fanatics, btgots, and the
enemies of all good, they have nobly volunteered
to fill the ranks of our army, and generously |
shed their blood in defense of the Union. No |
class of American citizens have, in this respect,
surpassed them, and indeed they have set an |
example worthy Of all imitation. Catholics have
considering their numbers, more than their pro-
portion in the regular army and volunteer forces |
of the Union, and Catholic soldiers whether we |
speak OF officers or men, are surpassed by no |
others now in the field. The loyalty Of the
majority Of the Catholics Of the North must be
held to ettace the disloyalty of the few Catholics
Of the South and when this war has been
prosecuted to successful issue, we doubt not
that the loyalty Of Catholics will cease to be
called in question, and both Catholics and non.
Catholics will mutually feel that they are citizens
of common country, and form but one political
people.
That the attempt of some of the so.called
Catholic journals TO make Catholics believe that
the so-caled Conederaoy is less anti Catholic in |
its sympathies than the North, and that the |
North, when the Rebellion is suppressed will |
turn its arms against Catholics, may have iuflu- |
enced and may still influence few, especially |
Irish Catholics, whose misfortune it often is 10
trust their enemies and suspect their friends, we
do not deny, and we regret it, But the notion
is absurd, and always has been. The South is
more iufdel or pagan, and far less Christian than
the North, and is and always has been, as we
might expect, far more anti Catholic, and when
not absolutely Indifferent to all religion, far more
bigoted than the North, if by the North we
refer to New England. There is no part of the
Union where Catholics are better treated, and
suffer fewer annoyanees, than in the New-Eng-
land States. Nowhere in New England will |
Catholic priest or a Catholic laymaD, if o |
gentleman, miss the treatment due to gentle. |
= l.
to the contrary.
II is, NO doubt, true that Messrs. Mise and |