The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-06-21
oArHoLro VIEW OF SLAVERY.


We have received By OR latest f0se18n papers
tNs circular 81 Asehbishop Dspanlosp, OF VI.
leans, France, 10 which he discusses the great
political question Of this country and age Il
will be seen that he most cordially approves OF
she policy Of President LincoIns administration
and administers severe rebuke to such CathO.
lies - have allowed themselves to bs easnared
by the falIacies Of secession We have mades
trsnsls,ieu ofsshs doeuusns:
Ge,Aaaes md 90 ssork1s:- You seldom allow
tie Far distant echoes Of foreign politics to
reach you Your presbytery. which 20 lore to
visit, is the resting place Of peace, Of contem-
plation, Of prayer, and Of charity. During Lent
yot do mos dwell IN your parsonage, all day you
dwell in your church holding yourselves, 80 to
say, upright before men, and on your knees 10
the presence Of God TO preach aud TO pray, IN.
yoking for men 70 think with you upon the
death Of Jesus Christ, and 70 unite with the suf-
feriags Of his cross the suffsriogs OF their lives
do not come TO withdraw your attention IN
to beg for prayer Prayer that 10 our politics;
that 10 our great interest in the events Of this
world. To speak OF God TO men, and to speak
of men to God, that is our mission. And surely
IL is no small matter, even In the order of earth.
" interests, so ardently contended about among
men; for In IL is God, who holds IN bis hands
the hearts OF peoples aud rulers, and bends them
as He will; il 10 he who now sorrowfnlly aban-
dons them TO their course, and now stops them
on the verge Of the precipice and draws them
back, willing or unwilling, through bis mercy ;
whether lightning fash Of what is happening
comes to show at u glance the depths of sin
into which they are precipitating themselves,
or that holier light endows them with true
wisdom.
Be il % Il may, gentlemen, the most unthink.
ing know we'll that Affairs do not move on here
below without the powerful concurrence Of cir.
cumstances, which they call the hits of chance
and VIC call the direction and the act Of God
They too often look upon them a. blind men,
More enlightened, We do not cease to raise to
Heaven . voice, trustful and peaceful, for the
happiness, the progress and the future of the
whole world. ~, 81
We are heard praying for Syria and for Pc.
land, for England for Russia. for China and for
Africa for the victories Of France, and for the
victories of the Faith; for those who suffer, who
weep. who hope for those who groan and who
pray with us, and also IS well tor those who do
not pray, who do not groan, who close their
eyes, who forget
This day, Sabbath of the Passion, at this hour
when the standard Of the cross IL hoisted over
all our temples, at the sight of this holy emblem
Of deliveraDce and safety, say to myself, My
God died upon the cross for all mankind and
yet there are men who are still cruci6ed he
died 70 deliver all from all bondage, and there
are men-the noise which IL now making about
this great question psiniulIy recalls to me
there are millions Of men who are still in slavery.
Good Friday IL approaching This day, the
Catholic Church, standing at the foot OF the
cross, with eyes fixed on those extended arms
which embrace the world, will commend to the
Lord, in sublime prayer, Christians, herctics,
Jews, Psgans; and We will utter with her these
noble words: :" Let Us pray God tho Father,
omnipotent, that He may cleanse the world from
all errors may remove disease, Keep of famine,
open the prison doors, and break the chains in
sunder |" s5
Thss Is the pure spirit of the Gospel and of
Jesus Carist; Is it not thus that the divine Re.
desmer Of mankind announced bis mission to
tue world 1.-THE Spirit of the Lord is bestow.
ed on me-" said he, ito teach the Gospel to the
poor, to console those who weep, to cure the
broken hearted, to preach delverance to the
oaptives, and to those who are in bondage,
liberty"
And after the Divine Master, is it not Saint
Paul, one of his most fervent disciples, who
shouted forth to the Pagan world the sublime
ouscry, There exists no longer either master or
slaves, for we are all brothers in Jesus Christ.
We'll, even at this day, in Christian lands. after
eighteen centu.i les Of Christianity, after those
words of Jesus Christ, after that cry of Saint
Paul, there still are slaves!
4 PLEA ToR THE SLAVES
Gentlemen, il is for this miserable ard cruel
ly oppressed portion of humanity that come to
ask your prayers Yes. let US pray; let Us pray
for these poor slaves. And if tfeeI myself i'm
PEELED, at this hour, to commend TO you this sad
and holy cause, and to beg your prayers, it 10 be-
cause of the holy season in which we are, and
tlu
countries, where this grave question is sorely
ngitated, and towards which the attention of ali
Europe is directed.
The truth Is, that the old and new continents
are disturbed; politicians harangue for and
against; trade is interrupted; blood flows In
civil war. We, gentlemen, pray. In great SO.
cial crises, in which We cannot remain indiffer.
ent lockers on it is prayer alone that becomes
our great duty.
Do not suppose, srs, that may take part in
the lamentabe quarrel which divides the United
States Of America. I am told the North merits
little more Of sympathy than the South; that
predominance, have had more influence than
the question OF slavery on the secession, out OF
which civil war has issued. ! am assured that
the abolition party has rendered itself odious
by its extravsgances; while the slave owners OF.
ten are men Of good faith and of good hearts.
I am told of more Catholics at the South than at
the North; and of citizens enlisted in both ar
mics animated by equal patriotism, who, On eli.
ther side, sincerely believe they acting justly
TIE Presidents kxAHoIPArIoN POLICY
1t 10 said, If the Union be reconstructed the
emancipation of the slaves is not certain, and
If the separation becomes complete, that emap.
cipation is not impossible. 1t is wished to per.
sude me that the Interests of manufacturers are |
with the South, of our commerce with the |
North; that we ought to desire the UNFOLDING
and the union of people whom We aided to set
free and which serves to counterpoise other ma. |
tons, or, on the other eide, that We should fear
the ACCOMPLISHMENT of people whose example !
and eucroaching spirit menaces the world.
don't know all that. But what I do know il |
that there are still four millions of slaves in the
United States, two millions in the rest of Amer
ice, together six millions Of slaves in Christian
countries eighteen hundred years after the Cru. |
cihxion; what do know is, that the horrors of |
civil war have been let loose by this fearful cues
ton, and that the peace of the world ia threat |
ened, and is already disturbed.
And whatI am more happy to know il, that.
by recent and important sct-a message Of /
The 9Th of March, sent TO Congress by the Pres
ldent of the United States, aud adopted bv |
great msjority-measures prudent, equitable.
peaceful, have been proposed 10 put an end to |
'l,very, and passed.
Compensation is propos, to all the States
which agree to undertake in their territory the
gradual abolition OF slavery. No one can tell
what will be the consequences OF this PROPOSE.
ton, because 1t depends on the response of the
States No one 10 under compulsion; a limit is
assigned to the evil, and vent is opened for IL.
For the first time in sixty years the central poy.
ernment takes part and commits the whole ma.
lion TO avigorous effort against the evil
Without being solved, the question is then SC
riously under consideration, the step has been
made, hope ia opened. That makes another
motive for me, and an indispensable need to
pray God that he may dsign to bless an enter.
prise the pacific solution Of which must be sr.
iently desired. VA ii s9B3 8f3 IA,
TIE PLAGUE sPo1 OF sLAvEaY.
! understand the objections OF those Who plead
Tor slavery; do not desire to discuss them =,
eng,b. Not that they do not tell me that slayes
IRE happy, and, besides, that established fact
becomes lawful through duration Of time. Slaves
ire happy. Yes, psrhsps, under good matters:
ney eat, they sleep, have some hours of reno,e
perhaps even may be dissipated Q. pleasure: bus
rave they the domestic hearth--hsye thew the
they freedoms Poor disinteres.ed