Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1863-06-16

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Catholic ana Protestant Churches and Slavery.
On the first page Of cur paper may be
read remarkably able and truthful article,
copied from the Cincinnati Catholic Tsle-
woph, the organ Of Bishop Purcell. The
writer aniums this, that tie war having de-
stroyed slavery forever, it is hardly worth
while 10 labor to SHOW its evils and present
the testimony that The catholic church has
always labored for its destruction. Yet il
may be necessary 10 meet the essays Of the
few remaining feeble defenders ofthat worst
outrage upon human nature, the enslaye-
ment Of the poor blacks. He urges that il
is Of great consequence for catholics now 10
decide what part to take il coming events,
since the bone Of contsAtion is gone--gone
forever
The able writer reasons thus, that the
church and slavery have never got along
very well together, When the slave power
predomlnates religion is low, and lifeless.
The shareholders do nothing for the church,
the school house, the charitable work
while the slaves and the poor are the only
supports; be says there are more and better
catholics in single Northern city where
schools flourish than in the entire states of
South Carolina and Georgia, and more in
a second rate Northern congregation than
in the whole slate Of Alabama. Louisiana
only pretends to he catholic, but the slave
holders Of that state are not the Jealous
workers. He asks, "What help is Cuba,
with all its riches, to the catholic cause"
Answer, "The poorest Irish or German
congregation in the free states does more
for religion than Havana" Therefore, when
any slave country happens to profess cath
oEc faith, such country exhibits bat little
charity or aid to the catholic cause. The
writer then shows from authorities the fact
too clear to be questioned that the catho
lie church has always exercised its powerful
influence for the abolition Of slayery-al-
ways did all that was possible for human
liberty. II she failed to act at all times for
abolition, it was because such action might
hinder rather than promote freedom. He
copies from Balme's great catholic work,
as follows: $40 say that the church ever
favored the system Is caIumny. She pro
claimed mans fraternity with each other
and their equality before God, and, there
fore could not be the advocate Of slarely.n
The Popes are then quoted al unanin GUS
y for freedom. Gregory XVI, wrote Dec.
8, 1889, "We, therefore, with apostolic
authority, do reprobate all the aforesaid
actions, (relating to the enslayement of In
dians, Negroes or other men, as unworthy
Of The christian name and by the same apos
tolc authority do strictly prohibit and in
teFdict that any ecclesiastical or lay person
shall presume to defend that very trade in
Negroes as lawful under any pretense or
studied excuse" &c. The writer then de-
mes the pretense that Gregory meant the
a5ove to apply exclusively to the foreign
slave trade. He says that shortly after
the Appearance of The above decree, GER
tain catholic order sought with more wit
than piety to eyade the order Of Gregory,
and ran their slaves off to Louisiana and
sold them. The occurrence so shocked the
Pope that His Holiness ordered the ecce-
siastIcal dealers in human flesh to proceed
at once to Rome for chastisement, and they
did not return for years.
So we are led 10 infer that the American
courts in the slave interest did not interfere
in tie above case, nor did the great demo-
cratic party NEEDLE in the affairs Of Greg
DRY, XVI, who was even a harder aboli-
ZIONIST than old Abe, The article should
be read Ly all.
But tie Protestant churches, most of
them, have passed through the same trials
with slavery as have The Catholics, for slav-
cry is no friend to Professionalism as church
reports show; it is no fiiend TO anything
that does not pander to it as to mighty
God. Shareholders hold themselves above
all law, human and divine--above all pv-
litical parties, constitutions and creeds.
re- AT the great Copperhead Conven-
ton in New York last week, Hon, G. G.
Burr said
/ Secession was bad enough, but abolition
| - III ----...-.. & a..-.:-.A laa...a -. II.