The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-02-16
Thursday Morning, Feb. 16, 1866.
From the NeD York IadepsndsmtJ
The Encyclical at War with American In
stitntinnS


cyclical been before the American people;
and. as an encyclical presupposes great cir
Gle, we presume 1t has by this time completed
the circuit OF the globe-leaving a streak of
darkness round the earth. OF all the public
papers of the present age, this manifesto is
the most astounding and pitiful-exhibting
the successor OF st. Peter in the act OF sus-
pending the rights of mankind, and debating
the stoppage OF the world. By the common
order OF life and death, mems bodies die and
their souls yet live; but here is a patriarch
whose body is alive in the nineteenth centu-
ry, yet whose spirit is dead and sepulchered
in the twelfth. sttdU
The Encyclical, though European in origin,
is American in application, inasmuch as, in
addressing Catholics throughout the world, it
addresses a considerable class of the Ameri-
can people. What, therefore, does it say to
all such?
"We have condemned" says the spiritual
father, "the principal errors OF cur sad age"
And what, in the Pope's opinion, are these err
rors? Is Slavery mentioned among themP ?
No. Treason? No. Drunkenness? No.
Lust? No. Lying? Theft? No. Pride I?
No. Scandal9 No. The common seldshness
OF the human heart? No. None of these
What, then, are the guilty things? They are
progress, liberalism, and modern civiliza-
tionw These are the blots on the XIXth
NOnluly, WulCu 11OuuceS, Win euC1Cucdl
vinegar and sand, seeks to scour and cleanse
Nevertheless, we fancy that the aged Pontiff,
rubbing against progress, liberalism, and
modern civilization" will himself be soonest
rubbed outl
Why has he written this letter? He an
swers "To destroy new opinions" What are
these opinions, SO offending as to deserve
death? One of them, so erroneous as to be
"hurtful to the safety of the Catholic Church
md 0fo on.1la ic- 1hok0 NOkLs lo.o A.
the long fought-for land hard-won doctrine
that "Liberty of conscience and of worship is
the right Of every man, This the Pope re-
pudiates. "This," he says, "was termed deliri-
UDS' By our predecessor Gregory XIV, of ex-
cellent memory" Now, if the Pope regards
this doctrine as delirium, how are Pope
fearing Catholics in this Country to regard it?
They are in duty bound to hold the same
opinion. What follows? "Liberty of con-
scence and of worship" is a fundamental law
of this Republic. The law-giver of the Gath
olic Church denounces this as madness.
American Catholics, therefore, are enioined to
withhold their assent, and to repudiate the
doctrine. What is the practical result? For
instance, st. Louis is Catholic city. Within
its borders, convention, engaged in forming
new constitution, few days ago decreed
that this very doctrine of liberty of conscience
should forever form vital part of the organ
~ law Vi mlooOuI1s Dub ia Vl6W OI bl6 WARM
ngs of this Encyelical, no Romanet of that
icity or state can now swear allegience to tina
constitution withoutheresy againstt the Church
of Rome. The Encyclcal summons the
Catholics of that state to arm themselves
against the new constitution as against a
plague. The Roman Pontiff, if obeyed, will
make American Catholics traitors to their
country plotting the overthrow of
the laws. And this Encyclical is, therefore, a
daa1arafiop If AZ.
can Republic
Is this pressing our point too far ?. Not at
all. Let us quote other words from the letters
It's apostolic writer denounces the heresy that
professionalism is another form of the same
true religion in which it is possible to be equal
ly pleasing to God as in the Catholic Church" !"
Now We have no quarrel with the Pope for
denying this doctrine; we expect every other
Romanist to deny it. Our quarrel with the
Pope, and with the followers of the Encycli-
cal, is for denying that "every man is free to
embrace and profess the religion he shall be-
lieve to be true" Now, the Pope's argument
is not, "The Catholic religion is the true one !;
therefore let men be persuaded to adopt it -
(which he could not be blamed for maintain
ing:) but he says, "As the Catholic religion is
the true one, therefore let men be forced to
adoptit" This commands American Catho-
lies to say to American Protestants, "You
have no right to your Professionalism, and we
will force y0u to bend under the yoke of
Rome" This, we repeat, is pontifcal decla-
ration Of war against the American people.
Do not Catholics know that, in Protestant
country like ours, they are indebted for their
own self preservation to this very doctrine of
religious federation which the Pope names in
sanity? Or are our Catholic fellow citizens.
while now in a minority, simply acquiescent
for the time being, in the protestant doctrine
of Liberty of conscience, inasmuch as it works
temporarily to their own advantage, while
they hold themselves ready at any opportune
moment to carry out the revolutionary in
structions of the Pope, and to destroy the
foundations of American religion, and there
fore of civil liberty? Is the Pope garrulous
old man who has let out the secrets of the
Vatican before the ripe time? If so, let the
American people be on their guard-fore-
warned and forearmed!
The Pontitf shoots another arrow from his
bow. he denounces "populnr schools, open
without distinction to all the children of the
people, freed from all ecclesiastical authority
and interference" Is not this an extra de-
scription of our Common School System !?
Striking at this system, is he not seeking to
destroy another OF the foundations of our
American Institutions? He tells the Catho.
lies of this country that our schools must no
longer be open TO "all the children Of the peo
ple," and must no longer be "freed from all
ecclesiastical authority and interference.
But let American Catholics beware how
they heed this advice! Indeedl The Catho-
lies. then, must either rule or else rnin the
very schools in which, by thousands, their
own ignorant children are at this very mo.
meut being educated at the public expensel
One of the noble aims of our Freedom is to
foster Free Schools. A free government rests
its pillars on an educated people. Every word
ofthe Pope's argument against popular intel
hgenee is blow at the Republic. Are Amer
lean Catholics to stand with the Pope and
against public schoolsp Are Romish mem
bers of our legislatures to attempt the botting
out of the school system? Is the Catholic
press to echo the Pope's injunctfons and de-
mand that "the children of the people, shall
henceforth be educated by monks and friars
The Pontiff, moreover, repudiates the Am
erican doctrine "that the church must be Sc
parated from the state, and the state from the
church" Here, again, Catholics who obey
the Pope are melted to revolt against our finn
damental principles of government. When
statecraft and priestcraft Joined to govern the
world, all history groaned under the tyranny.
The union of church and state, as this chief
Shepherd teaches it to his American sheen Il
that Catholics must govern America. The
established church is to be the Remish. and
officers ofstate are to be members of her com
munion. This is the scheme of the Pontiff
for the Republic of the Pilgrims!
"Kings and princes" says the Poptiff aara