The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1865-02-04
THE GATE CITY
SATURDAY, FEB. 1.


,N =
The last pspsl bull Is the most aston.
ishiog dosnnsst a The kiad ever issued
Il is deliberate attempt . turn besk the
current Of human progress and civillla-
ton, and to restore the middle ages. In
this country il awakens littls interest.
even among Catholics, bscause We ooa-
sidr freedom Of thought and worsniP'
and popular institutions, % much mat
tiers Of course that there is no longer any
place for argumest. Whoever calls tnen
10 question, or seeks 70 subverf them, 70
set down ct once - silly or 'nssne. W.
next TO impossible, therefore, for 10 % ap'
nreciate the intense interest excited among
the European nations BY the bull OF Fius
the Ninth.
In order to get some idea Of it, We
should recolIect that the large majority Of
ali the people there. the Russians except
ed, are in the Catholic church. and be-
lieve that the Pope has supreme author
ty, not only in ell matters Of religion, bu.
in eli temporal affairs which he wishes to
control. He standa to them in the place
of God, and they know Of no way OF ar.
irving at -truth and duty but through
him. He is infallible; he can no more
err than the Deity himself, and what ne
commands must. therefore, be absolutely
right, no matter how painfully it conflicts
with all the teachings of reason and expe-
rience.
The bull has thrown the liberal Catho-
lies of France, where Catholics are more
free than 10 any other country besides the
United States. into the most pitiable con.
steraation. 1t drives them to the neces-
sity of breaking altogether with the
church and putting themselves under the
terrible ban Of the Pope, or Of publicly
degrading themselves before the world,
repudiating all the ideas of liberty and
progress 10 which they have declared the
hope of the race to rest, and becoming
the implicit. subjects of faith repudiated
alike BY the head and heart of the age.
The immediate occasion of this extra
ordinary demonstration Of the Pope is the
determination of Napoleon to withdraw
his troops from Rome, and remand the
Papal Government to the Judgment and
protection Of it's own people. According
to the Paris papers, the bull was . sur
prise to Napoleon. He thought the Pope
would see the necessity of yielding to the
logic of events, and of abandoning al
claim to temporal power except such ii
be could maintain by the consent of the
people Of his own States. Instead of thil
the Pope has gone backward and dug VI
all the old claims Of the papacy, and srro
gantly insists on their restoration. Wha
he boldly demands is, that all kings ant
rulers shall acknowledge him as their su
preme head in civil as Noll as religion
matters, and enforce his commands; tha
they shall suppress freedom of speech an,
the press, and punish heretics with tn
pains and penalties prescribed by th,
church.
He denounces as damnable heresies th,
doctrine of the liberty of conscience an,
worship, Of the right Of the people t
construct their own government, OF th
education of the people outside Of tb
chu, CHI. In fact, the Pope claims tb
right to control all human affairs, and /,
punish by the tortures of the inc uisitiol
in this life, and the torments of hell ii
the life to come, oil who do not implicitl
submit to and obey his demands.
What will be the effect of the Pope,
bold stroke for power? In the first plsc,
it will consolidate the party that fully &C
cepts his domination. and the conservativ.
wing of the Catholic party will becom.
stronger in unity, if not in numbers. =
BUTT must inevitably cause division i,
the church, and greater one than ha
ever occurred
The Catholic papers Of France express
regret, mingled with iIl-conceaed indigna
ton, at this experiment Of the Pope, an,
do hot hesitate to predict that it will be
failure. In Italy, outside Of the Prov
inces, it will not be accepted. The Cath
olics of the Uuited States must eithe
openly protest against it and repudiste il
claims, or silently ignore il. II is impos
siile that they should submit to il an:
still remain citizens of : Republic, for i
is at war with the fundamental principles
of our Government, with our free schoo
system, with the ideas and spirit of GU,
civilization.
Mexico has already repudiated it tn,
new Government has seized the propert,
of the church. and the Pope's representa-
tive has left in disgust. There can b,
little doubt that the Pope has made .
mistake that viii prove fatual to the Pa
pacy ia the end. His policy has in i,
the same element of desperation exhibited
BY the slaye power in this country in the
attempt to save their barbarous institu
ton by setting at defiance the progress Of
ideas aud the influence Of civilization, aua
endeavoring to make dominant an obso
lete theory and worn out system. Aut
in the case Of the papacy, Is we'll ~ tina
OF slavery, the radical means used for it
salvation naturally tend to its overthrow
It is impossible that the Pope should
succeed. All The great influences tia
educate and advance modern society ar,
against him. A bull against the come
would be just - effective - this aaains
the course OF civilization. Il will dis
tract and divide the church, provoke tn,
contempt of the world, and only reduc
the spiritual as we'll ~ the temporal pow
er Of Rome The aoea nan never ho rol,