The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1865-02-23

tif Who fills the seat occupied by th
Grsgorys, the Lsos and the Alexanden q
former times, We are assured, bates no 10
or title Of their professions.
i Bnt while the pretensioss remain th
same as Of old, the power 70 enforce then
no longer exists. The ideas OF the RAZOR
nation have triumphed completely il
Northern Europe. and have penstraist
and partially influenced public opinion i,
the Southern countries Of the Continent
France. the leading Power Of 6outherr
Europe, and thoroughly Catholic At that
repudiates the pretensioos of the Pope
and forbids the publication Of his letter
and other Governments only allow the
publication of the less offensive portions
Of it, while Maximilian utterly prohibits
it in Mexico. Italy and Spain are the
countries whore the principles Of the
Pops's letter and the undisputed power II
the Pope have prevailed for centuries. .-
And the effect Of those principles and that
rule are clearly exhibited ia the Iamenta.
BILE condition Of The people where ehey
have had full sway. Unmitigated despot.
ism, civil and religious, characterize those
Governments, and superstition, Ignorance
and beggary are tho hereditary portion of
che masses Of the people. The blessings
and the benefits Of ph ysical, moral and ID
tellectual progress which mark the
advance OF civilization 10 other countries
are entirely unknown in the priest ridden
countries which repose in the shadow of
the Vatican.
Is it wise or we'll for mankind to blot
out the lights of modern progress and
cause the nations of tue earth to retura
and seek repoee once more under the
blighting shadow Of Papal infalIibili,y
and supremacy Shall We endorse the
Pope's auathemas of the rights Of con-
science. the freedom of discussiouDan
civil liberty based upon the will Of the
people," which he denounces as an &C.
cursed delirium
The right of conscience, the right OF
worship, freedom Of opinion, freedom Of
discussion. the ultimate will Of thepeople,
howeverexpressed in laws and constitu1
tions, and the exclusive rights of civil
government, are inconsistent with the
actual pretensious Of the Papacy in bygone
times,ss wellss with the theoretical claims
made by it in 1882, and again in the
Pope's encyclical letter 10 1894. All
these principles are asserted and estab-
lished in the fundamental charters of
our State and Federal Governments and
are in the strictest accordance with reason
and the personal rights OF mankind. Nor
is it ust or reasonable to plead in iu I'll
6cation Of common aud universal denial
of these rights by the Pope, the occasional
anomalies Of personal arrests by our Gov
ernment during the pendency Of civil
war.
There are no perils to morals and reli.
gion resulting from free discussion |
fraught with such evils as naturally flow
from the suppression of these rights. And
if the right of suppression may be safely
conceded to the virtuous gray-haired
Plus Ninth, it must also be equally con.
ceded on the same principle to the infa.
smous murderer and poisoner whose
heart and hand reveled in crimes and
blood, Alexandra vi.
The Jewish High Priest who was the
successor Of Aaron, the sanc,ity of whose
Office was recognized BY the Apostles and
who represented holy succession of boary
centuries of the Church, blessed Of God,
and the Scribes who sat in Moses scat"
ia their zeal for the Church and Tor God.
and cruci6ed the Savior Of the
world for heresy and blasphemy, and
their devotees inflicted capital punish
ment on the holy Stephen on like
charge.
We hold that neither Pope nor Lay.
man of modern times ever had stronger
belief or better grounds in their minds
for thinking they were vindicating the
homer Of God and tho cause of truth than
the murderers OF the Mes il and the mar
tyr Stephen. And that dreadful exer.
else Of tbe power Of oondign punishment
in those memorable cases should stand as
q terrible warming through all time,
against the interference with the righta Of
conscience in religious matters.
An OILY JoxE-President Lincoln It.
tended Bishop Simpsons lecture on
"Our National Conflict" the other night.
The Bishops lecture marks down the dis.
covery Of California gold. the Invention
Of the telegraph, improvements ia ord
nance, and many other bully things, as
special providences designed by Deity to
hello rs through with the national confiict
foreseen and prepared for by him. After
the Bishop was through, Mr.. Lincoln
walked up, shook hands, and addressed
him thus Bishop, that was good Iec-
ture-a very good lecture bat one thing
you omitted. Among all your special
providences, you never once 'struck ile.'
There was silence in the auditorium for
the space of Eve seconds. and then an
oleaginous smile broke over the Bishops !
countensnce. Washington letter.