The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1866-12-21

sented to be included within the boun-
daries of this State, the tenure by which
VIC hold them is far from being firm and
well settled.
An Iri.hmnn's Reply 10 Gen. Harris.
WESTON, LEWIS Co., W. VA,
December a, 1866.
The editor of the Ritchie Press, actu-
ated by bigotry and spirit of Ostracism,
has prOstituted the columns of his sheet
from its legitimate calling to disseminate
a tissue of Misrepresentation and false
hoods against the fair name of the Irish
Catholics of this State. He charges the
Catholics with being the enemies of
civil liberty, and consequently OF repub-
few facts from impartial history, to
show the wautonness and illiberality OF
the charge. cannot exempt him from
the charge of falsifying facts, for his
tory shows that he does it. The Catho-
lies were the first sect on this continent
to declare for civil and religious liberty.
One of the first acts of the Catholic col
ony of Maryland was the liberation act
of l649, which granted freedom of re-
ligion to all that believed in God. The
Episcopalian exiled from among the
stern Puritans of New England had lib
erty in Maryland. The Puritan driven
| from Virginia had there home, and
political honors were equally accessible
| to all. This was done anterior to the
action of any other of the colonies, and
therefore, the Catholics can justly claim
the enviable fame of being the first on
this continent to recognize the glorious
rights of conscience. (See Story on the
Constitution, book 1st, chap. lX, sec.
1867 In the struggle for independence,
the Catholic Irish were as true to the
liberal cause as the needle to the pole.
When men of Harris ilk were pandering
to British influence, the first American
Commodore, John Barry, an Irishman by
birth and a Catholic by conviction, by his
services and gallantry won the proud
! title of the father of the American Navy.
Stephen Moylan, also Catholic, was
for time Commissary General and Aid
de-Camp to Washington. Has the im-
maculate Harris forgotten Charles Car
roll, of Carrollton, and his colleague,
Wm. Paca, an Italian CathOicf Car
roll, the wealthiest man in that Con-
gress, who pledged their all for the cause
of libertyf
One of the CAROLS, the first Catholic
Bishop of Baltimore, was also employed
by Congress on a diplomatic mission.
Is the aid rendered by Catholic ma
tion to be ignored when Catholic France
sent strong arms and willing hearts to
fight for the cause of liberty and human
ity-when the cause of the patriots was
almost laid PROSTATE at the feet of the
foef In 1775, when the Continental
Congress resolved to throw off the yoke
of England, they directed an address to
the Irish people. Twill quote a portion
of it: "Permit us to assure you that it
was with the utmost reluctance we
could prevail upon ourselves to cease
our commercial relations with your
island. Your parliament had done us
no harm, you had ever been friends to
the rights of mankind, and we acknowl-
edge with pleasure and with gratitude,
that your nation has produced patriots
who have nobly distinguished them
selves in the cause of humanity and
America"
That address is to be found among the
archives of that Congress, dated July
2s, 1875, and signed by John Hancock,
President.
In the Parliament of England, moral
support was given to the American
cause by such Irishmen rs Sheridan,
Barre and Fitzpatrick. But far
above all stands Edmund Burke, the
x,f, lali
ed from the eminence of the great coun-
Gil of the British Empire, stands promi-
nently forth in favor of the American
cause, and the most enlarged liberty.
To use the words of the venerable George
Washington Park Custis, "The Irish
Catholics distinguished themselves in
the military and parliamentary service
of the American cause"
have not stated these historical facts
to claim for the Irish Catholics any ma
tional gratitude, but that they may have
fair play frsm the truths of history, and
not suffer from the Misrepresentation OF
the would be Haynau Harris.
: The war of 1912, a war against New
England prejudice, as well as Old Eng
| land power, was q war largely indebted
to men of Irish descent for its successful
termination. l cannot forget, for the
edification of the Major General, to re-
count the conduct of the most Anglican
part of the United States in that contest.
The Hartford Convention, which has
not entirely faded from public memory,
acted conspicuous part in opposition to
the United States government, when
the Puritans rang the Boston bells for
10y over British victories. The war of
1912 was opposed by all Puritan inter
ests on American soil ,and to the Puritans
belong none of the laurels won, none of
the solid results of its glorious termina-
ton.
General Harris also charges the Irish
Catholics with yielding aparamount alle-
glance to the Sovereign Pontitf, in q
temporal point of view. The charge Is
false rs to Irish Catholics, and 1t isi un-
generous as to Rome.
The Irish Catholic, firm in his faith,
bows in humble reverence to the Pontiff's s
spiritual supremacy, but he would spurn
that Pontiff's temporal interference.
If he attempted to grasp temporal do
miniOn, the Catholic Irishman would
answer him thus: Sir, We bow with
reverence to your holy mission, We
heartily acknowledge you as the sue
cessor of Peter, the divinely appointed
organ of our creed, but your holiness
we have a religion, we must not forget
that we have country, and If you so
far forget your calling as to presume to
turn your crozier into a scepter, you are
mistaken in us. No foreign power shall
regulate the fealty We owe our adopted
country" Such would be the answer
of the Catholic Irish of the United States.
So much for the charge of owing tenn
poral allegiance to the Pope.
I refer the General to the acts of the
Irish Catholics of the United States in
the late struggle for nationalsupremacy.
Are the heroism and gallantry of such
men as Meagher, Mulligan, Corcoran,
and others to be ignoredi Are the
names of the heroic dead to be held up
to posterity as synonymous with treason
and duplicityi History will not forget
the gallant hosts of Catholic Irish who
marched under the banner Of their