The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1867-02-27

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fed, or the Spirit Of Christ cannot dwell
in US, and in the great day ve-shall miss
many stars, which should hare been in
the crown of our rejoicing
For THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN.
Freedom of Conscience, Or History
Repeating Itself.
The famous Encyclical Letter of Pope
Gregory the XVI. cannot soon be for
gotten. If any one will turn back about
twenty years to the files the New York
Observer and Euanqelist, or pe files of
the Philadelphia upd Amesiens Presby-
terian, he will find notices of this infal-
lible document not very complimentary
to his Holiness. Their comments, how
ever, were chiefly confined to the follow
ing sentence, viz: "It is an absurd and
erroneous maxim, or rather it is madness
to pretend that it is duty to secure and
guarantee freedom of conscience to all. F"
Even my old friend Rev. DR.. R. J. Breck-
inridge, seemed oblivious for the time of
his characteristic meekness, and in his
zeal for the " "freedom of all" denounced
the sentiment in terms, even for him, of
unwonted severity. But perhaps our
Kentucky friend and our Northern friends
did not at the time sufficiently advert to
the circumstances which prompted the
letter in question. For if they had, they
no doubt would have found some apology
for the Pope. Or if they could have
foreseen that in fifteen years, under cir
cumstances almost precisely analogous,
they themselves would have been found
standing side by side with the Pope, in
the maintenance of the same principle,
they would have justified rather than
condemned him.
The analogous circumstances are these
l. The Papal States were formerly di-
vided into what was called "the March
of Rome" and "the March of Ancona," "
under each of which number of pro-
vinces were included. In like manner,
to use the common language Of the day,
there was Northern, and a Southern
division of this Confederacy.
2. Some of the provinces, in the car
ly part of the short reign of Gregory,
had revolted, particularly those which
belonged to the March of Ancona: Me-
cerata, Penegia, Spalatto and others.
Just so there was in 1861, a secession of
the South. Eleven of the States of the
Union revolted from the General Gov
ernment.
8. At this crisis ta4 applied to
| Austria to assist him ili crushing the re-
bellion; and Austria came to his aid,
sending her troops across the Po, for this
purpose, into the rebelious provinces.
So the United States made all Europe
her recruiting ground, and foreign troops
in almost incredible numbers crossed the
Atlantic on a similar errand.
4. The combined armies of the Pope
and Austria succeeded at last in cap
turing or dispensing the rebel bands, and
in subjugating to the dominion of the
Pope the rebellious provinces. A like
result followed the combined forces of
which the Northern army was composed.
5. The prisons of the Pope, and so
we're the prisons of the Union, filled with
captured rebels and political offenders.
6. Some Of the chiefs in rebellion
against the Pope, applied for pardon, and
their pardon was granted on certain con-
ditions. Here too the parallel is COM
plete.
7. For reasons of State which seemed
good and sufficient to the Pope, he did
not proclaim full and general amnesty,
thoug gh the rebellion had been effectually
crushed. In like manner, for reasons of
State which seem good and sufficient to
our General Government, no general
amnesty has ever yet been proclaimed.
Under these analogous circumstances
the Encyclical Letter of the Pope made
its appearance, clearly intimating that
thoug III he could accord freedom of con-
science to some, he could not accord it
to all.
But while these are points of analogy
there are also points of difference. The
Pope, it is hardly necessary to remark, is
both temporal and spiritual ruler. Not
so the Government of this Union. Its
Constitution prohibits it from making
"any law respecting the establishment
of religion or prohibiting the free exer-
else thereof But religious bodies,
General Assemblies, for example, are
not so restricted. They can perform in
behalf of the Government, the spiritual
functions of the Pope; and can advise
the General Government as to its politi-
cal policy. Look at the acts, resolutions
and official documents of both the North
ern Assemblies, Old School and New,
from 1861 to 1866 inclusive, and you
will find that the "freedom of consci-
cnce" which they accord is freedom to
think and act as they have done in this
trying crisis. Now those who were in
rebellion against the Pope were both his
spiritual and temporal subjects. Butwe
have yet to learn if he ever excluded
one Of them from the priesthood or from
the mass OF from any other religious
rite, because he was classed among the
insurgents. But this cannot be said ot
these Presbyterian Assemblies. Ant
they therefore can learn lesson of chari
ty and forbearance from that very Pope
whom they have denounced. | have only
one more remark to make. Ne tSutor ul
ira crepidam, is a Latin maxim pertlnen
to the case. For the Constitution O
L. A.Aall:a az 4hnm To er1a1if