The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1870-12-10

turning to a simpler, cheaper and more
convenient manner OF voting.
We trust, that the legislature will, IN
its wisdom, give us an election Ia"
that, while securing the purity OF the
ballot, will be plain and simple In us
provisions. and convenient an eseclli.
ton eCaG~1aG TA5aI
card from Bishop whelan.
Editors Of the Register:
GEyrLEMAN,-I am sorry to be obliged
to invoke ycur aid to repel what re-
card as a most unchristian httack u pom
the character Of myself and the clergy
of my diocese and large portion OF
the laboring class who compose my
flock. Having been Informed that
Rev. DIR, westwood, Of he M e
church, lad, in a discourseof November.
Goth, made serious charges against us,
| addressed him a respectful note in
curing how far my information, was
correct. To this the DR.. returnedsa re-
ply courteous 10 language, admitting
the following as substantially his
Thought and utterance on the ocSat
sion named; 6sEk IN
az doubt not thatthe Roman Catholic
Bishop of this diocese possesses a knowl-
edge of all the private affairs Of all re-
spectacle Protestant families having
Catholic servants, said knowledge being
obtained through the Confessional by
the priests, and by them impaired to
the Bishop" TO this the Doctor fur
Their added: "Of course, | do not kaop
that You possess the knowledge alluded
| to, but I doubt not that You do, and so |
said" ..r..s.rt
(The length OF DR.. Westwood's letter,
and the irrelevance Of much of it to the
subject Of my inquiry, induced me, TOR
brevity sake, to substitute for my orIgii-
nal intention of printing the correspond
ence, the above condensed statement.)
Nv remarks upon the subject shall
be directed first to the charge itself
secondly to the accusation as connected
with DR.. Westwoods uame. As to the
charge, den0,nce 1t totally deroid Of
truth as a whole and in all its parts. To
all and each of.the respectable Protest.
ant families OF this diocese, l give this
assurance; which, were it necessary, ]
am prepared to confirm with the solem-
nifty of an oath. AS a gentleman and a
christian, repudiate the accusation as
foul and base inputation without the
shadow of a foundation, either as re-
CARDS myself or the clergy Of my do
cese. Happily the latter part of the
charge shows the falsehood Of the en-
tire. "Said knowledge" it is said,
''being obtained through the confes-
sional" Now, first, the priest is
bound most strictly to secresy
respecting all matters Of con-
fession. This obligation is well known
not only to all Catholics, but 70 all
moderately informed men. 1t has
more than once been proven to the sat
isfaction of courts Of law, and even ad-
mitted by them in the United States.
Its violation would suffice to defeat ev-
cry requirement Of the church, for who
could be induced to acknowledge faults
which were to become the theme Of
conversation among the priesthood -!
And hence the practice OF confession.
among Catholics, who should
know rather more of these mat
ters than strangers, suffices to show
the absurdity of the charge made. Sec.
ondly, the sole matter OF confession to
be made by the Catholic is the accuse
ton Of his own faults. Heis forbidden
to speak of the faults of others, and the
priest is equally forbidden to interrogate
him respecting other faults. to ask even
the name of an accomplice in any fault.
Thirdly, the time usually spent in the
confessional is so short as to show con-
clusively the falslty of the statement
made: of which any one frequentiDg7
the church on such occasions can
readily be satisfied. So much tor the
accusation itself.
A word now regarding it in connection
with DR.. Westwood. 1t will be noticed
that he freely admits that he does not
k,,o,o, &c Indeed, it would be strange
if he did know, having never, to my
knowledge, exchanged a word with my
self or any of my household, and being
little familiar, presume, with Catholic
servants. But what are we to think of
the man who, ,cithon kraoDledge Of the
facts, will dare to make such damaging
charges against Bishop and his clergy?
And what is almost worse, who will
thus attempt to damage the poor and
laboring class dependent on the employ
ment they get for the very bread they
eat. The Christian law forbids tojudge
ones neighbor, and laws human and
Divine alike forbid and punish false &C.
.cusation. A crime whichis aggrava-
ted in him who standing up as minis
ter of Christ Jesus, in the very act OF
preaching the Word of God and ex-
horting to.its observance, mis-uses the
occasion and the position to impress his
vague, rash, unjust and false judgments
on the minds of others to the detriment
OF his neighbor. The effect is apparent
from the testimony Of the witness in
this case WHO'S himself a jealous non
Catholic and surely seems to, have un.
derstood DIR. Westwood as CIV
ing forth the statement for GER
tain fact What other intention
can we conceive for the utterance of his
judgment but to damage, to excite
suspicion at least IN the minds of shis
auditors Is christianity to be thus
promoted? Does Methodism, Protes-
tantism, require such means for its sup
port or extension? Does the end justify
the means? l dismiss with pity the
man who could descend SO low, and
leave him to answer at the tribunal OF
his God for the ungenerous and I'M
christian attempt to ipjure the laboring