Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1871-09-02
TrsETEs REAL PRINCIPLES AvOIV
E8.

| Ifnny one has been 30 charitable as TO
believe that the spirit Of Romanism WAS
compatible with the spirit of free or rcpub-
lcan institutions, he will find himsclfhard-
| ly disposed to indulge such charity, after
reading the unblushing avownls made on
| the part of ROmansm, by its recognized
authorities. We have sometimes been re-
preached for charges which involve them
! in the odium ofintOlerancc for the sins OF
their fathers. Naturally enough, they do
not like To hear of the funeral pile OF Huss,
| the determination of the AlbigCnscs, the
| fires of Smithiicld, the horrors OF the
| Inquisition, the cruolties Of Alive, the mas
sacre ofSt. Bartholomew &c. ; and when
these arc mentioned, they seem willing to
| have it believed that all these things belong
! TO the past. Inconsistent rs this may be
with the theory ofChurch lnialibillity, we
would gladly,-for the credit of human
nature, give them the benefit OF such
Inconsistency, if they would allow it. But
they will not.
Nothing could be palmer than the in
compatibility of the principles laid down
| in Papal Encyclicals, with the maintenance
of republican institutions, in our American
sense of the word. The highest authority,
the Infilllible Head ofthe Church, condemns
all education which is not subject topliestly
With, he insists ptf,o worthy OF ,n% G,rG%Sory
subordinate to ''the Church" :" and That Ir66
speech, free thought, and free press, shall
Dc tolerated only 50 far as ''the Church"
shall see fit 10 allow. In other words, the
State exists 10 obey the dicIation, and
and execute the will Of hicrarch, itself
governed by the Pope and the Jcsuits.
This is doctrine that we had supposed to
be designed for other latitules and times
than ours. There was q certain appropriate
ness in the Popc's propounding it to the
ignorant masses OF European despotisms,
or the traditional believers III medieval
supeIstitions. From Council like that OF
the Vatican, where free discussion was
suppressed, and where the air was thick
with the stitling vapors Of the new dogma,
which insults reason and Scripture alike,
such teachings might be even expected.
But il seems that they have ut last found
utterance among us, ana That American
citizens are now bluntly informed that
what they had charitably accounted obso-
lctc theories arc the living aud avOwCd
principles of the Roman Catholic Church.
In the August number of the Caat0lic
World, (Roman Catholic,) we find an ar
ticlc entitled, 1.-The Secular not Supreme"
1t makes ayOwals, which if shaped into
chargc8, would q few years since have been
accounted sianderOuS, and would have been
Indignantly rcpcllcd. Now, however, we
are told that ''thc State divorced from the
Church is n goddess estate, - and that ''all
governments based on political atheism, or
the assumption that politics are indcpend-
cut Of religion, on no foundation, are usur-
pations, tyrannics, without right - and
we all know full we'll the sense in which the
word Ch1,fcA is used by writer's Of this class
But to make the matter more definite, we
| n, ,nlscnrupntl, l,r told that Nsfi'ha (gfbnIip
hierarchy represents, in the secular and
visible world, in the affairs Of individuals
and nations, this spiritual order, Oh which
the whole secular order dCpenda.H
Again, We are assured that civil society
can no Lore dispense with the Church,
than the body with the soul" Yet, ''tho
American people sec nothing divine, moth
ing sacred aud inviolablo in their Govern
ment; VIC need the Church to consccratc
The Government, to give the law q spiritual
sanction.n But lest these words should
suggest what they were not intended to OK
press, VIC are distinctly told that "thc
Church" that is to do the work is no other
than the very Church that has crushed out
, liberty already in so many Quarters-thc
Church that has its cXpurgatorial index for
, books, its censorship for the press, its fresh
; memories of the Iuquisition for such as dare
to think "rhere is no hope for our Repub-
lie under Professionalism" 1t has nothing
outside Of the world to stand on in order to
. move it, 'ior it rests on the world and,
: in fact, is only the world itself.n
1t is not difficult for any thoughtful read
, er to draw from such language as this ap-
proprate inierences, or 10 understand its
bearing. But thG writer of the article will
: relieve him of the necessity. His expressed
Il conclusion is, "There is no instance in all
= history Of a State without some sort of re-
! ligiOn even an established religion, or re,
y ligion, which the State recognizes as lis
supreme law, and does its best or worst tc
enforce. We here, as well as in England
. as well as at any time in any European
! country, have an established religion
= which The law protects and enforces on al
. its citizens, only it is a multilated religion
v q religion without dogmas-and called
= morality. There is no such thing as q
! = complete divorce Of Church and State prac
. ticable in any country on earth. The only
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