Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1871-08-03
FATHER FINNEGAN's ADDRESS CON-
SIDERED.

We do not think we are assuming too
great a prominence in the ROmish church
controversy in considering Father Finne
gan's address OH Tuesday night, as a reply
to certain articles on the relation of Ro-
man Catholicism to American liberty,
that have appeared in the CHRONICLE.
Indeed, the call made upon the Father
leaves no doubt as to the objective point OF
his address. In that call, the President of
the Irish Association goes out of his way
and volunteers an attack upon the CHRoN-
ICLE in the rather remarkable charge that
"as much has been lately said, to my OlOn
knowledge at least, grossly false by one of
our city papers regarding the Catholic
Church, ETC., 1 have been requested by
many influential citizens to invite you to
lecture on some subject that will put an
end to their false ideas,n etc. The Faith
er's address, therefore, we are warranted
in presuming was intended to expose our
false assertions and ideas, and to show
that the Romish Church of to-day is not
antagonistic to civil and religious liberty,
but on the contrary, the hope of Repub-
lican institutions.
We listened attentively to the address,
expecting to hear this question discussed,
but were greatly disappointed. Instead
of addressing himself to the issue, the
Father went vigorously to work to knock
down several men of straw put up by
himself The address in this respect il
Illustrates the character of the contest the
Roman Church wages. There were at
least hundred Catholics present on
Tuesday night that do not read the
Chronicle, and who know nothing
of what we have said save as the Father
cOnstrucs it to them. Every one of those
men, listening to that address, were led to
believe from the Fathers reply, that we
had made war upon them as foreigners, rs
ignorant, cOwardly, dishonest and worth
less men. These were the charges he dwell
upon and to minds that could not or had
not or dared not read our articles, the real
issues made were never understood. Was
this an oversight Orby design" Was it in
tended that our position should be misun-
derstood and thatthe Fathers flock should
20 away, believing that an unjust war was
being made upon them? Is this speci-
men of the information impaired to them,
and the means usually resorted to- in order
to prejudice their minds against those who
honestly and fairly differ with them? We
do not intend that intelligent reading Irish
men shall labor under such an impression.
IN, ol-a fInot,, for0
no war npon them as Irish citizens. We
make no question as to their bravery or
honesty or intelligence, for we know many
very good citizens who are Irishmen.
Their Priest misrepresents us when he
makes this impression upon them. In
this, as in many other questions affecting
their interests, he keeps them in ignorance
of the real issues and fights upon imagin-
ary ones. The cry of Know Nothing war
in this matter, as against us, is supremacy
ridiculous in view of the fact that one of
the editors and proprietors of the CHRoNI-
Gle must look over the ocean to Prussia to
see the home of his parents.
The Issue we make is, and we want to
make it so plain that the Father can not
misrepresent or dodge it, that the Romish
Church, as nOW constituted, with the In
fallibility dogma forced upon it, against
the protest of its most learned and liberal
minds, is hostile to the spirit of our insti-
buttons. To support this position we have
heretofore shown that the dogma of Infalli-
bility, if it does not rest upon the supreme
temporal as well as spiritual power of the
Pope, is a mere chimera without founda-
ton and significance. But we demon
strated from Catholic doctrine that the
Pope claimed supreme authority over tenn
peraL Princes, and insisted that ''while
the State has rights, she has them only in
virtuc and by the permission of the supe.
yior authority, and that authority can onLy