Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1872-11-07

of the war Of the revolution. In that
letter His Holiness greets the Rev. An.
thony Martin, Arch Bishop of Florence,
with apostolic benedicton, because he
had translated the scriptures into the
! Italian tongue for the use of the com
mon peope-an excellent work, con-
tinues His Holiness, to stimulate the
faithful to the readings of the holy scrip.
lures; "For the scriptures are tho most
abundant sources which ought to be
left open for every one to draw from
them purity of morals" That, Reverend
sir, was an infalliblo utterance, and
strange, it has been one of those com
trolling ideas by which civil freedom
was rooted in the soil of this new con-
tinent Americans, you know, had
propensity to sift the world and the ages
for the good,to incorporate into their new
order of things. They diligently sought
for the means Of moral discipline for tho
young, and found the scriptures as His
Holiness Plus the Sixth found them to
be the 'most abundant sources of NOR
ais hence they put the open Bible in
the national schools. Sir, you see that
he who addresses you is intensly Old
Catholic, but he differs from the Dollin-
r-ilyacinthe stripe in that, in COM
mon with yourself, he regards that ut.
terauce of His Holiness as infallibe
The action of our school board then,
in replacing in our schools this "most
abundant source of morals was no.
only IN keeping wish American rrinci-
pies, bat in harmony with that memor-
able declaration Of His Holiness, the
chief Pastor OF the Roman Catholic
Church during the childhood of Ameri,
can liberty, Respected Father, how can
you reconcile with that infallible utter
ance your recent demand for the cxpul,
sion Of the Bible from our schools ]
am sure it was not your aim to pervert
these institutions of tho people, You
would not corrupt them by withdrawing
their Source of morals + But, why, 0
Reverend Father, did you seek to de-
priye those who are sc soon to take the
helm OF government, Of the HgM that
has inlallibly guided nations to civil lib
erty WIN you no. answer waiting
public, nnd enlighten them as to your
motives in preierring suoh q monsrous
request? lou are an accomplished
scholar, you are well read in history, so
that do not reveal any secret to you
when call to your mind the faot, that
where the Bible is sealed book there
wretchedness and ignorance prevail. /
cite you to Conaught and Meunster to
Italy, Spain and Austria as examples.
And then this other fact of history must
be patent to you, that where tho unadul-
terated word of God is read in schools
and families, there is the home of hap
piness Of Intelligence and of moral pu-
rlty; there commerce nourishes, there
inventions and discoveries originate,
there arss, sciences and laws attain per-
lection. cite you to Scotland and
Wales, to parts of Ireland and the Ger
man Empire, to England, and to those
United States as examples. Why sir,
let me repeat why deprive our future
| citizens Of what has been to their fathers
the Astounding source of morals p
Why substitute in it, place a less abound.
ing source ? But sir ono act should not
mar the good viii which trust is mn-
tual Let me then with a word more,
take my respectful leave Of you, 1t
would not have surprised me If those
alienated from this source Of morals had
initiated this movement in our midst; it |
would not have surprised me if any who
may be ignorant Of Gods righteousness
anu lahl1ar Win 9atan ueViee5i had
lead the host of opposition it would
not have surprised me had the skeptic,
the deist, and the infdel (if we have
such in the community joined hands
with the vicious and licentious, if any,
to tear down the foundation Of the TEN,
pie Of American purity, for there can be
no sympathy between them and book /
that consigns all immortality to perdition
nor would 1t have surprised me had those .
jolly good fellows, the proprietors Of our
saloons, rallied to cast out that book, for
The woes It nrononnees oger the hands Of |