Knoxville Whig and chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1875-1882, 1875-04-28
THE COLOR QUESTION AND
~ "a CATHOLICISM 8FEE


is making large efforts to gain the
ascendancy among the colored PEG.
pie of the South. Priests have been
educated and set apart for this special
work, and are now labolIhg With zeal
in various portions of the South.
And we hear of 10 trouble in the
church growing ont Of the color ques-
ton. Colored people are admitted
into Catholic Churches on terms of
the most perfect equality. 1t appears
little strange that the class of
Christians above alluded to should
have so many harsh words for their
fellow Protestants and not a single
syllable against Catholics who do the
same thing, only more So.
THIS WAS THE minute man of the
re colution, the rural citizen trained
in the common school, the church and
the town meeting, who carried bay
onet that thought and whose gun
loaded with q principle brought down
not man but system" Such is
the description given by George
William Curtis in his admirable Cen
tennial Grafton at Concord, of the
revolutionary heroes through whose
sacrifices we inherit the greatest re-
public of the world. 1t is worth
while in this age and this country to
reflect for a moment how far we can
safely depart from the standard of
citizenship which the revolution fixed.
That revolution was successful. be-
cause in every heart the love of coun-
try was paramount to every other
consideration. There were no secta-
rian or sectional gods to divide the
allegiance which the fathers felt were
due each other and out of which was
created the Constitution and form of
government under which we now
live.
One Of the greatest dangers to
which as q nation we are now sub
jected is the division of allegiance of
the citizen between his Government
and his church. Bismarck in Ger
many and Gladstone in England have
unmasked the batteries that are
pointed against their respective Gov
ernments and the issue in this country
must come very soon. In Ohio the
coalition between the Catholic Church
and the Democracy is unblushipgly
announced. When the legislature of
that State passed the Geghan bill at
the commands of the church by which
the institutions under State control
were thrown open to the priesthood,
the Catholic Telegraph, of Cincinnati,
said: The unbroken solid vote of
the Catholic citizens of the State will
be given to the Democracy at the fall
election" The startling demands
for division of the school funds
in New York and other States
and the alarming growth Of the
political aspirations Of the Church in
this country all serve to show the
character of the issues soon TO be
presented for every citizen. We have
no disposition to force them prema
turely, or to drag unnecessarily any
sectarian controversies into the politi
cal arena, but the time is opportunC
for enforcing the necessity Of training
our youth in the school-house that IA,
may be intelligent and prepared t
discharge with safety the importan
duties Of citizenship in q country
whoce existence depends upon an en-
f lightened and honest suffrage.
BARNUM, the great Snowman, VIII,
was recently elected Mayor of Bridge
port, Connecticut, may be a humbug
and doubtless is, but in his Inaugural
address he said some things wei
worthy Of consideration. If the fo
lowing extract FROM the address wa