The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1886-04-08
.FtuOTS NORTH CAROLINIANS
SOME EMINENT MEN NORTH CAR
oIISA HAS PRODUCED.
.,tr,,ct, From Judge GastOn's Speech-
f i, Selected by Hon. William H.

continuing the discussion on Religious
Liberty. delivered in the Convention Of
1-5 upon the proposition to abrogate the
famous :}rd article Of our Constitution.
G4dge Castor said:
1T is not without hesitation, Mr. Chair
man that can bring myself to advert to
-gme observations which have been thrown
alt ia the course Of the debate, in rotation
TO the tenets, or supposed tcnets Of Roman
Gathol cs. The great battle Of Religious
freedom should not be fought in such mar
ROW ground, as the exclusion of any one
sect from, or its admission to, partcpa-
ton Of political power. Whether the
charges brought be true or false, the de
cl-jon on this question should still b. the
same. Some of these charges are so absurd,
that it seems like yielding them too much
honor to notice them at all; but to pass
them BY in silence, might be considered as
a titcit acqueScencc in th,ir truth. Be
-3es, much allowance ought to be made
for honest ignorance. The Catholics in this
State are very few, and those who have
had no opportunity of knowing them per
-DualIy. and have learned their tenets only
through the medium of their enemies, can
not be much blamed for crcditing the most
ridiculous falsehoods. 1t has been asked,
whether the allegiance of Catholics to the
Pope be spiritual only, and the learned
Gentleman from Halifax has unquestion-
ably shown that they do not owe him civil
allegiance Sir, | object in toto to the
term allegiance, as characterlzlng the con
uectI0n between the Catholic and the Chief
Bishop of his church. | owe no allegiance
To ANY man or set OF men on earth, save
ouiy 10 the State of North Carolina, and,
80 tar as she has parted with her soyer-
cI1nty to the United States of America
The charge that Catholics owe allegiance
to The Pope is wholly false. Spread over
the whole earth - speaking different
tongues subjects or citizens of different
governments beings of different races
and complications are connected by
a spiritual tie, the tie of one aud the same
faith. which constitutes them one Spiritual
family or church. For the regulation of
this wide spread Church, an Ecclesiastical
or Spiritual Government is Indispensable
This IS mainly confided to the Bishops of
the several DioceSes, and of these, the first
in rank and jurisdiction is the Bishop of
Rome To him, subject to we'll defined
laws and well ascertained usage, is com
mitted the chief administration. To him
and to them and to every spiritual or
ecclesiastical teacher, acting within his
proper sphere, respect and obedience are
due. But no man owes to HIM, or them,
or any of them, the duty implied by term
allegiance; the obligation of personal de-
fence, as an equivalent for the benefit of
protection. Should the Chief Bishop,ln III the
pretended exercise of his ecclesiastical
powers (for in the church he is known
only us an Ecclesiastical superlor) attempt
to encroach upon the jurisdiction of the
other pastors of the church, who claim
their power from the same source from
which his is derived, though not to the
same extent; the principles of Catholics
teach that such usurpation should be firmly
and zealously resisted. Such usurpatlons
have been attempted, and the history Of
Christendom shows that upon no point has
there been a more jealous vi GLANCE upon
the part, not only of the Catholic Preates,
but of the Catholic people, to prevent and
repel them. His authority-their author
lty. Is spiritual only-has no connection
with civil duties-ind is enforced only by
spiritual cenSures. He has not, and they
have not any more right TO interfere with
a mans obligation to his country or his fel
low men, than civil rulers have to inter
fere with a mans spiritual concerns.
Catholics peremptorly deny that the
church has any temporal power, or any
rlEbt to interpOse in the regulations OF the
government, and hold themselves bound
10 resist unto death, as tyrannical usurpa-
tI0n, all attempts at such interference. As
a proof that this their doctrine was well
known, even at the moment when TOR po-
q lltlctl purposes they have been most tyran-
s nicaIly treated by their rulers, let me men
q ton one extraordinary occurrence recorded
q IN history When Elizabeth of England had
q quarrelled with the Pope, and but recent
u ly pat out of Catholic communion; when
n She was the avowed champion of PrOtes-
u fantism, and engaged in a tremendous war
II Aith the Catholic Monarch Phillip of
SPAIN the husband of her deceased sister
in the very moment of utmost peril, she
committed the chief command of that small
and gallant feet which was opposed to the
q invIncible Armada, into the hands of
known and exemplary Catholic, Lord How
ard. of Effingham. And nobly was that
confidence requited. She knew, and his
conduct showed, that he recognized no
q Sovereign but the Sovereign of his coun-
try, and that the religious principles rem
81 dered him but the more resolved to dis
a charge faithfully his duties as subject.
We give, last, the report which he made
s. as Chairman of a Joint select committee
& Of both Houses of our General Assembly
upon proposition to employ an artist by
& tie name of Ball Hughes, to repair the
q statue of Washington, which had been
much mutilated in the destruction by fire
j OF the State Capitol in the year 1881. 1t
.cludes a noble tribute to the character
3 Of the father of his country; and every
American not dead to the sacred impulses
Of patriotism, must feel his heart beat
81 high, as he reads it. with the proud recol
ecton that he is the countryman of Wash
II ngton The resolution, which was design
q cd TO carry out the recommendation of the
Il report, was adopted, but the artist subse
q 4uently proved faithless to the trust con
ri ljIed TO him, in consequence OF which the
s gIized world, as well as our own State,
# has lost 1.-The last and greatest work OF the
81 trSt sculptor of the age in which he lived.
Among the regrets occasloned by the
g late destruction of the State House. 1t IS
81 believed by the committee that none have
81 been more deeply or generally felt by, the
81 citizens of North Carolina than those
81 which We're excited by the mutllatlon OF
So the monument, which the gratitude OF the
81 state had caused to be erected to the mem
81 ory Of the Father of his country. True 1t
nj that while heart beats amongst US to
@ which liberty is dear, or which can swell
# WITH admiration for patriotism, the name
@ 1t Washington must live, embalmed in the
affections and consecrated by the reyer-
"uce Of his countrymen. No storled urn
tJr animated bust is needed to perpetuate
# tAe glory Of his achievements, or to rescue
from oblivion the recollection of his ser
-lces. But the people of this State had a
flSht TO be proud Of the evidence they had
Inhibited Of the intensity with which they
slt TO cho 7 Tod