Omaha daily bee., 1888-04-22

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their mark in the world, were forced to
leave it. Finally, at the close Of the
century, English was definitely installed
in the services, and the process of decay
was stopped; but it had been permitted
to go on SO long as to prevent the church
ever taking n leading position in the
land. The French Huguenot churches
we're abandoned by their supporters
even more quickly, the Huguenots, as
already said, throwing themselves from
the outset heart and soul into American
life. The Swedish Luthern churches
on the Delaware suffered almost total
extinction in consequence of the folly
OF the ministers in standing by the old
languages; the congregations finally
abandoned them entirely and 500 after
the revolution the minister sent out
here by the king of Sweden returned
| because there was no one who could un-
derstand his preaching.
Before closing, one word TO those who
| either fear, or profess to fear, the effect
of the Roman Catholic church upon our
institutions. To quiet such fears, 1T
| would certainly seem only necessary
for those people to call to mind Carroll,
who signed the Declaration of Indepen-
| dence, and the part played by his fellow
Catholics of Maryland in the revolution;
or let them analvze out the Legislative
| bodies of to-day-not combining them-
selves to the representatives OF the
| lower wards of the great cities. / car
| speak feelingly on this point, for among
the score or two of men of really
exceptionally honor and integrity whom
! met during a three years Legislative
experience, a full proportion bore such
| distinctively Irlsh-Catholic names as
| O'Neil, Kelly, Costello, Welsh and
Shelby. 1t is perfectly true that now
and then priests say foolish things
like the silly remark recently made by
| one in New York, to the effect that
good Catholics must take their politics
from Peter; to which the answer is that
Americans would no more tolerate a
theocracy than an o~ligarchy or
a monarchy; but do not
some protestant preachers at times
| show quite as little wisdomp The sim
pie truth is that in our systems of re-
ligion all have to become more or less
fore all have to change somewhat from
the old-world form; the Presbyterian
ism of to-day differs widely from the
Calvanism of the seventeenth century
in Scotland and Geneva, and would be
un-American if such were not the case;
and similarly the practical workings of
the creed of American Catholics will be
| very difficult in the outcome from the
| effect of hat creed among Italian or
Spanish ultramontanes.
There is but one point in reference to
| which any feelings of. alarm are in the
| smallest degree iustifiable; this is this
public school system. We could suffer
| no national calamity more f~ar-reaching
in its effects than would be implied in
the abandonment of non-sectarian COM
| mon schools: and it is a very unfOrtu-
nate thing for any man, or body of men,
to be identified with opposition thereto.
| But it must be borne in mind that hos
tility to the public schools is not really
a question of sects at all; it is merely
| an illustration of the survival or impor-
tation here of the utterly un-Amer-
lean aud thoroughly old world
idea of the su%bordination of the
| layman to the priest, Not a few
Protestant clergymen oppose our public
| schools on the one hand, n an ever
increasing number of Catholic laymen
| support them on the other. At my own
| home on Long Island, for instance. the
| chief opponent of the public schools is,
| not the Catholic priest, but the Episco-
| palian clergymen, and he reinforces his
slender stock of tritely foolish argu-
ments by liberal quotations from the
work of a Presbyterian theo1ogian. The
| liz III L D llob oIlO SbNOS SlSStDf ~ ~ eii
issue between intelligent American
laymen of every faith on the n hand
and ambitious, foolish or misguided sup
porters of a WORKOUT system of clerical
government on the other, these sup
porters including Episcopalians and
Presbyterians as well as Catholics. Our
public-school system is here to stay; it
cannot be overturned; wherever hurt,
even, it is only at the much greater cost
of the person hurting it.. The boy
brought up in the parochial school is
not only less qualified to be a good
American citizen, but he is also at a
distant disadvantage in the race Of life
compared to the boy brought up in the
public schools.
To sum up then, it is we'll for an
American citizen, wherever born, tC
keep these things in mind. In the first
place, american, " as a political term,
has to do with what a man is, not with
what his birthplace was; for many OF
the most honorable names in our history
are those of men born outside of oul
limits. The fool who votes against an
Irishman or German simply because he
quite as hurtfully un-American as is
the demagogue who, in seeking to infiu'
ence our fellow citizens of foreign orr
gin, appeals not to their interests as
patriotic residents of the commonwealth.
but to passions and prejudices associated
with the nationality they have thrown
off.
Secondly, the process of American
izalton is inevitable, and cannot be
stopped, though itmay be retarded even
for generations. Finally. while it is an
advantage to the nation to have every
immigrant become rapidly American
lied, yet the vital and essential benefit
is that done to the individual himself
and this benefit is without any CORE
spending drawback, for while it is in
the immigrants power to fail to become
an American, it is entirely out of his
power to remain what he formerly was
In any case he must lose his birthright'
all he can do is merely to commit the
suicidal folly of failing to claim in eX.
change his complete portion in the land
he has ad opted.
When nature falters and requires
help, recruit her e%nfeebled energies