The San Francisco call., 1896-02-28

| conditions, others arose from the very nature
I OF the clerical state. Hence, when the sweep
| ing assertion was made that the I'M nuniIes o.
| the church of ecclesiastical persons hAu theIi
! origin in civil law, that assertion WIS con
| demned by the Pope.
HISTORY OF THE PROPOSITION
| The real meaning OF the condemnation NAV
! be seen more clearly when we Temem Der the
history of the proposition. AS mentioned q
! few davs ago the Pope in 1864 published g
syllabus or index of errors which he had con
demned at various times during MS ponuh-
cate.
In 1S4s South American clergyman had
written book on the power OF civil govern
meits. In that book he stated that these cler
! ical immunities which had been sanctioned by
fhe laws of God and the canons oil the church
had their origin in the civil law and that as
| lar as sacredness was concerned the house of q
foreign Embassador was far more sacred than
I q church.
OF course this crazy book was cendemned,
and the proposition known as No. 30 was ex.
tracted from it.
American common-sense itself rejects such a
wild statement. Let us take few OF the i'm
munities which are in vogue among ourselves
Do the RAILROADS give clergymen special rates
because OF the civil law?
Clergymen are given special rates because
the corporations believe that the calling OF
ministers is religious and charitable calling
and because these special rates in the ma.
ture OF a contribution TO works of philan-
thropy. This immunity. therefore, has its
origin not in the civil law or in civil customs
but in the very clerical character as established
by God.
Again, take an immunity which is set forth
py law. Clergymen in this City are not sum-
moned 10 do jury duty. The law makes the
exception, but why? What is the origin of the
law? The origin OF the immunity is again TO
be found in the nature of the Christian minis
try, as established by Christ just as the origin
OF d similar immunity for physicians is rooted
in the rights and nature Of the profession itself
1t is evident, therefore, that the proposition
cannot stand the test of common-sense and
that it is erroneous when judged by our
American standard as when Judged by the
standard of the Pope.
d. Ross took this proposition of the syllabus
and trea ted il as he did the others. Again let
me use the deadly parallel":
ORIGINAL ROSS FORGERY.
= = The immunity The Roman church
OF the church and of &c and her ecclesiastics
clesiastical persons had have q right 10 immunity
its origin in the civil law. from civil law.
You can see at once how the proposition oi
d. Ross misrepresents the position of the
church. 1t insinuates that the church and the
clergy are not bound by the civil law. and tina,
ii we wish we can ride roughshod over the law.
When dealing with DR.. Case / showed how
false this accusation was, and | repeat now
that we consider ourselves bound by every civil
law which is in accordance with the constitu.
tion of this State and of the United States.
An immunity does not mean that we are not
bound by the civil law. II means an exemp-
ton from certain public burthens. The doc
tor who is exempt from jury duty is bound by
the civil law just much as The talesman who
is forced into the box.
The churches which in various States are
exempted from taxation are just as much sub
ject to civil law as the corporations which pay
a percentage of their earnings into the public
treasury. When, therefore. the clerical i'm
munities are made TO mean that the clergy are
not bound by the civil law, the object of the
interpre tation is simply to calumniate the
church.
Moreover, let me add that the exemptions
from public burthens have nearly ali been
voluntarily surrendered, even in Catholic
countries, in modern times. The concordats,
or treaties, which the Pope makes with
such countries contain m no provisions for
OF protest the privilege of separate courts has
been. relinquished, and the clergy, even in
countries wholly Catholic, have been placed on
the same footing OF equality before the law as
other citizens.
These mmunites of former days have served
their purpose They were necessary feature
in the evolution of civil society. Their useful
ness has passed, and without an expression of
regret the church sees them pass away.
The quotations which Ross produced are as
usual irrelevant and mangled. He quotes two
out the words which explain what the Cardi-
nal meant; but / hope to return to this again
and show that the noble act of Wendteizing
Catholic authorities is not confined 10 the
other side of the bay.
As TO the judgment pronounced by that old
humoug Sherman IL was fitting conclusion
to the farce. Without taking the trouble to
verify the quotations, without taking ten min
uteS for reflection, he stood up and delivered
his findings.
But what can we expect from a man who
would not believe priest upon oath-what
can We expect from patriotic parasite and a
military fraud?
d. Ross is TO be pitIed. The gold mine, like
other gold mines, did not pan out His feel
ings have been so well expressed by my friend
the office boy that | conclude with the follow
ing description of the closing scene, in 1enny-
sonian meter:
o HubbelI! let me be little while as yet my soul
is filed,
Filled with bitter disappointment thus to see my
meetings killed;
Meetings which 1 held in spite of Pope's and
priests and bishops curse,
Meetings which hoped would I'LL up mine ema-
ciated purse.
Look around you DER the meeting, oh, the empty.
empty seats,
See the sorry set of coons and Scandinavian dead
beats.
Few the tickets that we sold them, spite OF all
the songs we sang;
Ne'er nickel, Hubbell darling, ne'er q nickels in
the gang
Not Roman came to hear me, tits the same old
Orange crowd
Firms, Kanucks. and Danes and niggers and the
Swedish beetle-browed.
"oh, that we could spoil the Papists, they alone
have got the tin;'i
Donald sighed and eased his iawbone, Hubbell
wept and said Amin
Yours truly, P c. YoRKE