The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-21

he cannes before the American people asking for their suffrage for the great
 est honor that can be conferred upon
 him by the voters of the United States,
 it then changes matters and becomes
 of interest to the general public; they have a right to know who he Is and
 what he is, his beliefs and disbeliefs.
 Now MT. President, did not the in-
 consistency of your characterization few years ago of Thomas Paine as
 filthy little atheist" who was then as
 Mr. Taft now is, a Unitarian, have
 much to do with your position on this
 subject? Let that be as 1t may, there
 are many who believe Thomas Paine
 made it possible for a Unitarian to be elected President of the United States | in this year of our Lord, 1908, and that
 he did more for civil and religious lib- l erty than any man of his time. LOOK
 at the services he rendered during the
 Revolutionary period, at which time 1t,
 as he himself expressed 1t, tried mems
 souls" His Rights of Men" was an
 epoch making production, known and | acknowledged by his compeers and
 compatriots. Now, sir, it will be
 claimed your defending MT. Tafts right to hold the religious belief of
 Thomas Paine is worthy of the present exalted state of education and cfvilf-
 zation.
 Now, Mr. President, before proceed ing further in answer to your asser-
 tions, I desire to call your attention to
 a few quotations:
 | q believe in one God and no more. The world is my country and to do
 good is my religion. The creation
 we behold is the ever-existing world of God. I have always strenuously supported the right of every man to his opinion, however different that
 opinion might be to mine. He who de-
 nies to another this right makes slave of himself to his present opinion,
 because he precludes himself the right
 of changing 1t. The most formldab ble
 weapon against errors of every kind
 is reason. I have never used any otner
 and I trust I never shall.'
 The above are the utterances of Thomas | Paine, of whom in the Life of Gouvern-
 eur Morris" written by yourself, on page : 2S9, is the statement that Thomas Paine
 was a filthy little atheist" This was
 written in 1896 and in the last edition or
 the book printed in 1906, the charge still
 remains the same, which charge is untrue
 as the foregoing quotations clearly prove. It proves further that his religion was the very same as that which MT. w H. | Taft, the presdent-elect, now entertains l and which you are so strenuously defend- ing. Consistency, thou art dozen jew els-eighteen carat Jewels
 Another matter l would like to know
 about before proceeding in ansewr to your assertions: How did Cardinal Gibbons
 about before proceeding in answer to your vious to it's coming out? Did you, the President of the United States, have a conference with the cardinal previous to
 its appearance? Was 1t absolutely, neces-
 sary that you, the President of the United | xxvtf1 acl a
 permission of a cardinal of the Roman Catholic church Cor anyone else) to pub fish your letter to me?
 Returning to your assertion, Taft's re- ligion is a matter between himself and
 his Maker, etc, etc. Pope Leo XIII,
 when told a great Catholic had said the church was accused of hiding itself in darkness, Sreading the glare of modern
 searchlights, said, "If the church was not founded on truth it had no right to the allegiance of men" Thereupon he un- locked the library of the vatican and invited the whole world to read the story of the church; then summoned his great
 scholars and asked them to look into all
 discoveries and vindicate the Bible in the face of all augmentation. He did not
 say 1t was matter between him and his Maker, it was purely his own private concern a matter for his own con science. If William H. Taft had the faith
 in his religion Pope Leo XIII. had in his church, neither he nor yourself would have withheld it until after the election, but would have said, if it will not stand the searchlights being turned on, William II. Taft is not entitled to your votes. Silence would indicate that man had no religious conviction or was ashmed to make it known, which left many with no other alternative than to do what they could for a man who. they believe, stood for the principles and doctrines of Christ. To say that candidate for the highest office in the gift of the people is priv ileged to make his religious belief or dis belief a matter between himself and his Maker, matter for his own conscience and purely his own private concern, only appeals to me of little force; it Is evil dence of moral cowardice, and followed to its logical conclusion would justify every citizen in the land doing the same. Pub lie confession of Christ would be use- less and the doors of every church might be closed Our light Is to shine, Is it not according to the teachings of the Master? But if the light that is in us be darkness how great is that dark ness! That 1t is covered up by Roosevelt or Taft avails nothing to prove a con-