The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-11-10

is that religion, conceive it to,sbe
my duty to have my. grandchildren
brought up in 1t. feel no iI1-wilI or
illiberal prejudices against the sec
tarians which have abandoned that
faith; if their lives be comfortable to
the duties and morals prescribed by
the gospel, have the charity to hope
and believe they will be rewarded with
eternal happiness, though they may
entertain erroneous doctrines in point
of faith; the great number In every
religion not having the leisure or
means to investigate the truth of the
doctrines they have been taught must
rest their religious faith on their in
structors, and therefore, the great body
of the people may conscientiously be-
lieve that they hold the true faith.
but they who from nliberal education,
from understanding. from blocks, not
written by one party only and from
leisure, have the means of examining
into the truth ofedoctrines they have
been taught as orthodox, are in my
opinion bound to make the examina-
liOiAt 1lOA .S0lACI CaI lACtl tsSJ1OllSt C11u
Impressions or habits or prejudices:
to operate against the conviction of
what is. right Upon conviction only a
change of religion is justifiable; on
a concern so seriously interesting to
all. of us: no worldly motives should
sway our conduct. - s
In a letter written to his son
Charles, the signer gives him this adj.
vice.: In improving your mind re-
member your God. Il The fear of the.
Lord, says the wise man, is the be-
ginning of wisdom; without virtue
there can be no happiness; and with
out religion, no virtue; consider your
self as. always in, the presence of the:
Almighty If this sentiment be strong
and vivid, you will never sin or COM
NIT any action you would be ashamed
to commit before men,.
Protestant Descendants.
The son, however, did not follow
the advice of his father, nor did he
support the reputation of the family.
Charles married Miss Harriet Chew,
a Protestant lady, July IT, 1900. The
first child by the marriage was son
Charles. born July %, 1901; a second
son, Benjamin, was born November Is,
1906, and died March 8, 1907. They
also had two daughters, Elizabeth and
Mary Sophia. Mary married Rich
ard III. Bayard, non-Catholic, and she
lost the faith. 1t appears that Bishop
Carroll was invited to perform the
marriage ceremony and that he went
to Philadelphia for that purpose. On
arrival the Bishop learned that Ear
rangements were made for the mar
riage first by myself in the morning.
and afterwards in the evening, and in
more ceremonious style, by Bishop
White. resolved Immediately not:
to enter into this compromise. Meth
er I, nor any other Catholic clergyman
can perform the ceremony under pres
sent circumstances" .,.,.
Bishop White was the first Episco-
palian Bishop of Philadelphia. Bishop
Carroll won his point, and the mar
rage was celebrated at ST. Joseph's
Church.
Today the blood of Charles Carroll
of Carrollton runs in few Catholics.
The same cause that today is destroy
ing the faith in thousands of our Cath
olics is the reason why few of the
descendants of the signer are Catho-
lies, namely, mixed marriages. In a
number of instances the children of
mixed marriage are baptized in the
Catholic faith, if the husband be the
Catholic, and brought UP Protestants
by the mother.
Some sixty years ago DR.. Salzmann
delivered sermon at ST.. Mary's
Church, Milwaukee, in which he said:
"Are we to have a repetition of the
| conditions in Pennsylvania? There
hundreds of people, say: My grand
father was a Catholic, my mother was
Lutheran, and am nothing What
is the cause?" Mixed marriages..
Spirit of Charles Carroll of Carroll
ton, whose ancestors were bright
lights in the Catholic faith, who gave
to the Church strong defenders of your
Holy Religion for hundreds of years,
battling yourself against odds, as did
your grandfather, who left his native
country: to come to aplace- where he
believed he could worship his God,
in the Holy Eucharist, may you in
tercede for your descendant that
they return to the One Fold and One
Shepherd. .s.
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