Page images
PDF
EPUB

33D CONG...2D SESS.

The Naturalization Laws-Catholicity-Mr. Smith, of Alabama.

become naturalized at the date of the passage of this act, provided all boys who come to this country as immigrants with their parents, and may be at the time under the age of ten, or say fifteen years, shall, at the age of twenty-one, be considered as citizens in every respect.

These four propositions embody what I conceive to be the remedy for the great evils which prevail upon this subject.

I now pass on to some of the evils of these laws, as they exist at this time. Our naturalization laws are surrounded with such difficulties and such deficiencies that they have been maladministeredadministered in fraud, negligence, and corruption, from the foundation of the Government. This has been so palpable that the Congress of the United States, in 1824, had to pass a law by which, at one swoop, was cured the illegalities of the naturalization papers of, perhaps, thousands of foreigners, whose papers had been obtained in fraud and violation of the laws. The law of 1824 says: "No certificate of naturalization or citizenship, heretofore obtained from any court of record within the United' States, shall be deemed invalid in consequence of an omission to comply with the first section of the act entitled an act relative to evidence in cases of naturalization, passed 22d March, 1816,"-Stat. at Large, vol. 4, p. 69.

Here you will see that the Congress of the United States was convinced that for eight years (from 1816 to 1824) the naturalization laws had been corruptly and negligently administered; that for eight years men had been sent to Congress, men had been elected Governors and Presidents by illegal votes and spurious voters; and the Congress, in their blind liberality, passed a law curing the evil, healing the sores, and covering the frauds, by looking back and making these naturalization papers perfect which had been improperly granted.

A distinguished judge in New York recently discovered that for years and years, and perhaps from the very foundation of the Government, the clerks of the courts of that State had been in the habit of taking upon themselves the duties of the judges in granting naturalization papers. Judge Dean, of the supreme court of the State of New York, has published an elaborate opinion, and I will read a small portion of it:

In the matter of the Application of John Clark to become a citizen of the United States.

"The petitioner, a native of Scotland, applied to the clerk of this court for admission as a citizen. A number of other aliens made a like application. The clerk was proceeding to administer the formal oath to the witness of the respective applicants, when the subject was brought to my notice, and, on inquiry, I learned that the practice had, for many years, been for the clerk to receive and pass upon all applications for naturalization and grant certificates without consulting the court, and that the proof on which aliens were admitted to citizenship, did not ordinarily meet any of the requirements of the statute. On this state of facts I deemed it my duty to forbid the clerk from entertaining any applications of this nature, directing that all should be made to the court. The application was then made to the court, and, on examination, I found, that neither Clark nor any, one of the other candidates for citizenship, could furnish proof of continuous residence, within the United States, to exceed two or three years, and that each of the applicants was unprepared with any proof us to his conduct or character, during that brief period."

I refer to this simply to show the long existence of this error-to show that the clerks of the courts have taken upon themselves, contrary to law, the duties of the judges, and that this thing has been long tolerated. The clerks have been in the habit of making out and perfecting the papers, and the judges of the court have had nothing to do with the matter. I do not refer to this as an authority of any very exalted station or stand, but to show that the error has existed.

I have now shown that the Congress of the United States had to intervene, by an act, to perfect spurious naturalization papers. I have shown that a judge of the New York supreme court discovered that theclerks of the court had been in the habit, from time immemorial, perhaps, of granting naturalization papers contrary to law. I conclude, of course, and legitimately, that the persons elected to office in that State have been elected by spurious votes; for it is no consequence how many votes of this sort are given, so far as principle is concerned, for a few are often suficient to turn and control an election. And I see, sir, from a recent act of the Senate of North Carolina-called the free suffrage law-that the singular proviso is added, "That no unnaturalized foreigner shall vote for Senator or member of the House." This

would seem to authorize the conclusion that, heretofore, in that State, unnaturalized citizens have been accustomed to vote.

So much, sir, for the lamentable deficiencies of the naturalization laws.

Let us now take another branch of this subject. Mr. Wise, who has examined this subject with much ingenuity, says:

"The statistics of immigration show that from 1820 to 1st January, 1853, inclusive, for thirty-two years and more, 3,204,848 foreigners arrived in the United States, at the average rate of 100,151 per annum."

Is is not fair to say that, from the foundation of the Government up to this time, there has been an average of 100,151 emigrants coming to this country every year. We are bound to look on the matter in another light. We must look on it in the increased ratio of emigration. We know that, in the last year, very nearly half a million of foreigners arrived in this country. I have here a statement, which I presume is correct, showing: IMMIGRATION FOR 1854.-There arrived at the port of New York, during the year just closed, 307,639 emigrants, of whom 168,723 were Germans, and 80,200 Irish. The immigration at the same port last year was 284,945. The following is a comparative table of immigration from the year 1847 to 1854, inclusive. In the year 1854 the German immigration has been double that of the Irish: German. Irish. 53,180 52.946 51,973 98,061 55,705 112,691 45,535 117,038 60,883 163,256 118,011 118,131 ... 110,644 113,161 168,723 80,200 684,654 853,484 684,651 .1,538,138

1847.

1848..

1849.

1850.

1851.

1852

1853..

1854...

Total......

I have to call the attention of the committee to

the important fact that, during the last year, while three hundred and fifty thousand emigrants landed thousand, during the same period, made appliin the single city of New York, only about five cation for naturalization. Here you see, then, vast portions of these foreigners spread throughout the country without making any application whatever to become naturalized, and without swearing allegiance to the country. This ought to be corrected. We may safely calculate, Mr. Chairman, according to the increase of immigration for the last two or three years, that in five years more, unless some check be made to it, there will be an advent of a million the year. This ought to present some serious apprehensions to an American legislator. This tide of immigration has heretofore been confined to our eastern coast; but we have now to look to our western coast. The golden sands of California glitter in the face of Japan and China! See the stream of emigration from the Celestial Empire to California! What are we to do with these disciples of Confucius? Forget even, if you choose, for a moment, the German and Irish, and look alone to the West, and see if there is not an appalling picture already displaying itself. What patriot can fail to be inspired with the gloomiest apprehensions in beholding the almost untold millions of Pagans, whose army of eyes, more terrible than an army of bayonets, are sparkling with the reflection of the gleaming waters of California? How long, sir, will it be before a million of .Pagans, with their disgusting idolatries, will claim the privilege of voting for American Christians, or against American Christians? How long before a Pagan shall present his credentials in this Hall, with power to mingle in the councils of this Government There is now no law to prevent it. The American party demands a law to prevent it.

In five years more, according to the ratio of increase of emigration, there will be a million coming to the country annually; and there is no law requiring them either to renounce their allegiance to their own country, or to swear allegiance to this. But will they come in such numbers? Who can doubt it? The world is looking anxiously to this country. Our fair fields; our golden sands; our salubrious climes, form the animating theme of all the nations of the earth. They will come-come in increasing swarms-and, whatever may have been the liberal policy of the Government heretofore on this subject, the time has arrived when the

Ho. OF REPS.

interest of the American citizen, as paramount to all mere ideas of liberality, should be protected. In behalf of Americans, I claim laws to protect them in the enjoyment of that heritage which was bought by the blood of their sires.

We have seen, sir, that the laws of the land not only invite foreigners to come, but they also place it in the power of Princes and Kings to send their armies here, in the disguise of foreigners, with money in their pockets to purchase American rifles of American merchants.

FOREIGNERS INCAPABLE OF APPRECIATING LIBERTY. Mr. Chairman, I contend that the mass of foreigners who come to this country are incapable of appreciating the policies of our Government; they do not sufficiently understand our institutions. Patriotism is natural with a native-but it must be cultivated in a foreigner. Their minds are filled with a vague and indefinite idea of liberty. Liberty to them is a sort of chaotic idea. It is not the liberty of law, but of unrestrained license. Their. oppressions at home have cultivated and nourished treasonable inclinations, and they come here too often to indulge them. The foreigner believes that America is the natural rendezvous for all the exiled patriots, and disaffected and turbulent persons of the earth, and that here they are to meet to form plans and concoct schemes to revolutionize all creation, "and the rest of mankind." Well, let us see if there is any truth in these suggestions. Here are the solemn resolutions of the German Social Democratic Association, of Richmond, Virginia-an association existing in the center of the Old Dominion, in the heart of "the home of the Presidents:"

Reform in the laws of the General Government, as well as in those of the States.

"We demand: 1. Universal suffrage. 2. The election of all officers by the people. 3. The abolition of the Presidency. 4. The abolition of Senates, so that the Legislatures shall consist of only one branch. 5. The right of the people to recall their Representatives (cashier them) at their pleasure. 6. The right of the people to change the Constitution when they like. 7. All lawsuits to be conducted with out expense. 8. A department of the Government to be set up for the purpose of protecting immigration. 9. Å reduced term for acquiring citizenship."

Reform in the foreign relations of the Government. "1. Abolition of all neutrality. 2. Intervention in favor of every people struggling for liberty,”

Reform in what relates to religions.

"1. A more perfect development of the principle of personal freedom and liberty of conscience; consequently-a. Abolition of laws for the observance of the Sabbath; b. Abo lition of prayers in Congress; c. Abolition of oath upon the Bible; d. Repeal of all laws enacting a religious test before taking an office. 2. Taxation of church property. 3. A prohibition of incorporations of all church property in the name of ecclesiastics."

Reform in the social condition.

"1. Abolition of land monopoly. 2. Ad valorem taxation of property. 3. Amelioration of the condition of the working class-a. By lessening the time of work to eight hours for grown persons, and to five hours for children; b. By incorporation of mechanics' associations and protective societies; c. By granting a preference to mechanics before all other creditors; d. By establishing an asylum for superannuated mechanics without means at the public expense. 4. Education of poor children by the State. 5. Taking possession of the railroads by the State. 6. The promotion of education-a. By the introduction of free schools, with the power of enforcing parents to send their children to school, and prohibition of all clerical influence; b. By instruction in the German language; c. By establishing a German University. 7. The supporting of the slare-emancipation exertions of Cassius M. Clay by Con- ̧ gressional laws. 8. Abolition of the Christian system of punishment, and introduction of the human amelioration system. 9. Abolition of capital punishment."

Let every American read this carefully and candidly. It is but a fair sample of the foreigner's ideas of liberty. Ought these men be allowed to vote? No President, no Senate, no Sabbath, no. swearing upon the Bible, no permanent Constitution, no neutrality, no Christian punishment. Is it even probable that the second generation of such insane fanatics should so be improved as to be capable of voting with discretion? These are the "fundamental principles of reform of the Social Democratic Society of Germans," and are not confined to Virginia, but are ramified throughout the whole Union, wherever the Germans go.

In proof of which, and as kindred to their previous resolutions, I here present a part of the address and regulations of the American Revolutionary League, adopted at the Revolutionary Congress held at Philadelphia from January 29 to February 1, 1852:

33D CONG....1ST SESS.

The Naturalization Laws-Catholicity—Mr. Smith, of Alabama.

"Fellow Citizens: The Congress of the American Revolutionary League for Europe' herewith submit the result of their deliberations to the judgment of the people, all parties of which were represented in that body.

Earnestly resolved to find the means of terminating the desperate condition of the liberty-thirsting people of Europe, firmly convinced that the first great step to the attainment of this goal is the cordial coöperation of all who seek it, it was for us to explore the middle ground upon which all parties could honorably and cheerfully unite their forces.

"The conscious determination to achieve a revolution thorough and complete was the warrant for our actions; and of you, sovereign people, we ask the ratification of this warrant in the readiness with which you shall erect upon the foundation we have laid the superstruction of an extensive, yea, a universal, fusion of all revolutionary ele

ments.

"Let us, then, be up and doing! Our cause is noble, is sacred. The barriers that cramp the growth of active, intelligent, and high-souled nations are to be stricken down; mankind to be restored to its humanity. Let the motto for the strife be union, in the American Revolutionary League."

Here are the objects of the league, avowed in a regular form:

"The object of the league shall be the radical liberalization of the European continent; for which are required: "1. The overthrow of monarchy and the establishment of the Republic, because in the Republic alone can all the horrors of tyranny be prevented.

"2. Direct and universal suffrage, and the recall of representatives by the majority of their constituents; because this alone secures the supremacy of the popular will in the workings of popular institutions.

"3. The abolition of standing armies, and inviolability of the right of the people to bear arms; because the last resource of forcible resistance is the only protection against the last device of forcible usurpation.

"4. The union for these ends of all persons, associations, parties, and nations, for the annihilation of oppresion; because without such concerted efforts the organized power of the tyrants is invincible.

ART. III-Means.

"SEC. 1. Agitation as well in Europe as in America. "SEC, 2. Accumulation of a revolutionary fund. "SEC. 3. Formation of armed organizations desirous of entering personally into the struggle, and of preparing for it by military exercises."

And this is not the mere idle resolves of a club at a town meeting. You will see that they so arranged this league as to extend it to every principal town in the country. As thus appears:

"1. In the principal towns of every State there shall be established a State committee, to consist of the executive board of the revolutionary association there located. If there are several revolutionary associations in such principal town, they elect the State committee between them.

"2. The duty of the State committee shall be to receive the communications of the board, and transmit them to the several associations, and to transmit the proposals of associations to the board, to establish new associations, and generally to make all possible exertions in furtherance of the cause in the State assigned to its care."

Here, sir, is a brief outline of a most extensive association, formed and organized upon American soil, by foreign agitators, the avowed object of which is: "Agitation as well in Europe as America." Are these hot bloods capable of voting and mingling in the governmental affairs of this nation? No, sir. The liberty our fathers fought for, and which we enjoy, is not the privilege to sit and hatch treasons; to disturb, with unhallowed plottings, the princes of other realms; to break constitutions at pleasure, to raise armies without authority of law, nor to take from our neighbor his goods, because he has most; but it is the privilege to be protected by laws from the evils of anarchy and oppression. There is no tyrant so relentless as ANARCHY-none so oppressive.

In these proceedings, and regulations, you have frequent mention of "the accumulation of the Revolutionary Fund," and while these patriots are forming constitutions and laying plans, we hear of the financial operations of their allies, Kossuth and Kinkle. We see Kossuth peddling his dollar, of which here is a curious copy:

"HUNGARIAN FUND.-On demand one year after the establishment in fact of the INDEPENDENT HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT, the holder hereof shall be entitled to ONE DOLLAR, payable at the National Treasury, or at either of its agencies at London or New York, or to exchange the same in sums of Fifty Dollars or over, for certificates bearing four per cent. interest, payable in ten equal annual instalments from one year after said event. "L. KOSSUTH."

We see the accomplished Kinkle, delighting. audiences with his eloquent speeches, and plausible plans; and raising fifteen and twenty thousand dollars a night from the pockets of the sage inhabitants of the western States-all to be used either in aid of the American Revolutionary League, or for some kindred purpose. And these money orators are aided in their schemes, and the people kept constantly excited, by such appeals as this:

"TO THE GERMANS IN AMERICA: The news brought to these shores by each successive steamer from Europe, proves that the hour of insurrection is near; therefore, the refugees must organize and hold themselves in readiness.

"At a mass meeting held November 9, 1853, a commission was elected for the purpose of organization-and that commission, finding unoccupied that difficult position which it was requested to take, now calls upon the German emigration in America to acknowledge them as the center in all matters regarding that affair.

"The commission has adopted the following platform as the basis of its operations:

"We recognize the solidarity of all revolutionary interests; our first object being, however, the deliverance of Germany from its political thraldom, without our presuming to decide by anticipation other secondary objects. We expect that the people of Germany will, themselves, decide upon their future political system, and we place ourselves at the disposition of the revolutionary Government."

[ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors]

"To our former revolutionary companions we say: Be prepared! The approaching struggle between liberty and despotism will be severe; but it will be the last; for it will only terminate with the annihilation of one of the two opposing and irreconcilable principles."

Add to this the sage reflections of Mazzini. In writing to some friend-some member of this revolutionary league, perhaps, he says: "Twentyfour millions of emancipated Italians will be twenty-four millions of Abolitionists to aid their brothers in America!"

Nor am I permitted to pause here! These disorganizing_sentiments have spread with fearful success! Read the following extract of a speech of Mr. Roedel to the German portion of the audience, made in New York but a few days ago:

"BRETHREN: For the first time I speak in an assembly like this. We have not all the same language, but our feelings are the same; they unite us here with the American people. For the advancement of these sentiments we must not only unite with them in speeches, but also in acts. In our country we have fought for liberty, and many of us have lost, in battle, our fathers, brothers, or sons. Here we are free, but not free enough; we want the liberty of living. [Applause.] We have fought in Germany for liberty of speech and the liberty of the press. The German press is against us in this movement; but we need not care for what those papers say; we must act on our own hook. Here we have social liberty, liberty of speech, and liberty of the press; and when we want anything that is just, we are bound to obtain it. [Applause.] If you don't know your rights yet, hunger will teach them to you. You don't get bread nor wood, and there is plenty of them. At our revolution in June, we obtained three months' credit, and when we had no read, we soon obtained it, because we were two hundred thousand bayonets strong. I have nothing further to say than to advise you to put in practice the principles of the social Republic. The Tribune said, to day, that the rich would give us a million, if they were forced to it; but now they will hold their money in their pockets, and refuse to give it up. When the wolf is hungry he has no consideration, and takes his food fearlessly where he finds it; it must be the same with the masses. Help your selves, and then God will help you. We must act as the wolf, and we do not want any auxiliaries! Let us act by ourselves." [Applause.]

Hunger is the excuse for these sentiments, sir. 1 never yet saw an honest, healthy man that could not earn his daily bread; who could not, with the labor of his own right arm, get enough for himself, his wife, and children. It was the pretense of hunger that brought the Danes and Normans to England. It was the pretense of hunger that brought the Goths and Vandals to desolate the fairest portions of the eastern world.. This plea of hunger may bring millions of immigrant invaders to this fair land, to take from those who have plenty, without law, without justice, but in the name of liberty, as interpreted by these plotting, exiled patriots

Mr. BARRY. If the gentleman from Alabama will allow me, I should like to know whether the meeting in New York, of which he speaks, was a meeting of native Americans or foreigners?

Mr. SMITH. I will not presume to say whether it was a native or foreign meeting.

Mr. BARRY. The gentleman spoke of the meeting as composed of the same persons who were concerned in a European revolutionary league, and I presumed, therefore, that the gentleman knew who were the men who composed it. I do not know, and, therefore, I asked for information.

Mr. SMITH. I do not know. If the speaker was an American, so much the more shameful for him.

Mr. BARRY. To be sure; to be sure; so it is. Mr. SMITH. The speech is reported in very plain English. If it was an American speaker, he must have been corrupted by foreign influence. [Laughter.] Ah, sir, there is a smile! Are we so far above the reach of foreign influence as.

HO. OF REPS.

to be secure against it? Sir, are we so securely encased in the armor of self-wisdom as not to be beguiled by foreign influence? Sir, the beginning of wisdom is the conviction of our ignorance; the beginning of knowledge is the confession of our weakness; and the sooner we know the power of foreign influence over the manners and habits of our people the better. The sooner our children are taught that the Jesuits and priests have been raised from their cradles to seduce us, the better for us. It has been but a short time, sir, since all America was turned upside down by an eloquent foreigner. But to return to the question of the honorable gentleman from Mississippi, [Mr. BARRY; upon a further reading of the speech referred to, I find that the speaker speaks as a German,

Mr. BARRY. I desire to ask the gentleman another question. I desire to know whether Gavazzi, who is getting up these Know-Nothing organizations, is not a foreigner? I wish to know whether the editor of the Crusader, the great Know-Nothing paper of the country, is not a foreigner? And further, I desire to know whether James Gordon Bennett, the editor of the New York Herald, which is also an organ of the Know-Nothing party, is not a foreigner?

Mr. SMITH. I cannot answer the gentleman. I know nothing of these men, except that, if they are foreigners, they are not natives-if they are not natives they can have nothing whatever to do with the Know-Nothing organization. But one thing is very certain: the editor of the New York Tribune, who spends his days and nights in concocting slanders against the Native American party; pouring out, every morning, his boiling cauldron of lies and slanders upon this new party, is the special organ of Abolitionism-and in the same print that denounces the Know-Nothings he parades his slanders against the South, in the form of an array of advertisements for runaway slaves. I have no time to talk about Gavazzi and the Crusader. I like Gavazzi for his exposure of the Jesuits, but I should hate to take him for a Governor. So far as James Gordon Bennett is concerned, I have no respect for him more than I have for any other Scotch divil. [Laughter.]

Mr. Chairman, I would not exclude the foreigner from these shores; but I want the privilege of picking the class that comes. I do not want the vermin-covered convicts of the European continent. I do not want the crime-hardened felons of the European prisons. I do not want those exiled traitors, who call themselves patriots, whose oaths of allegiance to their own Kings have already been broken-for who can expect faith from the faithless, or truth from the perjured? I do not want the propagandist, who comes to interpret the Constitution of the United States for us and for our children, and to prate in unmeaning jargon about the policy of Washington. I do not want those swarms of paupers, with pestilence in their skins, and famine in their throats, to consume the bread of the native poor. Charity begins at home-charity forbids the coming of these groaning, limping vampires.

AARON BURR IN FRANCE.

In reference to any proposition to absolutely exclude from the country persons notoriously seditious, I cannot forbear to refer to the French Government.

How admirable was the conduct of the French Government towards the United States on the occasion of the visit of Aaron Burr. He was one of those perturbed spirits of this world, who, being foiled at home in his nefarious schemes, and prostrated under the weight of public odium, fled for succour and countenance from his own to another country. Visiting France, where he expected to find, amongst its combustible elements, ample. materials for his genius to mould into any shape, he was met at once, and promptly, with the frowna of the court-marked as a public offender, and an exiled traitor-and we have reason to know that every step he took in France was noted by the authorities. Even the French people, while willing to treat him with their characteristic civility, rather avoided than courted his presence; and it was only in the dark corners of the most mysterious and gloomy parts of the metropolis of France that he could hold his treasonable levees. How

1

33D CONG....2D SESS.

The Naturalization Laws-Catholicity-Mr. Smith, of Alabama.

admirable was this conduct of the French Gov-
ment. True to her neutrality; true to her ancient
friendship for us; true to her national dignity, and
to international fidelity, she observed, both in spirit
and letter, not only the obligations of treaties, but
followed those high incentives of reciprocal duty
by which princes and nations command the ap-ground of political sagacity. Solomon says:
plause of mankind.

cal movements, secrecy is the great element of success.
I take it for granted that the American party,
called "Know-Nothings," is in earnest. They
intend to finish what they have commenced. As
a matter of party discipline, they have a right to
be secret in their meetings, and upon the broader

How striking a contrast, sir, does this case of the fidelity of France present to that which we exhibited of our duty to Austria, upon the visit of M. Kossuth to this country! I forbear, sir, to comment upon the turbulent scenes which distinguished that extraordinary advent. I forgive all, to "the spirit of liberty" and to the too magnanimous generosity of my deluded countrymen. We will grow wiser as we grow older. Time and experience is to teach us, that without stability there can be no true liberty; without the observance of the strictest duty in international reciprocities, there is no national respect.

NECESSITY OF OUR ALIEN LAWS.

We have no sufficient law and no power to banish aliens. We should have such a law. Recently the Emperor of France has decreed the banishment of the Russians from the Empire. Will any man say that such a power ought not to exist? Will any man say that such a power should not be exerted whenever the peace and quiet of a country should demand it? The liberties of the American people, the homes of the American people, the rights of the American people, are no less dear to them because they have adopted a Republican Government; and a Republic is no less in need of all the attributes of sovereign power than any other Government.

FOREIGNERS WHO FOUGHT FOR US ALREADY
REWARDED.

But I am told that we were aided in our revolutionary struggles by foreigners. There is a shadow of fallacy in this. The hint is thrown out that we are ungrateful. Sir, gratitude is not, and ought not to be, a national virtue. No generation has a right to burden another with its gratitude. No Government should be grateful at the expense of its citizens. "Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof." But have we been ungrateful? We

rewarded the men who fought for us in giving them the best of homes and liberty. We have rewarded their relatives by the most liberal laws of naturalization. That is enough. Individual gratitude, consulting alone its own interest and feelings, might go further. But a nation should not be required to do more than we have already done. Sir, we never promised, no body ever expected, that we would make this country the common receptacle of the filth and rottenness of Europe. It was never in the minds of our fathers to fight for liberty and then surrender it to the Pope!

"A fool's mouth is his destruction. Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from trouble." Old Polonius advises his son thus:

[ocr errors]

"Give thy thoughts no tongue Nor any unproportion'd thought his act.

[ocr errors]

Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice:
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment."
Burns says:

"Ay, free, aff han' your story tell,
When wi' a bosom crony;

But still keep something to yoursel'
Ye scarcely tell to ony.
Conceal yoursel' as weel's ye can
Frae critical dissection;
But keek thro' every other man

Wi' sharpen'd, sly inspection."
Lord Bacon tells us that "secrecy is the helmet
of Pluto which maketh the politic man go invisi-
ble." Now, upon these "wise saws," I say,
that, as a matter of political sagacity, it is not only
their right, but their duty, if they want to be
successful, to preserve in their halls the most
inviolable secrecy.

Again, sir, as a matter of party tactics, this
new party has a right to keep its own secrets. It
has the examples of the two old parties. True,
political conventions are usually held with open
doors; speeches are made, and resolutions adopted.
But this is a mere publication of the acts of secret
committees; the moving cause and reason for the
resolves being unknown and unseen. When the
great elections are pending, does not each party
in dark conclave-flooding the country with sealed
have its secret agents in Washington-meeting
packages? And does not the party in power keep
the finger pressed on the lips? "Say nothing!"
the key of the post office in his pocket? Is not then
"Keep dark!" These and other cabalistic words,
with all the mysterious inuendoes of conspiracy,
are uttered with low tones and smothered breath;
and all justified, commended, practised, and ap-
plauded. Why then, sir, may not the American
party keep its own secrets?

But, sir, the great justification of the secrecy of this order is yet to be stated. The American party is not warring with Americans. It is warring with an enemy sworn to secrecy, JESUITS AND the keepers of the secrets of their congregations? Is PRIESTS? Are not the Roman Catholic priests not the Jesuit sworn to secrecy? Does he not go prowling about the country with his tablet and pencil, culling all information; looking into everybody's business, peeping over every man's shoulder; winding himself into every man's confidence; lifting the curtain of every man's window; and with his meek, mysterious eyes smiling like a saint, does he not hurry away to reveal this information whenever it is of sufficient importance? This, sir, is name is legion, with which the American party is the fearful and disguised enemy, an enemy whose at war. Here is the Jesuits' oath:

But the foreigners who fou ht for us were a part of us. They remained with us after the war. Our victory was theirs. Their swords made them patriots, and the Constitution made them_natives. The homes they won were made comfortable; their fields blossomed around them, and after the fullest enjoyment of the blessings of liberty, they died and were buried in the land which their valor redeemed. Their children were born Americans, and are now a part of us. Do they complain? How absurd, Mr. Chairman, upon reflection, then appears this hackneyed idea, that gratitude for the incumbent)-is Christ's Vicar, and is the true and only foreign aid that was received in the Revolution should embrace the unborn generations of Europe! that our gratitude should make America a great alms-house for the pauper patriots of all creation! THE AMERICAN PARTY DEFENDED.

I now propose to say something in defense of the organization of the American party.

A MEMBER. Do you know anything about it? Mr. SMITH. I do not profess to know any thing about it. But if there be any such organization of "Native Americans," I am not ashamed of my countrymen, and I am perfectly willing to be considered as one.

The first objection which has been urged-and by no one with more earnestness and ability than by my honorable friend from Mississippi, [Mr. BARRY,]-is the secrecy of the order.

The first reason of defense is, that, in all politi-
NEW SERIES.-No. 7.

"I, A. B., now in the presence of Almighty God, the
blessed Virgin Mary, the blessed Michael, the Archangel,
the blessed St. John the Baptist, the holy Apostles St. Peter
and St. Paul, and the saints and sacred hosts of Heaven,
and you my ghostly father, do declare from my heart, with-
out mental reservation, that-(Pope Gregory, or the present
head of the Universal Church throughout the world; by
that virtue of the keys and of binding and loosing given to
his Holiness by Jesus Christ, he hath power to depose heret-
ical Kings, Princes, States, Commonwealths, and Govern-
ments, all being illegal without his sacred confirmation, and
that they may safely be destroyed; therefore, to the utmost
of my power I will defend this doctrine, and his Holiness's
rights and customs, against all usurpers, and all heretical or
Protestant authority whatsoever, especially the new pre-
tended authority and Church of England, and all adherents,
in regard that they be usurped and heretical, opposing the
Sacred Mother Church of Rome.

"I do denounce and disown King, Prince, or State, named
Protestants, or obedience to any of their inferior magis-
trates or officers. I do further declare the doctrines of the
Church of England, of the Calvinists, Huguenots and other
Protestants, to be damnable, and those to be damned who
will not forsake the same. I do further declare that I will
help, assist, and advise all, or any of his Holiness's agents,
in any place wherever I shall be, and do my utmost to ex-
tirpate the heretical Protestants' doctrine, and to destroy
all their pretended power, legally, or otherwise.
"I do further promise and declare, that notwithstanding

HO. OF REPS.

I am dispensed to assume any religion heretical, for the propagation of the mother church interests, to keep secret and private all her agents' counsels as they intrust me, and not to divulge, directly or indirectly, by word, writing, or otherwise, any matter or circumstance whatsoever, but to execute all that shall be proposed, given in charge, or discovered unto me by you, my ghostly father, or by any of this covenant.

"All of which, I, A. B., do swear by the blessed Trinity, and blessed sacrament, which I am now about to receive, to perform, and, on my part, to keep inviolable; and do calí the heavenly and glorious host to witness my real intentions to keep my oath. In witness whereof, I take this holy and blessed sacrament of the Eucharist, and witness the same further with my hand and seal, in the face of this holy covenant."

Sir, the American party, with all its alleged secrecy, avows to the world that one of its great objects is, as connected with the growth of foreign power in this country, to PROSCRIBE, as a party rule, Roman Catholics from office. With this object in view, and looking upon this oath of the Jesuits, I ask if the American party has not a right to hold its meetings in secret, to make its resolves in secret, and to keep its proceedings secret. There is an old saying, and never more appropriately used than now: "When you fight the devil, you have a right to fight him with fire."

HISTORY OF THE JESUITS.

But who are these Jesuits? wherein are they dangerous? Let us inquire. This order was founded after the Reformation by a thwarted mil

itary aspirant. They were called the "Society of Jesus." Its name indicates a purely "relígious" organization, but its main end was " political." Pope Paul III. confirmed the order upon condition that, in addition to the thrée usual vows, of poverty, chastity, and monastic obedience, the

They

order should take a fourth vow: to be obedient to
the Pope, binding themselves to go wheresoever he
should command, for the service of religion.
bound themselves to implicit and blind obedience
to the Court of Rome, and also to an implicit and
unlimited allegiance to the GENERAL of their soci-
ety; this general, of course, being subordinate to
the Pope, and knowing no allegiance except to
the Pope.

The number of this order was first confined to sixty; but this restriction was removed year after year, so that, in less than half a century after its foundation, the order had established itself in every country which adhered to the Roman Catholic Church; and in the year 1700, the number of Jesuits was twenty thousand. By this time they had the charge of all the schools in the Catholic countries. They had become the confessors of nearly all the monarchs; they were the spiritual guides of nearly every person of eminence and rank; they possessed the highest confidence and interest with the Pope, and were regarded as the most zealous and able advocates of the authority of the Papal Court. They were relieved from the ordinary duties of the other monks. The monks were left to their spiritualism. The Jesuit monks were taught to consider themselves as formed for action, and bound to exert themselves continually as soldiers in the service of God and the Pope, His Vicar upon earth. They were required to mankind; to wind their way into the confidence of attend to matters of the world; to study the nature of men of rank and power; to cultivate their friendship, probe their designs, and communicate their secrets. Action and intrigue were infused into every member of the order, and all their movements were covered with the impenetrable veil of secrecy ! The form and constitution of the order was purely monarchical.

"The General, who was elected for life, possessed a power which was supreme and independent, extending to every member, and to every case! He nominated all officers, and could remove at pleasure! In him was vested the sovereign administration of all the revenues and funds of the order! Every member belonging to it was at his disposal, and by his uncontrollable mandate he could impose upon them any burden, or employ them in whatsoever task he pleased. They had to yield to him not only outward obedience, but to resign to him the inclinations of their own wills, and the sentiments of their own understandings."

Sir, this is a brief sketch of the power of the General of this order. Was ever anything so tyrannical? Was ever despotism so complete? You must remember, too, that this General, with all this power over the members of the order, had himself taken a vow of implicit obedience to the Pope-so that all this despotism centered in the | Pope.

33D CONG....2D SESS.

The Naturalization Laws-Catholicity—Mr. Smith, of Alabama.

Let us now see how this power was exercised. It not only extended to the monks shut up in the monasteries, but it reached to every corner of the Roman Catholic world. By what ingenuity do you suppose this General could manage this widespread society? The order had divided its labors by establishing what is called: 1. Professed Houses; 2. Houses of Approbation; 3. Residences; 4. Colleges; 5. Boarding Schools; 6. Missions, Seminaries, and Provincials. It was carefully provided that the General should be perfectly informed with respect to the character and abilities of his subjects. The provincials and heads of the several houses were obliged to transmit to the General, regular, frequent, and minute reports concerning the members under their inspection. These reports were digested and arranged in registers, by which the general might, at a glance, easily survey the state of the society in every corner of the earth, observe the qualifications of its members, and select the proper instruments for any necessary service. The General also received frequent reports from his comptrollers as to the fiscal affairs of the society. And all these reports were so completely made out, that he had constantly before his eye full information concerning the transactions of nearly every Province and State in the world. This general had nearly as many ministers as the President of the United States! He had five ministers, (heads of departments of Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and Portugal,) to prepare matters belonging to their respective assistancies, and to put them in methodical and disposable shape.

Let us pause a moment and contemplate this vast power! How ingeniously devised! How skillfully exerted! Behold, in some gorgeous chamber-I say gorgeous, for everything Roman Catholic is gorgeous, except the cells of its lousy monks, and the dark cloisters of its lock-shorn nuns-behold, in some gorgeous chamber, this General! this almost imperial master of a society whose arms reach from sea to sea-from continent to continent. Behold him in the midst of the images of idolatry, clothed as a Cardinal, with hundreds of clerks at his bidding! Behold him, with his ingenious and learned minions, quick to observe, eloquent to teach, and rapid to execute! Behold him, turning over the pages of these carefully compiled registers, in whose cabalistic leaves are noted the strength of every State's army; the amount of every prince's fortune; the size and position of every monarch's fleet; the secrets of every king's bed-chamber; the inclinations and passions of every man and woman of power, rank, and character. Behold him, with the lines of communication by sea and land, lying open before him. Behold him, as if standing upon a tall cliff, which overlooks the universe, with his eyes reaching the institutions of every country, and scrutinizing the policy of every Prince. Behold this Richelieu, leaving his messenger the alternative of success or death in the rapid and safe execution of a trust. See all this! and more-if your imagination can enlarge itself upon the subject of this vast organization-and ask yourself, is not this a fearful power? A power exerted not for the free, not for liberty! not to disinthrall mankind, but to sustain the claims of the Pope to be supreme in temporal and spiritual affairs.

Well! You have seen the Cardinal in his gorgeous chamber, his council house, surrounded by his waiting emissaries, his willing messengers! You have seen this great central powernow, let us look upon it as it diverges upon the thousand channels of communication, both by sea and land. Who is that splendid chevalier, dashing by with the rapidity of lightning, with relays of fleet horses awaiting him at every point; he moves like a bearer of dispatches; he flies to the Pope? Behold that dusty traveler winding his slow way along the purlieus of a city, keeping in the background, sluggish and lazy to all outward appearance, but with a bright eye, and a face blazing with a secret! who is he?-he, too, is going on a mission to the principal of some far distant monastery, with a communication from the General of the Jesuits! Behold that anxious emigrant creeping from the bunk of some lately arrived ship, casting his glad and mysterious glances along the fresh coasts, and opening his ears to the liberty-chanting hills of America! Behold him

with his greasy sack entering the lanes and avenues of the unwalled cities of the free! Who is that emigrant? Who but an emissary of that central power-that potent Cardinal!

Sir, the Jesuit comes in all shapes, in all forms. They are spread all over the United States. They are men of the highest order of intellect, education, and learning. They are educated diplomats, skilled in all the arts and contrivances which tend to the concentration of power in the Pope, and to the diminution of power in the people. They have charge of nearly all the Roman Catholic colleges, nunneries, seminaries, and churches in the United States. Having sworn obedience to the Pope, they swear no allegiance-except with mental reservations to the Constitution of the United States. They are ready to teach the Catholic laity who apply for citizenship, that the oath to support the Constitution of the United States is no oath at all, when it conflicts with their duty to the Pope or to his bishops.

[ocr errors]

66

The main end proposed by this order is to gain converts to the Romish church; with this view they disperse themselves in every country and nation, "and with amazing industry and address, pursue the end of their institution. No difficulty so great that they cannot surmount; no danger so imminent that they will not undergo; and no crime so shocking that they will not perpetrate, and have not perpetrated, in the advancement of their cause. So ingenious and persevering has this order been in times past, that they established churches in China and Japan three hundred years ago, the remains of which still exist. They obtained, in the last century, admission into the fertile province of Paraguay, where they so secured the confidence of the people, that a few Jesuits presided over many hundred thousands of the natives." They take four vows-chastity, poverty, monastic obedience, and implicit obedience to the Pope. They break, at pleasure, the vows of chastity and poverty, but were never known to break the vows of obedience and secrecy. The order was annulled, for its many crimes, in the last century. The Pope who annulled it is thought to have been poisoned for his temerity. And now, again, they are restored to the bosom of the church, enjoying, as common, the fullest confidence of the Pope.

This order has been guilty of every crime and enormity which could degrade and disgrace mankind! History proves the truth of these charges. There is abundant evidence to show that the Jesuits, in many parts of the earth, have carried out the pledge, upon dispensation, "to assume any religion heretical," in order "to propagate the Mother Church." One of the most remarkable instances is recorded in the career of Ricci, the Jesuit, who established Romanism in China.

"He persuaded the Chinese that the doctrines of Confucius and those of the Gospel were not essentially different, and that Jesus Christ had been known and worshipped in their nation many years before. He allowed the Chinese converts to retain their profane customs and the absurd rites of their Pagan ancestors."

And Pope Alexander VII., after investigation, by solemn Bull granted the Chinese this indulgence.

HO. OF REPS.

whose ears are the only speaking trumpets through which an audience is to be asked or secured in Heaven!

So much, then, Mr. Chairman, in defense of the secrecy of the American party. The justification is complete. If I had but five words to speak to this party, I would say, preserve your secrecy. Remember the fate of Samson. Let no Dalilah delude you. Samson was a giant, invincible as long as he kept his secret. When that was surrendered, "The Philistians took him and put out his eyes, and bound him in fetters of brass."

THE ALLEGED OATHS OF THIS NEW ORDER.

This American party is charged with taking oaths. What if they do? For the sake of the argument, let this be admitted. They are native Americans; they are educated to allegiance. It is thing which would be inconsistent with that allenot to be supposed that they could swear to anygiance. I know that we are commanded to "swear not at all;" but ages and sages have not been able to discover any other purificator. In all the courts of Christendom, the oath is the only test of veracity. The feebleness of mankind makes it necessary; the custom of the world makes it honorable. An

oath, solemnly taken, is an element of purity. But this order finds its justification in the practice adversaries of this order, are the eloquent statesof its adversaries. The two most distinguished man of Virginia, and the learned gentleman from Pennsylvania, [Mr. CHANDLER.] Mr. Wise, himself, after assailing the order for its test oaths, utters, in his letter, this solemn sentiment:

"Oh! my countrymen, did not that pledge' bind them and us, their heirs, forever to faith and hope in God and to charity for each other-to tolerance in religion, and to ‘mutuality' in political freedom? Down, down, with any organization, then, which denounces' a separation' between Protestant Virginia and Catholic Maryland-between the children of Catholic Carroll, and of Protestant George Wythe. There the names stand together among the 'signatures,' and I will redeem their ' mutual' pledges with my life, my fortune,' and my 'sacred honor,' so far as in me lies-so help me Almighty God!"

The oath of the honorable gentleman from Pennsylvania is no less solemn.

Mr. CHANDLER. Do I understand the gentleman from Alabama as ranking me with the opposers of the Know-Nothing party?

Mr. SMITH. Certainly. I heard the gentleman's speech.

Mr. CHANDLER. I would scorn to oppose a party of which no gentleman in this House has admitted himself a member. [Laughter.]

Mr. SMITH. This remark of the gentleman from Pennsylvania is not more full of Jesuitism than his whole speech. The only retaliation I have to make to that venerable gentleman is, to condemn him to read his own speech, so fresh

"To his Royal Majesty Ferdinand II., of the Kingdom of
the two Sicilies.
"Sacred Royal Majesty:
"Sire, with much surprise we have heard our sentiments
doubted regarding absolute monarchy.

"Majesty, we not only in olden time, but also recently, on our reestablishment in 1821, until the present day, have always inculcated respect, love, and devotion for the King, our Lord, for his Government, for the form of the same that is, absolute monarchy.

This, sir, is the secret organization which strikes not only at our liberty, but at the liberty of all free nations.* This is the secret organization against whom the American party has taken its stand. These are the priests (many of them) who are the lute monarchy to be the best form of Government. keepers of the secrets of their congregations;

"This we have done, not only from conviction, but also because the doctors of the company, who are Francesco Suarez, the Cardinal Ballarmino, and many other theologians and publicists of the same, have publicly taught abso

* In a quarrel, recently, between the Neapolitan Governernment and the Jesuits, the reader will see, from the extract below, what the Jesuits think majesty and liberalism, and how supple they are to claim and to surrender opinions, either for themselves and the Pope:

"TURIN, December 6.-A curious quarrel has lately broken out between the Neapolitan Government and the Jesuits in that kingdom. It appears the latter had been in the habit of teaching that the Pope was superior to all the other sovereigns of the earth, and the former has, for some unexplained reason, quite recently thought proper to regard this, not very novel doctrine among Roman Catholics, as highly revolutionary in its tendency. The consequence was, that M. Mazza, the director of police, sent for Padre Giuseppe, the chief of the Jesuits, the other day, and told him they must discontinue this practice, and should recollect that, in 1848, they were sent out of the country in carriages; but if these things continue,' said the worthy minister, the Government will kick you out of the kingdom. Noi vi caccere mo a calci,' were the precise words. The reverend father, much distressed at the result of this

interview, hastened back to his convent, and lost no time in compiling the following protest, which was published at Naples a day or two after:"

"This we have done, because the internal economy of the company is monarchical, and therefore we are, by maxim and by education, devoted to absolute monarchy, in which Catholicism, by the wisdom and zeal of a pious King, can alone have secure defense and prosperity.

"Majesty, that we both think, and believe, and sustain that absolute monarchy is the best of Governments, is demonstrated by the damage we suffered in the year 1848. We were the victims of liberalism, because all liberals were, and are well persuaded, also, that the Jesuits are the sup porters of absolute monarchy.

"These things, oh, Majesty, are well known; and liberals would more easily believe that the sun would not rise to morrow, than admit that the Jesuits could favor them; and, therefore, every time they attempt a revolution, their first object is to despoil the Jesuits.

"Certainly, the Jesuits have never been, at any time, or in any place, accused of liberalism; and what motive should they have for not loving and defending the absolute Government of the august Monarch, Ferdinand II., who has covered them with benefits?"

So speak the Jesuits in Italy. How do they speak in the United States? You have only to change the word majesty for liberty, and monarchical for republican, in the foregoing protest, and you have the whole. If they are dispensed to assume any religion heretical for the benefit of the church, so they assume any politics heretical for the same purpose.

33D CONG....2d Sess.

The Naturalization Laws-Catholicity-Mr. Smith, of Alabama.

from his lips, and then for him to say again that he" would scorn to oppose the Know-Nothings," and to inquire of himself, against whom did I level these vituperative phrases ?*

*Not doubting that, in the above remark, the venerable gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. CHANDLER] intended to be personally offensive to me, and seeing that the sentiment is calculated to be offensive to, at least, a very respectable number of the best members of this Congress, who are the advocates of the American party, I cannot allow that gentleman to escape from the extraordinary position in which his denial places him. He is not the first man who, for the sake of a little premature wit, has ventured to be glaringly inconsistent.

The gentleman "would scorn to oppose the KnowNothing party."

What are the facts? In the reply to the speech of the honorable gentleman from Mississippi, [Mr. BARRY,] who had vigorously assailed the Know-Nothing party, the Hon. Mr. BANKS made a speech in defense of the organization and doctrines of the so-called Know-Nothings, in which he referred, with much power and force, to the Roman Catholic question. The gentleman from Pennsylvania, a week or two afterwards, put himself up as the champion of the Roman Catholic Church, to answer the said speech of Mr. BANKS, and to defend the Roman Catholic Church against the imputations, not only of Mr. BANKS, but of the KnowNothings. He refers to the speech of the honorable gentleman from Massachusetts, in his defense of the secret combination to put down the Catholic religion in this country, by denying to its members the full rights of citizenship. He says, in the opening of his speech: "I purpose making some reply to the remarks of the honorable gentleman from Massachusetts, [Mr. BANKS,] who recently addressed this Ho se, in committee, on some of the prevailing topics of the day, and made special and inculpatory allusion to the creed of the Roman Catholic Church." Let us remember that these "prevailing topics of the day," which the honorable Mr BANKS had discussed, were the topics brought up by the "Know-Nothings;" and this "inculpatory allusion" was a notorious charge of the Know-Nothings against the Roman Catholic Church. And the honorable gentleman from Pennsylvania took it upon himself to reply, "believing," as he said, "that an attempt at such a reply as the charge of the gentleman from Massachusetts would suggest to a Catholic, is expected from me, as the oldest of the few, the very few, (I know but one besides myself in this House,) who are obnoxious to any censures justly made against professors of the Catholic religion."

The gentleman devoted an hour to the defense of the Roman Catholic Church against the." inculpatory allusion" of a speaker who defended the Know-Nothings. He enumerates, also, and answers this Know-Nothing charge:

"It is charged that Roman Catholics even now admit the right of the Pope to interfere between subjects and their allegiance, and between citizens and their duties to the Republic, in some other form, since the power to depose Kings is no longer possible. I deny it; I have denied it for myself plainly, clearly, specifically."

It is generally understood that the making a defense for one party against the charges of another party, is opposing the assailing party. This idea would be even carried further by the gentleman's religious dogma, which he admits "he who is not for me is against me."

If the gentleman "scorned to oppose the Know-Nothing party," against whom or what party, I ask, did he level those denunciatory phrases which beslime the otherwise harmonious columns of his speech? Such as the following:

"Of the cruelty of disturbing the public mind with such questions, and disfranchising well-disposed citizens, I shall not now speak. I shall leave to other times, and other persons, and in other places, too, the task of impeaching and of developing the motives upon which such discreditable and unrig Veous proceedings rest. I shall leave to those who have more bitterness [?] of temper than I possess, to show that, though newly revived, the charge is as old as the hostility of Paganism to Christianity; and that those who are vitiating public sentiment in thus ministering to the appetite which they have made morbid, have their prototypes in the malignants who would crucify the Saviour'

Again, he says:

"It is mean, it is cowardly, as well as false, for any man, or set of men to assert that, in combining to exclude all Catholics from office, they do no more than exercise the right not to vote for individuals."

There can be no mistaking this. The Know-Nothings say this, and no other class says it. But this wholesale vulgar denunciation is not " opposing the Know-Nothings." Again the gentleman says:

"Atheism is now at work, as it ever has been busy, against the Christian faith and Christian prohibitions. It assails the Roman Catholic first, because that creed is more extensive; and without considering the evil which each is doing to religion, Christian men are yielding themselves, unconsciously, co-workers with infidelity by their active hostility to each other. If this country is to fall by any other means than ordinary decay or local convulsions, the mischief will be wrought by infidelity."

Here the Know-Nothings are denounced under the head of atheists," or, if not atheists, as men yielding themselves as "co-workers with infidelity."

But again, the gentleman says:

"Shall the heart of the American Catholics be wounded with stale rumors-rumors revived for party action-uncredited tales to their dishonor, or hypothetical charges of concealed treason, which, while it ventures upon no specification, disturbs the public mind, awakens slumbering prejudices, sharpens religious animosities, and gives occasion for the mean, the ignorant, and the vulgar ambitions to rise into power, by the combination of their own class with

But the gentleman's interruption shall not have its designed effect; it shall not divert me from reading his oath. Here it is:

"With my hand upon my heart, and my eye on Heaven, I call this House, and (I speak with reverence) I call my God to witness the truth of all the assertions, made from my own convictions and knowledge, and my entire confidence in the credibility of all the testimony which I have adduced from others."

Now, sir, it is not very common for a member of Congress to swear to his speech; but I admit the right to do so. General Jackson swore," By the Eternal." Cicero swore, "Pro dii immortales." Mr. Wise swore, "So help me, Almighty God." Mr. CHANDLER Swears, "With my hand upon my heart, and my eye on Heaven, I call God to witness."

Now, sir, of these oaths, which is the most solemn? Hannibal, at his father's knees, swearing eternal enmity to the Roman people, uttered not the oath more solemnly than did the honorable gentleman from Pennsylvania. I do not censure the gentleman for swearing. He has the undoubted right; but I deny that he has it exclusively. I deny that it is proper for him to swear, and improper for the Know-Nothings to swear. I have already given you the Jesuit's oath. It is hard to class the Roman Catholic mode of attestation and asseveration under the head of oaths. They more particularly belong to the head of DAMNS, CURSES, ANATHEMAS. Then, sir, away with this objection. The native American is the keeper of his own conscience. He will never surrender it to a priest he will never apply for absolution of perjury. He knows his duty. He will not falter.

ARROGANCE OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.

I now approach, Mr. Chairman, the most delicate and important subject that has ever engrossed the attention of the American people. It is my duty to proclaim to my countrymen the dangerous tendency of the Roman Catholic religion. From its first days to the present, it has, on all occasions, without the slightest exception, been averse to liberty, and to free constitutions. It recognizes the doctrine of the infallibility of the Pope. Its greatest writers say, infallibility in the Pope is synonymous with sovereignty in a monarch. "The true principle is," says De Maistre," that sovereignty comes from God." This is the origin of the idea and phrase, "The King can do no wrong." This same writer (who is a Roman Catholic) says: "There must always be one to whom it never can be said, you have erred." "Now," he says further, "if there be anything certain to reason as well as to faith, it is that the universal church is a monarchy. The very idea of universality supposes this form of government-so all Catholic writers, worthy of the name, agree unanimously, that the rule of the church is monarchical." (De Maistre, Pope, p. 2. 3.)" Monarchical Government, once established, infallibility becomes a necessary consequence of supremacy." (Ibid 4.) "He who would have a right to say to the Pope that he was wrong, would also, on the same grounds, have a right to disobey him, which would entirely do away with supremacy, or infallibility." "Every divinely instituted society supposes infallibility." (Ibid 7.) This same distinguished Catholic writer says: "But there is nothing new in the church, and it will never believe what it has not always believed." Had he lived a little longer, this last phrase would have sorely troubled him, since the Pope has lately proclaimed, as an article of faith, (belief) the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary!

Bellarmine says: "The Pope cannot err, as a ;""the decrees of the council are infallible." Pope;" Bishop England says: "We believe that a general council is infallible in doctrinal decisions."

De Maistre says: "I do not pretend to raise the least doubt in regard to the infallibility of a gen

those who, failing in other combinations, hide their disgrace, and avenge their former defeat by such associations as make minorities contemptible in themselves, and render majorities dangerous to the Republic."

Mr. CHANDLER cannot convince any man that these paragraphs do not constitute opposition to the Know-Nothings. Then what becomes of that scornful denial, uttered, as it was, in a sort of convulsion of indignation? The gentleman's excessive dignity reminds me of Shakspeare's idea of

"Vaulting ambition which o'erleaps itself,
And falls on the other side,"

HO. OF REPS.

eral council." Further: "I firmly believe that God has preserved the truly eocumenical council from all error contrary to sound doctrine."

I beg my hearers (and readers) to remember these authorities; we shall need them as we advance in the argument; and let me say, once for all, that, on this grand subject, I have not relied upon Protestant writers. I have taken nothing from report, rumor or newspapers. I have consulted the purest sources of information; and I pledge myself to the country that my facts are taken from the most authentic writers-most of them professed and obedient Roman Catholics,

EARLY HUMILITY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS.

In the earlier history of the Roman Catholic Church, the bishops were meek and lowly men, after the fashion of Peter and Paul, the fisherman and tent maker. They professed to be the servant of servants. For six or seven centuries they preserved their character for Christian humility. I here quote from Bowers, the author of an elaborate work-the LIVES OF THE POPES. He was a Catholic himself when he began the work; but became a Protestant in the course of his investigations. He was not only a Catholic, but a councilor of the Inquisition at Nacerata. He says:

"I do not believe that the Popes designed, at first, to run those lengths, or carry the Papal prerogative to that extravagant height they afterwards did. The success that attended them in the pursuit of one claim encouraged them to set up and pursue another. Of this no one can doubt who peruses, with the least attention, the records of those ages, and compares the Popes in the beginning of the seventh century with the Popes in the latter end of the elev enth. We shall find them, in the first mentioned period of time, submitting, with all humility, to princes, claiming no kind of authority or jurisdiction whatsoever, but in virtue of the canons of councils, or the rescripts of Emperors;

glorying, or pretending to glory, in the humble title of ser

vants of servants; acknowledging themselves subjects and vassals of the Emperors, and patiently waiting the will and

pleasure of their liege lords, to teke upon them the Epis

copal dignity, or exercise the functions of that office. Such were the Bishops of Rome in the beginning of the seventh century. How different from those in the latter end of the eleventh! They were then vested with the plenitude of all power, both spiritual and temporal; above councils, and uncontrolled by their canons; the fountain of all pastoral jurisdiction and authority; and, by Divine sanction, empowered to enact, establish, abrogate, suspend, all ecclesiastical laws and constitutions: they were then become lords and masters-the most haughty add imperious lords, the most severe masters mankind had ever groaned under.

They no more begged, but dispensed utles, boasting a power

of setting up Kings, and pulling them down at pleasure; of calling them to an account, absolving their subjects from their allegiance, divesting them of their dominions, and treating, in every respect, as their slaves and vassals. those whom one of their best and greatest predecessors had acknowledged superior to all men, and thought himself in duty bound to oley. This plenitude of power, as they style it, was not acquired at once, but by degrees, some of the Popes being more and some less active, crafty, and aspiring. But what is very remarkable of the one hundred and fourteen Popes between Boniface III., who laid the foundation of Papal grandeur, and Gregory VII., who raised it to the highest pitch, not one ever lost an inch of ground his predecessor had gained. And thus, by constantly acquiring, and never parting with what they acquired, and by tying the hands of their successors by the irreversible entail of Divine right, they became the sole spiritual lords, and had almost made themselves the greatest temporal lords of the whole of the Christian world."

GRADUAL RISE OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.

[ocr errors]

For seven hundred years, as I have stated, the bishops were meek and lowly men. It was in the dark ages, when ignorance and superstition overshadowed the world, when the Popes advanced to power. And it was not until the days of Gregory VII., in the eleventh century, that a Pope had the audacity to say to a monarch: "You have forfeited your kingdom, and your subjects are absolved from their oath of fealty. In the case of Henry IV., the Pope declared, that the "Emperor was amenable to the Papal court of judicature,' before which he was summoned. He was next deprived of his throne, and his subjects were absolved from their oath of allegiance! The Pope claimed the right to dispose of Henry's empire, with absolute authority, as a fief of St. Peter! This case was referred to and detailed and justified by, the honorable gentleman from Pennsylvania, [Mr. CHANDLER.] The same gentleman admits:

[ocr errors]

"Undoubtedly, the Pope has proceeded to dethrone Kings, and thus to release subjects. History declares that more than one monarch has been made to descend from his throne by the edict of the Pope, and that the allegiance of his subjects has been transferred, by that edict to a succeeding monarch."

This is an admission-the argument would be quite sufficient for our purpose. But before I pro

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »