CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRMjV 3 1924 092 371 958 DATE DUE DECT^rWfTPM . Inter!i )rary PHINTEDIN U.S.A. Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924092371958 COMPLETE WORKS Most Rev. John Hughes, D.D, ARCHBISHOP OF NEW YORK. COMPKISING HIS SERMONS, LETTERS, LECTURES, SPEECHES, ETC. CmfttUg CffmgiUtr from t\t \itf>\ ^mmi, AND EDITED BY LAWRENCE KEHOE. VOL. I. NEW YORK: LAWRENCE KEHOE, 7 BEEKMATT STREET; LONDON; RICHARDSON & SON, 26 PATERNOSTER ROW; 9 CAPEL STREET, DUBLIN ; AND DERBY. SAN FRANCISCO : MICHAEL FLOOD. 1866. ^cornell\ UNIVERSflYf ^LIBRARV^ Entered according to Act of CongreES, In the year 1864, BY LAWRENCE KEHOE, In the Olorli'e Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New Tork. I^P EDWARD O. JENKINS, 6TEBE0TYPSK A PB^NTRB, No. 20 North William Street PREFACE. Having heard many persons, admirers of the late Archbishop Hughes, express a wish that his public lectures, letters and speeches might be collected and published iu book form, the com- piler of this volume has, after some deliberation, undertaken the task, which, he trusts, will prove acceptable to the Catholic com- munity in general. The following pages are the first installment, and vill be immediately followed by another volume of about the same size, wMch will complete the work. The biographical sketch merely touches upon the principal events in His Grace's career, but is the most complete one yet published. The speeclies of His Grace on the School Question — a question which first brought him prom- inently before the New York public — will, no doubt, be read with pleasure as well as profit by thousands who have heard of these great efforts of Dr. Hughes, but who have had no chance heretofore of reading them. His speeches before the Board of Aldermen, as well as his great Three Days' Speech in Carroll Hall on this ques- tion, will be found in this volume in full. Other important docu- ments are also given entire. The concluding volume will also contain important writings of Archbishop Hughes, which should be read by every Catholic in the land. The Editor, New York, September, 1864. CONTENTS TO VOLUME I. PAGE Biographical Sketch of Aeohbishop Hdgees 7 Funeral Ce'rebionies 15 Names op Bishops and Priests Present IG Oration op Kt. Rev. John McCloskiet, D. B 17 Resolutions op the Tr0stees op St. Patrick's Cathedral — The Courts — Com- mon Council, State Legislature, etc., on the Death op Archbishop Hughes 22 Letters prom the President of the United States, Seoretaet Seward and Governor Seymour 24 Month's Mind Ceremonies 25 Sermon of Et. Rev. John Loughlin, D. D 26 WRITINGS OF ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. Sermon on Catholic Emancipation, Preached in 1829 ■. 29 THE SCHOOL QUESTION— Speech in St. Patrick's School-Room, July 20th, 18i0 41 " Basement op St. James' Church, July 27th, 1840 48 Address op the Catholics to their Fellow-Citizens of the City and State of New York— Speech of Archbishop Hughes 50 Speech in Basement of St. James' Church, August 24th, 1840 66 Letter to "Evening Post" in Answer to an "Irish Catholic." 79 Speech in Basement op St. James' Church, Sept. 7th, 1840 81 " " , " " " 21st, 1840 96 Petition op the Catholics of New York to the Board op Aldermen for a Portion op the Common School Fund 102 Speech in Basement of St. James' Church, Oct. 5th, 1840 107 " " " " "19th, 1840 114 " BEFORE City Council— First Day 125 " " " —Second Day 143 Great Speech in Carroll Hall— First Day ; 183 " " —Second Day 197 " «' —Third Day 211 Review of Me. Ketchum's Rejoinder 227 Speech in Washington Hall, Feb. 11th, 1841 242 in Carroll Hall, March 30th, 1841 246 " April 20th, 1841 254 IN Washington Hall, June 1st, 1841 262 IN Caeeo'll Hall, Oct. 25th, 1841 270 " Oct. 29th, 1841 275 VI CONTENTS. PAGE Address to Bishop Hdghes. ^®* Bishop Hughes' Reply to Addbess 289 Lettee on State op Ireland 297 Lectdre — '' Life and Times of Pins VII." 299 CiKCDLAR Letter to the Clbbgt, 1842 21* Pastoral Letter in 1842, on Administration of the Sacraments, Secret So- cieties, Church Property, etc 31^ Apology for Pastoral Letter, in Reply to the Strictures of Four Editors of Political Newspapers 327 Apology Continued— First Letter to David Hale 335 " " —Second " " 3*3 " " —Third " " 348 Lecture — " Influence of Christianity on Civilization." '. 351 Lecture — " Influence op Christianity on Social Servitude." 371 Meeting ot tee New York Church Debt Association — Speech of Bishop Hughes, May 3d, 184il 386 Speech of Bishop Hughes, May 10th, 1841 396 " May S6th, 18.41 399 Letter to Bishop Hughes, with his Reply 402 Introduction to Mr. Livingston's Book on V Imputation." 406 Lecture — " The Mixture of Civil and Ecclesiastical Power in the Middle Aces." 417 State op the Diocese of New York in 1841 437 Extracts from Journal of a Voyage across the Atlantic 443 Letters on the Moral Causes which produced the Evil Spirit of the Times — First Letter — To Mayor Harper 460 Second " —To Col. Stoijp 463 Third " — " 486 ' Fourth " — " .•; 493 Alleged Burning of Bibles in Clinton County, N. Y 501 The Jubilee of 1842 505 Sermon on the Jubilee 606 The Latest Invention 510 Lecture— "The Importance of a Christian Basis for the Science op Political Economy" 513 Eulogy on Bishop Fenwick 534 Lecture — Antecedent Causes of the Irish Famine in 1847 544 Sermon before both Houses of Congress 558 " KiRWAN." .^ 673 Letters on the Importance op being in Communion with Christ's One, Holt, Catholic and Apostolic Church, Addressed to a Private Reasoner — First Letter 577 Second " 583 Third " 59O Fourth " 595 Fifth >' 002 Sixth " 609 Seventh " gjg Eighth " ; 622 Ninth " 628 " Kihwan" [Jnmasked 636 Appendix 665 LIFE MOST REVEREND JOHN HUGHES, D. D. " Lives of great men oft remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footsteps on the sands of time." ^* He was a man ; take him for all in all. We flhall not look upon his like again." • Ireland, prolific land of genius, has given to Europe some of the most profound divines, greatest generals, and ablest statesmen. England, France, Spain, Austria, all have had the benefit of Irish talent and Irish worth. But it is America that has received the great influx of Irishmen, — men of exalted, as well as of humble birth, and she received them with open arms and generous heart, for which generosity they have paid her back, in the pulpit, the council-chamber, and the battle-field, an hundred- fold. It is only in America that Irish genius and talent have had a " fair field and no favor^" and, consequently, have taken the lead in almost every department of life. Am9ng those who came to this country in the early part of the present century, from that misgoverned "Isle of the Ocean," was the father of Archbishop Hughes. He settled in Chambersburg, Pa., where his only surviving son, Mr. Michael Hughes, now resides, and where the ashes of the beloved parents of our late Archbishop repose. The Most Reverend John H>ughes, D. D., was born in the town of Ologher, County Tyrone, Ireland, towards the close of the year 1798. He was the son of a respectable farmer of small means, and emigrated to America in 1817 on account of the disabilities to which his religion was subjected in his native country. His father had preceded him to this country a short time, and had purchased a small farm, and tfiken up his abode near Chambersburg, Pa. On young Hughes' arrival in this country, his father placed him with a florist to learn the art of gardening ; but having little taste for such pursuits, and feeling within himself a call to till and cultivate the " Gai'den of the Lord," he devoted his spare time to study, and as soon as his engagement expired, entered the Theological Seminary at Mount St. Mai-y's, Emmettsburg, Md., where he remained for seven years, being employed almost from the first as a teacher. He was ordained Priest in the year 1836, in Philadelphia, and was appointed to the pastoral charge a) 8 LIFE OF AECHBISHOP HU-QHES. of St. Joseph's Church of that city. Here his sermons attracted general attention, and were attended by the ilite of Philadelphia. In 1829 he preached a powerful sermon in St. Joseph's Church, in commemoration of the great event just accomplished in Ireland through the untiring efforts of Daniel O'Connell — Catholic Emancipation. This sermon was his first great effort at pulpit eloquence, and it was a grand success. It was jjublished in pamphlet form, and was inscribed to Daniel O'Connell. About this time, the Anti-Catholic feeling in the United States was just commencing. This opposition was due, in great part, to the rapid progress Catholicity was then making, which opened the eyes of the bigots of the various sects to the fact, that there was a livin;/ Church in their midst ; as well as to several filthy Anti-Catholic publications of the " Maria Monk " class, which had a large circulation throughout the country. Among the champions who was determined to put down the " Power of Rome " in this country was the Rev. John Breckenridge, a Presbyterian minister. In 1830, Mr. Breckenridge challenged the Rev. J. Hughes to discuss the question: "Is the Protestant religion the religion of . Christ ?" The con- troversy was earned on in the Catholic and Presbyterian newspapers for several months, and attracted so much attention, that the articles were subsequently collected in a volume, which had for a time a wide circula- tion. In 1834, Mr. Breckenridge renewed the challenge, by proposing an oral discussion on the question : " Is the Roman Catholic religion in any or in all its principles and doctrines inimical to civil or religious liberty ?" Bishop Hughes, then only a priest, immediately came forward as the Catholic champion. The debate was published in book form in 1836, and has gone through several editions since, all of which have been published by Catholics, and was regarded with great interest by the public of both parties. In 1833, he founded and had erected St. John's Church, i)i Phila- delphia, and was its pastor as long as he remained in that city. In 1837, Bishop Dubois, of New York, having demanded, on account of , age and infirmity, some relief from the cares of the Episcopate, the Holy See appointed Bishop Hughes Coadjutor. He was consecrated Bishop of Basilopolis, in New York, January 9th, 1838, by Bishop Dubois, assisted by Bishops Kenrick, of Philadelphia, and Fenwick, of Boston. In about two weeks after. Bishop Dubois was attacked by paralysis, from which he never wholly recovered. In the following year the Pope appointed Bishop Hughes Administrator of the Diocese ; and although he did not succeed to the full dignity of Bishop until the death of Bishop Dubois, in 1843, the government of that portion of the Church was thenceforth entirely in his hands. His first measures were directed to a reform in the tenure of Church property, which was then vested in lay trustees, a system that had more than once given rise to scandalous conflicts between the congrega- tions and the Episcopal authority. All the churclies in the city, at that time only eight in number; were heavily in debt, and five were bankrupt, and on th(j point of being sold. Bishop Hughes resolved to consolidate the Church debts, to remove them from the management of laymen and to secure the titles in his own name. In this undertaking he was violently LIFE 01" AECHBISIIOP HUGHES. 9 opposed by theTrusteeg, and was at the time only partially successful, but the most pressing debts were paid off, and harmony was eventually restored. His plan, however, succeeded in the end, and before his death he had the pleasure of seeing the eight churches more than quadrupled, and all of them nearly -out of debt. Such was Bishop Hughes' foresight, that all his undertakings proved successful in the end. In 1839, Bishop Hughes visited Prance, Austria, and Italy, to obtain pecuniary aid for his diocese. On his return he applied himself with great energy to the cause of Catholic education. Already, during the previous year, he had purchased property at Fordham, in Westchester County, for the purpose of establishing a college. He now completed its organization, and it was opened in 1841, under the name of St. John's College. During his absence in Europe, the School Question was discussed in weekly meetings, held by the Catholics, in the school-house attached to St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Bishop arrived from Europe early in July, and attended the weekly meeting in the school-room, on July 30th, at which he made his first great speech against the Common School System then existing in this City and State, and in relation to the Common SchoolFund. This speech will be found in full in another part of this book, and will be read with interest, as it will give the Catholics of to-day a knowledge of wliat the Bishop and the Catholics of that day had to contend against. The dispute on the School Question continued, and brought the Bishop still more prominently before the public. He made speeches at nearly all the meetings. These speeches attracted the attention not only of the Catholics of this country, but even of Europe ; and the expose of the school-books then in use was extensively copied and commented upon by the European press. It was charged by Catholics that the Common Schools were sectarian in character, and they complained of the injustice of taxing them for the support of schools to which they could not con- scientiously send their children. An association was formed for obtaining relief It was demanded either that the taxes should be removed or that a change should be made in the system of education. The Catholics petitioned the Common Council in September, 1840, to designate seven Catholic Schools as " entitled to participate in the Common School Fund, upon complying with the requirements of the law." This petition will also be found in its proper place in this volume. Eemonstrances to this petition wore sent in on behalf of the " Public School Society," by its presideiit, K. C. Cornell, the pastors of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and other Protestant clergy, and on October 29th and 30th, both parties appeared before the Common Council, and occupied the two days in debate. "The Public School Society " was represented by Messrs.. Theo- dore Sedgwick and Hiram Ketchum as counsel; the Rev. Drs. Bond, Bangs, and Reese, and a Mr. Peck on behalf of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; Rev. Dr. Knox on the part of the Reformed Dutch Church, and Rev. Dr. Spring for the Presbyterian Church. Bishop Hughes answered them all in an elaborate speech of several hours, which can be found in full in this volume. It is a most interesting document, and will be read with general 10 IJFE OF ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. interest. But notwitUstandiBg the able and lucid speech of the Bishop, the petition was not granted. The Catholics, under the lead of their talented Bishop, were determined not to give the matter up so easily. They presented a petition to the State Legislature, praying for redress. A bill in their favor passed the Assembly, but was lost in the Senate, and was finally referred to Hon. .John C. Spencer, Secretary of State and Superintendent of Common Schools, who reported unfavorably of the Public School System. This alarmed the Society, and they sent a remonstrance to the Legislature against granting the petition of the Catholics. Both parties had a bearing before a Committee of the Senate; Hiram Ketchum appearing for the Society, and James W. McKeon and Wright Hawkes for the Catholics. A bill was framed in conformity with the recommendations of the Secre- tary of State, and put before the Senate, but after a long debate was finally postponed. As Mr. Ketchum's speech was published in fall, and exten- sively circulated, while those on the Catholic side were not even noticed, Bishop Hughes announced that he would publicly review and refute Mr. Ketchum's speech im Carroll Hall in this city. The meetings took place on the evenings of the 16th, 17th, and aisit of June, 1841, and were attended by immense audiences. These speeches are very long, and on account of their importance in regard to the School Question, are given in full in these pages. In the ensuing election the School Question assumed a striking promi- nence in the political canvass. The Catholics, by the advice of Bishop Hughes, held meetings in what was then known as " Carroll Hall," (now St. Andrew's Church), and nominated an independent ticket. The result of the election showed them to be so strong that some modifications of the existing School System were soon effected. Throughout this exciting controversy Bishop Hughes was the animating spirit of his co-religionists, and was called on at times to defend himself through the press against the personal attacks of his opponents. About eight o'clock on electiou might, April 13th, 1843, a gang of ruffians proceeded stealthily to the residence of the Bishop, who was absent at the time, as were also the clergymen belonging to the Presbytery, and proceeded to demolish the windows with stones, brickbats and clubs. After wreaking their malice to a considerable extent, they ran away to prevent recognition. At this time Bishop Hughes was accused of abetting discord by some of the papers, in reply to which he thus nobly defended himself: " I am not a man of strife nor contention. My disposition is, I trust, both pacific and benevolent. As a proof of this I may mention that I have never had a personal altercation with a human being in my life— that I have never had occasion to call others, or be caUed myself, before any civil tribunal on earth. It is true that public duty has not unfrequently forced upon me the necessity of taking my stand in moral opposition to principles which I deemed injurious and unjust. But even then, I trust, 1 have made the distinction which Christian feeling suggests between the cause and the person of the advocate arrayed against me." What was true if him theuj was true of him to the hour of his death. LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. H In 1841 he established at Fordham the Theological Seminary of St. Joseph. In August, 1843, he held the first Diocesan Synod of New York, and ill a pastoral letter dated September 8, enforced its decrees respecting Secret Societies and Church property. His " Rules for the Administration of Churches without Trustees," published in 1845, embody the system adopted by this Synod. About 1843, the extent of his diocese led him to ask for a Coadjutor, and the Rev. J. McCIoskey, now Bishop of Albany, was accordingly appointed, and was consecrated March 10, 1844. During the Philadelphia riots in 1844, Bishop Hughes addressed a letter to Mayor Harper, refuting slanders published against him by the Herald, Commercial Advertiser, and other papers, in which the following passage occurs in relation to himself: " He landed on these shores friendless, and with but a few guineas in his purse. He never received the charity of any man ; he never borrowed of any man without repaying ; he never had more than a few dollars at a time ; he never had a patron — in the Church or out of it ; and it is he who has the- honor to address you now as Catholic Bishop of New York." This letter is also published in our pages, and is well worthy of attentive perusal, as it shows who were the, enemies of the Bishop in these trying times. - ' In December, 1845, Bishop Hughes sailed again for Europe, in order to procure the services of Some of the Jesuits, Brothers of the Christian Schools, and Sisters of Mercy. He was successful in his efforts, and returned in the spring of 1846. A few months afterward he was solicited by President Polk to accept a special mission to Mexico, but declined, on account of having other more pressing duties to attend to. In 1847, at the requL'st of both Houses of Congress, he delivered a lecture in the Hall of Representatives at Washington, on " Christianity the only Source of Moral, Social, and Politi-cal Regeneration." In this year his diocese was divided by the erection of the Sees of Albany and Buffalo, Bishop Hughes retaining all the counties of New York south of the parallel of 42 degrees,, witli a part of New Jersey. In 1850 New York was raised to the dignity of an Archiepiscopal See, and Archbishop Hughes went to Rome to receive the pallium at the hands of the Pope. The first Provincial Council of New York was held in 1854, and attended by seven suffragans, the new Bishoprics of Brooklyn and Newark having been created the preceding year. Soon after its close the Archbishop made another visit to Rome, in order to be present at the definition of the dogma of the Immacu- late Conception. On his return he was involved in a controversy with the Honorable Erastus Brooks, editor of the New York Express and member of fihe State Senate, growing ouit of the Church Property question. At the petition of the Trustees of St. Louis' Church, Buffalo, a bill, which subse- ■ quently became a law, bad been introduced into the Legislature designed to vest the title to all Church property in Trustees. In supporting this measure, Mr. Brooks stated that Archbishop Hughes owned property in the city of New York to the amount of about $5,000,000. The Archbishop, 12 LIFE OF AECHBISHOP HUGHES. who was absent in Europe when Mr. Brooks made this assertion, came forward as soon as he returned, and denied these assertions of Mr. Brooks as incorrect, stating that the property was not his, but belonged to the Church. A long discussion through the newspapers was the result. The Archbishop subsequently collected the letters on both sides and published them in a volume, with an introduction reviewing the Trustee system (New York, 1855). The bill passed at this time, and which gave rise to this discussion, was repealed by the Legislature of 1863. On August 15th, 1858, he laid the corner-stone of a new Cathedral, designed to be one of the grandest church edifices in America. The walls are several feet high, but alas, he did not live to see the grand idea of his life fulfilled. Shortly before the war broke out, the work on it was stopped, to allow the foundations to settle, and has not yet been resumed. At the ceremony on this occasion, it was computed that 150,000 people were present. The Archbishop preached the sermon, and gave an outline of his plan for its erection. He had sent circulars to several prominent Catholics, stating that he wanted one hundred persons to subscribe one thousand dollars each. To this circular one hundred and three persons replied favorably ; two of whom were Protestants. In reference to the new Cathedral, the following extract from his sermon will not prove unin- teresting : " Its special patron, as announced, is the glorious apostle of Ireland, St. Patrick, — originally selected as patron of the first Cathedral commenced by our Catholic ancestors in Mott Street fifty-two years ago. Their undertaking was indeed an example of zeal and enterprise worthy of our imitation. They were very few, they were very poor, but their ibinds were large as the Cathedral which they pro- jected, and theirs were the hearts of great men. It might he said of them what is mentioned in the Scriptures, but in a diflferent sense, that " there were giants in those days." They laid the foundation of the first Cathedral, at a period when it is said that the Catholics of New York were not numerous enough to fill the small Church of St. Peter in Barclay Street — and that ten years after, when the Cathe- dral was opened, it was necessary, during a short period, to shut up St. Peter's on alternate Sundays, in order to accustom the people to find their way to the new church, which was then considered to be far out of the city. Honor to the memory of our ancestors of that period ! On the parchment containing the names of the first patrons of the Cathedral now projected, the United States of America, Ireland, Scotland, England, Belgium, Spain, France, and Germany, are all repre- sented. The names of members belonging to the CathoUc Church from aU these countries will slumber side by side on the parchment that engrosses them, and is to be deposited in the cavity of that corner-stone. Neither can I omit to mention that two gentlemen, who are not Catholics, have spontaneously contributed each the amount specified in my circular. Their motive is not their belief at the pres- ent moment in the Catholic religion. But it is that they are New Yorkers by birth— that they have traveled in Europe, and that they are ambitious to see at least one ecclesiastical edifice on Manhattan Island of which their native city will have occasion to be proud. With regard to this anticipation, I can only say thtit so far as depends on me, they shall not be disappointed." But alas for the uncertainty of this life, the great Archbishop did not live' to see the greatest work of his life accomplished ; but the broad founda- tions and plans are laid, and will no doubt be completed by his successors. Since that time the Archbishop has been a constant worker for the LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. IS progress of the Church, laying the corner-stones of new churches, dedicat- ing them, administering confirmation, etc., and continually preaching on all these occasions. All these efforts were gradually undermining his con- stitution, and the close observer could see that he was fast failing in general health. On the 1st of July, 1860, he made a most eloquent appeal in St. Patrick's Cathedral to the Catholics of the diocese for their substan- tial aid for the Holy Father, who at the time was reduced to dependence onthe Faithful throughout the world by the loss of a portion of his domin- ions. The appeal was nobly responded to, the amount raised being over fifty thousand dollars. The Pope acknowledged the gift, and sent with his reply a massive silver medal in testimony of his appreciation of the service rendered him by the Catholics of New York. In the fall of 1861, after the breaking out of the rebellion. Archbishop Hughes, at the instigation of the Government, proceeded to Europe to exert his influence in behalf of the Union cause. He then proceeded to Eome, where he assisted at the ceremonies of the canonization of the Japa- nese Martyrs, after which he visited Ireland on his way back to the United States ; assisted at the laying of the comer-stone of the new Catholic University in Dublin, and preached the sermon on the occasion, at which nearly one hundred thousand persons were present. On his return (Septem- ber 26th, 1862,) he was the recipient of a vote of thanks p,dopted by both branches of the Common Council of the City of New York, ex-Senator McMurray making the presentation addresg, which was replied to by his Grace, and which was published at the time of its occurrence. Shortly, after his return from Europe he delivered a discourse in St. Patrick's Cathedral, in which he referred to his mission as follows : " I had no message to deliver. Another could have carried the message ; but none was committed to me except the message of peace — eicept the message of explanation — except the message of correcting erroneous ideas — as opportunity might afford me the chance of doing, in the same spirit and to the same end. I have lost no opportunity, according to my discretion, and that was the 'only qualification connected with my going. I have lost no opportunity to accomplish these ends, to explain what was misunder- stood, to inspire, so far as language of mine could have that effect, the spirit of peace and good-will unto the people of foreign States towards that one nation to which I exclusively owe allegiaijpe and fidelity. Tho task was not so easy as some might have anticipated ; its accomplishment has not been so successful as I could have desired. Nevertheless, I trust that, directly or indirectly, my going abroad, in great part for the purpose of aiding the country, has not been altogether without effect." On the 1st of November, 1863, Archbishop Hughes wrote a letter to Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, concerning his European mission, in which he said : " What occurred on the other side I think it would be, at present, improper for me to make public. T am not certain that any word, or act, or influence of mine has had the slightest effect in preventing either Eng- land or France from plunging into the unhappy divisions that have tlireatened the Union of these once prosperous States. On the other hand, 14 LrBTE OF AECHEISHOP HITGHES. I may say that no day — no hour even^ — was spent in Europe in Tvhicli I did not, according to opportunity, labor for peace between Europe and America. So far that peace has not been disturbed. But let America be prepared. There is no love for the United States on the other side of the water. Generally speaking, on the other side of the Atlantic the United States are ignored, if not despised ; treated in conversation in the same contemptuous language as we might employ towards the inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands, or "Washington Territory, or Vancouver's Island,-or the settlements of the Red River, or the Hudson Bay Territory. . . . From tlie slight correspondence between us, you can bear me witness that I pleaded in every direption for the preservation of peace, so long as the slightest hope of the preservation remained. When all hope of this kind had passed away, I was for a vigorous prosecution of our war, so that one side or the other should find itself in the ascendency." Although he did not place much stress on what he accomplislied in Europe, yet it is inferred from events which have since occurred, that his mission was in great part successful. His correspondence with the State Department, if there were any, has not been published. With the remain- ing portions of his Grace's life our readers are familiar, as, in fact, most of them are with his whole life ; for he was a man dear to the hearts of all the Catholics in the land, and all his sermons, speecTies, letters, etc., were read with the greatest avidity, even by those who differed from him in religion. In July last, when the great riot was in progress. Archbishop Hughes was requested by the Governor to address the people of his faith, and thus assist in restoring peace. He consented, and, tbough very weak, spoke to an immense assemblage from the balcony of his residence, corner of Madison Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street. Since then his health has gradually failed. And Sunday, January 3d, 1864, at seven o'clock in the evening, he resigned his pure spirit into the hands of his Creator. The last Sacraments of the Ohirch were administered to him by Father Quinn, of St. Peter's, Barclay Street, some days previous, after which he gradually sunk, until death relieved him of suffering. The immediate cause of his death was " Bright's disease of the kidneys." He was at the time of his death in the sixty-fifth year of his age. His last moments were marked by the the calmness and resignation of the true Christian. From eleven o'clock on Saturday night until one o'clock Sunday afternoon, no great change was noticed in his condition. He remained in the most feeble state, unable scarcely to lift his hand or utter a word louder than a whisper, and that with the utmost difficulty. About one o'clock Sunday afternoon he became unconscious, and lay in that condition, with slight intervals of reason, until he died. He was surrounded at the solemn moment by Bishop McCloskey, of Albany; Bishop Loughlin, of Brooklyn; Rev. Dr. Neligan; Very Rev. Father Starrs, V. G. ; Rev. Francis McNeirny, Secretary of the Archbishop; Mother Angela, Superioress of St. Vincent's Hospital, and Mrs. Rodrigues (both sisters of the Archbishop) ; Drs. James R. Wood and Alonzo Clarke, and a number of clergymen and friends. About two hours before his THE OBSEQUIES OF AECHBISHOP ntJGHBS. 15 death he was seized with a series of slight spasms, or gentle twitches. Father Starrs stood by his bedside reading ptayers for his happy death, and all priesent joined in the solemn ceremony. Bishop McCloskey recited the prayers for the departing spirit, and while the voices of all were repeating, in broken accents, the words of the responses, the soul of the illustrious Archbishop quitted its earthly tenement. He died without the slightest evidence of pain, peaceful, calm, and collected. His two sisters stood by his bedside at the awful moment, and one of them, Moth^ Angela, who has been for many years a Sister of Charity, performed the melancholy office of closing his eyes. So passed away one of the greatest men of the age. A good Christian, an eloquent speaker, a profound scholar, and a patriotic citizen ; one who loved his adopted country dearly, and whose' greatest earthly ambition, next to his religion, was to see her the noblest, most powerful, most united, as she is the freest nation on the globe. In him America has lost a true citizen, and the Church ai able defender and pious Divine. Bequiescat in Pace. THE OBSEQUIES. SEEMON OF BISHOP M'oLOSKET. So much has been written and said about the obsequies, and ceremonies attending them, as well as the "lying in state" of his Grace's remains, that we think it unnecessaiy to recapitulate them here. Suffice it to say that the body lay in state in the grand aisle of the Cathedral, for two days, and Was visited daring that time by over 200,000 people of both sexes, many of whom were Protestants. On Thursday, January 7th, 1864, the last ceremonies of the Catholic Church were performed over the mortal remains of the Most Bev. John Hughes, Archbishop of New York. To say that St. Patridt's Cathedral was crowded, would convey but a faint idea of the state of the building that day. Thousands could not gain admittance, and had to stay in the streets adjoining the building. The scene within the Cathedral was one peculiarly Catholic in all its magnifleent details — one which out of the Catholic Church could not be seen on earth. The mournful drapery that hung in heavy folds from the arched roof to the floor, wrapping aisle, and arch, and column, wall and doorway, in one sable veil, broken only by the no less funereal white ; the stately catafalque occupying the centre aisle, and the statue-like figure that lay beneath its gorgeous canopy, majestic even in death, yet placid and calm to look upon — ay I "Calm as a child's repose j'^ the sanctHairy and a great part of the grand aisle crowded with surpliced priests, amongst whom wci-e eight Bishops of the Church ; the sad, sweet music, swelling at times into wild sublimity of sound, filling the holy fane with the strangely-mournful "melody of sweet sounds;" the vast concourse of men and women that filled every part of the sacred edifice — all conspired 16 THE OBSEQUIES OF AECHBISHOP HUGHES. to form a scene of imequaled grandeur and solemnity. Let the reader imagine eight bishops and some two hundred priests, assembled from the dioceses of Baltimore, Buffalo, Portland, Hartford, Philadelphia, Burlington, .Boston, Newark, Brooklj'n, Albany, and from all parts of the Diocese of IsTew York ; Jesuits were there, and Benedictines, Augustinians, Passionists, Paulists, and Redemptorists, with two Canadian priests, sent by the Bishop of Montreal to represent the Church of Canada. In addition to these were present in the body of the Church a large number of the Sisters of Charity and Sisters of Mercy, with several of the Christian Brothers. So much for the Clergy and the Religious Orders. Amongst the Societies represented were those of St. Vincent de Paul and the Xavier Alumni Association. The City of New York was represented by its Mayor, Comptroller, Sheriff, and the whole Municipal Council ; the Army by two Majors-General and three Brigadiers-General, with many other distinguished officers. The legal profession was represented by several judges and eminent lawyers, among whom were Judges Daly, White, Sutherland, &c. Richard O'Gorman, John McKeon, Thurlow Weed and several other distinguished gentlemen were present at the cei'emonies. At. ten o'clock precisely the procession of Bishops and Priests entered the Cathedral, and assembled round the high altar, chanting the " Office for the Dead." The Bishops were McCloskey, Albany; Wood, Philadelphia; Timon, Buffalo ; Loughlin, Brooklyn ; Bayley, Newark ; De Goesbriand, Burlington ; McFarland, Hartford, and Bacon, Portland. There were nearly two hundred priests in and near the sanctuary ; amongst them were Very Picv. W. Starrs, V. G., Administrator; Archdeacon McCarron, Rev. Messrs. Preston, Quin, Cummings, D. D., E. McGuire, McSweney, D. D., P. McGuire, Curran, McK^na, Brennan, C. O'Callaghan, Trainor, Boyce, Hriady, P. Farrell, T. Farrell, Nobriga, McClosky, Everett, Mooney, Brady, Birdsall, D. D. ; Morrogh, D. D. ; Ferrall, Loyzance, S. J. ; Daubresse, S. J. ; Megnard, S. J. ; Schneider, S. J. ; McAleer, Orsenigo, Larkin, Lafont, Gambosville, Donnelly, Teixchiera, Dautuer, Rudolphi, McCarty, Egan, Clowry, McNulty, McMahon, McEvoy, Nicot, Hecker, Hewit, Brophy, Breen, Madden, Dowling, R. Brennan, Barry, Farelly, Kinsella, Lynch, Neligan, D. D., of the Diocese of New York. Turner, V. G. ; McGuire, McDonnell, Keegan, Farrell, McGovem, Fagan, Malone, Pise, D. D. ; O'Neil, Franscioli, Bohan, McKenna, Gleason, Crowley, Creightou, McLoughlin, O'Beirne, Mclnroe, Farrelly, McGorrisk, Goetz, Huber, Freel, of the Diocese of Brooklyn. Very Rev. O'Hara, V. G. ; Rev. A. McConomy, Chancellor ; Sheridan Mcnahan, Stanton, O. S. A. ; McLoughlin, Crane, O. S. A. ; Dunn, McAnany' Ivieran, Lane, McGovem, Riordan, Fitzmaurice, Whitty, Hasplin, Davis of the Diocese of Philadelphia. ' ' Moran, V. G. ; Doane, Secretary ; Kelly, J. McQuade, Hickey, J. Moran Preitl), Hogan, Corrigan, Cauvain, Hogan, Venuta, De Concillio Brann Hennesy, Madden, Lasko, Rogers, McKay, McNulty, Smith, Victor, Bi^oio' Callan, Bowles, Senez, and a number of Passionists of the Diocese' of Newark.,, Oonroy, V. G. ; Wadhams, O'Neil, Doran, Noethen, Havermans, Daly McLoughlin, of the Diocese of Albany. ' THE FU"N^EEAL OEATION. 17 "Williams, V. GoMcElroy, S. J.; Healy, Chancellor of the Diocese of Boston. Very Rev. W. O'Reilly, Synnott, Oreighton, Hughes, Thomas Walsh, Daly, O'Brien, Wahh, Smyth, W. J. O'Reilly, Sheridan, De Brucyker, of the Diocese of Hartford. Rev. Mr. Pare, Secretary to the Bishop of Montreal. Rev. Canon Valois, of Montreal. Thomas Foley, Chancellor, and B. McColgan, of the Diocese of Baltimore. The Irish Chm-cla was respectably and fitly represented on the mournful occasion by Rev. D. "VV. Cahill, D.D. ; Rev. P. Conway, Headford,- Tuam, and Rev. Mr. McKenna, of the Diocese of Derry. The Solemn Mass of Requiem was celebrated by Bishop Timon, assi-sted by Father Starrs as Assistant Priest ; Rev. Messrs. Quinn and Preston, Deacon and Subdeacon ; Rev. Messrs. McNeirny and Farrell, Masters of Ceremonies. .4.fter Mass the Right Rev. Bishop McCloskey ascended the pulpit, and read for his text 7th and 8th verses. Chapter' IV., of the Second Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy. THE FUNERAL ORATION. I have fought a g;ood fight; I have finished ray course ; I have kept the faith. For the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the just Judge, will render to me at that day; and not to me only, but to them also who love His coming. If ever the words of the living would seem to issue forth or be echoed back from the lips of the dead, it is now, when these words which I have just uttered would appear rather as proceeding from the mouth of the illustrious departed prelate, whose venerated form, still clothed in all the insignia of his high and sacred ofBce, lies here before us in placid dignity and calm repose. Still we fancy we hear him saying, " I have fought the good fight ; I have finished my course ; I have kept the faith. For the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the just Judge, the Lord, shall render to me." When these words, beloved brethren, were first spoken, or rather written, by the great Apostle of the Gfentiles, it v/asnot, as we know, in any spirit of boastfulness or self-praise. They were meant simply as the earnest expression of the con- sciousness which he felt that the term of his mortal labors was nearly expired; that hi? work was iinished ; that his course was run ; and tha^ now, steadfast in the faith, firm in hope, he only awaited the summons of his Divine Master which should call him to his reward. They were intended, too, to give courage and strength and consolation to the heart of his friend and fellow-laborer in the apostleship, Timothy ; and not only to his heart, but to the hearts of all his well-beloved spiritual children scattered throughout the Church, that when he should have passed away from earth, when they should look upon his face and hear his voice no more, they would not yield themselves up to immoderate transports of grief, or indulge in tears of merely unavailing sorrow, but that they would rather be sustained and comforted by that grand and glorious faith which he had preached to them ; by the remembrance of all his services and all his labors, of how he had toiled and endured, and suffered for them^ and how by all this and through all this he had won a great reward. So even is it now. Our heads indeed are bowed down in'sorrow, our hearts are oppressed and overloaded with a mighty load of grief, because our good and great Arch- bLshop is no more. He whom we had loved so well, he who was our father and our benefactor, our kind and trusted friend ; he who was our pride and joy ; ho who so long stood up among us as a pillar of safety and a tower of strength — he is no n\pre. That voice of eloquence, those inspiring harangues, thoso lessons of wisdom, those paternal counsels, those earnest and ceaseless exhor- tations -wli^h so often deUghted our ears, instructed our mSids, filled with transports of joy our hearts— all this we shall hear no more. And we would 18 THE OBSEQUIES OP ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. be tempted to yield ourselves up solely to the emotions of our grief were itnot that we do still think that we hear him say, " Weep not, dear children, grieve not for me. Be comforted by the thought that I have fought the good f ght ; the work that was given me to accomplish has been finished. I have run my course ; I have kept the faith. I now simply await my crown." Our loss, indeed, beloved brethren, is great. How great, how deeply and sincerely felt, has been made manifest by all that has been presented to our eyes since the moment his spirit took its flight from this lower world, by all those manifestations of love and gratitude and highest feeling which a devoted people have been paying by . hundreds and thousands, day after day, in pressing forward to show their last tribute of respect even to his cold remains, and to look upon his face once more for the last time. And it is not our loss alone, not the loss of a single congre- gation or a single diocese, but it is a loss of the whole Church, a loss felt by every Catholic heart throughout the land. For we do not doubt, we cannot doubt, that when the electric spark carried with its lightning speed tidings of his death throughout the length and breadth of the country, it thrilled every heart, especially every Catholic heart, with a pang of agony. And it filled all breasts, even those who were not of the same church or faith, with sentiments of deep and sincere regret. His fame and his name, and his services, too, were of the whole country ; and, I may say, of the whole world. He stood forward pre-eminently as the great Prelate of the Church in this country, as its able and heroic champion, as the defender of its faith, as the advocate of its rights, as the ever-vigilant guardian of its honor. He was not only a great prelate, but he was a great man ; one who has left his mark upon the age in which he lived, one who has made an impression upon every Catholic mind in this country which time can never efface. Of such a life and such a character, and such a history, beloved brethren, it would not be possible for me to speak in any adequate or becoming manner at this solemn and mournful moment. I cannot disguise from myself, I cannot disguise froai you, that I would at any time, and least of all a time like this, be wholly unequal to the task. But on a future and more fitting opportunity, on what is called the "Month's Mind," due justice, we cannot doubt, will be given to that character and to that life, and to those heroic deeds and mighty services, by one more fit and more com- petent for the task. I am here simply to mingle my sympathies with yours, merely to unite with you in paying to our Archbishop upon this day the tribute not only of our sincere admiration and deepest veneration and respect, tut also, and still more, the tribute of our heartfelt gratitude and love. It was, beloved brethren— as many of you may remember — it was on this day, the next after the solemn feast of the Epiphany, just twenty-six years ago, that that same form that is here before us, motionless, cold in death, stood up in the sanc- tuary and before the altar of this Cathedral, nearly, almost precisely, upon the very spot where those remains now are— for this Cathedral was not as spacious then as now — stood up in all the fullness of health and vigor, in all the freshness and maturity of great intellectual as well as physical strength and power, and then knelt before the venerable Bishop Dubois to become a consecrated Bishop on that day. The holy unctions were poured upon his head, the hands of bishops v^ere imposed, solemn prayers of the Church were recited, the mitre was placed upon his brow, the ring upon his finger, the crozier within his hand, and he rose up to take his place from henceforth and to the end among the Bishops of the Catholic Church. I well remember that grand and imposmg scene, contrasting so mournfully with that which is now before me. I remember Ihow all eyes were fij^pd, how all eyes were strained to get a glimpse of their aiewly consecrated Bishop ; and as they saw that dignified and manly coun- tenance, as they beheld those features beaming with the light* of inte'lect, Ijearing already upon them the impress of that force of character which jieculiarly marked him throughout his hfe, that firmness of resolution that THE FUNERAL OEATION. 19 unalterable and unbending will, and yet blending at the same time that great benignity and suavity of expression — when they marked the quiet composure and self-possession of every look and every gesture of his whole gait and demeanor — all hearts were drawn and warmed towards him. Every pulse within that vast assembly, both of* clergy and of laity, was quickened with a higher sense of courage and of hope. Every breast was filled with joy, and, as it were, with a new and younger might. Great expectations, indeed, had already been formed. We had heard of him before. We had heard of him as the pastor of St. John's Church of Philadelphia — of his great eloquence as a preacher — of his powerful arguments in discussion, in controversy, in debate ; and we all looked forward with joy and longing expectation to the career upon which he was just now entering. Those hopes were not disappointed ; those expectations were even more than fully realized. It was with the greatest reluctance that the then young bishop had consented to accept the dignily that had been offered to him. There was a trying and delicate task before him. His humility and his modesty shrank from it, and it was only in obedience to the call of his superiors and the voice of the Church that he bowed in sub- mission to please the holy will of God. But once having put his hand to the plough, he never looked back. From that hour and from that moment all the great energy of his mind, heart, soul, and of his whole being, was devoted to the great' work which was before him. He was wUling to spend and to be spent for Christ. He thought never of himself, he thought only of the Church of which he wlis the consecrated prelate, of the religion and the interests of religion which had been intrusted to his keeping. Never did he fail or falter in fldeUty to his trust. We all know how soon the work, if it may be so called, of regeneration commenced. The good and venerable Bishop Dubois, bowed down by years, was too glad to yield the government of such a vast diocese into younger and stronger hands. Soon we felt, and all felt, that the reins of administration were held by a masterly, and a firm, and at the same time, a prudent and a skillful grasp. Immediately we saw the evidence everywhere around us of the power of his mind, and the wisdom of his judgment, and the disin- terestedness and single-heartedness of his zeal. I will not attempt to enter into any details. For, as I have said before, this is not the time nor the occasion. It is enough for us to remember, because it is within the memory of all, what the Diocese of New York, the Catholic Church within the State of New York, or I may say of this country, was when he commenced his career as Bishop of this great See, and what it was when he laid down his honors at the foot of his Divine Master, to bid us his last farewell. There are five dioceses now where there was then but one; clergymen count by hundreds where they were before numbered by tens ; churches, institutions of charity, of religion, of learning, springing up on every side; the whole character of the Catholic people raised and elevated till it seemed that, from the eminence on which he stood himself, he raised up all his people towards him. Great works had been commenced and finished by him. Noble works had been commenced, but not given to him to com- plete. One of the last acts of his life, as you remember, was the laying of the foundation-stone of his noble -Cathedral. He did not expect, he did not promise himself the joy and pleasure of living to see its full completion. But he intended that he should begin it, that he should lay its broad foundation-stone — that he would leave to a devoted clergy and to a loving and generous people to carry it on, to raise it up and stand it there as the ever-living and undying monument to his memory and to his name. It was not to be expected that the life of such a great laborer would be carried to very many years. He sank under the weight of his cares and his too great toil. He had oyertaxed, many a time and oft, both his physical and his men- 20 THE OBSEQUIES OF AJtCHBISHOP HUGHES. tal powers ; and strong and vigorous as they were, in the end they had to succumb. He was in feeble health for the last four or five years of his hie. Yet his mind was strong, and clear, and vigorous as ever. Still heknew his strength was failing, that the term of his mortal career was drawing to an end. When the announcement was made to him that his disea,se had reached its crisis, and there was no longer hope of life, he received it with the same calm courage and composure as he would the announcement of any ordinary intelligence. Immediately he prepaTed himself. -The confes- sor was sent for. He made his confession with all the humility of a child. He received and was fortified by the last Sacraments of his Church. Then he awaited calmly and peaceably the summons of his Lord. He spent his last day simply in communing with his heart and 'his God. He uttered but fiysr words. He gave a loving look of recognition to his friends who came and stood by his bedside. He spoke by his looks, not by his lips. After an illness not very long, after a brief struggle, he returned his great and noble spirit to his God. He died full of years and full of honors, leaving behind him a record which no prelate of the Church in this country has ever left before, or will ever leave again. For it can be said without any invidiousness that he stood out prominently and pre-eminently, as we have already said, as the great prolate of the American Church. He stood forth as its representative, as its advocate, and its defender; and a,!l recognized his superior power and his great ability. In looking back now upon that life through the softened and gentle lustre which death has ahready thrown around it, it seems to rise up — its character appears to rise up in even colossal sublimity and grandeur. All former prejudices are forgotten, all animosities laid aside, all differences and collisions, either of ciews or feelings and opinions, all melt and fall away in that august, and imposing, and venerable presence. We think only of the great prelate and the great man, of his mighty deeds, of his unequaled services to the Church ; we think only of the rare endowments of his mind and heart, and how fully and unreservedly they were devoted to the cause of his Divine Master. If I may be permitted to say it, there was one trait that distinguished our great Archbishop most particularly. It was his singular force, and clear- ness, and vigor of intellect, his strength of will and his firmness of resolution. He was a stranger to fear. His heart was full of undaunted courage. In the presence of difliculties and dangers, his energies only seemed to be roused to greater strength and higher exertion. He never quailed before the presence of any difficulty, or any danger, or any trial ; not that he trusted wholly and solely on himself. He trusted in his cause, and he trusted in that God to whose service he had pledged himself and devoted his entire being. With these rare endowments of mind were combined also the gentler and more captivating qualities of the heart. He was to us all the kindest of fathers ; he was to us the most faithful of friends His heart was full of tenderness for the poor, and for the oppressed, and for the afflicted. It was full, too, of gentle warmth and sunshine; and if there appeared at times an occasional tinge of severity belonging to his character It w;as not the natural temper of the man. The genuine impulses and feelings of his heart were all impulses of kindness and of pity He knew no selfishness. He despised everything that was mean and little He could never stoop to any low trickery or artifice in his dealings with men. He was unselfish and disinterested in everything that he undertook for the cause of the people m every service he rendered either to relitrion or to his country. _ And we have this to say in conclusion, that if ever Ihere was a man who, m the whole history and character of his life, impressed unon us the sense and the conviction that he had been raised up by God was, chosen as His instrument to do an appointed w frk, and was streno-thcned TUB FTJXERAL ORATION. 21 by His grace and supported by His -wisdom for the accomplishment of the ■work for which he had been chosen and appointed, that man was Arch- bishop Hughes. He was, from the beginning until the end, clearly and plainly an instrument in the hands of God. Such he felt himself; as such ho lived ; as such he died. For us, beloved brethren, there remains now only the last debt of affection and filial duty, which is to jn-ay for the eternal repose of his soul. "We do not claim for him, we do not claim for any man, no matter how exalted in the Church, exemption from human frailty and human infirmity. lie parted from this world, as we have said, tranquil, and prepared by all the Sacraments of the Church, by a life of sincere and unostentatious piety, by a heart truly devoted to his God. But still, if through human frailty there should yet remain some stain upon that great soul to be expiated and washed away before it Will be so pure and undefiled as to be worthy to enter the presence of God, oh, let us give to _ Jiira, with all our earnest faith, all our heartfelt suffrages and prayers. For our faith teaches, a;nd it is our beautiful and consoling belief, that though parted in the body, our spirits are still united, and that we may still love him, may still pray for him, aye, even perhaps be able to aid him by our poor, but humble and earnest prayer. You, my brother prelates of the Church of God, will especially pray for him; we who have toiled and labored by his side — we who knew him well, who were so often assisted by his counsels and aided by his wisdom, let us pi-ay for him. And you faithful and venerable pastors and clergy of the Archdiocese, upon many of whom' he has laid his venerable hands, to whom you have so long looked to as }'our comfort and your pride, do you pray for him. And you holy virgins of the Church, spouses of Jesus Christ, dp you pray for him. And you little ones, fatherless and motherless, orphans in the Church, he was your loving parent and generous benefactor ; pray for him. Catholics, one and all, rich and poor, high. and low, of every rank and every condition,, you o\YC him a debt of gratitude you never can repay; at least, oh pray for him. JRequlem mtermim' dana eis Domine. Mb luxperpetua luceit eis. Eternal rest give to him, oh Lord, and let perjaetual light shine on him. In a moment more you will bid adieu to what stMl remain's of him'iiere. In a moment' more,. with his mitre on his head, clothed in'the insignia of his high office, he will go, as it were, in solemn procession, bidding you all a last adieu — go to take his place with the prelates who went before him, and who, beneath the vaults of this venerable Cathedral, now sleep the sleep of peace. He will go, and the chants and prayers of the Church will surround him ; and as the tones of that solemn' dirge and of those touching prayers resound beneath these vaults, we still will fancy we hear in sad, responsive tones, commingling with them, and lingering still behind after them : " I have fought agood. fight ; I have run my course ; I have kept the faith ; I now go to receive my crown." Immediately after the discourse had been delivered the solemn ceremony of the Absolution' commenced. This was performed with all the impres- sive and sacred formalities the ceremony allows : .The Bishops making a circuit around the catafalque, three times, sprinkling. Holy Wati3r., After these ceremonies were gone tlirough with, the undertakers then aijproaehed the catafalque, and placed all the floral wreaths and roses in the, coffin. Six clergymen then placed the coflin on their shouldeijs, and,, while the clergymen and choir chanted a solemn dirge, the remains were conveyed in mournful procession through the Church, while the entire congregation stood garing earnestly, for the last time, at the !face of the Archbishop, which appeared distinctly above the head of the coffin, calm and peaceful in the eternal sleep of death. The scene was such as has never been wit- nessed in this city before. There was a sadness and a quiet solemnity in 22 OBSEQUIES OF AKCHBISHOP HUGHES. it that struck the vast congregation with sorrow and awe. The feelings of all were strung to the highest pitch, and many a sob and subdued groan was heard in the midst of the solemn stillness. The procession moved out of the Cathedral to the vault in which repose the remains of Bishop Dubois, Bishop Connolly, and others of the clergy. After depositing the body in its appropriate place, the procession re-entered the Church, the low, solemn tones of the De profundis swelling up through the aisles as it passed along. The remains of the deceased Archbishop, however, will not rest permaijently in their present place. It is intended to have a magnificent tomb for them erected in the new Cathedral, as soon as it is finished, ACTION OF ST. PATEICK'S TRUSTEES, THE COURTS, AND THE COMMON COUNCIL. A special meeting of the Board was held on the evening of the 4th Jan. —present, Messrs. John Kelly, O'Connor, O'Donnell, H. Kelly, McKin- ley, Lynch, Hegan, Dolin, and Carolin. On motion, Mr. John Kelly was called to the chair, and Mr. Carolin acted as Secretary. The Chairman stated that the meeting had been called for the purpose of taking action in reference to the demise of the late Most Reverend Archbishop Hughes. Thereupon, on motion, the following gentlemen were appointed to draw up resolutions expressive of the feelings of the Board, and publish the same in such newspapers as they may select. Thereupon Messrs. O'Connor and Carolin were appointed, and to which committee the chairman was added. It was then resolved that the Board form themselves into a Committee of Arrangements for the funeral services on Thursday, 7th inst., and that such Committee meet in the session-room of the Board on Thursday, 7th inst., at eight o'clock A. m. The following resolutions were also adopted : Resolved, That in the death of the Most Reverend John Hughes, D. D., Arch- bishop of New York, the Roman CathoUc Church laments the loss of an illustrious prelate whose life was devoted to the prorrlulgation of her faith, and who by his labors extended the benign influence of her sacred teachings. Resolved, That with grateful recognition we record that, from the first moment of his entering upon the duties of his mission in this diocese until the close of his mortal career, he upheld with unfaltering arm the banner of our Holy Church, and zealously promoted the welfare of those confided to his spiritual care and protection. The numerous churches, colleges, seminaries of learning and religious orders, the hospitals and asylums called into existence by his industry and energ)', will long remain to perpetuate the memory of his religious zeal and the benevo- lence of his heart. Resolved, That we recall with pride the many instances in which our Most Rev- erend Archbishop stood forth as the champion of our Faith, of Education, and Civil and Religious Liberty ; illustrating in his career the virtues of a Pastor attached to his flock, and the ability of a Statesman anxious for the welfare of his country. Exiled in early life from the land of his birth, he deeply sympathized with her sufferings and sorrow, his- eloquent and powerful voice being always raised in advocacy of her rights and in indignation against her wrongs. The land of his adoption will cherish the remembrance of his disinterested patriotism and devotion to her interests and honor. Resolved, That while we bow in humility to the dispensation of the Almighty, who has taken from us our beloved Pastor, we are consoled by the reflectioiTthat the memory of his virtues and labors will endure to animate those who are to follow him in the great mission of charity, education, and of our holy reho-ion, with his spirit of devotion to the advancement of our holy faith and the greater glory of God. All the Courts in session in this city adjourned from Wednesday to EESOLUTICWfS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL, ETC. 25 Friday, out of respect to the illustrious dead, and in order tliat the judges, lawyers, and jurors might be able to attend the funeral ceremonies ou Thursday. Nearly all our city judges, in-espective of religion, attended the obsequies. On Monday, January 4th, Mayor Gunther sent in a message to both Boards of the City Government announcing the death of Archbishop Hughes, and recommending that some action be taken in refererice to it. Accordingly, a special meeting of the Aldermen and Councilmen took place on Wednesday evening, January 6th, when preamble and resolutions were read and adopted. It was resolved in the Board of Councilmen : That, la the death of John Hughes, Archbishop of New York, the country is called upon to mourn the loss of a conservative, influential, and enlightened citizen ; the City of New York has lost a great and good man ; the numerous, intelligent and conservative denomination of Christians, of which he was the acknowledged head in this country, has lost a wise, zealous, and indefatigable advocate and guide ; the religion of which he was such a conscientious and devoted disciple has lost an able and powerful advocate, and in its peculiar tenfets, a learned expounder. Resolved, That out of respect for the memory of the deceased prelate, and in consideration of his private virtues and public services, this Common Council will attend his funeral in a body, with their staffs of office draped in- mourning ; that they will cause the flags to be displayed at half mast on the City HaU and the other public buildings on the day set apart for the funeral rites and cere- monies ; that the public buildings and offices of the Corporation be closed on that day, and that a special committee of five members from each Board be appointed to make the necessary arrangements for attending the obsequies. It was also resolved that a copy of the preamble and resolutions be engrossed and sent to Father Starrs. The same resolutions were adopted by the Board of Aldermen, and both 'attended the obsequies, accompanied by the Mayor. The Trustees of the Cathedral extended invitations to the following to attend the obsequies : Sisters of Eeligious Orders ; President of the United States and Cabinet ; Governor of the State of New York and Staff; Foreign Dignitaries ; Members of Judiciary ; Members of the Legis- lature ; Mayor and Officers of the Common Council ; B^rd of Supervis- ors ; Board of Education ; Heads of Departments ; Commissioners of Charities and Correction ; Dissenting Clergymen ; Gen. John A. Dix and Staff; Gen. Hays and Staff; Army and Navy Officers ; Delegations from Medical Societies ; Representatives of Jesuit Colleges ; Delegation of St Vincent de Paul Society ; Distinguished Catholics ; Distinguished Protest- ants ; Strangers from abroad. All of the above persons invited did not attend. Neither the President and Cabinet, nor the Governor of New York were present, as we presume their respective duties would not allow them to be absent. The State Legislature at Albany passed resolutions in regard to the death of the Archbishop. They were passed, after some opposition from a Mr. Douglass, of Oneida County, by a vote of 76 yeas to 14 nays. The Commissioners of " Public Charities and Correction" held a meeting on the 7th Jan., and passed resolutions of regret at the death of the iirchbishop, and voted to attend the obsequies in a body. 24 OBSEQUIES OF AECHBISHOP HUGipES. LETTERS FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, SEC- RETARY SEWARD, AND GOVERNOR SEYMOUR ON THE DEATH OF THE ARCHBISHOP. The following letters were received in reply to invitations to attend the obsequies of the Most Reverend Archbishup : From the President. Dbpaiitmbnt of State, "Washington, Jan. 13, 1864. Venj jRei\ Wm. Starrs, Administrator of the Diocese of Neio TorJc : Very Rev. and Dear Sir,— The President of the United States has put into my hands the invitation to the funeral obsequies of the late Arch- bishop Hughes, with which he was favored by you. While it was impossi- ble for him to accept the invitation, he has, nevertheless, earnestly desired to find some practicable mode of manifesting the , sorrow with which he received intelligence of that distinguished Prelate^s demise, and his sym- pathy with his countrymen, and with the religious communion over which the deceased presided, in their great bereavement. I have, therefore, on his behalf, to request that you will make known in such manner as will seem to you most appropriate, that having formed the Archbishop's acquaintance in the earliest days of our country's present troubles, his counsel and advice were gladly sought and continually received by the ' Grovernment on those jooints which his position enabled him better than others to consider. At a conjuncture of deep interest to the country, the Archbishop, associated with others, went abroad and did the nation a service there, with all the loyalty, iidelity, and practical wisdom which, 'oa so many other occasions, illustrated his great ability for administration. Humbly hoping that the loss which the Church and the State have sus- tained in the removal of the Head of your Arch diocese, may, through the blessing of God, be repaired, so that what has been an unspeakable gain to him may not be a permanent cause of sorrow to them, I have the honor to be, respectfully, your obedient servant, WM. H. SEWARD. From Hon. Wm. H. Seward. Washington, January 5, 1864. V^ry Uev. Wm. Starrs, Administrator of the Diocese of New Yorh : Vert Rev. and Dear Sir, — I regret more deeply than I can eSpress that indispensable official engagements will deprive me of the sad satisfac- tion of attending the obsequies of the late Archbishop, and thus manifest- ing, in the only way now possible, the respect and affection which I have.. BO long cherished towards him as a faithful friend, a pious prelate, a loyal, patriot, a great and a good man. W. H. SEWARD. . ' From lion. Horatio Seymour, Oovei~nor of the State of New Yorh: State av New York, Executive Department, ) Albany, January 5, 1864. j Very Rev. Wm. Starrs, Administrator of the Diocese of New York : Vert Rav. Dear Sift, — I have received youi- announcement of the death of Archbishop Hughes, and your invitation to attend his funeraL MONTH S MIJSTD CEEElIOSriKS. 25 As the Legislatni-G has just assembled, it is not possible for mo to leave the capital of the State. I regret it is not in my power to show, by my attend.inoe, my respeet for the memory of one of the marked men of the couutiy. The life-long labors of the late Archbishop ^vill tell for a long period upon the literature, the religion, and the charitable institutions of our land. In a few years the City of New York will be adorned Ijy a magniticent cathedral, the broad foundations of which were hu.: under his supervision and care. So, too, in the, future, will the interests of learning, religion, and charity be built upon the ground-works which he has estab- lished Hart, New Haven, Ct., Smyth, Norwalk, Ct. ; DaBruyker, Williamantic, Ct. ; Walsh, Mer- iden, Ct. ; Kelly, Norwich, Ct.; Lambe, Providence, R. I. ; Cooney, Providence, R. L; Very Rev. J. J. Williams, V. G., Boston, Mass. ; Rev. Messrs. Linden, Boston, Mass. ; McPhillips, Taunton, Mass. ; Very Rev. M. O'Brien, V. G., Rochester, N. Y. ; Rev. Messrs.- Mulholland, Lookport, N. Y. ; MoMulIin, Suspension Bridge, N. Y. ; McGowan, Seneca Falls, N. Y. ; Magliana, 26 SEEMON OP BISHOP LOTJGHLIN. O. S. r., Alleghany, N. Y. ; Bevnolds, Pittsburg, Pa. ; J. McCloskey, V. P., Mt. St. Mary's College, Emmilsburg, and Conway, P. P., Headford, Ireland. Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Connolly, assisted by Very Rev. Mr. Starrs, V. Q., Administrator ^ro tern, of the Archdiocese; Rev. Mr. Ma^ire of the Cathedral officiated as Deacon, and Rev. Dr. McSweeney as Sub- deacon; Rev. F. McNeirny, Master of Ceremonies, assisted by Rev. Mr. Far- rell. The sermon, preached by the Bishop of Brooklyn, is given in full below. SERMON OP BISHOP LOUaHLIN. Remember yoar Prelates who have spoken the Word of God to you ; whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. — Heb. xiii. 7. ToTj are assembled here to-day, beloved brethren, to perform a work ■which your religion recommends — ^that is, to unite in offering the Holy Sacrifice and fervent prayer for the repose of the soul of our lamented Arch- bishop. You have come, also, it may be, to hear from this place a suitable exposition of his merits which may be calculated to increase your, respect, admiration and affection for him, or to. confirm in you those sentiments which have long since had a place in your hearts. Already most eloquent words of eulogy have been addressed to you. Already you have heard on all sides, in public and in private, the learned and the unlearned; the states- man, the lawyer, the orator, the poet, those who are not members of the .Catholic Church as well as those who are, proclaim, with one accord, their respect for the illustrious departed. On the day of his obsequies you saw within this sacred edifice, municipal and various other representations and delegations, manifesting their grief for the loss sustained by the whole community, while sympathetic thousands were without, unable to enter. The grahd solemnity of that day, and the manifestation of feeling which the sad event by which it was marked called forth, will not be soon for- gotten. The remembrance of him whose remains were then before us wiK be ever cherished with respect and affection by all of us. After all this, can any word I might utter extend the boundaries of his fame, or increase your respect and affection for him ? I apprehend that any effort on my part to accomplish this might be fruitless, on account of my inability, in the limited time allowed me for the purpose, and because, even if I had more time, I could not satisfy the demands of justice, or reach the point to which your expectations have been raised. Nevertheless, as it is written by the Apostle : " Remember your Prelates who have spoken the Word of God to you ; whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation," I venture to speak of one of whom it is difficult to speak, and yet concern- ing whom it is difficult to be silent. When we speak of the Most Rev. Dr. Hughes, late Archbishop of New York, we speak of a man whom Divine Providence gifted with very great, I might say with extraordinary powers of mind, who entertained in his heart sentiments which do honor to humanity, who ha,d a robust, vigorous physical constitution, all of which would have secured for him distinguished pre-eminence in any posi- tion or sphere in life. If we speak of him as a citizen, I may say that if ever the lamp of patriotism burned in the heart of man, it did in his. He loved, and fondly, too, the land of his nativity, but the intolerance there experienced caused him to leave it for " another country in which he believed the rights and privileges of citizens rendered all men equal." The duties which devolved upon him, and which he understood so well, in this land of his adoption, he discharged with unswerving fidelity. To use his own language, " His feelings, his habits, his thoughts, had been so much identified with all that is American, month's mind ceremonies. 27 that he had almost forgotten he was a foreigner." So long ahiiost as the lamp of life itself continued to burn, so did that also of the love of his country, and for it he was willing to make every sacrifice compatible with his high and holy vocation. He was entitled to our respect and admiration as a man and as a citizen, and we are called upon to revere his memory now that he is no more. But it is in the sacred and exalted character of priest and prelate, of anointed of the LoVd, of sentinel on the watchtower of Israel, of a chief of the hosts of the Lord, of shepherd in the fold of Christ, that we consider and commemo- rate him more especially. It was after his ordination that "his public life commenced. Not much time had elapsed after that event before he felt him- self called upon to repel the unjust assaults which bigotry made upon his religion, and which were calculated to bring odium on it and its professors. Conscious of the possession of the powers with which he had been gifted, and at the same time of the truth and holiness of the cause he undertook to defend, he advanced as a giant, and with his wonderful intellectual ability he detected and exposed before the light of revelation and reason the errors and the bad logic of his opponents, and having scattered the mists of ignorance and prejudice, the truth shone forth in all its majesty and splendor, and the Catholic public gloried in him as their great champion. As a priejit he acquired great distinction, which, as it was acquired in the defence of his religion, redounded also to the honor of that religion and of the Catholic name. In the cqurse of a few years he was called upon to assume^reater re- sponsibilities. A heavier burden was to be borne by him. He did not seek those responsibilities, nor did he ask to have that burden placed upon his shoulders. Yet when he was satisfied that it was the will of his Divine Master that he should bear it, he bowed in submission— he did not refuse the labor. Confiding in Him whose name is Almighty, from the eminence to which he had been raised, at the proper time, he surveyed the fold for which he became responsible, made himself acquainted with its condition, to give direction, apply the corrective, or supply the want, according to the circumstances. He entered on the discharge of the duties of the Epis- copate with astonishing ability and vigor. With eye fixed on the great palladium of civil and religious liberty — on the great principle of the American government, he asserts for the young and for the old of his flock the rights of conscience. Again, you find him engaged in removing with masterly dexterity the difficulties that obstructed the free observance of ecclesiastical discipline. At another time you see him contemplating the threatening storm of human passion, and soon, as if it awaited his order, it is hushed into inoffensive stillness. Should his adversary present himself behind a mask, he tears it off, and with a rod dipped in a mix- ture of logic, ridicule and sarcasm, he sends him back in confusion to the obscurity frolm which he had emerged. Besides the great tact and prudence for which he was remarkable, he was most courageous — ^never daunted, never dismayed — a stranger to fear. He was sometimes apparently severe, yet always kind, benevolent, charita- ble. In all his labors, and trials, and contests, he found consolation in the truth and holiness of his religion, in the rectitude of his conduct ; "in all my public life in New York," he writes, "I have done no action, uttered no sentiment unworthy of a Christian Bishop and an American citizen ;" and also in the reciprocation of fidelity on the part of his devoted flock, so that he might declare, as he did on the occasion of the laying of the corner- stone of the new Cathedral, to the assembled thousands, '' You have never failed me," reminding us of what the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians : " We are your glory, as you also are ours." What shall I say of the emo- tions of pleasure experienced by the members of this congregation as he was seen proceeding from the sacristy or episcopal throne towards this 28 SERMON OTT BISHOP LOUGHLIJT. , plaop ? We know how deliglited all were to hear the soimii of that voice, ' now, alas ! hushed to stillness, to see that penetrating eye, now closed and motionless, and that gesture, which seemed to accord so naturally in vigor and force with the language employed in elucidating doi;trine or enforcing the observance of moral precept. But why should I continue to repeat what you have so often heard, or endeavor to bring before your view what you have so often seen ? Is it only for the purpose of exciting anew your respect and your affection for him ? While I would say it is not unlawful, but rather 'commendable, to entertain these sentiments, should wo not also • — yea, and above all — give glory to Him who was pleased to enrich him so munificicntly ? Who bestowed on him the gift of faith ? Who gave him fortitude and constancy in defence of that faith J Who gave him prudence and other endowments for which he was so distinguished ? To the Giver of every good and perfect gift, to the Father of Lights, to the Author and Knisher of our faith, to the Spirit of Wisdom and Fortitude, be honor and glory, benediction and praise, for all the graces and blessings be- stowed upon him, and, through his ministry, upon ua. Thus, beloved brethren, does the remembrance of the great Prelate excite to praise and glorify God, nor should it be without its salutary influence" on our lives. This was the thought of the Apostle when he admonished the Hebrews to follow the faith of their Prelates. That God has made a revelation to man, we doubt not. It is also certain that it was his will that Ho should- be glorified by man's knowledge and ac- ceptance of it. Man should then have a knowledge of it, should accept it, and be guided by it. Has God made any arrangement for this purpose ? Most certainly. It is made known to us by the Evangehst as a fact which existed. Like all the stupendous works of the Almighty, it seem.s very simple. The Son of God chose Apostles, and to them He gave the words which He had received from his Father, and He commissioned them to preach them to the nations of the earth, pledging his word to them that He would be with them till the end of the world ; declaring to them, moreover, that whoever heard them heard Him ! The work was to be continued, and the order in which it was to be carried on was arranged by infinite wisdom. It was by a living, teaching ministry. So the Apostles understood it. We read that St Paul directed Timothy to commend to faithful men who shall be tit to teach others also the things which he had heard from him. He left Titus at Crete for the express purpose of ordaining others, that thus the ministry might be perpetuated. He tells the Hebrews to obey their prelates and to be subject to them, for they watch as being to render an account of their souls, and again, to follow their faith. ■ The doctrines of faith which they believed and taught were believed and taught by the prelates of the Church everywhere, in every nation. Thus, in our 'day, we may repeat the words of the Apostle, " Remember your Pre- lates who have spoken the Word of God to you, whose faith follow." It is the faith of the Catholic Church, the faith once delivered to the saints.. This is the faith he held and preached. Follow that fdth and you will be good members of society, good citizens, good Christians. To it you must apply for a correctknowledge of all your duties. By means of it you can see things as God wills you should see them here below, and viewing the world and all ^that is in it by the aid of its light, you will see its vanity ; you will learn that true happiness is not found apart from God; jou learn the value of an immortal soul. The'great truths of Faith lie preached to you with great force and dignity, yet with great simplicity, for to the learned and to the unlearned, to the wise and to the unwise, he was a debtor. He never forgot that he was 'a' bishop, and that he should take heed to himself and to the whole flock over which he had been placed. Great were his gifts, great his dignity, 'great his responsibility. He is ad- ON CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. 29 monislied lliat the time when he shall liavo to rciidiir an aoftount of his (tewardship is at hand, and that he should prepare for it. He received the Last Sacraments. Though it was, and ever -wi:! be, a great consolation to me and to you to know that he had the full and unimpared use of his senses and faculties at the time, it was difficult to look at that great man, that champion, that hero preparing to leave the scone of liis labors, to leave those who were devoted to him. After he had received the Holy Viaticum and the Sacrament of Extreme Unction he did not fail to express, in his own peculiar, emphatic manner, the happiness he experienced. Soon after my consecration I had occasion to go to his room. Having attended to the business for which I went, and about to leave, he looked at me and said : " Never forget that you are a Bishop." Now, in conclusion, I transmit to you, beloved brethren, the affectionate admonition,; never forget that you are Catholics. Great is the digaity of the Archbishop, of the Bishop, of the Priest, of the Catholic, and great the responsibility. One of the great thoughts of his great mind, the desire of his heart, was that his children in the Faith should not be socially or ci\'illy inferior to their fellow-citizens. He knew to what dignity their Faith raised them. He knew they had a correct understanding of their moral obligations, and the duty of defending their civil and their social rights he never lost sight of. Remember your Prelate who has spoken to you the Word of God. Follow the great principles of his and your Faith. Kemembcr him in your prayers, so that, so far as may depend on you, you may be instrumental in hastening, if it has not already taken place, his ad- mission into the joy of his Lord. Take heed to yourselves. Forget not your dignity, so tlaat when your day come, or rather, if you will, v/hen the night cometh when you can no longer labor, you may pass from this world of darkness to the enjoyment of Him who dwelleth in the midst of light inaccessible. After the Sermon was concluded, the last solemn rites were performed by Archbishop Connolly, attended by Deacon and Sub-Deacon. Thus ended the last public ceremony over the remains of a great and good man. lie- gziiescat in pace. BISHOP HUGHES' GREAT SERMON ON THE EMANCIPATION OF IRISH CATHOLICS. Freachedin the Church of St. Augusiine, Philadelphia, May Zisi, 1829. [This splendid sermon was delivered by the late Archbishop Hughes in the Church of St. Auffustine, in Philadelphia, on the 31st of May, 1829, at a solemn religious 'thanksgiving to Almighty God for the emancipation of the Catholics of Great Britain and Ireland, just achieved through the efforts of Daniel O'Cnnnell. The sermon was dedicated to him by the author, who was then only pastor of St. Joseph's Church.] LordThouhast blessedThy land : Thou hast^turned away the captivity of Jacob . . . .... Mercy and truth have met each other : Justice and peace have kissed. Truth is sprung out of the earth ; and Justice hath looked down from heaven. I'SALJi lixxiv. It is the privilege of man, my brethren, to sympathize in sorrows that •are not his own, as well as to rejoice in the blessings which make others happy, although they leave his own individual condition unchanged and un- so AECHBISHOP HUGHES affected. This peculiarly amiable feature has heen impressed on the human character by the plasmatic hand of Almighty God, in order, no doubt, to remind his children, by the community of their affections, that however separated by distance of time or place, they are brethren notwithstanamg, deriving their origin from a common Father, by whom they were createa tor a common end. Otherwise, the sympathetic susceptibilities of the human breast arc inexplicable. There is no other fountain to which we can trace the current of those tears that bedew the pages of romance, when they pic- ture scenes of distress which might heme existed, but which in fact never rfjrf exist, save in the author's imagination and the reader's sensibility. If, then, by the spontaneous dictate of generous nature, we can enter thus largely into the fortunes and feelings of one individual, how could we stand unmoved when we behold entire millions of our species and our brethren, after whole ages of sorrow, rejoicing at length in the commencement of a new-born des- tiny, and we trust a happier era. It was but yesterday you saw the hope of those millions suspended from the balance of apparent chance, and with what anxious solicitude did you watch every tremulous motion of the beam, whilst prejudice, folly and oppression were in one scale, opposed to reason, truth and justice in the other, and it yet remained doubtful which side would ultimately preponderate ! The issue has been auspicious : it has been made known to you and to the world ; and other millions, perfectly disinterested, except by the sympathies of universal nature, are now rejoicing in the event. Such is the benevolence of philanthropy. But this feeling, for the very reason that it is capable of being extended, so as to embrace all mankind of every nation and of every clime, becomes stronger and wanner, like the concentrated rays of the sun, when circum- stances confine it within a narrower sphere. "What was philanthropy, when it knew no limits, requires to be expressed by some more ardent epithet, when it is circumscribed by the boundaries of our native country; and lan- guage presents a word of magic influence — patriotism. Here, then, is an- other principle of hunian nature that operates on so many bosoms in the vast assembly that surround me. There is in the heart of every man that which interestshim — the land of his nativity ; and until that heart cease to beat, no distance either of time or of place will be able to extinguish the sensation. He may banish himself from his country — his judgment may give a. decided preference to any other — his reason may be at variance with his feelings — absence and age, and reason and philosophy may all conspire against the rebel affection of his bosom, but they will not be able to subdue it. The home of his fathers and of his childhood, the scenes and companions of his youth, even the first landscape, however rude, with which his eyes became familiar — all these things break in upon his recollection in after years, with, that luxury of mingled feelings which I cannot describe, because they will not submit to be analyzed, but which every exile from his country has expe- rienced, and can therefore appreciate. These reminiscences are sometimea sad, and yet they charm ; they are melancholy, and still they enchant : but whatever they are, they maintain their dominion over the human breast; and I know one heart that would not like to be insensible to their influence, even if the tiling were possible. Still, my'brethren, they are common to the Jew, the Christian, and the idolater : to the barbarian as well as to the Greek. They belong to the order of mere human virtues, until they are touched and hallowed, like the prophet's lips, by some living embers from the altar of religion. Thus, whilst we indulge in feelings of philanthropy and of patriotism, as men, we must not be unmindful that as believers we should refer to God the glory of the achievement in which we all rejoice. It is for this especial reason that we give expression to our gratitude in the act of solemn and religious ON CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. 31 thanksgiving, and thus proclaim our belief, that the aflfaira cf this -world are not abandoned to capricious chance — that they are not decided by sullen destiny — but that God, the Supreme Ruler of the universe, without seem- ing to dispute the wisdom of earthly calculations, disposes them neverthe- less in measure and in weight according to a superior judgment, too sub- lime for the scrutiny of man, too infinite for the comprehension of created intellect. So that, on whatsoever side we consider the subject, we find the occasion to be in accordance with the best and most universal feelings of our nature, and with the soundest dictates of reason and of religion. It 'is an occasion of legitimate rejoicing in every sense : when the apple of discord, which has been the cause of jo much oppression, injustice, and bloodshed in unhappy Ireland, has been^at length destroyed, and the axe effectually applied to the root of the tree that produced it — when those inequalities in the law which divided the nation so long, operating as an almost irresistible incen- , tive to the worst passions of authority, are blotted out for ever — when we may hope that hereafter heaven will be no more outraged by the crimes of the oppressor; that humanity will no longer be compelled to weep over the sufferings of the oppressed — when, in fine, the kindred virtues have been permitted to meet again, and justice and peace have actually kissed, in token of eternal amity. Such are the prominent features of the moral triumph which I have this day to proclaim ; and my only regret is, that it has not found a herald more competent to do it justice. When I refiect, however, that the intense feel- ings which surround me are interested chiefly in the matter of my subject, I have reason to hope they will extend a generous portion of indulgence to the manner in which it may be presented. This is the cheeiing considera- tion that sustains me, when I would otlierwise shrink from the arduous un- dertaking. The histories of nations, my brethren, like those of individuals, chequered as both are by the vicissitudes to which human things are liable, become a book of moral and religious instruction when studied by the light of Chris- tian faith: — whilst at the same time they furnish that experience from which philosophy may extract lessons of practical wisdom ; and statesmen derive political knowledge, which they can employ for the promotion or the destruction of social happiness. And there is not in the world, per- haps, a country whose history may be studied under a greater variety of aspects, than that which is this day the subject of our consideration. The native historians of Ireland trace the lineal descent of her people to a very distinguished origin, and to an extremely remote period of antiquity. They claim also, even for their pagan ancestors, a degree of superiority in national policy, and in mental improvement, which distinguished them in those ages, as much as the Mexicans were distinguished from the other na- tions of this hemisphere at the epoch of the Spanish invasion. _ Other writers, however, have drawn their pen across the labor of the Irish anti- quarians, and without taking the pains to investigate, have pronounced the whole narrative to be fabulous. If national credulity has arrogated too much, it is equally certain that those, who with national antipathies have- undertaken to correct the mistake, have been uncandid in refusing to con- cede what ought not to be withheld. For, without losing ourselves in the mists of antiquity, but beginning at the period when history cast away the drapery of fiction, with which, it is said, that poetry had invested her, we are met by tangible and uncontroverted facts, which prove that however the pretensions to superiority may have been over-rated, they are not alto- gether without foundation. Jt was in the fifth century of our era, when Christianity, having already 32 AHCHBISHOP HUGHES scattered lier divine illuminations extensively over tlie globe, landed at length on the shores of Ireland, and planted the cross— at once the ep blem of her doctrine and the evidence of her conquest — where the Roman eagle never floated. In what situation did she find the country ? Governed by a monarch who enjoyed the sceptre by the right of election, whose privileges were limited and defined ; with representative parliamentary assemblies, for the enactment of wise laws ; with three distinct classes in the state, for the purposes of subordination ; with the use of letters and literary estab- lishments ; with institutions separate and apart for the study of music, heraldry, philosophy, and medicine ! This is not the government of a rude and savage people— these are not the institutions of barbarism, nor the oc- cupation of barbarians. Greece would not have been ashamed of them at any time ; and in that age history sought for them in vain beyond the limits of the Roman empire, except in Ireland, But, again, contrast the admission which Christianity obtained in Ireland, with the cruel opposition which it had to encounter in other countries. . When we examine the means and manner of the world's conversion, we find that the first heralds of eternal life' were generally immolated in almost every country to the expiring deities of the place ; and that the tree of di- vine faith was not permitted to. take root in the soil, until after it had been profusely watered with the blood of those who were commissioned to plant it. In Ireland, however, this was not the case. The great apostle of that nation was permitted to labor undisturbed in his holy vocation for thirty successive years, exhibiting the meek religion of Jesus Christ in the power of its own celestial evidence — and because the mind of Ireland was im- proved and competent to judge it by its evidence, only thirty years was ]iecessary to establish that doctrine, which, a proscription and a persecution of nearly three hundred have not been able to root out. Greece and Italy were enlightened, and yet they endeavored to extinguish the infant religion of Christ in its cradle ; but their hearts were depraved, and the Holy Scrip- tures assign the universal motive of men, who "love darkness rather than light." The reasoning of Ireland, compared with theirs, was the reasoning of Gamaliel in the council of the Pharisees. But in all the other countries civilization followed with tardy pace in the footsteps of Christianity ; in Ireland it had gone before. Elsewhere, the seed of the divine word was sown on the rocks of barbarism, or scattered amid the brambles of blind, bigoted, and cruel superstition — here, the rock had been broken, the bram- bles had been cleared away, and Christianity found a soil prepared ; for I defy historical scepticism, with all its easy ingenuity, to account for its un- obstructed promulgation, and rapid increase on any other human hypo- thesis. But, together with the religion of Jesus Christ, Ireland received the knowledge of Roman letters, and of classic literature ; and during the sub- sequent ages, when the torch of science was on the verge of extinction throughout the rest of Europe, it blazed forth in Ireland with a lustre which attracted at once the notice and the admiration of the world. And here permit me to instance how hereditary and indeliable are the leading traits of national character. One of the laws previous to its conversion, proves that hospitality was universally exercised in that country from time im- memorial. This law did not enjoin merely that the stranger should be taken in when perchauGO he knocked at the door, nor that having entered the domestic circles, his rights should be regarded as sacred. In other countries this would have been much ; in Ireland it was unnecessary, and would have been nothing. It was enjoined by public authority, and under the forfeiture of penalty, that no family should remove from its established residence without having given previous notice of its intention, lest t te ON CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. 33 ■wearied traveler, unapprised of the change, should call at the deserted mansion, when overtaken by the darkness of the night, and there would be no one to receive him to the rites of hospitality. But it was during the period subsequent to the introduction of Christi- anity, when the, charities of heaven's religion were engrafted on the stock of native generosity, that Ireland established her prescriptive and undisput- ed claim to that national character, which, through all the variety of her fortunes, she has not to this day forfeited. Her seminaries of learning, with which she abounded, were crowded with the votaries of knowledge from every other country, and we are authorized on the testimony of a co- temporaneous and a foreign writer, the venerable Bede, to state that those strangers were received, supported, and educated in the Irish seminaries, without remuneration or reward. Abroad, in Germany, Italy, and Prance, she was regarded through the medium of her pious ecclesiastics, who went forth as missionaries, imparting to others the blessings of religion which heaven had bestowed upon themselves ; and judging of the country which produced them, by their numbers, their talent, their zeal, but, above all, by the unblemished sanctity of their lives, Ireland was designated in the writings of the time, as the " Island of Saints." This is an appellation of which she has the more reason to be proud, because it was not engraved on her escutcheon by the hand of national vanity, but was the unsolicited offering, the spontaneous tribute of foreign admiration. This is a title to which, even in the depth of her political degradation, Ireland looked back with a fond, but saddened recollection, because like the statues of illus- trious ancestors in pagan Rome, it reminded her of the eminence from which she had fallen, and the degeneracy of the children compared with the sanctity of their fathers. But this is not the time to enlarge on that topic. Neither was it by their virtues alone that the preachers of Christianity from Ireland, during those ages, were distinguished in other lands. One of the writers of her history, Plowden, himself an Englishman, tells us that Alfred the Great, and England's greatest king, was educated in Ireland ; from whence, also, he brought professors for that Oxford college which the other day voted against the religion of its founder, and the country of its first professors. The biographer and historian of Charlemagne says, that the colleges of Paris and Pavia were founded by Irish ecclesiastics. The younger Scaliger informs us that in the time of Charlemagne, and for tivo hundred years after, '■'fere omnei doeti" almost all the learned men of France were from Ireland. And Doctor Johnson observes, Ireland is known to have been once the seat of piety and of learning, and concludes by the expression of his regret that more is not ascertained of the revolutions of a people "so ancient," says he, "and once so illustrious." Such is the hon- orable testimony borne to the character of that country before it became the prey of ruthless invasion. But why should I have selected Johnson and Scaliger from a host of others ? Because, my brethren, their evidence bids defiance to the common objections made by historical skepticism, viz ; ignorance, or partiality to the religion or the soil. Both were pre-eminent in the science of lellea-lettres ; both were giants in literature; both were foreigners ; both were Protestants. Such was the march of Ireland on the literary theatre of the world be- fore she was inundated by the waters of oppression, from which she is now emerging. She went forth scattering the treasures of her own enlightened intellect, pouring her own oil into the famished lamp of science wherever she, passed; or lighting it up where it had never blazed before. Such was her zeal to plant with generous hand in the bosom of other nations, those seeds of religion and of virtue which had produced the harvest of holinesa 3 34 AECHBISHOP HUGHES in her own. To tlie man who is skilled in the philosophy of believing only what he sees or comprehends, the idea may appear superstitious ; but to me it seems in accordance with the certain- though mysterious economy of Di- vine Providence, that during this illustrious period of her pre-emjncnce m science and in piety, Ireland was guided by some spirit of prophetic benev- olence from above, that gave her a glimpse of her own future situntion, and breathed in her soul the counsel of eternal wisdom, to labor while the day is, for the night cometh when no man can work. When we behold her standing on her own hospitable beach, to receive the stranger youth of eve- ry land with a mother's affection, does it not appear that with a mother's prospective solicitude, her vision pierced the gloom of futurity, and rested on that melancholy period when her own persecuted sons should bo obliged to visit other climes in pursuit of science, because at home they would not be allowed to drink the waters of knowledge, except at fountains which they deemed polluted ? As if she foresaw the time when her own expatri- ated children would be borne afar, and afar on the surge of every ocean, and cast on every distant shore, there, like uprooted plants, to perish, un- less fostered by the hand of foreign kindness. There was a time when the other nations of Europe were indebted to Ireland ; but her fortunes chang- ed ; the means of conferring benefits were taken from her, and in her turn she became their debtor. To the seminaries of Germany and Italy, and still more to those of France, she owes, under the same providence of Almighty God, the unbroken succession of her priesthood during the persecution of her religion ; and now that it has ceased, she acknowledges the obligation in the fullness of her own gratitude, as if she had deserved nothing at their hands. ' About the close of the seventh century, Egfred, King of Northumberland, made a transitory incursion into the country, and this was the first foreign enemy, coming in the attitude of hostility, that ever trod on Irish soil. After his expulsion, Ireland enjoyed her usual tranquillity hntil about the beginning of the ninth century, when the Danes and Norwegians aimed at, and partly succeeded in effecting, what they considered a permanent estab- lishment in that delightful country. The effort, we are told, cost them a struggle of thirty yeai-s ; and we know from the history of other nations which they visited merely as a passing scourge, that theu- hatred of those studies which gave polish and refinement to social life, was equaled only by their hatred of Christianity. In Ireland they had time and opportunity to indulge the double hatred— they had abundant material whereon to wreak their Gothic vengeance, by destroying monasteries, in which science and religion dwelt like sisters in the same sanctuary, and against which the Danes cherished a universal and hereditary spite. They were inhabited by monks, a class of men who have been so traduced, and calumniated by the learned ingratitude of modern times, that their very name sounds in the ear of popular credulity, as synonymous with ignorance and indolence. They were not ignorant, my brethren ; but that ignorance which is charged upon them, would be at this day ours, if they had not been learned. One portion of their time was devoted to prayer and singing the praises of God ; the residue was employed in transcribing the Holy Scriptures, and books of antiquity. They were not indolent ; on the contrary we find them in every country, engaged viith patient industry in building across the middle ages that br?dge which connects ancient with modern literature, and by which the wisdom and the folly of other days and of other generations have trav- eled down to us. They were engaged in saving whatever of learning could be saved by hujjian exertion from the ravages of those turbid waters that swept beneath its extensive span. The annals of pagan as well as of Chris- tian Ireland were deposited in these monasteries, which were pillaged and ON CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION.- 35 destroyed by the vandalism of the northern invaders. Then did perish those national monuments, the absence of which Doctor Johnson, in the name of enlightened posterity, deplores, because, says he, being the records of an ancient and once an illustrious people, if they had come down to us, they would have thrown light on two important but disputable subjects ; viz : " the origin of nations, and the affinity of languages." They have not come down to us; and we can judge of ancient Ireland, from Irish docu- ments, only as we judge of a long ruined edifice, by the quality of the scat- tered fragments which strew the place around. After the destruction of her monasteries, however, in the ninth and tenth centuries, the sun of her literary glory appears to have set ; although the reflection of his departed splendor, like the mellow light of evening, lingered on her horizon ; and dur- ing the darkness — the night that followed — hers were some of the bright- est stars in the firmament of letters. The Danes werg flnally expelled, just time enough to show that the coim- try was still unconqucred, and free from every foreign yoke, when the Eng- lish commenced its invasion about the year 1171. Then it was that Eng- land's second Henry established in Ireland a power which, under all cir- cumstances, would perhaps have been a blessing, if it had been conducted on the principles of distributive justice or of common equity ; but which, as it was, operated like a canker worm at the root' of the nation's happiness, blighting every virtue that adorns human nature, and giving occasion to the exercise of every vice that degrades humanity. But, on the very thresh- old of this topic, a question arises, and it is asked by what right did he Invade, and by what title did he claim the territory of an unoffending peo- ple ? Why, the ostensible right was a written instrument, obtained by some means or other, almost twenty years before, from Adrian IV., Bishop of Rome and Pontiff of the Universal Church. In virtue of this, Ireland was disposed of in the form of a donation, under certain stipulated terms. The invader knew very -well that the donation was a mockery ; but then it might serve a purpose. It was carefully concealed until the desired mo- ment arrived ; then ambition grasped the sword, and artifice thought to hide its lancet point, in the folds of this flimsy document ; in order that while the scruples of the nation should be excited, touching the Pope's authority, its liberties might be assassinated quietly, and with as little waste of English blood as possible. The Irish people then, as well as now, bowed to the spiritual authority of the Pope, as the visible head of the Christian Church ; but then as well as now, they knew that the act of Adrian did not derive its authority from Him " whose kingdom was not of this world." The document 'may have surprised and divided the nation; it may have weakened, though it did not paralyze the arm of resistance ; but the fact is, that at all times England's best title was the sword. The Irish soon after protested publicly against the whole proceedings; and forwarded to the Vatican itself a remonstrance, which is written in a tone of uncompromising complaint, and which, but for the deeply-wounded spirit of those who penned it, would be considered reprehensible even at this day ; such is the bitter independence of its language. This was the most unwarrantable stretch of assumed prerogative in the annals of what modern writers call papal usurpation. It was unnepessary, it was unavailing, it was unjust. Arid having said thus much, I will be permitted to show, by a few remarks, that this and similar acts have become too much the theme of satirical ani- madversion and unmerited invective. Good sense, and sound criticism, and common justice require, that be- fore we pronounce on the proceedings of former ages, we should examine them in connection with the times in which they occurred ; the cotempo- riucous prejudices, the nature of the governments, the manners and gen- 36 AECHBISHOP HUGHES eral conditionof society -when they happened, should all be thrown into the scale of judgment ; and they would guide us to a just "s erdict of cen- sure or of approbation. The direct contrary, however, is the general prac- tice with writers otherwise eminent and learned. They seize an isolated fact in the darkness of the dark ages, and drag it forth naked, divested of all its concomitant circumstances, to be judged, and, as a matter of course, to be condemned by the superior light of the present day. If they allowed it, kowever, to return naked as they found it, the world would not be, as it is, the enlightened dupe of unsuspected prejudice on a thousand historical and religious topics. But disregarding the_ moral of the Holy Scripture, they put new cloth on old raiment, and dismiss the fact, whatever it may be, in its chequered and consequently ridiculous dra- pery. Thus, for example, when we are told that Popes interfered with the government of kingdoms, it should not be left untold that kings and na- tions had first invoked that interference, and besought them in the name of humanity and religion, to protect the claims of justice, to prevent civil war, and the shedding of kindred blood. It should not be left untold that very frequently the brows to whom it belonged were too weak to sustain the diadem, against the usurpations of some other aspirant, who was ready to tear it away. Interest, in the form of chivalrous gratitude, not unfrequently tendered a kingdom at the feet of the Pontiff, and found its best security in receiving it as a fief of the Holy See, by the common tenure of the feudal system which prevailed. Thus, the power of the Popes was as simple in its origin as the power by which a priest, or other clergyman, settles a dispute between two neighbors, who appeal to him rather than to the dagger or the magistrate. The influence which they possessed enabled them to extend the shield of peaceful justice for the protection of injured and otherwise defenceless innocence. If they became formidable to kings, it was because kings laid the foundations on which they built the edifice of power. The state of the world is changed ; that power has been taken from them, and transferred to others. If it had not, the Pope at this day could effect, without bloodshed, what English bayo- nets will be necessary to accomplish in the kingdom of Portugal. 1 re- joice, for the sake of religion, that it has been removed from the chair of St. Peter ; because he who occupies that chair is not an angel, but a hu- man being, and whenever he mingles in human affairs he is liable to be swayed by human motives. This was possibly the case with Adrian IV.; he was an Englishman, and, so far as in him lay, he bequeathed Ire- land, which never was at his disposal, by feudal right or otherwise ; he be- queathed it, nevertheless, as an appendage to his country's greatness. This is the fact. And yet there are considerations which might shield him from the harsh severity with which even Catholic writers have visited his mem- ory. He is known to have been a man austere and simple in his manners, and unblemished in the sanctity of his life ; but it was his lot to govern the Church at a time when the prejudices of temporal power, alluded to above, were already established by prescription. On the other hand, the motives which prompted him to the act were evidently good. We can see by the very tenor of the document, that he was led to suppose" the good of religion and the promotion of piety were the only objects for which Henry the Second desired the sovereignty of Ireland. For, my brethren, unre- strained ambition, whether it operates on the bosoms of kings or of other men, does not hesitate to put on the appearance of sanctity, to make use of religion, aye, and of religion's God, as stepping-stones beneath its feet, if it cannot otherwise ascend the eminence to wliich'it aspires. You will pardon this apparent digression from my subject. My limits would not allow me to delineate the anatomy of Irish history ; I could only ON CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. 3^ V- exhibit tlie mere skeleton ; and as the concession of Adrian is one of its most important joints, I felt prompted by a sense of justice to the calumni- ated dead, to trace its connection to the circumstances of the times in which it took place. During the period subsequent to the English invasion, we behold noth- ing but ruin and desolation, where we have been hitherto admiring the vision of Ireland's now departed glory. The portion of the country which was conquered by the first adventurers was denominated the Pale, an ap- propriate and significant term, pregnant with all the partiality that power could confer on those who were within its limits, and with all the injus- tice, tyranny, and oppression which the spirit of lawless conquest could inflict on those who were without. By virtue of the state secret, the little wire, whicli was carefully concealed from the vulgar gaze, but which moved every spring in the machinery of government, the seeds of national jealousy, of reciprocal hatred and revenge, were sown and fostered ; and when these passions grew up into a harvest of political disorder, then those who had moved the wire came forth from behind the curtain, in the name of loyalty, to reap the profits. They had a right to them. Thus, the laws produced a kind of refles operation profitable to the governor and his minions, in proportion as it was ruinous to the people. One deputy after another appeared to represent the majesty of England ; and with few ex- ceptions, private interest, avarice, and ambition were the standards which regulated their administration. They went forth at intervals to extend the " pale ;" and when they had depopulated a section of the cou'utry, leaving behind them, not the, conquered inhabitants, but the silence of death and the solitude of the sepulchre, the news was transmitted to Eng- land, and reached the monarch's ear in the character of a victory " gained over the natives." In the judicial department the case was even worse, if possible. The laws stood at the portals of judgment, to prevent justice from entering; and when murder appeared, his sabre reeking with human blood, the first question of him who sat upon the tribunal was touching the birth-place of tlie fallen victim, an important question ; for if he was one of the original jiroprietorsof the soil, which they expressed by calling him a "mere Irish- man," then the statute declared that it was no felony to kill him. The whole nation, at different times, petitioned for the protection of the English laws, but their petitions were as often rejected. This is a sketch of the policy adopted and pursued by the government in Ireland, from the inva- sion down to the accession of Queen Elizabeth ; but the nature of the present occasion would make it criminal in me to torture your feelings by any further description. This bad system of government naturally caused Ireland to retrograde in morals and in virtue, as well as in science and literature. And yet. Sir John Bavis, an Englishman and a Protestant, tells us there was less crime there than in England, in the reign of James I., 200 years a^o. He was then attorney-general, and the first in that capacity who visited all the parts of Ireland ; his office qualified him to pronounce, and, comparing the .innals of guilt in both countries, he strikes the balance of morality decidedly in favor of Ireland. A similar testimony was given, the other day, in the House of Peers (where it would not have passed uncontradicted, if it had , not been susceptible of proof), by ano^ier Protestant nobleman, that at this moment the proportion of crime is doubly greater in England than in the unhappy country of whose ignorance and vices so much has been said, even on this side of the Atlantic. England, and every other country, has its sijlendid virtues, and I am as ready to proclaim them as I am to admit that Ireland has her numerous vices. But I mention these facts as a matter of 38 AECHBISHOP HTTGHES pleasing astonishment, that her vices are not more. When we reflect that the blessings of justice and mercy, and an impartial government, -which makes other nations virtuous and happy, have been denied to Ireland for nearly seven hundred years, we would hardly expect to find a remnant of virtue left; but to see her surpass them in the test of comparison, this must appear a phenomenon in the order of morality. For, my brethren, there is a connection between the cause and the effect in moral as well as physical nature. If the tempest roll in fury on the smoothest sea, that sea will im- bibe a portion of the spirit that disturbed it ; it will rise from its slumbers, it will foam and rage, and woe to the fragile bark that is overtaken by its indignation. So, if a people are oppressed, if their treaties are violated, if their generous confidence is abused, and their professions disbelieved, and their honor doubted, and their sacred rights invaded, and their liberties trodden under foot — if, in a word, they have lost everything except a paltry life, which, but for the hope of religion, would not be worth endurance, then it is not to be wondered at, if such a people sometimes turn on their oppressors in the spirit of vindictive retribution. This has been the case more than once in unhappy Ireland. No nation could feel more keenly the disgrace of her degradation, the injustic^^f her bondage : is it, then, mat- ter of surprise that the peculiar sensibilities of her heart sometimes rose to her head, and engendered there that species of political frenzy which broke out at intervals in fitful, wild, and sometimes infuriated ebullitions of revenge ? For the fact is, that Ireland at all times understood the equal rights to which she was en.titled, ,and the measure of strict impartial justice without which she would not, she could not, be satisfied. Begin at whatever epoch you think proper to select, and descend from one step to another of her history down to the present day, test the feelings of every generation as you pass, and you will perceive that no duration of time could ever tame the mind of Ireland to the yoke of unmerited and ignominious servitude. You might tell the youth, the stripling of the village, or the peasant boy, around whose tender hands you bound the manacles in punishment of his birth-place, that they came to him by lineal descent, that his fathers had worn them for ages, that they were consecrated to his family, hereditary appendage of the soil ; you might tell him all this, and instead of concili- ating, you only roused his impatience for the moment when he might burst the fetters, and remove the malediction. What ! injustice heredi- tary ? Oh, no. But one thing was hereditary — that magnanimous and immortal spirit of the nation, which for so many ages has been tortured, but could not be broken on oppression's wheel. The neck of Ireland might have been bound at any time, on a level with her feet, in the dust ; but, even then, her soul, towering in the consciousness of its own original integrity, stood erect, unsubdued, unbending, and— indomitable. This was the secret of that turbulence of character which ignorance has ascribed to her, and recorded against her in the book of calumny. Until recently there w:is no mirror to reflect ou England and on the world the ima^e of her feelings, but there were at all times the scattered materials from which such a mirror might have been fabricated. Those feelings were like ob- structed waters, breaking out irregularly wherever they found an issue • when, at length, a superior mind arose to preside over them • then they flowed m one direction, and, as they advanced, acquired the easy maiestv as well as the irresistible influence oT a mighty tide, which swept away the barriers that had hitherto prevented justice and peace from embracine each other. ° The laws of England, which were refused to the country while their operation might have been salutary, were extended in the reign of Eliza- ON CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. 39 beth when they had been new-modeled in accordance with the change o( relijiOn in the state, and were no longer desirable. Then, for the first time, they took their march throughout all Ireland, bearing liberty in one hand and degradation in the other. If they had asked the apple of her eye, in exchange for the boon of freedom and of justice, Ireland would hare given it. But much as she loved civil liberty, there was one thing that she loved infinitely more : it was the faith which she received in olden times. This she regarded as the boon of heaven : it was hers before she knew England ; it was at all times the solace of her grief; it was the anchor of her last and best hope, and neither bribery nor persecution could detach her from it : she is at all times seen clinging to it with the tenacity of despair: thus leaving an- other instance to prove that faitli is stronger than death, and that persecution can make martyi's or hypocrites, and there its power ends. The civil oppres- sion of Ireland would have terminated the moment she embraced, or pretended to embrace, the religion which the Parliament had decreed, and were deter- mined to support. But she saw no reason to believe in its Veracity, and to profess it would have been hypocrisy ; it would have been acting against her conscience ; it would have been apostasy from her God ; it would, in fine, have been that base thing of which Ireland has proved herself incapable. For this she is entitled to the admiration of the world ; because, for this she sufiered. The laws continued unequal, and the inevitable result of their operation was to break the intercourse of charity among men of different religions, arraying the Catholic against the Protestant, and the Protestant against the Catholic ; and in spite of their united efforts to exclude it, intruding perpetually to disturb the harmonies of social and sometimes domestic life. You may be surprised, my brethren, that I have dwelt so long on the early portion of Ireland's history, and so briefly on the civil thraldom and religious persecution which have succeeded each other since the English invasion in the twelfth century. But why should it be otherwise, when the wisdom of better times has applied an effectual remedy to the evils of that long-injured country, and she herself has already forgiven, what it may not be so easy to forget ? It was but yesterday the Legislature of Great Britain covered over her wounds with the mantle of justice, and mine shall not be the hand to tear it off so soon Those wounds already begin to cicatrize ; and they say that darkness and silence are best calculated to promote convalescence ; and, besides, if I did exhibit to j'our view a full picture of Ireland's wrongs, pity would rise from the canvass, and extort the tribute of your tears; whereas the occasion calls for no tears, except peradventure those of gratulation and of joy. But my brethren, I would not have you retire from this place unim- proved by the moral of a subject, which, but for its illustrative connection with the state of fallen humanity, would be altogether foreign from a Christian pulpit. Let us not forget, that every one of us has to watch the first movements of the very. same passions which have produced so many black clouds in the moral as well as political atmosphere of now-regenerated Ireland. For, to trace her misfortunes to any national peculiarity in the English character, would be unsatisfactory and unjust. We all know that the genuine English character is proverbial for its sterling, almost infalli- ble, integrity — the more to be admired, because it is unclogged by any out- ward display. Neither would it be just to trace them to the religion of England, because Ireland's oppression commenced nearly four hundred years before that religion existed. Religion is the daughter of God ; her office is to pluck thorns out of the human breast, not to plant them — to prepare men for a better world, by raising, not depressing them in the scale of virtue here. It would be cruel to charge religion with the crimes of which Ireland has been the victim, not only since the Beformation, but be- fore, when there was but one religion, and the good of both nations wor- 40 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. sTiipped God around the same altars. Where, then, shall we find the solu- tion ? Go to the ground where children are at play ; wait till a quarrel arises, and the spoils are to be divided ; and ascertain how it happens that the largest portion of the common tojs remains hy right in possession of the strongest or most artful competitor. Here is the solution. Here is the infant passion; but do not lose sight of it here; watch it up to manhood, pursue it across the ocean to the shores of Africa, and there you will detect it, putting manacles, by the same right, on hands that were free. Observe its operation on a large scale, and you will behold it, as in unhappy Ire- land, by tlie same right, grinding down the immortal energies of a chival- rous nation under the millstone of predominant, and therefore irresponsible power. The history of that country is the tragedy of the bad passions, and every good man rejoices that it has been brought to a close. We rejoice, because the Catholics have obtained that to which they were at all times en- titled by the rights of nature and the laws of justice ; we rejoice more, be- cause in this reason and principle have triumphed over prejudice and folly. We rejoice for. the sake of England as well as Ireland, for the sake of Protestants as well as Catholics. We rejoice in the name of all the virtues, in the name of justice, and of peace, and of humanity, and of religion, and of God. To Him is the glory and the praise. He has made use of human means, and great must be the satisfaction of those who have been made the instruments of a victory, different from other victories, in this, that it has cost neither blood nor tears. Does not every good heart in this assem- bly rejoice ? Surely that generous spirit of our happy country, the freest under the sun, that spirit which lately cheered the captive onward in the enterprise, is gladdened by its success. Those who look back to Ireland as the home of their infancy, must feel the influence of a yet stronger sensa- tion. But what must be the feast which this day presents to the feelings of those who in times of greater peril, and for the object we commemorate, risked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor — men whose for- tune it was to have been born in Ireland, with a genius which the Crown could not purchase, the Parliament could not crush, and who were con- strained to leave their country, because — they loved their country too much. Greece would have immortalized them ; and America, the country of their choice, does honor them, as they do honor to their various profes- sions ; their pens have been employed even here in the vindication of their degraded country and their countrymen. The stigma has been removed ; and to them this occasion must be a joyful one. Neither is that affection diminished by the consideration that others bear away the honor of hav- ing achieved an event, which their exertions contributed so much to accel- erate. Posterity will do them justice; and their names, some of which I could, but do not mention, will stand conspicuous on the records of Irish talent and of Irish patriotism. But enumeration would be endless as the subject itself. I thank you sincerely for your kind and patient attention ; I will now descend from this place to mingle with you in the expression of our common gratitude to Almighty God, for the termination of those moral evils to which I have .'lUuded— and with you also, to breathe the prayer of hope, that henceforth the inhabitants of Ireland, and not of Ireland alone, but of every country on the globe, may live as brethren, if not in religion, at least in social kind- ness, in the bond of holy peace, in the practice of virtue, and of piety and fidelity to our common and blessed God. This is the benediction I would invoke upon you and on the world. In the name of the Father, and of ^he Son, and of the Holy Ghost. — Amen. THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 41 SPEECHES ON THE SCHOOL QUESTION. On July 20th, 1840, an important meeting of the Catholics of New Yorl< Was held in the school-house attached to St. Patrick's Church, at which the Very Rev. Dr. Power presided ; and in accordance with the wishes of the Right Reverend and respected Bishop, stated to the meeting the naked (ruth respecting the origin of the present agitation of their claims as Catholics to a portion of the School Fund of this State, for the education of their children. Towards the end of last January, Dr. Power received a letter from the Rev. Mr. Schneller, of Albany, earnestly urging that he should come and judge for himself, and see how easy it would be for the Catholics to obtain a portion of that fund which was set apart by the law for the education of all the children of the commonwealth, but of the benefits of which, under its present management, they were unable, as Catholics, conscientiously to partake. After some deliberation he called a meeting of the Trustees of all the Catholic churches in the city, and laid the subject before them. He knew that amongst those trustees were men of different shades of politics, but he also knew, and he said it in the fullness and sincerity of his heart, that politics had nothing to do with the question upon which he convened them ; that it was a question which appealed to every one of them as Catholics with equal force, whatever might be their respective political opinions, and he anticipated no dissen- sion, no wavering, no hesitation amongst them on this all-important ques- tion, and he was not disappointed. They unanimously resolved to apply for a portion of that fund to which they had contributed as citizens of this State, and to which they were undoubtedly entitled, and for that purpose agreed that he should go to Albany ; and he did go accordingly. And having gone, he found nothing but honesty of purpose, as he believed, and he returned to this city thoroughly persuaded that the application would be successful if it was pressed forward with Catholic unanimity. And this expectation he doubted not would have been realized but for an unfortunate article that appeared in the Truth Teller of this city, which endeavored to convert what was purely a question of Catholic and religious principle into a political one — slandered their motives, and declared that with sinister and unworthy objects in view, they were preparing to press upon the Corporation of the city a demand which, if complied with, would be a palpat)le violation of the constitution of the State, and the equality of rights which it secured to all citizens. This opening of the warfare against the Catholics proceeding from amongst themselves, gave color and support to the hostility which they afterwards experienced. The Eight Rev. Bishop HuGnES then rose to address the meeting, and was received witli enthusiastic plaudits. When they had subsided, he s.iid, he 42 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. had listened with great attention to the explanations offered by the Very Reverend gentleman who presided over the meeting, and to those nhich tol- lowed from Dr. Sweeney; and it afforded him very great pleasure and con- solation to have reason to believe, from the solemnity of the statements ot both, that a higher and a holier feeling than mere politics was the soul ol this agitation. (Applause.) The reason why he expressed this pleasure was, that of all things he dreaded the introduction of political feelings as most destructive of their internal peace, and of that calmness of mind which dis- poses man either for just judgment or the discharge of his religious obliga- tions. He had known nothing which was so intoxicating in its effects, even on good men. as that unexplained chapter in the history of the human mind, the intluenceof party politics. He was glad, therefore, to hear the disclaim- ers which were made this evening ; for when he had read, on a foreign shore, of the attempt made in one of the churches here to distribute papers in the pews, he felt how far that feeling influenced the actions of men. He had come to this meeting because he believed it was not a political meeting ; be- cause the question which brought that meeting together was infinitely above anything that could be found in mere politics. ' It was a question, too, that was not new to him ; it was a question on which he had deeply reflected before he had departed for a foreign land, not fores^eing that it would arise before his return, the question, namely, whether Catholic children were ex- posed to the danger of forfeiting their faith by an attendance on these schools. For that purpose he had obtained a copy of all the books which it was stated to him were used in these schools, and he had examined them deliberately ; and though he found some things that were objectionable, yet, on the whole, they appeared to him sufficiently free from anything that could be construed into a direct attack on their religious principles. He had had reason, however, since his return, to believe that, in fact, all the books had not been submitted to him, but that some books which contained objectionable matter were withheld. He had seen one such at least, since, and he was satisfied that no Catholic parent, who felt his responsibility to God, could suffer it as a school- book in the hands of his children; and therefore it was, that he was inter- ssted in the question which then engaged their attention ; not as a politi- cian, bat as a Bishop having charge of this Diocese, answerable to the Eter- nal judge for the discharge of his responsible duty, which included a jealous and tender solicitude that the infant mind received only suitable food, and such instruction as was salutary in its tendency. Then, with these remarks, and those which had gone before, he felt, if politics were mixed up with the question under discussion, by others, that meeting was not responsible for it ; and he hoped that in future time, politics, except as a corollary, would be wholly left out of consideration, and that parties and party men would be left wholly to themselves. They would see, before he finished, the necessity of this course. But if he could have thought that mere politics had brought them together, he should have felt it a reproach to themselves, and a dese- cration of that place, connected as it was with the Cathedral of the Diocese. He therefore again rejoiced that higher purposes had brought them together ; and he would observe that, feeling as he did the injustice exercised towards the Catholics by the operation of the Common School system, as it was now dispensed, if they had not been previously called together, before he had been home three weeks, he would have warned Catholics either to have that system of education expurgated, or to withdraw their children from it. True, it professed to be a system of Common School education, but it was equally true, that while its great professed charm was the expulsion of sec- tarianism, there was in it, and inseparable from it, a sectarianism of another kind, which was sapping the young minds of the Catholic children ; and un- happily, though parents might impart instruction to their offspring, the ope- THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 43 dtion cf this system was snoh that the instruction of tlie parent was lilce water diopped into a vessel tliat leaked bolow ; it passed away, and nothing was found remaining; the labor of parents was neutralized lay secret influ- ences, and notwithstanding all that tlieir parents and pastors were doing to engraft in the minds of their children the taith they had received from their fathers, tliey are entirely disappointed in the result. It was not his intention to examine at length the tendency of the system in its civil and social bear- vngs, nor to inquire whether a wise statesman would adopt such a system, but he hesitated whether wise statesmen, in a country lil^e this, would recommend it, even under these relations. Did they know whence it came 2 It originated in the dark regions of Prussia. And why? Because the King of Prussia saw the time was coming when the people wonld be educated ; and with the wisdom and cunning of absolute diplomacy, he thought that education, which the people were determined to have, might be made by delicate means, and skillful management, an admirable instrument for work-' ing out the purposes of enlightened despotism. Hence the Common School system of that country. And we all know what grandiloquent praises were bestowed on the great and liberal monarch. Men exclaimed, " See what even the absolute King of Prussia has done for the cause of education !" Oh I but he took care to have the masters and the whole system under his own con- trol That scheme having succeeded, another was introduced on a still more comprehensive plan, viz., apian not only of a common education, bu-l; of a com- mon religion. In those dominions there were two distinct branches, the Lutherans and the Calvinists (they knew that the Catholics were not the subjects for such an experiment), and these two branches were compelled to meet, where they never met before, and read a common liturgy. Tlie King allowed them, indeed, their own opinions in private : one might be Lutheran and the other Calvinist, in private ; but, for the good of the State and the general harmony, they were made to coalesce in a common ritual, prepared by himself. He carried this system with the Protestants; but he could not with the Catholics. (Applause.) From that country, then, this common education system spread, and in France education is a mere bureau of the Police, and yet th.it government wants credit for this syste-n of education, and for taking from the parent his peculiar duties. They go to the parent and say, in effect, "AVe are more interested in the education of your children than you can be." The Right Rev. Bishop continued: God forbid that he should even suspect that our Government had such feelings. The policy of statesmen might be bad, while their intentions were good, and that the policy of this system was bad would be seen, by reflecting how it operated in religious belief. They wished a common education, because education is one of the greatest of blessings, and they knew no religious denomin.ation would have their con- sciences tyrannized over. They exclude all sectarianism, so called ; but they have here a secret power of deceit, which, wherever they go, operates on the young mind. Now, 'this sy-stera w.^?«^«f *°^f;^|j other. Men will differ in their views; and he who is ^f |t°. ^P"^^/.,,;^ motive to his neighbor, is most liable to be misrepresented hmselt in turn There was a way of treLting all questions, and yet leaving "^«^ ^^ characters safe-not to weigh men's intentions, but leave them to God. I' 7^, "°;, *°^ men, living men, to judge of the intentions of their fellow-men. But let them as Catholics and as citizens prove themselves worthy of that constitution under which they lived, and which they must be prepared to support. Jiut couia they support the system which he had explained? He was satisfied they could not, and on this subject he believed there was not a difference of opinion in the whole body of the clergy in New York. [The Right Rev. Prelate resumed his seat amidst great applause.] Meeting in tlie Basement of St. James' Clmrch, Jnly27, 1840 Pursuant to a resolution of the meeting held in St. Patrick's School-room, an adjourned meeting of the Catholics of New York was held in the School-room in the basement of St. James' Church, James street. Thomas O'Connor, Esq., was called to the chair, and the secretaries of previous meeting were re-elected to their respective offices. One of the secret.aries having read the minutes of the last meeting, the venerable chairman opened the business of the evening with a few pertinent remarks, during which the Right Reverend Bishop Hughes entered the room, accompanied by a large body of clergymen, and on being recognized he was loudly cheered. The applause having subsided, the chairman proceeded with his re- marks, and made allusion to some published statements respecting liis share in the series of meetings which they had held, and denied thjit he was ambitious to be more than a subaltern in their just and righteous cause — a cause which that great meeting proved to be one of deep and general interest with the Catholics of the city — and a cause which interested so large a number, he was satis- fierl, must ultimately succeed. That it had not succeeded before, he believed, was attributable to the fact that the public dill not un- derstand the question, nor would they attenrd to it until Catbolica THE SCHOOL QUESTION'. >; 49 made themselves heard. He repudiated any political feeling in connection with this subject, and counseled the Catholics to unani- mity, for a house divided against itself cannot stand. The Com- mon School Systeih with which they warred, he designated as a monopoly of the worst kind, and in illustration of its evils he said that now $111,000 a year were spent for the education of less than 12,000 children, whereas, if the claims of the Catholics were conceded, upwards of 30,000 children would be educated for the same amount. After a few other observations he resumed his seat loudly applauded. The Right Reverend Bishop Hughes then came forward and was received with great applause. He said, as the evening was short, and as the object of the meeting was practical, he had deemed it unnecessary to wait for a formal introduction, and especially as his remarks had been so ably anticipated by their respected and vener- able chairman, with whose sentiments, which his long experience, and matured judgment, and sound Catholic feeling had inspired him to utter, he (the Bishop) fully concurred. He entirely concurred with the sentiment that in this country, when light is diffused on any question in which justice and injustice are involved, the Ameri- can people would deal justly, and not oppress any portion of the people with injustice. He likewise concurred with their venerable chairman in \he opinion that up to this time the question which then occupied their attention had not been properly understood ; he would go so far as to say that the persons who had declined granting their reasonable request, had done so because they had not understood the justice of their claims — nay, further, when this matter was thoroughly understood, he was satisfied that even the gentlemen connected with the public schools would admit their claim. He was authorized to make this statement from a knowl- edge of the genius and constitution of this nation. Here let but their grievances be made known, and every honest man, and every true American — every man who understands the justice and fair play of the American constitution— would be ready to redress their grievances. [Applause.] Passing from the necessity for spreading abroad the true ground of their claim, he would come to the design and intention of the Legislature of this State in granting a bounty for the promotion of education. And he would contend that it was a libel on the char- acter of this great State to suppose it was e\'er intended or de- signed that the education of the children of the poor should be partial or injurious to some ; and he felt authorized, a,lso, from the character and professions of those statesmen, to say that their in- tention was both good and honest, that it was prompted in good faith, and with a desire that every poor man's child should have the benefit of this bounty, without any encroachment on any civil privilege or religious right. [Applause.] Yet, notwithstanding that this was the design, they saw that intention had been most admirably defeated — that the object was prevented, and that the 4 50 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. matter had now assumed such a form that, contrary to the inten- tions of the Legislature, Catholics were virtually excluded trom the benefits of the system. This they would have an opportunity ot seeing before he had done. No doubt, the intention was that the money should be expended to make education general ; for every enlightened and educated man was convinced that education was such a blessing that he should not be consulting the true interests of the country, unless he were disposed to fosfer the education of the young ; but did they think it would be worthy an enlightened American Legislature to conceive such a design, and to plan it lor the purpose of impairing the universal right of conscience and its liberty ? [Applause.] The histoty of the application of this bounty of the State had been already alluded to. The first principle was that this bounty of the State should be apportioned to the different religious societies, that they might educate the children under their charge; but because one peculated or perverted this bounty to iniquitous purposes, not con- templated by the Legislature, the whole was put under the manage- ment of school directors— he might not be right in the use of terms, but they Would know what he meant — and they were to visit the schools, and one principle which they were to carry out was to exclude sectarianism utterly and entirely ; and in examining the reasons of the Common Council for refusing to accede to the claim of Catholics, they found that this exclusion of sectarianism was thought the great charm of the system, but he should show them that it did not exclude sectarianism, and that its directors knew it did not, and that they knew it operated injuriously on Catholics. Under this state of the case they were to set their grievances before the commu- nity — the grievance of being obliged to contribute to the support of a system from which they could derive no benefit, but which was perverted as an instrument to destroy their religion in the minds of the children under the pretence of excluding sectarianism. But now, to convince them that the exclusion of sectarianism was impossible — did not those directors each belong to some sect ? Did not the gen- tlemen putting the books into the hands of the children belong to some sect? He came to this point that they either belonged to some sect or acted on the principles of deism ; and, though this system had now no name under a religious head, it was either deism or sec- tarianism. If it were said that it was not sectarianism, he wanted to know what was Christianity ; for if they excluded all sects, they ex- cluded all Christianity. Where are the Christians ? Take away Ca- tholics, and Baptists, and Methodists, and Presbyterians and some others — and they were all sects — take away all the sects, and they had no more Christianity in the land. N"or could they exclude secta- rianism? And if they did, what remained but deism? There was no alternative. It was as plain as that two and two are four. And did they suppose that this community which belonged to one^or the other sect would subscribe to a system which in its essence was anti- Christian? Exclude sectarianism! and in a country, too, which THE SCHOOL QUESTIGIT. 51 prides itself on its Christiatiity ! He should like to know, then, what sect would receive the greatest benefit from this system? why, the sect that excluded sectarianisni — the " Common School Sect," for it ought to have a name. [Laughter.] Now let them examine for a moment the school-books used nnder this system, a couple of which had fallen into his hands, and ttiey had here a reading lesson on the " Character of Martin Luther." Now, no doubt Martin Luther had a character — [laughter] — but people draAV it very differently. Here it was drawn by one of his admirers — Catholics, thanks to the education which they gave him, may think highly of his talents, but they have not much admiration of his virtues — here was a chapter on his char- a,cter drawn by Dr. Robertson, a Presbyterian ! But would Catho- lics wishing to educate their children put Dr. Robertson's character of him into their hands ? Here he was made out one of the greatest men that ever lived. [Laughter.] But let that pass. Next they had a chapter on the '■'■Execulinii of Cranmer^Archhislio-p of Canterbury. " And was that by a Roman Catholic ? Oh no ; they would not trust a lesson by a Roman Catholic into the school ; but they introduced this chapter written by Hume, the historian whose veracity they all could appreciate. [Laughter.] Another chapter was entitled the ^'■Character of the Great Founder of Christianity." What a name! The, Great Founder of Christianity ! instead of saying our Lord Jesus Christ. And who is this from ? Dr. Beattie, a Scotch Presbyterian ! But did they want their children to be taught by him? The next chapter was entitled "27ie Spirit and Laws of Christianity superior to those of any other religion." And this was a lesson for children ! And who was this from? Dr. Beattie again. Now might they not as well seclect lessons for children from the life of Sir Thomas Moore, the Lord Chancellor of England, who gave his head to the block rather than sacrifice his religion ; or from those glorious .nnnals of patriotism which show how Catholic bishops and barons wrung from a king that charter which was now perverted against them. [Applause.] But Catholics did not want their children to be educated by the conductors of this Common School System, whose intentions might possibly be good, though Catholics believed them to be mistaken, at least. The anxiety betrayed to get Catholics to these schools, was proof in, itself that there was something in the sys- tem that Catholics could not agree to. Need he go further ? If it were necessary he could appeal to that Church and to others for proofs of the sacrifices they (the Catholics) had made for the preparation of a place for the education of their children free from the poisonous infection of those Common Schools. What induced them to provide some shelter like this, in which they were now assembled for the pro- tection of their children, but that they deemed it a blessing to give good instruction to their children instead of thajt poison which would pervert their minds from the faith which they reverenced, and which they had received from their fathers ? But here was another book entitled, " Lessons for Schools, taken from the Holy Scriptures, in the Words of the Text, without Note or 52 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES. Comment." But when did Catholics allow the Scriptures to he given to children that they might he learnt, "Without Note or Comment admitting even that these were the true Scriptures? and he asked if this was not a direct interference with the religion of Catholics and if so, why should they tolerate it if they had the power to obtain re- dress, or even to appeal against it. !f he had access to the libraries of these Common Schools he should find them stuffed full of books that were obnoxious to Cathohcs and to their feehngs ; but, as these books were now being called in, it was very difficult to get tnem, though not long since any child might have them gratis, and he Bhould therefore call their attention to a quotation from a recent publication on these books by a writer who was well acquamted with the subject : " In each of the PubUe Schools there is estabUshed a library to which the more advanced scholars have access— and what do we find there? ' Martin Luther and ' An Irish Heart.' The latter is addressed to the ' Irish Protestant Association ot the city of Boston." 'Not to Boston alone, but to its essence and spirit — the " 'Protestant Association' of the city of Boston, and is a libefnpon the Catholics, and an insult to the Irish. From the preface I extract the following : ' The emi- gration from Ireland to America, of annually increasing numbers, extremely needy, and in many cases drunken and depraved, has become a subject for grave and fear- ful reflection. Should this influx continue for a few years more, in the same ratio of increase which has existed for a few years past ; should this imposing subject^ continue to be thought unworthy of legislative provision, and should the materials' of this oppressive influx continue to be the same, instead of an asylum our country might be appropriately styled the common sewer of Ireland.' From page_ 24 I copy the following verbatim : ' As for old Phelim Maghee, be was of no particular religion.' " Well, then he belonged to this Common School System, said the Bishop. [Laughter.] " ' "When Phelim had laid up a good stock of sins, he now and then went over to KiBarney, guilty if they had, of peculation of \hese funds. Let them give to Catholics their own books, and they would be content if the minds of their children were not poisoned against the faith of their fathers, for which for a^-es those fathers had been ready to die, [Applause.] If this were done Catholics would be grateful, but in their gratitude they should tell those gentlemen that it was notliing more than that to which they were entitled. [Ileai-, hear.] But if this should be i-efused, they would but be still as they are at present ; and many of them were not strangers to inequality and oppression which would strive to make them less than their fellow-citizens. But let it come to this that either they would have the benefit of education according to their ' religious convictions, or that those refusing it should say, " you shall not, and for no other reason but because you are Catholics." That should be the ultimate issue ; let the question be reduced down to that ; and if the day was at hand v,±en the public authorities of America would offer such violence to conscience, and debar them of their rights as citizens, then they might despair of the Kepnblic But he had no apprehensions of that'kind. As he had said before' se\eral tunes, whatever might be the misconception or the want of infonnaliou or wroiig information or prejudice on the subject- making allowance for all this— there was running through the pubhc mind a vein,- a rich \ein of public equity which would not allow the THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 77 Caf.holics thus to be deprived of their rights. [Applause.] But still he was not surprised at the misrepresentations of the Joxirnal of Covimerae and of the Churchman, or any other paper. It was sur- prising that there was not more misrepresentation, when they con- sidered the way their fellow-citizens were taught, and when they reflected that they were brought up at the same literary table where they imbibed with their aliment a prejudice which an acquaintance with Catholics for life, of men honorable and high minded, was scarcely able to destroy. What remained for them was simply to persevere — -with moderation and dignity, but with a firmness wor- thy of their standing in the American community — persevering with great moderation, but at the same time with great dignity and great firmness, narrowing the question down until the tvs'o issues he had mentioned presented themselves alone, and they obtained that of which hitherto they had been denied. [Applause.] Yes, this was the course that was left for them. He himself had no objection if the whole Public School Society were there to hear all he had to say ; for in all he had said in ' either pubhc or private, as far as he remembered, he always separated men from things — he always sep- arated the men connected with this school system from that which was the legitimate subject of criticism. He had therefore separated the public school and the teachers, but when they sent books of this description, and when Catholics contended for their rights on Chris- tian principles, they were told there was no cause of complaint, justice required that they should animadvert on the subject so far as was necessary to vindicate themselves, but no further. He knew that was not the place to enter upon the truth or falsehood of the lesson on " John Huss." They knew the crime for which he suf- fered; it had been on the statute books for more than six hundred years, as far back as Justinian even. It was a barbarous, a cruel punishment ; but if so, the gentlemen should have known that it was not Catholics that inflicted it but the law of the empire to which he was subject. He might mention that he had the opportimity once to meet a Protestant gentleman in an assembly as large as this ; that when he pressed him for proof he had none to give : and when he went further and brought the case of John Huss, not from a Cath- olic but from a Presbyterian writer who wrote the history of the Council of Constance, the Catholics were acquitted and the Emperor alone was implicated, because it was- believed he betrayed Huss, to whom it ^^-as supposed he had given a free pass. But L'Enfant tells us that before Huss went to the Council the Emperor told him if the Council pronounced hi? doctrines heresy, and he did not retract, he must sufier the penalty of the law, and he (the Emperor) would be the first to aj)ply the torch. But they might as well attempt to run the stream of Niagara back as to tell this. This was shown, however, in the presence of a Presbyterian clergyman. It was printed and published in the report of that discussion, and to the present time he lias had not one word to say on the subject. He repeated,' this wa-s not the place to bring up things of this kind, but 78 AECHBISHOP IIIJGHES. what must be his feelings when he saw such things in these school books, and this barbing of the arrow against the Cathohc rehgion, when he knew they were not true. Even if true they should not be put into the hands of children ; nor should Catholics if they taiight their own children let them read as a lesson a chapter on the burn- ing of Michael Servetus by Calvin. If these things were true they should not be admitted, for it was not right to prejudice one class against another. But when they saw these things in the books of the public schools it was not surprising that they spoke with empha- sis, or, as the Churchman has it, that they should be a little bold. [Great applause.] Mr. Mullen rose and said : " Mr. Chairman, I move a vote of thanks to the Editor of the Freeman's Journal for the trouble he has gone to, and expense he has incurred, in publishing an '■'•Exlrar >iOTL- taining the Address, and for the uniform interest he has taken in this cause from the commencement." A gentleman, who sat in front of the Bishop, said that if a vote of thanks was passed, it was first due to the Bishop for his untiring exertions. The Bishop rose and said : " I will offer a simple observation on this subject; certainly, Mv. White, the Editor of the i^reeman's Jour- nal, is entitled to a vote of thanks, and I think it worthy of the gen- tleman who has proposed it; but at the same time there are so many who may be entitled to the same distinction, in one form or another, that perhaps it might be thought a little invidious if one should be selected and another not. I am sure Mr. White will feel highly rewarded by the consciousness that he has been at all instrumental in helping the cause forward, and at a later period, when we have approached nearer to the accomplishment of our wishes, the opportu- nity may present itself for such compliments. But at the same time, while I acknowledge the kindness and the propriety of feeling which dictated it, at this moment I think it would be better to omit it. Mr. White, you know, is a Catholic like ourselves and feels the interest that we all feel,, and if you commence this, the first vote will perhaps be due to the Editor of a daily paper in this city who is not a Catholic, but who has had the spirit and sense of justice to come out in our favor. [Applause.] But even in this case I should not be for moving a vote of thanks, for I am sure he was actuated by a sense of public duty, and in that consciousness he will feel his reward. We should not be tmgrateful, but for the present I would suggest the propriety of withdrawing the motion." Mr. Mullen. Mr. White has gone to great expense in publishing an Extra and has ably advocated our cause, for which he is entitled to our thanks ; but I consent to withdraw the motion. [Applause.] THE SCHOOL QUESTION. Y9 LETTER OF BISHOP HUGHES TO THE EVENING- POST. The following letter of the Right Reverend Bishop Hughes was written in answer to an anonymous communication addressed to him, which appeared it the Evening Post, signed "An Irish Catholic," slandering the motives of the Catholics, and charging the Bishop with being the dupe of one of the political parties of the day : Me. EDiTOEi.Your correspondent who signs himself "An Irish Catholic;" and dedicates his homily to me by name, must be a very inconsistent man. He must know that thousands of the children of poor Catholic parents are growing up without education, simply .because the law as interpreted and administrated under the Public School Society, requires a violation of their rights of conscience. The number of such children may be from nine to twelve thousand. Of these the Catholics, by bearing a double taxation, educate four or five thousand ; a few hundred have attended the Public Schools ; and the rest may be considered as receiving only such education as is afforded in the streets of New York. Now I should think that an "Irish Catholic" should see in this state of things quite enough to excite my pastoral solicitude for the spiritual and moral condition of the people committed to my charge. In the part which I have taken in the matter, I am only discharging a conscientious duty. But it appears that your correspondent understands my duty better than I do, and that I am only the well-meaning dvpe of a "Whig club in disguise," notwithstanding the "great abilities" which he is pleased to ascribe to me. When I returned to this city, I found the Catholics broken up and divided, thanks to the in- terference of such men as your correspondent. Now, happily, that the question has been relieved from all the dead weight of poli« ticians of either side, they are united. We exclude politics from our deliberations, as carefully as religion is excluded from the Public Schools. We are composed of all parties in politics ; but as the topic is never introduced nor alluded to, there is no occasion for disagreement. We meet to understand the injuries which we ai'e compelled to suffer, and to seek for their removal. Among the sufferers are men of both parties — among those who would perpetu- ate the injuries, are men of both parties — and our object is to seek justice from just and upright men, who will comprehend our griev- ances, without distinction of party. 80 AECHBISHOP nUGIIES. But it appears that the Catholics are to rest satisfied with what- ever injustice may be inflicted on them, lest their complaining should be construed into a "political purpose." If so, there re- mains nothing for them but to endure in silence. Is that what this "Irish Catholic" requires? The Cathohcs are divided in then- politics ; it is their right to be so. But on the question of public education, in the city of New York, there is not a Catholic who is acquainted with the subject, and deserving the name, who is not of the same mind. I doubt much whether your correspondent is one of the number. He is extremely liberal of imputations against the Catholics for preferring what he admits to be their " rightful claims." But he has forgotten to get any respectable vouch'er to endorse the purity of his motives in opposing them. Pie calls one of the parties into which the country is divided " our natural enemies." I do not know what such expressions mean in the slang of politicians, but there is no class of enemies of whom the Catholics should be more on their guard than of such as would traflic on their creed and country in order to get their votes — men who in periods of political excitement become more Irish than the Irish themselves, and more orthodox than the Church ; whilst to both they are little less than a permanent scandal at all other seasons. Can your correspondent show me a certiiicate from any pastor of 'New York, that he has complied' with his religions duties as a Catholic within the last seven years ? He is a political Catholic, just as Lelande, although an atheist, professed himself a Catholic atheist. N'ow I charge upon your correspondent the attempt to defeat those claims which he acknowledges to be just. And yet he is ap- prehensive, forsooth, that I shall narrow the sphere of my useful- ness by supporting those just claims, and doing so without giving any opportunities for political demagogues of either party to carry divisions into our union. Let him not be uneasy. If he be an " Irish Catholic," his commvmication proves that he must have be- come very "enlightened" since he arrived in this country. The manual of politics must have superseded the Council of Trent in • his mind. He is not even a good reasoner, nor in my mind a clever poli- tician. He acknowledges the claims of the Catholics to be just, and yet he denominates their efforts in urging those claims a " pious fraud." He knows that the Catholic public are unanimous in their determination to prosecute their "rightful claims," and yet he asserts that they will receive from the Catholic public (i. e. themselves) " that contempt which they deserve." Even the party which he affects to support cannot escape the havoc of his hasty logic. He tells us that our better hope of justice will be from his party, ," when in power," as if nothing but power tt-as Avanting, when they refused those claims last spring. They had the power and refused to exercise it. What more could our "natural enemies " do ? But I will save him from the consequences of his THE SCHOOL QrESTlON. 81 vicious reasoning by observing that the Common Council, in conse- quen9e of not understanding our claims as they should have been set forth and understood, made a false issue — and refused what we do not ask, viz., public money for Catholic education. I believe that had they understood our grievance simply as they exist, they would 'lave come to a different conclusion. Consequently, in connection with the subject of Public School Education, it is not necessary for any Catholic to change his political party, although they are free to do so if they choose. I regret exceedingly, Mr. Editor, to be obliged to trespass upon the limits of your valuable paper, or to appear before the public in. reply to a correspondent who conceals his name, and adopts a signa- ture of which, in the present instance, I believe him to be altogether un- worthy. I have had no connection with political parties — I shall have none. They are much less important in my mind than the salvation of one child from spiritual and moral ruin. I see thousands of the children of our poor Catholics exposed to both; and I appeal to just, and humane, and patriotic men of all parties, to aid me in effecting their rescue. It could not be, therefore, without much pain that I saw my n^me pinnacled at the head of a political appeal by a partisan in politics, who professes by his signature to be a member of my flock. I look upon it as an attack upon me, as an attack upon the efforts of the Cathoho body to secure their rights of education to the children, without prejudice to the dearer rights of conscience. Let your correspondent or any other respectable person write over his own signature, and not as a political partisan, and I am prepared to meet him on the whole question. But as for anonymous attacks, I hope the present communication will relieve me from the necessity of noticing them in future. I have the honor to be your obedient servant, S[-< JOHN HUGHES, Bishop, Coadjutor and Administrator of New York. New York, September 3, 1840. Meeting in the Basement of St. James' Church, Septem- ber 7, 1840. On Monday, the 7th September, the largest and most numerously attended meeting of the Catholics which had yet been held on the subject of Common School Education, convened in the basement of St. James' Church. The meeting having been called to order, Thomas O'Connor, Esq., was unanimously elected to preside over their deliberations, and the secretaries appointed on former occasions were again re-elected to that office. After the minutes of the lasj 6 82 ARCHBISHOP HUGHBS. meeting had been read and approved, the Eight Rev. Dr. Hughes rose and was received with great and enthusiastic cheering. After the plaudits had subsided the Bishop proposed to the meeting, for their adoption, two resolutions designed for the regu- lation of their proceedings in discussing the important subject which had called them together. The object of the resolutions, he said, was to recognize the propriety of adhering strictly, in all re- marks that should be offered to the meeting, to the question before thpm, and to induce gentlemen who should favor the meeting with the expression of their sentiments, to give to the subject that careful consideration which its importance required. The resolutions were then proposed and unanimously adopted ; and the Bishop continued. All present, he said, would at once un- derstand the peculiar propriety, if not necessity, which existed for the adoption of these resolutions ; narrowly watched as their move- ments were on all sides by many who were ready to pervert what- ever might be said, and to impeach the purity of their motives and intentions, a more than ordinary degree of circumspection was necessary. In other places, and at meetings held for the discussion of other questions of public concern, a greater degree of latitude was allowed, and so strict a scrutiny of whatever might fall from gentlemen in the excitement of public speaking was not instituted — but if any person at our meetings, continued the Bishop, should make a slip, or inadvertently say anything that was susceptible of misrepresentation, it was immediately seized upon. Our meetings here, although not political meetings, are yet composed of persons of every variety of political opinion. But these political opinions are all repressed here ; they are not suffered to influence the con- duct or sentiments of any one, although they are not abandoned nor laid aside. A man cannot lay down his opinions on entering this room, as he would lay down his coat. He carries his feelings and his opinions with him ; they form part of his identity, but they are not allowed to influence him on this subject. Our meetings are not then political ; we meet for the purpose of examining and investi- gating this important subject ; for the purpose of extracting light that we may see, and understand, and be enabled to vindic.ite our rights. Neither should it be wondered at by political men that we should assemble here to discuss the question of our rights, and that we should oomplain of our grievances. They need not be aston- ished when they witness it. If they tickle us we must laugh— if they bruise us we must complain ; when a cause exists they must lookfor the effect, and need not be surprised to find it. And o'f all considerations that can press anxiously upon the public mind, the present system of education in the Public Schools of this city is the most important, both as it regards the present and the future wel- fare of those who are subjected to its influence. It is my intention this evening to review this subject briefly. "What is the question, Mr. President, which presents itself to us on examining this subject ? THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 83 The State of 'New York, for the purpose of improving the moral and intellectual condition of the people, has appropriated a certain fund for effecting that object; some one who has professed to understand the law, has declared that it was intended to aid in diffusing the threefold blessings of religion, morality, and education. But by the present Public School System in this city, two of these ends are set at naught. That system does not indeed say in express terms that it is opposed to religion — it only declares that it is opposed to sectarianism. But sectarianism in this country means the whole body of Christianity. By the Constitution there can be no established religion, but all sects are held alike, and the general body of Christians is made up of all those sects, and when you exclude the sects or sectarianism you exclude Christianity. The object of this law was to aid in the inculcation of religion ; but as it is now interpreted to mean religion without sectarianism, it oper- ates, as I have shown, to exclude that for which it was professed to be established ; it excludes the two prior ends for the attainment of which it was designed — religion and morality — for religion forms the whole basis of the moral character, and without it education is but a dry and barren gift — good for nothing — and worse still, being often, as we daily see, only a source of ignominy and deeper shame. Here, then, is the position in which we are placed. We are required to submit to a system which in fact promotes irreligion. But the Constitution forbids" the teaching of irreligion by the State as positively as it forbids the teaching of any creed of sectarianism. It is as great a violation of the Constitution and of the sacred rights of conscience, which it guarantees to all alik6, to support irreligion, as it is to support any particular Christian creed. But by the management and the theory now recognized by the public authorities, a state of things is brought about in which we see a great overgrown monopoly, a false monopoly — grasping at all the public money — assuming to itself the exclusive right to control and direct popular instruction — dealing out education according to its own notions — setting parents and guardians, and all who have a natural or moral right to interfere in the question of the education of their children, at naught — and all upon the bold pretense that the religious tendency of other sys- tems is a disqualification for them to claim a share in the business of public education. From beginning to end this is their argument, in fact, that religion is a disqualification, and that the absence of religion in their system qualifies them to become the exclusive teachers of the youth of the country — to acquire a monopoly of all the rights and privileges of public instructors. And now, sir, I have some public documents connected with this subject, to which I will call your attention. The first of these is the " Report of the Commissioners of School Money, for the Year 1840," ordered to be printed and placed on file by the Board of Al- dermen of this city, on July 27, 1840. After a very meagre statement of the proceedings, for a whole year, of the institutions subject to their supervision, we come to 64 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. (lie concluding part of theii- report, -where we find the foUow- iig: " The Commissioners, in closing this report, refer with satisfaction to the recent icisiou of the Board of Assistants, by which a renewal of ecclesiastical connec- 3ns with the Common School System in this city has been unanimously '3nied." Pray, what "ecclesiastical connections?" asked the Bishop; I know of none that were sought for or desired ; I have heard of none. But it answered a purpose to use these terms. The odium of foreign ecclesiastical connections upon the city authorities would, if it could be fastened upon the Catholics, go far towards defeating their just claims. They asked to be allowed to participate without violating their sacred rights of conscience in the benefits of this public fund towards which they had contributed, and they are on the instant accused of seeking to impose upon the State " ecclesias- tical connections," and an appeal is thus made against them to im- worthy prejudices by their opponents, instead of reposing themselves upon the eternal rock of Truth, and looking to the polar star of Justice as their guide in this important matter. No ; they prefer to invent an imaginary case in order to ground upon it an appeal to popular prejudice ; for I have never yet heard or understood that the gentlemen who presented themselves before the Common Council on behalf of the Catholics, sought for any money for ecclesiastical purposes, for any ecclesiastical connection. [" Never, sir !" exclaimed some of the gentlemen referred to.] ittow can they then — how can these Commissioners, continued the Bishop, talk of an ecclesiastical connection which was never asked for nor desired — which was never contemplated, nor ever entered into any person's mind but their own — which never at least entered into the mind of a single Catholic on this subject? But to proceed with their report : " Without adverting to inflexible political maxims, which forbid such an union, the Commissioners believe that practically it would be offensive to the public feeling." Not to justice, exclaimed the Bishop, no — but " public feeling !" They will not speak the truth, and declare that we are a people with eight or ten thousand children deprived of education for which we have paid our money into the public treasury, and from the benefits of which those children are excluded because we will not outrage our consciences. No, they will not say this, because this would not help their system, nor justify their conduct with the public ; theywill not advert to the principles of truth or justice or inflexible political maxims, but to public feeling — to prejudices ; and if they can make out that the Catholics want an ecclesiastical con- nection, these popular prejudices are excited and their favorite sys- tem sustained. Here the Bishop again read from the report : " Without adverting to inflexible political maxims which forbid such an union THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 85^ the Commissioners believe that pvactieally it wouU be offensive to the public feel- ing; unequal in its benefit to the various religious denominations; and destructive perhaps, to the cause, now so flourishing, of free and general education." How can they, said the Bishop, call it teee, where ten thousand of the children of the city are excluded, by the bad principles involved ill this Public School System, from a participation of the benefits which it would confer if wisely administered ? The Bishop then continued from the report : " Should the school moneys be dispensed among the seminaries, the first qualifi- cation of whose teachers is sectarian orthodoxy, and wherein prescribed forms are inculcated, to which the assent of no entire neighborhood within the city could be expected, — " I have not heard, said the Bishop, that any such distribution of the school moneys was proposed qr asked for ; but how these ad- vocates of tlie Public School Society have lived by sectarianism — which seems to be the beginning and the end and the whole bur- then of all that they can say in commendation of themselves ! We are no friends of sectarianism. But it is not the business of the State to interfere with it. Every man has a political right to be a sectarian ; and if we begin by excluding sectarian teaching from the Public Schools, by and by the same authority may creep into the Church, and exclude all sectarianism there. Every man has a right to freedom of conscienc^e, to sectarianism, if they please to call it so. And it is against this freedom, of conscience that this Public School Society are arraying themselves, taking, from us our money, and forcing upon us a system of education at which our consciences revolt. [Great applause.] But to return to the Commissioners . — " it is to be feared," they saj-, " that such a distribution would be regarded as inconsistent with the common rights which the present schema of public instruction professes to secure." How anxious they are ! They raise up a fabric of dangerous de- signs that had no existence but in their own imagination, and then make a display of their public zeal by denouncing it. Why did they not look at the reality, and tell the Common Council that it was a grievance for Catholics to pay taxes for the support of a com- mon system of education, and then to be excluded from that system and obliged to pay again for the education of their own poor ? But no, instead of that, they make out an imaginary case in order to justify the course which they have pursued, and waste tlieir paper in describing dangers which were no where to be seen. But I have repeatedly shown that this sectarianism is nothing else than Chris- tianity, and that therefore the exclusion of it is the exclusion of Christianity. If this is not the design of those who have tlie dis- tribution of this public fund,, if they are sincere in their professions of regard for religion, and that they desire that the youthful mind of the country should be imbued with its spirit, why require the public moneys to fee given to the support of a system that can only 86 ■ ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. aid in producing subjects for infidelity, already so rampant in the land. I know, sir, of the case of an individual, he was one who lived long, and who carried with him in his mind but one single idea, that was the idea of the length and breadth of a dollar. And by turning that one idea over and over, he doubled and multiplied it, and when in his old age he died, he died worth fifteen millions of dollars. That man was Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia. He made a will and appropriated a large portion of his wealth to the educa- tion of orphans. In that will there is a clause of a genius so similar to the spirit of our Public School Society, that one would suppose they had both derived their philosophy from the same source. I will read it for you — I have the entire will here with me. This is the clause : " Secondly, / enjoin and require thai no ecelesiaslical missionary or minister of any sect whatsoever shall ever hold or exercise any station whatsoever in the said college ; nm- shall any such person ever be admitted for any purpose, or as a viiitor, within the premises appropriated to the purposes of the said college. In making this restriction I do not mean to cast any reflection upon any sect or person whatsoever ; "but as there is such a multitude of sects, and such a diversity of opinion amongst them, I desire to keep the tender minds of the orphans [Oh, the merciful Stephen Girard I] who are to derive advantage from this bequest, free from the excitement which clashing doctrines and sectarian controversy are so apt to produce." Almost a copy word for word of the doctrines of our Public School Society ; only that as Stephen Girard is dead some eight or ten years, and must have niade his will before he died, we might doubt which of them, Stephen or the Public School Society, was entitled to the credit of originality in this rigid and pertinacious ex- clusion of all sectarianism from their system of education. [Laughter.] But the wiU. continues : " My desire is that all the instructors and teachers in the college shall take pains to instill into the minds of the scholars tlie purest principles of morality," — Just as the gentlemen of the Public School say. But where will you get morality when you exclude religion ? — " so that on their entrance into life they may from inclination and habit evince benevolence towards their fellow creatures and a love of truth, sobriety, and industry, adopting at the same time such religious tenets as their matured reason may eniible them to prefer." That is, said the Bishop, regarding the mind of the pupil just as you would a machine, which when once set in motion would con- tinue on without change or cessation, that would be so long accus- tomed to turn on one particular cog that it would continue to do so for ever after. [Laughter.] I know, sir, of no parallel to the course of our Public School So- ciety but this individual instance of Stephen Girard. But the par- allel does not hold good throughout. It fails in one important point. There was this difierence, that if he had his own peculiar notions of education, Stephen paid the expenses out of his own pocket. [Great laughter and appl^iise.] If he was cruel to the unhappy orphan and THE SCHOOL QUESTION-. 87 W'iblied to deprive him of the blessings of a religious education, he was willing, so far js pecuniary considerations were involved, to be himself the ^■ictim of his experiment. But these gentlemen require you to pay for the infliction upon you of the evils of their system. They demand to be made the exclusive recipients of the public money ; that it shall all be handed over to them, and that they shall be allowed to give you in return just 'such a system of education as they shall be pleased to provide, no matter how it may conflict with your rights or your consciences. [Great applause.] I will now offer some remarks upon some other public documents connected with this subject which I have with me this evening. In document ISTo. 80, of the records or proceedings of the Common Council, is contained the Eeport of the Committee of the Common Council, to whom the claims of the Catholics to a portion of the Common School Fund was referred. In this Eeport the Committee draw a distinction between the name " Incorporated Religious So- cieties," who under the old law had an absolute right to the fund, and the term " societies," as used in the Revised Statutes, and come to the conclusion that a religious incorporated society is not a " so- ciety," within the meaning of the new law. But we will not be par- ticular about terms, and if they will deny it to us as a " Society," they are still authorized to grant a share of the public fund to " In- stitutions or Schools," and Catholic schools can certainly, equally with others, be embraced under one of those terms. The Committee also talre up the objections made by the Catholics to the present administration of the Common School System and attempt a reply to them. " It is urged," say the Committee, " on the part of the Catholic petitioners that they, as tax-payers, contribute to the fund thus annually raised, and that they are thus entitled to participate in its- benefits. This is undoubtedly true, but it should be borne in mind, that they are taxed not as members of the Bomaii Catholic Church, but as citizens of the State of New York." That is, said the Bishop, we are citizens when they come to us to gather the taxes, but we are Roman Catholics when we look for a share of the fund thus contributed. [Tremendous applause,] lam at a loss to learn the grounds of this distinction. That we were cit- izens so long as we had taxes to pay was not denied ; but when we seek to participate in the fund, with all their best efforts they could only see one thing, that we were Roman Catholics. But we tell them now that we want this money as citizens. We are Catholics, it is true, and the Constitution gives us a right to be what we are, and as citizens we come and ask for our rights in this matter. But the whole proceeding on their part has been designed to baffle and put us off. To use a homely expression, they have only been throw- ing dust in the eyes of the public. What is it but throwing dust, teaching all who are interested, that we are looking for the public money to support religion, when we would be amongst the very first to resist such an application of those moneys. There is another point in relation to this Report ; and it is one of 88 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES. humiliation when I consider that the disingenuonsness to which I refer (jould enter into the minds or plans of the high-mmded gen- tlemen who framed the Report. It is entitled "The Report ot the Committee on Arts and Sciences and Schools, on the petition ot the officers and members of the Roman Catholic and other churches in the city of New York, for an apportionment of school moneysto the schools attached to said churches." ISTow, said the Bishop, with the exception of the trustees of the Scotch Presbyterian Church and the Hebrew congregations in Crosby and Elm streets, there was no church in the city of New York that petitioned the Common Coun- cil on the subject. They sent in no petitions. They sent remon- strances, however, against the claim of the Catholics, saying in effect to the Common Council : if you grant to these the Catholic peti- tioners what they claim, you will be run down with applications. And even the Hebrews and the Scotch Presbyterian Church who profess to claipi a portion of the fund do not directly petition for it. The Committee should not therefore call them petitions, but should class them where they properly belong, with the remonstrances, for as such they were intended to operate. Do I find these alleged petitioners complaining of the present system ? They say : " Your memorialists had not thought of asking that any portion of the Com- mon School Fund might be directed from its present channels of disbursement." What is this but an admission, an implied declara- tion, that such a diversion of the fund from its present channel would be improper, and the whole is designed to impress upon the Common Council the recollection that if the Catholic demand was granted other claimants would arise ; for this purpose these petitions were sent in and intended to be used, and in that respect they are more effective than the remonstrances which they appear designed to co-operate with. I do not say that such was the design, but such is the effect in point of fact. " They had not thought," they say, " of asking that any portion of the Common School Fund should be directed from its present channels of disbursement." Why then petition unless to discredit the Catholics ? Here again, following up the same idea : " But understanding that the trustees of the Cath- olic Schools of this city have asked for a part of said fund, if your honorable body shall determine to grant their request and thus estab- lish the principle that this fund though raised by general tax may be appropriated to church or sectarian schools, then your memorialists respectfully but earnestly contend that they are entitled to a ratable jiortion thereof." We do not, said the Bishop, want this money for church or sec-' tarian schools. We merely want to educate our children without instilling poisonous matter into their minds. (The Bishop here read the conclusion of the Petition of the Scotch Presbyterian Church, praying that they may be allowed to draw on the school fund for the children taught at their schools ; and also the petition of the Hebrew Congregation of a similar tenor, praying for a portion of the fund, ''provided the Common Council should de- THK SCHOOL QUESTION. 89 termine to appropriate it zaiih reference to religious faith") These two petitions, then, continued the Bishop, tlie only ones praying in any manner for a portion of the fund, are, in fact, prayers against our rights — remonstrances — and should be classed with them. They do not allege that they "want the fund or that they are suffering any grievance — but they caution as it were the Common Council against granting the relief we ask, as, in that event, they will also demand a share. All these gentlemen seem to think that we are very difficult to please ; and they particularly urge that if we press our claims, the present system of public education will be broken up. But I have a simple answer to these objections. The schools are not as sacred as conscience. The Constitution secures the right of conscience to parent and child, but is silent on the rights of Common Schools. There is then this answer to the argument which they draw from, the dangers to which the prosecution of our claim exposes the Com- mon School System. But we have another answer. Every other denomination seems entirely satisfied with the present system. But we are not satisfied with it. It is not one that we ever can be satis- fied with. I shall show you presently that all who have sent in re- monstrances against our rights approve of the ^jresent Public School System. The first on the list of remonstrances against our rights which we have in this document No. 80, is " The Remonstrance of the Trus- tees of the Public School Society ;" they of course approve of their own system, and after stating their objections to our claim, they conclude by saying, that their Executive Committee will present a remonstrance more in detail. And in this remonstrance of the Ex- ecutive Committee which I have also here, are some allegations that require a passing comment. They state there that the objections of the Catholics to the Public Schools are not " on account of any rehg- ious doctrines taught in them, but because the peculiar doctrines of the Church of Rome are not taught therein ; and they now ask (the remonstrance -adds) for a portion of the public money, in order that these doctrines may be taught in connection with the kind of instruc- tion for which these moneys were raised." In the preceding para- graphs are the following statements: "The managers of these schools (the Catholic schools), having what they might deem higher and more important objects in view, in the inculcation of religious creeds or dogmas, could scarcely fail to neglect the literary for the religious culture of the children's minds. If it be urged that the Catholic schools are open to all, without distinction as to religious sect, your remonstrants reply that this ftict only enhances the objec- tion to granting the prayer of their petition ; which then virtually is that they may lie enabled to gain proselytes at the public expense." First they object to us that if we should be enabled to establifeh schools for the education of the Catholic children, we -H-ould teach our Catechism in them. And then if we reply that our schools arc open to all, they charge us with a scheme for making proselytes at 90 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. the public expense. On what data do these gentlemen predicate these calumnious statements? We do not want nor ask for the public money to enable us to teach any religious doctrines. Ihe assertion is a calumny for which no foundation can be discovered. [Great applause.] And now we come to the Methodists. The members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, after statmg in their remonstrance their objections to the grant of the Catholic application, add : " Your memorialists wish to be understood distinctly to declare their increased confidence in, and approval of, the policy of appropriating the Public School money to Ihe Public Schook only, and therefore remonstrate most decidedly against granting the petition of the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Schools, ■which, in their estimation, would be a perversion of the Public School Fund." ^ Here we find the Methodists expressing their confidence in the Public School System. "We have, then, the remonstrance of William Holmes and sixty- one other citizens, protesting against the diversion of the Public School Fund from its present channel. Next comes the remon- strance of the " East Broome street Baptist Church," in which they express their beUef " that the present popular and highly efficient Public Schools are better calculated to promote the education of the rising generation than it could be done if entrusted to the great diversity of religious sects into which the people are divided." "Lockwood* Smith, and two hundred and nine other citizens," also remonstrate ; reiterating the groundless assertion that the Catholics want the public funds to aid them in educating their children according to their religious faith. No, that is not what we want ; but simply that our children shall not be taught that Catholics are " deceitful." There is, then, no reason for the Public School Society to appre- hend danger from the opposition of other denominations. The Baptists — the Methodists — Mr. Lockwood Smith and two hundred and nine others — all approve of the present distribution of the public fund. They have full confidence in the present system. Let them. We have none, and have no reason to. We have here, too, the remonstrance of the " Reformed Protest- ant Dutch Church," which I must not pass over; for you all know that some leading persons in that church are the most gentlemanly, polite, charitable, kind and conciliatory characters imaginable, when- ever they treat of us or of our religion. [Laughter.] Well, these gentlemen, too, declare in their remonstrance their unqualified approval of the present administration of the Common School Fund. But in referring to our application, they make some further observations. '"We believe," they say, '4t is the only instance in which any society of professed Christians has ventured to invite the public au- thorities in so-open a manner to forget or disregard that fundamental principle of our civil compact, '■free toleration of all religious denonu THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 91 inaiions, special and exclusive privileges to none,^ and has boldly soli- cited that their private and sectarian interests may be taken under the fostering care of this State." According to the principles of this remonstrance, then, said the Bishop, it is necessary,' for the existence of free toleration, to tax you for the support of schools from which you must either derive no benefit, or allow your children's religious feelings and principles to be perverted. For this is the alternative that the present system imjioses upon Catholics, and it is to be relieved from this injustice that they ask, and not, as is untruly charged, to violate ai>y princi- ples of free toleration. In the same manner with those I have read do all the remon- strances proceed, approving fully of the pj-esent appropriation of the»public funds. There are no grounds, then, for the pretended alarm for the pros- perity of the public schools ; or that the costly piiblic structures which they have raised will become worthless. Every denomina- tion besides the Catholics appears to be satisfied with the present system, and from among those who have this confidence enough will be found to fill their schools. But those gentlemen go too far in their opposition : they place it on grounds that cannot be sustained ; they go too far for the law ; and even if the law bears them out, they go too far ; for if any law of the State of New York operates either to compel a violation of our consciences, or to deprive us of the benefit of taxation, it is not constitutional. There is in. the Constitution no principle that can justify coercion of conscience ; and against this injustice we will appeal to the end. We cannot be worse than we are now. We are paying now for a system from which we receive nothing in return. When I speak of paying, I do not speak of men who live in three-story houses ; for we all pay, the poor as well as the rich — the poor man in the labor which he contributes — not only he who owns or occupies a house, but every one who boards in a house pays for the support of this system. We cannot be worse than we are. We have striven for years to provide a substitute for those schools from which we are excluded, and we cannot be reduced to a worse extremity. They say to us, We throw open our schools ; why do you not enter ? But if, instead of learning truth, our chil- dren are stultified by false history, are open doors a compensation for such a resKilt? Yes, take their books, and when your child has read them through from first to last, what does he know of Catho- lics? Nothing,; hardly knows that such a people existed, except when killing Cranmer, or when reading of Luther as the greatest- character of the age ; or about Huss being burned by those " de- ceitful Catholics." But if they choose to represent Cranmer as a saint, or a martyr, they must not force their opinion of his character upon us. Scholars — men who have studied and know what the truth of history is— know that, so far from being a saint or a worthy character, he was 02 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. (at least in our opinion, and in this country we have a right to our opinion) one of the greatest hypocrites. In discussing this matter, gentlemen vrUl sny to me, " Bishop, do not press your rights too strenuously; it will only excite prejudices which you know exist on the subject." Yes, they will deplore those prejudices, and yet they will put into the hands of the children of the public the very sources from which these prejudices are derived. They will tell me, " Oh, you know how prejudiced the public mind is ;" but if they put mto the hands of the youth of this country the false history of Cranmer, and others like it, what can they expect will be the result but a prejudiced public ? When they bring forward passages, for the instruction of children, from Beattie, Robertson, Hume, how will children come out from such schools ? as if they thought that Cath- olics had no existence — did not know their own history. I speak of historical learning particularly. In the schools they must have works to exercise and inform the minds of children : but why always select those which convey the worst meaning? We have some recollections. Catholics have had a past — a glorious past ; they have had a history — one from which might be drawn ample lessons of virtue, and wisdom, and patriotism ; and instead 6f selecting from false and prejudiced writers, they might as well have gone back and extracted some portions of Catholic history — something of Catholic achievements — something of Catholic inventions and dis- coveries. We should not then witness the depressing effect which the repetition of all those slanderous tales against Catholics pro- duces on the young Catholic mind. Have you not obser\ed it yourselves ? Have you not seen the young Catholic, whose mind has been filled with these calumnies, half ashamed, when he enters the world, of his Catholic name and his Catholic associates, regard- ing them often as an inferior, worthless set ? and how often has he selected a different class of companions, merely from the servile influence of these prejudices ! But if we were allowed our rights, and permitted to draw from the treasures of Catholic knowledge, how different would be the result ! Our children might then have their minds imbued with a knowledge of all that their Catholic fathers had done? they would then know that almost all the inven- tions and discoveries which ha\-e ennobled the history of the modern world are the productions of Catholic genius or enterprise; the invention of printing— that greatest and most poweiful means in the dissemination of knowledge ; the post-office ; the Sabbath-school, on which they so much pride themsehes, and which is the fruit of the benevolence and piety of a Catholic Archbishop— the sainted Borromeo ; the newspaper or gazette ; tlie telescope ; the mariner's compass.; the discovery of this great continent; all associated with Catholic names and Catholic genius. And to pass from the material world to the world of mind and morals, we will find there the same abundant store of Catholic associations with which to fill the mind of the Catholic child, and teach him to look upon himself and those from whom he has deri\'ed his name, with respect and honest pride. THE SCHOOL QUESTIOIf. 93 If you would let them have an idea of wliat there is great or excel- lent in the Constitution of England, only tell them to tahe away all that is Catholic, and what will remain ? Take it all, and what will be left but poor-la-ws, and poor-houses, and two or three similar institutions. Such would be the result of a Catholic education. But, deprived of our rights, we can only expect to see two classes — one educated, deriving benefits from a fund to which we have a rightful claim, but from which we are excluded ; one class able to devise the means for their elevation ; the other uneducated, depressed and degraded; one composed of mechanics, men of knowledge and enterprise ; the other left to carry the water and hew the wood, without any means for improving their state except what the poor Catholics can themselves provide. And all this because we will not send our children where they will be trained up without religion ; lose respect for their parents and the faith of their fathers, and come out little philosophers, turning up their noses at the name of Cath- olic, and ashamed of what they are in truth too -ignorant to respect or comprehend. Never was there a more cruel injustice than this system entails upon us, but I am willing to believe that it is an injustice of which those who inflict it do not know the full extent. If the Public School Society would remove the objections of which we complain; if they will not'allow bad books or anti- Catholic influences to operate in their system, we should gladly send our children to partake of its benefits ; provided advantage be not taken of the humility of their state, and that it will not be as 1 have known it once, when a child came home from one of these schools abashed, arid saying that he could not again attend where all were dressed in their fine clothes and ridiculed his rags and poverty. We have no objection that these gentlemen* themselves should take the whole management of the instruction into their hands, provided it be done without the accompanying violations of conscience of which we complain. But I shall press this subject upon those who have the right and the authority to relieve us. 1 will reduce them to the necessity of admitting the justice of our claims, whether the relief is granted or not. We sh.all take away every pretext from them which they now use to deprive our children of the rights which a benevolent country has provided for them. Our consciences may appear to them to be singularly sensitive. But what subject is there of greater interest ? At the death-bed of the parent what is there that excites in his breast a more keen and anxious solicitude than that his child should remain true and faithful to his religion ; and if such is the anxiety of the dying parent, what must be the feelings of the living ? But these sacred feelings of the parent are disregarded in this Pubhc School System, and they treat us like the orphans of Stephen Girard. But with the diflference which I have before noticed, that in this case the money which they waste in the experiment is ours. But so long as the system remains unreformed, they shall not, they may rely on it, have Catholic children to prac- tic« upon. l»4 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. In the Kepbrt of the School Commissioners for the past year there is one thing I am yorry to see — the small number educated by the Public School Society with the large means at their disposal diirmg that period. It is stated there that they educated 13,189 children, while we educated at our own expense one-third of that number ; and while we were also obliged to swell their fund. They received from the public fund $115,799 42, during the past year, and yet, while we at our own cost educated one-third as many childrenas they have done, they come in and remonstrate against our receiving any portion of the public money to which we had contributed. They may tell me it is zeal for the cause of general education that actuates them ; but I assert that, with zeal and good management, a much larger number of children might have been educated with the same means than this Report shows. They say they have but one end in view — the public good ; but being as they are such large recipients of the public bounty, they should not be the first to step between us and the public councils. They do not comprehend their own position. They do not believe that they are all this time swelling the tide of irreligion. They allege this, and therefore I do not discredit their motives ; still, they are not infallible nor im- peccable. And I do not see but that, with all their love for power, grasping for the public mbney, and stepping in to defeat the appli- cation of rightful claimants, there may be more that is earthy and fallible in their motives than they admit even perhaps to themselves. But however this may be, one thing is certain, that while the system remains vmchanged there can be no more connection on the part of Catholics with the Public Schools, They pretend that the law cut off all religious societies. But the law did not cut them off. It only moderated the right to demand a portion of the fund. It left it discretionary with the Common Council to grant or to refuse the money. It did not disqualify reli- gious societies from becoming recipients of the public fund. I have examined this question carefully and as well as my numerous other engagements would permit, and I am entirely satisfied that no Cath- ohc can conscientiously allow his child to attend those schools as at present constituted. While in the popular efforts at reform a hue and cry has been raised against monopolies, there has been gradually a monopoly of mind established ; taking it, too, in its most tender and susceptible period ; and this monopoly is one which should be guarded against with the utmost jealousy. The duty which it assumes belongs of right to the parent and the citizen, and it is the last which should be given up. If parents had delegated the right, it could not be more authoritatively used than it is now by this monopoly. But the right has not been delegated. It is a self-elected public in- structor whose members are chosen within themselves on the prin- ciples of the close borough system. And against this monopoly and its spirit of encroachment we must never cease to direct our most anxious attention. THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 95 The adversaries of our claims -will seldom now dispute the fact of the existence of our grievances. But they will bid us look to public feeling ; they will appeal to prejudices which they say are arrayed against us. But I have no alarm. All denominations they say will be leagued against us. If we ask for anything unjust, we might feel apprehensive. But if we make the justice of our case clear, if we clear away the mist which these documents and other siniilar misstatements have created, my confidence is unshaken th.it their sense of public justice will make even our opponents them- selves accede to our just and temperate demands. The Right Rev. Prelate here closed his address, throughout the, delivery of which he was repeatedly applauded in the most enthu- siastic manner, and he sat down amid loud and long-continued cheering. When several other speakers had addressed the meeting, the Bishop rose and said, that in their present position in relation to this question additional measures should be taken to insure the suc- cess of their cause. They must promote it now not by speaking alone, and he w^ould propose that some means of approaching the Common Council should be devised ; that a committee be appointed for devising some mode of ascertaining whether the Common Council are still disposed to persevere in denying to the Catholics their rights ; that mode might be either by petition or in some other form. The Legislature had not denied to religious societies the right to receive a portion of the Common School Fund. By the alteration which had been made in the old law the obligation to dis- tribute a portion of the fund among the religious incorporated soci- eties had ceased, but the discretion to make such a distribution where it would be reasonable to do so was still left. The law does not state that a school connected with a church should not recei^•e a share of the fund. There is no such disqualification imposed, and consequently a discretion is still left to the Common Council to make such a school one of the recipients, when a proper case should arise. It is objected that the Catholics cannot bring themselves within the meaning of any of the terms used in the recent laws. But let this verbiage be put away ; let them call it schools or soci- eties, they are certainly one or the other. The law never designed that the Common Council should indulge caprice or whirti; but, when they found a just or reasonable ground for the application, they should grant it. This committee might arrange the Executive part of the business, said the Bishop, so that while we talk and while we write (for it may yet be necessary to write much on this subject) we shall also take some more definite action in the matter. I will therefore move that a committee of five be appointed for the purpose I have indi- cated. I will suggest that, in order to guard against any imputa- tion of political partiality, two gentlemen of the committee be selected from each of the leading political parties. [Great ap- plause.] 96 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. The Bishop's motion being seconded, was then pnt to the meet- ing by the chairman and carried unanimously, and the following gentlemen were appoSited members of the committee : Rt. Rev. Dr. Hughes, Thomas O'Connor, Dr. Sv/eeney, James W. McKeon, and James Kelley. Meeting in the Basement of St. James's Churoh, Septem- ber 21, 1840. On Monday evening, September 21, the Catholics again met in great numbers in the basement of St. James's Church, to receive the report of the committee appointed at the previous meeting to pre- pare a memorial to the Common Council on the subject of their claim to a portion of the Common School Fund for the education of Catholic children. The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes was present and was received with a warm and affectionate greeting on his entrance. The Very Rev. Dr. Power was also cordially welcomed as he entered the place of meeting, accompanied by a large body of clerical and lay gentlemen, after an absence of some months from the city for the restoration of his health. At the time appointed for the commencement of proceedings Thomas O'Connor, Esq., was again called to the chair, Gregory Dillon, Esq., was chosen Vice- President, and the secretaries of former meetings were re-appointed Mr. B. O'Conner, one of the secretaries, read the minutes of the last meeting, and they were approved and adopted. Mr. James W. McKeon then rose and said that the committee appointed at the last meeting to prepare a memorial to the city authorities had dis charged the duty assigned to them, and were ready to make theii report. He therefore moved that the Right Rev. Bishop Hughes, the chairman of the committee, be respectfully requested to read the memorial which the committee had prepared. The motion having been carried by acclamation, the Right Rev. Bishop Hughes came forward and read the memorial, which was a most able and interest- ing document. On the_ motion of Mr. Gallagher, the report of the committee was unanimously adopted, and another committee, consisting of Thomas O'Connor, Esq., Dr. Hugh Sweeney, James W. McKeon, Esq., and J. Kelley, Esq., were appointed to proceed at once to present the memorial to the Board of Aldermen which was then in council. In the absence of the chairman on this mission as one of the committee appointed for that purpose, the vice-president became the chairman of the meeting, but he requested the aid of the Very Rev. Dr. Power, who took the chair amidst loud acclama- tion. A motion was then made that the Petition just read, be printed and published as containing an able, lucid, and clear exposi- tion of the whole question, and the grounds on which the claims of THE SCHOOL QUESTION. ' 07 f the Catholics rested, and that by so doing it would prevent a gar- bled -statement of its contents going befoi-e the public. But on. the suggestion of Bishop Hughes that it might be showing a want of proper courtesy on their part, to do so before publication by order of the Common Council, the motion Avas withdrawn.* After Dr. Power had addressed the meeting, the Right Rev. Bishop Hughes presented himself, and was received with great applause. He said he had mentioned, some time ago, that he had understood that a reply, which usually meant an attempt at refuta- tion, was being prepared by the Trustees of the Public Schools. Happening to allude to it one evening, he had ventured to turn prophet and say that it would be no reply in the sense of a refuta- tion, and that prophecy was fulfilled in the document in his hand. He said then there would be no meeting and grappling with the facts and arguments of the Address, and he now found that instead there was an appeal to public opinion ! They had tlie idea that the prejudices of the community were with them, and that consequently they could dispense with the trouble of contending with facts and arguments at all ; and to get the " weather guage," as the sailor would say, they introduce in the first paragraph the old phrase about " Church and State," and they represent the Catholic Address as a new appeal for a portion of the School Fund for the support of their church-schools, as schools in which nothing but the cate- chisin was taught from morning to night. He trusted now, that the language of their Petition would make it clear, for they had been reduced to the necessity of telling them what they did noi petition for. [Applause.] Well, after the introduction, which was the making their bow to the prejudices of the community, they come to a proposition at which he was startled ; the proposition was in these words : " It is proper, therefore, that the allegations contained in the Address of the Roman Catholics, be either admitted or refuted." Bravo, said he [laughter], now you talk like men. In the next sentence they said, " They are of a grave and serious character" — that they were [applause] — • "and such as should, if true, justly deprive the Trustees of the con- fidence which has been so long reposed in them. Bui they are not truV And that — "But they are hot true" — was all the refutation they gave. After that they might look in vain and they would not find a single fact in their Address disproved; but they proceed to ad- minister to that disreputable prejudice on which they calculated with so much certainty. And as they had furnished no ground of review, as they had taken up no point of. the Address, as they had not re- futed any of its facts or reasonings, of course he was dispensed from the necessity of going over all they had said, and he should there- fore merely go over some portions of it, more for the purpose of pass- ing the evening than for any other purpose. Well, they take advant- age i^f this public prejudice ; then they state what they are charged * This Petition is given on page 102. 98 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. » with, and they add the significant words "But we forbear." [Laugh- ter.] They say of the books, though, afterwards — they are brought a little to their senses and cry peccavi — they do say they have had wrong' books in the schools. This they acknowledge. But they say " The reading-books used in the Public Schools are the same as those used in private schools of a similar grade, in which children of vari- ous religious persuasions, including those of our more wealthy fel- low citizens of the Roman Catholic Church, are educated." And pray was it an approval of those books because some of their "more wealthy fellow citizens of the Roman Catholic Church" allowed their children to be educated where they were used. No ; but they submitted to it. But it would seem that the spirit of Proselytism, and the device of meeting the children at the threshold, had be- come general. They attacked the young mind, knowing that they could not convert the grown-up Catholic in whose mind their holy and divine faitK.was well established. [Applause.] But if Catholics had allowed their children to attend schools where these books were used it did not follow that they approved of them. Again they say "many of them contain the best, most sublime and impressive essays on morals and religion that can be found in the English language," — that is, they being the judges, — "and are ■ calculated to impress on the young mind a belief in the existence of God " — what a long creed that is ! — [laughter] — "the immortality of the soul"— why, Plato believed that ! — and a future state of rewards and punishments. "They picture vice in its naked deformity, and present virtue in her most pleasing and attractive colors." And this is the answer they give to the Address of th§ Catholics; and then, by way of showing what ex- cellent institutions these Public Schools are — for they have not a high test of their moral influence^they say, " Let the records of our crim- inal courts, our prisons, and the receptacles of those who by reason of 'rioting in the fierceness of unrestrained lusts,' have become a public charge, be examined with reference to the effect of our system of education on the mind and morals, as compared with any other system, and the result will be found highly favorable to the Public Schools." That is to.say, if the scholars do not find themselves fof-thwith m the Penitentiary, the system is not so bad ! But we should expect something better. He had said so to the Trustees, and he violated no confidence by the disclosure— [laughter]— he had told them that though the scholars educated in those schools were not the persons most frequently found in the criminal jails, he was able to prove, so far as such a matter was susceptible of proof, that the .exclusiveness and the spirit of monopoly in that body of men, and the eonsequent exclusion of so many from means of education, was the cause why others do go to the Penitentiary. The children of the ,po_©r who did _,not go to those schools were not allowed by the pre- ,va.ling exclusiveness in the Trustees to be educated out of their ■",sho,p^ .tbey were consequently left uneducated and unrestrained; •they ^i-e lett to form bad acquaintances by whom they became cor' ,j!Ujited,.and they corrupters in their turn. The cause was in the ex- THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 09 clusiveness of those men who would not allow them to have teachers in whom they had confidence. [Applause.] Here they refer to a chapter entitled " Sunday Morning," which he read at a previous meeting from one of those school books ; and of all chapters they thought this was selected with the least judgment. They would recollect it was a story of a father and his son passing on the Sunday morning through the churches of the different deno- minations, and after entering a Catholic place of worship and re- marking on every one of the Catholic congregation dipping his finger in holy water and crossing himself as he went in, they wound up that sincerity was the true spirit ; or in other words that it made no difference what they believed — whether Quaker, Baptist, Episcopa- lian, Unitarian, Methodist, or Roman Catholic — provided they raised the man who fell in the street ; or provided one raised him, and another applied a smelling-bottle to his nose, and another ran for a surgeon, and another attended to his wife and children, it was no matter what their religious creed was. - [Laughter.] Now this had been before commented on in a newspaper paragraph, and in a leisure half hour he wrote an answer, and to put it to the test he asked in that letter that some Christian minister in liTew York should be got to endorse that chapter from the pulpit, and no one could be found to do it. Now there was a very powerful answer or refutation — for it was to be observed that they lay down the rule that v/hat they don't refute was to be admitted — they meet one of the charges of objections of Catholics in the following manner : " They say that they could not discharge their conscientious duty to their offspring if they al- lowed them to be brought up under the irreligious principles on which the Public Schools are conducted" — and observe they profess to exclude all sectarianism, and if they do they exclude all Christian- ity, and the system must be irreligious. Having quoted those words, they give this answer : " And while they ask of the State the means of supporting their schools, that they may train up their children 'in principles of virtue and religion,' they assure the public that they would scorn to support or advance their religion at any other than their own expense." Certainly, Catholics assure the public of that, and he repeated the assurance. But they proceed: "A solution of some of these incongruities may, perhaps, be found in the fact, that they do not class themselves among sectarians, or denominations of Christians, but claim to be emphatically ' The Church.' " Now they never found any such expression in any thing they had said. They (the Catholics) spoke of their position as they stand before the coun- try. The law called them a sect, and they spoke of themselves as the law spoke of them, and those men thus readily resorted to this perversion of their ideas without one iota of proof They (the Ca- tholics) defied them to show that they had spoken as was asserted. [Applause.] The reverend gentleman who referred a few minutes ago to his part of the subject might have extended his remarks a little further in the same chapter. They speak of the question of education in Ireland, and to justify themselves they introduce what they had 100 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. said at a recent conference and the reply that was made to them. They say: "It is known that a large portion of the bishops and cler- gy of the established and other Protestant churches, and a majority of the Roman Catholic bishops of Ireland, have agreed upon a gen- eral system of education, and a collection of extracts from the sacred Scriptures for the National Schools of that country. At the confer- ence just referred to, the question was distinctly put, whether the objection of the Catholic clergy to the Public Schools, so far as re- gards reading the Scriptures without note or comment, would be re- moved by the use of these extracts in them. The answer was, that the dissenting bishops had appealed to the Pope against the majority of their body, and as/his Holiness had not yet settled the question, he was not prepared to give his answer. The Trustees very much regret that circumstances have placed them in a situation which ren- ders this exposition necessary. But they could not do less and dis- charge their duty to themselves and the public." Why, the Trustees must have strange notions of the subject to suppose they need express regret for making disclosures which are published in every pap%r in the Britsh Empire ; but the meeting would perceive they were still feeding that abominable prejudice of the public mind; saying in effect: "Though the Protestants quarrel among themselves, they are agreed against you" (Catholics). Oh! but Catholics have appealed to the Pope, and they wanted to create prejudice by that, while they claim credit for the moderation with which they had made it kno-jvn. Yes, the Catholics do consult the' Pope, and they glory in consulting the Holy Father, the Catholic Chief Pastor. [Great applause.] Now it was not to be passed over that these gentlemen are over royal in their ambition when they would place themselves in juxtaposition with the British Crown — would consider themselves as holding the same relation to us that the British Government held with the Irish clergy in the question in dispute between them. But here the ques- tion was not the same ; for the Trustees of the Public Schools in New York were a private corporation, while the Catholics in Ireland had to do with the British Government ; and concession yielding to that government should form no precedent here. The contracting parties on the other side were exceedingly different. But they come to another point to show their liberality — they "yield to the conscien- tious scruples of the Roman Catholics !" They yield ! What have they to yield ? But they " are bound to protect the feelings and in- terests of the Protestant churches !" In England there is an officer who is designated the "Keeper of the King's Conscience," and the Trustees of the Public School Society are become the guardians of the consciences of both the Catholics and Protestants— emph.atically the protectors of "the feel- ings and interests of the Protestant churches !" [Laughter.] They stand as umpires between the churches, and they profess to regret that the Catholic clergy have not met them to obtain their confidence, and to have a joint examination and expurgation of the Public School books. Why, if they had, in what a situation would they have been? THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 101 Suppose he should go to the study of those books day after day, and ^veek after week, to point out the necessary corrections, and after he had taken that trouble by courtesy to supply their want of ability to understand them themselves, should be told that they must first "protect the feelings and interests of the Protestant churches?" Did they think Catholics had no "feelings" at all to be "protected?" Did they think Catholics would make those corrections and submit them to a board where there were but one or two voices that would be raised to " protect " their religion, and enforce their constitutional right to their doctrines? A question was asked of him whether jCatholics would be content if they excluded all Scripture " without note or comment." But he told them that Catholics were too hum- ble to expect such a sacrifice. He was not willing to put it in their power to place Catholics Jsefore Protestants as having such enmity to the word of God. He did not say they would do so, but it would have been in their power to make that use of that concession, and t!e ^vas resolved not to make or give them the opportunity. And here, again, after referring to the Pope, and the question of education in Ireland, they tell us they " remain ready and anxious to join with the Roman Catholics in efforts so to model the books and studies in the Public Schools, as to obviate existing difficulties. They think that it may be done. But" and whenever they heard but in language of this kind, they might expect something insurmountable — [laughter] — " if, as was the case in the Irish National Schools, an appeal to the Pope should be necessary, they are free to confess, in the language of the Address, that ' a perfect neutrality of influence, on the subject of religion,' is indeed impossible." Why, the fact is if they had not truth wherewithal to meet the Catholic's facts and argu- ments, as this showed they had not, it was not worth their while to sneer at them, or to introduce this sly observation as though it was matter of their concern whether- Catholics consult the Pope or not. But Catholics did not require the aid of intrinsic light, while they saw the PubHo Schools teaching their children that Catholics were "deceitful," without distinction of age, clime or country. ' Catholics, ■who were more tlian triple in numbers all the other bodies together, when they saw books put into the hands of their children which stigmatized them as deceitful, they had no great necessity to consult the Pope about the business. But it was not worth while to pursue the subject further. [Great applause.] 102 ABCHBISHOP HUGHES. PETITION OF THE CATHOLICS OF NEW YORK FOR A PORTION OF THE COMMON SCHOOL FUND. TO TUB HONORABLE THE BOAKD OP ALDERMEN OP THE CITT OF NEW TORE. The Petition of the Catholics of New Yorlc^ Beapeotfxdly represents : That your Petitioners yield to no class in their performance of, and dispo- sition to perform all the duties of citizens. — They bear, and are willing to bear, their portion of every comnion burden ; and feel themselves entitled to a participation in every common benefit. This participation, they regret to say, has been denied them for years back, in reference to Common Scliool Education in the city of New York, except on conditions with which their conscience, and, as they believe their duty to God, did not, and do not leave them at liberty to comply. The rights of conscience, in this country, are held by the constitution and universal consent to be sacred and inviolate. ITo stronger evidence of this need be adduced than the fact, that one class of citizens are exempted from the duty or obligation of defending their country against an invading foe, out oi delicacy and deference to the rights of conscience which forbids them to take up arms for any purpose. Your Petitioners only claim the benefit of this principle in regard to the public education of their children. They regard the public education which the State has provided as a common benefit, in which they are most desirous and feel that they are entitled to participate ; and therefore they pray your Honorable Body that they may be permitted to do so, without violating their conscience.. But your Petitioners do not ask that this prayer be granted without assign- ing their reasons for preferring it. In ordinary cases men are not required to assign the motives of conscien- tious scruples in matters of this kind. But your petitioners are aware that a large, wealthy and concentrated influence is directed against their claim by the Corporation called the Public School Society. And that this influence, acting on a public opinion already but too much predisposed to judge unfavor- .ibly of the claims of your petitioners, requires to be met by facts which justify them in thus appealing to your Honorable Body, and which may, at tlie same time, convey a more correct impression to the public mind. Your l.etitioners adopt this course the more willingly, because the justice and im- partiality which distinguish the decisions of public men, in this country, inspire them with the confidence that your Honorable Body will maintain, m their regard, the principle of the rights of conscience, if it car. be done without violating the rights of others, and on no other condition is the claim solicited. PETITION OF THE CATHOLICS. 103 It is not deemed necessary to trouble your Honorable Body with a detail of the circumstances by which the monopoly of the public education of chil- dren in the city of New York, and of the funds provided for that purpose at the expense of the State, have passed into the hands of a private corporation, styled in its Act o,f Charter, " The Public School Society of the City of New York." It is composed of men of different sects or denominations. But that denomination, Friends, which is believed to have the controlling influ-, enee, both by its numbers and otherwise, holds as a peculiar sectarian prin- ciple that any formal or official teaching of religion is, at best, unprofitable. And your petitioners have discovered that such of their children as have attended the public schools, are generally, and at an early age, imbued with the same principle — that they become untractable, disobedient, and even t-.ontemptuous towards their parents — unwilling to learn any thing of religion — as if they had become illuminated, and could receive all the knowledge of religion necessary for them by instinct or inspiration. Your, petitioners do not pretend to assign the cause of this change in their children, they only attest the fact, as resulting from their attendance at the public schools of the Public School Society. This Society, however, is composed of gentlemen of various sects, includ- ing even one or two Catholics. But they profess to exclude all sectarianism from their schools. If they do pot exclude sectarianism, they are avowedly no more entitled to the school funds than your petitioners, or any other de- nomination of professing Christians. If- they do, as they profess, exclude sectarianism, then your petitioners contend thafthey exclude Christianity — and leave to the advantage, of infidelity the tendencies which are given to ■ the minds of youth by the influence of this feature and pretension of their system. If they could accomplish what they profess, other denominations would join your petitioners in remonstrating against their schools. But they do not accomplish it. Your petitioners will show your Honorable Body that they do admit what Catholics call sectarianism, (although others may call it only religion,) in a great variety of ways. In their 22d report, as far back as the year 1827, they tell us, page 14, that they "are aware of the importance of early eelioious instruotion," and that none but what is ^ exclusively general and acripturalin its character should he introduced into the schooU under their charge." Here, then, is their own testimony that they did introduce and authorize "religious instruc- tion" in their schools. And that they solved, with the utmost composure, the difficult question on which the sects disagree, by determining what hind of "religious instruction''^ is " exclusimly general and scriptural in its char- acter." Neither could they impart this •' early religious instruction " them- selves. They must have left it to their teachers — and these, armed with official influence, could impress those " early religious instructions " on the susceptible minds of the children, with the authority of dictators. The Public School Society, in their report for the year 1832, page 10, de- scribe the effect of these " early religious instructions," without, perhaps, intending to do so ; but yet precisely as your petitioners have witnessed it, in such of their children as attended those schools. " The age at Mich chil- dren are usually sent to school affords a much letter opportunity to mould their minds to peculiar and exclusive forms of faith than any subsequent period of life."' In page 11, of the same report, they protest against the injustice of supporting "religion in any shape" by public money ; as if the "early re- ligious instruction" which they had themselves authorized in their schools, five years before, was not "religion in some shape," and was not supported- by public taxation. They tell us again, in more guarded language, " The Trustees are deeply impressed with the importance of imbuing the youthful 104 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. mind with religious impressions, and they have endeavored to attain this object, as far as the nature of the institution will admit." Report ot 18.37. In their Annual Reportthey tell us, that " they would not he understood as regarding religcious impressions in early youth as unimportant; on the contrary, they desire to do all which may with propriety be done, to give a right direction to the minds of the children intruSted to their care. Iheir scliools are uniformly opened with the reading of the Scriptures, and the class-hooks are such as recognize and enforce the great and generally acknowl- edged principles of Christianity." Page 7. , . i. i. In their .S4th Annual Report, for the year 1839, they pay a high compli- ment to a deceased teacher for "the moral and religious influence exerted by her over the three hundred girls daily attending her school, and tell us that it could not but have had a lasting effect on many of their susceptible minds.-' Page 7. And yet in all these " early religious instructions, religious impressions, and religious influence,'" essentially anti-Catholic, your petition- ers are to see nothing sectarian ; hut if in giving the education which the State requires, they were to bring the same influences to bear on the "sus- ceptible minds of their own children, in favor, and not against, their own religion, then this society contends that it would be sectarian ! Your petitioners regret that there is no means of ascertaining to what extent the teachers in the schools of thisS,ociety carried out the views of their principals on the importance of conveying " early religious instructions" to the " susceptible minds " of tl>eir children. But they believe it is in their power to prove, that in some instances, the Scriptures have been ex- ■ ])lained, as well as read to the pupils. Even the reading of the Scriptures in those schools your petition.ers cannot regard otherwise than as sectarian ; because Protestants would certainly con- sider as such the introduction of the Catholic 'Scriptures, which are different from theirs, and the Catholics have the same ground of objection when the Protestant version is' made use of. Your petitioners liave to state further, as grounds of their conscientious objections to those schools, that many of the selections in their elementary reading lessons contain matter prejudicial to the Catholic name and charac- ter. The term " Popery " is repeatedly found in them. This term is known and employed as one of insult and contempt towards the Catholic religion, and it passes into tlie minds of children with the feeling of which it is the outward expression. Both the historical and religious portions of the read- ing lessons are selected from Protestant writers, whose prejudices against the Catholic religion render them unworthy of confidence in the mind of your petitioners, at least so far as their own children are concerned. The Public School Society have heretofore denied that their books con- tained any thing reasonably objectionable to Catholics. Proofs of the con- trary could be multiplied, but it is unnecessary, as they have recently retracted their denial, and discovered, after fifteen years' enjoyment of their monopoly, that their books do contain objectionable passages. But they allege tliat they have proffered repeatedly to make such corrections as the Catholic Clergy might require. Your petitioners conceive that such a proposal could not be carried into effect by the Public School Society without giving just ground for exception to other denominations. Neither can they see with what con- sistency that Society can insist, as it has done, on the perpetuation of its monopoly, when the Trustees thus avow their incompetency to present unex- ceptionable books, without the aid of the Catholic, or any other Clergy. They allege, indeed, that with the best intentions they have been unable to ascertain the passages which might be offensive to Catholics. "With their intentions, your petitioners cannot enter into any question. Nevertheless, they submit to your Honorable Body, that this Society is eminently inoom- PETITION OF THE CATHOLICS. 105 petent to the superintendence of public education, if tliey could not see tliat the following passage was unfit for the public schools, and especially unfit to be jilaoed in the hands of Catholic children. Tliey will quote the passage as one instance, taken from Putnam's Sequel, p;ige 266 : " Huss, John, a zealous reformer from Popery, who lived in Bohemia, t Hoards the close of the fourteentk, and heginning of the fifteenth centuries. He was hold and persevering ; hut at length, trusting himself to the deceitful Cathulie^. he was hy them hrought to trial, condemned as a heretic, and hurnt at the sUil-e.'''' The Public School Society may be excused for not knowing the histori- cal inaccuracies of this passage ; but surely assistance of the Catholic Clergy could not have been necessary to an understanding of the words " deceitful," as applied to all who profess the religion of your petitioners. For these reasons, and others of the same kind, your petitioners cannot, in conscience, and consistently with their sense of duty to God, and to their offspring, intrust the Public School Society with the oiHce of giving '■ aright direction to the minds of their children." And yet this Society claims that office, and claims for the discharge of it the Common School Funds, to which your petitioners, in common with other citizens, are con- tributors. In so far as they are contributors, they are not only deprived of any benefit in return, but their money is' employed to the damage and detriment of their religion, in the minds of their own children, and of the rising generation of the community at large. The contest is between the guarantied rights, civil and religious, of the citizen on the one hand, and the pretensions of the Public School Society on the other ; and whilst it has been silently going o^ for years, your petitioners would call the attention of your Honorable Body to its consequences on that class for whom the benefits of public education are most essential — the children of the poor. This class (your petitioners speak only so far as relates to their own denomination), after a brief experience of the schools of the Public School Society, naturally and deservedly withdrew all confidence from it. Hence the establishment by your petitioners of schools for the education of the poor. The expense necessary for this, was a second taxation, required not by the laws of the land, but by the no less imperious demands of their conscience. They were reduced to the alternative of seeing their children growing up in entire ignorance, or else taxing themselves anew for private schools, whilst the funds provided for education, and contributed in part by them- selves, were given over to the Public School Society, and by them employed as has been stated above. Now your petitioners respectfully submit, that without this confidence, no body of men can discharge the duties of education as intended by the State, and required by the people. The Public School Society are, ind have been at all times, conscious that they had not the confidence of the poor. In their twenty-eighth report, they appeal to the ladies of New York to create or procure it, by the " persuasive eloquence of female kindness ;" page 5. And from this they pass, on the next page, to the more efficient eloquence of coercion under penalties and privations to be visited on all persons, " whether emigrants or otherwise," who being in the circumstances of poverty referred to, should not send their children to some " public or other daily school." In their twenty- seventh report, pages 15 and 16, they plead for the doctrine, and recommend it to public tavor by the circumstance that it will affect but " few natives." But why should it be necessary at all, if they possessed that confidence of the poor, 106 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. without which they need never hope to succeed ? So well are they cori vinced of this, that no longer ago than last year, they gave up all hope ot inspiring it, and loudly call for coercion by " the strong arm of tlie cml power " to supply its deficiency. Your petitioners will close this part ot their statement with the expression of their surprise and regret that gen- tlemen who are themselves indebted much to the respect which is properly cherished for the rights of conscience, shonld be so unmindful of the same rigiits in the case of your petitioners. Many of them are by religious principle so pacific that they would not take up arms in the defence of the liberties of their country, though she should call them to her aid ; and yet, they do not hesitate to invoke the "strong arm of the civil power" for the purpose of abridging the private liberties of their fellow-citizens, who may feel equally conscientious. Your petitioners have to deplore, as a consequence of this state of things, the ignoi-ance and vice to which hundreds, nay thousands of their children are exposed. They have to regret, alsQ, that the education which they can provide, under the disadvantages to which they have been sub- jected, is not as efficient as it should be. But should your Honorable Body be pleased to designate their schools as entitled to receive a just proportion of the public funds which belong to your petitioners in common with other citizens, their schools could be improved for those who attend, others now growing up in ignorance could be received, and the ends of the Legislature could be accomplished — a result which is manifestly hopeless under the present system. Your petitioners will now invite the attention of your Honorable Body to the objections and misrepresentations that have been urged by the Pub- lic School Society to granting the claim of your petitioners. It is urged by them that it would be appropriating money raised by general taxation to the support of the Catholic religion. Your petitioners join issue with them, and declare unhesitatingly, that if this objection can be established the claim shall be forthwith abandoned. It is objected that though we are taxed as citizens, we apply for the benefits of education as " Catholics." Your petitioners, to remove this difBculty, beg to be considered in their application in the identical capacity in which they are taxed — ^viz. : as citi- zens of the commonwealth. It has been contended by the Public School Society, that the law disqualifies schools which admit any profession of. religion, from receiving any encouragements from the School Fund. 'Your petitioners have two solutions for this pretended difficulty. 1. Your peti- tioners are unable to discover any such disqualification in the law, which merely delegates to your Honorable Body the authority and discretion of determining what schools or societies shall be entitled to its bounty. 2. Your petitioners are willing to fulfill the conditions of the law so far as religious teaching is proscribed during school hours. In fine, your petition- ers, to remove all objections, are willing that the material organization of their schools, and the disbursements of the funds allowed for them, shall be conducted, and made, by persons unconnected with the religion of your petitioners, even the Public School Society, if it should please your Honorable Body to appoint them for that purpose. The public may then be assured that the money will not be applied to the support of the Catho- lic religion. It is deemed necessary by your petitioners to save the Public School So- ciety the necessity of future misconception, thus to state the things wliioh are not petitioned for. Tlie members of that Society, who have shown themselves so impressed with the importance of conveying tlieir notions of " early religious instruction " to the " susceptible minds " of CathoHc children, can have no objection that the parents of the children, and teachers in whom PETITION OF THE CATHOLICS. 107 the parents have confidence, should do the same, provided no law is violated thereby, and no disposition evinced to bring the children of other denomi- nations within its influence. Your petitioners, therefore, pray that your Honorable Body will be pleased to designate, as among the schools entitled to participate in^ the Common School Fund, upon complying with the requirements of the law, and the ordinances of the corporation of the city — or for such other relief as to your Honorable Body shall seem meet — St Patrick's School, St. Peter's School, St. Mary's School, St. Joseph's School, St. James' School, St. Nicholas' School, Transfiguration Church School, and St. John's School. And your petitioners further request, in the event of your Honorable Body's determining to hear your petitioners, on the subject of their petition, that such time may be appointed as may be most agreeable to your Honoraljle Body, and that a full session of your Honorable Board be convened for that purpose. And your petitioners, &c. THOMAS O'CONNOR, Chairman. GREGORY DILLON, ANDREW CABRIGAN, PETER DUFFY, Vice- C/iairmen. B. O'CONNEE, James Kelly, J- Secretaries. J. M'LoroHLiN, Of a general meeting of the Catholics of the City of New York, convened in the school- room of St. James' Church, Sept. 21, 1840. « Meeting in the Basement of St. James's Church, October 5th, 1840. On Monday evening, Oct. 5th, the Catholics orthis city again met in the basement of St. James's Church, in great numbers, by adjournment of the meeting of that day fortnight, from -nrhich a memorial had been sent to the Board of Aldermen, setting forth their claim to a portion of the Common School Fund for the education of Catholic children. Thomas O'Connor, Esq., was again called to the chair, and the Secretaries were also re-elected. LOS AECHBISHOP HUGUES. Jasees McKeon, Esq., one of the committee appointed to present the memorial to the Common Council, reported that they had dis- charged the duties assigned to them, and that it was highly probable that an early day' ■\\ould be fixed to hear the arguments of the Catholics and those that opposed their claim. The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes then presented himself and was received with enthusiastic plaudits. He said the question was now in the hands of those whom the Legislature had appointed to dis- pose of the Common School Fund ; they had presented their claim to that body with confidence, but it was not to be supposed that their demand would be granted without opposition ; it was not cer- tain they would be conceded at all. Nevertheless they had taken the only means worthy of their purpose, by applying with confi- dence and with firmness and with determination to those having in . the first instance the power to apply a remedy to the evil of which Catholics complain. The question as it will define itself before that Board, when stripped of all the mystification in which their oppo- nents had enveloped it, was an exceedingly simple one. It will be a question whether it was the intention of the Legislature of the State of New York to fix on the population of this city, and to sup- port by taxation reaching to every citizen, a system of education from which one-fifth of the population can derive no benefit? for he thought he might say that Catholic children formed one-fifth of those who were subject to this taxation. And if this system is to be so constituted, as they found it to be, that Catholics iu their con- sciences cannot allow their children to participate in its benefits, then the question will be were they excluded or not, by an act of the Legislature ? It is plain they wexe not, unless indeed the Legis- lature intended that they should p.iy for education and receive no benefit in return. Thai the Legislature did not intend — that it could not have intended ; and there^re between the act of the Legislature and the schoolmaster there must be some inquiry to pervert the stream of justice. [Applause.] The objections that have been raised by the Public School Society are objections which sound alarmingly, in the eaf, and which from circumstances which are easily accounted for, are apt to turn the judguients of even well-disposed men off their equilibrium— he alluded to the clamor of sectarianism, and that Catholics wish Sivil money to be appropriated to the jmrposes of religion. _ The sound was calculated to alarm, but it required only the exercise of common sense to dissolve these objections into thin air, for Catholics wanted no money from the State of New York for purposes of religion, but for the purpose for which it was claimed from them — for the purposes of education in the strict sense of the term. The education the Catholics were told was ready — the foun- tain flows constantly, but care was taken to dilute the current before it reached them, so that they could not taste it. [Applause.] THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 109 They were told the doors were open to them ; they knew they were, but if they entered they Avent in to learn to live in ignorance of all that was sacred and honorable in the Catholic name ; if they entered they knew it was to have Protestant persons and Protestant writers brought up for their admiration ; it was to make their chil- dren familiar with things that were not theirs, -and to leave them in utter ignorance of everything Catholic, unless it was to bring them in to grace some tragic incident and they were only brought in then as executioners. There were some respectable Catholic writers, though perhaps their opponents knew it not, that Avrote with flow- ing pens in the departments of history, morals, legislation, and gen- eral literature, but from the books put into the hands of their chil- dren in these schools they knew it not," but they did know about Cranmer's execution, and the betrayal by the deceitful Catholics of John Huss ; and if it were not for the purpose of bringing them in thus, their children would not know that Catholicism was older than Mormonism. [Laughter.] He had been exceedingly amused on looking at the manner the opponents of their claim maintained their exclusive right to the money which Catholics contributed in common with other citizens ; but with a great deal of talent and a great deal of confidence in the prejudices of the community, to Avhich they ap- pealed, still it was difficult for them to make out a clear case, even to satisfy those prejudices. He would look at the system as it is. They were told that the state intended to exclude religion and make the fund applicable solely to civil purposes — solely to secular education — very well. If they excluded all religion then they bring up the children like heathens, and they banish Christianity and leave to infidelity the whole benefit of this system of education. And he did not think it probable that the Christians of New York — that the Protestants of New York — would raise a fund for education from which only infidelity could receive the benefit. That was one ground. But then they were told again that religion was not ex- cluded from instruction. If they then have taught religion how have they been able to go before the Common Council and ask for money? Had Catholics less right than the celebrated body of Quakers ? And if the office of instructors was to be conceded at all to whom did it belong ? Did it become Catholics to be the instruc- tors of Protestant children, or Protestants to become the instructors of Catholic children ? Surely if it was a crime ^t all it must be a greater crime in the managers of the present schools than in Catho- lics to teach religion to Catholic children ; and it was only in this way that they could throw the whole weight of the charge of giv- ing instruction on infidels, so that it carried water on both shoul- ders. Before the Common Council their opponents were scrupulous to a nicety, from a fear that its money should go to encourage and maintain religion; but they (the Catholics) went in the name of relio-ion and conscience which did not allow them to educate their children in these schools ; and because they went in the name of conscience they were told, Oh, the fund is intended for civil educa- 110 AEOHBISHOP HUGHES. tion, and if you allow a penny to go for the support of religion, yott violate the charter, for it says so and so. Then we (Catholics) charge them with infidelity. And how do they answer ? They say Catholics give religious instruction. Do they (the Trustees of the Public Schools) not admit that they do likewise m their report ? And that shows that they are aware of the importance of early re- ligious instruction ; but they say that none but what is general in its character is given under their charge ; so that while the doctors are disputing about what is religion, the managers of these schools have no difficulty in determining at once. It is a pity the commu- nity does not send its difficulties to the Public School Society for they can soon decide what religion is. Does not each sect contend that its doctrines are purely Scriptural ? And do not the others dispute it? But here the Trustees of the Public School Society de- cide for them at once ; and while they contend, and contend truly, that the State has provided that none of this money should go for the purposes of religion, they have a religion of their own made up, as they say, from what is Scriptura^ When Catholics go before Council and ask for their proportion of this fund, " Oh," says the School Society, "it is provided only for secular education." But is that their own practice ? They have one reply for Catholics and another for Protestants ; they have piety enough not to wish infi- delity to ha^e the predominance, and to please the Protestants they introduce religion— Scriptural religion as they call it — and when Catholics find fault with them and wish to teach their own children, they say that the introduction of religion into the schools will forfeit all right to it, for it was not intended or designed for religious pur- poses. In their report and remonstrance to the petition of Catho- lics they say, " this fund is purely of a civil character." If so it means that it is intended to teach children to read, and write, and the mathematics ; and there is not much religion in these sciences : but they are not so careful to abstain from rehgion, for religion is religious instruction, and that they give in their own way and thus, in the expenditure of this money, which is appropriated to civil instruction, they contradict themselves ; and we shall see how they get out of the contradiction. They knew they had done this from the cpmmencement, and the first sound of alarm came from themsehes. They said, " Oh, there is so much prejudice in the community !" and if Catholics were timid, they might be crushed down by that fear. But if there was prejudice, let its abutments be taken away, so that nothing but truth would remain ; and if, \vla\\e their claim was based on truth, knowing the wrong, it was still inflicted, let it be on the record, that the world might know that Catholics were oppressed without any ground of oppression. [Applause.] He said this because the gentlemen were going from one point to another in their statements from time to time of what was the true ground on which the right of the citizen was based. There is in this country the principle that no man should suffer for the free exercise of his freedom of THE SCHOOL QUESTION. Ill conscience ; that no man should suffer, in his person or in his repu- tation, though the liw cannot arrest the pen of the bigotted slan- derer, yet that is the spirit of the law that no man shall be tempo- rarily held accountable for those things which relate to his eternal destiny, for they were things between man and his God, and there- fore the rights of conscience were sacred and inviolate. Bat if that were the case, how can it be insisted on that Catholics shall violate their rights of conscience at the risk of eternal consequences ? How could it be pretended that Catholics could submit to a system about which they were not consulted ? And how was it that the support- ers of the existing system could insist that Catholics were wrong, and that they were right ? Now, since conscience cannot be bent or modified to suit the system. Catholics hoped to cause such a modification of the system that it would suit the consciences of all. [Applause.] That was the ground on which Catholics stood. But they were told that Catholics held it to be an essential part of edu- cation that the Catholic religion and dogmas should be taught. They knew that schools were supported by the State- for the pur- pose of imparting that part of secular knowledge that would be ad- vantageous. But they did not believe it was designed by the State to establish a system of teaching by which all that was good would be extinguished in the process. They did not desire the public money to be expended in the teaching of their dogmas, but they also did not wish to see it expended in th6 support of a system by which the bud of faith would be nipped which was springing up in the hearts of Catholic children. But then they were told that Cath- olics might teach their children after school hours, and on the sev- enth day. But, after six days' teaching in these schools, every one must be well aware how feeble will be the impressions of religion ; how feeble will be the instructions of the pastor to a child that has imbibed the prejudices which the lessons of the school were calcu- lated to create ; how feeble would be the admonition ; how feeble the inculcation of the dogmas of their faith, when the child was already biased against it by the lessons he was taught, by the asso- ciations to which he was exposed, and by the lectures of the teachers on the elucidation of the school lessons. Why, the child ■would be found to be half a Protestant before he was half a scholar. But then they were told that if this money were given to Cath- olics, every other denomination would look for it too. And if they did, he did not see that any great harm would result from it. If any other denomination had the same scruples of conscience, he should say immediately they were entitled to it ; but it did not ap- pear that they had. They had proof in the remonstrances that were sent in against the claim made by the Catholics, that they approved of the present school system. They were satisfied with the system, and their scholars were attending under it, while the children of Catholics did not attend ; so that, by conceding the claim of the Catholics, they, would have the same schools as before, with this 112 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. difference, that the children of Catholics that were no-pr without education, or but partially educated, would have a chance, and the ends of the Legislature would be carried out. But suppose it would have the effect of breaking up the system, he did, not think any great calamity would be produced by such a result, or any great suffering or disaster to the country or to the community. But the evils had been magnified, and in the pamphlet which had been published they had spoken of the bickerings that would be pursued ^and they knew what they had been in other countries — that it Avould lead to contention and strife, and civil war and bloodshed. Well, but this fund was once divided, and there were no such con- sequences. It should be a part of education in America, that men should know the rights of conscience of others, and that they should learn to respect them. But when they gather children of all de- nominations together into these Common Schools, and under pre- tence that if they are not so taught, they are liable to fight in the street Avhen they meet, they lay down a principle different from that inculcated as a par.t of the system. If they are taught tolei'^a- tion — if they are taught that all men are not born to think alike — that there are thousands of subjects on which they may differ, and that religion is one on which they are not only at liberty, but are justified and above all censure in fulfilling the dictates of their con- sciences, then they grow up with a spirit of tolerance to others with whom, when they are men, they have to mingle, and who differ -in opinion from them. But when these principles of the schools are insisted upon, is it not in fact proclaiming to their children, " Be- ware of religion, or you will all get to quarrelling " — [laughter] — it is not to be introduced, or you will get to civil war a-nd bloodshed, as they did in Germany when they got into a thirty years' war 1 But thus it was with the public School Society ; they had not one solid ground to take against the claim which the Catholics made. But, to avoid any difficulty, the Catholics said, Give us our books and teachefs in whom we have confidence, and let the School Society itself be the guardian of our schools, and see that the money be faithfully appropriated, and such instruction given as would qualify the children to be good citizens ; and then, when their minds and their intellects were stored and trained, and knowing their duty to God and to their fellow-men, then it was they would have the prospect of their children being good, and virtuous, and respect- able citizens. So that, putting aside all these difficulties, the question would present itself naturally and necessarily before the Common Council and simply on these grounds: Were Catho- lics, against their convictions, to be compelled to support and sub- mit to a system which suited those gentlemen (the School Society), who were not Catholics, and who had scarcely a feeling on this par- ticular subject in conimon with Catholics ? Were they to insist upon Catholics paying a tax from which, in the exercise of the guaranteed rights of conscience, they could receive no benefit ? Or were they prepared to relieve Catholics from the tax ? Or in a THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 113 word, if they will compel Catholics to pay the tax, seeing the diffi- culties that exist, will they give to Catholics their proportion of the money which the Legislature has set apart for that purpose ? The question r^^uces itself to these simple jjoints : Free Catholics from taxation for schools of any description, and they would stand ready vith the money thus saved to help their own schools, and to devote it to education amongst themselves. But if not, and it would be impracticable, for no denomination could be exempted from a gen- eral taxation. In the next place, would they allow Catholics to have the benefit of education, without the necessity of violating their consciences ; and if they would not, then there was no alterna- tive ; they were Catholics, and it was a pity that their consciences would not allow them to enjoy the system which suited others ; but they were Catholics, and their consciences were not to be respected. It would be impossible, on any other ground, to tteny their rights. It might not be couched in that language, but it would be that in substance : it could not be otherwise. Catholics were anxious for education; and while the managers of these schools pretend that they will give the education, what is the fact ? It is obvious, be- fore their eyes, that where schools are open, and teachers are ready, and money is expended, there are hundreds and thousands growing up in the condition which the Legislature wished to remove. If they are willing to educate Catholic children, why not show their willingness ? If they were animated by a ijatriotic spirit, would they not yield a little to what they call the prejudices of Catholics, but which Catholics know to be right, to be the love of truth? But those men would rather leave hundreds and thousands in per- manent ignorance, than that one tile should be removed from those palaces which they have built for their o\\-n children. That was the condition of the question at this time. What would be the decision of the tribunal before which it had to be discussed and decided they knew not. They had reason to hope that it would be a just one, a conscientious one, and a liberal one; bnt at the same time no explanation, no pleading, no specious exertions on the subject could ever reconcile them to a system which had done so much to destroy their enjoyment of their religious rights as this has done. It was in vain to say " amend the books ;" for if they were permitted to do it this year by courtesy, next year there might be put in a set of cor- porators that would put in again what they now took out. What was courtesy? Why, they (the Catholics) might sit in judgment on the books, and perhaps, when they had corrected them, their corrections might be again corrected, and the books left as they were before. What security, then could be given to Catholics for the enjoyment of their rights ? And while their rights were denied on grounds on which CathoHcs did not pretend to establish them ; while it was pretended before the Council that Catholics would teach religion, and therefore were disqualified, they did that them- selves which they said they expected Catholics would do, and for which they opposed the Catholic claim. They have introduced 114 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. religion, and it was impossible they could escape from the position of adopting a cold water religion in theory, and yet in practice incul- cating a religion to suit their own ideas in these schools. As well and as lawfully might they adopt a system of education supported by the State, which should recognize the system of any one denom- ination, and disavow all other denominations. They told Catholics they did not teach any particular religion ; then they had better teach none at all, for any religion they could teach was far opposed to that of Catholics, who did not recognize them as men fit to go into the pulpit and teach their children. Let them teach those by whom they were recognized as teachers, but not the children of Catholics. He had made these remarks, as it were, as a kind of brief review of the whole ground on which the question stood, so that it might remain fixed on the mind of every one of them as a simple point. The Catholics asked for nothing but what was their right, and what was- just ; and if there was any other lightby which it could be shown that their claim was unjust and not right, they should have no disposition to prosecute it. But in the absence of such conviction, they could not but feel, if their right was still withheld from them, that it could be but for one reason, and that was, that Protestant prejudice was more powerful than truth and justice. [Applause.] But he feared not the issue. The question had made great progress since it w&s elucidated by their public dis- cussions, and now scarcely a man that he had spoken to, that was competent to judge on the subject, that did not say, " Sir, you are right ; there can be no objection to the concession of your claim." But he knew there was in the less intellectual portion of the com- munity a substratum of prejudice. He was aware, however, that this was not the case among the enlightened and the liberal — among men of high, and just, and enlarged, and patriotic views — and it was from these that public opinion was alone worth accepting. [Great and long-continued applause.] Meeting in the Basement of St. James's Church, October 19th, 1840. An adjourned meeting of the Catholics was held in the basement of St. James's Church on Monday evening, Oct. 19th, when the officers of previous meetings were re-elected. The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes was received on his entrance with the warmest ex- pression of affectionate regard. The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes came forward amidst great and general plaudits. He commenced by observing that there was no- thing to alarm them in the conclusion at which some seem already to have arrived, or respecting the course to be pursued by the tri- bunal before which they had laid claim. There was nothino- in it to THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 115 alarm, and for himself there was nothing to surprise, because he had obser^ ed as they had progressed on this question, and whilst they had made some inroad on the advanced posts of pubUe opinion, here and there, that the concentrated and monopolizing power which was opposed to them had been gathering its strength, and had been pre- paring to exert it to the utmost. They (the School Society) feel as if the charm should be broken, the dazzling prospect on which their eye had rested so long with complacency, the prospect of having seventy thousand children for a few years longer to be moulded at t*heir discretion, and of having a larger number — even hundreds of thousands of dollars for the purpose of so moulding them, Avould disappear from before them. Such a dazzling prospect as this was enough to tempt men of their f)hiIanthropy to cling to the system and that they do cling to it they were assured, for, counting on that futurity they had multiplied schools, and they had not only rnulti- plied schools but they had built other and more splendid edifices — • he scarcely knew what to call them — Mr. O'Connor (chairman) — Sessions houses. The Bishop. Yes, sessions houses, for the purpose of legislating into all future time for the education of the children of the citizens of New York. This was evidence that they did count on this long futurity of domination, and therefore it was not surprising that they should cling with such tenacity to its perpetuation. Now it had been his duty to examine the books used in these schools, and whatever might be said hereafter, notwithstanding all that they had printed, or all that they had authorized to be printed by the Board of Assistant Aldermen, that there was nothing in their books against which the Catholics could have any reasonable objec- tion, he, in an examination of the books to ascertain whether that statement was founded in truth, had found many things against which Catholics had reasonable objections. But laying that aside, while Catholics formed one-fifth portion of the citizens whose chil- dren were to be l^ught in these schools, from the first to the last their books did not contain a solitary sentence upon Catholic affairs, nor one line from Catholic authors — not one sentence, not one essay on morals, not one chapter of history, not one section of geography, not a single line from the beginning to the end, as if CathoUcs from the beginning of creation had been men who had not known how to wield the pen, or to arrange ideas in a proper manner. And not only was this the fact, not only was there this suppression — for he might call it the suppression of the truth — and it was the suppression of the brightest trait in their character, which would affect the mind of their children, attach them to the creed of their fathefs, and make them not ashamed of a creed which had produced some of the brightest ornaments that ever did honor to human nature ; indepen- dent of that science, he had in his hand a dialogue used in these schools for the purpose of teaching their children to read, and to practice them in elocution. It was a dialogue between Cortez the conqueror of Mexico, and William Penn. both founders of colonies^ 116 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES, on the use of the sword, and the more honorable means of defence for the colonies. They discuss the principles on which the colonies were established, and then Coetbz says : " It is blasphemy to say, that any folly could come from the fountain of wisdom. Whatever is inconsistent with the great laws of nature, and with the necessary state of human society, cannot possibly have been inspired by God. Self-defence is as necessary to nations as to men. And shall particulars have a right which nations have not ? True religion, William Penn, is the perfection of reason. Fa- naticism is the disgrace, the destruction of reason. Penn says, " Though what thou sayest should be true, it does not come well from thy mouth. A Papist talk of reason I Go to the inquisition and tell them of reason and the great laws of nature. They will broil thee as thy soldiers broiled the unhappy Guatimozin I Why dost thou turn pale ? Is it at the name of the inquisition, or the name of Guatimozin ? Tremble and shake when thou thinkest, that every murder the inquisitors have committed, every torture they have inflicted on the innocent Indians, is originally owing to thee. Thou must answer to God for all their inhumanity, for all their injustice." "^ Papist talk of reason /" There was a lesson for Catholic chil- dren ; and yet the School Trustees, through the Assistant Aldermen, told them there was really nothing in their books against which they ought to have the least objection. Yes, they would impress the minds of their children that Catholics are necessarily, morally, intel- lectually, infallibly, a stupid race. Now he should like to know what reason they had to give, in the introduction of their writers — Robertson, Hume, and others — what reason they could have, when they knew there were such a multitude of Catholic writers, to sup- press even* the least occasional mention of Catholic writers. Was it because Catholics had no men who had labored in the fields of science to improve the human mind ? Now, though it might be a secret to those gentlemen, there was no department of history or philoso- phy in which the mind of a Catholic had not taken the lead ; and the time was when they found the Catholic arm the strongest in pushmg the Sun of Science up the heavens. Who had produced works of theology like theirs (the Catholicai? In philosophy, whether of mmd or matter, where were the books which for depth of research, or extent of knowledge, equaled or approached the mighty tomes produced by Catholics ? And at the period when ancient civihzation was destroyed, when the edifice crumbled under the mighty stroke of the Goth and the Hun, and when society was dissolved, they found Catholic minds presiding over its recon- struction, laying its foundations broad and deep, and doing every-, thing calculated to improve the public mind. Who reduced a mass ^ rude characters into letters which we now call our alphabet? W ft« i!. Jf T^"' "^ " thus gave a language to Europe by establish- .Yig Its basis. Nay, more, after that, who introduced that most im- portant branch of civilization, agriculture? It was the monks, by whose industry and labor the reclaimed wastes became the " model farms" of Europe, and from them agriculture spread They heard much of free government and of Parliaments but was that a Protestant invention ? No, it was a Catholic Tnven'tion;Z THE SCHOOL QUESTlOISr. 117 it was copied from the Catholic Church. The first models of repre- sentative government, and of dignified and noble parliaments, were the councils of the Catholic Church, in which every part of that church had its representative. Thence, then, the idea was borrowed, w^hich has been the pride and boast of England and of this country after her, of representative government. But he might speak also of navigation. Who discovered the continent on which they now lived ? Was it not a Catholic ? Who made the second voyage to this continent, and stamped his name upon it ? Was it not a Cath- olic ? — Americus Vespucius. Who made the first voyage round the globe ? Was it not a Catholic ? And Catholics were the first to visit both the East and the West Indies ; they traversed seas to carry the knowledge of Jesus Christ to the ignorant, and they then became acquainted with the physical position of diflfevent countries, and they conveyed that knowledge to the world either in letters or other documents, and added a mass of human knowledge which had assumed a gigantic size before Protestantism first sprung out of the earth. And while things of a less beneficial tendency were going on in other parts of the globe, Catholic missionaries, 200 years ago, penetrated this country and continued a chain round from Quebec to the Mississippi. While persecution was going on in the North and the South, with which Catholics had nothing to do, their free banner waved over Maryland, where the rights of conscience were recog- . nized. They went to the Indians, not to destroy but to convert, to save, and civilize. And if we turn our eyes from these things to others, we shall see those things which are calculated to reflect honor on those who effected their accomplishment. When we see the alleviation of the infirmities of human life, we naturally ask our- sehes to whom the world was indebted for the act of mercy. Who planned the structures and laid the foundation of those hospitals for the afflicted, and asylums for the decrepid, aged, and the young and exposed infant ? Were they not all introduced and established by the benevolent spirits and the enlightened minds of the Catholics of antiqiiity ? Turn your minds to other structures, and then ask who laid the foundations of the universities ? Who originated the idea ? Wlio .aided their establishment ? It was Catholics alone; and if you blot out the benevolent institutions with which the earth is still studded, for which the world is indebted to Catholics, you will find but a few insignificant ones remaining. If you turn again from these things to the men distinguished by their own intellect — to warriors and legislators — to men distinguished by their eloquence, by their scientific attainments, in jurisprudence, or in other stations in public-life, where do you find models worthier of imitation than those by whom the pages of Catholic history are adorned. Passing again from these to the ornaments of ancient literature, of classic (jreece and Rome, and while desolation and barbarism passed over Europe with their trains of evils, who, by patient, persevering in- dustry, gathered up the fragments of ancient literature to adorn the human mind ? It was done by the labor of the calumniated monks. 118 AECHBISHOP HtTGHES. Tos, you may turn your eyes on whatever side you please, and you will find that Catholics have nothing of which to be ashamed. You will find no reason for the suppression of all these things with which Catholics can charge themselves, but you will find in every depart- ment, if you take away the volumes Catholics have written, and the mighty libraries they have collected, your shelves will_ present a barren appearance. Why, we have the testimony of eniinent Prot- estant scholars themselves, attesting the fact that one single order alone — the order of Benedictines— did more than all the Protestants togethei-. In every species of knowledge— in history, jurisprudence, and canonical and civil law— in a word, in everything appertaining to human knowledge, it was found that the great predominance was due to Catholic labor and Catholic success ; and why then did they not find one page to adorn these school-books from authors like these. Again, where are there poets like Catholic poets? Take from England the works of Catholic writers : take away her Chaucer, and Spenser, and Shakspeare, and Dryden, and Pope, and yo\i take away the cream of English literature. Then, if they turned their minds from these things to others not so immediately essential to the cultivation, but to the adornment of human life^ take the study of the mathematics — and who was the first to culti- vate that study in the west of Europe ? Who invented and arrayed, and introduced that science but the Monk Jerbert, afterwards Pope Sylvester II. ; the same who introduced the first celestial globes. Then, again, in architecture and its application to the construction of bridges, which at one period of European history could not be constructed without calling in the aid of some learned man from a distant country, who was usually some humble monk who knew how to throw the daring arch, to span the river, or to cross the other- wise impassable valley. Take away from England even the archi- tectural structures left by Catholics, and what would remain ? — scarcely anything. Oxford would disappear, and the greater part of Cambridge, and nothing would be left but St. Paul's, of which Lord Kingsbury said, after seeing St. Peter's, it was scarcely fit for anything but to be blown up by gunpowder. If they turned from these things to inventions, they might ask, who invented the art of printing ? A Catholic. Who originated that by which information was sent round through every village and hamlet — the post-office? A Catholic. Who invented the clock to tell what time of day it was ? A Catholic. Wlio invented the compass to guide the mariner across the trackless ocean ? A Catholic? What is it that Catholics have not done? And if this is the history of this people, why was it that these teachers despised them ? and why was it that not a line fi-om Catholic authors was permitted in their books? And they jiretended to be all impartiality and to possess feelings of the most liberal and philanthropic character. But turn away from this again to another thing. There are afflictions resting on the children of sorrow, some of whom are deprived of sight, and the sunbeam falls fo the earth in vain for them. Now it was a work of benevolence THE SCHOOL QtrKSTION. 119 to discover eyes for these children of sorrow, and to place them at the end of their fingers ; or, in other words, to enable them, by run- ning their fingers over raised characters, to read with rapidity ; and it is to a Catholic that the invention is to be attributed. Again, there is another class, the deaf and dumb, who can neither hear nor speak. Now, happily for them, there is an invention, which ema- nated from a benevolent heart, by which they can communicate thought, and for this they are indebted to a Catholic priest. The language for the deaf and dumb was the invention of the Abbe Ponza, a Benedictine of Spain. Now if these gentlemen of the Public Schools would place Catho- lics under a dark cloud, he saw no reason why they should not penetrate that cloud, and cause some of the rays of their former glory to return to them. It was then again the Abbe L'Eppe, who on visiting two sisters thus afllicted, as a man of God, was himself afflicted that he could not communicate to them the Chri^ian Reli- gion. He began to move by signs, and continued to improve on his attempt, until at Mngth he acquired the means of communicating with the deaf and dumb with ease and rapidity. Who was the founder of Sunday-schools ? It was Saint Charles Borromeo — a Catholic. In a word, there is no department of knowledge in which Catholics have not been distinguished. But to go further, who discovered a quicker means of communication than the railroad ? , It was not used so extensively in this country as in some others, but it might be important even here, if an invasion should be made of any part of our coast, to communicate information to Washington and reeeiAe an answer back in less time than it could be done by railroads. He would deserve a prize who should invent' the means of sending information from Niagara to Washington and receiving an answer back in six or seven hours. And yet the equiva- lent of this had been done by a Catholic priest who invented the telegraph. [Applause.] If they turned to music, who had brought it to its present state by the perfection of instrumental music? Who had taught the canvas to speak ? And who had given life and animation to the cold marble ? Catholics. And all the boasted superiority of Protestants was yet an infinite distance from the pro- ductions of Catholics, and they Avere proud to distraction if they succeeded in producing a tolerable copy of that which Catholics had invented. [Applause.] He had thus endeavored to claim for Ca- tholics that to which they were confessedly entitled. The gentle- men of the public schools had not treated them fairly or honorably, when they had thought proper to fill their pages for the instruction of their children, from Hume and Robertson, and other Protestant writers who were all opposed to the Catholics, and not given one sentence from Catholic authors. But he would go now to another point. They had said that there was nothing in their books to which Catholics could object. Why, in the most delicate manner [laughter] they teach that the ceremonies of the Catholic religion are the remnants of idolatry — so slyly and so gently is it introduced, 120 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. [Laughter.] In " Conversations on Common Things," which were used as reading lessons for their children, there occurred the tollow- ing passages : " D. What 13 frankincense ? it was burned in the Catholic church the day I was there ; I suppose it is a kind of gum ? , ,„„„„ " M. It is an odoriferous substance, consisting of equal quantities ot ^mmy and resinous particles : it is collected in a very impure state, and rednea alter importation. We have the gum from Mount Lebanon and Arabia, also in great quantities from the western coast of Africa. It was formerly burnt in all temples of worship, and many Christians were put to death by the idolatrous Jews and Ro- mans, for refusing to burn it before idols." They would see the connection which children, whether Catholics or Protestants, after reading this lesson would ever associate m their minds. They would never see frankincense without associatmg therewith the putting to death of Christians by " the idolatrous Jews and Romans, for refusing to burn it before idols." But take an- other. They had now, after the assertion of these gentlemen that they did not teach religion, the proclamation that Catholics ought not to be allowed any portion of this money because they would teach religion. Now they were told that . the teachers were not allowed to give instruction in religion by way of explanation of the reading lessons, but they had a sermon printed at the end of the text, and svch a sermon. [Laughter.] The book entitled " Popular Lessons" contained a chapter on " The Ten Virgins," and the mys- terous words in that lesson were explained to the children at the end of the chapter imder the title of "explanations." T4ie first word explained was the word " parable ;" and this was the explana- tion, " A parable is sometimes called a comparison ; it shows one thing or circumstance to resemble some other." [Laughter.] The next was the word " virgins ;" and what did they suppose that meant? " immarried women," according to the Public Schools. [Laughter.] After some other explanations they go on to the word " marriage," and here is the explanation : " Marrinr/r, — When a man and woman agree to live together all their lives, and to be called Husband and Wife, their agreement is called marriage. The wife takes her husband's name, and goes to his house ; and whatever belongs to one of them belongs to the other also. " When the man takes the woman for his wife, the ceremony of the occasion is called a weddinr/. At weddings, the friends of the couple to be married often as- semble, and most commonly the company are very merry and happy together. The marriage ceremony is different in different countries, and among people of different sects." But here was another, and he confessed he considered it of a much more serious character. It was a chapter introduced for the instruction of their children on " The Character of Christ." Now those gentlemen, of all the men he ever knew, were, to his mind, the most inconsistent, and yet the most complacent in their inconsistency. They were first told that those gentlemen, did not teach religion in their schools; and then again, oh yes, they said, we do, but it is the morality of all sects — a kind of religion which all agree in, so that nobody is offended. [Laughter.] Now here was a chapter from THE SCHOOL QUESTION, 121 tlie Bishop of London, from wliich these men would teach their (Catholic) children the character of Jesus Christ. He would read a passage, and if Rosseau or Voltaire would not give a character more worthy of him, he did not know what they could write. It was certainly all panegyric, but still it suppressed the true part of his character, while it shoirtfed that he was not a Philosopher like Socrates, nor a Prophet like Mahomet. " lie was not^ only free from every failing, but he possessed and practiced every imaginable virtue. Towards his heavenly Father he expressed the most ardent love, tlie most fervent, yet rational devotion ; and displayed in his whole conduct the most absolute resignation to his •will, and obedience to his, commands. " His manners were gentle, mild, condescending, and gracious ; his lieart over- flowed with kindness, compassion and tenderness to the whole human race. The grpat employment of his life, was to do good to the bodies and souls of men. In this all his thoughts, and all his time were constantly and almost incessantly occupied. " He went about, disposing his blessings to all around him, in a thousand dif- ferent ways; healing diseases, relieving infirmities, correcting errors, removing prejudices, promoting piety, justice, charity, peace, and harmony ; and crowding into the narrow compass of his ministry, more acts of mercy and compassion, than the longest life of the most benevolent man upon earth ever yet produced. " Over his own passions he had the most complete command ; and though his patience was continually put to the severest trials, yet he was never overcome, never betrayed into any intemperance or excess, in word or deed ; ' never once spake unadvisedly with his lips.' " He endured the crudest insults from his enemies, with the utmost composure, meekness, patience, and resignation ; displayed astonishing fortitude under the most painful and ignominous death ; and to crown all, in the very midst of his tor- ments on the cross, implored forgiveness for his murderers, in that divinely chari- table prayer, ' Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' "' Nor was his wisdom inferior to his virtues. The doctrines he taught were the most sublime, and the most important, that were ever before delivered to mankind ; and every way worthy of that God from whom he professed to derive them, and whose Son he declared himself to be. " His precepts inculcated the purest and most perfect morality ; his discourses were full of dignity and wisdom, yet intelligible and clear ; his parables conveyed instruction in the most pleasing, familiar, and impressive manner ; and his answers to the many insidious questions that were put to him, showed uncommon quickness of conception, soundness of judgment and presence of mind ; completely baflied all the artifices and malice of his enemies ; and enabled him to elude all the snares that were laid for him'. " From this short and imperfecl sketch of our Saviour's character, it is eviden*- that he was, beyond comparison, the wisest and the most virtuous person that ever appeared in the world." " His answers to the many insidious questions that were put to hims, showed uncommon quickness of conception, ! — soundness of judg- ment! and -presence of mind!" and so forth. Now he asked if that was not a very liberal admission in favor of their blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He asked if a deist or an atheist could be found in New York who would not give him the character which these gentlemen would introduce to their children, and which would almost degi'ade him to the condition of the Philosophers of Greece. They praise him ! But it is with language the most insidious. They give him credit for eluding all the snares of his enemies, but it is as though they said, Snares were laid for him by his enemies, but he 122 AEOHBISHOP HUGHES. was too cute for them. [Laughter.] And yet these men pretend that they, and they alone, ought to monopolize the direction of the mind of infancy. They pretend thalt they alone should take the con- tribution of Catholics for so noble a purpose as that of education ; become the guardians and directors of Catholic children ; and that they alone are fitted to guard the heart, Vl^eh is of infinitely greater importance than the welfare of the body. These, then, were the men Avho were laboring to prove that there was not any single denomination of Christians from which a Board could be formed that was worthy to be confided in._ But he would like to know if there was not a Christian denomination to be found from which a Board could .be formed of equal respectability with those gentlemen, and he did not wish to detract from their character. It was a libel on the men Avho were conscientious in other faiths to intimate that they were less capable or less honest than they (the School Trustees). What reason, then, could be given for the interpo- sition of these gentlemen between Catholics and their children ? for claiming the right to extort on the one hand the expense of the edu- cation, and then its administration, and in its administration to dilute and render it good for nothing ? For himself, he had no care in this matter ; but for the children of Catholics, as their Bishop, and therefore their spiritual parent and protector, he had a conscientious duty to discharge in the protection and vindication of their princi- ples and their rights. He cared less for the money than for their rights and principles. [Applause.] And what he said for Catholics to-day, he would say for the Lutheran or the Quaker to-morrow, if they had the same conscientious scrujDles. There was no law- there could be no law in this country under any pretext, that could compel them to violate the rights of conscience, whereby the very existence of society itself in this country depends. He repeated, as a matter of money, it was not so much a matter of importance,' as it was as a matter of principle ; and for the Catholics, he proclaimed it to the world, that as regarded tl\e Public Schools, there was an end of all connection with them — The Uniox is Repealed. [Great applause.] Wliat, then, was their future course ? It was that they were obliged to do henceforward as they had done heretofore — to educate their own children, after paying into the common treasury the expense of doing so. They thereby saved their children's prin- ciples, and if the gentlemen of the Public Schools deemed it any glory to take the money of the Catholics, poor as many of them were, and appropriate it to a partial system from which the Catho- lics were excluded, let them enjoy the unenvied glory of doing so,; but a conquest over their principles those gentlemen would not obtain. [Applause.] It remained, then, for them (the Catholics), to unite in soul in pro- portion to the tenacity of purpose with which the School Society cling to the existing system; and to show those gentlemen with what perseverance and firmness they were determined not to submit to injuries. So far as it depended on them (the Catholics), those THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 123 gentlemen would find no acquiescence in a system, which, in the conscience and judgment of every impartial man could not merit approbation. They (the Catholics) had to develop their position to the world, and to explain to the community at large the bearing of this system upon them, for there were multitudes that did not com- prehend it, and who saw nothing in it affecting their own religion' to induce them to examine it. But when Catholics showed how it pressed unequally on them, and on the principles of justice, on their freedom of conscience, and on the liberty which they ought to possess to give instruction to their own children, they would find friends and supporters among those who had no sympathy with their religion. He conceived it could not be otherwise. But all he begged of the Public Council of the Board of Aldermen, was to treat them with candor and frankness, and at once say yes, or no. This was all they expected — as a matter of favor to be conferred on them, they did not ask it, they claimed it as a right for which they had many prece- dents. In Ireland the Presbyterians objected to the system pursued by the British Government, and that government consulted those objections to remove them ; and he would say, glory to those Pres- byterians for stating their scruples. Again, look at Lowell in their own country. The Catholics there being unwilling to place their children under a system which they conceived operated against their consciences, made known their ob- jections to the superintendents of those schools ; and those superin- tendents, on becoming acquainted with the facts, being themselves men of education, without any desire to encroach on the rights, or to get the shavings of the consciences of others — [laughter] — said to the Catholics, Establish your own schools, select your own teachers, and we will pay for them, provided you give education, for education is what we want. IS'ow, cannot these men do that here, instead of pursuing the course which they have pursued hitherto ? But if, on the contrary, they say, Keep quiet, we know who you are, we will tell them we are not afraid : the time when Penn told Cortez Catho- lics could not reason, has gone by ; and now Cathohcs can reason ; and when they were made to bear burdens which pressed more heavily than was fair, and reasonable, and right, they would tell those gentlemen that they would not submit to it. [Great applause.] There was one other subject to which it was his desire to call the attention of the meeting. It was in reference to the opportunity to be afforded them of stating their grievances to the Board of Alder- men. It had been suggested to him by a gentleman very deeply in- terested in the success of this question, that it might not be expedi- ent for him (the Bishop) to appear in such a place on such an occa- sion, for it was possible that some language might be used towards him, which, though he might bear it with patience, might be painful to others. On this question, he had replied, he was willing to give up his own opinion, but at the same time he stated that he had no apprehension of anything of that kind, or if anything of the sort 124 _ ABCHBISHOP HUGHES should occur, it would have no effect on him personally, or on his feelings. But he had no apprehensions on the subject, either on questions of propriety or any other. He, however, had considered whether he should not there be out of place^and whether even in meetings like the present he was not; but so vital and important did he consider the question, that he con- ceived he could not be anywhere more in keeping with his character as a bishop, than when lie stood before them, pleading the cause of the poor and the oppressed. [Great applause.] And so near was the question to his heart that he could bear insult from morning till night. [Renewed applause.] Insult would have no other effect on him than to make him cling still closer to that principle which was to be acted upon in a few days, but the effect of which was to be felt through years and years, through ages and ages, through generations and generations, till the world shall be no more. [Cheers.] For such a question he might venture to the farthest boundaries of propriety — to the farthest limits which propriety would allow a bishop to go. He was, howeVei', willing to submit his opinion to the meeting. He should not consider himself out of place there ; and he had nothing to dread on that occasion. [Great applause.] He then passed a high eulogium on the character of Mr. Francis Cooper, and on his firmness in refusing to take the oaths prescribed for members of the Legislature, and when he conceived them contrary to the right of conscience, and concluded by pro- posing the addition of that gentleman to the committee deputed to wait on the Board of Aldermen, to state the ground of their claim — an addition which he considered valuable, inasmuch as Mr. Cooper was familiar with the subject, having been himself connected with the CommoB. School System. SPEECH BEPOEE THE CITY COUNCIL. 125 BISHOP HUGHES' GREAT SPEECHES ON THE CLAIM OF THE CATHOLICS TO* A PORTION OF THE COMMON SCHOOL FUND, BEFORE THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, ON THURSDAY akd' FRIDAY, THE 29th and 30iii OCTOBER, 1840. On Thursday, the 39th October, 1840, the Board of Aldermen met m special session, for the purpose of hearing the arguments of the Catholics in favor of their claim to a separate portion of the Common School Fund, and the School Society, and the Societies of the Methodist Episcopal Church in opposition. The Board of Assistant Aldermen was present, by invitation of the Board of Aldermen, to hear the discussion. The deep interest which was felt in the question by the community generally was exhibited by the dense crowd which filled the spacious halls long before the doors of the Council Chamber were thrown open, and by the anx- ious solicitude which was manifested to hear the debate. Some time elapsed before the Aldermen and the gentlemen who were to take part in the proceedings could obtain a passage through the mass of human beings that struggled for admission, even with the aid of a body of police officers, and great numbers of individuals were ultimately unable to gain admission. When the Board became organized, and some points of form had been determined, it was agreed to hear the parties in the order in which their I)etitions or remonstrances had been received by the Council — viz., first the Catholics, then the Public School Society, and lastly the Societies of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which were respectively represented by the following Committees and Counsel : — The Catholics, by the Right Rev. Bishop Hughes, the Very Rev. Dr. Power, Thomas O'Connor, Esq., Francis Cooper, Esq., Dr. Hugh Sweeney, James McKeon, Esq., and James Kelly, Esq. ; the School Society, by Theodore Sedgwick, Esq., and Hiram Ketchum, Esq. ; the Methodist Episcopal Churches, by the Revs. Dr. Bangs, Dr. Bond, and George Peck. Before entering on the discussion, the reading of the petition of the Catholics and the remonstrances from the other Societies here represented, was called by the Alderman of the Sixteenth "Ward, and they were road accordingly by Mr. John Paulding, the Reader to the Board. 126 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes then rose to address the Board in behalf of th3 Catholics, and spoke as follows: Gentlemen of the Board of Aldermen, — Unaccustomed as I am to address a body of gentlemen such as "l see here before me, I may not always be correct in the manner of my address : I hope, therefore, that any mistakes of mine may be imputed by this Honorable Board to my inexperience. I would also, on the threshold of the subject, observe, that in no part of the discussion on this question, so far as it has gone, am I conscious of having imputed to any gentleman who is opposed to the claim in which I have so deep an interest, any motive or design of a sinister character. I am sorry, therefore, that the Public School Society should have been pleased to refer to the language of our ■ document as though imputation had thereby been cast upon their motives. I am sure if they again review our documents they will not find one sohtary instance of any imputation dishonorable to them personally as gentlemen. We speak of their system apart from themselves ; and we speak of it with that freedom wtiich it is the right of American citizens to speak of the public actions and public proceedings of public men ; but again will I repeat, that in no instance to my knowledge has there been imputed to those gentlemen one solitary motive, one single purpose unworthy of their high standing and their respectable character. They have alleged, in some of their documents, that we charge them with teaching infidelity ; but we have not done so. We charge it &s the result of their system, not that they are actively engaged in teaching infidelity ; and not only do we not say this, but we interpose the declaration, that we do not believe such to be their intention, but that the system has gone beyond their intention. Yet, after this, they ascribe to themselves these impu- tations, and they cap their salvo by saying, that even the authors of the address shrink from a picture of their own coloring — a picture which they not only charge that we have drawn of them, but also of all other classes and denomi- nations of our fellow-citizens. Now, I venture to repeat, that in no instance have we imputed to them motives which can reflect on them as honorable men. I make these observations in the commencement, simply to show how much has been written of the petitioners on assumptions which have no foundation on any thing that has been written or said by us. I know well the Public School Society is an institution highly popular in the city of New York ; but I should be sorry 'to suppose that those gentlemen would permit themselves to interpose that popularity between them and the justice which we contend for when we seek that to which we believe we have a legal right. At the same time it is proper for me, at the commencement, to clear away another objection which an attempt has been made, in both the remonstrances thiat have been read, to oppose to the exceedingly simple principle for which we contend. The attempt has been made, (and you will perceive the whole document, which issued as a Report from the Board of Assistant Aldermen, as well as the remonstrances of the Public School Society, ^nd the Methodist Episcopal Church, is based on the same false assumption,) to assume false premises in this matter, which are, that we want this money for the promotion of the ecclesiastical interests of our Church. Now, if these Societies wish to enter their remonstrances against our petition they should first read the language in which we have urged our claim, and if they had, they would have saved themselves the trouble, in my opinion, of reasoning on arguments which are but figments of their own creation and no proposition of ours. Have not we distinctly stated not only what we want, but, to guard them against accusing us of what wo do not want, have we not said that we do not want the public money to promote ecclesiastical interests ? for to this money, for such a purpose, we have no right. And, also, have we not further stated, that if it can be shown that we want the money for this purpose, that we will abandon our claim— that if SPEECH BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 127 it can be shown that we want it for sectarian interest we will relinquish.it altogether ? "We have said in the first place : "Your petitioners will now invite the attention of your honorable body to the objections and misrepresentations that have been urged by the Public School Society to gnvntinf, the claim of your petitioners. It is urged by them that it would be appropriating money raised' by general taxation to trie snppo;"t of the Catholic religion. Your petitioners join issue with them, and declare unhesitatingly, that if this objection can be established the claim shall forthwith be abandoned. It is objected that though we are taxed as citizens, we apply for the benefits of education as ' Catholics,' Your petitioners, to remove this difficulty, beg to be considered in their application in the identical capacity in which they are taxed, viz. : as citizens of the commonwealth. It has been contended by the Public School Society, that the law disqualilies .schools which admit any profession of religion from receiving any encouragementa from the school fund. Your petitioners have two solution^ for this pretended difficulty. First. Your petitioners are unable to discover any such disqualification in law, which m.erely delegates to your honorable body the authority and discretion of determining what schools or societies shall be entitled to its bounty. Secondly. Your petitioners are willing to fulfill the conditions of the law so far as religious teaching is proscribed during school hours. In fine, your petitioners, to remove all objections, are willing that the material organization of their schools, and the disbursements of the funds allowed for them, shall be conducted and made, by persons unconnected with *he religion of your petitioners, even the Public School Society, if it should please your honorable body to appoint them for that purpose. The public may then be assured that the money will not be applied to the support of the Catholic religion. " It is deemed necessary by your petitioners to save the Public School Society the necessity of future misconception, thus to state the things which are not petitioned for." Yet, notwithstanding this clear and simple language, you perceive both the remonstrances, of the School Society and the Episcopal Methodists, go on this false issue, that we want this money for sectarian and illegal purposes! Our language could not be plainer than it was on this point, and yet there has been uncharitableness enough in these societies to assert the contrary. I have deemed it necessary to make this explanation at the commencement to impress your minds, gentlemen, with what it is we seek and what it is. we seek not, because I know a deal may be done towards a proper elucidation of this subject by preserving its simplicity. The remonstrants warn you, gentlemen, against giving money for sectarian purposes. We join them in that admonition. We contend that we look in honesty and simplicity alone for the benefits of educa- tion ; and as members of the commonwealth and as Catholics we seek but that which we believe to be just, and legal, and right. I shall now, gentlemen, review very briefly both the documents, because they submit to your Honorable Body the grounds on which that claim, which we believe to be just, is opposed. After the introduction of that from the Public School Society, we find in the second paragraph the following passages : " The subject has, however, been so fully elucidated and ably argued, in documents now among the public records, that your remonstrants cannot Tiope to shed any additional fight upon it. They therefore beg leave to refer your honorable body to Document No. 80, of the Board of Assistant Aldermen, as containing the reasons on which your remonstrants would rely, in opposing the applications of religious societies for a portion of the school fund. It is believed that no decision of the City Government ever met with a more general and cordial response in the public mind." Yes, it may well be so believed, for the reason that that whole document wSnt on a false issue, and therefore it was thus believed. But if I prove, as I shall, that the premises had no foundation in reality, then the arguments founded thereon must fall to the ground, for they were but castles in the air. It proceeds : ' ' " As the Roman Catholics very recently issued an address to the people of this City and State, ui'ging at large their reasons for a separate appropriation of school money, to which your remonstrants have replied, they now present copies of said documents, which they respectfully submit to your honorable body, as containing matter relevant to the question under consideration. The petition of the Roman Catholics now pending presents, nevertheless, some points which your remonstrants feel called upon to notice. 128 AECHBISHOP HUGHES, B7 a misapprehension of the law in relation to persons who are conscientiously opposed to bearing arms, which is applicable to persons of every religious persuasion, they attempt to adduce an argument in favor of the prayer of their petition, and say that theyi only claim the benefit of the same principle in regard to the education of their children. Now the facts are, that the law imposes a fine, or tax as an equivalent for personal military services, and in the event of there being no property on which to levy, subjects such persons to imprisonment, and numbers are every year actually confined in the jails of this State." Now I conceive the illustration there referred to was a strong one. The parents and guardians of tender offspring have a right connected with their nature by God himself in His wise Providence, and they should be shown a strong reason for transferring it to others. And I adduced it as an illustration and as a strong one — why ? Because the defence of the country is a thing connected with self-existence and preservation ; and yet, so tender is the genius of this happy country of the rights of conscience, it dispensed with all those who had religious scruples from a compliance with the law, and changed it into a small tine, whereby the right was shown, and also the disposition to waive it. " With the religious opinions of the denomination of Christians referred to, your remonstrants have nothing to do. In opposing the claims of the Roman Catholic, and several other churches, to the school money, they have confined their remarks to broad general grounds alike applicable to all; but the petitioners have seen fit to single out a religious society by name, and intimate or indirectly assert, not only that their pecu- liar religious views lead to insubordination and contempt of parental authority, but that the Trustees of the Public Schools, who are of this denomination, by their numbers or the ' controlling influence' they exert, have introduced the * same principle' into the public schools, and that their effects are manifested in the conduct of the Catholic children who have attended them." Now I am exceedingly surprised that those gentlemen should go so far from the text to draw reproach upon themselves. We said nothing to authorize this language. We simply stated the fact ; we mentioned the circumstance of the controlling influence of those holding peculiar sectarian views ; but we did not draw the conclusion, whether the insubordination of the children of our poor people was the result of the principles taught in the schools or of a want of domestic influence. And yet these gentlemen have gone on to draw upon themselves an imputation of which we respectfully disclaim the authorship. They proceed : " Your remonstrants feel bound, therefore, in reply,. to state that of the one hundred citizens who compose the hoard of trustees, there are only twelve of the denomination thus traduced " and of these six or seven accepted the situation by solicitation of the board, for the purpose of superintending the management of the colored schools, to which object they nave almost exclusively confined themselves." Now I should be one of the last to detract from the raferits of this denomi- nation. Some of them I have known personally, and others by their history, and my opinion has always been of them that they are among the foremost in every benevolent act and social virtue, and to lend their arm to strengthen the weak and the oppressed ; and therefore it is no reproach to them that they take the lead in this work of benevolence of which I give them credit. They go on to say : '" Of the motive that induced this extraordinary portion of the petition, your remon- strants will not trust themselves to speak," It might be recollected, gentlemen, if there were a leaning that way, it was after the publication of the "Reply" to our "Address," which, though it has the name, is no rej>ly to our arguments. It is not an answer; but in it they take the occasion to sneer at us, as I shall soon have occasion to show; yet I may here observe, that it would have been better if they had addressed themselves to the principles of eternal justice on which we rest. " Of so much of it," they add, " as convevs an idea that the Trustees who are of this religious persuasion introduced, or attempt to introduce, into the public schools their SPEECH BEFOKE THE CITY COUNCIL. 129 own peculiar opinions," we never charged that thej did; "they can only say that no one of the numerous and serious charges brought against your remonstrants by the petitioners, is more entirely destitute of foundation in fact. If a disposition existed in any quarter to give a sectarian bias to the minds of the children, it will readily be seen that the most successful method would be through the selection of teachers."' "Why, there was no necessity for this vindication at all. " In one of the documents now submitted to your Honorable Body, it is stated that, in appointing teachers, no regard is had by the Trustees to the religious profession-of the candidates, and that six or seven of the present number are Roman Catholics." I have seen this statement figure ia almost every document of that Society, and yet I have not heeu able to find "six or seven of the present number who are Eoman Catholics:" and I doubt if they can be found, except they are such Roman Catholics as w« see our children become after they have been in these public schools ; that is. Catholics who have nij feelings in com- mon with their church — Catholics who are ashamed of the name, because in the school-books and from the teachers they hear of its professors only as " Papists," and of the religion itself only as " Popery." It is such as these, I fear, that pass as Catholics, though I only know of one who is worthy of the name. "From an inquiry now made, it is found that only two of the teacii- ers belong to the ' Society of Friends.' " And I don't suppose that better teachers could be obtained anywhere, when confined within the limits pre- scribed; .except they have the pinvilege to introduce religious instruction. And without that it matters but little whether they are of the Society of Friends or not. They continue : " It is with regret that your remonstrants find themselves under the painful neces- sity of saying that the petition of the Catholics contains garbled extracts and detached portions of some parts of their annual reports in relation to religious instruction, and so arranged and commented upon as to convey a meaning directly opposite to the one intended and clearly expressed in the original documents." Now, I will allow the reading of it, and if there are any garbled extracts there, I will be the first to correct it. But I am surprised, when we quote the words of their documents, that they should urge this charge. Let the documents be read. I have no dread on this subject. " The same means are resorted to in quoting the language of the Trustees, when urging the importance of using measures for inducing the poor to have their children educated. On different occasions, your remonstrants have suggested to tjie Common Council the expediency of requiring, by legal enactment, the attendance at some * public or other daily school' of the numerous 'Vagrant children who roam about our streets and wharves, begging and pilfering;' and this is tortured in the Catholic petition into a desire of ' abridging the private liberties of their fellow-citizena,' and an acknowledg- ment, on the part of the Trustees, * that they had not the confidence of the poor.' " Yet I should think, gentlemen, such a reluctance to attend their schools as to make it necessary to apply for a legal enactment to procure first the money and then to compel an attendance,"would show that they did want that confidence. I know they have not the confidence of our body. Yes, they have obtained two (enactments from the Oommftn Council, depriving the parents in time of need — even when cold and starvation have set in upon them — of public relief, unless the children were sent to these, or some other schools. And I have seen them urging ladies, in their public document-, to obtain their confidence by soothing words; and I have seen them urging employers to make it the condition of employment. Yet, after all this, they pretend that they have had the confidence of the poor. I do not say that they have notmerited it according to their views: but I do not think they should expect all mankind to submit to their views of the matter, to the sacrifice of their own. They say : " The records of the schools will demonstrate that the industrious and respectable portions of the laboring classes repose entire confidence in the public school system and its managers." 9 130 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. Then that portion in behalf of whom I stand here is not to be classed with the " industrious and respectable 1" They then proceed to another point : " The subject of objectionable matter in the books used in the public schools is so fully discussed in the papers now submitted to your honorable body, that little more would seem to be called for under this head. Finding their strenuous and long-con- tinued efibrts to induce the Catholic clergy to unite in an expurgation of the books un- availing, the trustees commenced the work without them, and it is now nearly com- pleted. If anything remains to which the petitioners can take exception, no censure can, by possibility, attach to your remonstrants ; and the trustees assert with confi- dence, that if any has escaped them, there is now less matter objectionable to the Roman Catholics, to, be found in the books used in the public schools, than in those of any other seminary of learning, either public or private, within this State." Now they could not adopt a worse test, for I defy you to find a readinc; book in either public or private seminary, that in respect to Catholics is not full of ignorance. Not a book. For if it were clear of this it would not be popular ; and if they refer to this, then they refer to a standard which we repudiate. But it must be remembered those people can send their children to those schools or keep tliem at home. They are not taxed for their support. But here we are ; it is the public money which is here used to preserve the black blots which have been attempted to be fixed on the Catholic name. They say again, (and it is an idea that will go exceedingly well with the public at large, for it will show how amiable and conciliating are these gentlemen) — that they have submitted the books to us as though we have nothing to do but to mark out a passage and it will disappear. But are we to take the odium of erasing i)assages which they hold to be true ? Have they the right to make such an offer ? And if we spend the necessary time in reviewing the books to discover passages to be expurgated, have they given us a pledge that they will do it, or that they will not even then keep them in ? Have they given us a pledge that they will do it as far as their denomination is concerned ? And then, after all the loss of time which it would require to review these books, they can either remove the objec- tionable passages, or preserve them as they see fit. An individual cannot answer for a whole body. They may make a fine ofiier which may be cal- culated to impose on the public, but if we put the question if they are able and if they are willing, I should like to know whether they can, and will, pass a law to show us that they arc sincere and that the object can be car- ried out ? That would alter the case ; or we may correct one passage to-day, and another next week ; and then another body may come into power, and we may have to petition again and again. Could they then do it if they would ? And should they if they could ? They add : "In conclusion, your remonstrants would remark that they have not thought it ex- pedient, on this occasion, to enter into a detailed defence of their conduct, as regards all of the charges preferred by the Roman Catholics. Those charges are before your honorable body, and the trustees will cheerfully submit to any inquiry that you "may see fit to institute in relation to them ; and even if it can be shown that your remon- strants are as ' eminently incompetent to the superintendence of public education ' as the petition of the Roman Catholics intimates, it would not, they respectfully suggest furnish any apology for breaking down one of the most important bulwarks of the civil and religious liberties of the American people." This much then as regards this document, which it will be perceived goes on a false assumption that we want this money for a sectarian pur- pose, because it was so referred to in the report of the Committee of the Board of Assistant Aldermen, which denied our claim ; for when I come to that it will be found that every proposition in it goes on the assumption that we wish this money for religious purposes. If we did, it would be iust to deny it to us. But I will now take up another document, and I regret SPEECJI BEFOEE THE CITT COUNCIL. 1^1 that I cannot treat it with the respect I would otherwise wish to do. The document from the Public School Society, however it mijrht have been led aside, and however feeble in its reasoning, contained nothing, I trust and believe, which was intended to be disrespectful to us. It wiis couched in language at which I cannot take oilence; though it was weak in its prin- ciples, its reasoning was decent. I cannot say as much for tliis wliich is from " The undersigned committee, appointed by the pastors of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church in this city." They commence by observing, '•That they have heard with surprise and alarm" — they should have seen our petition instead of taking " hearsay " for their authority — " that the Roman Catholics have i-enewed their application to the Common Council for an appropriation from the Common School Fund, for the support of the schools under their own direction, in which they teach, and propose still to teach, their own sectarian dogmas." Where did they find that ? Where did they find that statement ? I should like to know from the gentlemen who signed this remonstrance where they have their authority for such an assertion ? We disclaim it in the petition against which they remonstrate. It shows then how much trust can be placed in "hearsay," when they should and might have exam- ined the petition against which they remonstrate, in which they can find no such thing. "In which they te.ich, and propose still to teach, their own sectarian dogmas : not only to their own children, but to such Protestant children as they may find meaus to get into thesfe schools." I ask these gentlemen again what authority they have for such an asser- tion ? I should like to see the argument which gives them their authority to use language and to make a statement so palpably false as this is. " Your memorialists had hoped that the clear, cogent, and unanswerable arguments, by which the former application for this purpose was resisted, would have saved the Common Council from further importunity." We shall see whether the arguments were so clear, cogent, and unan- swerable by and by. " It was clearly shown, that the Council could not legally make any sectarian appro- priation of the public funds; and it was clearly shown that it would be utterly destruc- tive of the whole scheme of public school instruction to do so, even if it could be legally done. But it seems that neither the constitution of the State, nor the public welfare are to be regarded, when they stand in the way of Romon Catholic sectarian- ism and exclusiveness." There is an inference for you ; and a very unfounded one it is too. " It must be manifest to the Common Council, that if the Roman Catholic claims are granted, all the other Christian denominations will urge their claims for a similar appropriation " — And I say they have the right to do it, I wish they would do it, for I believe it would be better for the future character of the city, and for its fame, when this generation shall have passed away. If they did claim it and the claim was granted, then an effort would be made to raise good and pious and honest men. '■ and that the money raised for education by a general tax, will be solely applied to the purposes of proselytism, through the medium of sectarian schools. But if this were done, would it be the price of peace ? or would it not throw the apple of discord into the whole Christian community ? Should we agree in the division of the spoils ?" I am exceedingly sorry that the gentlemen who drew Up the remon- strance had not more confidence in the power of their own religious princi- ple than to suppose that it would be necessary to contend violently for what they call the " spoils." We have submitted to be deprived of them for ]32 ae:;hbishop hughes. years, and we have not manifested such a disposition ; and I am surprised that they who understand so much of the power of religion should attach so much value to the little money which is to be distributed as to suppose that it would set Christians— professing Christians— together by the ears in its distribution. " Should we agree in the division of the spoils ? Would each sect be satisfied with the portion allotted to it? We venture to say, that the sturdy claimants who now beset the Council, would not be satisfied with much less than the lion's share ; and we are sure that there are other Protestant denominations, besides ourselves, who would not patiently submit to the exaction." After what they have said by authority as the grounds of their opposi- tion, where, instead they should have had history for their guide, I am not surprised that they should prophesy in the matter. I, too, may prophesy and I will say that the " sturdy claimants " are as respectable as they are, and I trust it will never be attributable to us that we claim more than ia our common right, and if that should be violated with respect to the Meth- odist Episcopal denomination, we shall be far from the ranks of those who may be the violaters. " But when all the Christian sects shall be satisfied with their individual share of the public fund, what is to become of those children whose parents belong to none of these sects, and who cannot conscientiously allow them to be educated in the peculiar dogmas of any one of them ? The diiferent committees who on a^former occasion approached your honorable body, have shown, that to provide schools for these only would require little less t^an is now expended; and it requires little arithmetic to show that when the religious sects have taken all, nothing will remain for those who have not yet been able to decide which of the Christian denominations to prefer. It must be plain to every impartial observer that the applicants are opposed to the whole system of public school instruction." Have we said so ? And on what a,uthority have these gentlemen the right t.0 say it if we have not ? Where are their data ? And yet they come before this Honorable Body and make such assertions with the sanction of their whole church ! • " And it will be found that the uncharitable exclusiveness of their creed must ever be opposed to all public instruction which is not under the direction of their own priest- hood. They may be conscientious in all this ; but though it be no new claim on their part, we cannot yet allow them to guide and control the consciences of all the rest of the community." Why, it would be a silly and absurd thing on our part to look for it. But we never thought of it. It is a fiction of these gentlemen's own creation. I contend we ask nothing for the community but for ourselves, and I trust it will be granted if it is right, and if we can be shown that it is not right we will abandon it cheerfully. But their assertion is wholly destitute of foundation. " We are sorry that the reading of the Bible in the public schools, without note or commentary, is offensive to them j but we cannot allow the Holy Scriptures to be ac- companied with ifeir notes and commentaries" — Have we asked such a thing? or in any way solicited it?—" and to put into the hands of the children, who may hereafter be the rulers and legislators of our beloved country; because among other bad things taught in these commentaries is to be foun^ the lawfulness of murdering heretics ; and the un- qualified submission, in all matters of conscience, to the Roman Catholic Church." I have a feeling of respect for many of their denomination, but not for the head or the heart of those who drew this document up. ^ Here it states an un- qualified falsehood. Here it puts forth a false proposition, and that proposition has been introduced here as a slander. I can prove that it is so. And depend- ing on the confidence here reposed in me, I propose and pledge myself to for- feit a thousand dollars, to be appropriated in charities as this council may direct, if those gentlemen can prove the truth of this allegation ; provided they agree to the same forfeiture to be appropriated in a similar marner, if they fail SPEECH BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 133 to establish its truth. If they can prove that the Catholic Church sanctions, or has made it lawful to murder heretics, I will forfeit that sum. I feel in- dignant that we should be met, when We come with a plain, and reasonable, and honest request to submit to the proper authorities, with slanders such as that, and that in the name of religion, which is holy. I wish them to hear what I say. I know very well their books tell them so ; but they should look at the original and not at secondary authorities when they assail our reputation and our rights. " But if the principle on which this application is based should be admitted, it must be carried fur bej-ond the present purpose. If all are to be released from taxation, when they ciinnot conscientiously derive any benefit from the disbursement of the money collected, what will be done for the Society of Friends, and other sects who are opposed to war under all circumstances ? " With that I have nothing to do, and, therefore, I will pass on to another point. *' The Roman Catholics complain that books bav-e been introduced into the public schools which are injurious to them as a body. It is allowed, however, that the pas- sages in these books, to which such reference is made, are chiefly, if not entirely, his- torical ; and we put it to the candor of the Common Council to say whether any his- tory of Europe, for the last ten centuries, could be written, which could either omit to mention the Roman Catholic Church, or mention it without recording historical facts unfavorable to thatChurch?" And this is what the remonstrants call a strong issue. They assert that no history could be written which could either omit to mention the Roman Catholic Church, or mention it without recording historical facts unfavorable to the Catholic Church. If this be the case, I ask you whether, as citizens en- titled to the rights of citizens, we are to be compelled to send our children to schools which cannot teach our children history without blackening us. But again they say, " We assert that if all the historical facts in which the Church of Rome has taken a prominent part could be taken from writers of her own communion only, the incidents might be made, more objectionable tp the complainants, than any book to which they now object." No doubt of it ; and it only proves that Catholic historians have no interest to conceal what is the truth. But I contend that there are pages in the Catholic history brighter than any in the history of jMethodism ; and that there are questions and passages enough for reading lessons, without selecting such as will lead the mind of the Catholic child to be ashamed of his ancestors. The Methodist Episcopal Church is a respecta- ble church, and I am willing to treat it with becoming respect ; but it is a young church ; it is not so old as the Catholic Church, and therefore has fewer crimes ; but I contend again it has fewer virtues to boast of And in its career of a hundred years it has done as little for mankind as any other denomination. " History itself, then, must be falsified for their accommodation ; and yet they com- plain that the system of education adopted in the public schools does not teach the sinfulness of lying ! " They complain that no religion is taught in these schools, and declare that any, evfen the worst form of Christianity, would be better than none; and yet they object to the reading of the Holy Scriptures, which are the only foundation of all true religion. Is it not plain then, that they will not be satisfied with any thing short of the total abandonment of public school instruction, or the appropriation of such portion of the public fund as they may claim, to their owu sectarian purposes?" All the time they go on the false issue. They charge that which we disclaim, and they reason on a charge of their own invention, and which we never authorized. Now, as I have a word to say about the Holy Scrip- tures, I may as well say it at this, as at any other time. Their assumption 134 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES. ■ is that because the Scriptures are read, sufficient precaution is taken against infidelity. But I do not agree with them in that opinion, and I will give my reason. What is the reason that there is such a diversity of sects all claiming the Holy Scriptures as the centre from which they draw their lespeotive contradictory systems— that book which appears out of school by the use made of it, to be the source of all dissension, when it does not come to the minds of children with such authority as to fix on their minds any definite principles ? As regards us, while the Protestants say tlieirs is the true version, we say it is not so. We treat the Scriptures reverently, but the Protestant version of the Scriptures is not a complete copy, and as it has been altered and changed, we do not look upon it as giving the whole writings which were given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We object not to the Holy Scriptures, but to the Protestant version without note or comment. We think it too much to ask Protest- ants to relinquish theirs and take ours for the use of the public schools. ]f we could ask you — if we could propose that you should take our book — if we should ask you to put out the Protestant Scriptures and take ours, with our note- and comment, do you think Protestants would agree to it ? Do you not think we should be arraigned as enemies of the Word of God ? — for that is one charge made when it is sought to denounce us. When we speak language of this kind, instead of understanding us according to our comprehension of the subject, they charge that we are enemies to the Holy Scriptures. But to object to their version is not to object to the Holy Scriptures ; and I am prepared to show them that no denomination has done so much in the true sense for the Scriptures as the Catholic Church. The remonstrants add : '' But this is not all. They have been most complaisantly oflFered the censorship of the books to be used in the public schools. The committee to whom has been confided the management of these schools in this city, offered to allow the Roman Catholic Bishop to expurgate from these books any thing offensive to him." And now they go out of their way to sneer at us, and you will observe the flippancy with which they do it. '* But the offer was not accepted; perhaps, for the same reason that be declined to decide on the admissibility of a book of extracts from the Bible, which had been sanc- tioned by certain Roman bishops in Ireland. An appeal, it seems; had gone to the Vope on the subject, and nothing could be said or done in the matter until his'Holiuess had decided. The Common Council of New Tork will therefore find, that when they shall have conceded to the Roman Catholics of this city the selection of books for the use of the public schools, that these books must undergo the censorship of a foreign Potentate. We hope the time^is far distant when the citizens of this country will allow any foreign power to dictate to them in matters relating to either general or municipal law." Prophets again ; but not prophets of charity. I, sir, say not prophets of good-will, for there is something more in their souls than the public welfare. There is something in their insinuation that is insulting, and a tone which does not show a mind enlightened and enlarged, and an appreciation of equal justice and equal rights. Just their way. They hear that an appeal has gone to the Pope ; and if we desired to appesl!, also,' we should claim the right to do it without asking permission from any one. Catholics all over the world do it when their consciences make it a duty, but not in matters of this kind. " These books must undergo the censorship of a foreign Potentate 1" Now we regard him only as supreme in our Church, and there's an end of it. " We cannot conclude this memorial without noticing one other ground on which tlui Roman Catholics, in their late appeal to their fellow-citizens, urged their sectarian SPEECH BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 135 plaima, and excused their conscientious objections to the public schools. Their creed is dear to them, it seeiiia, because some of their ancestors have been martyrs to their faith. This was an unfortunate allusion." Some ! " Some of tlieir ancestors have been martyrs to their faith." I speak of the Catholics of Great Britain and Ireland, and when you reflect on the bigoted and unjust laws which Great Britain founded against all that were Catholics, by which their churches were wrested from them, and a bribe was offered as an inducement to the double crime of murder and of perjury, when it authorized any man to bring the head of a Catholic to the commissioner, and if he would only swear it was the head of a priest he got the same price as for the head of a wolf, no matter whose head it was — and when legislation of that kind continued for centuries, this, you must agree with me, was being martyrs indeed. But when have the Methodists shown a sympathy for those contending for the rights of con- science ? When the Dissenters of England claimed to be released from the operation of the "Test and Corporation" act by which they were excluded from civil office, did the Methodist Episcopal Church assist them ? Not a solitary petition went from them for the enlargement of their freedom. And is it a wonder that we look to conscience and admire those who had the firmness to suffer for conscience' sake ? By the penal laws against_Cjtholics the doors of Parliament were closed against us, if we had a conscience, for it required us to take an oath which we did not believe to be true, and therefore we could not swear it. There it is, sir ; it is because we have a conscience, because we respect it, that we have suffered, and while virtue is admired on earth, the fidelity of the people that are found standing by the right of conscience will command the admiration of the world. And yet, we are told, it was an unfortunate allusion ! " Did not the Roman Catholics know, that they addressed many of their fellow-citizens who could not recur to the memoirs of their ancestors without being reminded of the revocation of the Edict of ISTantz — " the massacre of St. Bartholomew's day, the fires of Smithfield." What is that to us ? Are we the people that took part in that ? " Or the crusade against the Waldenses ? We would willingly cover these scenes with the mantle of charity." They had better not make the attempt, for their mantle is too narrow. " And hope that Dur Roman Catholic fellow-citizens will-in future avoid whatever has a tendency to revive the painful remembrance." Let them enter upon that chapter and discuss the charitableness of their religion, and I am prepared to prove — I speak it with confidence in the presence of this honorable .assembly — that the Catholic religion is more charitable to those who depart from her pale, than any other that ever was yoked in unholy alliance with civil power. "Your memorialists had hoped that the intolerance and exclusiveness which had characterized the Roman Catholic Church in Europe, had been greatly softened under the benign influences of our civil institutions. The pertinacity with which their sectarian interests are now urged, has dissipated the illusion." Sectarian interests, again, although we have disclaimed them. " We were content with their having excluded us, ' ex cathedra,* from all claim to ■ heaven, for we were sure they did not possess the keys, notwithstanding their confident pretensions." Why they need not be Uneasy about our excluding them from heaven, for their opinion is that they have no chance to enter if they have anything to do with us ; and therefore our excluding them is of no avail. *' Nor did we complain they would not allow us any participation in the benefits of purgatory — " Pray what has that to do with Common School Education ? 186 ■ ABCHBISHOP HUGHES. " For it is a place they have made for themselves, and of which ftey may claim the exclusive property." Well it is no matter whether we believe in purgatory or not ; it is no matter for the Common Council to decide. But if they are not satisfied with our purgatory, and wish to go farther, they may prove the truth of the proverb which says " they may go farther and fare worse." " But n-e do protest against any appropriation of the public school fund for their exclusive benefit, or for any other purposes whatever. Assured that the Common Council will do what it is right to do in the premises, we are, gentlemen, with great respect, ^ our most obedient servants, N. Bangs, Thomas E. Bond, George Peck." And now I have gone through these two remonstrances, both of which, it will be seen, refer to the document of the Board of Assistant Aldermen, and rest their opposition on the same ground. Of that document, I will pass over the introduction, but I may observe that its authors, by what influence 1 am unable to say, have been made to rest their report upon an issue such as I have already described, and for which our petition furnishes no basis. I will first call your attention to the following observations : " The petitioners who appeared, also contended that they contributed, in common with all other citizens who were taxed for the purpose, to the accumulation of the Common School Fund, and that they were therefore entitled to a participation iu its advantages ; that now they receive no benefit from the fund inasmuch as the members of the Catholic Churches could not conscientiously send their children to schools in which the religious doctrines of their fathers were exposed to ridicule or censure. The truth and justice of the first br-anch of this proposition — ■ That is the payment of taxes, — " cannot be questioned. The correctness of the latter part of the argument, so far as the same relates to books or exercises of any kind in the Public Schools, reflecting on the Catholic Church, was denied by the School Society." Now it is to be remembered that this denial, of anything objectionable in the books of the Public School Society, was made at the period of the last application. I am persuaded those gentlemen, if they bad known there was any thing objectionable to the Catholics, would not have denied it. I am sure they believed there was nothing, and from this circumstance I think I may fairly draw this inference, that they had not paid that attention to the books which they should have done, knowing the variety of denominations contribut- ing to this fund and entitled to its benefits ; or knowing this and the feelings and principles of Catholics, that they were incompetent for the proper discharge of their responsible duties. It is only on one of these two grounds that I can account for their denial. But since that time they have not only admitted that the objection was correct, but they have expunged passages from the books which at the time of this denial they said did not exist. I shall pass on now to the two questions on which the decision of the Committee was made to rest. The first is — "Have the Common Council of this city, under the existing laws relative to Common Schools in the city of New York, a legal right to appropriate any portion of the School Fund to religious corporations ?" Whether they have or not one thing is clear and certain, that it is not as a " Religious Corporation" that we apply for it ; and it seems to me that this should have struck the attention of the Public School Society, and the other gentlemen who have remonstrated. 'We do not apply as a religious body— we apply in the identical capacity in which we are taxed— as citizens of the com- monwealth, without an encroachment on principle or the violation of any man's conscience. But secondly they ask—" Would the exercise of such power be m accordance with the spirit of the constitution, and the nature of our government ?" Certainly not._ If the constitution and government have determined that no religious denomination shall receive any civil privilege, the exercise of such power will not be in conformity with the spirit of the constitution and the SPEECH BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 1J7 nature of our government. But there is throughout and in all these Jocuments a squeamishness, a false delicacy, a persuasion that eveiything which excludes religion abroad is right and liberal. It would be unnecessary for nie to follow this report sentence by sentence if there had not been so much roiiance placed on it by those who have remonstrated ; but a,s so much consequence has been attached to it I will call your attention to some other passages. They go on to say : " Private associations and religious corporations were excluded from the management of the fund and the government of the schools. Private interest, under this system, could not appropriate the public treasure to private purposes, and religious zeal could not divert it to the purposes of proselytism." Why there is nothing of the kind intended. We have been driven by the o) ligation of our consciences, and at our expense, which we are poorly able to bear, to provide schools ; but they are not convenient, they are not well venti- lated, and are not well calculated to give that development to your young citizens which they ought to have ; why argue, then, against religious corpo- rations, and, in treating this question, bring prejudices into view which ought to have no existence in reality? They then go on to give the history and origin of the ijresent law and of the Public School Fund, and it seems that for a period of time, and a long period, the Legislature desig- nated the schools which might participate in this bountj'. Each religious denomination provided for the instruction of its own poor; they had Ijrovided schools, and their exertions were honorable and laudable. The Legislature granted its aid, and the respective Societies were encouraged to go on with the good work, and they did go on year after year, and then there was never heard that disputation which appears now to be so much dreaded. There was not then heard dissentation between neighbors, or strife between societies ; everything went on peaceably, and why ? Because the schools and the citizens were not then charged that religion was a forbidden subject. Nor should you now make it a forbidden part of education, because on religious principles alone can conscience find a resting-place. It should be made known that here conscience is supreme — that here all men are free to choose the views which their judgments, with a sense of their responsibility to an eternal weal or woe, shall offer for their adoption. It should be taught that here neighbors have the right to differ, and whatever is the right of one must be recognized as the right of the other ; and the distribution of this fund will be better calculated to benefit the community than it can be by these public schools where everything seems to be at par except religion, and that is below par at an immense discount. They tell us then that — " The law was imperative in its char- acter, and the several religious societies of the city possessed a legal right to draw their respective portions of the fund from the public treasury, subject only to the restriction, that the money so received should be appro- priated to the purposes of free and common education." But that '■^ right to draw''' has been taken away ; yet there is nothing in the act by which the right to draw is taken away which forbids their I'eceiving it still, if in the judgment of this Honorable Body the circum- stances of the case entitle them to it. It is not an impeachment — the legislature had no intention to reflect on religious bodies — it liad no intention to blackball religion in the Public Schools ; and yet that view has been taken of it. Such was not the case; but because circumstances had arisen; and what were they ? "Why gross abuses had been practiced by one of the religious societies, and — " The funds received by the Church were applied to other purposes than those contemplated by the act." ~ Under some prfitext the favor to expend the school moneys had been conferred on that Society in a way that distinguished it from all other Christian denominations and societies ; and the other seeing this privilege 138 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. conferred on one and r-ot on the rest, ventured to remonstj-ate with the Legis- lature ; they intimated that the partiality to that Society of Baptists Tvas an injustice to others, and they remonstrated against the law conferring exclusive privileges and against no other thing whatever. _ And yet by every document, and by this very document, it seems to be imagined that the Legislature did not revoke special favors granted to that Society, but withdrew its aid from all Christian churches ; so that all the men who remonstrated against this partial legislation were found to have been themselves deprived of the privilege which they had enjoyed, and this on the strength of their own remonstrances for quite another thing. And the discretion which the Legislature had exercised to designate the schools \vhich should receive this fund was transferred to this Honorable Body, the Common Council of the City of New York. And why was it trans- lerred ? I cannot speak positively, but while it seems to me that there were abuses shown to exist by the remonstrants, of which they made com- plaint, we may suppose the Legislature conceived it difficult for them to take cognizance of the matter, not being on the spot, but that the Common Council being here, and being a body chosen by the people in which, con- sequently, the public would have confidence, was the best and most fitting body to designate from time to time the institutions or schools which should be entitled to receive those school moneys. This must have been their intention, and yet this has been interpreted as repealing the law in order to deprive those denominations of a legal right (for right they had, and they could come and demand the money) and not a mere transfer of the discretion to give this money from the Legislature to the Common Council of New York. Now all this, which is so plain and simple has been construed by these gentlemen of the Public School Society as what ? As conferring a monopoly upon thein. As a law disqualifying all religious denominations receiving it. So it has been interpreted. But if it were so, we ask not for the money on the ground that we are a religious corpora- tion, but of public utility, for the purpose of giving an education to a large and destitute class which otherwise will not have the means to pro- cure it. We ask it to secure a public advantage, and if the objections anywhere exist to which I have directed your attention, they do not apply to our case. Gentlemen, I think it unnecessary to detain you any longer on this subject as referred to in this document, because while the question is composed of one simple fact, they are arguing against dangers which do not threaten them. But then they go on to say, " to prevent in our day and country, the recurrence of scenes so abhorrent to every principle of justice, humanity, and right, the Constitution of the United States, and of the several States, have declared in some form or other, that there should be no establishment of religion by law ; that the affairs of the State should be kept entirely distinct from, and unconnected with those of the Church ; that every human being should worship God, according to the dictates o*f his own conscience ; that all churches and religions should be supported by voluntary contribution ; and that no tax should ever be imposed for the benefit of any denomination of religion, for any cause, or under any pretence whatever." All this is doctrine to which we subscriGe most heartily. And while we seek to be relieved from the evils under which we suffer, wo do not seek relief to the detriment of any other sect. AVhat ! is this country independent of religion ? Is it a country of Atheism, or of an Established Religion ? Neither the one nor the other ; but a country which makes no law for religion, but places the right of conscience above all other authority —granting equality to all, protection to all, preference to none. And while aL these documents have gone on the presumption of preference, all ' SPEECH EEFOEK THE CUT COUNCIL. 139 we want is that we ma,y be entitled to protection and not preference. We want that the public money shall not be employed to sap religion in the minds of our children — that they may have the advantages of education without the in- termixture of religious views with their common knowledge which goes to de- stroy that which wo believe to be the true religion. There is another feature connected with this subject — which is the definition given of a public school such as should be entitled to this money. "If the school money," says these gentlemen, — and I must believe they are imposed on by a statement which is not correct. I believe if they had known the true statement, they would not have published in their report such a statement as this : " If the school money sliould be divided among the religious denominations generally, as some have proposed, there will be nothing left for the support of schools of a •purely civil character; and if there should be, in such a state of things, any citizen who could not, according to his opinions of right and wi'ong, conscientiously send his child to the school of an existing sect, there would be no public school in which he could be educated. This might, and probably would be the case with hundreds of our citizens." Now, let me for a moment invite your attention to that part of the sub- ject which I have now tl* honor to submit to you ; and it is that part on vrhich all these documents go, that religious teaching would vitiate all claim to a participation in this public fund. A common education, then, as understood by the State, is a secular education, and these documents contend that any religious teaching, no matter how slight, will vitiate all claim to a participation in this fund. Now, the Public School Society, in their reports, have from time to time stated themselves, and, observe, with a consciousness that the jealous eye of the community is upon them — they state, still under this restriction, that they have imparted religion. Now, if this doctrine be correct, they are no more entitled to the Common School Fund than others ? Or, is the doctrine correct, and yet one must abide by it and not another ? Again, these gentlemen charge us with accusing them of teaching infidelity, when taking this tax they give that education which, they state to us when we apply for a portion of this money, the State con- templates to give the scholar. Now, if the child be brought up without religion what is he ? " Oh," they say, " we do not teach it." Is it neces- sary to teach infidelity? It does not require the active process. To make an infidel, what is it necessary to do ? Cage him up in a room, give him a secular education from the age of five years to twenty-one, and I ask you what he will come out, if not an infidel ? Whether he will know anything about God ? And yet they tell you that religious teaching is a disqualifica- tion. What will a child be, then, if you give him their education from his youth up to the age of twenty-one ? Will he know anything of God, and of a Divine Kedeemer ? of a Trinity, of the incarnation of the Saviour, and the redemption of the world by the atonement of Christ, or of any of those grand doctrines which are the basis and corner-stone of our Christianity ? And because we object to a system of teaching which leads to practical infidelity, we are ac- cused of charging the Public School Society with being infidels. They furnish the basis of the charge; we do not wish to do so. Now, I ask you whether it was the intention of the Legislature of New York, or of the people of the State, that the Public -Schools should be made precisely such as the infidels want ? Permit me to say, when I use the term infidel, I mean no disrespect to those that are so. I would not be one ; but I respect their right to be what they please. A few days ago, a gentleman, who professes to be" one of this class, and who would not allow his children to be scholars where religion is taught at alj, said he could send them to the Public School, for there the education suited him. What, then, is the consequence? That while the public educa' tion of New York is guarded in such a manner as to suit the infidel, the chil- ]40 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. dren become so. And is there any authority in this Board, or of a legislative body iit Albany, or is there any Board in the Union, with power by the constitution, to oxclude religion or to engraft it ? Neither the one nor the other. Ihe in- fidel s.iys truly, that there is no rehgion taught, and, therefore, he can send his children ; and I should like to know why any member of a Christian church should be forced to do violence to his convictions and not be permitted to en- joy equal advantages ? If the infidel can send his children to these schoolsbe- cause no religion is taught there, and who, therefore, has to make no sacrifaces of conscience, why cannot the Christian enjoy equal advantages ? They say their instruction is not sectarianism ; but it is ; and of what kind ? The sec- tarianism of infidehty in its every feature. But becau*e it is of a negative kind, and they do not admit the doctrines of any particular denomination, because they do not profess to teach religion, therefore it is suited for all ! As a test, therefore, of this principle, give this purely secular knowledge to a young man, keep him from intercourse with the rest of the world, give him nothing else, and what sort of a man would he be ? What would be the state of his mind ? A blank — a perfect blank as to religious impressions. But I contend that it is infidelity, and I hope the Public School gentlemen hear what I say. But, again, I do not charge it on their intention, and their assertion is purely gratuitous when they say that such an accusation is made against them. Here is the ob- servation of the report on this subject : " If religious instruction is communicated, it is foreign to the intentions of the school system, and should be instantly abandoned. Religious instruction is no part of a Common School education." Such, then, is the nature of that report which, I take leave to repeat, has been prepared by the gentlemen who drew it up as a committee, under the im- pression fixed on their minds that Catholics want this money to promote their rfeligion, and that if it were granted to us others would want it for their respec- tive religions also ; and on this assumption they decided ; but against this false issue I protest, whether set forth in tliis report or in the two remonstrances be- fore this Council — one from the Public School Society, and the other from the Methodist* Episcopal Church. It is not my business to speak in relation to the Public School Society at large. Of its history I have taken pains to make my- self suflSciently possessed to speak ; and I find that in its origin, so far 'from disclaiming all connection with religion, so far from conceiving rehgious teach- ing disadvantageous, it was originally incorporated for the purpose of supply- ing the wants of the destitute portion of the population, and their petition for a charter set forth " The benefits which would result to society from the education of such children, by implanting in their minds the principles of religion and morality." At this time every denomination taught its own, and received an equal por- tion of the fund from the public authorities to aid them in their good work, so that their children were provided for, and this Society came to gather in the neglected and the outcast — they came as gleaners, after the reapers had gone through the field, and a most benevolent purpose theirs was ; and their object I repeat, when they applied to the Legislature, was set forth to be — (for thej' did not conceal the advantages of a religious education) — to produce benefits to society by the implanting in the minds of such children the principles of re- ligion and morality. There wore children belonging to no denomination, and this Society seeing the benefits which would result to society from the educa- tion of such children by implanting in their minds the principles of religion and morality, undertook this benevolent work, and covered themselves and the name of their Society with glory by that undertaking. But it is strange that what then was so advantageous to the community — the implanting in the minds of children the principles of rsligion and morality — should have ceased to be ao SPEECH BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 141 now ; and that they or their successors should seek to make that varj thing a disquahfication, and to turn it against all denominations of Christians, and cUim themselves to monopoUse the fund and the teaching on the principle that no religion shall be imparted. Now, has the Legislature seen lit to alter the character so as to make religious teaching a disqualification of all other sects ? Was it for that purpose that this Society, step by step, obtained enlarged privileges, by which not only the neglected children of the community, but those of others, came under their care, that they obtained grants from the public treasury and the exchequer of the city, to an amount of many thous- ands of dollars, until the Society claims to he the true and only Society, though existing as a private corporation, electing its own body, fixing a tax for the privilege of membership, sometimes $10, at others $20, |25, and §50, any of which sums is too much for a poor man to pay ; and out of this or- ganized body electing the Trustees to carry on the work? I mention this, not to blame them, for they believe they are doing good, out to show that even with men who are honorable in every day-life, how much watchfulness and vigilance, how much tact and talent, is used to grasp more and more, till they absorb all, and completely deprive all others of any participation in the advantages of controlling this fund. It is not my intention, as it is not my peculiar province, to enter into the legal part of the argument ; but I have to regret that the gentleman who did intend to treat it, and to whose department it belonged, has been unfor- tunately prevented by the bursting of a small blood-vessel. But though my experience has not qualified me to enter into legal matters, yet, as a citizen, I might have the right to express my opinion on the monopoly which this Society claims ; and that opiny)n is contrary to the monopoly, and not only contrary to their monopoly, smiply regarded as a monopoly, but because I believe that a monopoly of this description should be regarded with double jealousy. "Why? Because this monopoly is of greater weight than in ordi- nary cases; of great weight pecuniarily — for last year the fund amounted to $115,000 — because the distribution of that money gives to them a patronage which, considering the weakness of human nature, is in danger of being used disadvantageously ; because it gives to them privileges of infinitely higher *> importance than any that can be estimated by dollars and cents — the privi- lege of stamping their peculiar character on the minds of thousands and tens oi^ thousands of our children. They ought to be men, to discharge the trust of such a monopoly, as pure as angels, and almost imbued with wisdom from above — such men they should be, when they would venture to come and stand by the mother's side, and say, in effect, " Give me the darling which you have nourished at your breast — give it to me, a stranger, and I will direct its mind. True, you are its parent ; but you are not fit to guide its youthful progress, and to implant true principles in its mind ; therefore give it to me, and give me also the means wherewith to instruct it." That is the position of that Society ; and they ought to be almost more than men for this — as doubtless they are honorable men in their proper places; but of that we should have the most satisfactory evidence, that we may be well assured that they are fitted to discharge their duties. It is this consideration that brought me here, as the first pastor of a body of people, large and numer- ous as they are known to be ; but poor as many of them arc, and exposed to many hardships, they have children with immortal souls, whose condi- tion is involved in this question, and if it is an impropriety in the clerical character, I would rather undergo the reproach than neglect to advocate their rights, as far as I have the power, with my feeble ability. The Catholics of the city of New York may be estimated as one-fifth of the population ; and when you take account of tlie class of children usually attending the Public Schools, and consider how many there ar j in this city 142 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. A9ho are in affluent circumstances, which enable them to give an education I to their children, who do not therefore participate in the teaching ot the Public Schools; and when you consider the numbers not attending _ any school at all, I say, of those people, who, by their poverty, are the objects most usually composing the number that require the assistance of the Com- mon SchoolFunfl, Catholics are one-third, if not more. And when I see this one-third excluded— respecting, as I do, their welfare in this life, as well as their welfare in a brighter world— then it is that I come forward thus publicly, and stand here to plead for them. I conceive we have our rights in question, and, therefore, most respectfully, I demand them from this . Honorable Board. I am not surprised that there should be remonstrances against our claim ; but I did hope, in an age as enlightened as this is, and among gentlemen of known liberality of feeling, that their opposition would not have been characterized as this has been. However, it is not to me a matter of sur- prise; for I believe if some of those gentlemen, who consider themselves now as eminent Christians, had lived at the period when Lazarus lay lan- guishing at the gate of the rich man, petitioning for the crumbs that fell from the table, they would have sent their remonstrance against Ms petition. When the Methodist Episcopal Church sent its petition for a portion of this fund, some eight years ago, then it was not .unconstitutional ! Yet, did the Catholics send in their remonstrance against it ? When their theo- logical seminaries obtained (and they still receive) the bounty of the State, did, or do, the Catholics complain ? Has there been a single' instance of illiberality on the part of the Catholics, or a want of disposition to grant rights as universal as the nature of man may require ? And I have been astonished only at this, that good men, with good intentions, should prefer to cling to a system, and to the money raised for its support by the public liberality — ^that they would sooner see tens of thousands of poor children contending with ignorance, and the companions of vice, than concede one iota of their monopoly, in order that others may enjoy their rights. I say this, because I am authorized to say it. And what am I to infer, but, that they prefer the means to the end. The end designed, is to convey knowledge to the minds of our children ; the means is the public fund ; and, by refusing to cause the slightest variation in their system, they cling to the means, while they leave thousands of childl'en without the benefit which the State intended to confer. They may pursue that course, but the experience of the past should have tajight them that, while they maintain their present character, a large portion of their fellow-citizens have not— cannot have — confidence in them. But they have said that, if a portion of this fund is given to Catholics, all other sects will want it. Then, let them have it. But I do not see that that is probable ; and my reason is this : They have sent in remonstrances against the claim of the Catholics, as you will see by a reference to docu- ment No. 80, all 'of which go to prove that they are satisfied with the pres- ent Public School System. And if they are satisfied, and their children de- rive benefit from it, let them continue to frequent the schools as they do now. The schools are no benefit to Catholics now ; we have no confidence in them ; there is no harmony of feeling between them and us ; we have no confidence that those civil and religious rights that belong to us will be enjoyed, while the Public School Society retains its present monopoly. We do not receive benefit from these schools : do not, then, take from Catholic? their portion of the" fund, by taxation, and hand it over to those who do not give them an equivalent in return. Let those who can, receive the advantages of these schools ; but as Catholics cannot, do not tie them SPEECH BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 143 to a sj'stem which is intended for the advantage of a class of societj of which they form one-third, but from which system tV. py can receive no benefit. Tliere are many other topics connected with this subject, to which I might advert; but I must apologize for the length of time tluit I have ti-espassed on your patience. I feel, unaccustomed as I am to address such a body, and hurried as was my preparation, that I have not been able to present the subject before you in that clear and lucid manner that would make it interesting; but it was not with that view that I claimed your attention in relation to it; it was with far higher motives: and I now, with confidence, submit it to your judgment. BISHOP HUGHES' SECOND DAY'S SPEECH BEFORE THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN AND COUNCILMEN, IN ANSWER TO MR. SEDG- WICK, MR. KETCHUM, DR. BOND, DR. SPRING, AND OTHERS, 'WHO ADDRESSED THE CITY COUNCIL IN OPPOSITION TO THE PETITION OF THE CATHOLICS; ALSO THE DISCUSSION IN REGARD TO THE AUTHORITY OP THE RHEMISH TESTAMENT AS A CATHOLIC TERSION, ETC. When Mr. Ketchum concluded his argument on the first; day, the Rev. Dr. Bond appeared as the representative of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but he gave way to the Right Rer. Bishop Hughes, who desired to make a brief reply to the two legal gentle- men who had addressed the Board. He said : I have a few remarks that I wish to make, partly in reference to myself and partly to nly principles, and the views submitted with regard to those principles ; but the debate has taken a raiige too wide and too legal for me to pretend to follow it throughotit. I am not accustomed to the niceties of legislation or the manner of int-er- preting statutes or acts of the Legislature; but to sum up the whole of the two eloquent addresses made by the gentlemen who have just spoken, they amount to this : that either the consciences of Catholics must be crushed and their objections resisted, or the Public School System must fee destroyed. That is the pith of both their observations. They ar-gue that there must be either one or the other of these two results, and those • gentlemen are inclined to the course of compelling conscience to give way, they being the judge of our conciences which they wish to overrule ; so that the Public School Society — and I do not desire to detract from it as far as good intentions are concerned — shall continue to dispose of the Public School Fund notwithstanding our objections and reasoning on [which they are based. The gentleman»who last spoke appeared to [imagine that I wished the exclusion of the Protestant Bible, and Ithat, for the benefit of the Catholics, I laid myself open to the 144 ARCHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH charge of enmity to the word of Gocl ; tut I desire nothing of the sort. I would leave the Protestant Bible for those who reverence it ; but for myself, it has not my confidence. Another objection which he made was of a personal character to myself; but while that gentleman started with the beautiful rule of charity to others, and with a lecture on the propriety of retaining our station in life_, and the impropriety of the public appeals of which he was pleased to speak, I regret that his practice was not in accordance with his precept— and that .while he was lecturing me on the subject, he him- self should have gone beyond anything which proper discussion called for. If I attended those meetings, it was because I felt the evil of the present system as regards us — -not its evils as regards others ; and we must be permitted to be the judges of our own duties, and to see for ourselves, while we accord to others the same right for themselves. I beg to disclaim any intention to overrule this comraunity, or to bring anything from Rome, except to those who believe in its spiritual authority. Consequently, all those re- marks of that gentleman have been out of place ; and for the rest, I conceive the true point has not been touched. N"ot one of our objections or scruples of conscience has he undertaken to analyze, nor the grounds on which they exist. When I gave those reasons for our objections, I thought some argument would have been urged fairly against them ; but the only end the gentleman appears to have in view, is the preservation of the School Society, and to maintain that they have a patent right to the office. That, I know, is his object; but I did not expect to hear any man construing the law as that its advantages, cannot reach us unless we lay down and sacrifice our consciences at the threshold. I have spoken for myself, and I have disclaimed all high-handed objects ; but the gentleman insists, notwithstanding the pledge which we have given, that, in spite of all, we shall teach our religion. I disclaim such intentions, and I do not think it fair in that gentleman to impute intentions which we disclaim. The gentleman has drawn a beautiful picture of society if all could live in harmony (I would it could be reduced to prac- tice), whether born in foreign parts or in this country. But if all could be brought up together — if all could associate in such a state without prejudice to the public welfare, while the Protestants use such books as those to which we object, it could only be by the Catholic concealing his religion ; for if he owns it he will be called a " Papist." The gentleman says that one of the books to which we object is not a text-book used in schools ; but, if not, it is one of the books placed in the library to which I do not say we con- tribute more than others ; but it is supported at the public expense, to which Catholics contribute as well as others. I will read you one passage and leave you to judge for jourselves what will be its effects on the minds of our children.^ The work is entitled "The Irish Heart," and the author, on page 24, is describing an Irish Catholic, and he says : " As for old Phelim Maghee, he was of no particular religion." BEFOEE THE CITY COUNCIL, 145 And how do the gentlemen describe the Public Schools, but as schools of religion and no religion ! They say they give religious instruction ; but again they say it is not religion, for it does not vitiate their claim. "As for old Phelim Maghee, he was of no particular religion." " When Phelim had laid up a good stock of sins, he now and then went over to Killarney, of a Sabbath morning, and got relaaf by confisning them out o' the waj, as he used to express it, and sealed up his soul with a wafer." That is the term they apply to our doctrine of transubstantiation ; and they want us to associate and to enjoy everything in harmony when they thus assail our religious right. " and return quite invigorated for the perpetration of new offences." ITow, suppose Catholic children hear this in the company of their Protestant associates ! They will be subject to the ridicule of their companions, and the consequence will be that their dt)mestic and religious attachments will become weakened, they become ashamed of their religion, and they will grow up Nothing ariuns. But again, on page 120, when speaking of intemperance, we find the following : " It is more probable, however, a. part of the papal system." And this, notwithstanding all that Father Mathew has done. " For, when drunkenness shall have been done away, and with it, that just re- lative proportion of all indolence, ignorance, crime, misery, and superstition, of which it is the putative parent ; then truly a much smaller portion of mankind may be expected to follow the dark lantern of the Romish religion." " That religion is most likely to find professors among the frivolous and the wicked, which by a species of ecclesiastical legerdemain can persuade the sinner that he is going to heaven, when he is going directly to hell. By a refined and complicated system of Jesuitry, and prelatical juggling, the papal see has obtained its present extensive influence through the world." And, unless we send our children to imbibe these lessons, we are going to overturn the system ! But is that the true conclusion to which the gentlemen should come, from our petition ? Is that rea- soniiig from facts and the evidence before their eyes ? I have promised not to detain the Board, and therefore I would merely say, if I have attended those meetings, it was not with the views the gentleman has imputed to me, nor to distinguish myself as has been insinuated. I have taken good care to banish politics from those meetings, and if I have mentioned the number of Catholics, or of their children, it was to show how far this system falls short of the end which the Legislature has in view. I disclaim utterly and entirely the intention imputed to me by the gentleman, but I will not longer detain the Board. Mr. Mott, one of the Public School Trustees, with the permission of the Board, explained the manner in which the book which the Right Rev. Prelate had last alluded to, had found its way into the schools. It was one of a series of tales published by the Temperance Society; and when a committee was appointed for filling the library, 10 146 ARCHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH their attention was called to the first number of the series ; they had read two or three of them which had come from the press,_and as they appeared adapted to the reading of children, the committee admitted them, and by some mistake it was supposed that all the other volumes of the same series and under the same title were ordered too, and they were sent in as they were issued from the press after that period, and in this way the book in question had crept in. But this being discovered by a Catholic Trustee, it was withdrawn, and of this the gentlemen were fully apprised, and therefore he asked if it was generous or just to quote that book, under these circumstances, to strengthen the cause of the Catho- lics. The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes assured the gentleman that he, until that moment, had not ^eard of the books having been with- drawn. The Rev. Dr. Bond then again rose to address the Board as the representative of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; but as it was now 10 o'clock, it was proposed by one of the aldermen to take a recess until Friday afternoon at 4 o'clock which was agreed to, and the Board adjourned. ■ The Board re-assembled at four o'clock on Friday the 30th October, 1840, by adjournment from the previous day, but some time elapsed before the debate could be resumed, in consequence of the difficulty which the gentlemen, who took part, in the proceedings, found in gaining an entrance to the Council Chamber, through the greatly increased crowd of persons who were anxious and struggling to be present. After the room had been filled to overflowing, many hun- dreds were still excluded who desired admission ; but the room was filled to its utmost capacity, even to standing room in the windows, and those still crowding round the entrance door were obliged to endure the disappointment. David Graham, Esq., Alderman of the Fifteenth Ward, presided on this occasion as the locum (enens of the President, Mr. Alderman Purdy, who, however, was present seated with the Aldermen. There were also present many distinguished and reverend gentlemen of various denominations of this city, besides those who took part in the discussion. Dr. Brownlee was seated near Dr. Bond during that gentleman's speech, but he did not at- tempt to address the Board. The Rev. Dr. Pise, and other rever- end gentlemen of the Catholic Church, were seated with the Right Rev. Bishop Hughes, and the Very Rev. Dr. Power, and many preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, were in the vicinity of the orator by whom they were represented. "When all the gen- tlemen were seated, the President called upon the Rev. Dr. Bond, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to proceed with the debate on behalf of the remonstrants of that body. When Drs. Bond, Knox, Reese and Bangs had addressed the Council, Dr. Spring, of the Brick Presbyterian Church arose, and in the course of his remarks, said : 'IThe gentleman has sought to prove that the present^system leads to infidelity. Now, sir, let no man think it strange that I should prefer infr BBFOEE THE CITY COtTNCIL. 14 7 tlelliy to Catholicism. Even a mind as acute as Voltaire's came to the conclusion that, if there was no alternative between infidelity and the dogmas of the Catholic Church, he should choose infidelity. / loovld choose, sir, in similar circumstances, to be a.fi infidel io-morroiv." At the conclusion of Dr. Spring's harangue, the President called upon the Right Rev. Dr. Hughes to conclude the debate, who im- meditately arose to reply to the arguments of all the gentlemen w,ho had been heard on the subject, and spoke as follows : Mr. President, it would require a mind of much greater capacity than mine to arrange and mature the topics, relevant or otherwise, that have been introduced into this discussion, since I had the honor to address you yesterday. No less than seven or eight gentlemen of great ability have presented their respective views on the subject, and not only on the subject in regard to its intrinsic merits, but on subjects which they deemed, at least, collateral, but which I think quite irrelevant. The gentleman who last addressed you (Dr. Spring) is entitled to my acknowledgments for the candor with which he expressed his sentiments in reference to it ; namely, that he was opposed to it more because it came from Catholics, than if it had been presented by any other denomination. That gentleman is entitled to my acknowledgment, and I award it, if worthy df his acceptance. The subject — for it is exceedingly. important that the subject should be kept in view — is one, as I stated before, that is very simple. We are a portion of this community ; we desire to bo nothing greater than any other portion ; we are not content to be made less. There is nothing, sir, in that system of the Public School Society against which any of the gentlemen who have spoken, either in their individual capacity or as the representatives of bodies of people, have urged a single conscientious objection, and, of course, they have no right to complain— they are satisfied, and, therefore, I am willing that they should have the system, but I am not willing that they should press it upon me, and for good reason. And, sir, if this honorable body rejects the claim of your petitioners, what is the issue ? That we are deprived of the bene- fits to which we are entitled, and that we are not one iota worse than we were before. That is our consolation. But the whole range of the argument of the gentleman, who spoke last, was, to show that this Public School System was got up with the concur- rence of public opinion, and that having been so got up, it had worked beautifully, and that gentlemen who never heard of con- scientious objections to it, because it suits their views, deem it wonderful that we can have any conscience at all on the subject. That is the amount of it. What ! no ground for conscientious ob- jection, when you teach our children in those schools that " the deceitful Catholics " burned John Huss at the stake, for conscience, when evidences are numerous before you of a more just and a more honorable character — when you might find on the page of history, that in Catholic Poland every avenue to dignity in the state was opened to Protestants, by the concurrent vote of eight Catholic 148 AECHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH Bishops, whilst the vote of any one of thorn, according to the con- stitution of the PoHsh Diet, of which they were members, could have prevented the law being passed — and what is more, when the first lesson of universal toleration and freedom of conscience the world was ever called to learn, was set by the Catholics of Mary- land— I speak in the presence of gentlemen who can contradict me if they know where to find the authority — and what was this but homage to the majesty of conscience, by a Church which they wish to establish as a persecuting Church. That Church, sir, which the gentleman has come here to prove justifies the murdering of here- tics, was the first to teach a lesson which Protestants have been slow to learn and imitate, but which the reUgion they profess should have taught them. But not these examples alone ; there are hun- dreds more. At this day in Belgium, where Protestants are in a minority of one to twelve, the state votes them an equal portion, and where their clergy are married, a larger portion, and that with the concurrence of the Council and the Catholic Bishops. The gentleman need not tell me of Catholicism ; I know it well ; and what is more, I know Protestantism well ; and I know the profes- sions of good will of Protestants do not always correspond with their feelings. But I should like to know whether or not in Protest- ' antism they find authority for persecuting to the knife, not Catho- lics alone, but each other, even after they have proclaimed the right of every man to think for himself. With good reason, sir, do I contend for conscience, but theymay think a Catholic has no right to have a conscience at all. They may think because this system is beautiful in their view, that this pretension to conscience on the part of Catholics ought to be stifled, as a thing not to be admitted at all. But that will not do. Man in this country has a right to the exercise of conscience, and the man that should raise himself up against it will find that he has raised himself up against a tremen- dous opponent. Now, what is it we ask ? You have heard from beginning to end the arguments on this occasion, and though I may not follow the wanderings of this discussion through all its minute parts, if I pass over any part, be assured it is not from any desire to avoid, or any inability to refute what has been said against us. I may pass over many points, but I will not pass over any great principle, and you have, no doubt, given so much attention to the subject as to enable you, if I should not recapitulate the whole, to decide justly. It has been urged, that if you give Catholics that which they now ask, you will give them benefits which will elevate them above others ; but, I contend most sincerely, and most consci- entiously, that we have no such idea ; and when you shall have granted the portion we claim, if you should be pleased to grant it, I conceive then, and not before, shall we be in the enjoyment of the protection, and not privilege, to which we are entitled. That is my view of the subject ; but, I have been astonished to perceive the course of argument of the gentlemen who oppose our claim, generally speaking. What it is they contend for I cannot deter- BEFOKE THE CITY COUNCIL. 149 mine ; but, it seems to be the preservation of the existing system. They were among the first to disclaim the doctrine that the end justifies the means, and if in attaining their end they find they ear- not reach it without injustice, then as conscientious and high-mind- eii men, the}^ should have paused by the way, and have ascertained whether the means were worthy of them and of oui glorious country. Yet, sir, they have generally overlooked this, and it is no new thing to find that they have labored to promote the benefit of their own society, at the sacrifice of the rights of others. Sir, it is the glory of this country that when it is found that a wrong exists, there is a power, an irresistible power, to correct the wrong. They have represented us as contending to bring the Catholic Scriptures into the Public Schools. This is not true ; but, I shall have occasion to refer more particularly to this by and by. They have represented us as enemies to the Protestant Scriptures " with- out note and comment," and on this subject I know not whether their intention was to make an impression on your honorable body, or to elicit a sympathetic echo elsewhere; but, whatever their ob-, ject was, they have represented that even here Catholics have not concealed their enmity to the Scriptures. Now, if I had asked this honorable Board to exclude the Protestant Scriptures from the schools, then there might have been some coloring for the current calumny. But I have not done so. I say, gentlemen of every de- nomination, keep the scriptures you reverence, but do not force on me that which my conscience tells me is wrong. I may be wrong, as you may be ; and as you exercise your judgment, be pleased to allow the same privilege to a fellow being, who must appear before our common God and answer for the exercise of it. I wish to do nothing like what is charged upon me — that is not the purpose for which we petition this honorable Board, in the name of the commu- nity to which I belong ; I appear here for other objects, and if our petition be granted our schools may be placed under the supervi- sion of the public authorities, or even of commissioners, to be ap- pointed by the Public School Society ; they may be put under the same supervision as the existing schools, to see that none of those phantoms, nor any grounds for those suspicions which are as un- charitable as unfounded, can have existence in reality. There is, then, but one simple question — will you compel us to pay a tax from which we c^n receive no beiftfit, and to frequent schools which injure and destroy our religious rights in the minds of our children, and of which in our consciences we cannot approve ? That is the simple question. Or, will you appoint some other system, or will you leave the children of our denomination to grow up in that state of ignorance which the School Society has expressed its desire to save them from ? Or shall the constable be employed, as one rever- end gentleman seems to recommend (Dr. Bangs), or some public officer to catch them and send them to school ? For, from this mo^ ment, in consequence of the language used, and the insulting pas- sages which those books contain, Catholic parents ■will not send 150 AECHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH their children there, and any attempts to enforce attendance^ would meet with vigorous resistance from them. I have now presented what is, in reality, the simple issue ; it is no matter whether we be- lieve right or not, for neither the Catholic nor the Protestant re,- ligion is on trial here ; and I repeat, therefore, that the gentleman who represents the Methodist Church has taken so much painsto distil through the minds of this meeting, a mass of prejudice^ which it will take several hours, but at the same time very little beside, for me to refute and scatter to the winds. I shall, perhaps, not dwell long on that part, because I judge it is irrelevant to the case in hand, but still I shall feel authorized to trespass on the patience of the meeting a short time, though but a short time, to remove the im- l^roper prejudice which may have been created. He says that the people have a right to interfere and to give to the children of the State an intellectual education, that this must be carried out in some form or other, and that this system is as little objectionable as any that could be presented. That may be ; I do not dispute the possibility of it, because it is unimportant; but if he did mean to contend that that system which has been once sanc- tioned must continue to be sanctioned, although its sanction was merely by the tacit consent of the different denominations, and although it should become violative of the religious rights of any, then he goes beyond the limits which even the Constitution of the land has made sacred. I have been represented as endeavoring to create excitement on this subject. To that I shall refer imme- diately ; but I may here refer to my objection to the existing sys- tem, on the ground that it has a tendency to infidelity, and may observe that I know clergymen of other denominations who are also opposed to it on the ground of its infidel tendency. There are many who have the conviction that it tends to infidelity, and who know that the preventive referred to is not equal to stem the ten- dency to infidelity which does exist. The first gentleman who spoke, and he spoke with a frankness and sincerity for which I give him credit, contended — and when I answer his objection, I wish to be understood as speaking to all that took up that objection — and it wa^ urged more or less by the whole — that it was inconsistent to charge upon the system a tendency to ;■ ijfidelity, and then a teaching of religion, and that this teaching was anti-catholic. Now this would b^ inconsistent under some circum- stances; but the gentleman left out the grounds on which that charge was made, and it will be proper, therefore, that I should state those grounds. In the document which emanated from the Board of Assistants last spring, they say that the smallest particle of religion is a disqualification, and that "religious instruction is no paj't of a common school education." Now, was it the intention of your honorable body to exclude all religion ? Was it the intention of the State Legislature? Did any public authority requii e that the public school education should be winnowed as corn on a barn floor, and all religion driven out by the winds of heaven as chaff not BEFORE THE CITY OOTTNCIL. 131 ■worthy to be. preserved ? Was there such authority ? Who luado such a decision ? And yet that very decision, I ask you, if we are not authorized to interpret as proof of the charge, that the system has a tendency to infidelity ? For, banish religion, and infidelity alone remains. And, on the other hand, we find the gentlemen of the Public School Society themselves repeatedly stating that they inculcate religion, and give religious impressions ; and I say it does them credit ; for as far as they can they ought to teach religion. It -would be better, if they did, for those who are satisfied with THEiE religious teaching. This explanation will set us right in tho minds of your honorable body. It is first said no religion is taught and then it is admitted that religion is inculcated ; and next our petition is opposed because it is alleged that if our prayer be granted religion will be taught. What weight, then, is the objection of the Public School Society entitled to, if this be the fact? And where is our inconsistency ? If there is a dilemma, to whom are we in- debted for it but to the Report of the Board of Assistants on the one hand, and to the testimony of the JPublic School Society on the other. Let us not, then, be charged with inconsistency. ■ Now, sir, I contend there is infidelity taught. I do not mean in its gross form ; but I have found principles ef infidelity in the books — and one that would pass current as a very amiable book — a rehgious lesson which I would not suifer a child to read, over whom I had any influence. The lesson represents a father and his son going about on Sunday morning to the different churches, the little boy asking questions as they pass along from one to the other; at last the boy said to his father — I may not quote the words, but I shall be found right in substance — " What is the reason there are so many different sects ! Why do not all people agree to go to the same place, and to worship God iu the same way!" "And why should it not be so '?" replied the father. " Why should they agree ? Do not people differ in other things ? Do they not differ in their taste and their dress — some like their coats cut one way and some another — and do they not differ in their appetites and food ? and in the hours they keep and in their diversion ?" N'ow, I ask if there is no infidelity in that ? I ask if it is a proper lesson to teach chil- dren, that as they have a right to form their own tastes for dress and food, they have the right to judge for themselves in matters of religion ? for, with deference to the Public School Society, children are too young to have such principles instilled into them. Let ' them grow up, before they are left to exercise tEeir judgment in such weighty matters ; at least, do not teach Catholic children such a lesson at so early an age ; and', in all I have said, I desire to be understood as abstaining most carefully from prescribing any rule, or method, or book, for any denomination with which I am not con- nected. But for Catholic children I speak, and I say it is too early for them to judge for themselves. And is this all ? No, sir ; one other passage, and for that 'there may perhaps be something to be said as to its defence, because it in from the pen of an eminent 152 AECHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH Protestant divine, the Bishop of London. I presume the Bishop of London, when he wrote that passage, must have been writing on some subject connected with infidehty ; he must have been writing against infidehty, and indulging in a range of argument which might be proper for sucli a subject, but out of place in the hands of com- mon-school children. What was that passage ? Why, it is one which represents the Divine Redeemer as a man of respectable talents. Mr. Ketchum rose, and intimated his doubt of such a passage being in the books. The Right Rev. Prelate continued. I have read it in their books, but the Trustees hare recalled them. I hope not for the purpose of depriving me of the opportunity of quoting the page. Such a lesson is now to be found in one of the books, which repre- sents the Divine Redeemer as showing uncommon quickness of pen- etration and sagacity. I ask whether such a lesson is a proper one for children, and whether such is the instruction to be given to them of the Redeemer of the world ? The gentleman- who first spoke, said it was not in reality religion that was taught, but mere moral- ity that was inculcated — the propriety of telling the truth and of fulfilling all moral (pities. If this be true, it is still strange that the School Society should prefer the word " religious." He did not deny that it Avas a kind of religion, and that the precepts of the Decalogue were inculcated, and while the Public School Society admit that religion is inculcated — and the legal gentleman, their representative, does not disclaim it, so far as it forms the ground- work of a good moral character — it may be taken as admitted. And now, if they teach rehgion, let us know what it is to be. Let them not delegate to the teachers, some of whom may teach one religion, some another, the authority or permission to make " reli- gious impressions," to give " religious instruction," to give a " right direction to the mind of youth," and all the other phrases which we find in their documents. Now, on the subject of religion and morals, would they teach morals without rehgion, which I conceive will be found as visionary as castle-building in the air. Mr. Ketchum says they are taught not to lie, but without religion he furnishes no mo- . tive for not lying. If a man tells me not to lie, when it is my interest to lie, I, as a rational being, want a motive for telling the truth. My love of gain tells me if I lie, and lie successfully, it wnll add to my fortune ; and if I am told to abstain from lying, at the risk of my fortune, let me have a reason. But if I am told there is God to whom I am accountable, that is a motive ; but, then, it is a teaching of religion. Yes, sir, when I am told there is a God, I am taught religion ; and therefore I am astonished that the Report Avhich has gone forth from the other Board should declare that the smallest teaching of religion vitiates the claim. You may as well think to build an edifice without a foundation, as to pretend to produce moral effects without religious belief. There may not be the details of religion, but there must be the BEPOEE THE CITY COUNCIL. 15? principle, to a certain extent, otherwise you cannot lay the founda- tion of good morals for men. Now, sir, I will show you that Mr. Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia, who had no religious belief what- ever, in his will, by which he bequeathed large sums of money for the purpose of procuVing great and material benefits to society — but which has been looked upon by many Christians, of every denomi- nation, in Philadelphia, rather as a curse than a blessing — even he speaks of morality without religion nearly as the Public School Society does. He says : " Secondly, I enjoin and require tbat no ecclesiastic", missionary, or minister, of any sect wliatsoever, shall ever hold or exercise any station or duty whatsoever in the said College ; nor shall any such person ever be admitted for any purpose, or as a visitor, ■within the premises appropriated to the purposes of the said Col- lege. In making this restriction, I do not mean to cast any reflection upon any sect or person whatever ; but, as there is such a multitude of sects, and such a diversity of opinion amongst them, I desire to keep the tender minds of the orphans ■who are to derive advantage from this bequest free from the excitement which clashing doctrines and sectarian controversy are so apt to produce. My Hesire is, that all the instructors and teachers in the College shall take pains to instill into the minds of "the scholars the purest principles of imorality, so that on their en- trance into active life they may, from inclination and habit, evince benevolence towards their fellow-creatures, and a love of truth, sobriety, and industry, adopt- ing at the same time such religious tenets as their matured reason may enable them to prefer." He left two millions of dollars to the city of Philadelphia, pro- vided that poor orphans should be brought up to respect infidelity. He did not say a word against religion, but he took care to stand by, not personally, but by his executors, in his will, to prevent its precepts being inculcated in the minds of those who are the depen- dents on his bounty. They were to have the purest principles of morals instilled into their minds ; but the attempt is vain when re- ligion is not placed as the foundation of morals. He, like the Public School Society, stands by to see th.at the pot- ter shall give no form to the vase, till the clay grows stiff and hard- ened. Then it will be too late. The gentlemen also made objection to our schools, because, he said, they were in our churches. The fact is, we were obliged to provide them where we could, and our means would permit ; and there are some of them in the basement of our churches. And he conceived it impossible to keep them from sectarian influence, be- cause the children would be within hearing of the chant of divine service ; as though sectarianism depended on geographical distances from church. But this could not have been a valid objection, be- cause the Public School Society has had not only schools under churches, but in the session rooms of churches. I shall refer now to the learned gentlemen who followed him (Mr. Ketchum), and I can only say that this gentleman,' with a great deal of experience in this particular question, really seems to me to con- firm all I say on the ground we have taken. I know he lectured me pretty roundly on the subject of attending the meetings held under 154 ARCHBISHOP hughes' SECOND SPEECH St. James' church. I know he did more for me than the Pope : the Pope " mitred" me but once, but he did so three or four times dur- ing the course of his address. He read me a homily on the duties of station ; and he so far forgot his country and her principles, as to call it a " descent" on my part, when I mingled in a popular meet- ing of freemen. But it was no descent ; and I hope the time will ne\-er come when it will be deemed a descent for a man in office to mingle with his fellow-citizens when convened for legitimate and honorable purposes. But from his speech it would appear, that his experience has been obtained by the discharge of the duty of standing advocate of de- nial ; and yet, with all his experience and opportunities of research, his inability to overturn our grounds confirms me in the conviction that they are not to be removed, e\en by the aid of splendid talents ; for that speech, like most others, went on the false issue that we want privileges. But we want no privilege. That speech, like the speech from the throne, might have been the speech of years past, and might have been stereotyped ; for its only novelty, which proved to me that it was not all the work of antiquity, was the part which appertained to mysfelf. And not only that, but I have to say, that when I came into this hall — and it is the first time I ever stood in an assembly of this description — I felt that I was thrown on the hospitality of the professional gentleman ; and I think if I and that gentleman could have exchanged places, I should not have looked so hard at him as he did at me. In fact, throughout that speech he, with peculiar emphasis, and a manner which he may, perhaps, have acquired in his practice in courts of law, fixed upon me a steady gaze — and he has no ordinary countenance — and addressed me so solemnly, that I really expected every moment he would forget him- self, and say "the prisoner at the bar." (Laughter.) He did not, however. Pie passed that over ; and whilst I recognize and respect the ^' human face divine," because God made it to look upward, I may here observe, that it has no power to frighten me, even if it wdvld be terrible ; and therefore I was not at all disturbed by the hard looks which he gave me. The gentleman will pardon me, I hope^ in this, for it is natural enough, after what has been said — though, I know it was said in good humor, to claim the privilege to retort. Well, sir, this was not all, but he told us something about going to the stake. He was sure, if any of the public money was voted to the denomination of a reverend gentleman, whose name I will not mention, the Catholics would go to the stake, l^ow, sir, we have no intention to do so. We know the public money does go to the support of religion ; it_goes to the support of chaplaincies, theologi- cal seminaries, imiversities, and chaplains of institutions whose ap- pointments are permanent ; and be it remembered, that one of the first lectures delivered in one institution, the University of this city, which was aided from the public funds, was on the anti-republican tendency of Popery. And yet we did not go to the stake for that; and why ? Because, though our portion of taxation mingles with BEPOEE THE CITY COUNCIL. 155 the rest, we have no objections to the use of it wliich the law pre- scribes, so long as no inalienable rights of our own are involved in the sacrifice. But, again, he said, if any of the money was appropriated to the Catholic religion, Protestants would go to the stake. I will not say whether Protestants are so exclusive ; while we submit to taxa- tion for Protestant purposes, without going to the stake, whether, if we participate, they will go to the stake, is not for me to say. Then he came to the Protestant Bible, " -without note or comment ;" and " it was hard for him to part with that translated Bible." lie stood by it, and repeated that " it was hard to give up the Bible," just as if I had said one word against it ; and as if I was about lo bring the Pope to banish it out of the Protestant world, or wished to deprive any man who venerates it of any Use he may think proper to make of it. And there, again, he looked so much as if he were in earnest, that, at one time, I thought he was actually about to rush to the " stake." But there was no stake there to go to, except that which he holds in the exchequer of the Public School Society. It is a most comfortable way of going to martyrdom. Sir, the gentleman taunted me for having attended the public meetings of Catholics on this subject, and he imputed the prejudice which exists against the Public School system to the observations I have made, as though it were of my creation. In answer to that I may state, what has been the fact for years, that Catholics have been struggling to have schools, and to the extent of their means we have them ; and what is the reason ? Do you suppose that we should impose additional burdens upon ourselves, if we were sat- isfied with those Public Schools ? Do you suppose we should have paid for our bread a second time, if that which these schools offered had not, in our opinion, been turned to a stone ? No, the existence of our own schools proves that I ha\e not excited the prejudice ; but still it is at all times my duty to warn my people against that which is destructive or violative to the religion they profess ; and if they abandon their religion they are free ; but so long as they are attached to our religion, it is my duty, as their pastor, as the faithful guardian of their principles and morals, to warn them when there is danger of imbibing poison instead of whole- some food. That is the reason ; and I am sorry that he has not found a motive less unworthy of me than that he has been pleased to assign. Then — and I may as well take up the question now as elsewhere — it has been said that it is conceived to be an inconsistency in our argument, that we object to the Public Schools because religion is taught in them, and yet, in the schools which we propose to estab- lish, or rather, which we have established, but for -wjiich we now plead, we profess to teach no sectarianism ; and the qtiestion arises, " if you are opposed to religion in these schools because it is secta- rianism, how can you teach religion in your schools, and yet your schools n6t be sectarian ?" This is the position in which they place 156 ARCHBISHOP hughes' SECOI^^D SPEECH . ns ; and it; answer I have to state, that, in the first place, we do not intend to teach religion. We shall be willing that they shall be placed nnder the same inspection that the Public Schools are now; and if it should be found that religion is taught, we will be willing that you shall cut them off. You shall be the judges. You may see that the law is complied with, and if we violate it, let ns be deprived of the benefits for which the conditions were prescribed. But there is neutral ground on which onr children may learn to read and cipher. If they read, it must be something that is written ; words are signs of ideas, and in the course of their instruction they may be made so to shape their studies as to loathe Catholicism, without learning any other religion. And this could be produced, not alone in reference to Catholics, but Presbyterians, Methodists, Unitarians, or any other. They might find that their children disregard their «wn religion, while they are not taught any other. Suppose the Presbyterians,' or any other denomination, were in the minority, and Catholics were numerically what Protestants are now, and therefore were able to decide what lessons their children should read in these schools, I ask you if the gentleman would not conceive he had rea- sonable objections, if they had forced upon them a system of educa- tion which teaches that their denomination, past, present, and td come, was deceitful? ISTow, take up these books, which teach all that is infamous in our history ; which teach our children about the "execution of Cranmer," the "burning of Huss," and "the character of Luther." If such a practice were reversed, what would he do ? Now, in our schools, I would teach them ; I would give our chil- dren lessons for exercise in reading, that should teach them that when the young tree of American liberty was planted, it was watered with Catholic blood, and that therefore we have as much right to everything common in this country as others. I should teach them that Catholic bishops and Catholic barons at Runneymede wrung the charter of our liberties — the grand parent of all known liberty in the world — from the hands of a tyrant. I should teach them where to find the bright spots on our history, though the gentleman who represents the Methodists knew not where they were to be found. This I would do, and should I violate the law ? If, instead of the burning of Huss, I gave them a chapter on the character of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, as a reading lesson, would that be teaching them of purgatory, and the doctrine of Transubstantiation ? But if our circumstances were reversed, so that Catholics con- trolled the public schools, would not Presbyterians have a right to complain ?— and should not we be tyrants while we refused to listen to their complaints, if we spread before their children lessons on the burning'of Servetus by Calvin, and on the hangings of members of the Society of Friends by those who held Calvin's doctrines ? I should listen to their appeal in such a case with feelings far different from those manifested by them in regard to others. But I would do more, in order that those little vagrants, of whom the gentleman speaks, might come into school. Their j)arents themselvfts having BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. 157 by persecution been deprived, in many instances, of an education, do not fully appreciate its advantages, and if you seek to enforce the attendance of their children, they will resist; if you attempt to coerce them you -will not succeed. But if you put them in a way to be admitted without being dragged by force to the school, or without destroying their religious principles when they enter (which you have no right to do), then you will prepare good citizens, edu- cated to the extent that will make them useful to their country. Then their parents, having confidence in their pastors, will send their children to schools approved of by them — and the children themselves may attend schools where they need not be ashamed of their creed, and where their companions will not call them " Papists," and tell them that ignorance and vice are the accompaniments of their religion. That will be the result, and I conceive it will be beneficial. Much has been said about the distinction between morality and religion, and about those certain broad principles on which it is thought all can agree. And yet our opponents contend — and I am surprised at the circumstance — gentlemen who are not only Chris- tians themselves, but Christian ministers, contend all through for the rights of those who are not of the Christian religion, but are commonly called infidels. An attempt has been made to draw a distinction between morality and religion. "I have already said, and there is not a gentleman here who will pretend to deny it, that mo- rality must rest on religion for its basis. I refer you, and it is not an ordinary authority, to a man who passed through life with the most beautiful character and the most blameless reputation that ever fell to the lot of a public man ; one who was distinguished almost above all other men ; one, of whom it would be profane to say that he was inspired, yet, of Avhom history has not handed down one useless action, or one single idle word, a man who left to his coun- try an inheritance of the brightest example, and the fairest name ^that ever soldier or statesman bequeathed to a nation — that man was Geoege Washingtos-. Hear what he says in his Farewell Ad- dress, on the attempt now being made to preserve morality whilst religion is discarded from the public schools. " Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the trib- ute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happi- ness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them, A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it be simply asked, where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of re- ligious obligations deseet the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both for- bid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious prin- ^ness, " Gentlemen, if you give us authority to exclude the Bible, I guarantee that it shall be so !" I recollect the beautiful period with which the gentleman wound up his sen- timent Ijeforc the Common Council, I remember him saying that '.' it would be hard to part with that translated Bible — hard indeed, for it had been the con- solation of many in death — the spring of hope in life —and wherever it had gone there was liberty and there was freedom, and where it had not gone there was darkness and there was despotism." But I must apologize for attempting to re- peat, as I spoil the poetry of his eloquent language. At the time, however, I thought what a beautiful piece of declamation for a Bible Society Meeting ; for, on such occasions, owing to the enthusiasm — the sincere enthusiasm — of the auditor.?, and the oftentimes artiflcial enthusiasm of the speakers, all history, philosophy, and common sense, occasionally, are rendered quite superfluous. The most beautiful phrases, resting on no basis but fancy, may be strung to- gether, and will produce the deepest impression. But I doubt much when we come to examine the sober reality of the matter whether the poetical beauties of Mr. Ketchura's Action will not be seen vanishing into thin air. I doubt much, indeed, whether the libert}', whose origin and progress history has recorded, will be found to have sprung from "that translated Bible," in any sense, and especially in the sense of Mr. Ketchum. I, of course, yield to no man in pro- found veneration foi- the book of God, but there is a point of exaggeration which does no credit, but injury to that Holy Book. Let us look at these translations of the Bible. The first was Tyndall's, then Coverdalo's, and then the Bishop's Bible. These remained till the time of James the First, and during all that time — a period of about a century — if 218 AKCHBISnOP HUGHES. ever there was a period of degrading and slavish submission to tyrannical power in England, it was then beyond all comparison. At the close of this period a new translation was made and dedicated to the king. It was dis- covered that the " only rule of Faith and Practice " during all this time was full of errors and corruption. Every one knows that James was one of the poorest scions of the poor race from whom he was descended. Yet in their dedication, the translators appointed to amend the rule of faith by a new trans- lation, call him the " Sun in his strength," and that from his many and extra- ordinary graces, he might be called the " wonder of the wokld ! " Now, during the succeeding sixty or eighty years what were the doctrines of liberty in England ? It was then that the schoolmen of Oxford and Cambridge taught from ''that translated Bible" the dogma of " NON-nESISTA^'«E to the eoyal authority" — that "passive obedience" was the duty of subjects — that no crime nor possible tyranny of the prince could authorize a subject to rebel. How could Mr. Ketchum forget all that? Let us examine the facts of the case and ascertain how correct Mr. Ketchum was when he said that liberty had always followed the progress of that trans- lated Bible. You will find that from the period of the Reformation down to the Revolution, England was sunk to the lowest degree of slavish submission , to tyrannical authority. The spirit of old Enghsh freedom had disappeared at the Reformation, and it was only at the Revolution that, like a ship recovering its equilibrium after having been long capsized by the storm, that old spirit righted itself again. But do I speak poetry like Mr. Ketchum ? let me appeal to facts (loud. cheers.) We find the fundamental principles of liberty as well understood by our Catholic ancestors, centuries before the Reformation, as they are at the present day. They well understood the principle, that all civil authority is derived from the people, and that those elected to exercise it, are res- ponsible to those from whom they derive their power. " By one of the laws of Edward the Confessor, conQrmed by the Conqueror, the duties of the Wmg are defined ; and it is provided that, unless he should properly discharge them, he should not even be allowed the name of king as a title of courtesy, and this on the authority of a pope. The coronation of Henry I. was based on as regular a con- tract as ever yet took place in market-overt. By the coronation oaths of the several monarchs between him and John a similar contract was implied. By Magna Charta, and its articles for keeping the peace between the king and the kingdom, this implied contract was reduced to writing, and 'signed, sealed, and delivered by the parties thereto.' In the reign of Henry lit. Bracton, one of his judges, tells us, that since the king ' is God's minister and deputy, he can do nothing else on earth, but that only which he can do of right Therefore, while he does justice he is the deputy of the Elei-nal King; but the minister of the devil when he turns to injustice. For he is called king from governing well, and not from reigning ; because he is king while he reigns well, but a tyrant when he violently oppresses the people entrusted to him. . . . . Let the king, therefore, allow to the law what the law allows to him — dominion and power — for he is not a king with whom his will, and not the law, rules." — Dublin Ji&view. There was the language of a judge in the times before either the Refor- mation or James' translation of the Bible were dreamed of! I pass to ano- ther historical event — the crowning of John, on which occasion Hubert, the Archbishop of Canterbury, fearing that the monarch, from supposing that his royal blood alone entitled him to receive the kingly ofBce, should throw the kingdom into confusion, reminded him that no one had such a right to succeed another in the government unless chosen by the people. " That no one had a right by any precedent reason to succeed another in the sover- eignty, unless he were unanimously chosen by the entire kingdom, and pre-elected according to the eminency of his morals, after the example of haul, the first anointed king whom God had set over his people, though not a king's son, or sprung of a roval raie, that thus he who excelled all in ability, should presid'e over all Avith power and ttuihority. But if any of a deceased king's family excelled the rest of the nation, to hia SPEECHES IN CARROLL HALL. 219 election they should more readily assent. For these reasons they had chosim Connt John, the brother of their deceased king, on account as well of his merits as of his royal blood. To this declaration John and the Assembly assented." I wonder whether an Archbishop of Canterbury, now, with this translat- ed Bible in his hand, would dare to utter such language in the presenee of the monarch when he was about to officiate at a coronation ! Let us now turn to what occurred after this translation of the Bible. At the execution of the Earl of Monmouth, there were a number of Protestant divines whc exhorted him to die like a " good Christian," and the great point on which they insisted was that the subject was bound to obey the prince with " passive obedience." But the noble Earl, in whose breast there still burn- ed something of the principles of the olden times of England, would not agree to that dogma, and then the divines under the influence of this trans- lated Bible refused to pray for him. Their last words were, " Then, my lord, we can only recommend you to the mercy of God, but we cannot pray with that cheerfulness and encouragement as we should if you had made a particular acknowledgment." The same doctrine was prevalent at the time of Tillotson, and he speaks of it not only as his own opinion, but as that of those for whom Mr. Ketoh- um claims the honor of being considered the apostles of English liberty ! I quote from the Dublin Review : " Amons; those who importuned the unfortunate Lord Russell to make a similar ac- knowledgment was Tillotston, who, by letter, told him that this doctrine of non-resist- ance ' was the declared doctrine of all Protestant Churches, though some particular persons had thought otherwise,' and expressed his concern 'that you do not leave the world in a delusion and false hope to the hinderance of your eternal happiness," by doubting the saving article of faith. Within the same period. Bishop Sanderson deliv- ered the doctrine in the following clear and explicit language. He declares that, ' to blaspheme the holy name of God, to sacrifice to idols,' &o., &o., ' to take up arms against a lawful sovereign, none of these, and sundry other things of the like nature, being all of them simple and de toto genere, unlawful, may be done on any color or pretence whatsoever, the express command of God only excepted, as in the case of Abraham sacrificing his son, not for the avoiding of scandal, not at the instance of any friend, or command of any power on earth — not for the maintenance of the lives and liberties of ourselves or others, nor for the defence of religion, nor for the preservation of the Church and State ; no, nor yet, if that could be imagined possible, for the salva- tion of a soul, no — not for the redemption of the whole world.' This was considered a very orthodox eS'usion." — Dublin, BevUw. An article of faith that you dare not under any circumstances resist the kingly power. Compare, then, the language of Protestant divines having this translated Bible before them, with that of Catholic divines at a former period, and see the ground which Mr. Ketchum has found in England for his poetical as- sertion. But, perhaps, if we turn our attention to the Protestant govern ■ ment of Europe, we may find his dreani realized. Perhaps he may find his dream realized in Prussia ? In th^t country there are two principal com- munions of Protestants, the Lutheran and the Calvinist. Now, the king calls his ofiioe'rs together, and tells them to draw up a liturgy : decrees that both will, and shall, and must believe or practice this liturgy ? (Laughter and cheers.) Or he may go to Sweden, or to Norway, or Denmark, and the dark despotism of the North, perchance there he may find that liberty, of which he speaks, progressing with this translation. What kind of free- dom, let me ask Mr. Ketchum, followed this "translated Bible" to Ireland —that everlasting monument to Catholic fidelity and Protestant shame ! (Tremendous applause.) But to come to this country — ^perhaps it was in New England among the Puritans, that Mr. Ketchum's dream was realized — ask the Quaker ! (Laughter.), Perhaps it was in Virginia — ask the Presbyterian I "Where was 220 AECHBISriOP HUGHES, it? Let me tell you. It was in Maryland, among the Catholics. Theij Ikiiew enough of the rights of conseienoe to raise the fiist standard of re- ligious liberty that ever floated on the breeze in America. (Clieers.) You may ho told that Roger Williams and his associates in Rhode Island de- clared equal rights. Not at all — he excluded Roman Catholics from exer- cising the elective franchise. But the Catholics did not exclude liira. They may refer to Pennsylvania — the reference is equally untbrtunate, for Penn wrote from England remonstrating with the Governor, Logan, I be^ Have, for permitting the scandal of Catholic worship in Philadelphia. Turn, noV, look at the constellation of Catholic Republics, before Prot- estantism was dreamed of as a future contingency. Look at Venice, Genoa, Florence, and that little republic — not larger than a pin's head on the map — San Marino — which has preserved its independence for such a long course of centuries, lest the science of repubKcanis'm should be lost to the world ! Look at Poland — when the Protestants were persecuting one another to the death in Germany, Poland opened her gates to the refugees and made them equal with her own subjects, and in the Diet of Poland, at which the law was passed, there were eight Catholic Bishops, and they must have sanctioned the law,for the liberalism veto gave each the power to prevent it. I challenge Mr. Ketchum to point out, in the whole history of the globe, one instance of similar liberality on the part of' Protestants to- wards Catholics. Now, what becomes of that beautiful declaration of Mr. Ketchum, that wherever that translation had gone liberty followed? I know, indeed, that in this country we all enjoy equal civil rights, but I know also that it was not Protestant liberality that secured them. They grew out of necessity, and in the declaration of them there is no difference made between one religion and another. Catholics contended as valiantly as any other, in the first ranks of the contest for liberty. And I fervently hope that it is too late in the day for any one to pretend that Catholics have been so blinded by their religion as to be unable to know what is liberty and what is not. (Cheers.) Be it understood, then, that not one of the objections which Mr. Ketchum has put into our mouths respecting the Bible, was ever presented to the Senate by us. Mr. Ketchum having thus disposed of our pretended objections, goes on to speak of the Secretary's Report. " Thej will be satisfied with it, it will c;ive them what thev ask. Now, lot us sea bow ? There is no proposition contained in this report that religious societies, as such, shall participate in this fund — none." Then, Sir, I ask what is your objection ? In New York before the Com- mon Council all your opposition was directed against " religious societies." Mr. Spencer has removed every ground for that, and I therefore ask what is your object ? Your object is to preserve the Public School Society in the monopoly, not only of the funds contributed by the citizens for the. support of education, but also of the children. He says : " The trustees of districts shall indicate what religion shall be taught in those schools; that is to say, that you shall hav% small masses; that these small masses shall elect their trustees; and as the majority of the people in those small masses hiay direct, so shall be the character of the religious instruction imparted." Mr. Spencer wishes to take from the Society that very feature which is objected to — that is to say, he wishes that religion shall neither be exclud- ed nor enforced hy law. And yet, Mr. Ketchum, by his old principle of substitution, makes out quite a different proposition from the Report, and infers that the Trustees shall have the power to prescribe what religioq shall be taught. I do not sse that in the Rej>ort at all. On the contrary, .Am SPEECHES IN CAEEOLL HALL. 221 the Secretary leaves parents at liberty to act on that subject as they see proper. Mr. Ketchuni supposes a case to illustrate his view of tlie matter. which I must say does not do Mm much credit. He says : " But when a school is formed in the sixth ward of the city of New York, in which ward (for the sake of the argument we will assume) tlie Roman Catholics have a ma- jority in the district; they choose their trustees, and these trustees iudicate that a specific form of religion, to wit, the Roman Catholic, shall be taught in that school — that mass shall be said there, and that the children shall cross themselves with holy water in the school, having the right to do so according to this report, the Catholics beinj;; in a majority there. Then, and not till then, can these Roman Catholics conscientiously send their children to school — that is to say, their objections lo this system are to be overcome by having a school to which they conscientiously send their children ; and that school must be oue in which religion is to be taught according to their particular views." That is drawing an inference without the facts, for we never said so, nor ever furnished Mm authority to say so, and although Mr. Ketchum has the authority of the Public School Society to speak, yet that does not enable him, when he states what is not the fact, to make it true. But I wish to know why he brought up that picture at all — why the sixth ward should have peculiar charms in his imagination, or why he should have introduced all that about the children crossing themselves with holy water ? And pray is it for Mr. Ketchum to find fault with what he supposes to be reli- gious error, and for which he is not at all accountable ? He has not shown, nor lias any man shown that such consequences would follow — it is impos- sible that the Trustees could act so ridiculously as to permit such a thing — it was incredible that they, being responsible to the oflScers appointed by the State, and under the eye of such vigilant gentlemen as Mr. Ketchum and the Public School Society, could permit Mass to be celebrated in the schools ? Tet such is the picture presented by Mr. Ketchum, quite in ac- cordance with his old course, and in order to excite popular prejudices, for which this speech seems to have been so studiously prepared. Por he well knew that amongst a large portion of the Protestants there is a vast amount of traditional prejudice against Catholics, which has, from being repeated incessantly and seldom contradicted, become iixed, occupying the place of truth and knowledge. Their case reminds me of what is related of BaroQ Munchausen. It is said that when this celebrated traveler was old he had a kind oi consciousness that there was some former period of his life when he knew that all his stories were untrue, but he had repeated them so often that now he actually believed them to be true ! (Loud laugh-- ter and cheers.) It is to such persons as are under the influence of these prejudices and bigotries that Mr. Ketchum addresses his speech, and if he utter the sentiments of the Public School Society, how, I ask, can we confide to their hands the training of the tender minds of our children. But one of the most remarkable things in this speech is, that after having beaten off in succession the different religious denominations, because, as he said, they would teach religion — having, in fact, played one sect against the other — ^Mr. Ketchtim turns round and affirms that the Society itself does teach religion. He says : "No, sir. I afHim that the religion taught in the public schools is precisely that quantity of religion which we have a right to teach ; it would be inconsistent with pub- lic sentiment to teach less ; it would be illegal to teach more." The " exact quantity ! " Apothecary's weight! (Great laughter.) Nothing about the quality except that Mr. Ketchum having made it an objection that we wished religion in a definite form, he will give it in an indefinite form — a fine religion — but at all events there is to be the " legal quantity." "Well, now let us see something about the quality of this religion, and I wish to consider 222 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. the subject seriously. A-nd here let me refer to a beautiful sentiment expressed by the Secretary in his report— He says that religion and literature have be come so blended, that the separation of the one from the other is impossible. A more true or appropriate declaration could not proceed from the lips of any man wishing the welfare of his country and his kind! (Cheers.) Now, whenever we made objections to that society for pretending that re- ligious subjects were excluded by law, it was on these grounds. We said, we refer you to the experience of public men — to that of the most celebrated states men in Europe, even to the infidels of France— who have uniformly declared that society cannot exist except on the basis of religion. All of them, whether believing in religion or not, have admitted the necessity of having some kind of religion as the basis of the social edifice. But these gentlemen, in all their debates, have contended that the education to be given should be "purely civil and secular." That is their official language. And now for the first time Mr. Ketchura before the Senate, declares that the society does teach religion, and exactly the proper quantity ! (Cheers.) Let me now call your attention to a passage in one of their reading books, in order that we may see a specimen of this religion. I will now make a few comments on the passage, but I do con- ceive that there are persons of all those denominations who recognize the doc- tripe of the Trinity, who could not be induced to have the minds of their children inoculated with such sentitnents as it contains. Referring to our blessed Redeemer one of the school-books says : " His answers to the many insidious questions that were put to him, showed uncom- mon quickness of conception, soundness of judgment and presence of mind; completely baffled all the artifices and malice of his enemies; and enabled him to elude all the snares that were laid for him." Are these the ideas of the divine attributes of the Redeemer which the Christian portion of the community wish impressed on the minds of their children ? That such have been the sentiments taught by the society for the last sixteen years, they ctmnot deny. And they may account for it as they please, but it has attracted the attention of many, that for the last six- teen years the progress of that young and daring blasphemy that trifles with all that is sacred has increased tenfold in this city. How do I account for it ? In two ways — first, because a large portion of the young are debarred from the benefits of education, and, on the other hand, there is the attempt which has been made to divorce religion from literature. When such causes exist you need not be surprised to find that infidelity thickens its ranks and raises on every side its bold and impious front. I have presented you with a specimen of the quality of that religion which Mr. Ketohnm says is dealt out with exact and legal measure. Mr. Ketchum contends that it is a religion of a decided character that we want. And pray what are we to understand by religion that is not decided? A religion which is vague — a general religion? What is the meaning of these terms? I desire to have a definition of them. If there is to be estab- lished by law a Public School Society-Religion, I should like to have its con- fession of faith, and be informed of the number of articles, and the nature of the doctrines contained in them. But it seems to me that Mr. Ketchum and this Public Scliool Society resemble a body of men who are opposed to all physicians because they understand medicine, and who, although them- selves opposed to all practice of medicine, are yet disposed to administer to the patients of the regular practitioners. And the comparison holds good — foi-, after all, children are born with a natural moral disease — want of knowl- edge, and evil propensities — and education and religion are the remedial agent.? to counteract these evil tendencies and remove the natural infirmity. Then wo have the practitioners, as they may be termed, coming to see the patient, the wliole community supplying the medicine-ohest ; and we have SPEECHES IN CAEEOLL HALL. 223 these men surroundicg this chest and exclq,iming to the physicians, "Clear off! you are a Thomsouian, and you are a Broussaist, you are a Homojopatliic, and you are a regular practitioner, and you wish to prescribe remedies of a decided and definite character, wliich is contrary to "a great principle." And having thus banished all the physicians they turn doctors themselves and mix up their drugs into what they call a "genei'al medicine," of whicii they administer what they call the legal quantity. (Laughter and cheers.) But the gentlemen forget that neither the patient nor the medicine are theirs. Those who furnish the patient and supply the medicine-chest should have a voice in the selection of the doctors. What do the gentlemen really intend? They object to religious societies, but after they had got them pushed out of the house, they begin to teach religion themselves! Mr. Ketohum acknowledges that He an'd Mr. Sedg- wick, his associate, however, do not appear to have studied theology in the same school. One says that religion isi^the basis of all morality, the other that morality is the basis of religion. And, after all, do men agree any more in their views of morality than religion? Certainly not. And yet you must give to the children — especially those of that class attending these schools, for it should be bofne in mind that they, for the most part, do not enjoy tlie opportunity of parental or pastoral instruction — some supply of religions education. Tliey are the offspring of parents, who unfortunately cannot sujjply that deficiency ; and if they are brought up .in this way with a kind of contempt for religion — or with the most vague idea of it, the most lament- able results must necessarily follow. , I now come to another point, the non-attendance of the children at the schools. Whilst our humble school-rooms are crowded to excess, the Society have been obliged to give $1,000 a year for recruiting for children. In Grand street they have erected a splendid building, almost sufficient to accommo- date the Senate of the State, and besides all that, we find they are able to lavisli public money in payment of agents to collect children. Mr. Seton, who has been a faithful agent of the Society, made that fact known, and stated that by this means 800 children were collected. And to wliom was this money given? To tract distributors — a very good occupation theirs I liave no doubt; but at the same time that was rather a singular appropria- tion by men so extremely scrupulous lest any portion of the public money should go to the support of any sect. But I suppose that was on the prin- ciple of what Mr. Ketchum calls ," giving and taking" — that is you give a tract and take a child. (Laughter and cheers.) Then we have quite an effort on the part of Mr. Ketchum to prove that the trustees discharge their onerous duties much better than ofiicers elected by the people. I will quote his remarks on that point : " This Public School Society receives its daily sustenance from the representatives of the people — and the moment that sustenance is withdrawn, it dies, — it cannot carrj' on its operations for a day." A, most beautiful subversion of the actual order! For so far from the Common Council patronizing the Society, it is the Society that patronizes f he Common Council — taking them into partnership the moment they are elected, and so far from being dependent on the Council, as was well re- marked by a greater authority than I am on this subject, the Council were dependent on the Society. The schools belong to the Society, just as much IS the Harlem Bridge does to the Company who built it. What remedy is there then ? The Society, self-constituted, a close corporation, takes into partnersliip the Common Council, which then becomes part and parcel — bone of the bone, and fiesh of the flesh — of the Society, and if any differ- ence arises between the citizens and the Society, a committee of that very Society adjudicates in the cause ! Thus we have found that the Common 224 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. Council, after having denied our claim, and oven -wlion about to retire and fjive place to their successors, followed us to Albany, and their last act — like that of the retreating Parthian who flung his dart behind him — was to lay their remonstrance on the table of the tribunal to which we had appealed. Mr. Ketchum says : " Here are agents of the people — men who, having a desire to serve mankind, associate together; they offer to take the superin- tendence of particular works, they offer themselves to the public as agents to carry out certain benevolent purposes ; and, instead of paying men for the labor, they volunteer to do it for you, ' without money and without price,' under your directions — to do it as your servants — and to give an account to you and an account to the Legislature. Voluntary public ser- vice is always more efficient than labor done by servants chosen in any other way." So that because they serve gratuitously, they discharge their duties much better than if elected by the people ! Well, let us improve upon the hint. Perhaps some of them may be kind enough to discharge the more important fimctions of the government for nothing ! But if volunteers be more efficient than officers chosen by the votes of the people, let us abol- ish the farce of elections altogether. Not satisfied "with this, Mr. Ketchum also would seem to contend, that the volunteers are not to be held respon- sible ! To establish his views on this point, Mr. Ketchum refers to charitable and benevolent institutions. But where is the justice of the comparison ? The sick are incompetent to secure their own protection and recovery. The inmates of houses of refuge, on which Mr. Ketchum has a -beautiful apostrophe, referring to his own share in the erection of that one estab- lished in this city, are likewise unable to take care of themselves. And here let me say, in all sincerity, to Mr. Ketchum, that if he and the Public School Society determine to perpetuate their system, if they continue to exclude religion from education, and at the same time to deprive four- fifths of the children, as now, of any education at all — then he had better stretch his lines, and lay the foundation of houses of refuge, as the appro- priate supplement to the system. Neither does the comparison hold, as I have before shown, in reference to lunatic asylums, &c. Then Mr. Ketchum goes on to illustrate further, and says : " But it is said, and said too in the report of the Secretary, that he proposes to retain these Public Schools. How retain them ? One of the features of the' pro- posed new law is, that all school moneys shall be paid to the teachers. Under such a law we cannot live a day — not a day." What an acknowledgment is thatl That a law which would make education free— giving equal rights to all— would be the death-warrant of the Public School Society. There is another point on which Mr. Ketchum does not now dwell so emphatically. He says, that there were a large number of tax-payers who, wonderful to relate, asked for the privilege of being taxed, asked for that privilege, for the purpose of supplying the Public School Society with money to carry out their benev- olent purposes. Mr. Ketchum seems to consider that at that time there was a kind of covenant made between the petitioners to be taxed, and the State authori- ties, that when they petitioned and were taxed, the authorities of the State bound themselves to keep up the system in perpetuum. But did these per- sons ask to be taxed, exclusively, out of their own pockets, or did they ask for a system of taxation which should reach all the tax-paying citizens of New York. There is a fallacy in Mr. Ketchum's argument'here. He sup- poses that because these persona are large property holders, that they are SPEECHES IN CAEEOLL HALL. 225 thimfoTe,piw excellence, the payers of taxes. He forgets that it is a fact well understood in the science of political economy, that the consumer is, after all, the tax-payer— that it is the tenants occupying the pi'operty of those rich men, and returning them their large rents, who are actually the tax- payers. And what peculiar merit, then, can Mr. Ketchum claim for these owners of property, and petitioners to have all the rest of the citizens taxed as well as themselves? But he insists that there was an agreement, a co\-enant entered into between them and the State authorities, and if you interfere with its provisions, you must release these tax-payers from their obligations as such. With all my heart— I have no objection ! All wo want is, that there should be no unjust interference — no exclusive system — ' no extraneous authority interposed between the tax-payer and the purpose for which the tax is collected. But the fact that others besides these pe- titioners are equally involved in the burthen, demolishes this argument of Mr. Ketchum. In his conclusion, the learned gentleman insists, that unless the Society reniain as it is, it cannot exist. And then he goes on further, for it would be impossible for him to close his-speech without again reminding the Sen- ate that we are Roman Catholics. He says: "The people in New York understand the subject, and the Roman Catholics cannot say that they will not be heard as well there as here. Why not leave the matter to us, the people of the city of New York?" - . Thus, Mr. Ketchum, after having first endeavored to impress the minds of the Senate that we had had all imaginable fair-play, that other denom- inations had made applications similar to ours, which is not the fact, that our jjetition had uniformly been denied in the several boards representing the people of New York ; whereas he knew that on this question, the peo- ple of New York were never represented by the Common Council; he goes on to say, at last, " Why not leave the matter to us — the people of the city of New York ?" I trust not, if a committee of the Public School Society, called the Cgmmon Council, are to be at once -parties and judges, I hope that the question will not be referred back; although, for Mr. Ketchum's satisfaction, I may state, that if it were so referred, the Common Council would not, I will venture to say, now decide upon it by such a vote as they did before ; when one man alone had the courage, whether he was right orr wrong, to say nay, when all said yes ! (Loud and long-continued cheering,), In consequence of that vote, as they have since taken care to tell us, thi&. gentleman lost his election, but, what is of infinitely more importance, ha- preserved his honor. (Renewed applause.) Were the matter now before the Common Council, they would see a thousand-and-one reasons for hesitatioo , before deciding as before. For when public men see that any measure is- likely, to be popular, they can find abundant reasons for taking a favorable view of the question. I will refer Mr. Ketchum to a sign from whieh hi© may learn what he pleases. Since the Common Council, that clmfied our - claims, went out of office, their successors have had the matter b«fdre them, and when in the Board of Assistants it was proposed to pass a/ resolution requesting the! Legislature to defer the consideration of the question, the motion was negatived by a tie vote. Still Mr. Ketchum will have the end of this speech something like the end of the last. Then he said this was a most distressing topic to the gentlemen of the Public School Society — th%t they were men- of peace — that I do" not controvert, but certainly I must say that i» the course of this contest they appear to have exhibited a spirit contrary to. their natures ! — but so peaceful were they, Mr.. Ketchum said, that if any longer annoyed they would throw up their office and retire 1 (Cheers anxyaughter.) But, 15 22G AECHBISHOP HUGHES. after all, tliey could send their agents to Albany to oppose us there— tlio r)ne, Dr. Rockwell, to disseminate a burlesque on our faith from Tristram Shandy — the other, Mr. Ketchum, to plead as zealously, but I think not as successfully, as ever against the recognition of our claims. Mr. Ketchum says : " Now the contest is renewed, and' the trustees engage in it with extreme reluctance ; they have no personal interests to advance, and they are very unwilling to be put in hostile array against any Of their fellow-citizens." Mr. Chairman, the lateness of the hour admonishes me that I have tres- passed too much upon your patience ; I have but one observation toinake in conclusion. These gentlemen have spoken much and laid great emphasis on the importance of morality, but as I have already remarked, morality is not always judged of by the same criterion. Let me illustrate this. Accord- ing to the morality which my religion teaches, if I rob a man, or injure him in his property, and desire to be reconciled to God, I mxist first, of all, if it be in my power, make reparation to the man whom I have injured. Again, if I should unfortunately rob my neighbor of his good name — of his repu- tation — either by accident or through malice, before I can hope for recon- ciliation with an pifended God, I must repair the injury and restore my neighbor's good name. If I belie him I must acknowledge the lie as publicly as it was uttered — tliat is Catholic morality. Well, now, these gentlemen hdve belied us — they have put forward and circulated a document which existed only in the imagination of Sterne — a foul document — and represented it as a part of our creed. I do not say that they directly required this to be done; but their Agent did it, and he cannot deny it. I wonder now, then, if they will have such a sense of morality as will impel them to endeavor to repair the injury thus done to our reputation, by any official declaration that that is a spurious document ? I wonder if the consci- entious morality that presides over the " Journal of Commerce " will prompt its editors to such a course f If it do not, then it is a morality different from ours. I apprehend that no such reparation will be offered for the injury we have sustained by the everlasting harangue of a,buse and vituperation that has been poured out against us for these few years past. Have we not been assailed with a foul and infamous fiction in the pages of a work called "Maria Monk?" and have its Reverend authors ever stood forward to do us justice and acknowl- edge the untruth which, knowing it to be so, they published ? Have they ever attempted to counteract that obscene poison which they disseminated, comjpt- ing the morals of youth throughout every hamlet in the land ? Whilst de- nouncing in their ecclesiastical assemblies the works of Byron and Bulwer, did they include in their denunciation the filthy and enormous lie, published under their auspices — the writings of "Mauia Monk?" What idea, then, must we form of their morality and religion ? And, here, it would be unjust to omit mentioning that many Protestants, not under the influence of blinded bigotry, have done us justice on this point. In particular I refer to the conduct of one distinguished Protestant writer, who cannot be accused of great partiality, for us, but who exposed and refuted the authors and abettors of this filthy libel, to which I have referred. I know that it would be incorrect and unjust to say that thousands of otheirs, sincere Protestants, but high-minded, honorable men, have not taken the same view of the subject. But I speak particularly of the morality of the authors and publishers of these abominable slanders, and I " regret that the Public School Society, by their recent proceedings, should have allowed themselves to sink to^a kindred degradation ! [The Right Rev. Prelate here resumed his seat, amid thunders of appla.ise, fWhich lasted several miniites.] MR. ketciium's eejoixdek. REVIEW OE MR. KETCHUM'S REJOINDER, so FAR AS HE HAS GONE, BY BISHOP HUGHES. [Mr. Ketcluim having attempted a reply, through the columns of one of the<;ity papers, to Bishop Hughes' great speech in Carroll Hall, on the evenings of June 16th, ITth and 21st, 1841, the following review of Mr. Ketchum's " rejoinder" ap- peai'ed in the Freeman's Journal of August 1th, 1841.] I DO not deem it necessary to wait for the conclusion of the re- joinder, inasmuch as the American in which it is published, tells ug that " every part is complete in itself." When Mr. Ketchum pub- lished his speech before a Committee of the Senate, I announced that I should review and refute it. The word refute is printed in capitals by Mr. Ketchum, I know not for what purpose. If I had any doubt as to the fulfillment of my promised refutation, the Re- joinder, so far, at least, has completely removed it. Indeed I am at loss to know what meaning the gentleman attaches to the word Re- joinder, but in my judgment, the truest title he could have given to his last production would have been, if he had called it, "A repeti- tion OF WHAT I HAVE SAID BEFOKE PAKTLT IN THE SAME WOEDS, AND PARTLY IN OTHER WORDS." He seems to find fault with me for having SQen fit to review his speech in a Public Assembly ; but I had explained the reason of this. It was to save me the time and trouble of writing it down. I knew his niany fallacies could be most easily exposed ; and yet I h.id but little leisure for the work of their exposition. In fact, it is only because he is the official organ of the Public School Society, that I would undertake it at .all. Nor would this have been neces- sary of either of the legal gentlemen who met him at Albany, had been fortunate enough to have had his speech reported. It seems, moreover, that the " laughter and cheers," introduced by the reporter, have given offence to Mr. Ketchum. Now, to this I have to reply that I requested the. chairman of the meeting to for- bid every manifestation of feeling. This he did in my own hearing, but it appears he was not strictly attended to in the matter, and the reporter, as custom is, put down the "cheers" and "laughter" as faithfully as anything that was said by me. I am not accountable for this, neither do I think that Mr. Ketchum should acquit his own speech of having contributed as much to produce laughter as any other cause. At all events, I thought it a very innocent way of giv- ing vent to the exuberance of indignation, which the course of the 228 AECHEISHOP hughes' EBVIEW learned gentleman, and the society of which he is the official organ, was calculated to excite. They compel the people to pay taxes for the purposes of education, and then wish to compel them to receive such kind of education as it may please a Close Coepoeation, having absolute and irresponsible power over the money, over the books, over the Teachers and over the children, to impart. For six- teen years has that portion of this people represented by the meeting at Carroll Hall, been deprived of the benefit of this taxation, and that by the efforts of this society, in the indulgence of its grasping ambition, and when they assemble in a peaceful and ordinary man- ner, to think and speak of their wrongs and to seek a remedy, Mr. Ketchum would grudge them even the privilege of laughing. _ Mr. Ketchum commenced his Rejoinder, so called, with a history of his going to Albany, and of what occurred there. This requires no remark from me. He tells us that the matter was " discussed between himself and Messrs. McKeon and Hawkes in good temper, and with that courtesy which well-bred gentlemen of the Bar uni- formly extend to each other." This is always to be supposed among " well-bred gentlemen," whether they belong to the Bar or not. It is a matter of course, and hence my astonishment, when in the discussion before the Com- mon Council, where I presented myself as a plain citizen, I found that one gentleman of the Bar, and only one, brought up my mitre and seemed incapable of making a speech until he had placed and re- placed it several times. It is not for me to say whether this was courteous, and besides, not being of the legal profession, perhaps I had no right to expect that courtesy which Mr. Ketchum says the members " uniformly extend to each other," and further saitL-not. I shall now proceed to notice whatever appears to wear even the semblance of argument in this rejoinder. 1. A large number of petitioners, deeply interested in the sub- ject of education, and deeply suffering by the present system, appeal for relief to the Legislature of the State. They are there met by the Public School Society, and their petition is opposed by an official remonstrance, and by an official living organ. In my review of the remonstrance' I proved that the Public School Society had attempted to mislead the judgment of the Senate by submitting in evidence false statements. I proved further that their legal advocate in his speech before a Committee of the Senate, had done the same. I did not say that either knew the statements to be false, but my speech established the fact of their being false in themselves and slanderous in their falsehood. When Mr. Ketchum's Rejoinder was announced, I thought he would attempt a vindication of the society and of himself in refer- ence to this unworthy course. I can see none, however, except that he says with great nonchalance that it was a " natural desire of the Trustees to preserve their schools," and that " to oppose the recom- mendations of the Secretary, was therefore their duty." He then asks, but how should this be done ? I answer, it bhould be done OF MK. kbtchum's eejoindee. 229 by truth and argument on the merits of the question. It should noi be done by special pleading — not by pushing aside the true facts of the case and " substituting " others — not by charging extracts from Tristam Shandy on the Petitioners as dogmas of their religious faith — not by bearing false witness against their neighbors in any way, otherwise it will appear as if they hold the end to justify the means. 2d. Mr. Ketchuni then goes over the old ground about excluding rehgious societies. This requires no answer, because it has been disposed of in the speech to which this professes to be a rejoinder. He says " the children in this State do not go to school to be in- structed in religion." Certainly not. Then, I ask him why do the Public School Society impart religious instruction. For we have Mr. Ketohum's own authority for the fact that they do so impart it, except that they impart it in an " indefinite form," and in the " legal quantity." At one time they say it is to be left to the parents and the pastors, as if the Public Schools were required to be atheisti- cal; at another they exercise the children in singing hymns, saying prayers and reading the Protestant version of the Scripture. 3. There is nothing so well shows the weakness of the cause ad- vocated by Mr. Ketchum, as his directing his argument, such as it is, to the prejudices of Protestants. For this purpose " Roman Catholics" "Church Schools," "Roman Catholics" "Sectarian Schools," " Church Schools," figure through the first paragraph of his Rejoinder in great variety ; and with endless repetition. I am not sorry to see this. It proves that he feels that he has no verdict to expect from Reason and Justice ; and that, therefore, his reli- ance must be on his efibrts to excite the religious hatred of one class of citizens against another. If those feelings grew out of any pretensions on our part, they would be excusable. But they do not ; they cannot. We ask no privilege ; taxed, like our fellow citi- zens of other creeds, for purposes of education, we have been de- prived of all benefit. The schools supported in part by our money, have been conducted in a manner of which infidels did not complain, because the society professed to exclude religion, of which Protest- ants did not complain, because, contrary xo their own professions, they did teach religion, and that altogether Protestant as to quality, and in what Mr. Ketchum calls the " legal quantity." In order to be " legal " the legislature must have acted upon the question. I would beg leave to ask Mr. Ketchum in what part of the Revised Statutes the quantity has been specified and enacted. At all events,. to require of those who have the misfortune to be neither infidel nor Protestants, to send their children to schools thus constituted would be a violation of the rights of conscience. And does Mr. Ketchum think that even his Protestant countrymen will support him in such an attempt. Does he think that the votaries of bigotry are more numerous than the friends of the American Constitution, which secures the religious as well as the civil rights of every man, whether he be a Jew, or Christian, or a XJniversalist, or a Calvinist, (30 ARCHBISHOP HUtiHES EEVIEW a Catholic or Protestant. But -n'hile he contends that the Public School Society teach the "legcal quantity " of religion, he defends the same society on the ground that it leaves religion to the teaching of the parents of the children and their ministers. Which of these propositions shall we believe ? The one contradicts the other, and the legal gentleman in contempt of all logic maintains both. His harping on church schools, then, is a poor subterfuge ; in the only sense in which it could be of service to his argument, the charge that we wish to have "Church Schools," "Sectarian Schools," " Catholic Schools," is utterly false. "We say give us such schools as we can frequent without violation to our conscience, or if yon will not, give tis the quota of taxes which you collect from us, and apply it yourselves for the purposes of educating the children whom your system drives from the Public Schools. The evidence that our demand extends thus far and no further was before Mr. Ketehum. He has our written and official testimony on the subject before him, and with that testimony, his insinuation that we want the benefit of education money /or " Catholic Schools," as such, is moi'e than "sub-, stitution," it is a sheer gratuitous invention against evidence of the contrary. These may seem strong expressions. But if the official organ of the Public School Society, either impelled by his own prejudices or with a view of acting on the prejudices of others, allows himself to employ unfounded statements as the basis of his reasonings to de- feat our just claims, then it becomes me to contradict them in lan- guage which cannot be misunderstood. Whenever he ventures to make a statement which is incorrect and injurious, I must be allowed the privilege of contradicting it with proper emphasis. 4. In my speech I disputed Mr. Ketchum's right tO set forth the decision of the Common Council, in the city of' New York, on the School Question, as representing the will of their constituents. I gave my reasons, 1st, because their connection with the Public School Society never, to my knowledge, was made a consideration at the ballot-box ; 2d, because in their decisions they were invari- ably acted upon by the ii#uences which naturally belong to this society ; 3d, because, as we shall prove by and by from Mr. Ketehum himself, they were led to decide, in some instances, on the authority of false statements. 4th, because it required an uncommon share of moral courage to withstand all those influences. Now Islw Ketehum, in his Rejoinder, passes silently over all these, and represents me as saying that the decisions of the Board of Aldermen were not to be regarded as important, inasmuch as the members had a direct per- sonal inierest^ in sustaining the Public School Society. I said no such thing. I said, and for the reasons already given, that as things have been managed they could not expect to promote their interest by opposing that society. He goes on to tell us that it was intended that these officers of the city should " spy," if they thought proper, into the most secret actions of the Board and of the Society. But they never, he adds, availed themselves of the privilege. If then, OF ME. KETCHUll'S EKJOINDBU. 231 B8 he elsewhere says, they are to be regarded as the representatives of the people, in this connection they were sadly indifferent to the trust confided to them by their constituents, 5. But the recorder, he tells us, is, ex-offi,cio, a member of the Manhattan Bank, and it is asked whether on that account it is im- proper for him to sit in judgment on the concerns of the bank ? If he is the exclusive judge to decide in cases affecting the bank, and if he is made a director through the contrivance of the Board of ' Directors, then the cases would be parallel, and then the party hav- ing a suit with the bank would and should think it highly improper that any director of the bank should be the judge on the case. I believe, farther, that the people would not tolerate such a case, and in constitution.al law Mr. Ketchum himself will be puzzled to find a precedent. He tells us farther, that the Aldermen are members of the Public School Society, not in their private, but in their " official capacity." That is, as soon as they acquire the power to distribute the school money, and to drive off some oppressed portion of the community, they are taken into membership by the society ; and as soon as they are unfortunate enough to lose that power, then the society cuts the connection — the partnership is dissolved ! Really this is a singular circumstance for Mr. Ketchum to bring forward. He has just stated that these public officers, " never, in a single instance," examined into the affa,irs of the society, and now he goes on to tell us that " if they act, it is as a committee on the part of the people," etc. No, most assuredly, the people never elected them for that purpose. It is the work of the society, without consulting the people, or rather in disregard of them. 6. In my review of Mr. Ketchum's speech, I stated in substance that there was no violation of a sound principle, in allowing the dif- ferent denominations to receive each a pro rata portion of the school fund. The reason is, that the people whose contributions make up that fund are no other than the different religious denominations. I proved this by the exemption of churches from taxation. Now Mr. Ketchum does not dispute the facts. But he turns aside from the question of constitutional principle, and enters into a calculation which is surely too small for a great mind like his. He says that one denomination might be more prolific in children and less in taxes than another. He' would infer, that unless the per centum of taxes and the per centum of children be equal, and unless the per centum of both be equal in one denomination to what it is in another, there will be a violation of his " great principle." But he seems to forget that the pro rata principle makes even this argu- ment which, at best, is only fit for a microscope, good for nothing. Besides, Mr. Ketchum seems to hold that the owner of property and not the occupant is the tax payer. I believe the doctrines laid down in standard works on Political Economy will support me in main- taining the contrary proposition. It is the occupant, the consumer, whether he be the owner in fee, or merely the tenant, who pays the taxes in reality, although in the forms and technicalities of law it 232 ARCHBISHOP hughes' EEVIEW would seem to be the owner alone. In this case, also, his reasoning is deceptive and unfounded. 7. Mr. Ketchum reverses the circumstances of the case. He lays the scene of illustration in Ireland — he invests the Green Isle with all the attributes of freedom and equality which belong to this country ; this is the land of oppression from which the Protestants fly away, to seek a refuge in the Irish Republic. There are schools established there in which the Catholic version of the Scripures is used — books containing passages against Luther, Calvin, Knox, etc., are in the hands of the children. These " Protestant strangers " remonstrate. They are told that the offensive passages will be stricken out ; but as to the Catholic version of the Scriptures, they must submit to have it imposed on their , children, otherwise they are told, with polite circumlocution, to go about their business. Mr. Ketchum justifies the supposed Catholic Republic of Ireland in holding this language to his Protestant countrymen. I do not. I would hold them to be cunning hypocritical tyrants over conscience, if they acted in the manner which Mr. Ketchum approves and justifies. And Avhy ? First, Because they, had boasted that the stranger had but to touch their soil, and that from that moment his conscience should be free, and when, trusting to this, he lands on their shore, they meet him with a cunningly devised system to entangle his con- science and violate their chartered pledge. Second, Because they tax those " Protestant strangers " for the support of a system, and give them no return for their money. Third, Because in doing all this they have the hypocrisy to pretend that thoy have the kindest feelings for those " Protestant strangers," and have no wish but to educate their children. Mr. Ketchum may justify them, but I should be ashamed of their hypocritical duplicity. They would bring a disgrace by it both on their religion and on their country. But, after all, we do not admit that the Public School Society is yet possessed oif' national power such as Mr. Ketchum supposes in the Irish Republic. Neither do we admit that a decision of the Common Council in favor of that society is equal to an act of sov- ereign legislation, nor yet that Catholics are necessarily strangers, nor yet that this is a Protestant Republic. In all these points his reversion of circumstances fails ; although if his reversed picture could have any value, it would be from these sly touches of false coloring, which being false, I beg leave most respectfully to rub out. That the great majority of the inhabitants of this country are not Catholic, I admit ; but that it is a Protestant country, or a Catholic counOry, or a Jewish country, or a Christen country in a sense that would give any sect or combinaton of sects the right tb oppress any other sect, I utterly deny. How then can llr. Ketchum call it a Protestant country ? England is a Protestant country, because it has a Protestant Church establishment. Does the gentleman mean to insinuate the same of this country ? Again, in his picture, the Catholics are strangers and foreigners. Many of them are, bat OF MR. KETCHUM S KEJOINDEE. 233 there is no denomination, perhaps, whicli does not include foreign ors, but let me tell Mr. Ketchum that the whole population of the United States is derived from foreign origin. The country, too, was discovered by Catholics ; they have taken their places among its earhost settlements ; they have borne their part in its history, con- tributed to its improvement, stood by its defence, fought and bled for its independence. With what propriety, therefore, can Mr. Ketchum assume that Catholics, as such, are strangers and foreign- ers, more than any other denomination ? Among the neglected children whom he labors to deprive of education, except on terms such as it would become only the high Protestant tories of England, or Ireland rather, to urge — there are those, I have no doubt, who can trace as long a line of American ancestors as the gentleman himself It is too much the habit of Mr. Ketchum, and of the school to which he belongs, to regard Catholics and foreigners as synonj-mous. 8. The next division of the Rejoinder is a labored effort to create a conclusion favorable to the Public School Society from a crowded and rather confused assemblage of facts, not real, but " substituted " according to a great " principle." From what he says it may be inferred, that if we were merely citizens, he would recognize our claim to justice. Men of ordinary vision would see merely " Peti- tioners " in those who sign or present or advocate a " Petition." But Mr. Ketchum can see a little farther into the mill-stone. His deeper penetration enables him to discover only " Roman Catholics," " Trustees," and " mitred gentlemen." These attributes or acci- dents would seem, in his estimation, to extinguish our rights as citizens. We deny his conclusion. If his appeal be to the law, we challenge him to show any act abridging- us of our rights on such grounds. If his appeal be, as it is, not to the law of the land, but to sectarian Protestant prejudices, we thank him for so well showing forth the spirit of the Society which he represents, whilst we taunt him at the same time for such apostacy from the better spirit of the American Constitution. At all events, in this connection we find " Roman Catholics," " Church Schools," " Catholic Trustees," re- peated in almost every line. . One word on what Mr. Ketchum calls " Church Schools." When ■ our children were required to sacrifice their religious rights at the doors of the Public Schools, a condition -me qva non of their admis- sion, we tried to provide education for them at home. Teachers were engaged, and they were instructed in the rudiments of educa- tion, either in a building erected for the purpose, or more generally in the basement stories of the churches. This was enough for Mr. Ketchum. He props up nearly a column of his Rejoinder with repe- titions of the words " Church Schools." Indeed, this, with the other denominational epithets which he clusters and harps on, may be regarded as the single string of his eloquence. But Pagauini himself could not extract a greater variety of sounds from it. Now let us see the difference between the Public Schools and 234 AEcriBisnop hughes' eeview . ours ou this ground. "We have Mr. Ketchum's own authority for the fact that they do teach reHgion in the Pubhc Schools, but in " the legal quantity," whilst in ours it was taught according to a constitutional measurement. Where is the difference ? The only difference is, that theirs was taught at the expense of the public funds, to which ^\e are contributors, whilst ours was taught at the expense of our private purse. 9. He begins his next paragraph in this wise. " Let us suppose that the Bishop receives the funds." . . He knows very well that the Bishop does not want to receii o the funds. But in truth, " supposition " is the safest region for him to dwell in — for when he supposes, there is much less risk of his being refuted, than when he asserts. There he may give eight hundred or a thousand dollars a year to "priests," "brothers" and "sisters" of charity, just as his fancy directs. But even if such a thing were to happen, it would not be a greatei- violation of public right, than for the Public School Society to give a thousand dollars a year of public money, to tract distributors, for gathering children into their schools — which is not a " supposition," but a fact. He tells us that " the policy of the law is, that as we have one Country and one Constitution, so we ought to be one people. Union, and not separation, is the American Motto." Granted. But is the policy of the Public School Society the platform on which all this is to be accomplished ? Is it Union consistent with free- dom ; or union that violates liberty, that the law has in view ? Is it the poUcy of the law to deprive the citizen of his rights, if he cannot " unite " with that society in the semi-infidel, semi-protestant principles, by which their schools are governed? If this be the kind of Union that ie sought (and no other would be of any use for the object of the gentleman's argument) a more certain way of destroying Union and producing separation could not well be de- vised. ■ 10. Mr. Ketchum said before the Committee of the Senate, that one of the grounds of objection to the Public School Society, on our part, was " because they (the Public School Society) did not give religious instruction in a definite form, and of a decided and definite character.'''' This statement he made to Senators, and ■ reasoned from, as if it were a fact. And yet, as I proved in my review, it was no fact at all, but a " substitution " of his own, instead of the fact. Men who allege that the various creeds, represented in their Board, " neutralize " each other, are about the last from whom we should expect, or whom we should permit to give, " reli- gious instruction in a definite form, and of a decided and definite character." This was a legitimate subject for a "Rejoinder;" but the gentleman meets it so submissively that I forbear to press it. He says his statement was founded on a " distinction upon which candid men will set little value." Little or much, I give him the benefit of it, so long as he falls back from the statement which he advanced before the Committee of the Senate of Albany. OP Mil. ketchum's eejoistdek. 235 11. But I slioiild have supposed that Mr. Ketohum would have been more cautious in his statements, from his having been mistaken in regard to the one just pointed out. His next position,, however, is as follows. He says: "thus far, if I have been able to excuse my own intentions, it has been shown, in opposition to the argu- ments of Bishop Hughes, that Church Schools are not Common Schools ; that money raised by taxes imposed on the people cannot be used to advance the doctrines of any rehgious denomination ; and that religions societies, as such, cannot participate in the school fund." Now I assure the gentleman that if these were his inten- tions, he has not been able to execute them. The three propositions which he has stated are truisms which I hold as well as he does — and in opposition to which I am not con- scious of having ever framed an argument. We have ever declared against the misrepresentations which the gentleman and his col- leagues multiplied around us, that " we would scorn to advance our religion at the expense of any money but our own." I never used any argument inconsistent with that declaration. We proposed to place our schools under the management of the Public School Society, and that the books to be used should contain nothing of our dogmas, nothing against the creed or character of other denom- inations. And as to participating in the school fund, it is as citizens we would be considered, if Mr. Ketchum would allow us. But the merit of his ingenuity consists in elevating, or depressing us, just as you may please to call it, into a religious society, and then battling us " as such," to use his own favorite phrase. 12. Mr. Ketchum next makes his" comments on the Secretary's report, and passes on to an exhibition of the consequences that must follow, in the expulsion and expurgation of school books, if the re- commendations of the Secretary or the claim of the petitioners be granted. He contends that the Bible and a great many English classical vi'^orks must be banished from the schools, before the peti- tioners, " the Roman Catholics," will be satisiied. According to him, the district system will bring them no relief which they may not find in the public schools. Then follows an episode on the mutUation of an eloquent burst of the Earl of Chatham, the hiatus being supplied by melancholy black lines. When I first saw these lines, knowing that in Germany music is a part of common school education, I thought Mr. Ketchum was about to introduce the system here, and that these lines exhibited the stave already prepared, on which it would be so easy to write the notes, and mark off the bars. But on closer inspection, I found it was only the mourning dress, for the- absence of a passage from the noble P'arl's speech, about the " tyranny of Rome," " Popish cruelties," and " inquisitorial practices." The editor of the American, too, in a special article, mourns with Mr. Ketchum over the grave of these eloquent phrases, of which the black lines may stand as the silent epitaph ; and the good editor seems to say to his readers, "yo who have tears to weep, prepare to shed them now." This is all 236 AncnBiSHOP HUGHES eeview fair. But when he arraigns us for the cruelty that has been oxer cised on these eloquent passages, we must be allowed the ordinary privilege of pleading, and we say " not guilty." Thelearned gentleman himself, and his colleagues of the Public School Society, are our witnesses, that we never asked them to mu- tilate books on our account. This havoc in English literature is en- tirely the gratuitous work of the society itself; and when the American makes " Romish priests " the object of its courtly repri- mand, for this cause, it reminds one strongly of the situation of Gil Bias, who was sure to get a flogging whenever his young master *> missed the lesson. But when I found that Mr. Ketchum has exhibited these black lines, not for the purpose of having music set on them, but to show what luxuries of literature have been sacrificed to the conscientious scruples of his Roman Catholic fellow-citizens, as he sometimes calls us, I thought of the terrible retributions with which patient Truth often vindicates her own righteousness. Can this be the same Mr. Ketchum who, in the spring of 1840, averred before the Committee of the Board of Assistants, that there was nothing in the books of the Public School Society which reflected injuriously on the religion of Catholics ? This averment could not but have its eflTect on their decision. That decision has been quoted, among others, before the«Committee of the Senate, as evidence of what was always the judgment of the public authorities of New York. And now, in July, 1841, we have this same gentleman supplying the evi- dence in black and white, with his own pen, that the statement made by him and his colleagues in 1840 was not true, and therefore was calculated to mislead the honest judgment of the Committee and of the public, who naturally believed it. But so it is. 13. Mr. Ketchum next turns to the bill introduced in the Senate, and to his great amazement he discovers that it wodd remove tho grievances of which the petitioners complained ! Why, certainly. What would be the use of a bankrupt law, if it did not bring relief to the bankrupts ? He finds that the present system ought to be preferred. And his reasoning on that point is curious. The rich as well as the poor, in the present system, can have their children- educated at the public expense. But in the proposed system, if there should not be enough for both, the poor children who cannot pay, are to be educated without expense, and if any are to be re- quired to pay, it will be those who have the means to do so. The education of the poor is one of the noblest works of philanthropy ; one of the wisest measures of policy on the part especially of all free governments. To make war on that principle, as Mr. Ketchum does, IS not ni harmony with the spirit of the age— neither is it in harmony with the indignation which he manifests at the idea of hav- ing the " names of the , children of poverty put on the public records." This phrase, with the help of capital letters, Mr. Ketchum may regard as a grand popular hit. But does he forget that, in tho present system, according to himself, the Public School Society are OF ME. ketchum's eejoindee. 23^ " Almonees ?"_and if so, he has abeady decided that both rich and poor, who receive education in their schools, are " pauj^ers." He has placed all who receive the bounty of these " Alqioners " on a level with the inmates of the Alms-house and Lunatic Asylum— from which comparisons he has remorselessly borrowed ars^uments for the guidance of honorable Senators. And this is the same gen- tleman who is, or affects to be, indignant at the idea of a prospect which secures the advantages of education to the poor man's chil- dren on his declaring (no disgrace, -assuredly) that he is unable to pay for it. He asks whether the author of this project " can have an American heart !" If an American heart means a large, liberal, republican heart, that loves justice and equality, then his hea.rt is evidently far more " American " than that of his assailant. "But," says Mr. Ketchum, "will not the Roman Catholics greatly gain by this mode of distributing the funds ?" No. The commu- nity will gain by it — the State will gain by it. The thousands and thousands of poor children, now outcasts from education, will be brought within her temple, and qualified to benefit their country in after life, instead of being left in ignorance, a prey to vice, and a scourge to society. Their being Catholics or Calvinists is a matter of chance or choice, with which a right-minded American Legislator can have nothing to do. 14. The third section of the Rejoinder, published in the American of 24th July, is so much weaker than even the weakest portions of his previous chapters, that it scarcely needs a reply. Indeed, if I had, at any time, thought that Mr. Ketchum had looked beyond the considerations which usually operate on the mind of an ad- vocate professsionally engaged — if I had thought that, at any time, he regarded this question on high public grounds, apart from very strong religious prejudices which manifestly operate on his feelings, I should have respected *his opposition ; and, considering the symptoms of misgiving exhibited in his last section of the Re- joinder, flattered myself with the hope that in the progress of the discussion, new views and better light were breaking on his mind. But the ground of that hope is destroyed by the course which he has pursued from the commencement. Does he argue the question on its merits, as a public man should ? Does he appeal to truth and justice? or rather, does he not appeal to religious prejudice, and to what, under the clouded light of that prejudice, he considers " ex- pediency ?" Now I can tell him that this mode is not calculated to procure any advantage to the State, or the community, or his own reputation. States and communities, as well as individuals, should remember that "honesty is the b^st policy," and he who recom- mends any other policy will never be ranked among either the bene- factors or ornaments of mankind. 15. Mr. Ketchum here introduces a retrospective synopsis of his labors, at the termination of which he closes the circle of his argu- ments for the last eighteen months, by telling us that " we are at the very point from which we started, and the question is now as it 238 AECIIBISIIOP hughes' EEVIE.-W was then : Shall the School Fund be applied to religious or sectarian purposes ?" No, sir ; not in the sense in which you unfairly employ these terms. You know that this is not the question. But the true question is: Shall the Legislature of the State abandon to ignorance the children of this metropolis, who cannot consent to be given over to the Irrenponsible training, sectar'an or anti-sectarian, just as you may please to call it, of the Public School Society ? 16. He next takes an extract from the Catholic Expositor to show " farther," that the object of the Roman Catholics is to "establish such schools for the advancement of their doctrines." The value of this argument depends on whether it is set forth in the extract, that public money is sought for that purpose. It is not so as- serted, but Mr. Ketchum disingenuously conveys that idea to the mind of his reader ; he says, " But not at the expense of the State, my friends." Who said it was to be at the expense of the State ? No one. Yet the learned gentleman suggests and insinuates this. The insinuation, however, is utterly false. Again, he says the sentiments of the extract are "admirable when said to excite volun- tary contributions — but quite the contrary when said to get hold of the Scliool Fund." But it is not said. Mr. Ketchum insinuates it for effect. The observations were made to show the havoc which ignorance and vice had produced araong Catholic children, under the present system. I think the gentleman does himself great in- justice in continuing to advocate a cause which requires of him to have recourse to such expedients for its support. We want a sys- tem of education in which the managers shall not claim or exercise the dangerous power of perverting or destroying the religions sen- timent which they do not happen to approve. You have no right to require that Catholic children shall learn your Protestant prayers, Protestant hymns, and Protestant Scriptures. Now Mr. Ketchum maintains all this, the Society practice all this ; and yet he and they contend most absurdly that there is nothing sectarian in all this ! If all were Protestants there would not be. But this is not the case. But how does Mr. Ketchum justify this? By the will of the "ma- jority." The same argument by which " Church and State " es- tablishments are defended all over the world! He says that the object of the Legislature in establishing Common Schools was to brmg the children of the community together so as to blend and harmonize the advocates of different religions, and political opin- ions, into one great national family. He then refers to New Eng- land as a happy illustration. New England has indeed much to be proud of— but within her limits stands her monument of shame as well as glory. From the base.of her proud pillar on Bunker Hill, can be seen the black ruins, the burned convent. This does not say much for the effect of her Common Schools. So far, at least, I think the gentleman will agree that New England is not a fit model for the imitation of New York. n. He next introduces the discontent of a minority of the Legis- lature at a decision of the majority on the School Questior., as a par- or ME. KETCHUll's EEJOINDEE. 233 allel to the ease of the petitioners. He is at fault in the comparison. The reason is that a minority, according to his text, are actuated by a caprice. They say, "We do not approve of one or all these books." But let him suppose the majority were to say, " Be it enacted that the books of Common Schools shall contain lessons laudatory of Catholic ages of Christianity, laudatory of men and principles of that creed ; and further, that the Catholic Scriptures shall be publicly read ;" would, or could not, the minority have a right to say : " We disapprove of these books ?" Yet, according to Mr. Ketchum, they should have to submit. I differ with him again — I tell him boldly — and he will not deny it to support his sophistry — that there are things which the majority have a right to decide, and to which the minority are hound to submit ; but there are other things in which it would be tyrannical for any majority to decide, and this is one of them — the relation between a man's conscience and his God. Mr. Ketchum employs arguments which are better suited to the defence of Church establishments in Spain, Italy or England, than to the republican doctrines of this hemisphere. He gives another illustration, which is equally fallacious. The Society of Friends do not allow their poor to go to the Alms-house, and yet the majority has decided that this shall not exempt them from paying taxes to support that insti- tution. The gentleman contends that they would have, on this ac- count, the same right to claim back their portion of those taxes, for the support of their poor, that the petitioners have to claim their share of the School Fund. N"ow, if the same reasons existed, in the one case as in the other, they would. Suppose, for instance, that in the Alms-house the managers should require of all the inmates to conform to what they might call the " legal quantity " of religion ; and on the refusal to do so, turned the recusant out to die in the streets —then the case would be parallel between them and the Public School Society, and the indignanf community would soon hurl such managers into private life. But the Public School Society under its close-corporation privileges can play the part, in reference to the minds of the children, and yet bid defiance to the community whose money they expend as to them seemeth good. 18. Such are the foundations of Mr. Ketchum's arguments, and when building on these, he comes to speak of what " he has shown ■conclusively, he thinks." It is ludicrous. He next tells us there are hundreds of Catholic children attending these schools. I do not believe it — and Mr. Ketchum does not profess to speak from his own knowledge. But if there are, it is against their conscience. Do Protestants approve of this ? I believe the better portion of them would blush to have it supposed that their religion would sanction such refined coercion of conscience, or required it. He next adduces my testimony in favor of the system of Public Schools. This would have been to other minds an evidence of my candor and sincerity. He then takes a passage of my speech out of its connection about examinations in the schools, with a view, I suppose, to show me as 240 AECHBisHOP hughes' eeview iuconsisteu t, and as finding fault with what I had first praised. I was review ing that part of his speech in which he had taken it for granted, that, for giving a good education, there were no schook iu the world to be compared, or at least to excel, those of this society. What was the proof? The examinations — visiting the schools. This was the panacea. Whenever there was a doubt, his remedy kad always been to say to Aldermen and Senators, " Gentlemen, come and visit our schools." I did not deny the excellence of the schools, but I denied that this proof (and he never gave any other) was suffi- cient evidence. Why? Because "pet classes," "pet pupils," a "little training," a "judicious wink of the teachers," etc., can pre- pare enough for a satisfactory examination, even in an indifierent school. Now it happens that this was a true picture to a greater extent than I had supposed. The Jielpless dependency of the teach- ers on the will of the trustees, without power of redress, or any right of appeal, qualifies them for the fullest subserviency to the wishes of their absolute employers. Their bread depends perhaps on their ability to get up a good examination (i. e. an exhibition of acquirements) whenever an important occasion makes 'it necessary. This is no reproach, it is human nature. But just admire the ingen- uity of Mr. Ketchum ! He extracts from this charge as if I accuse the " trustees " of being the authors, instigators, or accomplices in this proceeding, and calls it "slander." It is his own invention; he may call it what he pleases. Again, I said the " external manage- ment of the schools was excellent." Mr. Ketchum represents me as saying in effect the " management outside of the school house !" No, no! By "external," as opposed to "internal," I meant what re- lates to the body as distinguished from what relates to the mind : hours of attendance, decorum of behavior, respect to the teachers, pnntu- ality, order and discipline of the schools, etc. All this was external management which I thought excellent. Internal management in education would relate to the character of the ideas to be fixed in the young minds of the pupils. For instance, we have seen, among other things, the public money employed to teach the children " that the Catholics are deceitful." This I could not call excellent — it was abominable ; but it was some- thing internal, i. e. impressing itself upon the minds of the children. I trust that this explanation will show Mr. Ketchum that when edu- cation is divided into internal and external the latter does not mean " outside of the schools," but simply outside of mind and heart of the pupil. 19. lie says, "The Bishop knows how to describe the process of blinding the eyes of the visitors very well." I thank him for the compliment. But I have been reviewing for some time his speeches on the School Question, and they are such admirable specimens of the " blinding process," that I have but little merit in being able to des- cribe it now. Religious prejudices, unfair and unfounded state- ments, false reasoning, so-phistry and special pleading have all been put in requisition to make up a false issue, and this for no higher OF ME. KETCIIUM's REJOINDER. 241 end than to secure one or other of two results, viz. : to wound the consciences of CathoHc children by making them attend public schools constructed entirely on Protestant principles, or else con- sign those children to ignorance by denying all other means of edu- cation. ■• How much more worthy of Mr. Ketchum's professional rank, if he were found pleading for those he opposes, if he were found shedding the light of a superior mind, and the glow of a warmer and larger heart into the dark and chill region of anti-Ca,tholic bigotry and pre- judices, instead of ministering new elements to increase their density and murkiness. Why does he not leave the propagation of reli- gious hatred to the pulpit, if they must be perpetuated, and preserve at least the legal profession untainted by their foul, contaminating breath ? Why does he not forewarn the community that they must expect less virtue hereafter from the children -sVhom he now labors to cut off from the hope of education, than from their equals in age, who may look forward to a more fortunate and partial future? Why does he not tell the Legislature and the Judge that the punish- ment of crime should be according to a mitigated standard for those against whom he shuts the door of knowledge unless they sacrifice that for which great men in all ages sacrificed everything besides — conscience ? They, surely, are not to be judged by laws made for an educated community. I have now replied to Mr. Ketchum's rejoinder so far as pub- lished ; neither have I any idea that in wliat is yet to come he can produce other or better arguments than those he has already given. 16 242 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. Meeting "in 'Washington Hall, February 11th, 1841. The largest meeting which has ever been convened in this city oc the subject of the Public SSiool System of Education was held at Washington Hall, on Thursday evening, February 11, pursuant to requisition. ^The spacious Hall — the largest in the city — was filled to overflowing. The greatest enthusiasm prevailed, several interest- ing and eloquent speeches were delivered, and measures were adopted for bringing the question immediately before the Legislature. A central executive committee was appointed to prepare a memorial to be presented to that body ; and 'meetings in the several wards and the appointment of a committee in each one were recommended. This meeting was called in consequence of the Board of Aldermen having reported adversely to the Petition of the Catholics for a poiv tion of the School Fund. The meeting was organized by appointing Thomas O'Connor, president ; Francis Cooper and Gregory Dillou, vice-presidents ; and B. O'Connor and Edward Shortill, secretaries. Thomas O'Connor, Esq., on taking the chair, remarked, that it was not for the promotion of party or sectarian views that they were assembled, but ■ simply to express their determination to persevere in maintaining their just rights. The Catholics of New York had been unjustly attacked, and they merely claimed the exercise of the right to defend themselves. The Very Rev. Dr. Poweb then rose and said that in the absence of Bishop Hughes, whose presence was momentarily expected, he would briefly address the meeting. When he had concluded. Bishop Hughes rose, and was received with loud cheering, on the subsidence of which he spoke as follows: My friends, take care of your •cheering, for if the advocate of the school society be passing by, he will say this is a meeting of Whigs or Democrats. He, you know, is not obliged to reason like other men, and if he should pass by and reason so, the fault will be yours for cheering, and not his for foolish reasoning. [Laughter and cheers.] My friends, it is not necessary to go over the ground with which you all arc familiar, and I will not, therefore, enter into the detail of our past proceedings in this matter. We come here denied of our rights, but not conquered ; and we tell these honorable gentle- men of the public council that we asked of them only our rights. We presented a case that required the attention of the body to whom are entrusted the rights of the citizens of this great city. We said, here are our grievances — here are our complaints — if we are right, redress our grievances ; if we are wrong, point out our error. They did not point out the error, because they could not find one ; and they did not redress the grievances, although it was in their power. [Cheers.] They certainly received us with great politeness ; and for myself, I must say, that I am indebted to them for their personal courtesy. Nevertheless, I was not so dark- sighted as not to perceive from the very beginning that ^he end was a foregone one ; because they called up all the spirits of the " vasty THE SCHOOL QtnESTIOlf. 2i'd deep" — the " black, bine and the grey" — to oppose us. " If any one has anything to say against these men, let them speak !" was their invitation, and they were not disappointed. We stated, in the most respectful language, our claims to their interference; we stated propositions which we were prepared to prove, and we can say, now that it is all over, neither the honorable the Common Council, nor the advocates of the School Society, nor the reverend advocates of the bigotry of one sect, and the ignorance of another, dared to call in question the' truth of a single proposition of ours. [Loud cheers.] It is true that the aldermen of this city have, in the exercise of the power vested in them, denied us our rights, but we are triumphant over them, for logic and truth are with us. [Cheers.] Was there a single inquiry respecting the truth of our alleged grievances, or any attempt to redress them ? But the Rev. Dr. Spring, and the Rev. Dr. Bond, and the Rev. Dr. Bangs and company [great laugh- ter], came with an old volume of antiquated theology, and exclaimed, " What monstrous people these Papists are !" The Common Council heard them ; and instead of examimng the facts in which the rights of their constituents are involved, entered on the oonsiderar tion of abstract theological reasoning. We were required to an- swer Dr. Spring; but no, a reply was not called for in that case, for when a minister gives utterance to a dark-souled sentiment, un- worthy of a Christian, then he deserves no answer. [Cheers.] Eight or nine hours were wasted in the discussion of a theological tenet, but not one half hour was given to the only question which the Common Council should have permitted to come before them — ■ namely, are the rights of this portion of the citizens violated or not? If so, are there in our hands, as the public guardians of liberty, the means to apply a remedy ? Just and impartial judges would so have stated the question, and have discarded all theological discus- sions. [Cheers.] But the discussion could not la'St always ; and when the stock of bigotry was exhausted, we were permitted to retire, and a com- mittee of three were appointed — for what purpose? To inquire whether the facts of our documents were true ? No. In realjty, from the wording of the resolution appointing the committee, it seethed as if its members had been appointed to find out all they could in favor of the Public School Society ; and, accordingly, they do make an appeal — but what I must call a most weak and pitiful appeal in favor of that Society, but not one word of reference to the facts that we had submitted, or the grievances of which we had complained. [Cheers.] The ultimate decision of that Board re- minded me of a story I once heard of the times when, in Ireland, ■ law and justice were set at open defiance, and every petty tyrant had the right to trample on his neighbor, provided he himself were the minion of the government. A poor man was taken up by one of these petty despots, and cast into prison, where he remained for a considerable time, ignorant of his crime and his destiny, not knowing whether he was to be sent to the gallows or the convict- 244 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES. ship. But after a moijpth or so of susijense, the little tyrant came, and marching his prisoner to the door, gave him a push and kicked him out, when the poor man, finding himself abroad and at liberty once more, turned round and very emphatically said, "Thank your honor !" [L.aughter.] The aldermen have treated you somewhat similarly, and I hope you will all say with becoming gratitude, now that you are out of their hands, " Thank your honors !" [Loud laughter and cheers.] My friends, fortunately all our Methodisticat friends are not like Dr. Bond, and all the Presbyterians are not like Dr. Spring. [Cheers.] There is a generar sentiment of natural rectitude and justice, by which a man is led to " do to his neighbor as he wishes nis neighbor to do unto him," and that sentiment is gaining ground, and by it we are gaining friends. [Cheers.] And we have an ap- peal to a higher power than the Common Council — to the Legisla- ture of the State. [Cheers.] And I trust it will be found that the petty array of bigotry, which infl uenced the Common Council, can- not overawe the Legislature. [Loud cheers.] It should be borne in mind that the aldermen are not competent judges in this matter, inasmuch as they are ex-officio trustees or members of the Public School Society. They are like the Siamese twins, united together [laughter], and jointly they form a monopoly which threatens to mould and subjugate the minds of our children to their peculiar notions. And the grievances of this case do nor afflict us alone — they fall equally upon other religious denominations — and while it is the Catholics to-day, it may be Universalists, or the Jews, or the Baptists, or the Unitarians, to-rjorrow, who may suifer. Nay, indeed, they already suifer. The translation of the Bible au- thorized by King James I. of England, and used in the public schools, is not approved of by the Baptists, or at least a por- tion of them, neither is it by the Unitarians ; and as for us, we have an old translation made long before King James was heard of. [Cheers.] Yet our opponents insist that their favorite version alone shall be used. Our children, too, are taught the prayers of the Protestant Church, and we have heard of the children of these schools singing Protestant hymns most piously, although the Committee of the Board of Aldermen say nothing of it in their Report, as they should have done. Do they then suppose that we will, without a murmur, contribute to the support of such a system ? [Cheers.] No. If we wrong them, let them publish their confes- sion of faith — let them tell us the exact measure of the Public School religion of the State of New York, and we may tell them how far we can conform to it. Our opponents profess to be the friends of general tolerance and general good will; yet they foment and engender an active intolerance that scarcely finds a parallel in the unjust government of countries notorious for acts of intolerance. [Cheers.] What, then, remains for us to do ? We must not fold our arms and rest. We must take measures ; and for myself my part is nearly THE SCHOOL QUESTION. ' 245 accomplished, inasmucli as my great object was to rouse attention to this subject amongst the people for whose religion I am to a cer- tain extent responsible, that no admixture of error shall be intro- duced into it with my consent and approbation. [Loud cheers.] I have therefore pointed out the character of these public schools, and showed that Catholics could not support them without violating their consciences. And so far I have done my duty. As to the civil means in your power to obtain redress, it is not exactly my place to point them out. Thank God, we live in a country the con- stitution of whose government provides for the enjoyment of equal rights by all ranks and denominations of citizens. [Loud cheers.] There is one thing with which our opponents cannot charge us — that is, political feeling in this matter; and I caii defy Mr. Ketchum, with all his acuteness, to point to a single act of ours that had con- nection with party politics. [Cheers.] Ours is a case of a deeper and more important character than any connected with transient party politics. And I trust that no such defeat as we have experienced — the defeat of justice by authority — shall make you give up your principles. Spread it abroad that you ask no favor — no pre-eminence — no boon from their honors of the Common Council, but that you have rights and these rights you claim. Let them reserve their favors for those who want them. [Loud cheers.] This is the ground on which the question will meet with respect, both from your brethren in faith, and your fellow- citizens at large. This is a question of right ; and though a whole Board should be found to bend the knee to the Baal of bigotry, men will be found who can stand unawed in its presence, and do right. [Loud cheers.] Bishop H. here entered into some details respecting the future plan of pi'ocedure which the meeting should adopt, and suggested the appointment of committees, as was afterwards carried into effect. He then concluded : T have said all that is important for me to state, and I have no disposition to review the ground over which we have travelled. I^may, however, congratulate you on something gained. The false ground was assumed by every one of our opponents before the Common Council, that we wanted a portion of the public funds for the purpose of promoting the Catholic faith. Wc have said re- peatedly and explicitly that we had no such- aim — that our schools would be sacred to secular education. But notwithstanding our solemn assertions to the contrary, their Reverences took it into their heads that such were our objects, and on that false position they argued, and on that alone. The gentlemen, too, on the oppo- site side, asserted that their books were free from sectarianism : this assertion was incorporated m the proceedings and the report of the Board of Assistant Aldermen on this subject last spring, but they are now found drawing black lines over their books. [Laughter and cheers.] That is something. That is a great deal. That is a great move. [Cheers.] Because, should they relieve the minds of Protestant youth from the influence of the bigotry their books had 246 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. previously disseminated, that is a great deal. They have also prom- ised to purify their libraries ; that is something more. And though they argue on the false ground that we are influenced by sectarian motives, yet the honorable men of the city who are not blinded by .the narrow and bigoted views which appear to predominate in the Common Coimcil see that we only wMit a bona fiie education for our children ; that when we call for bread, we do not want to have a stone or a serpent given us in its place. [Cheers.] In conclusion I will repaark, that, although the fiai of the Board, with one honor- able exception [cheers], has gope against us, yet they have not made a single proposition false that was true, nor a single proposition true that was false — ^justice and right are still ours! fContinuied cheering.] Meeting in "Carroll Hall," March 30th, 1841. On Tuesday evening, March 30th, a meeting of the Catholics of this city was held in the large building corner of Duane street and City Hall Place, for the purpose of receiving the report of the com- mittee appointed to convey the petition of the Catholics of New York, on the subject of the Common School Fun<3, to the Legisla- ture of the State. Thomas O'Connor, Esq., was unanimously called to the chair. The chairman then informed the meeting that the petition had been presented to the Legislature, after having received seven thousand signatures, several of which were those of liberal Protestant gentlemen. Their friend, Mr. Joseph O'Connor, whojiad carried the petition to Albany, was exceedingly well received there by members of both houses of the Legislature. The principle of placing the Common School Fund under the control of any one cor- porate body had been strongly disapproved. That they had gained much in public opinion, he (the Chairman) had no doubt, whether they would gain all he did not know, but he knew the Catholics had done something towards the attainment of their object, and he fer- vently trusted that they would ultimately succeed. [Cheers.] The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes then rose, and was received with enthusiastic applause. On its subsidence, he spoke as follows : The difficulty, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, of seeing at the same time, the different members of the committee appointed to carry the reso- lutions of the last meeting into effect, prompted me without any other authority to direct the call for this public meeting. I had no special object in view, at least no prospective one. But at the same I did not wish that an object of so much importance should, for any great length of time, lie buried from the view and the attention of those who are so deeply interested in it. [Cheers.] I say had no prospective object, for I do not see that there is anything specific to be proposed m relation to it to-night. We have got into that posi- tion in which we must wait. Our bark, after having been a little buifetted by the storm, some of its sail tattered, but all the rigging THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 247 soiind, is now resting in calm water, and if this meeting had any object, it. was simply to refit, and to watch the signs of the weather. [Loud cheers.] The gentlemen who had been charged with preparing the petition, have reported briefly the action which has been had upon it. I believe that if there had been any means proposed to extend the petition more widely for signatures, instead of seven there would have been seven and twenty thousand names appended to it. But it happens unfortunately for us that there are amongst us very few who have at tho same time leisure to dispose of, and the disposition to consecrate it to that purpose. Consequently, the Committee were obliged, by «xertions on their own part, to circulate that petition in the best manner they could. It was to me matter of regret, that the petition had not been presented long before, but, certainly, the Committee did all that depended on them to do to have it early pre- sented, and having done so, I am glad and happy to hear, that it has been well received, and received precisely in the manner which we should have reason to anticipate from that body delegated by the people of the State of New York to be the guardians and protectors by law, of the common rights of all. ■ [Cheers.] It will indeed be consoling to us — ^it will be an assurance against future contingencies —it will inspire confidence, if it be found, as we trust it will, that in that body, those considerations which happily belong not to any secular tribunal in this country, those considerations of creeds, of Avhich such a dastardly use was made before the Common Council, will have no weight. These are the men who understand the con- stitution of the country, who frame laws according to the principles of that constitution — men who when they see by any change, or by any combination of circumstances that the spirit of that constitu- tion is violated, are appointed ex-offido to stand forth as the guardi- ans of the great principles of the charter of American liljerty. [Loud cheers.] I trmst that public virtue is not so much on the wane, that men filling the high and honorable place which they do, will deem it expedient to lean to the side of Wrong, when they know what is right. And it is from these considerations that a meeting of this kind brings rather pleasing reflections. But suppos- ing the case were not so encouraging, and let me caution you not to be too sanguine, for if the serpent found his way into the bowers of lEden, who shall say that he shall not find his way into the halls of legislation ? true, we have no such fear, but still let me say that in the end we ourselves must stand by our own rights, if we ex- pect that others will aid us in preserving and maintaining them. [Cheers.] Our question was a vei;y plain and simple one originally, and all the sophistry, and all the bigotry, and all the quotations from anti- quated works of theology, did not change its aspect. We are all members of tbe great family of this community, and have the same right to follow the dictates of our conscience as we grant to our neighbors, and which they should grant to us. A community of 248 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. feeling is created by the common wants of all, but our opponents, instead of a benefit, would turn this into au injury. They claim the exclusive right of appropriating as they please, that which results from the contributions of every man— Catholic, Methodist, Protes- tant, Presbyterian, and all. That when it is amassed, it shall be dealt out in mental nutriment, just such as they prescribe, whether ]ialatable to us or not. We tell them of the injustice of this — that the educa!tion which might be proper and perfectly lawful for Protes- tant children, might be very injurious for Catholic children — that if they are pleased with the system to keep it, and that then, in the exercise of an authority vested in the corporation of this city, schools complying with the requirements of the law, doing those things for ■which this money was contributed, but freed from these noxious principles, shall be designated, and that a portion not of their money, but the portion that may justly be supposed to belong to us, shall be sot apart for the support of these schools. We make no claim but such as any other denomination might with equal justice and pro- priety prefer. We want our children, whilst receiving the elements of education in the schools, to be freed from the poisonous influence of sectarianism. [Cheers.] What I said before, I repeat now, that we advanced not a single proposition, of which we did not lay the proofs before their Honors ; and that in the whole course of the discussion, not a single solitary proposition of ours Avas dispro\'ed by the men who arrayed them- selves in opposition to our claims. [Loud cheers.] The fact is they did not pretend to disprove them — they did not think it worth their while — they said, " You believe in the Council of Trent" — but did that overturn our al-guments ? Not one solitary statement of ours was disturbed. So far from that, the committee did not bring for- ward anything that was not well known before. They reported that the school houses were all nearly of the same size, and built alike [laughter], and that they found good order there. But there were other things of which they said nothing — they did not report that they found the children all singing hymns that certainly had not the approbation of the Council of Trent [laughter], and repeating the Lord's Prayer, with those additions which Protestants make, but we do not. They said these were very beautiful things, and could do no harm. But then when the Catholic mother teaches her child the Lord's Prayer, and the child finds another form at school, and comes home and asks its mother how all that happens — of that we com- plain. We hold that such meddling is improper, and we only de- mand what is reasonable and just, and we challenged them to point to anything unreasonable in our demands, promising that we would correct it, and decline entirely pressing any such claim. But there was nothing of the kind — our statements were not denied. "No man presumed to say that our claims were unjust, and yet you know their decision. That decision has thrown us on a course which we trust will lead to an improvement of the system. It was a forraul.i prescribed by the Common Council, and it was right that to them THE SCHOOL QUESTIOJT. 249 \To should make oui first appeal. But they have transferred from themselves to a higher tribunal, the responsibility of doing us jus- tice, and -we have applied to that tribunal with brighter hopes and more unclouded prospects. [Cheers.] If we do not succeed next session, 4hen we must keep our minds directed to the next session, and if not successful, then to the next again. [Laughter and cheers.] If you were to fall back like the sluggard on his pillow, because at first a little diflSculty occurs, in every future attempt you would be alike unsuccessful. It would be said that you wanted spirit — that you made a great noise for a little, and then all was over. No ! Understanding the question — its bearings on your rights as citizens — as men having consciences that are inviolable — with a proper un- derstanding of these things, you must persevere. Stand by justice. Prefer your claims, and sooner or later you will gain the ears and good will of those who have the power and the ability to redress your grievances. [Cheers.] But there is another view of the subject, or rather a view result- ing from the state of things, which it is certainly my disposition to press much on your attention, that is, that having found that the schools provided at the public expense are not a source of benefit to you and your children, that you take care that your children shall not be left to ignorance — on the contrary, every parent will exert himself so that your poor children shall not lose their time — that they shall be adding in the best possible way to that knowledge that is to be useful to them in after life. Wo must then look forward to the organization of schools, and what is more, if they force it upon us, wo must look forward to the expurgation of books. So that if we are ultimately obliged to educate Catholic children at the ex- pense of second taxation — that is, when they first take our taxes and transfer them to an irresponsible corporation that uses them not for our benefit, and only return them in the way that injures us, we must have a second recourse to our pvxrses — then, indeed, we shall study that ours will be a thorough education, and a thorough Cath- olic education. [Cheers.] In point of value the whole amount of this taxation is exceedingly insignificant, only at the rate of one-eightieth of one per cent, so that an individual rated at $10,000, pays to this fund only about fifty cents. Now we know a great many men among the Catholics that could rate at $10,000. In that way, a man owning property to that amount, has to pay only fifty cents ; yet from these small sums a very considerable amount is raised. Thus, in point of fact, it is not the araoimt of money with which we Ijave to do, but it is with the tampering with a principle against which every honest man of every creed should raise his indignant voice. [Cheers.] If I see, in this . country, a Jew oppressed because he is a Jew, though I have no sympathy with his religion, I feel sympathy with his rights, for there there is a principle involved which closely concerns myself. And if the citizens permit the Jew to be trampled on to-day, the next weak denomination may fall a victim to-morrow, and so on, till there 250 ■ AEOHBISHOP HUGHES. be only otie dominant denomination, ruling over, and trafficking in the rights of all other denominations. [Cheers.] On these groimds is this question important, as well as because it is an imperative duty, incumbent upon you and me, to see that no principle^ of religion of which we do not approve shall be fixed in the minds of our children. The account of this is not of this world, and under the sense of this solemn duty, I felt called on to mingle with you in the agitation of this question, and dii-ect your attention to it till you should understand it, and be prepared to act on it, in conjunction with that duty which you and I are alike bound to discharge. [Cheers.] I do not know that I have anything more of interest or worthy yoUr attention to present on the subject. It has often been discussed, and I presume is now perfectly understood. But tbis one thing I would impress upon yon, that wherever religion is concerned, it comes before all other concerns — that is to say, the duty that a man owes to his conscience and his God ; and the order of obligation is first to God, and then to our conscience— after God to our con- science, before our parents or families, that is the order ; and there- fore I should think it a perversion of that order, if any man, for sake of that expediency on which we look with such contempt as ruling in a hall not far distant [laughter], should sacrifice his duty to his God, for sake of what be regards as a little advantage on his side. If, after all, my friends, the question be overruled and no remedy left us, thpn submission will be our duty-^but it will be a glorious submission. [Cheers.] Every just — every honorable — every fair means should be adopted and persevered in steadily, and firmly, uu- tU your rights be recognized and secured if it be possible. [Loud cheers.] Perhaps thei'e are other gentlemen present, particularly the Chairman of the Committee, who was not present some time ago, who could interest you more especially in regard to recent occur- rences. I have every reason to believe that everywhere there is the same unanimity of feeling that our grievances should be re- moved, and what is more, that each one so expressing himself was ready to aid us in obtaining redress. That is consoling, for that shows a very difierent state of things to that which presented itself to me when I first returned from Europe. Then, those who under- stood the subject were few. Nothing but a proper understanding of the subject was wanting ; but by discussion, and meetings, and so forth, that knowledge has spread from tbe centre to the circumfer- ence of our people. Our people now begin to understand that insidiously, and, as it were, drop by drop, this system was igcmg on, tending to wean the affections of their children from that religion for which their parents had suffered so much. [Cheers.] They understand this, and therefore I cannot but congratulate you on the improved condition of public feeling in relation to this matter. Elsewhere we have made many friends— and let me tell you, by way of a secret, that some who once opposed us have acknowledged thait we are right. [Loud cheers.] THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 251 We have to wait then till we know the issue of our respectful petition to the Legislature at Albany. I have every reason to believe that it will be attended to. There is- nothing in that i^etition which can shook the prejudices of any man or class of men. There is the statement of a grievance, an^ in all civilized countries wherever there is a grievance that can be corrected without entail- ing a greater grievance, a remedy will be applied. In such a state of confidence then let us wait patiently. Nevertheless the principle involved in the case must be kept present in every man's mind — must be the guide and rule of his action and expression of his opin- ion in reference to this matter. Otherwise you may be Assured that the great influence of the Public School Society, and a very great influence it is, extending its fibres like those of the ivy around the oak of authority amongst you, will prevail against you. But persevering in your efforts with the same firmness, and calmness^ and determ- ination which has hitherto marked our struggle, my word for it, you must succeed ! [Loud cheers.] The meeting was then addressed by other speakers, who having referred to political aflairs the Eight Keverend Bishop Hughes arose and said: — When Iireturned from Europe, the very first thing I did when attending a meeting for the purpose of directing atten- tion to this question, was to take measures that all politics should be excluded ; and in the prosecution of the question up till this time, I have the pleasure and the pride to say tha* no politics have been introduced. We have attended meetings under St. James's Church and elsewhere, aod have not heard a syllable that I did con- ceive to be political in the remotest degree. And the moment politics are introduced, that moment I disappear from this meeting. I knew, indeed, that that had been the firebrand cast amongst those who first met for the purpose of prosecuting these claims, and therefore knowing it to be a firebrand, I felt it to be my first duty to extinguish it ; and it was extinguished. Now the question has been agitated to-night, and certainly, though for m^yself I did not hear with pleasure one observation of the learned doctor, yet I did not at all understand him as introducing politics. I may not understand the hidden meanings of words, and not being familiar with the subject may have a mistaken impression ; but I under- stood the Doctor to have expressed what I believe to be a self- evident proposition, that if I appoint a man to provide for the public table, and be sets on it what I cannot eat, that then my duty is to withhold from him my future support. Now I agree most decidedly in sa,ying that politics must not be introduced, first, for the perhaps insignificant reason that if they be introduced I disappear from amongst you, and seeondij for the very important one, that your prospects would thereby be defeated. Nevertheless, without being at all eonnected with polities, yet if a man appointed to sapply the public table with food does not do so, I feel it to be my duty to displace him, simply because he does not do me justice. That I do not call politics. But I conceive that any 252 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. man who will conspire with the man who deprives him of his rights, deserves to be so deprived of them. If you have any regard, then, for my feelings or your own interests, do not introduce politics. We do not meet for political purposes. I defy our enemies or our friends to shew that one word of politics was ever tolerated in our meetings. Occasionally an unguarded expression might escape, but I never could nor did attach any importance to it. So whilst I feel on the one side that the Doctor has not introduced politics, I argue most decidedly in the propriety of the remarks made-by the last speaker, so far as they went, to exclude politics. I trust, there- fore, that it will be after I have received notice to retire, that politics will be introduced. I have been accused of politics. But my politics are to do my duty, imperfectly, I know, but in the hope that by doing it I may have some c!aim to the mercy of my God in another life. Part of my duty, I felt under that sense of obligation, was to protect from contamination the minds of the children of the people committed to my care — to guard their faith with the guardianship devolved upon me by the Catholic Church, and in furtherance of that object, I attend this meeting. I believe that amongst both political parties, there are good and very bad men, and I look upon both from the neutral ground. With you it is different, and whilst it is your privilege to have your polit- ical feelings, and to exercise your political rights with modesty and discretion, and mindful of the estimation in which you would be held by your fellow-citizen, here at least there must be no introduc- tion of the subject. Hoping that my remarks will be received with kindness, and prevent any reference to these topics in future, I sit down. [The Right Reverend gentleman resumed his seat amid loud and continued applause.] The Chairman then remarked, that although he was precluded from engaging in the discussion of the subject before the meeting, yet he would say a few words in reference to the matter which had just been incidentally introduced. He felt that all agreed in the wisdom of the remarks made by the Right Reverend speaker, who last addressed the meeting ; and indeed there was an absolute impossibility that politics could mingle this question. Why ? Be- cause when a Catholic goes to the poll, and finds two candidates, one calling himself a Locofoco and the other calling himself a Whig, and he inquires which party voted against the Catholic claims, the answer will be — both parties voted against you. How, then, in the name of common sense, could politics be inti'oduced? {Loud cheers.] He was glad that the Catholic claim had been transferred from those in immediate contact with the Public School Society to those who were further removed, and therefore, the more likely to do justice. From the Legislature, justice might be got ; but from their enemies at home, whether Whig or Locofoco, none was to be expected. [Cheers.] TheRight Reverend Bishop Hughes again rose and said —Amotion THE SCHOOL QUBSTIOK. 253 for the adjonmment of the meeting is in preparation, but I had in- tended to have introduced to your notice some other matter not connected with the question immediately before you, but very closely connected with the interests of the Catholic religion in this city. Ho\yever, I shall postpone it till some other opportunity, and proba- bly it win be better to call a meeting for that specific purpose. Time, at present, will not permit me to develop at any length the state of some matters connected with the Catholic churches of this city. Many of them are in a very embarrassed condition, and since I have been absent, a thing perhaps unprecedented in this Diocese has occurred, two of our churches have been entered by the sheriff, and sold for small sums, but of course with the prospect of being regained. But this should operate as a warning in reference to the churches we have been in the habit of frequenting. My purpose, which! shall explain at another time, will be to unite the Catholics of this city, under some organization in a peculiar manner, for the" purpose of raising means by a general contribution to diminish the capital of the debt on the churches. And when I speak of this, it is to_ be observed, at the same time, that in doing this the Catholics will be only doing in another form what they will be obliged to do if they leave this undone. As it is, we are paying an enormous sum for interest. Now, the support of the churches and the payment of this interest, devolve principally upon a certain number of Catholics who are more prominent and better known. Sometimes it reaches somewhat into the people at large, but generally the burden falls on a particular class. And there is recourse to fairs and concerts, and different things of which I would not approve, nor tolerate were it not for the necessity of the case. But every expedient is employed to put off and beat off the last hour which must come upon churches as well as on every thing else that is hypo^;hecated — mortgaged. All this must be calculated rather to depress than inspire with hope. Nevertheless, in a little time, it could be shown that great as is the resjionsibility of the churches, if only fortunate enough to combine into one the energies of our clergy and the people themselves, it would be the easiest thing in the course of three, or at most four ye^rs, to extinguish the debt, or so diminish it as not to be felt. In so doing you would at once secure your churches in the service of the God to whom they have been consecrated, and remove the debt which operates as an incubus on the further development of our church in this community. The exertions that are necessary to pro- vide for the everlasting drain for interest, etc., should bring the mat- ter home to the means and zeal of every man and woman who have zeal for their religion. All should unite in the establishment of a fund, to be at stated periods, and under, proper management, dis- tributed to the churches, on conditions that will make it effectual ,in attainuig our object. In the meantime, I shall endeavor to mature a plan to effect this, and present it to you on a future occasion. [Loud cheers.] 254 AECHBISHOP HTTGHES. Meeting in " Carroll Hall," April 30, 1841. On Tuesday evening April 20, a numerous and respectable meet- ing of the Catholics of this city was held in the large building corner of Duane street and City Hall Place. On motion of Mr. Mullen, Tiios. O'CoNnroE, Esq., was unanimously called to the chair. Messrs. B. O'CoNXOR and John Quinn were appointed secretaries of the meeting. The Eight Rev. Bishop Hughes then arose and was received with loud and continued applause. He spoke as follows ; — Gentlemen, it has no doubt been anticipated that you should receive some news respecting the progress of the question in which we are all so much interested. Circumstances, however, have rendered the result dif- ferent from what might have been anticipated, and as yet it appears that there is nothing to be reported on the subject. However, it is still of the greatest importance that we should keep sight of that question — that we should have it present to our minds, for the more it is reflected upon, the more any sensible man will be convinced that if we believe in the truth of our religion^ — and I trust we would not profess it if we did not believe it — that it is one of the most vitally important questions that can possible engage our atten- tion. The importance of that question has been frequently dis- cussed, and it is one which has been viewed not by us alone, for there is a zeal which goes directly counter to ours. We are zealous to preserve our children in that religion which we believe to be true, and in which we ourselves hope for salvation ; and others are exceedingly zealous that, for their good no doubt, our children should be seduced, under the plea of education, from adherence to that religion. And thus the question stands. The whole pretence on the part of the opposition was pretence of friendship for educa- tion — a zeal that all might be educated on that broad and liberal syste^n which wishes to have religion without any articles of faith. Nevertheless, from time to time the true views which actuated those who are most zealous in opposing our claims became manifest ; and but yesterday my attention was called to an article in a sectarian papei-'bearing on the subject and going to show to its very large cata- logue of subscribers that we are the enemies of education, that we love darkness and dread light, and that therefore we are exceedingly solicitous lest the Catholic children basking in the light which the Common Schools furnish should see the error of the ways of their fathers, and therefore abandon them ! — And they go on to say that it is impossible for the Catholic cliildren of Catholic parents, born in this country, to profess the religion of their parents if they are allowed those advantages, and that it is on that account that wo are so solicitous to withdraw them from the Public Schools. But tliey go still farther, and make a very nice calculation r-especting the chil- dren, the result of which is, that by the working of this system luring the past, and, not including the results to be anticipated from THE SCHOOI, QUESTICJSr. 255 the future, out of every twenty ohiWren, fifteen will become Protes- tants ; or, what is nearly as good, will cease to be Catholic ! "When that is the view which they take of it, and when we know the working of the sj-stem, then is the importance of the subject increas- ed, and whatever may be the result of our application for our por- tion of that money which we contribute for the benefit of education without these enroachment on religions freedom — whatever may be the result of that — one great advantage has been gained, that the attention of parents has been called emphatically to the subject. Now we do not enter into the question, what is the amount of their education, but the matter is an exceedingly simple one, and it is good for us, and for the benefit of those who may be disposed to report fairly what they hear, to commence by stating the question. The question between us and our fellow-citizens, is as one between two, or, if you please, three individuals. Two agreeing in religious sentiments, and the third disagreeing, and the two come to the third and say, "You must pay a portion of money for the education of the children of the three of us, and we will shape the education to suit the views which we entertain, and you must submit." The third says, " No ! I would prefer to keep my own portion and superintend the education of my own children ; because in this country religious rights are secured, and when you frame a system for your children and compel me to support it, although I disagree with you in religious principles, you do me injustice ; you are to be sure two against one, and you may decide against me by your majority, but nevertheless you violate justice." And what is said of the Catholic applies with equal force and justice to any other religion. Because every man has granted unto him by the laws — the happy laws of this country — the right of worshijjping God according to the dictates of his conscience, This is the true statement of the ques- tion — for, ai-gue it, mystify it as you please, it comes down to this simple matter-of-fact illustration. We never wanted their money, and even if we wanted our own, it was not for the purpose of teach- ing religion, but for the purjjose of conveying education without anti-Catholicity. And they contend, manfully contend, that educa- tion such as they prescribe shall be given, and impregnated with that leaven, simple as it may be, but yet enough to ooiTupt the whole mass. (Loud cheers.) This experiment of the past, gentlemen, I should think quite sufficient to admonish the Catholic body of New York to take measures for the future. And whether the State allows our claim or not, we should remember that we are able and bound to provide for the education of our children. This is but what we have been doing for years. We have voluntarily undergone that expense — but it has been done by isolated efforts, sometimes not very successful, and not most advantageous for the children. All that we want now is, that the Catholic parents should understand this question. We have another deficiency which will, I trust, soon be supplied — that is, want of teachers. For though we have in 256 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. many cases excellent teachers, yet often we are obliged to take them as they ofFer, and sometimes though not altogether competent, on account of our want of proper means. When in Ireland last sum- mer, among other objects of curiosity, I visited one of the schools conducted by a society of young men, who had associated them- selves voluntarily, and devoted their lives, and talents, and acquire- ments, which are sometimes of a very high order, to supply that education of which the tyrannical government of Britain tried to deprive the Irish people. [Loud cheers.] They looked for no rec- ompense — they feel that it is — and especially in that unfortunate country — a great work of mercy, to supply by the devotion of their time and talents that which should have been provided for by the zeal of their goverement. I was present at an examination there, and in all the examinations that ever I have witnessed, I never saw one more calculated to give satisfaction. Everything is systema- tized by them. Their Superior and leading members have directed their attention to every improvement in the science — ithe profound science, of imparling knowledge to the young mind, and every prac- tical and sound improvement has been adopted by them. And such order — such facility in going through that examination with the least loss of time, I have not seen in any other establishment at any time or place. The pupils appeared to be themselves perfectly mas- ters of the subjects on which they were examined. Geography, and history, and several other branches of education were treated of, and in all they appeared to be perfectly at home. My intention is to send to Ireland, and that within three weeks, for as many members of this excellent community as I can find wil- ling to devote themselves to the education of the whole Catholic children of New York. [Loud and continued applause.] Before two weeks, I trust that a person duly authorized to make that applica- tion will bo on his fray, and I hope also, from the encouragemen*. that I have to cherish that hope, that, within four or five months, : sufficient number will be here to commence. They may not — fo they are ^ery much in demand where they are — ^be able to send ab many as will suffice, but at all events they will send enough to en- graft their improved and excellent system on such others here as may be disposed and otherwise qualified to assume the office of teachers. And the support of these "Brothers of the Christian Doctrine," as they are termed, will not equal that which the Catho- lics have been paying from year to year in addition to their taxation — for these Brethren accept of nothing but food and clothing. Now I conceive that in this way we will be enabled to supply the great want of which I have spoken. In this way we will bring the many hundreds of children of poor parents under the salutary disci- pline of education and religion ; and at all events if we are obliged to teach our children at the expense of a second taxation, we will be free to bring them up in the Christian religion, and even in the Catholic faith. [Loud cheers.] I have no doubt that the whole Cath- olic body in New York will regard the arrival of these men for this THE SCHOOL QUESTIOIf. 257 purpose, as a public blessing ; and I have not the least doubt that in the course of five or six years, any who at first may have doubted, will be convinced that for them and their children the arrival of these Brethren was indeed a public blessing. [Cheers.] As we are here assembled, I may as well direct your attention for a few minutes to some topics having very important reference to the interest of the Catholic community. Our misfortune heretofore has been that we have not been united — that is, united on a large and comprehensive basis, for the promotion of our true interests. Efforts here and there, have been continually made, but there has not ap- peared to be a general spirit of co-operation and unity of action, by which we, like other denominations, should promote our interests as a religious community. I regret that either the imperfect notice of this meeting, or the inclemency of the weather, or both causes com- bined has not permitted a larger assembly, although I am somewhat surprised to find it so large as it is. But I should like on this occa- sion to have representatives, as it were, of the whole Catholic body, so that they could discuss amongst themselves and communicate to all their brethren in the city, the hints I am about to throw out and the views I intend to suggest, and consider how far they are practi- cable and may be carried out. It is known to you — at least if you have paid any attention to the subject, it should be known^ — that the Catholics are far toonumer^ ous for the spiritual means within the power of the clergy. It is supposed that there are in this city from 60,000 to 80,000 professors of the Catholic faith — and for these how many clergy ? There are able to perform active and efficient duty 9 or 10 at the most ! One clergyman for 8,000 people, or for 7,000 if you take a lower esti- mate. What, I ask, can Ibe his influence among such a mass of peo- ple ? Where can be his influence in the first great elementary di- vision of society — the family ? Where his superintendence of the children ? He who from morning to night knows no rest from lar bor, but is constantly engaged in visiting the sick or attending to other duties, and, as I myself from experience and personal knowl- edge can testify, knows no hour of cessation, has not a moment to devote to the children. Now the children should be initiated into the knowledge and practice of their religion, from nine or tenyears of age. But the clergy are so busily engaged in other duties of their office, that even if children presented themselves to them in crowds, they cannot be attended to. More, we have not church-room enough for the increasing num- bers of the CathoUo fold. Without additional church accommoda- tion, there never will be that just proportion between the numbers of the people and the clergy, that is necessary for the due develop- ment of ^he power of religion in reforming character and correcting vice and in bringing men up towards that high and holy standard which our faith proposes. There should be, to effect this, at least one pastor for every 1200 or 1500 souls. Any clergyman charged with the cai-e of that number has quite as much as he is able to an- 17 258 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. swer for. If there were clergymen in that proportion, then would their personal influence be felt, and not as now.. We now see our people in large masses on Sunday — they disperse — we meet them in the street — but we know them not. There may be a thousand evils existing, spreading their desolating influence, and bringing scandal and reproach on the Catholic name, not from remissness on the part of the clergy, but from mere physical inability to attend to the wants of such multitudes. Should we not then — I speak now of the whole Cathohc body — endeavor to diminish this disproportion between the numbers of our clergy and people ? Certainly ; and everything going towards that should be something dear in the breast of every Catholic in the com- munity. [Loud cheers] And now I have another topic. Supposing we had the clergy, we want the churches too. And when I speak of churches, it strikes me that most of those acquainted with the present state of our churches, swamped as they are in debt, will say I had better not re- fer at all to this subject. But it is true that the Catholic churches are obliged to pay in interest for debt, a sum which would enable us to build one new church at a cost of $20,000 every year. Is not this state of things calculated to attract the attention of the Catho- lic body ? [Loud cheers.] I have made an estimate from items I have received, and find that the amount of the debt is $300,000 ; and yet, enormous as that debt may appear, if a general Catholic spirit were difi"used amongst those who profess our religion, it would not weigh as it were one feather against the progress of our faith. A united action — a combination of effort — in a word a change in the circum- stances of that debt, would in a short time bring about such a state of things that it would cease to be felt, and means would be provided for the onward march of our religion in proportion to the increasing wants of the people. How could all this be done ? Let us take our figures again. Let us suppose that instead of a weak congregation here struggling with debt, and a strong congregation there with very little debt — that instead of leaving the weak congregation to struggle with a burden doubly oppressive on account of that weakness, the strong , should come to its assistance, in a short time the whole, or principal part of that debt would be swept away. What would you thus do ? I address you as if you were the whole Catholic body of New York. You would take money out of one pocket and put it in the other— you would be gradually extinguishing that debt, for which you are now obliged to pay a large sum for interest, which is all swallowed up. [Cheers.] I have said that this state of things hinders the progress of our re- ligion, and I will tell you how. Suppose a number of people cannot find church accommodation, and they resolve to build a church. They apply to the Bishop for permission, which if granted, immedi- rately the pecuniary wants of the neighboring congregation where they may have attended, induce them to rise up and say " If leave be THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 259 granted you will ruin us, for our revenue, iiotwithstanding all wc do by oratorios, and this and that other means, is scarcely adequate to keep us afloat, and if you allow another church, it will draw away so much of our revenue, and we will sink." And so, for fear of all that, tlie souls of people must be left destitute. Should such a state of things be permitted to continue ? Is it not one which calls immediately for any action by which a reasonable hope may be expected of diminishing the progress of that impedi- ment to the advance of our rehgion ? It is not however for churches alone that exertions are necessary. It is for everything that religion requires. I may quote an instance — I mean of the college which 1 undertook some time ago. There has been no want of zeal on our part to present the claims of that institution ; and, althojigh a good deal was subscribed, and a good deal paid, yet it was with the great- est difficulty that we could drag along. Because it was a general cry. We have to sustain our church and we are sinking. There was no end to this ; and thus in the isolated difficulty of each particular portion arises that want of general zeal so necessary to carry any thing triumphantly through. Now wliat is there to prevent an association which I intend to form — that is, on the principle of one of which I will have more to say at another time, and which is designated the " Association for Propagating the Faith " — to the funds of which the members con- tributed one cent weekly ? This society is now extensively known in Europe, and has been the means of extending the Catholic faith from the rising to the setting of the sun, more or less in every region where that faith has been proclaimed, since its origin. There is no reason why such an institution should not be established amongst us; and although the rules of that institution require that the funds should be placed at the disposal of the Central Board, nevertheless I have reason to believe that in a country like this, and in our circum- stances, they would never ask a penny of them expended anywhere but in the diocese itself. The money thus collected would be dis- tributed amongst the churches, and would soon extinguish the bur- den Avhich now presses them down to the earth, instead of sinking $20,000, year after year, in the payment of interest. Besides, the churches would contribute in this way cheerfully, aware that no other collections would be made, as at present, by means of ora- torios and fairs, and other temporary expedients, in which a few take an interest, and which are of so little avail. For, let me sup- pose a case. We get up an oratorio for the benefit of a church. Well, it is all well enough, and the audience — which may sometimes be five, six, eight hundred, or a thousand — suppose that their dol- lars go to the benefit of the church ; but, it is found in the end that all the dollars went for the music, and that the church gets nothing! Would not Catholics, then, rather give their dollar, knowing it would be appropriated directly to the purpose for which it is given ? Let some plan then be organized. I only throw out hints on which I wish you to dwell, so that when something more tangible is pre- 260 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. sented, you will be entitled to give it proper consideration. We are now speaking on a kind of half-ground between cliurcbes and banks [a laugh], and I am happy to be able to do so in a place where to speak of such things does not render us liable to the charge of profanation. [Cheers.] We have been speaking of the small amount necessary for each individual ; and in this time, when projects for reformation are made on every hand, and amongst others that for the promotion of tem- perance — where we see it extending on every side with happiest results, in regard not only to the increased temporal comforts of the people, but to their disposition to return with more fidelity and deeper devotion to the duties of their religion — on the Report of the Temperance Society I have taken the pains'to make a little cal- culation. Supposing the Catholics in this diocese to number, as it is said they do, 200,000, and making an allowance — striking as it were a kind of average line between those who drink more than they ought, those who drink moderately, and those who do not drink at all — would it be too much to suppose that on an average each expends three cents a day for every kind of drink? How much, then, do you think do the Catholics, who are so poor, and obliged to earn their daily bread by laborious toil, expend for drink every year ? Why, just as near as may be, two million two hun- dred and ninety thousand dollars a year ! If this be correct, and if for one year the whole community would practice total abstinence, where would the debts of the churches be ? [Loud cheers.] Well, if the small contributions of the many amassed together produce such an important result, I ask, need the Catholics of New York be any longer retarded by that debt ? But they should change their position. Instead of indefinitely paying the interest, and thereby crippling every effort — instead of allowing matters to remain in this condition — let some general plan be, adopted by which the debt may be extinguished altogether. By one united efibrt, in three years the debt might be all swept away, and then you could go on for ten or fifteen years, adding each year a church to the number already erected, and that would not be more than the wants of the people require. [Cheers.] It is not the. time now, nor are we now prepared for submitting a plan for this purpose, but, without going into detail, it seems that one might be suggested which gentlemen may think over in their minds. My own notion would be to form a general association for the purpose — to take the churches one with another — every church in the city, Irish, French, and German — and, by an equal distribu- tion to all, to go on till all should be clear of debt. That is to say, suppose, in the first instance, eight churches, partakers of a general distribution, the collection would be made to fall equally on all parts of the city. But sbme to whom I have spoken of this have said that will not pass with some, because they will say, we owe but little, and we should not be obliged to contribute for others. But, after all, what would be the difierence ? N"o one would feel it in the THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 261 ' end. At present, demands are incessantly made which fall chiefly on the same individuals, who would surely much rather that once for all a regular united effort were made, with the understanding that no other expedients would be resorted to, and that the money coUected was to be employed in extinguishing the debt itself. [Cheers.] I have thrown out the few hints that I intended to offer on the present occasion. Probably, when we meet again, something more practical, something in the form of a system, may be offered to your notice, by which the great end in view may be accomplished. I know that it is easy at meetings to propose things of this kind, and that at first there is considerable ardor, but that that ardor abates, and things remain as before. I conceive that the explanation of that may be found, to a very great extent, in the circumstances in which every effort of the kind has been heretofore made ; namely, that it is never made till the church is pressed, and those that feel the pressure show a great deal of zeal at first, but instantly, from a want of united effort, it fails. I feel for the church with which I am my- self acquainted, but I find one going this way and another that way, and the isolated effort is lost. But let the effort be general, and my zeal will not be damped. There is no use in concealing our situa- tion. Let it be impressed on the people that the churches should be paid for — that in doing that they do not make themselves poorer, as they do fcy paying the interest, but will extinguish this debt for which they are continually taxed. Let this be explained and under- stood, and let us take the interest in the matter which it requires. And the effort will not necessarily require to be continued, for in two or three years at most the incubus would be removed, and prosperity would reward our exertions. [Cheers.] Now, it may be asked, how comes it that our churches are so much in_ debt ? It results from the circumstance that the people have flowed in on us faster than we were ready to receive them. Because the very zeal for religion by which a temple was erected, wherein the poor emigrant landing on these shores might adore his God, provided it before those for whose accommodation it 'was built were able to redeem it. All the efforts that could be made for the time have been employed. But had they waited till the people were able to pay for the churches, the churches would not have been built, and we would have been in a still worse condition than at present. But in the interval these people have become able to con- tribute, and if the effort be made with unanimity, it will be an easy matter to extinguish the debt thus contracted, or so to reduce it as to be equivalent to its destruction in a short time. [Cheers.] With these suggestions I conclude, and recommend my observations to your consideration. But one thing I may add, that if you -have any idea of succeeding in this undertaking, you must embark in it with a large spirit — with minds that grasp the whole subject, and you must blot out all petty distinctions and considerations of individual profit. And are we 262 AECHBISHOP HDiHES. not all one body, united in one faith ? and according to the very terms of that faith, if one member suffer, all should suffgr with it. [Cheers.] Who is there that would not feel the blush mantling his cheek, when he hears that a church, in which had been eelebratwi the Holy Mysteries, had been desecrated by the hammer of the sheriff! [Loud applause.] Who is there that has a pulse within him that does not feel it a degradation to 'himself, though he may never have worshipped in that church, nor hoped, to worship there ? Now is the time for one united effort, and I trust that it will be made. Important Meeting of the Friends of Freedom of Educa- tion, in Washington Hall; June 1, 1841. Pursuant to the call for a meeting to be held on Tuesday eve- ning, the 1st of June, 1841, at the Washington Hall, corner of Broadway and Reade street, of all persons interested in the cause of education of the children of the poor, a general meeting was held, and was organized by calling Gregory Dillon, Esq., to the chair, and the appointment of B. O'Connor and Edward Shortill as secre- taries. The minutes of the last meeting having been read and approved, James W. McKeon, Esq., on behalf of the Executive Committee, of which he was chairman, made a report of the proceedings since the presentation to the Legislature, at its last session, of the memorial of those who, dissatisfied with the present system of education in the city of New York, were desirous that its blessings should be more equally and widely extended. Mr. McKeon then offered, on behalf of the Executive Committee, the following resolutions : — Resolved, That although we deeply re- gret the postponement of the New York School Bill by the Senate of the State, we yet jjerceive in the liberal sentiments which prevail in that high tribunal an acknowledgment of the grievances under Mhich we labor ; grievances inflicted upon a large portion of the pop- ulation under the present system, by a private corporation at va- riance in all its features with the principles of our republican insti- tutions. That in the manifestation of the enlightened views enter- tained by distinguished members of the Senate in behalf of the claims of the neglected and indigent children of the metropolis now excluded from a participation in the benefits of the Common School Fund, we recognize a powerful incentive to increased perseverance in a cause which is one alike of reason, humanity and justice. Renolved, That we conjure those from whom the light of knowl- edge is withheld, and upon whom the calamities of ignorance are entailed by reason of their want of confidence in the present intol- erant and exacting monopoly system, to " be of good cheer," for in THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 263 that spirit of justice and equality which breathes through all our institutions there is a confident assurance of the complete and final enfranchisement of those who suffer the gOadings of oppression for conscience' sake. Resolved, That the imposition and collection of taxes, the disposi- tion and disbursement of which is confided to a private corporation, is contrary to every principle of responsibility sanctioned by this government, and in the highest degree dangerous to our institutions as establishing a precedent alarming in its character, because of the power with which it invests a corporate body to abuse a public trust without fear of consequences to its members, and in its will and pleasure to set the constituted authorities at defiance. Resolved. That the property acquired by the public money should be held in the name of the people of the State, and that the authori- ties are imperatively required by sound policy and duty to take immediate measures to prevent property purchased by funds raised by taxation from passing into the possession of a monopoly over which the community have no control. The Rt. Rev. Dr. Hughes then rose, amid loud cheering, and ad- dressed the meeting nearly as follows : He commenced by saying, I have no doubt, gentlemen, that, not- withstanding the explanations which I have made on former occasions, and which I trust are satisfactory, yet with those who are opposed to us on the subject in relation to which we are met this evening it will be considered that in appearing here I occupy a place very inappro- priate, undignified, and inconsistent with my character as a bishop. But, fortunately, I am not obliged to measure my movements nor my conduct by any rules which those gentlemen may please to pre- scribe. I entertain ray own sense of propriety, and by that, and not by what may be said by those who would desire that I should be silent on this subject, shall I be governed. I do not esteem it any discredit or anything inconsistent with my character, that I should appear in such a place as this, and in a meeting convened for such, purposes as the present. On the contrary, I do not hesitate to declare that, next to the performance of the functions of the sacred office which I hold, I consider that I cannot be employed in a man- ner more consistent with the character of that office than in advo- cating the cause of the poor, the oppressed and indigent children who are excluded from the light of knowledge and deprived of a just right by the unjust and grasping spirit of an irresponsible and domineering society. It is for this that I appear here — to help to raise up the poor and uneducated from the degradation of ignorance to which a powerful and selfish body would consign them, unless they would consent to sacrifice their conscientious convictions. In their defence I have taken my stand — no taunts shall deter me — not even the omnipotent Press can drive me from it. I shall abide by it to the last, so long as I can raise my voice and assist in making the truth heard and known on the great and vital principle for which we are contending. [Great and continued cheering.] 264 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES. In tlie resolutions which have been offered by the gentleman who has just addressed you, there is something which I would notice that appears like an expression of regret at the postponement of final action upon our claims. I must say, respectfully, that I dissent from this. I see nothing to regret in the course which things have taken, and I feel no regret. Indeed I might almost say that I re- joice at the disposition which has been made of our application for the present ; for however gratifying the immediate grant of an un- doubted right, such as that which we claim, would be to us, yet when it will be secured to us, as secured it imdoubtedly will be, after the grave and mature deliberation for which this postponement will afford opportunity, it will be a source of much more confident and solid congratulation than if our success should appear to be the result of any seeming haste or carelessness on the part of those to whom we have applied for redress. It will be remembered that at all times and upon all occasions, and whenever we have spoken or written upon this subject we have invariably declared that we asked for nothing but what was right and just, and that whenever it ap- peared that there was anything wrong, anything in our claims to which we were not as citizens of this State strictly entitled, that in- stant we would relinquish it. This is the principle upon which we commenced, and upon which we have acted, and to which we shall always adhere. And our cause being thus the cause of Truth and Justice, what have we to fear from time ? Nothing. We desire that our claim should be investigated, because we are convinced that the more it is considered and examined the more apparent wiU become the soundness of the principles upon which it is based. We desire investigation, therefore, and are willing that ample time should be given for that purpose. And that the question has been postponed and time taken for more mature reflection, is not, I repeat, a matter for regret or surprise. And so I have no doubt the post- ponement was considered by those Senators, or by many of them at least, who desired to make themselves more fully acquainted with the subject. They generally expressed themselves in favor of the principle for whicla we contend, but desired time to hear and ex- amine all the objections that could be urged against it, and I honor them that they have done so. They were responsible to their con- stituents, and they were right in demanding time to be able to as- sure themselves that they would not, in granting the prayer of the petitioners, be committing an error. Had it been otherwise, — had a law securing to us our rights been immediately passed, — might it not have been urged with some plausibility by our opponents, that it was hasty legislation ; that the State Government was carried in an unguarded moment ; and thus dissatisfaction would have been created,! and the system proposed to be established might fail of securing that general confidence which is so essential to the success of public measures of a comprehensive character ? But now no ob- jection of that kind can be raised. Ample time is given for inquiry and deliberation, and the success which awaits us will be stable and THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 265 pennanent. This is not a prospect that can excite vegret ; and when I reflect on the advance 'which our cause has made, the favorable consideration with which it has been received by the Legislature, and the emphatic manner in which the justice of our principles has been confirmed by wise and patriotic and enhghtened men, who ha\-e taken them up and advocated them, I must say that I am glad of the result. Our cause stands well, and time and inquirj' will only help, certainly cannot injure us. Besides, it must be borne in mind that in so grave a matter as legislation which is to affect the desti- nies of a whole people for years, perhaps for ages, a period of three months, or six months, or a year, is no more than so many hours would be in the transaction of ordinary private business. So grati- fying, indeed, is the present position of the case, that it is in reality more amusing than otherwise to note the many shifts and devices which the Public School Society have been led to adopt, one after the other, with the hope of defeating us. But they were met on every point, and failing in everything else, they at last were reduced to such extremity that their final efforts were spent in endea^'oring to show that the applicants to the Legislature were Catholics, and therefore not entitled to any consideration ! This was their last great effort — you were Catholics.' [Cheers and great laughter.] So desperate did their cause become, even in their own estimation, that no, means were deemed by them too vile or despicable to be resortea to, in order to preserve their power. Charges were fabri- cated, and circulars, containing the most gross and contemptible untruths respecting Catholics and their tenets, were industriously prepared and distributed amongst the members of the Senate, with the hope of influencing their decision. I do not say that the Trus- tees of the School Society were themselves personally the distrib- uters of these slanders, but — to give you a sfiecimen of what was done — their agent, or one of their agents at Albany, was detected placing on the desks of the senators — what think you ? why, an absurd and abominable malediction which they put forth as the Catholic form of excommunication, but which, in fact and in truth, was nothing more than a pure fabrication of Sterne, witten for his own amusement, in his book called Teisteam Shandy ! And these high literary gentlemen — these self-constituted, peculiar, exclusive dispensers of light, and knowledge, and education, were either so ignorant as not to know the true character and origin of the docu- ment which, they so industriously circulated, or, knowing its char- acter, they were so bigoted and careless of honor, and truth, and justice, and good principle, in their anxiety to forward a bad cause, that they did not hesitate to give the falsehood currency. What must be thought of conduct like this ? when men of acknowledged ' standing and influence — men educated and enjoying a high position in society by their character and affluence — could descend to base artifices that place them on a level with those who brought Maria Monk into the world — not the living Maria Monk — but the infa- mous book kno-vv a by her name which has been sent abroad, carry- 266 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. ing poison and falsehood into the bosom of every family where it could be introduced. But this was only in keeping with the whole system of warfare that has been opposed to us. When we were before another tribu- nal, instead of meeting the question fairly, it will be remembered how every nook and corner was searched, and what dusty tomes were produced to prove— what ? Nothing ; but to create, if possible, a sectarian prejudice against the acknowledgment of our rights. Some even went so far as to tell you openly to your face that they would rather be infidels with Voltaire, than be such as you ; and yet, with this declaration still sounding in your ears, they will ask you to commit your children to their charge. And how do they ask you ? They will send round their agents — agents of Tract Societies— as has been proved at Albany — who, when they, come to your house, will take the child, and leave a tract. And all this, they will tell you, is nothing sectarian. But we say that it is, and we know, and every one knows, that it is ; and it is to all this sectarianism which is inseparably interwoven with their system — these underhand at- tacks upon the faith of our children — that I object and ever shall object. I feel, Mr. President, that in viewing this subject I can divest my- self of all prejudices. I feel that I should sin and offend against God if I should impute to any sect or denomination, tenets or principles, or practices, which thej^ themselves would repudiate and deny that they held or observed. And I feel and know that I should be want- ing in charity, the most essential of Christian virtues, if I could per- mit myself to infringe upon, or to do any violence to, the rights of another, because he belonged to a different communion from that to which I was attached. I mistake myself, or I would be as zealous and sincere in advocating the rights of any other denomination — Methodist, or Episcopalian, ox Presbyterian, or any other — which should be placed in circumstances similar to those in which we are now situated. And it is this principle of general and equal protec- tion for all, which you are now seeking to maintain, and which, I trust, shall upon every occasion continue to animate you. [Great cheers.] But have we been met in a similar spirit ? We have not. That Society which has so perseveringly opposed every effort which we have made for redress, has abundantly earned for itself that epithet, which has been often applied to it, of a soulless corporatian, and has used every artifice and nreans in its power to vilify and defame us and our principles. Yes, defamation is the term. I do not say they have done it knowingly. That is not a point for me to deter- mine. But they have defamed us. I a\er it and insist upon it — the have defamed us with their extracts from Teisteam Siiastdt and other documents of an equally high literary character, credit- able to the liberality' and the pretensions to learning and knowledge of a body so ambitious to be the sole instructors of the youth of the city. And I challenge them to meet me and prove that what they THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 267 have laid to our charge has any foundation in truth, or is anything else but defamation. [Loud cheering.] I did desire to refer somewhat in detail to the remonstrances and other matters submitted by the Public School Society to the Senate, on this subject ; but owing to the late hour at which Ave have re- ceived them, I have been unable to examine them with that attention which would be necessarJ^ One of their principal arguments haa been, that corporations have been sometimes found very serviceable in assisting the administration of the affairs of government, and therefore they, the Public School So'ciety, are a useful and necessary agent; and they have gone on, reasoning by parity, and have cited the cases of an almshouse — institutions for the deaf and dumb — and a lunatic asylum — as instances in which corporations have been en- trusted with the discharge of certain duties. These gentlemen then would have it believed, that you are as lunatics— that the people of the city of New York are as the deaf and the dumb, and the insane, and incapable of managing their own affairs. [Cheers and laughter.] The poor of the city who become inmates of the almshouse, have trustees or guardians appointed to administer to their wants, and therefore you also must have trustees. But even admitting the cor- rectness of the premises of the Public School Society on this point, there is no analogy between the cases. The tenant of the almshouse enters there to receive benefits accruing from taxes to which he does not contribute, while you, for whom the Public School Society desire to act, are tax-payers and are left, under their system, without any^voice in the management or disposition of funds to which you have contributed. That there should be representation wherever there is taxation, is one of the most essential rights secured by the institutions of our country, but the Public School Society would, with respect to you, subvert that important principle. The whole matter now stands in this position. At the commence- ment, the great alarm i-aised, was, that the admission of our claim would be a step towards the union of Church and State. And if those who opposed us upon that ground were sincere in it, I respect them for their opposition ; for there is nothing which e^•ery patriot should feel to be a more imperative duty than to resist to the utter- most any attempt to introduce measures tending to so disastrous a result. But we denied .and disproved the justice of that allegation. The charge of Church and State is now no longer heard, and they appear only to labor to prove that we are Catholics, and, as such, unworthy to be heard. But it is not now with the city of New York a mere question whether or not the Catholics shall be allowed to participate in the blessings of a common school education, but whether there shall be any public education at all allowed in this city except such as shall be under the absolute and exclusive control and dictation of this Public School Spciety. We did not ask to be made the recipients of any of the public money. We desired to leave this in such hands as the law might designate, and that our schools should be subject 208 AEOHBISI-IOP HUGHES. to the control and supervision of the pvojJer authorities, and be con. ducted conformably to the laws of the State. We oifered everything that could be in reason desired. But no. The Public School Soci- ety interposed. They would allow of no rival. They will not par- take of a divided empire — Aut Ccesar, out JSTvUus. They will be Csesar or nothing. And if we will not take just such an education, as they will choose to give us, we are to have none at all. This is the alternative to which they would compel the people of this city to submit. You must submit your children to the discipline of the School Trustees, or they shall be brought up in ignorance. But I can look through and beyond this contest ; and, but a short distance in the future, I can see him Avho is but now a child — one of those who are shut out from the light of knowledge by the intol- erant system of this Public School Society — I can see him, but a few years hence, a young man sunk in crime and iniquity, for which they who deprived him of his rights will be yet held answerable to the Justice of God, which they have disregarded and forgotten in the spirit of unfeeling exclusiveness, that makes them cling pertina- ciously to the power which they have acquired. I can see that young man brought up by the constable, or other officer, to answer for offences, for which others are more heavily responsible than be. And when asked by the Judge, what he had to say why he should not suffer the penalty of the law which he has violated, he might, if capable of tracing consequences back to their causes, reply to the interrogatory, " Yes, I have much to say. I am here to answer for offences for which I am not so much to blame as are those who have darkened my path and left me defenceless amid temptations. When a child, poor and indigent, I was deprived of the common benefits of education — of that 'common right which my countiy had provided and had intended that I should enjoy, and which would have pre- ser\'ed me from the ruin into which I have now fallen. But I was neglected. I grew up in ignorance, and my heart, where the fair flowers of virtue should have been sown and cultivated, was suffered to run to waste until the weeds of vice sprung up there rank and luxuriant. And all this was the result of an unhappy controversy between my parents and those who had obtained the power to dis- pense, according to their discretion, the public blessings of educa- tion. My parents liad conscientious objections, whether reasonable or unreasonable, to the peculiar teachings which were prescribed. They would not accept of an education for their children such as was offered, and in this they acted according to what they consci- entiously believed to be the dictates of duty. But the agents of the public bounty of the State would tolerate nothing besides. They would either enforce their own peculiar system of education, or leave me destitute of any. And now, I am the vicTrsr. I stand arraigned for crimes which had their origin in the destitution and mental darkness to which I was then consigned — crimes, the guilt of which should rest — not on me, or at least, not on me alone — but on those who preferred to see the moral blight and desolation of this THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 269 heart, than to part with the least of their pretensions, or the small- est portion of that power which they grasped with a spirit so relent- less and uncompromising." [Loud cheers.] All this he might say and more ; and I have presented to you in this picture no fancifu' description. It is one which the realities of life would every da} abundantly justify. We have, however, the hope now of redress near at hand ; but we must not relax our efforts. Of what the details of your future action shall be, it is not my province to speak, but I would exhort you to persevere as heretofore. And I would again say to you, not to mind the clamors which may be raised about a union of Church and State. There is no danger that any one sect will ever attempt to marry itself to the State. Such an apprehension would be absurd. If ever the spirit or the letter of the Constitution of the country shall be violated in this particular, it will happen, not from any one sect rising above and lording it over all others, but from the coali- tion of all the others to depress, first the weakest or most unpopular, and then the next, and so on, until finally a few of the most power- ful wijl arise and remain in the ascendant. It behoves you all, there- fore, and every citizen, to see that all are protected alike — the weak- est as well as the strongest, but the weakest especially. No matter what sect is assailed, extend to it, in common with all your fellow citizens, a protecting hand. If the Jew is oppressed, then stand by the Jew. [Loud and long-continued cheering.] Thus will all be secured alike in the common enjoyment of the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and the justly obnoxious union of Church and State be most effectually prevented. I will again recommend to you to maintain the same spirit of unanimity and perseverance by which you have heretofore accom- plished so much. You are not now under the necessity of pleading your cause before a Committee of the Public School Society, com- monly known as the Common Council of the city of New York. We had all supposed that when we presented ourselves before the Board of Aldermen, we really stood before an impartial, disinter- ested tribunal. But it appears that all the members of the Common Council are, ex-oiticio, from the moment you elect them, members of the Public School Society. The organization or composition of this Society is certainly a singular one. First, a certain number of persons, who have become members upon paying an annual sub- scription of ten dollars, elect fifty trustees — these fifty choose fifty others, and then upon your electing members of the Common Coun- cil, those members also become trustees ; and thus is this Public School Society constituted. So that in fact when you went before the Common Council with your complaint of the monopoly of the Public School Society, you were preferring your petition to what may be considered as a Special Committee of that very Society. [Laughter.] But you are no longer laboring under that disadvan- tage. The scene is now changed to a higher and more impartial tribunal, where I feel not even the shadow of a doubt that the spirit 270 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. of perseverance which you have heretofore manifested, will soon ob- tain the great object for which you have already so worthily and so creditably exercised it. [The Rt. Rev. Prelate here sat down amid loud cheering, haviisg been frequently applauded throughout the delivery of his speech, in the most enthusiastic manner.] Meeting in Carroll Hall, October 25, 1841. A MEETING of the " Church Debt Association" was held at Carroll Hall, on the above date, and the reports of the collectors having been read, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Hughes addressed the meeting on the subject of " Church Debt." After which he referred to the School Question as follows : — I shall now call your attention to an- other subject — one not precisely of a character similar to that .upon which we have met here, but still a subject which possesses a pecu- liar interest for you all. A notice had appeared in the papers, call- ing you together for to-morrow evening, at this place, and this no- tice had appeared with my consent ; indeed it was published by my direction. But between the time of sending that notice for public- ation and its appearance, or rather after its publication, measures were taken in another quarter, with the avowed purpose of attaining the same end which the contemplated meeting was designed to pro- mote ; and representations were made to me by which (without at all losing .sight of the object, however) I was persuaded to relin- quish the Intention which I had formed of holding the meeting. I have therefoi'e come to the determination to postpone the meeting to which I refer, in order to see the effect of the measures substi- tuted for it. You know now, I presume, that I allude to a question of more. importance to you than any other, the question of the edu- cation of your children. [Great applause.] By the law of the land, education is sustained, and I will s.ay,- properly sustained, by a gen- eral taxation. We are willing and able to bear our proportion of the taxes which are imposed, but we are also anxious that, if we bear the common burden, we should share likewise in the benefits which are to be derived from it — that if we cultivate the soil and sow the seed, others should not exclusi\'ely partake of the harvest. It is not necessary to repeat now what has been said at former times ; but I will only assert, what you are yourselves well convinced of, that the public system of education now established amongst us has been tainted from the beginning. And though I am willing to ad mit, as I always have done throughout the controversy on this sub ject, that the men to -nhom the education of the children of this community is entrusted are, in their private characters, honorable benevolent men, and conceive themselves to be actuated by a disin tcrested spirit of benevolence in this matter, yet they are under thf THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 2 VI afluence 5f a bigotry which so neutralizes their perceptions of truth iiid justice on the subject, that they mistake the one for the other, and while dealing out something which their bigotry dictates, they believe that they are obeying the impulses of philanthropy. And it is this which has in part brought on those embarrassments which the Association assembled here this evening is designed to relieve —for while your children were excluded from the public schools — not, indeed, by a bar of iron placed across the door, but by a more impenetrable barrier which the internal constitution of the schools presented, you were obliged to supply the deficiency as well as you could : erecting school-houses in connection with your churches, or in the basement, as the case might be, and the means thus expended would have materially contributed to discharge the debts which now press upon those churches. I am free to admit that, when this subject was first agitated, from a kind of confidence in the justice and liberality of men — a con- fidence derived, perhaps, from what I felt to be the impulses of my own nature — what I would be willing to do myself in similar cir- aumstances, and from my knowledge of the justice of our cause, I believed that we had but to submit our grievances to those who had the power, and that they should be redressed. But I was mis- -aken ; justice was not regarded — -expediency alone was consulted — our claims were denied, not because they were wanting in justice ; .''or throughout the whole controversy I never met one, either among ■.he Aldermen of the city, or the Legislators to whom we appealed, 'svho denied the justice of our application ; but it was not expedient — it was not consistent with some peculiar views or objects that it .should be granted, and we have therefore been denied. But that is -ast; and now we come to the present state of the question. It .las been my fortune to advocate this cause before other tribunals ; I have pleaded the cause of the destitute and oppressed children before the Aldermen of this city ; I have sui:)portcd it in another :'.)rm before the Senators of the State ; and I have now to plead — before whom? The Public School Society? No! — I have to PLEAD FOB IT BEFORE THE CaTIIOLICS THEMSELVES ! [Great and reiterated cheering.] For the time has now come when it is neces- sary to learn their sentiments, and to know whether they are willing to vote for or against it ! [Renewed cheering.] The question to be decided is not the strength of party ,or the emolument and patron- age of office, BUT A QUESTION BETWEEN THE HELPLESS AND ILL-USED CHILDKEN AND THE PuBLic ScHOOL SOCIETY ! [Great and continued applause.] I take my stand by the children ; they are my clients ; and though they may be deserted by their parents, their brothers, their connections and friends, they shall still find in me a steadfast, sincere and uncompromising advocate. [Vehement applause.] You yourselves are now to say whether they shall be educated according to their birthright as American citizens, or be indoctrinated with that mental poison which you cannot and will not, I feel assured, allow them to receive; whether or not they are to be like the chil- 2'/2 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. dren of the Long Island Farms — taken from your control and handed over to the government and instruction of a body over whom you can exert no influence or authority. The question is now submitted, and the judges are to be yourselves! Under the free and happy institutions of our country, the power to redress grievances and remedy abuses has not an abstract exist- ence. It is something practical — something that comes home to every individual ; and if any set of men entrusted with authority should molest and injure others by the evil exercise of their power, the oppressed have, in time, their turn also, when they can vindi- cate their rights and divest their oppressors of the authority which they, had abused. If I am a candidate for your suffrages, I make known my principles and ask for your support. You must satisfy yourselves that I shall execute the office which I may obtain so as not to iu^■ade the rights and privileges dear to you ; or if I cannot give you the necessary assurances on that point, you will say to me, " You may get the office if you can, but you cannot have it by my vote." At the present moment there is an important issue made up be- tween you and a Large portion of the community on the one side, and that monopoly which instills those dangerous principles to whicli I have before alluded on the other. The question lies be- tween the two parties, and yovi are the judges ; and if you desert the cause, what can you expect from strangers ? [Loud cheers.] My position in this matter is a peculiar one — I stand alone and iso- lated in a degree — obliged, as it were, to step partially aside from the direct line of my sacred calling and appear before you on this subject. But I have found myself imperatively called upon to take the position which I have assumed for the protection of the religious riglits of those entrusted to my charge. The question is now refer- red back to yourselves ; you may desert the cause ; you may desert me ; but so long as I can command a hearing amongst you I shall never abandon the ground which I have taken. My duty, at least, shall be performed. [Tremendous cheering.] Those with whom we are at issue would instill principles which are not ours ; and though they may be good and beneficial to those who can conscientiously receive them, they are not so for us. We are, in truth, placed in the same situation as the Catholics were by the Kildare Street Society in Ireland, where, for years, with their proselytizing schools, they tried the fidelity of that people, who were never known to, be recreant or unfaithful. The cases are almost identical. Their schools here are .furnished with copies of Scriptures opposed to our version : and this, with their stories of Phelim JM.ighee, their hymns, and their peculiar forms of prayers, are all alike objectionable, and at variance with that love and rev- erence for our faith and its requirements which we would desire to establish in the hearts and minds of our children. The Bishop then referred to the prospect of success which the future presented to them— the changes in the minds of many who THE SCHOOL QtTESTION. 273 tad been hostile, which ho had himself observed during his recent progress through the diocese, and he exhorted them to persevere with a spirit of determination and self-respect, and that sooner or later a triumph awaited the liberal and just principles which they advocated ; those who were against them should yield in time ; for reflection only brought conviction to their minds of the injustice of the present system ; and the day would yet come when the great and growing mammoth of prejudice and bigotry, that could bear no rival, should yield to the voice of reason and to an awakened sense of justice in the public mind. I have been given to under- stand, the Bishop continued, that three out of four of the candidates presented to your suffrages are pledged to oppose your claims, and to sustain this great and influential society. Though I should deeply regret it, they may, perhaps, triumph ; but all I ask is, that they shall not triumph by the sinful aid of any individual who cher- ishes a feeling in common with those children. This corporate body to whom you are opposed, and from whose insidious influences you are desirous to protect the principles of your children, is in the field, arrogant aud exacting as ever, and I wish you, therefore, to look well to the men who are your candidates, and though suitable in all other respects, yet if they are disposed to make infidels or Protest- ants of your children, let them receive no vote of yours. In this case a simple illustration of the part you are called upon to act presents itself to my mind. I imagine, when these men come before you, that I can see, in the legislative hall to which they would desire that you should send them, something like a fire, and an iron there red-hot. Well, one of these gentlemen comes and requires your vote ; but suppose you ask him, what he means to do with that red-hot iron ? He will be sure to evade the question. He will talk to you of " glorious liberty and equality and the sovereign aur thority of the people," and all that ; but press him for an answer. Tell him you want to know what he intends to do with that red-hot iron. [Laughter.] "Oh," he will say, "I am a liberal man ; I intend to do whatever is right; my friends, you know mej do youj not? Ihelong to the party." [Great cheering and laughter.] But still press him for an answer, and make him tell you what his id«as are about the red-hot iron. [Laughter.] He will answer you at length, perhaps ; and you will then discover that he had intended with that iron to brand " Ignorance " upon the- foreheads of youi- children. This is the destiny to which he would consign them ; bu* if such is to happen, I trust that you,, at least, will have no agency in setting the degrading mark upon those who look to you as the- guardians of their rights, as their sole protectors fi-om the ignorance which is forced upon them unless they will consent to become the- disciples of Protestantism or infidelity. [Great cheering.] The Bishop then compared the restraint which the Public School System exercised on the conscience of the Catholics with the op- pressive exactions of the Enghsh Church and State policy — an odious tyranny that had brought misery on a land that knew it not,. 18 274 AECHtaSHOP HUGHES. but that now drank the bitter cup to the dregs, under the sway of that fornaidable and relentless oligarchy. They say to us here, con- tinued the Bishop, as it was said to our forefathers in that suffering land, " If you are oppressed, it is not our fault ; we give you the value of your money ; our minister is at his desk, and our doors are open to receive you ;" and because we will not avail ourselves of a privilege which conscience forbids, we are to be told we have no right to complain. But I trust that you are too well convinced of the truth and justice of your cause to falter now in your determina- tion to seek redress. You should acknowledge no distinction but that alone of the friend and the enemy of a just and liberal system of education — reduce it to the simplest terms possible — the friend of the free and unrestricted education of your children, and the op- ponent of so noble a measure of public right and justice ; and you should remember that if those children whose cause I now plead are deserted by you, they must look in vain for a friend. Why should a stranger interest himself to maintain a just principle, if those for whose benefit it is intended to operate should rebuke him with their neglect? Who shall say a word for a Catholic, if while enduring the scorn and desertion of others he finds that the Catholic abandons him too ? It behooves you, therefore, to have a proper respect for yourselves, and to evince your sense of the injustice done to you with dignity, with moderation and firmness, with a just appreciation of your rights as citizens, and of the rights of others, and with a cool but determined purpose to know of no distinction but that of the friend and the enemy of your children's rights. The Rt. Rev. Prelate then stated that he was only anxious for the adoption of whatever just and legal measures would be most likely to promote the good of the object which they had at heart. He had therefore yielded to the representations which had been made to him, and entrusted it for a time to other hands, but he had not ceased to watch it as closely as ever. He should observe narrowly the progress of those other measures to ■\vhich he alluded, and which were in progress. He should see that those who had it in charge should neither be deceived themselves nor decei\'e others. He had nursed this cause until it bad attained to its present import- ance ; his vigilance should not now cease ; and if any danger should, in his opinion, be approaching, they might expect a call that would be heard throughout New York, and that would rally them in sup- port of the great principle for which they were contending. But in every event he would tell them not to forget to ask about the red-hot iron. [Laughter.] The Bishop concluded amid the most enthusiastic applause, and the meeting adjourned. THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 27-5 G-reat Meeting of the Friends of Freedom, of Education in Carroll Hall, October 29th, 1841. A CROWDED and highly respectable meeting of citizens favorable to a just and equitable system of Common Schools in the city of New York, was held on the 29th of October at Carroll Hall, in this city, pursuant to public notice. At half-past seven the meeting was called to order, and on motion Gregory Dillon, Esq., was called to the chair, and B. O'Connor and E. Shortill, Esqrs., were appointed Secretaries. The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes soon after entered the meeting, and took his place on the platform, amid the long, loud and enthusiastic greeting of the meeting. Mr. O'Connor, one of the Secretaries, read the following requisition for the meeting from one of the public papers : " School Question.' — A general meeting of citizens favorable to such a system of Common Schools in the city of New York, as will extend the benefits of public education to the children of all denomi- nations, without trenching on the religious rights of any, will he held at Carroll Hall, this evening, 29th inst., at half-past seven o'clock. By order of the C(!ntral Committee." Bishop Hughes then rose and said — I am delighted, gentlemen, to find that the forlorn and neglected children of the city of New York have yet so many friends as I now see assembled around me. Amidst the passions and prejudices of public men, it is still consoling to observe that the rights of those children to the benefits of education are advocated by so many friends, and certainly if you were to abandon them in this emer- gency, their prospects for the future would be hopeless. When I speak of their forlorn condition with regard to education, I do not mean that there are not schools erected, but that those schools are conducted under such a system, and on such principles, as necessa- rily to prevent those children from attending them. The conse- quence has been as you know, that for sixteen years past, that por- tion of our citizens represented by this meeting have been obliged to provide separate schools, while they were taxed for the support of those from whose existence they derived no benefit. Those facts determined the origin of this question. Some have supposed that the grievance had its origin only with the time when the agitation and explanation of it were publicly commenced ; but let them look at your efforts for years past in providing education for your children, and ask themselves whether you would have gone to the second expenditure to provide a defective and ineflicient education for your children if you could have permitted them to attend the schools already provided. But first I must say a few words in explanationi of my qwo posi- tion in this matter. I was in Europe when the question was first brought before the public, and when I first heard of its agitation, I believed that we 276 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. had but to make a full, fair and candid statement of our grievances to honorable men., in order to produce an acknowledgment of the injustice of employing the funds raised by taxing all for the benefit of a portion of Society, and to the exclusion of one entire class. [Cheers.] I have attended in this place and elsewhere, meeting after meeting, during which we have explained the grounds of our objection to the present system of education. We have uniformly avoided all questions of a political character, and I have more than once expressed publicly, as I do now, my determination to retire from such meetings the moment any political question was intro- duced. It is not my province to mingle in politics. The course which I have pursued hitherto in this regard I shall not abandon now, and I have therefore to request that you shall not look for forms here which may be usual in meetings of a political character, but to which I am a stranger, and which I do not desire to see intro- duced for the accomplishment of the object which we have in view. The object of this meeting is, after all previous measures have been adopted, to see what means yet remain in your power for at- taining the end for which you are contending. As to those means they may, it is true, be unsuccessful — you may be defeated in your employment of them. A stronger power may place a barrier be- tween you and the accomplishment of your purposes. But yet by acting in the matter, and using those means which you possess, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that although injustice may triumph, you will have washed your hands of all participation in it. [Great and reiterated cheering.] In this as in all other undertakings, it is necessary that you pro- ceed with firmness and perfect unanimity. Our adversaries accuse us of acting with interested motives in this matter. They say that we want a portion of the school fund for sectarian purposes to apply it to the support and advancement of our religion. This we deny now, as we have done heretofore. We have denied it officially and under their own observation, and were they careful or solicitous for the truth of their statements they would not have made the assertion. In this community all religious denominations are supposed to be equal. There is no such thing as a predominant religion, and the sma,ll minority is entitled to the same protection as the greatest ma- jority. No denomination whether numerous or not can impose its religious views on a minority at the common expense of that minor- ity and itself. It was against that we contended. That was the principle frOm the unjust operation of which we desired to be re- leased. _ And here it may be well to explain the extent and limit of our claim. In this country all things are affected or decided by public opin- ion, and public opinion itself is sustained by two opposite elements — truth and falsehood. There is nothing more powerful than false- hood, except truth alone. The enemies of our claim were not igno- rant of this, and therefore they have crowded every avenue to public opinion ^'ith mir epresentations in reference to it. THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 277 It is therefore necessary for us to have recourse to the truth which they suppress or disguise. "We do not aslc for sectarian schools. We do not ask that any portion of the public money should be con- fided to us for purposes of education. We do not ask for the priv ilege of teaching our religion at the public expense — such a demand would be absurd and would richly merit the rebuke which it could not escape. In the Public Schools, which were, established according to the system now in force, our children had to study books which we could not approve. Religious exercises were used which we did not recognize, and our children were compelled to take part in them. Then we withdrew them from the schools and taught them with our own means. We do not want money from the school funds — all we desire is that it be administered in such a way as to promote the education of all. Now the Public School Society has introduced just so much of religious and sectarian teaching as it pleased them, in the plenitude of their irresponsible character, to impart. They professed to exclude religion, and yet they introduced so much in quantity as they thought proper, and of such a quality as violated our religious rights. If our children cannot receive education with- out having their religious faith and feelings modeled by the Public School Society, then they cannot receive it under the auspices of that institution, and if for these reasons they cannot receive it from that institution, it is tyranny to tax them for its support. We do not ask the introduction of religious teaching in any public school, but we contend that if such religious influences be brought to bear on the business of education, it shall be, so far as our children are con- cerned, in accordance with the religious belief of their parents and families. If the principle be correct, as contended for by the advocates of the present system, how would the Protestants feel in France, where they are in a minority ? Would they not complain if the school funds were expended for the benefit of Catholics only ? Belgium too, is similarly situated. Now I would ask, gentlemen, if they could in these oases approve of such a principle ? It is needless for me to recapitulate what were the grounds which we put foi'th. We stated our objects candidly and respectfully. But the advocates of the present system raised the cry of sectarian- ism, against us. Misrepresentation after misrepresentation went forth and produced their efiect. I have said that there is but one thing stronger than misrepresentation, and that is truth. But in this case truth was so overlaid by the multiplicity of these reckless assertions that it was almost entirely lost sight of. [Cheers.] I need not refer, in corroboration of this, to the last act of that Society before the honorable Senate, when they placed on the desk of every senator a vile fiction from the pages of Tristram Shandy, declaring it to set forth those principles which it was asked should be propagated at the public expense. But it did not defeat our claim- on the contrary we had reason to exp,ect a favorable result 278 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. frora the wisdom and deliberation of that honorable body, — ^but time was required by those who were strangers to the subject to examine into it, and then came the close of the session, and it was in conse- quence postponed to another period. By the aid of such means as I have referred to, they have through- out labored to defeat our application. When the corporation had the matter under consideratiop, clergymen were called before the Council — statements and opinions were obtained from legal gentle- men, and all who had information on the subject were requested to communicate it ; but beyond and above all this, slanders were re- sorted to, that the dominion of the system might be triumphant and perpetual. We have, it is true, a powerful coalition to contend with. The public press has gone forth, teeming with misrepresentation, excit- ing odium, and endeavoring to blacken our cause ; and not long ago, too, their legal advocate undertook to strengthen their position by his appeal to the prejudices of the public mind, — but in that, also, he has signally failed. Out of their own circle of friends, their influence has not been much felt. It is acknowledged by gentlemen opposed to us in religion, that our claim is rightful, and, if perse- vered in, must be successful. [Cheers.] And, I have the pleasure to assure you, that however bigotry and intolerance may prevail, it is not universal. There is a feeling in our favor, not among the laity only, but even among many of the clergy of other denomina- tions there are men who acknowledge the justice of our cause, and contend with us that it is wise policy to diffuse the blessing of edu- cation to the extent of the entire population. [Cheers.] Bishop Hughes here spoke of the incalculable benefits to be deriv- ed from a radical modification of the Public School system, and continiied — We now pass from the second stage to the consideration of the present position of the question^ We first laid our case be- fore the Common Council. They disposed of it in a manner with which you are familiar. We then applied to the Legislature. It is now in the order of things to be referred to yourselves. [Cheers.] But how deeply is the question covered over ! how followed up by other questions ! how gigantic the influences which have been em- ployed to arrange the matter in such a way that you could' not choose for yoursehes — that you would be left no alternative but to select friends of the present system ! [Cheers.] You are now to decide whether your children shall be educated as others shall prescribe— receive instruction from such books as are repugnant to your reli- ious feelings, and whether you shall be constrained to give your voice in favor of those who would perpetuate such a state of things. And here sec the effect of our admirable system of laws. We have it in our own power to remedy the evils of which we complain. It may truly be said to be a government of the people— based as it is on just and adequate representations, founded on !j principle in -which there is an implied contract, or what may be called an implied contract between the voter and the voted for. But in relation to THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 2/9 the candidatos who have been placed in nomination for your suffrage at the present time, marlc the cunning of the gentlemen opposed to you. They have so managed it that those candidates, if elected, would go to the Legislature pledged to oppose your claim, so that when the representatives are assembled at Albany, it may be said that if you voted at all you voted in favor of that to which it has been said you were opposed — that you were satisfied with the schools of the Public School Society as they are, — that in your judg- ment those schools inculcate the proper amount of moral precept, and religion as we were once told, in just the " legal quantity." [Cheering and laughter.] The time, then, has now arrived, when the fathers and the brothers and the uncles of the children who are excluded from those public schools should pass judgment on the evils of the pres- ent system. There are those who overlooking the evils of which we complain, speak of it as a system admirably calculated to diffuse the benefits of education, with its one hundred schools, its three hundred teachers, and one hundred and fifty thousand dollars per year. It may be and no doubt is so for those who may be permitted to enjoy the advantages which it affords — to us they are of no benefit. But you are accused of not being sincere in your objections, and notwith- standing the fact of your being obliged to supply and to suffer under the inconvenience of a miserable and defective system of your own, they assert that you were perfectly satisfied with their schools until I, or some other, undeitook to excite your discontent and that the objections whi(5h were made were entertained principally by the clergymen. The absurdity of such statements, however, is so apparent as to need no refutation. Why, I may ask, do you resort to poor schools to educate your children and to a farther tax upon your private means after paying your contribution to the public fund, if you have not cause of complaint. [Cheers.] There is another view of this question which it is prudent not to overlook. It is tjiis — you may observe that if a public man should advocate your cause, that man immediately receives a reproof from the friends of the present system ; he is certain to encounter all the animosity of personal and embittered opposition. Both here and in Albany, if a man stands up for your rights, he is marked and frowned upon. What is the object of the efforts made to blast men who ad- vocate your just claims ? Is it because enmity is felt towards them? No ! it is not that alone. But it is to teach all public men this les- son for the future — that it is dangerous to befriend you ! — that they must not stand up for justice when justice is not popular. [Tremendous cheers.] It is intended to be a beacon — a warning — to public men, who dare raise their voice in behalf of an oppressed class of society, that when they do so they may expect their downfall. [Great and renewed applause.-] But I call upon you to resist this Public School System, whether you are sustained by public men or not. You are called upon to join with your oppressors, and they leave you no alternative in vot- ing, It may appear uncommon — it may seem to be inconsistent 280 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. with ray character that I should thus take an interest in this matter ; and I should not, were it not a sabject of extraordinary import. But there has been an invasion of your religious rights, and, as the spir- itual guat 3ian of those now before me, I am bound to help their cause. If you are taxed, you must be protected. [Cheers.] Were the tax sj imposed that each denomination might receive the benefits of its own quota, the case would be fair enough. We are willing to have any system that' operates equally ; but we will never submit to a direct violation of our rights, and an appropriation of the school fund in such a manner that we may not participate in its benefits. Though our opponents may now succeed, that will not end our resistance. We will continue to interrogate the candidates as to whether they intend to oppress our' children. We will ask them if they mean to perpetuate the present system ; and if so, we will say to them, " You may go to the Legislature, but others will have to send you, not we." [Long-continued cheers.] Be not ashamed of so doing, for who will be your friends, if you are not true to yourselves? Act for yourselves, and you will have a shield of protection. You are called upon to use that protective shield, for how can representatives be more friendly to you than you are to yourselves ? How can you expect men to stand up for you, when the very per- sons who become advocates of your cause are marked out to be neglected, dropped and despised even by the people for whom they risked their reputation? How can you expect another man to do right merely for your sake ? There is but one course for you to take : stand up for yourselves, and, I will be bound for it, public men will soon come to your aid ! [Loud and long-continued cheer- ing] Experience tells us that to all the great questions agitated in this country, there are two sides ; and in the history of this one we have evidence of the fact. . I do not consider the question as it regards parties or men. I only speak for and advocate the freedom of ed- ucation and the men who stand up for it. I appear as the friend of him who would give justice to all classes. [Cheers.] We have entirely kept out of sight all mere party distinctions, and have looked among public men for those who had just views of what we regard as pur undeniable rights. "We have now resolved to give our suffrage in favor of no man who is. an enemy to us and the recognition of those rights, and to support every friend we can find among men of all political parties. [Great applause.] Among the candidates nominated upon one side, we could find but one advocate and he a triedfriend. As a public man he dared to do what he con- ceived to be his duty ; we can never cease to remember the friendly act of that distinguished gentlemen. [Thunders of applause.] We were in his case determined to show that we were not incapable of gratitude, and to hold out the inducement to any other individual in ins situation, that if he supposed he risked some blame for advocat- ing our cause, we would never apply to him the scorpion whip of political ingratitude. [The most deafening applause.] When ingrati- THE SCHOOL QUESTIONS'. 281 lude was discovered in a man's associates it was painful enougli, but when coming from men, for whose welfare and rights the penalty of public censure had been bravely risked, there was in the chastise- ment a bitterness which could not be described. That gentleman has thought proper to decline his nomination, and excepting his we do not find one solitary name of an individual on that side, who has not been proclaimed as pledged and bound to protect the pro- sent oppressive system of which we complain. And can you vote for such individuals ? ISTo ! You are for once to stand up for your- selves ; for neither in honor nor in principle, nor in conscience, can you now vote for those whom you already know are prepared to do you injury, [Vociferous applause.] Let me illustrate your position by supposing a case. If there be a street to be run in a certain direc- tion of the city, and its course, if adopted, will invade your property and destroy your house, on which you have expended your fortune, and if this matter await the final determination of men to be appoint- ed to office by your vote, and if they expressly declare that they ap- prove of this, to you, ruinous measure, should you give them your vote ? If you would, your case would demand no sympathy — you yourself exercise your franchise for the purpose of electing to high places men predetermined to act contrary to your wishes, and in- volve you in ruin, for which in such circumstances you could never justly claim reparation. [Great applause.] But you are determined to act in no such manner. You have resolved to vote for no man who is a determined enemy to your views of this question. [Renewed and deafening applause.] This is all. We go no farther. With political controversies and party questions I have nothing whatever to do. Such considera- tions enter not into anything with which I am concerned. But by m.y authority the only means left us to obtain justice have been sought, and this organization effected. The representatives of the neglected portion of the children in the various parts of the city have met, and have all united for the purpose of arranging a plan by which they may escape the miserable alternative of voting for their enemies, and they have prepared a ticket bearing on it the names of men who are all known as favourable to your cause. [Great *cheering.] We do not, indeed, entertain any hopes beyond what we are authorized to cherish, that these candidates will be elected. But at all events we shall not be chargeable with the ab- surdity of voting for men who are determined to use the influence given them by our votes to deprive us continually of the right which we claim. [Great applause.] The persons who have opposed us have laid their measures well. They can use the public press. They can multiply misrepresentation. And what with their great wealth, and admitted respectability and powerful influence, they can purchase into their service everything except one thing — the unpurchasable votes of their victims. [Tremen- dous cheering.] That yet remain's in our y ossession. And, now, come what may, one thing I do expect, and that not only from those 282 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. immediately representing this neglected portion of the future population of New York, but also from liberal men of other denom- inations, that they will not support men who are onr declared ene- mies — known to be hostile to our cause. And now let me tell you for your encouragement, that gentlemen not at all connected with us in religion — who differ with us entirely on that subject — but who understand the nature of this question and know the justice of our claims, have determined that they too will vote that ticket which we have prepared. [Great apjjlause.] They have seen that our wrongs are not merely abstractions — that they are real and demand redress — and that the free and independent exercise of our elective fran- chise is the only shield left us, and when they see you exercising the right of the freeman, as the freeman, and not as the slave, they will come to your aid, and reSpect and assist you in your struggles, and Mends where you would never have dreamed of them, will arise and plead your cause. [Deafening cheers.] It is impossible for me to say anything personally of those whose names have been recommended to be placed on the list of candidates, and I would not for one moment urge that they should be placed there, had I not been assured, on the most positive evidence and which I could not doubt, that they are friendly to an alteration in the present system of public education. I know that some of them, it is said, are opposed to us. But again I have been assured by gentle- men who spoke from their own personal knowledge — some speaking for one candidate, some for another, — that by public and recorded acts, or authorized declarations, all of them, aye, all of them, can be depended on as determined, should they by your votes be elected to the position in which they can decide on this question, to support the justice of our claims. [Tremendous applause.] If, however, it should happen, that we discover we are mistaken in any of them, and if after taking him for a friend, contrary to all assurances we have received, we find him an opponent of our measures, then he has the easy remedy — he can write to the papers, and say we used his name without authority. [Cheers.] If any of the gentlemen named take this course we can supply his place. And I .conceive that he shall be, bound in honor to do so — if we have been mistaken in him he is bound to declare it and not perpetuate the deception. [(Cheers.] Before I calj on the secretary to read the ticket, I will simply say, gentlemen, that the decision of this night on it, is to be final, and without any expression of individual opinion as to the merits and demerits of those names, which will be read. As I already remarked, I am not acquainted with any of these individuals ; but they have been selected by gentlemen as much interested in this question as I am ; and_ now, gentlemen, if you are unanimously determined to convince this community that you are sincere, and really in earn- est — that you sincerely feel that there is a bona fide grievance of which you complain and wish redressed, you will support the candidates thus offered for your choice, because if you do not you have no alternative left but that of voting for the declared enemies of THE SCHOOL .QUESTION. 283 youv right s. I will now request the secretary to read the names placed on the ticket, of that ticket I have aiDproved. It presents the names of the only friends we could find ali-eady before the public and those whom, not being so prominently before the public, we have found for ourselves. The Secretary then read the following list: — Senators, Thomas O'Connor, J. G. Gottsberger ; Assemhly, Tighe Davey, Daniel C. Pentz, George Weir, Paul Grout, Conrad Swackhammer, William B. MacLay, David R. F. Jones, Solomon Townsend, John L. O'Sullivan, Auguste Davizao, William McMurray, Michael Walsh, Timothy Daly. Each name was received with the most deafening and uproarious applause, and three terrifiij cheers were given at the close on the subsidence of which the Bishop proceeded. You have now, gentlemen, heard the names of men who are wiU- ing to risk themselves in support of your cause. Put these names out of view, and you cannot, in the lists of our political candidates, find that of one solitary public man who is not understood to be pledged against us. What, then, is your course ? You now, for the first time, find yourselves in the position to vote at least for your- selves. You have often voted for others, and they did not vote for you, but now you are determined to uphold with your own votes, your own rights. [Thunders of applause, which lasted several min- utes.] Will you then stand by the rights of your ofiTspring, who have for so long a period, and from generation to generation, suffered under the operation of this injurious system ? [Renewed cheering.] Will you adhere to the nomination made ? [Loud cries of " we will," " we will," and vociferous applause.] Will you be united ? [Tre- mendous cheering — the whole immense assembly rising en masse, waving of hats, handkerchiefs, and every possible demonstration of applause.] Will you let all men see* that you are worthy sons of the nation to which you belong? [Cries of ''Never fear — we will!" " We will till death !" and terrific cheering.] Will you prove your- selves worthy of friends ? [Tremendous cheering.] Will none of you flinch ? [The scene that followed this emphatic query is inde- scribable, and exceeded all the enthusiastic, and almost frenzied dis- plays of passionate feeling we have sometimes witnessed at Irish meetings. The cheering — the shouting — the stamping of feet — waving of hats and handkerchiefs, beggared all powers of descrip- tion.] Very well, then, the tickets will be prepared and distributed amongst you, and on the day of election go like freemen, with dig- nity and calmness, entertaining due respect for your fellow-citizens and their opinions, and deposit your votes. And if you do not elect any of your friends, you will at least record your votes in favor of justice, and in favor of your principles, which must not — cannot be abandoned, and you will be guiltless of the sin and shame and deg- radation of electing men who are pledged to trample on you if they can ! [Great cheering.] I care not for party men — their professions — their cliques— and all that. Bring them to the test, and you find gr<3at promises — lean performances. It is time that you should con- 2S1 AECHBHIIOl' HUGHES. viiice thein that you, the interested parties hi this great question, you the denizens of a nation proverbially faithful to every engage- ment — you will convince them at least, and perhaps for the first time, that you are not the pliant tools they mistake you to be ! [Loud cheering.] You will have nothing to do with the men who go to the Senate and Assembly, pledged to act against you ? [Loud cries of " no, no, no ;" " that we wont !" and great cheering.] They may find votes enough to send them — [a voice, " no, they shan't !"] let them go ! But they will, in that case, be obliged to confess that they were sent by your enemies — let them do the work of their mas- ters ! [Laughter and cheers.] I ask then, once for all — and with the answer let the meeting close — will this meeting pledge its honor, as the representative of that oppressed portion of our community, for whom I have so often pleaded, here as well as elsewhere — will it pledge its honor that it will stand by these candidates whose names have been read, and that no man composing this vast audi- ence will ever vote for any one pledged to oppose our just claims and incontrovertible rights ? [Terrific cheering and thunders of applause, which continued for several minutes, amid which Bishop Hughes resumed his seat.] Silence having been at length restored, the ticket was adopted by acclamation, and the immense assemblage adjourned in the most peaceful and orderly manner. ADDRESS TO BISHOP HUG-HES.-HIS REPLY. G-reat Meeting at "Washington Hall of Catholics and others favorable to an alteration in the present Public School System, November 16th, 1841. "The public mind, for two weeks past," says the Freeman's Journal of Nov. 20th, 1841, "has been plied on the subject of Bishop Hughes and the School Question, with every description of news- paper rhetoric, from the dull calumnies of the hypocritical Sun, and the worthless outpourings of a still lower and more malignant vehicle, to the fi-antic falsehoods of the JSFew Era, the Journal of Com- merce, the Commercial, and other similar organs of bigoted cliques and interested politicians. No vengeance seemed too heavy to be invoked by those pure and moral censors upon the head of him who had warned a people, whom he was bound to protect, to beware of the political leaders who had become the partisans of an intolerant monopoly, notorious as the irreconcilable foe of their and their chil- dren's rights. A clamorous outcry of proscription and denuncia- THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 285 tion was raised, such as had never before, perhaps, been witnessed in this city. 'The, State was in danger' — 'the Bishop was aiming at the subversion of the Constitution, and effecting a union between the State Government and the Catholic Cliurch.' These and many other allegations were daily and hourly sent abroad upon the wings of the press ; and the affrighted public had many grave homilies and prophetic warnings read them on the subject of the dread feuds and murderous outbreaks that would inevitably ensue, if the Catho- lics would not submit to let their children be taught either Protest- antism or infidelity, as it should please the Public School Society, in the plenitude of its wisdom and benevolence, to decree. Another string was harped upon, too — the Catholics were addressed by the several organs of the Holy Alliance, who seemed to have just made the discovery that there was a great body of intelligent and liberal- minded Catholics in the city, and aW these the monopolists declared, in the most self-satisfied manner, would not, they were sure, sustain the Bishop — he was utterly alone, if the veracious soothsayers were to be believed. But an early check was given to the delusion. TWETY-TWO HUNDRED FREE AND INDEPENDENT VOTERS, breaking loose from the trammels of party attachment, and giving their suf- frages to the INDEPENDENT TICKET that luos Only nominated four days previous to the election, startled the calumniators and exposed to the world how baseless were all their accusations, and how impotent were all their threats and denunciations. But the friends of justice and equal rights, aud especially the Catholic citizens of New York, were determined to give, if possible, a still more emphatic denial to the extravagant absurdities that were so wildly propagated." A meeting was held at Washington Hall on 16th November, for the purpose of expressing entire approbation of the course pur- sued by Bishop Hughes on the School Question. At half-past seven o'clock the large room was filled to overflowing. There were from three to four thousand persons present, and a more enthusiastic and imanimous meeting was never witnessed. Thomas O'Connor, Esq., was called to the chair, by acclamation. The following gentlemen were unanimously appointed as vice-presidents : Francis Cooper, Bernard Graham, Felix Ingoldsby, John B. Lasala, John Quin, John McNulty, Peter McLaughlin, Terrence Donnelly, P. A. Hargous, John Milhau, J. G. Fendi, P. S. Casserly, Gregory Dillon, John MoMenomy, Hugh Kelly, James Kerrigan, Dr. H. Sweeny, Tighe Davy, Andrew Carrigan, Peter Murray, James W. White, J. G. Gotts- berger, Peter Duffy, Owen McCabe, Dennis Mullens, Robert McKeon, James Olwell, John Mullen, Joseph O'Conner, Daniel Major. Bartholomew O'Connor, Edward Shortill and Edmund S.'Derry, Esqs., Avere appointed secretaries of the meeting. The call of the meeting having been read, the following gentlemen were appointed a committee to prepare resolutions expressive of the sense of the meeting, in reference to the object for which they had assembled, and to prepare an address to the Rt. Rev. Bishop Hughes, viz. : Messrs. James W. White, B. O'Connor, and Edward 286 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. Sliortill. These gentlemen accordingly withdrew for the purpose of fulfilling the duties of their appointment. During their absence, the meeting was eloquently addressed by the president, Thomas O'Connor, Esq., and by Dr. Hugh Sweeny. When the committee returned, B. O'Connor, Esq., came forward and submitted a pream- ble and resolutions, the reading of which elicited frequent and hearty cheering. After the resolutions were read, James W. White submitted, on behalf of the committee, and read to the meeting, the following Address to the Rt. Rev. Bishop Hughes : Rt. Rev. Sie : A numerous body, consisting of thousands of your fellow- citizens, friends of free and universal education, and favorable to an alteration in the present Public School System of the city of New York, have assembled this day at Washington Hall, to take into consideration recent events connected with the subject. Having adojjted resolutions declaratory of their determination to adhere to the principles by which they are actuated, they now desire, Rt. Rev. Sir, to convey to you a direct and earnest expression of their unwavering confidence in your judgment, zeal, and acknowledged ability ; and to testify, thus publicly, to the respect which the fear- less, independent, and judicious course that you have pursued in re- lation to this vital question of education, has excited in their minds. For more than one year past you had been laboriously engaged in advocating the principle of equal justice to all classes, in the admin- istration of a system of education to the support of which all classes had contributed. But until of late there had not arisen any cii'cum- stances that would call for a special public avowal of approbation of your great and efficient services in behalf of the poor and destitute children of New York. Throughout the whole course of agitation on this subject, jcax possessed the consciousness that you were dis- charging a high and imperative duty. This ^lone would have been esteemed by you a sufficient reward, and the only sanction that you "would have required to sustain you in your efforts. But,, at the same time, we felt assured that you could not doubt of the approba- tian, sympathy and gratitude of those who were the constant wit- nesses to your zeal and devotion, and who have, in all things, co- operated with you in seeking a redress of the serious grievance which the odious restrictive system of public education in the city of New York had imposed upon a large class of citizens. Recent events, however, require that we should now publicly express that which we have always felt, and never felt more strongly than at the present time. .The Puelic School Society of New York, whose intolerant, usurping, and proselytizing spirit you have often exposed with so much justice and efliciency, endeavored, by itself or its ad- herents, w/ien the late election was approaching in this city, to over- awe the leaders of the political parties, and compel a nomination of caridiiates for the State Legislature, who, if not pledged, should at THE SCHOOL QUESTTON. 287 least be distinctly understood as favorable to the maintenance of the monopoly of the Society in all its odious prerogatives. The polit- ical leaders feared to encounter the wealth and influence of this corporate body, and, almost to a man, yielded to the demand that was made upon them. This proscriptive and unholy league reduced the friends of justice and of a republican system of education to the alternative of either abandoning the exercise of their inalienable right of franchise, or else, by exercising it, to elevate to office men who had determined to use the power which that office would confer for the destruction of the rights of those to whom they might owe their elevation. From this alternative there was but one means of escape ; it was one of which no feebman could hesitate, under the circumstances to avail himself; it was the foemation of a sepa- EATE AND INDEPENDENT TICKET ; and that onl^ course which the opponents of the present Public School System could with honor or consistency pursue, was accordingly adopted by them.' Accus- tomed, Rt. Rev. Sir, to look to you for counsel and aid throughout the entire discussion of this question, and desirous to secure, amongst its friends, entire harmony and unanimity in the important movement that was contemplated, the friends of the independent ticket requested that you should recommend its adoption at a meet- ing which was to be held on the subject at Carroll Hall, on the eve- ning of Friday, the 29th of October. You consented to do so. Toil rendered that service to the cause in the same manner as you had before rendered many others. You attended that meeting as you had previously attended others on the same subject. It was not a political one in any sense of the word. It had nothing whatever to do, directly or indirectly, with party politics. It was called solely to adopt means for protecting the principle of entire eqitality of religious rights and privileges between all classes of citizens from the impending de- struction which had been prepared for it with so much corrupt labor and unholy zeal. And it cannot be denied or concealed, that your forcible and impressive counsel on that occasion contributed much to produce the triumphant demonstration which was subse- quently made — a demonstration which, it is hoped, will teach bigots, that neither menace nor intrigue can succeed in forcing upon feee AsiEEicAN CITIZENS A SECTAEiAN INSTITUTION that is repuguaut to their conscience, and which will also admonish politicians, that when tempted by a prospect of momentary advantage, they abandon popular rights and republican truth, and link themselves to corrup- tion and intolerance, they will find, that the base companionship will be to them like the poisoned shirt of Nessus, bringing to them only defeat and ruin and political death — the just reward of their contemptible servility ! Wc take this brief retrospect, Rt. Rev. Sir, of these transactions, because we desire to place the facts upon record — we desire to hold up the teuth in a distinct and prominent manner before the public gaze, so that it may be seen and under- stood by all, and that the delusion which many have sought to create may not be suffered to prevail either with respect to the facts them- 288 AECIIBISIIOP HUGHES. selves or to our estimate of them. Disappointment in their expecta- tion of finding us to be mere unresisting victims, -whom tliey hoped by their deep laid combinations and stupendous effort to over- whelm and crush for evei", the bigots and their allies have turned upon YOU as the author of their defeat. They have sought to take the despicable and loathsome revenge of personality and abuse, that deemed nothing too mean, or too low, or too foul for its services. Press after press poured forth its gall and rancor in falsehoods without number ; and sojie men were found, who not content with assaults comparatively distant, sought to draw the line of attack still nearer — within your own household as it were — and hoped to give an additional barb to the calumny which they uttered by assuming to them- selves the name of Catholics ! Rt. Rev. Sir, we denounce both classes of these calumniators as equally reckless of truth and of the principles of liberty which they effected to revere ; and as to those who sought to give a peculiar character to their invective by their nominal creed, we do here in the name op the Catholic body of ISTew York, kepel WITH INDIGNATION THEIR assumption of a right to speaJc for or repre- sent in any manner the sentiments of that body. W^e need not, Rt. Rev. Sir, refer here, at any length, to the great principle for which we are contending, or the arguments by which it is sustained. These you have, sir, on many occasions, powerfully demonstrated and laid before the public. But we should not at this time omit to repudiate one of the many absurd accusations that have been made against us. We have been charged with advocating the doctrine of the " Union of Church and State!" and this, too when a union of Church and State was one of the identical political heresies against which ice had so resolutely arrayed ourselves ! The present Public School System of New York, we esteem as but the old system of a Law-Established Chuech in disguise — a scheme that seeks, by the sickly substitute of a State system of education, to achieve the same end that was formerly accomplished by the establishment of a State system of Religion, namely, to promote certain religious doctrines, and ta discountena)ice others. Against this system we have declared an eternal hostiUty. Against this you have, Rt. Rev. Sir, pleaded, and pleaded not altogether in vain. It has been an insidious and dangerous foe to the religious rights and the purity of faith of those for whose spiritual welfare you are responsible ; and it was to counsel the adoption of the only means of resistance that could be used against the most formidable movement that had yet been made by this enemy, that you appeared at Carroll Hall on the memorable evening of the 20th of October. Had you omited, Rt. Rev. Sir, to perform the noble part which you then enacted, we must be permit- ed to say, that you would have fallen short of the performance of that DUTY, which those who had a right to look to you for aid and counsel in so great an emergency, would have expected at your hands. Having performed it and suffered for it, you are, sir, there- by DOUBLY ENDEARED TO US ALL, and have earned a brighter and more endearing honor than any which had heretofore ranked you THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 280 willi tbe most eminent and gifted citizens of the land, or made 70m- name illustrious amongst the prelates of the church. Your heroic devo.tion, Rt. li<5v. Sir, shall not be lost upon us. Already, it in- spirits us to greater energy and perseverance in the prosecution of a just and righteous cause — and while we tender to you the heart- felt assurance of our approval of, and gratitude for, your great ser- vices, we also PLEDGE ourselves, that only with our lives or final triumph shall we cease to contend for the principle around which we have rallied — the principle of perfect eeligious equality, and feeedom OF EDUCATION, EQUAL EIGHTS AND EQUAL JUSTICE TO ALL CLASSES AND ALL DENOMINATIONS. The address was received with loud cheering, and, together with the Preamble and Resolutions, was, on motion, unanimously adopted by the meeting. [When this address was adopted, Bishop Hughes was not in the city, hence the delay in replying.] Bishop Hughes' Reply- To the Address which was presented to him from a general meet- ing of the Catholics and other citizens of New York, held in Wash- ington Hall, on the 16th Nov., of which the following gentlemen were officers : Thomas O'Connor, Esq., Chairman ; Francis Cooper, Bernard Graham, Felix Ingoldsby, Peter McLaughlin, Terence Don- nelly, P. A. Hargous, John Milhau, J. G. Fendi, P. S. Casserly, Gregory Dillon, J-ohn McMenomy, Hugh Kelly, James Kerrigan, Dr. H. Sweeny, Tighe Davey, John B. Lasala, John Quin, John McNulty, Andrew Carrigau, Peter Murray, James W. White, John G. Gottsberger, Peter Duify, Owen McCabe, Dennis Mullens, Rob- ert McKeon, James Olwell, John Mullen, Joseph O'Connor, Daniel Major, Vice-Presidents ; Bartholomew O'Connor, Edward Shortill, and Edmund S. Derry, Secretaries. Gentlemen, — The perusal of the Address which you have pre- sented to me, as passed at the large and respectable meeting in Washington Hall on the 16th ihst., has afforded me the greatest pleasure. The numbers and respectability of the meeting, the tone and temper of the proceedings, the union of feeling that prevailed, and the dignity of the language employed to express it ; are such as meet my entire approbation, and reflect the greatest credit on yourselves. In replying to it, I shall be as brief as possible, and for the purpose of greater perspicuity, allow me to divide my reply into numbered paragraphs. 1. I hold it as a natural and civil rights that, when a class or pro- fession of men is singled out, denounced, assailed, they should com- bine for the purpose of self-defence in the same character and capacity in which they are attacked; and should employ in self- defence the same weapons which are employed by their oppressors 19 290 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. for aggression. If men are singled out to be trampled on as me- chanics, they have a right to rally as mechanics, and wield the wea- pons of assault, for the purpose of repelling the assailants. So in regard to religion, if men are assailed as Methodists or Presbyte- rians, as Methodists and Presbyterians they have a right to combine and protect themselves. And if in consequence of the exercise- of this right a political or even physical contest should ensue, the cen- sure of virtuous judgment, whether from the judicial bench or the public press, should fall on the aggressors against the rights of others ; and not on those who in consequence of their being assailed are obliged to stand together in self-defence. 2. But was this the position of the Catholics ? Unquestionably it was. They were singled out and assailed as Catholics. They go before the Senate as citizens, petitioners. The official advocate of the P. S. Society traces them through every disguise, until he brings them out in their religious character as Roman Catholics. Every public man who was disposed to make abstraction of their religion, and to do them justice according' to the common right, was de- nounced as a friend to the " Roman Catholics." A paper was estab- lished in the immediate interest of the P. S. Society, calling on the Protestant voters to be careful and zealous " even in their primary meetings" to send only such men as would oppose the claims of the Roman CathoUcs. For a twelvemonths past, certain pulpits of the city were ringing, Sunday after Sunday, with political sermons on the school question, and abuse of the " Roman Catholics." The religious papers of the city were filled with political homilies to the same effect, against their fellow-citizens who were " Roman Cath- olics." 3. During all this time of multiplied, various and undisguised aggression on the Roman Catholics, in their religious character, the secular or political press looks on in silence. When several strong denominations attack one that is weaker, in a manner which turns religion into politics, and politics into religion, the sentinels of our liberties at the press are asleep. But when that one assailed denom- ination meets the assault and repels the assailants with the same weapons which the latter had selected, then the danger of mixing religion with politics, is for the first time trumpeted in the public ear! If Protestants mingle religion with politics to abridge the Catholics of a common right, it is all well enough ; but if Catholics do the same for the purpose of protecting common rights, then it is all wrong. Nqw I agree with the public press in the principle, that one of the greatest evils which could happen to society is the mix- ture of religion with politics. But in the application of that princi-" pie, I hold that it is those who first introduce the evil, who employ it in assailing the common rights of others, and not those who em- ploy it in their own defence, who are entitled to blame. There is not an editor in New York who can deny the facts stated in the last paragraph ; and yet during all this time we heard not a murmur of complaint, from one of them ! The Post came and proclaimed no THE SCHOOL QUBSTIOX. 291 tidings ; The Sun was eclipsed ; the Commercial Advertiser gave no warning ; the American forgot its name, and embodied all the anti- Catholic feoryisin, without the tjilefit, of the London Times; whilst the Journal of Commerce was, what I suppose it ever will be, in morals as well as merchandise, the Journal of Commerce. 4. Nay, whilst the religious papers, such as the " New York Ob- server" became poHllcal, the political papers, especially the Commer- cial Advertiser, tlie American, and the Journal of Commerce, became profoundly religious. Their politico-religious appeals were daily addressed to this " Protestant country," this " Protestant commu- nity," against the unfortunate " liomanists." This is known to all their readers. They cannot, and will not deny it. And yet these are journals among the loudest to preach of the degradation which must accrue to religion by any contact with politics. But their preaching condemns their own practice first of all, and their incon- sistency in blaming the " Romanists" for employing in their own defence the tactics which they had employed in aggression, stares them in the face. 5. But was the measure adopted by the Catholics, in self-defence, a political measure ? On this point each one must abound in his own sense. For my own part, I cei'tainly did not so understand it. I foresaw the act of civil suicide which the Catholics were called upon to commit by voting for men pledged to defeat the just claim of this portion of their constituents, on a question of great impor- tance to the whole community. It would be said in the Legislature next winter, that "so popular was the P. S. Society in New York, that the two political parties invited each other, in pledges, that the great corporation should be continued unchanged, with all its secta- rian and irresponsible attributes." It would be said that " the Cath- olics themselves voted for candidates whom they knew to be thus pledged beforehand to deny their petition ; and it would be inferred fi'om this, that even tkey were satisiied to give up their children to be indoctrinated in that vague, sickly, semi-infidel Protestantism which prevails in the public schools." If they had voted for such candidates, would not every man of spirit despise them for their pusillanmity ? And if after having done so they sent a petition to the Legislature, would they not deserve to have it contemptuously rejected the moment it was known to have been sent by men who returned, as their representatives, candidates whom they knew at the time to be pledged against it ? 6. Thus, then, they selected names not pledged against them, as men of common sense in their situation should do. The measure was not of their choice. It was forced on them. Their adversaries had brought religion into politics against them> There was but one escape from the circle of fire, which the political intrigues of both "parties, operated on by the sectarian spirit of the P. S. Society, had well nigh closed around them. This was to throw away their votes on fictitious candidates, and leave their adversaries, of both parties, to fight their own battles. Of this course I approved, and were it 292 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. to be done again, in the same circumstances, I should urge it in lan- guage quite as strong as any employed by me on the evening of the 29th of October. v. I have been accused of being a politician. The charge is false in the letter and in the spirit. I acknowledge and proclaim the right of clergymen, as well as others, to vote for public servants. But considering that our ministry is due to men of all parties, I con- ceive it to be the duty of the minister of religion to avoid being a partisan of either, but rather to study the things which will soothe the irritated feelings and mitigate the asperities of political strife. This has ever been the rule of my own conduct ; this the rule which I expect to be observed by the clergy of my charge. And if at any time they or I should appear to deviate from this rule, it must be for the maintenance of some constitutional principle far deeper and more sacred to the welfare of our country than anything involved in mere party interests. 8. The School Question involves a constitutional principle of this description. A general tax is imposed for education. It is our duty to pay, and we do pay our proportion of that tax accordingly. But then the discharge of this duty creates in our favor the right to re- ceive the benefits of the education for which the tax was levied. Of this right we have been unjustly deprived, for sixteen or seventeen years past, in the city of New York. Here the business of education has been left in the hands of a private corporation. And I believe an examination of facts will bear me out in the statement, that, in the expenditure of the public money, in the selection of teachers, the lessons and coi,npilation of books, and the religious tendencies given to the tender minds of the children at large, the whole has been made subservient to the aggrandizement and religious interests of one or more sects, predominant by their wealth, influence, and tact in securing to tliemselves the administration of every public trust by which that wealth and influence may be increased and en- larged. It was in promoting this end, no doubt, that, contrary to their own professions, such religious, sectarian exercises were intro- duced into the Public Schools, which soon drove the Catholic chil- dren from fountains of knowledge which, for them, were poisoned with efiusions of anti-popery. 9. It is a great oppression and injustice towards the Dissenters of Great Britain and Ireland that they are required to pay tithes for the support of a religion, from whose ministry they can derive no benefit. A kindred injustice and oppression have been exercised on the Catholics of New York by the Public School Society. They tell us, indeed, that it is our own fault ; but this is precisely what the friends of the church, " as by law established," say to the Dis- senters on the other side of the water. When I was at Rome, standing under the arch of Titus, and con- templating the sculptured emblems of the sacred vessels and candle- sticks which he brought from the Temple of Jerusalem, I was told by my guide that during the middle ages (though I have not seen THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 293 it in any liistory) the Jews, who would never consent to pass under this arch, were provided by the government with a private passage, at which, however, toll was regularly demanded of them. I heard the story with regret. Their I'elactance proceeded from an honor- able feeling, and should not have been avenged on their parse. But our Public School Society go further. They require that we shall contribute to pay for the arch, and even the emblems of sectarian- ism with which they decorate it; and if we will not then pass through, have to find a thorougfare as best we may. 10. Consequently we were obliged, after paying for public educar tion, to withdraw our children and provide private schools to save them from the calamity of total ignorance. " But our means were utterly inadequate to the task. Hence that state of mental ruin in which I found so many of the Catholic youth of this city. And if I have espoused this question of general education with a zeal which to some may seem extravagant, it is because my own appreciation of what I owed to my God and to the flock, which is His, commit- ted to my care, made it my duty to do so. If I have seen the young son of virtuous, pious, humble parents, an ignorant free-thinker at the age of eighteen — if I have seen him old in vice before he reached the term of his minority — if I have seen him a disgrace to his name and a curse to society after that period — if I have seen him pursue his evil courses, until he broke the ' heart of the mother that bore him — if I have seen the daughter, too, whose childhood had been watched over with care, growing up with some education, but with- out any religious principles to guide her path in life, falling away from virtue until she brought the grey hairs of her parents down to the grave in sorrow and in shame — and if I could trace these effects, as clearly as moral causes and consequences can ever be traced, to a defective, unequal, sectarian, and unjust system of education, then it was my duty to my country, as well as to my God, to call public attention, by every lawful means, to an investigation of that ruinous system. 11. But it is asked, "then, what system would be deemed just by the Catholics ?" I answer, any system that will leave the various denominations each in the full possession of its religious rights over the minds of its own children. If the children are to be educated promiscuously as at present, let religion in every shape and form be excluded. Let not the Protestant version of the Scriptures, Protest- ant forms of prayer, Protestant hymns, be forced on the children of Catholics, Jews, and others, as at present, in schools for the support of which their parents pay taxes as well as Presbyterians. The P. S. Society have a right to teach their own children that our Divine Redeemer " showed uncommon quickness of conception, soundness of judgment, and presence of mind;" but I deny their right to intro- duce such degrading notions of his character into the public schools of the city, and impress them on the children of Catholics and Prot- estant denominations who believe higher and holier things of the Son of God. ^ 294 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES, There is another system which the Catholics would deem just and equal. It is that each denomination should prescribe the amount and quality /or Us own children of religious instruction which con- sistently with the ends of the State in providing education might be incorporated with it. This plan, if it were practicable, would in my opinion be much safer for the welfare and security of society. But as it is, we behold the establishment of religion in the public schools, by the private authority of an irresponsible Board of Trustees, a thing for which neither the State Legislature, nor the Congress of the United States, could constitutionally give them a particle of au- thority ! 12. It is this private, clandestine, surreptitious, "union of Church and State" against which Catholics have protested. It is this which has driven us from the public schools. It is this for which one part of the coi^munity pay taxes ; whilst for another, the taxes are turned into iythes. It is this which for seventeen years past has subjected the Catholics to double taxation, first, to support the educational sectarianism of the public schools, and, second, to support private schools consistently with their consciences. Por no Catholic who ■believes in the truth of his religion, can allow a child of his to frequent the public schools, as at present constituted, and according to the system which has prevailed in them, without wounding his own conscience and sinning against God ; and this he is not allowed to do for the whole world. 13. There are one or two other matters to which I shall allude. You refer to the attacks, personal and otherwise, made on me by the public press. To the statements made respecting me in the public prints, I do not profess to be indifferent ; and if I were so, I certainly should not boast of it. But remembering the account I shall Lave to render to God, and the eternal trusts committed to my charge, what kind of a creature should I be if I were to shrink from any duty, through fear of the newspapers or of human opinion ? Besides, we live in an age and a country in which it is the right of the public press to scrutinize and judge the public conduct of all men. If they do so with knowledge, just judgment and truth, no one has a right *o complain. That the knowledge of the true state of the case was wanting to many of those who assailed me, I am ear- nestly persuaded. There was enough to give the coloriug of truth to the first impression of falsehoods that was published, and this became the text from which a thousand presses copied. I would not willingly offend the conductors of the press, more than I would offend any other class of men, and certainly all the abuse they have heaped on me has not awakened in my breast a single feeling of ill will toward them. Their civil right to indulge in abuse is regulated only by the law of libel ; their moral right must be determined by their sense of accountability to God. Speaking now, as I may sup- pose myself, to the Catholic body at large, I would impress on you with all the earnestness I am capable of, to be cautious in regard to the character of the papers which you admit into your families. THE SCHOOL QUESTION. 295 For, unfortunately, some of them are of such a character that you cannot hope to preserve the faith or the innocence of your fami- lies if you allow theni under your roof? Let the clergy warn their jlocks against them ; let the people know that they commit sin in reading them, and greater sin in buying them. Voltaire and Rous- seau are less dangerous to religion and morals. In each of our prin- cipal cities the Catholics should patronize some one or more news- papers, which would supply them with all useful information, with- out that mixture of blasphemy, obscenity, and scandal, in which too many of them abound. These have their patrons whose principles cannot be corrupted by the printed immoralities which they read; but to see them in the hands" of a Christian, and especially a Catho- lic, is a disgrace to the Christian name. All my efforts to save the Catholic children from the dangers that surround them, will be in vain, if you do not teach them, both by precept and example, the necessity of shunning the corrupt newspapers of the day as they would shun plague and pestilence. 14. As to those Catholics (alas ! poor Catholics most of them) who joined the crusade against the rights of their children and yours, I feel for them only a sentiment of pity. 15. Finally, gentlemen, I am by no means surprised at the very general disapprobation which even good men of all religions and parties have felt and expressed in reference to the subject which gave occasion to your meeting. If I were a tool in the hands of a party — if I were a politican — if I brought religion into politics — ^if I was filling up the measure of any single character which the politi- cal papers falsely ascribe to me on that occasion, I agree with them that no terms of reprobation would be too strong to characterize my conduct. But they published these things— some through malice, some through ignorance of the truth — all under the fever of one of those political struggles, during which we know by experience, that men, otherwise moral enough, forget all distinction between truth and falsehood, except as either may subserve the party interests of the contest in which they are engaged. Of course the readers of those false and distorted versions, both of action and motive, would assume them as true ; for a false statement in print is very different from a false statement in conversation. There is no stammering, no blushing ; no inconsistency or self-contradiction about it. The other prints that have copied it are like so many additional witnesses to corroborate the testimony. Men naturally concluded that it was true, and pronounced judgment accordingly. It was a " union of Church and State," — " bringing religion into politics," a " Roman Catholic Bishop in the political arena," etc., etc. Not a word or syllable of truth in all this ! It was simply a pastor warning his flock against a politico-religious iirtrigue already sprung upon them, having for its object to brand the word " Ignorance" on the fore- heads of their children, as the penalty of not conforming to the secta- rianism of the public schools. I am ready to prove hy facts that it was this ; and I defy any gentleman of any party to prove by facts that it was one iota more than this. 296 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES. Ah! but it disturbed party arrangements. If party arrangements are based on iniquity, they ought to be disturbed. But my object was to protect my flock, not to disturb any party. Neither am I surprised that the Catholics themselves should have staggered for a moment under the misrepresentations of the public press. Many of them had not studied the question. They know, indeed, that I never meddle in politics ; for in my life I have never advised a man. Cath- olic or Protestant, as to he w he should vote on mere political ques- tions. But when they were questioned by their Protestant neigh- bors on the statements of the newspapers, they were bewildered for an answer. " It was a pity, so it was," and this was about all they had to say in reply. Another class of CathoHcs, at least so called, looked on this question through the medium of the little offices wiiich they held or expected. Poor men ! without a particle of true independence, who, instead of using the faculties of mind and body which God has given them for making a decent livelihood by their industry, are mere expecto- rants, hangers on for political favors, which are often granted only as the reward of degrading services. I do not say that Catholics, as well as others, should not accept any ofiice they may be thought fit and worthy to fill, providing they are not degraded by the means through which they are expected to reach it. When you take all these things into account, I think your wonder at my being so violently assailed, will be greatly diminished ; and your judgment of those who assailed me, perhaps, more indulgent. As for mere personal abuse and scurrillity, of course I disregard it. It is a matter of taste, and each one may indulge his palate as he will. But there is one thing that deserves our admiration. It is the perfect order which prevailed during the recent election, not- withstanding the appeals which were made by a portion of the press to the worst passions of the people, stimulating them to deeds of violence. What a glorious spectacle was presented by the freemen of New York, of all parties, when they were seen exercising their sovereignty, without violence, without quarreling, without even the interchange of a reproachful or passionate word ; and this too, under an un- paralleled amount of fictitious provocation created by the miscon- ceptions, or misrepresentations of the press. It is creditable to the character of the city. It is a monument of testimony to prove man's capacity for self-government. It proves that genuine republi- canism can present to an admiring world the seeming paradox — ^man sustaining towards himself the double relation of a subject and a sovereign. Cherish and imitate the glorious example. Be careful to respect, even with tenderness, the rights of others. Be equally careful to know and preserve your own. If, at any time, you should seek for any privilege, civil or religious, which is not the common right of all other denominations, you will merit the rebuke which you wilj not fail to receive. If, at any time, you should basely sit down, contented with less than the equal privileges which the con- THE f3CH00L QUESTION. 29'? Btitution secures to all, you will be cordially despised, as you ought to be, by your fellow citizens. Permit me, in conclusion, to offer you my heart-felt thanks for the sympathy and confidence which you have expressed in my regard — and the kind manner in which they have been conveyed. You have not been mistaken in the purity of my motives. Humble as I am, I would spurn from ray presence any man who would think to make me apolitical instrument. And I owe it to the public, as well as to individuals, to state that no such thing has ever been attempted. My only object was to warn you against being made the instruments of perpetuating the ignorance, and of course the vice and degrada- tion of your own children. Ignorance in other ceuntriesis a misfortune. Here, if the laws were fairly carried out, it would, as it should, be a erime. If I have done anything which shall tend to prevent that crime, or abate that misfortune in regard to the rising and future generations, I shall flatter myself with having rendered a service to my country and to mankind. And if, besides, I shall have con- tributed tq rescue even one youth from the ruin in which I see- so many plunged ; — if I shall save the aching of one parent's heart, I shall value the gratitude and benediction of that heart as far more than compensation for all the abuse and misrepresentation that have been heaped upon my name. I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, -With sincere regard, your friend and serv't in Christ, ^ JOPIK HUGHES, Bishop, J< JOHN HUGHES, Bishop of Basileopolis, Coadjutor of the Bishop, and Administrator of the Diocese of New York. William Stares, Secretary. New York, July SSiA, 1843. PASTORAL OF BISHOP HUaHES, IN REQAKD TO THE ADMmiSTRa.TION OF THE SACRAMENTS, SECRET SOCIETIES, AND THE "TRUSTEE SYSTEM" IN RE- FERENCE TO CHURCH PROPERTY. (The following pastoral of Bishop Hughes possesses peculiar in- terest, as the one issued by him after the meeting of the first Diocesan Synod, principally against the lay " Trustee System," then so prevalent in his diocese, a system which gave him much trouble, and was the cause of great scandai to the Catholic com- munity.) JOHN, by the Grace of God, and the appointment of the Holy See, Bishop of Basileopolis, Coadjutor to the Bishop, and Administra- tor of the Diocese of New York, Gi;ace and Peace through our Lord Jesus Christ. Venerable Brethren of. the Glergy, and beloved Children of the Laity : The sacred exercises in which the clergy have been so lately en- gaged, followed as they have been by the convocation of the first Diocesan Synod, require that we should address you, according to the duties of the office to which, though unworthy, we have beeii appointed. We cannot but congratulate you, venerable brethren of the clergy, on the promptness and zeal with which you have gone through these exercises, not without much advantage to your- selves and edification to the faithful committed to your pastoral charge. _ The greatest evidence of the divine goodness towards the faithful, is the appointment and preservation of pastors deeply im- bued with the holiness and responsibility of their stations. And ON CHUECII PEOPEETY, ETC. 315 "whilst humbled ourselves with a consciousness of our own unwov thiness, we, according to the duties incumbent on the episoojsal office, shall leave nothing undone to co-operate with the merciful designs of God, to save the souls committed to our charge fr«»m the most awful evidence of his displeasure, which would be the presence and ministry of faithless and unworthy pastors. We rejoice not only in the zeal and constancy of your labors, but also in the antici- pation of an increase of the same virtues, from the edification and earnestness with which you have gone through the sacred occupa- tions of the Retreat, and with which you have acquiesced in and advocated those salutary enactments of the Synod, for the govern- ment both of the faithful and the ecclesiastical life itself. These statutes are such as it is competent for the bishop to enact by his own sacred office, from which in fact their force is exclusively derived. Nevertheless, we, in the full assurance of your zeal to co- operate in whatever might tend to the external order and beauty of the House of God, considered ourselves as bound to avail ourselves of your experience and knowledge of the circumstances of the differ- ent congregations over which you are placed, before we should enact any disciplinary statutes that might be in violent conflict with those circumstances, or might be premature and too difficult to be exe- cuted. It is on this account, that though we judged of the measures that might be necessary in the discipline of this Diocese, we did not wish to adopt or enforce them, without having first had the advan- tage of consultation and advice with and from you, who are in co- operation in the same divine work of our blessed Redeemer. "We give thanks to God for the zeal, charity, devotion, and unanimity of sentiment with which you surrounded us during the Synod, and in the deliberations on every statute submitted by us for your consid- eration. It remains now for us to address some remarks to our beloved children of the laity, on the nature and advantages of the delibera- tions in which we have been engaged, and on the laws for the eccle- siastical discipline of this diocese, in the enactment of which those deliberations have resulted. The first great department of the subject which demanded our attention was the administration of the sacraments. These divine institutions are the channels appointed by the Redeemer of men to perpetuate and apply in his Church forever, and under sensible forms, the merits of that blood which He shed for the redemption of all men. Our deliberations could not relate to the divine efficacy of these outward signs, nor to the dispositions on the part of those having recourse to them, essential to the interior and spiritual effects. But the Church of God, enriched with the awful trust of dispensing the mysteries of God, has provided, from the earliest times, salutary rules for the external rites, times, manner, and cir- cumstances of their administration. It was her mind that as she has thus prescribed, so her ministers should fulfill the sacred functions assigned to their office. But the spirit of divine wisdom which God 316 AECiiBisHOP hughes' pastoeal has promised and imparted to that Church, in the exercise of her supreme prerogative, did not enjoin the absolute necessity of adher- ing to these external prescriptions under all variety of circurastane(!s. Hence»she has ever been accustomed to dispense with her own laws, where essential things were not involved, in every case in which the external circumstances of any jjortion of the Church, in its connec- tion with the world, rendered the observance of these laws imprac- ticable. Such were the circumstances of the forefathers of most of us under the temporal dominion of the British empire. The laws which made it a crime for the ministers of our holy religion to officiate at all ; which banished them from their country and their home ; which dispossessed them of their temples, erected by the piety and zeal of their ancestors, and left tliem no place wherein to ofier sacrifice to their God, and to administer the sacraments of re- ligion to his people, but the lonely glen and the humbla habitation of some poor member of the flock, where they might discharge the sacred functions of their ministry, not only abridged of all external rite and ceremony, but also in secret, and, as it ■were, by stealth, necessarily deprived the administration of the sacraments of all out- ward ritual solemnity, except what was barely necessary to realize the conditions on which their efiicacy depended. Thus it has happened, that the origin of what is a departure from the ordinary laws and usages of the Catholic Church, may be traced to the times in which their absence was amply compensated for, by the constancy, the privations, sufferings, and general condition of martyrdom, by which her children in the British emj)ire were for generations and ages exposed. But, thanks be to Almighty God, the immortality of that religion has enabled it to triumph over the persecutions with which it has been assailed ; and the scenes which have witnessed its humiliation, and persecutions unto death, like those of its Divine Master, have wit- nessed also, and are witnessing every day, its glorious resurrection. The circumstances of the Catholic Church in tliis happy country, in which the rights of conscience and the immunities of religious freedom are secured to all men, have been extensively modified and influenced by the persecutions which she had to undergo in other lands. The usages which prevailed in the lands of bondage, were the first to which we became accustomed, where bondage is un- known. Neither was it practicable, nor expedient, to enforce pre- maturely the laws of- the Church in the new circumstances of this country. Hence the bishops of this diocese have tolerated customs which the Church did not approve, but merely bore with, until a better order could be introduced. That time seems at length to have arrived. The statutes which have been enacted and promul- gated, have for their object this return to the ordinary and regular discipline of the Church. Some have reference to the administration of the sacraments. It has been customary to administer the sacra- ment of Baptism in private houses. Henceforth it will not be lawful for the clergymen so to administer it, wherever there is a Church OK CHUECH PEOPEETT, ETC. 317 within the distance of three miles, except when the infant may he in danger of death ; and then, though it will be proper to send for the clergyman, yet in case he cannot be found, the faithful should understand the manner of baptizing, and should administer the sac- rament, rather than leave the child to die with6ut receiving baptism. It is required by the laws of the Church, that baptismal fonts should be erected in the different churches ; that at these fonts children should be presented for baptism ; that the register of such baptism should be at hand, and the names of the child, with its age, and of the parents and sponsors, should be carefully recorded. The incon- veniences and indignities to which the sacrament was frequently exposed, when administered in private dwellings, have often afflicted the hearts of zealous and pious clergymen. We have no reason to doubt, but that the same feeling of reverence and respect for that sacrament will induce the faithful to acquiesce in this return to the regular practice of the Catholic Church, with as much eagerness as has been manifested by the reverend clergy themselves. Other statutes, having for their object a similar return to the laws of the Church, have been enacted in reference to the sacraments of Confirmation, Penance, and the Holy Eucharist. On them it is at present unnecessary to dwell, as the faithful will become acquainted with them through the instructions of their pastors, and by the rules prescribed to be observed in the administration of these divine institutions.. The abuses and sacrileges that have been attempted, from time to time, and in too many instances carried into effect, in regard to Matrimony, have demanded the enactment of rigid laws in reference to the clergy, when called upon to officiate in the solemn rite of Christian marriage. Abandoned persons of both sexes, have fre- quently dared to apply for the rite of a second marriage, whilst they knew they were bound by the obligations of a first contract, the ex- istence of which they either concealed, or, sometimes, denied. At other times, hasty and inconsiderate marriages have presented them- selves foi- the sanction of the Church. The effect of such proceeding was to leave the clergyman, called upon to officiate, no time to inform himself of the character of the parties, or the circumstances under which they were about to enter these solemn engagements. Neither was it possible for the parties themselves, even when there existed no impediment to their marriage, to prepare for the reception of that sacrament, in the manner required by the Catholic faith, and by the solemn injunctions of the Council of Trent. Matrimony being a sacrament of the living, and not of the dead, as Baptism and Pen- ance, ought to be received in the state of grace. When we reflect on the abuses of this divine institution, it can no longer be surpris- ing that so many of these marriages, hastily arranged, and entered into-in a manner violating the laws of the Christian Church, should be followed by that disappointment and misery which mark the absence of the divine blessing. In order to protect this sacred and holv state from similar abuses, in the time to come, we have forbid- 318 AECHBISHOP HUGHES PASTOEAL den the clergy, under severe penalties, to perform any marriage,_of which notice shall not have been given by one or both of the parties,' at least fonr days previous. "We have also adopted the laws that liave been enjoined by the Provincial Councils of Baltimore, with the approbation of the Holy See, on the subject of mixed marriages ; that is, marriages between Catholics and persons of other religious persuasions. These marriages, though tolerated under certain mod- ifications, ha-^-e ever been looked upon with regret and affliction by our Holy Mother the Church. The condition, without which they have never been permitted, in this country or elsewhere, is, that the party not Catholic should be pledged by solemn promise to allow entire liberty of conscience, and i-ight to the practice of religion, to the Catholic party; and that all the offspring of such marriages should be baptized and educated in the Catholic faith. Without this condition, such marriages are not only disapproved, but condemned and reprobated by the Church. In oTder to guard the sacred ministry from being made accessory, even in appearance, to the awful crime of bigamy, the most clear proofs are to be exacted by the clergy, before they can officiate, that the parties applying are qualified to enter into these solemn engage- ments, and are bound by no other. We enter thus into an exposition of these statutes, to advise the faithful at large of their existence, as the ecclesiastical law of this diocese, and to show that when the faithful are insisted on to comply with them, the requirement is not merely the will of the pastor, but the law, from which neither he nor the people committed to his care are at liberty to deviate. Another subject to which our attention has been directed, is the existence and evils of certain societies, constituted on principles not recognized or approved by the Church. They are generally desig- nated as " Secret Societies," and have, for the most part, SQme pro- fessed object of benevolence, which is used as an inducement to engage new members, and to recommend such associations to public favor. Now the members of the Catholic Church ought to know that it is not lawful for them to engage in the membership of any associa- tion, not consistent with their duties as members of that great Uni- versal Society, founded by our Redeemer, known as the Church, and which embraces all the good that man is capable of accomplishing in this world. If they wished to perform charities, the rules of religion direct the manner, and their fellow-members and neighbors furnish perpetual occasion for its exercise. But wherever some par- tial good is set forth, as the end and aim of any separate society, unless all its duties be public and left free, the faithful ought to be on their guard, lest there be connected with it something which is not made public, but by virtue of which they who enter become im- plicated in snares that prove fatal to their salvation. Again, there is connected with the membership of these associa- tions, either an oath, or some solemn religious obligation, binding OK CHUECH PEOPEETT, ETC. 319 tilie members to the performance of duties, so called, with -which they are at the time necessarily unacquainted, and which depend on future contingencies, altogether beyond their control. The conse- quence is, that, in fulfilling these duties, they are not unfrequently required to violate the laws of God, and perhaps the laws of the land. Hence arises the incompatibility of these twofold obligations ; when, what is required by their society implies a violation of what is required by their Christian Association of Membership in the Catholic Church. Besides, it is absolutely forbidden by the laws of religion, to take any oath or solemn obligation of a religious nature, which implies an appeal to God, as the witness of what we say, except in circumstances and on conditions altogether wanting in the organization of these Secret Societies. Hence, by taking such oath or obligation, the individual transgresses the laws of God ; and so long as he perseveres in the transgressions, is, necessarily, shut out from the privileges of the sacraments and graces of the Church. These associations have been originated and continued, for the most part, by men who have had no other end in view than their own private advantage, and for this have not scrupled to vio- late the most sacred obligations of religion, and to involve their unfortunate dupes not only in sin and evil practices, but oftentimes in disorders and quarrels, in which blood has been shed, and the shedding of it expiated on the gallows ! Now we warn and admon- ish all the faithful committed to our charge, if any are involved in such associations, to withdraw from them with as little delay as possible ; and also, as a rule of safety and precaution, we entreat all others not to yoke themselves in the membership of such associa- tions without having first asked leave of their respective pastors or clergymen, whether they can do so without cutting themselves off from the communion of the Church. In the mean time we have directed, in obedience to the laws of our holy religion and the duties of our office, that no clergyman in this diocese, shall admit to any sacrament of the Church, such per- sons as, forgetting their fidelity to her, involve themselves in the dangerous and sinful associations already alluded to ; or in any secret society, or combination, held together by any solemn religious obli- gation, whether it be in the form of an oath or otherwise, of similar import. Neither shall it be lawful for any clergyman in this diocese to officiate at the funeral, or over the remains of any one dying without having renounced all connection with such society, if it had been his misfortune to have been so involved. This statute shall be rigidly adhered to ; and any clergyman who shall have overlooked, disregarded, or neglectad to enforce it, shall not be considered wor- thy to exercise the holy 'ministry. One of the most perplexing questions connected with the well- being of religion, is the tenure and administration of ecclesiastical property. A system, growing, perhaps, out of the circumstances of the times, has prevailed in this country which is without a parallel in any other nation, or in the whole history of the Catholic Church. 320 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES PASTOEAL That system is, of leaving ecclesiastical property under the manage- ment of laymen, who are commonly designated " trustees.'' We do not disguise, that our conviction of this system is, that it is alto- gether injurious to religion, and not less injurious to the piety and religious character of those who, from time to time, are called upon TO execute its offices. We have known many trustees, and we have never known one to retire from the office a better Catholic or a more pious man than he was when he entered on it. But, on the contrary, we have known many, who, on retiring from that office, were found to have lost, not only much of their reUgious feeling, but also much of their faith ; from whom their families have derived, perhaps, the first impulse in that direction which so many have taken, of aliena- tion from the Church, and attachment to some of the sectarian doc- trines by which they were surrounded. We might appeal with great confidence to the experience of both the clergy and the laity, who have lived long enough amongst us, to witness the efiects of, this system, and to attest that where it has not been as we have just described, it has acted according to the exception and not to the rule. These consequences ought to make us pause and reflect. Is it that, in the proposed necessity of discussing sacred things, connected with public worship, they lose the reverence due to them ? Or, is it, that the Almighty would thus manifest his displeasure at the introduction into his religion of an order not appointed by Him in the constitution of the Church, and without precedent in her history ? We know not. But the fact cannot have escaped the observation of any one, and is worthy of our deep and solemn reflection. Yet, lamentable as are these facts, they are.not precisely, after all, those which call upon us in the discharge of our episcopal duty for the exercise of the authority with which we are invested. After what relates to the purity of faith and morals, and the soundness of discipline, the next most imperative duty of the episcopal office is to ^^•atch over, guard and preserve, the ecclesiastical property of his diocese, for the sacred purposes in view of which it was created. Now, ecclesiastical property is that, and all that, which the faith- ful contribute from religious motives and for religious purposes. It is the Church, the cfemetery, and all estate thereto belonging. It is the 25ew rents, the collections, and all the moneys derived from or for the benefit of religion. It is the sacred furniture of the House of God. In a word, it is all that exists for ecclesiastical pur- poses. According to the laws of the Church and the usage of all nations, such property, though it must be protected by human laws, as other material property, yet, being once brought into existence in the form, and for the uses of religion, is considered as if it were the property of God: which cannot be violated, alienated, or waste- fully squandered, without (besides the ordinary injustice as if it were common property) the additional guilt of a kind of sacrilege. It is not considered, in the Canon law, either the property of the bishop, or the property of his clergy, or the property of the peo- OIT CHTTECH PEOPEETY, ETC. 321 pie; but as tlie property of God — for the i-eligious use of them all. Hence, it is the duty of all to preserve it ; but to preserve not with the care which would be sufficient in matters of a secular character, but under a sense of the awful responsibility involved in such ad- ministration. In the enactments of the Canon law, the highest functionaries of the hierarchy itself were not allowed to undertake their administration, whithout having first taken an oath that they would administer, preserve, and transmit it, as above described. From this you will easily understand, venerable brethren of the clergy, and beloved children of the laity, how great has been our departure from the holy and the wise provision of the Church, in re- lation to ecclesiastical property. Instead of taking those provisions for our model, we have imitated the secular or sectarian examples by which we are surrounded ; — and that sacred property has been managed as if it were in a state over which our trustees could ex- ercise absolute control, according to their judgment and will. And if we should be struck first, and most sensibly, with the spiritual evils which it has entailed, by destroying or diminishing the re\-er- ence and piety of those most familiar with it, by giving occasion to strifes, and contentions, and scandals in congregations ; we are, nevertheless, deeply sensible of the evils that have resulted in the mismanagement and m.isappropriation of that sacred property itself. These evils have not arisen from the want of integrity on the part of the trustees, but appear to us to be inherent in the system, and inseparable from it. Indeed, it can hardly be otherwise. We have but to reflect, for a moment, on the mannes in which it has operated. In the first place, we know that the persons usually appointed, and especially in the commencement of congregations, are by no means competent in point of capacity. This is strikingly evident whenever it is necessary to refer to their official proceedings, as recorded in their minutes, or to their books of accounts. Notwith- standing this incapacity, they are conscious to themselves of upright intentions ; and this very consciousness renders them less disposed to be guided by others. In building churches, and in managing their affairs when they are built, their reliance in the main has been on the credit by which they may be enabled to borrow. If they were to be personally responsible ,for moneys thus borrowed, they themselves would be the first to feel the inconveniences and dangers of the practice. But they are responsible only in their official capacity — that is, the ecclesiastical property of which we have spoken above, becomes pledged to creditors, by mortgage or otherwise, for the consequences of their transactions. Then they are stimulated by the laudable desire to have a respectable church, and this expeditiously finished. Besides this, there is still another danger, which is, that they have reason to calculate on being dis- placed from office, and their successors appointed, before the period when it will be necessary to meet their engagements. Thus one set .of trustees contracts the debt, with the idea that, not on them, but 21 322 ARCHBISHOP hughes' PASTOEAI,. on their successors, will devolve the ohligation of payment. These successors come into office, and feel that, if bad contracts and ex- travagant expenditures have been made, it was not by them, but by their predecessors ; and if they add no more to the debts, or the expenditures, they do not feel that their duty requires more than to devise ways and means for paying the interest, and so transmit the burthen, undiminished, to their successors -,' — and thus it goes on, and we find that, at the present time, the churches of this city in particular, are burthened with a debt equal to what they are worth. Neither is this the only inconvenience resulting from the system. We are well aware that at all times there have been in the boards of trustees, men most anxious to diminish the debts of the churches with which they were connected. Now, this could only be done, either by raising collections from the charity and zeal of the faithful, or by creating a larger revenue. The former has been found im- practicable. It seems, as if in the very feelings of the people, there is a natural repugnance to contribute charities to laymen for such purposes. Sometimes it is ascribed to want of confidence, and some- times to other causes : but, at all events, the fact is a matter known and acknowledged by all; and perhaps the best explanation of it is, that it is the manifestation of a religious feeling which thus intimates the ab- sence of those salutary laws regarding such property which the Church has established, and to which the faithful are accustomed in all other countries. The other means, therefore, namely, that of in- creasing the revenue, has been most generally employed. This, also, brought with it, as it is ever likely to bring, a complicated train of serious evils. How awfully low is the character of religion reduced in the verj-^ necessity which obliges, as is supposed, trustees to deliberate on the best mode to draw large congregations ; and this, be it understood, not for the salvation of the souls of the people so much as for the revenue ! Hence, in the appointment of clergymen as pastors, it has oftentimes happened that the only merit which was valued by these men was that of eloquence. Piety, learning, zeal, a laborious industry in administering the sacraments, were all good ; but, in connection with the necessities of revenue, were deemed of compara- tively little importance, if the clergyman was not, at the same time, what was called a good preacher ; — who would cause the pews to be rented, and the aisles to be filled with people. We need not enlarge on the injuries to the true spirit of the priesthood, and to the religious feelings of the faithful, which must ever result from asso- ciation with such councils and such practices. Neither was this all. We have heard the influence of music in the choirs, and that even by persons whose presence in the church at all could afford no edification, calculated upon Avith almost equal emphasis as the talents of the pastor. We could even yet enlarge with many details on the abuses of this kind, which we know, either by having wit- nessed them ourselves, or by the attestation of others. We have sometimes remonstrated on the subject, and have found the ready. ON CHTJECH PEOPEETT, ETC. 323 answer to be, that the necessities of the church required these things, and that their existence should, on the contrary, be taken as evidence of the zeal and financial capacity of those who managed the temporal aifairs of the congregation. Thus, all the parts of this system of leaving church property under the control of lay managers, acting with good intentions, if you will, but without any responsibility, are so linked and interwoven, as causes and conseqnences with each other, that they constitute one complex whole. We do not enlarge upon other topics connected with the suWeot, but we shall simply remark, that it is the faithful, that is, the Catholic people at large, who must, in one form or an- other, pay for all the mistakes and errors committed by trustees. We can bear testimony to their zeal, to their liberality, and to the sacrifices which they are ready *o make for the promotion of their religion and the prosperity of the Church. But liberality and sacrifices which are often required, and yet from which religion derives but little benefit, will soon deter them from contributing, merely to fur- nish the means of carrying on this uncatholic system. The peculiar circumstances under which the congregations have been formed, were such as rendered it apparently expedient to leave these matters generally to the discretion of the congregations them- selves. The time, however, has arrived when modifications are required, not only for the order and decorum of ecclesiastical rela- tions, but also by the general demand of the people themselves. We have, therefore, directed and ordained, by the statutes of the diocese, that henceforward, no body of lay trustees, or lay persons, by whatever name called, shall be permitted to appoint, retain, oi dismiss, any person connected with the church — such as sexton, organist, singers, teachers, or other persons employed in connection with religion or public worship, against the will of the pastor, sub- ject to the ultimate decision of the ordinary. We have ordained, likewise, that the expenses necessary for the maintenance of the pastors, and the support of religion, shall, in no case, be withheld or denied, if the congregations are able to afibrd them. It shall not be lawful for any board of trustees, or other lay persons, to make use of the church, chapel, basement, or other portions of ground, or edifices consecrated to religion, for any meeting, having a secular, or even an ecclesiastical object, without the approval, previously had, of the pastor, who shall be accountable to the bishop for his deci- sion. And, with a view to arrest the evils of the trustee system in expending inconsiderately, or otherwise, the property of the faith- ful, it has been ordained, as a statute of the diocese, that no board of trustees shall be at liberty to vote, expend, or appropriate for contracts, or under any pretext, any portion of the property which they are appointed to administer (excepting the current expenses as above alluded to), without the express approval and approbation of the pastor in every case. And it is further ordained, that even thus, the trustees of the churches, with the approbation of the pastpr, shall not be at liberty to expend an amount larger than one hundred 324 dollars in any one year, without the consent of the bishop approving or permitting such expenditure. One of the first and most explicit decrees of the Provincial Council in Baltimore, directed and enjoined on the bishops of this province that they should not, thenceforward, consecrate any church therein, unless the deed had been previously made, in trust to the bishop thereof This rule has hitherto been followed strictly by the great majority of the episcopal body; and wherever it has been followed, the faithful are exempted from many of the evils to which we have already referred. Religion progresses — the clergy are freed from annoyances — their ministry is respected — their influence with the people obtains large and numerous contributions, for the erec- tion or improvement of churches, and the danger of seeing those sold for debt, and given over to profanation, is alike removed from the apprehensions of pastor and people. In proportion to their numbers, the multiplication of churches has been as great among them as in this diocese, and yfet their churches are almost, if not entirely out of debt. Notwithstanding the feelings that must arise from the contrast of their situation with ours, we have, for what appeared weighty reasons, hitherto declined executing the^statutes of the decrees of the Baltimore Councils on this subject. In the first place, the system existed here more, perhaps, than in any other diocese. Secondly, it was intimated that the laws rendered the tenure in trust of church property by the ordinary, uncertain, if not insecure. Besides, if it could be avoided, without injury to religion and the ecclesiastical property, we should be glad to see the bishop freed from the solici- tude inseparable from its guardianship. These considerations, which might be much enlarged, have induced us to hope that the present system might be so modified as to secure some benefit, and exclude many of the evils which have resulted from the irresponsible exercise of its powers. It is with the view to make the experiment, that the statutes enacted at our late Synod, have been adopted as the Ecclesiastical Law of the diocese. We have made it the duty of the pastors to procure, in every instance, a register of the church property. In this, they are directed to note down, in the first place, whatever appertains to the history of the church — the date of the origin — its location — the Saint under whose patronage it is dedi- cated — its style of architecture, and whatever else would be in- teresting in its general history and character. Besides this, they are required to preserve an inventory of all its movable property-^ such as chalices, vestments, and what may be termed the sacred furniture of the church ; distinguishing in said inventory such things as belong to themselves, if any, from what belongs to the congregation. They shall, furthermore, be required at each annual visitation of the bishop, to exhibit a synopsis of the financial con- dition of the church — embracing a statement of its revenue — from what sourde derived — how expended, etc. ; and for this purpose they are to have access to the books of the treasurer, and the min ON CHUECH PEOPEETY, ETC. 325 ' utes of all official proceedings by the Board of Trustees, as often as they shall judge necessary. Should it happen that any Board of Trustees, or other lay persons, managing the temporal aifairs of any church or congregation, should refuse to let them see the treasurer's books, and the minutes of official proceedings, they are required to give us immediate notice of such refusal. We shall then adopt such measures as the circumstances of each case may require ; but in no case shall we tolerate the presence of a clergyman in any church or congregation in which such refusal shall be persevered in. We look to this measure as the means, if not of accomplishing much good, at least of preventing much evil. Our object is to fulfill the duties of our station, not only by preserving, as far as in us lies, the purity of faith and morals over which we are appointed to watch, but also of preserving whatever the piety of the faithful has consecrated to the service of Almighty God, and for the support of religion. And we should be happy if it were found that in the laws no substantial obstacle exists to the investment of the kind of property in the manner prescribed by the Provincial Council. Provisions have already been made, wherever it has been so invested, to secure it against the dangers of alienation by the demise of the bishop or other accidents which are possible. Cer- tainly, the responsibility would be much greater on him than it would be on lay trustees. First, because he undestands better than they can be expected to do, the account which is to be rendered to God for its just administration. Secondly, because be has no re- lease from the awful burthen with which it is connected, from the time of his appointment until his death. Thirdly, because were he to mismanage, or suffer the dilapidation of it, the congregations themselves and their clergy would be cognizant of the fact. Fourthly, because in that event, he would be held immediately respon- sible to tlie ecclesiastical authority of the_Church, for a neglect and violation of his duty. Whereas, with trustees, the ecclesiastical laws and the civil laws are alike feeble in fixing or determining the responsibility ■ of mismanaging, or wasting ecclesiastical property. The only penalty that we have hitherto known, is to decline re-elect- ing those who may have so mismanaged. These are the principal statutes to which, for the information of the faithful, we have deemed it necessary to refer in our Pastoral Letter. Other enactments, intended for their good, but having reference more directly to the administration of the sacraments, and to the clergy themselves, we need not dwell upon. We have been cheered and console^d by the great spirit of zeal, harmony and devotion to the authority of the Church, which have marked the deliberations of the Synod, on all these subjects ; and we have no doubt that the co-operation among the faithful, to see them carried out and sustained, will correspond with that of the clergy. We 326 ^ECHBISHOP HUGHES PASTOEAL trust and believe that the holding of this, the first Synod in the Diocese of New York, is an auspicious epoch in the history of our I'eligion. In other countries, where religion has been persecuted by the government, our brethren have but to remove tlie rubbish of the old temple, and reconstruct it on its own foundations, which can still be traced. With us the case is different. The materials abound on every side, but as yet they have not been reduced to that order which constitutes beauty in the celestial edifice; and for this we have but to consult the annals of religion to discover the plan which we should imitate and follow. We may be assured that if we would have the Church of God to spread among us — if we would have our venerated clergy enshrined in the holiness of their oiBc^ and in the affection of their flocks — if we would have piety and charity and peace to flourish among us — it is not by imitating the loftiest efforts of human wisdom displayed in the ecclesiastical policy of modern sects, but by endeavoring to tread as nearly as possible in the paths trodden by our ancestors in faith, according to the prescriptions of that Church to which the Holy Spirit was prom- ised for its guidance, and from which the veracity of that promise is a pledge that it will never depart. These are the wise counsels which already have begun to manifest their blessed fruits among us. They have already begun to extend among the faithful, and we know that their reverence for the authority of their religion is such, that they will rarely offend against it, when they know what it is. It is for this reason, prin- cipally, that we have dwelt so much at large upon the several topics referred to in this Letter, desirous as we were to blend explanation, as far as might be, with the promulgation of the laws which they will be so prompt to follow and obey. If we have not succeeded as well as may be required in some instances, we entreat you, vener- able brethren of the clergy, to supply our deficiencies by your in- structions and explanations of these laws, in all patience and charity. They do not come into operation until the period of three months from their promulgation in our Diocese Synod ; and, of course, cannot be enforced until their existence shall have been made sufficiently known, for which purpose three months were con- sidered to be sufficient. In conclusion, we have to exhort you all to be zealous and faith- ful to the duties of your Christian calling ; to study to adorn your profession by the virtues of your lives ; by temperance, truth, in- tegrity, and all those qualities which are required in the character of good citizens. But, remembering that you are not created for this alone, we exhort you again, beloved children of the laity, with greater earnestness to attend to and fulfill your Christian duties, by observing the lessons of religion, by frequenting the holj-^ sacra- ments, by imparting salutary instruction to your children, and those under your care, and by confirming the same with the authority of your example. APOLOGY FOE HIS PASTORAL. 327 And, now, the peace of God, ■which surpasseth all undei'standing, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen. Given at the Episcopal Residence, New York, this 8th day of September, in the Year of our Lord, 1842, and in the fifth of our Episcopacy. >i< JOHlSr HUGHES, Bishop of Basileopolis, Coadjutor to the Bishop, and Administrator of the Diocese of New York. William Stares, Secretary. Bishop Hugh.es' Apology for his Pastoral Letter, IN EEPLY TO THE STRICTURES OF FOUR EDITORS OP POLITICAL NEWSPAPERS: The first, David Hale, Eaq., who ia a Congregationalist in religion ; the second, W. L Stone, Esq., who is some kind of a Presbyterian; the third, M. M. Noah, Esq., who is a Jew; and the fourth, the editor (whose name I do not know) of a little paper called the " Aurora." Gentlemen, — In proposing to reply briefly to your strictures on my Pastoral Letter, I have deemed it but right to place your several religious professions in connection with your names, not through disrespect, but in order that the reader may judge of your compe- tency to decide a matter of ecclesiastical polity between a Catholic Bishop and his flock. The manifest concord of opinion in the cen- sures which you are pleased to bestow on me, could hardly unite you on any other topic, except an assault upon the Catholic religion and its ministers. On this point Jew and Gentile, Greek and Bar- barian, are agreed. It is, in the language of Scripture, " the sect everywhere spoken against." It is unquestionably your right, as conductors of public journals, to discuss public matters ; but how far you are warranted in the propriety of bringing a religious question, of a denomination to which none of you belong, into the columns of secular and political journals, is a question on which I leave others to decide. To me it seems that it is going beyond your province, and especially when we recollect the horror whi8h you afiected at an imaginary interference with po- litical matters by the clergy, on a late occasion. If you should extend to every denomination, in the regulation of its ecclesiastical concerns, the same degree of solicitude that you have to ours, then your papers will abound with an incongruous mixture of what you so much depre- cate, the blending of religion and politics — Church and State. I do not complain of the epithets which you have applied to the document under consideration, or to its author. It was my duty to address the flock committed to my charge, in the plain, simple and direct 328 AECHBISHOP hughes' language best calculated to express the meaning which I intended to convey. In all this, I have but made known to them the laws and rules of their religion, and if I had proceeded to ordain anything not authorized by the laws of the Church, they themselves have sufficient discernment to perceive and remonstrate against such enactment. Whether or not my language, in doing this, is to be denounced as "impudent," "bold," "bigoted," etc., will depend very much on whether that religious liberty which is guaranteed by our Constitu- tion, is a thing to be enjoyed or not. As the question stands in the columns of your respective papers, i cannot but consider myself as arraigned at the bar of public opin- ion, having you for my accusers ; and the object of this communica- tion is to prove, if I can, that you are false witnesses, bad reasoners, and unjust judges in the premises. It seems to me that you havo made this easily proved. The first charge which is made against me, is, for a pretended encroachment on the rights and freedom of the Catholic body. Before I show how unjust this charge is, I must premise a few observations, which are essential to a proper under- standing of the subject. First. — Every religious denomination in this country, being obe- dient to the laws thereof, has a right to regulate, according to its own rules, the questions of ecclesiastical discipline appertaining to its government. Deny this right, and you destroy religious liberty. In the exercise of this right, there is amongst us one denomination that refuses to recognize our government, or to exercise under it, the prerogatives of citizens, because, according to their religious be- lief, the government is opposed to the ordinances of God. They are, however, so far as I know, good citizens — that is, obedient to the laws, discharging their social duties as well as others who hold not these opinions. So also with every new or ancient sect or society, each has its own rules, without which it could not subsist. Secondly. — ^The Pastoral Letter is but one of the forms of religious government embraced, and adhered to, by the denomination to whom it was addressed. It specifies and requires conformity to rules which would be very absurd if addressed to Congregationalists, Presbyte- rians, Jews, or Infidels ; but it is addressed to Catholics, that is to say, to those who recognize in it the rules of thp Society to w^hich they belong. Thirdly. — But, does conformity to its requirements imply that abjection of spirit — that absence of religious liberty, which your strictures describe ? I answer, no. And why does it not ? Because, all similar obligations are of a moral character. The individuals to whom they are addressed ha\e the power of conforming or of resist- ing, as, in the exercise of their moral liberty, they may prefer. If they choose and desire to be Catholics and to be in full and perfect membership with their communion, they will conform to the rules, explicitly or implicitly recognized, by all who profess the Catholic name. If, on the contrary, they prefer to forsake that communion, rather than submit to their rules, their power to do so is undisputed ; APOLOGY FOB HIS PASTOEAL. 029 aud though the exercise of that power be at the risk of thoir salva- tion — still there is but little doubt that its exercise would tend to an impro\ement of their worldly circumstances, considering the igno- rance and prejudices of a vast portion of the public in reference to the communion which they would have forsaken. Thus, therefore, their adhering to that communion, under these circumstances, is as real an exercise of their religious freedom as if they forsook it, and attached themselves to the undefined worship and usages of the Broadway Tabernacle. In my Pastoral Letter I found it my duty to pron^ulgate certain regulations with regard to the tenure and administration of church property. You, gentlemen, have accused me, one and all, of having dispossessed or intending to dispossess the laity of this property, and of passing it into the hands of the clergy. In this accusation I charge you with being false Avitnesses. I have not, and if you have read my Pastoral Letter, you must have seen, that I have not proposed any such thing. I have simply endeavored to correct certain abuses connected with its administration — but as to having claimed to alter it, there is no evidence found in the docu- ment to which you refer. • How then, gentlemen, could you in so serious a matter bear false witness against your neighbor? With the Catholics it is a jDrinciple of morals, that a debt justly contracted must be paid, and that no lapse of time, no civil exemp- tion, nothing but inability, can release the debtor from the obliga- tion of such payment. Now, the laws of a civil character for the government of a church, authorize trustees to contract debts ; and as trustees are but representatives of those who elect them, that moral obligation to which I have just referred, devolves on their constitu- ents, that is to say, the Catholic body at large. It has come within my knowledge, as an instance for illustration, that a debt thus con- tracted of less than seventy dollars, by the neglect or mismanage- ment of trustees and the accumulation of expenses by a legal process, for its recovery, has amounted, in less than one year, to the increased sum of one hundred and ninety dollars. Now this is an instance of the abuse which the Pastoral Letter is intended to remove, and cer- tainly I did not expect from gentlemen wielding the influence of the public press, so harsh a reprimand for a regulation calculated and intended to promote the great ends of moral honesty and common justice ! As for your asserting that I attempt to take such prop- erty from trustees, it is, as I have before said, gratuitous, and par- don me for adding, utterly false. The next point on which I am arraigned by you all, is the regula- tion respecting what is termed in the document " mixed marriages." On this subject you ha,ve indulged a degree of sentimentality which would be quite edifying, were it not that the principles and prac- tices of the Presbyterian religion and of the Jewish religion eqjially forbid the members of either to marry with Catholics. Yet on this point, I contend that there is no violation, on either side, of religious or civil liberty. It is a question which it will be in the power of each one to decide for himself, whether he shall prefer the rules of 330 ARCHBISHOP hughes' the religion which he professes, or the indulgence of his own per- sonal feeling. He is certainly free to decline matrimonial alliances which are not approved by his church ; or he is free to throw his church overboard, and enter on those alliances as he will. The next subject of your complaint is that I have denounced " Odd Fellows," " Free Masons," etc. Here again, gentlemen, you must permit me to say, in my defence, that you are false witnesses. The document which you aifect to review has not a syllable against Odd Fellows or Free Masons. I am unconscious of ever having recerved any injury from the members of either of these societies, and God forbid that I should entertain the slightest uncharitableness or ill will towards them. But, gentlemen, it is my duty as an official interpreter of Christian morals, in the instruction of sit own flock, to define the conditions which according to the Holy Scriptures make it lawful and innocent to appeal to God in the solemnity of an oath. Experience has taught me that some, at least, of my flock, were ignorant or misled in ref- erence to this subject. Three or four years ago, and since, I had occasion to believe that many poor Catholics, especially when assem- bled in large bodies on public works, are perverted and marshaled into combinations, bound together by the solemnity of oaths admin- istered to them by some of their more depraved or more designing countrymen. If there had been but one such society, although still unlawful, yet the consequences to the community and to its own dupes could not have been so fatal ; but there were at least two, — and I have had much reason to believe that the contagions of these two led to many of those riots and disturbances on public works, ^\■hich are spoken of in the newspapers as battles between " Corkonians and Connaught men — far-ups and far-downs." Both of these societies had most benevolent purposes, and beautiful features displayed in the programme of their Constitution. More than a year ago, certain prominent officers of both, promised me to abolish every kind of oath or solemn appeal to God as the tie of membership binding their respective fraternities together. This, I have reason to think, they have observed since then most relig- iously. But I had occasion to discover further, that in many remote parts of the diocese and country, others who had been initiated pre- viously, into the societies, still retained their oath, and deluded the unwary into joining those societies, by asserting that they had my approbation. Now, this was true, so far as the benevolent object of the society was concerned ; but utterly false so far as those objects were to be secured by an appeal, or an adjuration to the living God. Under these circumstances it became necessary for me through the medium of a Pastoral Letter to imdeceive litem, and to caution others upon this subject. Certainly the society of Free Masons, or the society of Odd Fellows, is not so much as mentioned in that letter, nor did they occur to me in its composition. Yet the principles laid down m the Pastoral, which are principles of Christian morals, as APOLOGY POK HIS PASTOEAL. 3bl understood in the Catholic Church, will apply to every society coming under the description there given. Having thus explained the circumstances under which it became my duty to allude to "Secret Societies," and having specified the kind of societies which had particularly created that necessity, I did not expect that you, gentlemen, who ought to be guardiiins of pub- lic order, would have rebuked me iii such unmeasured terms for ha\'ing thus endeavored to remove the source from which those dis- orders have sprung, on our public works and elsewhere. When quarrels have taken place, and the public authorities have been obliged to interpose — when hatred has been engendered, and sometimes blood shbd — the whole matter is for you but an occasion for a sportive paragraph. For me it is one of horror and afflictiojt ; and knowing the source from which, in too many instances, those evils have arisen, I should have taken to myself rather, credit for rendering a benefit to society, and especially to the unhappy men themselves, by endeavoring to remove the cause. So far I have noticed those charges in which you all agree. Now I shall briefly review the tone and spirit of the several articles ac- cording to the individuality of their respective authors. The first who leads off in the charge is Mr. Hale of the Journal of Commerce. This gentleman is so notorious for his bitterness against Catholics and Catholicity, that to their minds his condemnation of anything connected with their religion, is a very strong presumption in its favor. He is generally reported a religious man — some believe him to be a saint, in his own way — one thing, however, strikes me from an occasional perusal of his paper, which is, that he is not a believer in the merit of good works, and that his salvation runs but little jeopardy from his practice in, that way. I do not consider him a well-informed Christian. The sign of the Cross, which it is usual for Catholic bishops, especially in the Western Church, to prefix to their signature, occurs to his mind under the idea of a " dagger." Is this wit, or is it ignorance ? If it be wit, it seems to me that he would have done better to have chosen another object, and left this for the jest of Mr. Noah. To the Christian the Cross is an object of reverence. It is an emblem, blended with all that is consoling in human life — with all that is commemorative of the Saviour's suffer- ings — -with all that is humane in the elements of modern civilization, and yet this symbol carries to the brain of Mr. Hale only the idea of a " dagger." It has been the ornament of all that is great and glorious, in the annals of Christendom. It is the sign which marks the spot where William Tell freed his country. It is the seal which was impressed on the Magna Chaeta of British Liberty, from which our own is derived ; and yet it conveys to the mind of a man who reads his Bible and lays claim to no ordinary share of sanctity, the idea and associations of a dagger. It is not for me to explain why this should be so ; and in itself it is a phenomenon almost as unac- countable as that the female figure seen in our courts, holding scales 332 ARCHBISHOP hughes' equally poised, whioli symliolizes a reign of just and equal laws, and on Avhich men usually look with pleasure, should, in some instances suggest to the beholder only the idea of imprisonment or something worse. Mr. Hale after having first borne false witness against his neighbor, builds some paragraphs of ill-reasoned commentary on the basis of his own testimony. He says : " With no little regard for some of the gentlemen we know (meaning Catholics) it seems to us they have proved beyond all controversy that liberty cannot be sustained in connection with the divine right of priests. This superstition overawes the risings of liberty, and holds the man in bondage. Lib- erty never grew in such a soil smothered in such rank weeds." 'Now I ^lave to observe first that all priests -(vho are appointed of Christ, are by divine right ; and when they are less than this, they are not priests at all ! Secondly, that Mr. Hale's principle is, that no man can exercise the rights of freedom unless he trample upon the relig- ious or social obligations which he has been pleased to assume. Thus, to be a fi'eeman, the Presbyterian must^ trample on the "West- minster Confession of Faith ; the Episcopalians on the Thirty-nine Articles; the Catholic on the Council of Trent; the Jew on the law of Moses ; and even the Odd Fellows and Free Masons on the rule which bind tliem together ! I, on the contrary, contend that such a principle is inconsistent V\'ith the existence of every social, or religious society. But Mr. Halo does not depend on his reasoning alone, such as it is. He quotes Scrip- ture, and tells us that Peter says, "not to t\e clergy, but to the. whole people, ye are a chosen generation, a Royal Pkiesthood," and from this he infers that everybody is a priest by divine right. Now, this text would apply in the Catholic Church where there is a sacrifice, which a priesthood necessarily supposes, and where the priest is but the official minister to discharge the sacred functions for, and with the people. To such a people, without distinction of clergy from laity, we can understand the application of a " social priesthood." But if Mr. H.ale will allow the question to be decided by the Scriptures, he will find a text, much more safe and much less equivocal in its meaning, in which the inspired Apostle directs the faithful to be " obedient and subject to their prelates" — a text, by the way, which can have no possible meaning at the Broadway Tab- ernacle. Tke next accuser, in the order of time, is Wm. L. Stone, Esq. My wish is to speak of this gentleman with respect. I cannot but regard him as a man whom nature intended to be benevolent. He once entitled himself to the respect of all lovers of truth, of what- ever denomination, by his triumphant exposure of the disgusting libel which appeared under the title of " Maria Monk." His merit in this was the greater because his virtue was reflected in the refu- tation and confusion of some of the ministers and members of his own church. He alone had the discernment to perceive that his religion could derive no honor from the employment of falsehood. APOLOGY FOE HIS PASTOItAL. 333 His course, however, is no longer the same tjiat it then was ; and if a stranger might presume to speculate on the cause of this change, circumstances would go far to suggest that he has been made to -feel deeply the power of the enmity which he had provoked, and which nothing but a show of hostility towards the Catholics, such as we have witnessed in his writings lately, could appease. Poor man ! In his comments on the Pastoral Letter, he reasons in the same track as his brother of the Journal of Commerce. He too accuses mo of having attacked the " Odd Fellows" Society, and volunteers a defence in refutation of his 07vn accusation, if any, certainly not mine. He seems even to be deeply interested in the welfare of the Catholic Church, and speaks with a benevolent appearance of appre- hension and regret, in reference to the consequences of the Pastoral Letter. Now if he be a consistent man, he ought to rejoice of the consequences, knowing as he does, that such Catholics as will not abide by the rule of their religion, have the power to join the Prot- estant religion. This right of passing from one denomination to another, is restricted happily in this country, only by the sense of responsibility connected with the judgment of the soul in the life to come. We have next a dissertation on the subject of this Catholic Pas- toral from Mr. ISToah, who is a Jew, and belongs to a religion for the members of which I entertain a melancholy reverence, mingled with other feelings which, I trust, are no dishonor to the human heart! but that he shouldhavethoughthimself qualified to dis.ipprove _ my letter in reference to Christian " baptism" is somewhat curious. I must, however, do him the justice to say, that he does not treat of the Sacrament alone, but considers it in connection with the " per- quisite," an association of ideas in his mind which is, perhaps, under all circumstances, not unnatural. He deals in the same denuncia- tions as his colleagues of the Journal and Commercial Advertiser. He too defends the " Odd Fellows," whom, as I have already remarked, I had not assailed in any shape or form. All of them have applied epithets which the occasion certainly did not warrant. - As a minis- ter of religion, I gave out such directions, addressed not to Presby- terians, nor Jews, nor Odd Fellows, but to the members of my own flock, as the rules of their religion required, a right which is claimed by every sect and every individual minister in the land ; and for this I am charged with arrogance, impudence, bigotry, and boldness, by these pretended advocates of civil and religious liberty. We now come to the "Aurora," of which, however, I need say nothing, as it only repeats what the others had said before, and as I am told the paper is of no repute. With this defence of my Pastoral Letter, I submit the question to the impartial judgment of that public before which I have been ar- raigned. The denunciations which have been uttered against me, strike at tlie root of all religious and social organization. Every society has the right to frame and uphold the rules by which it is lield together, and the members who violate these rules, by every 334 AECHBISHOP hughes' principle of justice and the usages of mankind, forfeit thereby all claiiQ to the benefits of the association. It may be'that I have spoken of the gentlemen who have assailed me so unwarrantably, as I conceive, in a manner that indicates dis- respect or ill will. I certainly entertain no ill will towards them, or any other being alive, and if I have used language that may be con- sidered severe, it is simply with a view to convince them, if possi- ble, that I did not merit the treatment which I have experienced at their hands. I did not conceive that thet were proper persons to decide upon questions of an ecclesiastical character, except in the several communions to which they belong. Their attempt to persuade the flock committed to my charge that I have any other purpose than their spiritual and temporal welfare is perfectly futile. Coming from any source it would not be believed by those who know me, but coming from persons whose hostility to the interests of the Catholic body is so well known, it would but increase their confidence. To the Catholics themselves, I have to say that I have no intention to destroy their charters, or take the title of their churches in my own name, unless they themselves deem it advisable. And with regard to the other requirements of the Pastoral Letter, they contain nothing but what has been enjoined by the authority of our religion before they or I came into existence. It will be for themselves individually to determine whether they shall conform or not ; but it may be some matter of surprise, and perhaps of regret, to those who have assailed me, to know that the Catholics them- selves, THE BEST JUDGES OF THEIR OWZST RELIGIOUS RIGHTS AND INTERESTS, have hailed the appearance of the Pastoral Letter and' the requirements which it contains, with a unanimity of approbation almost unequalled ! Those gentlemen may still be further surprised to learn that many trustees of churches have tendered their trust into my hands, and that I have declined to receive it ! What will Mr. Hale say to that ? There is one portion of the Pastoral Letter which I am sorry has not been understood by some of the Catholics themselves as I in- tended it. This is a portion which seems to reflect on the trustees indiscriminately, and to involve them all in a censure which was directed only against some in connection with the whole system itself, as nt present organized. Now I must say that in all my inter- course with the trustees of New York, and I may add of the diocese generally, I have found them, with very few exceptions, as respect- ful to me in my official character, as zealous for the good of their religion, as any other members of the Church. There has been but one instance in which an attempt was made, inconsiderately and not maliciously, I am persuaded, to array the power of the trustee sys- tem against the authority of the Church. That issue was met and decided as it ought to be. In all other cases the trustees, so far as deference to the laws of their Church is concerned, have always acted as good and sincere Catholics. How then could they suppose mc to be so unjust as to involve them in their personal and religious charac- LETTER TO DAVID HALE. 335 ter, in censures in which they and I knew equally that they did not merit. They have done, and are doing generally, all that good Cath- olic men can do, in connection with a system which is uncatholic, and in our circumstances about as bad as a system well can be. But with the aid of our own means and judgment, we can correct its evils without any help from Jews and Presbyterians. >i< JOHN HUGHES, Bishop, etc. November, 1842. Letter of Rt. Rev. Bishop Hughes to David Hale, Esq. SiE : — From the matter and t«ne of your letter published in the Journal of Commerce of last Saturday, it would appear as if you wished to engage in a religious controversy. If this be your in- tention, it will not be in my power to correspond with it. My time is much, and I hope more profitably, engaged. My feelings are averse to the agitation of that bitter element in u'hich j'on seem to delight. For this, and for other reasons which I sliall submit in the sequel, I must beg leave respectfully to decline religious con- troversy. Neither have I anything to do with the opinions which you set forth as your opinions, in opposition to the general view's of man- kind upon the same subjects. Your opinions respecting Catholics and their religion, you are at perfect liberty to express where and in what manner you may think proper. I cannot tell how much or how little they are appreciated by the public on general topics ; but as regards religious matters, I believe they are held by even your Protestant brethren as something below par. Of course, therefore, it was not against your opinions that I felt it my duty to enter into the defence of my Pastoral Letter. The question between us is one of fact, and not of opinion. You have charged me with having " attacked the civil institutions of the country " in my Pastoral Letter, and I, unconscious of any such attack, have denied the charge — and arraign you as a false accuser. I look upon your letter as being implicitly an acknowledgment of my charge against you. If it was not, it was easy for you to have selected such portion or portions of my Pastoral Letter as contained an " attack on the in- stitutions of the country," such, as you have described. Clntil you do this, it will be impossible for you to escape from the position of a man who, actuated by the worst feelings of the human heart, presents serious accusations against his neighbor, without having facts to sustain them. If I replied to your strictures on my Pastoral, it was not precisely because I apprehended from them any injury to the rehgion which you are so impatient to assail. That religion has withstood the 336 AECHBISHOP hughes' successive assaults of persecution, pagan philosophy, barbarism, heresy and infidelity of 1800 years. It is impregnable as a for- tress which God defends: and therefore I had no dread that it could be injured by the Editor of the Journal of Commerce. But when I considered the time and the circumstances of the attack by your- self and your colleagues, representing me as setting forth doctrines well calculated to excite the passions of those to whom your stric- tures were addressed, it occurred to me as probable that your in- tention was to have the city again disgraced, by the riots of a mob, and to have me assailed by the arguments of bhick bats and paving STONES — for I hold that the agents who fixed such a blemish on the escutcheon of the city last spring,, were ""less culpable in the eyes of right reason than those editors who had influenced their passions by sectarian denunciations against Catholics, of whom the Editor of the Journal of Commerce and the Editor of the Commercial Advertiser were the chiefs. Thanks, however, to the sense of order which prevailed during the late election, but no thanks to you or your colleagues — the city has been saved from a repetition of the disgrace to whi(,h I have referred. The windows and furniture of my dwelling are unbroken, and the lives of the inmates of my house have not been pnt in jeopardy. So fiir my letter, in refutation of your strictures, may have been serviceable ; for the very tribunal before which you arraigned me, all prejudiced as a portion of it may be, against the Catholic religion, is too just to condemn and punish the fohely accused, although, perchance, too indifierent to rebuke the false accuser. We shall now enter briefly into the matter of your accu- sation. You charged me with having attempted to invade the civil rights of the Catholics, in the matter of church property. I call upon you for the proof of such charge. My Pastoral Letter is before the public, and I defy you to find in it grounds for any such malignant charge. In ray Apology I laid down principles which are common to Catholics, and to all othee eeligioits denominations, for the government of their respective religious associations. You admit in your reply that those principles are insisted on by other denomi- nations and by all. Why, then, did you single out the Catholics, as if that were peculiar to them alone ? So far, therefore, the principle of my Pastoral Letter is sanctioned by the ecclesiastical usages of all Protestant denominations. Each has its terms of communion — each has its laws and regulations for the government of its members and its affairs. On this ground, then, you give up the attack — in reference to the Catholics alone, and contend that they and all other . denominations axe wrong, and that you, Mr. Hale, are alone right. With your opinions, as I have said before, I have nothing to do. But the fact that the principle of my Pastoral Letter is the same principle acted upon in other denominations, and without which no society could exist, is sufficient vindication. ~ The next point of your assault was that I refused Christian burial to those who do not abjure " societifjs." This is, by your own ac- LETl'EE TO DAVID HALE. 33? knowledgment, a false accusation. For -what I said wai) "secret societies," bound together by an oath or solemn religious ohligation, and not "societies" in general, as you iniquitously represent. Now, secret societies you yourself condemn, in language stronger than 1 used. But you tell us in your letter of Saturday, that I mistook your meaning. Your words are : " What I condemned was the order you gave that when dead, the members of such societies should be refused a Christian burial." This order, you continued to say, " seemed to me more in accordance with the mahciousness of the savage state, than with the solemn and softening views of death which Christianity teaches." ' Inconsistent man ! you know well that if you believe yoiir own religion, you hold a burial by Catholics, to be not a Christian burial, as you hyprocritically term it, but an idolatrous burial, and of course according to your faith, the only chance of Christian burial for such outcast members of our Church would be the absence of our religious rites and cere- monies in committing them to the earth. Again, you charge this feature of ecclesiastical discipline, as a peculiarity in the Catholic Church : — whereas, making even great allowances, it is impossible to suppose you so ignorant as not to know that this discipline re- specting interment, is universally insisted on in the discipline of the Quakers, who are by no means charged with the " maliciousness of the savage state," but, on the contrary, are proverbial for their pacific and humane dispositions. In explanation of the reasons for regulating and restricting ex- penditures by trustees of Catholic churches, I mentioned the. incon- venient anomaly of the fact, that whilst the law of the land gave to those trustees the privilege of contracting heavy debts, whether wisely or otherwise, the law of Catholic morals, on the other hand, required that the Catholic people should pay them. I did not institute any comparison in reference to Protestant morality upon this subject, nor am I disposed to enter upon any such controversy. In your re- marks upon this you tell us — " It is only where the Bible is a com- mon household book, that men have confidence enough in each other to part with substantial values for promises to pay written on paper." This all may be so ; but in Catholic times, and in Catholic countries, at the present day, not even "promises" written on paper are re- quired. Among the merchants of Spain, it would be deemed an in- sult, in dealing among themselves, to ask a receipt for money paid. In like manner, specie being the circulating medium, it would be considered equally an insult to count over the specie, which was *paid in boxes said to contain such or such a sum. But after all, it may be that "promises to pay" are pecuhar to Protestant countries, where the Bible is a household book, whilst the payment de facto, with or without the written promise, should happen to be on the side of the ignorant Catholics. The discovery which you have made upon this point cannot but be consoling to those ^vho have suf- fered so much by Banks and banking institutions. It is true that mil- lions and mfflions have been lost; and thousand of families reduced 22 338 AKCHBISHOP HU«HBS' to beggary — that the " written papers " for -which they parted with "substantial values," carrying on their face "promises to pay "—have never been redeemed — still it may be some comfort to them, when they look on the face of those documents that you have traced their origin to the Bible, and identified them as the offspring of Evangeli- cal Protestantism. Again, in your strictures on my Pastoral, you designated the "Cross" a "dagger." In your reference to that subject your words are : " It was printed a dagger and I supposed it meant a dagger." This, sir, will not do. You are certainly too well acquainted with the usages of Christendom, not to have known that it was printed as a symbol of Christianity — the sign of the Cross. But it will not do on another account, which is, that the witticism of the dagger was not original yr'ith you, but borrowed from others: and you have the choice of considering it as a second-handed wit or affected ig- norance — so that you cannot avail yourself of that child-like sim- plicity with which you tell the public " It was printed a dagger, and you supposed it meant a dagger." Pardon me, sir, but you did not suppose any such thing. A very large portion of your letter is made up of extracts taken from my Pastoral Letter, and my Apology in defence of it, as if you had discovered a discrepancy between them. This is a discovery which I am sure none of your readers will be able to make. You say that the Aj)ology " takes back and denies the very gist of the Pastoral Letter," and you make quotations as if you believed in your ovi^n assertion. But there is no reader, who is capable of understanding either, that will discover anything either "taken back" or "denied" in the one vrhich had been asserted in the other. The Apology indeed rebukes your misrepresentation of the Pastoral; and it does nothing more, except to confirm and perhaps explain the document assailed. You put, from the Apology, a passage in italics, in which I presume you depend to bear you out in your statement. It is that, in which I say, in reference to the requirements of the Pastoral Letter, addressed to the people, that " it will be for (hem- selves individually to determine whether they shall conform, or not;" and pray, was not this understood in the Pastoral Letter? The mean- ing in both is, that it shall not be for Mr. Hale to determine — that it is a matter which is to be governed by their own sense of moral and religious duty. There is one other matter to which I must re- fer before I conclude this part of the s'ubject. It is that in which we have your authority for the following pretended fact : "A short time ago," you say, "in one of the churches of this city, a Catholic priest, at confession, condemned a young woman for having attended family worship with the family whom she served, to walk upon her bare knees around the church until the blood issued freely from her wounds." I agree with you, sir, that if such a thing took place, it was " cruel and indecent." The only charge I have to make against the statement is, that it is not according to the forms of the Catholic Church — and more,^that I aA willing to LBTTEI^TO DAVID HALE. 839 risk the consequences of asserting before the public that it is false and unfounded. If it were true, knowing that its publication would give pain to the whole Gatbolic body, I cannot conceive that you would have denied your well-known feelings the luxury of publish- ing it with the names of the parties, the time and place of the oc- currence. Another reason why I do not believe it true, is, that I trust there is no priest in this city so devoid of sense — no Catholic young woman so ignorant and silly as to ha^^e been parties to so barbarous a transaction ; and further, that there is perhaps no man in this city who has not arrived at the period of second child- hood, capable of believing it except yourself There may indeed be found men who would say they believe it, but at the moment of the utterance, their interior sense and conviction would accuse them of uttering what is not true. At all events, you have made the asser- tion in clear and unequivocal terms, and in this instance you have avoided a feature common in your style, which is th# blending of the malice that inflicts a wound, with the artifice and ambiguity which would escape the responsibility of having dealt the blow. I call upon you then, since you have made the charge, to substan- tiate it. I call upon you to give the name of the priest and the name of the Catholic young woman, and if you do, you shall soon be convinced that the transaction which you have described, is not according to the forms of the Catholic Church. One word, in passing, on making Catholic domestics attend family worship in houses where a diiferent religion is professed. The prac- tice of family worship is, in itself, not only commendable, but tender and interesting. Yet Protestants mistake, it seems to me, not only the rights of conscience, but their own interests, when they bring conscience into the account with their servants, as an equivalent for wages. The conscience of the servant is as free as that of the master and mistress ; and if I had, as I sometimes have had, Protes- tant domestics, I should think it sinful to make them attend family devotion, so long as they were under the impression that they were offending God by it. A Presbyterian servant in the house of a Catholic, or a Catholic in the house of a Jew, or a Protestant, ought to be exempted from the. petty persecution of being compelled to attend family worship. When the servant gives his or her labor faithfully and honestly, as an equivalent for the wages that are paidj the terras of the covenant are fulfilled. Anything beyond that, I look upon as an invasiori of the rights of conscience. Besides, Protestants in this, do not understand their own interests. It is only when they can debauch the conscience of their Catholic servants by making them hypocrites enough to attend the indefinite worship of Methodist, Presbyterian, Jew, Baptist, or Unitarian families with whom they may happen to be earning their wages, by their toilsome labor ; it is only then, I say, that those masters have occasion to suspect them. Their safety and the safety of the trusts committed to their servants, depends on the simplicity and integrity of that conscience which they have been so ingenious to pervert. 340 AECHBISHOP HTjeHES Toutell me that my quotation from St. Paul respecting " obe. dience to prelates," must come from a higher authority betore it will subdue the royal priesthood of the Tabernacle. Let me quote, then, the same text from the Protestant Bible— which has the sanc- tion of a very " high authority," even King James the First. The words are, " Obey them that have rule over you, and submit yourselves." Now, not to make a difficulty with you about words, let us suppose that " prelates " and " them that have rule over you," mean the same thing. What is here required is what is done by the Catholic clergy and laity, to those " who have rule over them." But I would not answer for the reception, even of the Apostle, if he came to the Tabernacle to institute among its free thinkers any such tyrannical rule. I lia^ e already remarked that I shall not dispute against you the correctness of any opinion you may be pleased to entertain ; and there are in connection with these opinions of yours, a great many discretions as to what point I should answer. First, about the Pope as a prince and a pontiff. Second, about the pre-eminence of priests and bishops. Third, about the limitation of powers which are exercised by divine right in the rules of the Church. That you should have erroneous ideas upon all these subjects, does not surprise me ; and, if you asked for information in the name of the disciple, I should be most happy to afford it, — beginning from the first question of the Catechism, " Who made you ?" and going on to the highest mysteries of the Christian faith. But you ask for information in the character of a disputant ; and in that spirit I cannot afford to give it. If then you would know the solution of your questions, I leave you to infer it from a few general principles of the Catholic Church, pointing out, occasionally, the difference of the medium through which these principles are regarded by the Catliolic, as contrasted with the Protestant mind. In the first place we look upon the Church as having been organized by our Saviour, on a model which is enduring and unalterable. You, on the other hand, look upon it as something which may be altered, broken down and built up, according to the pleasure of men. Our Saviour presented himself as sent by the Father, and to teach what things he had learned from him. He taught them — and he gained disciples. From the disciples, he selected twelve, and he made them Apostles. From the twelve, he selected one, and he made him a chief among the Apostles. ■ The powers which he gave to them all, collectively, he gave to this one, singularly and person- ally. It was his prerogative, as well as duty, to feed the sheep as well as the lambs, and to confirm his brethren. Here is the frame- work of the Christian Church. Christ did not change it, during his time on earth, and he gave no authority to men, whereby they might change ft after his ascension. The Church has descended to us^ in its iirimitive form. The disciples and the apostles have increased in number over the whole earth; but the chief of the apostleship, ia one as when first elevated to his singular and special office. Now you, LBTTBE TO DAVID HALE. 341 as a Protestant, have changed all this. And you view it, not as a Catholic does, but you view it according to the standard of your own notions of right and wrong. Christ communicated what things he had learned from the Father, to that Church. All believed the same doctrines — but some, besides believing themselves, were appointed to the office of teachers of all nations, to teach what things they had learned from their Common Master. Those who were associated with them, or who succeeded in the order of time, by lawful appointment, were appointed to dis- charge the same duties — with no limitation as to space, but the boundaries of the earth ; or no limitation, as to time, but the con- summation of the world. The Catholics, however unworthy in our lives, are constituted heirs and successors in this organization. As our ministers have no right to give out their opinions ; but only to teach as witnesses, to the ends of the earth, the truths preserved in this apostolical and universal society, it follows, as a consequence, that they have no dominion over the faith of the people. They are witness of doctrine and not inventors of speculations. The humblest of their flock can tell when they bear false witness against any truth attested in the present time, or at any time, by the faith of the whole Society. Here then^ is another thing which you, as a Protestant, mvist think wrong. The ministers of religion with you are not so much teachers as preachers. They take the Bible — gite out their opinion — and refer the congregations for the truth of them back to the text. When they read the text in the Bible at home, they are referred to their own brain to determine its meaning ; and from the brain results again — opinion, opinion. Here then is a difference between us. With us the doctrine of Revelations are facts, resting on the testi- mony of the Scriptures, rightly understood, confirmed by the unani- mous faith of the Church from the d.ays of Christ downward ; and, of course, resting ultimately upon the veracity of God. They are believed by virtue of that veracity ; and therefore the conviction which they produce is faith unwavering and constant. With you it is all opinion. And between these two words, in reference to Chris- tian Revelation, " Faith" and " Opinion," there is a depth of differ- ence which you would do well to fathom. The Catholic people are alone truly independent in their religious belief. No minister of theirs — no bishop — ^nor Pope — nor all together — have any power to alter one iota of that sacred deposit, which Christ bequeathed to his follo:wers. Not so with you. One of your njinisters may, in follow- ing out the farther lights of what he calls Scripture, deviate himself, and lead his congregation into the same ranks of socinianism, before this poor people are aware of it. In matters of this kind they have no fixed point of departure, from which they might calculate either their course or distance. Hence the alarm when some new evangeli- cal impostor arises among your people. If he preaches about the end of the world in a month or two, and quotes a profusion of Scripture, which he does not understand, he can have crowds of followers and 342 ARCHBISHOP hughes' disciples. The same man might preach himself into consumption before an audience of Catholics, and no matter how learned or how ignorant they should be, he could never make a convert. Now what is the reason of this difference? It is that the Catholics hold the truths whioh God revealed as trutl;is, and believe them by a principle of faith relying on the divine veracity, — where you, as a Protestant, believe them, if you believe them at all, in the order of opinions, more or less probable, according to your interpretation^ of Scripture. If therefore you go to hear the advocate for the proximate end of the world, he gives his opinion, quotes Scripture, interprets it, and this is neither more nor less than is done by your minister at home. You, then, having no principle of guidance to determine whicB is right, are as liable to follow the one as the other. This you call a privilege, but it is the privilege of perpetual insta- bility and uncertainty of belief. The privilege of being made the dupe of every artful preacher that pleases — the privilege of freedom. Be it so. But it was not so that Christ appointed men to perpetuate his doctrine. The appointed teachers of that doctrine, and disciples who should learn from their teachers and believe. Such being the organization of the Church, I have to say but one word respecting the powers of its chief bishop, and his colleagues in the ministry. You seem to be alarmed at the fact that the Pope is, besides, a temporal prince, and at this I should not be surprised if it came from a school boy of the'G-reen Mountains, who had just gone as far in his elementary education as the story of the burning of " John Rogers, and his nine children, with one at the breast !" But coming from a man of your age and knowledge of the world, the expression of alarm certainly does surprise me. In order to com- pose you, therefore, I will merely state the Pope's being a tempo- ral prince is, in the mind of Catholics, an accident ; and that, as a temporal prince they look upon him as any other of the rulers of the earth. The religious relation which they bear to him is not greater when he is dwelling in the Vatican, than it would be if he were pining in the prisons of France or the catacombs of Rome. The duties of his office, and the extent of his power in the Church, are as well known as those of the President in this Republic. • As a temporal prince, he has no authority out of his own States. As a Pope, in his relations with the Church, he belongs to the whole Catholic world, and in that relation between Catholic and Catholic, whether Pope or other, there is no such thing as strangers and for- eigners, but all are citizens and domestics of God. I do not mention any of these things in the . supposition that you will approve of them. As a Protestant, and considering the distorted and distorting influence of your education, in reference to the Cath- olic Church, I suppose you regard all this as one great abomination. If this be your opinion I can only oppose the unanimous one hundred and eighty millions of Catholics, throughout the world, who look upon all this as a most merciful institution of God, for the guidance of the wandering intellect of man ; and for carrying on those eternal ■S-M LETTEE TO DAVID HALE. 343 interests of our race, for which his Divine Son suffered on the tree. This Society has survived the hostility and the revolutions of the world for eighteen hundred years. Its members enjoy peace of soul, and security in its communion ; and the only privilege which they ask of you is the privilege of enjoying for themselves the same right of choice which you claim and exercise. Should you, however, be cruel enough to deny it, they will claim it without your permis- sion — though not without the risk of having " false witness borne, against them" both in the Journal of Commerce and the Broadway Tabernacle. Pardon me, sir, if I offend you by prefixing the symbol of redemp- tion to my unworthy name, while I subscribe myself Your obedient servant, « >h JOHN- HUGHES, Bishop, etc. New York, Nov. 14, 18|2. Right Rev'd Bishop Hughes to David Hale, Esq. Sir : I have read your letter of the 19th instant, in reply to mine of the 14th, and there is so little in it to the point, that I think the public will soon be relieved from the tedium of our discussion. In fact, the only object for which I addressed you was to tie you hard and fast to certain injurious statements which you had put forth against me, and compel you, as far as moral influence could have that power, either to prove them, or to stand before the public as a man who bears false witness against his neighbor. I thought you could not prove them ; and it only remains to show, that the hair- splitting of your last letter cannot screen you from the verdict which you would now be willing to escape from. You represented me as requiring Catholics to " abjure societies," under penalties, which you exaggerated in your first strictures on my Pastoral Letter. This was false testimony — for, I defined the character of the societies to which I had referred — as, " certain societies ;" — and these, " as generally designalted as Sbcket Socie- ties," " bound together by oaths or other religious obligations." You represent me as denouncing " societies," without qualification or distinction! This might have happened inadvertently in the first Instance ; but your attempt in your last letter, to vindicate this perversion, shows, either that you intended to misrepresent me, and, therefore, acted from a dishonest purpose ; or else, that you are utterly ignorant of the first principles of logic. Suppose you had written that men should not encourage " certain vile editors," who are generally designated "indecent editors," — that is conductors of indecent papers. And suppose 1 should pro- claim that you attacked Editors generally, by omitting the qualifica- tions " vile and indecent," you would have just reason to charge me' 344 with injurious misrepresentations. And yet, as I should have em- ployed the word "Editors," and you had employed the word " Editors," what kind of a pitiable evasion would it be for me to say, in the words of your last letter, " I quoted your precise lan- guage !" Sir, this is trifling, unworthy of the conductor of a public press ; unworthy of a professor of the Christian Religibn. Next, — I did not say that the Quakers required their members to abjure Societies; but I said what every man acquainted with their usages must know ; namely, that they cut off from the rights of in- terment, those who, while living, violated the rules, and forfeited the communion of their Society. Again : you take me to task for seeming to doubt whether you really suppose that the " cross," as printed, meant " a dagger." For this doubt you say you will not forgive me, although I pleaded your pardon. " Every man," you add, " has a right to speak of the movements within his own breast, and in a society of gentlemen, has a right to be believed." I stand corrected, since you put it on the ground of " courtesy." When you say that you supposed it a dagger, courtesy requires that I should believe you, and I do be- lieve you, accordingly. If a man opens his door to my visit, and tells that he is not at home, I am bound, in courtesy, to acquiesce. Tour case is much stronger than this. But, in making the state- ment, I really took it for granted that you could not be serious, in fact, that you were quizeing. How could I suppose that you were ignorant of the custom which prevails, and has prevailed, for centu- ries among bishops, of prefixing the sign of the Cross to their offi- cial signatures ! In all civilized countries it is customary among gentlemen to treat the ministers of religion with, at least, the ordinary courtesy which they observe towards each other — and when I remembered the style in which you thought proper to present my name before the public, in your strictures on my Pastoral Letter, it was quite natu- ral for me to regard you as wishing to be a wag, whatever else you might, or might not, be. Your words are these—" We do not think it necessary for us to notice Pastoral Letters generally, but this John is the same man who headed a political meeting, last yeai', for the nomination of members of Assembly, and has shown, in various ways, that he can turn his hand to Pastoral Politics as well as Religion, and as he avows himself the appointee of a foreign Prince, who not only issues bulls, but raises armies, makes war, de- thrones kings (or did once) and overturns nations, it is right enough to examine a little the horns of the bulls which he sets to roaring among us. * * * The letter is signed John Hughes with a dagger." I do not stop to point out the false statements in this quotation, although they are as thick as it would be well possible to pack them, within the same compass ; but I merely suggest the in- quiry whether such coarse language is in accordance with the rules of courtesy ? Whether it was not natui;al for me, to suppose that the writer was ambitious to pass for a wit, or a wag, as you may XETTEE TO DAVID HALE. 345 choose ? And wbetlier it was possible for me to imagine, that the author of such a passage could ever dream of throwing himself back on the reserved rights of a gentleman ? I hope these circumstances will extenuate somewhat m.y mistake, when I took it for" granted that you could not be serious in mistaking the cross for " a dag- ger ;" but at all events, how was it possible for me to anticipate that the author of such a wanton and coarse attack, should even as- sume to play the "Magister Elegantiarium " — the arbiter of the courtesy among gentlemen ! ! Leaving this aside, then, I think it hard that you, professing, at least, to be a Christian, should refuse . to forgive me for a mistake into which your style had betrayed me. I, on the contrary, forgive you, in my mind, regularly twice a day ; and as often, besides, as I happen to think of you and the " Journal of Commerce." So, after all, you are obliged to back out of the false accusation respecting the priest who, as you alleged, made a 'Catholic girl walk round the church on her knees, " until the blood issued freely from her wounds." I thought so. And now, for your information, let me tell you that I had nothing to do with the " promises made," at the Washington Hall, or elsewhere. You asserted then, a gross calumny, which you were never able to prove. I had nothing to do with calling upon you for the proofs of it. I knew it would be use- less. I never made allusion to the subject in public, and all the statements in the " Journal of Commerce," representing me in that business, you may add as an appendix to the false statements already noticed. Other gentlemen thought proper to call on you, and demand proof, but I did not. And, after all, how did you get out of the scrape ? Three lines, giving the name of the priest whom you accused, and the parties in the accusation, would have been sufficient. Instead of this, you waited some two or three months, until — from anonymous pamphlets — hasty and inconsider- ate proceedings, involving the reputation of fifteen or twenty gen- tlemen, who were in no wise connected with your statement, had been raked together by the industry of some scavenger of scandal who appeared to be at your command, and all that mass was pre- sented, in several columns of the Journal of Commerce, as the proof of a fact, which, if it had been true, could have been establisbed in a half dozen lines of a single column ; and because the gentlemen who did call on you did not think proper to re-agitate such a varie- ty of questions, involving the private feelings and character of so many persons, you escaped from the exposure, respecting a single and malignant charge, which you have done so much to merit. It is related in the history of the persecutions of Ireland that a poor Catholic was on his trial for murder, and though there was no witness against him — though the man was alive at the tiine, who was said to have been murdered — though the judge charged the jury accordingly — still, they brought him in guilty, on the plea that though he was innocent of thai crime, he had committed others be- fore, and, therefore, ought to be hanged. Out of Ireland, I pre- 346 AECIIBISHOP HTJGHES' sume, the aunals of malevolence never furnished a nearer approacli to the ethics of thai jury, than was found in your reply to the proofs demanded of you, by the gentlemen at Washington Hall. On the subject, of the petty persecutions of conscience that are carried on against servants in a few, generally speaking, obscure families, I am glad to perceive that my remarks have awakened in your breast symptoms of humanity and good feeling. It is not I, but the religion which they profess, that forbids Cathohcs from joining in the forms of worship belonging to Jews, Presbyterians, Unitarians, or others, with whom they may live. You say that the CathoKcs, in reference to religion, have nothing but opinion to depend on, like their Protestant fellow-citizens. I am surprised at this. As, however, you do not appear to be a proficient in dialectics, I will furnish you with some illustrations which may aid you in comprehending " a difference " which you do not seem to under- stand. The doctrines of the Constitution, in civil matters, are facts, and not opinions. The appointment of judges, to determine what those facts are, is itself a fact, and not an opinion. Their uniform decision, with respect to those facts, is also a fact, and not an opinion. 'Now, this will correspond with the dogmas of revela- tion, and the living authorities, at all times contemporaneous with their existence and descent, to determine what they are. This, although every human comparison fails, may illustrate to your mind what 1 meant to assert with regard to the facts, which are believed in the CathoHc Church. In the faith of that Church there is no teaching of opinion whatever — there never has been — there never can be. What is opinion in the Catholic Church, is something not included in the Revelations of God. When He has vouchsafed to speak, what he says is a fact, a truth to be believed, not an opinion to be tried at the bar of man's feeble reason, and, therefore, opinion forms no part of the Church's doc- trines. You would not, perhaps, understand this so well, if I did not furnish the counterpart which belongs to you as a Protestant. Supposing you, in your civil ' capacity, were to hold that the doc- trines of the Constitution are mere opinions written out in plain English, which everybody can understand and interpret for him- self; and that, therefore, there is no weerf of judges — and that, if judges have decided otherwise, it was a usurpation on their part upon the rights of the people, who are abject enough to submit to it. You would then exemplify in your relations to the State, that which you now contend for, in your ideas of the economy of reve- lation. But every other individual would have the same right as yourself, and the Constitution would thus soon come to mean what the_ Bible, in yovr hands, is now made to mean ; that is, everything which a man, by perverting its true meaning, is pleased to adopt as his own opinion. Now, just reflect a little upon this ; as an imper- fect illustration of the difference between /ac^s and opinions, in ref- erence to the faith -nhich Christ and his Apostles established in the world . LETTEB TO DAVID HALE. 347 I thought, however, that the authority of King James' Bible would have satisfied you with respect to the officers in the Church whom the people are directed to " obey." You say that neither " prelates" nor " those who rule" are intended by the Apostle ; but that he meant " leading men" ! ! ! and you yourself claim for " leading men" that they should be "treated with deference, respect, and obedience." Very well. Let us suppose it to be "leading men," for argument's sake — for I will go a great way to accommodate you. Why then did you not allow me the advantage of your own interpretation when I published my Pastoral Letter ? You will admit, I presume, that I am a " leading man" among the Catholics. Why, then, since you proclaim that as such I should have been treated with " defer- ence, respect, and obedience," why, I say, did you preach up to them disregard, disrespect and disobedience towards me ? And in doing this, why did you go further, by bearing false witness against me ? Why did you say I attacked the institutions of the country ? Why did you charge them with unfitness to enjoy the blessings of liberty, if they should treat their " leading man" as the Bible directs him to be treated according to your own interpretation ? As to your opinions, as you know, I will not dispute any of them. In like manner, I shall avoid anything like religious controversy with you. This for several reasons : First, Because in the matter of dis- cussion alone, you show yourself so utterly unacquainted with the ordinary rules of reasoning, as not to be able to appreciate an argu- ment, or to know when you are driven from a false position. Sec- ondly, Because I suspect you are but ill acquainted with any system of religion ; and perhaps unable to define your belief.' Thirdly, Be- cause I do not venture too much in stating that you are entirely ignorant of the Catholic religion except as you may have learned it from the " Key of Popery," and other classical and theological works, of similar distinction. Did you ever in your life read a Catholic book of any acknowledged authority in the Church ? I doubt it ; and if you did, was it in that sincere mood and disposition of mind which is requisite to understand what the doctrines of the Catholic Church really are ? Or, on the contrary, did you not read it rather as the deist reads the Bible — for the purpose of extracting from it the weapons for its overthrow ? In any of these contingencies, it is evident that what you stand in need of, is not argument so much as information. And if you really desire information on this subject, I shall be most happy to affiDrd it, both by offering you the use of my library, and furnishing such aid by oral communications as your case may require. I shalfbe prepared to solve every objection, which may occur to you in the investigation, as far as my ability will go. Then when you have learned what the Catholic Church really is, you will be qualified to enter on a disputation against it, but not before. I do not make these observations in the spirit of disrespect. Far from it. No man can excel in every department, and, of course, I am willing to acknowledge that I should be as utterly disqualified for a discussion with you on political economy, the science of bank- 348 AECHBISHOP HTJGHBS ing, or the details of commerce, as you are for a discussion on the subject of the Catholic religion. In the mean time, your strictures on my Pastoral Letter abound with so many unfounded charges, that I shall, without classifying them, make a little enumeration of those that are most palpable. You say : 1. That I " have led my followers to the polls." 2. That in my Pastoral Letter I " have attacked the civil institu- tions of this country." 3. That I " have required Catholics to abjure societies" (without distinction). 4. That a Catholic priest condemned a young woman " to walk upon her bare knees around the church until the blood issued freely from her wounds." Now, sir, if these charges are true, prove them. If they are not true, retract them, and entitle yourself thereby to the respect of honorable men. But, sir, in demanding proof it will not do for you to ^epend wpon false statements found in your own columns or else- where. Tell me on the testimony of a witness when or where or whom I led to the polls. 2d. Point out the passage in my Pastoral Letter in which I have " attacked the civil institutions of this country." 3d. Show me where I have required Cathohcs " to abjure socie- ties," other than those which are designated " secret," and bound together by an oath or other religious obligation. 4th. Give me the name of the priest and of the Catholic young woman who were parties to " walking around the church on her knees till the blood issued freely from her wounds." All these are things not above your comprehension. If these are true you must have the means of proving them. If they are not true you ought to be ashamed of yourself. But whether you will or not, I shall conclude by wishing you may " live a thousand years," and learn that when a Catholic bishop puts the sign of the Cross be- fore his signature it is the symbol of Christianity you see, and not a " dagger," as you " supposed." ^ JOHN" HUGHES, Bishop, etc. New York, Nov. 21, 1842. To L)avid Hale, Esq^. : Sir — I have read your letter in the Journal of Commerce of this morning. A few words will be sufficient in reply. You state that want of leisure has prevented you from giving to my last letter that attention which it deserves. This is precisely what I anticipated. Under the strongest conviction that you had " borne false witness against your neighbor," it occurred to me that you would find yourself wonderfully oppressed for want of time, when it should be necessary to furnish the proof of your statements. LETTER TO DAVID HALE. 349 It was partly on this account that I contrived to make your task so simple and so easy ; for after all, the question bet'ween us is not a question in New Orleans, but a question here in New York. Tlie matter between us was stated at the close of my last letter, in the condensed form of the following words : In the mean time your strictures on my Pastoral Letter abound with so many unfounded charges, that I shall, without classifying them, make a little enumeration of those that are are moat palpable. You say : 1. That I " ha-ve led my followers to the polls." 2. That in my Pastoral Letter I "ha-se attacked the civil institu- tions of this country." 3. That I " have required Catholics to abjure societies" (without distinction). 4. That a Catholic priest condemned a young woman " to walk upon her bare knees around the church until the blood issued freely from her wounds." Now, sir, if these charges are true, prove them. If they are not true, retract them and entitle yourself thereby to the respect of hon- orable men. But, sir, in demanding proof, it will not do for you to depend upon /aZse statements found in your own columns or elsewhere. Tell me on the testimony of a witness when or lohere or whom I led to the polls. 2d. Point out the passage in my Pastoral Letter in which I " have attacked the civil institutions of this country." 3d. Show me where I have required Catholics to "abjure socie- ties," other than those which are designated " secret," and bound together by an oath or other religious obligation. 4th. Give me the name of the priest and of the Catholic young woman who were parties to her " walking round the church on her knees till the blood issued freely from her wounds." All these are things not above your comprehension. If they are true you must have the means of proving them. If they are not true you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Such were some of the statements you had made. And I assumed that a man making pretensions to Christian morality would not make such statements without being authorized by certain proof of their being correct and true. This proof, then, is all that I demanded as above. You allege that you " have not had time," after more than two weeks, to furnish the proof Pardon me, sir, if I must reject this statement, unless, indeed, you require me to admit it "by courtesy." My first reason respecting it is, that the proofs, if they were in your possession, could have been furnished in twenty-five minutes. My second reason is, that though you could not find twenty-five minutes for that purpose, you have been able to find time to translate a long document of anti-Catholic matter, issued by the trustees of a church in New Orleans. Neither do you appear to have been pressed of time in this opera- 350 AECIIBISHOP HUGHES. tion, since you seem to have considered other possible translations of the document; and tell us that "there is not a sentence which might not have been translated some other way." I shall not criticize your translation, for I hold both the translation and the original to be of small importance. I could furnish you with a bushel of such documents ; and the reason why I notice your translation at all, is the difficulty which the time spent on it presents to my mind, in contrast with another statement of yours, in which you assert that you had not leisure enough to " attend" to my letter ! Will you have the goodness to reconcile this apparent discrepancy between two of your own statements ; whilst I, waiting for the proofs of your former assertions, remain Your obedient servant, '»{« JOHN HUGHES, Bislop, etc. December 15, 1842. INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY UPON CIVILIZATION. 351 RT. REV. BISHOP HUGHES' LECTURE, DELIVERED IN THE TABERNACLE, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY OTH, 1843, BEFORE THE CATHOLIC LIBRARY SOCIETY. Subject : — Influence of Christianity upon Civilization. [The following lecture was announced to be delivered on December 22d, 1842, but the Rt. Rev. Bishop Dubois having died on the 20th of December, it was, in consequence, postponed until the 5th of January, 1843.] " Civilization" is a word in our language which all who under- derstand the language comprehend, but of which it might, perhaps, be difficult to give a definition that would convey an absolute mean-, ing. It is, like so many other words, relative, and not absolute. Every one knows what it means in a general way, but there is no fixed standard whereby to determine its absolute value. It is un- derstood to express the condition of society living under fixed prin- ciples and laws, in mutual and social relations with each other ; and, therefore, wherever this exists, there must be, in some degree at least, civilization. And it is not a little remarkable that human na- ture, being the same in all ages, wherever Christianity has not pene- trated, there is eithei; no civilization, or civilization on the lowest possible scale. 'Sot only there, but wherever Christianity has de- parted from a land, there you find the movement retrograde ; and mankind, although possessed of all their powers of reason, and all their natural faculties, without that spirit and feeling, relapsing, if not into, at least towards, primitive barbai'ism. We, in our age, are enjoying the blessings of civilization to a very large extent (it is not to be supposed that they have reached their perfection yet; nevertheless they are in very ample development) ; and it is natural for us, in this as in other things, to trouble ourselves little about the means by which mankind — society — that moral being — ^that aggre- gate of human mind and human feeling — should be in the position of enjoying those blessings. Soinetimes we pride ourselves in their enjoyment, but seldom inquire how it was that these blessings have been accumulated and brought to their present perfection. If, then, I enter on this subject Somewhat, let it not be supposed that I pre- sent to you the highest value of Christianity. Let it not be supposed that I would, even honorable as it is to revelation, make this th« primary, or supreme, end of its comrsunication to man. N"o.' It has two aspects. One is all divine, looking to God. One, contem- 352 ARCHBISHOP hughes' LECTUEE. plating man, not in his temporal existence, tut in Ms eternal state of being. And that seems to be the direct object of Christianity. But it is a remarkable thing, as observed by Montesquieu in his "Spirit of Laws," and an admirable thing, that religion,^ which ap- pears to have been intended exclusively for our happiness in a future life, is also to serve for the support of our felicity in the present. And it is that indirect effect, that temporal effect, that social influ- ence of the Christian religion, of which I treat ; not as its primary, but as its secondary, yet exceedingly important, result. _ Our fore- fathers, having all the mind naturally that we have, having all the affection that we have, having even a larger portion of physical power of endurance and exertion, were barbarians notwithstanding ; and wherever you can trace the line, that is the verge of Christianity ; understand and know that beyond that is barbarism. If, then, I speak of the subject selected, it is not, knowing as I do the nature of my own function, which is to speak to men of Heaven, and of God and of Eternity, and of the sacred and mysterious things of that religion, it is not that I would raise these mere temporal considera- tions to an equality of appreciation. But it is that even as regards that which constitute the cement and the strength and the ornament of social life, I should also point out to you that it is to the Great Author of our redemption that we are indebted for all. Christi- anity on the other hand is itself, so far as it is exemplified in the life of its Divine Author, perfect as its source. Then, communicated to man, it is a principle planted in the heart — it is a conviction — a religious conviction — it is a sentiment — it is in itself, if I might so speak, the opposite of all that is physical or all that constitutes physical power. It is not intended by its Divine Author (for if it were it would have accomplished its purpose) to destroy absolutely the free will of man, so as to change him by its divine influence against his will into a perfect being. But it is a sentiment by which, if a man guide himself, he will be as perfect as it is possible for his nature to be. If, then, Christianity, in its descent down to us, side by side, and intimately connected and interwoven with the progress of social life, has not made individuals and families and communities and nations happy, it is because it has had to operate on a nature that is evil. Man is naturally evil. It points out to him the way of goodness ; but it does not compel him by either moral or invin- cible coercion of any kind to embrace it. This remark is exceed- ingly important in reference to the view of the subject which I am about to take. Because, as errors on this point are often to be met with in our age, when there is so much to be read, and on account of the quantity, so superficially too, it is important for us to make that distinction ; and instead of holding Christianity or Religion or the Church responsible for the evil that has occurred, rather to ascribe that evil "o its proper source, and understand that the good which has resulted came from the religion, whilst the evil itself came from the corrupt and depraved heart of man, on whom that religion could make no impression. This, then, is an important distinction INFLUENCE OP CIIEISTIANITT UPOJT CIVILIZATION. 353 to be made. For here, in speaking of past ages, or speaking of the forms, the phases, at different times and in different countries, pre- sented to our contemplation by social life, it is customary in many quarters to charge religion, the only remedy for the evil of these times, as if it were responsible for the evils it could not prevent ! And we never can appreciate tLe advantages of religion in the im- provement of the social condition — the correction of the passions of the human heart — the amelioration of the social institutions, laws, usages, and manners, unless we make that distinction and draw the line broadly between what religion recommended and what it has been able to accomplish, and that which it recommended, but which men in the stubbornness of their pride and obduracy of their hearts refused to perform. It is singularly remarkable that the Author of our religion, neither in his public preaching during his brief minis- try on earth, nor in the writings of his Apostles — left by inspiration after his ascension — has so much as one word in reference to the improvement which should occur in the world by virtue of the doc- trines he had promulgated. There is not a word about the fevils which existed, and which penetrated' into all society at the time He lived on our earth. There is not a word of the iniquities prevailing, not a word of recommendation to his Apostles to overturn these governments, even if they had the power ; not a promise that they should become rich, or happy, or powerful, in a worldly point of view ; but on the contrary, if there be a prediction shadowed forth at all, it is that they should be the especial victims of the world's persecution. Nevertheless, it would be impossible even then, for a iTtind capable of appreciating on this point of view the effects of his doctrines, not to see that in the principles of justice, the principles of truth, the principles of fraternity, the principles of holiness, which his doctrines embodied, there was enough to give sure promise that if these doctrines ever took root in the world, they must of them- selves and of necessity, as a little leaven, gradually leaven the whole mass. It is in the -first promulgation of these doctrines that you see the germ of civilization. This was not, so far as the text goes, so far as the fact speaks, the intention for which the doctrine was itselt spread abroad, but it was of necessity to be its effect. Because for the first time He conferred honor on human nature, and He taught his disciples to love their neighbor as themselves. He called them once " servants," but aftgrwards He called them " brethren ;" and after all, if you will examine and trace to its primitive origin the whole amelioration of the social condition, from the time that He pro- claimed his doctrine on the earth, you will not find this so much in any specific text as in the great conviction of the fundamental doc- trine of his own person and of his own nature. Cast your eyes abroad over all the nations of whom we have any knowledge from antiquity, and you will find man, as to his nature, despised. You will find, turning over the pages of the Persian, Egyptian, and Grecian historian, that man in himself was esteemed of no value, that the line was almost invisible between him in whom was concentrated 23 354 AECumsiioP hughes' lecttjee. absolute power, which he exercised as tyrants always will, and the I'est of the people — they were groaning beneath his iron sceptre ; that there was but one monarch, and the rest slaves of various .grades and different conditions. If you look, then, at the great theatre of Roman domination, you will find that in Rome, with all its pretended civilization, the sume feature prevailed. The citizens of Rome, when we read and read hastily, we suppose to have been pretty much like our own citizens. But there can be no conception more erroneous than this. The Roman citizen was as one perhaps to ten thousand; and the plebeian race, and above all the slaves, were as persons of no value; hecause they were not citizens, and because not having that special privilege, their nature, although like that of the others, stamped with the image of God, was not appreciated. There was nothing to give them value. And the great idea of the great lever which Christianity presented for the elevation of the human race, was the doctrine that the Divine Son became man, and in be- coming man elevated human nature by its union with the divine nature in the same person ! This is the origin ; and if you start from the fountain and behold these waters of regeneration bursting forth from their primitive source, and watch them as they meandered and divided, now into one stream of benevolence, now into another, now into the improvement of legislation, now into the mitigation of the civil condition of the slave, and as they passed from nation to nation, and age to age, you will see in all their branches this power and efficacy, because God had ennobled humanity by the " Word" being " made Flesh and dwelling amongst men." It is further to be observed that the lesson which first united the disciples together was a lesson of love and of fraternity. And it no doubt entered into the providence of God that that which was a doctrine and an affection should become, through the manner of its development, a standard of imitation to spread from the centre to the circumference of the world. The first lesson of equality, prac- tical equality, we can trace to the catacombs of Rome, where those who professed Christianity were obliged to hide themselves from Pagan persecution. You will behold there the bishop of that city, and the noble senator, and the freedman, and the slave — all, as brethren, assembled around the altar on which they ofiered sacrifice to their God, and near the sepulchre which was to contain their consecrated remains. The first lesson vias , one of suffering and humility ; and whilst the Christian Church was in this situation of suffering, it is not to be expected that she, either by her external development of the moral principle with which God has inspired her, or by any other influence, could exercise any power over the usages which then prevailed. Nevertheless, if you watch the progress of Roman legislation, you will find that even before the empire professed the Christian name the harsh spirit of that legislation was mitigated. Many of its stern and cruel featureg were changed for others of greater mildness ; and there is strong ii'eason to belie\e that the reflection of the example and usages of INFLUBlSrCE OF CHRISTIANITY UPON CIVILIZATION. 355 the obscure and persecuted Christians was shed even on the mind and heart of him- who wielded the imperial sceptre. Until then 'the slave, under Roman civilization, had no protection of any kind. Until then the slave belonged to his master as the ox belonged ; even the attribute of humanity «'as denied him ; he was called a thing — "res" — and not a man. His master could kill and destroy him at his pleasure ; and it is known that the slaves, even whilst at labor, were bound with chains of iron, and at night were compelled to retire to the caverns of the earth, with only an opening as a me- dium of breathing the air of heaven. We know that, in his caprice, the master sent one of his slaves to be devoured alive by the fishes in his pond, for no reason except that, in awkwardly attending the banquet, he allowed a crystal vase to fall and be broken. We know another instance, in which four hundred slaves were directed to be taken between files of soldiers and massacred — for what crime think ye ? . None, but that their master had been assassinated, and they would not tell by whom ; possibly because they could not ! But it was to be presumed that it could not have occurred without the knowledge of the slaves, and therefore the slaves were to forfeit their lives to that inconsiderate and barbarian law. Now we find the first modification of that law under the subsequent emperors. But if such was the manner in which the slaves were treated, let us see what was the manner in which that first element of social exist- ence, the family, was regulated. A family is in itself a State ; it is a corporation in which there is form, and dominion, and order ; and the Christian family presents a spectacle which would have aston- ished the ancients, who could not have admitted the possibility of the existence of such a perfect organization in domestic life. The Roman family was not a natural family. It was a civil one, regu- lated by the law ; and under that law the father owned his children just as he did his slaves. He could kill them both. The mother could do so at their birth, without any crime against the State ; or the father, at any subsequent period ; he could sell them, or disjDose of them as he pleased. If you can imagine, then, such a family, and an aggregate of such families, you will have some idea of that free Rome, so-called, where the law protected the father, and' secured this power to him, which he might exercise as arbitrarily- as he thought proper, so long as he lived. The child was incapable of acquiring anything. All that he acquired belonged not to him, for he belonged not to himself, but to his father. And when death re- moved that father, then he himself passed, by a- sudsien transition, from the condition of a slave to that of the tyrant under whom he had previously lived. Would you speak of- that so immediately connected with the family — the marriage bond ? You will find that the wife was scarcely the companion of the husband'. She was, it is true, not called a slave ; she was called ai wife. But she was, both on account of her sex and on that "of relation, a being in this condi- tion of society, having no rights- from the hour of her birth until she went to her grave. She oould not bequeath to her child anything ; 356 AECHBISHOP hughes' LECTUEE, no, not even a token of affection, without permission. During her minority she belonged to her father, and after her marriage she be- longed to her husband. And the consequences of this, in the grow- ing depravity of that corrupt community, were such as respect for the modesty and the feeling which, thanks to Christianity, exist in your bosoms, prevents me from describing in any way. After this period, then, of which this is but a faint outline, you find a new order of things introduced when Constantine professes the Christian religion, and in a very brief period you find the first law enacted towards the emancipation of the slaves ; laws also enacted for the relief of the poor ; and the first external manifestar tions of the feelings apd of the principles which Christianity had implanted in the heart, and which had exhibited no direct power before. Then succeeds rapidly — for in a matter of this kind I must pass very cursorily — the decline of that empire and that people so fond of blood, especially in this last and most corrupt stage ; that people, who could amuse the multitudes in the amphitheatres' with the spectacle of Christians devoured by the lions of Africa ; .that people, who could season their banquets with the agonies of naked gladiators piercing each other's breasts ; that period of blood and voluptuousness — the bloody star of their dominion now set for ever. Then came in a new order. Those hordes from the north of Europe and Asia — the Huns, Goths and Yandals — rushed upon the empire as a deluge, as if the cataracts of heaven had been again opened, and the great fountains of the earth had burst forth afresh ; one tide rising above its fellow, and rolling onward as if to blot out the bloody foot-prints of that iron-hearted race, who had made the earth groan beneath the weight of their violence and crime. (Loud ap- plause.) These invaders were not Christians. They came, not knowing their own mission, but with a kind of instinct in their hearts — a kind of dim idea that God had destined them to become the scourge of that empire ; so much so that Attila, who boasted that " where the hoof of his steed once struck the earth, the grass never grew again," boasted also that he was the " Scourge of God." But he was only one of a series who came, one after another, de- stroying everything that had resulted from the operation of the Roman mind, and the progress of Roman civilization. Yet whilst those torrents of barbarism spread over the empire, religion and her ministers were also there ; and the ship of the Church, mounting on these waves, with its crew inspired by the promises of their glorified Master, was now employed in gathering, hea^e and there, the frag- ments of literature, science, and the arts of civilization which floated on the surface, and would , otherwise have perished utterly and for ever. (Applause .) This was their occupation. The very form in which God had appointed that his, Church should develop itself, became, in the goodness of his providence, the means of preservmg these benefits to future ages. He, instilling his doctrines into the simple-hearted followers who surrounded him,, selected twelve, and of thejaa he chose one; aqd th"s constituted a society, organized IJ?FLUENCB OF CUKISTIANITT UPOK CITILIZATIOIT. 357 with its own peculiar government and powers of goVernmeBt within itself. You cannot read the history of those ages without seeing how intimately the Church and State were blended together ; and you cannot, perhaps, refrain from expressing your indignation at the discovery. You may not have understood the explanation of this fact. Christianity and the Church have nothing to do with the State. Their mission is from heaven to man. Men believe it, and its end again is heaven. So that if the Pope — the first bishop of the Chui'ch ; the successor of him who was taken from the twelve, and appointed one to whom was given power not given to others — if he becomes an important personage in secular or political matters, in after times, do not suppose that he is so by virtue of any warrant he received from his Divine Master. His oiEce and these things are, in themselves. Utterly separate. " How did it occur then," it will be asked, " that strange union of Church and State — ^that intertwining of the fibres of the one with the other, so that it is almost impossible, by reading history, to dis- tinguish the limits, and in fact that it occasioned perpetual strug- gles of the one power against the other, in which each had its own mode of warfare, appropriate to its own nature and character ?" It is easy to explain all this. When civilization was destroyed ; when the Roman provinces were pillaged by a new and barbarous race, . who refused to adopt any of the manners of the people whom they had subdued and annihilated, and who would not stoop to learn wisdom from the conquered; in a word, when men without culti- vation, without literature or laws, occupied that empire, was it not a great mercy that in that ship of the Church, which rode triumph- antly on the wave of barbarism, there shonld ha\'e been found men capable of teaching these barbarians ? This was the origin of the union of Church and State. The very nature of the office sustained by the ministers of religion kept them in contact .with mankind. What are they sent for but to convert the heart ; to subdue the natural ferocity of men ; to make them love each other ? How, then, could they abstain from intercourse with mankind ? and how could they have that intercourse without imparting some of that light to the taper of him who was in darkness, and came within the reach of their illuminating influence ? When the whole social fabric was broken down, what remained to be done, except that these men should exert themselves in gathering up and restoring all the frag- ments of what was valuable ; in re-eonstructing the social edifice, and regenerating the afieotions and enlightening the minds of the new nation springing into existence ? It was thus that the early ministers of the Church laid the enduring foundations of the modern and boasted civilization. If you find, then, that the Church came to have infiuence in the State, do not impute it to the ambition of her ministers, although it is proper to acknowledge that even these men, high and holy as was their calling, would not be in all cases above the influence of that feeling more than other men. They were men ; a;iid as men 358 jBCiiBisHOP hughes' lectuee. they would be operated on, more or less, by the ordinary feelinga to which our nature is subject. But examine the page of history, and you will find that if they had influence— if they began to be arbitrators, and from that to be, as it was natural, magistrates and judges of the peace — it was because they had gained the confidence of the people by whom they were surrounded ; because their mis- sion and cliaracter inspired those people with respect," and led them to confide in their ability and will to render that justice which they might have elsewhere sought in vain. And so general was the feel- ing of popular confidence and desire to seek the counsel and judg- ment of the Church, that her ministers were often obliged to devote much of their time to these works. In the writings of St. Augus- tine we find that when he wished to call on St. Ambrose, he found him " so surrounded by clients that it was difficult to gain an au- dience." And at that time and subsequently, also, but especially at that period when all the regular organization of government was dissolved, the Christians had in their minds that admonition of St. Paul to the Corinthians when he seemed to have been scandalized at them for referring their disputes to the Pagan judges, and exhorted them to refer them to some of their own communion. They applied that admonition, and because these ministers of re- ligion in the constitution of society were the persons to whom the people would naturallyflock, as men not having families of their own — no interest to interfere with their pursuit of holy things — they natu- rally became the umpires and judges, the duties of which offices they were well fitted to discharge with propriety, from their superior learning, and their vastly superior integrity. (Loud applause.) We know that historians, and even ecclesiastical historians, boast of the conduct of Constantine when he assisted at the great Council of Nice with the bishops, and though emperor of the world, as might be said, yet was so humble that he would not allow himself to ex- press an opinion in the matter. But in the final issue it could not but turn out a misfortune that the emperor was present on such an occasion, and we accordingly find that he who was so humble and respectful to the ministers of religion, lived long enough so to ap- preciate his own power in relation to the Church as in the contro- versies between the orthodox and the Arians to take upon himself the decision of the question, without the slightest hesitation, and banished into exile such of the bishops as refused to acquiesce. From that time forward if you find the bishops entering more or less into the counsels of the king or of the State, it is because the latter were ignorant, and the bishops enhghtened. It was because the State officials wished to borrow from the light of the bishop, as he, from his character, position and bearing had manifested that lo\e of human nature which was now prized, not by any earthly consideration, but by its equivalent of value in the idea that man had been raised by the Incarnation for the enjoyment of his primi- tive destiny. (Applause.) Going on, you will come to the origin of monastic institutions. INFLUENCE OP CHEISTIANITT UPON CIVILIZATION. 350 And it has been quite customary to look on them as rather indica- tions of barbarism, or a low state of civilization. It would not be- come me, on an occasion like this, to enter into any question con- nected with the merits of these religious institutions in a religious point of view. That is not appropriate for the plan or occasion, and I will leave it aside. But I will view them in connection with the times and the progress of society. I find in them one of the most remarkable agencies which God employed for extending the bless- ings of civilization, and giving form and permanence to these crude materials for modern nations which were then strewn around. How was this ? The Roman empire being in the state I have de- scribed — overrun with northern barbarians, who brought with them all their habits of plunder, dislike of labor, and unspeakable con- tempt for the occupation of letters as one only fitted for the coward — how were they brought into that condition in which all the min- gled interests of -a large community could be so balanced and arranged as to allow freedom to each, and equal rights to all. How was this to be accomplished? How was it, in fact, done? I answer, it was effected in a great measure by the institution of monastic orders. I find, in reading history, especially that of the Church, that these institutions had amongst their objects the preservation of ancient manuscripts which would otherwise have perished. Their origin was in the desire of their founders to retire from the evils of the world, to save theif own souls, and serve their God in solitude. There, then, jou see the first organization of civilized life, in the constitution of a religious community. The very word " commu- nity" was unknown before, and had its origin in those institutions. Admirable schools of wisdom and justice, and freedom too! — the essence of whose constitution and government has been infused into the best civil organizations of modern times ! (Loud applause.) The time of the monks was divided in attention to rest, prayer, study, and labor. And if in the sequel they became wealthy, and seem to have occupied a larger space than they ought have occu- pied, let not that, any more than their character and influence, be misunderstood. In theii- origin they selected locations where land was of no value, because inhabitants were wanting and the soil was not prized. They ordinarily selected retired places — the wilderness, far remote from the usual haunts of men — but they were industri- ous ; their habits were religiously frugal ; their clothing was of the coarsest texture ; they lived a perpetual life, never dying, but as a body with its paiU.icles always supplied in proportion to the waste ; having no helpless childhood, nor feeble youth, nor decrepid age in their Institution ; they, by their own continual industry, and the gradual increase through ages in the value of the lands on which they had settled, became, without its being at the expense of any human being on the earth, wealthy and influential. (Long continued applause.) These untrodden, wild and barrcm mountains, which they found forsaken and forbidding, tho'ir patient toil converted 360 AECHBISHOP hughes' LECTUEE. into smiling gardens, whicli thus became the first " model-farms " to the inhabitants of the agricultural regions of Europe. The monks were now the pioneers of successful agriculture.^ They taught it ; they practiced it with their own hands ; it was, in part, their occupation. And not in agriculture alone — which is, we may remember, the first element of civilized social life—but in science .and literature, they were the instructors of their fellow-men. Whilst some of their number tilled the ground, others taught, and others studied. And in their constitutions we find express pro- visions made for the transcribing of the ancient documents which had been preserved, and books of a peculiarly unpleasant kind were reserved for copying in penitential times, such as Lent ; for as yet the world had no printing-press. These were the men who pre- served and handed down to future ages the hoarded treasures of the past, which, but for their patient, denying toil, would have been irrecoverably lost. Take the Benedictine order alone, which existed for some fourteen hundred years, and you see that it has been em- ployed, during the whole night of barbarism, in gathering up the fragments of the ancient writers and the fathers. All, in fact, that we know of Greece and Rome, and the perished empires of the past, has been derived from these despised monks. They were the men who built the bridge — the only bridge connecting ancient with modern civilization. And whilst we, in our ingratitude, feasting on the labors of their toilsome hours, call them "lazy monks," wo ought to know that they were the literary carriers of all the knowl- edge that has come down to us from the elder days of the world. (Immense applause.) But I perceive that I should waste the whole of the time appro- priate for a lecture, if I were to follow out any single idea which occurs to me on a subject like the present. I shall, therefore, be ob- liged to hurry on, in order to give some hasty glances at a general view of a topic which covers such a vast space of time and of locality. Gradually from this period you find these nations, in their strug- gle against the mild and gentle influence of Christianity, themselves opposing or slowly yielding to it, following out in their social forms the primitive instinct of the races from whom they were descended. Thus you find in the first legislation that the life of an ancient sub- ject of the empire was not worth so much as that of one of the invaders ; and again, in that strange comJ)ounding for injuries in- flicted, that the price of a first finger was nearly as much as that of a linib, because they wanted it to pull the bow-string, and send the arrow to the foeman's heart. It is only by thus examining the con- dition of society, at that period, that you learn how near the state of infancy it was, how feeble then the dawn of "the general mind. Then, after the decline and fall of that empire, we enter on the " middle," or, as they are sometimes called, the " dark ages ;" not so much because exclusively dark in themselves as because we our- selves are very much in the dark respecting them, and in the brevity of human life do not deem the toil of research to be compensated INFLTJENCIB OF CUKISTIANITY UPON CIVILIZATION. 361 by any advantageous return, K'ow these ages are, to a certain ex- tent, of this description unquestionably ; but, in the mean time, through these ages you observe the powerful worldngs out of that great idea which God had made known through his Divine" Son, viz., the worth of human nature. Then wag the time of the found- ing of all these charitable 'institutions for the aid or relief of human- ity. Then was the period of Christian heroism — of men and women dedicating themselves to the suffering and the poor ; the poor who were despised under ancient civilization, and the poor who are un- happily yet despised. Then it was that charity made her dwelling with men ; and recollect that charity is like a new sense, it is as if God has given a new sense, but a divine one, to tlie human mind ; charity, the whole of which is the gift of tlie Christian religion ; that charity which consists in loving God, and men for God's sake; because Christ the Redeemer loved man, and laid down his life for for him 1 Then it was that men jDledged themselves by a solemn vow ; so noble and disinterested was their heroism, that they crossed the deep, and periled life and all they had, to save a human being who, once baptized into Christianity, might still fall into apostacy and be lost. Then was the period when those institutions of charity, those hospitals for the relief — now of one, now of another form of human suffering — were founded. So ample were the provisions thus made, that I might ask you to set the imagination to work, and then write down in a catalogue all the misfortunes and calamities of a moral or physical description to vvhich man, as a man, can be sub- ject, and present it to me, and I will show you an institution of generous men, and generous women, taking leave of the pleasures of the world, and, with delight, consecrating themselves to the alleviation of each ! This is the nature and power of the feeling which pervades them. » We also find, at the same period, those crusades which have occupied so much of the attention of the historian and the student of human progress. By the superficial critics of modern times the motives of the crusaders have been censured, and the influence which they exercised on civilization denied altogether, or immensely underrated. These writers exhibit to their readers only their views of what they deem the absurdity of rousing whole nations into en- thusiastic determination to rescue a far city of the earth from the hands of the infidel. But such historians know little of what was accomplished by those chivalrous crusaders. They cannst see that by their successful invasion of the Mohammedan empire thej^ checked the career of the followers of the false prophet, and prevented the subjugation of the whole western portion of Europe to their do- minion. I enter not now at all into a discussion of the morality or the religious bearing of that chivalric enterprise, but I refer simply to its efi'ects on man in his social character, and affirm, without hesi- tation, that, in the order of human things, to these crusaders the westei-n nations of Europe are indebted for the preservation of the Christian fiith. ^62 AECHBisiiOP hughes' lectuee. Then it was, too, that another order .of society which had sprung up, a vestige of ancient slavery, was itself diminished. I allude to serfage, which mingled in all that complicated feudal system, and was but another, a milder form of the slavery of a past age. But the serf who accompanied his lord in the crusades was, when he returned, no longer a serf, but a free man. In relation to this whole class, you see the mild and gentle influence of Chiistianity in the amelioration of their condition. Under the ancient law of the em- pire the master could not emancipate Jhis slave, except under the greatest restrictions. The new legislation prepared the way for the emancipation of the serf, and provided for it on a thousand occa- sions, on which men ought to be grateful to God. Now a baron or nobleman, on the birth of a son- — now a youth when he attained his majority. Now, on the occurrence of any other prosperous or de- sirable event, gratitude was to be displayed by raising the serf to the privileges of freedom. And thus all over Europe yoii discover at this period the growing influence of Christianity on human soci- ety — a softening down and an amelioration, a shedding upon legis- lation arid social existence all those benign influences of religion, whose operation prepared the way for a higher state of civilization than that which we now enjoy. Subsequently to this you perceive the rapid progress of knowledge. You find the Universities of Paris, Pavia, Oxford, and Cambridge, of anterior origin. And it is remarkable that even during this period, from the first dawn of the revival of letters in the beginning of the thirteenth century, how rapid was the advance towards the full day of civilization. It is during this century that we read of twelve thousand students at Oxford alone at one time ; and at another time, of thirty thousand students, when every monastery besides had its school, and was the centre around which towns and villages and shires and counties were formed. When all this was going on, then, had it not been, for the shock of subsequent events, we can easily perceive that the progress of civilization would have been far more advanced at pres- ent than it was. (Great applause.) We are in the habit also of supposing that what we term human rights, and the particular limitations of rights and duties, were but imperfectly understood at this time. That it was to a certain extent is true. That there were abuses, persecution, and crimes of every kind, just as now, only perhaps of a somewhat coarser form, is not to be denied. But we are in the habit of supposing that men at this time were entirely dependent, if nol; in temporal, at all events in spiritual matters, on the clergy, and that what the latter ordered the former were prepared to do at all hazards. No falser concep-- tiou could be formed than this. On the contrary, so far from being in bondage to either spiritual or secular guides, it was then that, in the name of future generations, they took that noble stand in favor of human rights, because they were, as might well be said, the shield of humanity exalted in the person of Chiest by union with the Deity itself If you speak of the institutions of an Alfred — of the INPLUENCB OF CHRISTIANITY UPON CIVILIZATION. 363 very forms of legislation — of deliberative assemblies — of the ele- ments of jurisprudence — of the civil law — of what has been called the common law — I can tell you that if you thread them all up to their true source, you will find that it was in the sanctuary ; there Avas the origin of all that is now most dearly cherished in our social institutions. (Loud applause.) Had the ancients anything of a representative form of govern- ment ? 'No. Did they know or recognize anything of those three divisions — legislature, judiciary, and executive? Had they any knowledge of that phrase, whose origin we ourselves do not perhaps always recollect, the " Commonalty," or Commons of England ? No. They had no idea of a representative and deliberative assem- bly. And where did the idea of the " three Estates" — of, the " Estates general" — of the " Cortes" of Spain — for trodden down Spain was once one of the first and freest nations of Europe — origi- nate ? In the councils of the Church ! The bishops assembled in council and representatives of other orders were there also. I defy any historian to find any other origin for the representative form of government. If, again, you turn your eyes to the scientific develop- ments of the human mind, where had it its origin and where its proudest triumphs ? Just go and measure if you can the dimensions of those cathedrals and minsters which were upreared in those ages. Trace the development of the mind and the nicety and exactitude of the science by which the illuminated pages of manuscripts were lighted up. Measure those mighty Monies suspended in the air, those long and lofty arches pointed in the style called Gothic, but which properly speaking is not Gothic but Christian, and you will see that these men, in what we call the " dark ages," but what were in reality the middle ages, the ages of transition, knew how to stretch with precision the architect's line along the earth, and lay the foundations of noble edifices and raise them up, and turn the stones into form and suspend them in long drawn-archer over the " long-drawn aisle, and fretted vault." I question much, strange as it may sound, whether we have science enough to know how to take down these noble structures — it is certain we have not enough to know how to recon- struct them. (Loud applause). But let us pass to those striking evidences of higher civilization which are presented by the origin and progress of the fine arts, of which indeed architecture, on which I have just touched, is one. Engraving, painting, sculpture, all these things were necessarily lost in the great moral catastrophe to which I have already alluded. In my conception of civilization, I wish you to recollect it discovers its growth and advancement not alone in those arts and that knowl- edge which have their application merely to the animal comforts and well-being of our race. Civilization should do something more than provide a house to shelter our heads and clothing to shield our bodies from the cold air. God has created us with rational minds, and has alSo endowed us with affections which yearn for appropri. ate rutriment. We have hearts to glow with ecstasy or throb with 364 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES LSCTUEE. sympathizing sorrow ; we have imaginations to concei^'e and to create; ^va have susceptiliilities keenly alive to every impression ; and my idea of a high state of civilization is of that which, whilst it ministered most to the comfort of the body, and imposed the least restraint upon the individual, should at the same time allow, and even encourage, the highest development of those faculties whidi distinguish man above'the brute, and link his nature with divinity itself. (Loud applause.) And in the ages of which I now speak, was there not abundant evidence of the growth and supremacy of the moral and intellectual faculties of man ? Besides the sublimity of the architecture of the religious edifices to which I have alluded, look at their ornamefits — the painted glass, an art now lost — the ex- quisite carving in wood — the paintings themselves, developing a new idea again which seemed to elevate man above the mere matter of this perishing earth to a loftier and purer region, and repealing the mysterious secret that there were new forms and all but a new life dwelling in the light as it came in pencils from the sun ; and that it was only necessary to fix a surface on which these forms could be reflected, in order to create a whole \^'orld of imagery and thought. Then again of music, to what is its cultivation to be traced ? To the inborn desire to honor the Deity, who by becoming incarnate has so elevated human nature. By the estimate in which these things were held, matter was depressed in the scalfe of appreciation ; gold was depressed ; money was depressed ; everything was de- pressed and treated as the dross of the earth, when placed in the balance opposite to man, because he had a soul stamped with the image of his God, and redeemed by his Divine Son on the cross of Calvary. (Loud applause.) It was this feeling which created the forms which live on the breathing canvas ; it was this that led them to the depths of the quarry, there to perceive the figure and after- wards to labor in removing the surrounding rubbish until they gave to the world such forms as the Moses of Michael Angelo, speaking with every feature, and wanting only the human voice to transmit the sound. (Great applause.) What was it that inspired these men ? Religion. And, again, if you look at the walls which are immortalized by their hands, you behold ideas embodied and pre- sented to your bodily sense, of which you could otherwise form but 1 feeble conception. He read of the judgment ; he studied the prophets and the apostles, and deeply imbued with awe and rever- ence of the solemn mysteries and awful sublimities of the Christian religion, gave visible and undying existence to the conceptions of his mind. For recollect that Ashen you have the outward signs of civilization, whether it be in architectural monuments, or with breath- ing canvas, or in the ail-but speaking statue — recollect that those were first created in the mind, and all the rest is but the carrying out' of that IDEA into a form in which it will become objective to the senses, and through them be conveyed to the mind. You be- hold this in every direction ; you see the first idea of Christianity contributing, ministering secretly, silently, withoul violcBCO, without INFLUENCE OF CHEISTIANITY UPON CIVILIZATION. 305 overturning any established order, but always through the heart, to exalt the worth of the human soul. Always to bring comfort to some portion of suffering humanity. And after this was another means and a most important one, which I had almost overlooked — the spirit of missions, which was the essence and the soul of that Christian religion. The command of our Saviour was : " Go ye, teach all nations," and this word was never silent, never inoperative, but as a principle of activity was transmitted as one undying commission, whereby the purposes of redemption were to be accomplished. This spirit of missions, hav- ing Rome for its centre and source, became the medium of extend- ing civilization throughout the world. The missionary going on his errand of mercy brought with him the light and the knowledge of his own land. Thus St. Augustine proceeds from Rome to England. Thus the missionaries of England itself in later times, .and more particularly of Ireland, became the apostles at once of Christianity, and indirectly of civilization too, in France, Germany and the north- ern states of Europe. But not only was the light of one nation com- municated to another, but by the medium of missions it was more generally diffused from province to province of the same land. Without this the intellectual commerce of distant parts of the same country could not have been carried on. And the consequence has been, that not only by the progressive influence of Christianity, by its missionaries, was felt in mellowing down the peculiar institutions of the heterogeneous tribes settling in different portions of the same country, into a certain uniformity both of feeling and of ideas, which soon took the form of general legislation, but also between ' different nations through the medium of one tie, that of religion, a kind of brotherhood was formed among the states themselves by the action of religion in its , unity and its universality. Without this, as far as we ,can judge, nations would have been isolated and disjoined from each other. It is almost impossible to appreciate at its just value the services thus rendered to the temporal condition of man by the missionary spirit of the Church. For we must recollect that in those times there were no railroads to facilitate communication, nor highways, nor post-offices, nor carriages, nor hotels. And even in regard to these, I find that religion is the principle of their origin, if not of their perfection. The idea which penetrated all Christian society in those ages, inspired men with an impulse for every enterprise which could confer a benefit on that humanity which had been so honored in the mystery of man's redemption. In accomplishing these ■\\'orks they considered themselves as laboring for Christ, when they labored for their fellow-men. Thus we find them banding themselves to- gether into religious confraternities for the purpose of improving highways, building bridges across rivers otherwise impassable, and planting monasteries and hospices in solitary places, where the traveller, overtaken by night, or by sickness, or by the tempest, might find the shelter of a Christian brother's roof. These things, 366 AECHBISHOP HtJGHEs' LECTUEE, begun by the spirit of religion, were afterwards taken up and continued by the secular policy of the States, but not until those States had been themselves imbued with science and other aids equally derived from religion, for accomplishing the task. The in- tercourse among men by these means becameenlarged. The light of one country or province was made to shed its beams on another. Not only was this the case in Europe, but it extended itself to every quarter of the globe. Whilst the secular adventurers in South America sought for gold, they were accompanied by the mission- aries of religion, who wished to impart the light of Christianity to the nations of that hemisphere, and who were invariably the friends and the protectors of the poor Indians. These men, actuated by their love of God and of man, were ready to shed their blood for the cause to which they devoted themselves with such holy zeal. Even in our own day, whilst the English soldiery, in the spirit of conquest or of ambition, are knocking at the outward portals of China, the French missionary has been pursuing his labor of love in the heart of that empire for more than two hundred years ; and this is not for the advantages of home manufacture or of commerce, but to carry the gospel of Christ to that people, and if necessary, as many have done, to yield his neck to the axe of the executioner. (Great and continued applause.) This zeal for the propagation of the kingdom of Christ oftentimes exercised a poweful influence in the progress of navi- gation. It often happened that when other motives failed, Christianity led to the successful enterprise, and even under the circumstances ante- cedent to the great discovery by Columbus of this new world, when all other arguments in favor of the expedition had failed with Isabella her- self, her confessor suggested that in the new countries souls might be found who could be brought to the knowledge of Jesus Cheist, and this argument decided the question. She saw with that intui- tive vision so peculiar to the age, that when treasures and souls were to be weighed on the balance against each other, that the former were of no value. Her jewels were immediately pledged for the expense of the expedition, and a new world was discovered. (Great applause.) I have already trespassed so long on your patience, that I must again apologize ; I hasten to a conclusion. There is no one point in wliich we are more indebted to Christianity than in the elevation of woman, that is to say, one-half of the human race, from the degradation and oppression of which she is universally the victim where our holy religion is unknown. This is her condition through- out the whole earth, even at the present day, wherever Christianity does not exist. On this point all writers are agreed. But mark the contrast in Christian lands. If you are travelling in a public conveyance, and a female makes her appearance, her sex alone — unless there be some- thing positively prejudicial to the individual known, secures for her aniver?al attention, and she takes whatever seat she chooses. This trivial occurrence shows remarkably the vast difference in the esti- mation in which her sex is held in ci\ilized and uncivilized countries. INFLUENCE OP CHEISTIANriT UPON CIVILIZATION. 3 6 '7 And if you examine more particularly into the causes of this, you will find they are discoverable in the same Christian sentiment, and evince its supremacy in a still more poetic and affecting manner than we have yet seen exhibited. The ancient Christians, ^ho lived immediately near the times of our Saviour, did not fail to observe that in the fall of our race by primitive disobedience, woman was the first to be seduced, and being seduced, became a seducer in her turn ; and they conceived, looking at her condition over the earth, that in consequence of this the weightier part of the malediction rtisulting from that disobedience fell upon her, and that on this account, by the permission of God, until her Restorer came, when, through the woman there should be a reparation made, she should be in a suffering condition. And then they coiTsidered that a glory corresponding with this degradation resulted to her sex from the circumstance of the virgin of Gallilee being selected to be the mother of that Saviour in whom was united the human and the divine nature. (Great applause.) The Blessed Virgin Mary, as the type of regenerated woman, became the pride and glory of her sex • — raised above all men and above all angels, and they conceived that the nature of woman, as a special portion of humanity, was exalted and ennobled, and in some measure rendered sacred in consequence of her relation to the Saviour of mankind. This idea pervaded the whole of that society. And you can trace it in all those orders having religion for their instinct, and which went to vindicate and protect that sex. ♦You can perceive it in a thousand relations in ■which it would not be possible for me to dwell. So with regard to almost everything else. Whilst men were thus struggling against barbarism and ignorance, and their progress checked by all the accidents and circumstances of our nature, you perceive this vital current of love coming from the Son of God and pervading every heart, and making humanity as a kind of ideal ob- ject of almost veneration. This was the source which made wealth be looked upon as of comparatively little value, and man to be re- garded as worthy of all that his brother could do or suffer for his sake. But when civilization was thus advancing — whilst men were making such rapid progress in letters, in eloquence, painting, sculp- ture, music, and architecture, an event occurred on which, however, I have no desire now to dwell. For the first time the great division of the human mind on the subject of religion took place, and Chris- tian unity was broken. We cannot but deplore that as a misfortune, without at all entering into the merits of the question on one side or the other. But the stream which had passed unbroken, and ■oivified all lands through which it passed, was now turned off into narrow channels, and from thenceforth you see nothing of that great united co-operation — that idea binding the hearts of millions — but you see the human mind distracted, and what is worse, the human heart divided. And instead of laboring altogether with unanimity of thought and purpose for the general welfare of mankind, society becomes cut up into sections and cliques, and any good efforts are 368 AECHBISHOP HUGHES LECTTTEE. counteracted by the antagonism of another. If that cliange was sincerely thought necessary by those who led in it in order to please God, who will judge them? Not I. Nevertheless I do think it is a point susceptible of the clearest proof that civilisation received a shock, a check, and false direction there, from which it has not yet recovered, and perhaps never will. This was the complaint of Eras- mus ; beholding the evils flowing from it, he described it as' an epoch of " polemical barbarism." He and many others even at that time, could deplore the sudden check given to men's united intelligence, wheti the discovery of printing, of gunpowder, of the perfect use of the compass, and of a new world, and all the important elements for promotmg civilization gave such promise and certainty of the still greater advance of knowledge, refinement, and liberal studies. You behold that from this time the features of civilization are not identical. That warmth — that kind of poetry of feeling — that en- thusiasm — that effective, united counsel, are all lost. Even liberty itself — even the social rights of men, in almost every nation, retro- graded. It may, perhaps, surprise some here when they are in- formed that before that time Spain was a free country — not free as we understand it — but comparatively free — that her king was not absolute — that he could not grind his subjects at his will, but his Cortes stood before him, and lest he should forget, made it a rule to tell him " that each of them was as good as he was, and all of them together much better." Before that time — even as far back as the beginning of the thirteenth century, the great fountain spring of all our social and political rights burst fortb into the Magna C'^arta; for in all the quarrels of Popes and Bishops with the arbitrary powers of Kings and Governments, you will always find the repre- sentative of the Church standing by the side of Jiuman rights and struggling for their extension. In that contest forMagna Charta, the King, misrepresenting the state of the question, obtained the excommunication of the Barons ; but how was this document re- ceived in the metropolis of England ? Just as it would be at the present day — as so much waste paper. The King could not find a single Bishop who would publish it. He had to compel the monks by sending his troops to perform that office. The e^•ent to which I have alluded destroyed in that country the healthy tone of independ- ence here manifested. Neither was it thus in England alone. On the Continent you find that the despotism of nearly every govern- ment either originated with, or was increased by, this event. The reasons are perfectly obvious and natural. The different States soon discovered that this new religious question was to be decided by troops and battlefields ; and according to the issue the governments fovored the old or the new system. But the spirit of the people was broken by these divisions, and the opportunity was too favora- ble for the spirit of despotism to let pass, without strengthening itself through their disasters. And accordingly the whole tone of government on the Continent became more stringent and absolute, and in most of the Northern States there is less of the substance of INFLUENCE OF CHEISTIANITT UPON CIVILIZATION. 369 human freedom at the present day, than there was when that event occurred. Civilization, however, is still going on, but the vital principle which had borne it so long has been essentially impaired. This was a religious principle, created by the idea of "Christianity, in which the honor and the benefits of the Incarnation were received as em- bracing the whole human race. The principle still abides in the larger division of the Christian name, but in the other division limited and impartial views of the Atonernent under the forms of election received most favor. It is impossible, I think, not to trace in the external developments of society, the effects of this change. The impetus which society had received continued to impart a mo- mentum, e\'en after the great motive power had ceased to operate, and after others had been substituted. It is evident that in modern ideas humanity is less prized and wealth more. The direction of civilization, and I might almost say the soul that animates it, is ma- terial. Interest, and that purely of an earthly kind, is the great propeller of our age. As to results for bodily comforts it answers as well as any other, but it has lost that high and holy feeling which caused men in former times to expect the recompense of their self- devotion in the approbation of God, and in the reward of another life. The consequence is, that man as man has depreciated ; and money has acquired an awful value. The proof of this is found in everything we are acquainted with. In the struggles of individuals and associations for wealth ; in the remarks of writers ; in every public sign from which a judgment may be inferred, you perceive how much more emphasis is laid on the mere material object — the possession of a large fortime, or extensive lands, or great revenues, than there is on the higher attributes of humanity, the noble intel- lect of the generous heart. It is impossible not to perceive in mod- ern society this melancholy and almost universal tendency. We see little of that desire to ameliorate the condition of human nature. Men are no longer impelled by that love, that affection, that ideal and lofty estimate of humanity. The great and ennobling influence of the mystery of Iledemption which has effected such wonders in past ages, seems to have almost gone away from us, and we are re- duced to a selfish struggle for the things of this life, in which each human being seems to act for himself, and to be acted upon only by motives of private and personal interest. Were it permitted to present a type of our age it might be the splendid edifice of a joint' stock or banking company in the public square, and in -the back ground a simple structure for a Christian church. The former building open six days of the week and crowded by thousands of the votaries of fortune, the latter open only on Sunday, and its interior divided into apartments according to the wealth or pretentions of those who occupy them. Even in this,' you witness the absence of that ancient picture of the Chris- tian Church, in which men were taught practically as well as other- wise, that in the sight of God they are all equal, and though the 24 370 AECHBISHOP hughes' LECTUEE. pointed arch and vaulted dome rose majestically above their heads, barons, and nobles, and princes, and common people, all occupied the same level without any division to mark their distinctions, be- cause the Incarnation and the Kedemption were for the benefit, not of classes, but of the whole human race. It ought to be remarked that the true basis of civilization must be found in the enlightenment of the human mind, and the moral soundness of the human heart. This is the medium through which it must proceed to its development in the external order of things. This was necessary to create civilization ; it will be indispensable to sustain it. Nothing can be more manifest than that the well being of society rests upon a moral foundation. And if that foundation should become weak or unhealthy, or if it should in itself not be sustained by the supporting power of religion, then civilization must be impaired in its highest attributes. It certainly will not be for want of science or skill, or external means or appliances, if civilization should at any future time retro- grade in this country, so peculiarly and advantageously distinguished from all others. In this country we have not to contend with that tenacity with which the nations of the old world clung to ancient customs and usages. "We have seen in other countries men strug- gling for centuries to effect a change in some law, on account of the old hereditary prejudices in favor of it. So that it is easily seen that in this country a remarkable and favorable opportunity of mak- ing great advances in civilization, is afforded in its freedom from the influence of such prejudices. Such a state of things, every one must see, is admirably calculated to aid the development of human powers, and the extension of human rights. It presents a spectacle — a phenomenon which the ancient world would have believed utterly impossible. We find one of their philosophers speaking of a condition of society in which religious classes should bo repre- sented, and he calls it a beautiful chimera. They never could have imagined that a nation only half a century in existence, and with sixteen millions of people, should present itself to the world in the two-fold character of governing and governed — every man having so far a portion of what constitutes a kingly power, and at the same time every man using it under the guidance of his intellect, and in such a manner as shows he values and does not abuse his prerogative. (Great applause.) This is a spectacle novel in the history of nations, and the prayer of every man who loves human nature and respects and values human rights, will be, that this shall go down to posterity undisturbed, but with increased benefits to mankind and growing prosperity until the latest times. (Long con- tinued applause.) LECTUEE ON SOCIAL SERVITUDE. 3^1 THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY ON SOCIAL SERVITUDE: A LECTURE, DELIVERED IN THE TABERN^ACLE, NEW YORK, MARCH 29, 1843, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE HALF-ORPHAN ASYLUM ATTACHED TO ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH. SociETT, for the purposes of this Lecture, may be divided into three classes. The first is composed of the few, who, possessing wealth, enjoy the privileges of social independence, by which they can command the services and labor of others, without having either to obey or labor themselves. The next is of those who compose the great mass of society, especially in our own country, who, though they live by the productions of their labor, still are not dependebt on the will of given employers, but whose position enables them to regulate their hours of toil and of rest, according to the dictates of their own judgment and discretion. The tliird class consists of those who have to depend exclusively for their means of subsistence on labor ; — and who are dependent for the privilege of labor, which to them is almost of life, on the intei-ests and caprice of employers. The first and the last of these classes have always existed, from the earliest annals of the human race. The middle class is of com- paratively modern origin, having sprung up, imperceptibly, during the transition of society from the feudal syetem to the more attrac- tive and liberal condition, as regards laws and general civilization, under which modern society lives. This middle class would be, perhaps, the happiest of all; but time has developed the alarm- ing fact, that, in the most recent stages of human progress, in the countries of Europe, this class, taken in the aggregate, is undergoing a gradual diminution, both of numbers and of resources. The units, indeed, are observed to succeed, by successful industry and fortunate enterprise, in scaling the social heights, and rallying under the gorgeous banner of the first ; wlfiilst the tens, and the hundreds, are reluctantly borne downward, on the social scale, till, at last, they are ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. seen, in the thickeiniig ranks and under tlie tattered standard of the third. If we are to place any confidence in the statistics of France, and more especially of England, this result is becoming every day more and more evident, since the peace of 1815. _ • These two nations, coming down to us by unbroken history, from remote antiquity, furnish the richest field for inquiry and investiga- tion, to those who would speculate in the philosophy of human society. But how different the circumstances of both countries, from those that bless and distinguish our own ; which, though check- ed from time to time, still is, as regards the social position of its inhabitants, the most prosperous and happy land on the surface of the globe. Singular in the manner in which it was peopled by a race ah-eady civilized, unparalleled in the variety and salubrity of its climate, unsurpassed in the richness and fecundity of its soil, unequaled in the extent of its territory, with the rich and regular harvest waving above, and immense unexplored treasures of minerals sleeping beneath the surface of its soil ; — with a population among whom there are no privileged classes, among whom education and enhghtened enterprise are almost universal; who are the guardians of their own rights, the interpreters of their own wants ; — among whom in fine the people are the government, and that government free ; the American citizen who is a part and a proprietor in all this may witness the calamities of older nations, and feel no other emotion except that honorable sentiment of our nature which prompts us to sympathize in the sufferings of any portion of our race. [Applause.] Still, for these very reasons, it is evident that this is not the coun- try from which the Philosophy of History may derive her purest les'sons of wisdom, on the subject of human society. She may have oisened her book of memoranda, and recorded a few chapters — but still it must be evident that in such a country the fruits of historical experience, though luxuriant and healthy, are, as yet, too green ; — and that to older nations, in which that fruit has been matui-ed and ripened by the sunshine and the showers of many centuries, she must look for whatever she would set down as established conclu- sions, — indisputable maxims. The increase of operatives, or the diminution of labor, or both to- gether, has become in the two countries I have mentioned, but particularly in Great Britain, a question of startling importance to statesmen,^ and 'of singular embarrassment and perplexity to that class of philosophers who are knowni as political economists. Various and contradictory have been their speculations, but both have agreed that if there be danger to the ship of State, it must be from the broken rocks and sunken shoals of social servitude, which have been cast or drifted with fearful accumulation in her course. Even now she is seen straining in the effort to escape ; and whilst the obstinacy of her officers will not allow theni eith^- to shift the ballast or take in sail, the extraordinary leeway whicFshe makes, reveals to the hand of her most skillful and experienced Pilot, almost for the first time, LECTURE ON SOCIAL SEETITUDE. 373 ■that she ceases to obey her rudder. Will she be shipwreolted, that 'gallant old bark, that has breasted the billows, and braved the storms of a thousand years ? Time alone can determine and solve the problem. The disciples and even masters of political economy have at- tempted it ; but facts and results are every day developing them- selves, which confound their theories and speculation. It is not so clear that the rich are beeoming richer, but it is certain that the poor are every day becoming more poor and more numerous. It is remarked that this class of writers have, genei'ally, considered man in his social relation, and indeed society itself, as a being invest- ed with a single attribute, viz., the power of " producing and of consuming ; " that is, as an animal with whose existence in society, one or other of those results is inseparably connected. They have hardly thought it worth while to take his intellect into account ; whilst they have uniformly overlooked his affections, feelings, his moral and religious nature ; and so long as they consider him abstract- edly separated from these, they discuss something less than half the subject on which they profess to write. "Producer," "consumer," "production," "consumption," — it is astonishing to consider what books, what statistics, what calcula- tions, what prodigious mental labor, have been expended on these four words. Yet it does not so far appear that either the writers or the readers of these books, or the nations for whom they were written, have been able to extract from their pages the secret where- by the increase of poverty might be arrested, or the millions rescued from the horrors of want and destitution, with which the whole department of social servitude is threatened and of which many from its ranks have already fallen victims. But whatever may be the character of their reasoning, too much importance cannot be attached to the facts on which it was founded. And the conclusions to which one school of these writers has come, give us a fearful idea of these facts. One of these conclusions is, that in the absence of war and other wholesale messengers of death, the productions of the earth would, in a short time, be insuiBcient for the consumption of its inhabitants ; and that, therefore, it would be a measure of political wisdom to prevent the increase of the population, and thus pros- pectively diminish the number of the poor — without the crime of killing off those who are in actual existence. Whole volumes could not give us so clear an idea of the extent of calamity with which the condition of social servitude is threaten- ed, as the simple fact that the author of this view is a clergyman, .that the doctrine which it maintains should be popular in a nation professing the Christian religion. Deep and festering must be the disease in the social body, which could authorize the proposalof such a remedy, not even to heal, but to prevent its sjrreading farther. Alas ! for the condition of social servitude, and alas ! for the poor so nearly related to it, if a better book had not been written 3V4 AECHBISriOP HUGHES. ) than ever proceeded from the pen of political economy. I turn away from its cold pages, and look for a better^ economy in the book of God ; but the book of man also, as especially of the poor. In it I read " the poor you have always with you, and when you will you can do good unto them. Do unto others, as you would that they should do unto you — feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, and as often as you do it to the least of my brethren, you do it unto me." Here is the source from which every amelioration, in the condition of social servitude, has flowed ; and if the experience of mankind, from the origin of history, can authorize any conclusion, it will be that is it vain to expect it from any other. Social servitude, in one form or another, has existed from the earliest formation of society. But it would be a gross mistake to suppose that society always was what it is at present — and yet this is, a mistake which is by no means rare, especially among superficial minds. They wonder why things should have ever been different fi-om what they are at present — forgetting or rather not comprehend- ing that the social relations by virtue of new discoveries, new im- provements, new laws, and consequently new rights, and new duties, are changing every day — even in the time that now is. But at whatever period you examine it, under whatever phase it presents itself, you will always and universally find that servitude has been blended into the very being and existence of society. If, indeed, we were engaged in the analysis of society itself, we should come to the conclusion that in the nature of things, it could not be other- wise. The first form of society, as it is still its greatest element of supply, was domestic ; families existed, before nations were formed. ' Now the head of the family was the protector of his household ; and the individual who found himself without protection, would attach himself to some other faTnily, for the purpose of securing the means of life, the first want of his nature, and the protection of that life which was no where else afforded. Hence we know that the Patriarchs had slaves, and this was the earliest form of that social servitude which has come down to the present day. So, also, the Jewish people had slaves. But it would be erroneous to sup- pose, that Sliive, then, meant precisely what it means now ; or that the condition of slaves was the same among the Jews that it was among pag.an nations. Not only did the spirit of their religion inculcate feelings of true humanity, but the laws secured to the slaves certain privileges unknown to other nations ; such as repose on th e seventh day, restoration to freedom in the seventh year, or at least in the year of .lubilee. To these causes, which existed also among pagan nations, was added others, namely, the rights of conquest. Before Christianity, and even now, wherever Christianity does not exist, the recognized law of nations allowed the conqueror to take the life of his prisoners of war. If he spared their lives, and deprived them of their liberty, it -nas considered as an act of humanity ratter than of cruelty. LECTURE OK SOCIAL SERVITUDE. 375 Hence slavery was found extensively established among the Assy- rians, the first warriors of the primitive times. In Egypt also it existed ; but it is from Greece and Rome that vsre can gather an idea of the treatment of slaves, and the notions that were entertained respecting them, and it will be necessary to have some conception of both, in order to appreciate the benefits rendered to this unhappy class by the Christian religion. The Spartans stand before our imagination as a brave, frugal, abstemious people ; especially jealous to exclude the enervating in- fluences of artificial lil'e. We should have expected some traits of humanity from such a people, in keeping with that courage of which they furnished such splendid examples, and that simplicity of social manners which they affected. And yet in the treatment of their slaves they were systematically ferocious. Not only were the slaves punished individually when they committed crimes, but at stated intervals they were all scourged by public authority, not for crimes, but in order, as the law expressed it, to keep them in mind of their condition. Not only were they made drunk in presence of the national youth, to excite a horror of intemperance, but, as an exer- cise and preparation for war, they were hunted by that same youth, on the plains of Laconia, as the Indian hunts the buffalo on the Wes- tern prairies, or the Roman used to pursue the wild boar on the sides of the Appenines. The Athenians were not so cruel to their slaves. But the number of these, compared with the free population, is almost incredible. Atheneus tells us, that for twenty or twenty-one thousand free citi- zens, the city of Pericles contained four hundred thousand slaves. It is to be remembered that these were of the same race and the same color as their masters, the only difference was, that Greeks could not reduce Greeks to bondage, even by the chances of war, but all who lived out of Greece were for them barbai'ians, and as it was only justice when made prisoners to take their life, so it was considered mercy to let them live on condition of perpetual servitude. But were there not wise men, philosophers, in that classic land of pagan civilization-? How did these things strike their minds? Just as they did the minds of all other pagan nations. With all their powers of reason and philosophy, they looked upon slavery as an ordinance and condition established by Nature her- self. Plato, in his treatise on laws, gives out the prevailing opinions among his countrymen on this subject ; and from these Athenius draws the fjeneral conclusion, that there is nothing good in the soul of a slave, and that a wise man ought not in any case to trust him. In support of this view are two verses of Homer, in which the poet Rays, that Jupiter took away one-half their intelligence from those whom he destines to slavery. Aristotle maintains, as a principle not to be disputed, that slavery is a part of the order established by Nature. Among the warlike and cruel Romans the same ideas pre- vail. The Jndians of the East had a far more rational theory for the explanation of slavery. They believed in the transmigration of s'ze ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. souls and regarded slavery in our life, as a punishment inflicted for the crimes committed in some previous state. If the doctrine had been true, the explanation would have been natural and just. The German nations entertained views similar to those of the Greeks and Romans regarding slavery, as a natural condition, and slaves as being, if not of a different, at least of inferior nature — and to this day the proper conceptions prevalent among them derives nobility less from outward circumstances than from the current of the blood, because duriijg their paganism, it was their belief that the blood was the principal seat of the soul. Such were the ideas that prevailed among the best lights of an- cient paganism. And if these constitute the light, what must be the darkness. With such ideas, without any knowledge of the true God — or the true end of man's creation — with, slavery as universal as the human race — with an unlimited power even over life recog- nized in the master — with scarcely a check or an inducement for the restraint of human passions — with a set of pretended immortal gods, whose very example was an encouragement to licentiousness and crime — when we take all these things into account, the soul shrinks back upon herself overwhelmed and affrighted at the contemplation of the multitudinous evils, physical and moral, which are interwoven with the condition of ancient slavery. Such was the state of the human race when the pivine Author of our religion came to establish, even in the midst of its corrup- tions, a kingdom which is not of this world. He recognized the diversity of conditions in societj' — it was at once a consequence and an evidence of the fall of the human race, by primitive transgression and the carnal corruption of its way. But he revived the knowledge of tlie True Master of all, whom the nations had forgotten, and pro- claimed that in His sight, all men are equal. In his doctrine there was nothing of anarchy, nothing of violence, nothing of coercion. He, himself, and after him his apostles, submitted to the injustice and oppression of earthly oppressors and earthly rulers, and thus, whilst they remonstrated against the injustice, they respected, even in its perversion, the principle of authority which sanctioned it. He established the true relations between God and man. He instructed his disciples in their duty, he promised them the aid of his grace to perform it. He planted in their breast the celestial virtue of charity, taught them the love of God, and commanded them to love one another. Here is the germ of e\ery social amelioration which has accom- panied or followed the march of Christianity throughout the world. If it be asked why these ameliorations, especially as regards the condition of social servitude, were so slow, so gradual, so almost imperceptible, in their development, the answer is obvious. It is because He left man's free-will undestroyed, unimpaired. He pro- posed the good. He promised his assistance to all men to accomplisli it ; but, at the same time, He did not employ his Almighty power to force or compel them. So that, in fact, they were still competent LECTURE ON SOCIAL SEEVlTtJDB. 37^ to reject the good, and pursue the evil ; but then, all this, again, at the awful responsibility of a future judgment before an infallible tribunal. This also is a key to the discrimination and understanding of Church history — the dividing line between the virtues and the vices which it records. Surely both did not proceed from the same source. All that is good is due to Christianity^ — all that is evil is to be ascribed to the perverse exercise of man's free will, in despite, and in contempt, of what Christianity teaches. This is an impor- tant distinction which is never to be lost sight of. In fact, the prin- ciples of Christianity had reference to the spiritual world, but through it, it would be imjjossible that their development should not exercise a salutary influence on that which is external or ma- terial. Thus St. Paul says : — " Let every one abide in the calling in which he was called. Wast thou called, being a bondman? Care not for it — but if thou mayest be free, use it rather." And, again, in reference to those baptized into the new Society, he says — "There is neither Jew, nor Greek; there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female ; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." The same apostle after having converted Onesimus, a fugitive slave of his disciple Philemon, sends him back with a letter, ill which we see the true spirit and teildenoy of the Christian religion. In that epistle he calls the slave his " spiritual son " — and recommends him to his master no longer as a servant, but " as a most dear brother." Of whom he says, " I would have retained him, but without thy consent I would do nothing ; that thy good deed might not be as it were of necessity, but voluntary.'''' This m.anifestation of t^e spirit of Christ, seems to have furnished the rule and the model of the Church's action on the condition of social servitude. She exalted the action and the feelings of the ser- vant, she brought down the pride and rebuked the cruelty of his temporal lord, she instilled heavenly charity into the bosoms of both, she taught them to love one another ; this was the first stage — and then through the converted heart of the master, she trusted and hoped for the liberation of the slave, that the good deed of the former might not be as it were of necessity, but voluntary. Nor was she disappointed in her charitable expectations. The supposi- tion that all should have been emancipated, simultaneously with the progress of Christianity, would be an absurd supposition, when it is remembered that in those ages perhaps nine-tenths of the human race were in the condition of slaves. But the thing was in itself utterly impossible. Still we see, and your feelings will be relieved by observing, even in a few instances, where multitudes might be mentioned, the work- ing of the Christian principle. The first known instance among the great of a real enfranchisement of slaves was by Hermas, Prefect of licnne, who was converted to Christianity by Pope Alexander, under Trajan, whilst the Emperor was absent in a campaign against the Persians. This great man, with his wife and sister, his sons, and 1,250 slaves, with their wives and children, went over to Christian- 'il8 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. ity together ; -and on Easter day, when they were baptized, he gave them all civil freedom, and as they had neither property nor trades, he gave them means of support until they should be able to gain their own livelihood. Another remarkable instance occurs under the Emperor Dioclesian. St. Sebastian was a Centurion of Rome, a Christian, and the same whose martyrdom, having been tied to a tree and shot to death with arrows, has furnished such a universal subject to painters. He was the instrument of God in the conver- sion of Chromatins, who on the day of his baptism liberated 1,400 slaves of both sexes, saying, that they who began to have God for their father, should cease to be the slaves of a man ; and like Her- mas he provided them with all necessaries for their new condition. Even during the persecutions under the Pagan Emperors, we learn from the writings of St. Jerome that multitudes of slaves were receiving their freedom from rich families converted to the Chris- tian faith. St. Milanse, with the consent of her husband, Pinius, who was yet a pagan, liberated 8,000 of her slaves, and others who would not accept freedom she presented to her brother-in-law, Sc- verus. Many other instances might be presented, but these are sufficient to demonstrate the early and practical working of Charity in the bosom of the Christian Church. Celsus, representing the feeling of old Roman Paganism, made it a reproach that the Church instructed slaves, and received them into her communion. And in reply, Origon, writing in the third century, says, " we confess we wish to instruct all men ; and though Celsus may not desire it we wish to show servants how, by acquiring a freed mind, they may be ennobled by the Word." At a later period, Lactantius, too, an- swering similar objections, tinfolds the spirit which her founder breathed into his Church. "With God," says he, "no one is a slave, no one a master ; for since he is the same father to all, we are lall his children, and,all brethren." But after St. Paul there is none who rendered more essential ser- ,vioe in rescuing the victims of social servitude than the eloquent ■and saintly Chrysostom. And we need not be surprised that the intrepid Bishop should have become a subject of persecution, when he made such sentences as these ring in the very ears of ftie pride, 'the pomp and voluptuousness of the eastern Capital: — "You say, '■ my father is a Consul' — how does that aifect me? you have ances- 'tors, no doubt, since you come after them; but I may call a slave a 1 nobleman and a nobleman a slave, when I am informed of their moral character. Ifow many lords lie drunken on their couch, • whilst slaves stand by fasting ? Which shall I call the not free— the Pasters or the Drunkards ? " Among the Latin Fathers, St. .Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Peter, and St. Chrysologus were equally zealous in their efforts to ameliorate the condition of social servi- tude preparatory to final and universal emancipation. Nothing ■ could mark more strongly the progress that Christianity had al- iTeady made than the fact that Ambrose, who preached the equality • of slaves with their masters, did not hesitate on the other hand to LECTURE ON SOCIAL SEBVlTtJDB. 3Y9 require that the Emperor, whom the pagans a short time before were accustomed to worship ^ a deity, should acknowledge, his equality with the humblest member of the Church, by taking his place on the porch of the temple, and thus among the public peni- tents, making reparation for his public scandal. Thus by the idea of equality and the spirit of Christian charity infused into the whole body of Christians— by the mitigation of se- vere laws — by the multiplying of legal facilities for the process of emancipation — by the ever-living and active zeal of the clergy — ply- ing the powers of their influence individually within their small but numerous circles over the empire, — ancient slavery, so ingrained in the very essence of pagan society, was almost entirely abolished ; w^en the progress of amelioration was suddenly arrested by the ir- ruption of pagan barbarians from the north and east of Europe — whose coming \^as as when the sliding avalanche overlays the bloom- ing and peaceful valley at its base — or as the deluge when the cata- racts of heaven were opened and the fountains of the great deep broken up.. They felt that they were executing a mission, but its nature and purposes were mysterious to themselves. They were merely«conscious of a two-fold instinct, the plunder of what they might carry away and the destruction of what they should be obliged to leave behind. Having gratified their impulses they were gone, and their career was to be traced only by the universal lAiin which they left to perpetuate the memory of their visit. Again and again they return and disappear in like manner, before they finally deter- mine to take possession of the best parts of the Empire and its in- habitants, now prostrate at their feet. They despised labor, and they regarded all that appertained to refinement, science, literature, the arts, not merely with sovereign contempt, but with positive ha- tred. But a good sword, a brave heart, and a strong right arm — these are what they prized and worshipped almost to idolatry. The law of the sword comes in, and, henceforward, woe to the weak in their struggles against the strong ! From this period Roman civilization may be considered as at an end. Society passes through its period of transition and begins, to present itself under an entirely new phase. Slavery in its ancient form is done away, but social servitude is still continued. The con- querors own the soil from which the inhabitants must obtain their living. The former want retainers whom they can summon at the trumpet's warning to follow and fight for them in their personal quarrels with other chieftains, or it may be with royalty itself. Hence, protection and support were deemed by the vanquished as an equivalent for labor, military service, and loss of freedom. Hence, vassalage, serfage, fealty, and the other terms of feudalism, which have become obsolete under the present form of civilization. It was during these times of civil anarchy and disorder that the weak, particularly among the princes and nobles, who had right on their side, without might to support it, threw themselvfss on the protec- tion of the Church, and particularly of her chief bishop, the only 380 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. source from which a peaceful decision could be expejted. Hence, the authority used by the Popes was not a usurpation on their part, so much as it was a thing forced on them by the chiefs of na. tions appealing to their influence in hope of that justice which could be realized frqju no other quarter. It was an anomaly growingout of the social disorganization of the time, and in the nature of things must pass away, as in fact it did, when the causes which created it ceased to exist. But, at all events, it is now admitted among learned men of every creed, that, with scarcely an exception, the authority of the Church was always on the side of the weak against the strong, on the side of the people against their oppressors — the invaders of whatever rights they had. This was the spirit of the clergy, from the Pope down to the Acolyte, in their relations with the variojis classes of the state, from the peasant up to the monarch on his throne. In fact, if there were not other proof, the very influence which they wielded would be sufficient ; because it was founded on the confidence of the people, and that confidence never could have been acquired or retained if tliey had not, in the main, proved them- selves worthy of it. How did they prove this towards the serfs, or vassals, the representatives of social servitude in the middle ages? Oh! it is touching to see with what charity,' what zeal, what pru- dence and perseverance they distilled the gentle influence of the Christian spirit into the breasts of their masters, until the frozen hearts of the north melted into humanity and pity towards their unhappy dependants. Among their most distinguished advocates and deliverers, dating from the seventh century, may be enumerated the saintly Bathilde, wife of Clovis II., Charles the Bald, Louis le Gros, Louis VIII., the good Queen Blanche, and her son St. Louis, and Louis X. Now all these persons were acting under the spirit inculcated by the Church. Servitude, says Ducange, began to disappear insensibly; moved by piety and mercy, or receiving a pecuniary compensation, the seigneurs gave full liberty to their serfs, but they requested that the right of freedom should be con- ferred in the Church and by the Bishop — -as if, says he, they wished to give the honor to religion which had inspired the act. All the preaching of the clergy tended to inspire this pity and mercy towards" the serfs of which this writer speaks. All believed in the importance of good works, to salvation ; and at the head of all good works, during those ages, stands meect towards prisoners and slaves. Hence, it is impossible to tell how large a share in their gradual emancipation is to be ascribed to the dogmas of the Church ; but it is not too much to assert that among those who regard the doctrine of purgatory as a superstition, there are many whose ancestors owed their elevation, from slavery to freedom, to that identical doctrine ; for nothing was more common than to give serfs for the consolation of a soul departed, or as presented to the Blessed Virgin, or St. Peter — which always meant giving them their liberty, investing them with the rights of freedom. The provision of the Canon Taw which forbade the alienation of church property, was le(;tuee on sojial servitude. 381 founded on the idea that the actual incumbents for the time being, had only a life interest in the use of it. One-third of its income was for the support of the poor, one-third for the repair of the churches, and the remaining third for their personal maintenance, with the under- standing that even the surplus of this, if any, belonged to the poor. This regulation was one of the causes of their wealth, in the pro- gress of time. But the same authority which forbade the alienation of cliurch property, made one glorious exception — and the law did not apply if the money resulting from such alienation was for the purpose of ransoming slaves. It was in this spirit that St. Exuperius, Bishop of Toulouse, actually sold the sacred vessels of his church to apply the money to the jjurchase of their freedom ; St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, went so far when pecuniary resources failed, as to Ijecome voluntarily a slave himself as the means of relieving others ; in which he was successful. Individual instances of this kind were common over the whole length and breadth of Christendom. Who can estimate the infliience of such distinguished examples, on governments and legislation, on the inferior clergy who were equally devoted in their sphere, on the feudal lords themselves, on the serfs, on the whole mass of society ! It was, no doubt, exairiples like these, which, acting on the charities of the Christian religion on their own hearts, prompted so many tp unite together in the diiferent religious orders of mercy, having for their special object the redemption of slaves, the instruction, protec- tion and consolation of the poor. But there is yet more. What would be, in the very nature of things, the greatest obstacle in the minds of the masters, to the voluntary enfranchisement of their slaves ? Assuredly, the loss of the profits arising from their labor. If then you could diminish those labors, you would of course dimin- ish his profits, and with them his interest in perpetuating the bondage. Now this is precisely what the Church did — though not altogether for this purpose. She multiplied religious holidays. This took from the master the profits of labor on those days, and imposed on him the burthen of support. Who is there that has not ridiculed the many holidays recognized in the Church, and yet how few have ever suspected the motive of mercy towards the slaves, to which in part they owed their origin. Thus by a corabinatian of influences, all of them taking their source in the charity of the Christian religion, the way was prepared and the work gradually accomplishe4 ; so that at the beginning of the sixteenth century, there was hardly a vestige of slavery on the map of Europe, except in Poland, which had been the last nation convert- ed from Paganism, and in llussia which had been already separated from the unity of the Church, and in which it is not a little remarkable, that after her separation, not a single step has ever been made to- wards the emancipation of her serfs. But everywhere else, the whole class of serfs had been transmuted into the first elements of what has since constituted the middle classes, tenants or proprietors 362 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. of small portions of the land. Thus was slavery driven out of Europe by the power of Christian faith and of Christian feeling alone, working in the hearts of men. Its operation proceeded slowly, but with the certainty of ultimately accomplishing its object, and without producing any social or civil convulsion. I have not spoken of particular nations, as my object has been to give a general outline — as the time would not suffice for entering into detail. JSTeither was the action of the clergy, generally, of an authoritative or national form. But there is one remarkable instance of this kind on record, and a large portion of this audience would hardly pardon me if I passed it over in silence. It is taken from the celebrated collection of the Councils, by L'Abbe. In the nation to which I refer, slavery never existed among the native population, for it never had been conquered. But it had become a market for the sale of slaves brought from other lands, until that unhappy statute, prompted by the same religious feelings which operated elsewhere, its bishops, assembled in national council, proclaimed the universal and simultaneous emancipation of all the slaves in the land. This council was held about the year 1050, in the city of Waterford, in Ireland. May we not hope that the people of that lovely but unfortunate land, will soon be able to do for themselves what they did for their foreign slaves nearly 800 years ago ? But at the begin ing of the sixteenth century almost the last vestige of the system had already disappeared throughout Europe generally.. The period of , the transition of society from the forms of the middle ages, into those of modern civilization, had begun at least a century before. In tlie interval, the art of printing had been invented, and Columbus discovered a new world, in the midst of what had hitherto been supposed a boundless and unbroken ocean. With such accessions to the means of human improvement, with so many obstacles to it already remo\ed, with the resurrection of literature and the arts, which had already taken place, with the knowledge of gunpowder, the nse of the compass, and the first practical ideas of general manufacture awakened and in action, however feeble, with the avenues of commerce opened, the rights and laws of nations established on a Chnstian basis, these nations themselves having their separate interests, but held together by religious bonds which constitute them but as different members of the same Christian family — all these circumstances would seem to have opened a vista of unexampled impro\'ement, progression and happiness for the human race. But soon after this period, religious diffei'ences broke out, and a large portion of the Church was rent from the imity of the whole, and broken into fragments. The charities of religion which iiad accomplished so much, and under such disadvantages, during the middle ages, >\ere now unhapj>ily chilled and withered away under the acrimonious conflict of ideas, and language, and even armies, of which this event was the occasion, if not the cause. I enter not into the theological merits of the dispute, on one side or LECTUKE OX SOCIAL SEKVITUDK. 38-% the other ; but many even of those who justify it on theological grounds admit or rather contend that it would have been well for society, and especially for the condition of social servitude and the poor generally, if it had never occurred. Let us take England as an example. It cannot be denied that the accumtilation of wealth in that coun- try during the three centuries that have since elapsed, is without a parallel in the history of the world. You see on every side the most cultivated scenery crowded with gorgeous seats and fairy palaces. On every side are profusely collected all that can gratify the senses, charm the taste, or fill the cup of human bliss, so far as happiness can depend on outward circumstances. This would all be well if there were no- poor also, or if God had created this earth for the rich alone. But, without entering into details, it has been establish- ed by innumerable statistics that a large number of deaths occuring among the poor, so immediately connected with the classes of social servitude, are to be ascribed to slow starvation ; that is, to such a deterioration or diminution of the necessaries of life, as brought on or aggravated the diseases by which it terminates. This is a sad reverse to the picture of the nation's prosperity — and as I have already trespassed so long on your indulgence, I must be brief in assigning what occurs to me-as the cause. This I shall derive rather from the history of the past than from the revulsions and commer- cial fluctuations of the present, against the occurrence of which, as an occasion of crushing any portion of its members, society, if if deserve the name, ought to be always provided by foresight and precaution. During the old system, religious festivals, on which labor was suspended, were very numerous — and considering what had been the condition of social servitude, the provision was at least a humane one. There was a time when England was not the only manufacturing nation of Europe ; Spain, Italy, Belgium, and France, had already started with her in the competition — -and France was likely to have proved her rival had it not been for the revoca- tion of the edict of ISTantz. But England crushed them all. Of course, for mind, energy and enterprise, the English are unsurpassed by any people in tho world. But in the earlier history of manufac- tures, they had another advantage. The other countries continued to observe their festivals on working days ; — whilst she, by devoting forty or fifty days more labor annually on her works^at once increas- ed the amount, and dminishbd the cost of her productions — so that she was soon enabled to undersell those countries, and drive them out of their own markets. Thus she became a monopolist among nations. This naturally drained their wealth, and transferred it to HER workshops ; it did more — it enabled one class of her subjects to wield the power of capital against another class, who had nothing to oppose, in the contest, but the capacity of labor. The consequence was and is now, that the labor and life of the working classes depend on the profits or losses which result from the employment of capital, When the master, for such he is in everything but the name, finds it 884 AitcnBisuop hughes. HIS interest, he employs them, and not only does he work them six days in the week, but for them the day is fourteen, sixteen and even eighteen hours long. By this he increases the amount, and con- sequently cheapens the price of their toil, and we read from official documents that even thuS, they can hardly earn enough to procure the first necessaries of life. This is while they are employed — and if the master cannot augment his capital, he dispenses with their labor and leaves them to idleness and destitution for months at a time. But it is only from the reports connected with the poor and the poor laws, that one can form any idea of what must be the con- dition of the working classs. Neither is this feature unconnected with the change to which I have alluded. Under the old system there were no poor laws, other than those of the Gospel, which were expressed in the simple words, "this is my commandment, that you love one another." But then it was ordained and understood, as a RELIGIOUS law, that the one third of the ecclesiastical revenues belonged to the poor. From this and from individual charity they obtained relief, sweetened to them by the very kindness with which it was administered. All this Church property was seized on by the government and squandered in the expenditures of a licentious monarch, and in the recompense of his interested and cringing flatterers. Hence, the foundation of the enormous wealth and revenues of the nobility and aristocracy, of the present day — who never think of the poor, except when the progressive accumula- tion of their miseries and destitution demands the imposition of new taxes for their support. Nothing can bfetter attest the evils to the poor, resulting from this measure, and tlie heartlessness of the nobles who seized on their patrimony, than the pro\isions of an act under the subsequent reign of the King Edward VI. The act is directed against " vagabondry" — and after stating that if those who are guilty of it " should be punished with death, whipping, or imprisonment, it were not without their deserts, and would be for the benefit of the Commonwealth ;" it goes on to ordain that any person idling or loitering about, for three days, should be mark- ed on the breast with a hot iron with the letter V — should be a slave for ta^'o years, — and should he run away and be absent four- teen days, during th.at time, then, " he should be a slave for hfe." In the same spirit of legislation the aristocracy have contrived to alter the laws of taxation so as to throw the greater part of the public burthen on the lower and less we.althy classes, until at the present day, whilst the wages of the working classes are reduced, whilst they are thrown out of employment, the very bread which they eat is made dear or diminished by taxation. N'ow_ if these things are so to an extent that is alarming and almost incredible, in the richest comitry of the world ; and if God gave variety to the seasons, and fi-uitfulness to the earth for the sup- port of all its inhabitants, and if what is said here be true, as it is, within reduced extremes both of wealth and bounty, of all the LECTUEE OX SOCIAI. SEKVITUDE. 38S otlier nations of Europe, it is evident that there is a great and ory- iug injustice somewhere — that the true relation of eights and DUTIES, extending all through the comphcated elements of society, is not understood : — that the social machine has lost its equilibrium of right motion, owing to a vicious displacement of its essential weights and balances, and, in fine, that more than three hundred years from the period when in the transition of society they passed from the con- dition of feudal serfs to that of modern freemen, the condition of social servitude is in some respects less tolerable than it then was. In the first epoch they were slaves, dependent on the absolute will of their masters ; — in the second they were self-depending on the soil, to which they belonged, for their support, and on their feudal lords for protection ; in the third they have fallen under a new and undefined power, called capital. Neither can they remove their hardships through, legislation — they may and must bear what is im- posed on them, but they can have no voice, at least in those countries, in either the selection or distribution of the burthen. Is there any hope for the peaceful amelioration of their condition ? There are schools of speculation or social philosophy, who say that there is — and pretend to show how it may be accomplished. But for my own part, knowing that whatever amelioration has taken place in the his- tory of the w^hole human race and of the world, in the condition of SOCIAL SERVITUDE, lias been wrought out by the principles of Christian- ity, through its actions on the human heart, I have little confidence in any other power. Bring from the pages of the inspired volume, those lessons of Divine wisdom and goodness with which they ■ abound — infuse their spirit into the hearts of the rich and powerful until you overpower the avarice and selfishness that have made them obdurate and insensible ; teach them to love money less, and man- kind, that is, their own nature, more — and if they will learn the heavenly lesson, in practice as well as theory, Christianity shall again have occasion to exult in the triumph of her principles, and the world itself have occasion to excl lim, as in ancient days, " Behold how they love one another." 26 386 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. THE NEW YORK CATHOLIC CHURCH DEBT ASSOCIATION- SPEECH OF BISHOP HUGHES AT THE MEETING IN CARROLL HALL MAY 3, 1841. A VEKY numerous and highly respectable meeting of the Catholics of New York was held, pursuant to requisition, on Monday- evening, May the 3d, in Carroll Hall. Gregory Dillon, Esq., was unanimously called to the chair. Mr. B. O'Connor was then appointed secretary. The Right Rev. Bishop Hughes rose to address the meeting, and was received with deafening applause. After reminding the audi- ence that the meeting had been convened for the purpose of consid- ering a plan for extinguishing the debt at present resting on the Catholic churches of this city, the Right Rev. gentleman proceeded as follows : — I was disposed to wait until a large number might be present, as I am about to submit some measures of a general and important character, but as the evening is advancing, I deem it necessary to proceed to unfold to you the views I have to present. We have hitherto met in relation chiefly to subjects affecting interests which might be discussed without requiring any future action in relation to them, either on the part of the speaker or those whom they addressed. It is not so at present ; for the subject to which I have now to invite your attention, is that of the heavy debts which oppress the churches and render the increase of suitable temples for worship altogether too slow for the wants of the people. I have a plan to propose which has in view the relief of those churches from the heavy burdens under which they labor, but that plan can- not have its proper efficiency unless it have scope and the deter- mined will of those for whose benefit it is proposed. It is for this reason I should have wished that the meeting had been more numerous. Before proceeding further, I shall allude to the progress of another subject which has an attraction to the meeting. It is the progress of our claim to the Fund to which we are contributors. Of the fate of the application to the Common Council in this City, all are aware, and we all know that thejvoice and tone of our first meeting after, was as spirited as the one before the denial but not the defeat of our cliiira [cheers], and that our sentiments were expressive of the sense of justice which must actuate the men who had yet to decide on that claim, who had the welfare of the people at heart. Our confidence in them has not been disappointed. A Report has been made by the officer of the State to whom the subject was referred, and it is gratifying to know that every principle of justice, equality and fair play of the American Constitution has been sanc- tioned by this high authority of the American People. [Cheers.] Yet, as I have heretofore expressed to you, it is not always justice CHUECH DEBT ASSOCIATION. 387 which triumphs in assemblies, for there may be those within them who will cling pertinaciously to their own narrow views, and endeavor to (effect what they conceive to be a great good, no mat- ter how others should suffer. It is therefore necessary until success is assured, that we should have our minds fixed upon it, for as long as the human voice can be animated by the sound of justice we shall continue to cry for our rights. [Cheers.] I shall now proceed to speak to you in detail, of the debt of the churches and the effect of that debt upon our interests, and the prospective interests of that rising generation which is coming forward, and to whom constant attention must be directed. If we had our churches filled on Sunday there must still be one half that cannot enter the Temple of God. There is not at present sufficient room for those who would attend if they had the opportu- nity. Sometime ago this building was purchased, and, notwithstand- ing the churches in its neighborhood, there is no doubt that if provided with the necessary pastors, there would be more than enough to fill it ; but then it has been found that opening this and adding another church for the accommodation of the people, would so injure the church immediately adjoining, that it must be left to some other more favorable time when such an effect is no longer to be dreaded. Such is the lamentable state of affairs in this respect, that the measure of responsibility is full to the brim, and if one drop more is put in, it overflows. If on account of the debts under which they labor, any of the churches should be sold or disposed of, it leaves a vacancy that cannot be filled, and will it be permitted that our churches shall forever remain under the dominion of creditors ? This state of things would be entirely changed, if with united energy we could act upon some well- digested plan ; we could theu i» a short time add church to church, and so keep pace with the wants of our increasing Catholic population. We can never expect success unless there be concert and unity of action. Every man should feel that he has an individual interest in this cause, and act conscious of being engaged in a good work. For that was surely a good work which facilitated to mankind the means of their becoming acquainted with their God and his mercies, and enablhig them to realize with greater certainty the end of their crea- tion. [Cheers.] But besides all this, my friends, you know, or should know, that in diminishing the capital for which your church- es stand indebted, you are relieving yourself of that continual drain of money which year after year conies out of yonr purses. Go on as at present, and at the end of ten years you will have paid an amount equal to two-thirds of the whole debt ! That is, supposing the debt to be $300,000, the interest on that $300,000 will in ten years amount to $200,000, and, after all, at the end of the ten years the $300,000 of debt will be still staring you in the face as to-day ! Consequently, then, this is not only a good work in a spiritual and religious sense, but it is — judging according to the Avisdom of this 383 ARCHBISHOP IITTGHES. world — it is yom- interest and advantage ; for the debt must be paid and who must pay it but you, Catholics ? There is another point of view, too, in which the plap I am about to suggest will appear worthy of support and confidence. At pres- ent, whenever a pressure comes upon a church, and a creditor stands waiting for his money, the trustees must either borrow and displace hiai by another creditor, or they must address themselves to the con- gregation, and in the congregation there are some dozen or two dozen or three dozen of men more liberal perhaps, or more conspic- uous, and to them every eye is immediately directed, while there are numerous other professors of their creed, who need the services of religion, and are perhaps willing to contribute if in a way availa- ble to the end, who are overlooked altogether. The burden falls on a few, and in these isolated efforts many are never called on at all. Now, my project would be made to extend itself, in such a manner that every Catholic in the city of New York, possessed of .ability, should contribute, and that those unwilling, being able, should also be on record. [Cheers.] Not that I would force the matter, nor do I think that that would be at all necessary. But yet I do say that that man who is able to support his religion with a moderate sum, who has no fair pretext forJ< JOHN HUGHES, Bishop, &c. [The meetings of the Church Debt Association were held every month for a year, and at nearly all the meetings BishojD Hughes was present and made short addresses, which were, however, only imperfectly reported, therefore it is not deemed advisable to publish them here. The last meeting was held on June l-Sth, 1842, when Bishop Hughes stated that the business of that meeting completed one year since the origin of the association. Its results would be published in a general Report, which would be an evidence of what can be done in this way. The Right Rev. Bishop alluded to the many circumstances of the past year, disadvantageous to the result 406 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. of the experiment. He did not seem disposed to press the con tinuanoe of the work in its present form, unless it should be generally insisted on by the people themselves. The same end might be obtained by each district appropriating immediately to the relief of its own church the amount of its contributions. The success of the present method, he said, depended on the fidelity and perseverance with which each separate portion should accomplish its part. The indifference of one section would chill the ardor of the other sections, and it was through reasonable apprehensions of this, that hedid not deem it advisable, unless urged by the general wish, to continue the association in its present form beyond the close of the year from its origin. He concluded his remarks by expressing his thanks to all who had taken a zealous part in this work so essential for the relief of the churches and the advancement of religion. The total amount received by the association was over $20,000.] INTRODUCTION BY THE RIGHT REV. BISHOP HUG-HES TO MR. LIVINGSTON'S BOOK ON "IMPUTATION." Within the last forty years, there has been, in the public mind of almost all Protestants nations, a growing disposition to reconsider the grounds of the great schism of the Sixteenth century, in conse- quence of which so many have been separated from the unity of the Christian Church. During this period, numerous conversions to the Catholic faith have occurred, among men high in rank and station, and eminent in the walks of science and literature. England, the Low Countries, Switzerland, and the different States of Protestant, as well as Catholic Germany, have all furnished remarkable instances. These examples, appeared, at the time, to have had no effect on tho general feelings of the nations in which they occurred. Nevertheless, it is almost impossible, in the good providence of God, that they should not have had great influence in predisposing the minds of othei-s remotely, and perhajjs without their own consciousness of the fact, to take a more calm and sober view of the whole controversy. The new religions had been vmdergoing the experiment of practice, for nearly three hundred years, side by side with the ancient faith. The results were before men's eyes ; and it required only a dispassion- ate and sincere mind to judge of them. On the one hand, the Catho- lics were seen held together, under the most adverse circumstances of civil and social relations, in the universal communion of one church. On the other side, Protestants always disagreed among themselves. Every effort made towards attaining unity, resulted, among them in fresh divisions. The Catholic "Church was seen moving onward, amidst the convulsions and disorders of the times, in the same undeviating course which had been traced out for her from the beginning ; — the Protestants, on the other hand, exhibited the now system of religion as resting on no permanent or iramutablo INTEODUCTIOX TO "IMPUTATION." 40Y basis ; but dependent on temporal circumstances, and the vicissitudes and uncertainty of human opinion. Under the former, reason recognized the dominion of faith in all matters of revelation ; under the latter, reason was made the judge of faith itself; and the practical consequences could be traced, from the wild and fitful out- bursts of religious feelings, which marked the first days of the great schism, especially in Germany, down to the cold and Christ-denying speculations of its rationalism in our own times. The individual instances, to which we have alluded, of a return to the ancient faith, must have served as occasions for bringing these comparative results before the minds of serious and reflecting men of both communions. But they must have done more. The Catho- lic religion had been represented as suited only to ages of ignorance and mental darkness ; and this prejudice must have been confounded, as men of the purest character, and most powerful intellects, were seen, from time to time, passing over to Catholicism, in the full light of the nineteenth century. Such examples, and in increasing numbers, are witnessed from day to day. But within the last fifteen or twenty years, the controversy between the two communions has assumed new features, altogether favorable to Catholicity. Among the Protestant clergy on the continent, several distinguished authors have come forward to vindicate certain portions of ecclesiastical history as well as the character of certain Popes, from the foul aspersions and misrepresentations of the earlier Protestant writers. In England, on the other hand,- the venerable dogmas of the Catholic faith have been, to a great extent, vindicated in the writings of the Oxford Tractarians. In both cases, it is to be remembered, that the testimonies in favor of truth are those of adversaries ; but it is this circumstance that gives them additional weight, on the general bear- ing and issue of the great question. Protestants would not receive, generally, the testimony of Catholic witnesses on these subjects; but when some of the first men in their own ranks bear similar testimony, the effect is calculated to shake, to its very centre, the foundation of '.heir prejudices against the ancient faith. Accordingly, these writers are no longer to be regarded as individuals merely, but as leaders, representatives of whole classes ; organs, giving utterance, with a faltering voice, to the uneasiness, doubts, and struggles that agitate the breasts of thousands of their Protestant countrymen. If there be one impression that has seized on the' minds of all sects and parties, except themselves, with the grasp of a conviction, it is, that the Oxford movement must lead its votaries into the bosom of the Catholic Church. There is but one Other alternative possible ; and that is, that they should abandon the ground they have taken, retreat to the point from which they started, and rest satisfied with the religion which the laws of their country have prescribed for them. It is, however, a painful con- test, between the spirit and the flesh. May Almighty God strengthen them by his grace, to accomplish the sacrifice which will best pro- mote his glory, and secure their own salvation. 408 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. But the social as -well as religious condition of England, at the present time, is enough to convince wise men that the country requires a spiritual renovation,which the barrenness of Protestantism is incapable of producing. The moral sympathies, that should knit and bind together all classes, have been ruptured or dissolved. The wealthy aristocracy, the poor, and the middle classes, which should blend into each other at a thousand points of social and religious contact, are as distinct and separate, except in the material relations of self-interest, as the castes of Hindooism. Pauperism, unknown in that country during Catholic times, is now universal throughout the land. Tl^e domains of the monasteries, and of the Church, were formerly the patrimony of the poor, of which the monks and clergy were as" the administrators for their benefit ; now these domains belong to the princes of Protestantism ; and for the poor, work-houses have been constructed from the ruins of the abbeys. In Catholic times, the clergy, by their state of voluntary celibacy, left the resources of the poor almost undiminished; now, the whole church- livings are hardly sufficient for the extravagant modes of life and domestic ambitions of tho married clergy. The extent of ignorance among the working classes, respecting the first principles of Chi'is- tianity, would be incredible were it not attested by Reports of Parliamentary Committees. So that whether you regard the gilded corruptions of excessive wealth on the one side, or the squalid depravities of extreme destitution on the other ; or contemplate the ignorance of religion, the infidelity, and desperate confederations of those who occupy tho middle ground between them, it will appear evident, that the regeneration of such a people, even under the social aspect, requires the presence and the action of a religion which can infuse into its masses the warmth and vitality of the Christian virtues reduced into daily practice. In alluding to these things as betraying, to the eyes of discerning Protestants themselves, the evidence of a moral and religious want, which the established church is obviously, through its own intrinsic deficiency, unqualified to supply, we would by no means present them as the only, or even a prominent cause, of the general move- ment which is now going on in England, in the direction of a return to the Catholic faith. No ; we would rather believe, humbly, that the progress of this movement is directed through the operation of that Grace which is invoked by the united prayer of millions, for the conversion of the English nation. But neither is it to be forgotten, that God, in his designs of mercy, may make use of outward things as well as interior con\ictions, to hasten the period of their accom- plishment. He must be but a superficial reader of things, who does not see, in the actual condition of England, what a powerful vindica- tion of the Catholic faith, has been wrought out by the silent progress of human events — and what a deep stamp of failure has been fixed on Protestantism, as a social and religious experiment, by the same unspeaking, but intelligible test. It can hardly be supposed, that it was the mere learning or piety of the Oxford divines, that has INTEODUCTIOK TO "IMPUTATION." 409 won for their views the sympathy and approbation of high secular powers in the state. Statesmen, no less than theologians, have advocated, and continue to advocate their views; and although these views do not yet avow the adoption of the whole Catholic truth, still, they are manifestly adverse to the essential principles of the entire Protestant system. Now, it is worthy of remark, that in every defence of these views which they have deemed it expedient to put forth, the moral and social, as well as religious condition of the country, entered into their grounds of justification. Indeed, so much is the case,' that it is avowed in the brief title prefixed to the writings by which they have become so celebrated, " Teacts foe THE Times." It is remarkable, under this view of the subject, that the Oxford divines should have overlooked the matter which is treated of in the following pages. Among all the errors owing their birth to the innoTOtions of the sixteenth century, there is not one so subtle as that which the Reformers adopted on the subject of justification by faith alone. It lies at the root of the whole system of Protestantism. It pervades, with but little modification, the doctrines of all the various sects, comprised under that comprehensive term. To it may be traced the peculiar and distinctive moral, as well as social features, that characterize every community or nation in which it has pre- vailed. It has chilled every generous emotion of self-sacrifice, and Christian heroism, which the charities of the Christian religion are wont to excite in the human breast, and which the ancient faith knows so well how to cherish, and ripen into the means of temporal and eternal benedictions to the whole human race. Why is it that Protestantism has produced no institutions for the welfare of man- kind, which can be traced to the inward efficacy of any of its principles, acting on the human heart and soul? no universities, no hospitals, no churches, no asylums for the poor ? Some of all these, it has unquestionably produced ; but there is not so much as one, that can be traced to the inward power of any principles of Protestant- ism operating silently and secretly in the souls of men. Human legislation will be found to have intervened in all the Protestant countries of Europe ; whereas those same countries had been« almost paved with such institutions resulting from the inward operation, without the aid of human laws, of the Catholic faith, in the hearts of men, before Protestantism began. Why has the latter system never produced a Xavier, an order for the redemption of captives, a Vincent of Paul, or even a Sister of Charity ? No one could fill the place of either of these, without being prepared to ofier himself a daily sacrifice, or if need be, once for all, for the good of his neighbor, which is only the second part of the Loed's command- ment, carried to its point of heroism ; and why is it that Protestant- ism has never been able to inspire this heroism into a single member of its communion ? Who has ever heard even of a Protest- ant Sister of Charity ? We know, indeed, that such works have a place in the theory of 410 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. the Protestant systern; bnt in that theory itself, their_ sphere ia restricted ; within it, too, they are controlled by an arbitrary rule of divine economy ; and even then, they are pronounced utterly unprofitable to'the soul of him who performs them ! How, then, ca,n the Tractarians realize, in the Anglican communion, so long as this doctrine is not i-epudiated, those practical results which religion, operating internally on the hearts of men, is constantly producing in Cath&lic lands? Do men gather figs of thorns, or grapes of thistles? Still, it must be admitted, that the idea of justification by faith alone, us it presents itself to minds trained up in the Protestant system is plausible and seductive. As this subject, however, is seldom treated of in a popular way, it may be well to give a brief statement of the question and a definition of the terms involved in it. " Justification" is that action or operation of divine grace on the soul, by which a man passes from the state of sin ; from an enemy, becomes the friend of God, agreeable in the divine sight, an4 an heir to eternal life. This act of transition from the one state to the other, with its operating causes, is called "justification." From the circumstance of its being a spiritual and interior operation, it is evident that it affords an opportunity for theological subtleties, to those who would make use of it ; and at the same time, renders it difficult to expose the error which those subtleties may be employed to foster. The Church, therefore, has always preserved her ancient and orthodox teaching under the form of sound words — which heresy has ever betrayed itself by refusing to adopt. Thus, in both communions, justification is acknowledged to be, as to its efficient source, from and through and by Jesijs Christ, alone. But in the Catholic system, this justification, occurring in the modes of the Saviour's appointment, is not only the imputation, but also in the interior application of the justice of Christ, by which guilt is destroyed, pardon bestowed, and the soul replenished by the inherent grace and charity of the Holy Spirit. According to the Protestant principle, justification is when a man believes with a firm and certain faith or conviction, in his own mind, that the justice of Christ is " imputed" to him. This is that "faith alone," fey wliioh they profess to be saved. The sacraments, for them, have no other end or efficacy, except as signs to awaken this individual and personal faith, so called, and as tokens of communion. Neither Is it, that any intrinsic or interior operation takes place in the soul, by this, in which she is changed by a transition from the state of sin, now remitted and destroyed, to a state of justice wrought for her and in her, by the application of the merits and infusion of the grace of Christ. JSTo ; this is the Catholic doctrine. But, according to the Protestant principle, no such change takes place. According to that principle, the impious man is not made just, even by the adoption of God, or the merits of Christ. But leaving him in his injustice, it is conceived that his sins are no longer imputed to him, but that the justice of Christ is imputed to him. Thus a criminal is under guilt and condemnation ; but in considera- INTEODUCTIOjST to " IMPUTATIOSr." 411 tion of a powerful and innocent intercessor, the chief magistrate pardons him. It is only by a certain fiction of thought and language that such a person can be considered innocent ; or that his intrinsic guilt can be conceived of as still existing, but as imputed to the one who interceded for him, and the justice of that intercessor imputed to him. Such is the exact likeness of justification as taught in the theology of Protestantism. But it is to be observed, that the sphere ■which is assigned as the seat of this species of fiction, is the mind of God himself! The sinner is not intrinsically, or really justified, in this system, but we are told that God, on account of the merits of Christ, is pleased to regard and " repute" him as such ; that is, God " reputes" him to be, what, in reality, He knows him not to be ! St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, speaks of the faith of Abraham as having been reputed to him unto justice. And Luther, to meet the exigencies of his case, seized on the letter of this passage, and distorted its spirit and meaning. God had made rich promises to Abraham and his posterity. The hope of this promise was in his son Isaac. And God, to try the faith of his servant, directed Abraham to immolate this, his only son, as a sacrifice to his name. Such an order, under such circumstances, was calculated to throw deep and impenetrable mystery over the previous promises, treasured up in the mind of the patriarch. Nevertheless, he falters not in his confidence, but obeys without a moment's hesitation. He sinks all the apprehensions arising from the suggestions of flesh and blood, and in the simplicity of his confidence, prepares to execute what had been commanded. And it is only when his hand is uplifted to strike, that God manifests his acceptance of the will, which, however, em- braced the work itself, that he is no longer permitted to execute. Such was the faith of Abraham. But it is evident that it embraced the works, and that so far as obedience, will, intention, purpose, and even feelings, were concerned, Abraham had already completed the sacrifice. This, the same Apostle writes in the Epistle to the He- brews, ii. ll. "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered Isaac ; and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son." As, however, the outward immolation was not actually or physically consummated, Luther was pleased to exclude it altogether from the faith of Abraham, contrary to the express words of St. Paul himself. The error of Luther has been incorporated, -yith but slight modifications, into the theology of all the other Protestant denominations. Hence the doctrine of salvation by " faith alone." By faith, to use their own phraseology, the sinner " seizes" on the merits of Christ — by believing firmly that they are " imputed" to him. It is not that by this, he is made just or innocent, but God is pleased to declare, to suppose, to repute — let us say it with reverence — to imagine him as such. It is all God's work, he has not the smallest share in it — and then, the seductive boast of the system, that thus, " all the glory returns to God, and nothing to man." Under the same plea, good works were decried as hindrances, rather than helps, in the matter of justification. It' was supposed, indeed, 412 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. that by a necessary consequence, they would appear in the life of the believer, as the fruit and evidence of his faith. But, even then, they could be of no advantage to the soul. Neither could sin, except that of unbelief alone, defeat its salvation. To such a point of of insanity did Luther carry his doctrine on this subject, that he declares, that " if adultery could be committed in faith, it would not be a sin." " Si in fide fieri posset adulterium, peccatum non asset." — Luth. Bispui. t. 1, b. 523. This doctrine is the root of all those distinctive features of Pro- testantism, which place its moral, as well as dogmatical code, so much in opposition to the ancient teaching of Christendom, and of the Catholic world. Calvin moulded it into his own system of Election, Predestination, Reprobation, and Inamissible Grace. The different confessions of faith have mitigated somewhat the harshness of language with which it was first set forth in the writings of the two great Continental Reformers. But its substance pervades them all. The extent to which it has prevailed in the ^nglican Church, which is supposed to have departed least from the ancient faith, will appear in the little work which is now presented to the public. And humanly speaking, there is no hope for the Protestant world, even through the piety and learning that are represented by the Oxford divines, until they themselves shall have burst through the intricate and subtle meshes of this elaborate net of primitive Protestantism. They seem to repine at not beholding among themselves those fruits of religion, which they witness among their CathoUc neighbors. But how could they expect it, while they teach that man's righteousness is solely by the mere imputation of the righteousness of Christ — and that this imputation is by/at7A aloxe, to the utter exclusion of good works, either before or after justification ? Do they not see that this system leaves them no ground whereon to place the fulcrum, or apply the lever of either a moral, religious, or social regeneration ? We would not be understood by these remarks, to assert or insinuate, that the moral virtues are not attended to in the practice of Protestant communities as well as elsewhere. Far from it. But it is seldom that the conduct of men is in strict consistency with their creed, and in the present instance it is well known, that Catho- lics living up to the, principles of their holy faith, would be infinitely better than they are ; Protestants, on the same grounds, would be immeasurably worse. In the Catholic Church, every age witnessed the spectacle of thousands of individuals rising by the power of Grace, above the ordinary range of righteous living, and devoting themselves by a perpetual sacrifice of all that is selfish, for the good of their neighbor ; and this for God's sake. Protestantism, after three hundred years of existence, cannot point out even one such example ! Why is it ? I^ow, the true type of the faith and the grace of the Catholic religion, is to be found in those higher examples to which we have just referred, — whilst, if you seek a corresponding type, something that will exemplify the essence of Protestantism, you must be satisfied with .ii u INTEODtrCTIC N TO "IMPUTATION." 413 the concentration of it in the coarse uncharitableness and unchristian exhibitions of it in Exeter Hal], and in kindred assemblies on this side of the Atlantic. It is true, and honorable as true, that the vast majority of Protestants, in both countries, look upon such exhibitions ■with regret, and virtuous indignation ; but it is not less true, that for this, the genuine interpreters of thfeir creed, regard, and denounce them as only half Protestants, and half " Papists." There is more of truth in this uncourteous statement than either side is aware of. Truth, and charity, and meekness, and patience, and all good works, are contemplated as implied conditions of justification in the Catho- lic system ; whilst they ai-e as implicitly discarded from the Protest- ant justification, except, indeed, as consequences which, it is sup- posed, must necessarily follow. But the stumbling-block, with many, is the idea that according to the Catholic doctrine, man is himself the author, in part, at least, of his own justification, through the supposed efficacy of good works, and human meri^ ; and that thus Christ is robbed of the glory which belongs solely to Him. Having stated briefly the Protestant doctrine, we shall now exhibit, with equal brevity, the Catholic teaching on the subject of justification. ■ The Catholic Church teaches, also, that Christ is alone the author and finisher of our salvation — that of ourselves we can do nothing without his grace — that all grace is the pure gift of God — that to Him belongs the whole and undivided glory. This is the faith of the Catholic Church. But from thispoint the two systems begin to diverge. Supposing the existence Of faith in the soul, which is regarded in the Catholic system as the "root of our justification," God imparts additional grace, by which it is increased and developed into the tree of a holy life, laden with its proper fruits of Christian charity. The operation of this grace is in the soul itself, renovating its powers, impaired and decayed as they had been by the contagion of original and actual sin. The sacraments are appointed channels by which i Christ communicates this grace, and applies now, individually, to those who receive it, the merits of its own infinite sacrifice, once offered up on the Cross. He may communicate grace otherwise than by the sacraments, but however communicated He is its source and author. One of the efifects of this grace, is to enable the soul to co-operate with the inspirations which it communicates. Thus it disposes itself to receive further aid from heaven ; and being still faithful in its correspondence with the new grace, it goes on in a pro. gress of holiness, by which it approaches nearer and nearer to the perfect and adorable Author of its being. • In; all this, what are termed good works, must necessarily enter. Sin must be avoided ; for sin would displease God, and destroy his grace in the soul. Charity, the love of God, becomes the impulse by which such a soul is actuated. She will endeavor to keep the com- mandments, for this is given as the* test of love. ISTayj more, she 'will sometimes, for his sake, resolve on the sacrifice which is always necessary in order to accomplish those things whiph He has counseled, 414 AEOHBISHOP HUGHES. —•without having reduced them to the rigor of a universal precept. She will sell all that she has, and give it to the poor, in order to have treasures in heaven. Here the Catholic doctrine of the " merit of good works," comes in. Is it, that according to our faith anything that man can do, even with the aid of grace, creates a right in virtue of which he may claim a recompense from God ? Certainly not. Is it that any works of his can enter, as a portion, into the price by which he was redeemed ? By no means. Nevertheless, the Church teaches, founding her doctrine on the express word of God, and the excess of his goodness and mercy, that He himself bestows on works thus performed through his grace, for his sake, and his love, a merit which He will recompense with eternal rewards. But are these rewards on account of any instrinsic merit in the actions them- selves as the mere works of men ? Surely not. Long before Luther began to pervert the writings of St. Paul, St. Augustine declared in two words what had ever been, and still is, and ever will be, the faith of the Church on the subject, viz.: God in rewarding his saints, but crowns in them the effect of his own grace. Where, then, is there room for that calumny which the radical error of the sixteenth century put forth against the Church of God, viz.: that she robbed Christ of his glory in the justification of sinners, by making it partly the work of man himself? This calumny is still propagated, and by it thousands are prevented from returning to the fold of Christ. We have exemplified the Protestant doctrine of justification by a human comparison ; we shall endeavor to represent the Catholic tenet by another. A man gives capital for trade to a number of persons who are utterly penniless and starving — more to one, less to another. He places them in a sphere of commerce, in which, if they are attentive, industrious, and prudent, they will acquire much wealth ; but in such a way, that the measure of the increase is also owing to the goodness of him who gave the original cajjital. In this,^two things concur to the same end — his liberality, and their co-operation ; but can they glory on this Account, as if their fortune was owing to them- selves, or their works ? Certainly not ; and yet the same goodness of their patron, may induce him to reward, as merit in them, that industry with which they employed his money. And what is this, after all, but the lesson of our Lord's teaching in the paTable of the talents — and for the proper use of which it was said, " Well done, thou good and faithful servant, iecoMse thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many ; enter into the joy of the Lord." This is the doctrine of justification, as taught in the Catholic Church ; the grace of Christ, which is his gift, is the capital, renovating the powers of the soul, and enabling her to enter into the commerce of charity, which has God and the neighbor for its objects, and by which " treasift-es," in the language of Scripture, may be laid up in heaven. See how this commerce has been carried on in the Church from the beginning ! See the apostles, the martyrs, OI-IUECH DEBT ASSOCIATIOIT. 415 the confessors, the virgins, the missionaries, the teachers of the ignorant, the friends of the poor, of the sick, of the captives, ever buriers of the dead, give up the world, renounce their own ease, embrace voluntarily the mortifications of the Cross, and by a perpetual sacrifice of self, become the living, and, not unfrequently, the expiring victims of their love for their fellow beings, and of Him who died for all ! The world has always been full of wickedness, and always will be ; but, notwithstanding this, amidst ilS social con- N'ulsions, and its hereditary corruptions, see, how in every age since the beginning of Christianity, men rose and girded themseUes up for Christ's sake, to battle in the armor of faith, and with the wea- pons of holy charity, against the peculiar disorders of the times. The infidel corsah- sweeps the sea, carrying Christians into slavery. But the grace of Christ has inspired other Christians with the heroism of charity, by which they bind themselves in a solemn vow, to seek the captive in a barbarous land, to redeem him with money, or, if need be, to take on their own limbs the chains of bondage which they have stricken from his ! Plague and pestilence are desolating the land, and thousands of delicate and tender virgins are ready to rush into th^ atmosphere of death, and ministering at the bed-side of the sick and dying, occupy the place which' the cowardice of mere flesh and blood had caused even relatives to abandon ! But all this, again, is through Christ, who inspires this supernatural courage, and crowns as merit in the members of his mystical body, the fruits of his own grace. Now, if such things occur at all times, and in all places of the Catholic Church ; and if, on the other hand, the world has yet to witness the first example of them in the Protestant communities, does it not follow that there is, there must be, some deep and radical cause to account for the difference ? Unquestionably, there is. The Protestant dogma of a forensic imputation of the merits of Christ, and of justification by " faith alone," explains it all. No other key is necessary. It is not pretended that in the ordinary virtues of social and domestic life, Protestants are inferior to any others. Still, even these, it is manifest, derive no support from their doctrine of justifi- cation, and must be accounted for on other grounds. But above the range of cvery-day duties, performed in a genteel and respect- able manner, where is there a name that stands prominent on the page of self sacrifice for the good of others ? We have sometimes heard the names of Howard and Wilberforce mentioned as instances. They, certainly, especially the former, were above the ordinary standard in the reformed ranks ; but yet how immeasurably below any cQrresponding type in the Catholic church ! The one visited the institutions for erring and sufiering, or destitute humanity, which had been founded by the spontaneous charity of Catholic lands, or the civil laws of Protestants states — and recorded the reflections of his mind, and the sympathies of his benevolent heart. Even this was much. The other poured out his eloquence, and his gold, if you please, to meliorate the condition of an atflicted-portion 416 AECHBISHOP HUGflES. of Ms fellow men.. But neither of them showed anything like a willingness to undergo themselves, for their Maker's sake, a portion of the sufferings they would mitigate or remove. The Oxford school is the only one in the history of Protestantism that seems to have caught a ray of the light and warmth of Catholic faith on the subject of justification. Neither is this so manifest in what are called their principles, as in the tone of a deej5er spirituality, piety, meekness, and a desire tc foster more the love of God, and of man. These feelings appear under the surface of their writings as if struggling for an issue, and a right direction. Hence the innova- tions with which they are charged. Fasting, confession, and most of the practical devotions of the Catholic Church, are reported to have found favor in their sight. But, alas ! so long as the funda- mental error of the Anglican system on justification remains, what practical progress can they make with the massesx)f their people ? It is said they would establish Protestant monasteries ; but who will be. the monks ? That they would have daily service in their churches ; but who will attend the worship, except a few devout females whose hearts unconsciously obey the instinct of that Catholic faith against which their understandings have been so perversely instructed ? That they would rid the churches of pews, so that, as in Catholic times, the rich and poor may worship together; but do they imagine that the haughty lords of England, who, fenced round in their exclusive boxes, will hardly kneel before their Maker, albeit they are tempted by soft and velvet cushions to do so, — will mingle in any direct con- tact of equality with the poor? No,- no! such results cannot be anticipated, so long as both are tauglit to believe that justification is by " faith alone." But going beyond the precincts of the temple, how will the Oxford divines be able to infuse into the Anglican system any principle of spiritual fruitfulness, whilst this tenet prevails ? How will they go forth to their rich and proud country- men, preaching, like St. Paul, the '■ chastisement of the body," and . the " crucifixion of the flesh ?" How will they meet the dark, sour discontent, of religious, as well as civil chartism, in the millions of their countrymen, with the words of the Saviour Himself, " Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God." How will they reduce to the simplicity of faith, and the obedience of Christ, the spiritual haughtiness and double-dealing of their middle classes? How, in a word, can they renovate their church, or distill a healing balm into any of the wounds, religious, moral, social, or physical, of their sufiering land, so long as they and their countrymen remain alike paralyzed by the frozen grasp of the fundamental error of their system to which we have alluded ? They may, indeed, preach and write with the force and eloquence, and even unction of a Chrys- ostom or a Paul, but yet so long as the present system of the Anglican Church remains, their words will return on them as feathers cast against the wind. Still, however, all these things are in the hands of God — who can employ the things that are not, to confound the things that are. CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL POWEE. 417 LECTURE BY THE RT. REV. BISHOP HUG-HES ON "THE MIXTURE OF CIVIL AND ECCLESIAS- TICAL POWER IN THE MIDDLE AGES," DELIVERED IN THE TABERNACLE, NEW YORK, DECEMBER 18, 1843, ON BEHALF OF THE IRISH EMIGRANT SOCIETY. One of the largest and most intelligent audiences ever collected within the walls of any public building in this city, assembled in the Tabernacle to hear the Lecture of the Bishop. Some time before the hour speoiiied in the advertisements, every seat in the house was taken up, and by the time the Lecture commenced the standing places on the floor and galleries were occupied in like man- ner. Probably no lecture ever before delivered in New York was so well attended, there must have been at least 3,500 persons present. On the platform, and among the audience wfre several of the leading divines of the Episcopalian and other Protestant denominations. At half-past 7 o'clock precisely, the President of the Irish Emigrant Society, Robert Hogan, Esq., made a few introductory remarks. _ When at length the applause had subsided the Bishop commenced his lecture as follows : The mixture of Civil and Ecclesiastical power in the Govern- ments of the Middle Ages — in other words, a blending or union of Church and State — a theme which has extended over the whole of Christendom, for the last 1400 years ; a theme having its origin at the vety root of modern States ; which has grown up with their growth ; which has, it must be confessed, produced much of the improvement that distinguishes the legislation of Christian coun- tries ; — but a theme, also, in the use or abuse of which tears and blood have been m.ade to flow in mingled torrents. A hundred folio volumes would not be sufficient to develop the origin and history, to analyze the connections and philosophy, to detail the benefits, aijd to point out the evils, which have resulted from this system. How, then, shall I be able to compress any adequate idea of it, into the lecture of a single hour ? Success is more than I can promise ; but I shall make the attempt, notwith- standing. • The reproach of having first sanctioned, or tolerated, this union of Civil and Ecclesiastical authority, in the government of mankind, is laid at the door of the Catholic Church. And some persons may suppose, that, for a Catholic Bishop to treat a question in which his Church and his order are so deeply implicated, is at once a bold and delicate undertaking. I have not myself any such feeling on the subject. First, because it is the genius of that Church to conceal nothing of her doctrines or of her history ; since the scandals, as well as the good, which have marked her progress in the world, are woven up in the annals of her history, by her own best Writers, 27 418 AEOHBISHOP HUGHES. ^ with the same impartial fidelity. And, secondly, I have no such feelings, because admitting that the CathoJic Church was the _first to tolerate or sanction such a union, I do not know the name of any Protestant, or other Christian denomination, that has hitherto practically discovered the error and repudiated the connection. As regards denominations, therefore, if this be a sin, we have all sinned alike. The doctrine is maintained with more dark and desperate determination in Russia, than it is in Italy. It finds more numerous, more obstinate, and, I will add, more able advocates, both among Statesmen and Churchmen, in England, than it does in Austria. It is cherished with as unrelenting a tenacity in Holland, in Sweden, aud Prussia — indeed in all the Protestant States of Europe — as it is, or ever was, in any Catholic State. In fine, to show what a powerful hold this doctrine, as a principle, seems to have on the human mind, I may mention, that, while the majority of the clergy and people of Scotland go out from the Church-and-State dependen- cies, on a matter of fact, still they maintain the rightfulness of the union, as a true, and indisputable principle. If, therefore, this is the condition of Christendom in the meridian light and high civilization of the nineteenth century, there is no reason to blush for the Catho- lic faith, for having tolerated, or approved of the principle, in the rude and uncivilized condition of mankind in former ages. It is supposed, however, that such a union is a necessary doctrine of the Catholic Church. This is utterly false. It is no more a doctrine of the Catholic Church, than the destruction of the old Roman Empire — or the incursions of the barbarians, by which its fall was precipi- tated. It is simply a historical accident, in the annals of the Catho- lic Church. It happened so ; but if Providence had arranged the outward affairs of the world differently, it would have happened otherwise. I have said, that to this rule of union between Church and State, -there is one — and only one — exception. This may surprise some of my hearers ; but you may take the history of the whole human race, in all times, in all nations, under all forms of government, and wherever you find men living under any social organization, there you will find the Church and State united : — save and except the United States of America. That union, or, at least, the spirit of it, had been imported into these colonies, while they were in subjection to the English Government? It had been planted, had taken root, and had already yielded its bitter and bloody fruit, even in this virgin hemisphere. England withheld from these colonies those privileges of civil liberty, of which her people were so jealous at home. This led to resistance ; resistance led to strife ; and in the ranks of strife, men forgot their religious differences ; Catholics and Protestants of every denomination stood shoulder to shoulder, until British authority was totally annihilated within their boundaries. Here, then, was an interruption of all hereditary legislation, the link of connection, in the whole social organization,' had been broken ; and a Hew State was to be formed, happily, at a period when civiliza- I.ECTUEK ON THE MIDDLE AGES. 419 tion was in a high state of advancement ! The same men who had achieved the independence of the countiy, were equal to the task of forming a Constitution for its government ; and the wisdom of that Constitution is as just a subject for our admiration, as the valor by which the right to make it had been won. It was framed for the government and guidance of a free people, who claimed to be free in thpir civil rights and opinions. It was framed to secure, at once, order and equality of rights ; and, considering the purpose which it was intended to accomplish, I regard the Constitution of the United States as a monument of wisdom, — an instrument of liberty and right, unequaled — unrivaled — in the annals of the human race. Every separate provision of that immortal document is stamped with the features of wisdom ; and yet among its wise provisions, what I regard as the wisest of all, is the brief, simple, but comprehensive declaration, that, " Congress shall make no law RESPECTING THE ESTABLISHMENT OP RELIGION, OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF. This event — forming an epoch in the history of Governments- took place more than half a century ago. It has hitherto found no imitators, among either the Protestant or Catholic States of the world ; and the only nations that have hitherto followed the example even by . the approach of remote imitations, are Belgium and France. The subject on which I have to speak, is obviously too ample to permit that I should enter either into detail, or indulge in the critical Isusiness of citing historical authorities. In truth, it is rather the spirit and the philosophy of history, in regard to my subject, that must engage attention', but, at the same time, I would not have it to be imagined that I am abyut to draw a picture of fancy. On the contrary, I hold myself responsible for the historical correctness of what I shall advance, and am prepared with dates and facts, and special authorities from cotemporary historians, whenever it may be necessary to use them. There is another remark, also, which it is important to keep in view, in considering the subject ; and this is, that, in examining, any complex historical question — especially a question which is connect- ed with the development of civilization — we should not read the subject backward. If we were to ridicule or criticize Columbus and his associates, for not having made the discovery of America in steamers, this would be what I call reading history backward. His gallant little squadron was composed of almost open boats ; and if he had not been able to accomplish such a discovery, even so, it is quite probable that the ocean would never havo felt the power of steam. There is an infancy, a growth, and development of the public mind, analogous to that of the individual understanding, with this diiference, that; in nations, the progress counts by centuries, which, in individuals, is numbered by years. To judge the past by the the present, therefore, is absurd. The benefit of studying history at 420 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. all, consists in the wisdom wMch may be gleaned from it — and tlie wisdom can only result from the truth which it furnishes-^and the truth can be discovered only by studying it in the proper manner. In fact, there is another great difference between the individual and public mind. The former is trained up by other minds, already ripened ; but the latter has no senior tutor. The aggregate mind, in its largest sense, moves forward on the mysterious point, dividing two eternities — the past and the future. It has a certain measure of experience — a certain general idea of the ground over which it has travelled ; but of its direction or tendency, id reference to the future, all is, at all given times, uncertain and unknown. There is a mysterious veil, at all times, hanging over the future, which moves onward in exact keeping with the advance of the present, so that- men may preserve a vague recollection of what has happened j but no man is able to tell, with certainty, what is to come. Thus, look- ing back at the history of civilization, we can now discover that society has made many a curve, and many a pause, while those of whom it was composed imagined themselves to be always in motion, and always moving on a straight line. We suppose this to be the case in our own regard ; but it is quite possible that the five-and- twentieth century, looking back to the nineteenth, will perceive how divergent from the straight line were the leading impulses and directions of our age. In fact, the public mind, in its progress, is like the course of a vessel at sea. It is obliged to tack on the one side, and on the other, sometimes even to recede, by the force of circumstances over which the pilot can have no control. To judge of its action at any given time of history, we ought to assimilate our own mind to the condition of the public mind, at such a period. We ought to forget, if possible, the experience which has been, since then, acquired ; but taking our stand at the origin of any historical question, to travel downward with the current of its development, instead of absurdly rowing our shallow boat of criticism against its mighty stream. The first period of the Christian Church was a period in which she knew the State only as the source of her sufferings and her triumphs. Almost all her pontiffs, from St. Peter downward, during three hundred years, sealed their mission by a glorious martyrdom. Her missionaries had extended themselves throughout the length and breadth of the Roman empire. They had penetrated countries wbere the Roman eagles had never been known or heard of Her converts were numerous in all the provinces — in the capitol — ^in the army — in the Senate — and even in the houses of the Caesars them- selves. Still, the frown of the State was upon her; and to escape it she found a hiding-place in the catacombs of Rome. If she met the State at all, it was only at the tribunal of some consul or gover- nor — or on the scaffold, to witness the triumph of some glorious member of her body, against whom the sword of the State was up- lifted, for no other crime save that of belief in Jesus of Nazareth At length, Cpnstantine is triumphant over his rivals and his enemy. LEOTUKE ON THE MIDDLE AGES. 421 He embraces the Christian religion ; and the Cross, whioh had hitherto been the emblem of all that is vile, is now set in the imperial diadem as the most precious of its ornaments, and the most expressive type of its duties. The condition of the world, even the civilized world of the Roman empire, was lamentable in the extreme ; and, miless it should be derived /row the Cross, there was no hope of its renovation. Every department of society was depraved, not only by the natural depravity of man's heart, but that depravity itself was incorporated in almost all the legal and social institutions of the degenerate times. In the family^ the father alone was under the protection of the law ; the wife, the children, the slaves — or rather ' all were then slaves — had no protection beyond the caprice of the husband, the father, and the master. His ordei' was enough to consign these, or any of them, even to public prostitution ; against which,' neither the laws of the empire, nor the morality of Paganism, opposed a barrier. Now, to allow, thus, disorder and corruption in the family, was to vitiate and corrupt the whole of society in its very root. Hence, the public crimes which history has recorded of that age, and those immediately preceding. The people plundered by every petty officer of the government— the oppression and impotence of the rural and provincial popula- tions — the licentious and unpunished conduct of the Roman soldiers — the debaucheries and cruelties of the imperial court, and all con- nected with it, present a picture which causes the heart to sicken at the condition of humanity at that period — the setting sun of old Roman civilization. As one fact, to give an idea of the times, I will mention that, during the hundred years which preceded the age of Constantine, the average reign of each emperor was but two and a half years ; that, out of forty emperors, more than one- half had perished by a death of violence ; that the Praetorian Guards and their prefect had put up the throne of the great empire, at public auction, to the highest bidder ; and that the purchaser had scarcely time to wear off the novelty of his elevation, when he was murdered to create an opportunity for a new sale. Constan- tine moved the seat of empire to Byzantium, now Constantinople. His successors in the empire, with a few exceptions, fell infinitely below him in every attribute of talent, capacity, and virtuous great- ness. Of his successors, it is sufficient to say, in generkl, that, with some few exceptions, they were lost in luxury and effeminacy ; showing always a greater disposition to meddle in the metaphysics of theological disputation, than either to govern or defend their empire, according to the better morals of the law they professed. There is not a single dispute of the subsequent ages, in which they did not interpose their sovereign will, on one side or on the other. By joining with the Iconocl.asts, or image-breakers of the eighth century, they prepared the way for the Greek schism; and the Greek schism, in its turn, prepared the way for their utter annihi- lation, by wrenching from their feeble hands, to be transferred to 422 ARCHBISHOP 'hughes. the disciples of Mahcyiiet, that sceptre, of which they were un- worthy. When such weakness and such imbecility were at the head and heart of the Imperial Government, the events which oc- curred throughout its extremities .ceased to be surprising. The oarbarians of every name, and of no name, from the East and North of Europe, from the shores of the Baltic and the interior of Tartary, rushed into the empire, as if by concert, and inundated it with their savage and ferocious habits. Huns, Burgandians, Goths, and Vandals, all came in mingled confusion, to take possession of the undefended TDrovinces, as of a rich but abandoned prey. Not by a single irruption — though even that would have been sufficient to extinguish the feeble remains of Roman institutions ; but, wave after wave, from this inexhaustible ocean of ignorance and barba- rism, rushed with destructive fui-y over the length and breadth of the Roman empire. It would be wrong to say, that they had not brought with them certain rude elements, from which a future civilization might, under a propitious culture, be matured, and ripen. But their code of police was suited rather to the common good, in their common con- dition of a banditti of robbers, than to any state of settled, peace- able, and social life. The type of the ci\'ilization which they came to overthrow and extinguish was, in their mind, with all its develop- ments and accidents, a type of effeminacy, which they held in the most sovereign and unutterable contempt. Of this type, they looked upon Roman legislation, Roman 'habits, architecture, books, learning, arts and sciences, as the pernicious offspring. Hence, they regarded them as things to be destroyed, with the same determina- tion which had vanquished the authors of them. Lombardy, Gaul, the southern coasts of the Mediterranean, Spain, and other portions of Europe, the choicest of Imperial Rome, became the seat of their ravages and future habitations. Other hordes may have come subse- quently to disturb their residence ; but, finally, the whole remnant of Roman government, Roman laws, and usages, and institutions, are made to give place to the crude and barbarous habits of these igno- rant, but warlike invaders of the North. It A\'ould seem that, under such a catastrophe, there was no hope for the renovation of the human mind. The only models of govern- ment, which the ancient world had left, would seem to have : perished. Government and society, upon a large scale at least; must result from the exercise of power somewhere. But here were, men, who acknowledged no power on earth, and hardly any in heaven ; they may be said to have had no law, but their own will ; and, it may further be said, that it was not in their nature to submit to any other. Out of this chaos — not the deliberations of men, but the irresisti- ble force of necessity, brought about, slowly, something like Civil Government. This government is stamped with all the rude preju- dices of those on whose will its formation depended. Privilege, i. LECTUEE ON THE MIDDLE AGES. 423 distinction, power, were supposed to be the prerogative of the bold, the daring and the few ; submission, obedience, degradation, were conceived as resulting from the natural distribution of things, in reference to the weak, the timid, and the many. Hence the forma- tion of what, at a later period, when it became better organized, is known as the Feudal System. In a period of social disorder, and the absence of all laws, except the laws of physical strength, life and protection are the first neces- sities of man. The common people, therefore, for the sake of life and the protection of it, attached themselves to the train of chief- tains from whom these first claims of human existence might be expected. The chieftain was bound to provide for their subsistence and protection. They, on their part, as an equivalent, were bound to go to war with him ; and to fight for him, in every quarrel, aggressive or defensive, which he might be pleased to undertake. They were his vassals ; and he was, in the first stage, their baron or lord ;_ afterward, when the system refined and developed itself more, this order was extended and diversified into lords and earls, and marquises and dukes. In this sySitem, framed in such circum- stances, it is hardly necessary to add, that the desire of extending their several territories, or of defending them, as it might happen — where all claimed the right of assailing his neighbor, when he found himself strong enough for the undertaking — must have produced incessant warfare. Those who were barons or lords, in reference to the vassals who were dependent on them, became themselves vassals, in regard to others, on whom they, in turn, felt dependence. Thus, the king might be regarded .as the /ieac? baron of the nation ; and yet, there are instances in which even he held his fief, as if he were a vassal to some of his own subjects. Naturally, this condition of things, wherever it prevailed, was calculated to retard civilization. It shows that the only thing held in high estimation was, not justice, nor arts, nor learning, nor moral rights of any description, but a brave heart, a strong bow, and stout arm. It is not surprising, therefore, that Europe should have been, then, as one great univer- sal camp of war. Every castle was a fortress — every peasant a soldier — every baron a species of monarch, who could summon and sound to battle, ^vhenever he pleased. The only spot that was neutral, was the Church and its sacred precincts. Nothing can prove this better than the institution of those times which is called, " Treve de Dieu," or the " Peace of God." This was a rule, for- bidding them to go to war from Wednesday evening till Monday morning, of each week. This was the first inroad made upon the determined martial, or rather jpredatory habits of those ages. The first great \ariation from the monotony of interior confusion was the Crusades. The enthusiasm which that enterprise inspired, appears to vis like a moral contagion. Like other great events, it produced its evil and its advantageous consequences. It tended to destroy serfage — that species of temperate slavery which pre- vailed in the Middle Ages. It exhausted the barons, and directed 424 ARCHBISHOP -HUeHES. against the foreign enemy those lighting propensities which they had hitherto indulged against each other. It enlarged the public mind, and imbued it with some notions of navigation, commerce, arts, and learning. After this period had passed away, literature begins to revive ; universities are founded ; the State begins to come out of the social relations, with features of greater distinct- ness. Order, at least of an imperfect kind, begins to take the place of brute force. The features of Feudalism begin to fkde away ; and, as we rise into the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, we dis- cover the public mind, as if gazing on the bright dawn of civiliza- tion such as, unhappily, the day has not reahzed. The East Indies, which had been lost from the map of the world during the Middle Ages, are re-discovered by Portuguese navigators. An Italian sailor plucks up a new hemisphere, from the untravelled waters of the Western ocean ; printing is invented ; architecture and the arts are all revived. Greek and Roman literature become a very passion ; and the public mind seemed to enter upon a new career, with a young energy, an enthusiasm, a capacity, a ripeness for im- provements, such as the world had never seen before. Such is a general, but imperfect outline of what Christendom had passed thi-ough, up to the beginning of the sixteenth century. During the course of that century, a new species of warfare inter- rupted, as I would say (leaving to others the same right to hold a different opinion), the onward progress of the human mind. Hith- erto the Christian commonwealth had preserved its unity ; and if there had been wars, they had had for their object the things of the present world. J^ow, however, humanity is to be afflicted with the wars respecting the world to come. The question divided States as well as individuals ; and each took the side which its conviction of principle, or its political interest, seemed to determine. Since that jjeriod, the progress of the public mind has not been proportionate to the advantages that had been acquired, and to the time that has since elapsed. In the hasty view which I have taken, as to the condition of the State, during these ages, you will not suppose that I have purposed to exhibit anything like the yeneral detail of society, or of the princi- ples and feelings, which formed its inward and daily workings. For it happens, in history, that the things which are least honorable to human nature, are those which are most conspicuously displayed. Thus, to have an idea of our own times, of the state of morality in our country, or even in our city, future ages may have recourse to our laws, thp records of our courts, and systems of poHce. All the rest will have sunk away and be forgotten, or remembered only in the institutions which private virtue shall have founded for the relief of cotemporary destitution. Indeed, viewed in this light, the Middle Ages will present features altogether different from those which the truth of history, and the nature of my subject, required me to exhibit. And as a proof of this, a distinguished English writer has pubhshed a work on these same ages, in no less than tECTUEE ON THE MIDDLE AGES. 425 eleven volumes, in which he shows clearly and with a depth and variety of erudition that are perfectly astonishing — that every por- tion of our blessed Saviour's sermon on the mount, was reiluced to practice during that identical period. What, then, does the whole prove ? Simply, that there was then, as there is now, a singular mixture of good and evil ; with this difference, perhaps, that in the Middle Ages, both good and evil were vigorously carried out ; while the simplicity of those times knew none of the artifices, by which our superior advantages enable us to conceal the latter, and to display the former, as much as possible. It is now time to consider the Church, descending to us, step by step, and day by day, with that order of things in the State which I have just attempted to describe. It is manifest, not only by reason but also by the experience of all nations, that if moral power is to have any place at all in the estimate of legislators, this moral power must necessarily be founded on religion. Civil laws regulate the external actions of men ; but religion extends to the interior work- ings of those affections of the human heart, which precede the outward action. Hence, too, it has been said by a philosopher, that if religion ^vere banished from the social relations of men, society itself would become little better than pandemonium. It is not, then, wonderful that the Church, descending side by side with the succession of events, in the order of things I have described, should, by choice or by necessity, have exercised a remarkable influ- ence on the nascent institutions of every age. She was the deposi- tory of the Christian faith — she preserved its inspired annals, the sacred Scriptures — she had learned from the lips of its Divine Au- thor, the high and holy truths which it was important for mankind to know, and which it was her special mission to preach and to pro- pagate throughout " all nations." Her sphere of action was in the midst of the world and among men, whatever might be the culture or the confusion of their condition. It is time, then, to consider what the Church is in itself, and what it was, historically, in its connection with' the States of the Middle Ages. In itself, the Church is essentially independent of all States, and of all forms of government. Its true and primary office is to preach the doctrines of our Saviour. It received direct and absolute power from Him for that purpose. As a divinely appointed society, the Church has the right to make laws for her Own government, and for the proper guidance of her members, independent of any power on the earth. If she h.as at times interfered with the civil prerogatives of tem- poral sovereigns, her right to do so is not founded on her divine character ; but resulted, either from the concessions of those states themselves, or from the absolute exigency of circumstances. It was impossible that, during the periods to which I have alluded, the Church should not have taken a prominent i:)art in the affairs of Christendom. This is explained by the very nature of the case. From the very moment Constantino became a Christian, he pro- fessed a new code of moral law, which denied him, though Emperor 426 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. of Rome, the right to do evil, either in his public or private capacity. Every attempt which he made to reform the corrupt laws, and the yet more corrupt administration of them, under Paganism — which he had just renounced — naturally excited the opposition of those who still adhered to the bloody spectacles of the Amphitheatre, and the worship of Olympus. The new and more humane elements, derived from the Christian religion, and infused into the ancient legislative code, required new officers for their proper administra- tion. These, where they could be found, were naturally taken from among the Christians ; and certain departments were, by usage, if not by law, consigned to the bishops of the Church. Thus the unfortunate portions of the human race were especially placed under their care. The case of the widow and the orphan were consigned to their protection ; prisoners, in like manner ; the poor, the ignorant, and the slaves. From that moment it became necessary for the civil legislator, in abrogating old, or in enacting new laws, to consider how far they were in accordance with the moral principles of the Christian faith. The laws touching marriage and divorce, and oth- ers — lying at the very root of social existence — were obviously of this description. Hence, intercourse with the clergy, the acknowl- edged interpreters of the Christian faith, became a necessary conse- quence of the imperial transition from the old to the new system. The laws which he enacted subsequently to his conversion, and which are still found in the code of Theodosius the younger, show the effects of his new connection with the Christian Church. The Emperors had hitherto been absolute and despotic in their power — he puts limits to his own authority. The slaves. had hitherto en- joyed little more legal protection than the ox of the field — he makes laws to protect them, and to prepare the way for their gradual emancipation. He mitigates the cruelties of Roman pun- ishment ; he restrains the rapacity of magistrates ; he checks the injustice of the rich against the poor ; he repeals the laws which authorize concubinage ; he puts limits to the avarice of visurers ; he takes precautions against the destitution of poor children, and provides for their support at the public expense. In reference to the Church, he authorized and encouraged the erection of temples, and the solemnities of public worship. The immunities which he conferred upon the clergy, as a distinct body, were exceedingly limited. He merely exempted them from personal taxation, and from public service ; and it is remarkable that he conferred the same exemption upon physicians, and the professors of Belles- Lettres. It does not appear that there was any formal union of Church and State, either expressly or implied, during his reign. And the influence which was exercised by the clergy in civil affairs, from that period until the total destruction of the empire, in Western Europe, was entirely of a moral natare. The sanctity of their lives, in most instances — the more elevated character of their virtue — their sympathies for the wretched, theii works of charity and zeal, LECTtJEE ON THE MIDDLE AGES. 42'3 must account, principally, for the influence which they exercised during that period. That they began to be regarded by the people with veneration and affection, as their best friends, is undeniable, and easily accounted for. The authorities of the State, also, found among them men of superior learning, whom they often took to their counsels in critical matters appertaining to secular affairs. It was the age of the Augustines,- the Leos, the Chrysostoms, the Jeromes, and the other great writers and fathers of the Christian Church. Already had the Church framed such laws as were re- quired for the order of her clergy and the government of her mem- bers. These laws were founded on the new principles of Christian equity, and adapted, as a code of discipline, to the situation of the faithful. They were as canons — rules — the authority necessary for the execution of which rested, as a spiritual authority, in the Church itself. The highest penalty known to the Church, then, or at any time, was excommunication. But this spiritual weapon acquired, in the lapse of ages, and from another source, civil consequences which did not belong to it as an instrument of ecclesiastical disci- pline. Successive Christian emperors, either from a zeal for religion, or with a desire to promote the welfare of their people, took por- tions of this ecclesiastical discipline, and incorporated them with the civil laws in the jurisprudence of the State, attaching to the violation of them civil penalties, which it was never pretended the Church had intrinsic power to inflict. It is in this gradual and almost imperceptible manner that the mixture or the union of the two powers seems to have occurred. In our first popular view of the subject, we are apt to imagine that the Church and the State were two great tyrants, who, if they had kept separated, could not have accomplished much to the detriment of mankind ; and who, for this reason, agreed to unite for the purpose of more effectually enthralling their common subjects. No phantom of the imagina- tion can be more false or delusive than this. The union took place in the manner I have described ; and at the period of its occur- rence, it is quite probable, that neither the heads of the Sta,te, nor the authorities of the Church, had the slightest anticipations of the ulterior consequences to which it has led. It thus became incor- porated in the imperial code of public jurisprudence, as we see by the compilations of the Emperors Justinian and Theodosius the younger. As an instrument of government, however, even this code (of the Emperors Justinian and Theodosius the younger) perished with the fallen power of the Empire. The barbarians laughed at written laws ; and when civil order, and government, and everything apper- taining to the habits of organized life, had been overthrown by them,''in their several irruptions, there remained hardly a hope for the restoration of society, except in the living authority of the clergy and the Church. Whatever may be our judgment of the question, in the happier organization of modern times, it is doubt- ful to my own mind, whether in such a universal crisis, the Church 428 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. would not have been recreant to her duty, if she had not rushed to the'rescue of humanity. It is clear, that if her own doctrine and constitution had not been, according to the intention of her founder, indestructible, they too would have be'en carried away by the deluge of ignorance and barbarism which overswept the world. When the turbid waters had settled, all that remained was chaos ; and on the Church devolved the work of the new creation. She alone, in the midst of the ruins, preserved the memory and all that survived of the annals of the times that had passed away. En- ■ tirely destitute of physical power, she could exercise but a moral force, whioh the rude nations entirely disregarded. The first thing necessary, is to win them over to the religion of Christ ; and though the self-destroying virtues of that rehgion were but little heeded by those martial proselytes, still it was an important point, even for their temporal melioration, that they should be believers in the Christian doctrines, which they did not always practice. , Three things are. obviously necessary for the formation and well- laeing of society ; order, liberty, and the power of defence. It is manifest, that liberty, without order, is licentiousness ; and the diffi- culty in the conditions of those new populations was, first and most of all, the absence of order. They were to be civilized ; and this could not be accomplished without subordination. To say, then, that the interference of the Church, at that period, was a meddling with civil government, as the term is now understood, would con- vey an entirely false m.eaning. Properly speaking, there was no civil state in existence. All was confusion, rapine, tumult, and dis- order. Yet, in all this chaos and confusion, there lay the germ of all our modern States, which would have perished, in all probability, had not the Church provided, as best she could, for its culture and future development. The clergy became, to a certain extent, and of necessity, the defenders of the weak against the oppressions of the strong. The Councils of the Church are no longer exclusively employed in defining the great truths of the Christain faith. The moral and social condition of the people, as well as of the clergy, engaged their particular attention. The civil power is everywhere paralyzed and rendered impotent, by the turbulent independence of chieftains ; and the people — that is, the whole mass of the common people — are crushed to the earth, by the power which those chief- tains claimed to exercise over them. In the enactments of several of the synods, during those ages, questions appertaining to the State are treated and disposed of. The council is a kind of mixed assembly — a species of general European Congress — in which, after the ecclesiastical authorities have transacted what appertains to doctrinal matters, princes and the heads of States take part in forming regulations affecting their own subjects ; and this, for the obvious purpose of giving those enactments a greater moral sanction, as if coming from the approbation and authority of the Church. This was particularly the case with the great Council of Lateran. It is to be remarked, that even under the Empire, the bishops LECTUKE ON THE MIDDLE AGES. 42U aometimes discharged the office of civil judges, in case the parties were Christians, and by mutual consent appealed to them for their , decision. After the events we have described, and in the ne\i^ order of things, this was still more natural and necessary. They alone had some idea of the ancient jurisprudence ; and the people natu- rally flocked to their tribunal, rather than to the barbarous ordeals, or proofs by fire, by water, and by duel, which the Northmen were accustomed to employ. But the part which the bishops took in civilizing the legislation of States, is too extensive to allow me to dwell upon it in detail. We must rather, now, raise our eyes to those great events, in which the head of the Church on earth incurred so much censure of modern times. We. must not forget, that the system of govern- ment which then prevailed, and the influence of the Church, as diffused among the people, made it the constant interest of those who were unjustly oppressed by superior force, to strengthen their cause by whatever support might be derived from the sanction of religion. Hence the frequent appeals from the princes to the Pope, to shield their rights against the unscrupulous invasions of rivals and enemies. It frequently happened, that as all property or rights under the protection of the Church were deemed more sacred and inviolable, . princes, for their better security, became vassals of the Holy See ; and hence, the origin of those claims, which many of the popes cherished and enforced, to be regarded as the first rulers of the temporal, as they were, in reality, of the spiritual kingdom. It is, indeed, quite true, that not only some of themsehes, but also some writers of their times, disposed to flatter their views, have contended that they inherited the one right, no less than the other, in virtue of their succeeding to the special powers which Christ conferred on St. Peter, for the government of the Christian fold. Having once conceived this notion, we know that in some cases it was carried to an extravagant length. On the other hand, the population of Europe, rude as was their condition, professed them- selves believers and members of the Church. The same persons were, also, members of the State ; and the laws for their govern- ment emanating from this double source, instead of acting on them separately, were blended, in many instances, by the authority of the State alone, into a complex code of legislation, embracing both civil and ecclesiastical law. Thus it was assumed, that, as all were of the same faith, the two powers — though having their separate existence, in themselves — might be so united as to produce harmony of results, and contribute to the general good. Instead of this, however, the mixture seems to have led to perpetual strifes and misunderstandings. It would not be possible to enter upon the merits of a single controversy between the pope and any of the sovereigns with whom he so frequently disputed. It is true, that at times, and in the case of individual popes, the claim to exercise authority over what Avould now be called the civil affairs of this world, reached to an extent at which we, judging it by the standard 430 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. of the present day, look back with astonishment and wonder ; until at length such claims naturally died away, when the causes, and the system of those ages which had called them into existence, ceased to operate and to exist. We look upon them as a strange anomaly in the history of Europe ;, but we must not forget, that they oc- curred at a time when its whole civil and social condition was made up of systematized anomalies. It is quite possible, however, that were we able to appreciate the necessities and circumstances in which those claims originated, we should think them perfectly natural, and come to regard them as having been instrumental, not only in the establishment of civil order, but, also, in the first planting, the first remote preparation of the very liberties and secu- rity which Christian nations now enjoy. Whenever a striking and extraordinary development of any single moral power has occurred in the history of mankind, we may be assured that it is the result of some latent principle, deeply, though perhaps, silently working in {he mass of the people, which thus finds a vent and a medium of expression. So in regard to the civil authority exercised by the Pope. We must Seek an explanation for it far more adequate than the superficial idea of priestly ambi- tion, working on the ignorance of the popular mind. Besides the direct spiritual mission of the Church, the popes, as her visible head on earth, have ever felt a deep and profound interest in the happiness and moral improvement of the Christian people. It was in the direction to promote that happiness, that order should be made to rise out of chaos, after the breaking up of the Roman Empire. It was in the same dii-ection, that simultaneously with the establishment of order, the elements of civilized liberty should be gradually evolved out of the rude form of savage freedom, which the invaders had brought from the forests of the North. How could those objects be accomplished, except by bringing them under submission to moral authority ? And there was no authority under heaven, before which those iron-hearted warriors would have sub- mitted, except that of religion — in other words, of the Church. The pillage, and strife, and turbulence of the times, pointed out the exercise of this spiritual power as the only principle of common safety. It became recognized, acknowledged — e\en popular, as a mighty source of God's, providence, for the conservation of human rights, during a period that threatened to overthrow them all. The law of the State, so-called was, with the exception of a few barbarous enactments, the law of the strong against the weak. But the law of the Church, framed in its code of discipline, to meet the exigencies of the times, in regard to the morals, both of the clergy and of the laity, was a code to which all professed sub- mission. That law was no respecter of persons ; it was the same for the noble, the prince, the peasant, and the serf. You \ed the service of Bishop Dubois as a gardener, and that he having dis- covered in me the stuff which bishops and cardinals are made of, with intellect enough to have governed the Church in its most prosperous times, educated me on the strength of this discovery." I would just remark, with all respect for this amiable, but as I must say, silly lady, that she is mistaken, and exhibits only the ''stuff the Boston papers are made of" My connection with Bishop Dubois was in virtue of a regular contract between us, in which neither was 452 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. required to acknowledge any obligation to the other. I, however, felt tlat the kindness of that venerable and saintly prelate, and the friendship which included me with so many other young men to whom it was extended. I entered the college the first day, an utter stranger to Bishop Dubois until then. I was to superintend the garden as a compensation for my expensed in the house, until a vacanoj should occur by which I might be appointed a teacher. for such classes as I should be fit to take charge of. I continued in this way, during the first nine months of my stay at college, prosecuting my studies under a private preceptor. The rest of my time, between seven and eight years, I continued to prosecute my own studies, and, at the same time, to teach the classes that were assigned me. At tlie end of that period I was ordained priest, and stationed in Pliiladelphia. Here my public life commenced. After eleven years from this time, I was sent, not by my own choice, to be the Assistant-Bishop of New York. I had formed, during these years, friendships ever to be cherislied in many of the most respectable families, Protestant as well as Catholic, in Philadelphia. I refer to them, without distinction of creed, for what was my character as a clergyman and a citizen. If, sir, you will weigh all these circumstances, you will perceive imme- diately that, were I a person of the character assigned to me in the late de- nunciations of those who assail me, it is hardly probable that I should be now occupying, by the judgment of others, the situation in which I am placed. I am a citizen. I understand the rights of a citizen, and the du- ties also. I understand the genius, the constitution, and history of the country. My feelings, and habits, and thoughts have been so much iden- tified with all that is American, that I had almost forgotten I was a for- eigner, until recent circumstances have brought it too painfully to my recollection. This, and other matters yet to be treated of, must be my apology for bringing into public notice anything so uninteresting as my per- sonal history or private affairs. The retrospect, however, has brought back to my mind the recollections of youth. I perceived, then, that the intolerance of my own country had left me no inheritance, except that of a name which, though humble, was untarnished. In the future, the same intoler- ance was a barrier to every hope in my native land ; and there was Init one other country in •which I was led to believe the rights and privileges of citizens rendered all men equal. I can even now remember my reflections on first beholding the American flag. It never crossed my mind that a time might come when that flag, the emblem of the freedom just alluded to, should be divided, by apportioning its stars to the citizens of native birth, and its stripes only as the portion of the naturalized foreigner. I was, of course, but young and inexperienced ; and yet, even recent events have not dimin- ished my confidence in that ensign of civil and religious liberty. It is pos- sible that I was mistaken ; but still I cling to the delusion, if it be one, and as I trusted to that flag on a Nation's faith, I think it more likely that its stripes will disappear altogether ; and that before it shall be employed as an instrument of bad faith towards the foreigners of every land, tlje white portions will llush into crimson ; and then the glorious stars alone will remain. Since my arrival in New York, my public and private life has been de- voted sedulously to the duties of my station. One of the first things that .struck me, as a deplorable circumstance in the condition of my flock, was the ignorance and vice to which the children of Catholic and emigrant pa- rents were exposed. I had the simplicity to believe that, in endeavoring to elevate them to virtue and usefulness through the means of education, I should be at once rendering a service to them, and discharging a duty to my country, the latter of which, especially, would be appreciated by good LETTER TO MATOE HARPER. 453 men of all creeds. I intended to take such measures as miglit bo necessary for tins purpose on my return from Europe, in the year 1840, without, how- ever, having exchanged, so far as I recollect, opinions with any one on that subject. But I found, on my return, that it had been sufflcieut to attract the attention of the public authorities, and had become a public topic in the annual Messdge of the Governor of this State. I found, also, that lilco other topics of that date, it was instantly turned into a political question, even by the people who had not — though most interested — the discernment to understand the patriotism and humanity, by which it had been dictated. Meetings had been held upon the subject; intemperate language had been usedj disorder, and almost amounting to violence, had characterized tliose meetings; and for these reasons I resolved to attend them in person — • expressly for the purpose of keeping out an unfortunate class of political underlings, who had been accustomed to traffic in their simplicity. In these meetings, held from time to time, the question was discussed— the imperfect education afforded by our own charity schools — the vast num- bers that could not be received at them, and would not be sent to the schools by the Public School Society — on account of the strong anti- Catholic tendencies which they manifested, through the medium of objec- tionable books, prejudiced teachers, and sectarian influences. This was followed by a respectful petition to the Common Council of the city. Be- fore that Council I was permitted to state the grievances complained of A discussion took place, growing out of remonstrances against the petition, and it was finally rejected by almost a unanimous vote. This the portion of the people who considered themselves aggrieved in the matter had anticipated. But this was necessary — before submitting the case to the Legislature of the State. In due time, however, petitions were for- warded, signed by a lai-ge number of citizens, botli Catholics and Protestants, natives as well as foreigners. The prayer of this petition was received favorably, because it seemed to be but reasonable and just. A ))ill to remedy the evil was drawn up, I think, by the Superin- tendent of Schools, and, if I am not mistaken, passed the House of Kepre- sentatives. It was at the close of the session, and lost in the other House. Of the fitness of its provisions to remedy the evil I am altogether unable to speak ; but it was believed by all that the Legislature, as soon as it could understand the nature of the grievance, and the necessity for a remedy, would not fail to remove the one and provide for the other. Accordingly, the question, notwithstanding the many folds of misrepresentation and prejudice in which its numerous opponents endeavored to involve it, was making much progress in the public mind. Meetings continued to be hold from time to time, with open doors and free admission. Protestants as well as Catholics attended, and sometimes took part. I attended them all, expressly for the purpose of seeing that politics should not be introduced. Matters thus progressed, — the advocates of the measure being divided, ac- cording to their predilections, between one party and another. But the opponents of the measure, in the meantime, — numerous and zealous as they were, — ^had not been idle, but had presented the question to the pub- lic in every false light that ingenuity could devise, as may be seen by re- ferring to whole pages of their calumnies, at that time, about an "Union of Church and State," &c., which have been refuted and forgotten. Just previons to the election, when, as it appears, parties had made tbeir nomi- iiations for the Legislature, the opponents of education (except with in- fringement of conscience) called upon the voters of both parties to send no one to Albany unless such as should give a pledge, before election, to re- fuse the prayer of the petitioners. For this fact, I refer to the editorials of that date of the Commercial Advertiser and the Journal of Commerce, 454 AKCHBISIIOP HUGHES. amon^ other papers of the city. This plan was acted upon inutantly, and to an extent which left the petitioners no alternative but to vote for men pledged in their face to refuse what they regarded as simple justice. Hence, in spite of all my efforts to prevent, the question forced itself in a political form on the attention of the people, who claimed one thing— namely, education — without another thing— namely, the violation of their conscience, — but which the Commercial Advertiser and its allies would not allow to be separated. The very last meeting of tlie friends of education, previous to the elec- tion, was the moment when this unworthy stratagem came under public attention. A number of individuals, who were versed in these matters, had, however, taken the precaution to ascertain, that certain candidates had refused to sign the pledge ; and were ready to go to Albany free to vote for the prayer of the petitioners, or against it, as their own sense of justice towards their constituents might dictate. Others had already given their promise against it. Those persons then suggested that names, with- out any hopes of election, but simply to exercise the right of voting on, should be substituted to make up the deficiency. I claimed it as my right. I regarded it as my duty, on that occasion to urge those who were friendly to a large portion of the neglected children of New York, to vote for no man who had pre-judged their case, in the hope of being elected ; and who had bound himself to refuse them the protection of the laws, whatever might be the justice of their case. My argument was this — urged with all the limited jjon ers of reasoning that I possessed — that they deserved the injustice and degradation "of which they complained, if they voled for judges publicly pledged beforehand to pass sentence against them. Of course, in a speech of some twenty minutes, I must liave developed this argument, and presented it in every variety of form, capable of making it understood, and pointing out the more liberal attitude of those who, as not being pledged in favor of either side, were left free, to do impartial justice in the premises. If this was a political speech, then have I made one political speech in my life. There were high-minded, well educated, and honorable Protestant gentlemen present, and to whom I appeal with con- fidence, that — twisted or turned by perverse ingenuity as it might be, my speech amounted to the principle just laid down — to the development of it, and nothing more. But there was'a reporter of Bennett's there, who made such a speech as he thought proper — whicl^ was afterwards, as I have reason to believe, fitted up for the purpose of producing one of Bennett's " tremendous excitements," and making the " ' Herald,' always the first and most enterprising paper in New York." Having taken this report — having studded ii with the gems of his own ribaldry, and made some half a column of editorial comments, in all that mock gravity of which Bennett is capable, the " Herald" of the next morning became the lasis ^nA fountain of all the vituperation, calumny, and slander, which have been heaped on " Bishop Hughes," through the United States, from that day until this. From the " Herald V the report wag copied into the " Commercial Advertisers" of that afternoon — the editor. Colonel Stone, taking special care to substitute the words a " morning print," instead of Bennett's " Herald," lest his own views of the question might be injuriously affected by the character of his autiior- ity, if that authority were known. Then followed the commentaries and columns of abuse which filled the other papers, and ran throughout the country, each editor adding (parlicularly while the delusion lasted) his own editorial for the Iseneflt of his readers. I must, however, do several of the city papers the justice to say, that either they are more honest or better informed, than their colleagues of the press ; they understood the question, and declined to take any part in flie LETTEE TO MAYOE HAEPEE. 455 hue and cry that was so malignantly raised about it. It is equally due to truth to say also, that several others after they had discovered their mis- take, retreated from the position which they had first assumed. But the occasion was too good for the purpose of certain parties, not to be improv- ed for their ulterior designs. Accordingly, as the occupants of many of the pulpits of the city had entertained their congregations with politicnl sermons on the School Question, for months before, — so also, for months after, whatever might be their text from the Bible, the abuse of tlie Catho- lic religion under the nickname of papacy, together with all the slang, and all the calumnies famished by the New York Herald, the Commercial Ad- vertiser, the Journal of Commerce, and other papers of that stamp, ^^•as sure to make the body of the sermon. By this process the minds of the people were excited, their passions inflamed, their credulity imposed upon, and their confidence perverted. Then came the new party. It is impossible that the training of the pulpits should not have predisposed a large num- ber of persons to join in the movement, which they had been taught to be- lieve as a duty of their religion. Who can read without horror the denun- ciations, the slanders, the infuriated appeals, which have been spoken and written ; in which Heaven and earth have been mingled together in a con- fusion of rhetoric and passion, to promote the objects of this new combina- tion. It has succeeded in our city, and I for one am not sorry at it. But at the same time, if that portion of the citizens who have been so atro- ciously abused, had not had the good sense, the patriotism, the love of order, \Aich enabled them to restrain themselves, even under the greatest insults that can be oflFered to the feelings of men, it is impossible to tell what might have been the consequence. Closing, then, this sketch of the question in sO much as it relates to others, I shall now call your attention to something which is personal to myself. Sir, I pretend, and I think I shall be able to prove to you, that these slanders, originating in Bennett's Herald^ the Commercial Advertiser, the Journal of Commerce, the New TorTc Sun, and for a moment, (but for a moment,) the Eveninq Post— that these slanders,— repeated, embellished, enlarged, and evangelized from many of the pulpits of the city — that these sfanders, re-echoed in the public lectures of the Rev. Mr. Cheever and other clergymen of his spirit — that these slanders forming the staple of political excitement in the association which placed you in the honorable chair you occupy, and which, I am happy to say, as far as I know, you are worthy to fill,-— I think I shall be abl^ to prove that all these slanders, I say, were, and are, and will be to eternity, slanders, and ijothing more. You, of course, will be astonished at reading this declaration. You will think it impossible that so many respectable editors, so many eloquent orators, and, above all, so many grave and reverend divines, should have united in de- ceiving the people of New York,— from the press, from the rostrum, from the pulpit,— by denouncing Bishop Hughes as an enemy of the Bible— as an intriguer with political parties— as a blackoner of the public school books,— if Bishop Hughes had not given them cause to build such accusa- tions in the foundations of truth,— and yet, sir, there is no truth either in the foundation or the superstructure. I now call upon these editors, orators and clergymen to stand forth and furnish the facts, proving the truth of one single charge against me. I am aware that, tracing up these falsehoods to their foundation, the public, who have been so long deceived, will refer to the testimony and the denunciations of certain clergymen, who are zeal- ous for the Bible, but unfortunately little acquainted with the charitable and mild spirit which the Bible inculcates. If I ask them why they 'rais- in, possibly without intending it, their flocks to such an extent, they will refer me to the public newspapers. If I call on the editors of the public 456 ARCIIBISEOP HUGHES. newspapeis, it will be found tliat they copied one fiom another, until yon reach the second link, who is Colonel Stone, of the Commercial Advertiser, and he will tell me that he took it from a " morning print," that print be- ing no other than Bennett's Herald. Of course this does not touch tlie original articles in the Commercial Advertiser, less scurrilous, )5ut more injurious than those of Bennett himself, inasmuch as Colonel Stone is looked upon as a highly respectable man. Of the Journal of Commerce I shall say nothing, as its editor appears to me laboring under a weakness or duplicity of moral vision, for the effects and defects of which he is, per- haps, scarcely accountable. But I have traced these caluumies now to their primary witnesses — James Gordon Bennett and Wm. L. Stone. It may be asked — in the supposition here made^why I submitted in silence to these slanders for so long a time. My answers are, in the iirst place, that my duties left me but little time to attend to them. Secondly, that if I refuted one calumny to-day, I should have to refute another to- morrow. Thirdly, that one class of my editorial assailants was what men usually call too contemptible, and another class too bigoted, to make it worth while. But I confess that the principal reason in my mind was the very honorable philosophy of an observation which I heard many years ago of the late estimable Bishop "White, in Philadelphia. His remark was to this effect, that such is the character of the American people, that no man, who takes care to be always in the right, can ever ultimately be put down by calumny — whatever may be its temporary effects. This was his answer, and his plea for the licentiousness of the press in its attacks upon individuals. And hence he inferred that, owing to the love of justice and fair play, which he conceived to be a strong element of the American character, every honest man can easily afford to " live down " a calumny. This remark struck me very much at the time ; and wherever the question became merely personal to myself, I have invariably acted .on the prin- ciple — whilst my own experience, of now nearly twenty years, of public life, has only confirmed its soundness and its truth. These are my reasons for having allowed the calumnies against Bishop Hughes to remain so long uncontradicted ; whilst I never let an opportunity pass of meeting, and ex- posing and refuting, the misrepresentations which were directed against the civil and religious rights of that portion of our citizens to whom I wished to see extended the blessings of education. It has been a matter of speculation among many in this city, to solve the motive for the constant, the varying, malignity of Mr. Bennett against Bishop Hughes. Some have supposed that he was kept in bribe for the purpose ; — others have ascribed it to revenge ; — which, though strong, is said to be in slavish subjection to avarice — in that man's breast. But of all whose opinion has reached me upon the subject, there is not one who be- lieves it to be gratuitous. I express no opinion on the subject myself. I shall enter no abuse of this unfortunate man ; but as those who are inclined to believe that he is actuated by revenge, have told me that he ascribes the reception he met with from Daniel O'Connell to my agency, and as I do not deem it necessary that even he should be under a mistake on that subject, I will assign what I look upon as the key of explanation to the somewhat rude treatment which he received in a land celebrated for its hospitality, and where every decent man, from America especially, is received with a full heart of Irish welcome. I will make a little episode in this communi- cation, but I have no doubt that this fact, at least, will be interesting not only to .the public in America, but also in Great Britain, and all Europe. Four years ago I was introduced to Daniel O'Connell, in London. This was at my own request, for I wished, having then the opportunity, to sej a man of whom there was more of good and evil said than of any other in LETTEE TO MATOE HAEPEE. 45 T Hie world. A few minutes after I sat down, and whilst the conversation was on mere c >mmon-place topics, a silence ensued on his part, sufficiently long to make me think that I ought to retire. I observed his eyes swim- ming in tears. This astonished me still more, and I was about to with- draw, when he addressed me ; as nearly as I can remember, in the follow- ing words — but in a voice which, though almost stifled with grief, yet sounded as the softest and tenderest that ever struck upon my cars : " Dr. Hughes, I have been forty years a public man — I have been engaged in political strife with men of every party and of every creed — I am, by all odds, the best abused man in the world, but through all this time neither Tories, nor Whigs, nor even Orangemen themselves, ever made an attack on the mother of my children. She was mild and gentle ; she was meek and charitable. She was loved and respected by friend and foe. My bitterest enemies would have spared me, if they could not reach me, with- out hurting the lamb that slept in my bosom. The only attack that ever was made on Mrs. O'Connell, came from your side of the water and from your city, in a paper called the ' New Yorh Morning Herald.'' , Some mis- taken friend, I suppose, thought to do me a service by sending me the paper. It reached me just after Mrs. O'Connell's death. Of course, the poisoned arrow missed the gentle heart for which it was intended, but it reached and rested in mine." Mr. Bennett was not married when he wrote this attack on the amiable wife and mother ; but those who are husbands and fathers can best judge, whether Mr. O'Connell's reception of him at the Corn Exchange was merited or not. Whether O'Connell's is the only heart that has been wounded, by the " poisoned arrow " ainred at the domestic peace of mankind, from the same quarter, it is unnecessary for me to say. But, at all events, I think this will satisfy Bennett, that I, at least, had nothing to do with the kind of reception he met with in Dublin. What the motive, then, of his hostility towards me is, I am of course still at a loss to comprehend ; butjn truth it has given me very little uneasiness. In the hypothesis that he has been bribed to abuse nie, I presume that a coun- ter-bribe would at once double his profits, diminish his labor, and secure his silence ; but I cannot afford it, and even if I could, it should not be given. Now, however, I am going to meet Mr. James Gordon Bennett, not in abuse, but as my accuser, and with Mr. Bennett as my first accuser, I as- sociate Colonel Wiljiam Stone as my second. Let these, by name, represent the whole class of editors, orators, and Eev. Divines who have assailed me, and now I am prepared to meet them all. Either Bishop Hughes has entered into a collusion as a politician, with political agents, or he has not. Either he has driven or attempted to drive the Bible from the common schools of New York, or he has not. Either he has organized a political party in New York— or he has not. Either has blsickened, or required to be blackened, the public school- books of New York, or he has not. Finally, either he has done actions and expressed sentiments unworthy of a Christian bishop, and an American citizen, or he has not. These are propositions which the plainest capacity is competent to un- derstand. And, now, taking Bishop White's estimate of the American character, I am about to constitute the American people, Whigs, Democrats, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Gentiles, citizens both of native and foreign birth, as judges between James Gordon Bennett, and Colonel William L. Stone, on the one side, and Bishop Hughes on the other. I shall not an- ticipate the judgment of the public. I shall merely say that I believe it will be just, and justice is all that I require. Happily the dispute is one in which sophistry and misrepresentation cannot find place. It is a question 458 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. of facts, itad against facts, reasoning is useless. Every fact, to be susceptible of proof, requires witnesses who can bear testimony to its truth. Wherevei there are witnesses in a case, the thing testified to can be established as liaving occurred at some given time and place. In a court of justice, if a man swore that he witnessed the occurrence of a fact, and yet could not tell either the time or the place of the occurrence, he would be set aside either as perjuring himself, or as being deranged. Let my case then be judged by these established rules of common and public justice. Iwill state my own conduct, as far as it has any bearing on the case, in a series of propositions and in the form of facts. 1st Proposition.— I have never, in my life, done an action, or uttered a sentiment, tending to abridge any human being of all or any of the rights of conscience which I claim to enjoy myself under the American Consti- tution. 3d. — I have never asked nor wished that any denomination should be deprived of the Bible, or such version of the Bible as that denomiaation conscientiously approved, in our Common or Public Schools. 3d. — I have never entered into intrigue or collusion with any political party or individual ; and no political party or individual ever approached me with so insulting a proposition. 4th. — I have never requested or authorized the " blackening of the public school books" in the city of New York. 5th. — In all my public life in New York, I have done no action, uttered no sentiment, unworthy, of a Christian Bishop and an American citizen. These are all negative propositions ; and I am not bound to prove a neg- ative ; but I assert these propositions as./acfe, and if they are not true, James Gordon Bennett, Wm. L. Stone, and the other assailants of my character, must be in possession of the positive facts which prove them false. Let them state the time, and place, where the facts which prove them false occurred ; and the witnesses of those facts — and then, I join issue, and pledge myself to reflite their witnesses. I shall now continue my proposi- tions, not in the negative, but in the affirmative form. 6th Proposition. — I have always contended for the right of conscience, for all men as universally as they are recognized in the American Consti- tution. 7th. — I have always preached that every denomination — Jews, Chris- tians, Catholics, Protestants, of every sect and shade — were all entitled to the entire enjoyment of the freedom of conscience, without let or hindrance from any other denomination, or set of denominations, no matter how small their number, or how unpopular the doctrines they professed. 8th. — I have always preached, both publicly and privately, the Christian obligation of peace and good will towards men, even when they bate and persecute us. 9th. — I have been accustomed to pray publicly, in our churches,! for the constituted authorities of the United States ; for the welfare of my fellow- citizens of all denominations, and without distinction ; whilst James Gor- don Bennett and Wm. L. Stone were, from day to day, exciting the hatred of my fellow-citizens against me, and, so far, attempting to deprive me of the protection of my country. These affirmative propositions I am bound and prepp,red to prove, if Mr. Bennett and Col. Stone deny them. All the propositions are facts, and are to be overthrown, if assailed at all, not by sophistry or argument, but by other facts, with witnesses, which will p*ove them untrue. Now, there- fore, James Gordon Bennett, Wm. L. Stone, and ye other deceivers of tlie public, stand forth and meet Bishop Hughes. But, then, come forth in no quibbling capacity; come forth as honest men, as true American citizens, LETTEE TO 3IAT0K HARPER. 469 with trutli in your hearts, and candor on your lips. I know you can write well — and can multiply words and misrepresent truth : this is not the thing that will serve you now. Come forth with your pacts. Bishop Hughes places himself in the simple panoply of an honest man, before the American people. He asks not fa'vor — but he simply asks, whether the opinion of Bishop White is true, that with the American people no man can be put down by calumny. Bring, therefore, your facts to disprove the foriigoing negati'oe propositions. Bishop Hughes pledges himself to prove those that are affirmative, if you, or any decent man, with his signatui'e will deny them. You may, indeed, say that what Bishop Hughes found it his duty to do, produced, at the tiuis,, disturhance among politicians; you may pretend that, therefore. Bishop, Hughes is a politician. If you think so, it only proves that you are bad logicians. As well might, you say that the man who has a purse is morally guilty of the crime of robbery which deprives him of it, on the plea that if he had either stayed at home or gone out with empty pockets, the robbery would not have taken place. I never was, I never will be, a politician. I am the pastor of a Christian flock ; I am a citizen of a country whose proudest boast is, that it has made the civil and religious rights of all its citizens equal. As a pastor, I was bound to see that the religious rights of my flock should not be filched away from them, under pretext of education, and against the constitution and laws of my country. I attended the meetings in reference to that subject, not as a politician, but to exclude nien of that class from turning a simple question into a base object. When, in the prosecution of that purpose, no alterna- tive was left to the people long deprived of the rights of education but to vota for candidates, bound by pledges to deny them justice, and even re- fuse them a hearing — and this on the very eye of the election-yl urged them, with all the powers of my mind and heart, to repel the disgusting indignity of this stratagem. I told them to cut their way through this circle of fire, with which the opponents of the rights of education narrow- mindedly and ungenerously surrounded them. ,1 told them that they would be signing and sealing their own degradation if they, voted for men pledged to refuse them the chance of justice. But then no party — no indi- vidual of any party — had anything to do with the prompting of this ad- vice, but myself. It sprang from my own innate sense of duty— my own conception of the rights of constituency in a free government. Even if it had been political, I should have done nothing more than is dene by clergymen of other denominations without exciting the least cen- sure or surprise. Let a stranger drop in, accidentally, to some of our re- ligious conventions, composed almost entirely of clergymen, and, listening for an hour to the debates, he will be tempted to imagine them a comniit- tee of Congress deliberating upon the deepest and most perplexing topics of a political character, involving even the integrity of the country. Let him sit beneath one of our pulpits, and, with the omission of a few party names, he will suppose himself listening to some political leader, whose solicitude for the welfare of the country is so great that the virtues of the Christian religion, and man's relations towards God and eternity, are for- gotten in the higher importance of promoting the interests of the nation. If he turn his steps in another direction, he will imagine that religion, driven from the pulpits, has fled to the political rostrum for protection ; and he will see the Holy Bible itself erected, or, I should say, rather, de- graded into a party ensign ! These things are going on in the midst of us and around us. I do not take upon me to say whether these things are right or wrong ; but I do say that if these things are lawful in the minis- ters of one denomination, I, as the minister pf another, ought to sta,nd ac- 460 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. quitied of blame in merely defending the rights of conicionce and of edu- cation, by means which the laws of God sanction, which the laws of my country authorize and approve. These things, sir, I have written whilst under the threat of assassination. These things are true. They may as- sail Bishop Hughes in the public press ; they may assail him in the pulpit ; they may assail him in the public assembly ; they may proscribe and per- secute him as they please : but neither living nor dead, I trust, will they be able to fix upon his name the stigma of one act, or of one sen- timent unworthy of what he claims to be, — a minister of the Christian and Catholic religion, and a citizen of the United States. In entering upon the discussion of education, I supposed that I should be supported by the countenance of all good men, as the friend of my country. You said that the Catholics, particularly those of Irish birth, were ignorant, and, as a consequence of ignorance, disorderly. I wish them to become educated, and as a consequence, orderly. "Was this wrong ? Do you say they have no right to be educated ? The laws have more honorably thought, and more wisely, too, decided that they have a right. Do you say that in be- ing educated they must give up their religious convictions? The laws sanction no such dangerous principle. A few words more in reference to those who have so long and unjustly assailed me, and I shall have done. And ilrst of all, I can say with truth, that there is not an unforgiving thought in my mind in reference to any of them. Many of them may have been deceived; and, although, in the melancholy events which have occurred, an awful responsibility rests upon those who have been guilty of the deception— stiU even them I leave to the merciful but just judgment of the Creator. Of them all I have not deemed it necessary to mention more than two — and toward these I have not an unkindJ< JOHN HUGHES, Bisnop of New York. 'New Yorh^ May 17th, 1844. BISHOP HUG-HES' SECOND LETTER. New York, Monday^ May 27, ]8i4. *' In this country all things are affected or decided by public opinion, andpublic opinion itself is sustained by two opposite elements— TRUTH and FALSEHOOD. There is nothing moro powerful than FALSEHOOD, except TRUTH alone. The enemies of our claim were "not ignorant of this, and therefore they have crowded every avenue to public opinion with misrepeesestatio.v in reference to it." [Extract from Bishop Hughes's Speech on the School Question, at Carroll Hall, Oct. 29, 18il. To Col. Wm. L. Stone, Editor of the Oommercial Advertiser : Sir — It may appear singular that I should select a quotation from one of my own speeches, as an introduction to the letter which I am about to address you. But I pray you not to be alarmed. I may be egotistical, but you will be pleased to recollect that the news- papers have been at me a long time — that I write necessarily about myself,, so of course cannot lose sight of the subject. Mr. David Hale, as the only answer to my letter lately addressed to Mayor Harper, has discovered that I have made reference to myself " three hundred and sixty-one times ?" This same gentleman published, now nearly two years ago, that " in one of the Catholic churches of this city, a Catholic priest at Confession, condemned a yoXing woman for having attended public worship with a family whom she served, to walk upon her knees around the church, tintil the blood issued TKEELT FROM HER WOUNDS." Of coursc, in ordcr to hold such a bad priest accountable, I inquired for his name, the name of the church to which he belonged, the name -of the young woman, the time and place of the occurrence— to all of which inquiries, Mr. David Hale had to be mum! Still, he was sure it must have been 464 AECIIBISIIOP HUGHES. SO ; there could be no mistake about it, and he has never had the conscience to make either an acknowledgement or an apology foi; this atfocious calumny to the present day. I have therefore set him down as I expressed in my last letter, as afflicted with a weakness or duplici'ty of moral visio'n, for the '■'■effects or defects of which, he is perhaps scarcely accountable." But I have never heard his saga- city called in question where the matter was one of pure '■'■calcula- tion ;" and if he says that J have referred to myself three hundred and sixty-one times in my last letter, it may be looked upon as cor- rect. I shall do probably as rnuch in this communication — but the reason is, that I profess to write about myself in repelling the slan- ders of others, which would be impossible if I could lose sight of my subject. I take the lilDerty of addressing this letter to you, sir, as taking the first place, after Mr. Bennett, in misleading the public by cir- culating the slanders just alluded to. I am not surprised that at your age, and with your character and respectability, you should shrink from a partnership of responsibility with such a man as Mr. Bennett. But, sir, you should have thought of this sooner; and not have joined with a man like him in a partnership of moral guilt. Mr. Hale is the only man pretending to respectability who has the courage to take sides with him ; and the alliance, strange to other minds as it may appear, is quite natural to mine. But before I proceed, I must beg leave to express my disagree- ment with the opinion of many respectable persons, both Catholics and Protestants, to the effect that Bennett is too low and- too scur- rillous, to deserve the notice with which, they are pleased to say, I honor him. A Philadelphia paper says that I have raised him to an equality with myself. This would be indeed a delightful, if it were not a hopeless attempt. On the other hand, I trust there is not the least danger of my sinking to his degraded level. As a citizen of the United States, if he be one, I claim no superiority over Mr. Ben- nett. As to his moral position, I have but to repeat the opinion which I have already expressed, that " if he were more depraved, or Ifss despised, he would not be so dangerous ; but being without any fixed principle of good, he occupies that ambiguous position which renders him, as men say, too contemptible for notice, and yet not sufiiciently so to be below the power of mischief." I notice him, therefore, not as being capable of good, but as being capable and disposed to e-^il. That he should have power to do even mischief, is perhaps the reproach of the community ; and I would appeal to that community to join me in compelling him to rise for an effort for good, against the adverse instincts of his nature, or else, if this should be impossible, to sink him below the capacity of accomplish- ing his wickedness. This, sir, may seem to be harsh language, but I throw myself on the indulgence of the reader, with the simple request that he will not pronounue it unmerited until he shall have closed the perusal of this letter. I have introduced these remarks here, simply to exhibit LETTER TO COL. STONE. 465 tho reasons in general why I cannot agree in opinion with many ex- cellent friends, who say that Mr. Bennett is beneath my notice. It will appear in the sequel, that he has continued to assail me with an industry and a malignity which, considering the man, can be ac- counted for only on the supposition that it was prompted by either of Ms predominant passions — avarice or revenge. If indeed there have been found persons weak or wicked enough to gratify the former by bribing him to abuse me, it only proves that they at least have not considered him beneath notice. "With regard to the latter, the only pretext that I have ever heard alleged for it, would be the treatment which he received from Mr. O'Connell, which I have been told he ascribed to my procurement. In his pretented reply to my letter he characterises that treatment as " brutal." I agree with him in this application of language, but the brutality must be found in. the object, not the subject of that treatment. When a man tramples on the decency of humanity, not to say Christian courtesy, he is metaphorically described as a " brute." Bennett so trampled on the decencies of humanity when he wrote the attack on Mrs. O'Connell ; when he represented an amiable, accomplished and aged Christian lady as constituting the domestic head and centre for six of her husband's concubines ! When the attack reached that husband, whilst he stood over the new-made grave of that wife, bedewing it with his tears, and when afterwards this " brute " had the assurance to obtrude himself on the notice 'of that husband, in a public meeting, what other treatment except " brutal " could he expect or deserve ? True, now that the infamy of his conduct re- coils upon him, he attempts to throw the blame on others. This subterfuge, even were it true, does not exonerate him ; for it would have been made immediately after he discovered the assault, if he were not in reality what O'Connell rightlj' took him to be. But this shall be treated of in its proper place. In the mean time I laid down in my letter to Mayor Harper, nine propositions, in direct opposition to the slanders circulated in the Herald, the Commercial Advertiser, and other papers, on my own con- duct and character. Read them over, I pray you, and answer me whether the man of whom those propositions are true, is not in a position to hurl a dignified and proud defiance at all assailants of his reputation. Bennett has read them, and he has not dared to deny the truth of one of them. I wish you to read them, sir ; but I perceive by the Commercial Advertiser, just handed me, of this date, 27th of May, that you are indisposed. I regret this, for I have no feelings on the subject but those of kindness. N"either shall I press those points in which I have special right to complain of yourself, until the period, which I trust is not far distant, when you will be able to resume your editorial duties, and when I shall be prepared to hold you accountable for the public and injurious use you have made of my name. But, whilst I shall touch lightly upon subjects in which you are involved, in reference to my character and conduct, I do not deem it necessary to alter 30 466 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES. a syllable of what I have written, nor to change the form of my letter by omitting your name, when I consider the unscrupulous use and abuse of mine, which is to be found in your columns. I hold my name is as sacred as yours ; but beyond this, I shall reserve the principal portion of what I have to say until, which I hope may be soon, you will be in a position to answer for yourself. Mr. Bennett has passed over in silence — no thanks to him for so doing — all the propositions respecting myself, which, if true, as I contend they are, proves that what he and others have said against me, is sheer falsehood and slander. But, passing over these, he has charged me with two subordinate matters which I shall now dispose of. The first is my reference to an amiable and talented lady, who will dc me the justice to remember that I did not make any mention of her name. I would not willingly offend against the rules of gal- lantry or good breeding. I applied an epithet, which I now regret exceedingly — not that I feel that I was unwarranted in applying it, but, because I could not then foresee that the lachete of one of her bad friends could have been so greg,t that he would publish her honored name, as a shield for the protection of his own guilty head. My allusion was intended for the eye of the lady herself, but not for the notoriety which this bad friend has since given it. In truth, I supposed that the allusion would be understood by few, if any, besides herself We have certainly seen the writings even of ladies severely criticised. But /am not a reviewer by profession. And if I alluded in a seemingly harsh manner to these writings, I make bold to say that the lady herself after a proper explanation, will do me the justice to acknowledge, that if I have even merited blame for what I have said, it is more than counterbalanced by the kind feelings that may be inferred from my silence in regard to what I have suppressed. But even so, I regret that her feelings should have been pained, and declare that if I had thought that of the few who might understand the allusion, there could have been one base enough to publish her name in connexion with it, it should never have been uttered by me. Still, I apologise to her, and express my regret that anything I have ever written should have given the least pain to one who for talents, benevolence, purity of character and 'imiability, is justly regarded as an honor and ornament to her sex. The other small matter, on which a point has been raised by Bennett, is in reference to my speech at Carroll Hall. He says in his paper of Saturday that this speech is woed fob wor6 the same as that published in the Freeman^s Journal, and drawing his con- clusion from this assertion of his own, he charges upon 'ine that I am guilty of " falsehood." This is impossible, for at the conclusion of my letter I stated, that in penning it I had not a single document before me, and conscious- ness, judgment, and memory were all I had to depend upon. And knowing that the two latter of these might betray me into a mis- take, I took the precaution which I owed to Christian feeling and LETTER TO COL. STONE. 467 common candor, to state, that if in any matter of fact I was mis- taken, I retracted my words by anticipaition. After such a declaration, no man, except Bennett, even if I had been mistaken on some point, would accuse me of falsehood. This is the only case in which even Bennett questions ray accuracy or my veracity. If what he says wei-e true, with such a precaution on my part, it could be but of little service to him. But it is not true. The report in the Herald, and the report in i\'\Q Freeman^ s Journal axe. not viOYdiiov word the same. This is a fact. And with facts, even Bennett ought to know, at this time, that reasoning, much less assertion, is perfectly useless. If, there- fore, I convict Bennett of attempting to deceive on this point, I will surprise nobody. Still, as I have appealed to the justice of public opinion, I shall not presume to stand before that tribunal with even this imputation. To put this matter right, it is sufficient to say that the quotation at the head of this letter is found in the report of my speech at Carroll Plall, in the Freeman's Journal, and is not found in Bennett's report of the same. Therefore, when Bennett says that the two reports are " word for word " the same, it only proves that he was accomplishing. a falsehood and knew it. This falsehood he repeats six times ; still, as the list will be sufficiently long, we shall count it but as one. To what extent it is a falsehood, may be inferred from the following extracts of my speech at Carroll Hall, as reported in the FreemaiCs Journal. I quote them not merely for this purpose, but also to refute in so much the wholebody of slanders that have been circulated by all the editors, orators, and clergymen, who, taking Bennett for their leader, have almost exceeded him in the perversion of the truth. The whole speech may be read in the Freem(m\i Journal, extra, of October 30. And' the perusal of it will convince any man who can read — first, there is not a word of appeal to religious or sectarian prejudices — second, that there is not a word of politics, except in so far as candidates had arrayed themselves in opposition to the equal rights of the people — third, that the purpose of that speech 'was not to organize a party, but to lay down and develope a principle. These propositions will be established by the following passages of that speech. " In this country all things are affected or decided by public opinion, and public opinion itself is sustained by two opposite elements — truth and falsehood. There is nothing more powerful than falsehood, except truth alone. The enemies of our claim were not ignorant of this, and therefore they have crowded every avenue to public opinion with misrepresentations in reference to our claim. " It is therefore necessary for u^ to have recourse to the truth which they suppress or disguise. We do not ask for sectarian schools. We do not ask that any portion of the public money should be confided to us for the purpose of teaching our religion at the public expense — such a demand would be absurd, and vmuld richlt merit the rebuke WHICH IT COULD NOT ESCAPE. 468 AEOHBISHOP HUGHES. "lu the public schdols which were established according to the system now in force, our children had to study books which we could not approve. Religious exercises were used which we did recognise, and our children were compelled to take part inthem. Then we withdrew them from the schools and taught them with our own means. We do not want money from the School Fund — all we desire is that it he administered in such a way as to promote the education of all Now the Public School Society has introduced just so much of religious and sectarian teaching as it pleased them in the plentitude of their irresponsible character to impart. They professed to exclude religion and yet they introduced so much in quantity as they thought proper, and of such a quality as violated our religious rights. If our children cannot receive education without having their religious faith and feelings modeled by the Public School Society, then _ they cannot receive it under the auspices of that institution, and if for those reasons they cannot receive it under the auspices of that institu- tion, it is tyranny to tax them for its support. We do not ask the introduction t)f religious teaching in any public school, but we con- tend that if such religious influences be brought to bear on the business of education, it shall be, so far as our children are concerned, in accord- ance with the religious belief of their parents and families.'" « 4t 1; Hf '^ * * If " But I call upon you to resist this public school system whether you are sustained by public men or not. " You are called upon to join with your oppressors, and they leave you NO ALTEEKTATiYB in voting. It may appear uncommon — it may seem inconsistent with my character — that I should thus take an interest in this matter ; and I should not were it not a subject of extraordinary import. But there has been an invasion of your religious rights, and as the spiritual guardian of those now before me, I am bound to help their cause. If you are taxed you must be protected. Were the tax so imposed that each denomination might receive the benefit of its own quota, the case would be fair. We are willing to have ANY SYSTEM that operates EQUAiiw ; but we will never submit to a direct violation of our rights, and an appropriation of the school fund in such a manner that we may not participate in its benefits. * * *** *** " Experience tells us that to all great questions agitated in this country, there are two sides ; and in the history of this one we have ' evidence of the fact. I do not consider the question as it regards parties or men. I only speak for and advocate the freedom of educa- tion, and the men who stand up for it. I appear as the friend of him who would give justice to all classes." These extracts confirm the truth of what has already been said, that it was not until after the misrepresentation and bigotry of a portion of the press liad bound the representatives of the people to deny even a consideration of their claims to the friends of general education that they took up the only alternative consistent with LETTEE TO COL. STONE. 409 honor and a sense of right. But in all this there is no aj^peal to sectarianism-— there is no appeal to nationality — there is no expression of denunciation or bitterness ; in a word, there is nothing but the calm, rational development of a great constitutional right, happily secured equally to all the people. If you make a public issue Avith any other denomination of Christians—for instance, the Methodists or Presbyterians— for the purpose of depriving them, as such, of a constitutional right, they will naturally and necessarily oppose the eifort by constitutional means. If you attempt to hem them in, in such a manner that they can- not have a chance for voting, except by voting for persons pledged to inflict upon them the very injury they complain of, their right to complaint will cease, if they co-operate with you for that purpose. This was the principle which I developed in my speech at Carroll Hall, as may be seen by another extract still. '_' They say that we want a portion of the school fund for sec- tarian purposes — to apply it to the support and advancement of our religion. This we deny now, as we have heretofore. We have denied it officially and under their own observation. And were they careful or solicitous for the truth of their statements they would not have made the assertion. In this community, all religious denomina- tions are supposed to be equal. There is no such thing as a predominant religion, and the smallest minority is entitled to the same protection as the greatest majority. No denomination, whether numerous or not, can impose its views on a minority at the common expense of that minority and itself. It was against that we contended.^'' These extracts are all found in the report of my speech at Carroll Hall, as contained ia the Freeman'' s Journal.' They are not found in the same report as contained in the Herald. And yet Bennett in his paper of the 21st inst. says that the "two reports ".are, " vee- BATiK ET LiTEEATiM," the Same with the exception of two words in the description of the enthusiasm with which the Bishop's speech was received. In the- Herald of the 24th, he says " we shall show in the most conclusive manner, that the report which appeared in our columns was identical, to the very letter, with that which re- ceived his own sanction, and was published to the world in his own journal." In the saijie paper of the 25th, last Saturday — "We give this report from the Freeman''s Journal — the Bishop's own paper — a report which was subjected to his revision, and was published with his full approbation and that of his friends ;" and again, " These reports were made by the same gentleman as we have already stated, and we now present the incontrovertible proof that they are word forward (he same — that the report which the Bishop has so distinctly and vehemently denounced as a burlesque report, is to the very letter the same as that published in his own paper after having received his sanction." Such is Bennett's repetition of his own falsehoods. I have taken the trouble to exhibit these quotations which are found in the Freeman's Journal and are not found in the Herald — not that I eujDpose that any one would believe Bennett's word in opposition 470 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. to mini3, but because on the faitli of Bishop White's testimony and my own experience, I had appealed to the justice and love of fair play inherent in the public opinion of Americans ; and because out of respect for that tribunal I wished to appear vindicated, lest some malevolent or incautious editor might quote these declarations of his, on the authority, not of Bennett's, but of " a morning paper." Of course the public see the position of both parties in regard to this only point which even Bennett has raised, and they will be the better prepared to appreciate the following statement, contained in the same paper of the same date, 25th inst. : " The Bishop has been convicted of uttering a deliberate — a most gross and atrocious false- hood. He has been proved to be guilty of circulating this falsehood through the journals of this city. And now we affix it upon his fore- head. We brand this burning disgrace upon his cheek and dare him to come before the public in any capacity for the purpose of impugn- ing the ACCUEACY of the report which we have shown to be identical with his own." Unfortunate man ! Before I enter into the detail of Bennett's abuse, I shall class under two or three general heads, the allegations which he has made against me. If these allegations were true, I should think it not only natural, but also reasonable and just that the American people should regard me as an ill-disposed and evil-minded person. One is that I have organized my flock into a combination separate from, and adverse to, the principles of the country to which they belong, and to which alone they can look for protection. Another is — that I am somehow or other leagued with O'Connell in promoting two ques- tions, one of which, though interesting to every man that loves human rights and human freedom, is still, so far as its results are concerned, a foreign question, namely. Repeal! — the other a question of extreme delicacy and difficulty, involving consequences of the mightiest import to our domestic policy, namely. Abolition! Now I shall proceed to show first, that so far from having organized my flock into a distinct class in their civil relations, I have held and still hold the doctrines of David Hale, and the "Native Americans" on that subject. And first with regard of organizing my flock into a separate class. Let the reader refer t(j the Freeman'' s Journal of November 11th, 1843, and he will find an article under the head of "Insulting Appeals of Politicians," from which the following passages are extracts : " We should have thought that the Catholic citizens of this State had arrixed at such a period of intellectual maturity, as would en- able them to see the despicable artifice of those who, on the eve of an election, appeal to them as ' Adopted Citizens.' We should have thought, moreover, that by this time, they had acquired spirit and self-respect enough to spurn such appeals in a manner that should rebuke and disappoint the calculations of their despicable authors. ' Adopted Citizens ' can have no interest opposed to, or apart from, those which engage the attention of the people at large, and should LBTTEli TO COL. STONE. 47l feel themselves insulted, when they are appealed to as if constituting a distinct and separate class. Even in this city such things have so often been attempted with supposed success, by their friends, that their enemies too, have availed themselves of the practice. On the day of the election, Tuesday last, they were called upon through the medium of placards, headed with a large black ceoss (for nothing- is too sacred for these men) to vote for a particular candidate, and this was done with the direct intention of accomplishing his defeat. We know not who was the author of this ' ingenious device.' We know, indeed, that last year. Col. Stone pubUshed, with all the notes of horror which such a spectacle could excite in the breast of a pious editor as he is, a similar exhibition of a ' black cross,' purporting to be a placard from the Catholics, whilst he mtjst have known that the whole forgery -was the work of his colleagues, if not his own." This has reference to a political recommendation by persons signing themselves ' Trustees of Christ Church,' a "Catho- lic church at Sandy Hill, in this State. The article in the Freeman's Journal goes on to review an opposite recommendation by other individuals, and speaks thus : " This counter recommendation is signed first, ' Thomas Kensler, Lieutenant of the Irish Greens,' which shows if its signers had titles, they would not hesitate to make use of them, especially if they were likely to have any weight on the sup- posed stupidity of ' Adopted Citizens.' Then follows a list of thirty- two names, among which the O'Conners and O'Neills and O'Keefes stand out conspicuo\is. These be it known are members of Christ Church, Sandy Hill ; and their indignation does not speak forth at the insult which is put upon them as ' Adopted Citizens ' and 'Catholics,' and \vhich they put upon themselves, but is directed against their opponents for having signed themselves ' trustees !' Really, the contempt in which they are held by those who address them with such appeals is well merited. When they present them- selves as ' trustees,' or as ' Adopted Citizens,' or as ,' Catholics,' to do the low electioneering of political aspirants, on the eve of an election, thfey deser\'ed never to be rated higher than they are by those who empl6y these appeals — that is, as men without common intelligence or self-respect.'''' Abating the mixture of contemptuous epithets and insult, who would not suppose that this language is copied from an editorial of David Hale or from a speech of the " Native Americans ?" Yet, the reader will be astonished to learn that these extracts are from an article written by, and express the sentiments of Bishop Hughes ! — that man who is represented by Bennett, the editor of the Com- mercial Advertiser, the Journal of Commerce, the orators of the Native American party, and many of the grave and reverend divines of our pulpits, as organizing his flock into a distinct and separate class as '-foreigners and Catholics ! ! !" As regards Repeal in Ireland, the Bishop approves of it without qualification, and especially considering the moral and Christian sanction which appertains to the means that have hitherto been em- 472 ARCHBISHOP HUGHDS. ployed for the pro-noting it. But I, sir, have never connected my person, my opinions, or ray name with any association in Eurof e or America, founded for the purpose of promoting even that humane, just, and liberal object. As regards abolition, happily for me, I can refer to testimony which no one can suspect of being invoked or concocted for the occasion. In the month of March, 1842, more than two years ago,, I had occasion to write a reply to a strange reference by Col. "Webb, editor of the Courier and Enquirer^ on the subject of an address which was circulated by the abolitionists of this country — an address signed by O'Connell to his countrymen in the United States. My opinion at that time was that the document was not authentic. I have had reason since to alter my opinion, and to believe that the signa- ture of this great man had been solicited and obtained, under a felse representation of the true state of the question as regards slavery in the United States. Here is an extract from my letter to Col. "Webb, pubhshed in the Courier and Enquirer. * * * " Should it (O'Connell's signature) prove to be authentic, then I have no hesitation in declar- ing my opinion that it is the duty of every naturalized Irishman to" resist and repudiate the address with indignation. Not precisely be- cause of the doctrines it contains, but because of their having emanated from & foreign source, and of their tendency to operate on questions of domestic and national policy. I am no friend to slavery, but I am still less friendly to any attempt of foreign origin to abolish it." " The duties of naturalized Irishmen and others, I consider to be no wise distinct or different from those of native Americans. And if it be proved an attempt has been made by this address, or any other address, to single them out on any question, appertaining to the foreign or domestic policy of the United States, in any other capacity than that of the lohole population, then it will be their duty to their country, and their conscience, to rebvlce such an attempt, come from lohat foreign, source it may, in the most decided manner and language that common courtesy will permit." ' These, sir, constitute my vindication from the infamous charges that have been preferred against me, whether from the press or from the pxilpit. But besides these, and beside the propositions covering ray whole character and conduct, laid down in my former letter to the Mayor, and which no man can impugn with one conflicting fact, I have to add still other testimony going to prove that I am not the man whom even the furious denunciations of native Americans represented me to be. Before the close of this communication you will have seen the ferocity with which I have been denounced, according to Bennett's reports of their proceedings, by this new party. The following is a transcript of an article published in the Freeman^ i Journal, as far back as February the 3d, this year : LETTER TO COL. STONE. 473 • THE NATIVE AMEEICAN PAETT.' "Several of our subscribers have intimated a wish that, inasmuch as this party professes a special hostility toward foreigners, we should devote some portion of our space to a refutation of their calumnies and misrepresentations. To those who think so, we would say, that the object and principle of our journal foebid us taking up any question of local politics ; and that the very nature of the case renders it superfluous to engage in a refutation of clap-trap state- ments, which their authors themselves do not believe. The in- dividuals composing this party have a political right to associate, appoint officers, make speeches, designate candidates, and elect them if they can. It is true they have no moral right to employ falsehood in their speeches for the purpose of increasing their number, or of inflaming the public mind. But this violation of moral right must be met with by the exercise of moral duly on our pari — that is, patience and unexceptionable deportment. We would even caution all, who may be influenced by our opinion, against any act unworthy of the high character which foreigners, generally, by their good and peaceful conduct, have acquired in the minds of the respectable por- tion of the community. No greater injury could be injiicted on the interests of foreigners, no greater disgrace could be affixed on their char- acter, than if thej allowed themselves to be provoked into any act, in- consistent with the laws and good order of society. This remark is par- ticularly applicable to Catholics, for, it is quite evident that no for- eigners in general, but Catholics in particular, are the objects of the hatred of this spurious nativeism. We would urge, then, emphatically on Catholics, to bear themselves, in all respects, in a manner which wUl prove them worthy of the privileges and rights which they enjoy. Many will probably join this party who are really friends of foreign- ers,' but who for the moment will coalesce with their enemies to accomphsh some local purpose, of which foreigners constitute no part. The true issue is for the loaves and fishes of office, and as but a small share of those, if any, falls to the lot of foreigners so, notwithstanding the abuse of their name, they may consider them- selves as scarcely interested iri the quarrel. The true issue is between natives and natives ; there let it remain. The part which foreigners should take will be to side with, and support those, who, besides personal worth, profess to carry out the fair and liberal provisions of the Constitution and laws of the country." " Those who will have read these remarks will find in them, a sufficient explanation of the reason why we have wasted so little of our space with the question of Native Americanism." These, so far as I can recollect, are the doctrines for the pretended violation Of which I have been so falsely and injuriously assailed by Mr. Hale and the " ISTative Americans." And yet this article, published editorially in the Freeman's Journal, as already described, is from the pen of Bishop Hughes, who is representijd as organizing his people into a separate class ! ! ! Again, look at another news- 474 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. paper called tl)e Truth Teller, over which I have no control, published January 6th, 1844, under the title of " The Press of New York," and you will find in an article of nearly a column's length the fol- lowing passage, which expresses the spirit of the whole : " Now, we are satisfied that if it be necessary to speak of a portion of the community as foreigners at all, their true course here, and, so far as this place is concerned, elsewhere too, is to enter into no discus- sion with those persons who distinguish themselves in the manner we have just referred to. In this country, speech, like opinion, is free ; and if this party so called should persevere in the ferocious spirit of its denunciations, it will find its corrective, not in the arguments which might be urged on the part of the assailed, but in the dearer ' self-interest of those who foresee that their prospects will be blighted by its success, * * * but they have failed hitherto in exciting any- thing like opposition on the part of the adopted citizens ; neither the Irish, nor German, nor English, nor Scotch citizens, have con- descended either to notice their proceedings, or in any manner to resent their insults. This is as it should be." This article, too, is from the pen of Bishop Hughes, so famous, ac- cording to the echoes of slander, for organizing his people into a sep- erate class for political purposes. These are the articles to which I alluded in my last communication, when I remarked that " from a very early period, I prevented the only papers which affected to rep- resent Catholic interests, from opposing either the principles or the progress of the new party. When the private interest or enter- prise of individuals urged them to establish new papers intended expressly to oppose the progress of ' Native Americanism,' and to uphold the constitutional rights of foreigners of all religions, I peremptorily refused to give either patronage or approbation — fore- seeing, as I imagined, to what points such antagonism must lead." I know that the irresponsible editor of the Journal of Commerce rates me as if I had " prevented " or " caused to be published these papers " by an absolute authority, or by physical force. It was not so ; but merely by the influence of moral means, such as a friend uses towards a friend, actuated by the desire for the peace, security and honor of society. And his reasoning is that it is most dangerous to the community that it should include one mem- ber capable of anticipating and preventing the horrors which have occurred in another city ! But I have already stated that I look upon the editor of the Journal of Commerce, as morally irresponsible for what he says. From all this it will be seen, not only that Bennett and his fol- lowers, have no facts whereby to estabhsh their abuse of me, but, that I have abundant facts to establish the truth of sentiments, of language, and of conduct, directly the opposite of 'those which they have charged upon me. I have already published my sentiments in reference to an Irish or Catholic organization, and to any political distinction bet^yeen adopted and native citizens. "With Repeal I never had anything to do, except as a looker on. On the question LETTER TO COL. STONE. 4Ty oP Abolitionism the same. But, as may be seen, when the name of Mr. O'Connell was employed as a charm to convert his countrymen in the United States into Abolitionists, I did suggest to them in my letter to the Courier and Enquirer that whatever might be their opinions on the subject, anything like dictation or advice from any foreign source, on that subject was to be met with rebuke or indigna- tion. I have never attended or taken part in a political meeting or movement in my life. I have never voted in my life, except once. I have never made a political speech in my life ; and I dare any one on earth to meet me in contradiction of this statement. The School Question is a subject which can be explained in a few words. The Catholics of New York for sixteen years had been deprived of the benefits of the taxes which, in common with their fellow-citizens, they had to pay for educa- tion. They had created a few free schools to supply as well as might' be the evils resulting from this privation. Th^ question now arises, why were they deprived of the rights of education ? And the an- swer to that question presents the issue made in the whole contro- versy. The Public School Society assigned as a reason that the Catholics were bigoted, and that their priests kept them apart from the other children, lest they should become enlightened, Americanized, and, as a consequence, Protestants, as soon as they grow up. The Catholics, on the other hand, denied this ; and alleged that the tystem of the Public School Society was adapted to make the chil- dren Protestants or infidels first, or simultaneously with education. Here is the controversy on these two statements. The Catholics . alleged that the elementary books of the schools put into the hands of their children were calculated, if not intended, to poison their minds in reference to their religion. For months and years this was denied by the Public School Society. That it was true, they them- selves have had the candor to acknowledge, by blackening certain portions of their books, and this at their own motion, and not at any instance of mine. As an instance of those passages I will quote, among others, the following : " John Hnss, a zealous reformer from Popery, who lived in Bohemia toward the close of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries. He was bold and persevering i but at length, trusting to the deceitful Catholics, he was by them brought to trial, condemned as a heretic, and burnt at the stake." The principles of the Public School Society and their friends was, that the Catholics should pay tKeir school taxes like others (which they did), and then, after having paid their taxes, send their children to the schools to have their minds imbued with sentiments like this, combining at once prejudice, uncharitableness, and, withal, blunder- ing historical inaccuracy. The Catholics, on the other hand, would not agree to have the feehngs and understandings of their children misled by ' such sentiments, as the benefit offered to them in return for the taxes which the law required thehi to pay. They petitioned, as good citizens ought to do, u.ader the pressure of a grievance. Thej 476 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. discussed — tlifiy reasoned with their opponents. And this led tp the results already referred to. But the ungenerous trick of the friends of tht; Public School Society, on discovering that without trick, false- hood and misrepresentation were no match for truth, was to allow as far as possible no one to be elected, except such as should first bind themselves to deny redress for the greivance complained of — no matter how just or how real that grievance might be. Then, it was on the very eve of the election, that at a meeting in Carroll Hall on the School Question, when the knowledge of this trick broke upon us, I expressed the sentiments which I still stand by, whether rightly reported or not, as they are found in the Freeman's Journal, but not as they are adorned with the waving of shiUalahs in Bennett's Herald : Bennett says that the two reports are " word for word," " verbatim et literatim, the same." Bennett knew when he wrote this, last week, that he was writing what was not true — and now the public know that he knew it. My speech at Carroll Hall was not the speech of a politician. It was the speech of a man who has some reverence for the dignity of human nature. It was the speech of an American who knows and prizes the rights secured by the American Constitution, which he would not wish to see violated in any denomination of Christians, more than in his own. Read that speech as it is in the Freeman's Journal. Is there any appeal to foreigners, to Irish, to Catholics, to politicians, or to any class of beings, except so far as a principle of clear indisputable right and justice could be an appeal to the understanding and the hearts of every honest man ? Turn now, sir, I pray you, after having read the blasting refuta- tion of Bennett's last falsehood, to the nine propositions laid down in my last letter as facts. If those facts are true, I ask you whether there is a man among us who can present himself at the bar of a just and honorable opinion, in a more unexceptionable character, as a citizen, as a Christian pastor, than I do in repelling the excess of scurrilous abuse and calumny which has been heaped upon me ? But if these propositions are not true, again I say — " Now, therefore, James Gordon Bennett, Wm L. Stone, and ye other deceivers of the public, stand forth and meet Bishop Hughes." A few words more and I shall close with what appertains to my own vindication. In my letter to his Honor the Mayor I stated as follows, in reference to the meeting at Carroll Hall : " But there was a reporter of Bennett's there who made such a speech as he thought proper, which was afterwards, as I have reason to believe, fitted up for the purpose of producing one of Bennett's ' iremendovs excitements,^ and making the ' Herald always the first and most enterprising paper in New York.' Having t.aken this report, having studded it with the gems of his own ribaldry, and - made some half a column of editorial comments, in all that mock gravity of which Bennett is capable, the Herald of the next morn- ing became the basis and fountain of all the vituperation, calumny, LETTER TO COL. STONE. 477 and slander which have been heaped on Bishop Hughes throughout the United States, from that day to this." A\l this was from memory, and I apologized by anticipation, if la questions of memory I had made any mistake. In his attempt to reply to this, on the 25th, he states that the whole question turns on the accuracy of the report alone. This is false, I said the " Rerald of the next morning," including both the report and the editorial comments made with the mock gravity which he sometimes put on, in derision of mankind. So that here is falsehood both in altering and in suppressing truth. In that editorial, headed with flaming letters, he announced a. new and extraordinary inovemeiit — mixture of politics and religion — he makes the clergy as well as myself speakers, etc. Now, none of the Catholic clergy took any part in the proceedings whatever, nor have they in the discussion of the School Question, with one or two solitary exceptions. ISTeither was there any mixture of politics and religion that I am aware of, except what is found in every assemblage of men, who have some idea of religion and politics, without the slightest consciousness of any necessary " mixture." "Words of this kind — written maliciously — read hastily — sent forth at a time of great party excitement — caught vp according to the hue and tone of the passions— commented on as they have been, became unquestionably the fountain and basis of all the vituperation that has been heaped on me throughout the United States from that day until this. After what I have said already, the truth of one word of which not even Bennett will dare to deny, I ask you* to ponder on the direction given to the public mind by this article — and I think you will see that, by necessity, this man perverts truth in the spirit of the article — -he perverts it in the adjective— he perverts it in the noun — in the preposition — he perverts it in what he says, and so far as the moral effect is concerned, he perverts it in what he suppresses. But I cannot spare time for the minute exposure of his atrocities on my character. The examination of this question has impressed on my mind more deeply than ever the soundness of the quotation at the head of this letter. And I do believe that so far as regards the things of this •woxldi, falsehood would be " almighty" if it were not for truth alone. There are, certainly, most curious forces concealed and mingled with the elements of material nature. I do not speak of mesmerism — but I would just call your attention to the phenomena that are produced by the action of a galvanic battery. When its force is made to act on a dead body, you perceive what a shocking mimicry of life is produced. There are manifestations, as if an artificial soul had again acquired the mastery and dominion over the move- ment of joints, sinews and muscles. Now, it seems to me that I have discovered a latent principle somewhat analogous, in power of truth. And if I can bring out the correctness of theory, I hope to be ranked among the philosophers of the age — for whom I ha\e a. greater respect than for its politicians. I shall make my experiments on James Gordon Bennett. And in order that they may be fairly 478 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. tried, it is essential that he should stand in the midst of a large ring of spectators— but no one shall touch him. Of course, my battery is moral, and its effects are to be produced on his will and pmver over his own motions ? If the theory be sound, the spectators will witness the following phenomena. Whenever the force is applied, Mr. James Gordon Bennett shall lose all power over his own will ; and in spite of himself, he will jerk his arms and impress on his forehead a certain combination of letters in which all that is least honorable in the English alphabet will be concentrated. In order that the experi- ment should be fairly tested it is necessary that he should look Truth . full in the face. In this he will find some difficulty, though heis accustomed to see very well on either side of it. However, I shall shift it, as circumstances may require, to meet the, focus of his vis- ion. I shall commence with one of the most cruel things he ever said of me. " We have never uttered a syllable against him as a private in- dividual. On the contrary, we have uniformly spoken of him as a man of talent, of most amiable character, of piety, of integrity, of un- tiring zeal for his church and creed. — Bennett, May 21, 1844. Now, sir,. look out for ■ EXPEEIMENT No. 1. " Bishop Hughes, from having been a good gardener, a raiser of cabbages and carrots, has become a Bishop of the Church, and now tends souls instead of salads, but his original tastes still exists. He is one of the most fawning sycophants to power that ever presided in the Church, and all those who have money and power, of any church, are his polar stars. He wants all manliness and independence.''^ — Bennett, May 12, 1841. i)id you observe any motion of the arms? Can you trace the letters ? Now, it is manifest that this result is in spite of tiie voli- tion of Bennett's will. It is the homage which falsehood pays to the majesty of truth, not by the application of external force, not by the free will of the worshippers, but by the unsuspected, hidden, but almighty power that is inherent in truth itself. Hear him again : " So long as Bishop Hughes conducted the controversy before the Common Council of the city — so long as he sought in his own sphere, and by the appropriate weapons, reason and argument, to convince men of the accuracy of his views and the justice of his projects, he was not liable to censure. And so long as he thus conducted the agitation. Bishop Hughes received no censure from us. We might have differed with him ; but we should, indeed, have merited the full viiils of his wrath, and that of all men, had we denounced nim or interfered with him, so long as he kept in his own sphere and within his legitimate limits, as the religious guardian of his people. But from the A'ery moment when he first departed from the place of a Christian Bishop, and adopted the disreputable weapons of a mere political gladiator, from that moment he became amenable t ILETTEE TO COL. STONE. 479 to the censure of public opinion, and fi-om that moment we denounced him." — Bennett, May 25, 1844. Now, sir, in order to prepare for Experiment No. 2, I beg you to bear in mind that things were exactly in the situation here described, when Bennett wrote the following attack, published before the meet- ing at Carroll 1 1 all: Experiment No. 2. " Bishop Hughes, who fi-om the highly respectable trade of raising cabbages (having been a capital kitchen gardener once on a day,) became a raiser of Catholics and Christians, has the sole merit of originating this small potato question. He started the project a few years ago, in humble imitation of Daniel 0' Connell and the ' rirait,' one of its purposes being to organize the Irish Catholics of New York as a distinct party, that could be given to the Whigs or Loco Focos at the wave of his crazier.'''' — Bennett, 29lh October, 1841. Do you see any jerking here again ? Do you see any new mark on Bennett's forehead branded by his own hand ? Again, still : " There is one charge however in this letter which is so extra- ordinary, so inexplicable, so atrocious .that we must notice it to-day. The charge is, that we once attacked Mrs. Daniel O'Connell, the venerable and pious wife of Daniel himself, and that this was the cause of the brutal treatment which we received from the celebrated O'Connell when we visited the Corn Exchange, Dublin. This is, indeed, a piece of information which has completely astounded us. We never dreamed of such an accusation, as may surely be well believed, when we never wrote a syllable, or uttered a word, or even thought of Mrs. O'Connell, in the whole course of our life. The entire falsity, the utter impossibility of our having written or printed a line against Mrs. O'Connell is at once apparent, when it is known that during the last twenty years that I have been connected with the press in this country — nearly one half of which period as proprietor and conductor of the Wew York Herald — up to the affair in the Corn Exchange, in every reference to O'Connell, I expressed admiration of the man, and. column after column I have written defending him, and even attempting to apologize for his attack on the Southern institutions of this country. Attack Mrs. O'Connell ! A more daring and deliberate falsehood than this never proceeded from the Father of Lies. I cast it back on Bishop Hughes with all the burning indignation which can be imagined in one so grossly assailed — one who never, even by implication, attacked any female in iiny mode or shape whatever. Thus much on that point." — Bennett, May 21, 1844. Experiment No. 3, " We would advise O'Connell not to make the tour of the United States for the sake of h.is numerous children and concubines, who mio;ht be left fatherless and comfortless. Will our readers believe 480 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. that this same moral rascal, O'Connell, once made a public boast that he never spared a man in his anger, or a woman in his lust. His wife once, in order to shame this scoundrel, collected together six young women whom he had seduced, and employed them about his house in various menial capacities. Yet this heartless, unprincipled, cowardly wretch, has the unblushing effrontery," etc. — Bennetts Herald, vol. iv, No. 130. This is, perhaps,' one of the most interesting experiments of the whole ; and the phenomena of galvanism can exhibit nothing like it. You see that, in opposition to his own will, he has fixed the first brand on his own forehead in reference to Mrs. O'Connell. And now I want to see whether the moral influence of truth will no* compel him to fix another, crosswise, in reference to the same subject. " To my great surprise and astonishment, (he says) these remarks were of an offensive character and such as it never could have entered into my mind to cbnceive (?) I knew nothing of them whatever, till I read them in my own paper the next morning. I was indeed exceedingly chagrined at the time, and remonstrated severely with the gentleman who wrote them." [The gentleman who wrote them !] — Bennett, May 23, 1844. Now, see whether the phenomenon of a cross-brand \b to be realized according to my theory of truth. " Every editorial article which appears in the Herald is written in this office, by whom it matters not ; but all written under the control and superintendence of one mind." — Bennett, January 22, 1844. In the following experiment, I shall make Bennett, for the enter- tainment of the spectators, go through another comjuourarf movement of this kind, which cannot but prove very interesting. In the first place, in order to understand the question, he invents a meeting of " Native Americans," composes speeches for them ; and as if his intention were to direct any mob that might afterwards arise to the burning of our churches, te publishes in one of these speeches "that there are dungeons under St. Patrick's Cathedral, which can be intended for no other purpose than the imprisonment and torture of the Protestant ministers of the city, when the Catholics should gain the ascendancy." In reference to this subject he says, a few days afterwards : ^ " The Express of this city, a most miserable concern, actually had the audacity yesterday to declare, with spasmodic wrigglings that all this movement was a hoax, and that all those speeches which are now, through our instrumentality, circulating all over the country, is a hoax. We can only say that the speakers thus ridiculed, and so unceremoniously voted out of existence, could give the miserable creatures of the Express proofs of their identity of their flesh and blood existence, equally striking and convincing as that which the honest countryman gave the philosopher who had very learn jdly argued in his hearing that there was no such thing as motion " — Bennet, November 23, 1843. Here, you perceive, is the denial of the forgery. Now then for LBTTKE TO COL. STONE. 481 Experiment No. 4. " And in order to place the whole plan of operations before the new party and before the public, we got up the famous '■American Republican meeting in American Republican Hall, between Broad- way and the Bowery,' which was a piece of imagination, and intended to present, in a practicable and intelligible form, the best mode of conducting the new agitation — the best plan of carrying on the canvass — and the topics which most properly invited the attention of the speakers and leaders of the movement. And this succeeded admirably. The ground we thus pointed out, in a practical, and at the same time delicate and rmobtrusive manner, was given by the leaders of the movement, and the agitation went on from that hour with spirit and success. All the proceedings of the party were reported accord- ingly by us, and the public in this way kept regularly informed of the views, the purposes, and the progress of the reform party. It is true, that the Express and other papers blustered a good deal, and cried out 'forgery' — but that did not prevent our mode of present- ing the true, tenable ground of the new party from producing the desired effect.'''' — Bennett, April 20, 1844. The shedding of human blood, and the burning down of Catholic Churches might be anticipated, as the natural, (whether it was the " desired,") effect of such jjublications or not. And the wailing families and ruined temples of another city can best declare whether the means and end have not been in true keeping with each other. But, at any rate, you see by applying the latent force of truth, his hands fly up against his will, and fix another melancholy br.and upon his forehead. As a small sequel to all this, I will just mention, that after having directed, as far as he could, the attention of any mob that might be, against the Catholic churches — after having fanned the embers of social division into a flame — after having seen the earth crimsoned with human blood, which ought to have been reserved for the defense of the country, and all this, as I have said, the natural, if not the desired effect of his villanous falsehoods, he can discover in it all, even now, nothing more than an equality with one of the "moral essays known under the title of ^sop's Fables." There is this difference however, that ^Hop''s Fables did not tend to arson and bloodshed ; and the only similarity that the comparison suggests, is, that physically, according to the ancients, ^sop was a beauty — and so, I am told, is Mr. Bennett. But, 1 trust the experiments already made are sufficient to establish my theory of the latent power of Truth over Falsehood — as being vastly more wonderful in its action on mind, than galvanism itself in its application to inanimate, but articulate bodies. There is one infallible test proving that any religion, so called, which inspires men with hatred, , one toward another, even on account of religious difference cannot insomuch, be of God ; for God is love. True religion inspires us with sentiments of love towards God, first, and above all ; and next, love toward our neighbor as 31 482 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. ourselves. Now, our Saviour^as taught us most beautifully, in the example of the good Samaritan, that love for our neighbor means all mankind. You, yourself sir, have once illustrated this admirable and infallible text, so far as sentiment and feeling are concerned, of true religion. And although my opinion, on such a topic, will be received as little worth, I will say — there never was a prouder day for the Protestant religion which you profess, and for your own fame, than that on which you rejected the testimony of Maria Monk; albeit she ^as endorsed by' reverend hands as a hopeful convert from Popery, and her filthy book recommended as a veracious and opportune production. I will make bold to say that in sickness or in health, in life or at death, you cannot look back except with pleasvrable emotions to that proud day, on which, understanding! the true interests and honor of your religion better than its official advocates, you exclaimed with honorable indignation : Non talibus auxiliis, non defensoribua istis. But how, sir, could you have so far forgotten what was due to the memory of that day, as to receive the testimony, not of a Protestant^like Maria Monk, but of " a Roman Catholic editor,'''' as you had the cruelty to call him in your paper, of the 30th day of October, 1841. If you had given Bennett's statement without the endorse- ment of your own respectable name, his character would have been an antidote to the poison which he circulates ; and the deplorable results which since followed, would in all probability never have occurred. But I shall not press this matter on your attention, at the present time. In fact, from what I read of him in your paper, and other respectable Journals, I supposed that their editors would not have been willing to have placed the slightest confidence in him in regard to any matter involving truth and honor. And yet what was my astonishment in beholding him converted under your pen into " a Roman Catholic editor," and his testimony received by you as if you regarded it with habitual confidence. The man himself I have never seen ; but my opinion of him had been already formed by two circumstances which, for me, were quite enough. One was that he was understood, in Philadelphia, I think, to have published private and confidential letters; another was that he seemed to deny and repudiate his country and countrymen. The first is the only service he could render to the land of Bruce and "Wallace ; and for the second there is another reason, no doubt, which his countrymen can explain. It seems, however, that though born in Scotland he makes a good " Native American." He says, " Why," asked my friend, " don't you go among your country- men oftener ?" " Do you mean the Scotch," said I. "I do," said he. " Then I'll tell you the reason, they are a d — d scaly set, from top to bottom, and when I pass them in the street I always take the windward side, and avoid shaking hands as I would avoid the itch.' Ha ! ha ! ha ! ho ! ho ! ho ! " No, sir," continued I, " my friends are the ' Natives.' I'll stick to the Natives— a, fig for the Scotch." I do not know at what period Bennett wrote this, but I had a I.ETTEH TO COL. STOliTB. 483 vague recollection of it in my own mind ■w'hich is confirmed by the quotation here given, and which may be found in the " Life and Writings of James Gordon Bennett," page 8. , But it appears that he is not only a " Kative," but that he has their principles — at least so far as the Bible is concerned. You would suppose that if not brought up in one of our public schools himself, he would recommend the system of these schools by its results in his own conduct and character. He says r " I was educated a strict Catholic, but it was an enlightened Catholic My school book in my boyish days was the Bible, King James' Bible, the Protestant Bible. Yet I never found that the reading ■ of thiit Bible at school ever left any bad effects behind. On the contrary it left good effects. It filled the young mind with the glorious images, the classic language, the noble ideas, and the ever- living principles of true religion from its upper fountains. There can be no harm to a good, moral, liberal and intelligent Catholic in having the Bible, yes, even the Protestant Bible in school. The Bible is the Bible in every language, in every translation, in every church, in every sect. Bishop Hughes, committed ^a most fatal mistake ever to raise that littlje, narrow, bigoted question" about different translations before this Christian and intelligent community." — Bennett, April 15, 184:4:. What could Mr. Hiram Ketchum himself, say more than this ? And if Bennett be an example of the moral effects of such training, what stronger reason can we have for making its adoption universal in our public schools ? from which, by the by, apart from particular translations, I never asked that it should be excluded. Bennett has pretended that his assaults on me, of which I have two or three dozen still in reserve, were made in consequence of ray conduct at Carroll Hall, and then only for the public good. This is entirely false. His grossest assaults were made before the occurrence at Carroll Hall took place. Until then, ever by his own showing, I had done nothing to authorize his assaults under the plea of publio good. Yet, my admitted innocence did not protect me. But why shonld I speak of myself? Is there a clergyman of any denomina- tion whom he has spared ? My amiable and saintly predecessor, even at the age of " 10 years and upwards," could not be allowed to „ escape. " Bishop Dubois is not a patriarch: — he does not effect reforms by his example, or by pastoral advice and government. No, no. ,JIe is doing Catholicity a service as the devil did Job a semMS— by his WANT OF ALL EXAMPLE— -by his BNTIEE MISGOVEElTMEIfT — ^by hiS cupricious and ridiculous tyrnnny. . .The conduct of Bishop Dubois has long given great offense to the Catholics. Capricious, tyrannical, HEARTLESS, , OLD-WOMANISH and absurd, he has .reduced and is reducing the standard of Catholicity to a standard that would make Maria Monk pity it, and Dr. Brownlee say prayers for its safety," — Bennett, Sept. 9th, 1836. Was it for the public good that such a foul attack was made on an 484 IRCHBISHOP HUGHES. amiable and aged clergyman — whose age and character should have shielded him ? N"o, no. There is nothing of public good in the question. And even as regards the ISTative American party, whatever its principles were, I cannot believe that they breathed the spirit of extermination which would appear from Bennett's reports of their proceedings. For instance, describing the sensation produced by an appeal in one of their meetings, he has, " (Loud applause.) — Cries of never — we'll die &rstr^-we'll kill the old Pope and every one BELONGING TO HIM FIRST." — Bennelfs Herald Nov. 25, 1843. I have underlined the words as making the spirit which Bennett ascribes to the meeting. It is probable that this is one of the " gems of his ribaldry," just as the " shillelahs" were at Carroll Hall. But on the other hand, is it not most dangerous to jSnd him on the day preceding this, as if his object were to urge on the thoughtless and the wicked to bloodshed, circulating the following atrocious slander ? " We hear it whispered that the Irish Repeal Abolitionists, who have been organized by Bishop Hughes and John McKeon, intend to make an attack upon the Young Americans, and to drive them out of the Sixth."— 5ereree«, Nov. 24:th, 1843. And all this, whilst he himself had borne testimony to the peace- able conduct of the Irish, as the following passage Avill show — • " The German population alone have raised a voice against the movement of this party, and strange as it may appear, the Irish adopted citizens, who are generally' the first in the field, lie as dormant as terrapins in December." — Bennett, Oct. 24, 1843. Materials of this kind thicken around me as I advance in my subject ; but I shall give it up for the present, out of sheer disgust! A free press is essential to a free country, . And w^hilst we know that licentiousness is inseparable from freedom, we must be prepared to bear with the evil for the sake of the good. ' I think this letter will teach even Mr. Bennett that editors have duties as well as rights in conducting a free press ; And that the instrument which they abuse by licentiousness, constitutes after all the most powerful and rigid tribunal, at which to arraign them, for perverting it from its legitimate use. If Bennett had public motives for pouring the torrent of his slanders upon me for the last six years, I trust the same motives will justify me for vindicating myself, and for pointing out the dangers to which everything in the domestic and social rela- tions of life is exposed from the unscrupulous abuse of a free press, by an editor without moral principle. Some one will ask me, whether in writing as I have done, I have not violated charity. My answer is, that I have not. I admit that if Bennett were a man who regarded either charity or truth, in his attacks upon others ; or if those attacks were without their influence on society at large, then indeed, I know that I should be violating this heavenly virtue. But Bennett has placed himself in such a position toward society, that if I were charitable to the community, I must seem to be uncharitable toward him. Just imagine if you can an incarnation of demonism LETTEK TO COL. STONE. ' 485 placing itself on the liigliways of civilized society — ranging with pry- ing inspection, around tlie whole circle of official, commercial, social, and domestic life ; just as the freebooter sweeps the ocean-horizon with his telescope, looking for prey; imagine that incarnation, rush- ing on its victim with some fatal necret of guilt or misfortune, (the wounds of which might heal, if allowed the natural ■ privilege of shade and silence) ; whispering that fatal secret with sardonic triumph into the ears of those who thought it was unknown, and then — waving to and fro the scorpion lash of its infernal whip, until lean or money ^ or hoth^ are made to gush forth abundantly, — and then you will have conceived my idea of the powers that may be exercised by a bad man, having the command of a free press. You say Bennett is too contemptible for notice ; then answer me the question, why is it that society sustains his paper ? You say he is too contemptible for notice ; and why is it that you are afraid of Mm and that you would rather lose |lOO any time than incur his enmity — out of regard, if not for yourself, at least for your little daughter who climbs on your knee, or, as O'Connell expressed it in the poetry of his grief, " for the lamb that slept in your bosom," — knowing very well, as you do, that though you fear not, a " poisoned arrow" may be prepared for them when you least expect it. You say that he is too contemptible for notice ; and yet, female curiosity will read his paper to see what he has to say about others, — whilst female modesty blushes and trembles, at the very idea of itself being made the object of his remarks. Let society show a healthy tone of moral courage ; lex those who by mistake, take up his paper in the morn- ing, wash their hands again, before going to breakfast; let them cease to grow pale at the idea of having incurred Bennett's enmity, and then, if you tell me that he is " too contemptible for notice," I will admit you to be sincere, and a believer of what you say. But until then I cannot, agree with you ; and I assert, whilst I do not fear him, that Bennett is not too contemptible to deserve notice'. I have now submitted the entire case before that tribunal to which the honored man, who was a chaplain to the Congress of Independence said no honest citizen need appeal in vain ; namely, public opinion, as it exists among the American people. I ask no partial judgment, and I do not anticipate that one of prejudice shall be pronounced against me. Here are the facts, every man who reads can understand them. But I think that at this moment, and without presumption I might be allowed to appeal to the conductors of the public press, to do me according to their own sense of right, simple justice in the premises. Many of them have been misled, and, without intending it, have done me injustice. I have had no resentment, because I have not considered this as wilful or deliberate on their part. But if the time has como when circumstances have compelled me to meet my detractors, is it too much to expect that they will record the sentence which their feelings of honor and sense of justice may dictate? Is it too much to expect this even of " Native Americans ?" if they are worthy of the proud title of >vhicb 486 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. / they boast, but which, in order to continue a proud title, must be sustained by magnanimous feelings and honorable virtues. Allow me again, sir, in conclusion, to quote the principle of moral philosophy laid down at the head of this letter, namely — that there is nothing more powerful than Falsehood except Truth alone. The whole of this letter, I think, establishes the soundness of this principle. It is full of egotism, I know. But it professes to be so. It professes to treat of Bishop Hughes — the assailed of a thousand calumniators — and of James Gordon Bennett, the first and persever- ing chief of those assailants. The principles represented on the one side, and on the other, have both triumphed, the one in the just but imperfect provision of the Legislature of New York, in extending the blessings of education to the children of this city — this was the triumph of truth. The other has triumphed, also, under the auspices of Mr. Bennett and his colleagues, and (alas for 'the honor of our country !) may be read in gilt letters on the ruined walls of St. Augustine's : " The Lord Seeth." I remain, sir, respectfully, your obedient serv't, >i« JOHN HUGHES, Bishop of New York. THIRD LETTER OF THE RIG-HT REVEREND BISHOP HUG-HES. Rejoinder to Col. William L. Stone, Editor of the Commercial Advertiser. Respected and Deae Sir, — On unfolding your paper of the 6th inst., I felt gratified at beholding your letter of five columns, inas- much as it seemed to furnish the evidence of restored health. This feeling however was somewhat damped by a perusal of the letter, which furnished to my mind at least intrinsic evidence that you are still far from being well. That, however, is a matter which I leave in the hands of the faculty. I have read your long letter. I find in it nothing but " words, words, words." Indeed it seems to me that I have refuted most of it, even in the form of words or asser- tions as it was presented at various times by Mr. Hiram Ketchum under his own name. There are but a very few passages on which I think it worth while to make any commentary. It is true, you repeat some of the assertions which have been made by the editor of the " morning paper," and which have in his case, been proved by FACTS to have heen falsehoods. If your repetition could by any pro- cess make them true, then indeed I should consider them worthy of notice. You have rejid my two letters ; you have seen those letters com- posed of facts and arguments, and you have not ventured more than Mr. r>ennett to deny a single fact set forth by me in either. You LETTER TO COL. STONE. 487 have not been able to rebut my arguments by the adduction of a single opposite fact ; and so long as you leave these documents in that situation — so long will your letters and your columns and your paragraphs amount to " words, words, words " — mere assertion and nothing more. 'Now, sir, between facts on one side and mere assertion on the other, I have no hesitation in leaving the matter to the judgment of that tribunal, before which we both stand. I will but just present for your consideration a few reflections that have been suggested by the perusal of your letter. And first of all, allow me to say I shall pass over without comment the many paragraphs of allusion to myself, in which no doubt you supposed you were accomplishing feats of satirical sublimity. That you should shrink with horror from any kind of partnership with Bennett, is precisely what I anticipated, and precisely what caused me to ex- press my regret, that you should have selected for yourself, in his regard, the position in which my letters, or rather your own course, exhibited to you. You say : " I am -not going to rail at Bennett, or to express my indignant fastidiousness at the association. I set it forth as a specimen of what some of your friends have styled ' a most calm and dignified appeal to reason instead of the passions and prejudices of men.' Your ruse in this respect, however, exhibits about as much refined taste, to say nothing of its argument, as if I should couple your name with that of the celebrated Monroe Edwards. " What, Rev. sir, do you shrink from the association ? Well you may, and I will not make it. But Monroe Edwards is of your own church. He, like yourself, is an able and accomplished man, and like yourself has he complained bitterly of the attacks made upon him in the newspapers. Still, I will not persevere in the association, although this community will, beyond all doubt, justify me in the introduction of a parallelism which cannot be any more ofiensive to you, than you supposed would be to me the peculiar connection in which you presented my name to the public, or should I even repre- sent the Carroll Hall orator and the tenant of Sing Sing as respect- ively the head and tail of the Romish Antichrist." I thank you, sir, for not pressing this association too closely. And yet, if I had endorsed the notes of Mr. Monroe Edwards, as you did those of Bennett, I do not see how I could escape it. You under- stand the Value of the term in commercial afiTairs and its moral bearing is somewhat analogous. Besides, you cannot plead ignorance of the " morning paper " from which you copied. Not so in regard to those who were imposed upon by Edwards. Until the Jliwle of his career, very honorable and intelligent men were deceived by him. But Bennett had not this advantage over you, for you knew him well. If, therefore, I had been unfortunate enough to be in any manner connected with such a man as Monroe Edwards, under the same circumstances as you identified yourself with the "Roman Catholic editor of the morning paper," I should certainly feel morti- fied, but I do not see that I ought to be offended, at being reminded 488 AECIIBISHOP HrGHES. of the connection. The one is expatiating the guilt of his bold and iniquitous career — the other is expatiating his also in his own way. But I believe that in reference t :> both, your opinion and mine would exhibit sufficient agreement. It seems to me that the picture of each may be found drawn with sufficient distinctness in the lines of the poet. " Who steals my purse, steals trash ; 'tis soiu4thing — nothing ; 'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands; But he that filches from me my good name, ^ Robs me of that which not enriches him. And makes me poor ' indeed." Which of the characters here imagined by the poet, is more de- spicable, it is not difficult to ascertain. But you say Monroe Edwards is a Catholic. This may be. The Catholic religion has furnished as bad men as any other ; still, I wish to inquire whether you make this assertion of your own knowledge or not. I hope you have not again trusted to some " morning paper " — but at any rate, it is a rule in logic that what is gr.atuitously asserted may be gratuitously denied. I deny, therefore, the assertion that Monroe Edwards is a Catholic, and I call on yon for the proofs. It was a waste of words for you to undert.ake proving that I made a speech at Carroll Hall. But it was not ingenuous on your part to suppress or overlook the fact, that you, among others, had endea- voured to bring the representatives of the people imder the iniquitous obligation of refusing to grant the petition however just it might be, of those who wished an alteration in the School Laws. This was " the ungenerous trick" to which I lately called your attention. It was you and your colleagues who first mingled religion with politics in that question. And whilst you recommended those exclusively who should oppress one portion of the people, my recommendation was for those who should do "justice to all classes." As to your dissertation on the various systems of common school education, I have \ ery little to say. My own preference would be for a system which, if it were practicable, might allow, without in- terfering with or infringing the provisions of the law, each denomina- tion to instruct its own children in its own peculiar views of religion. But if this cannot be done, then for my own part, I am resigned to any system in which the rights guaranteed by the Constitution shall be secured to the children of each denomination, equally. This is all, and I presume that in this, unless the framers of the Constitution made a great blunder in allowing liberty of conscience at all, you will find nothing to cavil at. As to the Bible 'v\ the common schools, I see no great objection to it, provided it be in conformity with the principles just laid down. If you force the Catholic Bible on Protes- tant children against their will, you inflict an injury, in my opinion, on the religious right.s of those children and their parents ; and the injury is just as great a violation of right, as if you force the Protestant Bible on Catholic children against their will, or that of their parents. It Beems to me that you will hardly queetion the correctness of this view , LETTER TO COL. STONE. 489 find if you do not, then there is nothing between us to dispute about. As to the Protestant version, to the examination of which you invite my attention, I tliink it would be a work of supererogation. Or, if YOU are determined on that subject, you will please to begin by re- futing the very many learned and able critics of the Protestant Communion, who have rejected the version of King Jarnes, and adopted or recommended others, for reasons which they allege, and v.-hioli you can attempt to refute, if you please. You seem disposed to hold me accountable for whatever may be • said in the papers that are nominally or really Catholic, such as the Freemuri's Journal and others. My last letter ought to satisfy you that I regard " a free press as essential to the well-being of a free country." Accordingly I exercise no censorship of authority over these or any other papers, each of them has its own editor, and so far as I am concerned, I wish him to enjoy the same rights, subject -to the same responsibilities, which are enjoyed by the editor of the Commercial Advertiser. If he violates the honorable trust reposed in him by the public, by deceiving those who expect truth from the conductors of a public press, then let him be held accountable. The only paper I have any connection with is the Freeman's Journal, and no man can find anything of party politics in its columns. The other papers, so far as I know, profess to take an interest in politics ; and I maintain, without expressing any opinion on the propriety of so . doing, that their editors have the same legal right that you have. In reference to the very disingenuous view which you give of my efforts to prevent any collision through the excitement produced by re- cent events, you certainly have overlooked what could not have es- caped your attention, if your health had been perfectly restored. • My statement on that subject was to the effect that I had used every exertion to prevent that portion of tbe population under my spiritual charge, from being driven into combination, under the plea of neces- sary self-defence. This you turn most disingenuously into a mean- ing which I never could have intended — as if, I claimed the power of keeping the peace or creating riot at ray own option. This perversion of statements which the public ' understand per* fectly well, does you no credit. A true Christian judges charitably of the intention of the others, whenever the opportunity is presented, without doing violence to the evidence of language and of facts. And, to suppress circumstances, to distort facts, to pervert language, in order to bring out a deceptions, false and uncharitable interpreta- tion, is utterly irreconcilable with the idea of a true Christian man. The man whose breast is pure is slow to suspect except on strong evidences. And to behold everything with a jairndiced eye proves no change in the object, but rather the diseased condition of him who looks upon it. What I have just said will explain your misconception and mis- statements in regard to my official relations with the Church, as clashing with my private Obligations to my country. It is a calum- ny which even the intolerance of the British Government has been 490 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES. i at last obliged to acknowledge. It is a calumny Avhich cannol be ut- tered except in contempt of the laws of our own freer and happier republic. It is a calumny which no educated man will believe, and to which no educated man ought to give utterance. If it were not a calumny, its legitimate consequence would be to deprive Catholics in this country of the right of discharging any civil trust, whereas the Constitution of the country acknowledges them as entitled equally with their fellow-citizens to fill any office to which they may be appointed. In relation to the lines quoted by you from the Freeman'' s Journal as indicative of conspiracy and treason, I can only assure you that I had never seen them in that paper, until your reference directed my attention to the subject. I confess that in the garbled form with the underlining of particular words and the evil purpose which they re- ceive from the suggestions of your mind, I saw them, as quoted by you, with regret and displeasure. But, on referring to the poetic effusion from which they are taken, I found nothing treasonable in the purpose, nor defective in the poetry. You are aware that from the time of old Horace, "poets and painters" have claimed a'ld been allowed by all civilized nations a " license" peculiar to themselves. It is on this account, that when the young genius of the land plumed its poetic wings during the recent political contest in this city, I never complained, albeit the sentiments were such as A rigid prose writer like you would be sure to condemn. Let us give a couple of small specimens. The author of the following lines, as we read in the Native American Paper, where they were published, is Mr. De Le Ree. They breathe patriotism as well as poetry : " Tour wives shall praise j'ou for your deeds. Your sweethearts hug you in their arms. If once you pluck these foreign weeds That have been growing on your farms. " Just cast them out upon the road And never let them in your lot. You've found they were a heavy load. Then dump and send them all to pot." But to show that poetic genius is no monopoly among " Native Americans," we have the following specimen ascribed in the same paper to Mr. Job Haskell. "* " And did those mighty heroes intend their sons for slaves, To bow to foreign bishops who crossed the ocean's waves ? No I a voice comes booming o'er our vast extended plain, March on my brave Americans, if thousands sfiould be slain. " And shall our Common Schools, the Republic's strongest hope Be wielded bv deceitful Priests, a Bishop, or the Pope ? LETTEK TO COL. STONE. 491 Ifo 1 answers free-born millions ; give them a traitor's grave, Advance, advance, Americans — your boasted bulwarks save. "Loud sounds the sacred bugle, the American youth dash on, Base foreigners shall bite the ground — oor war-cry, Washington," 3E< John Hughes, Bishop of New York. ALLEiSKD BUEITING OF BIBLES. 501 ALLEGED BURNING OF BIBLES. Editor of the Evening Post :— Sir,— I send you, herewith, the report of the proceedings of a meeting " convened in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Beekmanstown," on Wednesday, the 30th of November, in relation to the alleged burning of a quantity of " Bi- bles, by Roman Catholic priests, in the town of Champlain, Clinton county, New- York.", I request that you will have the goodness to publish the said proceedings in connection with this communication. I found them in the Albany Evening Journal, which has reached Tme by the post of this day; and I lose not a moment to express through the medium of the public press, the indignation with which I con- demn the proceedings there reported, so far as they may turn out to be true. I have had no opportunity of judging of the facts in this case, except through the medium of the public press ; and so far as that medium has reflected truth, I protest against the alleged burning of Bibles, in my own name, and in the name of the Catholic Clergy and Catholic laity of the diocese of New-York. I protest against it, as an act unworthy of citizens of this republic; and I pro- test against it, in order that, if it did occur, the parties immediately concerned in it shall alone be held responsible. Claiming to enjoy the privileges of the Constitution, granted to all citizens without distinct-ion of creed, I hold it unworthy their position to do an act calculated to injure the rights or wound the feelings of any other denomination ; and with these feelings, which, I trust, are the universal feelings of Catholicism in the United States, I cannot find language strong enough to express ray reprobation of the outrage committed on the feelings of my Protestant fellow-citi- zens, by an act so shocking to their prejudices, as would be the burning, in an ostentatious manner, of that form of translation of the Bible, to which they are so generally attached. In these remarks, I have supposed for the moment, that the state- ment assumed by the " meeting convened in the Methodist Episcopal Church in the town of Champlain, Clinton county. New- York," is a true statement ; I do not, however, admit the truth of it ; but merely assume it for the purpose of expressing the feelings which, if it were true, it should excite in my breast, and in the breast of every Amer- ican Catholic. From the form of the proceedings, however, I take it for granted that#here must be some truth in it ; and, so far, I unite with them in the unqualified condemnation of the act. As I understand the duty of American citizens, I conceive that every man, so long as he governs himself by the laws Of his country, and fulfills the duties of his social position, is accountable to God alone for the convictions of his conscience ; and, therefore, it is, that I condemn, with the same emphasis, the burning of Protestant Bi- bles, as I would the burning of a Catholic convent ; and, as I hold that it would be unjust to condemn the Protestant ministers, and the Protestant people of the United States, for the burning of a con- vent at Boston, so I maiuiain it would be equally unjust to hold 505 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. the Catholic people, or the Catholic priesthood, aocoixntable for the burning of a Protestant translation of the Scriptures, in the town of Champlain, Clinton county, New- York. Catholics have but little respect for King James' translation of the Bible ; but they should have respect for the different convictions of their Protestant fellow-citizens on that subject. There are zeal- ots among the Protestants who think they do Goda service, when, by unworthy artifices, they can succeed in thrusting their tracts, and their version of the Scriptures, into Catholic families. They are not satisfied to allow the Catholic to follow the dictates of his own conscience, but they must confer upon him benefits, as they suppose, which his conscience obliges him to refuse. Catholics have the Scriptures, approved by their own Church, published in every form, to suit their circumstances ; they should therefore refuse politely, but with firmness and independence, the offer of every version which ■ they regard as spurious ; and if, after such refusal, those obtrusive Bible distributors should force into their dwellings such copies, I would regard them as justified in hurling the copy out of doors after him who had left it. Thus, as the laws of the country now stand, if Congress should pass an act declaring the version of King James to be the true translation of the Holy Scriptures, then indeed the Bible distributors may claim the authority of the state for pro- ceedings which, as things now are, cannot but be regarded as ex- tremely impertinent on their part, in reference to their Catholic fellow-citizens. Catholics, therefore, cannot in conscience receive ttis spurious text, but they can never correct the error of having received it by burning it afterwards. And Protestants, if they wish to see the rights secured by the constitution fairly carried out, will distribute their Bibles among their own people, instead of attempting to smug- gle them into Catholic families who do not wish to receive them. Wo never force our Tracts, or our peculiar doctrines, on any denom- ination differing from us in religious belief; and we claim the reci- procity of courtesy from other denominations. I regret, sir, to perceive in the proceedings of the meeting evi- dence going far to prove that the reverend gentlemen who took part in it were actuated more by ill-will towards their Catholic fellow- citizens, than by sincere Christian respect for the Holy Scriptures. They speak of the real or supposed burning of the Bibles, as having been done by " the Roman Catholic priests." ♦Why did they not mention the names of these priests ? Why did they not men- tion the lime when the thing occurred — the place, the circum- stances ? So as the public might distinguish between the " ike priests" who were guilty of this offence, and the others who had nothing to do with it ? Why, if they are honest men, did they not give names and dates and particulars, by which the party guilty of the offence could be distinguished from the mass of Catholic priests and Catholic people of the United States ? I ask very naturally this question, why was it so ? and I find no answer except in tho supposition that they wished to impose on the honest feelings of their ALLEGED BUBNING OF BIBLES. 503 aouutrymen, and excite a general persecution against all who are " priests," or all who are " Catholics." It was once my duty in Philadelphia to attend a member of my communion in the last stage of consumption. Poverty and disease hadj,eft her for a long time dependent on the be'nevolence of a few charitable persons who were acquainted with her situation. Among these was a committee of ladies from a Protestant Benevolent So- ciety—persons naturally of most tender and humane feelings. They had been exceedingly kind to her, mingling their ministrations of comfort with the most pious exhortations ; but for several weeks immediately previous to my visit, they had made it a point to supply the suffering victim with a bowl of meat soup on each successive Friday. She might have been hungry ; but on seeing the choice which they had made, and the time which they had selected for making it, " she had no appetite," she said ; not wis-hing to offend them by a more direct refusal ! for she had received many benefits from them for which she was grateful. In- her situation it would have been no violation of her Catholic duties to have taken soup or meat on any day ; and yet I could not but admire and reverence the independence of conscience manifested by the dying sufferer, when the assault was made upon it through her poverty and destitution. Those good ladies were at length determined not to be disappointed in their benevolence, and insisted on waiting till she had taken the soup in their presence. She then told them that she was a Catholic, and it was Friday ; and after ejaculating a few expressions of pious horror at the blindness of her heart, left her and returned no more. Alas ! thought I, if this be Protestantism, it has not the spirit of the good Samaritan, and I am not surprised that it makes so little impression ; and yet the ladies to whom I have referred were among the most respectable, kind and benevolent of that philanthropic city. Now, sir, it is to be feared that the benevolence and philanthropy of Protestants are too often under the guidance of a similar spirit ; it is to be feared that this spirit has presided too much at the meet- ing to which we have referred. I blame the Catholics for their con- temptible pusillanimity and want of principle, in admitting into their possession copies 'of the Scriptures which they hold to be spurious ; I blame them equally for their indecent disregard of what is due to the religious feelings of their fellow-citizens, in taking those Bibles and publicly burning them afterwards. I condemn and disavow this act in the name of the Catholic clergy and laity of the diocese of New York. And if it was done, let the individuals concerned in it, whether priests or laymen, be held answerable for their unbecoming- proceedings. . In the meantime, however, not having any knowledge of the trans- action, except what is contained in the bad spirit of the proceedings of the meeting held in the Methodist Episcopal Church, I am unpre- pared to believe that report until it be attested by more minute and circumstantial evidence ; and in order to satisfy the public mind, and to test the accuracy of those proceedings, I woul^ request that 504 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. any two Protestant gentlemen of good, liberal feelings, would join two Catholic laymen and proceed to the place for the purpose of preparing a report which shall contain the fact, if the fact has occur- red, the names of the parties, the time, place and circumstances of this extravagant proceeding. I will be willing myself to pay the expenses of the Catholic gentlemen, or, if necessary, of them all. In this way an odium, which would be as unjust as it is unmerited by the Catholic body of the United States, will be repelled ; and the individuals who are culpable of the alleged outrage will be held up in their proper names to the reprehension which, if the report of the meeting alluded to be correct, they so unqualifiedly deserve. >i< JOHN HUGHES, Bishop of New York. New York, January 1, 1843. " The Rev. J. Rooney, at the instance of Bishop Hughes, caused the gentlemen whose names are appended to the following report to visit Corbu and institute a rigid inquiry into the facts connected with the burning of the Bibles at that place. Report. The undersigned, in compliance with a request of the Rev. J. Rooney, of Plattsburgh, and in conformity with the wishes of Bishop Hughes of New York, as published in the papers, met at Corbu, in the town of Champlain, for the purpose of ascertaining the facts in relation to the burning of Bibles at that place in No- vember last. After having examined a number of witnesses, we have to report, that Bibles were burnt, and that the number will not vary, much from forty-two — we think that to be the precise number. They were burnt by Mr. Telman, a Missionary from Canada, and recently from France, a Friar oblat — that Mr. Telman was the sole insti- gator and mover in the business of burning Bibles, and in opposition to the wishes and feelings of Mr. Durgas, the resident Clergyman at Corbu. It appears that the number burnt was but a small pro- portion of the whole number distributed among the people. These Bibles were given to the Catholics by Protestant agents of the Bi- ble Society, and in some cases were left with individuals after an expression of repugnance to receive them, and but a small number of those who gave up their Bibles to be burned could read at all. It appeared in testimony that the Bishop of Montreal was at Corbu five daj'-s after the above transaction, and expressed in strong language his disapprobation of the whole affair. Therefore, in view of the above facts and circumstances, we have arrived at the conclusion that whatever odium or blame there is in this transaction, it belongs to Mr. Telman ; and that it would be uncharitable and unjust to throw it upon the whole denomination. Ebeist'e a. Scott, Hikam Ladd, David Parsons, Protestants, Micii'l Haggerty, John Riley, Patrick Moffitt, Catholics. THE JUBILEE. 605 THE JUBILEE OF 1842. JOHN, by the Grace of God, and the appointment of the Holy See Bishop of Basile- opolis. Coadjutor to tbe Bishop and Administrator of the Diocese of New Yorjt, to the Clergy and Faithful of said diocese, Peace and Benediction. Venerable Brethren of the Clergy, and heloved Children of the Laity. The evils which have afflicted the Church of Spain, have caused our Holy Father Geegoey XVI, the Supreme Visible Pastor of the Church on Earth, to address an Encyclical Letter to the Bishops and faithful of the universal flock committed to his care, inviting and urging them to offer up their united supplications and prayers to God, to obtain the abbreviation of the days of trial, which now press on the faithful in the Spanish dominions. In the Church of God there is a communion of joys and sorrows, as well as of faith. If one member suffer, all the members suffer with it ; and if one member rejoices, all the members rejoice. It is a melancholy spectacle to behold the children of Spain, so constant .and so ardent in their immemorial attachment to the Holy See, exposed by the oppressive conduct of temporal rulers, to be severed from the everlasting centre of Catholic Unity. In that country. Princes have met together against the Lord and against his Christ ; the ancient laws of the Church are violated by secular enactments, and the violation forced on the Clergy and faithful, contrary to their will. Bishops driven into exile for no crime but fidelity to their God ; Priests consigned to prison for refusing to recognize sacrilege and the spoliation of the House of God, by the usurpations of arbitrary, temporal power ; Altars left without the Minister to offer sacrifice on them, and Temples robbed of all that made them august and venerable in the estimation of the people ; the people themselves deprived of the ministry of faithful and lawful Pastors ; mark the progress of the powers of darkness, in their efforts to destroy that religion, which at all times constituted the first glory of Spain. The Sovereign Pontiff, on whom devolves the solicitude of all the churches, obliged by the duties of hiS exalted station to witness these ravages in the Lord's vineyard, in the afiliction of his paternal heart, calls upon all the faithful, as in the days when their prayers obtained the release of Peter from prison, again to supplicate the Father of Mercies on behalf of the persecuted faithful of Spain. We cannot co-operate effectually in the intention thus set forth, unless we ourselves be reconciled to God by repentance and compunc- tion of heart. With the view to obtain these necessary dispositions, and that our prayers may be acceptable to Heaven, the Holy Father has granted to all the faithful, who shall have returned to God, by a sincere confession, the reception of the sacraments of Penance and of the Holy Eucharist, a Plenary Indulgence in the form of a Jubilee. The conditions required for obtaining the indulgence are, that the faithful having received the above sacraments with worthy dispositions, shall assist at the public prayers of the church, three 506 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. times within fifteen consecutive days, and shall have prayed fervently with the above intention. The prayers to be publicly read after Mass in each Church, during fifteen days, are Litanies of the Saints with the Orations attached to them, and the private prayers to be said by each individual, are the Lord's Prayer, and Hail Mary each three times. • The period for complying with these conditions, and gaining the Indulgences attached thereto, has been graciously extended to a period of six months from the date of the reception of the Apostolic letters in this country. These letters were received about the middle of May, and there remain of the term unexpired little more than ten weeks. The Pastors, therefore, of the different congregations will lose no time in giving to their 'flocks the opportunity of profiting by this season of grace and of mercy. Their own powers, in the tribunal of penance, are extended even to cases which, in the ordinary circumstances of their ministry, would not come within their exercise. "Wherever it can be done, it should be desii'able that there should be public . exercise in the Church in the form of a spiritual retreat. This would give them the opportunity of instructing and exhort- ing their people ; of calling on those who have, perhaps, long neglected the sacraments of the Church, to profit by this happy occasion, and to be reconciled with their God. It would be well also, if Clergymen living contiguous, or in the same neighbour- hood, should so arrange it that they might be able to assist each other. The Reverend Clergy will understand that in case of sickness, distance from the Church, or any other causes, which they may deem sufficient, they are authorised to dispense with the visits to the Church prescribed by the Brief, and even to substitute other prayers, instead of those mentioned, according to their charity and prudence. But, in order to gain ■ the Plenary Indulgence, it is essential that the faithful shall have approached the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist, and that they shall offer their prayers in 'the intention of our Holy Father the Pope, as above. Given at New York, this 5th day of September, 1842. WILLIAM STARRS, Sec'y. SERMON ON THE JUBILEE. The Truth Teller of September 1 Vth, 1842, contained the following synopsis of a sermon preached by the Right Reverend Bishop Hughes on the Sunday previous in the Cathedral — the subject was The Jubilee— his text from the first of Isaiah—" Go feed the poor and clothe the naked, and then come and accuse me," &c. SEEMON ON JUBILEE. 507 The roligious duties imposed on us at thifS peculiar time were of a two-fold character ; in the first place to purify ourselves from sin by the special use and application of the indulgences granted by Almighty God through his church to the faitJbful. And in the second place, to lift our purified hearts and voices to the throne of heaven in behalf of the faithful but persecuted Catholics who inhabit the Spanish dominions. The free exercise of the Catholic worship and discipline had been interfered with by temporal power in that Country. The bishops and pastors and teachers of our cteed in that unhappy land had been driven into exile for no other crime than fidelity to the sacred orders of their God — altars are deprived of a ministering priesthood — temples are robbed of much that made them venerable in the eyes of the followers of Christ, the people are deprived of the instruction and consolations of religion ; and the powers of darkness threaten for a time to prevail over a race who have made themselves glorious amongst the nations by their steady and consistent adherence to the Catholic faith. Our Sovereign PontiflT, feeling for the miseries and sufferings of the faith- ful in that section of the fold of Christ, has signified to us his earnest desires and commands, to beseech and supplicate the Father of mercies in their behalf. And we are further required to take advantage of the coming of the Jubilee, not only to purify and exalt our own hearts, but to offer the incense of regenerated souls to the almighty Creator of all, with the hope that the sufferings of his faithful Spanish people may cease, or be limited to a short duration, and that they may abtain grace to persevere in their resolutions to adhere to the discipline of, and communion with God's church on earth, against which we are assured by the promises of God himself the wicked shall never prevail. The Jubilee is an ancient Jewish institution. With them it was established, as a civil or social law. With us it is an ecclesiastical and religious ordinance. The Jews observed the return of every fiftieth year as the signal for dissolving all civil contracts. At the end of seven times seven years, all prisoners in captivity were set free. All slaves were released from their masters. All property reverted and was restored to its original owners. Jubilee is a Hebrew word, which signifies to return. The sale of property could never extend beyond the term of the Jubilee, and must be returned to the primitive owners or their descendants and next of kin. This law continued amongst the Jewish people down to their captivity. The early fathers of the Catholic church adopted this law in a religious sense, and it has continued as a religious ordinance in our church from generation to generation to the present time. It is now adopted by the head of the church, and is woven into our religious system. At first it was fixed by the church to take place at the end of every hundred years. Subsequently it was established by an ordinance of the Sacred Tribunal to take place every fiftieth year, and now, in order that the faithful may have more frequent 508 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. opportunities to embrace ttie advantages which it offers, it is held every twenty-fifth year. In every age the head of the church has circumscribed the powers of all orders of the clergy within certain limits. And in every country these regulations and limitations have been scrupulously observed. Priests have certain powers confided to them. Bishops are granted certain powers larger than the priest. Cardinals have still larger powers than either. There are some cases where penitents cannot be absolved by the ordinary priest, and some who cannot be absolved by the bishop, but whose case must go before the cardinals or the Holy Father. But in the year of Jubilee, larger powers are given to the priesthood, and all of daring them that sacred time have full liberty to deal with the most important cases. In the year of the Jubilee, the powers belonging to the Bishop or the Pope are confided to the clergy, and all persons have thus afforded them an easy opportunity of becoming reconciled to their God. In the year of Jubilee, the largest, most plenary, and most comprehensive indulgences are granted to the truly penitent sinner. Though we are familiar with the term indulgence, and though we have an idea of its import, it is to be apprehended that all do not fully comprehend the true nature of the principle enwrapped in the word. What is an indulgence? It is the remission of an extra, an ultimate penalty, due by the sinner to his Maker for the disobedience of his divine commands. The atonement of Jesus Christ pro\ides for the remission of original sin — but even then there is another kind of punishment due to sin, even after the atonement; and it is- to that other penalty that indulgence refers — for' though you may have cleansed yourselves by repentance, thei-e is still a penalty incurred by sin which the church under the divine commands and promise of ouf Lord himself, has the power to absolve and remit, and that power is granted extensively and fully to the whole priest- hood during the holy season of the Jubilee. Though the promise of a Redeemer was imparted by God to Adam, yet he did not tell him that he was to be freed without an effort of his own. No ! Even the infant that has just seen the light and expired — the infant whose guilt can hardly be palpable or perceptible, yet that infant is bound to pay the penalty of sickness, death, and after suffering for sin. When I)a\id sinned, the prophet declared that his child should be sick and suffer death as a punish- ment. In the journey of the children of Israel to the promised land, many were condemned, whose bones were laid in the desert. Now, that temporal punishment is such, that we cannot conjecture its nature. We have the doctrine of penance, by which we become reconciled to God after we have offended his justice. St. Paul says he chastised his body to make up what was wanted in the discipline imposed ^n him hy his di\ine master. We see the natui-e of this punishment in the sufferings of the church, and in the daily trouble and vexations to which all Christians are subject, and we believe it to be an ordeai through which the faithful Christian has to pass to the presence of his God. SEEMON ON JUBILEE. 509 The doctrine of original guilt — the doctrine of the atonement— the doctrine of purgatory — the doctrine of penance — temporal punishment and suffering, and the application of those doctrines to the sinning soul, are all links in the great chain, and are to be taken together as a system of repentance and reconciliation to God. Unless we are reconciled to God by penance, and have recoarse to the sacraments by which sin is forgiven, Ave cannot obtain this indulgence. If any one supposes he can obtain the benefit of an indulgence, while he harbors any favorite sinful passion of the soul — any revengeful desire of the heart, any grovelling anxieties of avarice, any swelling emotions of pride, he is much and egregiously mistaken. He cannot hope for the attainment of so great a blessing while his mind is unsubdued, and is under the influence of those repulsive and degrading 'passions. An indulgence is not a license to commit sin, as some have said ; on the contrary, unerring synaptoms of sincere repentance must be manifested by the candidate for this heavenly dispensation. St. Paul granted an indulgence to the incestuous Corinthian : he had been convicted of a heinous crime — he had been cut off from the community of his fellow citizens — but as he showed evident marks of contrition, St. Paul fearing that he might fall into despair and despondency, granted him the indulgence of again mixing and communicating with the faithful. And in the early history of the church, there are numberless instances of the fallen sinners approach- ing the house of God — standing at the portals, but not daring to enter ; but on manifesting sincere sorrow for their guilt, they were at last indulged and suffered to come in. ;» When the blessed martyrs to Christianity were going to the rack that was to tear them limb from limb, and to the fire that was to consume them, they prayed for indulgences, and their peculiar sufferings guaranteed them. But so far from being favorable to the commission of sin, the indulgence presupposes that sin has ceased. And now, how we ought to prepare to meet this great duty— we may never have such an opportunity again, dilring our natural lives, and how eagerly ought we to avail ourselves of this favorable time to remove the just opposition which our sins created, and thus pass more directly to the pf'esence of our Maker, and how easy are the conditions ! They are simply a true contrition of soul — the recep- tion "of the holy Sacraments and the attendance three tiines, for about an hour each time, at the religious ceremonies appointed to take place in the church. So easy is it to be reconciled to God ! And when we reflect on the goodness of God to us, and that he has opened to us a mode of attaining Heaven and that soul which Christ saved by the shedding of his blood, may, by the dispensation of Christ's church, pass purified into his presence ; we become astounded at the extent of his goodness, and we become ashamed to continue in sin. Let us, then, raise our hearts towards the eternal throne of the Most High. Let us implore the Grace of Repentance and 510 AKCUBISHOP HUGHiS. Puriiicatlon. Let us co-operate in prayer in one holy comm.inity throughout the earth, from the rising to the setting of the sun, for thu relief of the faithful in the Lord who inhabit the Spanish dominions. And who knows but that amongst the millions who appeal to the throne of Heaven, some pure heart, some exalted soul, may waft; its aspirations more fervently than the others ; and that its pious articulations may be heard by the God of all. I THE LATEST INVENTION. From the Commercial Advertiser. Messks. Editors, — In your Commercial of Monday, you pub- lished from the Buffalo Oasetie, an article purporting to be a state- ment of the differences between the congregation of St. Louis Church in that city and myself. It stated that I claimed to have " the property of the church vested in my hands, and that the claim was resisted by the congregation." This is entirely untrue. I never advanced such a claim, and of course, it could not be refused. It is stated that in consequence of this refusal I " called away the Rev. Alexander Pax, and left the congregation destitute." This is equally untrue. On the contrary, nothing but my persuasion was able to prevail on him to stay for the last eighteen months or two years, under the ill-treatment of a few worthless men who call them- selves the congregation. It is stated that the congregation of St. Patrick's, in Buffalo, have " complied with my requisition." This, again, is untrue. The trustees and congregation of St. Patrick's will bear me witness that I never made any such requisition. I advised them, as a means of putting an end to quarrels among them- selves, to dispense with trustees, and to avoid the rock on which the church of St. Louis is now splitting. These are the principal state- ments ; and the honorable confidence of the editor of the Bvffalo Gazette has been sadly abused by those who have employed his au- thority for statements 'which they knew to be unfounded in truth. He should demand proof of them, and if they cannot furnish it, to which I challenge them, he should publish their names, and vindicate his own. He has been deceived. I attach no blame to him. ,If his deceivers can furnish no proof that I ever made such a demand, I can furnish proof, in their own writing, that I ne\er did. " It is surmised," says the statement, " that the Bishop has gone so far as to forbid any priest in the neighboring parishes from perform- ing divine service in St. Louis Church until the congregation shall fully comply with his demands." N"either member of this " surmise" is true. I forbade only one clergyman, whose inexperience might have been taken advantage of by the same artifice which trifled so foully with the good faith of the editor of the Gazette. And secondly, what are called my " demands," in the statement, never had any existence in reality. niE LATEST INVEN^TION. 611 Surely the editor of the Buffalo Oazeite will feel a glo^y of virtnous indignation, when he discovers how much he has been imposed on. The only difference between the congregation of St. Louis and myself is, that its trustees have thought proper not to be governed by the ecclesiastical discipline of the diocese, and expect me to sup- ply them with priests who shall be governed by a different discipline, of which they shall be the authors. The congregation of that church are pious and exemplary Catho- lics, to whom their holy faith is dearer than life. But it sometimes happens that our trustees may be honest and upright in their inten- tions, and yet men of simple understanding, and without education. In such cases only let an enlightened, talented, intriguing and irre- ligious mind get among them, and then, whatever he concocts in his infidel mind, he induces them, under specious pretences, to adopt ; and then he gives out the depraved purposes of his own heart as the act of the Board, and this again as the act of the congregation ! From the moment this arrives, woe to the flock, and woe to the pas- tor, who are at once divided from each other, and yet kept together by such a link of iniquity. The pious and amiable Dr. Pax was not called away by me ; but I left him at liberty to leave whenever he felt that he could stand it no^longer. It appears that the time has arrived. I have no German pastor to send in his place. But if I had, it would be with instruc- tions to rent a barn, fit up an altar in it, and administer the sacra- ments of religion with that freedom from the restraints and guidances of unauthorized laymen, with which God made the ministers of his churtjh free — but which is not enjoyed, it appears, in the church of St. Louis. The neighboring clergymen could not officiate in it without neglecting their own congregations, which have the first claim on their ministry. Besides, I deem it my duty now to forbid all cler- gymen of this diocese to officiate in that church, until it shall be de- termined whether it is to be governed by the ecclesiastical regula- tions of the diocese, or by the " resolves " of its trustees. I trust, Messrs. Editors, that you will publish the above in your paper, as an act of reparation which I may claim on the score of justice. I ask an insertion of it also in the Buffalo Gazette, which I am sure . the editor will not refuse. I appeal to the honor of such other editors as may have copied the false and injurious statement first published in the Buffalo Gazette, for a similar favor. ^ JOHN HUGHES, Bishop of New York. New York, April 4, 1843. In explanation of the above letter of the Bishop, we add the para- graph from the Buffalo Gazette containing the falsified statement. "Bishop Hughes and the Roman Cathoiio Congeegation of BrrpPALO. — We regret to learn that a serious difference exists be- tween the Right Rev. Bishop Hughes and the French and German 512 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. congregation of St. Louis' Church in this city. It appears that the cause of the controversy is a late requirement of the IJishop that the property of the church be vested in his hands ; to which the congre- gation are not -willing to submit. The congregation of St. Louis' Church, by industry and frugality, and by large donations from our respected fellow-citizen, the late Louis le Couteulx, Esq., has founded a claim to the administration of their own property, which they do not feel disposed to surrender. In consequence of this non-compli- ance, Bishop Hughes has thought proper to withdraw from them their pastor, th^ 'Rev. Alexander Pax, and left them entirely destitute of any clerical assistance. It is even surmised' that the Bishop has gone so far as to forbid any priest from the neighboring parishes to perform divine service in St. Louis' Chui'ch, until its congregation shall fully comply with his demands. That congregation, it appears, cannot seek redress, except through the Pope, as by the canon law no one but the Bishop has the power to appoint j^riests to the churches in his diocese, and his authority is necessary for a priest to perform divine service in any of the Catholic churches of his diocese. "Yesterday, being Sunday, the trustees openedthe doors of their church, and many of the members of its immense congregation attended prayers, read by the Catholic school teacher. It is to be hoped that this state of things will not long continue ; that Bishop Hughes will reflect upon the consequences which must ensue from his determination to enforce this novel claim, and that he will aban- don his pretensions to the temporal, and content himself with the spiritual administration of the Church. " We understand that the congregation of St. Patrick's Church, under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Mr. Whelan, has thought proper to comply with the requisition of the Bishop." SCIENCE OP POLITICAL ECONOMT. 613 A LECTURE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF A CHRIS- TIAN BASIS FOR THE SCIENCE OF POLITIC Al ECONOMY, And ITS APPLICATION TO THE AFFAIRS OF LIFE. DELIVERED BEFORE THE CALVERT INSTITUTE, BALTIMORE, AND THE CARROLL INSTITUTE, PHILADELPHIA, ON THE 17th AND 18th JANUARY, 1844, BY RT. REV. DR. HUGHES, BISHOP OF NEW YORK. PoLiTipAL EcONOMT professes to treat of the material wealth of nations, and to trace out the laws which govern and regulate its tendencies to increase or diminution. By material wealth, it would have us to understand not only the precious metals, as gold and silver, but all descriptions of ' property, having an exchangeable value. Whatever substance, whether in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth, is consecrated to the use of mankind, by the expenditure of human capital, or human labor, passes, ipso facto, under the scientific dominion of Political Economy. From this view it would seem, at first, impossible to take any adequate cognizance of a subject so vast, so complex, and so essen- tially variable. This is, indeed, to a great extent correct ; and the science finds itself so often at fault, even on matters which it ought, by this time, to understand thoroughly, that he must be a credulous man, who places implicit confidence in even its most elaborate con- clusions. Yet. on the other hand, it is the special, province of all science to take up, and arrange, and analyze, distribute and classify, under general heads, the various subjects which it investigates ; and CO matter how complicated may seem to be the material afl:'airs of wealth and industry, in the social relations of individuals, or in the great ' commercial business of nations, the science of Political Economy has reduced, from the patient study of details, certain leading principles, according to which it has distributed the whole subject into special departments, which simplify questions in a man- 33 514 AECHBISnOP HUGHES. ner almost inconceivable. True it is, that the professors of the science are not always agreed, as to the accuracy of its classifications or the soundness of its principles. True it is, that its votaries have yet to travel an immense distance, before they shall have reached anything like infallibility. Nevertheless, it has already furnished most important results. The observations and statistics, which it has collected and arranged, are invaluable ; not only on account of the points which they have elucidated, but also, and more, on account of the anomalies in social, as well as political philosophy, which it has utterly failed to explain. Of its two great primary departments, the one comprises the inhabitants of the earth ; the other embraces the material things which are required, and can be supplied, for the physical sustenance or enjoyment of these inhabitants. Now, it is found that these material things, before they can be fully prepared for the purposes of sustenance and pleasure, require the expenditure of capital, either in money, or labor, or both. Such things are divided into two stages of time ; the one commencing with the first expenditure of capital on the raw material, and ending at the term of expenditure, when the thing is entirely prepared, and passes over to its use. This comprehends all the industrial pursuits and occupations of mankind ; and the whole is designated by the term production. The other stage begins when the object is applied to its use ; and this stage is called by the general term consumption. The latter of these terms repre- sents the wants, whether real or artificial, of society ; the former designates the supply of these wants. Population is also classed under two corresponding divisions ; na,me]y,prodiiierg and consumers. But in general, the science has, so far been conducted rather in conformity to the special interests of particular nations, than accord- ing to any principles of universal origin or application. The coun- tries which have paid most attention to this subject, in a scientific Y>omt of view, are France and England ; and the works emanating from these countries, represent very distinctly, the national type, according to which the study has been prosecuted. Hence, although there are found in their treatises, principles supposed to be of universal application, still the acttial condition of society, the nature of industrial pursuits, the bearing of commercial laws, peculiar to those countries, have come in so powerfully in modifying the views of their political economists, that their best principles cannot be appreciated, except by a just discrimination of all the circumstances, in which one nation differs from another. Thus, for instance, confining our remarks to England, with which we are better acquainted, we are met with a distribution of the population into classes, which are not formed in our own country. These are, landlords, capitalists, and laborers. Generally in this country, the same individual represents all three. He is the owner of the soil, which he cultivates ; and his means of carrying on agriculture, constitutes his capital. The three classes are indeed, found ; but that which constitutes the rule in England, is only the SCIENCE OF rOLITlCAl ECOUOMT. 515 exception here. It is not, perhaps, the fault of Political Economy, as a science, that it seems to regard wealth as the end, and human beiags as only the means, in order for its attainment. We would not venture to make this a reproach ; and yet we cannot help making i^ a subject of regret. Its writers did not create the science ; they only embodied a copy of its workings in practical life, as they found it in the relations of men. The prominence which is given to wealth, in tracing out the most certain rules for the acquisition of it, cannot but have had an injurious moral effect, in so far as it enhanced the ideal value of riches in the estimation of the human mind. There perhaps never was a period, when men entered on the pursuit of wealth, with so much of what might be called almost desperate determination to succeed, as the period in which we live. And we may entertain a reasonable doubt, whether it be not owing to this, that individuals in high and honorable stations, have so frequently (and of late as never before,) jeoparded and sacrificed an unblemished character, rather than miss the opportunity of rapidly acquiring wealth ; the means of which, circumstances and confidence had placed within their reach. Cupidity is a natural propensity of man ; and it is to be feared that the theoretic, and practical, political economy of our age, has encouraged and whetted the passion in- stead of moderating and regulating its violence. It is certain, that self-interest is the great motive principle of human exertion ; but it is equally certain, that Political Economy, as a science, omits what would be essential in a true definition of a man's interest. Of this we shall be convinced, if we examine the moral principle on which, whether in the practice of modern nations, or in the theory of writers, Pohtical Economy is founded. If we follow it up to the mysterious link which connects it with the spiritual or moral world, in the breast of man, we shall find that it acts exclusively on that of personal interest. So much so indeed, that if England and France, and the nations of modern times, in general instead of being Chris- tians, or at least professing Christianity, were Heathens, it would still be almost unnecessary to change a single word in the actual Philosophy or ethics of Political Economy. Here then, it is, that the importance of a Christian basis demands our attention. The ad\-antages and disadvantage of position between Landlord and Tenant — between the Capitalist and the Laborer, are such, that if mere material self-interest alone be left to regulate their relations, it is easy to foresee that the weaker are liable to fall victims to the interests and power of the stronger. The truth of this proposition is manifest now, in the condition of England, where these relations are, and have been in existence for a long time. N"ow, if Christianity were admitted as an element in Political Economy, man — human nature — in consideration of the value which it has acquired by the Redemption, would be the first and principal object of solicitude, and all things else would be estimated by reference to this. Man's interest would be graduated on a scale proportioned to the whole of his nature, combining the spiritual with the corporeal ; and the 516 ' ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. ■whole of his destiny, extending to eternity, as well as time. Then, indeed, self-interest thlis understood, would constitute a principle sufficiently high and sufficiently ample to combine the acquisition of V'oalth, with sacred regard for the rights and privileges of human beings. But this is not the case. The landlords, capitalists, and laborers of England, are supposed to represent three great depart- ments of capital ; the one in territory — the other in money — and the third in muscular strength, or mechanical skill. Each is supposed to be free, and the only motive which is furnished in the present system, is tiiat of individual advantage. But it happens necessarily, that wh-at would be the advantage of one class, is directly opposed to tha interests of another ; and then each adhering to the common principle, it is clear that he or they who have most power to hold out, will be able to damage or destroy the antagonist interest of the other. The influences to be derived from a high and enlightened appreciation of human worth, according to the standard of revela- tion, seem to have been shut out from the practical and theoretic economy of modern nations. The interest of the body, in its relation with material wealth, limited, of course, to this present life, is the narrow and ignoble sphere within which political economy affects to move. I must not proceed, however, with views of this kind, until I shall have anticipated an objection which has already, perhaps, arisen in your minds, in seeming refutation of what is here advanced. And this is, that the immense wealth, the wonderful power, and unequalled prosperity of England, as a nation, is a practical proof of the soundness of her Political Economy. Or, it may be, that an assumption, which has often been proclaimed, has presented itself to your mind as a yet stronger refutation, namely: that the wealth of England, her power and prosperity are owing to her profession of the Protestant religion, and the play of those energies which that religion is supposed to foster and develope.' Now, with the qualifica- tions which will occur during the course of these remarks, I admit the truth of both these obser\ations. That England is the wealthiest nation on the globe, is indisputable. But it is to be remarked, that this wealth is in the hands of a small portion of her inhabitants ; and we can form some idea of its amount from the fact, that we read of private individuals, whose annual income is not less than half a million of pounds sterling. That must, indeed, be a wealthy country, in which the income of a private gentleman, for a period of twelve months, would be sufficient to pay the salary of our President for nearly a hundred years ! But perhaps no stronger instance could be adduced, to show how unequally the wealth of England is distributed among its inhabitants, than such a case as this, contrasted with the hundreds of thousands and millions of the people, who are sunk and sinking under the combined evils of moral and physical destitution. Taking the population of the three Icingdoms together, as constituting one political family, it will be found that there is no nation of the world, and above all no Chris- SCIENCE OP POLITICAL ECONOMY. 517 tian nation, in which there is such an amount of poverty and ■wretchedness as in England. She has, indeed, fought the great battle for wealth with other countries, and has, by universal consent, gained the victory. But how comes it that, while a few of her sons are rioting in the spoils of the vanquished, the cries of the wounded and dying of her own battalions, are heard on every side ? How comes it that, in Ire- land, out of a population of between eight and nine millions, there are over two millions absolutely dependent on the charity of others, scarcely a degree above their own condition ? How comes it that, in Scotland, misery and destitution are hardly less genei'al, and, from other causes, perhaps even more excruciating still ? How comes it that, in England itself, distress among the laboring classes presses, at intervals, to such an extreme point, as to threaten, from time to time, insurrection and revolution ? How comes it, in fine, to happen th.at, vvhila the dogs of landlords and capitalists are well fed and well hou>ed — while their horses are daintily provided for, the sons and daughters of Britons around them go forth with gaunt looks and sunken features, through want , of food ? These are results which pmzle political economists, but which never could have happened, if Political Economy had not been transferred from the Christian basis on which it was originally reared in that country, to the inadequate foundations of mere individual interest. I am willing, then, to ascribe to the Protestant religion, the credit of England's wealth; but her poverty, aiid the destitution of her millions, must, I insist upon it, be charged to the same acconnt. This, however, only in so far as these results have been brought about by the Political Economy of that country. Other causes may have contributed to both — such as the system of colonization and military conquest, in which Eng- land has been no less distinguished. Neither would I have it to be tmderstood, that I regard the national character of the people of that country as diifering essentially from that of other nations. If it be true, as some say it is, that, as a nation or as individuals, they are proverbially selfish, I do not ascribe it so much to any inherent deficiency of moral excellence or feeling, as I do to their system of Public Economy, which has so long prevailed, that it has gradually become, as it were ingrained into the habits, principles, sentiments and associations of the people. Unfortunately, the same feelings with the prevalence of the same system, are extending to other nations ; and if they should continue, as appears quite likely, it may be diflicult, at no distant day, to determine which will be entitled to pre-eminence on this score. There is, it is but jus^i to add, perhaps no other nation in which there is a greater readiness to come to the relief of public distress, when it can be remedied, than in England. But the root of the disease is deep in the social condition of the country: and the highest effort of modern statesmen, political economists, and philanthropists, is to apply palliatives to the evils which it must produce, without daring to eradicate or disturb the principle from which they flow. 518 AKCHBISHOP HUGHES. Let US, then, go back to the origin of this system, aud trace its workings in connection with Political Economy, and we shall, per- haps be able to discover the sources from which both the wealth and the poverty of England have been derived. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, England, as a manufacturing country, had no pre- eminence, and was scarcely equal to France, Italy, Spain and the Neth- erlands. Up till that period, the profession of the same rehgion had established, throughout all these nations, a certain type of uniformity, in reference to moral as well as religious questions, constituting a standard common to them all. This, however, did not interfere with the peculiar genius and national characteristics of eacb people. But, in reference more especially to certain social questions, such as the exercise of charity, making provision for the poor, seasons of re- ligious observances, days of rest, and the like, the usages of the dif- ferent nations approached sufficiently near to uniformity. England, as is known, broke away from this religious connection. The Chris- tianity which she embraced in its stead was based upon an entirely different principle, as regards the social relations. The merit of good works was rejected as an erroneous doctrine, and it was ascertained that salvation is by faith alone. This is not the time nor the place to inquire which of these two systems is true, in a theological point of view. But they are mentioned in contrast, as having been calcu- lated to affect most seriously the social relations, especially in refer- ence to the condition of the poor. Up to that period, the influence of the Christian religion on the hearts of the people was sufficient tp provide, by voluntary contribution, for the necessities of the desti- tute ; and it was a great safeguard for that unfortunate class, that the wealthy were under the conviction, right or wrong, of the im- portance and advantage to themselves, of doing good to their neigh- bor. When the universal belief was, that even " a cup of cold water given in the name of a disciple, should not be without its reward," the efforts and sacrifices made spontaneously, to remedy or provide against distress, could not have been regarded either as vain or un- productive expenditure of capital. But another and more obvious result of the change was, in the increased production which England was enabled to bring forth, in consequence of having abolished the religious holidays of the ancient church. These, at that time, were little short in number of one day in each week. The original motive for their institution was not exclusively religious. Those days furnished seasons of rest for the serfs or slaves of the middle ages; and thus, by diminishing the profits of their lords, and furnishing themselves with such opportu- nities of education and moral elevation as the times afforded, pre- pared them gradually for the free condition. By abolishing them, Engknd was enabled to present a production of nearly two months' labor, in each year, more than the other States that still adhered to the ancient system. The consequence of this was, that, by inci'eas- ing the amount, she diminished the value of }icr productions. Through this diminution in their \'alue, she was enabled to undersell her SCIENCE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 519 ^ rivals, first in all neutral foreign markets ; and then, following up, with energy and perseverance, the advantages thus gained, she was enabled to undersell them in their own countries, and take possession of their own markets. Thus she began to drain other countries of their circulating medium,' which became again a new instrument in developing still further the advantages of her position. At first sight, it may appear to some that a circumstance, appar- ently so inadequate, is insufficient to have brought about such results. But we may illustrate its operation by an analogous case, on a small scale. All over this country there is a class of mechanics occupied in the manufacture of shoes. But there is in particular one village or town, in New England, that is,celebrated for the number of its inhab- itants and the amount of capital engaged in that branch of industry. Now, let us suppose that the people of that town find it consistent with their religious sense of duty to add the labor of Sunday to that of the other days in each week. What will be the consequence, in regard to the other shoemakers throughout the country who will still feel the obligation of sanctifying the Sabbath day ? The conse- quence will be, that Lynn will be able to furnish shoes cheaper than they, and yet receive an equal amount of wages, though for a larger amount of labor. Her mechanics, therefore, can undersell their rivals elsewhere, on the principle well understood in political econ- omy, that the increase of production is the cheapening of the value of labor. Suppose that each workman can produce a pair of shoes per day, the shoemaker of Lynn can sell seven pairs for the price of his week's toil, whUe those of his business in other places can sell but six for the same money ; and as the buyer has in this his advantage, he will purchase from the Lynn manufacturer rather than from the manufacturer of his own town. The money, consequently, expended for this article, will find its way to Lynn, and in a little time, together with the increased labor, will enable the manufacturers of that place to break down their rivals throughout the country. With this increase of capital the manufacturers of Lynn may, for a time, in order to supply the increasing demand for their article, afford to pay higher wages to their workmen ; but the consequence will be, that, for sake of this wages, the number of workmen will be increased, and the policy, when the supply shall have equalled the demand, will begin to react upon the workmen themselves, and lead to a reduction of their wages. In its course, however, that policy will have par- alyze4 or destroyed this branch of industry, wherever those who are engaged in it refuse to work 'on Sunday.* * It was the discovery of this advantage which prompted the propagators of the revolutionary doctrines in France to declaim, with such vehemence, against the reli- gious festivals of that country. And, in the wildness of infidelity and materialism which characterized the Kevolution itself, it was decreed that there should be one day of rest only after nine, instead of six days of labor. In like manner, now, at least, one of the results of the policy of England has been the abolition, in great part, ot the ancient religious holidays, even in Catholic countries. And in France itself, it is a lamentable fact, that even the Lord's day is no longer kept holy, except by the truly religious portion of the country ; but, as regards manufacturing industry, the works arc continued without distinction of days. 520 AECHBISHOP HUGHES. Thus, precisely, has it happened in the history of manufactures in England, as compared with the other nations of Europe. The re- sults of the entire national industry, during some forty or forty-five days in each year, gave her the first a.dvantage over her rivals. This brought her capital, and drained from them their resources. It made her strong, and left them weak and exhausted. By means of capital she was enabled not only to increase the quantity, but also to improve the quality, of her productions, to a degree which they could not rival ; and if, at different subsequent periods, they attempted to revive their manufactures, even by artificial means, British skill and British capital were prompt, even at a 'ifjtle sacrifice, if neces- sary, to' effect their extinguishment. # Thus, England became a mon- opolist in the market of nations — thus, their wealth flowed to her workshops— thus, competition was destroyed abroad ; and the foun- dation laid at home for that superabundance of riches by which she has been enabled to borrow from her own subjects almost the whole of her national debt, amounting to some eight hundred millions of pounds sterling. It is not pretended that this is the only cause of the great aggregate wealth of England ; but so far as it comes under the head of Political Economy, it was one great cause, of which the comparative poverty of other European nations is as manifestly • another consequence. Here, then, we see the principle of interest operating in its national form ; and, thus concentrated, powerful enough to sustain England, in competition, against the world. But having been successful in putting down all foreign competition, how did this principle operate on the condition of its own inhabitants ? The contest now is among those three classes into which Political Economy is pleased to distribute her people. The interest of the manufacturer, as a capitalist, is in the profits of his production. When the markets are brisk and the demand great, he will make lai;ge returns by his investments. But still, if he can cheapen the cost of production, he will be increasing his profits on both sides. Hence the laborer must maintain his interest, against that of the capitalist. Both are free ; and labor is a commodity liable to rise and fall, like every other thing, with the fluctuations of trade. But the position of the laborer is unfortunate, inasmuch as the interests of the capitalist must be pro\ided for before his can be reached. He may, indeed, refuse to work for less than fair wages ; but no matter how just his pretensions on that score, the hunger that stands at the portals of his dwelling, threatening both himself and his family, if he do not work, renders him perfectly unequal to the contest. He must give in ; for the same policy which annihilated competition in other nations, employs that same competition at home, for the increase of profits by the reduction of wages, or even the occasional suspension of labor altogether. Add to this the introduction of machinery, within the last fifty years. It is estimated that the ma- chinery of England, in the various departments of industrial produc- ;tion, is equal to the labor of a hundred millions of workmen. Be- ;-BidfiSj at the present time, almost every nation has, at length, been SCIENCE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 621 aroused to the subject of manufactures, and has come to the conclu- sion that it is wiser to encourage and employ its own laborers, than to spend the amount of money which such employment may cdst in the purchase of British goods. If, then, we take the actual condition of the poorer classes of Great Britain, depending in a great measure on this class of employment for the moans of life, in connection with the rising manufactures of other States, and take in the future which statesmen ought to anticipate, it will appear doubtful whether, even in an economical point of view, the policy of England has not been a short-sighted policy after all. Let us now turn to the condition of the agricultural laborers 6f Great Britain. One would suppose that their condition should be improved by the transition of so many from their ranks to those of manufacturing industry. But this is not the case ; for, as a class, they are not so well off as they were several centuries ago. They cannot, at present, obtain for a day's wages more than one-fourth of the amount of food which could be j)urchased for a day's labor, up to the reign of Henry VIII. In an act, or rather the preamble of an act, passed in his reign, 1533, "beef, pork, mutton, and veal" are mentioned as the ordinary "food of the poorer sort;" so that the agricultural laborers of the present day require to have three hun- dred per cent, added to their actual wages, in order to live as well as their predecessors did, three centuries ago ! Here is an awful dete- rioration in their condition. A precarious, and, at best, a scanty supply of the cheapest, and, consequently, poorest kind of food, is all they can now obtain in exchange or recompense for their inces- sant toil. And hence they are described and represented, in public and official documents, as on the verge of absolute pauperism. Why and how has all this come to happen ? The question is the more startling, because, during this period, the aggregate wealth of the nation has increased many hundred fold. To my mind, however, the answer is simple. It has happened, because, during this period, the whole practical economy of the country has been transferred from the ancient basis, and left to be regulated ort the exclusive principle of universal, material self-interest. It is all very fine, to T;alk, as we Americans do, of the " immense wealth of England ;" and, as the English themselves do, of the " sturdy reliance and m.anly bearing of a. British operative" — as contrasted with the humble de- portment of corresponding classes in other European States. But Political Economy has not seen, or, seeing, has not dared to denounce the social blunder — the mockery of freedom — which are presented in the spectacle of the starving laborer maintaining a contest of compe- tition with the bloated capitalist. Each, in that contest, is referred back to his own interest ; and while the interest of the one is to increase, or at least not diminish, his capital, the interest of the other is simply to escape a death of starvation which is pressing on him. If these remarks be deemed sufficient to explain why the condition of the laboring classes is so much deteriorated from former times. 522 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. wi! may now proceed to explain how the thing has been brought about. In order to do this, it will be necessary to recur briefly to the social condition of England antecedent to the change of religion in that country. N'othing is more true, than that a large portion of the wealth and of the real estate of the country were in the hands of the clergy. The origin of their title was as just and as authentic as that of any other property in Europe. The wealth which they possessed was the growth of time — the result of their own industry, economy, and the gradual increase in the value of their estates. The church, and its principles — or rather, the principle of Christianity, working out through the living agencies of the church — had become interwoven, to a certain extent, with all the relations of social life. It operated as an invisible bond, binding together the various ranks, classes, and conditions of the whole people ; and correcting or reconciling the antagonism of mere material interests, by the influ- ence of other interests relating to another world. It was as the cement in the social edifice. After the serfs of the middle ages had passed into the condition of tenants and free laborers, those who occupied or cultivated the lands of the monasteries and of the church had kind and indulgent landlords to deal with. In fact, all this property, as to its advantages, belonged rather to the poor at large, than to those who were its nominal propi'ietors. The law of the church regulated its uses. Its revenues, by this law, were divided into three portions. The first was sacred to the maintenance of the poor ; the second was appropriated to the repairs of the churches, and the improvement of ecclesiastical property. Out of the third, the clergy were entitled to their support ; and if still there remained a surplus, this also was a charge on their conscience, as belonging to the poor. It is -not pretended in these remarks, that this law. was, in all cases, strictly observed. But yet, the absence of all destitu- tion and suffering among the poor, except in seasons of famine, is a sufficient proof that it was substantially attended to ; since we find that there was no other poor law needed in the country, except that of Him who said, " The poor you have always with you, and when you will, you can do good unto them." When the change of religion took place in England, the possession of those ecclesiastical estates, and this wealth, constituted perhaps the greatest error of the church. They excited the cupidity of the monarch and his parasites. And if monasteries were denounced as citadels of luxury, indolence, and crime — if celibacy was held up as a variation from the law of God, and an injury to the welfare of the State, the motives of the declaimers against both are fairly liable to suspicion, when it is remembered that the wealth of the assailed was to become the prey and patrimony of the assailant. The secular clergy were, with few exceptions, brought into the measures of the monarch. The inmates of the cloisters, male and female, were turned adrift on the world, and added to the ranks of the destitute whom they had hitherto been accustomed to relieve. The estates SCIENCE OF POLITICAL ECOXOMY 523 of the church were seized by the ancestors of many of the landlords and noble families of the present day. The fathers and mothers of the poor in the religious communities of both sexes, that were scat- tered from point to point over the surface of England, were driven from their peaceful abodes, and their estates seized in the private right of private individuals. The consequence of all this was, that in less than half a century there was not concern enough for the poor left remaining in the hearts of the people to provide for their support, without the aid, or rather the coercion of an act of Parliament. This is the first instance in the annals of Christian nations, in which the principles of religion were found insufficient to furnish a spontaneous provision for the destitute. The burthens of their support necessa- rily fell upon the occupants and cultivators of the soil. The lands of the church were rented out on the principle of the proprietor's interest, modified only by two considerations — one was the extent of competition among the applicants ; and the other was, the amount of rent which might be exacted without depriving the tenants and their families of the means, at least necessary, for subsistence. Hence, weighty rents ; and as the landlords were for the most part, the law-makers also, hence too, in process of time, those statutes in favor of landlord mterests, which in our days are familiarly known under the designation of corn-laws. Does not every one see that all such legislation, whatever may be its other efiects, must tend to diminislr the wages of all the productive and laboring classes, by either diminishing the quantity, or raising the price, of bread ? So that if you look to the relations thus created between the laborers of England and the other two classes into which j)olitical economists have divided the population, namely, landlords and capitalists, it would seem as if the whole practical purpose of public economy has been to reduce the working people down to that condition in which Malthus has discovered what he calls the "natural standard of wages " — which means, perhaps, a little more than is barely sufficient to keep the workman's soul and body together. It is impossible not to perceive, in all this, the injurious effect of the principle to which we have already, more than once, alluded, aS the actual regulator of Political Economy in Great Britain, namely, self-interest. Viewed according to the light of this principle, it was perfectly natural for those who were at once landlords and law- makers, to secure to themselves the largest amount of rents ; and to throw ofi", on others, the weight of every public burthen. In former times, the system presented the resources of the poor, from the very land which produced the crop. But now, the whole crop is claimed for the benefit of the landlord; and the tax, for the support of the poor, is to be gathered, not from those who grow the wheat, but from those who eat the bread ; that is to say, in every nine cases out of ten, from the laboring classes themselves. Thus the laboring classes of England are placed as in a cleft stick, between capitalists and landlords, and feel the efieets of pressure from both sides :_ f ;om ' the one side, in the reduction of wages ; and from the other, in the increased prices of food. 524 AKCIIBISHOP HUGHES. The consequence now is, that in that country, including the three kingdoms, there is poverty and distress, such as cannot be found in the civilized world besides. In other countries there is less of aggre- gate wealth ; bui in no nation is there to be found so much, or such intense, misery, as among the poor of England. Nothing can show this more fully than the official reports made, from time to time, by order of Parliament, on their condition. Leaving thq condition of the agricultural laborers aside, the reports on the condition of labor- ers in mines and manufactories present a picture of physical and moral destitution such as it is appalling to contemplate. We read, for instance, of children's being employed from the age of seven years and upward. And why is this? Because a child is as good as an adult person in waiting on the evolutions of machinery. Now the wages of a child is less than that of a man, and interest whispers to the employer to give the child the preference. It matters not that the delicate limbs of such beings are unable to support their bodies during the long hours of labor. It matters not that they be- come deformed, and contract physical maladies, which will accom- pany them through the remainder of their wretched lives. These things go on — for interest so determines it — until Parliament 's at length obliged to pass enactments to interdict such outrages off the rights of childhood. It is quite honorable to the feelings of the English people that they should sympathize in the sufferings of those who are in the con- dition of slaves throughout the v7orld. But while her gaze can ex- tend across the Atlantic ; and while her honest and genuine sympathy is often disgraced by the cant and fanaticism of those who would be its oi'gans, surely it cannot be wrong for us to sympathize with those of her own population, whom avarice, or the interests of capital have buried in tlie bowels of the earth in her mining districts. Del- icate women and tender children, as repoi'ted to Parliament, were found in the mines, with harness fitted to them, and obliged to drag loads on their hands and knees, after the manner of beasts. Passing from these again, to the pauper class, we see that the Public Econ- *omy directs their classification in a manner such as, in some coun- tries, would be regarded as a violation of the rights of human nature. The dearest ties — even those which constitute the last sweet drop, in the cup of povertj^, are rudely disregarded and ruptured. Hus- bands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, are sep- arated from each other, and distributed in the establishments of public, relief, as if they were malefactors, guilty of some social crime. Now, the worst feature in this system of ]?olitical Economy is, not pre- cisely that the facts are so ; but that the prejudices of the nation, like the principles of the science itself, as looking to individual in- terest as the Ufe-spring of society, do not allow them even to con- ceive that things ought to be otherwise. And so true is this, that, according to the recognized principle, you may pass all the various members of society in review, and you will be unable to discover to whom the fault belongs; and in. fact, according to the principle SCIBNCE OP POLITICAL ECONOMY. 625 of self-interest, the fault belongs nowhere! Every man for him- self. _ ^ It is the contemplation of all this that has impelled many benevo- lent, but, as I conceive, mistaken persons, to conclude that society in general is organized on a a icions principle. Individuals of this de- scription have stood forth, in France, England, and this country also, flattering themselves with the hope of "being able to withdraw some portion of their fellow-beings from the miseries which they re- gard as essentially connected with the actual state of things. For this purpose, various schemes, and schools of Political Economy have made their appearance, encouraging separate systems of private socialism, founded each on some favorite theory. These either have failed, or will fail ; and principally for the reason that, while they have discovered the self-inieresi which operates so injuriously in the present systems, they have not discovered in those which they would substitute any other principle of sufficient power to correct it. This can be done only through a renovated faith, and a practical exercise of the virtues prescribed by religion. The tendency of society in general, at least in all that appertains to Political Economy, is in the opposite direction ; and there is but little hope that its course will be arrested until nations, as well as individuals, shall have been pun- ished for their great social error. How much ink has been shed in describing the evils which now press on the people, at least the laboring classes, of Great Britain ! How much of profound meditation has been employed, in vain efforts to find a solution for the social problem of that country ! And though many of her statesmen have begun to trace these evils back to their true cause, yet few have proclaimed the discovery, and fewer still have ventured to suggest the true remedy. Sometimes the evils are charged to one cause, sometimes to another. Now, it is the " restrictions on commerce ;" and now, it is an " excess of popu- lation over and above the wants of consumption." But no one has, as yet, contended for the true cause ; that is, the absence of a reli- gious power which should be able to extend the obligation of duties, in exact proportion with the extension of rights. The social machine, in its relations to Political Economy, has taeen left to regulate itself, by the spring of mere individual interest ; and it is manifest that the weights and balances necessary to restore its equilibrium and to regulate its motion, cannot be adjusted except by, the invocation of some extrinsic power, such as can be found in practical Christianity alone. The earth is not expected to furnish itself with light and heat : these come from the sun. So also, with regard to the prac- tical Political Economy of modern nations — unless its lij)sbe touched and purified with living coiils from the altars of" Divine Religion, it can never' accomplish the entire purpose, according to which society is an institution of God. Any religion which can accomplish this, whatever may be the truth or the error of its other dogmas, will have rendered essential service to humanity. It is op this account that Political Economy, as a science, appears to me inadequate and 526 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. defective. It would be more complete, and certainly more exalted, if, instead of regarding man as the mere " producer " and " con- sumer " of material wealth, it took cognizance ' of his intellectual, moral, and religious nature. It may, however, be objected, that these faculties, being spiritual and not material, have nothing to do with the subject. This seems to me an unfounded conclusion. The ancient Persians, for instance, held, as a religious opinion, that anj'- thiug which could defile the waters of the ocean was sinful. Here, then, is an important branch of Political Economy — maritime com- merce — affected by a religious conviction ! After the expulsion of the missionaries from Japan, the government of that country re- quired that the merchants of Europe who wished to trade with its own, should, as a condition, xine qua non, trample on the emblem of Christianity, the cross. Holland, alone, agreed to the terms. Here, then, the absence of a religious conviction on the mind of one nation of Europe affected the entire trade of Christendom with Japan ! The calculations of revenue formed by Sir Robert Peel are founded on the most positive data of Political Economy ; and yet, an idea — a moral idea — springing into the mind of a humble but excellent priest in Cork,* disturbs the minister's conclusions, to the amount of between two and three millions of our currency, in the annual excise duties on one single article ! Time does not permit me to enlarge on the proofs, or facts, going to show that not only intellect and moral sentiment, but also the affections and virtues of the heart, have all of them an essential bearing on the subject. In assuming the " importance of a Christian basis " for Political Economy, I did not indeed imagine, as you may easily conceive, that the system now so deeply and almost universally established, could be transferred to any other foundation than that on which it rests. But when I consider the nature of the evils which press upon so large a portion of modern society, it seems to me that a preventive, if not a remedy, is discoverable in the Political Economy (so to call it) of the old Catholic Church. She had, preeminently, the faculty of guiding the affections and energies of mankind, in the direction most requii-ed by the actual wants of society in given times and circum- stances. She differed from th-e modern religions, essentially on one great point ; namely, that, while they teach that salvation is " by faith alone," and that good works have no merit, though they are provided for, as consequences of faith, she taught that they are to be concomitants of behef ; that fiiith without works, is dead in itself! and that wh.atever good we do to one of the least of Christ's disci- ples, He will reward as if done to himself. This is the turning point of difference between the Political Economy of the Catholic Church and that of the religions which ha^'e been substituted in its stead. Thus, she created an intei-est not to be estimated by the acquisition or exchange of material wealth, but by the consideration of advan- tages in the spiritual order and in the life to come. This doctrine, like the principle of life in the human body, vivified the spirit, and * Futher Mathew. SCIENCE OF POLITICAL ECONOMT. 527 influenced the actions of all her members. Besides, she conceived Kiiman nature as having been exalted and ennobled through the Incar- nation and Redemption, by the Son of God. Hence she valued liuman beings according to the high dignity of their ransom,, irre- spective of wealth or poverty. She has, indeed, been rejtroached ^vith the tendency to abridge the rights of men. But the explana- tion of this is to be found in tjie fact, that the inherent selfishness of fallen humanity prompts them to claim injurious immunities ; while, as she conceived, her office was to apportion duties according to the means which providence furnished for the discharge of them. Men are prompt to assert their rights ; but prone to forget that every r'ight is accompanied with a corresponding duty. To every class and condition she assigned its own peculiar range of Christian obli- gation. To sovereigns and legislators, those of justice and mercy in the enactment and execution of laws. To the rich, moderation in enjoyment, and liberality toward the poor. To the poor, patience under their trials, and afi'eotion toward their wealthier brethren. Toward all, the common obligation of loving one another, not in word, but in deed. ISTeither was this by a uniform development of the principles of the Christian doctrine from the_pulpit alone, but by a rigid process of self-examination and self-aceusation, which was incumbent on every individual, when preparing for the Sacraments of Penance and of the Holy Eucharist. Here, the lawgiver, the landlord, the capitalist, and the laborer — all men of all classes — were required to stand at least once a year in judgment vpon themselves, in the presence of God and of his minister. Far be it from me to insinuate or assert, that these great leading duties are not set forth to the people by the religions which have taken the place of the Catholic faith in Great Britain. But I think it will be evident that, in them all, there are wanting the means for their practical inculcation. First, because the paramount motive has been utterly destroyed by rejecting the "merit of good works," arid proclaiming "salvation by faith alone." It is, indeed, alleged that, by a higher motive still, works, as the consequence, or fruits, or evidence, of faith, are provided for. But still, those who enjoin works of this Irind, since they declare them to be of "no merit" in the sight of God, seem to pull down with one hand what they have built up with the other. Besides this, in the new systeoir of religion, every man claims to be the judge of his moral duties, as well as of his religious faith. Thus you perceive that the only motives left, as inducements for the performance of good works, in this system,_ are essentially of the human and temporal order. Now the manifestations of these fundamental principles are obvious, in the social develop- ments under the influfence of the two religions. Of its consequences, in the one case, the preceding remarks of this lecture are a sufficient exhibition. Rights are claimed— interests are prosecuted— every one that can, throws the burthen from himself. Each is the judge of his own moral and social duties — and self love blinds him against what would require the sacrifice of his material interests, even if re- 528 ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. ligron presentcjcl any adequate motive for making that sacrifice. Wealth is accumulating enormously on one side — poverty, deep and distressing, spreads on the other : England is the richest and the poorest country on the globe ; and where, or to whom, belongs the guilt of this social anomaly, no man can determine ! The type of the other doctrine has developed itself in those prin- ciples and institutions which incur the censure, and sometimes the hatred, even of those who are the victims of their overthrow. If they were errors in religion, it is the more to be regretted, as they would have been blessings in Social, if not in Political Economy. They would have been, first of all, a merciful resource for the condition of the poor, w^hioh now constitutes the great pvzzle of Political Economists, throughout the three kingdoms. The interests of man — taking in his spiritual nature and his eternal destiny — would be surveyed from 'a high and holy eminence. And when the rich man gave of his abundance to the needy, he would be acting, not against, but according to this principle of Christian interest. When the prince or the noble, moved by the " Am'or Jesu nobilis" descended from his elevated position, to put on the sandals, the garment, and the girdle of religious poverty, in some monastic order, he under- stood, perfectly well, what he was about — comprehended the advantage of the step ; and, whether he was mistaken or not, his determination was of infinite irapoirtance to the condition of the destitute. He became poor from a religious motive, having first, perhaps, given his property to the relief of the class to whose condi- tion he attached himself. He became their mediator with the rich — his own example had a powerful influence On them.^ — ^he represented the necessity of alms-deeds— he spoke of their common Saviour, as having, in his own person, selected the condition of poverty ; and reminded them that whatever they did for their sufiering brethren, was done for Christ. It was by the spirit of this doctrine of good works, that hospitals and asylums for the afliicted, sprang, as if spontaneously, into existence, in all parts of Great Britian, as well as of other European countries. It was by this that every kind of social evil, whether in physical suifering or in moral destitution, found whole armies of volun- teers, ready to go in the face of pestilence and death, and this without human recompense, to counteract its ravages. It was by this, that individuals were constantly found ready to devote themselves to every species of good works. The question in connection with this subject, is not whether these individuals were acting imder a genuine principle of Christianity or not — but it is, whether their devotion had any bearing upon the Political Economy of the country. That it had, is in my mind^ beyond dispute. Firstly : In such a state of things, no poor law would be necessary. Secondly: The burthen of their support would not be regarded as a burthen, but as a privilege, and would fall on individuals in the rank of landlords and capitalists, instead of labprers as at present. Thirdly : The expense of supporting the SCIENCE or roLiTicAL ECONOJiy. 529 po'pi- would not be increased bj" the enormous sums which ^are paid to _ state officers, in that department. Fourthly : The ecclesiastical revenues, which have now quite a diiferent direction, would be applied to that purpose. Fifthly : But Ijesides all this, the iufluence of the doctrine I have alluded to, would infuse a spirit of gentle kindness into the treatment of the poor, which would leave no_ room for those dark and bitter passions against society, with which their breasts are now, too often, agitated ; for it is a shocking feature of our times, that distinguished writers on Political Economy, have gone so far, as to maintain that poverty when it reaches the point of destitution ought to be treated as " infamy," in order to make the struggle for self support of the sinking laborer " honorable." If this reasoning, and these reflections be correct we see what has been the cause of the prevailing distress ; and what would have been the preventive or the remedy. And in either case, the great social calamity which is every day becoming more and more formidable, in the estimation of British statesmen and political economists, instead of being, as it now is, apparently irremediable, would never have existed at all. Some may imagine that in following out this subject, my judgment has been warped by a natural partiality for the religion to which I belong. This is, indeed, possible ; but I can only say, that if it be true, I am entirel)^ unconscious of it. Neither, at th