- 158 
 
 44 
 
 T87 
 
 lopv 1 
 
 THE 
 
 TRUTH UNVEILED; 
 
 OR, 
 
 A CALM AND IMPARTIAL EXPOSITION 
 
 OP THE 
 
 ORIGIN AND IMMEDIATE CAUSE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE TERRIBLE RIOTS IN PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 On May 6th, 7th and 8tb, A. D. 1844. 
 
 BY 
 
 A PROTESTANT AND NATIVE PHTLADELPHIAN. 
 
 PHILADELPHM : 
 
 PRINTED BY M. FlTfflAN, 72 NORTH SECOND STREET. 
 
 184.4.. 
 
 ; VVM 
 
 SOLD B\ 
 J. CUWrN-GFIAM, 
 
 Books 
 
 Ft.f.ER Jc 
 
 Ptatiover. 
 
 No. 
 
 104 .S. r/iir-/ street, 
 PHTr.APKr.pntA. 
 
THE 
 
 TRUTH UNVEILED; 
 
 A CALM AND IMPARTIAL EXPOSITION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ORIGIN AND IMMEDIATE CAUSE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE TERRIBLE RIOTS IN PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 On May 6th, 7th and 8 th, A. D. 1844. 
 
 nv 
 A PROTESTANT AND NATIVE PHILADELPHL4N, 
 
 ^' 
 
 U. S. ." 
 
 PHILADELPHM : 
 
 PRINTED BY M. FITHIAN, 72 NORTH SECOND STREET. 
 
 184.4. 
 

TO THE 
 
 PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 In a country, the sovereignty of which is placed in the laws enact- 
 ed by its people, and under the benignant operation of a Constitution, 
 which extends to all the most precious and inalienable rights, that 
 liberty of conscience, which is the holiest privilege of man, together 
 with those sacred principles of equal and exact justice to the most ab- 
 ject and lowly, have been boldly outraged and violated! In a land, 
 where heretofore the oppressed found a sanctuary, and the unfortunate 
 a sure asylum — where the stranger from afar was welcomed as a bro- 
 ther, and the adventurer was protected in every lawful enterprize, a 
 crusade, sanguinary as it is unrelenting, and cruel as it is unjust, has 
 been commenced against a portion of our population, whose sin is 
 that, which Providence entailed upon them in their birth, and whose 
 crying iniquity is, that they cling in dying embrace to the faith of 
 their fond and devoted hearts. Whilst reposing under institutions, 
 which are the admiration, and that have called forth the reverence and 
 homage of a united world for the equity which founded them, and the 
 benevolent spirit that pervades their every part, — in a community 
 amonof whom the religion of a meek Redeemer has its professed 
 votaries in untold niunbers, — and in a city, once proverbial for 
 its social order and public morals, the lives of our fellow beings 
 have been taken by ruthless violence, our streets stained with hu- 
 man gore, the Temples of the living God been desecrated and burnt, 
 the homes of hundreds razed to the dust, and the quiet retreat^ of un- 
 offending women, devoted to that heavenly charity which a Saviour 
 enforced, been barbarously fired I Humanity still weeps, and will 
 lono- weep, over the terrific events Avhich a frenzied madness has 
 caused within our borders : and Religion clothed in the garments of 
 mourning and grief, now sits among the desolations, which her people 
 have made in her holy name I 
 
 Calmly and in truth, to detail the causes which urged on this com- 
 munity to the sacrifice of so many lives, the destruction of consecrated 
 
buildings, and the ruin of families and individuals, is the purpose of 
 the writer. He gives his opinions with frankness, but yet without 
 partiality or prejudice. He is a Protestant by birth, by attachment 
 and principle ; and he too, is a Native Philadelphian of the third ge- 
 neration, whose ancestors have done the State some service. From 
 Roman Catholics he has nothing to hope nor expect ; for he is ac- 
 quainted with but very few of that body of Christians. As a native 
 of the city however, which has been disgraced by the recent terrible 
 outrages, he will firmly express the convictions which his own obser- 
 vations have supplied, and if offence be given, it will be that which 
 truth must always expect when unveiling the doings of fanaticism or 
 bigotry. But offence or not, it will still be truth ; and truth in its pure 
 essence, in its full integrity. 
 
 He asks then from a Christian public, a passing attention to the ob- 
 servations which follow. If they merit it, he begs that they may be 
 seriously weighed and considered. It is in the cause of truth, of Re- 
 ligion, of good morals, of social harmony and public happiness, that 
 he writes. He would, by directing your notice to facts, point out how 
 to avoid for the future a recurrence of scenes of horror which have 
 chilled the heart's-blood of the spectator, made Religion mourn in 
 deepest sadness, and the patriot doubt the perpetuity of our boasted 
 institutions. 
 
ORIGIN OF THE RIOTS. 
 
 THE WILD SPIRIT OF FANATICAL PROSCRIPTION ;— ITS 
 VIOLENCE AND ABUSES. PROTESTANT AGAINST CA- 
 THOLIC,— BURNING OF CONVENT IN CHARLESTOWN, 
 
 MASS. BISHOP HUGHES AND THE BIBLE IN COMMON 
 
 SCHOOLS. PROTESTANT ASSOCIATION IN PHILADEL- 
 PHIA. 
 
 If " religious controversies never die," neither are the animosities 
 and hatreds which they call up, nor the contentions and strifes they 
 excite, entirely forgotten or eradicated. Time, which, in other mat- 
 ters, even in those of the strongest feelings and affections of the heart, 
 will often weaken their force, and heal the sorest wounds that may 
 have been inflicted, has however, no power over the remembrance of 
 sectarian feuds. It would seem that these are never to be covered 
 with oblivion's pall ; for thi'oughout the longest age, they will be re- 
 curred to with freshened passion, and be fought over with renewed 
 vigour. 
 
 It is painful to note this remaining corruption in natures, supposed 
 to be subdued by the mild spirit of the everlasting Gospel : yet eccle- 
 siastical history every where confirms the melancholy truth I That 
 history is emphatically the record of strife and contention : the narra- 
 tive of successive, violent struggles among those, who profess to wor- 
 ship the same Almighty Creator, — to seek salvation at the hands of a 
 Common Redeemer, — and to be influenced by the quickening motions 
 of the same Divine Spirit. Philosophy may j)ronounce, that as the 
 subject of religion is one, that seizes, or which ought to seize, upon 
 the whole soul of man, it must necessarily awaken the strongest sensi- 
 bilities and passions in the breast; Christianity however will decide, 
 that her first principles have never been understood nor received into 
 the breasts of such militants, nor her holy spirit been permitted to ex- 
 ercise its converting energy. 
 
 Passing over the intervening period between the advent of the Sa- 
 viour and the XVI. century, the era of the Reformation, and the few 
 centuries which have since elapsed, contain much bitter food for reflec- 
 tion, both for the philarithro})liist and Christian. The thirty years war, 
 which that event occasioned, was far from being closed by the victo- 
 ry of Gustavus; for again and again has it burst out afresh; and al- 
 though not extending to the same limits, nor at all times marked by the 
 same results, yet there has always been seen the same indomitable pur- 
 pose of contention and strife ; the unconquered resolution to war with 
 carnal weapons in a matter wholly spiritual. 
 
 1* 
 
That in the other hemisphere such should have been the case, is not 
 so much a matter of astonishment, as it has ever been one of grief with 
 the disciple of the Prince of Peace. Religion there has ever been too 
 much an affair of state policy ; and the altar and the throne have alike 
 been subject to the vicissitudes of civil government. But on this con- 
 tinent, and especially in these United States, it was an authorised hope 
 that sectarian strife and violence would forever be unknown. Blessed 
 with a Constitution, which grants, unto the greatest verge, religious 
 liberty to all, and demands no subscription to creeds, nor compliance 
 with any form of worship, it was right to expect that social harmon}'^ 
 and fellowship would abound from one end of our land to the other. 
 The occasion having been removed by our institutions, the distressing 
 results of fanaticism and bigotry, it was supposed never M'ould have 
 to be apprehended ; but on the contrary that peace would reign in our 
 borders ;. that each would sit under his own vine and fig tree, and 
 that none would make him afraid. 
 
 The horrors of the first week in May have however destroyed the 
 hope of the Christian and the friend of order. A contest, marked by 
 all the atrocities of civil Avar, has raged among us, and which com- 
 mencing in sectarian hatred, has been arrested only before the smok- 
 ing ruins of sanctuaries dedicated to the service of the Living God I 
 The lives of fellow men have been taken in barbarous cruelty, and 
 families driven from their hearths and firesides, are now wandering in a 
 Christian land in search of that protection, which has not been afford- 
 ed them by our boasted laws. 
 
 Is it inquired, what was the origin of these atrocities ? The asser- 
 tion is boldly made, that it is to be placed wholly to the account of 
 that wild course of fanaticism and bigotry which has been pursued by 
 certain Protestants in our count ry against the Roman Catholic Church. 
 The writer is aware that the reason which he gives and Avhich he is 
 well conscious contains a grave accusation, will startle many of that 
 l)ody to which himself belongs, and with whom, God giving him grace, 
 he will remain until death. But, sorrowful as it is to him to bear wit- 
 ness against a portion of his brethren, he cannot and he will not, — for 
 he dares not, — disguise the truth. He writes to expose the mistaken, 
 furious, and in this instance, the death-dooming zeal of professing 
 Christians ; but yet he writes that their grievous error may be avoided 
 for the future ; that in the time to come, p(>rsecution for opinion's 
 sake may by them be viewed as a sin of no common dj^e, committed 
 against that awful Being, who has declared that vengeance is His, and 
 that He alone will repay. 
 
 In confirmation of the assertion that to the proscriptive measures set 
 in action by certain Protestants against the Roman Catholic population 
 in this country, the source of these outrages is to be traced, it will !)<' 
 necessary to recur to transactions which have occurred within the last 
 fifteen years. The first in order which shall be mentioned is the 
 burning in 1834 of the IJrsuline Convent in ('harlcstown, Massachu- 
 setts ; an act which was the outbreak of a ])opulation, that had be(>n 
 excited to violence by the impassioned harangues of known Protestant 
 clergymen, and the ])ublication of inflamn:iatory works. The time 
 
that has elapsed since this disgraceful occurrence is more than ample 
 for the finding of a verdict in reference to it ; and this is the season, 
 when the question can he asked, what was the crime of the inmateii 
 of this house of religious retirement ; — what offence had they com- 
 mitted among themselves, or against the laws, or society ? Why was 
 it that helpless women were made to fly from the retreat to which 
 they had devoted their remaining existence, amid the flames, which 
 an infuriated mob had kindled and through the yelling ranks of which 
 they had to escape, with scarcely enough of needed raiment ? Let 
 the accusation be brought, if one exists ; for as yet, none has been 
 heard, even from the most rabid fanatic. Let the mob themselves 
 speak, or they who urged them on to the work tell, in what was the 
 offence of the harmless tenants of a house, that savages themselves 
 would have reverenced. Or shall the public voice be heard, and con- 
 fession be forced from the lip, that their sin, — the sin that called for 
 vengeance at the hands of fellow-Christians, zealous, — God-fearing and 
 God-loving Christians, — was that they too were Christians, but of ano- 
 ther name ? — Is this Protestantism, American Protestantism? Heaven 
 save the land then I — It is not Christianity, however ; and the Holy 
 Gospel of the Saviour will show that it is not Christianity. 
 
 But it was a part and parcel of the system of operations, set on foot 
 by misguided and over-heated zealots. They had in this land become 
 tired of loving their brethren, and they went sturdily to work to hate 
 them ; and to show how well they could do so, no mi^ans were left un- 
 tried to procure capital for their undertaking. In addition to series of 
 discourses upon discourses of the most exciting character against Ro- 
 man Catholics, heard from pulpits throughout the length and breadth 
 of the land ; — besides the daily lessons of pious nurses to their charges, 
 never to mention the lady of 13abylon but with horror, — in addition to 
 the weekly routine of lessons for certain Sunday Schools, which incul- 
 cated uncompromising war against the "Pope and his degraded and 
 slavish subjects," — a resort was had to publications, too vile and too 
 obscene to give even their titles here ; which the most depraved and 
 dissolute parent would not dare to bring into his family, and which 
 the abandoned and outcast, such as may be found in tlie jjurlieus of a 
 second Sodom, would regard as a contamination. I?ut it was one of 
 the tactics of this systematic warfare ; and the self-excited bellige- 
 rents know it to have been so. They know, that to their discomfiture, 
 after the wicked falsehoods of one of these productions had been ex- 
 posed by a respectable Protestant committee, and that the book would 
 no longer be saleable, that the parties, and among them, a clergyman, 
 now resident in the city of New York, differed about the division of 
 spoils, which an abused public had supj)Hed, as well as about the honour 
 of its paternity. 
 
 The Convent at Charlestown was burnt ; and the amia!)I(> and pur(^ 
 minded and modest and truth-telling Maria Monk, was brought uj)on 
 the arena, to prove as far as she could, that it was the very essence of 
 modern Protestantism to "do (iod service" "by calling liglitning down 
 from heaven" upon Roman Catholics and their property, even though 
 it should have been religiously devoted. Besides, it was " a Protestant 
 
8 
 
 country," according to these fanatical champions of a more pure faith, 
 and of a more evangelical system of religion ! As if in the Constitu- 
 tion of the land, or in all the statutes which are in force, one jot or one 
 tittle authorizes such a declaration. On the contrary, do not all the 
 legal enactments of our country in the most substantive, absolute man- 
 ner, declare, not a toleration, but entire, perfect liberty of conscience 
 in religious matters, inviting free and full discussion in respect to them, 
 and promising protection and defence against the slightest violence 
 and persecution for opinion's sake ? A Protestant country? Where 
 is it written : — upon ^\'hat page of our statutes, — in what decision of 
 our courts, — in what journal of our legislature, — is it declared that this 
 is a Protestant country ? Is it to be found in the charter of Charles 
 II. granted to William Pcnn ? Is it seen in one of the three Constitu- 
 tions that have been adopted by tliis Commonwealth? Is it discovered 
 in our Bill of Rights, — or in that attached to the Constitution of the 
 United States '? Is it told in the charter given to Lord Baltimore, or 
 is it derived from any ordinance, \\'hich that Catholic nobleman issued 
 as Proprietary of Maryland ? Is it even to be discovered in the Con- 
 stitution of Massachusetts ; in which State the first dreadful persecvi- 
 tion began for religion's sake, by Protestant against Protestant : where 
 Quakers and Baptists were hung by the Pilgrim Fathers, as they are 
 wont to be termed by their admiring descendants, and hung too, be- 
 cause they we)-e Protestants ? 
 
 Or is it meant that it is a Protebtant land, because there is a majority 
 of this faith to be found in it? And will Protestants risk an argument 
 for the purity of their doctrines by referring to this majority .' As one 
 Protestant, the writer protests against such an appeal : and did he stand 
 alone, he would ever protest. Is principle to be tested by numbers ? 
 Is the verity of our faith, its accordance with the divine word, its ex- 
 cellence or its reasonableness to be tried by majorities ? One indivi- 
 dual may be right, when thousands around him are wrong I The twelve 
 apostles of our Saviour had a knowledge of divine truth, while a whole 
 world was engulphed in Egyptian darkness ! The Protestant commun- 
 ion throughout Christendom is a handful compared to that of the Ca- 
 tholic ; yet is the Protestant willing to submit to the conclusion to 
 which his own reasoning would bring him. Christianity cannot com- 
 pete, as respects numbers, with Heathenism ; and Avill the Christian 
 surrender his holy religion to the Gentile, l)ecause the latter is the 
 stronger? 
 
 Or is it implied that because it is a Protestant country, that all must 
 become so, or tamely sul)mit to the dicta of Protestant sectarianism, be 
 they ever so ])roscrijjtive and oppressive? And, have the minority no 
 rights; especially in matters of conscience, and spiritual concern? Is 
 that minority to be ridden over rough-shod, or ground to powder, for 
 no other reason but because they are a minority ? May there be no 
 Christians, good and sincere and true Christians among them? And 
 with our noble Constitution, with our just and equitable laws in their 
 hands, or with freedom of conscience on their tongues, is the majority, 
 merely because it is a majority, to proscribe and persecute and defame 
 the smaller number? Shami; for such Protestantism, — shame for such 
 Christianity, — shame for such Americanism I We talk about the In- 
 
quisltion and its cruelties ; and yet to what shall such a policy and 
 such principles be compared? Servetus was a solitary individual in 
 Geneva ; and a Protestant majority in that Protestant city, led on by 
 the Protestant Calvin, burnt him. The poor Protestant Quakers and 
 Baptists were a minority in Boston, and they were hunf^ by Protestants, 
 who came to this land on account of religious persecution, as they said. 
 But they who did such damning deeds were a majority ; and it M'as a 
 " Protestant country," and being that majority and being Protestants, 
 par excellence, they had the right to take the lives of the few, who 
 would not bend their consciences to the beck of numbers ! 
 
 It is treason, rank foul treason, to our Religion ; it is treason to the 
 very spirit of our institutions, — the American is a traitor to his coun- 
 try, who talks about this being a Protestant land, in order to justify his 
 religious intolerance and proscription of others. Let him hug the opi- 
 nion as closely as he \v\\\, that political majorities are always right, — 
 let him, if he will, contend that in popular governments, the voice of 
 the people is the voice of God, — and few will be willing to attempt 
 to reason him out of his notions. But that holy thing which is from 
 God, — that divine religion of Jesus we profess, cannot and must not 
 be measured by human judgment, nor worldly maxims, much less by 
 numbers. It was true, though Paul stood alone on the hill of Mars 
 before a multitude of scoffers. It was true, eternally true, although 
 the Redeemer of man, was led to the cross by legions of Jews and 
 Gentiles. It will be true, throughout endless ages, and it will remain 
 in all its hallowed integrity, although the "gates of hell," combined 
 with a whole world, should press their united force against a mere 
 remnant of Christian believers. 
 
 This claim has been dwelt upon, because it was the standing argu- 
 ment — the constant justification for the attacks upon Catholics. It 
 was the main one that was brought forward against Bisiior Hrc;nr,s' 
 course in the well-known Bible question in New York. And here, the 
 writer would remark, that he writes with a far different purpose, than 
 to defend the Rt. Rev. gentleman: on the contrary, he has^ always 
 thought, that under the circumstances and at the time, his measure was 
 highly impolitic, and that the line of proceeding was equally impro- 
 per. ' Besides, Bishop Hughes and himself hold views, which are 
 greatly variant and opposite, on points involving grave and solemn in- 
 terests". The writer is a Protestant, decided and firm in liis principles, 
 devoted and warm in his attachment to them. He believes that Bi- 
 shop Hughes is equally so in all those respects which distinguish him 
 as a Catholic. In uttering his views therefore, the former cannot be 
 prt-judiced in favor of the Rt. Rev. gentleman, nor his faith. But he 
 hopes that he can do justice to him, and justice to principle, be it 
 found where and with whom it may. About what then is an opinion 
 to be rendered 1 About the very cause of all their dilficuUios, — the 
 movement of Bishop Hughes, — his attempt to thrust the Bible out of 
 the Public Schools in New York, is the reply of the zealous Protes- 
 tant ! 
 
 But was this movement the first origin of this sectarian warfare ? 
 Have we not seen, that for years before, it was carried on, at least by 
 
10 
 
 one party ? Know we not that ten years since, the Convent at Charles- 
 town was burnt, — that infamous and vile publications against Catholics 
 were issued, thick as autumnal leaves, — that throughout every city, 
 and village, and hamlet, the burden of most sermons has been the Pope 
 and Antichrist and Babylon, — the warning has been, to beware of the 
 "foreign power of the Man of Sin .'" Who need be reminded that a 
 combined assault, on the part of a large number of Protestant clergy- 
 men, has been warmly made upon the Catholic Church, and the most 
 inflammatory language in many instances unbecoming the sacred desk, 
 has been employed against her members for a long time in this city. 
 The very news-boys have sold their sheets, by announcing the con- 
 tents to be articles against this communion ; and for an extended pe- 
 riod, the very secular papers, in many cases, have lent themselves to 
 this crusade. 
 
 When then Bishop Hughes began the agitation of the subject of the 
 use of the Bible in the Public Schools, it was at a season, when the 
 popular mind had been already exercised by long and previous attacks 
 upon his communion. The time was indeed unpropitous ; but the 
 question at issue, had no concei'n as to time. The right, which he 
 claimed, in his view no doubt, was to be granted upon other considera- 
 tions than expediency, or even the propriety of the course that might 
 be pursued. It was a case of conscience with him ; and as such, it be- 
 came his duty to act in the premises. And what was his action, — M'hat 
 did he require, — what claim did he put in behalf of his Church ? Let 
 us calmly and honestly, as Christian people, examine the matter before 
 we presume to judge. 
 
 To avoid prolixity, the whole case is resolved into the following 
 brief statement. Bishop Hughes addressed the School Commissioners 
 of New York, and requested as the guardian of the faith of Catholic 
 children, that the Bible, that is, the version of King James, or as it is 
 commonly called the Protestant Bible, might not be used for a reading 
 book in the Public Schools ; and that if it would not be dispensed with, 
 that then, as the Catholic population were taxed to support the sys- 
 tem, he might be allowed to have them separately instructed, and be 
 allowed the same sum for the education of Catliolic children as was 
 paid by the public for the instruction of the others. This is a fair, 
 honest statement of the request. Bishop Hughes did not ask tliat the 
 Catholic Bible (the Douay) should be introduced instead of King 
 James'. He never intimated such a thing. He asked that his children 
 might not be compelled to listen to the reading of a Aersion of the 
 Bible which he considered incorrect ; he did not require that the Vul- 
 gate should l)e \ised, but he ])rt"sented the request that he might remove 
 the Catholic scholars from the Public Scliools, promising to have them 
 fully educated in all the secular branches, and that he should have an 
 appropriation, per aipitn, e/ pro irita, with the public expense of teach- 
 ing. 
 
 This communication of the Rt. Rev. gentleman, fanned into a more 
 furious flame the war A\hich had already been Avaged againtt the Ro- 
 man Catholics. The School Commissioners declined gnnting the 
 prayer of the Bishop, and it was finally referred to the deci^tion of the 
 
11 
 
 ballot boxes, or a popular election. " Protestantism and No Popery" 
 became arrayed against "Catholicism and Eishop Huj^hes," nnd the 
 struggle was warm and animated. Its final issue was the granting of 
 the petition of Bishop Hughes ; and the Catholic children are now 
 educated separately. 
 
 The above is a rapid, 3'et faithful account of this vexed matter. No 
 comment will be made upon it. Every one who reads it, is capable of 
 judging the merits of the case ; and no dilliculty will be experienced in 
 seeking a decision, if all will imagine themselves in the place of Bishop 
 Hughes, or if every Protestant will honestly ask himself, if he were 
 a tax payer in a Catholic country, if he had to contribute towards a 
 Public School, whether he could submit to have his children taught out 
 of the Douay Bible ? This question will resolve the difficulty ; for 
 after all, it is the hinge upon which the whole matter turns. The wri- 
 ter asks his Protestant brethren to divest themselves of prejudices, to 
 disabuse their minds of previous impressions, to judge a righteous judg- 
 ment, and he is sure that their moral sense of what is equitable, will 
 enable them promptly to decide. 
 
 In the writer, the Bishop has no advocate nor defender, except iu 
 that which man is called by the voice of the Eternal to render to all 
 his fellow men. Whilst then upon this subject, he will notice two 
 charges against the Rt. Rev. gentleman, which have been again and 
 again reiterated by his opponents. One of them is, that in his action 
 he has treated harshly the version of King James. No one regards 
 with more admiration and reverence this same version than he who 
 now addresses you. He believes it to be a faithful interpretation of 
 the orignal ; and he is convinced that even in view of the great amount 
 of erudition and learning which now could be gathered for the pur- 
 pose, no body of men, brought from all parts of the world, would be 
 able to present a version more faithful, more perfect, and less faulty. 
 Bishop Hughes however may think differently, and prefers another. 
 But is Bishop Hughes or his Church alone in this preference '? Have 
 not Protestants themselves pronounced their Bible defective in parts, 
 and needing revision ? A Mr. Wellbeloved, in England, some years 
 since, gave the world the advantage of his superior wisdom in a new 
 version. The Unitarians have an improved version of the New Testa- 
 ment. Noah Webster in this country, has issued, per se, with no im~ 
 primatur but his own ridiculous vanity, a new translation. Our Bap- 
 tist brethren have in a body seceded from the American Bible Society, 
 and formed among themselves exclusively a National Association, which 
 as it is said, will publish the Scriptures in such a form as to give the le- 
 gitimate, critical meaning of ceiiaiii contested words or phrases. And 
 who knows not, that the notorious leader of the Mormons has even 
 given a supplement to the Word of God, as set forth by the translators 
 of the Protestant Bible ? If these things be so, and with grief are they 
 mentioned, how can Protestants complain that their Book is not rever- 
 enced by Catholics ? 
 
 Another charge brought against Bishop Hughes is, that forgetting 
 the sacredness of his station, and its high elevated rank, he has descend- 
 ed into the arena of political strife, and brought his followers to the 
 
12 
 
 polls to obey his beck. If the Bishop has clone so more than once, let 
 hiin be condemned, and let the voice of public scorn be loudly raised 
 against him. But what American, what Protestant will presume to 
 censure him, when on the one occasion which will be referred to, he 
 thus acted ? The Bible question was to be decided at the polls. There 
 and there only was the contest to be engaged in, in order to secure an 
 issue. Bishop Hughes did not select the hustings nor the polls, nor the 
 mode of warfare. The laws did this for him, and imposed upon him 
 the necessity of this course, and manner, and place, for the political 
 battle. And now^, is there a Christian breathing, is there one Protes- 
 tant in this land, who will censure the Bishop for doing what he was 
 compelled to do ; for struggling as it was his duty, his sacred duty to 
 struggle for obtaining, in the only way open for him, and as far as in 
 him lay, the rights which he claimed ? His was a matter of conscience, 
 of religious principle ; and who is there, who for conscience and reli- 
 p-ious principle would not do this much, aye more, if need be, even 
 unto the death 1 He asked for a certain privilege, and he was told you 
 must go to the polls, for only there can the decision be had. He did 
 go there, for in no other way could he reach his object. And is he to 
 be condemned for this? Protestants were there also, and did they do 
 right, and he alone do wrong ! 
 
 But if it were a fault in Bishop Hughes to attend the polls of a po- 
 pular election, equally so was it in the late revered and faithful man 
 of God, the Rt. Rev. Bishop White ; who on occasions was present 
 even at ward elections, and gave his vote. And M'ho ever dared to 
 raise his voice against this pure, apostolic servant of his Lord ! — this 
 meek and amiable and holy minister of a Holy Gospel ? Were they, 
 who are bruiting the interference of Bishop Hughes in a popular elec- 
 tion to come to Philadelphia, they would see and hear certain Protes- 
 tant clergymen at meetings of the Native Americans, and mark them 
 as amongst the most active, the loudest in their inflammatory denuncia- 
 tions, the longest on the stands in their violent addresses to the passions 
 of their hearers — the most bitter against those, whom the same Creator 
 formed with themselves, out of the same earth and dust. It is all right 
 and proper for these clerical gentlemen : it is a crying sin in all others 
 who differ from them. 
 
 At a season, when the feelings of the religious public, were excited 
 to the highest pitch ; when the Roman Catholics were " every where 
 spoken against ;" when prejudices had settled in the minds of the peo- 
 ple, and were as firm as our Alleghaiii(>s, a new measure of hostility 
 was set on foot. This was the furmatiou of the Protestant Association 
 in the City of Philadelphia ; the seat of its central action. Good men, 
 and Christian men were astonished at the boldness of this combination 
 of certain sects against a single individual body of Cln-istians, — of this 
 union of the many against one. Even those who were not known to 
 be under the influence of religious impressions enquired cut bono, — 
 what good can be reached by such a bold and belligei-ent course, that 
 will in any way compensate for the bitterness and animosity which 
 will assuredly result ? Believers in the Gospel, those Avith whom the 
 faith of the Prince of Peace was precious and dear, mourned over 
 
13 
 
 the delusions, Avhicli, in fanatical and bigoted blindness had seized upon 
 their brethren, and in the gloom of which, they had set at nought the 
 golden principles of their religion, and struck at its very spirit, as well 
 as that of our free and equitable institutions. The formation of such 
 a society was regarded by all, M'ho dared to think upon matters with 
 reference to their results, as the war-cry for Protestants to take the 
 field against Catholics ; for the summons to renew the battle, in which 
 Christian was to be seen contending with Christian, and the very altars 
 of God were to be desecrated by their priests ; who instead of bring- 
 ing upon them the offerings of broken hearts and contrite spirits, cast 
 there the sharpened sword without its scabbard, the weapons for bloody 
 strife, that were dedicated to the work of religious or rather sectarian 
 persecution. 
 
 And well did the zealous though mistaken leaders of this Association 
 come up to its design. Congregations instead of being taught from the 
 pulpit to adorn their profession by all the lovely graces of the Gospel, 
 by kind and affectionate bearing in the world, by earnest and ever active 
 endeavors to secure for themselves and others, the blessings of peace, 
 were anno3'ed with inflammatory harangues upon the " great schism," 
 and upon the " abominations of the Roman Church." The Pope, and the 
 Pope, and the Pope, was the beginning and the end of sermons in cer- 
 tain Churches ; and women and children were frightened with the de- 
 tails of the wicked doings of him of Rome ; whilst they who were of 
 the stature of men, were held breathless captives, when they were ad- 
 dressed by these orators upon the subject of Papal usurpations, and the 
 ecclesiastical domination contemplated by " anti-Christ" in America. 
 They were told that there was not a Catholic Church that had not un- 
 derneath it, prepared cells for Protestant heretics ; that every priest 
 was a Jesuit in disguise, — that the Pope was coming to this country 
 with an army of cassocked followers, and that each would be trebly 
 armed with weapons, concealed under the folds of "Babylonish robes." 
 Never did Titus Gates detail more horrid conspiracies, in virtue of his 
 station as informer general, than did these clerical sentinels ; and all 
 that was wanting was the power, and such a judge as Jeffries, to make 
 every Roman Catholic expiate his " abominable heresy" upon the scaf- 
 fold, or amid the flames. 
 
 It was a melancholy stat(^ of affairs, which the prosecution of the 
 object of this Association brought about in this city, once known and 
 acknowledged to be the forcMuost in social harmony and order. It was 
 such a state, as gave the most positive denial to every claim of an 
 Evangelical influence. The peace of the community was disturbed ; 
 families were made to break asunder the bonds of fellowship ; Protes- 
 tants were warned against associations with Catholics for any purpose, 
 and from almost every desk, on the day consecrated to holy rest, even 
 from the agitation of human passions, intemperate declamation against 
 the " evils of Romanism," was sure to be heard. Charity, the Evan- 
 gelical virtue of divine faith — that Gospel charity which is to sur- 
 vive the faith and hope of the believer, and which is to glow brighter 
 and warmer and holi(n-, age after age, throughout all endless eternity — 
 this charity was forgotten : and " no compromise with Rome," and no 
 peace to her "degraded subjects," were the watchwords of these Pro- 
 testant crusaders. All former dissensions among themselves were now 
 luished. iNo croaking from this heretical sect, and no angry disputa- 
 tion from that schismatic, were now heard. The angry passions of dif- 
 
 2 
 
14. 
 
 fering Christians were stilled for the season, to be concentrated upon 
 one object, with increased energy and force. 
 
 That the citizens of the United States, and that Christians of all de- 
 nominations throughout the world may understand the principles under 
 which this Association was formed, the writer will refer to the saluta- 
 tory Address, issued immediately subsequent to its formation. In that 
 document, which has all the merit of a reverence for antiquit}', since 
 there is not one idea, but what has been reiterated again and again, 
 there is a marginal note in the following language : — 
 
 " The secular papers frequently appeal to iluir leaders to aid in supporting 
 Roman Catholic Orphan Asylums. An orphan is an object of sympathy to 
 every feeling heart : but we are really doing the?e helpless children a kindness 
 by assisting to bring them up in the errors of Popery ] and are not these very 
 children to be hereafter employed as jjriists and jjujjs in disseminating Ro- 
 manism ?"* 
 
 It is not asked that a strict interpretation be given to the M'eight 
 of these words. Take them as they are and in their primary significa- 
 tion, and what is their amount 1 Is it not that the sins of the parents 
 are to be visited upon the children ; not by God himself who has re- 
 served this exercise of fearful justice, but by the Avretched though pre- 
 suming creatures of his hand '? Orphans made so by the ordination of 
 High Heaven, — the poor pitiable objects of sympathy with all tliat 
 bear the form of manhood, be they Christian or Heathen, — fatherless 
 children, poor and weak, homeless and wandering, are forbidden to be 
 relieved ; are to be denied the " cup of cold water," or the hard crust 
 which may keep from starvation and death, at the suggestion of these 
 " anointed of the Lord :" — these meek and peaceful and humane fol- 
 lowers of the Lamb ! Orphans are to perish and rot on the highway, 
 and no relief is to be extended : because the daughter of early sorrow, 
 may become the inmate of a convent ; the son of early grief, may in 
 the course of Providence, become a Catholic priest I As if the religion 
 of the Roman Catholic, truly possessed of all its abominations, which 
 its opponents bring against it, is not better than no religion ; is not bet- 
 ter than profligacy and crime. As if it would be more humane that 
 these orphans should become the inmates of penitentiaries, through the 
 want of common charity, than the devoted residents of cloisters, or 
 the ministering servants of Cbristian sanctuaries. 
 
 It is not known by the writer, who is the author of this Address; 
 and therefore no personal feelings can be supposed to be operative. 
 The paper is taken, without any or the least reference to its individual 
 source of production: and the question is therefore boldly put forth, 
 not what Christian, but what human being, not totally lost to shame, 
 will dare to acknowledge that he has penned it ? Who would confess 
 in this age, that he has pn^sumed to direct the channel, or limit 
 the bounds of human sensibilities and charitable feelings'? What 
 Cbristian man is that, who has ever read that the exercise of those 
 heaven-derived syni])athies of the h(^art, especially of the renewed 
 convei'tcd heart, — shall place the benevolent subject of them at the 
 right hand of the Eternal Jtidge, because he " took the stranger in," 
 because he ministered, though even a Samaritan, to the Jvw in his af- 
 fliction, — will come forth and say that he can justify this outrage 
 against Religion, against humanity, ngainst decency 1 If the writer, 
 whoever he may be, can do this, although with quivering lips and 
 
 * rrom itifi)riTi;ition it nppears, that sinco ))ie r6tal)lis^liniriit of llie I'cmalo ()r|)haii 
 AHjhim, a pcrifulol thirty. five jears, onli/ one of iho orphans Ims bucoiiu; a Sitiicr i>f 
 Charity — not one has become a A'wn .' 
 
15 
 
 blanched cheeks, then is he a meet companion for the reprobate spirits 
 that fired the temples of the mighty and merciful Jehovah ! 
 
 It is distressing to the heart to note this cruel admonition of Protes- 
 tant leaders to their followers, in respect to the objects of a discrimi- 
 nating charity, — this restricting of a virtue, which in its exercise, is to 
 know no arbitrary, much less any sectarian regulations. But how ad- 
 ditionally distressing is it to the Protestant observer, to refer to the 
 conduct of Roman Catholics in the very same city, which bears the 
 imprint of the address of the Protestant Association ! When the 
 dreadful, and death-dealing pestilence, the Asiatic Cuolkra, appeared 
 in Philadelphia in the year IS 32, the writtu- knows that in the midst of 
 the alarm and terror, which the awful scourge occasioned among the 
 people, that the active exertions of at least one Catholic priest, became 
 the theme of praise and honor upon every lip. That servant of a Di- 
 vine Master has now been called to his account ; and in his tomb he 
 cannot heed this nuMnorial of his evangelical work of love and mercy. 
 But it should be told noAv ; for his communion is now systematically 
 assaulted, and pronounced to be anti-Christian. It must be told now, 
 and indeed for ever ; — aye, so long indeed as genuine religion, as pure 
 charity, as Gospel benevolence can claim a single admirer; or so long 
 as there be one son or daughter of misery, that needs protection or a 
 friend. 
 
 With confusion of face, yet with impartial justice before men and 
 angels, the writer will state that in the season of the above terrible 
 scourge, the Rev. Mr. Hurley, Priest of St. Aus:ustinc''s, converted the 
 Rectory, then in his occupancy into a Cholera Hospital, and placed it 
 under the control of the proper authorities. The doors of his quiet 
 home were thrown wide open; and unmindful of the inconvenience 
 to vrhich such an act subjected him, he not only invited the guardians 
 of the City's health to deposit the victims of the pestilence in his 
 house, but himself, was employed without intermission in seeking out 
 the wretched creatures upon Avhom the dreadful disease had fallen I 
 Every room in his mansion was appropriated to this divine work ; — 
 his own chamber was given to the dying, and that stud i/, where he had 
 learned his Master's will, was made the practical commentary of the 
 judgment, he had formed of it. Out of three luindred and sixty-seven 
 patients which had been received in this private Asylum of a heavenly 
 charity, fort y-cii^ht only were Romnn Catholics, — the remainder were 
 professing Protestants. The appeal is now made, not to the judgments 
 nor the preferences of sectaries and bigots, but it is addressed to Chris- 
 tians, who are so because they have read their Bibles and are go- 
 verned by them and not by the creeds of this or that denomination, 
 — the appeal is made to such ; can you hesitate in awarding justice for 
 such a noble, such a truly religious act, to its performer, be he called !)y 
 whiitevt'r name he may .' When the question is rendered, then go to 
 that Rectory, and mark that it is now in ruins, — that the very Hospital 
 has been burnt by miscreants, who dared to profane the name of Pro- 
 testantism, when they applied the torch to the home of Catholic 
 priests. 
 
 In that same year of pestilence and woe, the Sisters of Charity, un- 
 sought and unbidden, left their retirement and healthy residence in 
 Emmettsburg, Maryland, and came to this afillcted City. They came, 
 on what was truly a mission of charity ; a genuine Gospel charity. 
 They tendered their valuable services, which the public authorities 
 
16 
 
 gladly accepted. With their lives in their hands, they were incessant 
 in their labour of love and mercy. No danger affrighted them'; no toil 
 ever caused them to pause in their devoted exertions. The communi- 
 ty that they had immeasurably benefitted, were deeply sensible of their 
 services ; and our civic officers, not only expressed their gratitude, but 
 offered any recompense to themselves and their order. Their reply 
 was worthy of Christians ; and none but sincere, faithful Christians 
 could have rendered such a one. They laboured, they said, in the cause 
 of religion ; in behalf of their suffering fellow creatures and in obedi- 
 ence to their engagements. They had done no more than their duty, 
 and even that imperfectly. Their reward was to be apportioned by 
 the God whom they had endeavored to serve, by benefitting His crea- 
 tures, and under no circumstances could they accept for themselves, 
 or their church, or their order, any recompense. 
 
 And how has this work of charity been repaid, in the very city that a 
 few years since was loud in its praise and acknowledgments towards 
 these ladies ? How has Philadelphia requited their deeds of mercy, 
 their labours of love '? Such singleness of motive, such purity of ac- 
 tion, and such an amount of good, which they were enabled to per- 
 form, it should seem, would disarm the most maddened bigot ; would 
 demand an exercise of charity, even to the utmost, towards errors of 
 doctrine held by these faithful creatures of a merciful God. Even to 
 deny to them the meed of praise would have been the ungrateful task 
 of the most reprobate, infidel heart ; and he who might attempt to de- 
 preciate their services, would deservedly be regarded, as lost to all gra- 
 titude, to the sense of shame, and of all respect for any of the virtues 
 of the heart. 
 
 But more than this has been done ! The very retreat of these Sis- 
 ters of Charity has been fired, and it now lies in ruins I Its black- 
 ened walls tell the tale, at which the heathen himself would shud- 
 der. There they are ; the monument of our infamy, the evidence 
 of our ingratitude ; the damning proof of our injustice and cru- 
 elty. There they stand, the mournful evidence of the influence 
 over unregenerate hearts, which principles, such as those set forth by 
 the Protestant Association, can exercise. Orphans, that the roaming 
 savage would compassionate, are not to be relieved, though they cry 
 for help, because you may be instrumental in gathering them from the 
 highways and hedges to become servants of a benevolent and kind and 
 holy Redeemer ; and the dwellings of helpless women, consecrated to 
 the work of mercy ; who are by sacred \ ows, the companions to the 
 sick, and the visiters to the pallet of suffering, are to be burnt, because 
 they pronounce not the Sliibbolrth of a sect I 
 
 Of this association, this Protestant Association, of this proscriptive 
 measure, — of the spirit of religious persecution which animates them, 
 the writer with ditficulty refrains from mentioning importants facts 
 and evidence. He leaves it for the prescmt ; but in due time the Chris- 
 tian public shall be made acquainted with the nleans and course pur- 
 sued by its leaders, in order that they may understand its object. 
 What that object is, "he who runs" can easily comprehend. If it can 
 be sanctioned, by the calm and considerate portion of the Christian 
 public, then indeed has the design of the ever blessed Gospel of Christ 
 been overlooked. If one body of Christians can band together, to give 
 united o])position to a single communion of fellow Christians, and pro- 
 claim their pm-pose, to ^var with them until they desert, what these 
 
17 
 
 presumino; judgos would pronounco, grievous errors: — if this can be 
 done M'ilhout exciting censure from all who " are of Christ," then 
 may we well lament the weak(>nlng of tlie bonds of sacred fellowship, 
 and bitterly mourn over the want of that love towards our brethren, 
 which is the very bond of perfection. ^Vell may the unbeliever then 
 scoff, and the gain-sayer ridicule both our ])rofession and practice ; and 
 well too may the enemies of the faith of Jesus point t(j the professing 
 disciples of the meek and lowly Saviour, and ask, is this the Christian- 
 ity of which you vaunt ? 
 
 EARLY ACTION OF THE CONTROLLERS OF THE PUBLIC 
 SCHOOLS IN PHILADELPHIA, IN RECxARD TO SECTARI- 
 ANISM. THE ACTION OF BISHOP KENRICK ; RE- 
 SPONSE OF CONTROLLERS. AGITATION OF THE BI- 
 BLE QUESTION. NATIVE AMERICAN PARTY; ITS 
 
 SECTARIAN CHARACTER; POLITICAL OBJECT ONLY 
 SECONDARY. CHARACTER OF POPULATION IN KEN- 
 SINGTON : OUTBREAK THEREIN. 
 
 The feelings and dispositions of the people of Philadelphia have, 
 until within a few years, been decidedly adverse to religious ao"itation 
 and much more, to sectarian strife. The calm and meek bearin<T of 
 the large Society of Friends in our city, ex{U-cised a strong and happy 
 influence upon all classes and denominations, and the moral effect was 
 an infusion of charitable forbearance, especially remarkable in a com- 
 munity, divided as much as any other into various sects and distinct 
 societies. 
 
 Unfortunately, however, the respect for social order and reverence for 
 the laws as well as conventional proprieties from man to man, have 
 rapidly become weakened, and for a season, a reckless spirit of resis- 
 tance to former regularity has been evidenced. As a native of this 
 district, the writer has had opportunities for deciding as to the causes 
 of this misrule, which unfortunately too extensively pn^vails amono- 
 his fellow-citizens. Were he appealed to for a reason why the City 
 of his birth has thus degenerated from the elevated rank which she once 
 proudly held, he would atiswer without pr(>judic(>, but in calm and \'et 
 fearless truth, that to the immigration of adventurers frt):n other States 
 and particularly from the Eastern, must be placed in no small measure, 
 the present distracted state of the community. He knows that he is 
 calling down upon his head the noisy and declamatory condenmation 
 of itimrnnt patriots, and Iradin^; theorists. But he heeds very little 
 their noise and censure. He, however, will point to facts ; "and let 
 them be considered and W(>ighed, in order that he may be sustained in 
 his deliberate views. And what are these facts? It is answered, that 
 an overwhelming majorit}^ of the Editors' of our public papers are fo- 
 reigners, — that is, foreigners to Pennsylvania ; men who have come 
 here without any sympathies for our State, with pre-formed notions of 
 the superior excellence of the institutions of the places of their births, 
 
18 
 
 and with no object, but to trade their political and religious principles, 
 as a pedlar would trade his wares. They M'ould force upon our peo- 
 ple their own, peculiar institutions; institutions which they regard as 
 superior to those of the whole world, and which contain the trebly dis- 
 tilled essence of all wisdom and pure religion. Let the dogmatical 
 course of this delectable tribe of speculating editors be examined, and 
 it will be seen, that according to their judgment no good can come 
 from that very Nazareth, in which they have planted themselves, in 
 order to secure to themselves what to them is the chief good. 
 
 In confirmation of this assertion, the writer will refer to the agita- 
 tion of the Abolition question ; and which resulted in the riotous burn- 
 ing of the Pennsylvania Hall. It is one case, brought forth out of 
 many that might be named, in which this foreign influence \vas ope- 
 rative. For what Philapelpuian was it that Avas prominent in the 
 organizing of this fanatical body of Anti-Slavery men ? Look over the 
 list of their managers, and how many are native born citizens of our 
 once quiet, peaceable city ? And yet this city is to be disgraced by 
 the inflammatory and insulting proceedings of those from afar I Look 
 at the agitators, the leaders, and orators of the "Native American par- 
 ty ;" and how many of them, in proportion to the great bulk of their 
 members, are native Philadelphians ? Is our degraded metropolis to be 
 forever infested with such men and such proceedings ? Is it to be for- 
 ever selected by the wild bigots, blindly wedded to every abstract no- 
 tion, as the arena upon which to fight their battles, or to storm and fire, 
 with their senseless, but exciting harangues? Is Philadelphia to be 
 the war-field for every faction and j^arty, be their principles and ob- 
 jects what they may ; and when outrage and violence result, are her 
 peaceable and quiet-loving inhabitants to be branded as fellow mob- 
 bites \ 
 
 It would seem that such is the opinion of those who are not Penn- 
 sylvanians. Who knoM^s not that only a few months since a Protes- 
 ■ tant Bishop of one of the Eastern Dioceses, presumed to take the con- 
 sciences of our good citizens into his holy keeping, by announcing his 
 purpose to deliver a course of discourses against the doctrin(>s of the 
 Church of Rome 1 Regardless of the courtesies of life, of the decen- 
 cies of secular regulations, he came from the East into the jurisdiction 
 of a brother Bishop, vuiinvited and uncalled for, to open his port folio 
 of valuable information as to the danger which was impending over 
 Christendom. And who, that is a native Philadelphian, knoAvs not 
 that the majority of the editors of our secular press, — the majority of 
 the ianatical leaders of every new measur(^, — the slri>ngth aiid force of 
 certain parties and factions, political and religious, are these same fo- 
 reigners, these aliens to Pennsylvania-sympathies and feelings? 
 
 Is the enquiry made, will you dare to limit "JNativ(^ rights" to 
 States, and pronounce those foreigners \\\\o have been born in the 
 United States / It is em])liatically re])lie(l in th(> allirmative. The 
 riots in the cit}' are now being considered ; and it has been asserted, 
 they Avere occasioned by religious intolerance and persecution. The 
 proscriptive course was impelled by sectarian feelings ; and if they, 
 who Avere under their influence, forgot that the " Romish ])aplst" Avas 
 a creature of the same God that formed him, — Avhy shall the dishonor- 
 ed Philadelphian forget that they Avho drove this papist to desperation, 
 
19 
 
 were not Philadelphlans ? The Native Ameuican party contracted 
 the circle of their regards ; they first shut out from their fold, those 
 that the Gospel of Christ, and the Constitution of the country embraced 
 in common with themselves ; and will they presume to find fault with 
 a Jiative Philndelphian, when he calls upon his fellow natives, to draw 
 the cords still closer, and be a little more exclusive ? Princi{)les of 
 their justice can never be injured by their being extended to the ut- 
 most ; let the world decide whether this has been carried too far 1 
 
 In evidence of the equity of the prevailing views of Philadelphians 
 in respect to the rights of conscience, the following document is given. 
 From its date, it will be seen that the regulations Avere adopted at a 
 time of perfect calm and quiet. No occasion had produced it, but 
 what is stated therein ; and it is well known, that when published it 
 was universally praised for the correctness of its principles. Let it be 
 well weighed and considered ; for it will be necessary to refer to it 
 hereafter. 
 
 " Chamber of the Controllers of Public Schools, ) 
 First School District of Pennsylvania. j 
 ''Resolutions passed December 9th, 1834-. 
 
 " Whereas, The Controllers have noticed, that the practice exists in 
 some of the Schools of introducing religious exercises, and books of a 
 religious character, whicli have not been recommended or adopted by 
 this Board in the lessons prepared for the use of the scholars, and 
 believing the use of such exercises or books may have a tendency to 
 produce an influence in the Schools of a sectarian character, 
 
 It is Resolved, That this Board, as conservators of the rights of Pa- 
 rents or Guardians of children, committed to the care of Teachers, 
 employed according to law, for the purpose of public education, are 
 bound to preserve those rights unimpaired. 
 
 Resolved, That the Constitution of the State of Pennsylvania, 
 which has provided for the establishment of Public Schools, has also 
 wisely guaranteed the right of all to worsliip according to the dictates 
 of their conscience ; and as the parents of children have both by law 
 and nature the guardianship of them during their minority, so, they 
 alone are responsible for the effects of such guardianship; and their 
 right to impress the minds of their children with such views of a reli- 
 gious nature as they may think most important, ought not to be inter- 
 fered with, especially by a body exercising its autliority by virtue of 
 the laws of the Commonwealth. 
 
 Resolved, That as all sects contribute in the payment of taxes to 
 the support of Public Schools, the introduction of any religious or sec- 
 tarian forms as part of the discipline of the Schools, must have a ten- 
 dency to impair the rights of some — and that whilst this Board is con- 
 vinced of the utti-r impossibility of adopting a system of religious in- 
 struction that should mtM^ the approliation of all religious societies, 
 they are equally satisfied no injury need result to the pupils from con- 
 fining the instruction in our Schools to the ordinary branches of ele- 
 mentary education; inasmuch as ample facilities for religious improve- 
 ment are presented for the choice of parents or guardians, in Sabbath 
 Schools, and other establishments for that purpose, which are organized 
 and supported by various religious communities. 
 
20 
 
 Resolved, That the ground of universal benevolence is one on which 
 all sects or parties may meet ; and it must be on this ground alone, 
 that our Public Schools can be continued as a public good ; and in pro- 
 hibiting the introduction of religious forms in them, this Board will 
 invade the rights of none, but on the contrary, by so doing, it will 
 maintain the rights of all, and therefore 
 
 Resolved, That this Board cannot but consider the introduction or 
 use of any religious exercises, books, or lessons into the Public Schools, 
 which have not been adopted by the Board, as contrary to law ; and 
 the use of any such religious exercises, books or lessons, is hereby di- 
 rected to be discontinued." 
 
 It is impossible to read these Resolutions without a feeling of strong 
 approbation in the breast of every true American and Protestant. Yet just 
 and righteous as they are in their very spirit, such was the influence of 
 blind zeal and bigotry, that they were set at nought by certain teach- 
 ers in the Public Schools. Bishop Kenrick accordingly addressed the 
 following communication to the Board of Controllers : and the whole 
 tenor of his letter -will show that all which he required, was what 
 every Christian, under like circumstances, would feel himself called 
 upon to demand. 
 
 "TOTHK BOARDOFCONTROLLERSOFTllRPUnLK^ SCHOOLS 
 IN THE CITY AND COUNTY OF PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 "Gentlkmkn, — Sympathy for a respectulde lady who hasheen deprived for 
 many monlhs past of her only means of support, for following the dictates of 
 her cons(;ienc'e, and a solemn sense of duty to the Catholic community, whose 
 religious interests are intrusted to my guardiansliip, prompt me to submit re- 
 spectfully to your considera'ion the conscientious objections of Catholics to 
 the actual rejjulalions of tiie Public Schools. 
 
 Among them I am informed one is, that the teachers shall read, and cause 
 to be read, the Bible; by which is understood the version published by com- 
 mand of KinjT James. 'I'o this regulation we are forced to object, inasmuch 
 as Catholic children are thus led to view as authoritative a version which is 
 rejected by tiie church. It is not expected that I should state in detail the 
 reasons of this rejection. 1 shall only ^ay, that we are persuadf'd that several 
 books of Divine Scripture are wanted in that version, and that meaning of the 
 original text is not faithfully expressed. It is not incumbent on us to prove 
 either position, since we do not ask you to adopt the Catholic version for ge- 
 neral use ; but we feel warrantc^d in claiming that our conscientious scruples 
 to recognise or use the other, he resperiled. In Haltunore, the Directors of 
 the Public Schools have thought it their duty to provide Catholic children 
 with the (/atholic version. Is it too much for us to expect the same measure 
 of justice ? 
 
 The consciences of Catholics are also embarrassed by the mode of opening 
 and closing the School exercises, which I undrrstand is by the singing of 
 some hymn, or by prayer. It is not consistent with the laws and discipline of 
 the Catludic Church for their members to unite in religious exercises with 
 those who are not of her communion. We oiler up prayers and su|)|)lication3 
 to God for all men; w^e embrace all in the sincerity of Christian alTection ; 
 but we confine the marks of religious brotherhood to those who are of the 
 household of the faith. Under the influence of this conscientious scruple, we 
 ask that t'aiholic children be not re(|uired to join in the singing of hymns er 
 other religious exercises. 
 
 I liave been assured that several of the books used in the Public Schools, 
 and still more those contained in the libraries attached to them, conta n mis- 
 representations of our tenets, and statements to our |)rejudice, equally ground- 
 less and injurious. It is but just to expect that the books used in the 
 schools shall contain no oHensive matter, and that books decidedly hostile to 
 
21 
 
 our faith shall not, under any pretext, be placed in the hands of Catholic 
 children. 
 
 The school law, which provides that " the religious predilections of the 
 parents shall be respected," was evidently framed in the spirit of our C insti- 
 tution, which holds the rights of conscience to be inviolable. Public edu- 
 cation should be conducted on principles whidi will allbrd its advantages to 
 all classes of tiie community, without detriment to their religious convictions. 
 Religious liberty must be especially guarded in children, who, of themselves, 
 are unable to guard against the wiles or assault of others. I appeal, then, 
 gentlemen, with confidence, to your justice, that the regulations of the schools 
 may be modified so as to give to Catholic pupils and teachers equal rights 
 without wounding tender consciences. 
 
 For my interposition in this matter, besides the responsibility of my station, 
 J have specially to plead the assurance I have received from a respectable 
 source, that some desire had been expressed to know distinctly from me, what 
 modifications C.Tthoiics desire in the school system. It was also suggested 
 that an appeal of this kind would receive every just consideration from the 
 Board; and would anticipate etfectually the danger of public excitement on a 
 point on which tlie community is justly sensitive — the sacred rights of con- 
 science. 
 
 With oreat respect I remain, gentlemen, your obedient servant, 
 
 ° ^ FRANCIS PATRICK, Bishop of Philadelphia. 
 
 Philadelphia, 14lh Nov., 1842." 
 
 The Board of Control, after considering the request of Bishop Ken- 
 rick, passed the following Resolutions ; one of which however was an 
 entire nullity, inasmuch as there is no Catholic Bible, which has not 
 some brief comments. Yet believing that the high-minded and hono- 
 rable gentlemen of the Board, were not cognizant of the fact. Bishop 
 Kenrick made no complaint in respect to the restrictions. 
 
 " Resolved, That no children be required to attend or unite in the reading 
 of the Bible in the Public Schools, whose parents are conscientiously opposed 
 thereto. 
 
 "Resolved, That those children whose parents conscientiously prefer and 
 desire any particular vtriion of the I5ible, without note or comuient, lie fur- 
 nished with the same." 
 
 Who is the man, Protestant or Catholic Christian, that will not pro- 
 nounce these proceedings to have been perfectly equitable, such as 
 even was required by the case, and which, had they been strictly ob- 
 served, would have prevented any or the least ditiiculty. On their 
 appearance they were received by the public witli decided approbation; 
 and it was a cause of congratulation among our citizens that the ex- 
 citement occasioned by the same question in New York would be 
 avoided in Philadelphia. 
 
 But the reasonable expectation was not fulfilled. In the district of 
 Kensington the Resolutions of the Board of Control were disregarded 
 by one of the female teachers; and tlie provision in regard to Catholic 
 children openly and statedly set at nought. Conduct so disrespectful 
 to the authority that had appointinl her, and so subversive of the plain- 
 est principles of justic(> called for notice. Accordingly one of the 
 Directors of the section directed her attention to the existing regula- 
 tions, and requested an adherence to tliem. Tnis he did ; and no more 
 Noii LKSS ! In proof that he went no fiu-ther, his associate Directors, 
 all of whom were Protestants, sustained him in his action in the case! 
 But he was a Catholic : and this circumstance allbrded a fair opportu- 
 nity, as was supposed, for getting up an excitement on the Bible ques- 
 tion. Accordingly public meetings were called in the District and 
 
22 
 
 elsewhere. The minds of the people were abused with the report 
 that an attempt had been made to remove the Bible out of the Public 
 Schools, and a holy horror was expressed by individuals, who after they 
 had reached their majority, never read two consecutive chapters of the 
 sacred volume in their lives. The feelings of the people were ope- 
 rated upon by inflammatory addresses against " Roman Catholics," 
 " the Pope," " the Hierarchy of Rome," " Jesuits," " the Inquisition," 
 " priestly conspirators," &c. &c. &c. ! The storm had been raised, 
 and Protestant clergymen, not one of whom was a Philadelphian, suc- 
 ceeded by their violent language in making that storm a perfect Avhirl- 
 wind. Verily they have their reward ! Let them bear it with them, 
 when they stand before the Eternal Throne ! 
 
 This state of public feeling was considered highly favorable at the 
 time, for the forming of a new party in Philadelphia. Previously, 
 but little progress had been made by the Native Americans in organiz- 
 ing themselves generally throughout the County of Philadelphia ; but 
 the crisis that had now arrived seemed propitious. Meetings were 
 every Avhere called with the caption of " The Bible in the Public 
 Schools," and many enrolled themselves, who before had been indiffer- 
 ent to the (Wowed object of the Association. It is qualified as the 
 avowed object ; for let it be attempted to disguise the truth as it may, 
 the A'afive Americnn party is sectarian : decidedly sectarian. It is 
 not political ; and its leaders, they who are behind the curtain, dare 
 not before High Heaven declare that it is exclusively so. If it be so, 
 Avhy connect the Bible as the watch-word with the miserably wretched 
 trade, the higgling trade which has long been separated from any influ- 
 ence of religion, — the trade of polities'? If the Native American 
 party be not sectarian, why is it, that the standing theme of its foreign 
 orators and editors, is nothing but " Roman Catholics," " Irish Papists," 
 " degraded slaves of the Pope ?" If the Native American party be 
 not sectarian, how comes it that for months past in the vile organs of 
 this party, day after day, the leading editorials have been nothing but 
 the most abusive, and inflammatory, and vulgar tirades against " Irish 
 Papists?" If the Native American party be not sectarian, if it be 
 true; in its profession of opposition to all foreigners, how is it that it is 
 only against the " miscreant Irish" that they have opened their batte- 
 ries ? Are there no Protestant Irishmen amongst us? Yet not a Avord 
 is said against them. Are there no German Catholics and Protestants 
 amongst us? Yet they are never the objects of proscription. Are 
 there no English, and Scotch, and French in our community ? Who 
 has ever heard them pointed out by these exclusive patriots ? It has 
 been the constant change rung upon this alarm bell, "the Irish," " the 
 degraded Irish Papist." If none but Native Americans are to consti- 
 tute the party, how is it, that hordes of Irish Protestants have attended 
 their meetings, and have been welcomed with joy by these saviours of 
 their coimiry ! In a word, if " Native Americanism" be not sectarian, 
 how comes it, that two Catholic Chiirciies, one Catholic Seminary, 
 TWO Catholic Parsonages, and a Catholic Theological Library, 
 wiricii cannot be replaced in the widic world, have keen burnt ? 
 If these men are the only lovers of their country, how was it, that in 
 the sacking of the Rectory of St. Augustine's Church, the flag which 
 ])elongt'd to the Catholic Temperance Society, and which bore upon it 
 the effigy of the " Immortal Washington," was torn to shivers, and 
 then trampled upon in the mud ? 
 
23 
 
 The ceaseless abuses cast upon the " Irish Papists," by three secular 
 papers in Philadelphia, that are the violent organs of Native American- 
 ism, it could easily have been seen would beget measures of retaliation. 
 In respect to two of them, the writer has frequently heard it inquired 
 on the part of our sedate Protestant citizens, wh}"- it Avas that the pro- 
 per authorities did not interfere and prevent such violence and vulga- 
 rity and insult : and as regards the other, a general sorrow prevailed 
 that it should have degraded itself into a vehicle of religious intole- 
 rance. There was hardly an epithet of bitter scorn, hardly a term of 
 reproach and ridicule but " Irish Catholics" had applied to them ;. and 
 applied to them in a matter too, which of all others is the nearest and 
 dearest to the human heart. They must have been more or less than 
 men, did they not feel deeply the indignity and injustice cast thus upon 
 them. If they were a "degraded" portion of our population, could 
 they be made to rise in moral character by taunts, and jeers, and con- 
 temptuous terms ? If they were " stupid," " slavish," and " supersti- 
 tious," " the lit creatures for Jesuitical Priests," why had they not been 
 more enlightened by Protestant England, that has had the care of them 
 and has long received their tythes and taxes ? Are we to abuse our 
 fellow creatures, and attribute to them the worst qualities, the most 
 licentious and intemperate passions, and then complain that 
 "Their miscreant yells conie through the shu(idfrin<r air, 
 B'lt all unseen, tlie goad and liuotted tliong 
 Which lash lliem on, and drive them to des[)air."' 
 
 After months of this inflammatory abuse by the papers and orators, 
 clerical and lay, above alluded to, and when the feelings of " Irish 
 Papists" had been most cruelly outraged, a meeting of Native Ameri- 
 cans was called in the very heart of their population, for the purpose 
 of forming a ward association. It was in Kensington ; a large majori- 
 ty of the residents in the Western section of which district, are Irish. 
 These are divided into two religious factions, that cherish towards each 
 the most vindictive prejudices ; born with them, and sedulously kept 
 alive in all their strength. The feud has been brought over to this 
 land by them, and to its existence are to be rt'ferred the frequent out- 
 breaks which have occurred in that division of Philadelphia. They in- 
 deed are generally attributed to sfj-ikes for prices among the Irish hand- 
 loom weavers : but it is acknowledged by the more candid among 
 them, that the principal cause is the religious dissensions among the 
 Irish Protestants or Orangemen and the Irish Catholics. The former 
 have manifested the greatest sympathy for Native Americanism, though 
 foreigners by birth equally with the Irish Catholics. Put the writer 
 has seen niTmbers of these Orangemen taking part at the Bible meetings 
 and gatherings of Native Americans : and whether members or not of 
 the latter body, they seemed to have and to exercise all their privi- 
 leges, with marked approbation. The agitation of the question of na- 
 tive claims was there hailed by these Irish Protestants as a proper occa- 
 sion for making every hostile demonstration against their old enemies : 
 and the course pursued b}^ the Native American party in ringing the 
 constant peals against the "Pope," &c. &c. will show that these 
 Orangemen, foreigners as they are, and about as good and as bad as 
 Irish Catholics, have won for themselves an immunity from })roscrip- 
 tion and abuse. 
 
 In proof of the existence of this bitter and unyielding hate among 
 these Irish foreigness, let the following few facts be brii'lly stated : At 
 the time when the rioters were at the height of their maddened fury, 
 
24 
 
 and when St. Michael's Church was in flames, — when portions of the 
 mob could be found in various parts of Kensington, a temporary frame 
 chapel used by German Catholics, hardly four squares off from the Se- 
 minary, was never approached. The congregation was composed of 
 " ignorant Papists," but they were not " Irish Papists." At the meet- 
 ing of Native Americans in the Kensington market house, a yellow 
 silk handkerchief, for want of an orange one, was attached to a stick, 
 and raised on the roof, amid the cheers of hundreds, and with the 
 taunting exclamation, " there's the flag that was never struck !" And 
 at the very time that St. Michael's was burning, " Boyne Water," the 
 favorite tune of Irish Orangemen, and the cause of shedding oceans of 
 blood in Ireland, was struck up on a drum ! 
 
 Such is the population in Kensington, among whom the meeting was 
 held on Friday, 3d of May. Some disorder took place, but nothing 
 more seriously than unfortunately occurs, more or less of late, at all 
 public assemblages. It is pretended that in the^confusion which arose, 
 the national flag was trampled upon ; but it is as positively denied that 
 any such indignity was offered ; that on the contrary, the flag wasthrown 
 down without design by the rush which took place. The meeting thus 
 dissolved, adjourned to the intersection of Germantown road and Second 
 street, where it was re-organized, addressed by two Protestant cler- 
 gymen, and after quietly transacting their business, peaceably adjourned. 
 
 It is not attempted to justify this outrage upon a meeting of citizens. So 
 far from it, the writer would invoke the severest punishment upon the oflend- 
 ers. It is high time that puhlic order be sustained at any and every sacrifice 
 — and that sacred rights be not taken away by mobs and rioters. Hut it is 
 with sorrow said that the subsequent course of the Native Americans was 
 marked by censurable proceedings. The organs of the party employed tiie 
 most exciting language ; their most violent paper of Monday, the Gih of IMay, 
 lieaded the account of llie affair of the preceding Friday, with the following 
 caption — "The American flag trampled upon by Irish Papists;" and this loo 
 served for the lettering of the standard borne thrnujih the streets. Another 
 meeting was called at the same place, where the first disturbance occurred ; 
 and the chain of terrible events which followed is known to the public. They 
 have covered our city with disgrace, have vitally injured the cause of religion, 
 have caused a fearful loss of human life, and made widows and orphans send 
 up their wailings to the Throne of 'Tlini, who seeth !" 
 
 A respect for the laws and their ministers, will not permit an extension of 
 remarks, nor a statement of the events of the three terrible days in Philadel- 
 phia. The Grand liique.-t of the County is now receiving testimony in rela- 
 tion to these distressing, awful doiniis ; and a sense of propriety would alone 
 forbid an interference with their province. The result of their investin;ation 
 is anxiously looked for, since tiieir means for arriving at the truth of the of- 
 fenders, who first resorted to fire arms, is enjoyed by that body. Let tiiat re- 
 sult be what it may, the painful fact will remain, and long, long remain; that 
 Philadeljihia has been disgraced in the view of all. Humanity has been out- 
 raged, liv(>s have been sacrificed in a civil war, property to an immense atnount 
 lias been destroyed, sanctuaries for the worship of a IMerciful Jehovah sacri- 
 legiously liurnt, and the retreat for pious women razed to the dust ! And a'l 
 this, through sectarian ft^uds ; all througli the bitter revilings of religionists. 
 Should it appear that Irish Catholics fir.st shot at their fellow-men, let the ut- 
 most ri:;or of the law be extended to them. Let them expiate their damniug 
 guilt by a stern penally, liui yet let certain I'roti stants, Ameriran and Irish, 
 reconcile it to their cunsciences, how far they are accountable for the dreadful 
 results ! And in the time to come, may all, Protestant and Catholic, within 
 Ibis once happy country, leaves to their Final .lodge "the right." and live 
 whilst on eartli with each other as fellow-citizens of a land that Heaven has 
 largely blessed, and which man alone can render insufficient for enjoying the 
 greatest nieicies 
 
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