to their reason or prejudices; and that there ex- | Green's first article would be quite a blot ists a perfect unity of faith in the United States, upon our columns, but that it sometimes amongst religionists of all professions, as to the wisdom and policy of that cardinal feature of all is lawful to devote a little of our space to our constitutions and frames of government, both entertaining matter. those of the United States and the separate states of the Union, by which the inestimable right is formally recognised, and the enjoyment of it is inviolably secured." This letter of Mr. Van Buren was published in the Miscellany of September 4th, 1830. -Eds. Miscellany. LETTER FROM THE POPE. We find in the Journal des Debats, (Paris) the following letter from the Pope to President Boyer: To our dear Son, the Illustrious and Honourable BOYER, President of the Republic of Hayti. GREGORY XVI., Pontiff. Many and unanimous accounts, as well as the correspondence of your ministers, have apprised the Chair of Rome, which, by the will of God, we now occupy, of the zeal which distinguishes your excellency, and of your sincere desire to cherish and consolidate the Catholic religion, which has been rendered by the constitution of Hayti, the religion of the State. These sentiments, worthy of a Christian and of an enlightened prince, have filled us with the more lively satisfaction because we hope that they will advance the glory of God and the eternal salvation of man; that they will constitute a title of honour to yourself in life, and will obtain for you a great and glorious recompense here. after. In former years the Apostolical Chair of Rome has laboured, by correspondence and by missions, to promote the interests of the faith in the illustrious Republic of Hayti: but, owing to the distance and various other circumstances, nothing definitive has yet been done. We have now de termined to send near your excellency our le gate, the venerable brother John England, Bishop of Charleston, in the United States of North America, whose intelligence and piety are well known, that he may treat with your excellency respecting the affairs of the Catholic religion throughout the republic; that he may deliberate with your excellency respecting the choice of pastors; that he may form a national clergy; establish ecclesiastical discipline, and provide for the spiritual wants of the people; that by your excellency's aid and favour, our said legate may execute his task successfully. He is invested with the requisite authority, and we recommend him to your protection. In the hope that this will be extended, we cordially bestow on your excellency, and the republic which you govern, the Apostolical benediction. Given at St. Peter's, at Rome, sealed with the seal of the fisherman, the 20th of May, (4,) A. D. 1834, and of our Pontificate, the third. GASPAR GASPARINI. Our readers will agree with us that the following ludicrous echo of General Duff From the Southern Observer," Baltimore, Sept. 11th, 1840. 66 BISHOP ENGLAND'S LETTER. "We have always aimed at carefully abstaining from meddling in politics, and we think the Lutheran Observer has succeeded in maintaining as perfect a neutrality in this respect as most other religious papers. Nor do we intend at present, or in future, to lend our columns to the purposes of any of the great political parties in our country. We have, indeed, our private preferences, but these we deem it most prudent to keep to ourselves, or at least to avoid spreading before our readers or advocating in our columns. We do not, however, regard it as our duty to hold our peace when the official influence of Popish dignitaries is brought to bear upon political questions in this country. We care not to which political party Romish bishops and priests belong; they have no more right to exert their ecclesiastical influence in behalf of the interests have. Nineteen-twentieths of them are foreignof their favourite party than Protestant ministers ers, many not even naturalized, and all of them owe allegiance to a foreign potentate. The Pope is their lord and master, and his interests are, with them, paramount to all other interests. Whenever Popish bishops and priests, therefore, openly enter the field of politics, and essay, to sway our elections, we shall consider ourselves not only justifiable but bound to resist It matthem by all lawful and proper means. ters not with us to what party of politicians they join themselves, we shall equally oppose them. We are free-born Americans, and it is not for unnaturalized foreigners, the vassals of a European tyrant, to dictate to us in regard to the administration of our political affairs. "Bishop England, an Irishman of not very ancient importation, a legate of his Holiness at Rome, a man of whose talents the Romanists are astonishingly proud, and whose praise is constantly in their mouths, but whose plethoric habit of body, and broad, full, ruddy face, furnish abundant manifestations that the animal nature preponderates immensely over the intellectual; this bishop, who arrogantly signs himself with a cross or dagger, † JOHN, BISHOP OF CHARLESTON,* (in South Carolina,) is in the field of politics, and has undertaken to instruct us in matters appertaining to the administration of our free, republican government. "We will not here repeat what we have stated in another article, that there is a well-arranged "Would it not be more modest, and certainly more consistent with truth, to style himself Bishop of the Roman Apostacy in Charleston?' or does he wish to intimate that the Protestant churches in Charleston also owe him allegiance, and that he is looking forward to the period when all those churches will be brought under his subjection? Unless this is the case, upon what ground does he usurp the right of denominating himself John, Bishop of Charleston ?'"' plan, on the part of Catholic monarchies in the by persons who were neither ladies nor genold world, to revolutionize our government by tlemen. Our readers will form their own the introduction of Popish emigrants; nor will we now remind our readers that we consider the opinion as to the category in which the edimoney expended in getting up schools, as well tor of the "Lutheran Observer" should be as that used in sending pauper and other Catho-placed. He seems to have studied in the lic population to this country, as part of a system same school with the editors of the "Balwhich, looking to the nature of our institutions, timore RELIGIOUS and LITERARY Magazine." contemplates a great religious as well as civil What does our friend General Green think revolution by means of imported Popish voters. of the parody of his article. But we will state that it is said that Bishop England has been designated by him who blasphemously professes to be the successor of St. Peter as INQUISITOR-General of the United States; and his electioneering letter is not calculated to remove the fears of those who suspect that there is too much truth in the report. "Bishop England talks in his letter about 'republican simplicity;' what a burlesque for a man who is the willing vassal of the proudest and most voluptuous and gorgeous potentate on earth, (we mean the Pope, of course,) to prate to us about republican simplicity; a man who occasionally appears in the Cathedral in this city, decked out in all the costly trappings and rich and extravagant vestments of priestly pride, of foreign manufacture; whose fingers sparkle with golden rings set in with diamonds, and whose whole appearance and habit palpably indicate the most luxurious living; a man who delights to figure in foreign courts and who plays his highest games in the Vatican at Rome: for such a man to gossip to us about republican simplicity, and to undertake to instruct us how to remedy the political evils, imaginary or real, which are said to afflict our country!-how supremely ridiculous, how insolent, how hard to bear with due composure! 6 "Our indignation on this subject arises wholly from the unwarrantable officiousness of this foreign prelate in the internal affairs of our country. It is a question of not the slightest moment with us what political views he may espouse; if he is a citizen of the United States he has just as good a right as any other to entertain and express his opinion, but not so as to bring his ecclesiastical standing into action for or against either party. What would be thought of a very distinguished and influential Protestant minister of the Gospel, who would use his official influence, whether in the pulpit or out of it, whether by writing letters for the press or by preaching, to the advantage or prejudice of the present administration? He would be condemned and despised by the great mass of the people; then let the same penalty attach to dagger JOHN, Bishop of Charleston.' Verily, he deserves a threefold portion of the odium due to such misconduct, because no Protestant minister can so completely control the sentiments of his congregation as can a Popish priest or bishop those of his servile fol lowers. "But we have detained our readers too long with our own reflections. The following is the reply of Bishop England to an invitation to the dinner recently given, by the democratic citizens of Columbus, to Judge Colquit; the discerning reader will distinctly perceive the spirit of the Jesuit betrayed in every sentence." We have known public journals conducted by gentlemen, some that were conducted by ladies, and some that were conducted SECTION VI. CATHOLIC VOTERS. BEFORE leaving the charge made upon the Catholics, of filling the land with their paupers, we shall draw General Green's attention to a few additional facts. The corporations of our seaports are very careful in requiring bonds and good security from the masters of all vessels that bring foreign passengers to their wharves, to insure payment of any expenses to which alms-houses, poor-houses, or hospitals may be put by such passengers for a considerable period after their arrival. In most places the captains, finding this not a very pleasant nor a very safe mode of dealing, procured that, in lieu of the bond, a composition should be struck, generally from two to ten dollars per head. Inquiries have been made in Boston, New York, and other places, and upon investigation it has been demonstrated that a yearly profit of several thousand dollars was made by the city, by means of the composition thus levied those foreign Catholic paupers, as they have been insolently called. upon We have made inquiry in this city, and been informed by respectable commissioners of the poor-house, that it seldom happens, except in case of sickness, that one of those "Catholic imported voters," is found upon their list. In this state, being on the roll of the poor-house would operate as a disfranchisement. So far, then, from being a burden upon the country, the country taxes them upon their arrival, taxes them upon declaring their intention to become citizens, and taxes them a third time in being admitted to citizenship. And yet they are "imported paupers!" an article from the "Lutheran Observer," We have inserted on our columns this day the editor of which appears to us to claim the authorship of the offensive paragraphs to which General Green gave currency by copying them, affecting only to give the sentiments of others, without adopting them himself. We wish the happy pair joy in their union. General Green charges Bishop England with having sought to influence the Catholics as a body to vote for Mr. Van Buren. We have forborne to notice these letters, because, until the result of the Illinois elections, and the letter of Bishop England, we had seen nothing in the progress of the canvass to justify a belief that any attempt to bring the Catholics, as a body, to vote for Mr. Van Buren would receive the countenance of the Catholic clergy, or of any distinguished member of that body.' Pilot of Sept. 3. "It is only when we find those who exercise a spiritual control like that of Bishop England, putting aside his priestly robes, and entering the field of politics as he has done in this instance, that we feel called upon to examine how far that spiritual control is calculated to exercise an undue influence over the minds of men, and to call upon all good Catholics, as well as Protestants, to resist it."-Ibid. Let us now examine what havoc the Bishop has made in the field of politics, and how he has called upon the Catholics, as a body, to vote for Mr. Van Buren. General Green gives those proofs in his paper of the 7th of September. We shall give them in order. First. A son of the Secretary of State, who publishes a paper in Mobile, prints the Bishop's letter, and marks part of it in italics, to prove that the Bishop is for the administration. Therefore, the Bishop has entered the field of politics, having put off his priestly robes; and thus divested of the symbol of his spiritual character, he wields his spiritual influence to induce the Catholics, as a body, to vote for Martin Van Buren. Who will deny that General Green is an admirable logician? How clearly is his conclusion contained in his premises? Proof the second.-The Baltimore Sun enlightened the monumental city with the letter similarly italicised. Therefore The Council of Baltimore told the Catholics that each voter was bound in conscience to prefer the public good to his private interest in voting for public officers; and that each voter was to act an independent honest part, according to the dictates of his own conscience. The council moreover told them that the bishops themselves had different views, and had no right nor wish to influence the vote of any man. Bishop England was one of thirteen who subscribed to this declaration. The opponents of Mr. Van Buren proclaimed that all the mischief which afflicts the land, and all that is imagined to be in existence has been produced by Mr. Van Buren; Bishop England being asked if such be his opinion, says that he thinks Mr. Van Buren did not produce it, but that many very great men say that he did, but yet the Bishop's opinion is not changed. ded to religion, nor to voting, he is guilty of Therefore, though the Bishop never alluendeavouring to get the Catholics, as a body, to vote for Mr. Van Buren. Such is the logic of General Green! Now, Bishop England is the champion of Catholicism, and all the Catholics will follow him. This is another of the General's proofs. Yet in the very same article he informs us, that he is sustained in his assault upon Bishop England by "the intelligent Catholics of Baltimore, and especially by the eminent Catholic clergymen" of that city, who do not consider an attack upon Bishop England to be an attack upon the Catholic religion. We never said it was; but we do say that [talking about] foreign Catholic paupers, was; that insinuating that they were sent hither by the monarchs of Europe to destroy our liberties, was; that insinuating that the Catholic votes of this Union were in the pocket of the Pope's inquisitor, was; and we will demonstrate, that grossly as General Green has insulted Bishop England, he has treated the "eminent Catholic clergymen" of other places worse. Did General Green believe that the Catholics were so slavishly subservient to their "champion," when, on the 7th of September, he wrote?" He will be fortunate, indeed, if he escapes the censure of those who are in authority above him, for the abuse of the influence which his official station gives him." Did he not assail the Catholic Church when he called upon the Protestants to persecute the religion if it was found that Mr. Van Buren got a majority of votes in any place where Catholics were numerous? Did "the eminent Catholic clergymen" of Baltimore consider this to be merely "a censure upon Bishop England," and not an attack upon their religion, and upon the Catholic freedom of suffrage? Thus, it is plain that the Bishop's whole crime consisted in writing what he authorizes us to say he still thinks, that whatever real evils have fallen upon the country are derived from other sources, and not from the administration of Mr. Van Buren. And though, since General Green's assault, the Bishop thinks proper to use the right, which he will not forego, of expressing his preference, he defies any one to show that he has by any way whatever sought to influence any one under his spiritual charge to vote one way or the other, though his advice has been asked by many. General Green has vented all his rage It is of this, and not of supporting General Harrison, that we complain. against the Catholics, because of his greater | openly used by Protestant clergymen, and affection for them. Why can he not spare is there nothing of censure but for the a little for a large number of the clergymen Pope's inquisitor? This is the impartiality of various Protestant denominations who of our press. are praying and preaching for the opposed candidates? We could give him at least fifty from various sections of Georgia, and the larger number are eloquent for his own party? He need not come South. His colabourer in Philadelphia can probably favour him with the name of the subject of the following article: From the "United States Gazette," Sept. 25. "AWFUL TREATMENT OF A CLERGYMAN. “With such a heading, or caption, for it is very taking, we met a paragraph in the papers, which we thought would rouse the indignation of the press. Pulling a clergyman's nose, and kicking him from the pulpit, is worse than sacrilege,—and what is more, the clergyman was a Van Buren man. We were shocked to think that any Whig should be guilty of such an outrage, and felt determined to denounce the perpemust have appeared, thought we, winding his way up the crooked stairs of the pulpit, and laying violent hands and feet on a minister of the Gospel in the very midst of his ministerial labours, in the sober use of his legitimate, peculiar powers.' We read the paragraph more carefully, and found that a clergyman had been preaching and praying party politics in his pulpit, and some indiscreet young man had said that he ought to have his nose pulled and be kicked from the pulpit.' He was wrong, nevertheless there is nothing canonical in such gross applications-the scourge of small cords (of public opinion) should be applied to him who would make his ministry of peace a means of social war, and change the place of prayer to a den of party strife." trator of such an act. How like a demon he The next is a little specimen from Georgia. The Savannah Telegraph, of Sept. 15, informs us of a large Harrison meeting in Scriven County, at which the Van Buren men assisted. "The company having assembled at the court-house, under an arbour, "On motion of Col. A. S. Jones, the Rev. Peyton L. Wade was called to the chair, the Democrats not voting. "The chair announced the order of the day, viz.: Col. Gamble was to open, followed by Col. Lawson, Democrat, without being limited as to time, other speakers would be timed. "Col. Thos. Green moved that the Rev. Moses N. McCall be associated with the Rev. Peyton L. Wade in the chair, and to which motion the chair objected, on the ground that the motion was out of order, as the meeting was a Harrison meeting.'' It is not want of materials that prevents our furnishing the General as abundantly as he could desire. Now, here is direct clerical influence One word now for the influence of Bishop England, the "Catholic champion," the "grand inquisitor," and for the prospect of his carrying the vote of the Catholics as a body. The council which the General praises so much, says, and the General prints it, And here, beloved brethren, whilst we disclaim all right to interfere with your judgment and are far from entertaining the wish to control in the political affairs of our common country, you in the constitutional exercise of your freedom-we cannot, in justice to ourselves, refrain from addressing to you a few observations, equalcivil and political institutions, and the obligations ly demanded by the love that we bear to our of morality. You cannot but be aware that our cal parties which divide our national councils, own views and sentiments, respecting the politi are as little in harmony as your own, as those of any other religious body in our land." Will General Green charge the prelates with the publication of a lie? Is not this, then, plain evidence that there was as little chance of getting a consolidated Catholic vote as of getting a consolidated Protestant vote? Bishop England subscribed this declaration. How, then, could he expect a consolidated Catholic vote, even if he desired it? Would the bishops whose preferences differed from his, allow him such domination? mount. But Bishop England's influence is paraThe Pilot, of September 7th, says: "Bishop England's declaration of preference for the administration, becomes an exhortation and a solemn religious injunction from one who, if he is not the first in the church, cannot be called even the second in spiritual influence. He is known throughout the United States as the great champion of Catholicism; and it might well be supposed that such a letter, coming from such a source, would have an undue influence upon the consciences of all those who have been accustomed to look up to him as the great expounder of religious obligations." Does General Green mean to say that the other bishops regard the Bishop of Charleston as one whom they must follow? Did the Bishop's declaration of preference (which, by the by, he had not made in that letter) influence the intelligent Catholics of Baltimore and their eminent clergymen?" General Green says they adhere to him. We can have no objection. The Frederick City Examiner, of September 9th, a Harrison paper, forms, we think, a more This eminent divine, having recently written a letter declining an invitation to a public dinner, given by the friends of the administration to Mr. Colquitt, of Georgia, on the express ground of a determination not to take any part in political matters, the Van Buren party have foisted his letter into the public prints, and are circulating it in the form of handbills. What their immediate object can be, in doing this, it is hard to guess. The Bishop manifests a strong disinclination to be brought into the arena of politics, from a just belief that it would impair his ministry of peace and conciliation; and, although, in a portion of the letter there is a sentence which would seem to exonerate the administration, in the opinion of the writer, from the responsibility for the distress in our states,' it is yet expressed in very vague terms, and must be set down as one of those sweeping generalities which writers will sometimes indulge in, when their productions are not intended for the public eye, as, we think, was manifestly the case in this instance. But suppose we admit that the Bishop, being located in the heart of South Carolina, is tinctured with Van Burenism. What can be made of it? Do the party suppose, for a moment, that the members of his church are to be influenced in their politics by his position or preferences? If they do, it is a great mistake. If the truth were known, we think it highly probable that the Bishop is, even among the ministers of his own church, largely in the minority, in regard to his political preferences. We believe that threefourths of the clergymen of all denominations would be in favour of Harrison, if they took part in politics; and we are more fully convinced that, in the present canvass, the opinion of any minister in the country, as such, would have no more effect upon the politics of the people than upon a hail-storm. The people of this country are jealous of clerical interference with their political opinions, and hence it is that clergymen generally, have found it most expedient to abstain from any ac tive participation in the business of politics. Such was doubtless the spirit under which Bishop England wrote the letter in question, declining to take part in a public festival, and he will be much surprised to find that the administration party have dragged his name into the canvass to make political capital out of it." As far as we can learn, the Examiner has, so far as respects the clergy in his vicinity, and certainly, so far as regards the Bishop's own letter, given quite a correct view of the subject. We said that General Green insulted the Catholic clergy. We proceed to the proof. It is an insult to any man to invite him to do what you say does not become him, and to urge him to its performance by threats. General Green says that it would be unbecoming in the Catholic clergy to influence their flocks to vote, at the present election, for one candidate in preference to the other. General Green invites the Catholic clergy, his own eminent friends included, to influence their flocks to vote against Mr. Van Buren. the Catholic clergy, the propagation of their We are aware that, with a large body of religion, and what they believe to be the true faith, is of much more vital importance, than whether Mr. Van Buren or General Harrison is President. And we do not hesitate to avow, that we expect that a just regard for their higher obligations, as servants of a Master whose kingdom is not of this world, will prompt them to exert their influence to counteract Bishop England's misguided political zeal. The only way that they can counteract it, is to disabuse the laity, over whom his letter might have an influence in relation to the political question, and its bearing upon them as a society. We, therefore, believe that Bishop England's letter will have a political effect precisely the opposite of that intended. The clergy cannot but see, that if they rally for Mr. Van Buren, politically, it will rally the Protestants against them against their schools and their church. We do not believe that Bishop England is prepared for this." Such is the way in which General Green compliments his eminent clerical friends: "Come, gentlemen, Bishop England never canvassed any one, but I beg of you to degrade yourselves by getting votes for General Harrison; and if you do not, your church will be ruined." THE subject grows upon us, and each post brings us new proof of the correctness of our observation, that no other religious body in the United States is treated with more insolence than the Catholic body is; not only by that discreditable aggregate which assumes the title of the religious press, but by the political press and the political agitators of the land. How has General Green proclaimed a war of extermination against the Catholics? How has he denounced and insulted Bishop England, and |