""^aiHw^ ,ad "' ' 'i::^ YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY EDWIN J. BEINECKE, '07 FREDERICK W. BEINECKE, '09 S WALTER BEINECKE, '10 FUND The Gift of the Somerset Foundation TRUTH • AND CHARITY : A SUBJECT OF MEDITATION TOR THE EDITORS OF thorizes drunkenness —an assertion' which I hope, Gen tlemen J for the credit of your common sense, you are not ready to make. I atri vety far from denying that there are many in stances of persecution and cruelty practised by Roman Catholic sovereigns against Protestants; but, to be fair, we must ascribe their acts (in the reprobating of which, we heartily join with you) to the real cause, viz. to their own sanguinary disposition, or their ill-judged policy — but by no means to fhe Catholic Church, of which they pretended to be members. It is very true, then* that Queen Maty caused many Protestants to be put to death ; but it is absolutely false that she was bound to do so in consequence of the' prin ciples of the Roman Catholic Church, which she gro^ fessed. So far from it, we are even told by Burnet- (a Protestept, aftd ar declared enemy of Catholics) that Cardinal, Pole* the. President of tjieSyftod which was held Jn. Masy's- Feign* ffor the purpose of restoring the ancient, religion, strongly opposed the. measures of se verity proposed by many of; the; Queen's council. " He never seton the clergy to persecute heretics, but to re form themselves." Burnet Hjstt Reform* b. ii. p. 326. And Lingard, ip hisrHistory of England; o, 3,, vol. vii. p. 157 'i tells us that AJphonso di Castrov King Philip's oonfessor, in preaching before the court; loudly con demned the cruel proceedings adopted against Protest* ants, and pronounced them contrary not only to the text but to the spirit of the Gospel, ft was not by seyority' but by mildness, that; men, wore lo be brought, into th® foidof Christ.;,' upd it;waa the duty of the bishops*; not to seek the death, hut, to instruct the ignorance, ©f their misguided! brethren. If, then, notwithstanding the. advice of the Ciena to the wmrary, flfery persecuted' her Protestant subjects and ©fitorced\agaiast vamyi o( them the statute Zfe.5.*. reticp eomburende, which had; been passed bv-Rarlia'. not the Cathohc Church, Be blamed for those acts V 17 cruelty. I will only observe, by the wsy, that the num ber of those who suffered under Queen Mary for reli gion's sake, stated by David Hume (probably from Fox's Martyrology) at 277, is evidently much exaggerated, as many of them were qlearly guilty of high treason and .other capital offences. As I incidentally mentioned the statute De hteretieo comburendo, I think it necessary also to mention on what occasion the said statute was enacted ; for, being enacted by a Catholic Parliament, and sanctioned by a Catholie King, you, Gentlemen ? will no doubt consider it as a corroborating proof of your assertions concern ing the cruelty of the Roman Catholic Church. The above statute, then, was enacted against the wicked and seditious doctrines of Wickliffe, which were- very near bringing the whole kingdom of Great Britain, to destruction. The summary of his doctrine was — " If you can discover any mertal sin—that is, any signal violation of sobriety, chastity, piety, meekness, or humility, -in your Rector, Bishop, Magistrate, er Sovereign, you are at liberty to disclaim his authority, and te depese him, if you can." Vide Knyghlon Col. 2648. " You are not obliged to pay taxes, or tythes, or to regard any laws, unless the justice of them can bo demonstrated from scripture." Ibid. " The courts of justice cannot lawfully exact an" oath from -any witness, or, eonrirm the title of an estate to any person, far ,hjm and Itis heirs for ever." Ibid. Col. 2707. '•'.It is sinful for the Clergy to hold any temporal property." " All human actions happen bp unavoidable necessity.7* " It is unlawful to pray in churches, or to keep holy thd Lord's day. If ecclesiastics are guilty of any Bins, let their temporal priaces cut eff their beads : if the Prince himself be guilty of any sin, it is the business of the people to punish .him!" Now, Gentlemen! if you know any thing about the history of those times, you will recollect that tho 3 abominable doctrines of Wickliffe were not mere specu lative opinions — a mere harmless black and white. By the ministry of bis apostles and stump orators, John do B8 "" ~ IS Aston, Nicholas de Hereford, William Swinderby, John Purney, John Straw, John Ball, &c. &c, they were quickly disseminated through the mass of the people ; and, in four years from Wiokliffe's first preaching, (anno 1377,) produced that rank harvest of insurrection, murder, and civil war, with which the reign of Richard II. was disgraced. At one time, the rebels, to the number of two hundred thousand, under Wat Tyler, assembled at Blackheath, and were by John Ball, their chaplain, instigated to the commission of every crime, which they actually committed or endeayored to commit. Finally, these fanatics were subdued, and many of them executed,, not for their speculative heretical opinions, but for their rebellion, sacrilege, murders, &c. &c.,;* which (it is clearly .proved) werathe practical conse quences of those opinions.. T)r. Fiddes, a learned Pro-" testant divine, as well as the Protestant archbishop Parker, testify that the laws enacted against these inno vators were not enacted and enforced on account of their speculative opinions, considered purely as such, but on account of the dangerous tendency of those opinions, fop the safety of Government, &c, as proved by die above facts. I ask. you now, Gentlemen ? in the supposition that the same doctrines were attempted to be disseminated in this country, would our legislatures look on quietly, without interfering ? or would they not(nolwithstandi8g the most, .unbounded liberty of conscience ensured by the Constitution to every individual) — I ask, would they not, by the most severe laws, prevent the dissemination of principles so dangerous to the very existence of our Republic?, ahd would not our courts of justice inflict Severe puni'shinent upon those who should be found guilty of transgressing them ? , Is it not a curious. fact, Gentjemen ? that those mon- stee,rs in human flesh— < those murderers and sacrilegioBS TObbers, quoted above,, who were executed (I repeat it •ggainJi:,;no,t for; their; speculative opinions, hut) for 'their ww^d,, deeds, should by your martyrelogist, Fox, be exalted as martyrs in the sacred cause of religion' 19 * Such indeed,' says Dr. Heylin, a celebrated divine of the Protestant Church, ' such is the humor of some men, as to call every separation from the Church of Rome THE GOSPEL, and, the greater the separa tion, the purer the Gospel.' He might have added, the more the iawsof Nature, thelaws of Justice and Charity, are transgressed in the attacks made upon the Catholic Chnrch, the more the attempt is applauded,*and tho surer the chance, for those employed in such anti Christian business, of obtaining the place of a Saint in the Pro testant Calendar. Witness John Wickliffe, whose name I find in the Protestant Calender printed in Philadelphia, by George W. Menlz. (See the 12th of September.) The United States, and especially the State of Mastuw- chusetts, are in a fair way of- furnishing a long categc^y of names for those Calendars that will be published some years hence. The burning of sacied houses of refuge for virtuous females, who dedicate their whole lives to the service of God, to the> education of youth in Chris tian virtue and piety, and who, with the most heroic charity; expose their lives in the abodes of pestilence, to afford both spiritual and temporal relief, indiscrimi nately, to Catholics and Protestants— the burning of such houses is a specimen of the delicious fruits of your GospeU-^of your unextinguishable hatred of Catho licity. 4? I have often, when musing on the subject of Protest antism, asked myself. What is the Protestant Religion ? Proteus-like, it appears under so many different shapes, teaches so m'any different and contradictory doctrines, that I nearly despaired of ever finding a definition which Would etnbrace the whole of the Protestant sects ; when, suddenly, my mind settled on the following definition : "Protestantism is the Hatred of Ca tholicism*" But to return tp.the subject. By. a Bohemiarcgen tie- man, Who had studied at the -"University uf Oxford, the savage principle's uof WicfelifFe were transferred to and 30 disseminated in Bohemia, where they produced the same, and even worse, fruits as in Great Britain— rebel lion, murder; sacrilege, robbery; and it was not until after several battles fought against the Emperor, their lawful sovereign, arid after Bohemia had been fairly deluged with blood by these savage ragamuffins, (Pro testant Reformers you call them,) and after the execution of some of the ringleaders, that the Hussites were fi nally subdued, andpeace restored ta the country. Now mind, Gentlemen ? what your Protestant author, J/Enfant, writes concerning the execution of John Huss and Jerome of Prague. After the General Council of Constance had. excommunicated them for heresy, de claring expressly that it had no power to proceed further, against them, they were, both committed to the flames by the Magistrates (not by the Council) of Constance, in .virtue pf, the standing laws of the empire to that effect, ^nd by tbe express order of. the Elector Palatine and £he Emperor.Sigismund. (L'Enfaat, 1. iii,, §49. The laws in question were enacted by the Emperor Frederic IT., not by theJPope or by the Church. Neither had the Church any thing to do with the crue,! massacre of Paris, commonly called the St. Barlholo- my's Massacre ,j .by which, says Dr. Lingard, (note T. vol. v.) not 100,000, as stated by legates lap t authors, .but only from fifteen to sixteen hundred, Calvinists lost ;their lives. According to the account published in 1582, .and made up from the returns of the Ministers in the different towns of France, the whole amount is only 786. But that amount is a great deal too much ; and I am ready, with the Catholic Bishop Milner, and, indeed, with all good Catholics and Protestants, to ex claim, ExcidatMla dies tevo, <$•©. May that unfortunate day be for ever blottsd from the records of history ! But pray, Gentlemen? by what hind of logic, or by •what art of legerdemain, will you contrive to make the Church answerable for that deed of blood, when not one] ii Single individual bishop or priest of the French clergjf had any hand in it but, to the contrary, opposed it with all their might ? It is particularly recorded of Henuyer, bishop of Lisieux.^that,. when the governor of that pro vince communicated to said bishop the ^King's ordBrs,' the bishop replied,. " It is the duty of the good shep. herd to lay down his life for his sheep, not to let^them .be slaughtered before his face. They are my sheep,. though they have gone astray, and' I am- resolyed to- run all hazards in prbteotirig^them." (See Maimburg Hist. Calvin. 1. vh ' Accordingly, Gentlemen.? many Calvinists, sought for by the officers of the King, found protection under the wings of the Ghrarch — of that Church which you so wickedly accuse of cruelly, &c. The above massacre, then, is to be attributed to the black vengeance of Charles IX., and to the ambition of Catharine de Medicis, who alternately favored the Catholics and Calvinists, as best suited her interest; Both of these personages are, by Catholic writers, re presented under very unfavorable colors. By the cele brated Abbe L'Advocat, the former- is represented as a deceitful hypocrite, given to cursing and swearing, and, whilst abandoning the reins of Government to his, Minis ters, squandering his time with the most trilling occu pations. The latter is by him described as an artful, ambitious, intriguing, deceitful woman, ready to em brace any means, fair or foul, for the attainment of her ends. So very well convinced was Charle&JIX-.* that hjsF bloody deed would be reprobated by the then Pope, Gregory XIII., that he caused: his ambassador at Roire to impose on said Pope Gregorys and to. make him be lieve that the Calvinists being; on the very point of exe- •cuting a plot for the destruction of the Royal Family*. and the overturning ot the .Government, he had resorted; to the massacre as the only, means in his power to save both from destruction. It is v«ry clear from Iwstwjf* however, that no such plot existed at that very time. But the Pope was so far imposed upon as to cause ser- 22 vices of thanksgiving to be performed in the churches of Rome, for the wonderful preservation of the King and Government ; which many Protestant authors have per verted into rejoicings and thanksgivings for the massacre of the Calvinists. (See Thuanasi. iii. et Maimb. 1. vi.) In*§U. I shall have occasion to explain more particu larly the causes which operated on the mind of Charles IX., and which raised his malice and vengeance to so high a pitch, as finally to cause the massacre. What I have said of Charles IX. applies also to the Duke of Alba, who, being sent by his master, Philip II. with a powerful army, to bring the revolted Netherlands under subjection, caused about 18,000 of the rebels to be executed. It is indee'd a 'curious fact, Gentlemen ? that, wherever we find the Reformation (so called) introduced, we al most constantly find it blended with rebellion against lawful authority. Not content with embracing peace ably opinions differing from the 'doctrine of the ancient Church, and suffering their Catholic fellow citizens to continue to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience, the Reformers have almost always begun with overturning the long-established institutions in Church and State': but of this more in §11. It is evident that the pretended 'Reformers of the Netherlands were rebels against their lawful Kings, and, as such, guilty of high treason — of course, that they inftrrred the puftishment of death. Yet I, from the 'bottom of my heart, join whli you, Gentlemen? ia reprobating the cruelty of the Duke, It ia my settled •pinion, that, where multitudes are concerned in the commission of crimes, the ringleaders alone ought to be punished, and that the misguided many ought to be par* doned. But, pray, teH me, how — I ask yon again-*. will you contrive to br'mgin the Church guilty ? What Pope, what Council, what Bishops or Priests of the Catholic Church urged the Duke, either directly or indi rectly, to the perpetration of these bloody executions * , Come now, Gentlemen ? give us an answer ,* or, if you . are not able to me ntion as much as one single Catholic 29 clergyman who had a hand in that bloody business, then, join with me in reprobating the Duke's cruelty, afld m* quit the Catholic Church- By the laws of the Catholic Church, it is unlawful for any ecclesiastic to concur in any capital or sanguinary punishment ; norj will the said Church readily admit to holy orders those who ever had a hand in the effusion of fclood, although this happened in the performance of lawful mihtary dutv, or in a judicial capacity : and we boldly defy you, Gentlemen? to point out, in, any of our catechisms, or of our books of instruction authorized by the Catholic Church, any thing favoring persecution for religion's sake. « Ah '- but the Inquisition and its cruelties ! I near you exclaim. It is true, indeed, that the Inquisition inflicted many cruel punishments, when it became an engine of^state. With these cruelties, however, the Church had no concern ; and that dreadful tribunal is so far from being a part of the Catholic religion,, that it never was established but in a smaU corenr of the globe. There it existed only for a while, and now, thank Heaven ! it hath entirely disappeared from the face of the earth. If you please, Gentlemen? to consult your Protestant Maclaine, in his Notes on Mosheim, vol. iv. page 395, you will find in Protestant England another Inquisition, under the name of Court of High Commis, sion, which was empowered to make inquiry, not only by legal methods, but also by racks, tortures, inquisi tion, and imprisonment ; and that the fines and imprison ment were limited by no rule, but its own pleasure. I remember the time, Gentlemen? when I was as much, if not more,5prejudiced against ^ the ^Cathohc Church, than you are at present. Born a Pro ttrtmt , of the Greek Ch/rch, I was raised m the gnajte oMj, fidelity. The famous] propaganda of Infidelity estao- Shed at Paris, for the purpose of des troyin- ChqJ.T anity, and in whose motto was concentrated all that the molt diabolical hatred and malice against Chr* and his holy religion could possibly suggest, viz, Ecrasez Z'in/ain*-Cruih the infamous I 24 /which in their mouth meant « Destroy Christ and his ChafSn lathis propaganda sent their Missionaries to. every part of Eurbpe*' in order to disseminate their impious principles. Among'these Missionaries of Infi.- delitv was the celebrated Diderot, whose furious hatred agaisnst both Christianity anil Monarchy is fully depicted in the hopes which he Was frequently heard to express,! " to see the last of Kings .strangled with the guts of the last of Priests." This Diderot, in the capaetty? of Missionary, took np his head quarters at my parents^ house, and resided there, I think, for about a year?,' You may believe me, then, when t tell you that I was raised in the principles of Infidelity, and felt for Reve- Jation, Christianity, and its Ministers, the most soves* reign contempt. For many years, my parents took very great paitis to prevent any minister of religion coming* in contact with me. None of us ever went to any place of public worship, or, if J did sometimes go, it was! with the same disposition with which I frequented the theatre , viz. to hear tfte music, and to divert myself at the expense of the priest, whom I used to mimic and deride' after I came home. God be praised for ever ! A revolution, in the order of grace, took place in our family. At the age of about sixteen or seventeen, I became a member of the Catholic Church — which was ' 1786 or 87; and, coming to the United States in 179?, J finally, in 1795, became an unworthy minister of that Cfiurch — which was about eight years after my conver sion from Infidelity. JLiving for fifteen years (before f embarked for America) in the Catholic province "of Munster, in whose bishop both the civil and ecclesiastic cal power were united, I had a very good chance of ac* quiring a thorough knowledge of the principles of the Catholic Church. Not only did 1 see them exhibited iu black and white, without eyer discovering even the mosji .remote tendency or encouragement to persecution, but I 'aaw them practically illustrated in the numberless chari. table institutions for the instruction of the poor, for the relief of the afflicted, for the conversion of sinners, and especially in the charity and forbearanpe shewn to Pro* 25 testants,who; although not amounting to a one-hundredm part of the population, and living under a Catholic ec clesiastical government, where the Church was in full power, were never molested, never compelled to go to mass, but onjoyed the same protection, the same privi leges, and had the same chances of promotion to office, as the Roman Catholics. So it was, 1 am told, in all the ecclesiastical Electorates of Germany 5 and so it is to this day in the Emperor's dominions, where the small body (only two or tlnee millions) of Protestants, amidst a population of twenty-seven millions of Catholics, far from, being persecuted, are protected in their persons, their property/ and their worship. , Tell ns not then, again, Gentlemen ? of the perse cuting spirit of the Catholic ChUrch. It is true that Queen Mary persecuted Protestants — it is true that King Philip, and his General persecuted them ; but thence to conclude that the Roman Catholic .Church is a persecuting Church, is just as logical as would be the conclusion, " Whereas Tom, Dick, and Harry, of the Presbyterian Church, are drunkards — therefore, the Presbyterian Church encourages drunkenness." I am much surprised, Gentlemen ? at the charge of disloyalty brought by you against Roman Catholics, and at your unwarrantable assertion that they threaten- final destruction to our saered institutions and our liberties. Did you ever, in the principles of Roman Catholics, as set down in all our catechisms, in all our books of devotion and instruction — did you, in those principles promulgated from the press and from the pulpit, ever discover any doctrine having even the remotest tendency to' encourage rebellion or disloyalty ? Did you, by con sulting the pages of history, discover any thing in the general conduct cf Catholics, calculated to justify your assertions ? Since I joined the Catholic Church, which is about forty-eight years, I have always been taught that rebel lion" against Government, that disloyalty, is one of those crimes which exclude from the kingdom of Heaven : 26 and, whilst we hear it asserted that the People are the, source of all power, (which in one sense may be very true,) we are taught to trace up the powers of govern- ment to a far higher source, and to say with St. Paul,- Rom. xiii. 1, 2, " There is no power but from God; and. those that are, are ordained of God. Therefore, he that] resists the power resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist purchase to themselves damnation." Such, Gentlemen ? is the doctrine impressed on th% minds .of Roman Catholics in every part of the world, and under every form of government—even where the rulers (be they Kings or Governors, &c. &c.) are pagans, or profess no kind of religion whatever. And to prove to you that these principles were not merely speculative, or intended merely to lie dormant in the5 pages of a Catechism, I refer you to the history of Ro man Catholics under Queen Elizabeth, under the Kings of the House of Stuart, <5ec At the time of Queen Elizabeth's accession to the throne, the fi»r greater part of the British nation professed the Catholic faith. Pope- Paul IV., on account of her Ulegitima y^ refused to ac knowledge her title to the crown. Pope Pius V. went farther - he excommunicated her, and, by an unwar rantable and highly ridiculous stretch of power, — a power never acknowledged by the Catholic Church, he absolved all her subjects from their oath of allegiance. Moreover, Elizabeth, after having during Mary's reign uniformly conformed to the (Jatholic Church, became oa her accession, from a pretended Catholic, a Protestant, and a relentless persecutor of her Catholic subjects. Here, then, motives could not have been wanting, on the side of the Catholics, for rebellion, nor plausible reasons to justify it. But the Catholics knew that Elizabeth was their lawful Queen. They had been taught to believe that the kingdom of Christ is not of this world— that, while they owed obedience lo the Pope in spiritual matters only, they owed allegiance to their Government, which was vested in their Queen and Parliament. Hence, they paid no attention whatever to Pope Pius's Bull of excommunication, nor. to his prof- 27 fored dispensation from their oath of allegiance, which, asHhe Protestant historian, Camden, ad an. 1570, tells tos, condemnabant ut vanum verborum-fragorem 5 or, in English, was by tke Catholfcs condemned, or despised, as so many idte words. Hence, again, when King.Philip of Spain attempted to invade Great Britain, at the head of one of the most powerful fleets that ever were seen floating on the ocean, both Hume and Stow, J»o Protestant historians, bear witness to the fidelity of Elizabeth's Catholic subjects, who were not sparing of their blood and treasures, to save their country from the threatened invasion. Such was, and such hath been, the general conduct of the Catholics towards a govern ment which,, during about two hundred years, hath persecuted them With fire and sword, and which hath left no means untried, that human ingenuity could sug gest, to annihilate the Catholic religion : and such hath always been the conduct of Catholics who live according to the principles and doctrine of the Catholic Church. But in every profession, whether Catholic or Protestant, you may find individuals who pay no attention whatever to the principles of their religion, but are altogether Auided by their passions. Hence, it is no wonder if you (should be able to discover, in the pages of history, soma few instances of nominal Catholics plotting against the Protestant Government of Great Britain. Such was the case in the reign of James I., when the famous Gunpowder Plot was hatched, which hath been so olten wickedly alleged as a proof of disloyalty on the part of the Catholic body: whereas, only sixteen per - sous, and these of obscure character, are accused ia |the Act of Attainder which passed, on the occasion ; and iwhereas this wicked plot, contrived by a few obscure •and- nominal Catholics, was discovered and made known ,to Government by real and respectable Catholics, such f2B Lord Monteagle, the Earl of Worcester, the Earl of Northampton, &c.&c. ' ' ' . Here, tjum, are facts, gentlemen? stubborn facts, ,whieh« C(Jeli9hxt;jly overthrow your abominable charges; agMnst-tw&olh* Aad is not the conclusion rational, 28' viz: If the Catholics, as a body, have during two hutr-^ dred years been loyal to a Government that hath con-- stantly persecuted them with fire and sword — that hath? deprived them of all the advantages whichthe constitu^ tion afforded to the Law-Church— that hath ground them. down, and reduced them talhe most abject poverty-*- will not Catholics, a fortiori, be true and loyal to the Government of the United States, which protects their property, persons, character, religion, and all that ia, dear to man, -for here and hereafter. But the Pope and his dispensing power ? I hear you' exclaim. Truly, Gentlemen, you must either be ex tremely ignorant, or you must believe that your readers- are, all fools. In all ecclesiastical history, you will find only two or three instances of Popes setting up the ex^ trayagant and ridiculous, claim to the power of absolving subjects from their allegiance to Government ; and the' same history that records the extravagant claim, also records in what light it was considered by the Catholic subjects — as in the case of Queen Elizabeth, and also in the case of Henry IV., King of France, where they paid no more attention to the Pope's dispensation than they would to a sentence of the Alcoran. It is highly ridiculous, at the present time, to make mention of the extravagant claims of some ambitious Popes of former times, and thereupon to found your fears for the safety of our present Government ; when it is very well known that, besides these claims .being never acknowledged by Roman Catholics, they have finally, been abandoned by the Popes themselves, these three hundred years baclfc* There was once (I think about a hundred years ago) a famous robber in France, Lewis Mandrin by name,, and a ^ajhohc by profession : therefore, fellow citizens* takej care of your property, for there are Roman Catho lics among you. Fine logic, indeed t But then, again, in the name of sense, what would induce the Catholics of this country wen tp desire to renounce their allegiance to the Government of the United ..States, under which they «g>y ^mJnafessing they can wish for? They must be alLji&HdeeiE 29 ^The fact is, almost all the Catholics that come to this country, come to it as to a place of ref%e, to a place of peace,, to a place Where (they have been told) they may enjoy the fruits of their industry-where they mav, un molested, worship God according to the dictates of their |tmscience : m shott, where they may enjoy rational lit- 6tty and independence— blessings which they' Were not permitted to enjoy, under many of the Governmehts of xiurope. •^ow, Gentlemen? permit me to send you again to YOUR BIBLE, 1 THE BOOK OF TRUTH AND CHARITY. Study well the principles Inculcated in that sacred volume, before you again presume to attack your un offending Roman Catholic fellow citizens. It will teach you to attack them with the armte of Truth and Charity- only, and moreover, 1st. Not to attribute to them principles which they have always rejected : Sd. Not to make their whole Body responsible for the Wicked doings of their rotten members : 3d. Not to raise against them the spirit of spile and malice : 4th. Not to use invectives or vapid declamation, but sound ^rjftinients, in your controversial essays : 5tb.^'Not to incite mobs to bum our sanctuaries : 6th. Finally, if you think us otrt of the way of salva- tion, to pity us, to pray for us, and to adhionish your, hearers to pray for us. § II. From the charges (So often Prorated) of cruelty, treachery, and 'dS&loyaTty, hrbUght against Roman ¦Sittholics, it is evident, Gohtlenlen? thatypU Msljto have it helieve'd that Romab Catholics, and Rdmah Catholics alone, have ever been guilty of persecuting for Religion's sake ; and that, their Very reilgitfiis princV C2 " so pies make them persecutors. The latter part of this charge I have aheady disproved, granting, at the same time, that some Catholics have been persecutors, not in consequence of the principles of the Catholie Church, which they professed, but in consequence of their own cruel disposition, or in consequence of their ill-judged policy. Now, Gentlemen ? it is high time that Pro- testants should be undeceived, and should know the whole truth ; which is, that, from the very beginning of the pretended Reformation, the pretended Reformers have in the most cruel manner persecuted unto death the Roman Catholics, wherever they had it in their power to do so. Further, that this pretended Reformation was, in fact, nothing but a bloody revolution, carried on under the hypocritical mask of religion, at the instiga tion of lust, avarice, ambition, spite and malice, &c. &c. We have already clearly proved that the followers of Wickliffe and Huss were bloody revolutionists, who, under the cloak of religions reformation, and in pursu ance of their wicked and anti-Christian principles, raised rebellions ; and, in defiance of the very Bible which they W6re eternally quoting, committed every crime condemned by that Bible. Both these men may be con sidered as the forerunners of the great Reformation which began in the fore part of the sixteenth century. In England, it was ushered in by King Henry VIIL, who, without renouncing any other point of Catholic doctrine, discarded the Pope, because he could not get the Pope's sanction to the exchange he was determined to make of his lawful wife, Catharine, for Miss Nancy Beleyn ; and, in order to have the dispensing power in his own hands, he declared himself, and got his servile. Parliament to declare him, the head of the Church— which dignity Wh since, by hereditary right, and con trary fo the plain mrords of scripture, been transmitted to, and exercised by, all Kings and Queens of England, (Mary only excepted,) until this very day. From tbe day of his separation from the Catholic Church, King Harry became a bloody persecutor of both Catholics, who refused to acknowledge his supremacy, and Pro- 131 testants, who refused to believe in transubstantiation, ^purgatory, &c. &c. ;j _• Protestantism was not fully and permanently estab lished in England, so as to become the law of the land, until the reign of Queen Elizabeth. From that period until within these few years past, (viz. during the space of. about two hundred years,) the most wicked, the most bloody, the most destructive, the most relentless perse cution was carried on, under the sanction of the law, against Roman Catholics, that could possibly disgrace a Christian country. Now for the proof. UnderQueen Elizabeth and her successors, and by their Protestant Parliament, were enacted- the following laws : Catholics cannot possess the estates of their fathers or relations, nor buy lands after the age of eighteen, unless they turn Protestants. Catholics are not to teach or keep school, under pain of perpetual imprisonment. Catholics are to pay double taxes. If a Priest says Mass, he forfeits 200 marks. If a Catholic hears Mass, he forfeits 100 marks, and suffers, as well as the Priest, one year's imprisonment. If a Catholic sends his child into a foreign country to get a Catholic education, both he and his child are de prived of every thing but their lives. A Catholic pays 20 pounds' fine for every month he neglects to attend the Protestant Church on Sundays and holidays ; besides which, he is looked upon as excom municated, can hold no office, is not permitted to come within ten miles of London, on pain of forfeiting 180/., ean bring no action at law, is not permitted to travel above five miles from home, under pain of forfeiting all his goods. No marriage or baptism, &c. lawful, unless performed by a Protestant parson. Catholics to be imprisoned, if they do not turn Pro* testants ; to be transported for life by four justices, and if they refuse to go, or come back without the King's license, to be executed for felony* 32 - A Catholic gentleman is not permitted to keep'arms, ior ride a horse above the value of five pounds. Catholic Bishops or Priests, for saying Mass or per forming Other clerical functions, liable to perpetual im prisonment. A Catholic Priest born on English-ground, if he stays three days-withouUmoing Protestant, is guilty of high treason, and condemned to a cruel death. Any persons harboring such a one, to be guilty ot^ felony, and to suffer death without benefit of clergy. For these and more law3 against Roman Catholics, see Blackstone's Commentaries, vol. iv. Now, Gentlemen! I ask you, if Satan had Convened all the spirits >of the nether world to a general council in order to contrive means and to enact laws for the xlestijuction of Catholics and their religion; could they %ave exceeded in cruelty the above English Protestant code of law ? And, if you know any thing of history, you know that under that bloody code, in the reign of iQueen Elizabeth alone, no less than a hundred and iforty-two priests, besides many lay CathoMcsi men and women, were hung, cut dotvn alive, ripped open, and their bowels torn out, and burnt before their eyes, &e. *hea,r their relieion abu*>°, ^d the BiMe, the Book of Truth and Charity, wickedly wrested- and sacrilegiously perverted, for the condemnation of the ancient lai h-thfe iaith implanted by St. Augustine under the Pontificate of the great St. Gregory-th^ fa Ih of the great Alfred, the tn! founder of ^British liber r for the encouragement of tyranny and persecution "the most bloody that was ever cawied>n since the beginning of Christianity. s e, With the introduction of your blessed' Reformation, there was an end to British .liberty, civil or religious ; and the history of England records, not merely a few instances of persecution, occasioned by the sudden ebul lition of passions, or under a momentary excitement, hut a regular, well-digested system of the most bloody persecution, carried on for . about -two hundred years under the sanction of the Protestant Church. For, re- member that the Bishops of the Law-Church had their seats in Parliament, and heartily concurred in the enact ment of the laws against the Catholic Church, and for the destruction of Catholics ; and that, to insure a faith ful execution of those cruel laws, the fox-hunting pap- sons of the Law-Church were invested with Magistrates' commissions, and in that capacity were often seen, with a posse of constables and a party of the military at their heels, hunting down the poor Catholics —selling theis last pigs and potatoes for the payment of their tithes— comrranding the soldiers, in many instances, to fife on them ; and, in their capacity of preachers, were heard on- Sundays to inflame their hearers with the most dia bolical hatred against their Catholic brethren. To describe all the acts of cruelty committed during two hundred years, under the anti-Popery laws, and with the sanction of the Protestant clergy, against the loyal and unoffending Catholics, merely because, under the dictates of conscience, they continued to conform to the»doctrine and rules of the Catholic Chuich, would require volumes. Unfortunately for the Protestant parsons, the Catholic Church had been built upon a Rook, and the promise made by Eternal Truth, that the gates of Hell should never prevail against it. For two hundred years, the 'gates of Hell had combined with the powel-sof Church and State to eradicate the Catholic Church, root and branch, from the soil of Great Britain $ When, io ! after the ft*pjratioa>of that length of tinae, the Catholics are still found to constitute in Ireland five-sixths of the 34,, population, aud .to exist in respectable numbers in both England and Scotland. Now comes the French Revolution. England trem bles at the, approach of danger, and the penal laws, to the great mortification of the parsons, are principally repealed. The spirit of persecution still sticks to the Protestant Church: they continue to vomit forth their; anti-Popery sermons, with constables and soldiers at; their heels, to drive the poor widows' pigs, in order to get their tithes; and now and then* by cold-blooded murder, to make more Widows and orphans. Witness the famous affair at Rathcormac, &cv Meanwhile, many Protestants turn in disgust from the Law-Church, and return tp the Ancient Church from which their ancestors departed. The Catholics increase with rapid strides, and England, in a few years after the repeal of the penal laws, sees more than five hundred Catholic Churches springing up within her limits-, as by enchantment. Now, Gentlemen? with your leave, we will step over to the Continent of Europe, and impartially ex amine what were the principles and the conduct of the Reformers in the different countries where they estab lished, or tried to establish, their pretended Reforma-; 'tion ; in which statement I shall principally quote from Protestant authors. Before, however, we enter on this important subject, let us remember what is generally meant by the , word Reformation. By that word, if I know anything of the English language^ is meant a 'changefor the better. Consequently, when you speak '.of Reformation wrought by Luther, Calvin, Beza, •Zwinglius, &c. &c.> your meaning must be that, by them, the system of religion was improved, was made better than it was before : and. when yon speak of Re formers, your meaning must be, that the men whom you call by that name were instruments in. the hands of Providence, selected by the Almighty himself, to bring about tliis change for the better; or,*in other words, either to bring back mankind to the ancient ways of Truth -and Charity, which they had altogether lest, or, at 35 least, to improve mankind in the Vrays of Truth and| Charity; for, remember, The Bible is Truth and Charity. Your Reformers, then, must have been men of God, men of Truth and Charity, men full of the Holy Ghost, men full of the spirit of Truth and Charity — in short, ' men such as the Apostles were, mild, humble, patient, charitable, submissive to the higher powers, and having nothing in view but the glory of God and the salvation of souls. The Apostles', you know, ex horted those under their "oharge ' to be subject to the higher "powers, for conscience' sake: and what were those higher powers,; then and for many years after, but pagans, idolaters ? The Apostles would have their Christians to return' good for evil, to love their enemies and the enemies of God. Accordingly, we find the Christians of the first three centuries tho "most,faithful subjects of their pagan Emperors ; and, when already so numerous that they might' have raised a rebellion with the most probable hopes of success, owing to the per petual broils in the Roman empire, which was going fast to destruction 'f still we find those Christians, instead of raising their arms'against their impious Em perors and Governors, going like so many lambs to the slaughter,, and shedding the last drop of their blood for their Saviour and their holy faith. Now, Gentlemen \ ask yourselves, Were our Reformers such men ? But, in asking yourselves this important question, remember that you are Bible-men, and remember that The Bible is Truth and Charity* Be then, honest for once, and say, were the Reform ers srich men as described above 1 As I qan hardly expect an answer from you, I shall let contemporary Protestants, and among them some Protestant Ministers, and even some of the Reformers themselves, answer fox you. . ....,_ "The Gospel," says Luther, in his book de servo arbitrio, " hath always caused disturbance, and BLOOD IS REQUISITE FOR ITS ESTABLISHMENT." " If we dispatch thieves by the gallows, highwaymen'! by the sword, &c. &c, why do we not rather attack^ with all kinds of arms, these masters of perdition, these Cardinals, these Popes, &c. dec, and WASH OUR HANDS IN THEIR BLOOD."— Luther, in his book, against Sylvester Prieras. "Princes are commonly the greatest fools and knaves jn the woild." — Luther de tmculari potestate. "You must know, my good lords;" said he, " that God will have it so, that your subjects neither can, nor will, nor ought any longer to endure your tyrannical governments." — Ad Rusticos. Writing to John Frederic, Elector of Saxony: " If it is lawful for me (says he) ... to trample under my feet the Pope's decrees, the canons of Councils, the laws and mandates of the Emperor himself, and of ell princes ; think you, I shall value your orders so much as to take them for laws 1" Calvin, your next Reformer, caused Michael Serve-* tus to be burnt for heresy, and on that occasion published a book, which in the year 1554 was printed in octavo, both in Latin and French ; in which said Calvin at tempts to prove that heretics ough. to be put to death. "What could he mean by heretics, except those who differed from him in their way of interpreting the Bible,, such as Roman Catholics, and Protestants of differed denominations. A similar treatise was also, in 1560, published by Theodore Beza, Calvin's successor, in order to prove that Magistrates ought to punish heretics. Calvin further teaches (in Daniel vi. 22, 2'5) that " when earthly princes erect themselves against God", m viz. py opposing the Reformation, they forfeit their au thority, and we should rather spit in their faces than obey them.'* . .Such were the principles of the first Reformers— of j^ose whom we may truly call the Apostles of the Re formation : such were their sermons, and their exhorta- turns to the people, whose passions, whose rage and fury, became so roused against the then existing powers m Church and State, that in a short time Germany, Holland, France, Switzerland, &c. &c. were fairly deluged with blood, and became for a number of vears the scenes of murder, rapine, sacrilege, and of all the 'crimes which human depravity, guided by fanaticism, is capable of committing. Erasmus describes the hearers of the reforming preachers as coming from church "with fierce looks and threatening countenances, like men that just came from hearing bloody invectives and the most seditious speeches." Tracing, then; effects to their true causes, we are no loager surprised to see the Reformers rising in rebellion against their Governments, and indiscriminately massa cring those -that would not join with them— bnrnine. plundering, tearing all before them ; in short, provinz themselves even worse than Goths and Vandals Nicholas Fromentean, a Protestant, tells us' that, in the single province of Dauphiue in France, the Reform ers killed two hundred and fifty-six priests and one hun dred and twelve friars. They burnt their ehurches and monasteries— dug up the dead, to make bullets of their leaden coffins— fought several battles against their government— formed two corlSpiracies, those of Am- boise and Maux, to seize on the King and his court, , and to subvert the constitution of the country : the latter one of which conspiracies Charles IX. vowed never to orgive ; which caused that wicked King, contrary to ine spirit of his religion, to execute the horrid Massacre tot Pans. D 38 The Baron' des Adrets, oneof the Calvinist generalsV signaled KiSzSaHd* iheCtospeLBy making hi*=C^tt»- liefepjjstiners jum>teonLme.m were; upon the p*es ot jus soldiers, and causing liis children to wash tfietr nana* in the prisoners' blood. ». -fJj^H«llantl,:"theilPi!oteitaixfe:Mamistei!,.De Brandt, tells (us, it was a common, thing with the Reformers to assatdtrand ^nmssaciV the Catholic clergy in thev very discharge, ot their saered functions j and the aw re- sounded with' the cries: of Kill th& Priests.! Eklltha Monies.! Killthe Magistrates ! And »$r..Kerrouxv also a jVoiestants draws, almost . frightful p5**?**0 of thein- fefhal crueltiesi of/ the TfefanKetf-tgenerals; oil *- the clergy andtthe epuittty people or Holland. He says > that sonie ©t them, after; biihg tortured^ were wrapped- in linea sheets steeped in spirits of win©£ Whichi being fir-edf? they w&re/missefablty.burnt; that oifiersiatllie* being tortured with; burningsulphur and torches in the tenderest parts«f their bodies,; werei made ta-die< for want1 of sleep,- being b% executioners* beaten- with clubs* tp i keep themfrom falling asleep ; that others, being fed with salt herriUgss without a drop of -water/ were made 4o' die of; thiSsW; &mUn that,, others were: stiftg- to death by waspsj. or devoured .alive,. by rats, which were confinedin coffins wj.th them- And all; these cruelties- were committed (reineniher.iViGentlemeni.) because *heir innocent vic tims wouJ4; not consent: to apostatize from the ancient Churph Df Jesus; Christ. ^The celebrated Feller (Hist. AbregeV tom. i. art. Toledo) remarks that, in the one year l'STS, ¦ mbro un* offending priests and peasants were thus slaughtered by your, 'holy Reformers, than the Duke of Alba executed rebel Protestants during the whole time of his govern ment. , Lopk , agam* at the barbarities' committed by tho* Anabaptists ; in the city and province of Munster, in Germany. John Bockholt, a tailor, from the city of Lesden, in Holland, at the head of a mob of Reformers a«$|(anatieR, took by force of arms possession of said city's crying oUt that God had given up the country to 3d i$emt and that ventgeanee -awaited ail who did: notyoin them. Accordingly, they massacred priests and lay- .people, whoarefused tojoin them^robbed and profaned theefaurch.es, and caused so muchblood to flowthat, -to this day, a certain quarter of that city is thence caUed Rothenburg (in English, Redborougb.) Finallv, they •mete bverthrown.i their ringleaders executed, and, from that day forward, the whole province hath been linden a Catholic ecclesiastical government ; and, as I mentioned above, the few Protestants scattered among the Catholic population have, under that Catholic government, en- •foyed the. most profound peace and happiness. ,v,. To .mention tdl the- instances of cruelty, and all other enormities, committed in all the different parts of the •world where your Reformation (sw called) was intro duced, or attempted to be introduced, would require volumes. You, Gentlemen ? must, then, be extremely ignorant •of history, especially of the history of the Reformation, or must he ¦ possessed of •¦ much assurance, wheni you accuse the Catholics as being persecutors by profession, bound to besuchby-the principles of their religion ; and when you seem to wish to convey the idea that CathoMcs Ktsclusively have been persecutors. . When we cCnsider the dreadful sufferings inflicted on Roman Catholics, i in every country where yoor Reformation was introduced, which in Ireland continued for about two hundred years ; (when we consider the homble'butt^e^es, wbhewes,' sacrnegoB, -butaffils, Carried oh hy yeur Reformers' tf or about thirty years in France, in Mollaft4,"<6*eVi«5eS — -»heirtfi»eMed frebeliiehs againstllawful ^tfa^Jty<-Ms it aufpttefeg.?mtg 0M0M&mTYjix®iSti8et tfaemselWjf td~be^o$a*by HtekWaeslofls fbae/itfteh, it is eviaeWfrott the psg#of M&ofy, ev.ea •'* rifteStsatrt fiistdry', thfet >datRoli@s Jhlve been ten times persecuted for one time that they have 40 persecuted. And it is evident, also, that the spirit of persecution with which ypur Reformation began-— hatred of Catholicism, is, • after a lapse of three hundred years, still alive. I know a clergyman, not a thousand miles from here, tire only son of a gentleman of great for tune, who, merely because he became a Catholic and a clergyman, was by his (Protestant) Government robbed of the whole of his fortune. This is only one instance out of thousands which help to shew that the true spirit of your Reformation, hatred of Catholicism, hath, through an uninterrupted succession of generations, been transmitted to many Protestants of the present day. And here, Gentlemen? remember that yon are not able to offer the least shadow of excuse for the persecu-^ tions inflicted by %gur Reformers : for, 1st. Your Refssroers began with proclaiming liberty of conscience. They laid it down as a general princi ple, that the Bible alone, (according to every one's individual interpretation,) and no longer the authority of the Church, should be the rule of faith, or the guide in religious matters. Why, then, were the Catholics not permitted to enjoy the benefit of the same liberty of conscience, and to construe the Bible according to their own ideas ? 2d. Protestants, as I have already proved, began their pretended Reformation with rebellion, with over throwing the long-established institutions in State and Church ; and then immediately set about persecuting, with fire and sword, those who, instead of joining in the rebellion, wished to remain loyal and faithful to both Church and Government. On the other hand, where Catholic Governments per* secuted and punished Protestants, in most instances, these had been clearly guilty of rebellion, and of an attempt to overthrow the long-established institutions of their country. In short, the pretended Reformation! quite suddenly broke in upon the world, like a volcano, likely to tear down, and to sweep from the earth, every thing which during so many centuries had been held! sawed by almost all the nations of Europe. Making? 41 allowance, then, for the general excitement, for the general terror and confusion, is it to be wondered at, that the most energetic, the most violent, means were brought into action to oppose the torrent, and, as ,a necessary consequence, that many acts of injustice were committed, and that, too, many times, the innocent had to suffer with the guilty. But pray, Gentlemen ? can these few instances of cruelty, which formerly, say two or three hundred years ago, occurred, justify you in accusing Catholics of the present day, and holding them up to their Protestant fellow citizens, as monsters of cruelty, thirsting for their blood, and wishing to overthrow the Constitution, and to enslave this happy country 1 And do you not rather put it in our power (by issuing your inflammatory publications, by setting up the hue and cry against Catholics, hy burning our nunneries, &c. dsc.) totjome to the conclusion, that Protestants of the presenvtfday have truly inherited the savage spirit of a Wickliffe* of a Huss, of a Calvin, of a Knox, &c. &c, and are just as ready as they were to transgress (in the propagation of their doctrine) all the laws of God and man, and, with Bible in hand, to trample on its most sacred obligations, TRUTHand CHARITY? Is it not a shame "for you. Gentlemen ? — you who are coostantly exclaiming against the despotism of the Kings of Europe, when you see those despotic Kings, the Calvinistic Kings of Prussia and Holland, granting liberty of conscience to their Catholic subjects— "Eng land, the strong hold of Protestantism, renouncing for ever her anti-Popery laws— Catholic France and Catholic Austria putting their few Protestant subjects on a 'footing with the Catholic population ; is it not a shame for yon to be found so far in arrear of the spirit of the age ih which we live — for you, too, who were raised and live in the only country where true liberty is known ? •' I 'call upon you, in the name of that hOfy Biblfe which "is V&UTH and CHARITY, and which you' say is your only guide in matters of religion— your only rule of ¦¦ - • - D2 ' "¦' 48 faith— to produce your authority for accusing us of so many horrid crimes, and so many wicked intentions. Wh»t do you discover in the doctrine of Catholics, what in their history since the settlement of the U. States., and especially since the Declaration of Independence, to justify even a suspicion Of our disloyalty, or of our cruelty to Protestants ? Jefferson tells us, in his Notes on Virginia, that whilst in New England, under the celebrated Blue Laws, Protestants persecuted Protestants of different creeds even to the punishment of death, the Catholic Lord Baltimore, in Maryland, proclaimed liberty of conscience, and opened an asylum to the poor persecuted Protestants, whieh -was eagerly embraced by many of them, who, under the Catholic Proprietor, enjoyed=j peace and happiness. In the course of time, Protest-,: antstvbtained the ascendancy, and in the same State of Maryland, where themselves had found liberty of con« science, they enforced the penal laws against their Catholic protectors ; and continued so until the happy Revolution, which proclaimed general liberty of con science, without any distinction ot creeds. And pray, Gentlemen ? did the fathers of our Constitution mean lo exclude Roman Catholics from that blessing, when it is' evident that to Catholic officers, and to Catholic soldiers, the final success of the United States was es sentially due 1 Since that time, have the Catholics been less loyal, less submissive, to the Government of the United States than the Protestants ? Have they ever at tempted to rebel against Government, or in any way whatever to interfere with the worship of Protestants, or to destroy their churches or houses of education? As* for the doctrine of the Catholic Church, which, of course, is to be found in her catechisms, in her profes sion of faith, in all those books of doctrine and morals published with the sanction of our Bishops, and which is not to be found in the publications,- of our declared enemies, pray, Gentlemen ? on what part of this our doctrine (and it is the same all over the world) can vou found the abominable charges you bring against Cafho- 43 lies ?— in what part of our creed do you discover any thing threatening danger to our Constitution ? I venture to assert it, Gentlemen? there is more dan ger to the Constitution to be found in the (above quoted) principles of a Wickliffe, of a Luther, of a Calvin, dec. &c, than you will be able to discover in all the canons of the Council of Trent : more incentives to se dition and persecution in that dark spirit of bigotry, ha tred, and malice, which breathes from the pages of most of your (miscalled) religious periodicals, than could be discovered in all our religious publications put together. What yon would be at is plainly discoverable, for you take no pains to conceal your views. " Victory or Death" is your watchword. " The Presbyterian Church will be the established Church of the Union, or she wiU wade through blood to attain that just prerogative." (Rochester Observer.) Here, then, your .intention, which I have never seen disavowed, is plain, to over- tarn the Constitution, which knows no distinction of creeds, and upon its ruins to establish your ascendancy. In pursuance of this your declared intention, and well knowing that the Catholics (whose loyalty is well estab lished, both in their religious principles and in their history) will be the most formidable obstacle in your way, especially if they should much increase in numbers, you begin in good time, and as a preparatory step, to raise the hatred of the public against them ; and, con trary to the dictates ol your Bible, which is TRUTH and CHARITY, not only to accuse them of professing the most abominable principles which you know do not belong to them, and of harboring intentions which you know they never harbored, but, availing yourselves of the rage and fury you have thus excited in the breasts of your hearers, you cause them to destroy their sanctua ries, their sacred institutions, &c. &c. The perpetra tion of these enormities, carried on in the name of the Bible, belongs to your hearers : the guilt is your's. Comso causa est causa causati. 44 The High Priests of the Jews did not with their own, hands' nail Jesus Christ to the cross ; yet the guilt is their's. By their inflammatory speeches, the mob was wrought to such a degree of fury as to do the horrid deed for them.' Neither have you burnt our sanctuaries with v'our own hands ; but your inflammatory discourses from, the pulpit, which should be the chair of Truth ana/ Charity, and your incendiary publications from the press;, have already begun the work of destruction, by inspiring your hearers with the true spirit of your Refor mation. Where, then, I ask, is the spirit of persecu tion, where the danger to our Constitution, to be found . Among the Roman Catholics, or among their relentless and bitter enemies, who do all in their power to direct the public hatred against them ? The answer is obvious. You are hardly mad enough, Gentlemen! to thinks that what, the British Government, with all its military power, with all its treasures, with all its anti-Popery laws, with all its bloody executions, was not able to accomplish-— what said Government, after a trial of two hundred years, had finally to abandon as hopeless, (the destruction of Catholicity,) you will be able to accom plish ! Founded on a Rock, by the hands of Omnipotence^ the Catholic Church stands proof against aU the powers of Helh You may, by means of your mobs, inflamed by your incendiary publications, cause the destruction. of some more of our sanctuaries — even the loss of some lives ; but remember what was said to Saul, the relent less persecutor of the infant Church, and say to your selves : Vanwm nobis est contra stimulum calcitrare. Acts ix, 5. You had; then, better suffer yourselves to be guided, hot by the dead letter of your Bible, which mav be wrested to very wicked and unholy purposes, (2d Peter iii. 16,) but by its spirit, TRUTH and CHARITY. 45 '.Whatever differences on points of doctrine may exist .ajnong the different denominations of Christians, all should be united in the bonds of <$harity, all should pra^ for one another, all should be wiping to assist one another ; and, where we are oompeleotto disapprove of our neighbor's doctrine, let our disapprobation fall upon his doctrine only, not Upon his person. Thus the sacred cause of religion will bo effectually promoted, and thus the Commonwealth will be safe. United, we stand: divided, we fall. \ That the above sentiments may hereafter direct your pens in the publication of your periodicals, and that you may adopt for your motto, THE BIBLE, TRUTH &, CHABITlT, is the sincere wish of, Gentlemen Editors, Your very humble servant, DBMETRIUS AUGUSTIN GALLITZIN. 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