m. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I La If 2^ [25 ^ Kii |2.2 Z US 12.0 IIhI^^s L25 III 1.4 ||.6 • ^ 6" 1^ HiotDgraphic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STRUT WnSTER,N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 xmiSSi/mm CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical IVIicroreproductions / institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes tdchniques et bibliographiques I The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommag^a I I Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur6e et/ou pellicul6e Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque la I I Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ D D D D Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La re liure serr^e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int^rieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouttes lore d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 film^es. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppl6mentaires; L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la methods normale de filmage sont indiqute ci-dessous. M D D D D D D D Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagtes Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaurtos et/ou pellicul6es Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages d^colories, tachet^es ou piqu6es Pages detached/ Pages dAtachtes ■■ \"; Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of print varies/ Quality in^gale de I'impression Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du materiel suppMmentaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont M filmtes A nouveau de fapon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiqu6 ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X 12X 16X 20X Si 28X 32X ics^r. I ■>-'^*r>-^r-.--.-/^p-=- aire details ues du t modifier ger une I fiimage 6e8 The copy filmed here hao been reproduced thanics to the generosity of: Library of Congress Photoduplication Service The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or Illustrated impres- sion, or the bacit cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or Illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or Illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol "^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. L'exemplaire film6 fut reprodult grAce A la g4nAroslt6 de: Library of Congress Photoduplication Service Les images suivantes ont AtA reproduites avec le plus grand soln, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetA de rexemplaire fiim6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de fllmage. Les exemplalres originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimte sont filmte en commengant par le premier plat et en termlnant soit par la dernlAre page qui comporte une emprelnte d"'npresslon ou d'lllustration, soit par le second plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exemplalres originaux sont fllmAs en commenpant par la premiAre page qui comporte une emprelnte d'Impresslon ou d'lllustration et en termlnant par la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle emprelnte. Un des symboles sulvants apparaftra sur ia dernlAre image de cheque microfiche, seion le cas: le symbols -^ signlfie "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signlfie "FIN". re Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included In one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to •ight and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre flimte A des taux de rMuction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichA, 11 est filmA A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A drolte, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'Images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes sulvants illustrent la mAthode. y errata Id to nt le pelure, 9on A i-ss- n 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 32X iiaffliniiiinimiimiiiiiiiii - -"IfciUvinTi-KiteajMaiis, wm-j i m i» «n) « i i j ii i) i pg iii|^);ijii^ im i "iyv'-i"tn>i» ~ THE CATHOLIC CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. , -J LECTURE: OEUVEBEO IN METEOPOLITAN HALL, BEFOKE THE CATHOLIC INSTITUTE, ON MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 8, 1862, FOB TBI BBNIFIT OF THX EOUBB OF FBOTIOnON, UNDER THK OBABOB OF TBB 8ISTIBS or HBBOr. BT TBI MOST REV. JOHN HUGHES, D.D., ARCHBISHOP OP NEW-YORK. NEW-YORK: EDWARD DUNIGAN & BROTHER, 161 FULTON-STREET. M.DCCO.LU. SMiliiM i i J ' ". ■»'^ !ai,. rr ."."i:i: ;' -i!: ' " D b .%, {\ .' 'fi ^«8 X.1BRARV o^ Congress WASHIN01X)N ^^f jiiWiMiriiii.iiwinfci h V THE CATHOLIC CHAPTER. American statesmen and orators are never more elo- quent than when they dilate on the religious equ lity which has been guaranteed to all the people of this land by the Magna Charta of their rights and privileges, —the Constitution of the United States. This equality has not only been proclaimed in theory : it has been re- duced to practice. The mode by which the framera of the Constitution proposed to secure it was simple, and, I may say, original. In other countries, whether Catholic or Protestant, there had been legislation es- tablishing or recognizing one predominant creed, but sometimes also granting toleration to dissenters from the doctrine of the state religion. In all such cases, the rights of conscience were secured by affirmative laws : here they have a wider scope and a better security, by the constitutional negation of all power to legislate on so sacred a subject. In other countries they are secured by some positive statute, — here they are safer, under a constitutional provision forbidding any such statute to be ever enacted. In other countries tolera- tion was granted by the civil authority, — here the great -rssswiMs*- THE OATHOLIO CHAPTER IN THE men who framed the Constitution saw, with keen and delicate perception, that the right to tolerate implied the equal right to refuse toleration, and on behalf of the United States, as a civil government, they denied all right to legislate in the premises, one way or the other: " Congress shall make no law on the subject of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." As soon as the States had approved and confirmed the provisions of the Constitution, it was natural that they should adjust their local charters in accordance with the principles of the gi-eat instrument of federal Union. Already, in 1784, Khode Island had removed the only blemish in her laws on this subject, a brief disqualifying clause against Roman Catholics. Pennsyl- vania and Delaware, I believe, were the only other States at that period which were not under the neces- sity of improving their legislative records, by expung- ing some clause similar to that which Rhode Island had repealed and erased before the general Constitution was adopted. At a very early day, however, several of them followed the example. Some twenty years ago. North Carolina expurged her Constitution in this . repect, in part, no doubt, owing to her esteem and re- gard for one of her own cherished sons, himself a Catho- lic, the late Judge Gaston, a man whose character was such that it could not but reflect honor on his native State and country. "Within a more recent period. New Jersey also, unprompted and of her own accord, revised and improved her Constitution in this respect. New Hampshire, however, clings to her old unaltered charter, in which is a clause disabling Catholics, on ac- count or their religion, from holding any oflSce in the State. Her distinction, therefore, among her sister States, may be described in the words of the poet: — "- < tt j; ^.. ' HISTOP.Y OP THE UNITED STATES. 6 " 'Tis the last rose of summor, ' ' ' Left blooming alono, > i «;, ifit All its lovely companions" ■ • , ,, Not faded but— "gone." The disqualifying clause is, I suppose, a dead-letter ; the Catholics of New Hampshire must be very few. On the whole, I have no doubt but that the liberality of the country at large has imbued the people of New Hampshire with kindest feelings towards even Roman Catholics. It must also be said to her credit, that she was one of the three States who suggested to the framers of the Constitution the very clause which I have cited, and which guarantees to all the people of this widely extended Union the perfect and perpetual equality of religL as rights and freedom of conscience. It is only to be regretted that after having performed, at so early a period, the function of index, pointing out at the cross-ways the true path in which her thir- ty sisters are now advancing peacefully and prosper- ously, she should have continued stationary and be found the last to practise what she had been among the ^rst to preach. But it was not in rc-adjusting the dead letter of written State Constitutions, that the people of this Union conformed to the new and liberal order which had been sanctioned by their authorized delegates ii. convention. They labored to imbue themselves, and those around them, with its spirit and its life. The Legislature, the Executive, the Judiciary, the Pulpit, the Bar, vied with each other in cherishing and utter- ing sentiments of reverence for the sacredness of what had been sanctioned in the provisions of the Federal Constitution. It was the primitive age of American patriotism. I trust, however, that it may never de- """"•iSjtesV 9 THW CATHOLIC CHAPTER U'T THE serve to be called, in comparison with subsequent pe- riods of possible degeneracy, the " Golden Age." But at all events, it was a period in which the great men of the country, of all professions, brought their sentiments, their conversation, and actions, nay, controlled and brought even the very prejudices of their youth and edu- cation into harmony with the new order of civil, religious, and social life, which had been so wisely provided for in the Federal Covenant. Such an example could not fail to furnish a key-note for the universal tone of American patriotism, which it has not yet lost, and which, I trust, it never will forget or alter. Koman Catholics, at least, have every reason to remember and to cherish it. It is stated by one of our historians, that at the commencement of the Revolu- tionary war, except in the city of Penn, there was hardly another place in the Colonies in which, by authority of the laws of the land, a Catholic priest could celebrate mass. Now there is no law against it anywhere. In view of this wonderful change, it may be, indeed it has been asked, why Catholics, in America, do not pro- cure, or at least petition for, similar alterations of the laws in favor of Protestants in such countries as Italy, Spain, and Portugal? This, in my opinion, is a very silly question. Catholics in America have no more to do with the civil governments of Italy, Spain, and Portu- gal, than they have to do with those of England, Rus- sia, or Turkey. But the question may, perhaps, be best answered' by puttmg to those who ask it another just as silly,— Why do you, Protestants, not induce England and the Protestant States of Northern Europe to imitate the example of this country, and abolish all legislation on the subject of religion, or "prohibiting the free exercise thereof ?" t'"-^ fi""-" " HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. quent pe* .ge." But ' eat men of entiments, ■oiled and h and edu- 1, religious, ovided for could not il tone of b lost, and reason to one of our he Revolu- was hardly uthority of i celebrate here. >e, indeed it do not pro- 3 of the laws baly, Spain, very silly nore to do and Portu- gland, Rus- perhaps, be ; it another not induce lem Europe I abolish all prohibiting V, f All such questions, on either side, appear to me not only very absurd in themselves, but entirely out of place in a country like this. It is equally out of place, and altogether untrue, to assert or assume that this is a Catholic country or a Protestant country. It is neither. It is a land of religious freedom and equality ; and I hope that, in this respect, it shall remain just what it now is to the latest posterity. There are, however, certain parties that have been only partially,' even to this day, penetrated by the spirit of the Con- stitution, and of the primitive men of the Republic, who, by word, deed, and example, ushered it into the every-day business of American national life. Even this portion of the public mind is constrained to ex- hibit, or seem to exhibit, on its narrow surface, a formal respect for public law and constitutional right. But still beneath that surface, and in the lower depths, there yet survives a certain vague, traditional memory of Protestant ascendency, fed by a hereditary prejudice to the effect that, in a ci^ilized state where Protestants constitute the great majority of the people. Catholics ought to be satisEed with a subordinate position, and be very grateful, even at that, for the privileges which the liberality of Protestantism in this country permits them to enjoy. To me it is a pleasure, as well as a duty, to feel and exhibit gratitude where gratitude is due. But no col- lector need ever call on me for a tribute of gratitude, unless he can show a better claim than this, on account of kind offices rendered. I am grateful, and bound to be loyal to the country at large, for the benefits which I enjoy in a legal and constitutional way. I am not a citizen by the birthright of nature. But the Constitu- tion and laws have conferred on me the birthright of 1 . M \ti I* r 8 THE CATHOLIC CHAPTEIl IN THE civil and political nativity. For this I am grateful. If I have understood the subject, this makes me equal, before the law, to any other citizen of this Union, — and what more need any one desire ; what less should any one, who haa been deemed worthy to be enrolled on the list of citizens, be willing to submit to i What Catholics are, therefo' ), in this country, they are not by the favor of spontaneous benevolence, but by positive right, whether natural and original, or legal and ac- quired. ">--■ The object of this lecture, then, Avill be to show that Catholics, as such, are by no means strangers and foreigners in this land. It is not unusual to hear per- sons of the description I have alluded to, assume, in conversation, that Catholics are new-comers, who enter the field at the eleventh hour, whereas they have borne the heats of the day. Not so. The Catholics have been here from the earliest dawn of the morning. They have shared in your sufferings, taken part in your labors, contributed to the common glory and prosperity of your country and theirs ; and neither the first page, nor the last page, nor the middle page of your history would have been where and what it is without them. At the period of the Revolution the Catholics of the British Colonies were, no doubt, few. Still they were even then numerous enough to leave their mark both on the battle-field of freedom and on the Declara- tion of Independence. At that period, the Catholics in this country were probably forty thousand, out of three millions. At present my own opinion is, that they are not less than three millions and a half of the whole population. Emigration, no doubt, has contri- buted much to this result. But has not the whole country been growing by supplies from this source, I <^MU. "1 II18T0HY OF Tin; I NITKI) STATKS. 9 from tlK' very bc-hinii,!,. < Kvm tli„ oldest aiul Htuto- hest ^uriily o;,k that now adorns tlie Holds of early colonial plantation, tlion<,d. it I.as spread its hranehes far ni American air, and strnck its roots d.-ep into American earth, nuiy l.e traeed Lack to its feohle !,... Smnin-s of -rovvth from an Kuropeanjdant transferred hither by elni,^rratioll. And as it has been so it will be, with similar cases. Now this emigration has been gomo- on since the ••ommeheement of the Colonies and ot the IfepiiMic. lint with or without this present emigration, the Cath..lics have been at all times sufli- ciently nnmeroiis to take j.art with theii- Pi-otestant telJow-citizens in whatever was deemed essential to the interest and honor of the eonntry. It is true that, as a general rule, they are seldom represented by members of their own creed in the halls of legislation, or in the high places of public office. If you look for them in such places, you will iind them, ut most, " Rari nantes in gnrgito vasto." But this is a slight affair. There are other depart- ments of the public service in which, perhaps, a truer criterion is presented as the test of patriotism. From the day on which the national flag was first unfurled in the name of independence, when the people of these Colonies appealed to the sword, and left the issue of the struggle to Heaven's arbitration, until the day on which that same flag was seen triumphantly wavino- over the capital of Mexico, I think I shall be safe in saying that there has not been one important carapai«^n or engagement in which Catholics have not bivouacke^d fought, andfallenbythesideof Protestants, in maintain- ing the rights and honor of their common country On 1 i i 10 THE CATHOLIC CHAPTER IN THE all these occasions, from a glance at the roll of the miss- ing, or a gaze on the upturned faces of the dead, it would be easy to discover that, however small the con- stituency, the Catholic body never failed to furnish a comparatively numerous delegation to the battle-field ; so that whether in defence of the country, or in dis- chaiging the duties of civil, social, commercial, or pro- fessional life, they have justified their title, as of right, to that perfect eciuality with their Protestant fellow- citizens which the Constitution has conferi'ed indiscrimi- nately on all. But it may be said, that even the Constitution it- self is a spontaneous concession, for which we are in- debted to the liberality of Protestantism. If 1 had proofs of the contiary, what I deem due to the pro- priety of this occasion would prevent my making use of them. All credit and all gratitude to the liberality of the great men who fi'amed that document, who were almost, if not altogether, exclusively Protestants. But the matter was not one which they might dispose of according to the impulse of their own high and gen- erous feelings, — and if there had been only one form of Protestantism professed in all the Colonies, I fear much that, even with Washington at their head, the Consti- tution would not have Ijeen what it is. Almost every Colony had its own form of Protestantism, and I am sorry to have to say that among them, even on reli- gious matters, mutual charity was not always super- abundant. Antagonisms from without would have defeated all the purposes of the confederation of States, if the Convention had attempted to favor any one of those forms at the expense of the others. But be this i\a it may, it is in the order of my subject to con- tend that, with or without the Constitution, there was ^P^»MBI II of the miss- the dead, it mall the con- to furnish a battle-field ; y, or in dis- rcial, or pro- ), as of right, stant fellow- id indiycrirai- istitution it- 1 we are in- If 1 had to the pro- making use :he liberality nt, who were stants. But t dispose of gh and gen- y one form of I fear much , the Consti- Llmost every m, and I am ven on reli- iways super- would have ederation of o favor any hers. But be )ject to con- n, there was mSTORT OP THE UNITED STATES. 11 no civil or religious immunity won by the success of the Revolution, in which Catholics were not morally and politically entitled, in their own right, to share equally with their Protestant fellow-citizens. Now the Catholic Church has no recognized theory on the subject of forms of civil government. The little Republic of vSan Marino has preserved its independence and its republican forms for fourteen hundred years, in the very heart of the Papal States. The Church| however, is not an approver of revolutions, except when they are clearly justifiable. Having experienced singular protection in all the vicissitudes and revolu- tions of the social and political world during eighteen centuries, she has the consciousness that she lives by an inherent vitality within herself, of more than human origin. This has sufficed her during the past,— it is sufficient for the present, and she is never troubled with doubts or misgivings in regard to her position in the future, wliich God has in His own hands, and can dispose of as He wiU. The first impression which the influence of her doctrine in regard to the principle of revolution would produce, I think, would be a pre- sumption in favor of existing authority, until cause to the contrary should appear. Yet the principle of pas- sive obedience on the part of subjects, or of absolute and irresponsible authority on that of sovereigns never was, and certainly never will be, an approved principle of hers. She seems to have little confidence in theoretical systems which assume that great or en- during benefit is to result from those sudden and un- expected excitements, even of a religious kind,— those enthusiams in favor of new schemes— those irregular starts, and leaps, and bounds of popular ardor— now in one direction, now in another, and not unfrequently in U .,_.! I 12 THE CATHOLIC CHAPTER IN THE different and even opposite directions at the same time — by which the pace of society is to be preternaturally quickened in the path of universal progress. In short, having witnessed so many experiments tried on poor credulous humanity by new doctors who turned out to have been only quacks, panaceas are not by her highly valued. She has had such long and universal experience, and such opportunities of studying her subject, that she knows what is in the heart of man, the bad as well as the good, much better than he knows it himself. She is inclined to suspect or distrust all those crudely conceived political changes which dis- turb the peac(5 of communities and nations, without im- proving their condition. Oh, how many of these abor- tive and disastrous changes has she not witnessed throughout the whole world during her life of eighteen hundred years ! But a revolution begun under such circumstances as marked the commencement, the prosecution, and completion of the American struggle for freedom, it would be impossible for her to condemn. It was admitted by the wisest statesmen of the English Sen- ate, that the authority of the British Constitution was on the side of the colonists, and directly opposed to the violent course of their own infatuated govern- ment, in regard to the principle for the maintenance of which the Americans took up arms. Accordingly the Catholics— clergy and laity— were among the first and most ardent to join their countrymen in defence of common rights. Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, signed the Declaration of Independence, with a bold and steady hand, risking his immense property, as well as his life, in the cause of his country. His cousin, the Rev. John Carroll, then a priest and a Jesuit, after- *« HISTO:. r THE UNITED STATES. 13 wards the venerated first Archbishop of Baltimore, wafi associated with Franklin, Chase, and Charles Car- roll, on a mission to conciliate, pending the war, the good will, or at least the neutrality of the Canadians, who were Catholics. John Barry, of Philadelphia, a most devout Catholic, a native of Wexford, in Ireland, was appointed to command the Lexington, the first ves- sel of war owned by the Continental Congress. And so well did he acquit himself, that he received special thanks and commendations from "Washington himself. He was raised to the highest rank ; the first who ever obtained from this government the title which is popu- larly known as Commodore ; his memory is held in respect by his gallant successors, and he is not unfre- quently designated as the father of the American Navy. But not to speak of others who took a distinguished, though less prominent, part in the great struggle, who, I may be allowed to ask, were your allies ? Catholics. The troops furnished by Catholic France, to aid in the war of American Independence, I find it stated, amounted in ail to thirteen thousand. The vessels furnished by the same government, for the naval ser- vice of the young Republic, are set down in all at forty- five ships of the line, besides frigates. But money was as necessary as men; and when the exchequer of Congress was empty, when the paper issues had ceased to represent any positive value, loans were advanced by that same country, amounting in all to seven millions of dollars. Neither was this yet all. I find another account of three ships dispatched from France to this country, laden with military stores, includ- ing two hundred pieces of artillery, four thousand tents, and clothing for thirty thousand men. It may be said 'A ' 'SB'SS^SSBSSSS' -— ^ I I i I 14 THE CATHOLIC CHAPTER IN THE that France did all this from political motives, with a view to damage the power of England. But I have in- tended only to state the fact, not to discuss the motive. Supposing the motive to be what you say,— the Colonies were actuated by the same desire : they, too, wished to damage and cripple the power of England, so as to prevent her from being able to despoil them of their constitutional rights as freeborn men. According to all popular ideas, at least on this side of the Atlantic, the issue involved in the War of In- dependence was a choice, as England presented it to the colonists, between political freedom and political slavery. During the contest, so far as religion is concerned, who were your allies and your friends ? I answer, Catholics, —and, if I may be permitted to add, none but Catho- lics. Of course, I do not mean to exclude by this remark the chivalrous men of different nations, who risked their lives and fortunes in your cause, and I would be es- pecially ungrateful, if among them I omitted to mention the name of the gallant Montgomery, who fell at Que- bec. I speak of your allies and friends in their national, public character. On the other hand, in this contest between slavery and freedom, who were your enemies ? Protestants, — and, if I may say it without offence, none but Protestants. Let me prove this. It is known how much the British army has been in all modern times made up of Irish Catholic soldiers. Their courage and fidelity have never been denied by their oflScers or the Government of England. But in the war which Eng- land was about to wage against the rising liberties of this country, Lord Howe, who was to take command, wrote to the British ministry that he " disliked and could not depend on Irish Catholic soldiers," and sug- gested that German mercenary troops should be em- L 'es, with a I have in- he motive, e Colonies wished to , so as to 1 of their I thia side rar of In- d it to the al slavery, rned, who Catholics, )ut Catho- lis remark lo risked mid be es- o mention li at Que- f national, is contest enemies ? mce, none 10 wn how ern times irage and ers or the bich Eng- berties of !ommand, iked and and 8ug- d be em- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 15 ployed, — and these German mercenaries turned out afterwards to be the far-famed Hessians. Again : In raising German troops for the purpose of crushing the liberties of this country in the war of Inde[)endence, the agents of Great Britain on the Continent complained of the obstacles that were thrown in their way, whether in raising recruits, or in forward- ing them, and these difficulties, it appears by dispatchesj to the Government in London, were ascribed to the in- trigues and '>T>r'Osition of Catholics in Germany. I think that, on a review of these evidences, there is no just and candid American, pretending to have any adequate knowledge of the history of his own counti-y, who will not agree with me, that at the close of the war the Catholics of this land were entitled, in their own right, to the civil and religious immunities which are secured to them in common with their fel- low-citizens of other denominations, by tl. ' achieve- ment of the independence of the United States. But there is another ground, in favor of a vast number of them, involving the additional pledge of national honoi'. It will be recollected that, at the close of the French war, Canada was ceded by Fj .mce to Great Britain. The Colonies took a great interest in that war in which Washington, still a youth, distinguished himself The issue of the struggle has an immense bearing on the early history of the United States. From the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the mouth of the Mississippi, by explora- tion of rivers and lakes, including even Lake Superior, by acquaintance vrith various tribes, by missionary posts here, settlements there, forts, or something correspond- ing, in other places, the French, still Catholics, had created before the law of nations a valid title to the IS I.V K I M '1 ft i I '4 16 THE CATHOLIC CHAPTER IN THE whole of the valley of the Mississippi, if they liad proved themselves physically capable of defehding it against the combined power of England and her Colo- nies. France proved unequal to the effort. Canada was ceded, by the treaty of Paris, in 1763, to Eng- land,— including all the dependencies of Canada or of New France in North America. Now the rights of property and of religion were secured to all the inhabitants of the territory ceded in 1 763 by France to England. The title to all the claims of France west of the Alleghanies, which passed to England by treaty, became vested in the United States at the clo«e of the American war, and this country was bound in honor to respect the clause which had secured the rights of property and religion to the irdinbitants. Again, Louisiana was acquired directly from France by purchase, subject to the same condition. Florida was bought from Spain, within my own recollec- tion. Texas, at a period more recent still, and now, last of all. New Mexico, and the golden regions of Cali- fornia, have been acquired by treaty, and added to the national domain. In all these territories and states, the rights of property and religion have been guaranteed to the inhabitants ; and now, at this late day, are the ancient, or even the new, Catholic inhabitants of such towns as Kaskaskia, Vincennes, St. Louis, on the Wa- bash and Mississippi,— Natchez, Mobile, St. Augustine, New Orleans in Louisiana, Santa Fe, in New Mexico, or San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Monterey, in California,— in despite of treaties, (and the best treaty of all, the American Constitution,) to be told that this is a Protestant country ^— with the soothing assurance, however, that they need not be alarmed, that Protes- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 17 if they had defehding it id her Colo- t. Canada B3, to Eng- !anada or of ligion were >ry ceded in II the claims L passed to the United r, and this lause which gion to the ed directly e condition. wn recollec- !, and now, ons of Cali- Ided to the I states, the Guaranteed ly, are the its of such >n the War Augustine, w Mexico, »nterey, in jest treaty i that this assurance, lat Protes- tantism is only another name for liberty of conscience and universal toleration, and that of its bounty, and under its benign and exuberant benevolence, they are and shall be permitted to enjoy themselves, to own and manage their prope .-ty, and to practise their religion, just the same as if they were entitled to equality of rank as fellow-citizens ! Why, if I know any thing of the American character, the enlightened portion of the Protestant mind of this country would feel as indignant as the Catholics themselves could feel, at the utterance of such pretensions. And yet they are all included in that one unjust and unhallowed assumption that this is a Protestant country, in which Catholics are permitted to live by the gratuity of Protestant toleration. Let us now go back to the period whi'^h preceded the Revolution, whilst these States were as yet in the condition of British Colonies. I need hardly recall to your recollection that of the three primitive Colonies, one, that of Maryland, was Catholic. That of Virginia was first founded permanently in 1607, Massachusetts Colony in 1620, and that of Maryland in 1634. I will not speak of the other Colonies, because I do not re- gard them as primitive, but only as incidental off-shoots, springing up at a distance, and oftentimes growing out of a local necessity for a departure of some from the dwelling-place of their former friends. The Virginians, if I have not misunderstood their character and history, were high-minded, chivalrous,— disposed to cultivate, and realize thei?' ideal of English gentlemen, even in the wilderness. They were aristocratic in their feel- ings, and they could hardly have been otherwise. They were the favored sons of England on these shores, as regarded both Church and State. * Very different, in many respects, were the Pilgrim 1 i r" 18 THE CATHOLIC CHAPTER IN THE Fathers of Plymouth. Both Colonies were of the same national stock and origin, but the early inhabitants of both had been brought up under the influence of sys- tems and associations quite antagonistic to each other. I am sorry to say that Catholics were not favorites with either. They were regarded by both with feelings, if I can use such an expression, of intense dislike, — whilst neither the inhabitants of Virginia, nor those of Massachusetts, were, by any means, over tolerant to each other. The Puritans were earnest men. This is not the place or time to speak of their religious doc- trines. But whether they were safe guides in Theology or not, that they were sincere, I have no doubt. Now next to truth, in all cases, sincerity has the first and strongest claim to the respect and almost veneration of the human mind. Not only were they earnest and sincere, but there was no double man among them. Whatever they seemed to be, that they were, neither more nor less. In the transcendentalism of some of their descendants, in our day, the whole of the law and the prophets has been reduced to the summary of a phrase, which implies that each one should "a 4 cedent to colonial settlement, at least on these shores, — and as yet, I confess, I have not discovered the first fact or document which could warrant any man, pos- sessed of an ordinary amount of true information, to assume that this is a Protestant more than a Catholic country. • , . But, perhaps, it may be said that the religious or sectarian character of a country is to be determined, not by historic titles, either of discovery or occupation, but by the genius of its political and civil institutions. If this ground be taken, the evidences on the Catholic side are stronger than those which have already passed in review. The great elements of our institutions, namely, representative government, electoral franchise, trial by jury, municipal polity, were all the inventions of Catholics alone. They come in part from the period of Alfred the Great. They had acquired a very high development already under Edward the Confessor, and it was only after royal power had attempted to make en- croachments on the rights secured by them, that the Ba- rons at Runnymede extorted from King John a written pledge, not to secure new privileges, but to confirm those which were understood as the hereditary birthright of English Catholic freemen. These, therefore, assuredly d . not supply any evidence that this is a Protestant country. But, perhaps, it may be well to inquire what is meant by this term. It surely cannot be that the elements of nature, earth, air, fire, or water can be qualified as belonging to one denomination more than to another. We are composed of Catholics and Protes- tants, if you will, in the enjoyment of a common inherit- ance ; and although the fields of Protestant proprietors may be more numerous than those of Catholics, still the same dews of Heaven cause the wheat to germinate S ;>/'r~ f* THE CHTnOLIO CnAPTER IN THE in the earth, and the same sunbearaa ripen the harvest of the one as well as of the other, without discrimina- tion. But if those Protestant proprietors should ask ■of us to be grateful for this, that they permitted us to share the dews and the sunbeams with themselves, that we ought to be thankful for this, our answer is. No, gen- tlemen ; our title to the benefit of the seasons is just the same as yours. We ar*», indeed, grateful for your kind offices of good neighborhood, but, pray, do not require us to give you thanks for Heaven's gifts, which we share in our own right. What, then, is the meaning of the words Protes- tant country, as applied to the United States ? I sup- pose that, at last, it will come down to signify nothing more than that the majority of the inhabitants are Protestants. But has it never occurred to those who could make such an observation, that majorities and minorities are mere accidents, liable to change, whereas the constitution is o. pi'inciple, and not an acci- dent ? Its great and inappreciable value is that it pre- scribes the duties of majorities, and protects, wit 'i v^qual and impartial justice, the rights of minorities. In this country, the Constitution of the United States is the majority, and it shall rule. Now, in presence of the Constitution, this is neither a Catholic nor a Pro- testant country, but a broad land of civil and reli- gious freedom and equality, secured indiscriminately to all. In passmg so rapidly on the direct line of my sub- ject, I have been obliged to leave unnoticed innumer- able incidents, many of which possess attraction enough to have made one turn aside, and daily by the way. For instance, the missionary labors of the Jesuits and other apostles of the Cross, who, thirsting not for gold, but HISTORY OF THE UN [TED STATES. 86 In for souls, had not ceased to traverse this country, in every direction, from the earliest period. Time has,' to a great extent, obliterated their footprints on the soil, but the reason is, in part, that the Indian tribes among whom they labored are gone,— shrinking away into the deeper or more distant wilderness. The memory of the illustrious Jesuit Fathers, who labored for their convei-sion, has accompanied their descendants even to their present remotest hunting-gi-ounds. But it has become comparatively weak, and is now reduced to a symbolic term, which they cherish with great affection, and express in the words 'black-gown,' or 'role nolr: Two hundred years ago, the poor Franciscans trod the golden sand gf California beneath their bare feet, with- out noticing or appreciating its value. They looked more to Heaven than to earth, and it would have been almost out of keeping with their character, to have made the discovery, which has recently startled the mind and whetted the cupidity of the world. Two hundred years ago. Father Le Moyne, labor- mg among the Onondagas of this State, discovered the Salt Springs, which abound near Salina and Syracuse. At present, nearly all men believe in the reality of the discovery, but prejudice was then what prejudice is now, and when a Dutch clergyman of New Amster- dam, to whom Father Le Moyne had made known the discovery, reported the same to the Classis in Hol- land, ] dded, by way of caution, « but whether this informau.u be true, or whether it be a Jesuit lie, I do not determine ! " And in that precise year, that is, in 1654— passing to another scene of a different order, you will be surprised and sorry to hear that the Catholics cf Maryland, who had given such an example 1^/' M THE CATHOLIC CHAPTEn IN THE as we have seen rlosnlLeJ, were themselves disfran- chised on uccount of religion. It is not to be inferred that, in this historic review, I have been insensible to the merits of other persons and other parties besides Catholics. But the character of my subject, and the limitation of my time, do not permit me to speak of them. Nor is it necessary. Neither the descendants of the Virginia Colonists, nor those of the Pilgrim Fathers, have allowed their ances- tors to pass away " unwept, unhonored, or unsung." They are proud of being the descendants of such parentage. Nor need a Catholic be ashamed if he is told that he was bom near the site of old St. Mary's, in Maryland. As a Colony, and as a State, she has had her distinguished men. The supreme recognized interpreter of the laws, even of the Constitution, is her son, and a Catholic. The judicial ermine will contract no stain while it is worn by him. Pure and unsullied he received it from the illustrious Marshall, and to his unknown successor he will transmit it as dnsullied and as pure, — but not purer than is his own private character. The death of Charles Carroll of CarroUton, the last of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, is a comparatively recent event. The galaxy of great men who had endorsed that immortal instiTiment had disappeared, one after another, until the star of Maryland alone was left, — and not by one State, but by all, its declining course was watched with deepest interest, until, becoming brighter as it neared the horizon, it was seen no more, — a^ i is now but a gratefully cherished memory. The moral of the remarks I have made, if they have any, should be, in my judgment, that no preten- sions to religious ascendency should be entertained on V HISTORY or THE UNITED STATES. 87 one side, or admitted on the other. In the whole range of human benefits, no nation on the earth has more reason to be thankful for the favors which the kind Providence of iVlmighty God has placed in its pos- session, and within its reach, than the people of the United States. Let tliem, without distinction of creed, unite, and bo united, in preserving the common inher- itance ; — let them vie with each other in mutual kind- ness and good offices ; vie with each other in honorable rivalship, as to who shall be best citizens ; who shall most faithfully support the country and obey the laws. I hope the time is far distant, but yet it may come, when our country shall have need of all her children. O then, let them be prepared to rally around her, as around their common mother, who had been at all times equally impartial, and equally kind to them all. I cannot conclude without calhng your attention to three distinct moments of American history, which, in the events themselves, in their circumstances and con- sequences, stand out apart in their own moral grandeur, — not to be confounded with any othei-s. The fii-st, is the moment when Washington spontaneously returned his victorious sword to the civil authority of the coun- try which he had liberated. To my mind, the annals of mankind, from the very origin of time, have never pre- sented, in the order of merely human moral grandeur, a moment or a spectacle, more sublime than this. The other, not less sublime, is that in which, aftc* having remained unknown to each other, so far as we can tell, from the period when the foundations of the earth were laid, two worlds met for the first time, and were introduced to each other around the cross, ^jlanted "by Columbus, on the Island of San Salvador, in 1492. The third, was that in which the Queen of Castile and I V 1 88 THE CATHOLIC CHAPTER. [ I L AragoD, oflfered to pledge the precious stones of her crown, in order to defray the expenses of his expedi- tion. If, as there is reason to believe, she was prompt- ed to this hy love for s- )uls that might be saved, even though their existence was yet doubtful, this was not only a sublime moment, it was almost divine, as insur- ing success to the enterprise from the inward prompt- ing and impulse of heavenly charity. Of coui-se, the chivalry of Spain would not allow their sovereign lady to make such a sacrifice. They provided means from other sources. And although they did well in this, we aye tempted almost to regret that some of her jewels did not, by some honest accident, find their way to this country. The sword of Washington is treasured as a precious relic, no less of his patriotism than of his bravery. The hilt of such a sword would be fitly gemmed by a jewel once possessed by such a queen— the patroness of Christopher Columbus. The double relic ^vould represent two important events connected with American history, and be an interesting memorial at the same time of the achievements of Washington and of the magnanimity and charity of " Isabella the Catholic." ^«^r**wswrftt*».,.a I I 38 of her i expedi- prompt- ed, even was not as insur- prompt- ai-se, the ign lady ms from this, we r jewels way to feasured n of his be fitly queen — double nnected lemorial ihington ella the y