THE WORKS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Right Rev. John England, 
 
 BISHOP OF CHARLESTON, S. C. 
 
 WITH MEMOIR, MEMORIALS, NOTES AND FULL INDEX. 
 
 By HUGH P. McELROHK 
 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 BALTIMORE : 
 
 THE BALTIMORE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 
 No. 174 "West Baltimore Street.
 
 COPYRIGHT 
 BY THE BALTIMORE PUBLISHING Co, 
 
 1881. 
 
 freu of The Dalttmnre PubHnMng C'o.
 
 v-1 
 
 AMONG the writings which have been placed before the 
 American public, those of Bishop England must ever occupy 
 a high place. Whether we regard him as a champion of 
 the Church or as an eloquent orator on literary and social 
 themes, we see a man of subtile genius, solid learning, and 
 that forcible earnestness which in all ages makes its mark. 
 
 Cumbered with extraneous matter and badly edited, the 
 first edition of his works was speedily exhausted. The 
 object of the present edition is to free his works from 
 those imperfections, and to present them to the public in 
 that shape which the great bishop himself would have 
 chosen had he lived to give the final touches to the chil- 
 dren of his brain. Engaged in a succession of controver- 
 sies, he necessarily reverted to the same subject time and 
 again ; consequently many of his articles were mere repeti- 
 tions, and in these cases the editor has selected that which 
 presents the subject best, fortified by notes from other articles 
 and such sources of information as were within reach. He 
 has also found an immense amount of matter in the 1849 
 edition, not written by Bishop England, but consisting of 
 newspaper clippings of no interest now, or else of half- 
 digested papers stated to be by "other hands." None of 
 this appears in the present edition; every line in it, except 
 the memoir, notes, etc., is from the pen of the great 
 prelate. 
 
 iii
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 The memoir is not of that species which may be described 
 as " linked sweetness long drawn out ; " the aim is to 
 give, together with a rapid resume of the principal events 
 in his life, a living picture of the man. The notes and 
 the index have been carefully prepared, and the latter will 
 be found useful to those who desire to delve in the rich 
 literary and historical mines embedded in these volumes. 
 
 Long and faithful labor has been given to the work, and 
 it is trusted that it will be appreciated, not only by 
 Catholics, but also by the general public. 
 
 H. P. M.
 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 PREFACE, -------_.-.- ill 
 
 MEMOIE, -- T ii 
 
 MEMORIALS, ..._._..__. xv iii 
 
 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY, i 
 
 THE PLEASURES OP THE SCHOLAR, ...... 33 
 
 DUELLING, ---._....... 61 
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION, --.....__ 93 
 
 DESCENT OP JEXEAS INTO HADES, ....... 130 
 
 THE CHARACTER OP WASHINGTON, -....- 162 
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS, ........ 208 
 
 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS, ...... 252 
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME, - - 273 
 
 THE WALDENSES, - -- 334 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF DENMARK, --.-__. 333 
 
 " " " SWEDEN, - - 337 
 
 " " NORWAY, 345 
 
 " " " RUSSIA, , 349 
 
 " " " EUROPEAN TURKEY, 365 
 
 " " " THE GUEZK SCHISM, - ... 403 
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE, ....... 415 
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE, --------- 480 
 
 v
 
 MEMOIR OF BISHOP EKGLAHD. 
 
 "JOHN ENGLAND is a bad boy, because he will not learn how to dance." 
 Such waS the sentence found in a school-book of John England's. What 
 a revelation ! Evidently a tough character from the start ; achieving the 
 reputation of a "bad boy" "because he would not learn how to dance." 
 And he never did learn how "to dance;" never would "trip the light 
 fantastic toe " to the most persuasive strains of official harp and viol or 
 under threat even of the lash of power. Ancestors likewise; setting at 
 defiance laws of tyranny, teaching a hedge-school out there in the mountain 
 waste of Ireland, and keeping alive memories of the old Keltic glory. 
 "What though the stout-hearted young fellow, destined to become the father 
 of a great man, a man in every sense of the word what though he be 
 thrown into prison for teaching he laughs at their heretical oaths, and 
 escapes to resume his school in the ditch. 
 
 Thus handed down, the strong old spirit, along with good blood, was 
 born into John England in the classic city of Cork, Sept. 23, 1786. 
 Chaotic world into which this chubby, strong-fisted baby came crying I 
 doubt not. Thunders of the great Revolution in the far new world not 
 yet died away ; Europe, corrupt to the heart, quivering over a terrific social 
 volcano; all eyes blinded by the signs of the lightning of God's wrath 
 blazing in the sky. "When the time comes, this little babe, grown up 
 to man's estate, will take share in the world-wide Revolution going 
 on ; most notably in recalling Ireland, who was dangerously fascinated by 
 the French Revolution, from her imitation, just beginning, of the Revolu- 
 tion's atheistic excesses. 
 
 Fifteen years of peace, however, glided on ; of peace, but not of idle- 
 ness. Few anecdotes of this youth, those immortal myths which are the 
 natural growth or fuugi of all great men's biographies, are handed down 
 to us. He was persecuted and called the little "Papist" in this Cork 
 school. In after life, it is said, he met one of his chief tormenters in 
 the church, and fell into such a rage that he could with difficulty control 
 his emotion and proceed with the Mass. Having signified a desire to enter 
 the priesthood, Rt. Rev. Francis Moylan placed him in the charge of Rev. 
 Robert McCarthy, dean of the diocese. Before deciding conclusively on 
 his vocation, he studied law under an eminent barrister of Cork a train- 
 
 (vii)
 
 viii MEMOIR. 
 
 ing of which he afterwards showed the rich effect in his masterly style of 
 summarizing arguments. Having concluded that the priesthood was his 
 calling, on the 31st of August, 1803, he entered the College of Carlow. 
 The energy and untiring zeal of the man developed early. "Work while 
 it is day, for the night cometh, when no man can work," was his motto. 
 Procuring the establishment of a female penitentiary, and schools for poor 
 boys and girls ; delivering discourses in the parish chapel ; laboring among 
 the militia stationed in Carlow these are the glimpses we get of his five 
 years of study in college. A curious incident happened in his military 
 missionism. The officer in command was persuaded, by misrepresentations, 
 to bring the soldiers who attended his instructions to court-martial ; but, to- 
 the discomfiture of the fanatics, the trial ended with the acquittal of the 
 men, the officer even encouraging them to continue in their course. In his 
 old age and in far-away America, the bishop never tired of recalling this 
 incident and of expressing his delight that his mission, like that of St. 
 Francis de Sales, began amongst the military. 
 
 In 1808 he returned to Cork for the purpose of receiving holy orders. 
 He was made deacon on October 9, and the following day was ordained to 
 the priesthood, by dispensation, as he had not reached the canonical age. 
 Immediately appointed lecturer at the cathedral,* he delivered there a series 
 of brilliant discourses on the Old and New Testaments. Besides these, he 
 preached sermons in the small chapel of the Presentation Convent, which 
 was always crowded by persons eager to hear his magical words. Nor did 
 he pause at words. His zeal expressed itself in practical works. The 
 present Magdalen Asylum, built at the expense of Mr. Therry, was in pro- 
 cess of erection, and always being touched with a peculiar pity for the poor 
 outcasts of the world, he turned his attention to this institution and was 
 largely instrumental in making it a success. In the May of 1808 he estab- 
 lished a monthly periodical, Religious Repertory, conducting it for several 
 years, and gaining here the first experience of that journalism which after- 
 wards was of so much use. A free circulating library in the parish of St. 
 Mary's, Shandon, was another of his works. 
 
 His next labor was visiting the city jail, for the purpose of carrying con- 
 solation to the unfortunate prisoners. Here he toiled, unpaid, except by his 
 own conscience, for many years ; especially among the poor fellows, chiefly 
 " political criminals," destined to be sent out into that bleak world of Aus- 
 tralia, with little chance of seeing a priest in the bushes of an unsettled 
 country. One of his adventures while on this mission, together with many 
 
 " North Cork Chapel," says Mr. Wm. Goo. Read ; but I am Inclined to believe, 
 from the strongest evidences, that the cathedral was the right place.
 
 MEMOIR. ix 
 
 others too horrible to describe, confirmed in him that undying hatred, which 
 every Irishman cherishes with sacred care, of the despotism sitting like an 
 incubus upon unhappy Ireland. A prisoner, buried in a fetid dungeon, had 
 given way to frantic despair. Soothed by the gentle ministrations of Father 
 England, the man confessed he had been an emissary of the government. 
 What was, and is, the business of an "emissary cf the government?" 
 Listen. An " emissary of the government " made up conspiracies, and then 
 betrayed them. Possessed at length of too many secrets, the government 
 distrusted him, and entrapped him on an occasion of usual felony. This 
 was the reason of his despair. Father England assured him that steps 
 would be taken for his relief, and promised to come back next day. He 
 did so, but the prisoner was gone. Now for the sequel of this tragic story. 
 Years afterwards a man called on the Bishop of Charleston, and told 
 him he had seen the unfortunate wretch in an obscure prison of India. 
 The man told the narrator his dreadful history and its end. The cold- 
 blooded, cruel, heartless miscreant* who ruled Ireland then, had become 
 alarmed at England's interference, and had spirited the culprit away. 
 
 Bays of light, penetrating the dark night behind us, reveal this inde- 
 fatigible man still at work. In 1812 he was president of the College of 
 St. Mary, teaching pupils their theological course. In the same year his. 
 first recorded experience in politics took place. He was fond in after 
 life of dilating on this feat. For the two Parliamentary seats of Cork 
 there were three candidates one Liberal and two wealthy Tories who 
 were also malignant Orangemen. Most of the electors were tenants of 
 the two Tories, and it was feared that if they dared to vote in two 
 Liberals, the result would be materially disastrous to the voters. But it 
 was determined to elect one Liberal. But how to do so? Father Eng- 
 land doffed his professor's gown for the day, and, under pledge not to 
 be interfered with in any way nor pestered by the usual swarm of polit- 
 ical advisers, took dictatorial charge of the matter. The result, instead 
 of being a tragedy, was a rich comedy. lie organized a large body of 
 voters, sworn to cast their ballots as he directed, and whose prudence 
 he could rely on. These he posted, on the day of election, in a 
 position apart, strictly binding them to hold no intercourse with any 
 one but himself. Then he sent for the Tory agents and chatted with 
 them in this pleasant manner: "A great many of our party are willing 
 to vote for one or other of your respective candidates, but they fear 
 that their right to vote for the Liberal candidate will be interfered with. 
 Now, gentlemen, I warn you I I shall have you and your associates nar- 
 
 * Byron's line.
 
 X MEMOIR. 
 
 rowly watched, and every instance of intimidation or attempt at it I will 
 instantly punish by voting ten men for your Tory adversary." They 
 apprehended the situation ; they were caught. The polling began. Very 
 soon a Catholic voter was threatened by his landlord's agent. The case 
 was reported to the chairman. In terror the agent rushed to Dr. Eng- 
 land, explaining and apologizing ; but nothing would do ; the ten votes 
 were promptly deposited for the rival Tory and the Liberal. There was 
 no trouble after this. When the Liberal candidate was so far ahead that 
 defeat was impossible, the professor, merrily telling them they had behaved 
 very well, left the Tory agents to canvass the remaining voters. 
 
 In 1813 a jubilee, in which Dr. England took a leading part, was 
 granted by the Pope to the Catholics of Cork, on the completion of their 
 new cathedral. Another anecdote is related of Dr. England as occurring 
 in the following year. Traveling from Cork to Dublin, on important dio- 
 cesan business, the fall of snow during the night prevented the coach 
 from going beyond Carlow. He, with some others whose business was 
 urgent, set out to walk the rest of the way. Sinking exhausted in the 
 icy cold, his companions abandoned him to his fate. A countryman, 
 who had great difficulty in awakening him, found him in a comatose condi- 
 tion. "I am a priest," was all he could say, but it was enough. The 
 faithful Kelt at once put forth all his energies and conveyed him to 
 the shelter of his cabin nearby. 
 
 Destiny preserved him for the doing of great things. That very year 
 there was need of his voice and his pen in the land, and his voice was 
 raised, his pen set to work. Of all the vile acts of which the miserable 
 Castlereagh was guilty in the course of a shameful life ended by his 
 own hand, that of trying to subsidize the Catholic clergy, and thereby 
 enslave them to the State, was perhaps the most vile. The nature of 
 the attempt may be learned by turning to the last passages of "Epochs 
 of Irish History," and the result of the civil power dabbling in Church 
 affairs is most powerfully shown in the sketch of the Greek Schism, 
 which is one of the best and most compact studies of that terrible eccle- 
 siastical disaster extant. The government was willing to grant Catholic 
 emancipation, provided a veto upon ecclesiastical nominations was allowed 
 to the crown, and m order to gain the clergy offered to pay them sala- 
 ries. The heartless aristocracy and gentry were willing to give in. Some 
 of the hierarchy gaped also for the gilded bait in the centre of which 
 was a deadly poison taint. But the noble priests of Ireland stood firm. 
 Nevertheless, there was danger in the air. England boriowed money on 
 his own responsibility, and, in opposition to the wishes even of his dio-
 
 MEMOIR. xi 
 
 cesan, assumed editorial charge of the Cork Mercantile Chronicle, the 
 failing organ of the Liberal party. In the columns of this journal he so 
 clearly and forcibly showed the evil character of this step, at once trea- 
 son to their country and heresy to their creed, that the whole nation as 
 a solid unit rejected the scheme with scorn. 
 
 He then showed the grounds upon which the agitation for true Cath- 
 olic emancipation should be carried on, and when O'Connell began his 
 crusade he had no abler backer than England. The value of his assist- 
 ance to the great Agitator could not be better told in a hundred tomes 
 than in the pithy exclamation of O'Connell later in life: "With Bishop 
 England at my back. I would not fear the whole world before me." 
 
 It was net to be expected that the fearless journalist which England 
 proved himself to be would escape the rigors of tyrannical laws. On one 
 occasion he scathingly commented on the corruption of the judges and 
 the iniquity of packed Orange juries. Earl Talbot, the Tory Lord Lieu- 
 tenant, was down on him at once. A fine of five hundred pounds was 
 his reward for telling the truth, in default of which for he could not 
 pay it he took his place in the cell of the jail his father had occu- 
 pied. Again: O'Connell went into the newspaper office while the editor 
 was absent, and wrote a scorching article. Proceedings were begun. The 
 only person in the office who could identify O'Connell's caligraphy was 
 the journeyman a Protestant who had set the piece, but he was true 
 as steel. The real offender not being found, the editor was responsible ; 
 but, as chance would have it, the official certificate of editorship had 
 been cancelled that very day, and thus the charge could not be brought 
 home to England. Then the poor journeyman was clapped into prison, 
 and during many months the Catholics supported his family. At last it 
 leaked out that he was only detained to annoy the Liberals ; supplies 
 ceased, and the journeyman was allowed to go free. 
 
 On severing his connection with the paper, Dr. Murphy, who had 
 succeeded Bishop Moylan, appointed England in 1817 to the parish of 
 Bandon. This was the celebrated town over whose entrance gate was 
 written the inscription welcoming "the Turk, the Atheist, and the Jew," 
 but banning " the Papist."* Much of the bigotry still remained. For 
 three years t Father England labored to overcome it, working, preaching, 
 
 * Dean Swift, on seeing the inscription, extemporized the following retort: 
 "He who wrote this wrote it well, 
 For the same is writ o'er the gate of hell." 
 
 tMr. Read saya "six years," but this could not be, for be received the 
 appointment in 1817 and left for America in 1820.
 
 xil MEMOIR. 
 
 and lecturing, until finally he brought the factions together in a genial 
 social band. While here an attempt to assassinate him failed. A great 
 Hand was guarding that life destined for an arena of noble toil. 
 
 The call came. After being twelve years a priest, he was nominated 
 to the just created See of Charleston, S. C. He was consecrated at St. 
 Finbar's Cathedral September 21, 1820. * Characteristically, he refused to 
 take the usual oath of allegiance, having resolved never to wear a mitre 
 xmder the British flag. "As soon as I reach my see,'! he said, " my 
 first step will be to renounce this allegiance ; therefore, the form is now 
 idle and useless." Sailing from Belfast, he arrived in Charleston Decem- 
 ber 30, 1820. He was accompanied by Father Corkery, the first priest 
 he ever ordained, two or three students, and his sister, Johanna Monica 
 England, t 
 
 The new Diocese of Charleston comprised the three States of North 
 and South Carolina and Georgia. It embraced an area of 127,500 square 
 miles, and contained a white and black population of 1,063,000, of whom 
 about 1,000 were Catholics. 
 
 This was the prospect the young bishop had to face. There were 
 two apologies for churches mere shanties with congregations torn by 
 scandals, and two priests, who fled on his arrival. Father Corkery died 
 soon after, and he was left alone. Never perhaps since the time of the 
 Apostles, except in the case of missionaries to heathen lands, was a bishop 
 reduced to such a state before. There was scarcely a shelter to cover 
 his head, and the great Protestant Tradition of England was in a most 
 virile and flourishing condition. Ignorance of the truths of the Church 
 made his task dangerous as well as arduous. Theie he was, to hew out 
 and build up a diocese, while he struggled to beat down the tradition 
 of bigotry. He was like a pioneer of the West, holding the plow with 
 one hand and the rifle with the other. Nothing daunted, he bravely put 
 his hands to work; ay, and head and heart, too. 
 
 For that same head had in it thoughts destined to live, and in that 
 heart flowed placid streams of poetry and rushing torrents of eloquence, 
 which would, when unpent. carry everything before them from end to 
 end of the land. 
 
 An extensive lot at the upper extremity of Broad street, then on 
 the outskirts, but now in the heart of the city, was purchased ; a tein- 
 
 * Bisbop Murphy, assisted by Bishops Moran, of Ossory, and Kelley, of ItJch- 
 mond, Va., performed the ceremony. 
 
 tThls estimable lady died in a few years.
 
 MEMOIR. 
 
 porary wooden structure was erected to do duty for a church, and a 
 humble cottage beside it served lor the episcopal palace. Unterrified by 
 the alarm and horror his presence excited, behold him then walking down 
 Broad street, hands clasped behind back, buckled shoes, traditional knee- 
 short clothes, frockcoat with military flaps, wide-brimmed Quaker hat, 
 purple Roman collar, close-buttoned vest never with cigar or snuff-box 
 iu hand, for he detested Virginia's weed such he is, poor as a beggar, 
 but independent as a king. 
 
 Recognizing at once the value of the press as an auxiliary of the 
 Church, almost the first work of the bishop was to establish the United 
 Slates Catholic Miscellany.* 
 
 The Miscellany was practically the first Catholic journal in the United 
 States. It existed forty years, until 1861, when it perished through the 
 beginning of the Civil War. Few of its numbers have escaped the rav- 
 ages of fire. The library edition was destroyed in the disastrous conflagration 
 in Charleston, 1861. There is only one copy extant, possessed by the 
 bishop's family in Cork. Miss England aided her brother, until her death, 
 in conducting the Miscellany. Her pen frequently wrote in its columns, and 
 her gentleness often toned down the sternness of his logic. A character- 
 istic anecdote is told of the bishop in this connection. When the weekly 
 issue was threatened from lack of help or other causes, be often went 
 into the printing office and composed those brilliant articles which charmed 
 alike the most fastidious Catholic and Protestant circles, not in writing, 
 but in type! 
 
 His most important work, however, was the formation of a diocesan 
 seminary in 1824, of which Andrew Byrne, afterwards Bishop of Little 
 Rock, was the first student. Very soon he had a band of fifty zealous 
 priests, most of them young men. Churches rose like magic before his 
 steps. Frail most of them' were, but foundations for after times. The 
 Cathedral of St. Finbar, in Charleston, lasted thirty years, when at length 
 it made way for the new one, built on a scale of great magnificence, but 
 it was destroyed by the fire of 1861. Thus Bishop England's dream van- 
 ished. He had never seen even the beginning of its realization. The 
 cathedral will, however, soon be replaced by a fine structure, for which 
 a large amount of money has been raised. 
 
 *The statement in Father O'Connell's book. "Catholicity In the Carolines and 
 Georgia," is inaccurate. The controversy on the Roman Chancery, which led to 
 the editor of the Courier refusing to insert his replies except as advertisements, 
 occurred in 1839, long after the Miscellany was established. These advertisements - 
 the best that he could do were too condensed and also covered too much ground 
 in following the ramblinga of his adversary. A powerful and profound article on 
 the 6a*no subject id that on "Dispensation" in the second volume.
 
 "iv MEMOIR. 
 
 An outbreak of the plague known as the "Stranger's Fever," and 
 whose name sufficiently describes its character, gave him another labor 
 from which he did not shrink. Day and night he was found in the 
 most noisome quarters for Charleston, though a small city, has some 
 spots in it as bad as those of New York carrying bodily and spiritual 
 comfort to the sufferers. Numbers of orphans were left, whom the State 
 very humanely provided for by the erection of an asylum. But this 
 institution fell under sectarian control, and Bishop England determined, at 
 whatever cost, to found a school in Charleston, where sectarianism was 
 unknown, and where Catholic, Jew, or Protestant could receive a first- 
 rate education. He was lavish of his slender means, introducing the best 
 talent of Europe as teachers, and soon the school was crowded with the 
 elite of the city and State. It flourished for seven years, collapsing in 
 1831. Men of every class and profession, generals, statesmen, judges, lit- 
 terateurs, even clergymen of various sects, at this day gratefully acknow- 
 ledge the impulse and the strange intellectual power which the great 
 bishop engrafted on their minds at this school. 
 
 Another of his labors was the care of the poor, friendless slaves. 
 He began to teach them, founding a school for the males under care of 
 a priest, and a school for the females under care of the Sisters of 
 Mercy. He was compelled to suspend the slave schools by the passage 
 of a law making it criminal to teach a slave to read and write, but 
 he continued the schools for emancipated blacks. So far as religion, the 
 main thing after all, was concerned, his actions were not hampered by 
 the slave owners, who soon came to recognize the important aids to virtue 
 ami fidelity which the teaching of the Church afforded. Averse to accept 
 the strictness of the confessional themselves, they would have been unwise 
 indeed not to encourage, as they did, its introduction among a race 
 hitherto devoid of morality. Dearly did Bishop England love his poor 
 slaves. He arranged separate services for them, saying Uass and preach- 
 ing to them in person, and subordinating everything to this pious duty. 
 Although in his writings he defended the institution of slavery as just 
 under existing laws, he set forth with stern logic the duties and obliga- 
 tions of masters, and was in this far ahead of his age. 
 
 The schools of the alxr.'e Sisters were intended for the lower orders. 
 To reach the hearts of the wealthier classes, Bishop England, in 1834, 
 procured a colony from the Ursuline Convent at Blackrock, near Cork, 
 .ind planted it in the young diocese. The new project miscarried at first. 
 Prejudice was so great that Protestants refused to send their daughters 
 t<> this really excellent school, and Catholics were too poor to sustain it.
 
 MEMOIR. XV 
 
 After lingering twenty years, the older members returned to the parent 
 house, and Bishop Reynolds sent the others to Cincinnati. A dozen years 
 more passed along before Bishop Lynch succeeded in recalling the latter 
 from exile, and locating them at Valle Crucis, wear Columbia. Their 
 labors were here renewed under brighter auspices; up to the present 'day 
 the school is celebrated all over the South as one of the very highest 
 order. Protestants of the highest society prefer to send their daughters 
 there. Thus Bishop England's work, though going wrong at first, has 
 finally succeeded. 
 
 In 1835 he undertook the mission of Apostolic Delegate to San Do- 
 mingo, where religion, since the violent separation from the mother country, 
 had fallen into exceeding looseness. He was received by President Boyer 
 with all becoming honors. He restored Catholic discipline, revived the 
 spirit of faith, and ordained a colored man of great learning. On the 
 whole, the wisdom with which he managed this delegate aifair was among 
 the greatest of his works, and his reports, preserved in the archives of 
 Rome, are documents which will serve for future historians to build on. 
 
 Daring this mission, Rt. Rev. William Clancy was appointed Coad- 
 jutor Bishop, and he managed the affairs of the diocese for two years. 
 
 Amid all these labors, he traveled incessantly over his vast diocese, 
 at great personal inconvenience ; preaching in court houses, barns,~~or in 
 the open fields; ministering on the bed of sickness, now on the bleak moun- 
 tain side, now in the plague-stricken, sun-scorched streets of Charleston, 
 often with his feet upon the wet ground, and otherwise suffering from 
 scanty raiment which he had noc the means to obtain, for the poor pit- 
 tances he collected were dispensed to the poor or used in payment of 
 refutations of foul calumnies inserted in the papers as advertisements. 
 
 Writing under these difficulties, he found it impossible to make his 
 essays entirely accurate or extensive. Without proper revision, they were, 
 under the necessities of the times, hastily given to the public, and in 
 the present edition the editor has only made such emendations as were 
 obviously required under the circumstances. 
 
 Bishop England crossed the ocean four times, visiting Rome, Vienna, 
 and Paris in the interests of his poor diocese, and frequently journeyed to 
 different parts of the Union. 
 
 He cherished two special devotions, without which a man may be 
 great but never good a fervent love of our Lord in the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment, and a tender, childlike trust in the Blessed Virgin. 
 
 Yet this man, when the bloody hand of religious bigotry was raised
 
 XVI MEMOIR. 
 
 in the land, was the promptest to crush it. After appealing in vain to 
 the civil authorities for protection from the mob, he called out the 
 Irish volunteers of Charleston. Look out now, you Puritan mob ; there 
 is fight in front of you. Sleek officiality was alarmed. No more talk of 
 burning down the churches and houses of Catholics. Peace must be pre- 
 served. And so passed off this episode, and South Carolina was saved 
 from the ineffaceable disgrace which is stamped upon Massachusetts. 
 
 Bnt the time is coming when he would stand no longer foremost in 
 the ranks of the Church militant. Voices were even now speaking to 
 him, saying : " Thine eyes shall see the King in His glory ; they shall 
 behold the land that is very far off." That iron frame was broken at 
 last. Along the rugged mountain side he had borne his cross to Calvary, 
 and now he was to be crucified there. 
 
 After the Easter of 1841 he visited Europe for the last time. He 
 paid his respects to the Holy Father. Returning the following autumn, 
 he bade a final adieu to his sister, the Superioress of the Presentation 
 Convent at Cork, his brother, Rev. Thomas England, the parish priest of 
 Passage, and a large circle of Irish friends. Never did the love of old 
 Ireland leave his heart. 
 
 The voyage was long and stormy, and when he landed in Philadel- 
 phia he was sick unto death. At the request of Bishop Kenrick, and 
 concealing the malignant disease which was wasting him, he delivered a 
 course of lectures and preached seventeen nights successively with his 
 usual power and brilliance. Next he preached five sermons in Baltimore. 
 He always held an annual retreat for his clergy in Charleston, and he 
 had promised to be with them never having been known to fail in keep- 
 ing his apppointment. He did not appear. What was the matter? People 
 began to grow uneasy. 
 
 He got home in December, all broken up. He insisted on preaching- 
 and took part in the Christmas ceremonies. That was the last. Soon 
 afterwards he took to bed, and lay there suffering for three months. He 
 saw the end, and fortified himself for it by frequent Communions. All 
 temporal matters were calmly arranged. 
 
 A Solemn High Mass was offered in the cathedral in his behalf 
 April 10, 1842, after which the clergy were summoned to his side. He 
 had been a friend to the Israelites when hands Were lifted to strike 
 them, and they now testified their gratitude by praying in the synagogue 
 for his recovery. He received the Sacrament of Extreme Unction in a. 
 composed mood, saying, as he held the Crucifix before him and kissed it, 
 " Sweet Jesus, who didst deign to die for me in this ignominious man-
 
 MEMOIR. xvn 
 
 ner, regard with compassion the condition of Thy servant, and be with 
 him in the succeeding hour of trial." He spoke wise words of advice to 
 the kneeling clergy around him for fully thirty minutes.. 
 
 In the afternoon the seminarians, the dear children whom he was 
 raising up to spread the light of the Gospel in this land, were called to 
 his bedside. Let one of them, Father O'Connell, speak: 
 
 " He lay like a sick lion ; all his strength was gone. The once 
 manly frame was now a grand ruin from the ravages of sickness ; nothing 
 remained of his manly, noble form, admired by the gaze of millions, and 
 never seen but in the gap of danger or in the van of battle, nothing 
 remained but the quenchless lustre of the eye, through which the won- 
 derfully gifted soul still blazed forth in all the splendor of its native 
 brightness. I saw him next, and for the last time, the following morn- 
 ing, April 11, 1842, at five o'clock, the hour when he rose to say his 
 Mass during his life unfailingly. The agony of death was upon him ; 
 he had already received the Holy Unction ; his episcopal robe and stole 
 were on his neck, the ring gleamed from his white hand, outspread on the 
 
 coverlid as if in the act of blessing An audible distinct 
 
 word was spoken, the last on earth of many ' mercy ' a whiteness was 
 suddenly diffused over the face, which now shone like untrodden snow. 
 After the priest had said, ' Depart, Christian soul, out of the world, in 
 the name of God the Father, who created thee, in the name of God the 
 Son, who redeemed thee, in the name of the Holy Ghost, who sanctified 
 thee,' he added : ' Let us pray for the soul of the departed. Bishop 
 England is dead.'" 
 
 " Consider, O Israel, for them that are dead, wounded in thy high 
 places. The illustrious of Israel are slain upon thy mountains. How are 
 the valiant fallen and the weapons of war perished ! There was cast 
 away the shield of the valiant as though he had not been anointed with 
 oil. I grieve for thee; as a mother loveth her only son did I love thee."* 
 
 * Bishop Keorick, of Philadelphia, afterwards Archbishop of Baltimore, cele- 
 brated the Mass of Requiem and pronounced the funeral sermon. Not only were 
 a large number of distinguished Catholics present, but also many Protestants and 
 Jews of the best families from all parts of the country.
 
 VESTRIES OF CHARLESTON, S. C. 
 
 On Monday, April 20, 1842, the vestries of the Church of St. Mary's, 
 Hasell street, and the Church of St. Patrick, on the Neck, were invited 
 to join that of the cathedral, in the library of the seminary, to give 
 expression to their feelings on their late bereavement. A committee of 
 three from each of the vestries (to which the clergy of the respective 
 churches were added) was appointed to report at an adjourned meeting, 
 to be held the next evening at the same hour and place, when the 
 following preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted. The Very 
 Rev. Administrator, being through illness unable to attend, he appointed 
 the Rev. Doctor Lynch to preside on both occasions. 
 
 " PREAMBLE. As time rolls on its troubled stream into the peaceful 
 waters of eternity it occasionally happens to bear as its burden some being 
 more valued, more beloved and more useful than those whom every day life 
 presents to our view, whose loss leaves a void in the community which can- 
 not be filled up, casts a gloom over those prospects which were brightened 
 by his labors, takes from a fond and devoted people the object of their ad- 
 miration, their respect, and their love, and leaves behind but the memory of 
 his virtues, his piety and his usefulness. Too well and tviily have we 
 experienced this during the past week in the demise of our pious, learned 
 and much beloved bishop an event as unexpected as it is mournful, 
 bringing sorrow and sadness to all who knew him in public and private 
 life, and making desolate the hearts of his own affectionate children, 
 who from his lips were gladdened with the joyful tones of a Redeemer's 
 promise, and by his hands were fed with that Bread which sustains 
 man on his earthly journey. The child mourns the loss of a dearly 
 beloved parent, and the burning tear of sorrow starts to his eye at 
 affection's call as he beholds his father's dust restored to its parent clay. 
 The friend breathes forth the silent, sad sigh of affectionate remembrance 
 as he gazes on the cold remains of one united to him in the bonds of mutual 
 attachment. But our father, our dearest father has left us ; our friend, our 
 best of friends has gone from the world of many trials ; he in whom we 
 centered all our confidence, on whom wo depended for strength and 
 
 (xvlil)
 
 MEMORIALS. Six 
 
 support, whose voice was ever ready at duty's call to be raised in the 
 T indication of ourselves, our country and our religion, the pride of our 
 hearts, the object of our love has gone, gone forever. 
 
 "Oh, bitter thought! Oh, sorrowful recollection! Three months ago, 
 as the rich tide of his eloquence was poured forth in portraying the glories, 
 the justice and mercy of God, calling man from the ways of sin, and 
 holding before his view the pardon obtained by a Saviour's blood ; whe could 
 form the opinion that at this day his remains would lie cold beneath his 
 own episcopal chair; and the voice that so often edified and delighted 
 thousands with the fascinating tones of its own peculiar melody; should 
 be hushed forever in the silence of the mouldering tomb ? But such is 
 the lot of man, such the uncertainty of human speculaton. 
 
 " ' Man proposes, but God alone disposes.' 
 
 "United with us in the sacred bonds of the Holy Catholic f;iith, 
 endeared to us by years of the most indefatigable exertions to promote the 
 spiritual welfare of ourselves and our children, and connected with us by 
 all those social ties that link man to man, he has gone to the home of 
 the blessed, there to reap the reward of his labors from the hands of that 
 God whom he so faithfully served, whilst he leaves behind him on earth 
 a name that will not be forgotten as long as virtue, piety and talents are 
 respected and revered. As a Catholic, his faith was as strong as the rock 
 of ages on which Christianity is founded ; as a patriot, he was trained 
 in the school of a Fitzgerald and an Emmet, where the fisry ordeal of 
 persecution was the test of his sincerity ; as a scholar, his mind was pro- 
 found, his imagination fertile and productive, his acquirements various and 
 extensive ; and last, but not least, as a friend, he was one of those friends 
 in need who are friends indeed. Never during his long and eventful 
 career, whilst he defended his own, did he interfere with the religious 
 opinions of others the burden of his preaching, more fully developed in 
 his actions being 'Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.' 
 How well then may we say that we all suffered on his demise : The 
 community in losing one of its most virtuous, eminent and useful citizens ; 
 the social circle one of its greatest ornaments, whose racy wit charmed 
 whilst it brightened all around; religion, one of its ablest defenders; and 
 humanity one of its warmest supporters : the widow, her guardian and 
 protector; the homeless orphan, its father and preserver. Difficult will be 
 the task to find his like again. The funeral bell has tolled his requiem 
 dirge, the Church has chanted her sublime but mournful L'ibera, over his 
 remains, the incense of the holy prayer for the repose of his soul has
 
 xx MEMORIALS. 
 
 ascended to the altar of the Deity all now is silent, sad and still ; but 
 though his star has forever set, his memory will ever remain green in our 
 souls, and though his spirit has fled from its tenement of clay, still will he 
 live in our heart's best affections. But while we mourn for the dead, the 
 illustrious dead, never can we be forgetful of those who differ from us in 
 faith, but unite with us in charity those whose souls are above the 
 influence of prejudice, and who are ever ready to pay a deserved tribute to 
 learning, piety and religion ; and whilst we in conscience steadfastly adhere 
 to the holy and venerable creed of Catholicity, we must fully appreciate the 
 liberal conduct of our dissenting brethren, and the high respect shown by 
 persons of all denominations to the memory of our deceased illustrious 
 bishop : Therefore, be it resolved, 
 
 " 1. That the altars of the three Catholic churches of this city and 
 the Neck be hung for one month with some distinguishing badge of 
 mourning, to testify publicly the sorrow and respect of their respective 
 congregations for their much beloved and ever to be lamented bishop, 
 whose untimely death is to them, in common with their Catholic brethren 
 in the South, an irreparable loss. 
 
 " 2. That as another mark of the grief and respect of the aforesaid 
 congregations on this melancholy occasion, each member of them is hereby 
 requested to wear for at least one month some badge of mourning ; and 
 that each member of the three vestries do wear a crape on his left arm 
 for the same period of time. 
 
 "3. That we hereby tender our grateful thanks to the Eight Rev. Dr. 
 Kenrick, the distinguished administrator of the Diocese of Philadelphia, 
 for his kindness in visiting us on this sorrowful occasion, and for the 
 consolation he afforded us by his eloquent and heai't-touching eulogy on 
 the character and labors of our beloved and zealous bishop. 
 
 " 4. That the thanks of the three Catholic congregations of the city 
 and the Neck are due to and are hereby tendered to the dissenting clergy 
 of the State, to his Honor the Mayor, the Judges of the Courts in 
 session during our affliction, the Collector of the Port, and the citizens 
 generally, for the respect paid and liberal feeling shown by them on the 
 death of our highly gifted and much esteemed prelate. 
 
 "P. N. LYNCH, D.D., Chairman. 
 "A. LAFITTE, Secretary."
 
 MEMORIALS. xxi 
 
 WASHINGTON LIGHT INFANTRY OF CHARLESTON, 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 At an extra meeting of the Washington Light Infantry, held on the 
 25th of April, 1842, the following resolutions were offered by S. A. 
 Huiibut : 
 
 "Although it may seem in some degree incongruous to mingle the 
 name and the functions of a. clergyman with those of a military body 
 such as ours, yet in view of the close connection of feeling which united 
 this company with the Rt. Rev. Bishop England, our deceased chaplain, 
 and inasmuch as the services he has rendered us and the inscription of 
 his name as an honorary member of this corps give us the right publicly 
 to express those sentiments of respect and regard which we all, as 
 individuals, feel for his memory. Be it, therefore, 
 
 "Resolved, That it is with no ordinary feelings of sorrow that the 
 company thus publicly recognizes the loss from among its members of the 
 Right Reverend Bishop England. The eloquent tones that have stirred 
 our hearts as with the sound of a trumpet shall no more command and 
 arrest our attention. The lips ever devoted to the advancement of virtue 
 and religion are forever mute, frozen into silence by the icy hand of death. 
 The earnest vindicator of the liberty of his native land, the devoted 
 admirer and constant advocate of the institutions of this, his adopted 
 country ; the man of unimpeached and unimpeachable character, of intel- 
 lect and acquirements wide and far-reaching, of imagination fervid and 
 poetic the priest of self-denying and self-sacrificing virtues, whom all 
 men of every sect and faith delight to honor the careful and sleepless 
 watcher over the flock committed to his care has finished his earthly 
 course. The good soldier of the Cross, he was ever girt with his armor, 
 and ready to defend from assault the truths he conscientiously believed, 
 and how widely soever we may differ from his doctrine, we all admit 
 that he fought the good fight, and performed the task that was set 
 before him. 
 
 "To us he was endeared by the relation he bore to us, by the recol- 
 lections of the eloquent address which he delivered before this company,! 
 and by the readiness which he evinced to render us any service that cir- 
 cumstances might require. We presume not on this occa ion to analyze 
 the character of this lamented prelate. No panegyric upon his virtues 
 becomes this meeting. In life he courted not the applause of men, and 
 his memory does not require their praise; for his eulogy is in the deep 
 
 i "The Character of "Washington," vol i.
 
 xxn MEMORIALS. 
 
 grief of his friends, in the passionate mourning of the thousand hearts to 
 whom he was the star of hope, the light upon their thorny path of life. 
 His epitaph is written on the enduring affection of the widow and the 
 orphan, the homeless and forlorn, whom, in life, he cherished and sus- 
 tained. Their prayers are the incense around his tomb, their tears the 
 libation over his ashes. 
 
 "Be it further Resolved, That in the death of our lamented and 
 reverend chaplain this company has suffered a bereavement which deprives 
 it of one of its brightest ornaments, and that as a mark of our sorrow 
 for his death, and our respect for his virtues, the usual badge of mourning 
 be worn for thirty days." 
 
 On motion of J. Bryan, Jr., it was resolved that tne above resolutions 
 
 be adopted. 
 
 D. McQUEEN, Secretary. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA REPEAL ASSOCIATION. 
 
 At a meeting of the association held at their room, 278 Market street, 
 on Monday evening, April 18, 1842, "Wm. A. Stokes, Esq., president, in 
 the chair, Benjamin Pemberton Binns, Esq., offered the following resolu- 
 tions which were unanimously adopted : 
 
 "Resolved, That the Repeal Association of Philadelphia have heard, 
 with feelings of deep and solemn -mourning and sorrow of the death of 
 their venerable fellow member, the Right Reverend John England, Bishop 
 of Charleston, in South Carolina. Attached to his person by his true 
 nobility of nature, grateful for his generous devotion to the great cause 
 of human liberty they will hold in enduring remembrance his virtues 
 for imitation, his genius for admiration, and his piety for example. 
 
 "Resolved, That in his death the country has lost one of her most 
 valuable citizens, republican institutions have been deprived of one of 
 their ablest champions, and the holy cause of Christianity has to lament 
 a servant and advocate, whose entire zeal for the principles and interests 
 of his own faith never caused him to violate the charity, which in a, 
 land of freedom protects all, but injures none." 
 
 The president, Mr. Stokes, having vacated the chair, which was takon 
 by Mr. Benjamin P. Binns, proposed the following resolution : 
 
 " Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of the lamented 
 Bishop England, the Association do now adjourn." 
 
 Mr. Stokes in offering this resolution remarked that it was under feel- 
 ings of no ordinary emotion, for none who knew Bishop England could
 
 MEMORIALS. xxiu 
 
 fail to feel towards him an almost filial affection. He was one of those 
 great men, the splendor of whose glories commanded the admiration of 
 all ; "while the goodness of his heart and his amiability of manners made 
 warm friends of all who were so fortunate as to enjoy his acquaintance. 
 He was a remarkable example of one, who by the mere force of his native 
 intellect, had caused his name to be known and revered throughout Europe 
 and America ; known and revered not only as a Christian prelate, firm 
 in the faith which he held but as an illustrious champion of human 
 rights as a powerful advocate in Europe for that system of government 
 in America, which recognized in him a citizen most useful and constant, 
 and as a scholar of rare attainments a writer of singular purity an 
 orator and reasoner who had triumphed whenever his powers had been 
 called into action. His own deeds were his best eulogium; his memory 
 would, he trusted, be the virtual prolongation of a life valuable for the 
 pure example which he set to all an example which might live and 
 which he hoped and believed would live in the breast of every repealer, 
 exciting him to the practice of virtue, guarding him from the temptations 
 of vice, and strengthening the resolution to persevere in that good work 
 of repeal, the entire devotion to which was one of the brightest and best 
 points of the character of Bishop England. Mr. Stokes spoke at length 
 and with great effect of the character of Bishop England, and when he 
 resumed his seat the association immediately adjourned, and in silence left 
 their hall. 
 
 VESTRY OF SAVANNAH, GA. 
 
 At a meeting of the Vestry of the Catholic Church of St. John the 
 Baptist, Savannah, held on the evening of Tuesday, May 3, 1842, Messrs. 
 Dillon, Prendergast, and Condon were nominated a committee to draft a, 
 preamble and resolutions, expressive of the grief and sorrow which over- 
 whelmed the congregation, at the irreparable loss of its ever dear and 
 beloved bishop. The following were offered, and approved of by the 
 pastor : 
 
 " How sad, how melancholy, and how difficult is the duty which we 
 are called to perform, to give expression to our sorrow for the death of 
 our beloved bishop, and to delineate his virtues, though it be but a 
 mere attempt. Our grief is too deeply seated in our hearts ; it is un- 
 alterable. His virtues are indescribable, who can delineate them ? Our 
 sorrow is founded on general and special principles. Christianity has lost 
 an indomitable champion ; Catholicity its most powerful advocate ; the
 
 xxiv MEMORIALS. 
 
 Apostolic chain one of its brightest and purest links ; the Militant 
 Church a noble, brave, and valiant soldier ; America, a defender of her 
 rights, and the South a vindicator of her institutions. 
 
 "Our father and friend has departed from us we are orphans; the 
 fold is without a shepherd; the diocese without a bishop. The episcopal 
 chair is vacant ; the sable emblems show where the venerated tenant lies ; 
 the sanctuary is without its ornament ; the widow mourns the loss of her 
 support ; the orphan weeps for him who gave him food. Oh ! Father of 
 the faithful and Supreme Pastor of souls, listen to the sighs of the 
 bewildered virgins ; behold the tears of the young men ; listen to the 
 sobs of the aged, and have regard to the heart-stricken throes of all thy 
 people. In the accommodating and deferential sense which usage sanctions, 
 has there ever been a people who may apply to itself with greater pro- 
 priety, the lamentable words of the Prophet, than the flock of the 
 Diocese of Charleston, in its present, melancholy bereavement : Oh, all 
 you that pass by the way, behold and see if there be any sorrow like 
 to my sorrow, Blessed Redeemer of mankind ! for the iniquities of the 
 people have you been stricken the sons of the fold have called for your 
 death. Have our indifference, our neglect and apathy, in Thy service, 
 provoked the blow just dealt to us? Have our sins incurred the heavy 
 chastisement ? We fear for ourselves we tremble, and humbly bow 
 down as culprits in Thy sight, and penitently sue for pardon. In sack- 
 cloth and ashes shall we endeavor to atone, and our future conduct shall 
 be the evidence of the sincerity of our expressions. Spare, Lord, 
 spare Thy people, and give not Thy inheritance to reproach. If in anger 
 Thou hast taken Thy servant from a sinful people, in clemency and com- 
 passion leave not Thy fold without a shepherd ; send one according to Thy 
 own heart, and worthy of him who was our first pastor. In testimony 
 of our grief, and as an external manifestation of how sensibly wo feel 
 our irreparable loss, be it 
 
 "Resolved, That at the approaching Month's Mind, our church be 
 suitably decorated, and as long afterward as our pastor shall deem 
 necessary. 
 
 "Resolved, That the vestry and members generally be requested to 
 wear the same badge of mourning for thirty days. 
 
 "J. F. O'NEILL, Pastor. 
 "JOHN MURPHY, Secretary: 1
 
 MEMORIALS. xxv 
 
 YOUNa CATHOLICS' FRIEND SOCIETY OF BOSTON. 
 
 At the regular monthly meeting of the Young Catholics' Friend 
 Society, Sunday, May 8, 1842, the following resolutions on the demise 
 of Bishop England were unanimously adopted : 
 
 "To the name of Bishop England, haloed as it is with the glory 
 of his sublime virtues and memorable deeds, we can offer no commmen- 
 surate tribute ; but, being solicitous to attest our esteem for all that is 
 pre-eminently beautiful, pure and grand in the human character, and our 
 mingled veneration and regret for the splendid virtues and brilliant 
 genius which have passed from amongst us to a more congenial sphere, 
 it is therefore 
 
 "Resolved, That in the decease of this good prelate our Church has 
 been deprived of a glorious light the Catholic hierarchy of a divine, 
 eloquent, pious and erudite ; and Christendom of a luminary whose rays 
 were confined to no sect, but beamed upon all, dispelling bigotry, and 
 giving a universality to Catholic faith which will be honorable to his 
 name. 
 
 "Resolved, That we proudly claim the illustrious dead as a native 
 of that land which, though enslaved, is still glorious in her bondage ; 
 and that in his death Ireland has been deprived of a pure and fervid 
 patriot, whose voice was ever ready to assert her claims to independence, 
 as well as to uphold the glory of her religion. 
 
 "Resolved, That the testimony of Bishop England, when recently 
 visiting this city, to the excellence and utility of this institution, is con- 
 sidered by us as attaching the highest honor to the name of Young 
 Catholics' Friend, and that it will ever be the proud boast of the 
 society that Bishop England gave it his warmest approbation. 
 
 "Resolved, That although he, esteemed and beloved by us, now 
 slumbers in the cold and silent tomb, his genius, his virtues, and piety, 
 shall live for ever in our affections, and be enshrined in our memories 
 
 and hearts. 
 
 "PETER E. BLAKE, President. 
 "J. GERVASIO, Secretary." 
 
 HIBERNIAN SOCIETY OF CHARLESTON, S. U. 
 
 According to public notice the Hibernian Society of Charleston con- 
 vened at their hall on Monday evening, April 18, 1843, to pay the 
 proper tribute of respect to the memory of their distinguished brother 
 member, the Right Rev. Bishop England.
 
 xxvi MEMORIALS. 
 
 In the absence of Mr. Win. A. Caldwell, the president of the so- 
 ciety, Mr. Thomas Stephens, the vice-president, called the meeting to 
 order. In a feeling and touching manner he introduced to the society 
 the painful occasion which had called them together. He bestowed a 
 rightly merited compliment on the many virtues of the deceased, and 
 revived the recollection of many occasions where the cause of humanity 
 and the most striking social qualities were happily illustrated in him 
 whose lss had occasioned such general grief. After Mr. Stephens had 
 concluded, A. G. Magrath, Esq., said he had been requested to prepare 
 some expressions of the feelings of the society on the deep loss sustained 
 in the death of Bishop England. He had undertaken the duty, because 
 to him it was a pleasing task to pay respect to the memory of a man 
 so good and so great. He then read to the society the following tribute 
 to the memory of Bishop England : 
 
 "A mournful occasion has convened us! A chair is vacant in our 
 hall 1 A voice that was loud in the admonitions of the Christian and 
 the patriot has died away on the ear! A spirit that seemed the em- 
 bodiment of kindness and charity that hung around this hall with a 
 zeal that enchanted while it instructed, has departed forever ! The min- 
 ister, whose religious devotion lent sanctity to his character, and in- 
 fluence to his councils ; the member whose heart responded to the call 
 for relief; and gave to wretchedness that sympathy more consoling than 
 wealth ; the patriot whose eloquence in the cause of a suffering country 
 hailed the event of laying the corner-stone of our hall and baptized its 
 completion in the same rich and feeling strain; 1 has been taken away 
 from us forever and reposes in the calmness of death, in the sanctuary 
 he so long dignified and supported. In our wide community, where all 
 sects are zealous in the support of their peculiar tenets, there is now no 
 feeling save that of deep sorrow. Controversies and disputes have been 
 hushed into silence before this manifestation of divine omnipotence and the 
 Hebrew, whose heart was opened by a generous liberality and the Protest- 
 ants, who combated with him the doctrine of the Church and the Catholic, 
 who listened to him as the oracle of the living God, have alike crowded 
 around the coffin which encloses his mortal remains, and offered the deep 
 and touching tribute of tearful sorrow to his many virtues. "While all, 
 however, mingle their tribute of sympathy in the loss of that distinguished 
 prelate, the lit. Rev. Bishop England to us, his death is a matter of 
 ]>cculiar bereavement. 
 
 ' Bishop England was unanimously selected by tho Hibernian Society 1o de- 
 liver tho address at tho laying of tho corner-stone of tho Hibernian Hall, and 
 again at the first public opening after Its completion.
 
 MEMORIALS. xxvii 
 
 " The descendant of those, who are able to number many of their name 
 among the distinguished sons of tho land of their birth, John England, at 
 an early age, gave evidence of that power of mind and devotedness of pur- 
 pose, which eventually developed themselves so eminently and successfully in 
 the administration of the affairs of this diocese. At an early age, he be- 
 came possessed of the influence of religion, and unheeding the enticements, 
 which to one so gifted, might easily have been supposed potential in direct- 
 ing his attention to pursuits, where success in the eye of the world seems 
 more gratifying than the quiet duties of the ministry, he yet gave to the 
 Church the full energies of a young and daring spirit, a heart filled with 
 the gentlest charities of life, and an intellect even then commanding the 
 respect of those distinguished by age and station. At an early age he com- 
 menced the duties of his holy ministry, and his efforts were gifted with the 
 most gratifying success. The attention of the Catholic Church being turned 
 towards the Southern portion of the United States, the position and promises 
 of usefulness already displayed by this distinguished man, recommended him 
 to the appointing power. And, although he had not attained the age which 
 the Church prescribes for the possession of the office for which his services 
 were required, a dispensation was obtained ; l and he was invested with the 
 high and responsible position of bishop of a diocese composed of our own 
 and two of our sister States. He came among us with many prejudices to 
 surmount ; many difficulties to overcome ; much dissatisfaction to assuage. 
 But the edge of prejudice was soon exchanged for confidence ; the difficul- 
 ties of his position yielded to his labor of love ; and the discontent of all 
 was exchanged for the harmony and fellowship which has bound the mem- 
 bers of his Church in the strong bonds of confidence and affection. 
 
 "As the patriot the lover of the land of his birth, no superior could be 
 found to him whose loss we deplore. He was born where the iron hand of 
 despotism ground to tho dust the noblest of his race. He lived where he 
 could see the scaffold reeking with the blood of those who prized the honor 
 of their country more than they feared death. He suffered with those who, 
 conscious of the then fruitless effort they were making, felt that religion of 
 the patriot which makes him hug the chain in triumph he cannot break 
 in the hall of the oppressor. In all his efforts connected with the cause of 
 suffering Ireland, he gave full evidence of that high and dignified zeal that 
 fervid, because sincere eloquence, which recalled the scattering senses of the 
 
 i The writer has fallen into a slight mistake in this sentence. Bishop England 
 was ordained priest at the age of 22, a dispensation of two years having been 
 granted in consideration of his piety and learning. The canons of the Church re- 
 quire that no one be consecrated bishop, until he has completed his thirti th year. 
 1 ishop England received episcopal consecration on the 21st of September, 1820, the 
 thirty-fourth anniversary of his birthoay.
 
 xxvm MEMORIALS. 
 
 weak, chastened the daring, and excited the timid. Careless of the con- 
 sequences so far as he was concerned, his voice echoed from the gatherings 
 in his own land, and told the oppressor in a tone that could not be 
 unheeded, the tale of tyranny and suffering that millions of his country- 
 men were compelled to undergo. 
 
 "A a citizen of the United States the adopted son of our Republic 
 there never breathed one more fervent in his admiration of the institutions 
 he had sworn to protect, more religious in his observance of the duties 
 which devolved upon him as a citizen of a country whose laws knew 
 no distinction of classes, whose soil cherished and supported alike all sects 
 in religion. His intimate acquaintance with the excellencies which shine 
 out in bold relief, amid the vices of the many models of republican gov- 
 ernment, made him at once the zealous advocate of a well regulated liberty 
 the antagonist of all lawless and revolutionary feeling. His long expe- 
 rience in all the intricacies of the human heart, taught him at once the 
 possibility of man's government of himself, and the evil inseparable from 
 boundless dominion, when power is concentrated in the hands of one ; be 
 it, therefore, 
 
 ''Resolved, That the Hibernian Society of Charleston have, in the death 
 of the Hight Rev. Bishop England, sustained the loss of a member and 
 companion, whose eminent learning adorned the virtues of charity and 
 benevolence ; whose character gave dignity to his society, his country and 
 his Church ; whose name will be ever dear in the memory of those who 
 love and admire the excellencies of our nature. 
 
 "Resolved, That in testimony of our profound respect, the members of 
 the Hibernian Society will wear crape on the left arm for the space of 
 thirty days." 
 
 After Mr. Magrath had concluded the reading of his tribute, on 
 motion of the Hon. James S. Rhett, it was unanimously resolved that the 
 same be adopted by this society. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Moreland, Resolved, That the Society do now ad- 
 journ in silence, and without comment. 
 
 The society then adjourned. 
 
 THOMAS STEPHENS, 
 
 Vice-President, Acting President. 
 __ W. N. HAMILTON,. Secretary.
 
 THE 
 
 WORKS OF BISHOP ENGLAND. 
 
 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 1 
 
 I DOUBTED whether, on this occasion, it would be better 
 to confine myself to the topics naturally suggested by the 
 recurrence of the day we celebrate, and discharge the duty 
 which you have imposed upon me by reciting the usual 
 detail of the life of the apostle of our nation, or to take a 
 more enlarged view of what generally interests us, and 
 hastily sketch, for beneficial purposes, an imperfect outline 
 of our history. Upon a little reflection, I have determined 
 to attempt both, giving preference, in order of time, to those 
 facts which first existed, and introducing, at the proper 
 epochs, to the notice which they must necessarily command, 
 the labors of St. Patrick, and from the entire, drawing a 
 strong moral lesson, which they forcibly inculcate. 
 
 The island from which we are sprung is but small upon 
 the surface of our globe, yet its history is that of many 
 centuries, and one which is more or less an object of interest 
 beyond that of curious research to most other nations of 
 the world. This day you may find her children congregated 
 ia their societies, upon the banks of the Savannah and of 
 the Granges. This day they search for the Shamrock under 
 polar snows, and amidst the -sands of the equator. This 
 
 1 Substance of an Address delivered before the Hibernian Society of the City of 
 Savannah, Georgia, March 17th, 1824.
 
 V EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 day millions of voices are raised round the extended circum- 
 ference, their shout and their song vibrate on the rays, to 
 meet in their own verdant, glittering centre. They exhibit 
 themselves decorated in the courts of the old world, deliber- 
 ating in the assemblies of the new ; they lift the standard 
 of Bolivar, they pour out their ejaculation at the tomb of 
 Washington. 
 
 Qnse regio in terris, nostri non plena laboris? 
 
 The civilization of our island is not that of yesterday. It 
 is not by oppression that man becomes social, it is not by 
 restraint and compulsion man becomes civilized. If our 
 ancestors were polished, we can show the causes of the 
 semi-barbarism of some of their descendants. The cause 
 which we assign is amply sufficient for the effect which is 
 found. But if our ancestors were more rude than their 
 proscribed children, we cannot explain facts of which we have 
 glaring evidence. Why, then, should we become fashionably 
 inconsistent? Why should we be contradictorily polite? 
 Consistency ought to be fashion ; truth ought to be polite- 
 ness. God forbid it should be otherwise in America ! Allow 
 the truth of our assertions, our whole history is consistent ; 
 that of which we have perfect evidence, supports that of 
 which the evidence has been lost or mutilated. Deny the 
 truth of that part which is thus supported, and that of which 
 you have the most perfect certainty becomes inexplicable. 
 When we call upon you, then, to believe these assertions, 
 we do not substitute a theory for a history; but we present 
 you with a series of facts differently testified, some having 
 the evidence of history, the others possessing that strong 
 moral evidence to which any reasonable being must give a 
 willing and a ready assent. 
 
 We are asked for our documents. They whose interest 
 lay in their destruction were stronger than we were ; they 
 became possessed of one portion by force ; they were more 
 subtle than an open-hearted people, too confiding, too unsus- 
 picious ; another portion was obtained ; until the records of
 
 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 3 
 
 our glory had nearly all insensibly disappeared ; and when 
 \ve spoke of the acts of our progenitors, we were sneered at 
 as impostors by those who calculated upon their safety in the 
 consciousness of their baseness. But though the parchment 
 should be shrivelled to ashes in the flames ; though the 
 sceptre may be stricken from the monarch's hand; and the 
 pointed crown bo torn from his dishevelled head ; though 
 the assembly may be driven from the hall of deliberation, 
 and the blazonings of heraldic precedence be mingled in con- 
 fusion and trampled in the dust ; though it may be criminal 
 to preserve the name of your progenitors, and the great 
 portion of the people should be compelled to take up sur- 
 names from trades and occupations, and in a language which 
 was yet scarcely blending into form, and next to unintelligible ; 
 still, the memory of facts will outlive the destruction of their 
 testimony, and the reasonable traditions of a nation will supply 
 the place of writings. 
 
 If the settlers of our island did not arrive- from Spain, 
 whence did they come ? Their traditions inform us of the 
 fact. Upon what shall we found the contradiction ? The 
 individual who addresses you has examined, upon the spot, 
 the traditions and the places, so far as any traces remain ; 
 and notwithstanding the ravages of time and the ravages of 
 enemies, many do yet remain ; those remnants of what were 
 described as but remnants long since, admirably coincide with 
 what might be naturally expected after the lapse of ages. 
 The Irish peasant loves to remain near the spot which con- 
 tains the ashes of his parents, and successive generations will 
 be found renewing, where the laws did not operate to preven- 
 tion, the names of their grandsires in the persons of their 
 children ; the traditionary songs, which have floated down the 
 stream of time, give the exploits of the hero, and are found 
 to proceed parallel to the stream of his blood. And on. a 
 coast of cliffs, and in a land of hills and valleys, topography 
 is not so easily changed as on a coast of sand, and in plains 
 liable to inundation. 
 
 The wreck of the history which has been preserved coin-
 
 4 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 cides with the tradition, and the song, and the appearance. 
 Shall we be cheated of the poor gratification of the history 
 of our ancestors, because an active system has been persevered 
 in, during successive administrations, to destroy our records ? 
 I again ask, what is to be set up in opposition to the little 
 we adduce? If this was not their origin, whence did they 
 come ? 
 
 The remnants of our histories inform us, that our Gallician 
 ancestors were a settlement made by an African colony, who 
 had previously migrated from Tyre in Phoenicia, and who 
 had, during a very long period, kept up an interchange of 
 commerce. The histories of other nations which have been 
 more fortunate in the preservation of their archives, leave 
 no doubts as to the origin of Carthage ; yet were but a 
 very few records destroyed, before the art of printing) upon 
 what grounds would the historian rest for his proof, save 
 the song of the Roman poet? The migration from Car- 
 thage to Spain \vas easier than from Tyre to Carthage ; 
 perhaps the fact is also better sustained by proof. From 
 the harbors in the northwest of Spain, even in those early 
 days of naval science, the voyage to Ireland was not diffi- 
 cult, especially to the exploring descendants of the greatest 
 commercial people then in the world. The facts are 
 related by our historians, preserved in the traditions of our 
 people ; consistent with the documents of every age of our 
 country, possible in their nature, by no means unlikely to 
 have taken place ; no other facts are offered as substitutes ; 
 some such facts are necessary ; those have always been ad- 
 duced. AVe are referred to the relics of our literature, to 
 the documents which would substantiate them ; we point out 
 the fate of those documents which are known to have existed. 
 I know not upon what ground our claim is to be rejected. 
 
 We have next the testimony as to a commerce of some 
 continuance between those descendants of Milcsius, the 
 founder of the Irish settlement, and the Africans from Avhom 
 they were sprung. AVe find, at different periods of time, 
 several swords and other warlike weapons dug up in the
 
 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 5 
 
 bogs of Ireland, unlike the arms of Northern Europe, unlike 
 the Roman weapons, but of the same figure and the same 
 metal and alloy, brazen, as those which fell from the dying 
 warriors of Carthage at Cannse. Golden crowns and collars 
 were found in like manner, of similar manufacture, and of 
 the same alloy with those of Africa and the East, and by no 
 means corresponding with those of any neighboring people. 
 The written records of a people may be given in tatters to 
 the raging winds of every point of the compass, but monu- 
 ments will still remain. 
 
 Rome never gave her deities to Ireland; but whilst that 
 proud people dictated to a subject w r orld, Ireland preserved 
 even her idolatry unchanged. Her deities were of eastern 
 origin, and her rites of worship were of Asiatic institution ; 
 not those of the Bramin, but those of the Phoenician. Baal 
 was her chief deity, and he was worshipped with fire. We 
 need not the sacred volume for the Asiatic facts and cus- 
 toms, they are too plain to be questioned. And which of 
 us could not testify to the fires of May-eve in the island 
 of our nativity? The custom still continues, though Chris- 
 tianity has purified the observance by stripping it of the 
 criminality of the object. So interwoven with the fibres of 
 his heart are the usages of his fathers to a child of Erin, 
 that they are to be eradicated only with a dreadful pang, 
 after it has been found absolutely necessary. Our earliest 
 writers inform us that the fires of Baal, whose worship was 
 always known amongst the Milesian settlers, were lighted 
 with great solemnity on that day which now corresponds to 
 May-eve. We have ourselves seen the fires, and passed 
 through them with the sportive thoughtfulness of youth, to 
 avoid some undefinable evil which we dreaded from spirits. 
 We know that the month of May is still called, in the 
 language which some of us have lisped in our childhood, 
 Beal thinne, or the fire of Baal. How many other facts 
 which our historians testify, which our eyes and our ears 
 have known, are totally inexplicable without the mythology 
 of Phoenicia ? They crowd upon my mind ; but I must not . 
 detain vou.
 
 C EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Amongst the scraps of our history which remain, is the 
 list of the monarchs ; the mode of his death, the name of 
 his successor, the length of his reign, are generally appended 
 to each; and the period of time which this would occupy 
 fills up about that space which brings us, counting back from 
 the era of St. Patrick, to those times which witnessed the 
 early dawn of civilization in Greece. Egypt is older than 
 we are ; yet, though we acknowledge her civilization, the 
 progress of her arts, the extension of her commerce, we have 
 little of the history of her monarchs, save the repetition of 
 the name of Pharaoh. 
 
 From Phoenicia Egypt received her literature ; from Phoe- 
 nicia and from Egypt Greece drew hers. Our forefathers 
 date the epoch of their migration from the East about the 
 time when Cadmus brought letters into Crete. Egypt had 
 her hieroglyphics, but they were not exported. The Grecian 
 character is principally Phoenician. 
 
 "When were those records of Irish monarchs produced ? 
 The first Christian missionaries found them in the country, 
 and the voice of the country attested their having been 
 always known as authentic public documents ; and the 
 princes or chiefs then in existence traced their pedigree 
 back upon the list, and the title, by which they held their 
 place and their possessions, was the accuracy of the register, 
 which was kept under the eye of the nation. 
 
 The wandering tribe, or the lawless horde, may for the 
 moment be placed under the guidance or the domination 
 of some chief, whose prowess or barbarity might have led 
 to his election or to his usurpation ; but his authority expires 
 at the utmost with himself, and his successor, if a successor 
 he have, cares little to preserve the record of the man who 
 swayed before him. But where civilization has introduced 
 law, where society is regulated upon principles, and the 
 governor is not to be elevated or depressed as caprice may 
 < lid ate, the record will be kept, and the principle will be 
 maintained, with at least some semblance of regularity; and 
 its existence will be at once the evidence of time and the 
 evidence of civilization.
 
 EPOCHS OF IRISII HISTORY. 7 
 
 The Irish had a written language, in which those records 
 were kept; that language, however imperfectly preserved, 
 exists still, and those characters are used to-day. We have 
 been told, they are of Celtic origin ; that they are the char- 
 acters of the North of Europe ; that they are Eunic ; that 
 they were common to the Irish bard and to the Norwegian 
 scald; that they are the same which England knew as her 
 Saxon letter. The fact is not so. Make the comparison, 
 and you will perceive a much stronger affinity between the 
 Irish character and that of the early Greek. Without 
 entering into the critical disquisition as to the gradual varia- 
 tions in Greece, before her letter and her language assumed 
 their stable forms, I do not hesitate to assert, that, with the 
 exception of the letter corresponding to g, the similitude of 
 our letter and the early single letters of the Cretans is most 
 striking. Yet I do not deny a strong resemblance between 
 even the Saxon and the Irish ; but it is easily explained 
 by facts which are obvious. 
 
 Phoenicia was the mother of letters ; thence the Greek 
 principally derived his ; thence, at the same period, our pro- 
 genitors brought theirs ; thence, too, northward, towards the 
 Tanais, and the Scythian hills and plains, men took their 
 characters. Centuries elapsed, ere the hardy hunter of north- 
 ern Asia directed his course to the west. Siberia, still 
 shrouded in her untrodden snow, accumulated the frosts of 
 ages. Nor Russ, nor Muscovite, as yet was known. Along 
 the Don, the Volga, and the Ister, guided also by the setting 
 sun, after other centuries had rolled away, the Asiatic swarms 
 traversed a pathless forest and a mighty waste, and found 
 themselves, some in Scandinavia, and some still farther south, 
 where their descendants, under the name of Saxons, proudly 
 held their sway. Their gods were not the gods of Erin; 
 of Baal and his associates they had no knowledge; their 
 fathers had substituted others in their stead. Ireland knew 
 nothing of their Woden, of their Thor, nor of their Freya. 
 Nor was their language the same ; though the names had 
 been changed, the letters, in which those names were written,
 
 8 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 preserved a great affinity, for they were brought from the 
 same school. 
 
 The similitude of the Irish to the early Grecian letter, 
 together with the space of time occupied by the reigns of 
 their monarchs, and the allowance for that time which was 
 spent in the intermediate colonies, will coincide admirably 
 with the account of our historians, that their progenitors 
 were companions of the early Greeks, and that our country 
 was settled by them about the era of the dawn of science 
 upon Greece ; and that our progenitors, having been descended 
 from a people then highly civilized, and having brought with 
 them letters, formed a regulated and civilized establishment 
 immediately. 
 
 Ireland could not have procured the Saxon nor the Celtic 
 nor the Runic characters before those characters were known. 
 They were not known in Europe until after the period of 
 Christianity. Ireland, upon her receiving this religion, had 
 books written in her own character during ages, which books 
 the first missionaries saw, and many of which regarding her 
 mythology they destroyed; and when she received Roman 
 literature, a curious circumstance, singular, too, I believe, 
 presents itself to our view ; her predilection for her own let- 
 ters was such, that she wrote the Latin language in the Irish 
 character. The individual, who has the honor of addressing 
 you, speaks from what he has seen and known. 
 
 Our country had her law, the Brehon code and the customs 
 of Tanistre. It has been said, that they who lived under 
 those laws must have been barbarians, because the punish- 
 ment of death was not enacted against the offender; his fine 
 was in proportion to his offence ; perhaps the laws of Draco, 
 or of Great Britain, would have better suited the disposition 
 of the objector ; but it is a novelty at least worthy of notice, 
 to find that a tenderness for human life is now the character- 
 istic of a barbarous people. Greece had her Solon and her 
 Lycurgus, Rome had her Numa, long before the epoch of 
 Christianity ; why shall Ireland be robbed of the legal beauty 
 with which she was decorated by her Loghaire, by her
 
 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 9 
 
 Ollamh Fodhla, and so many others, at as early a period as 
 that of either the Greek or the Roman? Are we also to be 
 sneered at, because upon glaring evidence we believe that, 
 besides the regular meetings of the provinces, under the 
 several princes, for the regulation of their local concerns, the 
 triennial Parliament or Congress of the whole at Tara, held 
 under the monarch of the island, was the great legislature 
 of the nation ? Are then the records all fictions ? Are 
 their statements facts ? If they be facts, are they not evi- 
 dence of civilization? Do you find even a claim to similar 
 documents, a notion of similar institutions, amongst the uncivi- 
 lized children of nature? Do you find learning held in 
 estimation? Do you find laws recorded? Do you find a regu- 
 larly constructed and a written language amongst barbarians ? 
 
 I am no advocate for chivalry; but the existence of an 
 order of knighthood is at least a proof of some progress in 
 civilization. To omit many others which are equally well 
 known, the existence from a very early period of the knights 
 of the Red Branch in Ulster, cannot be called into question. 
 The annals of their order, the history of their exploits, the 
 names of their heroes, the time, the place, the other circum- 
 stances, cannot all be baseless fabrics of the fancy, especially 
 when we find history furnishing the facts with which those 
 details are connected. The fable of Greece is the decoration 
 of a fact. The magical metamorphosis of the Roman poet 
 is but the sport of a fine fancy with a true substance. But 
 in the accounts to which I allude facts are stated without 
 decorations ; persons are introduced who are known to have 
 existed ; and all the occurrences are such as require neither 
 the power of the magician nor the performance of a miracle. 
 
 Xor shall I here enter upon a disquisition to ascertain, 
 whether at the decline of the order of the Ruddairc no, craobh 
 ruadh, the members of that body established the Saxon 
 association, which was the nucleus of the German Ritters, 
 and one of the earliest exhibitions of chivalry upon the con- 
 tinent of Europe. 
 
 But there is one species of testimony peculiar to our
 
 10 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 nation. Greece raised tumults upon the first preaching of 
 the Christian doctrine ; Rome persecuted the Apostles ; Judea 
 was necessarily inimical to the annihilation of her own power, 
 and resented the imputation of having slain the Son of God : 
 these nations were civilized. Rome and Judea persecuted; 
 Greece was little more than tumultuous. The pride and 
 corruption of Rome led to her criminality; the obstinacy, 
 with which Judea continued under her mistake, caused her 
 persecution. But amongst the barbarous nations to whom the 
 founders of our religion preached the faith, they had generally 
 to pay their lives as the forfeit of their zeal. In their stub- 
 born soil the seed of the word was to be watered by the 
 tears of the sower, and the germ was to be nurtured with 
 his blood, ere the plant could flourish. All the histories of 
 nations that have embraced our doctrines, testify to the fact 
 upon which I found my assertion. Ireland, however, fur- 
 nishes a solitary and splendid exception. The Roman pro- 
 consuls and praetors executed the orders of a Nero and of a 
 Domitian, in Greece as well as in other parts of the world. 
 India and Ethiopia, Bactria and Persia, were not behind the 
 officers of the mighty fourth monarchy in their hatred to the 
 name of Jesus and to the emblem of His cross. But in 
 Ireland the soil was already prepared ; the island of sham- 
 rocks bloomed in the verdure of cultivation ; the venom of 
 irreligious persecution was not found in her fields. Neither 
 the pride of the cruel despot, nor the frenzy of the barbarian, 
 was the characteristic of her king or of her people. And 
 though our country had the twinkling of science to adorn her 
 firmament, yet, like the other nations, she sat in darkness 
 and in the shadow of death; but her mild mythology, as far 
 as we can discover, caught some rays from the sun of justice, 
 which it imperfectly and weakly reflected upon her children. 
 The day-star beamed upon them, and with expectation their 
 eyes were turned to the reddening east ; perhaps the mists 
 of their ocean served to reflect and to mellow the glories of 
 the rising sun, and having been long accustomed to a little 
 light, they were better prepared to endure and to examine
 
 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 11 
 
 that brilliant orb which now mounted above their horizon in 
 the effulgent majesty of truth. 
 
 "Whatever might have been the cause, the fact is indis- 
 putable Ireland did not slay her apostles ; and when she 
 was placed under the dominion of the Briton, her children 
 Avere reproached with the imperfection of their calendar ; 
 they were accused of being an irreligious people, because no 
 national martyrs were found amongst their saints. Oh, how 
 prophetic was the answer ! " That deficiency will soon be 
 supplied, as the Pope has favored us with such excellent 
 teachers." 
 
 New scenes now begin to present themselves. \Ye come 
 to the era of St. Patrick. I cannot say with precision what 
 Avas the place of his birth. He is claimed as a child of 
 Scotland; he is also claimed by Gaul. AVe cannot decide 
 where we do not find sufficient evidence. His father's 
 name was Calphurnius : from this it is probable he was of 
 noble Roman extraction, for the wife of Julius Caesar was 
 of this family. His mother's name was Conchessa; she was 
 niece to the celebrated St. Martin, the Bishop of Tours. This 
 would render it likely that the claim of France is not 
 unfounded ; but the parents might have settled in North 
 Britain. Their son Maun was born towards the close of the 
 fourth century. At an early period of youth he was taken 
 into Ireland as a captive, and was employed upon the moun- 
 tains in charge of cattle. After a few years of heavy servi 
 tude, he regained his liberty; but was, soon afterwards, 
 reduced to his former situation. In his wretched durance, 
 he learned much patience, and found the mode of subjugating 
 his passions. He was again released, and travelled into 
 Gaul. Here he was for a considerable time a disciple of 
 his relative, the Bishop of Tours ; and he also imbibed much 
 knowledge and piety at Auxerre, from the good and distin- 
 guished prelate of that see. After having embraced the 
 ecclesiastical state, he travelled into Italy, and at length, 
 in the year 432, he received episcopal consecration ; wa* 
 admitted into the patrician order, and appointed by Pope
 
 12 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Celestine, who then filled the apostolic chair, to the charge 
 of that island in which he had been formerly a captive, and 
 for whose spiritual welfare he felt an ardent zeal, and was 
 anxious to devote himself to a life of toil and sufferings. 
 Henceforth, he is known onjy by the name of Patrick. 
 
 Previous to his arrival, Christianity had made some little 
 progress in the island. We have the accounts of St. Ailbe, 
 founder of the see of Emly, which is now united to the 
 archiepiscopal see of Cashel ; of St. Ivar in the west, some- 
 where in the province of Connaught ; of St. Declan, in the 
 country of the Decies, in the vicinity of Waterford ; and of 
 St. Kieran, who founded the see of Ossory, in that place 
 which was afterwards called and is still known as Kilkenny. 
 
 But upon the arrival of Patrick, a new impulse was given 
 to the missionary force, and the true religion began widely 
 to diffuse itself. Much opposition, of course, was made by 
 many to the labors of the apostle ; but he, well knowing that 
 his doctrines were such as could bear to have their founda- 
 tions closely examined, desired at once to lay them before 
 the assembled wisdom, and judgment, and learning of the 
 nation. He went to the Congress at Tara, and there openly 
 preached a crucified God. The Druids and principal abettors 
 of the Irish mythology disputed with him ; but he was 
 chiefly thwarted by the machinations, and intrigues, and open 
 resistance of Niall, the son of the monarch, whose influence 
 was very extensive. So that the apostle did not, at this 
 time, reap all the fruit upon which he had calculated. Yet 
 were many persons brought to a deep sense of the folly of 
 idolatry, and the necessity of serving God, who is a Spirit, 
 in spirit and in truth. 
 
 The only positive infliction, of which we have an account, 
 is of one subsequent to this an imprisonment of the saint 
 and his companions in irons, during about fourteen days. 
 Being released from durance, he went southwards, and con- 
 verted the King of Munster and his family; then going up 
 towards the northwest, he brought over the King of Con- 
 naught and his sons to the profession of the faith, and
 
 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 13 
 
 carried on the mission in Ulster with extraordinary success. 
 In a short time churches rose upon the ruins of idols. 
 Monasteries of men and women were everywhere founded, 
 and the religion of Christ in a few years predominated 
 throughout the island. "\Ve have no record of so sudden, 
 so perfect, so general a conversion of any other nation. The 
 apostle of Ireland sees his flock now too large for his super- 
 intendence, and new bishoprics are created. His name is 
 now held in esteem, and in that same assembly at Tara, 
 where on a former occasion he was disappointed, he is 
 covered with honors ; he is admitted to his seat, he is ranked 
 amongst their most learned men, and made one of the judges 
 to preserve the purity of their historical records. The place 
 formerly held by the teachers of idolatry is given to the 
 apostle of the Lamb. Ireland adds the gem of Roman 
 literature to the treasures which she had long possessed, and 
 her clergy and her laity are emulous of each other in making 
 progress in the new field of learning to which they have 
 been introduced. Her ancient music resounds in the temple 
 of the living God, and her virgins lift the melody of their 
 voices to celebrate, in grateful notes, the triumph of redemp- 
 tion. O, land of my fathers ! how beauteous were your 
 hills, how lovely were your valleys, how pure were your 
 streams, in that day before the eye of heaven ! The hand 
 of the spoiler did not desolate your fields ; the foot of the 
 stranger was not upon the necks of your children ; the sword 
 of the persecutor did not stain your temples with blood ; the 
 torch of the incendiary did not consume the retreats of 
 devotion ; the ruthless bigot had not as yet armed your sons 
 for their mutual destruction ; but the conviction of the under- 
 standing formed the basis of piety, and perfect charity exhib- 
 ited the form of undefiled religion. The children of Ireland 
 \vere in that day known to be disciples of our Lord Jesus, 
 because they loved one another. The days of Patrick were 
 prolonged, until, from his metropolitan eminence of Armagh, 
 he beheld the land flourish in beauty, lovely in peace and 
 decorated with virtue. About the year 496, he closed his
 
 14 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 eyes upon this mortal scene, in which he had been so 
 eminently useful, and was buried at Down. " O, let my soul 
 die the death of the just, and let my last end be like unto 
 theirs." 
 
 Ireland was destined ere long to be useful to the rest of 
 Europe. Sarmatia soon began to pour her thousands upon 
 the South. Eoman degeneracy had permitted Roman freedom 
 to be lost. But the polish of the Augustan age was still 
 upon society. Barbarism, it is true, had in some instances 
 defaced it. It was still fashionable to be learned; and 
 though the play of the punster had been substituted for 
 the graces of the scholar ; and the tinsel of alliteration 
 glared where wit had flashed and fancy sparkled; still, it 
 was an age of knowledge, and the edge of the horizon glowed 
 and the rich, full, mellow clouds retained much lustre, and 
 exhibited brilliant tints as they caught and refracted the rays 
 of departing luminaries. The fifth century of the Christian 
 era was, in learning, like a fine evening within the tropics ; 
 the short interval which is given to enjoy a glorious view 
 between a bright day of burning calm and a night of thunder. 
 
 Vandalic rage and Pannonian fury ravaged and desolated 
 the West and the centre. Very quickly the Saracen swept 
 the East, and Moslem infatuation tore from Africa what the 
 Goth had spared. Shrouded in her thick mantle, murky 
 Ignorance seemed to brood in stupid satisfaction over the 
 widespread waste ; and, save where the sacred monastery had 
 collected within its massy walls the wrecks of ancient genius, 
 her empire was generally established. 
 
 Ireland had been spared from this general deluge, and 
 there, as in another ark, were preserved the means of 
 re-establishing the civilized race of man. Our country had 
 then acquired the title of Insula Sanctorum, from the piety 
 of its people, and Imula Doctorum, from the learning of its 
 sons. In the next age, then, we find her missionaries go 
 forth to occupy prominent places in those regions which had 
 been even before her in the faith. Italy places them in her 
 sees, Switzerland acknowledges them as her apostles, Gaul
 
 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 15 
 
 testifies their labors, the Low Countries are the great scenes 
 of their successful exertions, many German churches acknowl- 
 edge Irishmen to be their founders, and, in conjunction with 
 Britain, Ireland labors to enlighten Denmark, Sweden, and 
 Norway; and Britain herself owes to Ireland much of her 
 erudition, much of her sanctity. 
 
 The venerable Bede testifies what we find recorded in our 
 own histories ; but as it is fashionable to disbelieve all that 
 has been written of Ireland, except by a calumniator of 
 the people, I quote nothing upon the authority of any 
 but strangers or enemies. Amongst them the testimony is 
 uniform and uncontradicted, that in Ireland during those 
 ages the schools were in the perfection of vigor and the 
 highest credit ; that strangers from all parts of Europe 
 flocked to them for information. So usual was this occur- 
 rence, that when a man of literary note was discovered to 
 have been absent, it was immediately concluded, as a matter 
 of course, that he was gone to Ireland. Nor was this 
 strange; for we are told that, not only were the lectures 
 given gratuitously by the professors, but books were fur- 
 nished, and sometimes even food and raiment provided, for 
 the foreign youth who crowded to the asylum which our 
 fathers opened for the genius of Europe. 
 
 Amongst others, the British youth were by no means 
 backward in availing themselves of the advantages thus 
 placed within their reach. This is testified by their own 
 historians. Armagh was one of the chief of those schools, 
 and we can well credit the statement, that it contained at 
 one time seven thousand students. 
 
 AVlien the Britons had been subdued by the Saxons, and 
 the Saxons assailed by the Danes, and the Danes again 
 expelled by the Saxons, the state of learning and civiliza- 
 tion in England was low indeed. During a long period of 
 this time the island of our progenitors was still undisturbed, 
 and the continent of Europe was laboring in the revival of 
 letters. Our countrymen had founded the University of 
 Paris, and were teaching in many of the principal schools 
 of the continent.
 
 16 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Amongst others of the principal English who were educated 
 in Ireland was Alfred, the father of English liberty. In our 
 schools he was trained to letters; in Eome and in Ireland he 
 imbibed his principles in legislation, and we may therefore 
 fairly claim our share in the spirit of the British Constitu- 
 tion, which, though much injured, still is a fine remnant of 
 what once was good ; a system, the general principles of 
 which are excellent, but the administration of which is 
 corrupt ; and from which was taken that theory upon which 
 the American mind has so successfully employed itself, as to 
 have developed its benefits, lopped off its excrescences, and 
 exhibited, in a degree of comparative perfection, a system 
 whose origin we are proud to trace to spots with which our 
 apostle was so intimately connected. 
 
 Ireland, during those ages, not only preserved the religion 
 and learning of her own children, but also from her stock 
 communicated much to what then became the civilized world. 
 
 Our country was not, however, destined to continue in 
 that eminent station which she had so long held. Her shores 
 had never been subject to the Eoman. But another nation, 
 apparently more despicable, but really more formidable, began 
 to issue from the Baltic. Normans occupied the coast of 
 France. Danes drove the Saxons from their settlements in 
 England. Their objects at first were only plunder and devas- 
 tation ; they next took up positions on the coast, and then 
 aimed at possessing the dominion of the country. The head 
 of the venomous destroyer was frequently lopped off; but 
 the fens of Lerna never nurtured a more multiplying antag- 
 onist than the defeated and yet conquering barbarian of the 
 North. He sat down in France, he occupied England, he 
 assailed Ireland. Often repulsed, he yet returned, and at 
 length had considerable possessions and extensive sway in our 
 country. Our national monarchs, however, continued to rule. 
 It is not my province to dwell upon their deeds of arms, nor 
 is it in my power, without unreasonably encroaching upon 
 your time, to allude even to those facts which shine so 
 brightly emblazoned upon our scroll of history. I shall touch
 
 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 17 
 
 for a moment, however, upon two, which are the first that 
 catch my eye. 
 
 Successful in more than fifty pitched battles against the 
 destroyers of. his country, the enemies of his religion, the 
 giants of rapine, of lust, and of cruelty, see the aged king 
 of Ireland heading his troops on the memorable plains of 
 Clontarf. With their collected forces, urged to obstinacy by 
 despair, and wrathful in the fury of their pride and the dis- 
 appointment of their ambition, the Scandinavian chiefs prepare 
 their lines for the encounter. Sitric closes his ranks, inspires 
 hope, points out rewards, promises possessions, exhorts to 
 revenge, shows the plume of the victor's glory within the 
 grasp of his troops, lifts his banner, sounds his trumpet, 
 and shouts defiance. 
 
 The Momonian kerns steadily advance the Connaught 
 galloglasses briskly charge the invaders ; it is indeed a day 
 of blood and of carnage ; but the pride of the Dane has 
 been smitten ; and though patriotism and virtue must rejoice 
 nt the issue, still they will permit humanity to weep over the 
 bloody field. 
 
 It was on Good Friday the anniversary of the Christian 
 atonement. The venerable Brian Borhoime thus addressed 
 the heir of his crown : " My son, I leave victory in your 
 hands. Secure the independence of your country, and pre- 
 serve its honor. But, whilst flushed with success, do not 
 permit unnecessary destruction ; save the vanquished, and 
 restrain the spirit of revenge. A God of mercy has been our 
 protector. He who bled on Calvary has shed the lustre 
 of glory on our harp. Frequently have His mercies been 
 extended to us since the blessed Patrick first published His 
 name in Tara ; but never, my son, has He been more boun- 
 tiful than on this occasion, on the anniversary of that day 
 when, by His own blood, He took away sin from His 
 people, He has enabled us to wash away pollution from our 
 shores with the blood of the oppressors of our country. I 
 go, my son, in the name of my people, to return thanks for 
 His benefits. I go alone and unarmed, to the foot of that
 
 18 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 cross which I have erected in my tent, there to pour out my 
 soul in gratitude, and to discharge those great duties of 
 religion which the solemnity of the day requires, and which 
 the calculating but mistaken enemy of our religion compelled 
 us to defer. To you, my son, I leave my army, my blessing, 
 and my instruction to remember mercy in the day of tri- 
 umph ; remember the glories of our forefathers, remember 
 the injunctions of our God." 
 
 Whilst we venerate the union of martial prowess and 
 Christian devotion in the monarch of Munster, shall we be 
 accused of introducing fiction instead of history, when we 
 weep over the immolation of the grayheaded warrior, at the 
 foot of that same cross, by three fugitive assassins of the 
 vanquished host? And though they fell under the swords 
 of his family, who arrived in sufficient time for their punish- 
 ment, though not for his safety, shall we be sneered at, if, 
 after the lapse of eight centuries, our tear of sorrow testifies 
 our lasting affection, and our prayer for his rest be sent up 
 to our great Redeemer, as a supplement to the chanting of 
 the Requiem upon the plains of Kilmainham and in the 
 Abbey of Swords? 
 
 Whilst the self-devotion of a Curtius occupies the thoughts 
 and claims the admiration of the reader of Roman history, 
 shall the heroes of Ireland be forgotten? Much indeed which 
 sober reflection would censure, and the dispassionate judge 
 must condemn, will be permitted to him who warmly feels, 
 and is forced by circumstances to decide and to act under 
 the influence of enthusiasm. Yet how irrational and unmean- 
 ing is the act of Curtius, when compared with the conduct 
 of Failve Loingscach, the commander of the Irish fleet, who 
 opposed the Danish navy? Long, and bloody, and obstinate 
 was the fight, and doubtful was the issue, when the tug of 
 war appeared ready to snap the strength of either force. 
 Failve saw, and remarked to those who surrounded him, that 
 almost the entire valor, and energy, and perseverance of his 
 opponents was owing to the judicious bravery of their com- 
 mander, and that, if he were removed, the Irish navy would
 
 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 have an easy triumph. In an instant the leading vessels are 
 side by side ; grasping his opponent in his arms, the Irish 
 chieftain leaps into the ocean, and like the encounter of the 
 finny monarchs of the deep was the combat of the champions, 
 till, clasped in the embraces of 'each other and of death, they 
 sunk for ever ; and the strings of the harp gave the note of 
 lamentation upon the breeze which flouted the green flag in 
 the imperfect triumph of its joyless victory. But why should 
 I dwell upon these themes ? It is true that 
 
 "The sun has grown old, since Clontarf's bloody wave, 
 Saw them sleep the sweet sleep of the patriot brave.'' 
 
 It is true, that nations, which were not then even in 
 embryo, now rise and rule the destinies of the world. But 
 we do not like to be cheated out of our recollections. It is 
 true, that tongues, which then were the rough and discordant 
 combination of dissonant jargons, have since been made 
 smooth by use ; but still we love the sound of our fathers' 
 voices, even though that sound should be, as it is, but the 
 imperfect, imitative echo which can be gathered from the 
 ruins of the tomb, and which issues from mouths that have 
 been filled with the dust of ages. These, it is true, are 
 but delusive comforts; but how many of our comforts are 
 delusions ! And if the delusion be innocent, why shall we 
 have our eyes opened to a painful, to a remediless reality? 
 
 Yes, the days of Ireland's glory have passed away, the 
 epoch of her misery commences. The barbarians, who had 
 been thus expelled, had plucked away the foundations of 
 national prosperity; they had been driven from the land, but 
 not before they had crushed religior, destroyed morality, and 
 torn asunder the bonds of union which held the monarchs 
 together. After fever had raged and the crisis had taken 
 place, life still continued, health was established, but the 
 constitution was dreadfully reduced. The restoration of 
 Church government was commenced and considerable progress 
 was making under St. Laurence O'Toole in Dublin and St. 
 Malachy in Armagh; but the profligacy against the Prince
 
 20 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 of Breffiny led to disunion, and a handful of English 
 adventurers aiding the disaffected and recreant convict, in 
 the jealousy of the people, and the quarrels of the princes, 
 that edifice of national prosperity which the Danes had 
 undermined, fell amidst the struggles of its inmates and the 
 trifling assault of a few strangers. 
 
 Oh, let it be to you a lesson of caution. May the sad fate 
 of my country create in you vigilance to detect, and firmness 
 to restrain, those ambitious and immoral individuals who 
 would divide a people, that they may build up their own 
 fortunes with the fragments of national union. 
 
 I do not wish, my friends, to excite in you, nor to revive 
 in myself, those feelings of pain and indignation which the 
 subsequent history of Ireland is but too w r cll calculated to 
 create. The Danes commenced the destruction of its records 
 and the system of its disorganization. Other more successful 
 and more persevering enemies were now their successors. 
 It was asked by a poet subsequently to this epoch, Cur lyra 
 percussa, funestas edidit sonores? And it was well answered, 
 that the sound of the national music should be that of 
 mournful melody, because, in the day of her disaster, her 
 liberties were cloven down, her children were devoted to 
 slavery, she was seated in the dust, her glory was tarnished, 
 her face bedewed with tears, the testimonies of her greatness 
 were torn away and destroyed, she was sprinkled with 
 obloquy, even sucklings were brought to laugh at her wo 
 and to mock at her affliction. A proud neighbor, who had 
 plundered her of her jewels, flung the garb of folly on her 
 shoulders and pointed her out to the derision of the world. 
 How could her harp be tuned to mirth and revelry? Well 
 might her children answer as did God's chosen people of 
 old : " Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and we 
 wept, when we remembered Sion. Upon the willows in the 
 midst thereof we hung up our harps ; because there they 
 who led us captive asked us for the words of our songs, 
 and they who led us away said, Sing to us a hymn of the 
 canticles of Sion. How shall we sing the song of the Lord
 
 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. * 21 
 
 in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my 
 right hand be forgotten : may my tongue cleave to my jaws 
 if I do not remember thee if I do not place Jerusalem 
 as the beginning of my joy." Yes, my friends, human 
 nature is the same in every age and throughout the world. 
 The Israelite in Babylon, and the Irishman in his own land 
 of streams, equally felt the hand of the oppressor. I shall 
 not continue. But, how could the music of my country not 
 be mournful melody? 
 
 I shall not dwell upon the misrepresentations of hired 
 traducers which have been substituted for our history. I 
 shall not remind you of the horrible falsehoods which have 
 been deliberately given to the world by the enemies of our 
 fathers. I shall not tell of the legalized plunder, of the per- 
 secution of centuries, by which it was sought to change the 
 religion of a nation, and by which the rights of conscience 
 were destroyed by those who proclaimed themselves to the 
 world as the only supporters of those rights. We, my 
 friends, differ very much in our religious doctrines, yet we 
 live in the harmony of affection, each respecting the rights 
 of his friend, and claiming for himself what he concedes 
 to his brother. We can weep over the crimes of those 
 who have ruined our country, and we can learn wisdom 
 from the exhibition of their havoc, and better appreciate 
 the blessings of which we are here made partakers. 
 
 To one fact only will I briefly advert, and it stands 
 unparalleled, as far as I can perceive, in the records of 
 of public perfidy. Who does not anticipate the recital of 
 the breach of faith by William and Mary? After many 
 struggles in our unfortunate country, when all the pros- 
 pects for the hunted Catholics of Ireland were confined to 
 whatever opening the force of their army could make, and 
 when that army, after some of the vicissitudes of war, 
 bravely defended the citadel of Limerick, and when the 
 prudent Ginkle saw that the issue was not so certain as 
 the sanguine advocates of his party had promised, he agreed 
 upon terms of capitulation, which were confirmed by the
 
 22 . EPOCHS OF HUSH UISTORY. 
 
 person then called to fill the British throne, and by 
 his queen. By this agreement the Catholic garrisons were 
 delivered up, the army was disbanded, and William was 
 acknowledged as their lawful king, but lie in return was 
 to leave them unmolested upon the score of religion, and 
 to confirm in the possession of their estates those who had 
 not been previously plundered on account of their faith, 
 under the pretext of rebellion. 
 
 A generous people, under the impression that the royal 
 word was sacred and the national guarantee of a public 
 treaty was inviolable, gave up their posts, laid down their 
 arms, and prepared to worship God, and to cultivate their 
 lands ; when a British parliament pretended that the king 
 had exceeded his powers, and persecuted and worried the 
 defenceless and betrayed people who mistook its character ; 
 and yet this parliament modestly charged its deluded victims 
 with holding as a principle that no faith was to be kept with 
 heretics ! Dark and more dark are the tints in which the 
 times must be painted. Let us not too closely view the 
 picture. Oh, well do I recollect the relations of my aged 
 countrymen, when, seated on their knees, I listened to the 
 tales of their sufferings, and the reality of the evils which 
 they endured from the men who claimed pre-eminence in 
 civilized society, exceeded the descriptions of romance. The 
 highly colored tints of the poet, who writes to make his 
 readers weep, are light and vapid when contrasted with the 
 glowing streaks of oppression which may be traced on the 
 humbled children of Ireland. How often have I wept at 
 the escapes and the endurance of my grandsires ! Their lot 
 was humble, because they professed the religion of their 
 progenitors. Never, never whilst memory holds her seat 
 shall I forget the story of the woes of my father, which 
 with tears he related to me to prove my comparative happi- 
 ness ; for he narrowly escaped the fate of a felon, because, 
 without changing his religion, he dared to explore the 
 vestibule of science ; l and yet the people of Ireland 
 
 i Vide MEMOIR.
 
 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 23 
 
 are accused of being ignorant ! Oh, my friends, what 
 is that policy which barbarizes, and then reproaches you 
 with barbarism? It is true that, in comparison with 
 my progenitors of a few centuries, my trials have been 
 nothing. But, thank God, I at length breathe the air of a 
 freeman, and no one reproaches me with the causes of my 
 glory that I am sprung from a country which was civilized 
 before others were discovered ; that my religion is coeval 
 with Christianity, coextensive with civilization. 
 
 How many of her sons did this desolate mother send out 
 to signalize themselves upon the continent of Europe during 
 this lengthened persecution. How much literature did she 
 preserve in her bogs, on hc-r mountains, and in her morasses, 
 notwithstanding the laws which were enacted against learning, 
 unless at the sacrifice of the creed of her people. Thus 
 was she glorious even in the day of her dejection. 
 
 But a moment is found for the mind to rest without 
 torture in the examination. Let us, however, keep to our 
 object, and before we come to that moment, let us draw the 
 conclusions, and establish our moral. O, ter quaterque beati, 
 may we pronounce the sons of America not for having 
 fallen under their walls without having witnessed the ruin 
 of their country but for enjoying all the blessings of 
 freedom without having tasted the bitterness of slavery, and 
 without having experienced the afflictions of persecution. 
 O, nimium felices si sua bona norint. They do not value 
 the mighty benefits, the want of which they have never 
 experienced. Let them see an island rich in soil and 
 blooming in culture, yet a prey to every species of tyranny 
 and despotism, filled with crime and a charnel-house from 
 the executioner ; these are the lamentable consequences of 
 sectional and sectarian broils; the force of her people is 
 broken, their energies are paralyzed, and they are the prey 
 of a despicable oligarchy, because they permit themselves 
 to be foolishly excited and wickedly played off against each 
 other. Oh, tell it to you/ children and to your children's 
 children, and let them transmit the moral to your latest
 
 24 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 descendants. My country has been ruined because her people 
 were parcelled into parties, and the parties were like the 
 offspring of the dragon's teeth, armed for mutual destruction. 
 The balmy air of charity surrounds and invigorates us here. 
 Oh, may it never be tainted ! 
 
 But this folly could not last forever, and the human 
 mind, left to itself, would soon trace the causes, and the 
 human heart, unbiassed, would yearn for their removal. 
 The progress of nature must be the same in Ireland as else- 
 where, and men of understanding and of honesty saAV the 
 causes and were anxious to remove them. The Presbyterians 
 of the North, in the latter part of the last century, cherished 
 in their bosoms the flame of patriotism and the glow of 
 humanity. Ulster nobly showed that Ireland, uninfluenced 
 by external causes, would still rise to her proper place, and 
 never did a more cheering light break in upon a benighted 
 people than that which those brave men then created. Many 
 distinguished members of the Established Church also, as far 
 as the private exertions of individuals could redeem the 
 character of a body, did try to aid 'their afflicted Catholic 
 countrymen, and thus rescue themselves from that obloquy 
 which the conduct of the united Church and State had flung 
 upon the British nation. 
 
 A. host of intellect was marshalled under the banner of 
 national feeling. Never till then was such a galaxy of genius 
 exhibited in so small a portion of the firmament. Never 
 before did so many brilliant stars glow so conspicuously 
 distinguishable amidst such a flood of light. The place of 
 a standing army was supplied by the patriotic volunteers of 
 Ireland. Dungannon seemed to be the fountain whence 
 salutary and refreshing streams of pure principle were to- 
 flow through the land and to give health to the nation. 
 The mighty mass began to move, and that which had become 
 putrescent from- stagnation was becoming purified as it was 
 agitated ; the impulse was communicated to the very citadel 
 of corruption, and even what was called the Irish parlia- 
 ment was forced for once to speak the voice of the Irish
 
 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. ' 25 
 
 nation. It was too soon, however, to detect the falsehoods 
 which had so long been circulated as history; there was 
 neither time nor inclination as yet to examine into the 
 calumnies which had been sedulously propagated against 
 the creed and the principles of the Roman Catholics ; but 
 though they were by many good but deceived men thought 
 to be unfit for liberty and undeserving of kindness, still, 
 even common humanity shrunk back from the glimpse of 
 their degradation and afflictions, and men who had during 
 the greater portion of two centuries been treated with the 
 most unparalleled barbarity, were almost goaded into bar- 
 barism. No wonder that the good men who were inclined 
 to acts of kindness should almost believe the fictitious 
 atrocities of former times to have been facts, when they met 
 with suspicion and reserve where they sought for confidence 
 that they might be beneficent; when they observed that the 
 hand which they unbound sometimes grasped a weapon of 
 defence. Nor can it be to us a matter of surprise that a 
 being who has been frequently deceived to his serious injury 
 by persons of a particular class, should be cautious of con- 
 fiding in any individual of that body, how pure soever may 
 be his motive for seeking reliance, and how beneficent soever 
 may be his intention, and however fair may be - the appear- 
 ances. Neither can we be astonished that he, who has been 
 sorely distressed, and is still under mitigated persecution, 
 should sometimes seek to retaliate even upon a man who, 
 though less cruel than his predecessor, is yet unjust. Thus, 
 the very natural conduct of men, who had been almost 
 brutalized by oppression, too often leads the unreflecting to 
 believe that they must have been originally barbarians. And 
 he who would justify the oppression will very naturally seize 
 upon so plausible a pretext for its justification, and will 
 forge testimony to prove the pretended necessity of the 
 original crime. The mind is carried away in the vortex of 
 some passion, in the midst of those scenes. It is next to 
 impossible but to belong to a party. But here you are fitted 
 for calm and rational investigation. Here is to be found an
 
 26 - EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 inquiring mind, a patience of research, a solicitude for knowl- 
 edge ; and, although hitherto America has been generally 
 deceived in its taking the history of our country from the 
 writings of its enemies, still I cherish the hope, and I feel 
 pleased in the anticipation, that the people of this Union 
 will be the first to do justice to the land of my fathers ; for 
 there certainly does exist, if I be not greatly deceived, a 
 strong sympathy between the land of my birth and the land 
 of my adoption, and never was mind better fitted for dispas- 
 sionate research after truth, than that which I meet with 
 every day. 
 
 But to leave this digression. In 1782 Ireland almost 
 "became a nation. There, unfortunately, the interest of the 
 people was not that of the government, and we observe the 
 cortsequence. The volunteers are separated ; some of the 
 leading talent is purchased. A new scene, however, comes 
 under our observation. The Synod of Ulster is pure; never 
 in a body was there found more true patriotism than in the 
 body of the Presbyterian clergy of Ireland of that day. 
 Possessing the confidence of their flocks, and standing aloof 
 from the Castle of Dublin and its contaminating influence, 
 they were feared and respected; they loved the country, 
 they took pity upon the oppressed Catholic, they were joined 
 l>y many of the best, and bravest, and most virtuous lay- 
 members of the Established Church, they gave the right hand 
 of fellowship to the Catholic, and they formed a brotherhood 
 of Irishmen of all religious persuasions. These United 
 Irishmen intended to have done their country service. The 
 Hon. Robert Stuart, subsequently better known as Lord 
 Castlereagh, was their first chairman. This holy alliance 
 should be broken up, or the people of Ireland must be no 
 longer oppressed. Their objects were simple, and substan- 
 tial, and just, and constitutional to obtain a fair represen- 
 tation of the people in the House of Commons, and to 
 put an end to persecution on the score of religion. The 
 attainment of these objects would have healed the evils of 
 the country, but would not have suited the views of the
 
 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 27 
 
 oligarchy which had long been the bane of the kingdom. 
 The Presbyterians were told that, as being Protestants, they 
 should receive some aid towrrJs the support of their clergy, 
 and the regium donuin by which the ministers were made 
 dependent upon the bounty of the crown instead of the 
 benevolence of the people, broke down their fine spirit of 
 patriotic independence, and made them an appendage of the 
 British throne a body that must be obsequious to the 
 executive, or be in indigence. The Catholic aristocracy, con- 
 sisting of some peers and baronets, and a few of the old 
 proprietors, who almost miraculously had preserved, through 
 a. thousand perils, some remnants of their estates, were 
 easily brought over, the principal bishops were cajoled, 
 and flattered, and deceived, and the elective franchise and a 
 few other benefits were conferred upon the Catholics, and 
 the torch of religious discussion was lit up amongst the 
 people that they might be divided and governed; and the 
 same Lord Castlereagh was, on the part of the government, 
 the man who principally regulated this destruction. Thus, 
 again, by sectarian hatred were the hopes of the nation 
 destroyed. I confine myself to this moral. This is enough. 
 Here we have religious differences ; but here we freely 
 discuss religious topics in language respectful to the feelings 
 of each other ; here each follows the conviction of his own 
 mind, and is accountable only at the tribunal of that God 
 who will judge us all, and to whom only we stand or fall, 
 and He alone can clearly decide who is obstinately or care- 
 lessly wrong, and who is innocently and invincibly ignorant 
 of His truth, and His justice requires the condemnation of 
 the former, but His mercy protects the latter. Whilst we 
 sedulously inquire, and freely discuss, we must leave to Him 
 His exclusive prerogative, that of deciding upon the merit 
 and the fate of individuals. He who, positively certain of 
 his adhesion to truth, would call down fire from heaven 
 upon unbelieving cities or obstinate individuals, knows not 
 by what spirit he is led. It is the pride of human passion, 
 and not the ardor of religious zeal. Persecution makes hypo-
 
 28 EPOCHS OF IRISII HISTORY. 
 
 crites ; to hate a person even for infidelity is a crime 
 against charity, and to grasp the sword to punish for unbelief 
 is to usurp the seat of the judging Son of Man. I do 
 not know of any other to whom that commission has been 
 given. No person who wants charity will enter heaven, 
 and to usurp the exclusive office of the Redeemer is not 
 the best ground on which a claim of salvation can rest. I 
 possess evidence of truth, but I cannot, without being able 
 to inspect the mind of him who differs from me, possess 
 evidence that he knows himself to be in opposition to truth. 
 Free discussion and difference of doctrine are perfectly com- 
 patible with affection and charity. But hatred, and religious 
 discord, and persecution have destroyed many nations and 
 ruined many souls. Let us learn wisdom from the misfor- 
 tunes of my country. 
 
 One little remnant yet is to be found of what approaches 
 to independence. It is like the solitary column which lifts 
 its capital in the midst of the ruins of what Avas once a 
 splendid temple. You may judge of what the entire had 
 been, by inspecting the proportions and the workmanship 
 of this relic, and surveying the extent of the fragments by 
 which it is surrounded. When all was perfect, the parts 
 gave mutual support, and the edifice combined strength and 
 beauty. Now, this unprotected piece is blown upon by every 
 wind and must bear the brunt of every storm, and, indeed, 
 it must have been originally well constructed to survive in 
 its isolated grandeur. Do not blame me when I tell you, 
 I feel proud at saying, this is the body of the Catholic 
 clergy of Ireland. 
 
 These men have always shared the afflictions of the people 
 in a twofold proportion. From the Archbishop of Armagh, 
 who numbers his predecessors up to St. Patrick, to the 
 youngest priest with whom I was associated, I speak what 
 I know, when I assert that they were enlightened, liberal, 
 and virtuous, and that, although they felt it to be their 
 duty to preserve th,e peace of the land, and to soothe the 
 irritation of the people, they also felt deeply for the wrongs
 
 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 29 
 
 of their country. They withstood the insult of mockery, the 
 superciliousness of privileged petulance, the rude ignorance 
 of a saucy squirearchy, the allurements of those who proffered 
 bribes, and the threats of those who were in power. Once, 
 and once only, was the apostolic simplicity of a portion of 
 the bishops almost overreached by the wiles of the destroyer 
 of his country. Lord Castlereagh offered to relieve the 
 people from the burden of supporting their clergy, and 
 requested to know whether in return the government could 
 obtain security that none but loyal men should be promoted 
 to bishoprics, so that, through the superintendence of such 
 men as might be safely relied upon, the loyalty of the whole 
 clerical body might be confirmed. The four archbishops and 
 six bishops, who were trustees of the college which had then 
 been just established, were thus led to say that they con- 
 sidered the proposition one which was reasonable and which 
 ought to be acceded to. Unused to the chicane of politicians, 
 or to the duplicity of courtiers, they judged of the honesty 
 of others by the standard of their own unsuspecting integrity, 
 and the wily statesman, having obtained their assent to a 
 principle of concession, suffered the whole transaction to lie 
 as if unobserved and forgotten, until in due time, upon the 
 pressure of the petitions of the people for their rights, a 
 hint was given that, if this principle was carried into 
 practice, and the king allowed a negative upon the appoint- 
 ment of bishops, some little new indulgence would be 
 granted, and if a secretary of state was made the organ of 
 communication ' between the bishops and the Pope, perhaps 
 a little more might be added. The bishops, the priests, 
 and the people, horrified at the proposal, exclaimed with 
 one voice against the mischief which they now saw impend- 
 ing. The former concession of the principle was pleaded, 
 but the good men protested that they had been deceived. 
 Thus was the country agitated by the question of the 
 veto and the arrangements, and the people again embroiled 
 upon a question of religion, that they might be divided 
 and oppressed.
 
 30 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 
 
 Well do I remember the history of this contest, for 
 though my place was insignificant, I had my post in the 
 field, and it was on the side of the people. The clergy 
 joined their bishops in declaring that they would subsist 
 upon the voluntary donations of their flocks, rather than 
 be enriched to the manifest danger of the purity of their 
 religion, and with the jealousy of the people. The people 
 exclaimed : " You may regulate religious concerns as you 
 will, that is the province of the bishops ; but the instant 
 you accept a pension from the government you forfeit our 
 confidence, for you become the slaves of the crown, spies 
 upon your flocks. Look to Ulster ; see what the rcyium 
 donum has done. We have but a small remnant of the 
 liberties of our country, you are as yet uncontaminated ; 
 every body which the government has come in contact of 
 friendship with has been polluted ; touch it and we separate 
 from you. We are jealous of your virtue, we love what has 
 been left of our freedom." This was their language; this 
 is called agitation. As yet, thank God, this clergy and this 
 people have withstood the storm. But this relic of the 
 national fabric is daily assailed. May God protect and 
 preserve it; for it yet shows in a pious and patriotic priest- 
 hood what Ireland might have been. May God long preserve 
 the liberties of America from any union of any Church with 
 any State ! In any country, with any religion, it is an 
 unnatural increase of the power of the executive against 
 the liberties of the people. 
 
 No wonder that from a country like this the emigrant 
 should arrive upon your shores, with his feelings sore and 
 his passions excited and burning with recollections. He 
 loves to remain near those spots which his fathers have 
 inhabited during centuries, spots which are blended with the 
 reminiscences of childhood, with the joys of his youth ; those 
 spots upon which his friends are still found. Oh ! he loves 
 his country and his friends, but he cannot endure to bo 
 scourged with scorpions by strangers who have been placed 
 as his taskmasters ; and he cannot banish all his recollections
 
 EPOCHS OF IRISH HISTORY. 31 
 
 even amidst the endearing attachments which he makes in a 
 land of freemen. 
 
 It will then be permitted to us this day to enjoy the 
 melancholy gratification of contemplating the former greatness 
 of our country, and going back in spirit and affection to the 
 laud of our fathers, to the island of shamrocks, to the 
 emerald gem of the ocean, for 
 
 'Though glory be gone, and though hope fade away, 
 Yet thy name, loved Erin, shall live in our songs; 
 
 Not even in the hour when this heart is most gay, 
 Shall it lose the remembrance of thee and thy wrongs. 
 
 The stranger shall hear us lament on his plains, 
 The sigh of our harp shall be sent o'er the deep, 
 
 Till thy masters themselves, as they rivet thy chains, 
 Shall pause at the song of their captive and weep.
 
 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 1 
 
 IT is related that St. John the Evangelist was once 
 observed by a hunter, amusing himself with a bird. The 
 astonishment manifested in the countenance of the observer, 
 who remained gazing intently, was soon noticed by the 
 apostle, and he inquired for its cause. " I am struck with 
 amazement," replied the hunter, "to see you, who are so 
 much esteemed for wisdom and sanctity, employed in so 
 trivial an occupation! How unlike is your present position 
 to that which you are generally supposed to hold?" The 
 saint remarked that his observer's bowstring was loose, and 
 inquired why he did not keep it tight. " Were I to do so," 
 said the hunter, "my bow would loose its elasticity, and 
 soon become useless." " The human mind," observed the 
 evangelist, "is like your instrument; it would be destroyed 
 by perpetual tension." Whatever position, then, it may be 
 your lot to occupy in the employments of the world, you 
 will need to apply the energies of your mind to the proper 
 discharge of its duties. The grave study of the law, the 
 deep reflections of medical science, the absorbing cares of 
 political life, the intense application to business, the deep 
 interest of your family concerns, your sympathy for friends, 
 and a thousand other importunate demands will draw largely 
 upon your time and upon your feelings, and will compel 
 exertion; but you will also feel the necessity of relaxation. 
 So that, in fact, its regulation is one of the most important 
 concerns of life ; and the neglect of its arrangement is preg- 
 
 >An address delivered before the Demosthenian and Phi Kappa Societies of 
 Franklin College, Athens, Georgia, August 5, 1810. 
 
 (32)
 
 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 33 
 
 nant with the most dangerous consequences to youth and to 
 manhood. 
 
 Some persons, at an early age, under pretext of relaxation, 
 contract habits which become in after life the sources of 
 their ruin. It is one of the misfortunes of our nature, that 
 they who have been the victims of crime are almost neces- 
 sarily thereafter its abettors, and this not merely upon the 
 well-observed principle which spreads its influence over every 
 ago and every nation, Solamen miscris soeios habuisse doloris ; 
 there is not only a malicious satisfaction in knowing and 
 exhibiting that we are not without associates in our degra- 
 dation and our depravity ; but they who have exhausted 
 their own springs of indulgence in dissipation, feel it 
 necessary to have companions who yet possess a supply 
 that will suffice for both. At a time, then, when experience 
 lias not brought caution, when passion is strong, when the 
 desire of novelty is great, when, under the alluring names 
 of liberty and independence, wholesome restraints arc easily 
 laid aside, and the buoyant spirit of youth loves indulgence, 
 cunning self-interest frequently bestows the name of necessary 
 recreation upon those pursuits which degrade and destroy, 
 and thus seduces the generous and the inexperienced into 
 habits which are easily formed, but which it requires time, 
 labor, and perseverance to overcome. This is one of the 
 most copious sources of intoxication, of licentiousness, of 
 idleness, and of dissipation ; by these the peace, the honor, 
 the property, and the respectability of families are destroyed, 
 and they, who might have been the ornaments of their State 
 and the benefactors of their race, sink dishonored to an early 
 grave, occasioning grief and drawing tears from their survi- 
 vors, not so much for their departure, but because of their 
 havoc and their disgrace. 
 
 The relaxations of uncivilized nations are for the most 
 part characterized by their vulgarity, their cruelty, or their 
 licentiousness ; and as men are raised upon the scale of 
 refinement, their amusements generally lose many of these 
 marks. The cultivation of literature is one of the ordinary
 
 34 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 
 
 and natural means of thus elevating man, and hence it 
 lias been, at an early period, well observed : Ingcnuas 
 dldlcisse fidelitcr artes cmmoiit mores ncc sinit csse feros. The 
 boisterous whoop, the rude familiarity, the dangerous jostle, 
 the exhibition of grotesque mummery, the casting of ridicule 
 upon our fellows, or exhibiting them in awkward predica- 
 ments in the view of others, are, to many persons of vulgar' 
 feelings, sources of infinite amusement; and they who thus 
 delight in the annoyance of their associates are persons who 
 would, for similar treatment in respect to themselves, seek 
 a marked revenge. 
 
 Our feelings are not unfrequently put to unpleasant trials 
 at even reading the description of the tortures inflicted upon 
 their prisoners, by savage tribes, and the enjoyment which 
 the suffering affords to the cruel executioner. Nor docs 
 history confine the recital to the deeds of such rude hordes. 
 The arena of the amphitheatre witnessed the shouts of the 
 delighted multitude, whilst its sand drank up the expiring 
 gladiator's blood, or yet exposed the reeking fragments of 
 the half-devoured bodies of Christian victims which the beasts 
 of prey tore for the entertainment of their no less savage 
 beholders. Surely I need not draw your attention to the 
 excitement of beasts and even birds, and the arming them 
 for mutual destruction, to afford the opportunity of relaxation 
 and enjoyment, united to the indulgence of their love of 
 gambling, to men said to be respectable. What a spectacle 
 to behold! A man whose mind is cast in the most perfect 
 mould, and upon whose character and conduct a lovely 
 family has rested all its hope, to whom a vicinage looks for 
 its weight and its respectability, forgetting his proper place 
 and madly risking the means of fortune and of fame for 
 himself and for others upon the superior instinct for destruc- 
 tion or the fortuitous exposure or activity of a poor bird, 
 thus unnaturally excited and thus wickedly armed ! Do 
 these cruel sports add dignity to our nature ? Do they 
 confer benefits upon society? I shall not speak of the more 
 criminal and more destructive and degrading dissipation to
 
 THE PLEASURES OF THE SC1IOLAU. 35 
 
 which idleness conducts, to which excess stimulates, and 
 for which the other indulgences usually prepare. How 
 extensive is the blight that has been produced by their 
 united influence ! 
 
 Relaxation is necessary, but it should be rational. It 
 ought to be suited to renew our powers without destroying 
 our morals or impairing our standing in society. And 
 surely no one will pretend that our faculties are improved, 
 or that our powers of mind or body are renewed, preserved 
 or invigorated by the indulgence in pursuits which necessarily 
 demoralize. Such habits not only relax the vigor of our 
 mental faculties, but they undermine even the bodily powers. 
 There is an inherent respect and love for virtue in the 
 human mind, which even the most depraved course of vice 
 cannot utterly destroy, and which no power of sophistry can 
 delude. I have conversed in his dungeon with the outcast 
 of society, and whilst he braved the scorn of the world and 
 affected to despise its condemnation, he avowed that he could 
 not extinguish the glimmerings of conscience nor be insen- 
 sible to its reproof. And whilst in defiance of mankind he 
 lifted himself in the bad spirit of unyielding pride even to 
 blaspheme the God of heaven and to deny the sanctions 
 of virtue, his heart quailed at his own misconduct, whilst 
 he sought to make the recklessness of despair pass for the 
 courage that accompanies the convictions of truth. Thus it 
 is that the agonies of self-reproach consume the force of the 
 understanding, enervate the soul, and drive the criminal from 
 the calm pursuit of truth and the industrious collection of 
 knowledge, to seek for protection against his inward monitor, 
 by recurring to the distractions of external dissipation and 
 sometimes even that he may obstruct the power of memory 
 by plunging into stupefaction. Hence it is that all writens 
 upon science, and especially when they treat of its applica- 
 bility to the improvement of others, lay down as a maxim, 
 that its votary should be virtuous, if he would be successful. 
 And indeed what is thus said of science is true of every 
 other useful occupation. The attainment of success requires
 
 36 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 
 
 that the unbroken powers of the soul should be directed to 
 secure it; but this cannot be the case where they are 
 prostrated by remorse or impaired by irregular habits. If 
 is true, that rare instances of partial success are occasionally 
 found as exceptions to this position. They are, however, not 
 only exceptions, but they are, in general, fearful examples, 
 which show us how some mighty mind, gathering the shat- 
 tered forces which it still retains, may in one splendid effort 
 achieve its object by its own destruction; just as the com- 
 mander, who has prodigally wasted the lives of many of his 
 gallant soldiers by his indiscretion, finding himself driven 
 to his last entrenchment, determines at least to save the city 
 which he covers, and marshalling the fragments of his once 
 powerful host, urges them by word and by example to one 
 noble act of devotion. The assault is desperate and the 
 result is doubtful ; until, at length, the protected city comes 
 forth to weep over the remains of those, who, victims not 
 only to valor, but to wanton waste, perished on the very 
 field where they annihilated a foe which they could at an 
 earlier period have subdued with a trifling loss, and having 
 saved their country might have survived to receive its 
 gratitude and to share in its prosperity. 
 
 I need not enter upon any elucidation of the well-known 
 fact that the close union of the mind and body induces a 
 palpable injury to the mental powers as a consequence 
 of the derangement of the bodily functions. Witness the 
 ravings from fever, the dejection of the dyspeptic, the languor 
 of the consumptive, the stupor of the dissipated. Nor is it 
 requisite that I should even advert to the notorious effects 
 of immorality or dissipation upon the human frame. 
 
 To me it has always appeared a great mistake to imagine 
 that the preservation of political equality required the 
 destruction of distinctions in society. To secure the first, 
 which is of primary importance in our republics, I conceive 
 it to be sufficient that each individual shall be upon* an 
 equality with his fellow-citizens in the eye of the law ; so 
 that the rule by which his property, his peace, and his rights
 
 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 37 
 
 are preserved, shall be the same which preserves them for 
 every other ; that he shall be liable to punishment only for 
 'those acts that are punishable in another, and be tried and 
 convicted only by a similar process. Moreover, that every 
 citizen shall be on a level in the eye of the constitution ; 
 that is, that each has only the same burdens to bear, the 
 same duties to perform, and has, according to his qualifica- 
 tion, an equal claim to posts of honor or of emolument 
 as any other. In a word, that no one shall have the 
 prerogative, that no class shall be privileged. This in my 
 view forms the extent to which our equality should go. To 
 attempt forcing it beyoncj these limits would be not only 
 ridiculous and impracticable, but the effort would be destruc- 
 tive. Can you establish an equality of property? Suppose 
 you were able to effect it to-day, how long will it continue? 
 "Will all be alike industrious ? will all be equally intelligent ? 
 will all be equally successful? Will all be alike parsimo- 
 nious, or lavish, or equally burdened with families, visited 
 by sickness, swept by floods, or stricken by lightning? You 
 cannot prevent the existence of classes of rich and poor and 
 of comfortable. Diversified as the expressions of countenance 
 is the variety of tastes. Will you compel them to an 
 equality in this regard? Whilst I leave others to a perfect 
 freedom upon this score, shall I not have a just claim to 
 my own freedom also? And shall not they, whose taste is 
 the same, be permitted to cultivate it without being intruded 
 upon by others who would mar that cultivation ? There 
 are, I believe, but two restraints which should be reasonably 
 imposed here upon individuals or associations, viz.: 1. That 
 this gratification of taste should not be immoral, and 2, That 
 it should not infringe upon the rights of others. The ground 
 of these restraints is so plain that I shall not point it out. 
 It is impossible then, that there should not exist in every 
 community various classes whose taste is more or less refined, 
 "nor* does the cultivation of refinement in our habits impair 
 the equality of our civil and political rights. It would be 
 indeed a cruel tyranny to compel an individual to seek for
 
 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 
 
 his enjoyment only in that which, though it suits the taste 
 of another, yet is altogether in opposition to his own. Still 
 as a general principle it is expected that they, who move in 
 the more refined and better informed circles of society, 
 should conform to the usages of their associates in the very 
 character of their relaxation, for the similarity of their 
 education and of their early habits supposes a general 
 similarity of taste. 
 
 Our progress through life is comparatively brief, and it 
 is our duty, not only to ourselves, but to society, to be useful 
 whilst we are able. The great bulk of human happiness 
 and of human prosperity has been created by the industry 
 of man. Our predecessors have thus been our benefactors, 
 and the fruits of their ingenuity and exertions have been to 
 us a most valuable legacy. It is not long since the " red 
 man" occupied the lands which surround us and what 
 was his position? He inherited the regions through which 
 he roamed ; but because he had little of that stock of 
 improvement which the " pale face " possessed, the soil was 
 comparatively useless in his hands. And in the accumulation 
 of that scries of ingenious discoveries which produces so 
 much benefit for us, no inconsiderable portion is the result 
 of well-directed relaxation, in which men of mighty minds 
 indulged as a relief from graver study. With some the 
 cultivation of music, with some the charms of poetry, with 
 some the studies of nature in her more choice and elegant 
 productions, whilst others improved mechanism and aided the 
 useful arts even for their amusement. Nor is the hour of 
 social indulgence and good companionship always useless. 
 It may often be profitably spent in that way which Curran 
 described, in his apostrophe to Lord Avonmore, as usual 
 with the "Monks of the Screw:" 
 
 " This soothing hope I draw from the dearest and 
 tenderest recollections of my life from the remembrance 
 of those Attic nights and those refections of the gods, which 
 we have spent with those admired, and respected, and 
 beloved companions who have gone before us ; over whose
 
 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 39 
 
 ashes the most precious tears of Ireland have been shed. 
 Yes, my good Lord, I see you do not forget them. I see 
 their sacred forms passing in sad review before your memory. 
 I see your pained and softened fancy recalling those happy 
 meetings, Avhere the innocent enjoyment of social mirth 
 became expanded into the nobler warmth of social virtue, 
 and the horizon of the board became enlarged into the 
 horizon of man where the swelling heart conceived and 
 communicated the generous purpose ; where my slenderer 
 and younger taper imbibed its borrowed light from the more 
 matured and redundant fountain of yours. Yes, my Lord, 
 we can remember those nights without any other regret than 
 that they can never more return, for 
 
 'We spent them not in toys, or lust, or wine, 
 
 But search of deep philosophy, 
 
 Wit, eloquence and poesy, 
 Arts which I loved, for they, my friend, were thine.' " 
 
 Cowley. 
 
 Relaxation is, then, necessary for man, but whilst he 
 indulges in it to a proper extent, he should avoid the per- 
 nicious, degrading, and ruinous modes which too often present 
 themselves to persons of every age, and to which inexperi- 
 enced, ardent, and innocent youth is unfortunately allured 
 by the most "wily blandishments. Our recreations should be 
 suited to the place we occupy, and made to subserve the 
 improvement of ourselves, as well as the interests of the 
 community. 
 
 It has frequently struck me that one of the secondary 
 objects of a good collegiate education was to afford to men of 
 improved minds and cultivated taste one of the best resources 
 for the purposes alluded to ; and that one of the greatest 
 mistakes usually made by our educated men was, casting 
 aside as useless, after their graduation, the books to whose 
 study they had been kept for so many years. It is, indeed, 
 in a great degree natural, that having theretofore regarded 
 them as instruments of task-work, and that frequently of no
 
 40 THE PLEASURES OF THE 
 
 light description, the mind, now rejoicing in its emancipation, 
 should view them as a liberated prisoner would the manacles 
 from which he was relieved. This, however, is not a correct 
 estimate. They should rather be considered as the means 
 by whose use the mind has become greatly enriched. It 
 was necessary in a large measure to compel the youth to 
 industry that he might acquire mental wealth ; it has been 
 collected, and is treasured up ; by a little exertion, he not 
 only will easily preserve what has been put together, but 
 will greatly add to its value ; if, however, he remain listless 
 and idle, even what he has already acquired will rapidly 
 dwindle away. 
 
 I l*ave known men, who, during protracted lives, found 
 in the cultivation of classical literature that relaxation which 
 improved whilst it relieved the mind. The last survivor 
 of those who pledged their lives and fortunes, and nobly 
 redeemed their sacred honor, in the achievement of our 
 glorious inheritance of liberty, was a striking instance of 
 this. "When nearly fourscore years had passed away from 
 the period of his closing the usual course of classical educa- 
 tion, after the perils of a revolution, after the vicissitudes 
 of party strife, when the decay of his faculties warned him 
 of the near approach of that hour when he should render an 
 account of his deeds to that Judge who was to decide his 
 fate for eternity, from his more serious occupations of prayer 
 and self-examination, and from the important concern of 
 managing and dividing his property, would diaries Carroll, 
 of Carrollton, turn for refreshment to those classic authors 
 with whom he had been familiar through life ; his soul 
 would still feel emotion at the force of Tully's eloquence 
 or melt at Virgil's pastoral strain. 
 
 Perhaps, the very selection in early life of this, as the 
 best mode of mental indulgence, tended much to insure to 
 him, not only his patriarchal age, but the calm and serene 
 frame of mind which was also well calculated to preserve 
 health and to promote longevity. When the young man is 
 thus occupied, and enjoys the literary gratification, he is less
 
 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCUULAL'. 41 
 
 disposed to search for that society or to rush into those 
 indulgences, which, whilst they destroy the powers of the 
 mind, undermine the vigor of the constitution, and are the 
 prelude to years of remorse and to a life of difficulties. 
 This relaxation is unquestionably very rational, perfectly 
 dignified, and would, I have no doubt, be found eminently 
 useful by all who would adopt it. 
 
 There are many who regard classical studies merely as an 
 exercise to become acquainted with the dead languages of 
 Greece and Home, so that we may be able to read the 
 productions of their authors, and thus become acquainted 
 with their learning. And they very naturally tell us, that,, 
 being possessed of good translations, whose accuracy is 
 acknowledged, we can with more facility and precision, and 
 in an incomparably less portion of time, learn all that they 
 "could teach. 
 
 This appears plausible, and would be true if its assump- 
 tion were a fact. But such is not the case. The object is 
 not to learn the languages merely for this purpose. In 
 the first place, the object is to form the mind to habits of 
 industry, to precision and accuracy of judgment, as well 
 as to imbibe principles of just criticism by a discipline 
 eminently fitted to this end. If the teacher, as in too many 
 instances is unfortunately the case, especially in young com- 
 munities, be not himself capable of appreciating the value 
 of the course, or of usefully conducting a pupil through it, 
 the fault lies in the incompetency of him who undertakes, 
 not in the inutility of that which is undertaken. In learning 
 properly a dead language, there is no room for idleness 
 without detection, because every word should be accounted 
 for, its derivation traced with accuracy, every inflection 
 ought to be known, and its precise signification should be 
 pointed out ; the dependence of words upon each other 
 must be understood, and the rules of that dependence ascer- 
 tained and applied. This is the indispensable basis of sound 
 classical knowledge ; and I ask, whether it be possible to- 
 have the youthful mind occupied during years in this-
 
 42 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 
 
 process, without producing habits of industry and research? 
 When this knowledge has been perfectly acquired, no diffi- 
 culty presents itself in perusing the works of the ancients, 
 but each day new gratification is derived from the discoveries 
 that are constantly made in the very structure of the language 
 itself; words are separated into their most minute portions, 
 the original expressions are found in which men first called 
 objects by their most simple appellations, and the composition 
 of the word shows the combinations found in some new 
 object, and this detection of the analogy between language 
 and its objects leads to a most improving and delightful 
 process of philosophy. 
 
 I am aware, however, that comparatively few persons are 
 admitted into this field of recreation, because few persons 
 labor to furnish themselves with the key by means of which 
 they can enter; for, by reason of either their own or theif 
 teacher's neglect, they have not acquired that accurate notion 
 of the original language that would relieve them from 
 trouble in its perusal, or would enable them to follow up 
 the discoveries to which I allude; and therefore the book 
 is closed, abandoned, and soon forgotten. 
 
 Figure to yourselves a young man whose parents compelled 
 him, through long years of tedious and often painful occupa- 
 tion, to reclaim a rich piece of ground and to cultivate it 
 with care ; see it now given to him as a possession, not 
 only in the highest state of culture, but with an exuberant 
 and inexhaustible depth of soil, with hands sufficient for its 
 tillage accustomed to the performance of their task; what 
 would your estimate be of the judgment and taste of this 
 young proprietor, should he proclaim to his servants that 
 they need not labor, should he take no concern in the 
 management of his land, and should he suffer it to become 
 waste through mere negligence? It will not remain unpro- 
 ductive. Should it not be cultivated, its very fertility will 
 hasten its progress to renewed wildness ; the noisome weed 
 will spring up luxuriantly, the tangled underwood will 
 thicken, and the rising trees will interweave their roots
 
 TUB PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 43 
 
 below the surface more quickly than their arms will meet 
 above. Such is the figure of the human mind, such the 
 consequence of neglecting, by a little care, to cultivate in 
 your .leisure moments that classical knowledge which you 
 have acquired. 
 
 The discipline, by which you have been brought to the 
 knowledge of this ancient language fits your mind for the 
 graver studies and the more pressing cares of your manhood, 
 as it was itself that best calculated for your adolescence, 
 because your curiosity was excited and gratified by the 
 subjects that were submitted to your examination ; and 
 though you found some labor in ascending towards the 
 temple of science, yet were you attracted by some flower 
 that invited you forward, and were amply repaid even by 
 the expansion of the horizon and the riches of the scenery 
 that were spreading before you as you arose. Having once 
 overcome the difficulties of the ascent, if you preserve your 
 position, the labor has terminated, and the enjoyment is 
 within your control. Thus, what was originally an arduous 
 task becomes, by perseverance in its use, a pleasing 
 recreation. 
 
 The proper study of the classics requires extensive acquaint- 
 ance with ancient history. The writers, whose works are 
 placed in the pupil's hand, were men of information, 
 accurately instructed, not only in the history of their own 
 times, but of those which preceded them. They often treat 
 specially of the important events of those remote days, or 
 they make direct allusions to them, to understand whose force 
 we must become exactly informed of the facts themselves ; 
 and thus the classical student is drawn insensibly to acquire 
 a vast fund of information in this department, in a mode 
 which stores the mind by a far more pleasing process than 
 that of sitting down professedly to pore over the dry recital 
 of some ancient chronicler of events. Take, for instance, 
 the JEneid of Virgil and contemplate the vast accumulation 
 of historical details to which it refers. It is true that the 
 student must labor sedulously at first, and must consult many
 
 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 
 
 a dictionary and many a map ; he must become acquainted 
 with the early settlements of the little States that covered 
 Asia Minor, that filled the Archipelago and the continent of 
 Greece ; he must learn the origin and the progress of Latium, 
 the Tyrian migrations to the coast of Africa, Lnd much more 
 that you will easily recollect. But in the midst of this 
 research, he is allured to persevere by the sweet warbling 
 of the poet whose full meaning he desires to comprehend. 
 It is thus that the years, which are said to be lost in the 
 mere acquisition of an useless tongue, are employed in laying 
 up treasures that may prove so valuable in after life. And 
 it is thus that the mind, after having acquired this knowl- 
 edge, can, without exertion, recall and preserve it as it 
 relaxes from its laborious occupations, to enjoy the harmony 
 of the Mantuan bard ; just as when, with extraordinary 
 labor, great research, and no inconsiderable expenditure, a 
 fine cabinet of science has been collected from the several 
 regions of the globe and the various kingdoms of knowledge, 
 the exertions and the study for its arrangement are fatiguing, 
 but it subsequently is the source for enriching the mind 
 with intellectual wealth, easily acquired, the occasion of 
 refreshing, for the memory, that which would have faded 
 away, and an agreeable and entertaining retreat in the hour 
 of necessary relaxation. 
 
 Persuaded that a principal obstacle to making the knowl- 
 edge of the classics subserve the great object of polished 
 recreation, is to be found in the imperfection of the reading, 
 I shall illustrate, by a passage from one of the great masters 
 of criticism the position I have taken respecting the necessity 
 of deep study in our early life, to render those books delight- 
 ful in after days : 
 
 "You, then, whose judgment the right course would steer, 
 Know well each ancient's proper character; 
 His fable, subject, scope in every page ; 
 Religion, country, genius of his age ; 
 Without all these at once before your eyes, 
 Cavil you may, but never criticise." 
 
 Pope.
 
 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 45 
 
 You will then perceive, that, not only mere history, such 
 as I have alluded to, is required to be well known as a 
 preliminary to understanding those authors, but history of 
 another description, and respecting which there is much 
 less accurate information, even amongst men of literary repu- 
 tation, than is generally suspected. The mythology or his- 
 tory of their ancient religious systems is far more necessary 
 to be known by him who would become acquainted with 
 the writers of those early times, than is a knowledge of 
 the Christian religion for the person who would know the 
 scope and meaning of the philosophical or scientific writers 
 of our own age and nation ; because their religion entered 
 more extensively into the writings of all classes amongst 
 them, than does ours into the compositions of our mere 
 secular authors. Perhaps I shall be thought at least rash 
 for the assertion that this field is very little examined into, 
 but I could easily sustain my position, first, because the 
 value of mythology is greatly underrated ; next, because, 
 when a mere vague general notion of its nature is formed, 
 it is thought to be sufficiently known; and thirdly, because 
 many persons, through an affectation of contempt for its 
 puerility and folly, regard its study as at least a great waste 
 of time. I shall only say that some of the finest passages 
 of the poets and philosophers are scarcely intelligible to those 
 who do not trace mythological history, from the first aber- 
 rations of the human mind in the ancient nations, through 
 all their varied forms of worshiping the host of heaven 
 instead of its Creator ; of paying the highest homage to 
 genii, to angels, and to demons, whilst they denied it to 
 the God who made them ; of beholding the universal soul 
 spread through the whole visible world and manifesting itself 
 in the fire of Persia ; in the waters of Egypt, entering into 
 its oxen and its leeks ; found in the rude stone of the 
 Scythian equally as in the Bactrian torrent, the Druid's 
 oak, or the African sun. Nor is it for the classics alone 
 this research is necessary ; its results elucidate the pages 
 of the Old Testament ; and the reveries of Manes and the
 
 46 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 
 
 imaginings of Plato must be known in order to compre- 
 hend the inspired passages of St. Paul and St. John. But 
 I touch upon a topic from which I have determined to 
 abstain. It will suffice for me to say tfhat an extensive 
 an.d precise acquaintance with mythology is required for a 
 classical scholar, and that, to obtain it, he must go over 
 a multitude of facts. By means of the knowledge thus 
 obtained, he will find little difficulty in understanding cus- 
 toms that would be otherwise inexplicable or obscure. The 
 histories of Saturn, of Jupiter, and of the other deities, as 
 they are styled, are of a later date, and their character 
 brings them nearer to the period of a more degenerate 
 worship. To obtain this mythological knowledge requires 
 that the student should traverse all the known regions of 
 the ancient world, that his search should be continued 
 through many centuries, that he should be. the associate of 
 the philosopher, the companion of the monarch, the observer 
 of the priest ; that he should go into the camp with the 
 soldier, be seated in the hall of legislation, mingle with 
 the shepherds as they tend their flocks or rehearse their 
 lays. He must go down with the mariner upon the deep, 
 observe the courses of the stars, learn their influences, not 
 only upon the regions of Eolus, but upon the destinies of 
 men. With the augur he must study the habits of the 
 birds, by the soothsayer he will be taught the arrange- 
 ment and the anatomy of beasts, and in company with the 
 Pythoness he must be filled with the inspirations of heaven. 
 Think you that, if the study of man be useful, this is a 
 criminal waste of time? 
 
 There is, in the palace of the Vatican at Rome, a long 
 corridor, well known to the visitors of that magnificent 
 depository of arts and of literature. As you enter, upon 
 your right hand, the wall is lined from the floor to the 
 ceiling with fragments of marble, containing the rude and 
 the improved inscriptions of Italy, in the days of heathen- 
 ism. An immense vista opens before you, and to its 
 extremity this monumental partition continues ; the images
 
 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 47 
 
 of gods, the fragments of idols, the busts of heroes, the 
 figures of philosophers, the statues of emperors, sarcophagi, 
 and pedestals range along its base ; and the learned, the 
 curious, the powerful, and the beautiful, the unbeliever and 
 the pious, the gay and the grave, the libertine and the 
 pilgrim, the British peer, the Spanish grandee, the Ameri- 
 can citizen, the Oriental sage, and the Italian peasant, in 
 all the varied costumes of rank, of nation, of taste, and 
 of caprice, move along the hall, reading the history of 
 other days, and admiring the works of artists who, for 
 multiplied centuries, have been insensible to censure or to 
 praise. There you may detect their living forms, gliding 
 between stern warriors frowning in marble, amidst petrified 
 consuls and gladiators, blended with matrons, nymphs, and 
 satyrs. One of the fathers of the Church has appropriately 
 remarked that any one possessing eyes may look upon the 
 characters of an illuminated volume, and admire the rich- 
 ness of the tints, the beauty of the letters, the decorations 
 of the vellum ; but, had he been taught to read, how much 
 more information would he gather from the document itself! 
 how much more valuable would it be in his estimation ! 
 So, to the scholar, how rich is the mine of knowledge 
 which that corridor contains ! and are not his authors and 
 his recollections like that corridor, to him who has become 
 familiar with their contents ? 
 
 On your left, as you enter, monuments of another lan- 
 guage are presented to your view. The walls are covered, 
 but the devices are not the same ; the emblems are occa- 
 sionally varied. One monogram, however, in those of the 
 earliest epoch, seems to pervade; the fish is sculptured 
 upon the greater number ; the dove with the .small sprig 
 of olive in its bill is there ; a palm-branch, tinted with 
 red, distinguishes not a few ; an ark, borne upon the waters, 
 surmounted by an arch, is discernible amongst them ; the 
 word PAX is nearly universal. The archaeologist recognizes 
 the symbolic language of early Christendom; and the busts 
 and statues of some of her heroes, and the ornaments of
 
 48 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 
 
 the Galilean religion, mingled with many a relic of those 
 olden days, arranged under the significant and instructive 
 emblem of the oriflam, exhibit the contest and the suffer- 
 ing and the triumph of Christianity! In studies like this, 
 the understanding is informed, the memory is strengthened, 
 and the mind is relieved. In the midst of our struggles 
 through this changing life, it is well to have, in those 
 moments of care, of oppression, and of dejection, some 
 classic scenery which will be to us as a city of refuge, 
 until we shall be able to recruit. The effect will be like 
 that described by the favorite bard of Ireland : 
 
 "Let fate do her worst, there are relic* of joy, 
 Bright dreams of the past, which she cannot destroy, 
 Which come in the night-time of sorrow and care, 
 And bring back the features that joy used to wear. 
 Long, long be my heart with such memories filled, 
 Like the vase in which roses have once been distilled 
 You may break, you may ruin the vase if you will, 
 But the scent of the roses will hang round it still." 
 
 Moore. 
 
 The knowledge of geography, it is clear, is required 
 equally as is that of history, and it is impossible to under- 
 stand the ancient authors without having an intimate 
 acquaintance with the lands and the waters of which they 
 treat ; hence, no person has ever been regarded as worthy 
 of the appellation of a scholar, who could not at each epoch 
 describe the political divisions of the earth. Do we allude 
 to dialects in Greece? It will be as necessary for us to be 
 acquainted with the vicinity of the State in which the dialect 
 was used, as with the locality of the State itself. AVc may 
 illustrate this by viewing the continent of Europe to-day. 
 The traveller in Switzerland, for instance, will find in 
 Geneva and the Jura the language to be generally French, 
 because of their vicinity to France. Let him. pass through 
 the Valais, he finds Italian idioms and pronunciation becoming 
 more prevalent as lie goes to the southeast, and upon the 
 Siniplon he will almost fancy "himself already in Italy.
 
 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 49 
 
 Proceeding, however, from Berne towards Zurich, the German 
 is blended with the French ; and when lie arrives at St. 
 Gall, or upon the borders of the lake of Constance, his 
 French is next to useless, and before he crosses the Rhine, 
 iio is a bewildered stranger, unless he can use German 
 expressions. 
 
 The language which is spoken becomes, in some measure, 
 that which is written, where the body of the people can 
 write ; and, amongst ourselves, I expect it would not be hard 
 to calculate the land whence came the man who tells us that 
 he has notions for sale ; and I reckon we should speedily tell 
 the abode of a traveller who would ask the conductor of a 
 railroad car to be careful of his plunder! Customs vary 
 with geographical limits, and we should be amused at the 
 ignorance of him who would clothe the Scythian in the 
 Persian's flowing stole, or invest the Ethiopian with the 
 toga, with equal justice as we would at the folly of him who 
 would declare it absolutely necessary to procure a powdered 
 wig and ermine robes from Westminster Hall, to enable a 
 Georgia judge to open his commission. The Romans knew 
 as little of passing their children through the fire of* Baal, 
 as the Scandinavian did of the worship of Astarte. 
 
 Gather to-day the remains which may yet be found on the 
 sites of the Volscian cities, take those of a more remote 
 region of Etruria, and place them by the side of the vast 
 collections that the Grsecea Magna of ancient days has 
 yielded, together with the excavations of Pompeii and of 
 Herculaneum, to the splendid collections of Naples; from 
 them you will learn the diversity of epochs, of customs, and 
 of arts, and you will perceive the influence of geographical 
 distinctions, as well as of distant times. I have seen the 
 outlines of figures drawn with anatomical accuracy in frescoes 
 that have, during more than three thousand years, preserved 
 their original tints in an unimpaired brilliancy. I have seen 
 the vases of a later period in another region, and I have 
 seen the productions of the mighty masters who two thousand 
 years ago filled Southern Italy with works of various art, 
 
 4
 
 50 THE PLEASURES OF TUB SCHOLAR. 
 
 that have exceeded those of the most glorious days of 
 Eastern Greece. The phraseology of the several writers 
 who described those ages and their customs came vividly to 
 my recollection, as I contemplated the " breathing brass," 
 or as I saw the evidences of the custom; and I felt how 
 groundless is the notion which some persons would inculcate, 
 that classical studies are but the learning of a dead language ! 
 They demand close and unremitting attention to the geog- 
 raphy of ancient times, tracing the origin and the migrations 
 of colonies, their settlements, their neighbors, their border 
 quarrels, their tactics, their success or their extinction, their 
 government, their customs, their language and its modifica- 
 tions. This is a portion of what we designate as classical 
 knowledge : 
 
 " Patient CAKE by just degrees 
 
 "Word and image learns to class; 
 Those confounds and separates these 
 
 As in strict review, they pass ; 
 Joins as various features strike, 
 Fit to fit and like to like, 
 Till in meek array advance 
 Concord, Method, Elegance." 
 
 He who, without such information, would presume to 
 claim the high and honorable title of a classical scholar, 
 may be well placed in the same category as the writer who 
 should locate the falls of Niagara upon the Ocmulgee, or 
 the one who would assure us that, after escaping many perils 
 in descending the Chattahoochie, his mind resumed its calm 
 as he found himself quietly gliding from its turbid stream 
 into the deep and broad waters of Delaware Bay, with the 
 Chesapeake expanding in the distance, and Bunker's Hill 
 and the other Alleghanies proudly rising within his view to 
 the clouds. 
 
 There is no power of the mind which stands in greater 
 need of judicious restraint, and yet which requires more 
 freedom, than does the imagination. Horace finely shows 
 its dangers and its imperfections in the opening of his essay
 
 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 51 
 
 on the art of poetry, and lie soon afterwards exhibits the 
 principle of restraint. 
 
 " But not through nature's sacred rules to break, 
 Monstrous to mix the cruel and the kind, 
 Serpents with birds, and lambs with tigers joined.'' 
 
 Its duty is to embody, before the mind's eye, some sen- 
 sible representation which shall, when expressed, better arrest 
 the attention of the hearer and communicate information, 
 than will any abstract description. Our nature is not merely 
 spiritual ; the chief part of our knowledge is received 
 through our senses ; we live and we more in a world of 
 sense, amongst objects of sense, and though we may often 
 indulge in metaphysical abstraction, and may reason upon 
 essences and generalizations, yet we are more vividly and 
 powerfully and permanently affected by the objects of sense ; 
 and thus the soul forms for itself, as it were, sensible 
 representations or images of even what in truth are spiritual 
 beings not to be apprehended by our senses, or of an abstrac- 
 tion which has no real existence out of those subjects in 
 which it is found as a quality. Thus, though angels have 
 no bodies, we imagine them existing in bodily shape. 
 Strength is not a being, neither is prudence, nor valor, nor 
 piety, nor strife, nor revenge. The imagination must, as it 
 were, give to them existence in some scenery which rep- 
 resents what it is sought to describe ; the picture must not 
 only show each figure perfect in itself, but the entire must 
 be harmoniously grouped to give a pleasing effect. Akenside 
 finely displays the object 
 
 "Know then, whate'er of Nature's pregnant stores, 
 Whate'er of mimic art's reflected forms, 
 With love and admiration thus inflame 
 The powers of fancy, her delighted sons 
 To three illustrious orders have referr'd 
 Three sister graces, whom the painter's hand, 
 The poet's tongue confesses ; the sublime, 
 The wonderful, the fair. I see them dawn I 
 I see the radiant visions, where they rise, 
 More lovely than when Lucifer displays 
 His beaming forehead through the gates of morn, 
 To lead the train of Phoebus, and the spring."
 
 52 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 
 
 Nothing is more generally admitted than the impossibility 
 of giving a precise and graphical description of what is 
 not plainly seen and accurately comprehended. There is in 
 many minds, and perhaps more generally discoverable in 
 our Southern regions, as great an impatience of that delay 
 and labor necessary to arrange this exhibition, as there is 
 extensive poAver to call up the figures and to cast the 
 scenes. And nothing is better calculated to remedy this 
 very serious evil than habitual and intimate intercourse with 
 the classical authors. Insensibly, the results of the rule 
 they followed become so impressed upon our minds as to 
 cause almost an identification thereof with our habits of 
 thought, and a taste is cultivated which will instinctively 
 detect any aberration from the great principle which was 
 their guide. 
 
 "Hear how leaned Greece her useful rules indites, 
 When to repress, and when to indulge our flights. 
 High on Parnassus' top her sons she showed 
 And pointed out these arduous paths they trod. 
 Held from afar, aloft, the immortal prize,, 
 And urged the rest by equal steps to ri.-e. 
 Just precepts thus from great examples giv'n 
 She drew from them, what they derived from heav'n." 
 
 Pope. 
 
 This creative power of the mind is not only regulated 
 by the use of their precepts and the imitation of their 
 example, it is wonderfully enriched by the vast treasures 
 of materials which they have accumulated. These are inex- 
 haustible for their extent, and wonderful in their variety; 
 though so immense, yet you carry them without inconve- 
 nience, and no robber can despoil you nor speculator strip 
 you. Your own sloth is the only plunderer who can, on 
 this side of the grave, deprive you of the valuable posses- 
 sion. You are also taught, how, from a poor and seem- 
 ingly barren field, you may, by industrious cultivation, raise 
 an abundant harvest. Go to the sands, the groves, the 
 pools, and the sulphureous little mounds of Cumae. How
 
 T11E PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 53 
 
 uninteresting, how valueless do they appear ! Open the 
 pamphlet of the Canon Jorio, and read the sixth book of 
 the Eneid, as you examine its contracted limits, and how 
 is the scenery changed! The Hell, the Purgatory, and the 
 Heaven of Virgil are around you, Lethe is at your feet, 
 Phlegethon is before you, you find the bark of Charon on 
 the Styx, the rude threatenings of Cerebus are echoed 
 around ; the gloomy Avernus is behind yon, and accom- 
 panied by the Sybil, the shades of the mighty dead pass 
 in review before you. The wand of imagination has brought 
 the surface of the globe, and the generations of multiplied 
 ages, within the narrow compass of a short excursion, and 
 has spread over this barren spot the panoramic view of 
 the years that have passed away, and of the immortality 
 that succeeds them. Yet how far short is this of the 
 power that imagination possesses ? 
 
 Another serious advantage, derivable from continuing this 
 familiarity with the ancient authors, is, that it affords us 
 ample scope for the study of the human mind, exhibiting 
 its epochs of acquisition in science, its improvement in the 
 arts, the true field for its labors, and the mode in which 
 we may be more likely to insure success. We may thence 
 learn the fallacy of those theories which have, under the 
 garb of philosophy and science, at various times, betrayed 
 great minds into egregious folly. 
 
 Thus, we perceive immediately that the art of writing 
 and the discovery of letters bear us back to no very remote 
 period from the origin of our Christian epoch, and sustain 
 our religion's history. And though some nations had made 
 progress in legislation, in arts, and in arms, though agri- 
 culture was greatly improved, and commerce extending its 
 dominion, though several mighty monuments were raised at 
 early periods, still the first efforts at writing were exceed- 
 ingly rude, and their application was very limited. We 
 tracs the progress of science from one period to another, 
 but beginning with what was most in demand for the 
 necessities, then the comforts, and subsequently for the luxu-
 
 54 THE PLEASURES UF THE SCHOLAR. 
 
 ries of man. Yv r e find our forefathers under the influence 
 of the same passions and subject to the same infirmities 
 as we are, and equally the slaves of prejudice and of pride 
 as we are, having the same appetites and taking the like 
 means for their gratification. If we come down to more 
 recent epochs we perceive that though, in the contest with 
 the barbarian, much of the more polished literature and 
 t'.ie finer arts were for a time overwhelmed, still they 
 were not altogether lost, and that the restoration gives a 
 very different appearance from what took place at the 
 invention. 
 
 Whilst we behold the ancient nations exceeding us in 
 many instances in works of architecture, in persevering 
 industry, in the amassing of wealth, in the productions of 
 their soil, in military prowess, in force of eloquence and 
 the sweets of poetry, in one respect they are confessedly infi- 
 nitely below us, that is, in their notions of God and of 
 religion, and in their maxims of morals. They sought to 
 acquire in the schools of philosophy what we say must be 
 derived from Heaven, and as the contrast in the results is 
 as obvious as is the contrast between the principles, it 
 should seem easy to decide upon a choice as to which 
 should be adopted. Nothing will tend better to confirm 
 what I here allude to than a calm examination of what 
 their best authors testify regarding their opinions and their 
 practice. 
 
 I have said that we are equally weak as they were, as 
 regards our pride and self-importance. I shall endeavor to 
 illustrate and prove the general truth of my observation. 
 It is related of an Asiatic prince of more modern times, 
 to whom an ambassador was sent from Holland, that he 
 frequently was pleased at hearing from the envoy the 
 extraordinary accounts of the customs and institutions of 
 Europe. On one occasion, speaking of the intensity of cold, 
 of which the monarch had very imperfect notions, the am- 
 bassador told him, that in Holland it sometimes produced 
 such an effect on water that its surface became solid, and
 
 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 55 
 
 that men walked on it in safety and transported heavy 
 burdens upon it as they would on land. The prince imme- 
 diately ordered him to quit his dominions for having the 
 effrontery of endeavoring to make him despicable by induc- 
 ing him to believe in the truth of what was naturally 
 impossible, because the experience of every one contra- 
 dicted the notion that any increase of cold could render 
 solid that which was always known to be liquid. It was 
 opposed to the law of nature. 
 
 Strange as we may deem this decision of the Eastern, I 
 believe you will find it equalled by that of Herodotus, who, 
 remarking upon the statement that certain Egyptians had 
 circumnavigated Africa at an early period, by sailing down 
 the Ked Sea and after a long lapse of time returning by 
 the pillars of Hercules, places his greatest difficulty of receiv- 
 ing their testimony upon the ground of their asserting that 
 when at the greatest distance they had gone towards the 
 south, the sun was at noon upon their right hand as they 
 sailed towards the west. This, he says, everybody knows 
 is impossible, it is against the laws of nature, because it 
 is against the experience of every one that to a person 
 going west the sun should at noon be to the right hand 
 side of his position. I believe the law of nature now to 
 be the same as it was then, and a navigator at this day 
 sailing westwards below the Cape of Good Hope would 
 consider it a very strange phenomenon to have the sun in 
 any other position than on his right hand at noon ; for 
 he would be south of the tropic of Capricorn, and must 
 necessarily have the sun to the north. 
 
 I have adduced this instance to show not only that the 
 scholar can advantageously study the history of mind and 
 the progress of discovery in the ancient authors, but that 
 their perusal will show him how liable the greatest minds 
 are to sad mistakes, when, by reason of their attachment 
 to preconceived notions of their own speculations, they reject 
 the evidence of testimony. It was thus that Hume, and 
 others of his school, would set up their speculative notion
 
 oG THE PLEASURES OF THE 
 
 that " our own experience is the only test of reasonable 
 belief," and thus, like Herodotus, they would, because of 
 its novelty, make that, which was the surest evidence of 
 the truth of a relation, the very ground of its rejection. 
 This school of philosophers is, however, fast sinking to its 
 proper place in public estimation, and men are more rational 
 in distrusting their self-sufficiency, and in relinquishing their 
 prejudices, as they behold ' the follies to which both the 
 one and the other have led men of undoubted ability and 
 extensive information. . . t 
 
 I am convinced that to such an audience as I have the 
 honor of addressing, it is quite unnecessary to urge the 
 vast fund of general information upon such a variety of 
 subjects as will be found in the books to whose perusal 
 I have been endeavoring to induce those who would im- 
 prove their understanding, cultivate their taste, or seek a 
 reasonable recreation in classical pursuits. In reading them, 
 they converse with the most polished, the most learned, 
 the most experienced of the poets, philosophers, historians, 
 orators, and statesmen, that the civilized world has pro- 
 duced during several centuries. 
 
 Amongst them are the mighty men who have by their 
 powers of oratory swayed nations as they would men ; who, 
 to effect this mighty purpose, subjected themselves to all 
 the discipline and labor which so great a work demands. 
 Theirs was not the rude volubility which, let off from a 
 stump, produces a transitory effect upon the multitude. No ! 
 it was the well-weighed expression of solid truth, sent forth 
 to establish correct principles, and to \vin to them the sup- 
 port of the mighty and of the weak, of the wealthy and 
 of the poor, of the sage and of the simpleton. The object 
 was o lay the foundations of their country's prosperity in 
 their country's affections, and by convincing the under- 
 standings of their fellow-men, to win their support to 
 measures of public utility. Their productions have outlived 
 not only monuments of marble or of brass, but they survive 
 the wreck of those governments under which they lived, and
 
 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 57 
 
 of others that have succeeded them. They are studied to-day 
 as the best models for imitation. You perceive they are 
 free from those defects which cause so many others to sink 
 into oblivion. They have no vulgar personality, they are 
 not pompous exhibitions of the declaimer for the purpose 
 of winning an ephemeral applause under the pretext of 
 public instruction. No, they are clear and forcible appeals 
 to the understanding of their auditors, of whose respect they 
 were certain because they proved their deference for the 
 judgments of their assemblies, by treating them as men of 
 understanding. 
 
 Having convinced by their reasoning, they delighted by a 
 chaste decoration. This was investing, with its more soft 
 and beautiful covering, the solid frame that had been pro- 
 duced, amplified sufficiently to develop the just proportions ; 
 there was no redundance to weaken, no excrescence to 
 deform. Feeling strongly and warmly themselves, they 
 breathed life and vigor into what would otherwise be a form 
 inert though beautiful. Dignified and winning in their 
 manner, their productions addressed themselves to the hearts 
 of their hearers, allured them to obedience, and commanded 
 them to action. 
 
 Amongst those who surround me, are several who must, 
 whatever be their present prospects or determinations, be 
 men to whom Georgia will look as the supporters of her 
 rights, as the vindicators of her fame, as the leaders of her 
 councils, as the representatives of her principles, as her 
 protectors in our federation ; and others upon w T hom she 
 will rely to interweave new flowers in the garland of her 
 literature. May I say to them, that, whilst they seek even 
 from their own Demosthenes, to learn how they may succeed 
 like him who 
 
 " Wielded at will that fierce democratic, 
 Shook the arsenal, and fulmined over Greece, 
 To Macedou and Artaxerxes 1 throne ;'' 
 
 they should know his weakness, avoid his faults, and receive
 
 58 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 
 
 a solemn warning from his fate. Had his sole ambition been 
 his country's good, his corpse would not have fallen disgrace- 
 fully upon Neptune's altar. 
 
 On an afternoon in the early period of the summer, a 
 few years since, I stood upon a balcony where the country- 
 seat of Cicero overhung an eminence. The air was soft 
 yet bracing; Gaeta was at a little distance on my left, 
 the blue Mediterranean rippled at a distance on the south- 
 western border, groves of orange and of lemon trees filled a 
 large portion of the plain which stretched below towards the 
 shore, and their delicious perfume arose mingled with that 
 of many other delicate odors from the gardens and the 
 herbs. It was like the richness of his own eloquence. But 
 where was the orator? It was through the pathways of 
 that plain he was pursued. It was near that blue wave he 
 descended from his litter, thence was his head borne to the 
 cruel Anthony. Need I remind you of Fulvia's revenge ? 
 And even in the midst of the disastrous estrangements and 
 the cruel hatred of faction and of party contest, the very 
 populace of Rome wept at beholding the head and the hand 
 of their once-loved defender exhibited upon the very rostrum 
 where they hung upon his lips. 
 
 Yes, it is a . dangerous eminence ! Honesty of purpose 
 and unbending integrity, unswerving perseverance in pre- 
 ferring principle to popular applause, in worshipping Fabri- 
 cian integrity rather than Plutus, or power, or office, will, 
 if any human means can, sustain you in safety. But the 
 temptations are great, and there are but few who resist 
 them ; hence the victims are numerous, and the fortunate 
 are few. 
 
 Georgia has at this day at least one sweet poet, whose 
 heart is as kind as his lines are delightful. It may be, and 
 let us expect that it will, that other streams besides the 
 Savannah should resound with the song. In reading Lord 
 Lyttleton's address to Pope, you will perceive that he fancies, 
 at the tomb of Virgil, that mighty bard to arise and com- 
 mission him to deliver an admonition to the British poet.
 
 THE PLEASURES OF THE SCHOLAR. 59 
 
 I have stood upon the same epot, and a lovely one it is, 
 elevated nearly over the entrance of the great grotto of 
 Posilippo, on the headland which divides the Gulf of Naples 
 from the waters of Baise. All the inspiration of poetry is 
 found in the very breeze that passes over it. With a few 
 necessary alterations, let me address, from the mighty 
 Mantuan, that same admonition to you : 
 
 "Crowned with eternal bays my ravished eyes 
 Beheld the poet's awful form arise ; 
 Stranger, he said, whose pious hand has paid 
 These grateful rites to my attentive shade, 
 When thou shalt breathe thy happy western air, 
 Thither this message to its poets bear. 
 If high exalted on the throne of wit, 
 Near me and Homer you aspire to sit, 
 Of you quite worthy, were the task to raise 
 A lasting column to your country's praise, 
 To sing the land, which yet alone can boast 
 That liberty which other nations lost. 
 Where science in the arms of peace is laid, 
 And plants her palm beneath the olive's shade; 
 Such was the theme for which my lyre I strung. 
 Such was the people whose exploits I sung. 
 Brave, yet refined, for arms and arts renown'd, 
 With different bays by Mars and Phoebus crown'd 
 Dauntless opposers of tyrannic sway, 
 But pleased the State's just edicts to obey. 
 
 If this advice submissive you receive, 
 Immortal and unblamed your name shall live. 
 Envy to black Cocytus shall retire, 
 And howl with Furies in tormenting fire, 
 Approving time shall consecrate your lays, 
 And join the patriot's to the poet's praise." 
 
 At the period of the confederation, Georgia was the 
 youngest amongst her sisters. She now beholds as many 
 States succeeding her on the catalogue as there were orig- 
 inally united. Yet a large portion of her territory has been 
 only lately placed in the hands of her citizens. Immense 
 bodies of her finest soil are yet unbroken by the cultivator, 
 her rivers are not cleared, nor is her mineral wealth 
 explored. We know that rich veins are concealed beneath
 
 60 THE PLEASURES UP ThE SCHOLAR. 
 
 her surface, but their value is scarcely appreciated, nor can 
 the mind yet estimate their extent. The spirit of her sons, 
 and the wisdom of her councils, have already made her the 
 high-road by which, not only her own products and imports 
 will be rapidly conveyed, but by which nations and their 
 wealth must be transported. Let it be so with her literature. 
 Let her University be generously sustained. Let her 
 children devote their leisure hours to polite and scientific 
 recreation. Her riches will be developed ; the cultivation of 
 her taste will decorate her amongst her sisters, her hidden 
 treasures will be explored ; from the east and from the west, 
 from the north and from the south, will she be visited, 
 admired, and enriched by contribution. And as she rises in 
 the scale of political and commer-cial importance, so shall she 
 be elevated in scientific and literary fame.
 
 IT is a matter of notoriety, that during several ages a 
 practice has prevailed, more or less generally, amongst civil- 
 ized nations, of terminating some differences of individuals 
 by single combat, in a manner previously arranged ; and 
 this fight has, at times, been considered a very becoming 
 and honorable mode of closing those altercations. Some 
 persons have frequently endeavored to find in what cir- 
 cumstance of the duel the quality of honor consisted, but 
 have been baffled, sometimes by the diversity of cases, all 
 said to be honorable ; at other times by the opposition to 
 correct principles in those general but essential character- 
 istics which were found in every case. 
 
 I must avow, that I do not recollect a moment when 
 I did not feel the practice to be censurable, though I do 
 remember a time when I was under what I now believe 
 to have been a very erroneous impression ; that engaging 
 in such a combat was, at least, an exhibition of courage; 
 hence I never conceived it to be honorable. And having 
 been upon terms of intimacy with several men of powerful 
 mind and generally correct feeling, and in vain sought to 
 learn from them in what one or more circumstances of the 
 practice honor consisted, I could never obtain any elucida- 
 tion. AVas it in killing your adversary ? No ! for honor 
 was generally satisfied without his death, and very fre- 
 quently after the discharge of a pistol which inflicted a 
 Avound upon public morality alone, the parties who previ- 
 
 'An address delivered before the Anti-duellinff Society of Charleston, South Caro- 
 lina, in the year 1828. 
 
 (61)
 
 62 DUELLING. 
 
 ously appeared to seek mutual destruction became fast and 
 honorable friends. Was it in violating the law ? Was it 
 in exposing one's self to be slain by an insolent aggressor? 
 Was it all these united? Is honor then the result of 
 blended revenge, violation of law, and wanton exposure of 
 life to the weapon of an unreasonable opponent ? To this 
 inquiry I could obtain no better answer than that reasonable 
 and honorable men approved of the practice, and thought 
 it necessary for preserving the decorum of society. 
 
 No person can be more disposed than I am, as well 
 from feeling as from principle, to bow with deference before 
 the tribunal of such men. I am generally inclined to con- 
 sider their maxims to be the dictates of the general or 
 common sense of mankind, and since I prefer the collected 
 experience and reasoning of the bulk of society to the 
 results of my own weak efforts, I believe it to be the 
 suggestion of reason, and the duty of an individual, to 
 admit that he is not as wise as is the collective body of his 
 fellow men. I am, therefore, prepared to view most favor- 
 ably, and with what I call a fair partiality, any practice 
 which the great body of reasonable and honorable men, 
 after mature reflection, and as the expression of their judg- 
 ment, and not of their prejudices, will say is necessary, or 
 even useful, to preserve the order of society, and the 
 decorum of civil intercourse. But I am distinctly of opinion, 
 that the good sense and sober judgment of the vast ma- 
 jority of upright and educated men are altogether opposed 
 to the practice of duelling, as not only useless for society, 
 but as criminal and mischievous in its results. Hence, I 
 consider the answer which I have received to be the too 
 hasty expression of an opinion too lightly examined, and 
 to be founded altogether upon mistakes. 
 
 As you have done me the honor of delivering your first 
 address, you will, perhaps, excuse me for taking up the 
 subject in a more technical manner than would be neces- 
 sary for any future occasion. 
 
 To know then the matter exactly for our consideration,
 
 DUELLING. 63 
 
 we had better look to the etymology of the name, the 
 nature of the act, and the history of the practice, so that 
 our view of the subject might be more accurate, and our 
 conclusions more just. The Latin word Duellum means, as 
 it were, bettum inter duo, or duorum bellum, "War between 
 two persons." The nature of war is attempted injury after 
 due notice. Thus, to constitute a duel, there must be notice 
 given of an intended attempt to do an. injury, together 
 with a warning to be prepared for defence ; and in this 
 it differs from assassination or assault, of. which no previ- 
 ous notice had been given, just as regular war differs 
 from an unforseen predatory or piratical incursion. A duel 
 is then a private warfare between two individuals, and is 
 generally terminated by a battle with deadly weapons, of 
 a determined description, at a defined time and place. In 
 this description we must particularly notice the circumstance 
 of its being a private warfare ; that is, undertaken by pri- 
 vate authority, and the word duel is now, in its applica- 
 tion, limited to the battle only. Hence the combat between 
 David and Goliath was not a duel, but was a portion of 
 regular, public warfare, carried on by the public authority 
 of two nations; and a more humane mode of terminating 
 a contest than would be the general encounter between two- 
 numerous and brave armies. In like manner, the substitu- 
 tion of the Horatii and Curiatii for the Roman and Sabine 
 armies was a, humane regulation by public authority; and 
 therefore neither of those, nor any of several similar instances 
 with which history furnishes us, can be looked upon as a 
 duel. The combatants were not urged forward by private 
 feelings, nor did they act by private authority. 
 
 In seeking for the origin of this practice, we may close 
 the authors of Greece and Rome ; neither do India, Chal- 
 dea, or Egypt assist us in our research. We are told, 
 indeed, that it was a portion of that fine system of chiv- 
 alry which decorated the middle ages of Europe, and the 
 witchery of that romance which writers have generally sub- 
 stituted for the history of that undefined period, like the
 
 DUELLING. 
 
 magic of its sorcerers, bewilders the fancy, and deludes us 
 with visions of glory and of fame. The splendor of the 
 tournament is conjured up for the imagination, the lists 
 are prepared, the flattering crowd presses forward to that 
 field over which pageantry, royalty, and valor preside; the 
 loud notes of the trumpet announce the heralds' approach ; 
 the mounted challenger appears, and properly accompanied, 
 courses through the inclosure, paying homage to those to 
 whom it is due, and waits in proud defiance to confirm 
 by his bearing that denunciation which is made in his 
 name. His trumpet is answered ; another herald appears 
 with the reply ; the marshals arrange the order of combat, 
 and the opponents take their ground. Fear, hope, joy, sor- 
 row, and exultation alternately and tumultuously seize upon 
 the mind of the young enthusiast, the shout of victory, the 
 feast of triumph, the rhapsody of the poet, the spell of 
 the musician, and the fascination of the theatre blend with 
 the sweet voices of our youth, and the scene is associated 
 with all that excites the imagination, and affects the heart ; 
 honor, love, fidelity, and fame, in a word, chivalry and 
 the duel are identified. 
 
 It would be natural to expect that they, who seek only 
 to divert the mind, would rest content with this exhibi- 
 tion ; but they who desire knowledge must ask its origin. 
 It would, perhaps, be natural to expect that thoughtless 
 and uninformed youth should be led away by such an 
 exhibition ; but it becomes persons of understanding, and 
 those having a consciousness of moral accountability, to 
 inquire whether such a practice is reasonable and safe. Let 
 us then trace the history and make the inquiry. 
 
 The knights of those chivalric days were principally 
 descended from the chieftains of those hordes, which, in 
 the early period of the Christian era, spread themselves 
 over the face of Europe. Issuing from the icy North, they 
 locked up in their cold fetters the minds and limbs of the 
 vSiirvivors of their opponents. Long, desperate, and with 
 various success, was the conflict between the panegyrist of
 
 UUELLIXG. 65 
 
 "\Voden, of Thor, and of Freya, and the disciples of the 
 Cross. As the maxims of the Gospel won upon the mind of 
 the barbarian, you might observe frequently the strange 
 coexistence of discordant practices, and the awkward attempts 
 of ignorance or of imbecility, to reconcile contradictions. 
 He who would, by the torch of history, learn the facts which 
 explain many of the mysteries of those days, must penetrate 
 into the caverns of Scandinavia, converse with the Runic 
 Scald, and frequently extend his journey along the banks 
 of the Danube, the Ister, and the Boristhenes, towards the 
 ancient forests of Sarmatia and Scythia, into which the great 
 forefathers of this race strayed from the vicinity of America. 
 I shall not at present lead you through so extended a path ; 
 we will not proceed farther than Denmark, and the discov- 
 eries there made will give to us the origin of our chivalrous 
 exhibition. 
 
 We are informed by our antiqarians, that, amongst the 
 ancient Suevi and Goths, there was a custom, from time 
 immemorial, of deciding differences in a mode called cenwig, 
 of which there were two kinds ; the one was conventional, 
 the other judicial : the first corresponded exactly with our 
 present duel, the other with what in England was known as 
 trial by combat. The first was a fight by private authority, 
 from private motives, but at an appointed time and place ; 
 the second was a battle at a time and place, and with 
 weapons appointed by the judges of the horde, to be fought 
 under the direction of marshals of the field; and though, 
 perhaps, it might appear extraordinary, in this trial by 
 combat, which was the last resort upon the failure of testi- 
 mony and enlightened judgment, the parties looked for the 
 special intervention of the Deity, to manifest not only the 
 truth of fact, but the application of law, by bestowing victory 
 as well upon him who had right upon his side, as upon him 
 who made a true statement ; for it often happened in the 
 cenwig, that both parties admitted the same facts, but differed 
 only as to the law, the application of which was to be settled 
 by the issue of the combat. Which of us would, at this 
 
 5
 
 66 DUELLING. 
 
 day, think of taking a knotty case of law or of equity from 
 the mooting of our legal friends and the wisdom of our 
 courts, to be decided by the erudite discrimination of a hair- 
 trigger? Yet, such is one of the principles upon which 
 duelling is based. 
 
 In the fourth and fifth centuries of the Christian era, we 
 find the descendants of the first northern invaders in posses- 
 sion and in power, in several parts of Gaul, Spain, and Italy. 
 Whilst the Franks, from the vicinity of the Elbe, were 
 settling down in the northern regions of Gaul, the Goths and 
 the Burgundians occupied the more southern provinces. 
 About the year 500, we find the Gombette law enacted by 
 Gonebald, King of Burgundy, in which men were for the 
 first time, in a country claiming to be civilized, commanded 
 to refer to the duel the termination of those disputes which 
 could not be decided by oaths and testimony. This king 
 was an Arian, but the law was observed and enforced by his 
 orthodox successors, and this we may look upon as the foun- 
 dation of chivalric trial by combat. Having now obtained 
 the royal sanction in Burgundy, and the settlers in the 
 vicinity tracing their origin and drawing their customs from 
 Scandinavia, being also disposed to adopt and follow the 
 maxims and observances of their progenitors, the senseless 
 and pernicious practice soon spread throughout the whole 
 Gallic territory. 
 
 About the close of the ninth century, the Christian 
 missionaries had made some impression upon Denmark, and 
 early in the succeeding age, upon the death of Svveyn, the 
 first Danish monarch of England, and father of Canute the 
 Great, his eldest son Harold, who succeeded him in his 
 continental domains, being a zealous disciple of the Christian 
 law, abolished the ancient and barbarous practice of duels, 
 since which time the Danish government has punished, with 
 exemplary severity, criminals who violated this prohibitory 
 law. It is much to be regretted that the laws of Harold 
 were not more generally adopted and acted upon by other 
 nations; but it is matter of consolation to find that the
 
 DUELLING. G7 
 
 remedy was first applied where the malady was first exhib- 
 ited; and that in the region where this pernicious practice 
 emanated, the introduction of Christianity and of civilization 
 caused its decay. Much as the mind desires to rest upon 
 this green spot in the dreary waste, we must proceed with 
 the history of the practice. It was not retained by the first 
 Saxon settlers of Britain; and Canute, the Dane, shared 
 much of the Christian sentiment of his brother Harold. 
 Thus, although France, especially, was now the asylum of 
 this banished offspring of the North, we find its influence 
 scarcely felt in the neighboring regions. Even the Germans 
 began soberly to reflect upon the folly of seeking judicial 
 decisions at the point of the lance or by the edge of the 
 sword, and were already convinced that it was a manifest 
 tempting of heaven, for a puny and weak being who felt that 
 he had right, without proof, to trust to the prowess of his 
 arm, for its manifestation against the ruffian force and prac- 
 ticed agility of some blustering robber, whom strength had 
 made . bold, want had rendered desperate, and deeds of 
 iniquity had inured to blood. 
 
 Superstition is the expecting from any act supernatural 
 effects, for attaining which, by such means, God has given 
 no promise; thus, several persons, at that very early period, 
 deemed it to be absurd and superstitious tempting of heaven, 
 to engage in such conflicts for the vindication of right, 
 because they saw that, upon no reasonable principle, could 
 they hope for such a result, except by a miracle, which He, 
 who alone could work a miracle, had not pledged Himself 
 to perform. 
 
 The Lombards, who had settled in Italy, regulated that 
 those judicial battles should take place under proper inspec- 
 tion, and the combatants were allowed to use only staves 
 and shields; thus, although the absurd principle was retained, 
 there was an apparent blending of humanity in their super- 
 stition. Most of the duels of those ages were appeals to 
 heaven to speed the right. Can you discover any principle 
 of religion or of good sense, that could warrant such an
 
 C8 DUELLING. 
 
 appeal? Do you recollect the general feeling of disapproba- 
 tion and of horror, with which the appeal to combat by 
 Abraham Thornton was received in England, a few years 
 since, when, to save himself from the probability of an 
 ignominious death, he met the appeal of the brother of 
 her who had been murdered with the legal offer of 
 wager ' of battle ? Suppose this unfortunate man was the 
 seducer and the murderer of the too-confiding victim of 
 his double brutality, in what consisted the propriety or 
 honor 'of permitting, under the sanction of law, what his 
 frame showed to be a natural consequence, the cruel 
 destruction of an afflicted brother, who invoked the public 
 justice of society upon the destroyer of a beloved sister? 
 Reason, religion, and honor unite in the reprobation of so 
 nefarious a mockery of law. 
 
 I said that it was not used by the Anglo-Saxons, and we 
 have seen that it was abolished in Denmark, at the time that 
 Canute ruled over England. But, at this period, the spirit 
 of Normandy gave its full sanction to the custom ; and 
 when William I began to give his laws to the subjugated 
 English, he introduced the trial by duel, according, indeed, to 
 the Englishman, whom a Frenchman might appal, the con- 
 tumelious privilege, if he were weak, of looking for a stronger 
 substitute. This was its first legal establishment in that 
 country, where the principle of the law has continued in 
 force down to a very late period,- if not to the present day. 
 How far in theory it might, even now, be part of the law 
 of South Carolina, and of those other portions of our Union 
 which have preserved the common law of England, it is not 
 for me to say. 
 
 Hitherto I have only considered that species of duel 
 which is judicial, and which has been sometimes carried 
 solemnly into legal effect. If any description of this com- 
 bat could be defended upon principle, this alone could have 
 the benefit of such defence, because it was not undertaken 
 by private but by public authority ; it was not supposed 
 to be entered upon him from motives of revenge, but for
 
 DUELLING. 69 
 
 the manifestation of truth, and the parties, about to engage, 
 made their solemn appeal to heaven to defend the right ; 
 the judges of the land and other public officers, sometimes 
 even the monarch himself, presided, and sometimes an igno- 
 rant, or a timid, or a negligent clergyman offered up his 
 public prayer to heaven to speed the right, and to mani- 
 fest the truth, thus seeking the decision of that eternal 
 Judge who did not always give the race to the swift, or the 
 victory to the strong, and whose providence regulated the 
 affairs of individuals equally as of communities. 
 
 I shall briefly allude to the principles upon which this 
 judicial combat is plainly criminal in its own nature; whence 
 it must follow, that, although the individuals who under 
 the national sanction engaged therein, might be sometimes 
 excusable upon the ground of ignorance, the act of the 
 government itself was void and sinful. Indeed it would now 
 appear to be scarcely necessary for me to detain you with 
 an allusion, but that it might serve to elucidate other cases 
 which we shall have to consider. 
 
 It is a recognized principle of law, that no subordinate 
 tribunal can sanction what the superior has prohibited. No 
 authority could make superstition innocent or lawful ; and 
 until it could be shown that God Himself authorized the 
 appeal to be made to Him, for a decision in the mode 
 alluded to, to make it in that mode is clearly criminal. 
 The Jewish woman who had recourse to the waters of 
 jealousy, for the manifestation of her innocence, performed 
 a becoming act, because the Almighty had created this mode 
 of appeal, and to have recourse to a divine institution for 
 the purpose intended by its Author, is surely an act of 
 religious homage, not a crime. But they who derived the 
 custom of the duel from the barbarians of Dacia and of 
 Scandinavia, did not pretend to a divine sanction for their 
 conduct ; they only blended the superstition of the pagan 
 with the profession of Christianity. They might have seen 
 the evidence of their inconsistency in Deuteronomy and in 
 the Gospels, where the precept was given and reiterated, not
 
 70 DUELLING. 
 
 to tempt the Lord their God. Superstition is a vice 
 specially opposed to true religion, and strictly forbidden by 
 the divine law ; hence no human tribunal, however extended 
 its power or high its station, could give a sanction to this 
 practice. The civil law expressly condemned those fights, 
 and repeated censures 'of them, as well as of other like 
 ordeals, are found in the canon law of the Church. The 
 Popes frequently used their best exertions to have the evil 
 extinguished, as might be seen, to omit a multitude of 
 other documents, in the letter of Nicholas I to King 
 Charles the Bald, of France, about the year 850, in the 
 acts of Innocent II, about 1140, and in the same cen- 
 tury in those of Eugenius III, Celestine III, and Alex- 
 ander III, in whose pontificate the third Council of Lat- 
 eran, in which about three hundred bishops sat, con- 
 demned the practice as impious. Innocent IV, in 1252, 
 wrote upon the subject to the clergy of France, and at 
 the commencement of the sixteenth century, Leo X and 
 even Julius II enacted heavy censures against duellists. 
 "We have also similar acts of several of their successors, 
 and a very severe decree of the Council of Trent, the 
 nineteenth, on reformation of those which were passed in the 
 twenty-fifth session, on the 3d of December, 1563. However 
 the various portions of the Christian body which have with- 
 drawn from the communion of that council and those Popes, 
 might differ from them in doctrines of faith, I believe 
 they unite with them in the condemnation of such combats 
 for such a purpose, as superstitious and otherwise highly 
 criminal, and not to be sanctioned or justified by any law 
 or custom. I believe we should scarcely find an indi- 
 vidual disposed to advocate judicial combats at the present 
 day, yet they are that species of duel which is upon prin- 
 ciple the most susceptible of defence. 
 
 We now proceed to examine the other descriptions of 
 combat, which, resting solely on the private authority of 
 individuals, and not having been sanctioned by any sem- 
 blance of law, are, more properly speaking, duels according
 
 DUELLIXG. 71 
 
 to our present acceptation of the word. The Scandinavian 
 lias also this species of cenwig. Civilians and canonists 
 have varied from each other in their distribution of the 
 kinds, the former looking rather to the conditions, the latter 
 more to the objects of the fight. Perhaps we shall be better 
 able to proceed with regularity if we view both enumerations. 
 
 Civilians called a duel decretory, when it was decreed or 
 stipulated that the contest should terminate only by the 
 death of one of the parties ; propugnating, when a combatant 
 went to fight, not for the purpose of slaying his adversary, 
 but of defending his honor; and satisfactory, when an 
 injured person sought to destroy his aggressor, unless he 
 made due compensation. Theologians placed first that to 
 manifest truth, which is the judicial; next to which is that 
 to terminate controversy, but this contained a new character- 
 istic ingredient, that the parties so hate each other that death 
 only is likely to prevent their quarrels; the third is to exhibit 
 prowess; the fourth to avoid ignominy, nearly allied to which 
 is that to defend honor; the sixth to prevent war. Taking 
 the theological enumeration, we have disposed of the first, no 
 person will attempt to justify the second, the last we may 
 omit, because it is one which on all hands is admitted to be 
 lawful and sometimes beneficial, and is not within the range 
 of our definition, as it is undertaken by public authority, 
 in. a public cause. 
 
 There can be no question but the practice of private duels 
 was greatly promoted by the wager of battle and by the 
 tournament ; whose nature I now proceed to examine. When 
 it was not a judicial trial for the manifestation of truth, it 
 was of that description called for the exhibition of prowess; 
 that is, a vain boasting of strength, agility, or pugnacious 
 skill. The bad principle is the same, whether we behold it 
 in two young knights who, with the eyes of the prowess, 
 and beauty, and pride of a nation fixed upon them, seek for 
 reputation in the lists, or in the gladiator at the ancient 
 games, in the prize fighter of the modern ring, or in a pair 
 of our wagoners who contend for superiority in mutual
 
 72 LUELLIXG.' 
 
 whipping. Wretched weakness of our miserable nature ! 
 Glaring evidence of our degradation! We profess to admire 
 benignity and its concomitant good qualities ; we place charity 
 at the head of the catalogue of virtues ; whilst we indulge 
 a secret gratification at beholding scenes of wanton cruelty, 
 of bloodshed, and of death; and encourage to deeds of mere 
 brutal prowess those whom we would venerate for the practice 
 of the opposite virtues. To what shall we trace this singular 
 but manifest deordination ? Whilst reason almost instinc- 
 tively tells us that this injury of others for the gratification 
 of our own pride, or vanity, or curiosity, is bad, we labor 
 to create sophisms for its justification, and strive to convince 
 ourselves that our natural convictions are mistakes. So it 
 is that the children of Adam are led by the impetuosity 
 of passion against the admonitions of the understanding ; 
 and then, to silence the voice of conscience, they compel or 
 they suborn the intellect, to appear as the advocate of that 
 which, in its free and unsophisticated moments, it condemned. 
 Such, my friends, is the lamentable outline which we must 
 draw if we would sketch correctly the picture of our fallen 
 race. As I prefer your own testimony to any abstract 
 reasoning which I might attempt, I shall appeal to your- 
 selves for that testimony as to the correctness of my state- 
 ment. Whether would you admire more the man who, 
 conscious of his prowess, sought its exhibition in the injury 
 of his opponent; or him who, with a like consciousness, 
 listened to the dictates of humanity, and told that challenger, 
 whom he could crush if he would, that as there existed no 
 necessity, so he believed there existed no justification, for 
 doing him harm ; and hence, although his presumption 
 would seem to call for chastisement, yet a higher authority 
 insured his safety? Is there not here the grand distinction 
 between the indulgence of passion and its restraint? And 
 which is more worthy of your esteem? I will not insult 
 you by supposing you could hesitate about the decision. 
 The law of God, the law of right u^ason, the common 
 sense of the world, the vast preponderating majority of
 
 DUELLING. 73 
 
 civilized men, condemn as irreligious, unreasonable, and 
 consequently unjustifiable, the practice of duelling for the 
 exhibition of prowess ; and hence you will often find the 
 expression of pity or regret, sometimes even the half- 
 suppressed sneer of ridicule, united to the acknowledgment 
 of the existence of strength, dexterity, and animal courage 
 of the successful combatant. 
 
 It might be proper here to observe that a wide distinc- 
 tion is to be taken between duels with deadly or dangerous 
 weapons, or combats arising from hatred or a desire of 
 revenge, in which serious injury is intended to the opponent ; 
 and those exercises or trials of strength in which there is 
 no danger of injury nor any . indulgence of bad passion. 
 These latter are sometimes used for village relaxation and 
 amusement, and in such as these it is perhaps good policy 
 and wholesome discipline to engage men whose services 
 might be required in the field of war for the benefit of their 
 country. Yet in those trainings and trials for speed, agility, 
 strength, and steadiness, care should be taken to guard, as 
 much as possible, against inordinate vanity, or the harboring 
 of unkind feelings. I am led to dwell the more upon this 
 distinction, because frequently the benefit of such training is 
 assumed as ground for an attempt to justify, by analogy, the 
 duels which I have condemned ; but as I do not admit the 
 analogy, of course I cannot be expected to allow the justifica- 
 tion. I shall enter more largely upon this topic, also, because 
 I have often heard it asserted that to restrain the spirit 
 which led to duelling, was to break down the energies and 
 to destroy the courage of the soldier. 
 
 I am under the impression that the proper qualifications 
 of a good soldier are not to be always found in the man 
 who, for the indulgence of private passion, violates the laws 
 of God, and of his country. There is one conclusion deeply 
 impressed upon my mind, as well from some slight oppor- 
 tunities for observation, as from the testimony of several 
 whose experience was very ample, and from the nature of 
 the case itself; that conclusion is, that he who has performed
 
 74 DUELLING. 
 
 well and conscientiously his religious and his civil duties, 
 will make the best soldier amongst those equal to him in 
 other respects. I shall endeavor to show you what, in my 
 opinion, forms the ground of much error on this head, the 
 accidental possession of courage by a profligate, and its acci- 
 dental want in a man who is religious or orderly; but it 
 is wrong to draw general conclusions from those accidental 
 facts. We all know that the degrees of courage vary in 
 different individuals. What a multitude of its gradations 
 exist, from its exhibition in him who, with unmoved nerve 
 and unrelaxed muscles, leads his division to the breach 
 which vomits destruction and bristles with bayonets, to the 
 pale, trembling coward whose soul shudders and whose 
 knees tremble at the bare anticipation of possible danger ! 
 And how various are its characteristics, from the manifesta- 
 tion in the calm martyr who, with wealth, titles, and worldly 
 honors at one side, and captivity, chains, destitution, death, 
 and ignominy upon the other, stands unmoved in his firmly 
 modest declaration that he cannot deny the truth of what 
 he knows to be a fact, to its glitter in him who cheers his 
 comrades whilst he volunteers upon the forlorn hope! The 
 neglect of marking those several kinds and degrees, and their 
 several combinations in different individuals, has given rise 
 to the mistake, and led some officers to assert, that a respect 
 for the principles of religion and the regulations of civil 
 society tended to destroy that bold and determined char- 
 acter so necessary for the army. This is, indeed, a seri- 
 ous mistake. It is well known that some of the bravest 
 officers have held those principles and regulations in the 
 highest respect, whilst they openly condemned the practice 
 of duels. I speak of a fact, not merely in some degree 
 within my own knowledge, but one which has a host of 
 testimony for its support, that some of the most religious 
 and regularly conducted men who had recourse to the min- 
 istry and the sacraments, were soldiers who had the esteem 
 and affection of their officers, not only for the regularity 
 of their conduct, but for their steady and continued hero-
 
 DUELLING. 75 
 
 ism, and protracted trials and desperate attempts. It is 
 also unquestionably true that men of desperate bravery 
 who had been, as it were, educated in violations of the 
 law, contempt of religion, and trials of their courage, were 
 found most useful against the enemy, but, like Indian allies, 
 .when not thus employed, it required all the vigilance, 
 agility, and power of discipline and law to keep the un- 
 tamed desperadoes from the indulgence of their natural 
 ferocity upon their peaceable fellow-citizens. Had those men 
 been nurtured under the restraints of civil and religious 
 institutions, they would have lost none of their natural 
 prowess, and it would have been more easily turned to 
 good account. I make the assertion from having been sat- 
 isfied that some of these nuisances of an urmy, who had 
 been brought under such restraints, preserved all their good 
 qualities, and more frequently exhibited them refined and 
 improved by what I must call their civilization, 
 
 I would then say that not only is the combat for the 
 exhibition of prowess irreligious and unreasonable, but so 
 far from tending to the perfection of courage, or the fit- 
 ting a man for the defence of his country, it adds nothing 
 to the pre-existing degrees of that good quality, but, by 
 teaching contempt for the laws of God and of society, and 
 encouraging the indulgence of a bad passion and of self- 
 will, it disqualifies its subject for submitting to that severe 
 discipline and moral restraint which is the best preservative 
 of an efficient army. When the master of poetry wrote, 
 
 Ilonoratum si forte reponis Achillem 
 Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer 
 Jura nrget sibi nata, nihil non arroget armi*, 
 
 he did not intend to give us the picture of a good and 
 useful soldier, but of one who yielding to his gust of passion, 
 would disobey his commander, desert his colors, and because 
 of his private wrongs pray for the success of the enemy 
 and the ruin of the army in which he served, and who 
 is again brought to the field, not by a sense of public
 
 76 LUELLIXG. 
 
 duty, but roused by the workings of private friendship to 
 seek unmeasured revenge. Such exactly is the soldier whom 
 the principles of duelling would produce. Judge you, how 
 long an army of such men would preserve our republic. 
 "VVe may be told, surely, that an ignominious life is what 
 neither reason nor religion would compel one to lead. If, 
 during the whole period of a man's subsequent existence, 
 he is, for the omission of an act, to be 
 
 A fixed figure, lor the hand of scorn 
 To point his slow and moving finger at, 
 
 it cannot be immoral to make one effort for relief from 
 so cruel a state of degraded endurance. Does the end then 
 justify the means ? Are we at liberty to relieve ourselves 
 from an unpleasant predicament, without considering the 
 propriety of that mode by which we may be extricated ? 
 Proclaim the maxim to the highwayman who seeks to 
 relieve his poverty by plunder. To him it will be gratify- 
 ing to learn that this principle is adopted by men of honor 
 and of high standing. Whisper it to the innocent victim of 
 another's perjury. He has languished in his dungeon, dread- 
 ing conviction for an infamous crime, which he never con- 
 templated; but now he learns that since we are not to 
 consider the dishonesty of the means, but the desirableness 
 of the end, the dagger of some friend can remove the 
 lying accuser, and release him to freedom and to fame. 
 You are startled at the proposal, and well you may; for 
 never was a more atrocious and destructive principle insin- 
 uated, than that the end justifies the means. Neither reason 
 nor religion would require of you to lead an ignominious 
 life; although both enjoin that you shall not use improper 
 means to avoid that ignominy of which you are so appre- 
 hensive. But what is this ignominy that you dread? Should 
 you not dread the commission of crime more than any 
 imputation ? The one is always a real and paramount evil, 
 the other is often only imaginary and transient. He who 
 would commit a crime, in order to avoid the mockery or
 
 DUELLING. 77 
 
 the condemnation of the multitude, is a weak and an unprin- 
 cipled man. You cannot do evil that good may arise 
 therefrom ; such is the great principle of sound morality 
 and of true honor. Is he who enters into this combat, in 
 compliance with prejudices, or the partialities of the public, 
 or to conform to a fashion whose principle he himself con- 
 demns, an honorable man? That you are not to do evil 
 is an absolute principle both of reason and 'of revelation ; 
 hence we should, in considering the absolute good or evil 
 of the means, throw the end out of our view. I shall 
 now merely observe that the combatant who is roused by 
 such a motive is a true coward, who, in the conflict 
 between the fear of ridicule and the fear of crime, yields 
 to the former. 
 
 It is said that no species of moral courage exceeds that 
 of a man who follows the dictates of his judgment or con- 
 science, amidst the taunts and reproaches of the world. By 
 this sort of courage, the ancients believed their far-famed 
 Hercules was more distinguished than by his labors or vic- 
 tories. Certainly our divine Redeemer taught admirable les- 
 sons upon this subject ; the principles of His Gospel are 
 the foundation of the most heroic fortitude, the purest 
 honor, and the most unbending courage ; in His discourses, 
 we find lessons which exceed the perfection of the most 
 sublime philosopher as much as heaven exceeds the earth. 
 But since, by some extraordinary fatality, whilst it is avowed 
 that the practice of duelling is clearly condemned by the 
 Christian law, persons, who profess to be observers of that 
 law, attempt to vindicate the practice, and yet declaim 
 against the application of the Gospel maxims in examining 
 the subject, I have determined to be very sparing of any 
 aid from that source ; especially as, even without such aid, 
 I trust my object is attainable. Upon what ground can 
 he who engages in a duel, through the fear of ignominy, 
 lay claim to courage? His act is, as we have seen, and 
 shall still more fully see, plainly immoral, and he offends 
 God, because he fears the censure of men. They who pos-
 
 78 DUELLING. 
 
 sess the high moral virtue of fortitude will endure the 
 taunts and reproaches of the world, and submit willingly 
 to torture of body and inquietude of mind, rather than 
 act against the divine law, the law of conscience, or the 
 just regulations of society; this is what I consider to be 
 the true test of honor. Thus, to avoid ignominy is not a 
 motive which would justify the performance of an unlawful 
 action ; and no truly courageous man has ever yet fought 
 from such a motive. Ignominy, as regards this practice, 
 is a phantom to terrify the timid, to govern the weak, 
 and to force cowards to assume the semblance of a virtue 
 which they have not. Hence, it has frequently and justly 
 been observed, that they who entered the field of single 
 combat, to preserve their names from the post, were very 
 inefficient comrades when armies rushed to the charge. Per- 
 haps the following anecdote, which is given from highly 
 respectable authority, would not lead far towards an oppo- 
 site conclusion. 
 
 At a period when duelling was not as much discounte- 
 nanced as it ought to have been in the French army, a 
 gentleman of very strict moral habits held a commission in 
 a regiment, and having refused to accept an offered challenge, 
 could not make either explanation or apology, without being 
 guilty of the exposure of another, or of a falsehood, which 
 he abhorred equally as he did the duel. His peculiar situ- 
 ation did not permit his immediate compliance with several 
 suggestions of retirement, and he had to endure the mor- 
 tification of remarks and coldness, even at the common 
 table, from his fellow-officers ; he was designated in their 
 circle as " the coward." On a particular occasion, he 
 was observed to remain long after the period at which 
 he had latterly been accustomed to retire, and his feel- 
 ings had been frequently and deeply wounded by the 
 major, who had indeed seldom respected them. This officer, 
 upon withdrawing, was quickly followed by him who had 
 been the object of his reproach; and the company which 
 they had left was soon summoned to an unexpected scene.
 
 DUELLING. 7& 
 
 At a short distance from the house, they found the major 
 inquiring, with anxious gratitude, to whom he owed his- 
 life, which had been assailed in the dark by three ruf- 
 fians, and heard him receive the calm but emphatic answer 
 " to the coward." One of the assailants lay a corpse, one 
 seriously wounded, and the other was a disarmed prisoner 
 in the coward's grasp. They had rushed upon a man 
 unable to protect himself, and had been overcome by a 
 man who had too much courage to be a duellist. To 
 an almost involuntary expression of surprise, the only reply 
 was: "Major! the God whom we profess to serve has 
 ordered me to return good for evil; my life and my exer- 
 tions are the property of my king and the French nation. 
 I know when I ought to be prepared to lay down or to 
 expose that life, as well as when I ought to preserve it; 
 and I trust I shall be always ready to do my duty, and 
 not to be drawn from its performance, by the unmeaning 
 taunts of persons who have no opinion of their own, but 
 are led by the caprice of others." To a request of the 
 officer's that he should forget what had occurred, his reply 
 was, that he had never borne any ill-will to those' who 
 had ill-treated him; and that during the period of his stay 
 there was no probability of any diminution of friendship, 
 as he was preparing to join another regiment, into which 
 he had obtained an exchange, and the officers of which 
 held, he believed, principles congenial to his own. 
 
 This might bear the semblance of what is made in 
 romance, but let it be remembered that those books are 
 given as an imitation of real life, and the testimony from 
 which this has been received was unexceptionable. Proba- 
 bly I shall not go too far, in making the assertion, that 
 instances of such magnanimity, fortitude, and heroism are 
 more frequent than we are supposed to believe. Human 
 nature, thank God ! is not so universally depraved as to 
 debase us all, and there are to be found this day, proba- 
 bly, brave generals who could wipe the vile phlegm from 
 their brow, and tell the brainless simpleton that caused it,
 
 80 DUELLING. 
 
 as did a valiant man who led armies to victory : " Young 
 man, you should suffer for your misdonduct, if I could 
 as easily wipe your blood from my conscience, as I can 
 your spittle from this forehead." Did his king or his army 
 respect his head the less for that defilement? Does not 
 his name stand higher in your estimation than if he had 
 been the victor in a hundred duels? But you will answer 
 me, that his character was his protection. Yes, my friends, 
 it was, and so will it be the protection of every man who 
 prefers the discharge of his duty to the indulgence of his 
 passion, and who fears God, but who has no other fear. 
 Such a man need not engage in a combat to avoid disgrace; 
 the cloud of erroneous opinion may indeed obscure his 
 disc, but it will be transient, and the restoration of his 
 radiance will be more welcome. 
 
 The duel for the protection of honor might be considered 
 that to which I ought principally if not exclusively to 
 have paid attention, since most of our modern combats are, 
 or affect to be, of this description ; but I have preferred 
 leaving it to the last, because an opportunity has been 
 afforded of considering in the previous examination, espe- 
 cially of the trial by combat to avoid disgrace, many prin- 
 ciples which will bear with equal force upon this case. 
 The grand distinction between this and the others is, that 
 this appears to have less superstition and. more of what 
 the world calls spirit. I freely concede that the plea in 
 its favor is more specious, and the delusion which sur- 
 rounds it is stronger. I have, therefore, reserved it for 
 the purpose of being more fully met by the application of 
 the general principles upon which all duels are condemned. 
 For the reprobation of each kind, special names were ad- 
 duced, which in each case bore upon the peculiar demerits 
 of the particular species, nor is the reprobation of this 
 without strong and powerful special arguments, the outline 
 of which, only, I shall mark; and for the cause before 
 assigned they must lose much of their strength in my 
 prudent mode of using them, since this duel is peculiarly
 
 DUELLING. 81 
 
 condemned by the Gospel, from the aid of which, on the 
 present occasion, I have by advice, and upon consideration, 
 almost debarred myself. But before I enter upon those 
 special grounds, let us consider the general topic upon 
 which every species of duelling is found to be immoral 
 and unlawful. 
 
 Man, being a creature, is amenable to his Creator ; and 
 it is immoral in him to violate the law of that great Self- 
 Existent to whom he owes the homage of all his faculties 
 and the most perfect obedience. I shall assume, as granted, 
 that the Almighty has made known to man His -canon against 
 self-destruction. I assume, also, that an isolated human 
 being, however unconnected he might be with his fellows, 
 has not, morally speaking, from the Lord of life and death, 
 the power of putting a period to his own existence ; but 
 must await the summons of his Judge, either by the process 
 of His general laAV or by some special message. I assume 
 another principle as equally clear, that no individual has a 
 natural right to take away the life of his fellow-man. And 
 here a question arises, the examination of which becomes 
 extremely important, but into the discussion of which I 
 shall not now enter at any length. Whence is derived the 
 right which States possess to punish malefactors by death ? 
 "NY hence the right to slay in war, and whence the right of 
 individuals to slay an unjust aggressor ? I answer : From 
 Him who alone has the power to make the grant; from 
 the Creator. Man not being, therefore, master of his own 
 life, could not bestow what was not under his dominion, he 
 could not give to society, nor to its government, nor to an 
 individual, a title which did not exist in himself. Where 
 distinct history and plain reason concur in exhibiting facts 
 to us, it would be palpable folly on our part to resort to 
 speculation and conjecture, to seek for the knowledge taught 
 to us by this better mode. It is a fact that God has left 
 to society the power or the right of regulating its various 
 forms of civil government accommodated to its various cir- 
 cumstances. But upon every regular government, thus created
 
 82 DUELLING. 
 
 or accepted by the people, He bestows the powers necessary 
 for the well-being of society, and amongst others that of 
 punishing malefactors even capitally, that of repelling enemies 
 even by the infliction of death, and of carrying war for just 
 cause into their territories ; also, in cases of extreme neces- 
 sity, where no other mode of preserving his own safety is- 
 left to an individual, God and the government bestow upon 
 him the right of guarding his own life by taking that of an 
 unjust aggressor, but it is bestowed only in that extreme 
 case, and under the double responsibility of him who uses- 
 it to the tribunal of his country and the tribunal of his 
 God. The evidence in support of these facts is plain and 
 ample ; but it is one of our misfortunes that we too often 
 desert the solid ground of fact to amuse ourselves in a spec- 
 ulation which we miscall philosophy. 
 
 Governments thus vested with power by God and by the 
 people, by the Creator and by the creature, have regulated 
 the great principles of social order by the light of reason, 
 perhaps aided by the revelation of Him from whom reason 
 emanates. One of their first principles is, that the unsettled 
 differences of individuals shall be adjusted, not by the 
 passions of the disputants or their friends, but by the tri- 
 bunals of the nation. Were the power of inflicting death 
 for offences taken from the impartial tribunals and vested 
 in the interested individuals, what a scene of desolation 
 would this world of ours present ! How would injury 
 excite revenge, and revenge produce retaliation ! The sweet 
 charities of life would be driven from our solace, and ruffian 
 violence would stalk forth crushing as he proceeded in his 
 horrid triumph. Where should we find the abode of virtue, 
 the asylum of innocence, the safeguard of youth, or the pro- 
 tection of age? Is the duellist to be their, bulwark? Or 
 shall the unblushing transgressor of the first principle of 
 social order presume to offer his offensive and unholy aid to 
 sustain the sanctions of that law whose very sanctity he has 
 disregarded? He has hurled down the judge, profaned the 
 bench, insulted the legislature, usurped the high prerogative
 
 DUELLING. 83 
 
 of heaven, and stood in open conflict with the Eternal ; and 
 this unprincipled man, with honor on his lips and trans- 
 gression in his acts, dares to say that in the indulgence of 
 the malignant spirit of his revenge is to be found the 
 salvation of good order! No! If we were to reduce this 
 principle to practice, every man would stand armed against 
 his brother, and in one century the generation of Adam 
 would be extinguished by the fall of the last murderer upon 
 the decaying limbs of his last victim, whilst the good angels 
 would look down with horror and pity upon that spot over 
 which demons exulted. The providence of heaven, to pre- 
 vent this evil, has decreed that in the wildest horde which 
 roves through our forests there should exist some semblance 
 of a tribunal by which human life is saved from the 
 malignity of human passion. 
 
 Man, then, has not power over his own life. Society does 
 not derive from individuals its power of taking away life. 
 Although no injury should result to others from the death 
 of an isolated man ; still he will be himself a criminal if he 
 procures it; nor has he a right to concede to another what 
 is not permitted to himself, much less is he justified in 
 depriving another human being of life ; neither can he plead 
 that he did it with the consent of him whom he slew. Such 
 consent is a mockery ; it is a grant of what could not be 
 given ; it is the assumption of what could not be taken ; it 
 is an immoral, an irreligious usurpation of the prerogative 
 of the Deity, who is the sole arbiter of life and death. What 
 then shall we say of those who add to this crime the horrors 
 of multiplied injustice and the laceration of feelings ; who 
 inflict protracted and unutterable agony upon an innocent 
 and impoverished family? Unfortunate delinquent! do you 
 not see by how many links your victim was bound to a 
 multitude of others? Does his vain and idle resignation 
 of his title to life absolve you from the enormous claims 
 which society has upon you for his services, his family for 
 that support of which you have robbed them, without your 
 own enrichment ; his tottering parents for their consolation,
 
 DUELLING. 
 
 perhaps for the supply of their wants, and the helpless and 
 indigent for that bread by which he sustained them? Who 
 will give professions to his sons, who will cherish and protect 
 his daughters? Was it honorable to plot in secret, and to 
 perpetrate by stealth, the foul deed which has torn with so 
 rude a shock the aifections of the wife of Ids bosom and 
 children of his heart ? Go stand over that body ; call back 
 that soul which you have driven from its tenement ; take 
 up that hand which your pride refused to touch not one 
 hour ago. You have in your pride and wrath usurped one 
 prerogative of God. You have inflicted death. At least, in 
 mercy, attempt the exercise of another; breathe into those 
 distended nostrils, let your brother be once more a living 
 soul. Merciful Father, how powerless are we for good, but 
 how mighty for evil. Wretched man ! he does not answer ; 
 he cannot rise. All your efforts to make him breathe are 
 vain ; his soul is already in the presence of your common 
 Creator ; like the \vretched Cain will you answer to the 
 inquiring voice, "Am I my brother's keeper?" Why do 
 you turn away from the contemplation of your own honor- 
 able work? Yes, go as far as you will, still the admonition 
 will ring in your ears, it was by your hand he fell ; the 
 horrid instrument of death is still in that hand, and the 
 stain of blood upon your soul. Fly, if you will, go to that 
 house which you have filled with desolation. It is the shriek 
 of his widow, they are the cries of his orphans, there are 
 the broken sobs of his parent, and amidst the wailing of 
 his family you distinctly hear the voice of imprecation on 
 your own guilty head. Will your honorable feeling be 
 content with this ? Have you now had abundant and gen- 
 tlemanly satisfaction ? Or have you, too, received your 
 death-wound, and what must be the agony which you endure 
 at beholding now, forlorn, destitute, and overwhelmed, her 
 to whom you swore protection, fidelity, love ; who is to 
 watch over those lovely babes from whom you turn your 
 aching eye. Oil ! what must be the feeling when a father 
 cannot look with complacence upon his child ! You love
 
 DUELLING. 85 
 
 them ; indeed you do, and all the affection of a parent 
 rushes in accelerating fever through your frame and sustains 
 life a little longer. But it throbs at your sinking heart 
 and bewilders your tortured soul ; the agonies of one world 
 and the horrors of another surround your bed of death, 
 whilst the unsatisfied ghost of your opponent hovers above, 
 shrieking the dismal summons to the bar of an insulted God. 
 My friends, I paint no imaginary scene ; but I shall not 
 detain you in the chamber of horrors ; let us depart from 
 it to inquire into the nature of that honor, the mistakes 
 concerning which produce such lamentable effects. 
 
 Honor is the acquisition and preservation of the dignity 
 of our nature ; that dignity consists in its perfection ; that 
 perfection is found in observing the laws of our Creator ; 
 the laws of the Creator are the dictates of reason and of 
 religion ; that is, the observance of what He teaches us by 
 the natural light of our own minds, . and by the special 
 revelation of His will manifestly given. They both concur 
 in teaching us, that individuals have not the dominion of 
 their own lives, otherwise no suicide would be. a criminal. 
 They concur in teaching us that we ought to be amenable 
 to the laws of the society of which we are members, other- 
 wise morality and honor would be consistent with the 
 violation of law and the disturbance of the social system. 
 They teach us that society cannot continue to exist, where 
 the public tribunals arc despised or undervalued, and the 
 redress of injuries withdrawn from the calm regulation of 
 public justice, for the purpose of being committed to the 
 caprice of private passion and the execution of individual 
 ill-will. Therefore, the man of honor abides by the law 
 of God, reveres the statutes of his country, and is respect- 
 ful and amenable to its authorities. Such, my frienc 7 s, is 
 what the reflecting portion of mankind has always thought 
 upon the subject of honor. This was the honor of the 
 Greek this was the honor of the Roman this the honor 
 of the Jew this the honor of the Gentile this, too, was 
 the honor of the Christian, until the superstition and bar-
 
 86 DUELLING. 
 
 barity cf Northern devastators darkened his glory and 
 degraded his character. 
 
 Is not the pride of the American the predominance of 
 the law ? Is not law itself the emanation of the public 
 will, and is not submission to the public will the first 
 principle of genuine republicanism? Are our governments 
 so weak or so corrupt as to be unable to protect us, so 
 that we must be thrown upon our individual and private 
 resources, instead of looking to the power of the social 
 compact and the guardianship of the social head? Shall 
 we proclaim to the world, that we in South Carolina are 
 brought back to such a state of dereliction that our public 
 tribunals, the institutions of the country, the government 
 itself cannot protect us from insult, and that we are thus 
 reduced to the necessity of trusting to ourselves? Let not 
 such a libel be handed over to the defaming press of 
 Europe by an ungrateful progeny; let it not be said that 
 none are safe from insult in republics, except they have 
 been well trained to the use of the pistol or the rifle, 
 or the dexterity of gouging ! Are those the emblems of 
 honor? But why place the ruffian who plucks out your 
 eye upon the same level with the gentleman who uses a 
 pistol ? I acknowledge my error ; I ought not ; because the 
 one deprives you of life, and perhaps of heaven, whilst the 
 other only leaves you sightless. Still, though the injury is 
 greater, the barbarity is not equal ; there is more refinement 
 in one than in the other, but there is also more criminality; 
 there is more apparent delicacy in the mode of violating the 
 law, but the substantial violation is more enormous ; the crim- 
 inal, in the one case, has fashionable fellow culprits in the 
 other, he has the more recent impulse of strong passion. 
 It is not for us to strike the ratio of their culpability ; 
 their Judge and ours He who has forbidden murder, and 
 also declared that whosoever would call his brother " thou 
 fool," should be guilty of hell fire, will apportion their 
 destiny. My present inquiry regards only the honor of the 
 transaction, and I can measure out to the duellist merely
 
 DUELLING. 87 
 
 us much of that excellent quality as is consistent with the 
 violation of his duty as a rational being, as a religious 
 being, as a member of society, and as the citizen of a 
 State whose laws describe the offence as a felony. Patriot- 
 ism, social order, religion, and reason, then, forbid me to 
 designate as honorable this bad practice, which criminal 
 fashion has too frequently promoted and encouraged. Being 
 therefore evil in its own nature, it cannot be a proper 
 jnode for the protection of honor. 
 
 My friends, in what does this protection of honor con- 
 sist? Ii) affording to its assailant the opportunity of destroy- 
 ing your life, certainly at the risk of his own. What 
 would you think of the wisdom and equity of that judge 
 who should sentence a peaceable citizen, that had been 
 assaulted, to suffer the same punishment as his convicted 
 assailant? If you challenge the aggressor to fight, do you 
 not inflict, upon your innocent and injured self, the same 
 punishment as upon the offender? Admirable wisdom! But 
 why do I seek for any semblance of reason, in what its own 
 advocates avow to be defenceless, upon the principles of 
 reason? They only attempt its palliation upon the plea of 
 expediency. They tell us that the dread of the pistol pre- 
 serves the decorum of society. Are we so fallen or 
 <lebased as this? A vile fear is then the motive of gen- 
 tlemanly conduct! Hear this, Carolinians! I will not under- 
 take an elaborate defence ; adopted into your family, I see 
 your faults, and I know your virtues : my own conscience 
 and your candor will acquit me of flattery, when I pro- 
 nounce the charge which this excuse would insinuate to be 
 groundless. Your politeness has not been produced by 
 pistol-discipline ; nor would you speedily degenerate from 
 Avhat has been the characteristic of your fathers, were you 
 bound to avoid this bad practice, by if possible stronger 
 ties than those which the State, sound reason, and pure 
 religion have imposed upon you. Shall it be again repeated 
 that the good order, the dignity of our Southern society, is 
 to be preserved in any measure by the pistol? No. If
 
 88 DUELLING. 
 
 we may pay attention to occurrences, we must perceive that 
 too often the intruder upon the polite circle is he who has 
 made himself most formidable as a duellist, and that he 
 whose deportment is most correct, is he who proclaims that 
 he will not enter into such a combat. I need not inform 
 a Charleston auditory that natural good qualities, improved 
 by education and by opportunity, and not the terrors of 
 ammunition, fashion the conduct of a gentleman ; and that 
 respectable society is fully able, without violation of the 
 .laws of God or of the State, or outraging the principles 
 of reason, to banish from its circle, and frown down to his 
 proper place, the individual who would violate its decorum. 
 Again, it said, that there are injuries for which the laws 
 neither do nor can provide redress, and to avenge which 
 is the only mode that has been ever known or devised. I 
 admit that there are injuries for which no compensation can 
 be made to the suiferer, and for which the weakness of 
 nature and the violence of passion prompt us to seek the 
 most desperate revenge ; but, waiving every other answer, 
 I ask, is it reasonable or religious for the injured man to 
 expose himself to destruction ? I am told that, in such a 
 case, I should speak of neither reason nor religion ; that 
 the feelings of honor only must be attended to. When the 
 two great lights of our nature have been cast away, and a 
 desperate mortal surrenders himself to the guidance of a 
 blind spirit of revenge, which he miscalls honor, it is as 
 useless to urge argument, as it would be to discuss the 
 principles of his derangement with a maniac; as hopeless 
 to rely upon entirely, as it would be to soothe the famished 
 tiger from his bleeding feast. There is, indeed, one mighty 
 Being, who alone could, in such a moment, effect a miracu- 
 lous change, and by His power subdue the rage of passion 
 to that resignation which brings peace from heaven, and 
 demands the homage of respectful sympathy from earth. 
 But, though it be not in man's power to change the heart 
 of man, still power is frequently given to him to arrest the 
 progress of his brother to destruction. Thus, at least, the
 
 DUELLING. SO 
 
 first fury of his passion will subside ; reflection, remonstrance, 
 entreaty, and explanation will proceed, and God would 
 perhaps crown the work by diffusing His light around, and 
 speaking powerfully to the soul. He at whose word the 
 winds are still, the sea is calm, and the perilled mariner 
 is safe, might assuage the tempest of the mind, allay the 
 madness of desperation, and save two fathers to their families t 
 two citizens to the State, and two souls from perdition. 
 Such,, gentlemen of the Anti-Duelling Association, is one of 
 the principal objects of our society to volunteer our services 
 in aid of the law of God and of our country; to restrain 
 not by any arbitrary assumption of authority, but by the 
 arm of the law, the unfortunate victim of a delusive passion, 
 whilst he labors under its influence. 
 
 But this restraint, it is said, will lead to assassination ; 
 and who does not shudder at the idea of such a result? 
 Is not duelling, however condemnable in itself, preferable 
 to assassination? For one, though I were to stand alone 
 in making the assertion, I deliberately say, No. They are 
 both evils; if we are driven to a preference the lesser should 
 be accepted. Generally speaking, the assassin is a greater 
 criminal than the duellist, but duelling is a greater evil to 
 society. That which is less destructive is less evil; that 
 which excites more detestation will be more seldom engaged 
 in and more speedily suppressed; it will therefore produce 
 less mischief. Such is assassination. The assassin is not 
 received into society; he who has slain his adversary in 
 a duel too frequently is. The more delicate sex generally 
 shrink from the former ; shall I charge them with abetting 
 the crime by encouraging, or at least not disapproving of, 
 the conduct of the latter? I shall not sit in judgment 
 upon them ; let them answer for themselves. How many 
 persons generally perish by the hand of the assassin through- 
 out the world, in the lapse of a century ! Very probably 
 a greater number has fallen in duels in France alone in 
 less than twenty years, during the reign of Henry IV. 
 Not only would the loss of life be incalculably less, but
 
 90 DUELLING. 
 
 the moral sentiment of detesting murder would be better 
 preserved. There is nothing more destructive to public 
 virtue that to strip vice of its deformity. Since we have 
 entered upon the distinguishing comparison, we may con- 
 clude that the saving of human life would be great, the 
 horror of slaughter would be stronger, the punishment of 
 oulprits more certain and effectual, and the correct moral 
 principles of society would be better preserved. It is upon 
 those grounds that I stated my opinion that, in a public 
 point of view, duelling is not preferable to assassination. 
 There is besides another very material difference, that in 
 the one case there are at least four guilty persons, both 
 the principals and seconds, whilst the other crime is gen- 
 erally perpetrated by an individual. There is little danger 
 of having the great principles of morality sapped by the 
 crime and punishment of such a culprit as Beauchamp ; 
 but if the same bad passion, which was condemned in his 
 act of assassination, had procured its vent with the same 
 result to his miserable victim in a duel, instead of expia- 
 ting the murder upon a gallows, the wretched Beauchamp 
 would have been thoughtlessly received into several socie- 
 ties as a meritorious man of undoubted valor. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Anti-Duelling Association, it has been 
 said that our society has done mischief, since no period has 
 been more marked in this city for quarrels than that year 
 which has witnessed our union. Of course it is assumed that 
 since they have occurred at this time they must have been 
 produced by the formation of our body. I am not prepared 
 to admit the fact ; and even if admitted, the semblance of 
 its reasoning is but a common sophism, for coexistence does 
 not necessarily involve connection. But suppose them to 
 have been so caused, it is but one of those temporary incon- 
 veniences which is always looked for upon any change. You 
 can say better than I can whether the charge itself is true; 
 my impression is against its correctness. The year just 
 elapsed lias presented in this city a novel feature, to the 
 examination of which, and of everything connected therewith,
 
 DUELLING. 91 
 
 unusual attention was paid, and occurrences which at other 
 times would have been unnoticed or disregarded, became not 
 only matters of observation, but of remark and of some 
 ephemeral importance ; the very character of the transaction 
 lias done much to promote our object. But that novelty has 
 now passed away; and surely, in our mixed state of good 
 and evil, we ought not, because of a few inconveniences, 
 desist from making every exertion to attain the paramount 
 good of establishing a general conviction, that true honor is 
 incompatible with the indulgence of passion, the injury of 
 public morals subversive of the fundamental principles of 
 society, 'and opposed to the laws of the State, to the per- 
 vading maxims of the good and the wise of every civilized 
 nation in every age of the world, and to the eternal will of 
 the most high God. Let us then continue our efforts to 
 subdue by the arm of the law, which is and which ought to 
 be every American's beloved protector, the temporary mad- 
 ness to which, owing to the imperfection of our nature and 
 the violence of passion, the best amongst us might sometimes 
 be liable ; and to declare to our fellow-citizens that we look 
 upon true honor to be the accurate fulfillment of the laws 
 of God and of the State, and that its highest grade is to 
 be found in him who sacrifices his passions upon the altar 
 of his duty. Thus shall we, at least, save our consciences 
 from reproach and our names from inconsistency. Let us 
 be moderate but firm ; and as we claim over our fellow - 
 citizens no precedence in virtue, in understanding, or in 
 power, we shall not pretend to any exemption from the 
 common frailties of our nature, to any right of dictation, or 
 to any color of office, whilst we use that power which they 
 and we possess in common, to proclaim our sentiments freely, 
 and to co-operate in the execution of that code which but 
 expresses the will of that State to which we owe allegiance 
 and the behests of that God to whom we owe perfect 
 homage. 
 
 On former occasions, the presence of ladies at the tourna- 
 ment excited all the ardor of those who sought distinction
 
 92 DUELLING. 
 
 in the lists ; notwithstanding the edicts, the censures, and 
 the denunciations of religion and the law, the radiance of 
 beauty flung its halo around the field. If. the troubadour 
 sought to inspirit the youthful warrior, the smile of some 
 damsel was the reward which he promised as the rich 
 requital of his bold achievement. Thus, too often has the 
 influence of the more virtuous sex been turned to hurtful 
 or to unprofitable account. May we not hope for powerful 
 aid from the daughters of Carolina in the cause of virtue 
 and of honor? In the day of trial, then, mothers were found 
 faithful to their country and its rights ; they encouraged 
 their husbands, their brothers, and their sons to exhibit 
 their prowess, not in disgraceful domestic feuds, but in 
 deeds of valor for the defence of their homes and the vin- 
 dication of their freedom; they were proud to see them 
 marshalled under the command of Washington, who was 
 too intrepid to accept a challenge. Did they fall in the 
 field of true honor, those women gave tears to nature, and 
 affection to the memory of those whose blood became the 
 cement of that Union in which was found safety to their 
 friends and glory to their nation. Daughters of such 
 mothers ! are our arguments founded upon true principles 
 and glaring facts ? Are you satisfied that the practice of 
 duelling is one of the worst remnants of pagan barbarity? 
 Do you believe it to be unnecessary for preserving the 
 refinement of our Southern society? Then be you our lead- 
 ers in the sacred effort to identify laAV and honor, reason 
 and the deportment of the gentleman, and to establish a 
 wide distinction between the assertion of dignity and the 
 indulgence of passion.
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 1 
 
 THAT learning is useful for the purpose of perfecting 
 civilized society, has been so frequently repeated, and so 
 generally and unhesitatingly received as a maxim, that no 
 one would be found to question its truth. But probably one 
 of the greatest evils which accompanies the spontaneous 
 assent to evident propositions is, that being generally couched 
 in universal terms, their expression becomes ambiguous; and 
 whilst words are preserved, ideas may be lost. Would 
 it not then be desirable sometimes to revert to those 
 maxims in order to fix their meaning by elucidating their 
 phraseology? 
 
 Literature has usually been considered under a twofold 
 aspect: speculative and practical; whilst the former merely 
 regards abstract truth, the latter applies it to our concerns. 
 I am inclined to believe that there exists much less of 
 merely speculative learning than is generally supposed, and 
 that w r hat frequently receives this appellation is but the 
 appropriate basis upon which is raised the great super- 
 structure of that which is practical. If I be correct in this 
 view, it will greatly narrow the inquiry which I propose to 
 make. Allow me, therefore, to illustrate by example rather 
 than to establish by theory what will, I trust, justify me in 
 assuming this position. 
 
 The demonstrations of mathematics and the calculations 
 of algebra would, by several persons, be instantly denom- 
 inated speculative; and even some might be found who 
 would call their study idle : but abandon them, and see 
 
 1 An address delivered May 9, 1832, before the Literary and Philosophical 
 Society of South Carolina, on the occasion of its Anniversary. 
 
 (03)
 
 94 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 how much practical knowledge you destroy. The surveyor, 
 the engineer, the architect, the ship-builder, and many 
 others, will immediately experience the most sensible checks 
 in their several pursuits. The observations of the heavens, 
 the calculation of the paths of the planets, of the distances- 
 of the stars, their magnitude, relation, and position, would 
 seem to have little influence upon the ordinary avocations 
 of busy life ; it might specially be supposed that they have 
 no connection whatever with mercantile transactions ; yet it 
 is clear that the science of navigation depends chiefly upon 
 astronomy, and the interchange of commodities is carried on 
 through navigation ; and thus much of the profit derived by 
 the modern active merchant from the facilities of our age 
 has been remotely created by the researches of some secluded, 
 contemplative sage whose bones have mouldered in former 
 centuries, either in Chaldea or in Egypt. How well may 
 we compare the results of learning to the action of the 
 human frame. We can seldom detect the original source, 
 and we are altogether ignorant of the principle of motion - f 
 so the great bulk of men observe clearly the continued 
 effects of causes which to them are totally unknown. Place 
 the rude canoe and a steam frigate side by side ; erect the 
 wigwam upon the area of the capitol ; bring the accom- 
 plished surgeon or the reflecting physician to the desolate 
 child of the forest, who lies mangled or gasping near the 
 uncouth weapon of the chase ; send a competent master on 
 board of that vessel to bring joy and safety to an exhausted 
 crew who, since the loss of their leader, have been worn 
 down by exertion and fatigue, sailing in a variety of direc- 
 tions, unable to make any harbor and totally ignorant as to 
 whither they have been driven. In all these cases the utility 
 of practical learning will be admitted ; but in most of those 
 instances the knowledge which confers the unquestioned 
 benefit is evidently founded upon what many persons have 
 designated abstract or speculative science. But I will go 
 farther and will not hesitate to say that in nearly all the 
 ordinary concerns of life this science produces the most
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. *>> 
 
 beneficial effects, without vainly exhibiting its agency; whilst 
 we, who have lived only in polished or civilized society, 
 view those very effects as the results of unaided nature ; 
 just as those Eastern beings, who have never gone beyond 
 the precincts of their own palaces and gardens, and upon 
 whose presence even the cultivator or the artist must not 
 intrude, can form no idea of what aspect the uncultivated 
 mountains would present; nor of the labor and industry 
 that have been expended to produce those scenes with which 
 they have always been familiar, and which they regard as- 
 being natural. 
 
 It might be then inquired whether there exists any merely 
 speculative science, that is, any which is not applicable to 
 the common purposes of life. I am inclined to believe that 
 there does not. My conclusion is founded upon a view of 
 particulars, and in this view I think that I embrace all 
 necessary to make the enumeration perfect. Let us chiefly 
 take up what arc usually designated as the learned 
 professions. 
 
 Law should be considered under its twofold aspect, leg- 
 islation, or the creation of appropriate rules of conduct,, 
 together with their sanction ; and judgment, or the applica- 
 tion of those laws, as well by the enforcement of the rule 
 as by the punishment of the offender. Here life, liberty, 
 property, public peace, private security, and a great variety 
 of the principal concerns of man in his earthly career are 
 deeply and perpetually implicated. Besides that severe 
 mental discipline and habitual restraint which arise from 
 a good education and a regular exercise of the superior 
 faculties, a nice power of discrimination, extensive acquaint- 
 ance with ancient legal enactments of the several civilized 
 nations, the circumstances which called them into existence, 
 their mode of operation, the knowledge of how far they 
 proved remedial or useful, by what means they degenerated 
 or became injurious, perverted, or abused, will be at least 
 highly desirable ; to which should be added, familiarity with 
 their history, as also the intimate observation of the actual
 
 96 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 .state of society, and generally of the human character. It 
 must be confessed that here there is much of what is usually 
 called practical rather than speculative science. But to con- 
 verse beneficially with the ancient legislators and moralists, 
 we must speak their language. It is true, that an interpreter 
 might be employed; but which of us would feel himself 
 justified, under the pretext of having a translator, and saving 
 more time to study facts in preference to words, by neglect- 
 ing the study of those languages which had during centuries 
 been used in the republic of letters, to restrict his intercourse 
 with the most distinguished citizens of the civilized world? 
 But if we give the principle to which I here allude its full 
 play, we shall not have left to us even the interpreter 
 himself; since if the acquisition of languages be a waste 
 of time, no person should be encouraged to extravagance. 
 Whatever my respect might be for gentlemen who think 
 differently, I am clearly of opinion that a perfect knowledge 
 of the ancient languages is required for the study of ancient 
 documents and of ancient history, and that such learning is 
 far from being unnecessary for an accomplished legislator. 
 It is to him the experience of several ages. 
 
 It is not unfrequently urged against this position that we 
 have seen in these republics many instances of great men 
 who have well discharged their duty without these aids. I 
 do not question the truth of the assertion ; but my inference 
 would be that they would have done better had they been 
 .so aided. It is added that men of this description have, in 
 some instances, outstripped those of classical attainments. I 
 would only reply, that with the help of those attainments, 
 .they would have gone farther. I am equally far from sup- 
 posing that what is useful is all-sufficient, as I am from 
 imagining that every rule is without an exception, or that a 
 prodigy is an ordinary production. As well might it be 
 argued, that the improvements which produce speed and 
 comfort in our packets are useless, because our rivers and 
 our seas were passed before their introduction. I have 
 arrived then at the conclusion, that for the legislator the
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 57 
 
 perusal of ancient documents is extremely valuable; and 
 that as they can be best understood in their original phrase- 
 ology, the study of the languages in which they are written 
 is not, for him, a mere speculative engagement, but a useful 
 portion of practical literature. 
 
 The judicial application of the law requires all the critical 
 qualifications of the legislator in a more perfect degree, 
 because, for this purpose, the object and meaning of the 
 statute or custom must be perfectly comprehended : not 
 only must its principles be appreciated, but the fair excep- 
 tions should be known with equal accuracy as the rule itself: 
 the judge should be familiar with the great maxims of 
 evidence, by whose aid facts will be clearly developed and 
 placed in their proper and precise station, for the purpose 
 of learning how far they come under the operation of the 
 enactment. Xor can the jurist who is to arrange and bring 
 his case under the observation of the court be less able to 
 make that disposition of his materials without serious injury 
 to the client, who, relying upon his capacity, has placed his 
 interests in his hands. How much, then, of what is thought- 
 lessly called speculative learning, is of absolute practical 
 necessity to the sages of the bench and the members of the 
 bar? He who will make ancient language and ancient 
 history his study, and will look patiently to their mutual 
 aid for their mutual explanation, will discover treasures of 
 ancient lore, which the half-informed pronounce, hastily, to 
 be barbarism, because in a different state of society from that 
 to which we are accustomed they aptly provided for the 
 public weal, by remedies which would be equally unsuited 
 to our circumstances as our regulations would be inappli- 
 cable to the customs of that age. Their laws and ours, like 
 tho coin of different nations, bear different devices and unlike 
 inscriptions, but each is plate or bullion ; and he who pos- 
 se, scs both is richer than is the one who in fastidious self- 
 sufficiency flings either away. Certainly, he who could acquire 
 coin of only one description would act prudently in prefer- 
 ring that which is current where he sojourns : and if the 
 
 7
 
 98 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 contracted mind or the curtailed opportunities of a profes- 
 sional man compelled him to be satisfied with only an 
 alternative, the language which is now used, and the laws 
 now in force, demand his preference ; but if his leisure and 
 opportunities will allow him to extend his studies, the added 
 wealth of ancient times will better qualify him for enacting, 
 for expounding, and for applying the provisions of the law 
 to the circumstances by which he is surrounded. 
 
 Let us view the requisite qualifications for a useful member 
 of the medical faculty, or for an accomplished and scientific 
 surgeon. Besides that power of acute perception with which, 
 as a kind of instinct, a man might be specially gifted, so as 
 almost intuitively to detect the seat, the nature, and the 
 extent of a disease, it is highly desirable that the mind 
 should have been so disciplined as to avoid the hasty 
 conclusions to which* an overweening and too confident self- 
 sufficiency would rush. The general and usual diagnostics 
 are greatly modified by the habits of the individual, by the 
 influence of climate, by the period of life, by the previous 
 treatment, and by a number of other peculiarities which vary 
 to an indefinite extent. If the truth of the admonition, 
 festina lente, can be more usefully practical in any one case 
 than another, it is here. Genius, decision, and action quick 
 as thought can often do much for life and health ; but, 
 unfortunately, they may also, by one mistake, fix the irrevo- 
 cable doom of the patient. It is not by the knowledge of 
 the names of diseases and of their usual stages ; it is not by 
 the repetition of the vocabulary of a dispensary, and an 
 acquaintance with some of the chief properties of drugs ; 
 it is not from the hasty, wanton mangling of a decaying 
 subject, and possessing a general notion of the uses of bones, 
 muscles, and vessels, that correct and useful medical skill 
 is acquired. No; it is by the laborious investigation of a 
 clear, calm, and cautious mind. No reading can supply the 
 want of judgment, but no power of judgment Avill avail 
 much without facts upon which its decisions may be formed. 
 An original and distinct perception united to deliberate
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 99 
 
 reflection and steady habit of observation form the best 
 foundation for useful healing knowledge; and every mode, 
 by which these faculties can be improved, is an important 
 branch of previous education. 
 
 I would here ask whether, generally speaking, the mind 
 is prepared to receive the seeds of science by what is usually 
 known as ordinary school discipline. I know not much the 
 opinion of others, but I have formed my own. I would 
 unhesitatingly say, No ! And my impression is that it 
 would be just as reasonable for the planter to expect a 
 superior crop from an unprepared soil as it would be to 
 look for medical or surgical proficiency from the attendance 
 upon lectures by a half-educated youth, let his abilities be 
 what they may. Whoever, either from his own experience 
 or the testimony of others, is acquainted with the progress 
 of knowledge amongst students, must at once concede that 
 even the best-prepared tyro in science will lose at the com- 
 mencement far more than is usually supposed, from the 
 mere inability of an untrained mind to comprehend the 
 views or to keep pace with the strides of an experienced 
 proficient. "We are the creatures of individual habit; no 
 speculative observation will supply the place of training ; it 
 will certainly do much to improve the observer; but it will 
 never, even in a moderately remote degree, be equally bene- 
 ficial. It is true, you may sometimes meet with apparent 
 exceptions to this rule, but I apprehend, that upon examina- 
 tion they will not be found such in reality. As there are 
 men of great natural strength of body, of well-regulated 
 courage and extraordinary agility, who will always be an 
 overmatch for the best-trained individuals of puny frame and 
 nervous debility; so in the literary world, there are those to 
 whom God has given great mental energy, but to which 
 power man has added little cultivation ; such persons will 
 always surpass these others, upon whom great human labor 
 has been comparatively lost, because the Creator has with- 
 held the necessary share of capacity. I need not, with you, 
 dwell upon the impropriety of raising a sophism upon this
 
 100 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 fact. I believe you will agree with me, that they whom 
 this delusion could influence are not of the race of intel- 
 lectual giants. Yet, in a community like ours, where there 
 exists a general ambition to obtain the honors and emolu- 
 ments of the learned professions in the shortest possible 
 time, with the least possible expenditure, and only that 
 quantity of exertion which will barely suffice, there must 
 always be a disposition to dispense, as far as possible, with 
 extensive preparatory education. When we add to this, that 
 self-love which, in every individual, creates partiality and 
 great esteem for l\imself, and for all his connections ; and 
 take into account a propensity to draw conclusions rather 
 from possibilities and the imaginary fitness of things, than 
 from observation and fact, we need not be surprised at the 
 prevalent disposition to dispense with altogether, or greatly 
 to curtail, those preliminary modes of mental exercise which 
 discipline the understanding and regulate the judgment ; 
 we need not be astonished, that, by several persons, the 
 information which I would call practically useful will be 
 denominated speculative. Under this head, I would class 
 especially, mathematical, arithmetical, and metaphysical rea- 
 soning. The mind, thus prepared, will be more powerful, 
 more attentive, more patient, more discriminating, and more 
 expert. The attendance upon a single course of scientific 
 lectures, by a person thus prepared, will generally be far 
 more beneficial than the same course thrice attended by 
 the same person, without this previous exercise. 
 
 Medicine is a more extensive school than that of law. 
 Every observation which I have made regarding the utility 
 of the dead languages to the lawyer, will apply with at least 
 equal force in this school. It is in those languages that one 
 will best converse with the great fathers of the science ; it 
 is in those peculiar idioms, of which no translation can 
 convey the spirit which yet dwells in the original, that the 
 very soul of the master is discovered. The structure and 
 organization of the human frame is everywhere the same ; 
 and the science of healing its diseases is one of universal
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 101 
 
 interest. Wherever the victim of the original malediction 
 is found, whether at the equator or near the pole, in China, 
 in California, upon the Mississippi, the Ganges, the Danube, 
 or the Nile; in the monarch's palace, or in the Arab's tent; 
 whether he discourses in the halls of the academy or encoun- 
 ters the lion or the panther in the recesses of the forest, or 
 under the open canopy of heaven ; whatever be the tinge 
 of his complexion, or the quality and form of his vesture 
 he is equally a child of Adam, and not only bone of his 
 bone, and flesh of his flesh, but moreover liable to all those 
 disorders which that flesh is heir to. The necessity of 
 studying and remedying or alleviating those disorders is, 
 and has always been, and will always continue to be, a 
 universal and an important concern. The subject of those 
 disorders being, then, everywhere the same, and the attention 
 of so many persons of various nations and ages having been 
 given to the improvement of the science of healing, nothing 
 can be more beneficial, or desirable, or proper, than that 
 the good meu so employed should possess the faculty of 
 communicating, with ease and precision, to their brethren 
 throughout the world, the useful discoveries which they 
 make ; and thus rapidly give to each individual of the 
 fraternity the benefit derived from the experience of the 
 whole body. This can only be continued, as it has hereto- 
 fore been effected, by the preservation of a common language, 
 the meaning of whose terms is not liable to change, and 
 which is more or less prevalent throughout the regions of 
 science and civilization, all over the universe. In this view, 
 I fearlessly assert, that an accurate and extensive knowledge 
 of the Greek and Latin languages, so far from being 
 speculative or unnecessary literature, is essential for the 
 preservation and perfection of medical knowledge and surgery. 
 Allow me to add one other observation. The names of 
 drugs, of Chemical, mineral, and botanical productions, of 
 which such extensive use is made, are, I may say, altogether 
 in those languages, and certainly the vernacular appellations 
 of substances in one region would be unintelligible in
 
 102 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 another ; and whosoever would profit by foreign research, 
 or turn the discovery of another to account, must be at least 
 acquainted with the tongue in which he speaks. The acqui- 
 sition by all, then, of a few common languages, so far from 
 being a useless waste of time and labor, is to the physician 
 the saving of both ; because it relieves him from the neces- 
 sity of , acquiring several new dialects, that he may converse 
 with men of science ; or, in case of neglect, he cannot profit 
 by their labors, he must have his knowledge greatly abridged, 
 he must be dependent upon his own experience and that 
 of the comparatively small number by whom he is sur- 
 rounded. In fact, the want of such a medium of scientific 
 intercourse would be equivalent to a professional exclusion 
 of each nation from the remainder of the universe. And 
 what would now add to this evil, is the fact that the present 
 nomenclature is, to those who are critically acquainted with 
 the languages, an extremely well-regulated mode of instantly 
 and exactly bringing several useful and important facts, 
 regarding the nature of diseases and remedies, before the 
 mind, with the lightest possible tax upon the memory. 
 Thus, to the physician, the labor of a few years in child- 
 hood is, in fact, the economy of a large portion of his after 
 life, and the greatest aid to his accuracy in practice. For 
 him. a large portion of what is hastily called speculation is 
 the basis of truly practical knowledge. 
 
 My own peculiar situation, as well as the state of our 
 religious society, preclude details regarding the science of 
 theology. I shall merely observe that nearly all the prin- 
 ciples that have been applied respecting the two professions 
 which I have reviewed, are equally of force here. I shall 
 make but a single statement regarding that science in the 
 Church to which I belong; and in doing so, I would not 
 be understood to insinuate any contrast to any other society, 
 but merely to testify a fact for the purpose of sustaining 
 the conclusion which I am anxious to support In our 
 view, the science of theology docs not, in the whole system 
 of revealed religion, recognize a single speculative opinion,
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 103 
 
 but views the entire as a collection of facts, whose truth is 
 to be ascertained by the most strict application of the 
 ordinary rules of evidence. Supposing them to have been 
 thus demonstrated, it considers every one of them to have 
 an important bearing, not only upon the moral conduct of 
 man in this transitory world, but upon his happiness or 
 misery in that which is eternal. Thus we assume that in 
 what is called speculative or dogmatical theology there does 
 not exisist one merely speculative opinion. The Church 
 itself is considered as a numerous society, whose discipline 
 is law, one portion of which is a constitution that is con- 
 sidered permanent and unchangeable, another portion consists 
 of statutes enacted by the universal legislature for the 
 universal body, or by the local authorities for their particular 
 districts. The enactment, repeal, amendment, and application 
 of those laws must be governed by the same principles that 
 regulate all other descriptions of correct legislation and judg- 
 ment. However, upon this topic I do not wish to proceed 
 farther, nor indeed is it necessary for my present purpose ; 
 I only desired to show that in each of the learned professions 
 the usual classical education was an exceedingly useful 
 preparation for the professional study itself; and I believe 
 that I have made a sufficiently extensive enumeration, with 
 observations calculated to show that, in preparing for the 
 learned professions at least, what is too generally pronounced 
 to be speculative literature is but the proper foundation for 
 that which is truly practical. 
 
 I do not undertake to defend the abuses of the schools 
 or of systems, nor to deny that there did exist a very injudi- 
 cious mode of what was called "sharpening the mind," by 
 habituating it to distinguish when there existed no ground 
 for distinction ; to affect doubt, where not only was common 
 sense satisfied, but one would scarcely find room to thrust 
 the other ingredients of a syllogism between the plain 
 maxim and the palpable conclusion : neither will I make 
 common cause with those superlatively ingenious disputants 
 who demanded, for maxims, proof beyond the universal
 
 104 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 testimony of common sense; and who would set up the 
 assumed possibility of a doubt as of sufficient weight to- 
 counterbalance an ascertained fact. It is true that, at a 
 former period, the schools of Europe trained up many of 
 their students in an excess of this mode of exercise ; it is 
 true that the technical phraseology which they used wa& 
 harsh and barbarous. But it is equally true, though perhaps 
 it is unfashionable to make the statement, that many of the 
 persons who in those days had to contend with disadvantages, 
 which we might imperfectly describe but can never feel, 
 have left us the evidence of the prowess which was then in 
 existence. This is not the place, nor this the occasion, to 
 say how many of the productions of those times Have 
 perished, like the glories of ancient Egypt, leaving but a 
 few heavy pyramids and some splendid ruins to testify, 
 amidst the lasting desolation, that before the day of wreck 
 there was an age of genius. 
 
 During centuries, the way to the temple of literature 
 has been through the halls of the ancients, and the languages 
 of the republic of science have been .principally the Greek 
 and Roman; especially and more generally the latter. They 
 who have been eminent in these great departments of knowl- 
 edge, were made familiar with these tongues by their early 
 and assiduous conversation amongst the classic authors. 
 As it has sometimes happened that a nation has been 
 assailed with the arms furnished from her own arsenal, so 
 has the study of the classics been chiefly, and most for- 
 midably and adroitly, decried by men whose minds were 
 amply furnished from these extensive and varied stores. 
 We have occasionally, it is true, beheld some gigantic 
 warrior, careless of discipline, untutored in tactics, and 
 despising evolutions, rush boldly into the fight and spread 
 destruction and terror for a time ; the contusions of his 
 uncouth mace gave to the carcasses of his victims an 
 appearance even more horrid than that of death; but when 
 the first emotions subsided, and his manner was observed, 
 how easily was he overcome ! The transient success which
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 105 
 
 he obtained was the result of the mighty force, with which 
 he had been originally gifted, and the unusual mode in, 
 which he made his assault; but had he added to his 
 natural prowess the advantages of discipline, how much 
 more formidable would he have been ! The war-cry of 
 such a combatant excited attention ; an unusual interest 
 was felt on his behalf; in his own person, he for a time 
 seemed to furnish a practical illustration of the soundness 
 of his cause. Yet, I would ask, to what are we to attribute 
 that suggestion which is continually urging the observer 
 to make considerable allowance in favor of such men because 
 of their want of regular education, if it be not a universal 
 concession that the mind thereby prepared is made therefore 
 superior? For why should anything be conceded because 
 of the neglect of classical education, if the want of that 
 disciplinary course be not a manifest disadvantage ? 
 
 The principal objection of those who would discontinue 
 the study of the ancient classics is the alleged waste of time. 
 They thus assume the very point at issue that the time is 
 wasted. They attempt to prove the waste by the new 
 assumption that no advantage is derived from the study. 
 I have endeavored to show that the advantages were very 
 great indeed. Conceding them to be great, they assert 
 that the time and the means consumed are beyond .the 
 value of the acquisition. To sustain this position, they 
 assume that, during the whole period in which the study 
 of those authors is continued, the students have little or 
 no other occupation. Such, however, is not the fact. This 
 is not the place to enter into details, but it will easily be 
 perceived that in a well-regulated course, though the classics 
 appear to be the principal, because of the prominent objects,, 
 yet there are a multitude of others which, as an aggregate,, 
 equal, if they do not exceed, the quantity that occupies the 
 foreground. It is stated that the time given to this useless 
 occupation would be better devoted to more practical studies, 
 which are omitted on its account. I apprehend the argument 
 would be found quite defective if it were required to specify,
 
 106 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 on one side, what the more practical omitted studies are ; 
 and then the occupations of a judiciously arranged course 
 of education were exhibited in contrast ; for not only would 
 the object of these particular studies be found not omitted, 
 but it would be seen that their perfect attainment was 
 facilitated by the very means which were said to impede 
 their acquisition. . 
 
 Objections have frequently been made to the works used 
 in the acquirement of those languages. They are said to 
 be calculated to pervert the judgment, to delude and corrupt 
 the imagination, and to taint the heart ; perhaps I would be 
 more accurate in saying that the allegation is, they tend to 
 confirm its depravity. Were either of these statements sus- 
 tained by evidence, I trust our society would be one of the 
 last to encourage the destruction of the mental powers, or 
 to ruin the eternal prospects of the children of Carolina ; 
 and if the classic authors usually read in schools were fitted 
 to ends so mischievous, we would, indeed, be criminal in 
 the highest degree by continuing or by encouraging their 
 use. But let us not too hastily decide. 
 
 I know it is fashionable to decry almost the whole body 
 of those men whom the civilized world, during ages, has 
 regarded as learned. Men who have never read a page of 
 their works have passed judgment upon them; persons who 
 <lo not understand their language have furnished essays upon 
 their demerits ; they who know nothing of either the pecu- 
 liarities of their situation, the circumstances of the nations 
 in which they lived, the genius of their age, or the objects 
 they had in view, have condemned them. For some it was 
 convenient, for others it was easy ; where the bold and the 
 reckless lead the way, and some of the leaders are distin- 
 guished, it becomes as facile as it is fashionable for the 
 multitude to follow ; and he who hesitates is perhaps under- 
 valued. We can easily observe how the great bulk of 
 mankind is led along in fashion, in party, in taste, in politics, 
 in amusement. Boldness, perseverance, zeal, and tact in 
 turning favorable circumstances to account, will generally
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 107 
 
 insure success. Hence, though it be fashionable amongst a 
 large class of our modern writers to cast obloquy upon the 
 genius and acquirements of from twelve to fifteen centuries, 
 the individual who addresses you must be permitted to say 
 that he cannot unite in the vituperation. His own vision 
 may be imperfect, or it may be that he mistakes the 
 phantoms of imagination for the realities of life ; and if it 
 be a misfortune, he is unfortunate in common with a large 
 portion of the great lights of our latter age ; men in whose 
 track he is proud to follow at a mighty distance. Though 
 he be not "habituated to swear to the words of any master," 
 yet he pays great deference to the united judgment of the 
 learned men of every age and every nation of the civilized 
 Avorld; and, with very few exceptions, they have, by their 
 precepts and their practice, exhibited the classic authors of 
 Greece and Rome as the most correct models upon which 
 to form the judgment of the literary student. To the mind's 
 eye of him who stands before you, these witnesses appear 
 venerable on both sides of the Bosphorus ; rising up in 
 the more polished parts of Asia, upon the continent and in 
 the islands of Greece, spread along the northern coast of 
 Africa, as also through Italy, Gaul, and Spain, during some 
 centuries. It is true that the brilliancy of this scene was, 
 for a time, overshadowed by the clouds of the tempestuous 
 Korth and the desolating East. But as the atmosphere 
 became attenuated, the beams of knowledge again diffused 
 their cheering influence. Much has been swept away by 
 the ruinous flood ; but the cultivation became more widely 
 extended, many of the former regions of science again pro- 
 duce their flowers and their fruits ; Britain, Germany, and 
 even Scandinavia herself became mellowed and fertile. In 
 all those places the classic authors have been principally 
 used for the direction of the judgment and the improvement 
 of the taste ; here, too, does he find many witnesses, and 
 their succession continues. They appear also respectable and 
 comparatively numerous at our side of the Atlantic. And 
 though the speculative mind should indulge the inquiry as
 
 108 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 to the mode in which they aid the judgment and improve 
 the taste, and should declare itself unsatisfied with the 
 philosophy of the explanation, yet the fact would not be 
 the less obvious, and its nearly universal admission might 
 be reasonably considered as good evidence as that which we 
 have of our power of motion, though some abstruse inves- 
 tigators might be disposed to question the existence of even 
 this too, as they can discover neither its origin nor process. 
 Will not the architect be greatly improved by the study 
 of the ancient models? Does not the painter eagerly review 
 the productions of former masters ? Would the works of 
 Phidias or of Praxiteles be useless to the sculptor? It is 
 true, he might employ himself beneficially in contemplating 
 those of Canova, of Thorwaldsen, and of Chantry : but why 
 should even the torsos and fragments of former ages be cast 
 away? Will the jurist make no useful acquirement by 
 studying the disused or the repealed code, or the obsolete 
 pleadings of his mighty predecessors? Though he should 
 not find them obviously applicable to his immediate purposes, 
 yet will they expand his mind, extend his views, confirm 
 his knoAvledge of principles, and render him more acute in 
 the investigation and arrangement of his facts. Thus will 
 he be better qualified to turn to useful account the science 
 that bears upon the very business in which he is engaged. 
 The study of these ancient authors is not only useful to 
 guide the judgment and to correct the taste, but to refine 
 and warm some of our best affections. When the cloak of 
 Cincinnatus is . flung upon the shoulders of Washington, 
 the coldness of even affected philosophy will thaw in the 
 glow of that current which diffuses life and heat and ardor 
 through the frame of the patriot; and the energy of his 
 feeling has already secured in action that result, regarding 
 whose attainment our semblance of reasoning would be only 
 commencing its calculation. It is not so easy to give a 
 demonstration of the mode in which the ardor is excited, 
 as it is to prove that excitement itself exists ; neither is it 
 so perfectly within our reach to determine the process by
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 109 
 
 which our faculties are improved as to observe and to 
 testify the improvement. The principle upon which the 
 human mind is formed, the springs of action, and the 
 workings of the human heart, are alike impervious to human 
 observation ; perhaps there is only one eye in the universe 
 by which they are clearly discernible ; and hew immense 
 is the distance between its strength and the weakness of 
 ours ? Shall we then deny the plain results of the experi- 
 ence of centuries, because we cannot perhaps give a demon- 
 stration from principle ? To my view this would not be 
 the perfection of wisdom ; the larger portion of the little 
 that we know has been derived from the observation of 
 facts ; we have very little, indeed, scarcely any, that is the 
 mere deduction from principle ; and though I have the full 
 conviction that I am surrounded by my friends, still I am, 
 as yet, altogether a stranger to the principle upon which 
 consciousness accompanies vision; and I must candidly avow, 
 that it is not by the aid of my philosophy I have become 
 convinced of your presence. 
 
 The experience of the learned world has testified gener- 
 ally in favor of classical education, for directing the judg- 
 ment and correcting the taste in composition, as well as 
 for opening vast stores of useful information upon several 
 of the most important subjects of practical science and his- 
 torical details. My object not being to enter at large upon 
 the vindication of the opinions which I communicate, nor 
 to refute at length those from which I dissent, but rather 
 to bring the topics under your consideration, and to sug- 
 gest the points which would seem to demand special atten- 
 tion, I shall not enter farther upon the subject. To me, 
 individually, the testimony to which I point is sufficient. 
 
 But, if I were insensible to the varied beauties of Vir- 
 gil, the power of Demosthenes, the simplicity of Caesar, the 
 polish of Horace, the sublimity of Homer, the wit of 
 Lucian, the neatness of Epictetus, and the perfection of so 
 many other models of composition ; if, in addition to all 
 this, I held in no estimation men whose names have been
 
 110 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 rescued by admiring multitudes, in every age, from the 
 grasp of death, that fame should preserve them burnished 
 if the structure of my mind differed so widely from 
 that of the great bulk of my fellow-mortals and that, 
 considering my own judgment and my own feelings the 
 only tribunal by which I should be guided, I should find 
 myself alone or with few associates; I might claim indeed 
 to be unmolested, though I could not reasonably expect to 
 have that which was esteemed valuable destroyed, because 
 of the singularity of my notions. There is, perhaps, no 
 truth, except a palpable fact or a manifest principle, which 
 has not some opponents ; and even here, perhaps, I would 
 be warranted in striking out the exception, for Dagouner 
 denied that there existed a negative proposition; and I 
 have known an ingenious scholar who asserted that all 
 mathematical reasoning was fallacious, because it flowed from 
 first principles that were absurd, viz : the definitions of a 
 point of a line and of a superficies. Hence, the dissent 
 of some respectable men and good scholars, united to the 
 declaration of some unlettered though vigorous-minded 
 writers, weighs, I believe, but lightly against the general 
 testimony in favor of the benefits conferred by an intimate 
 acquaintance with the select writers of antiquity; and those 
 which remain to us are merely a selection from the mighty 
 mass, of which the vastly greater portion has perished. 
 Should I be asked to explain philosophically the process 
 by which the beneficial effect is produced, I will avow 
 that it is as far beyond my power to undertake the specific 
 exhibition, as it would be to demonstrate the special and 
 particular process by which I was nourished and strength- 
 ened, and my powers developed by the food which I con- 
 sumed in my adolescence. I doubt whether any of our 
 medical friends would hazard his reputation by asserting 
 that he could satisfy us upon the subject; or that the most 
 speculative of our inquirers would abstain from food, until 
 no doubt remained as to the correctness and sufficiency of 
 the demonstration.
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. HI 
 
 Respecting the tendency of these works to delude and 
 to corrupt the imagination, or to confirm the depravity of 
 the heart, I would beg to make a few observations. To 
 the individual who addresses you, it has caused unmixed 
 astonishment, when he more than once noticed this objec- 
 tion seriously urged, upon the ground of their tendency to 
 gloss over the errors of polytheism and idolatry, and thereby 
 to diminish the esteem in which we should hold the Chris- 
 tian dispensation. I trust that, with some few at least, I 
 shall find credit for the declaration, that, however imperfect 
 my practice may be, there exists not an individual who 
 holds that dispensation in more high esteem than I do. To 
 me it is everything. I value not the wealth, the fame, the 
 science, the honors of the world, as worthy even for an 
 instant to be taken into competition with the least of its 
 appurtenances; and yet from my keenest scrutiny, from my 
 most jealous examination, this danger has hitherto escaped 
 notice. I will not say, that others might not have made 
 the discovery : if they have, God forbid that I should for 
 a moment condemn their rejection of this stumbling-block 
 in the way of truth and life. If I could find in the 
 annals of eighteen centuries a single act of apostasy fairly 
 attributable to this cause, I might hesitate. But I find 
 the earliest and most able advocates of Christianity gener- 
 ally deducing from this topic the very opposite conclusion; 
 and, in several instances, their victory was achieved, and the 
 cause of religion gained glorious accession, by the judicious 
 contrast. I am under the impression that this is only one 
 of those exhibitions in which there is evidenced considera- 
 ble dexterity in the use of a weapon which is wielded 
 only for exercise or amusement. No, my friends, I can- 
 not think so poorly of the evidences of the Christian faith, 
 as not to feel confident that their polish is made brighter, 
 their temper better proved, and their points better sharp- 
 ened, by trying them against the defences of opponents. 
 Do forgive me, if I assure you that I am tempted to con- 
 sider the man 'who would proclaim danger to Christianity
 
 112 CLASSICAL EDUCATION, 
 
 from the perusal of the classics, " would," to use the 
 strong expression of another, "have cried fire in the days 
 of the deluge ! " Did I suppose that any one seriously 
 entertained the apprehension I might seriously undertake 
 to show it was groundless. 
 
 Their immoral tendency is the next ground upon which 
 it is sought to sustain the objection. If the accusation be 
 intended to apply to the great bulk of the authors, I 
 apprehend that the charge can by no means be sustained. 
 The works may be ranked in two divisions into various 
 classes : history, orations, harangues, philosophical disquisi- 
 tions, literary dissertations, and epistles of friendship. These 
 classes form an exceedingly large proportion of the whole. 
 I do not think that I am by any means incorrect in 
 asserting, that, as an aggregate, this collection is as free 
 from immoral tendency as any equal bulk of the most 
 select literary compositions of the present day. The his- 
 torian of then and now will have to relate instances of 
 gross turpitude and crime, but surely the sacred penman 
 has done the same ; and, generally speaking, the great 
 crimes which disgrace our nature are censured as fully and 
 as freely and as eloquently by the ancient classic historian, 
 as they are by the modern. If, sometimes, the man of 
 yore lauds the ambitious, the proud, the revengeful, the 
 unforgiving, such characters are praised also in our own 
 day ; the maxims of the Gospel condemn both historians 
 alike, and form a splendid contrast to each, showing that, 
 at both periods, man is naturally the same; and that his 
 perfection arises not from the progress of science, the 
 march of intellect, the accumulation of time, and the wis- 
 dom of experience, but from a source different from all 
 these. I am under the impression, that the effusions of 
 Cicero and of Demosthenes might be as safely read as 
 any forensic effort or popular harangue of the last year, 
 within our own States. I do not argue for the perfection 
 of the philosophy taught in the academy or in the palace ; 
 but I admire the efforts of the men, whilst I admit their
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 113 
 
 mistakes, and would correct their errors, whilst I point 
 them out. I would also, where allowable, exhibit the sim- 
 plicity and purity of that moral code bestowed by heaven, 
 in contrasting it with the doubts, the conjectures, the im- 
 perfections, and the mistakes of those merely human efforts 
 which at once exhibit the strength and the weakness of 
 the human mind; and would establish their moral philos- 
 ophy as an authentic document, to prove how necessary it 
 was that man should learn his duties immediately from the 
 mouth of his Creator. In the other compositions contained 
 in this division, I feel confident that the closest scrutiny 
 would result in the conviction, that, whilst they show the 
 unchanging principles of literary excellence in the judicious 
 precepts, the correct observations, and the pertinent and 
 apt illustrations which they contain, they are as thoroughly 
 free from any moral poison as the best and purest similar 
 productions of any period or nation. 
 
 Another division consists of works of fancy and taste ; 
 principally epic and lyric poetry, fables, satires, mytholog- 
 ical allegories, and a varied miscellaneous exhibition. I am 
 free to acknowledge, that I know of no language or nation 
 in which productions of this description have not their 
 dangers, and are not, in several instances, liable to serious 
 objection. However, in that portion of the ancient classic 
 authors generally read in the schools, the selection will, I 
 apprehend, be found less objectionable than what is every 
 day in our tongue within the reach of every schoolboy. 
 In the epic poetry, particularly, there is generally not only 
 great delicacy of expression on all occasions, but there are 
 very few instances where either by description or allusion 
 any indelicacy is suggested ; and he who would discover 
 any in the portions of these works usually placed in the 
 hands of children, may, without injustice, be supposed bet- 
 ter fitted for the search than not only youths, but than 
 the ordinary class of adult readers. I shall give no opinion 
 as to whether so exquisite a tact for such discoveries argues 
 more in favor of the vigor of the understanding or the
 
 114 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 purity of the imagination. There are no well-regulated 
 schools that I have known in which all the works of any 
 author are read through; selections have been made from 
 several; and the true question is, whether the portions so 
 chosen are of a mischievous tendency. I shall make only 
 two assertions. First, that a superabundance of what is 
 admirable in literary merit, and perfectly innocuous in respect 
 to purity of morals, can be taken from those authors. And, 
 secondly, that, in the course of several years of intimate 
 acquaintance with many schools, I have never known a 
 departure from the principle of confining the pupils to the 
 portions so selected. I might add, that I cannot, after con- 
 siderable reflection, charge my memory with an instance of 
 moral mischief that I could trace to this system of edu- 
 cation ; and perhaps my opportunities of observation have 
 been less restricted than those of most of my acquaintance. 
 That objectionable passages might be found in other parts 
 of the same work, or that they were taught in other 
 schools, or that they were read subsequently by the pupils, 
 is no answer to the proposition which I sustain; for I do 
 not assert, that there are no actual or possible abuses ; and 
 if I am to abandon every useful object which is liable to 
 abuse, the residue, which I may lawfully take up, will be 
 small indeed ! 
 
 Far be it from me to say that an ingenious mind could 
 not get up an admirable dissertation to contravene what I 
 advance. I only make a simple appeal to your own mem- 
 ory and to your own judgment. 
 
 The care in selecting from the lyric poetry should be 
 far greater, for I am ready to admit that a large portion 
 of it, in Greek and Latin, as well as in English, is of a 
 most censurable character; but I have never known this 
 read in schools, and am decidedly hostile to its introduc- 
 tion. If a satire be a less perfect mode of censuring vice, 
 yet it is a censure ; and though there exists a preferable 
 course of correction, it does not follow that what is less 
 good is absolute evil, and therefore unfit to be perused,
 
 CLASSICAL KDUCATWN 
 
 though not under all circumstances the best model for 
 imitation. 
 
 The principal ground on which the more numerous body 
 of objections have sought to maintain the position, that 
 morality was injured by the classics, was the assumption 
 that the very essence of mythology is contaminating, by its 
 exhibition of the unbecoming criminal adventures of the 
 principal deities ; whereby, not only is vice made respect- 
 able, but the imagination is seriously injured by filling the 
 memory with the knowledge of these demoralizing transac- 
 tions. This topic has, unquestionably, a better appearance 
 of force than most of the others which I have considered; 
 yet, upon examination, it will be found of little value. In 
 such recitals, the good or evil is produced by the mode 
 of representation. The preacher of the most pure morality 
 is frequently employed with great advantage in painting 
 the most revolting scenes of vice, for the purpose not only 
 of holding it up to the detestation of the innocent, but to 
 strike the very profligate themselves with horror at the 
 view of their own likeness, and thus bring them to repent- 
 ance ; whilst, on the other hand, the artful and eloquent 
 destroyer of virtue will succeed in his nefarious projects, 
 by delicately turned allusions, which excite the most dan- 
 gerous passions, without the employment of a single expres- 
 sion of a revolting character. 
 
 Two questions would here present themselves for solu- 
 tion. The first, whether all knowledge of ancient history 
 is to be withheld from future generations. The second, if 
 that knowledge neither can nor ought to be extinguished, 
 whether it can be preserved without an acquaintance with 
 mythology. I apprehend the eifort to destroy the knowl- 
 edge of history would be as useless as it would be unbe- 
 coming; as ridiculous as it would be unjust. And I would 
 ask, how any one could seriously undertake to preserve the 
 history of nations, whilst he suppressed all allusions to 
 their religion ; or how those allusions could be intelligible 
 without entering upon the region of mythology? If, then,
 
 116 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 this obliteration of knowledge be neither practicable nor 
 desirable, we must, -whether we will or not, examine how 
 it may be communicated, not only with safety, but with 
 advantage. The best things are liable to abuse, and it has 
 frequently happened that what was most sacred has been 
 most perverted. Far be it from me to insinuate that an 
 impure mind has never turned to vile purposes the facts 
 and fictions of this ancient religious delusion, in like man- 
 ner as such minds have in an impious way perverted the 
 most awful facts and useful institutions of divine truth. 
 The knowledge of mythology, however, is generally, if not 
 always, communicated to students in such a way that, whilst 
 it enriches the understanding, it does not defile the heart; 
 and the exhibition of its folly, when held in contrast with 
 our sublime and perfect religious system, is far from being 
 a mischievous or a useless lesson. 
 
 The good Fenelon did not confirm the depravity of his 
 pupil's heart, either when he showed him the dangers of 
 the Island of Calypso, or when he led him through the 
 very temple of the Cyprian goddess. It is, moreover, im- 
 possible to have an adequate knowledge of sacred history, 
 without being conversant with that which is profane, and 
 it is out of all question that a person can be master of 
 either, without an extensive acquaintance with mythology. 
 Let us, then, even suppose it to be a burning furnace into 
 which these children must of necessity be cast; the angel 
 of the Lord will be seen walking with them through the 
 very flames ; they will be protected by his influence. The 
 knowledge might be conveyed in a manner that would be 
 most destructive ; but, the fact is, that such is not the 
 mode in which it is communicated ; therefore did I state, 
 that, although the objection had a semblance of force, it 
 would, upon examination, be found of little value. 
 
 It has frequently been urged by excellent men, and from 
 the best motives, that education would be as well culti- 
 vated by substituting the sacred volume of the Scriptures 
 for these dangerous books ; that thus, not only would all
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 117 
 
 apprehension of the evils be removed, but an immense ben- 
 efit be conferred by the great knowledge conveyed to the 
 mind upon the subject of our holiest obligations, our highest 
 hopes, the great Author of our being, the glorious Re- 
 deemer of our race, the purest morality, the most perfect 
 religion, in fact, the great end for which man is perma- 
 nently destined. It has been stated that if this volume 
 exclusively would not suffice, at least its use would super- 
 sede the more dangerous books now in the schools ; that, 
 in it, the highest perfection of literature is contained, that 
 its diversified style of simple narrative, .historical precision, 
 ornamental description, pathetic prayer, sublime oratory, and 
 impassioned eloquence, make it a copious and never-failing 
 repository of every topic of improvement ; and that its 
 parables and poetry, in rich and varied combinations of 
 glowing fancy and elegant expression, are surpassed by no 
 human production, and probably equalled by none. 
 
 Whilst the peculiarity of my situation admonishes me to 
 touch lightly, if at all, upon this topic, and the prin- 
 ciple which we have always desired should govern our 
 society would preclude much that, under other circumstances, 
 I might urge, I trust that one or two observations might 
 be, without impropriety, hazarded in your presence. 
 
 The questions w r ould present themselves to us in the 
 following order : First, whether, as some contended, the 
 Bible should be made in our schools the exclusive text- 
 book for the purpose of acquiring the knowledge of what 
 we call the learned languages. My previous remarks will 
 easily indicate to you the answer that I should give, and 
 in addition to the reasons urged before, it might be added, 
 that the question could be properly resolved into these : 
 Whether, if it were even possible to understand the con- 
 tents of this volume, without previous acquired knowledge 
 of considerable extent, all that other information should be 
 withheld ; whether, because religion is man's paramount 
 concern, it should be his exclusive occupation ; and whether, 
 the effort to bring the learned world to this state would
 
 113 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 serve the cause of religion itself I shall leave the deter- 
 mination of this to your own unbiased judgment. 
 
 I fully assent to all that has been urged in favor of 
 the divine production, though I am not bound to consider 
 it a model of more than human perfection ; for whilst I 
 believe all the ideas of the writers to have been regulated 
 b.y the influence of the sacred Spirit, I am at liberty to 
 believe that the style in which those ideas were commu- 
 nicated, was the natural expression of the individual whom 
 heaven had used as its instrument. And even if it were 
 otherwise, I apprehend that the use of scriptural phrase- 
 ology, upon the ordinary occasions of life, is not considered 
 the evidence of religious feeling. So that, whilst the sacred 
 volume calls for the pious respect of the good, and is, 
 in a peculiar range, worthy of the admiration of the 
 learned, it is not the archetype for the literary world, nor 
 a model for the compositions of business. Hence, invalu- 
 able as is the Bible, for the purposes of religion, I do 
 not consider that it was given for other ends, and I can- 
 not, therefore, believe that it would be useful or expedient 
 to make it a substitute for the classics. 
 
 Another question, however, presents itself for considera- 
 tion Whether the volume might not be usefully substituted 
 for those which are most dangerous ? I would correct the 
 assertion implied in the question itself; for I would place 
 no dangerous book in the hands of the pupil. The true 
 question, then, would be, whether the Bible should not 
 occupy a considerable place in our literary institutions. The 
 answer to this must depend upon a variety of circum- 
 stances which greatly vary, in different times and places, 
 and, therefore, no precise general answer could easily be 
 given. The great object of those who advocate its intro- 
 duction, it will always be found, is, by its means, to im- 
 part religious information. The great difference of sects in 
 Christianity arises not so much from a difference as to 
 what are the words of the book which they acknowledge 
 contains tho law, but as to the construction which will
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 119 
 
 give the correct meaning of the great legislator to whom 
 they profess obedience. If there exists a serious difference 
 between them, as to either the construction of the law, or 
 the existence, or the nature, or the authority of a tribunal 
 from which that construction is to be received; in such 
 a case, if this book be given for their common instruction, 
 we must expect that the .several will yield to one, or there 
 will be jealousies, disputes, or estrangement. Experience has 
 taught us that the first result is not to be expected; charity 
 and prudence would guard against the second. Thus, unless 
 all parties were either agreed as to the construction of the 
 law, or the tribunal by which it was to be expounded, I 
 would consider its introduction into a school of different 
 and discordant denominations to be not only a departure 
 from the first principle which the volume inculcates, which 
 is that of charity, but also an impediment to the progress 
 of literature, inasmuch as it would distract the attention 
 from the legitimate objects of the institution to sectarian 
 contests. I cannot avoid viewing the question as more 
 properly one of religion than of literature, and would there- 
 fore give my answer upon that principle by which I have 
 always hitherto been guided. Let religious instruction be 
 freely and fully given, at the earliest period, to youth; 
 but never permit the emissary of proselytism to assume the 
 garb of literature as a disguise; when it is intended that 
 religion should be taught, let it be called by its own name 
 when it is proposed to communicate merely human learn- 
 ing, let nothing else be introduced. If there be no insup- 
 erable bar to a union in receiving religious instruction in 
 common, let it be so given ; but if, unfortunately, there 
 should be an irreconcilable discrepancy, let not that evil 
 be increased, by superadding those of jealousy and quarrels. 
 Let there, in such a case, be a union in the pursuit of 
 literature let there be a separation, for the purposes of 
 religious instruction ; and in communicating this latter, no 
 one of my hearers will be more gratified than will he 
 who addresses them, at using all due means to extend
 
 120 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 widely the most perfect knowledge of the religion of the 
 Bible. But when he surveys the actual state of our country, 
 he must beg leave to say, that he cannot, in accordance 
 with the principles that he has advanced, arrive at the 
 conclusion, that it would promote the cause of learning to- 
 make the book itself a substitute for any considerable portion 
 of the usual class-books. Though he cannot hope for a gen- 
 eral acquiescence in his views, he trusts that, in freely 
 expressing his convictions, he will not be considered as 
 outstepping the proper limits of his subject, or intending 
 unkindness to those with whom he might have the mis- 
 fortune to differ. 
 
 I have dwelt upon this subject of classical education as 
 one appropriate 'to the literary character of our society, not 
 so much from an expectation of your devoting to its con- 
 cerns any particular or special efforts, but considering that, 
 not only the standing of the individual members, but the 
 aggregate influence of the body, might produce a serious 
 effect upon the public mind ; and if the topics I have 
 urged were in accordance with your views, they might, to 
 a certain extent, be enforced by the moral power that you 
 possess in that community to which we belong; and thereby 
 not only would the rising generation be induced to make 
 more progress in this field, but the general cause of lit- 
 erature be greatly aided by your own example, in continu- 
 ing to cultivate what, though long since sown and thriving, 
 has, perhaps, been only seldom examined, and but lightly 
 tended. And for this object, an excellent opportunity is 
 afforded by those literary exercises which the society has 
 lately resumed. 
 
 To what I have urged on this head, JL shall take the 
 liberty of adding some observations upon the other branch 
 of our duties as a society. 
 
 Philosophy is, properly speaking, the deduction of correct 
 conclusions from evident principles and ascertained facts. 
 In order, however, to proceed safely to the results, the 
 premises must be secured, and the mighty evil of which
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 121 
 
 we have to complain, is the great facility with which prob- 
 abilism, conjecture, and speculation have been substituted 
 for principles and facts. Thus has the region of science 
 been thickly sown with error, and rank weeds have luxu- 
 riantly abounded, where order, and beauty, and symmetry 
 should prevail. It is with reluctance that the human mind 
 assents to the evidence of its own ignorance, and even when 
 yielding to the conviction, its vanity urges the concealment 
 from others. Hence, the ambition of man is not so much 
 to be wise and learned, as to be thought so. We are 
 more soothed, even when conscious of our defects, by the 
 delusion which overestimates our acquirements, than we are 
 by the possession of that knowledge for which the world 
 refuses us credit. Probably, the mortification, in the latter 
 case, exceeds the gratification in the former. The discovery 
 of fact, and the establishment of its evidence, do not always- 
 form so easy a process as is generally imagined. Let us 
 consider the revolution of the planets, the circulation of 
 the blood, the attractive power of the magnet ; not to speak 
 of a vast number of other instances, how clearly do we 
 now perceive facts of which successive generations were so 
 totally ignorant. Let us contemplate their results. Were not 
 several of those results themselves, facts very obvious, and 
 always observed, for which we can now easily account ;: 
 whose causes, whose origin, and whose nature are perfectly 
 open to our view? Yet, though the results themselves were 
 always ascertained, their origin was not always obvious, their 
 causes were not always known ; even whilst the fact was evi- 
 dent, the source was altogether mistaken ; but now, owing to 
 more deep research, more accurate observation, and more 
 fortunate circumstances, both cause and effect are equally 
 exposed to our ken. Let us learn a salutary lesson from 
 the history of our predecessors. In their day, those results 
 were known to be facts, but their origin was not then 
 discovered. Still, desirous of appearing learned, the men 
 of that day undertook, not only to declare what they saw, 
 but, moreover, to explain the causes and the objects of
 
 122 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 those results ; and when we read their lucubrations, how 
 are we astonished at their blunders ! How do we decry 
 their ignorance, and affect to commiserate their blindness ! 
 How do we estimate the superiority of our intellectual 
 powers above theirs ! Yet these men were philosophers ; 
 they had minds formed by the same Almighty who made 
 ours ; they were, in every respect, our equals, but that 
 we have the knowledge of some facts of which they were 
 ignorant facts discovered and ascertained principally by the 
 men intermediate between them and us. They endeavored, 
 by speculation, to supply the want of actual knowledge, 
 and this want alone constituted their inferiority. They, too, 
 had a knowledge of facts undiscovered by their predecessors; 
 and smiled at the ignorance of those to whom they were 
 as superior, in this sort of information, as we are to them. 
 Are we not destined to pay to posterity, and, perhaps, with 
 usurious addition, the tribute which we have exacted from 
 those at whose ignorance we sneer, and over whom we 
 elevate ourselves, with the importance of our imaginary per- J 
 fection ? Alas ! my friends, need I describe to you the 
 feelings which overwhelm us at witnessing the haughty and 
 sarcastic contempt with which a child, who blunders towards 
 reading, regards him who only stammers to spell ! Does it 
 not expose to us an emblem of that scene which much of 
 the history of human philosophy presents to those spiritual 
 intelligences that, in their graduated perfection, rise circle 
 above circle, occupying that space which intervenes between 
 man and their Creator? 
 
 The great obstacles to correct and useful philosophy, then, 
 are to be found, I believe, in the facility with which our 
 sloth and vanity combine in leading us to substitute specu- 
 lation for fact, because it requires less industry to form a 
 conjecture than to make a research; in affecting a show 
 of information that we do not possess, and endeavoring to 
 sustain our claim by words without ideas ; in rejecting as 
 useless what some others have collected lest we should sink 
 in public estimation, by turning to account what we or
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 123 
 
 our colleagues had not discovered.; and in decrying our 
 predecessors, instead of profiting by their labors. It is true 
 that the pick or the crowbar would be exceedingly inappro- 
 priate tools for giving the last finish of taste to a splendid 
 golden vase ; but had they never been used for excava- 
 tion, the ore would not have been furnished ; and what 
 a variety of intermediate hands must be employed between 
 that which first opened the mine and that which finally 
 touches the vessel ! The pioneer who commenced the open- 
 ing of the forest should not be despised by him who sub- 
 sequently occupies the mansion and enjoys the wealth of 
 the harvest and the luxury of the scene. Human science, 
 like human labor, is progressive, and the peculiar duty of 
 the philosopher, like that of the workman, is to exert him- 
 self for the improvement of what he received in a state 
 of imperfection. 
 
 I am far from being an advocate for the modern theory 
 of what is called the perfectibility and gradual progress to 
 perfection of the human mind. My observations and reflec- 
 tions have led me to the conclusion, that God has given 
 this lower world, with all its accumulated treasures and 
 productions, as well as the firmament by which it is sur- 
 rounded, and studded as it is with so many glorious deco- 
 rations, as a vast field for man's temporal occupation ; to 
 search out their several parts, to discover their relations, 
 their properties, their uses, their affinities, their opposition, 
 to turn them to the purposes of his own happiness here ; 
 I shall not in this place advert to their uses for here- 
 after. This investigation, this application, is what I call 
 philosophy. The astronomer who, by his patient and labor- 
 ious observations and calculations, enables the navigator in 
 the midst of the waste of waters to know . his place and 
 to pursue his proper course ; the mathematician and the 
 algebraist, who give to the ship-builder, the engineer, and 
 to so marfy others, the rules by whose observance they 
 can securely attain the useful objects of their pursuit ; the 
 botanist who secures to us the benefits of our diversified veg-
 
 124 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 etation; the chemist who, by analysis and composition, turns- 
 such an immense mass of varied productions to the most 
 extensive account; the physician who applies them to the 
 solace of the human family; the anatomist who, by his 
 almost godlike skill, is able to detect and to remove the 
 obstructions as \vell as to repair the defects of the animal 
 system; the legislator and the jurist who establish and 
 reduce to practice the great principles by w r hose operation 
 peace, prosperity and liberty are guarded; they who study 
 to provide and to prepare for use the great articles of 
 sustenance, of clothing, of shelter, of defence, of comfort 
 and convenience for the children of Adam : all these form 
 the vast aggregate of the several classes of philosophy. It 
 is true that the climate, the soil, the productions, the tem- 
 perament, the habits, the special wants and peculiar tastes 
 of nations greatly vary, and that for these variations con- 
 siderable allowance should be made ; yet in all cases the 
 great principle of philosophy is the same ; that is, to 
 extend our discoveries in that range which is subject to 
 our research, and. turn the discovery to beneficial account. 
 
 From this view, it would seem that the duty of the 
 philosopher was simple, and that, by his faithful attention 
 to its discharge, man must necessarily make constant and 
 rapid progress to perfection; for he has only to pursue 
 what he had received, to add his own observations to those 
 of his predecessors, and to transmit the increased fund to 
 those who succeed him ; and since this is what really occurs, 
 why should not man speedily arrive at perfection? The 
 theory is plausible, but history and reflection will correct 
 its fallacy. That the duty of the philosopher has been 
 properly described, I readily admit; but that the specified 
 result should be obtained, it is necessary, first, that all 
 which has been acquired should have been preserved ; and 
 secondly, that the point of perfection should not be too 
 remote. The advocates for what is called perfectibility, per- 
 haps, never seriously examine either of these topics. 
 
 Let us try this theory of the progress of the mind, or
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 125 
 
 as it is sometimes called, the march of intellect, by the 
 the test of facts. Think you was the mind of Homer 
 more feeble than that of Milton ? "Was Virgil or Horace 
 as far below the mental grade of Pope or Dryden, or 
 these latter below Byron or Moore, as their intervened cen- 
 turies between them? Had the intellect of Demosthenes 
 less vigor than that of Patrick Henry? Or was Cicero 
 twenty degrees upon the scale of forensic merit below Wil- 
 liam Pinckney or Daniel Webster, or even Baron Vaux 
 and Brougham, the Lord High Chancellor of England? 
 AVhat shall I say of Archimedes and Euclid? Are we to 
 find the proofs of this theory in the legislation of Greece 
 and Rome, in the tactics of Csesar, ia the architecture of 
 antiquity, in the statuary of the remote ages, in the minds 
 that planned and the powers that erected the pyramids of 
 Egypt? It is true that though the energies of the mind be 
 unchanged, the facts upon which 1 they operate may be 
 extended and varied as time advances in his course. In 
 the morning, the little speck, which is scarcely perceptible 
 upon the verge of the horizon, alone breaks the serene 
 uniformity of the vacant fields of air ; but as the day 
 advances it ascends and approximates, whilst other collec- 
 tions appear, accumulate, and unite ; the pregnant storm 
 shrouds the meridian sun, and envelopes the ocean in its 
 shade, until amidst the echoes of the heavens it is dis- 
 charged and expires ; yet the unchanged observer pre-ex- 
 isted and survives. 
 
 How frequently have we witnessed a noble patrimony 
 broken up and scattered by a dissipated heir ! How often 
 has the flood or the storm swept away a splendid man- 
 sion, and reduced a rich plantation to a desert ! How 
 many times has a licentious soldiery or an unruly mob 
 devastated a noble capital in which the wealth of nature 
 and the decorations of art abounded! So, too, has the 
 sloth or luxury of one age dissipated the mental acquisi- 
 tions of those which preceded it ; an incursion of barba- 
 rians has frequently swept science from its domain, and
 
 126 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 covered the land with ignorance and ruin and despair. 
 When nations are disturbed for the purpose of ambition 
 or the vengeance of disappointment; when the public mind 
 is filled with discontent and indignation; when maddened 
 hosts fly to arms and rush to mutual destruction in the 
 rage of battle ; or when the heavy yoke of robust despot- 
 ism presses upon a crushed people ; or when, animated by 
 the spirit of liberty, men rise to assert their rights and 
 to overthrow their oppressors ; in times like these, under 
 circumstances of this description, especially before copies of 
 works were multiplied by the introduction of the press, 
 and the few that existed being destroyed by the wantonness- 
 of the victor or the indignation of the vanquished, how 
 frequent and how extensive was the destruction of the 
 records and of the collections of the philosopher ! Thus 
 has the knowledge of many an ancient art been obliterated. 
 The evidence of their existence, like the remnants of stained 
 glass which are still found in many ancient churches, lets 
 in upon us a soft and mellowed light, which informs us. 
 that if we possess knowledge which did not exist amongst 
 men of other days, they enjoyed some which has not reached 
 us ; like many a rich cargo that has been lost at sea, it 
 is covered with the waters of oblivion. Who will under- 
 take to assert that the mass of what has been lost does 
 not equal the bulk of what exists to-day? I am far from 
 inclining to the opinion that it docs ; but I think it would 
 savor of rashness boldly to make cither assertion. 
 
 But suppose all the ancient discoveries to have been 
 faithfully preserved and the new ones duly transmitted; 
 when will the accumulation fill up the measure of perfec- 
 tion? What is its capacity? Should a myriad of men be 
 continually occupied in depositing grains of .sand, when 
 would they form a globe whose axles would touch opposed 
 points in the orbit of ITerschel ? Let us compare the pro- 
 gress of mind with the progress of motion. If we take 
 our observations upon what was the perfection of the mind 
 in the Augustan age and what it is to-day, you may assume
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATIO^. 127 
 
 superiority to the fullest extent of your disposition, you 
 will at all events allow that the progress has not been 
 with the rapidity of light. And yet, even with this accel- 
 eration, when would you reach those fixed stars that show 
 so dimly in their distance? Yet is the immensity of Him 
 who alone is perfection spread abroad infinitely beyond, 
 where their faintest rays terminate in an opposite direction! 
 When do we hope to reach it? I therefore admit that 
 there is abundant room for the continual progress of philo- 
 sophical improvement, though I cannot subscribe to the 
 fallacious theory of human perfectibility. I allow that there, 
 are great incentives for approaching as nearly as we can 
 to perfection, though we can never attain it ; like the 
 asymptotes of the hyperbola ; He, who alone is perfect, con- 
 tinues in one changeless direction through eternity, whilst,, 
 though the created mind, like the curve, should continu- 
 ally approximate as it advances, yet will they never coincide.. 
 There is another circumstance also upon which I desire- 
 to observe. Men do not always receive with implicit con- 
 fidence the principles and facts of whose truth their pre- 
 decessors were satisfied. The patrimony of the philosopher 
 is not like material wealth, manifestly prepared and made 
 quite available. And to a certain extent, this too is useful. 
 First principles need scarcely an explanation, they readily 
 receive our assent; but it is otherwise with the conclu- 
 sions to which the ancients have arrived. In some cases 
 our pride, our curiosity, our spirit of independence, our 
 love of novelty, will lead us not only to question and 
 doubt, but to use our efforts to prove them erroneous. 
 This disposition, moderately indulged, has frequently been of 
 the greatest advantage in detecting error, in correcting mis- 
 takes, and in protecting truth by the erection of new bul- 
 warks, or of rendering it more bright by collision. When 
 carried beyond its proper limits, it has not only been a 
 waste of time and of energies, but a source of perplexity 
 and error. How many fine minds have been ruined by 
 this most mischievous practice? This was the great source
 
 128 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 whence flowed that cold scepticism, which, whilst to some it 
 seemed to be an enriching stream of philosophy, chilled the 
 soil and destroyed its prolific power. It was like crystal 
 to the eye, but its taste was of nitre. 
 
 But let us suppose the absence of doubts and the dis- 
 position to believe. Still, all minds are originally placed 
 alike uninformed at the vestibule of science, and they can- 
 iiot arrive at the shrine without proceeding through the 
 temple ; though the progress of some be more rapid than 
 that of others, yet the advances of all are really slow. No 
 anxiety to admit the truth of a mathematical demonstration 
 will enable the tryo to comprehend it without the tedious 
 preliminary process, though it is true, that when the way 
 has been explored and the road formed, the consumption 
 of time and labor is wonderfully diminished for us, who 
 liave the benefit of the works constructed by the preced- 
 ing occupants ; and thus, to a certain extent, we have con- 
 siderable advantages ; but the wealth of the mind cannot 
 be attained without a large expenditure of years and appli- 
 cation by the individual himself, let the deposit which has 
 l>een transmitted be ever so valuable. Add to this con- 
 sideration, the brevity of life, the variety of avocations, the 
 allurements of pleasure, the duties of religion, the demands 
 of family, the wants of ourselves and of our connections, 
 the claims of the unfortunate, the concerns of the State, the 
 faction of parties, and the vast multitude of other embar- 
 rassments ; and what then becomes of the fine visions of 
 philosophical accumulation and man's perfectibility? The 
 realities of life correct the delusions of the sophist. 
 
 The portion, therefore, which any individual is able to 
 contribute to the general fund, must be exceedingly small; 
 exceptions will be noticed, and are admitted. But if we 
 have our eyes drawn to the admiration of Plato, of Ptolemy, 
 of Copernicus, of Galileo, of Columbus, of Newton, of 
 Bacon, of Locke, of DCS Cartes, of Leibnitz, and so many 
 others, how many myriads have passed away from whom 
 no contribution has been received? It is this poverty of
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 129 
 
 individuals that renders association useful, ' because from the 
 difference of tastes there will arise a diversity of pursuits, 
 and mutual exhibition of knowledge will create mutual con- 
 fidence ; each can easily judge how far he might with pru- 
 dence and safety use the production of his associate, and 
 each will be urged to greater exertions by the example which 
 encourages and the emulation which provokes. Thus the 
 very difficulties which would seem to impede us, should 
 l)ut animate us to proceed. 
 
 An additional motive will be found in contemplating the 
 extensive opportunities which offer of increasing our advan- 
 tages by a communion with similar societies, of which so 
 many are found in the several States of our own Union, 
 not to mention those of other regions of the civilized world. 
 
 "What, then, should be our object? 
 
 In the first place, we must perceive how useful it would 
 be to collect and to embody admitted principles concerning 
 whose truth there is no longer any question ; as they have 
 the testimony of ages and nations, after deep and continued 
 reflection : to these might be added those facts whose truth 
 is proved by the same testimony, whether they appertain 
 to history, to geography, to geology, to astronomy, to physi- 
 ology, or to whatever class of science they may belong. 
 Like the demonstrations of mathematics, they should be 
 sustained by their appropriate evidence, so that, as the 
 student is made acquainted with the fact, he should also 
 receive its proof. How immense has been the loss sus- 
 tained by the neglect of this simple and natural precaution! 
 It too frequently happens that when we are ourselves con- 
 vinced, we imagine that no one will be so absurd as to 
 deny that to be true, to which we have given our assent; 
 and we forget that, by our sloth, we have left others with- 
 out the means that produced our own conviction. AVere 
 I asked, what I consider to have been the most efficient 
 cause of dispute in the world, I would probably assign this 
 disposition, which results from a combination of pride and 
 sloth, causing us to feel a dissent from our views as an
 
 130 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 insult, whilst from others we require assent without fur- 
 nishing the evidence that would command it. Through want 
 of this, it sometimes happens that fact and fable are, for 
 a while, not distinguishable, and a man of prudence will 
 avoid relying upon that statement of whose truth he has 
 no certainty; the certainty must arise from a proof that 
 is not furnished : upon what ground shall he rest ? It is 
 not then sufficient that we leave facts upon record ; we 
 should moreover leave record of their proof. 
 
 But of what description are these facts, whose knowledge 
 it is so important to preserve ? I answer : of every descrip- 
 tion. It is a serious mistake to imagine that nothing is 
 useful for the purposes of philosophy, unless it has some 
 extraordinary character, is out of the common range of 
 objects, has been procured from some foreign region, or 
 bears some name of learned length and thundering sound. 
 The proper object of the philosopher, as I stated, is to> 
 ascertain truth for useful purposes. Now, the objects which 
 are commonly met with are those most extensively applica- 
 ble to our benefit, and of course, upon the principle which 
 I have assumed, an accurate and comprehensive knowledge 
 of their properties would be extremely advantageous. The 
 wants and avarice of mankind have excited, during many 
 ages, to industry in this department, and perhaps in this 
 the discoveries have been most extensive and accurate. Yet, 
 even here, our daily experience, and the history of other 
 societies, exhibit the vast improvements of every year. The 
 academies of Europe, especially those of France, of Italy, of 
 Germany, and of England, are continually adding much to 
 the stock of science in this department. The analysis and 
 application of the most ordinary materials and productions 
 are still in a march of uninterrupted progress ; the arts 
 have been wonderfully improved, facilities and comforts 
 extensively increased, and the resources of man greatly 
 enlarged by the scarcely perceptible labors of individuals, 
 who, in the several societies and in mechanical occupations, 
 guided by the principles daily imparted and the facts almost
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 131 
 
 hourly communicated, add some little to the accumulation 
 already made. We do not indeed at present meet one of our 
 exploring associates returning with the evidence that a new 
 continent has been discovered; seldom do we observe a 
 thick vapor to rest upon the troubled ocean, and find upon 
 its thinning away that a new island has arisen; but this 
 incessant addition, by a multitude of individuals, gives to 
 us a more permanent though less showy acquisition in those 
 rising and numerous masses of coral which afford room for 
 secure and solid habitation. They are conquests made by 
 untiring industry from the barren waste of the deep, they 
 are lasting acquirements of new possession, monitions to 
 activity, additions to wealth, and room for population. 
 
 There are indeed a variety of facts in what are called 
 the higher departments of science, which are also occasion- 
 ally developed; and perhaps in no period of some cen- 
 turies at any previous time, have more facts been brought 
 to light regarding the component parts of this our globe 
 and their properties than within the last fifty years. Within 
 that period also, man has extended his researches far into 
 the regions of the air, and discovered new worlds by the 
 aid of optical mechanism. How wonderfully has the dominion 
 of the chemist been extended, and what power does he 
 exercise through the vast regions made subject to his sway! 
 How fallen, how imbecile, is the once dreaded magician 
 at his feet ! We are unable to enumerate the immense 
 quantity of improvements effected in the useful arts by the 
 application of those discoveries. How have the powers of 
 man been increased within that period by the combinations 
 of machinery ! And as the events that would have been 
 formerly spread over ages, appear crowded into that petty 
 space; so, too, by our recent discoveries, distance, like time, 
 has been subdued by the moral approximation of remote 
 regions through means of steam and rail. 1 He who fifty 
 
 'Space has been still more astonishingly annihilated since Bishop England's 
 day, by the invention of the telegraph; and we are only in the beginnings of 
 the wonders of electricity.
 
 132 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 years ago should have ventured to predict these occurrences, 
 would be considered more visionary than he who would 
 presume to describe the mountains and valleys of Saturn's 
 ring. Who can undertake to say what another half cen- 
 tury will unfold ? lie alone whose eye takes in, at every 
 moment, all time and space. To us, the events of the past 
 should be incitements to continued exertion ; and though, 
 perhaps, no one of us could devote any considerable por- 
 tion of his time or of his talent to our common object, 
 yet each, by keeping in view what we seek to attain, may 
 be in some way useful. 
 
 Amongst those facts which are specially important to be 
 well known and fully established, are those of natural his- 
 tory ; and nothing can so powerfully contribute to this as 
 the possession, the preservation, and the extension of a 
 well-regulated museum. In it the lessons which would be 
 tediously and imperfectly taught by mere recitation and 
 description, are instantly communicated by a glance, they 
 are impressed upon the memory by the gratification of curi- 
 osity, they are scientifically classed by the arrangement of 
 rooms and cases. Thus, the mere upholding of such a 
 department in proper order, with occasional public explana- 
 tion, would be an extensive benefit, not only to our society, 
 but to the citizens, especially to the youth. I shall not 
 dwell here upon that commerce, as I might call it, in sci- 
 ence, which consists in an interchange of natural produc- 
 tions of the various regions, by the several scientific socie- 
 ties ; for the encouragement of which there appears to be 
 amongst them all an increasing disposition. I am convinced 
 that, upon proper application, every facility would be afforded 
 by our general government for such interchange ; and I 
 trust that, whatever our political differences may be, we 
 should find no disposition to nullify this regulation of com- 
 merce, or to destroy this species of protection. We might 
 at least innocently, if not usefully, commence by prepara- 
 tion the manufacture of some of our native products, and 
 be allowed a free trade with all similar societies, for cor-
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 133 
 
 responding returns, not only without the grievance of a 
 tariff' upon their importation, but even with the bounty of 
 a free freight in our public vessels. Some of our Medi- 
 terranean squadron would probably feel no inconvenience in 
 exchanging a few harmless wild-cats or peaceable panthers, 
 for casts of antique vases or of exquisite statues, or for 
 some of the utensils of Pompeii or of Herculaneum. 
 
 When the body is torpid for want of exercise the hu- 
 mors become sluggish or stagnate, and disease ensues ; if 
 there be excitement it is feverish, and the consequent 
 restlessness irritates and increases the disorder. So it is 
 with the human mind, if it have not some wholesome 
 employment, it becomes sickly, irritated, and filled with 
 discontent; it is easily excited; in the midst of the most 
 gloomy scenes horrid spectres are presented to the imagina- 
 tion, and the consequences arc equally pernicious to society 
 and to the deluded individual. How frequently would it 
 be one of the greatest earthly blessings, not only to the 
 victims, but to their families and connections, if the strong 
 powers of fine, but, alas! ruined minds had been early 
 habituated to the healthful exercise of even the humblest 
 philosophical investigation, instead of having been indulged 
 in that sloth which has made them burdens to themselves, 
 tired of existence, and worrying to their friends ! How 
 many are there, who, in dread or ignorance, turn from the 
 philosophic hall, and, determined at all hazards to escape 
 the horrors of ennui, plunge into dissipation ! How many, 
 perhaps, laboring under the influence of irregular excitement, 
 communicate the frenzy under the semblance of religious 
 or patriotic zeal ! When this dreadful malady exhibits 
 such symptoms, it is, perhaps, as hopeless of a cure as 
 that which ensues from the bite of a rabid animal. But 
 the evil might, in a great measure, if not altogether, have 
 been prevented, by removing its cause; and where no more 
 urgent mode demands a preference the occupations of phi- 
 losophy are, perhaps, the most efficacious and the most 
 useful ; and, from the view that I have taken, you will 
 perceive that they arc within the reach of every individual.
 
 134 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 There is another motive that I would press upon every 
 Carolinian. Will you, whilst the rest of the civilized world 
 is pressing forward in the career of science, stand with 
 your arms folded? We do possess considerable facilities 
 for scientific improvement; we have not made of them all 
 the use which they afforded. Perhaps our fault has been, 
 that, in this as in other instances, we have been too san- 
 guine, and that, having commenced with ardor, we yielded 
 to disappointment at not finding, as it were, magical effects 
 flow from our very association. Perhaps we have been, in 
 some degree, ourselves to blame, for want of regular 
 attendance and strict adherence to system. When I look 
 upon the few years that I have had the honor of being 
 your associate I perceive that we had amongst us talents 
 of the first order, zeal for the promotion of science, and 
 deep philosophical erudition. In whom have they been 
 more happily blended and clearly developed, than in that 
 excellent individual who desired to conceal, if he was con- 
 scious of possessing them? Need I name our late lamenteji 
 president, Elliott? But what was the concealment? Not 
 of the knowledge which he communicated, but of the mind 
 from which it flowed. lie would veil the radiance that 
 adorned him, yet so as to shed the light which informed 
 and cheered those by whom he was surrounded. Estimable 
 man! The remembrance which he has left, like the dispo- 
 sition with which he was blessed, combines the vigor of 
 one sex with the sweetness of the other. You have heard 
 his eulogy from lips well fitted to pronounce it. I shall 
 not prolong its echo. Have we not seen in our late 
 venerable vice-president, 2 an excellent model of that per- 
 severing industry, that patient research, that regular attend- 
 ance, that extensive knowledge and devotion to the interests 
 of our society, which it would be well if we continued to 
 imitate? 
 
 Nor have we been altogether useless. Witness those 
 admirable lectures on geology and botany, which, while they 
 
 i Doctor James Moultric, Jr. 'Timothy Fordo, Esq.
 
 CLASSICAL EDUCATION. 135 
 
 attracted the talent and beauty of our city, gave to litera- 
 ture the sanction of fashionable support, and polished and 
 extended that chaste and cultivated taste which pervades our 
 first circles. Witness those literary and philosophical exer- 
 cises, which, by their public occurrence, not only increased 
 the appetite for knowledge, but also its supply; not for a 
 select few, but for all our intelligent population; and the 
 resuming of which, with our lately-increased numbers, prom- 
 ises to render our society more extensively and permanently 
 useful. This is not the place, nor this the occasion, to 
 advert to those other contemplated exertions, which have 
 occasionally occupied our thoughts and engrossed our con- 
 versation during the last two pr three years. I repeat it, 
 we have great facilities, were we industrious in turning 
 them to account. And why should not Carolina indulge 
 and cherish this holy ambition? This State has held a 
 high rank for polite literature; surely she ought to com- 
 plain of her sons, if, recreant to their patriotic and literary 
 reputation, they degenerate from their fathers, and slothfully 
 permit themselves to be surpassed by States which, within 
 their own recollection, were only heavy forests, through 
 which the Indian and his game could scarcely penetrate. 
 
 I do cherish the expectation that they will arouse to 
 exertion, and in their own sunny land, under their own 
 serene sky, they will generously climb the hill of science, 
 and cultivate it to its very top ; crowning its summit with 
 those useful productions which not only will delight the 
 eye by the richness and delicacy of their color, but will 
 gratify the taste by the excellence of the fruit, and send 
 through many leagues on every side, upon the soft yet 
 bracing air, an odorous perfume fitted to regale the home 
 of her children, and to attract the praise and admiration 
 of the stranger.
 
 DESCEHT OF .ZENEAS IUTO HADES. 1 
 
 IN reading the works of poets or others, which are gen- 
 erally styled fiction, perhaps we have been too apt to regard 
 the productions of the best writers as more imaginative 
 than in truth they are. "When Horace tells those who 
 would write, either to follow nature, or to invent what 
 would have all its parts in keeping; they who desire to 
 observe the rule, will perhaps find it much easier and 
 better calculated to insure success, to take the first part of 
 the admonition than the second. Probably the great cause 
 why a vast multitude of authors of this description have 
 had so little success, will be found in the fact, that the 
 greater number, in creating their scenery, have consulted 
 their imagination in preference to their observation. 
 
 This idea has impressed itself more deeply upon my 
 mind, since I have been led to believe, that the most beau- 
 tiful and finished pictures of one of the masters of poetry 
 were sketches from nature, embellished indeed by imagina- 
 tion and improved with exquisite taste, and not merely 
 the results of fiction. 
 
 Something more than two years have elapsed since, on. 
 a beautiful evening in May, I drove out, accompanied by 
 a few friends, on the road leading from Naples towards the> 
 ancient Putcoli. "NVhen we arrived near the entrance of 
 the grotto of Posilippo, a proposition was made to alight 
 and climb the steep zigzag road leading to the tomb of 
 Virgil. Arrived at the door of the garden in which this 
 mouldering relic is situated, we quickened our pace as we 
 
 i This essay first appeared as an artLlo In the Southern Literary Journal, Vol. I 
 No. 1.
 
 DESCENT OF <ENEAS INTO HADES. 137 
 
 doubled the windings of the narrow path that, by a long, 
 circuit, leads to this spot of classic interest. We stood 
 silent within this decaying chamber we looked around on 
 its desolate walls and time-worn, vaulted roof, all stained 
 with the green tinge of successive centuries. A marble 
 slab of comparatively modern sculpture, perhaps placed about 
 two or three hundred years since in one of the sides,, 
 unnecessarily proclaimed, in a crabbed imitation of Latin, 
 that of which every peasant child was aware, that this 
 chamber was the resting-place of the great Mantuan bard;, 
 here what was mortal of the polished Maro had mouldered- 
 
 We viewed each other. We looked from the aperture* 
 in the side the bay of Naples spread broadly before us- 
 It was a serene sky ; a light air moved along the waters ^ 
 a thin, brown vapor above its summit distinguished Vesu- 
 vius in the distance. We looked down to the road where 
 we had left our carriage ; we involuntarily drew back from 
 the precipice, and again advanced to see how diminished, 
 to the view were the beings entering or issuing from the 
 excavated tunnel, as they traveled at such a distance below 
 us, from or towards Naples. The tongue ventured to express, 
 a few words, and we soon resumed our conversation. We- 
 agreed that the spot upon which the body of the poet was 
 deposited after death, was one well calculated during life 
 to have excited his enthusiasm, enriched his imagination,, 
 and stored his memory with the materials for description. 
 
 A few mornings afterwards, we were seated upon the 
 indurated lava at the summit of Vesuvius. It was about 
 an hour after the sun had risen ; even then his rays were= 
 powerful. We were fatigued and heated by the immense 
 labor of climbing the mighty precipice of ashes ; vast 
 masses of cinder glowed under us, hundred of fissures 
 emitted hot sulphuric vapor scarcely perceptible to the eye,, 
 but fully sensible to the smell and feeling. Our guides drew 
 from the brown ashes the eggs which they had brought up 
 for their repast; a very few minutes had sufficed for their 
 cooking ; they found the finest salt on almost every frag-
 
 138 DESCENT OF ^NEAS INTO HADES. 
 
 merit within their reach. And yet in this region of fire, 
 the gentle temperature of the breeze gradually refreshed 
 and invigorated us. Our faces were turned towards the 
 tomb at the opposite side of the bay. The city, consider- 
 ably below us, showed on our right like a rich, white 
 margin between the land and water; in a few places 
 this appeared thicker, and advanced a little upon the 
 expanded plain that stretched along towards the Adriatic. 
 The road to Herculaneum, the little town of Torre del 
 Greco, and a number of others, were discernible, and we 
 looked on our left, to try and ascertain the site of Pom- 
 peii, through whose desolate streets we had walked but 
 iwo days previously. The island of Capri rose as a dark 
 mass in what was anciently called the Tyrrhenian Sea, but 
 the eye discerned the horizon of water glittering far 
 beyond it, and we could observe the liquid element spread- 
 ing to the west and south of Procida and Ischia, to the 
 west from the ridge of Posilippo, the reflection from the 
 waters near Baia?, seemed like that of liquid silver, and 
 the eye reached towards the north even to Gaeta. One of 
 my companions, on discovering the headland, repeated: 
 
 "And thou, O matron of immortal fame, 
 Here dying, to the shore hast left thy name. 
 Caieta still the place is called from thee, 
 The nurse of great Eneas' infancy. 
 Here rest thy bones in rich Hesperia's plains, 
 Thy name ('tis all a ghost can claim) remains." 
 
 " This was the spot selected by Virgil for perhaps the 
 "best and most beautiful of his descriptions," said he, "and 
 surely he could not have chosen a better." We had pre- 
 viously visited the splendid Museum of Naples, in whose 
 numerous and extensive departments so many remains of 
 the genius of southern Italy are collected. We spoke of 
 several that had been lately dug up, after an interment 
 of nearly twenty centuries under the masses of sand and 
 ashes, flung over many a league from that very crater 
 upon whose edge we were then seated. We admired the
 
 DESCENT OF &NEAS INTO HADES. 139 
 
 ingenuity, the patience, the industry, the zeal and informa- 
 tion of those scientific men whom we had seen unrolling, 
 deciphering, copying, supplying the chasms, and preparing 
 for publication the ancient volume of parchment, reduced 
 nearly to a mass of carbon in the ruins which fiery lava 
 had created. And turning to one of my friends, who was 
 an inhabitant of Great Britain, I remarked : " These are the 
 men whom your writers have represented as ignorant, lazy, 
 priest-ridden Italians, enemies to science and degraded in 
 superstition ! " "I acknowledge," said he, "that our writers 
 have, for party purposes, done the Italians the greatest 
 injustice, and at your side of the Atlantic, you are not 
 only our rivals, but as you claim pre-eminence in so many 
 departments, you will not, I am convinced, deny that many 
 of your writers have outstripped us even in this." I could 
 not make all the concessions he desired. We agreed, there- 
 fore, to leave the pretensions of the United Kingdom and 
 those of the United States to be settled by the king of 
 Holland, or by any other arbiter that may be agreed on 
 by better authorized plenipotentiaries, and we returned to 
 the discussion of descriptions given by Virgil. Yet this 
 was connected with the visits we had paid to the Museum, 
 because it was there we had first heard of the work of 
 the Rev. Andrew Jorio, a learned canon of Naples, who 
 is as eminent for his literature as he is for his unpre- 
 tending piety; it was there we had first learned his opinion, 
 that the passages contained in the sixth book of the JEneid, 
 describing the infernal regions of Tartarus and of Elysium, 
 \vere all suggested to the poet from a spot near Baise. 
 AVe had there procured the treatise, and were led to dis- 
 cuss its merits, whilst we projected a hasty visit to the 
 same regions, to pass freely through which, even at this 
 day, requires the offering of a sprig from the golden branch. 
 I regretted that an indisposition under which he labored, 
 whilst I was in the south of Italy, prevented my having 
 the gratification of making the acquaintance of this respect- 
 able and accomplished scholar, whom I desired much to
 
 140 DESCENT OF &XEAS ISTO HADES. 
 
 know, not only on account of his scientific and literary 
 attainments, but also for his ministerial usefulness. My own 
 time was also curtailed, and I was not able to make all 
 the excursions that I had intended in this most interesting 
 neighborhood. I have, however, attentively perused the work 
 of Canon Jorio, and seen something of the vicinity. Per- 
 haps I could, therefore, with some little prospect of success, 
 undertake to show you, by his description, some of the 
 reasons for the assertion with which I have set out ; that 
 the writers who, in works of fiction, found their descrip- 
 tions upon observation in preference to mere imagination, 
 are those most likely to succeed. 
 
 Two facts are incontestable. First, in the fifth book the 
 poet describes the departure of the remnant of the Trojan 
 fleet from Sicily, for the purpose of making a descent upon 
 Italy, and especially, that it was the intention of JEneas 
 to visit the shade of his father in Elysium according to the 
 admonition of Anchises himself, who in line 735 informs 
 him who shall be his guide : 
 
 "The chaste Sybilla shall your steps convey, 
 And blood of offered victims strew the way." 
 
 It is also certain that his voyage lay nearly west of 
 north from Gaeta to the mouth of the Tiber, and leaving 
 the shore of Cumse, the closing lines of the sixth book 
 informs us that his way for Gaeta lay directly along shore, 
 of course in nearly a northern direction. These premises 
 lead us, independently of any other consideration, to the 
 discovery of the spot upon which he landed in search of 
 the Sibyl. It was the coast of Cumse, upon the western 
 side of the promontory which, at the north entrance to the 
 Bay of Naples, puts down about three miles to the south, 
 thus forming the tongue of land which divides the Bay 
 of Puzzoli from the Mediterranean Sea. A difficulty seemed 
 to present itself to a few critics, as some said it was not 
 Cumaj, but Baise, and this would not lead us to the spot 
 which, it is contended, furnished the poet with his topog-
 
 DESCENT OF JEXEAS INTO HADES. 141 
 
 raphy. Cunise was a settlement of the Eubseans, and only 
 one of the many Grecian colonies that filled the south of 
 Italy, which, as every person at all acquainted with ancient 
 geography knows, was called Grecia Magna. That there 
 was an extension of this colony to Baire, which is quite 
 in its vicinity, is pretty certain ; hence Dion Cassius and 
 others called the bay of this latter also by the name of 
 the former. In 1822 an ancient Greek sepulchre, similar 
 to those of the settlement at Cuma?, was discovered at Baise, 
 "\vhicn sustains the statement of Sfrabo respecting the extent 
 of the colony. The headland, which we are about to exam- 
 ine, runs down little more than three miles at the utmost, 
 and is scarcely two miles across. The spot where the poet 
 makes JEneas land is somewhat less than two miles north 
 from the southwestern point of the promontory, over which 
 rises the hill now called Monte di Procida, and which, the 
 canon says, is that described in line 234 
 
 "And deathless fame 
 Still to the lofty cape consigns his name ; " 
 
 and which derives its name from the burial of Hector's 
 trumpeter. The shore here is free from rocks or cliffs, and 
 is a fine strand. Hence the description of the arrival of 
 the strangers, after the loss of Palinurus, is exceedingly 
 appropriate : 
 
 41 He said and wept; then spread his sails before 
 The winds, and reached at length the Cuman shore. ' 
 
 Turning to the left from the supposed place of landing, 
 the site of the ancient temple of Apollo is found, at the 
 distance of three-quarters of a mile. Here some remains 
 of a structure are still discovered. Still the spot is called 
 Procea di Cuma, and the peasants call the hill which rises 
 here Monte di Cuma. The poet has certainly embellished 
 the temple erected in a remote antiquity, with sculpture 
 worthy of a better age. Yet it is astonishing to find from 
 unequivocal proof, furnished by undoubted works of these
 
 142 DESCENT OF ^NEAS INTO HADES. 
 
 early times, the progress which had been even then made 
 in the arts in those regions. I have seen frescoes which 
 had been nearly three thousand years executed, and which 
 were overwhelmed with rubbish during the greater por- 
 tion of that time, as clear, as vivid, and as accurate in 
 the outlines of the figures as many which would be admired 
 as good productions at this day. That this temple was 
 erected long before the arrival of JEneas in Italy, there is- 
 great reason .to believe. 
 
 I shall not here inquire concerning the Sybil, but we 
 may, perhaps, examine her supposed habitation : 
 
 "A spacious cave within the farthest part 
 "Was hewed and fashioned by laborious art 
 Through the hill's hollow sides ; before the place 
 A hundred doors a hundred entries grace : 
 As many voices issue : and the sound 
 Of Sybil's words as many times rebound." 
 
 The present appearance of this cavern certainly does not 
 correspond with the description here given, nor would the 
 description have been at any period perfectly accurate. Much 
 must have been left to the imagination of the poet ; all 
 that the canon contends for, ought, I think, to be willingly 
 conceded, which is, that the poet led his hero by this route 
 to the nether world. To any person who has seen the 
 Capitol of Rome, the Tarpeian Rock, the Forum of Trajan, 
 the Arch of Septimius Severus, or any of the excavations 
 by which the "Via Sacra" has been disclosed, little need 
 be said to show how the accumulation of centuries will fill 
 up hollows and reduce the elevations of precipices. 
 
 This spot is only a few miles from the tomb of Virgil,, 
 and the poet must have frequently strayed along this shore. 
 Nearly two thousand years have passed away since he 
 observed the place, and then it was at least a thousand 
 years after the excavation had been made ; and he who* 
 had been accustomed to examine such works, and who gen- 
 erally was exact in his descriptions, could at that time 
 form a better idea of what this excavation was. The canoi>
 
 DESCENT OF JEN E AS INTO HADES. 
 
 thinks he only gives us the round number one hundred 
 for several, and conformed to the ordinary notion that the 
 cave was the residence of some supernatural or inspired 
 being, and thus easily made it the dwelling of the Sibyl. 
 
 The substance of an interesting archaeological dissertation 
 which he gives, is that this, like many other caverns gen- 
 erally thought to be natural, is in truth artificial. Such 
 clearly was Virgil's opinion : " Excisum latus ingens in 
 antrum," that the cave was cut into the side of the rock. 
 To sustain this position, the canon brings us to contem- 
 plate the customs of the first Grecian settlers, which indeed 
 were similar to those of others similarly circumstanced. 
 Scarcely landed, the first two objects they sought were a 
 dwelling-place and security. No spot on the Cumsen coast 
 offered a more convenient location for the purpose than 
 this the only rock which is near that part of the shore. 
 Their usual mode was to build with stone, an<l for this 
 the rock afforded material; its elevation was convenient for 
 security, and this would be greatly increased by so clearing 
 away the projections of the cliff as to make it perpendicular, 
 at least on two or three sides. By the process of paring 
 it off in this manner, they were also furnished with stone 
 for building. They were a patient and persevering race, 
 and though emigrants, they had not the insatiable, migratory 
 spirit of many of our pioneers. Leaving one habitation, 
 they determined to fix upon another as permanent. 
 
 Hence they made preparations for centuries "of residence, 
 as they built for a progeny through whose generations they 
 considered themselves about to live. 
 
 After having given to the rock its faces, they proceeded 
 from the summit to perforate to its bosom, and having 
 descended to a sufficient depth, they excavated several large 
 chambers for the double purpose of procuring materials and 
 of creating a citadel and a store-house. Here, too, they 
 penetrated to the living waters, so that no enemy should 
 be able to cut off a supply. From the interior they 
 wrought long passages towards the sides, and at the extrem-
 
 144 DESCENT OF AENEAS INTO HADES. 
 
 ities they made loopholes through which they might receive 
 .air and some light and be able also to reconnoitre and to 
 .annoy an enemy 
 
 It is acknowledged by all respectable antiquarians that 
 such was the origin of numerous excavations in rocks 
 spread through the south of Italy, and of many elsewhere. 
 Martorelli, upon the authority of Strabo and Ephorus, 
 maintains that several of these were excavations in search 
 of ore. In most of these citadels there was a temple, 
 and generally the shrine of some prophet or prophetess 
 was in the most retired part of the cavern. 
 
 In the time of Virgil several of these loopholes were 
 considerably enlarged, and the earth had been gradually 
 raised around the rock, so that the former windows now 
 became so many entrances to the interior, which had prob- 
 ably been once famous as the shrine of some pythoness or 
 perhaps of the great Sibyl herself. At this day some of 
 those apertures exist, though the rock is nearly level with 
 the surrounding accumulation of earth. We have the accounts 
 of St. Justin the martyr and of Agatius the historian, 
 describing this cave. 
 
 In 1787 Carletti says he got nearly lost in its laby- 
 rinths ; but that he saw the remains of the temple and 
 pieces of mosaic work at a spot where several passages 
 united. Jorio himself, in 1811, went through a considera- 
 ble portion of it, accompanied by a guide ; he remained 
 two hours, and found some human remains, which so ter- 
 rified his companions that they could not be induced by 
 threats or promises to go forward. 
 
 So far, then, we have the description accurate in its 
 principal features, but highly embellished by imagination. 
 
 At the entrance of this cavern, the hero of the poem is 
 admonished to seek for the information that he desired, 
 and having obtained as much as the poet thought conven- 
 ient to communicate, he requests to be taught the way to 
 the infernal regions. 
 
 The lake known as Logo di Averno is little more than
 
 DESCENT OF &NEAS INTO HADES. 145 
 
 half a mile east of this cavern, but at the time Virgil 
 wrote, the country was more thickly wooded than it is at 
 present, and it was still more so at that earlier period which 
 the poet has selected, nor was the lake to be approached 
 in a direct line ; hence the canon supposes that the path 
 to the spot which he indicates as "fauces Averni," must 
 have wound along the valley which lies between the rock 
 we have been describing and the high and rugged ground 
 which surrounds the lake. The Trojan leader, in pursuing 
 this course, would have increased the distance round the 
 northern part of the lake, to arrive at its opposite side, 
 nearly three miles, and this journey was to be made through 
 a forest. 
 
 "Betwixt those regions and our upper light, 
 Deep forests and impenetrable night 
 Possess the middle space." 
 
 In studying the topography, we have no concern with 
 either the death or burial of Misenus, nor with the manner 
 in which JEneas obtains the golden bough which was to 
 insure his return to the realms of day; neither need we 
 witness the sacrifice. 
 
 Little more than a quarter of a mile to the southeast of 
 the Lago di Averno is the Lago Lucrino, or ancient Lucrine 
 Lake, so famous for producing some of the luxuries for 
 Roman tables, as also for the naval purposes to which it 
 was destined by Octavianus, and generally for its being more 
 appropriate to recreation than to the fears of those who dwelt 
 or sojourned at Baia3. A deep valley passed from the Lake 
 Avernus towards the Lucrine. And in this valley the canon 
 supposes that the doves led the hero to pluck the golden 
 bough. 
 
 "Thus they led him on 
 
 To the slow lake : v hose baneful stench to shun 
 They winged their flight aloft; stopping low, 
 Perched on the double tree that bears the golden bough; 
 Through the green leaves the glittering shadows glow." 
 
 10
 
 146 DESCENT OF JESEAS INTO HADES. 
 
 The branch having been delivered to the Sibyl and the 
 last rites paid to the body of Misenus, we find JEneas and 
 the prophetess already still farther south than the spot to 
 which the doves had led him to obtain his passport. A. 
 large cavern here extends from Avernus nearly to the Lucrine 
 Lake; at present it is seldom passable in summer, but it is 
 opened occasionally in winter, and the entrance at the north 
 was formerly quite overshadowed by woods. This has been 
 appropriately selected by the poet as the entrance to the 
 infernal regions. 
 
 " Deep was the cave and downwards as it went 
 From the wide mouth, a rocky, rough descent; 
 And here, the access, a gloomy grove descends, 
 And here the unnavigable lake extends, 
 O'er whose unhappy waters, void of light, 
 No hird presumes to steer his airy flight; 
 Such deadly stenches from the depth arise, 5 
 
 And steaming sulphur, that infects the skies. 
 From hence the Grecian bards, their legends make, 
 And give the name Avernus to the lake." 
 
 The sacrifice having been oifered, the awful portents being 
 manifest, ^Eneas is warned to draw his sword and to advance 
 into the cavern, whither his guides had already rushed. 
 This the poet calls "primse fauces Orci," the first jaws of 
 Orcu?. The poetical description of the beings who occupied 
 this cavern is one of the best-imagined and best-wrought 
 productions of Virgil; but this is not the place to dilate 
 upon its appropriate excellence. 
 
 Issuing from the southern aperture between you and the 
 Lucrine Lake, even at this day, elms are abundant, but 
 formerly they were larger, more numerous, and thickly 
 entangled. The path is in a narrow ravine. On either 
 hand were caverns, many of which were the dens of wild 
 animals and the abode of serpents. In several places the 
 earth has fallen in, and the caves are choked, but still some 
 are visible on either hand ; and the canon thinks it very 
 likely, that about the period when Virgil wrote, this might
 
 DESCENT OF AENEAS INTO HADES. 147 
 
 have served as a menagerie for the parties who rusticated 
 near the ancient Puteoli or at Baise. In either case, the 
 poet had the groundwork upon which his imagination could 
 well indulge itself. The cavern is at present called Bagno 
 della Sibilla, and the stabula ferarum in f&ribus exhibit 
 to us the dwelling-places of the hideous forms that besiege 
 the door and have their dens in its vicinity, and the elm 
 with its dusky arms has to this day remained and made 
 manifest the principle to which I have alluded. 
 
 Before proceeding further with the Trojan chief, it will 
 be, perhaps, not amiss to examine briefly an assertion of our 
 learned commentator, that the Styx is not specially described 
 by the poet, but that where the expression does occur in this 
 sixth book it is but a general designation, not a particular 
 appellation of an infernal river. We have, it is true, five 
 lakes within the compass of this peninsula, and there were 
 five rivers of the shadowy regions. Avernus is too plainly 
 marked to allow a doubt of its identity; the Fusaro and the 
 Acquimarta will be easily recognized as the Acheron and the 
 Cocytus; the context and other circumstances will lead us to 
 the Maremorto as Lethe, and the Lucrine Lake alone would 
 remain as the Styx. This river was said to be the daughter 
 of Ocean us ; every classic reader is aware that in the days 
 of Homer, and even in those of Virgil, the Bay of Pozzuoli 
 and the contiguous waters were known as the ocean, and 
 when it was agitated by storms, the sea which rolled into 
 this bay broke more easily over the low grounds, and rushed 
 more forcibly through the communication with the Lucrine 
 Lake ; so that, in fact, it was in calm times comparatively 
 dry, until the rushing in of the ocean filled, enlarged, and 
 made it permanent. But Jorio says that Virgil had too 
 much taste to say to the ladies and epicures of Rome that 
 this Avas the infernal Styx hence, that, through the entire 
 of this book the word is to be taken in its general and not 
 in its particular acceptation, and a review of the several 
 passages will show us nothing incompatible with this opinion. 
 It is mentioned seven times, besides the particular passage
 
 148 DESCENT OF AENEAS INTO HADES. 
 
 which seems to me to create the greatest difficulty. First 
 the prophetess says to JEneas: 
 
 "But if so dire a love your soul invades 
 As twice below to see the trembling shades, 
 If you so hard a toil will undertake 
 As twice to pass the unnavigable lake." 
 
 " This done, securely take the destined way 
 To find the regions destitute of day." 
 
 "With holocausts he Pluto's altar fills." 
 
 " Without whose aid you durst not undertake 
 This frightful passage o'er the Stygian lake." 
 
 "Now nearer to the Stygian lake they draw, 
 Whom from the shore the surly boatman saw 
 Observed their passage through the shady wood, 
 And marked their near approaches to the flood." 
 
 ''Know this the realm of night, the Stygian shore, 
 My boat conveys no living body o'er." 
 
 "But fate forbids; the Stygian floods oppose,. 
 And with nine circling streams the captive soul enclose." 1 
 
 Of those passages, the second, third, and fourth clearly 
 have the expression general. The great difficulty would be 
 to reconcile the 323d line and the general statement of the 
 ancients respecting the oath of the gods, with the opinion 
 of Canon Jorio, before we could say that in the first, fifth, 
 sixth, and seventh passages, the expression was also general. 
 
 The expression of the Sybil appears to me not only 
 exceedingly distinct, but points to a special circumstance 
 respecting the Styx, than which there is not in all mythology 
 one better and more precisely understood. 
 
 "Son of Anchises, offspring of the gods, 
 The Sibyl said, 'you see the Stygian floods, 
 The eacred streams which heaven's imperial state 
 Attest in oaths, and fear to violate.' " * 
 
 >The following nro the verses cited: 154, C57, 3C8, 388, 391, 438.
 
 DESCENT OF JEN E AS INTO HADES. 149 
 
 If, however, we will suppose that Virgil, like most other 
 poets, used freely the privileges to which he was entitled, 
 Ave may then take the Lucrine Lake for the Styx. The 
 traveller passing the ferarum stabula, after emerging from 
 the grotto of Avernus, leaving this on his left, proceeds by 
 what is known as the Scaiandrone, towards Lago del 
 Fusaro called by Virgil the Palus Acherusia or "Ache- 
 rontis ad undas." 
 
 JEneas and the Sibyl, having now passed through the dark 
 grotto which lies between the Lago d'Averno and the vicinity 
 of the Lucrine Lake, had issued from the cave into that 
 region which we may now consider as the "Infernal." 
 
 From the southern aperture of this cavern there are three 
 roads one on the left hand leads in a northeast direction 
 to Pozzuoli and Solfatara ; with this we have no concern ; 
 another, southward of east, leads to the Lago Lucrino and 
 the Gulf of Pozzuoli, the ocean of the ancients ; whilst 
 another, nearly south, leads to the Lakes of Fusaro and 
 Aquamorta, which are not a furlong apart, and not more 
 than a mile from the cavern of Avernus, called still Bagno 
 della Sibilla. This is, then, the only road which leads to a 
 spot whence a view might be had of the two lakes, and is, 
 therefore, well described in line 295 : 
 
 "Hence to deep Acheron they take their way, 
 Whose turbid eddies, thick with ooze and clay, 
 Are whirled aloft and in Cocytus lost." 
 
 The relative position of the two lakes, neither of which 
 is large, but that of the Aquamorta much the smaller, 
 produces even to-day the same effects that are described. 
 When by the overflowing of the sea or any other cause, 
 the Lago del Fusaro is overcharged, it pours a flood of 
 turbid water, thick with filth and sands, into the Aquamorta 
 or Cocytus, which is one of the most pestilential little 
 mud-holes in this vicinity. 
 
 The present road from the Lucrine Lake to that of 
 Fusaro leads towards the northern extremity of the latter,
 
 150 DESCENT OF ^NEAS INTO HADES. 
 
 and gives no opportunity of seeing both the supposed 
 Acheron and Cocytus from one point. Jorio, however, gives 
 sufficient reasons to show that the ancient road, which existed 
 in the time of Virgil, had a different direction, and led to 
 a small elevation less than a furlong distant from the 
 southeastern border of the Acheron, whence they are both fully 
 visible, and where the Sibyl might very properly have said : 
 
 "Cocyti stagna alta vides, Stygiamque paludem;" 1 
 
 and, indeed, the lake of Fusaro may this day, as well as 
 nineteen centuries ago, be properly called palus, as the 
 Aquamorta is most aptly designated by the expression stagna. 
 Upon the borders of the Lake of Fusaro, the poet placed 
 those whom he described as 
 
 "The ghosts rejected are the unhappy crew, 
 Deprived of sepulchres and funerals due." 
 
 The crowd here is very great, and amongst them is the 
 lost Palinurus, who most pathetically implores to be relieved, 
 by having his obsequies performed, and receives the assur- 
 ance from his former chieftain that a day will come when 
 the rites shall be paid, and his name honorably transmitted 
 to future ages. 
 
 At the present day, you will easily find a boatman who, 
 occupying a bark at the spot which our canon believes to 
 l)e the same which Virgil assigned to Charon, will convey 
 the traveler across ; though this ferryman must receive a 
 larger fee than the tariff which Pluto fixed as a sufficient 
 remuneration for the grisly boatman of former centuries. 
 However, all this is, perhaps, just, because the modern 
 tourist will be treated with more civility, and is certainly 
 more weighty than a ghost. 
 
 Having crossed the lake at a place where it is some- 
 thing less than a half-mile in width, you land at less than 
 that distance from the sea, and upon soil which this day 
 answers the description given by the poet : 
 
 "His passengers at length are wafted o'er, 
 Exposed in muddy weeds upon the miry shore."* 
 
 1 Line 833. * Lino 415.
 
 DESCENT OF ^NEAS INTO HADES. 151 
 
 Turning to the north from this spot, the lake is on the 
 left hand, and the sea within a little more than a fur- 
 long on your right, and the high headland of Monte di 
 Procida rises with abrupt rocks before you. But not more 
 than one hundred yards in front of you, is the little hill 
 of Torre della Gaveta, quite near the shore and the mouth 
 of the stream which communicates between the Lago del 
 Fusaro and the sea. Here, in a hill, is a cavern, cut by 
 the early Greek settlers, to form this communication between 
 the lake and the Mediterranean. It has frequently, how- 
 ever, its channel so choked with sand that it becomes 
 necessary, in the end of the spring, to clear and deepen 
 the passage. In this also winds and waters frequently 
 make a fitful noise, and this was the fancied abode of 
 Cerberus : 
 
 " No sooner landed in his den they found 
 The triple porter of the Stygian sound, 
 Grim Cerberus." ' 
 
 Having given to him his sop, and finding him now 
 spread powerless in sleep : 
 
 "The keeper charmed, the chief, without delay, 
 Passed on and took the irremeable way." 
 
 The stream here may, without any great stretch of im- 
 agination, be called " not to be repassed ; " for it is not 
 by this path our hero returns. 
 
 Going forward, the traveler now ascends the hill upon 
 which the tower of Gaveta is built, and as he descends 
 towards the southeast, he enters a valley which the poet 
 describes in the succeeding lines : 
 
 "Before the gates the cries of babes new-born, 
 Whom fate had from their tender mothers torn, 
 Assault his ears; then those whom form of laws 
 Condemned to die when traitors judged their cause." * 
 
 It would be -curious and instructive here to enter upon 
 the examination of the doctrines of the ancient schools, 
 
 i Line 417. * Line 434. Line 426.
 
 152 DESCENT OF JEN E AS INTO HADES. 
 
 especially that of Plato, concerning the future state ; particu- 
 larly as Virgil, throughout his book, gives a beautiful exem- 
 plification of the opinions of that celebrated philosopher. Hav- 
 ing ascertained what those doctrines were, the next step would 
 be to trace their origin ; to see the sources whence he derived 
 his information ; to find how much of his knowledge he 
 drew from the sacred volumes of the chosen people of 
 God, and from the original traditions given by the patri- 
 archs, of the information directly received, concerning the 
 other world, from God himself, by Adam, by Seth, by 
 Enos, by Noe, by Abraham, and others ; to view the addi- 
 tions and the changes which mythology had introduced, and 
 to see what beautiful imagery the mind of the poet spread 
 through the description ; but this is not our present object. 
 The valley here is just such as you would consider calculated 
 to fill the helpless babes with terror, and to minister to 
 the pensive feelings of the innocent victims of mistaken 
 justice. 
 
 Jorio informs us, to sustain the accuracy of his remarks, 
 that if you inquire of the peasants who inhabit Monte di 
 Procida, and particularly that part called Cappo Vecchie, 
 marked by the ruins of Roman buildings, where is the road 
 de V inferno, they will bring you by the winding road to the 
 descent on the side of this outlet of Fusaro, by the tortu- 
 ous paths going down from crag to crag they will lead 
 you to the entrance of this valley, and thence through it, 
 by the very way which I am about to describe. 
 
 He places, after describing the tribunal of Minos, the 
 unfortunate suicides in the next location on the southern 
 side of the Aquamorta, or Cocytus. We have then the 
 description : 
 
 "Not far from thence the mournful fields appear, 
 So called from lovers that inhabit there ; 
 The souls whom that unhappy flame invades, 
 In secret solitude and myrtle shades 
 Make endless moans, and pining -with desire 
 Lament, too late, the unextinguishecl fire."* 
 
 i Line 440.
 
 DESCENT OF AENEAS INTO HADES. 153 
 
 After describing a number of the unhappy victims who 
 dwell in this dismal region, JEneas is brought to meet the 
 wretched Dido, who treats him with fixed dislike and 
 deserved scorn. These plains stretch forward better than a 
 furlong, a little south of east from the Aquamorta, and 
 the canon brings to our view the mythological statement 
 that the waters of the Cocytus were increased by the tears 
 of unfortunate lovers, which adds to the evidence of the 
 poet's precision and to the probability of the canon's 
 opinion. 
 
 In the last stage of this region, he places the warriors, 
 and takes occasion to describe several of those famed for 
 prowess in the Trojan war, and to introduce the beautiful 
 but concise history of Deiphobus, with its instructive moral. 
 
 We now come to a spot which the poet thus describes : 
 
 "'Tis here in different parts the way divides. 
 The right to Pluto's golden palace guides, 
 The left to that unhappy region tends, 
 Which to the depth of Tartarus descends, 
 The seat of night's profound and punished fiends." 
 
 This spot is little more than half a mile from the Aqua- 
 morta, and at present the road divides ; on your left, 
 advancing in the way which leads from the supposed cave 
 of Cerberus. When you come to this division, you see a 
 region which is fitted to suggest the idea given of Tartarus 
 by the poet; and keeping the line to your right, you 
 would arrive at those regions that he calls Elysium. To 
 the left is a region bounded on the west by the Acheru- 
 sian Lake and the muddy and pestilential Cocytus, while 
 the sterile region leading to the den of beasts stretches 
 on before you. Several critics have ridiculed the notion 
 that there could have been in this vile and deserted spot 
 anything to suggest to Virgil the existence of the city of 
 the damned, such as he describes it in this sixth book. 
 But suppose there was nothing which bore an actual resem- 
 blance to the place described, still it is properly urged 
 
 i Line 540.
 
 154 DESCENT OF ^NEAS INTO HADES. 
 
 that at least this much latitude should be fairly allowed 
 to the bard, that he might place an imaginary city on the 
 spot. Yet we will not content ourselves with this answer. 
 It can be easily shown that in this region are to be found 
 many of the materials from which such a city could be 
 constructed, and that there was in former days a city upon 
 the very site. Let us, however, look at the description: 
 
 The hero, looking to the left, espied 
 A iOfty tower, and strong on every side, 
 With treble walls, which Phlegethon surrounds, 
 Whose fiery flood the burning empire bounds, 
 And pressed betwixt the rocks, the bellowing noise resounds." ' 
 
 In the first place, this whole region is in a great measure 
 volcanic; and not only here, but at the other side of the 
 Bay of Puzzuoli, the evidences of it are abundant. In this 
 very spot are the craters of two scarcely extinct, though 
 small, volcanoes. No very great stretch of imagination is 
 required to view in their flood of burning lava the fiery 
 stream of Phlegethon, either roaring as it rushes between 
 xocks, or as it bears them along tumbling in its torrent, 
 creating an appalling noise. The peasants will this day 
 point out what they call Fumarole, very distinct tokens of 
 subterraneous fires to the west of the Scalandrone, on the 
 very site of the city of the damned, as described by the 
 poet. Homer informs us that the Phlegethon is discharged 
 into the Acheron and the Cocytus. Virgil was a close 
 student of Homer, and his Phlegethon would naturally flow 
 from the site into the Lago del Fusaro and the Aqua- 
 morta. These volcanoes were probably much more active 
 in the time of Virgil than we find them to-day. Thus, 
 the fiery stream was a natural suggestion. 
 
 The walls of the city of Misenus presented themselves 
 here also to the observation of the poet. Even to-day you 
 will find scarcely a space of three hundred yards without 
 the ruins of some ancient Roman structure, some of them 
 of considerable extent, many of them covered with strata 
 
 i Line 548.
 
 DESCENT OF &NEAS INTO HADES. 155 
 
 of volcanic matter. You will find several caves and Greek 
 and Roman sepulchres, so that there was sufficient occasion 
 to lead the imagination to a subterraneous fiery prison, the 
 entrance to which was in a citadel surrounded by a naming 
 river. This was the Tartarean region, or the hell of the 
 poet, which was exhibited to his hero, but into which he 
 did not enter. The fortress was impregnable, and from it 
 issued the cries of the tortured. His guide informed him 
 of the mode of judgment and the dire infliction of ven- 
 geance ; and the hero saw the gates open, so as to enable 
 him to describe the terrific disclosures that were thus made, 
 and to convery the detail to those who had not been privi- 
 leged as he was. 
 
 ** The gaping gulf low to the centre lies. 
 And twice as deep as earth is distant from the skies. 
 The rival of the gods, the Titan race, 
 Here singed with lightning roll within the unfathomed space." 1 
 
 Whoever has been at the Grotto del Cane or in the hot 
 sulphur caverns between Naples and Pozzuoli, is perfectly 
 aware of the effect of the exhalation from this soil. Add 
 to this the volcanic matter, the ruins of ancient tombs, the 
 occasional shakings of the earth, and some notions may be 
 formed of the mythological relations of the restless and 
 tortured Titans, endeavoring to rise and disturbing the soil 
 under which they are buried, so as to create those fissures 
 which emit the stench of their brimstone graves to our 
 upper world. 
 
 The concluding lines of the poet, after the enumeration 
 of several of the wretched culprits, are beautiful and highly 
 instructive : 
 
 "Unhappy Theseus, doomed for ever there, 
 Is fixed by fate on his eternal chair, 
 And -wretched Phlegias warns the world with cries, 
 (Could warning make the world more just or wise,) 
 Learn righteousness, and dread the avenging deities. 
 To tyrants others have their country sold, 
 Imposing foreign laws for foreign gold. 
 
 I Line 677.
 
 156 DESCENT OF &NEAS INTO HADES. 
 
 Some have old laws repealed, new statutes made, 
 
 Not as the people pleased, hut as they paid. 
 
 With incest some their daughters' heds profaned ; 
 
 All dared the worst of ill, and what they dared, attained. 
 
 Had I a hundred mouths, a hundred tongues, 
 
 And throats of brass, inspired with iron lungs, 
 
 1 could not half those horrid crimes repeat, 
 
 Nor half the punishments those crimes have met." * 
 
 This was the Tartarus, or hell, into which, as I remarked, 
 the hero did not enter, but with a view and description 
 of which he was favored. The spot from which it was 
 examined was just beyond that described as the division 
 of the roads, " Hie locus est partes ubi se via findit in 
 ambas," and is now called Croce via di Capella. At a short 
 distance beyond it, on the road, is the Mercato di Sabato, 
 where formerly stood a circus, which probably suggested to 
 the poet the following description, given by the priestess: 
 
 "The walls of Pluto's palace are in view; 
 The gate and iron arch above it stands, 
 On anvils labored by the Cyclops' hands."* 
 
 AVe have again, in a single expression of the poet, an 
 admirable coincidence with the site : 
 
 "She said, and through the gloomy shades they passed, 
 And chose the middle path." 3 
 
 Just here, even at this day, the road branches into 
 three parts; that to the right leads to the western ex- 
 tremity of the Mare Morto, where it approaches the Monte di 
 Procida. Mythological writers inform us that Lethe touches 
 on the confines of the infernal regions, a portion of which 
 was in the ravines of this mountain; and thus we may 
 suppose this lake, which is formed by an influx from one 
 of the deep indentings of the Bay of Pozzuoli, is the 
 fabled Lethe itself. On the left, the road leads towards the 
 Scalandrone, and back to Averno. The Spatium Medium 
 will lead to the northeastern shore of the Mare Morto, or 
 Lethe, and here are the Elysian fields; for again mythology 
 
 J Line^617. * Line 630. Line 683.
 
 DESCENT OF AENEAS INTO HADES. 157 
 
 informs us that Lethe stretched along the borders of those 
 happy regions. This middle path, then, was followed by 
 the Trojan chieftain, who having performed the proper 
 lustrations and duly offered his golden bough by placing 
 it over the portal, was admitted. 
 
 The difference of the soil and the variety of productions 
 form here a contrast with the gloomy, the sterile, the vol- 
 canic, and the rugged regions through which our way had 
 lain before, and very naturally suggested to the Mantuan 
 bard those happy lines : 
 
 "These holy rites performed, they took their way 
 Where long-extended plains of pleasure lay. 
 The verdant fields with those of heaven may vie, 
 With ether vested and a purple sky; 
 The blissful seats of happy souls below, 
 Stars of their own, and their own sun they know." l 
 
 The melody of the raptured poet now grows richer with 
 the increasing grandeur of the scene, and perhaps few de- 
 scriptions can be found to equal that which is given in 
 his succeeding lines. To observe upon this is not, how- 
 ever, our object. After due inquiry he discovers the loved 
 object of his search ; their interview is in the midst of 
 those gentle elevations and the varying undulations which 
 enrich this spot. The Platonic system, modified with 
 peculiar diversities of the poet's own adoption, is beauti- 
 fully unfolded the mingling of the universal mind with 
 matter in its various modifications, the death of man, and 
 his judgment. They who escape Tartarus are generally 
 doomed to a variety of purgations, according to the stains 
 with which they are disfigured : 
 
 41 E'en when those bodies are by death resign'd, 
 Some old, inherent spots are left behind, 
 A sullying tincture of corporeal stains 
 Deep in the substance of the soul remains. 
 Thus are her splendors dimmed and crusted o'er 
 With those dark vices that she knew before. 
 For this the souls a various penance pay, 
 To purge the taints of former crimes away." * 
 
 
 i Line 637. 2 Line 135.
 
 158 DESCENT OF &NEAS INTO HADES. 
 
 Of Elysium he proceeds then to say, after some special 
 descriptions of the previous process of purgation: 
 
 "And few so cleansed to those abodes repair, 
 And breathe in ample fields the Eoft Elysian air." ' 
 
 However, this happiness is not to continue, for the 
 transmigration of souls forms a part of the system : 
 
 "Both these thin airy throngs thy eyes behold, 
 When o'er their heads a thousand years have rolled, 
 In mighty crowds to yon Lethean flood, 
 Swarm at the potent summons of the God, 
 There deep the draught of dark oblivion drain, 
 Then they desire new bodies to obtain, 
 And visit heaven's ethereal realms again." a 
 
 Thus, numbers who never entered Elysium, but were 
 detained in their state of purgation, were, according to this 
 philosophical system, sent back with the happy souls to- 
 animate new bodies. After this view of the poet's notion 
 of Elysium, I shall hasten to compare the few remaining 
 passages with the topography. At the moment when An- 
 chises was discovered by his son, the poet describes hi* 
 situation : 
 
 ' But old Anchises in a flowery vale 
 Reviewed his mustered race, and took the tale: 
 Those happy spirits which, ordained by fate, 
 For future being and new bodies wait; 
 With studious thought observed th' illustrious throng, 
 In nature's order as they passed along. 
 Their names, their fate, their conduct and their care, 
 In peaceful senate and successful war." 3 
 
 After having gone forward from the Mercato di Sabato r 
 and stood on one of those pretty swellings of the ground, 
 the hollows are exposed to view, and we find Anchises 
 thus occupied in one of those delightful spots, at some 
 distance forward. The Mare Morto is also visible, with 
 its open strand on the right; and it was to its banks that 
 they who now pressed forward to re-enter mortal existence 
 
 > Lino 743. * L'no 748. Line C70.
 
 DESCENT OF AENEAS INTO HADES. 
 
 * 
 
 were approaching, whilst amongst them the great father of 
 the Roman race was surveying his future progeny. JEneas 
 went quickly forward to him, to a spot answering the 
 description, near the northeastern extremity of this lake ; 
 and after the first efforts to embrace his parent, Virgil 
 informs us : 
 
 "Now in a secret vale the Trojan sees 
 A separate grove, through which a gentle breeze 
 Pfrays with a passing breath, and whispers through the trees ; 
 And just before the confines of the wood, 
 The gliding Lethe leads her silent flood, 
 About the boughs an airy nation flew." * 
 
 And when the visitor expressed his desire to know who- 
 they were, the father answers : 
 
 "The souls that throng the flood 
 Are those to whom, by fate, are other bodies owed. 
 In Lethe's lake they long oblivion taste; 
 Of future life secure, forgetful of the past." 4 
 
 Mentioning a desire, which he had long entertained, to 
 give to his son the knowledge of his future descendants, 
 he proceeds to unfold that explanation to which I have 
 before drawn your attention, of the process of man's- 
 existence and of the Platonic system. 
 
 It is here to be remarked, that at this day the scenery 
 at this northeastern part of the lake is described with 
 tolerable accuracy by the passage which has been quoted 
 before the last, if we credit many who have seen and 
 testify it. After the doctrinal communication, if I may so- 
 call it, Anchises is desirous to bring under his son's ob- 
 servation the succession of heroes which he had been con- 
 templating, and for this purpose the poet very naturally 
 caused him to bring ^Eneas to a more elevated spot. 
 
 "Thus having said the father spirit leads 
 The priestess and his son through swarms of shades, 
 And takes a rising ground from thence to see 
 The long procession of his progeny." * 
 
 i Line 7 3. * Line 713. ' Line 733.
 
 160 DESCENT OF AENEAS INTO HADES. 
 
 & 
 
 This is a spot called Puzzillo, and here the poet takes 
 opportunity of giving, through Anchises, that splendid enu- 
 meration of those sages and heroes whom he desired to 
 celebrate, until the catalogue closes with that sublime and 
 pathetic exclamation which procured wealth and fame for 
 the writer : 
 
 "Oh, couldst thou shun the dreadful stroke of late; 
 Rome should in thee behold, with ravished eyes, 
 Her pride, her darling, her Marcellus rise." 1 
 
 A little above Puzzillo are the ruins of ancient vast 
 structures, and this day, in the midst of them, is the 
 parish church of St. Anne, the vestibule of which is 
 marked by the canon as the spot where stood, in former 
 days, the gate which was selected by our poet as that of 
 horn. This is on your right, and a short distance on your 
 left is Bacoli, not far from the tomb of Agrippina ; here 
 was the gate of ivory. 
 
 "Two gates the silent courts of sleep adorn 
 That of pale ivory, this of lucid horn, 
 Through this pale visions take their airy way, 
 Through that false phantoms mount the realms of day." * 
 
 The Sibyl and her companion having been dismissed by 
 Anchises through the ivory gate, 
 
 "Straight to the ships uEneas took his way." 8 
 
 In the very expression, "secat viam," the canon finds 
 evidence of correctness of his illustrations, because there 
 is a short path from Bacoli to the spot where the Trojans 
 landed, which cuts straight across the peninsula and at 
 angles with the other roads over which we have gone. 
 
 "Then steering by the strand he plows the sea, 
 And to Caieta's port directs his way," 4 
 
 which could not have been the case from Baise, which is 
 at the opposite side of the promontory from Cuma3 and 
 
 Lino 889. Line 893. Lino 899. Line 900.
 
 DESCENT OF JENEAS INTO HADES. 161 
 
 within the Bay of Pozzuoli ; the voyage from which would 
 require the rounding of that cape, and certainly could not 
 be said to go recto litore; whereas, from the coast at 
 Cumai it is a plain direct course, straight along the shore 
 to Gaeta. 
 
 I have thus endeavored to give you the principal illus- 
 trations exhibited by the learned Italian canon, to show 
 that in this, which is amongst the finest books of descrip- 
 tive poetry and splendid fiction, the great author was more 
 guided than is generally imagined by a close and patient 
 study of actual scenery. How far I have succeeded in 
 conveying his reasoning, I cannot say; how far I have 
 sustained my position, it is for you to judge.
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 1 
 
 THAT it is useful to set aside particular days for the 
 celebration of great events, is sustained not only by the 
 usage of all nations, but by the advantages resulting from 
 that usage. Each succeeding week is, by divine institution, 
 marked by a day made holy. Man is thus reminded of 
 his duties to his Creator ; he thereon withdraws from the 
 bustle of worldly occupation, he devotes himself to the 
 contemplation of his eternal destiny, he seeks to discover 
 the means whereby he may secure his lasting happiness. 
 For this purpose he revises his conduct, endeavors to cor- 
 rect his faults, to make progress in virtue, to partake of 
 the benefits of religious observance. He also, by the 
 observance of the day, gives encouragement to his com- 
 panions, and trains up those who depend upon him, and 
 who are to succeed him, in an acquaintance with the great 
 principles which are to direct their practice, so as to per- 
 petuate the service of God, and to secure the salvation of 
 himself and of others. 
 
 That great Being from whom the precept for this observ- 
 ance emanated, was well acquainted with our nature > 
 because He formed us, and was able to regulate and 
 to direct the work of His own hands. The law was 
 enacted to preserve in our memory a recollection of our 
 duty, to enforce its obligation on the understanding, to 
 excite the will to resolve upon its performance, and to 
 interweave an attachment for it with our dearest affections. 
 
 i Oration delivered before the Washington Light Infantry, at their request. In 
 tho Roman Catholic Cathedral Church of St. Flnbar, in the city of Charleston, 
 on the 22d of February, 1838, being the thirty-first anniversary of the Company.
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 163 
 
 But though the religious homage of God be our first duty, 
 it is not our only obligation. Not only is man destined 
 to be an inhabitant of heaven, but he is also doomed to 
 sojourn for a while upon the earth. During that period 
 assigned for his pilgrimage here he is surrounded by many 
 cares, and subject to several wants, for which he not only 
 is bound to provide, but in exerting himself for which 
 purpose he' may lawfully seek, especially for those who de- 
 pend upon him, or with whom he is connected, such a 
 measure of enjoyment and happiness as will gratify kim 
 and them, without endangering that more glorious inherit- 
 ance to which we all aspire. 
 
 In his relation to transitory things, man is liable to more 
 immediate, more vivid, and more lasting impressions from 
 those things which affect him directly and personally, than 
 from those which regard him but generally as a member 
 of society, and indirectly through that circumstance ; just 
 as he is more wrought upon by sensible objects and pres- 
 ent enjoyments, than by the invisible things of a future 
 world, and by the remote prospects of happiness or of 
 misery. Yet it frequently happens in society, as in religion, 
 that our true welfare depends infinitely more upon what is 
 least calculated to attract our immediate attention or to 
 excite our first or our warmest interest. And upon the 
 same principle that the Lord instituted His holy day, to 
 correct this evil as regards religion ; so is it useful to 
 have certain days set apart, to correct the mistakes of 
 human selfishness, and to convinc3 individuals that their 
 own respective advantages will be better secured by labor- 
 ing together as members of society to promote the general 
 welfare. Hence, civil and political festivals, judiciously regu- 
 lated, are of great advantage to the State at large, and 
 consequently to the individuals who compose the body 
 politic. 
 
 That same character of our nation, to which I have 
 alluded, also shows that the bulk of mankind are neces- 
 sarily more affected by those objects that strike their senses,
 
 164 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 than by any abstract meditations. Man is not a merely 
 spiritual being; he sees through the eye, he hears through 
 the ear, he tastes by the palate, and so of the other organs 
 of sense. They are the usual channels through which his 
 soul is informed, impressed, or excited, and therefore, by 
 a common usage of our race, on those festive occasions, 
 there are exhibitions to the eye, information by addresses, 
 or excitement by music for the ear, the indulgence of the 
 feast, and other devices of enjoyment ; and all are calcu- 
 lated, by a proper and judicious distribution, to produce 
 the happiest effect upon the mind, though, like every other 
 good, they may be abused, and may thereby occasion the 
 most deplorable results. 
 
 The mind, also, is much more easily and securely 
 instructed by the contemplation of striking events properly 
 displayed before it, than by any abstruse reasoning or spec- 
 ulative disquisition. In this contemplation, objects are easily 
 grasped by the senses or apprehended by the imagination, 
 and retained by the memory: Hence, festivals are not, 
 whether in religious or civil society, the mere contempla- 
 tion of abstract principles, but the commemoration of events 
 in which principles are practically and beneficially exhibited. 
 
 Man is easily and powerfully wrought upon by the exam- 
 ple of his fellows. We would derive little, if any, benefit 
 from attempting a philosophical inquiry into the cause; it is 
 enough that we know the fact; and hence the public good 
 is greatly promoted by holding forth to the world the bright 
 examples of the benefactors of mankind. Not only are sal- 
 utary emulation and a virtuous ambition thereby created, 
 but the vain excuses of timidity or sloth, when they plead 
 the existence of insuperable difficulties and the impossiblity 
 of success, are at once triumphantly answered, by showing 
 what men like ourselves have achieved; and the noblest 
 human motives to exertion are furnished, by showing the 
 benefits which one man may procure for millions. Whilst 
 the d'eds of our honored brother are recounted, we feel an 
 energy for whose origin we cannot indeed account, but
 
 TUB CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 165 
 
 whose effects are powerful and may be highly beneficial. 
 Thus has the roll of fame been inscribed in every age 
 and in every nation, with the names of the wise, of the 
 good, of the learned, of the brave, of the holy, of the 
 devoted, of the laborious, of the benevolent, and of the 
 just. Temples have been erected, cities have been named, 
 monuments have been raised, games have been instituted, 
 festivals celebrated, and a variety of other modes devised, to 
 hold forth their example, and to perpetuate their renown. 
 But 'in the whole multitude, I find few, who in respect to 
 the peculiar end for which he appears to have been fitted by 
 Providence, stands so honorably conspicuous; not one whose 
 example can be so beneficially held forth as a lesson and 
 a model to the citizens of our republics, as our own Wash- 
 ington. And I undertake the task, which you have so 
 kindly assigned me, with high gratification indeed, for the 
 honor you have conferred upon one whom you have long 
 since thought proper to enroll upon the respectable list of 
 honorary members of your corps, but with a diffidence 
 which is as unfeigned as it is unusual; because the under- 
 taking in which I have engaged is quite new to me, and 
 the theme is as difficult as the subject is elevated. 
 
 Though I cannot attempt to delineate the character of 
 the father of our country, I shall endeavor to sketch an 
 imperfect outline, and my deficiency will require all your 
 indulgence. 
 
 The date of his birth is well known, the 22d of Feb- 
 ruary, 1732; and that his family was one of repute for a 
 considerable period previous to the departure of his ances- 
 tors from England, as his relatives and connections were 
 subsequently amongst the most respectable in Virginia. 
 
 1 am far from attributing merit to birth, but I am by 
 no means inclined to deny the general influence of station 
 and society upon the education, the sentiments, and the 
 conduct of individuals. Several of the greatest men that 
 have conferred benefit upon the human family, have steadily 
 risen from the humble position into which they had been
 
 166 TEE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 cast by the obscurity of their origin ; and we have num- 
 berless instances of the degrading vices, the mischievous 
 pranks, the criminal courses, and the base and unprincipled 
 tyranny, of not only individual members, but of entire 
 progenies of the aristocracy. Unfortunately, also, it is but 
 too true, that instances of the former description are far 
 more rare than of the latter. This, however, does not 
 interfere with the position that I would lay down ; which 
 is, that the civilized habits, the polite manners, the more 
 extended information, which are generally found in s6me 
 classes ; the necessity under which their station places them 
 of giving to their children the best education, and the 
 facilities which they have of procuring it ; as well as the 
 conviction of the child, that it is only by sustaining him- 
 self in his place, by having the manners, the conduct, and 
 the information, which are expected to be found therein, 
 that he can escape degradation and contempt, form a union 
 of powerful aids and incentives to improvement. We need 
 not, therefore, distribute mankind into classes of different 
 blood and unlike nature; in order to arrive at the conclu- 
 sion, that the circumstance of birth is in many instances 
 favorable to the improvement of the individuals. So far 
 from being injurious to our republican principles of the 
 equality of citizens, and tending to degrade a large por- 
 tion of the community, I can consider it only as giving 
 more merit to the individuals, who with less favorable 
 auspices have, by the power of intellect, the adherence to 
 principle, and the application of industry, outstripped those 
 who had greater original advantages. I consider the mis- 
 chievous concession to aristocracy to consist in attaching 
 peculiar privileges to those born in a particular family ; 
 but not in the admission, that from the peculiarity of their 
 position they have greater opportunities of improvement. 
 
 George Washington was thus at his earliest moments 
 placed in the most favorable position that the circumstances 
 of the colony would allow, for the best education that 
 could be obtained, from an intercourse with those whose
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 167 
 
 minds were cultivated, whose principles were established, 
 and whose habits were formed by a good stock of knowl- 
 edge, by industrious pursuits, and honorable occupation. 
 The schools then existing afforded indeed but little scope 
 for great progress in science. At the period of his father's 
 death, in 1743, he could read, write, and solve a consider- 
 able number of arithmetical questions ; and very few schools 
 at that time in the Southern country carried education to 
 a higher grade. The character of the mother is generally 
 sup'posed, and I believe not inconsiderately, to have from 
 nature, even more than from the force of teaching or exam- 
 ple, a powerful influence upon the character of the son. 
 As far as we can learn, Washington was again fortunate 
 in this respect. This widow had been a Miss Ball, and 
 was the second wife of Mr. Augustine Washington, who, at 
 the time of his death, placed in her a well-deserved con- 
 fidence of managing a large property, chiefly acquired by 
 his own industry, and of superintending the education of 
 her children, of whom George was eldest. She continued 
 to keep him at school, and to enable him to acquire such 
 information as could there be afforded him. 
 
 At this early period, he had obtained over the minds 
 of his companions that moral ascendency, which through 
 life he was enabled by the very same principles, more 
 fully developed and more extensively applied, to gain over 
 his fellow-citizens and to preserve to the termination of his 
 life. His love of discipline caused him to be placed at 
 the head of their little military organizations ; his probity 
 and judgment secured to his awards, as arbiter in their 
 differences, a ready and willing execution. His exercises 
 were such as fitted him for activity and vigilance, and his 
 love for mathematics and attention to forms of business 
 showed a fondness for order, a patience of toil, a desire 
 of improvement, and steadiness of purpose not often found 
 in a youth of only fourteen years of age. 
 
 His eldest brother, Lawrence, the first son of Mr. Wash- 
 ington's first wife, was at this period a respectable officer
 
 168 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 in the British forces ; he had served under General Went- 
 worth and Admiral Vernon at the siege of Carthagena, and 
 he had acquired with them some influence by his correct 
 and gentlemanly conduct. Lawrence was greatly attached to 
 his brother George; and believing, from what he had seen 
 of his capacity and habits, that he would easily win his 
 way to distinction in the British navy, procured for him, 
 through these friends, a midshipman's warrant, in the year 
 1746. George, pleased with the appointment, was preparing 
 to enter into a service that, if once taken up by him, 
 would probably have materially interfered with the progress, 
 if not the issue, of a revolution, which amongst the many 
 that have shaken the nations within the last century, stands 
 alike distinguished for the justice of its grounds, the mod- 
 eration of its proceedings, the wisdom of its process, and 
 the success of its results. A mother's authoritative request 
 was the mode through which this difficulty was removed, 
 by that God who sweetly and powerfully brings about His 
 own wise purposes, without exposing His counsels to the 
 over-curious scrutiny of men. 
 
 We have already seen in the boy many traces of what 
 became the character of the man. The eye of the artist 
 discerns in the block of marble the fair proportions of the 
 concealed statue ; the material is precious, but much of it 
 must, by patience, by attention, and by exquisite skill, be 
 cut off and pared away, before the majestic figure, which 
 he detects, can be exhibited to the eye of an admiring 
 multitude. Washington may, under God, be considered as 
 having been fashioned by a special providence. At this early 
 period, he had already either laid down or adopted a wise 
 code for the regulation of his conduct. This consisted of one 
 hundred and ten rules, of which Mr. Sparks, his biogra- 
 pher, justly observes: "Whoever has studied the character 
 of Washington will be persuaded, that some of its promi- 
 nent features took their shape from these rules, thus early 
 selected and adopted as his guide." In another place he 
 says of some of them, that they were " fitted to soften
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 169 
 
 and polish the manners, to keep alive the best affections 
 of the heart, to impress the obligation of the moral vir- 
 tues, to teach what is due to others in social relations, and 
 above all to inculcate the practice of a perfect self-control." 
 
 "In studying the character of Washington, it is obvious 
 that this code of rules had an influence upon his whole 
 life. His temperament was ardent, his passions strong, and, 
 amidst the multiplied scenes of temptation and excitement 
 through which he passed, it was his constant effort and 
 ultimate triumph to check the one and subdue the other. 
 His intercourse with men, private and public, in every 
 walk and station, was marked with a consistency and fit- 
 ness to occasion, a dignity, decorum, condescension, and 
 mildness, a respect for the claims of others, and a deli- 
 cate perception of the nicer shades of civility ; which was 
 not more the dictate of his native good sense and incom- 
 parable judgment, than the fruits of long and unwearied 
 discipline." 
 
 It would be well if the respect that is so justly due to 
 the father of his country, engaged its children to adopt 
 the maxims by whose influence he became worthy of their 
 esteem. It would be well if, in place of encouraging a 
 spirit of bad pride, of arrogant self-sufficiency, and per- 
 mitting unchecked rudeness to become a habit, under the 
 notion of preserving a spirit of independence, parents 
 would instill into the minds of their children such maxims; 
 and by the proper exercise of their authority keep them 
 within the restraint of that politeness which so peculiarly 
 characterized, perhaps, the least offensive and the most reso- 
 lute man that the eighteenth century has produced. 
 
 At the age of sixteen, he entered upon the laborious 
 v duties of a land-surveyor in a wilderness. The profession, 
 besides promising to be lucrative, afforded an excellent 
 opportunity for the inspection of new lands and for making 
 valuable purchases. His first excursion was beyond the eastern 
 Alleghany range, whither he went in March, 1749, whilst 
 winter still held possession of the summits of this lofty bar-
 
 170 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 
 
 xier, rivers were swollen by falling rains and melting snows, 
 and his path lay through tangled forests, abrupt precipices, 
 uninvaded swamps, and in a region where it was a luxury 
 to find a log hut, as a relief from the inconvenience of 
 the surveyor's tent. Yet was this, in the order of Provi- 
 dence, a suitable preparation for the man who was destined, 
 at a future day, to share in the privations and to direct 
 the movements of ill-provided armies, in similar circum- 
 stances; and this was the very spot in which he was 
 destined to make his first military movements, in the service 
 of the colony, several years previous to the Revolution. 
 During the three years that he continued thus occupied, 
 he had acquired a habit of business, and established a 
 character for ability and integrity; nor was he estranged 
 from his family, for he was sometimes a welcome inmate 
 at the residence of his eldest brother, who now dwelt on 
 the banks of the Potomac, at a farm to which he gave 
 the name of Mount Vernon, from his affectionate regard 
 to his friend the admiral, and he also visited his mother, 
 whom he occasionally aided in the regulation of the family 
 concerns 
 
 "When he had attained the age of nineteen, the frontiers 
 of Virginia, which then comprised the present State of 
 Kentucky, were threatened by Indian depredations and 
 the encroachments of France, whose Canadian possessions 
 stretched along on the west towards Louisiana, and were 
 said to include Indiana, Illinois, and even Ohio. The 
 colony of Virginia was laid off into military districts, over 
 each of which was appointed an adjutant-general, with the 
 rank of major, who was to assemble and to exercise the 
 militia, to inspect their arms, and to enforce the disciplinary 
 regulations to which they were subjected. "Washington was 
 appointed to this office in one of the districts, and felt 
 that it was now his duty to acquire as perfect a knowl- 
 edge as possible of the use of weapons, of tactics, and of 
 evolutions. In the society of his brother and others, who 
 had served in the wars, he had sufficient opportunities.
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 171 
 
 The death of his brother increased his cares ; for the 
 confidence and affection of the dying man, and the high 
 esteem in which George was held by the surviving mem- 
 bers of the family and their , friends, placed him, though 
 the youngest of the executors, in the administration of an 
 estate which was ultimately, by the arrangement of the 
 deceased, to vest in himself. The military organization of 
 the province was changed, but Major Washington's appoint- 
 ment was renewed; so that he found himself, at a period 
 when very few think of commencing the duties of life, 
 already at the head of a large property, in the adminis- 
 tration of an extensive estate, loved by his family, confided 
 in by the public for his integrity, and entrusted by the 
 government with a charge of nearly the first rank and of 
 the highest importance. If we stop to inquire how this 
 occurred, AVC shall have no difficulty in discovering; for 
 unceasing industry, well-regulated ambition of improvement, 
 proper respect for the established rules of society, immov- 
 able integrity, patient endurance of toil, and self-denial 
 which arose from the determination to answer the confidence 
 that was reposed in him, all united to a systematic course 
 of conduct laid down and steadily followed, enabled him to 
 perform with facility, order and success duties that would 
 have otherwise perplexed by their confusion, overwhelmed 
 with their weight, and destroyed in their ruin, the indi- 
 vidual who would have rashly undertaken them. Washing- 
 ton has scarcely attained to manhood, and yet his character 
 is already formed, and is extensively and advantageously 
 known. He had labored greatly, he had endured much, 
 he had overcome many a temptation, ^before he could attain 
 the eminence upon which he already stood. Great efforts 
 are, however, still to be made, that he may preserve his 
 position; but, habituated to labor, to combat, and to over- 
 come his passions are in his keeping; there is more need 
 of vigilance than of effort; but there must be no relaxa- 
 tion on the part of him who guards so wily and so power- 
 ful a foe as strong natural propensities, subdued indeed and
 
 172 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 restrained, but yet vigorous, powerful, and seductive. One 
 day's negligence may render unavailing all the achievements 
 of years. 
 
 What a lesson, my friends, is this for the youth of our 
 country! What an admonition for parents! Why have we 
 not amongst us more men bearing this true stamp of the 
 nobility of virtue? Because the child is too fond of 
 pleasure, too impatient of restraint; because the parent has 
 false notions of glorious independence, and fondly imagines 
 that lost virtue may be easily restored; because a weak 
 and miscalculating fondness persuades itself that the bridle 
 which restrains from, licentiousness destroys that strength 
 which it but directs to a useful and a pleasing course. 
 How greatly preferable is the noble animal, that, trained to 
 the hand, patiently submits to its directions, to the untamed 
 beast that menaces ruin to every one who approaches! The 
 one smells the battle at a distance, and proudly lifts his 
 head, whilst he impatiently paws the ground; yet he rests 
 in his place, prepared but steady. He hears the note of 
 preparation in the trumpet's blast, and he now looks for 
 the onset. At the signal, he bears his rider in the midst 
 of his companions, in safety and in victory, over the ruins 
 of the broken host. He holds back when he is checked; 
 he returns, fatigued indeed, but not exhausted; he is nour- 
 ished and cared for; he is grateful to his attendants, and, 
 before the rising sun, he neighs to prove his desire for the 
 pursuit of the succeeding day. Woe to him who would 
 enter into battle with the other! Should he not be shaken 
 from his seat, or be carried wildly from the face of the 
 array he is separated from his troop he is borne power- 
 less into the thick of his enemies, where he soon falls, the 
 bewildered victim of his own rashness, and to the fury of 
 those who surround him. His corpse is found under the 
 carcass of his worst enemy. Even in death, the cause of 
 his ruin is manifest to that friend who would seek, under 
 shade of twilight, to render the last rites to the body of 
 his associate. What a picture of the folly of a parent,
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 173 
 
 and of the ruin of a child! Call you this glorious inde- 
 pendence ? 
 
 In truth, we have now only to contemplate the character 
 thus formed, developing itself as circumstances permit, and 
 becoming more fixed and better matured by experience. 
 
 Washington's first public mission was not only of a 
 'highly confidential but of an extremely perilous nature. 
 The French had crossed the Northern Lakes, which had 
 been assumed by Great Britain as the natural boundary 
 between their respective colonies. It was suspected that 
 they sought to establish themselves upon the Ohio. A 
 messenger had been sent from Virginia, in the character 
 of an Indian trader, to visit the friendly tribes in that 
 quarter, and to procure accurate intelligence of their dispo- 
 sition and of the French advances. He had returned 
 without having fully accomplished the object for which he 
 was employed, but bringing sufficient information to prove 
 that the fears expressed by the British cabinet to the 
 .Governor of Virginia were well founded, and that France 
 was disposed to establish posts within the territory claimed 
 by England. The governor had been furnished with cannon 
 and ammunition, to repel, if necessary, by force, any effort 
 of this description. Not only was it ascertained that troops 
 had descended from Canada, but it was found that others 
 had ascended from New Orleans, and that it was contem- 
 plated to lock up the British within a line of posts ex- 
 tending from the lakes, by the Ohio and Mississippi, so 
 as to secure at least all the territory west of this line for 
 the crown of France. The Governor and Council of Vir- 
 ginia resolved, that it would be proper, as both nations 
 were at peace, to send an officer to the French commander, 
 with a request to know by what authority he had advanced, 
 and also to learn what was his object. Major Washington 
 was selected. 
 
 "He was directed to proceed without delay to the Ohio 
 river, convene some of the Indian chiefs at a place called 
 Logstown, make known to them the objects of his visit,
 
 174 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 and, after ascertaining where the French were stationed, to 
 request an escort of warriors to be his guides and safe- 
 guard the rest of the journey. When arrived at the 
 principal French post, he was to present his credentials and 
 a letter from the Governor of Virginia to the commandant, 
 and in the name of his Brittannic majesty to demand an 
 answer. He was furthermore to inquire diligently, and by 
 cautious means, into the number of the French troops that 
 had crossed the lakes, the reinforcements expected from 
 Canada, how many forts they had erected, and at what 
 places, how they were garrisoned and appointed, and their 
 distances from each other, and, in short, to procure all the 
 intelligence possible respecting the condition and objects of 
 the intruders. 
 
 "Fortified with written instructions to this effect, with 
 credentials and a passport, to which the great seal of the 
 colony was affixed, he departed from Williamsburg, the seat 
 of government in Virginia, on November 31, 1753. The 
 distance before him to the extreme point of his destination, 
 by the route he would pursue, was about five hundred and 
 sixty miles, in great part over lofty and rugged mountains, 
 and more than half of the way through the heart of a 
 wilderness, where no traces of civilization as yet appeared." 
 
 With a party of seven companions he set forward, and 
 by climbing, scrambling, fording and swimming, as well as 
 by riding, he reached the Monongahela and Alleghany, at 
 the point where their junction forms the Ohio. His eye 
 soon discerned the peculiar advantages consequent upon the 
 erection of a fort at this spot. It was from the erection 
 of this work the colonists were driven in the subsequent 
 year; it was completed by the French, and called after the 
 name of their Canadian governor, Du Q,uesne ; subsequently 
 retaken by Washington, when it was called Fort Pitt, and 
 at this day has risen to the important rank of an indus- 
 trious city, Pittsburg. About twenty miles below this fork 
 he called together some Indian chiefs, with whom he entered 
 into friendly relations, and formed the acquaintance of
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 175 
 
 Tanacharison, or the half-king, who was subsequently his- 
 ally and companion. He thence proceeded to the French, 
 post, and was told by the commander, M. de St. Pierre, 
 in a respectful but firm tone, that his troops could not 
 retire, for he had received orders to occupy the place ; 
 that his duty was obedience, and that discussion could be 
 had only with those who commanded him. He treated the 
 British envoy with hospitality, and gave him supplies upon 
 his departure; yet, by some means, Major Washington found 
 many impediments to his return, a considerable part of 
 which he had to make on foot with but one companion > 
 carrying on his back his knapsack, containing some papers 
 and his food, with a gun in hand, amidst falling snow and 
 over thickening ice, and having only by great ingenuity 
 and exertion escaped the treachery of some Indians. 
 
 Upon his return he delivered the answer of the French 
 commander, and placed his own journal in the hands of 
 the governor ; and it was clearly ascertained that a case 
 had arisen in which force must be repelled by force. This 
 journal was not only printed in Virginia, but also by the 
 directions of the English government it was published in 
 Europe, and was highly commended in each place. Major 
 Washington was appointed to command a force of two- 
 hundred men, who were to proceed to the Ohio and erect 
 a fort at the spot which he had indicated. Captain 
 Trent was appointed to command one of the companies. 
 He was directed to go forward and raise his company by 
 enlisting the traders accustomed to the Indians and the 
 woods ; to proceed to the fork of the Ohio, and commence 
 the fort. Washington, at Alexandria, waited to assemble 
 the remainder of the troops, to organize them, to collect 
 supplies and to send them forward, together w r ith the cannon 
 to be mounted in the fort. 
 
 The Legislature of Virginia, upon its meeting, increased 
 the force to six companies, under the command of Colonel 
 Fry, making Washington lieutenant-colonel. The British 
 government also authorized the governor of Virginia to call
 
 176 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 upon New York for two companies of continental troops 
 and upon South Carolina for one. The officers of such 
 companies held their commissions, not from the colonial 
 government, but from the crown, which caused them to 
 claim an exemption from the authority of the colonial offi- 
 cers, and to be regarded more in the light of an allied 
 or auxiliary force, than as men to be commanded. On the 
 20th of April, 1754, Col. Washington arrived at Will's 
 Creek, which was then the border of civilization, with 
 three companies under his command. Here he learned that 
 Captain Trent's men had been summoned, by an immensely 
 superior French force, to capitulate and retire from the 
 fort which they were erecting. The French having pos- 
 sessed themselves of it, in compliment to their governor 
 called it Fort Du Quesne. Col. Fry had not arrived Wash- 
 ington's own force was very small a wilderness was before 
 him, with an opposing army far more numerous, well 
 organized, and already habituated to the country, ready to 
 fall upon him, he knew not at what moment or in what 
 place. He held a council of war and determined to pro- 
 ceed to the erection of a fort upon another spot on the 
 Monongahela. Thus, at all events, would his men be em- 
 ployed, the bane of idleness be removed, and by the con- 
 structions necessary for their advance, a road would be opened 
 for those who would follow, whilst they themselves would 
 be at least approaching to the attainment of their object. 
 He sent expresses to the governors of Virginia, Maryland, 
 and Pennsylvania, advising them of his situation, and request- 
 ing reinforcements. 
 
 As this was his first campaign, I shall dwell upon it; 
 for here we shall perceive his qualities as a commander, 
 as fully developed as will be necessary to exhibit his char- 
 acter in that position. His determination to advance shows 
 none of the rashness or impetuosity of the unthinking 
 brave ; it was the result of deliberation and counsel, and 
 for sufficient reasons. To retreat would have been a 
 degrading abandonment of his duty, a betraying of the
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 177 
 
 trust reposed in him; it would have stricken a panic into 
 liis men, from which they could not be recovered; it would 
 have given to the enemy confidence, time, and undisturbed 
 possession ; and would have totally bewildered the colonial 
 councils, whilst the Indians would have been gained over 
 by the French. Did he remain where he was, nearly all 
 these effects would have been equally the result; at all 
 events, his troops would have been idle and discontented; 
 they would have lost all confidence in him, and did they 
 not desert him on the first failure of supplies, insubordi- 
 nation and plunder would have left him despised and 
 powerless, the butt of a mob, not the commander of sol- 
 diers. As it was, from the neglect of the commissaries, 
 provisions failed upon their march. Besides the perplexity 
 of this misfortune, he had to overcome the difficulties of 
 exploring his way and of constructing his road. He was, 
 on those occasions, himself the pioneer, who, with a few 
 attendants, penetrated the recesses of the forest, to learn 
 how a swamp might be avoided ; or he encountered, in a 
 canoe or on a raft, the perils of an unexplored river, to 
 discover its obstructions or its falls, to ascertain where it 
 was fordable, or where a bridge could be placed. What 
 patience, ingenuity, judgment, and perseverance was neces- 
 sary for such an expedition! This was the school to which 
 Providence led him, that he might be taught for a period 
 of equal difficulties upon a more extended scale and for a 
 nobler purpose. Not to secure for one monarch rather than 
 for another the nominal and useless sovereignty over the 
 wild hunting grounds, which as Tanacharison, speaking of 
 the French and English, told both parties, "the Great Being 
 above allowed to be the residence for him and his people," but 
 to redeem the people of a continent from the dictation of a 
 distant island, and casting off the bands with which it was 
 sought to confine them, leave them to exercise those facul- 
 ties and those powers with which God had endowed them, 
 with that freedom which is the right of every nation, and 
 
 19
 
 178 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 by whose proper use she can better secure her happiness, 
 than she can by any foreign direction. 
 
 As he advanced towards the Monongahela, he received 
 notice from Tanacharison that the French had sent a party 
 out from their fort, who had determined "to strike the Eng- 
 lish" should they be met with. Soon afterwards he received 
 another message that the French was advanced to within 
 fifteen miles of him. Knowing his situation, he thought it 
 better to choose his field, and accordingly drew his little 
 force to a place called the Great Meadows ; and having 
 cleared it as well as circumstances would allow, he threw 
 up an entrenchment, nearly protected on three sides by a 
 stream, and sufficiently distant from the wood to require 
 that an assailant should show his men upon the open 
 ground. He sent out scouts mounted on his wagon horses 
 to reconnoitre ; but they returned without having made any 
 discovery. His camp was, however, alarmed during the 
 night; his sentinels fired, and his men were kept under 
 arms till morning. A respectable settler then came in with 
 information that a French detachment of fifty men had been 
 at his place on the previous day, and that he had dis- 
 covered their tracks within five miles of the camp. In the 
 early part of the next night another express arrived from 
 the Indian, who was within about six miles of the Great 
 Meadows with his people, stating that the French were in 
 his vicinity, and that he had seen two tracks. Within an 
 hour after this arrival, Washington, at the head of forty 
 men, left the camp in the midst of torrents of rain, on 
 one of the darkest nights that could be imagined. The 
 soldiers strayed from the path, frequently lost their way, 
 climbed over fallen trees and opposing rocks, and stumbled 
 over each other; *and it took them as many hours to reach 
 the Indian station, as they had miles to pass over. It was 
 nearly sunrise when they arrived. 
 
 The occurrence of this day was in many ways remarka- 
 ble. It was a battle between the troops of two nations 
 actually at peace. The force engaged was small, but it
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 179 
 
 was the commencement of a contest which deprived France 
 of one of her most important colonies, after the vicissitudes 
 of nearly seven years of war. It was the military essay 
 of a young man who was destined to lead the armies of half 
 u continent, struggling for that freedom which it was to 
 achieve, against the efforts of that nation on whose behalf 
 he was now himself engaged; but that freedom was not 
 to be obtained without the aid of that country against 
 which he was then armed. Such are the vicissitudes of 
 human affairs. But this was also, for the character of 
 Washington, an event, the proper understanding of whose 
 circumstances is of peculiar importance. It is the only bat- 
 tle in which he was engaged which even an enemy ven- 
 tured to point out as unjustifiable carnage. 
 
 It was stated in Europe that M. de Jumonville, who 
 commanded, was not an officer sent for a hostile purpose, 
 but an ambassador sent on an errand of a peaceful char- 
 acter; that a rash, impetuous, and inexperienced youth wan- 
 tonly assailed and cruelly murdered the envoy and his 
 attendants. 
 
 Let us examine the case. This statement was made in 
 Europe by the diplomatists of France, at a moment when 
 they were engaged with those of England, apparently seeking 
 to adjust their differences, but really, it is believed, seeking 
 a colorable pretext for war. The French had made their 
 preparations already in America to surround the British 
 colonies, and to confine them, as nearly as they could, from 
 extending to the west. It was, according to the rules of 
 what is called diplomacy, the business of the French agents 
 to create the impression that England had given occasion 
 for their hostile movements, and this occurrence furnished 
 the pretext they sought. 1 
 
 Let us now see Washington's position. Fully aware of 
 the objects of the French, from his previous interview, 
 
 i No excuses can absolve the British government from the crime of their iniqui- 
 tous invasion cf the rights of France, whose sons had purchased, by their toil and 
 blood, the territory of the Mississippi valley.
 
 180 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 when he had gone, unaccompanied by a retinue of soldiers, 
 to deliver a letter and to hold a discussion with the prin- 
 cipal officer of the force that was making descents and 
 settlements within what the English regarded as their lands, 
 he not only found his remonstrances useless, but he saw 
 the aggressions extended. Commissioned and sent out by 
 his own government, with an armed force, to repel this 
 invasion and to protect its limits, he finds a portion of 
 his command dispossessed of a fort which they had been 
 erecting, his troops threatened with violence if they did not 
 yield. He finds, by the report of his scouts, that an armed 
 baud - was advancing still farther into his country that 
 they were hovering about his camp. He is informed by 
 his Indian allies, .that their avowed object is to attack the 
 English. His camp is alarmed. By whom? It is true 
 that a few of, his men had deserted, but surely deserters 
 are not found lurking round the spot where capture and 
 punishment would be the probable result. He consults 
 Tanacharison. He discovers that this armed band has with- 
 drawn from the common road, which peaceful envoys travel, 
 and lay in a concealed and well-protected retreat, like 
 invaders, and had sent scouts to observe the British posi- 
 tion. This fact was ascertained by the discovery of their 
 tracks. Messengers had also been sent back by them to 
 the main body of their force, clearly to carry information, 
 probably to call for an advance of larger numbers. Is he 
 to await the arrival of an army superior in force, and 
 permit the object which he had been selected to accom- 
 plish, to be lost? Is he to permit himself to be trifled 
 with and overreached ? His ally, who had means of infor- 
 mation, assures him that their intention is hostile. There 
 is but one course open for him. He plans the mode of 
 attack, should it be necessary, yet he leaves an opportunity 
 to the others to see and to explain. He advances against 
 the position of the armed invaders. They are discovered; 
 lie is himself at the head of his little detachment; he 
 is seen. The ambassador, of course, will now show his
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 181 
 
 symbol of friendship will demand protection, and seek to 
 attain the end of his mission. Washington advances, and he 
 is received, not with the etiquette of an envoy, but with 
 the warning of loaded muskets. He is prepared, and the 
 return is quickly made. The whole effort of the assailants, 
 for such are they to whom he is opposed, is directed 
 against the Virginians ; the Indian is left unassailed. If 
 the commander and ten of his soldiers have lost their lives 
 before the surviving twenty-two have called for quarter, they 
 have fallen victims either to their duty, if they were 
 enemies, or to their folly, if they were friends. It is true, 
 that in the pocket of the commander there was found a 
 dictatorial summons to the English commander, leaving him 
 the only option of retiring peaceably east of the Allegha- 
 nies, or of being compelled by force to do so. Some of 
 the ambassador's officers asserted, when they were prisoners, 
 that they had never seen the document, and they censured 
 its style. However, they said many other things, which 
 Washington declared not to be facts. The captured men 
 were sent prisoners to Governor Dinwiddie, who approved 
 of Washington's conduct. 
 
 He wrote to the Governor that he was certain of being 
 attacked by a superior force, as soon as the French should 
 learn what had occurred ; that, in his present situation he 
 would be unable to hold his ground against them. He 
 could only assure him that he would not be taken by 
 surprise ; and would not retreat or surrender whilst the 
 slightest prospect existed of being able to make a useful 
 or an honorable resistance. The succors he received were 
 small ; the want of supplies, especially of provisions, was 
 very trying. The distinctions in pay and in rank between 
 the officers of the colony and those of the crown were 
 unfortunate and paralyzing, and would have produced worse 
 consequences but for the good sense, the moderation, and 
 kindly feeling that existed between Colonel Washington and 
 Captain Mackay, w r ho commanded, under a royal commis- 
 sion, the only contingent from another State that took the
 
 182 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 field. South Carolina, always ready to take her place in 
 the day of peril and at the post of honor, sent her hun- 
 dred men to share the sufferings and the dangers of this 
 campaign which terminated by the capitulation of the 
 colonial troops to a superior force of the French, who, 
 during nine hours, had endeavored, on the 3d of July, to 
 get possession of Fort Necessity; for so was this hastily 
 erected fortification on the Great Meadows called, and on 
 the next day its defenders marched out, with the honors of 
 war, to return home. The commander and his soldiers, 
 besides the consciousness of having done their duty, had 
 also the thanks of the council, the burgesses and the 
 public. The prudence, the address, the courage, the patience, 
 firmness, and love of discipline of Washington, were uni- 
 versally acknowledged with well-merited eulogy. 
 
 The blunders and the difficulties arising from the 
 arrangements of rank, to which I have before alluded, 
 caused Washington to decline accepting a commission which 
 was offered him by Governor Sharpe, of Maryland, who 
 had been lately appointed by the king of England com- 
 mander-in-chief of the forces against the French. In de- 
 clining the offer, he added: "I shall have the consolation 
 of knowing that I have opened the way, when the small- 
 ness of our numbers exposed us to the attacks of a 
 superior enemy; and that I have had the thanks of my 
 country for the services I have rendered." 
 
 The agency of this man, as he advanced in life, upon 
 a more extended field, in more elevated stations, and 
 amongst persons of more importance, necessarily attracts 
 more attention, and surrounds him with a brighter halo of 
 glory ; but the individual is himself unchanged. From the 
 first moment to the last, it is George Washington! Hence 
 it is not my intention to trespass upon your patience by 
 a recital of facts, with which you are well acquainted, nor 
 by leading you through those revolutionary fields whose 
 names are as familiar to your mouths and to your ears as 
 household words.
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 183 
 
 You know that he accepted the invitation of the brave 
 but unfortunate Braddock, to be one of his military family. 
 I need not inform you of its results. How Washington 
 escaped, on that day which witnessed the almost total ruin 
 of a fine army, I think is attributable only to a special 
 Providence. When the two aids of the general were dis- 
 abled he alone was engaged in the duty of distributing 
 the orders. He is seen everywhere on horseback, in the 
 hour of carnage, an object easily marked, and by no means 
 unimportant. He wrote to his brother: a By the all-pow- 
 erful dispensation of Providence, I have been protected 
 beyond all human probability or expectation ; for I had 
 four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under 
 me. Yet I escaped unhurt, although death was leveling 
 my companions on every side of me." 
 
 It is true, that in this action, though unexpectedly 
 attacked, and his veteran European soldiers thrown into 
 inextricable confusion, General Braddock and his officers 
 behaved with the utmost courage, "and used every effort 
 to rally the men, and bring them to order, but all in 
 vain. In this state they continued nearly three hours, 
 huddling together in confused bodies, firing irregularly, shoot- 
 ing down their own officers and men, and doing no per- 
 ceptible harm to the enemy. The Virginia provincials were 
 the only troops who seemed to retain their senses, and they 
 behaved with a bravery and resolution worthy of a better 
 fate. They adopted the Indian mode, and fought each man 
 for himself behind a tree. This was prohibited by the 
 general, who endeavored to form his men into platoons and 
 columns, as if they had been manceuvering on the plains of 
 Flanders. Meantime the French and Indians, concealed in 
 the ravines and behind trees, kept up a deadly and un- 
 ceasing discharge of musketry, singling out their objects, 
 taking deliberate aim, and producing a carnage almost un- 
 paralleled in the annals of modern warfare. More than 
 half of the whole army, which had crossed the river in so 
 proud an array only three hours before, were killed or
 
 184 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 wounded. The general himself received a mortal wound, 
 and many of his best officers fell by his side." 
 
 "A report has been long current in Pennsylvania that 
 Braddock was shot by one of his own men, founded on 
 the declaration of a provincial soldier, who was in the 
 action. There is another tradition, also worthy of notice, 
 which rests on the authority of Dr. Craik, the intimate 
 friend of Washington from his boyhood to his death, and 
 who was with him at the battle of the Monongahela. 
 Fifteen years after that event they traveled together on an 
 expedition to the western country, with a party of woods- 
 men, for the purpose of exploring wild lands. While near 
 the junction of the Great Kanawha and Ohio rivers a 
 company of Indians came to them with an interpreter, at 
 the head of whom was an aged and venerable chief. This 
 personage made known to them, by the interpreter, that 
 hearing Colonel Washington was in that region, he had 
 come a long way to visit him, adding, that during the 
 battle of the Monongahela, he had singled him out as a 
 conspicuous object, fired his rifle at him many times, and 
 directed his young warriors to do the same, but to his 
 utter astonishment, none of their balls took effect. He was 
 then persuaded that the youthful hero was under the special 
 guardianship of the Great Spirit, and ceased to fire at him 
 any longer. He M'as now come to pay homage to the man 
 who was the particular favorite of heaven, and who could 
 never die in battle." 
 
 It is thought that if Braddock had been attentive to the 
 counsel of his Virginia aid, the result would have been 
 different. Washington's sufferings, his services, and his suc- 
 cess, when subsequently called from his retirement by his 
 country, to assume the command of the Virginia forces, 
 and to aid General Forbes, served still further, during 
 three years, to manifest his good qualities, and to prepare 
 him better for the great work which he was destined, at 
 a future day, to achieve. In January, 1759, after having 
 resigned his commission, when lie had made his troops
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 185 
 
 efficient, and had been crowned with success in his enter- 
 prise, he prepared to spend the remainder of his days in, 
 private life. Upon his marriage he received a great acces- 
 sion to his property, besides being united to a companion 
 whose affection for him and whose domestic virtues exceeded 
 even the meed of reputation which she had obtained for 
 more brilliant though less valuable qualities. Forty years 
 of vicissitudes always showed their mutual regards, not, 
 perhaps, altogether unchanged, but if altered, they were 
 increasing in respect and affection. Whenever his keen 
 sense of public duty allowed him a short respite from his 
 laborious employments, he sought, with renovated eagerness, 
 the cheerful society of his home and the pleasing occupa- 
 tion of superintending his domestic concerns. This proved 
 his unambitious disposition and the excellence of his family 
 circle. Firm and sufficiently forward, when the good of 
 his conntry required it, he was as ready to face her foes 
 in the field as he was to expostulate with her governors 
 when he had to point out their oversight or neglect, as it 
 was frequently necessary, in vindicating what was due to 
 his officers and soldiers, and in requiring what was de- 
 manded by his circumstances to insure the attainment of the 
 public safety. He was always ready to sacrifice his own 
 private claims, t forego what w r ere his just recompenses, 
 and to shun public honors. Whilst he was engaged in the 
 field at the close of his services, he was . elected by the 
 county of Frederick to a seat in the House of Burgesses of 
 Virginia. Upon his return, whilst attending the session in 
 his place, Mr. Robinson, the speaker, by direction of the 
 assembly, returned thanks to the young hero; but unused 
 to such a position, and confounded at the sound of his 
 eulogy, he stood unable to reply until the speaker reliev- 
 ing him by a still higher compliment, ingeniously added, 
 from the inspiration of truth : " Sit down, Mr. Washington ; 
 your modesty equals your valor, and that surpasses the 
 power of any language that I possess." 
 
 He was now twenty-seven years of age, and with the
 
 186 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 exception of his attendance as a legislator at the sessions 
 of the Assembly, he kept, as far as possible, secluded from 
 public life; occupied at Mount Yernon in the improve- 
 ment of agriculture, the exercise of a generous hospitality, 
 and finding relaxation in the intercourse with his neighbors 
 and his loved relatives, with respectable and polished 
 strangers whom his early fame had attracted to visit at his 
 mansion. His chief enjoyment was in the domestic circle, 
 and an occasional indulgence in the sports of the field ; 
 the excitement, the labor, and the exposure of which had 
 been rendered in a great measure necessary by his previ- 
 ous occupations and habits from his very boyish days. Nor 
 could he refuse the benefit of his judgment and the weight 
 of his integrity to the solicitations of many who preferred 
 in their difficulties being guided by his advice and de- 
 cisions, to litigating their claims before public tribunals. 
 
 I believe we may safely say, that few members of society 
 are more useful than an independent and upright country 
 gentleman, who is thus the protector of his family, the 
 cultivator of the soil, the model of his neighbors for good 
 conduct, the harbinger of peace in contentions, the patri- 
 arch, whose feelings of kindly interest are engaged for the 
 welfare of his servants, and who, from a sense of duty, 
 disinterestedly and without any selfish projects or party 
 techemes, devotes a due share of his time and of his atten- 
 tion, in proper place, to the public business of the State. 
 Such was the manner in which twelve or fourteen years 
 of his life now passed away. Such is the way in which 
 he desired it should continue to its termination. 
 
 It was, however, not so decreed in the order of Provi- 
 dence. Great Britain undertook to impose taxes without 
 their own consent upon the colonies. The amount was im- 
 material the principle was everything. Admit that it may 
 be done to the amount of one cent in the year, what is 
 to restrain the imposition? From the first moment, Wash- 
 ington saw what must be the result if the effort was con- 
 tinued, and he declared it as plainly as he saw it; when
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 187 
 
 that declaration was necessary it might be useful. He could 
 scarcely persuade himself that Great Britain would persist. 
 He expressed his hopes that she would not ; and cherished, 
 as far as he could, that expectation in the bosom of his 
 friends. He knew well that resistance must end in revo- 
 lution; revolution in civil war. He abhorred the desola- 
 tion of his country, the havoc of his people, the thousand 
 evils which accompany and succeed the bloody strife. He 
 ,had seen the pomp and circumstance of war. Never did 
 he behold a more glorious and splendid pageant than when 
 Braddock's men deployed in w r ell-set order, and moved 
 forward in brilliant uniform, with shining arms glittering 
 in a radiant sun, on the banks of the Monongahela. But 
 before that sun was set, their gory limbs, their shattered 
 arms, their mutilated bodies lay in terrible confusion on 
 that fatal plain ; the moans of the dying and the wailings 
 of the wounded were mingled with the blasphemy of the 
 raving and the lamentations and the oaths of the despair- 
 ing. It is the vain braggart who shuns the field where 
 the contest for his country's rights is to try man's prowess, 
 who too frequently makes a vaporing semblance of a vir- 
 tue which he has not ; it is often the coward who wan- 
 tonly provokes brave men to those lists, of which he con- 
 tinues to be only a spectator. But that man whose soul 
 is ennobled by true heroism, possesses a heart as tender 
 as it is firm; he is equally ready to soothe and protect 
 a child as he is to oppose and smite a giant ; he avoids 
 exciting the bloody fray, whilst honor and justice will per- 
 mit its being declined ; but when the battle has become 
 his duty, his arm is indeed nerved and elastic, his eye is 
 keen and discerning, he assails the haughty, but he lifts 
 the suppliant, and he consoles the vanquished. A man who 
 is truly brave is also truly generous ; he shudders at the 
 ruin of battle, he endeavors to avoid its necessities ; but that 
 necessity once established, he unflinchingly performs his duty. 
 It is not, however, in the bloody field that the work of 
 desolation is most extensive or most afflicting. It is there,
 
 188 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 indeed, that the first blow is struck ; it is there the ruin 
 commences. But though he who lies mangled and festering 
 amidst the heap of victims that have been immolated to 
 the Moloch of war, is now insensible to mortal grief or 
 pain, not so the survivors. Separated as the iron soldier 
 appears to be from everything that belongs to the affections 
 of life and the ties of relationship, still he is a man, and 
 bound to others with the most tender ligaments that twine 
 around the heart. There lies one upon the field his blood 
 still flows ; his wound indeed is mortal, but as yet all his 
 soul is in him. Half elevated, he reclines upon the corpse 
 of a comrade who shared in his toils, who partook of his 
 confidence, who was charged, should he survive him, to 
 bear the token of his affection to one far distant from that 
 scene of carnage. "With an effort, he has succeeded in 
 drawing that pledge from the bosom of his friend; and, 
 whilst his arm rests upon his broken musket, what he 
 meant to be a memorial for the wife of his youth, the 
 partner of his affections, the mother of his children, is 
 now for himself inseparably united with her image; it is 
 grasped with a hold which even death will not relax, whilst 
 his swollen and distended eye rests upon it. He heeds 
 not the joyous shout, though it proclaims victory for his 
 companions ; the wild tumult of flight is around him, but 
 of this and of every other object on the field, save that one 
 token, he is now regardless. His mind is far away, his recol- 
 lection is of other years. His wife, his mother, his chil- 
 dren, his cottage these are all present to his excited 
 fancy. He seems for the moment to have some new, though 
 melancholy, existence amongst them. The ebb becomes slow 
 from his side ; that gasp is convulsive ; he awakes to a 
 consciousness of his state ; a petition to his God ; an 
 expression of contrition, of resignation, and of hope. His 
 lips quiver as he prays for a blessing on those whom he 
 leaves to the cold charity of a selfish world, as he dies 
 upon what is called the field of glory. A grateful country 
 decks the spot, indeed, with barren laurels, and the cold,
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 189 
 
 cold shafts of affliction penetrate the hearts of those who 
 lived in the expectation of his return. "Who will protect 
 his orphans? Who will soothe the mother? "Who will sus- 
 tain the widow? 
 
 Washington had witnessed with aching heart many a 
 scene of this description. Generously did he minister to 
 many a family thus stripped in desolation ; and therefore 
 he was not a man to rush thoughtlessly upon a course 
 that he knew must entail such miseries upon his country. 
 He felt deeply the wrongs which the British government 
 was perpetrating; he was one of the first to determine that 
 they must not be endured ; but he sought, by petition, by 
 remonstrance, by expostulation, by non-importation, to try 
 whether it was possible to avoid recourse to arms. Yet, 
 whilst he sought to restrain the violence of his friends, he 
 had calmly and deliberately resolved to act and to suffer, 
 and, if necessary, to die in organized resistance, upon clearly 
 ascertained principle, rather than submit to a tyranny whose 
 oppressions would far exceed even the disasters of battle 
 and of death. It is a melancholy choice when one is 
 obliged to take one or the other, in this exhibition of 
 alternatives. It is a great relief when any other mode 
 leaves a probability or even a faint hope, that by patience, 
 by exertion, by time, by moral influence, an amelioration 
 may be obtained, and the horrors of war may bo averted. 
 This hope was cherished this principle was the guiding 
 star of the patriots of the Revolution ; and it was not 
 until every ray of parliamentary sympathy was extinguished, 
 and that the royal eye no longer beamed upon the peti- 
 tions that were laid even at the footstool of the throne, 
 that Washington found himself in the gloom of hopeless- 
 ness, and that he yielded to the dire necessity of inflict- 
 ing upon his country the evils of military contest. Still 
 his soul recoiled from it; and fully six years before the 
 Declaration of Independence, his sentiments were expressed 
 to a friend with whom he consulted in the following terms : 
 
 "At a time when our lordly masters in Great Britain
 
 190 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 will be satisfied with nothing less than the deprivation of 
 American freedom, it seems highly necessary that some- 
 thing should be done to avert the stroke, and maintain 
 the liberty which we have derived from our ancestors. 
 But the manner of doing it, to answer the purpose effectu- 
 ally, is the point in question. 
 
 " That no man should scruple or hesitate a moment to 
 use arms in defence of so valuable a blessing, is clearly 
 my opinion. Yet arms, I would beg leave to add, should 
 be the last resource, the dernier ressort. We have already, 
 it is said, proved the inefficacy of addresses to the throne 
 and remonstrances to Parliament. How far, then, their 
 attention to our rights and privileges may be awakened or 
 alarmed, by starving their trade and manufactures, remains 
 to be tried." 
 
 Two other extracts from his correspondence, nearly five 
 years later, will show the convictions of a mind that had 
 long and maturely deliberated upon the subject. Writing 
 to a friend who hesitated upon acceding to resolutions of 
 a meeting in Fairfax county, at which Washington pre- 
 sided, he says : 
 
 " That I differ very widely from you in respect to the 
 mode of obtaining a repeal of the acts so much and 
 so justly complained of, I shall not hesitate to acknowl- 
 edge ; and that this difference in opinion probably pro- 
 ceeds from the different constructions we put upon the 
 conduct and intention of the ministry, may also be true; 
 but, as I see nothing, on the one hand, to induce a 
 belief that the Parliament would embrace a favorable 
 opportunity of repealing acts, which they go on with great 
 rapidity to pass, in order to enforce their tyrannical system; 
 and, on the other, I observe, or think I observe, that 
 government is p.ursuing a regular plan at the expense 
 of law and justice to overthrow our constitutional rights 
 and liberties, how can I expect any redress from a 
 measure which has been ineffectually tried already? For, 
 sir, what is it we are contending against? Is it against
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 191 
 
 paying the duty of three pence per pound on tea because 
 burdensome? No, it is the right only we have all along 
 disputed; and to this end we have already petitioned his 
 majesty in as humble and dutiful a manner as subjects 
 could do. Nay, more, we applied to the House of Lords 
 and House of Commons in their different legislative capaci- 
 ties, setting forth, that, as Englishmen, we could not be 
 deprived of this essential and valuable part of our Con- 
 stitution. If, then, as the fact really is, it is against the 
 right of taxation that we now do and, as I said before, 
 all along have contended, why should they suppose an ex- 
 ertion of this power would be less obnoxious now than 
 formerly? And what reason have we to believe that they 
 would make a second attempt, whilst the same sentiments 
 fill the breast of every American, if they did not intend 
 to enforce it if possible? 
 
 "In short, what further proofs are wanting to satisfy any 
 one of the designs of the ministry, than their own acts, 
 which are uniform and plainly tending to the same point, 
 nay, if I mistake not, avowedly to fix the right of taxa- 
 tion? What hope have we, then, from petitioning when they 
 tell us that now or never is the time to fix the matter ? 
 Shall we, after this, whine and cry for relief, when we have 
 already tried it in vain ? Or shall we supinely sit and see 
 one province after another fall a sacrifice to despotism ? 
 
 " If I were in any doubt as to the right which the Par- 
 liament of Great Britain had to tax us without our consent, 
 I should most heartily coincide with you in opinion, that 
 to petition, and to petition only, is the proper method to 
 apply for relief; because we should then be asking a favor r 
 and not claiming a right, which, by the law of nature and 
 our Constitution, we are, in my opinion, indubitably entitled 
 to. I should even think it criminal to go further than 
 this, under such an idea ; but I have none such. I think 
 the Parliament of Great Britain has no more right to put 
 its hands into my pocket, without my consent, than I have 
 to put my hands into yours ; and this being already urged
 
 192 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 to it in a firm but decent manner, by all the colonies, what 
 reason is there to expect anything from its justice ? 
 
 " Satisfied, then, that the acts of the British Parliament 
 are no longer governed by the principles of justice, that 
 they are trampling upon the valuable rights of Americans, 
 confirmed to them by charter and by the Constitution they 
 themselves boast of, and convinced, beyond the smallest 
 doubt, that these measures are the result of deliberation, 
 and attempted to be carried into execution by the hand of 
 power, is it a time to trifle, or to risk our cause upon 
 petitions, which with difficulty obtain access, and afterwards 
 are thrown by with the utmost contempt? Or should we, 
 because heretofore unsuspicious of design, and then un- 
 willing to enter into disputes with the mother country, go 
 on to bear more, and forbear to enumerate our just causes 
 of complaint? For my own part, I shall not undertake 
 to say where the line between Great Britain and the 
 colonies should be drawn ; but I am Clearly of opinion 
 that one ought to be drawn, and our rights clearly ascer- 
 tained. I could wish, I own, that the dispute had been 
 left to posterity to determine; but the crisis is arrived 
 when we must assert our rights, or submit to every impo- 
 sition that can be heaped upon us, till custom and use 
 shall make us tame and abject slaves." 
 
 This, in fact, embodies the whole principle of the 
 Revolution. 
 
 Whilst attending a meeting of the first Congress, of 
 which he was a member, he received a letter from a 
 former companion-in-arms, who held a commission in an 
 English regiment then stationed at Boston. The following 
 is an extract from the answer which he sent : 
 
 "These, sir, being certain consequences, which must 
 naturally result from the late acts of Parliament relative 
 to America in general, and the government of Massachusetts 
 Bay in particular, is it to be wondered at, I repeat, that 
 men, who wish to avert tho impending blow, should attempt
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 193 
 
 to oppose it in its progress, or prepare for their defence 
 if it cannot be averted? Surely I may be allowed to 
 answer in the negative ; and again give me leave to add 
 as my opinion, that more blood will be spilled on this 
 occasion, if the ministers are determined to push matters 
 to extremity, than history has ever yet furnished instances 
 of in the annals of North America, and such a vital 
 wound* will be given to the peace of this great country 
 as time itself cannot cure or eradicate the remembrance of." 
 
 He was also a member of the second Congress, which 
 assembled on the 10th of May, 1775. Blood had been 
 then shed at Lexington and at Concord; the Rubicon was 
 passed, and though no formal declaration had yet been made, 
 still the sword which smote the freemen of New England 
 had severed the tie which bound that colony to the older 
 land of freemen. An expression of John Adams indicated 
 in a way too plain to be misunderstood, that, though her 
 own sons were in the field, and had confidence in their 
 commander, still she would sacrifice sectional pride to gen- 
 eral advantage, and that in selecting the commander-in-chief 
 of the continental forces, the name of a Southron, in whose 
 prowess and prudence universal confidence was reposed, 
 would be presented to the Congress. Washington, who had 
 foreseen w r hat he desired to avoid, rose from his place and 
 retired from the house, to leave their proceedings unembar- 
 rassed by his presence. A day was fixed for entering into 
 the selection ; and on opening the ballot-box, into which 
 that baud of devoted patriots had cast their suffrages, not 
 another name was found but that of George Washington. 
 Next day he was found in his place in Congress, as a 
 member from Virginia. When the president officially in- 
 formed him of his appointment, he rose in his place and 
 signified his acceptance. His words were few and appro- 
 priate, but the following expressions show the unchanged 
 features of his character : . 
 
 "Lest some unlucky event should happen, unfavorable to 
 my reputation, I beg it may be remembered by every gentle- 
 
 13
 
 194 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 man in the room, that I this day declare, with the utmost 
 sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I 
 am honored with." 
 
 Nor were these mere words of course. His confidential 
 and affectionate letter to his wife shows that he only 
 yielded to a sense of duty, and looked upon the trust as 
 too great for his capacity. How providential that it was 
 to him it Avas confided! 
 
 You know the history of that war which followed. You 
 have appreciated, as you ought, his prudence, his valor, his 
 courage, his privations and his endurance. You know what 
 materials he had to mould into an army: men, who, in 
 general, bore devoted hearts, but who were unused to dis- 
 cipline, and not always patient of restraint ; men whose 
 unshod feet often marked their track with their blood upon 
 the frozen road, and whose tattered garments in the cold 
 of winter showed that they needed all the fervor of their 
 zeal for freedom to keep them warm in its defence. And 
 amongst the ranks of those born in the country many a 
 brave foreigner shared in the toil of the battle and en- 
 dured the privations of the camp. Washington could see 
 no difference between them in the field, and he made no 
 distinction between them in his heart. Lafayette, Montgom- 
 ery, Hamilton, Steuben, De Kalb, Pulaski, Manning and 
 Jasper, are no inglorious names upon the roll of heroes of 
 the Revolutionary war. Brightly do they shine amidst that 
 galaxy of sons of the soil from every State of the old 
 thirteen, that clustered in so mighty a multitude around 
 that calm, steady and glowing light that outshone them all, 
 and yet seemed to add to their effulgence. Well did they 
 redeem that noble pledge which was made by men of every 
 religious denomination. It was released, indeed, with the 
 loss of many a life, and with the ruin of many a noble 
 fortune, but by the preservation of their sacred honor. 
 With that honor they also preserved and improved their 
 liberties, and unshackled industry from the bonds of 
 colonial restriction. To the lovers of enterprise and of im-
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 195 
 
 provement, and to those hardy children of labor who prize 
 liberty, and are ready as they are able to defend it, they 
 opened inviting passages to those western lands that have 
 already received millions, and are capable of receiving mil- 
 lions more, to make them teem with w 7 calth and be alive 
 with population. But it is not my theme to enlarge upon 
 what \vas endured in securing to us those advantages. 
 
 The character of strategy pursued by Washington, as far 
 as one so little skilled as I am can form an opinion on 
 such a subject, appears to have been one of the most dif- 
 ficult to execute, yet the best adapted to his circumstances, 
 and, as it proved to be, most successful in the result. At 
 the head of what may be called an unorganized mass 
 rather than an army, and the parts of which this collec- 
 tion was composed in a perpetual state of change, by reason 
 of the short periods of enlistment without any well-regu- 
 lated department of subsistence or of supply under a gen- 
 eral administration which had, over thirteen confederated 
 and scarcely formed republics, only that moral control which 
 arises from common principles and common danger ; with 
 many concealed enemies and hostile partisans in open and 
 avowed connection with the enemy scattered through the 
 land, the country itself but thinly settled; its settled por- 
 tions open and badly provided for defence, intersected by 
 large navigable bays and rivers, without any naval means 
 of protection ; but on the other hand, his enemy, though 
 in possession of the sea, at a distance from his resources, 
 and though highly disciplined and well provided, yet unprac- 
 ticed in partisan warfare and dreading an intricate country, 
 "Washington found it to be his duty to turn his whole 
 attention towards the establishment and the maintenance of 
 discipline. For this purpose he had not only to exert his 
 authority with great discretion and forbearance towards those 
 under his command, but to use all his influence with 
 the several governments, to induce them to correct their 
 sytsem, to supply their deficiencies, to make pecuniary sacri- 
 fices, and to sustain his efforts. This was the more diffi-
 
 196 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 cult, as, even at such a moment, they indulged to a mis- 
 chievous extent a jealousy, whose theory was just, but whose 
 application at such a moment was unreasonable. They 
 wished to give to the commander as little power as pos- 
 sible, because they dreaded a military despotism ; and thus 
 they sent him, as Sheridan expressed himself upon another 
 occasion, with half a shield and a broken sword, to pro- 
 tect them from their well-armed enemies, lest if the buckler 
 were entire and the sword perfect, he might be tempted in 
 the heyday of victory to smite his employers. 
 
 It was not only in establishing discipline that his exer- 
 tions were required. No man loved his soldiers better than 
 he did, and his letters show the manner in which his 
 soul was wounded at the sufferings they had to undergo 
 for the want of the most ordinary necessaries. Yet, with 
 this bitter feeling, was he obliged, as he calls it himself, 
 to play the hypocrite with them ; to impress on their 
 minds the obligation of cheerfully enduring everything for 
 the great cause in which they were engaged. But whilst 
 he thus encouraged them to unite with himself in suffer- 
 ing, he earnestly, though not always successfully, appealed 
 to those who ought to provide for those men who were 
 the only bulwark between them and vassalage. 
 
 His was not an ambition of glory. He sacrificed no 
 masses of human beings in brilliant charges, that he might 
 gather laurels from the spot enriched by their gore ; or 
 that he might indite despatches filled with periods rounded 
 by the swollen phrases of destruction. He weighed the 
 value of every life entrusted to his discretion, .and would 
 shudder at the useless exposure of even one. This course 
 was dictated by prudence as well as by humanity and 
 justice. By a Fabian policy his enemy would be harrassed 
 and worn out, and his supplies would be more rapidly 
 consumed than they could be increased ; whilst the Amer- 
 ican forces would be improving in discipline, accustomed 
 to action, confident in themselves, and preserved for those 
 occasions when they could be usefully brought into battle.
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 197 
 
 But when an opportunity presented itself, lie made no 
 calculation of what it was necessary to sacrifice, whether of 
 repose or of life, to achieve what it would be ruinous or 
 impolitic to forego ; though even on such occasions every 
 precaution was taken, not only to insure success, but to 
 obtain it with as little sacrifice of life as possible. Stony 
 Point, Trenton, and Yorktown are striking instances of this 
 policy. 
 
 His aifection for his men caused him to feel keenly for 
 those whom the enemy held as prisoners. At first the 
 British officers undertook to treat them as rebels ; indignity, 
 harshness, and severe confinement were inflicted, and it 
 was said that these endurances would be followed by an 
 ignominious death. In one instance, the British prisoners 
 were marked out by him as victims for retaliation ; they 
 were on their march under an escort to the place of con- 
 finement, when they were overtaken by an express, who 
 announced that General Washington could not permit him- 
 self to do what even the usages of war had sanctioned ; 
 that he could not punish the innocent for the guilty, and 
 that he had revoked his order. He appealed to the nobler 
 principles of the British commander, and frequently suc- 
 ceeded; but his anxiety and his exertions on this score 
 were unceasing and laborious. Never was his kindly feel- 
 ing better manifested than when, in order to procure a 
 mitigation of the suffering of General Lee, who had fallen 
 into the hands of the British, and whom they chose to 
 regard and to treat as a deserter, the Congress decreed 
 that Col. Campbell, who was a prisoner in Massachusetts, 
 and five Hessian field officers at Trenton, should be sub- 
 jected to precisely the same treatment as General Lee ; he 
 wrote to the president of Congress : 
 
 "In point of policy, under the present situation of our 
 affairs, this doctrine cannot be supported. The balance of 
 prisoners is greatly against us, and a general regard to the 
 happiness of the whole should mark our conduct. Can we 
 imagine that our enemies will not mete the same punish-
 
 198 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 ments, the same indignities, the same cruelties to those 
 belonging to us, in their possession, that we impose 'on 
 theirs in our power? Why should we suppose them to 
 possess more humanity than we have ourselves ? Or why 
 should an ineffectual attempt to relieve the distresses of 
 one brave, unfortunate man involve many more in the same 
 calamities? However disagreeable the fact may be, the enemy 
 at this time have in their power and subject to their call 
 near three hundred officers belonging to the army of the 
 United States. In this number there are some of high rank, 
 and most of them are men of bravery and merit. The quota 
 of theirs in our hands bears no proportion, being not more 
 than fifty at most. Under these circumstances, we should 
 certainly do no act to draw upon the gentlemen belonging 
 to us, and who have already suffered a long captivity, 
 greater punishments than they have experienced and now 
 experience. If we should, what will their feelings be, and 
 those of their numerous and extensive connections? Suppose 
 the treatment prescribed for the Hessians should be pursued, 
 will it not establish what the enemy have been aiming to 
 effect by every artifice and the grossest misrepresentations? 
 I mean an opinion of our enmity towards them, and of 
 the cruel conduct they experience when they fall into our 
 hands, a prejudice which we on our parts have heretofore 
 thought it politic to suppress and to root out by every act 
 of lenity and kindness? It certainly will. The Hessians 
 would hear of the punishment with all the circumstances of 
 heightened exaggeration, would feel the injury, without inves- 
 tigating the cause, or reasoning upon the justice or neces- 
 sity of it. The mischiefs which may and must inevitably 
 flow from the execution of the resolves appear to be end- 
 less and innumerable." 
 
 What, then, must have been his feelings when a stern 
 sense of duty compelled him to permit the full execution 
 of the sentence of an ignominious death upon the unfortu- 
 nate Andre ? This is one of those melancholy instances 
 where a man deserving of a better fate is, by the inscru-
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 199 
 
 table laws of Providence, so involved in the meshes of dif- 
 ficulty, that it becomes impossible to extricate him ; and it 
 is not only the eye of pity which weeps, but every noble 
 and manly heart bleeds whilst the blow is struck, which, 
 it is acknowedged, the sternness of justice cannot here be 
 prevented from inflicting. Still, after the lapse of more 
 than half a century, the feeling exits, which will, perhaps, 
 always continue strong; regret that it was not Arnold who 
 met a well-deserved fate from the hand of the executioner. 
 
 Deeply as Washington felt for the privations and wants 
 of his soldiers, he was, however, careful to repress insubor- 
 dination. Witness the disbanding a large portion of the 
 Pennsylvania line in the spring of 1781, which, though hav- 
 ing cause of complaint, yet took an irregular and most per- 
 nicious mode of seeking for redress. Still these men, in the 
 midst of their misery, could not be made traitors by the 
 allurements of the British general. They gave up to trial 
 and to execution the emissaries who had the hardihood to 
 enter upon their seduction ; and though worn down by toil 
 and privation, they declared that they scorned to be Arnolds. 
 The contagion of insubordination, however, had spread from 
 them to the troops of New Jersey; but Washington was 
 prepared. The mutineers were taken by surprise, compelled 
 to parade without arms, two of their ring-leaders were tried 
 by a field court-martial, condemned, and shot; and the 
 spirit of sedition having been thus laid, the remainder 
 made an unconditional submission and promise of obedience. 
 
 The exquisite tact which he possessed was exhibited, 
 together with his spirit of moderation and respect for the 
 feelings of his brothers-in-arms, at the surrender of York- 
 town. He had with him General Lincoln, who, in deliver- 
 ing up this our city to the British after a brave resistance, 
 had the mortification of being denied the full honors of 
 war at its evacuation. In place, then, of appearing at the 
 head of the united forces of America and France, with 
 the air of a conqueror, to wear the trophies well won by 
 his valor, Washington sacrificed this feeling to one more
 
 200 THE CHARACTER OF WASHL\GTOy. 
 
 noble and more exquisite, but to attain whose gratification 
 is the privilege of few indeed. Lincoln had faithfully dis- 
 charged his duty, and well merited the recompense which 
 he on this occasion received. The British general, Lord 
 Cornwallis, desired to stipulate for his garrison, that it 
 should march out with all the honors of war and the cus- 
 tomary privileges for its officers. Washington would grant 
 only the same that had been allowed by the British gen- 
 eral to the garrison of Charleston; and stationed Lincoln in 
 an open space between the respective staffs of the French 
 and the American armies to receive, in their view, the 
 surrender of the British leader with exactly the same for- 
 malities that had been observed when he made his own 
 capitulation. 
 
 Need I undertake to show that his ambition was his 
 country's happiness, and not his own personal elevation? 
 Advert to the proposal which was made to him at New- 
 burg, where an army appeared but to wait his beck, to 
 protect him in assuming a sceptre and a crown. His reproof 
 contained none of that language of affectation which shows 
 that a refusal is made only because the object appears to 
 be unattainable, or for the purpose of having additional 
 entreaty used to overcome the seeming reluctance of ardent 
 desire 
 
 He dearly loved and greatly esteemed the valuable men 
 who shared in his toils and dangers. His big heart dis- 
 tended with unusual emotions, when, on the 4th of Decem- 
 ber, 1783, he entered the room in New York to bid a 
 final adieu to the principal officers, his companions-in-arms. 
 The tear flowed on each manly cheek; he grasped firmly 
 in succession those hands that had sustained, together with 
 him, their country's cause. The embrace was that of gen- 
 erous soldiers and firm friends ; not a word was spoken. 
 They followed him in mute procession to his barge. Being 
 seated in it for an instant, he rose ; and lifting his hat, 
 he waved it ; every head on shore was uncovered ; the 
 splashing of the oar and its measured stroke alone broke
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHING TOX. 201 
 
 the silence of the tender, the respectful, the memorable 
 separation of those men, who, in the face of death, had 
 united to secure the independence of our country. 
 
 It was on the 23d of that month he presented himself 
 before the Congress of Annapolis ; and at the close of an 
 appropriate address, said : * Having now finished the work 
 assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of action; and 
 bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body, under 
 whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my com- 
 mission and take my leave of all the employments of public 
 life." He placed that document in the hands of the presi- 
 dent and withdrew, as he fondly hoped, to repair the rav- 
 ages which his property must have suffered, and to repose 
 in the bosom of his family after the toils of such a tem- 
 pestuous absence. It is unnecessary to inform you that he 
 would receive no pecuniary recompense ; and here is a copy 
 of the settlement of his public accounts. How he enjoyed 
 and sought for the solace of private life is expressed in 
 his own language to Lafayette : 
 
 " I am become a private citizen on the banks of the 
 Potomac ; under the shadow of my own vine and fig-tree, 
 free from the bustle of a camp and the busy scenes of 
 public life, I am solacing myself with those tranquil enjoy- 
 ments, of which the soldier, who is ever in pursuit of fame 
 the statesman, whose watchful days and sleepless nights 
 are spent in devising schemes to promote the welfare of his- 
 own, perhaps the ruin of other countries, as if this globe 
 was insufficient for us all and the courtier, who is always 
 watching the countenance of his prince, in hopes of catching- 
 a gracious smile, can have very little conception. I have 
 not only retired from all public employments, but I am 
 retiring within myself, and shall be able to view the soli- 
 tary walk and tread the paths of private life with a heart- 
 felt satisfaction. Envious of none, I am determined to be 
 pleased with all ; and this, my dear friend, being the order 
 of my march, I will move gently down the stream of life, 
 until I sleep with my fathers."
 
 202 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 To General Knox he wrote : 
 
 "I am just beginning to experience that ease and free- 
 dom from public cares which, however desirable, takes some 
 time to realize ; for, strange as it may seem, it is never- 
 theless true, that it was not till lately I could get the 
 better of my usual custom of ruminating, as soon as I 
 -waked in the morning, on the business of the ensuing day; 
 and of my surprise at finding, after revolving many things 
 in my mind, that I was no longer a public man, nor had 
 anything to do with public transactions. I feel now, how- 
 ever, as I conceive a wearied traveler must do, who, after 
 treading many a painful step with a heavy burden on his 
 shoulders, is eased of the latter, having reached the haven 
 to which all the former were directed; and from his house- 
 top is looking back and tracing with an eager eye the 
 meanders by which he escaped the quicksands and mires 
 which lay in his way, and into which none but the all- 
 powerful Guide and Dispenser of human events could have 
 prevented his falling." 
 
 A few years were sufficient to exhibit the imperfection 
 of the bond which held the confederation together in the 
 period of their struggle. It became inevitable that one of 
 two alternatives should be embraced. Either the Union 
 should be dissolved, or a new bond must be devised by 
 which the* States would be in truth and in fact united. 
 
 The convention was named; against his wishes, George 
 "Washington was at the head of the Virginia list. Yet was 
 he by no means unprepared; because foreseeing the possi- 
 bility of being obliged to sacrifice his inclinations to his 
 duty, he had seriously studied and analyzed the principles 
 of the Lycian, the Amphyctionic, the Achsean, the Helvetic, 
 the Belgic, and the Germanic confederacies ; he had also 
 deeply imbued his mind with sound political information, 
 and closely observed the forms of governmental administra- 
 tion. It is not matter of surprise that, by a unanimous 
 vote, he was called upon to fill the chair in that assembly; 
 for surely none was more worthy to occupy it. Neither 

 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 203 
 
 could there be any hesitation when the States ratified the 
 Constitution, and it became the expressed will of the people 
 that it should be their form of government, as to who 
 should undertake the task and have the glory of reducing 
 its principles to practice. They had in the whole Union 
 but one man who was, by universal acknowledgment, " first 
 in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his country- 
 men." And much as we complain of the injustice of the 
 world, and rationally as we look for the recompense of 
 virtue in a better state, still sometimes a mighty instance 
 is exhibited of the good feelings and the sense of equity 
 of a nation, where we may well use the words of the 
 Trojan exile 
 
 "En Priamiis! sunt bic etiam sua proemia laudi ! " 
 
 He who ^-ould not stoop to be a king upon the sugges- 
 tion of the soldiers, is raised by the acclamation of the 
 people to be the first President of a free confederation, 
 whose destinies are interwoven with the ruin or the resur- 
 rection of a hemisphere. 
 
 Assiduous in the discharge of duty, he encourages industry, 
 he extends commerce, he regulates finance, he establishes 
 credit, he organizes the departments, he selects and appoints 
 the officers and superintends their conduct, he establishes 
 the judiciary, he allays jealousies, he commences fortifica- 
 tions, he arranges the army, he perfects treaties, he vindi- 
 cates the national honor, he gives the example of a high 
 morality, and thus occupied during eight years he sees his 
 country eminent among the nations, and putting forth the 
 germs of a rich prosperity. His work is now, indeed, 
 accomplished ; but ere he retires from that station which 
 raised him far above the thrones of emperors, he admon- 
 ishes his children, for he is, indeed, the father of his 
 country, of the difficulties by which they are surrounded ; 
 and with the light of wisdom, the sagacity of experience, 
 and the affection of patriotism, he teaches how these may 
 be overcome or avoided. And, now, covered with the bene-
 
 204 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 dictions of his country and the admiration of the world, 
 he retired again to private life. There, after a compara- 
 tively brief respite from the toils of office, he bowed down 
 his head in resignation to the summons which called him 
 from this transitory state, and passed to another world, leav- 
 ing after him, not the empty sound of what is called an 
 immortal name, but the mighty monument of that freedom 
 which we enjoy, and the glorious bulwark of that Consti- 
 tution by which it is protected. 
 
 Fellow-citizens, I can speak no eulogy of Washington* 
 Though separated from this world, he lives in the centre 
 of our hearts ; his name is a talisman of power, the watch- 
 word of freedom, the emblem of patriotism, the shout of 
 victory. It casts around us a halo of glory, for it con- 
 tinues to receive the homage of mankind. There have been 
 many sages, there have been many heroes, there have been 
 many legislators there is but one Washington. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Washington Light Infantry, you may 
 be justly proud of the name under which you are enrolled. 
 But let it be to you, also, a solemn admonition to fulfill 
 your obligations. Our volunteer companies are not formed 
 for the mere purpose of idle show, of vain parade, nor 
 for empty pageantry. The natural and safest bulwark of 
 our C9untry's freedom is a well-organized militia ; the chiv- 
 alry of that militia should be found in the volunteer 
 companies. Yours bears the most glorious name for an 
 American citizen soldier. You should emulate the bravest, 
 the best disciplined, the most patriotic of those marshaled 
 in your country's service. You should endeavor, with the 
 noble rivalship of a soldier's honor, but with a soldier's 
 affection, to permit no other company to outstrip you in 
 the accomplishments of the armed citizen. For your country 
 and its freedom ; for your country and its institutions ; for 
 your own sunny South and for the whole Union ; for its 
 peace and for its rights ; for your morals, for your disci- 
 pline ; and, in that discipline the first and the last point, obe- 
 dience to your officers ! Never has your company exhibited
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 205 
 
 any deficiency in this respect, and, therefore, it has always 
 been efficient and respectable. You glory in the name of 
 American, but you receive as Americans every one whom 
 the laws of your country recognize as such. You have not 
 deserted your posts, because the fellow-conntrymen of him 
 who led your armies to the walls of Quebec placed them- 
 selves by your side, to make common cause with you for 
 that land which their acceptance of your conditions made 
 your common country. France, Germany, Ireland, and Scot- 
 land muster by your side, and with them you form a band of 
 brothers; uniting, as your Washington has done, your whole 
 force for an irresistible protection. Do not those flags wave 
 over men who love to gather round your stars, to be 
 guided by your eagle? When you volunteered to protect 
 our brethren in Florida, were not the Germans your com- 
 panions? Did not the Irish penetrate into its swamps? 
 But why do I thus address you? Our generous South 
 has fully imbibed the spirit of our hero ; and we know 
 not these mischievous distinctions. A man loves not less 
 the home of his choice, because he recollects the spot 
 Avhere he first breathed. The soldier's contest of emulation 
 is then noble, for it is equally free from the meanness of 
 jealousy, as it is from the folly of miserable and mis- 
 chievous distinctions. Xor did I need the proof which you 
 have given, by affording me this day's opportunity of 
 addressing you, to be convinced that the Washington Light 
 Infantry possess largely that liberal sentiment which per- 
 vades all our companies and most of our citizens. 
 
 Thank God, no prospect of war now dims our horizon; 
 but the best security for peace is the power of protection. 
 Upon this principle you should not relax. The best regu- 
 lated State is liable to unforeseen derangements, and no 
 one can say when an emergency may arise. It is not when 
 action is necessary that training should commence. The 
 knowledge that you are ready will be the security for your 
 repose. It was upon those principles that upwards of thirty 
 years ago this company was formed by one of whom Car-
 
 206 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 olina had cause to be proud; one whose talents were made 
 useful by his wisdom; one to whom senates looked for 
 counsel, and in whose integrity a continent confided. Wil- 
 liam Lowndes, your first captain, your founder, perhaps par- 
 took of the moral qualities of Washington in a larger 
 degree than many who have appeared in the councils of 
 the republic since the establishment of our Constitution; 
 and how efficiently the officers who have since its forma- 
 tion been selected have fulfilled the trust which has been 
 reposed in them is sufficiently proclaimed by the compara- 
 tive smallness of tkeir number. Your memory will easily 
 pass them in review before you. 
 
 To you has been confided, by the honored widow of a 
 brave officer, one of the most precious relics of the Revo- 
 lutionary war. There is the banner that was borne in the 
 gallant charge at Cowpens, on the 17th of January, 1781, 
 when the surge of confusion was arrested and the tide of 
 war turned by William Washington at the head of his dra- 
 goons. It then seemed a fiery meteor to the astonished 
 Tarleton, when for the first time the spell of his success 
 was broken, and he saw his veterans lay down their arms 
 at the summons of the intrepid Howard. The glory with 
 which it that day was radiant began to dissipate the gloom 
 under which Carolina sat dejected; animated with hope, 
 she roused herself to new exertion, and her Sumters and 
 her Marions were again more active, more bold and more 
 successful. Again, upon the field of Eutaw, it floated in 
 triumph to the joyous notes of the trumpet which pro- 
 claimed the retreat of the enemy from the last struggle by 
 which they sought to keep Carolina in thraldom. "Never 
 has it been disgraced in my husband's possession," was the 
 short speech of Mrs. Washington, when she gave it to your 
 company. The commander of the host that bore it through 
 peril and in victory preserved it as a loved memorial at 
 the termination of the war. General William Washington, 
 at his death, left it in the possession of his widow ; and 
 in the decline of her days that venerable matron knew of
 
 THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 207 
 
 no more valiant and honorable hands to Avhich she could 
 confide its preservation than those of the Washington Light 
 Infantry. Ten years have elapsed since it was presented 
 to you through the hands of that Lieutenant Cross, who 
 held one of the first commissions in your company with 
 Captain Lowndes at the period of your formation, but who 
 had command of the brigade on the day that he attended 
 with Mrs. Washington to present it to your guardianship. 
 When you are marshaled under that banner, with the love 
 of your country in your hearts and her arms in your 
 hands, you will be faithful to the confidence reposed in 
 you your cry will be " Cowpens," " Eutaw," and " Wash- 
 ington" your path will be the track of honor and of 
 glory your history will be found upon the record of fame.
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 1 
 
 MY BRETHREN : The peculiar circumstances in which I 
 find myself placed in this respectable assemblage are to me 
 the cause of some embarrassment; for I look upon the 
 situation in which I stand to be one of extreme delicacy. 
 I am the minister of a religion professed by a minority 
 of our citizens ; standing, by the permission of the pastor 
 of a different communion, in accordance with the wish of 
 some of my friends and their associates, members of the 
 legislature of this nation, to address you upon the subject of 
 religion. Whilst I know that I ought to speak freely, I 
 also feel that I should avoid any unpleasant reference to 
 those differences which exist between persons professing 
 Christianity, except where the necessity of the case would 
 demand such reference. And I am fully aware that as 
 I am the first clergyman of the Church to which I belong 
 who has had the honor of addressing you from this chair, 
 it must be generally expected that I would rather speak 
 upon some of the peculiarities of my own faith than con- 
 tent myself with giving a discourse upon any general topic, 
 that, as being common to all, would be to you matter of 
 no special interest. 
 
 But in order to arrive at the particular ground of this 
 description, it will be necessary at first to examine the 
 general principles of our religion ; through these the avenue 
 lies, and through that we must proceed. Upon those gen- 
 eral principles, I presume, I shall be found to accord with 
 the great bulk of my auditors, though I cannot hope that 
 
 1 Preached In the hall of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the 
 United States, on Sunday, January 8, 1830. 
 
 (208)
 
 JJISUUURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 209 
 
 they will all agree with me in my details, or rather m 
 my conclusions. I shall then commence by examining what 
 religion is, that from this examination we may arrive at 
 the proper place for making our further inquiry. 
 
 Eeligion is the homage which man owes to God. This, 
 and this only, is religion ; everything is embraced in this 
 principle; no detail is excluded from this definition. Man's 
 duty to God is, then, religion. Thus, to know what man's 
 duty is, we are brought to examine his nature. That 
 nature is two-fold spiritual and corporeal the spirit superior 
 to the body, more perfect than the body ; the first duty 
 of a religious man is to worship God, who is a spirit, in 
 spirit and. in truth. But to know how this spiritual worship 
 is to be paid by man to his Creator, Ave must learn of 
 what man's spirit consists, or rather we must see what 
 faculties it embraces. The first faculty of the soul is the 
 understanding, by which we discern truth from error. 
 Man is bound to worship God by his faculties ; his lead- 
 ing duty is, then, to worship God with his understanding; 
 and the great province of the understanding being to dis- 
 criminate between truth and error, man's primary religious 
 obligation is to labor for the discovery of truth, and to 
 adhere to what he shall have thus discovered. Truth and 
 falsehood are not, therefore, matters of indifference ; man's 
 obligation is to adhere to truth and to reject falsehood. 
 The exertion of the understanding for this purpose is then 
 our first, our highest duty ; to neglect this is criminal. 
 This investigation for the discovery of religious truth is 
 the duty of every human being ; each person is bound to 
 inquire to the best of his power; and he who neglects or 
 overlooks his obligation is inexcusable. 
 
 But it is not enough that the understanding is enlight- 
 ened. It is not for the mere object of being acquainted 
 with speculative truth that he should inquire. The second 
 faculty of the soul is the will ; its determinations are 
 formed with perfect freedom ; generally upon the knowledge 
 which has been acquired ; hence the discovery of truth 
 
 14
 
 210 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 should be pursued for the purpose of regulating the de- 
 terminations of the will ; and the homage of this faculty 
 is paid to the Creator by continually determining to act 
 according to the la\v of reason, as it has been discovered 
 after sufficient inquiry. 
 
 Moreover, we feel within ourselves, and all mankind 
 testifies to a similar experience, that after such a result 
 we do not always act as we have determined. The allure- 
 ments of the world in which we live, mutual example, 
 and a variety of affections, desires and passions, interfere 
 between the determinations of the will and the carrying of 
 those resolutions into effect. But it is our duty to with- 
 stand those allurements, not to be misled by example ; to 
 regulate our affections and desires, to keep our passions in 
 subjection to our reasonable determinations, and thus to do> 
 in all things the perfect will of God, which must accord 
 with the great rule of reason. 
 
 Man is not wholly a spirit ; he is also a material being, 
 having a body and living in a visible world, where his 
 fellow-creatures are also in bodily existence. He owes to 
 his Creator external homage with that body, as well as to 
 pay to the Author of his whole being the worship of all 
 its parts, as to give evidence to others that will at 
 the same time satisfy them of his acting with due re- 
 spect to the Great Father of all, as also to excite his 
 brethren to religion by his own good example. Pure, un- 
 bodied intelligences who worship before the throne of the 
 Most High, in spirit and in truth, pay the homage of 
 their whole being in mere spiritual adoration, because they 
 are altogether and exclusively spiritual in their nature. 
 Man, made less than the angels, bears about him a body 
 which he has received from the Creator of his soul the 
 dissimilarity of their natures destroys the analogy by which 
 it might be sought to establish, that his worship should 
 be in all things similar to that paid by a spirit having 
 no material parts joined in his nature. 
 
 The plain result of these considerations must be that it
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 211 
 
 is our duty to exert our understanding for the discovery 
 of truth, to frame the determination of our will according 
 to ascertained truth, and to carry those determinations into 
 eifect, to bring our affections into accordance with reason, 
 to keep our passions under proper restraint, and to pay to 
 God. external homage. This is what we call natural re- 
 ligion : for it is what nature and reason exhibit as our duty. 
 
 If God never revealed His will to man, we should have 
 those great principles only for ourj guidance to the fulfill- 
 ment of our obligations to our Creator. But two questions 
 naturally present themselves to us : Did God ever make 
 special communications to any of our race? And if he 
 did, could such revelation destroy or weaken the force of 
 the principles of natural religion? 
 
 To the last question an immediate answer may be un- 
 hesitatingly given. No revelation made by God can destroy 
 or weaken the force of those principles. On the contrary, 
 such revelation must not only be in accordance with them, 
 but would tend rather to strengthen them, and to give 
 more precision to their application. God, the eternal truth, 
 cannot be inconsistent with Himself. Truth cannot be con- 
 tradictory to truth. Human reason is a spark emanating 
 from the great fire of eternal truth ; though extremely lim- 
 ited, yet it has proceeded from the infinite Deity; its slender 
 ray may too often imperfectly exhibit what lies around us 
 in the dark labyrinth through which we journey to the 
 grave ; and the same objects would be more fully exposed 
 to view, and more distinctly understood, if the effulgence 
 of the Godhead poured its brilliant flood around. The 
 objects then, by either light, would still continue unchanged, 
 though their appearance would in each case be materially 
 altered. What human reason clearly and fully discovers 
 cannot be known otherwise by the intelligence of God, and 
 His testimony by revelation would still accord with His 
 testimony by human reason ; but too frequently we are 
 disposed to conclude, that we are well acquainted with what 
 we very imperfectly know, and we assert that reason tes-
 
 212 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 tifies where it docs not. Hence there is created an appa- 
 rent conflict between what \ve say our reason testifies, and 
 what we state that God reveals. But the great duties of 
 natural religion are equally enforced by "both. If we should 
 find that God did make a revelation, there will not be 
 anything found in that revelation to weaken the principles 
 of natural religion. The first principle of each is, that 
 man is obliged to exert himself for the discovery of truth. 
 In a state of mere nature we would have only the testi- 
 mony of our own reason ; in a state of revelation we have 
 the additional aid of the testimony of God. Although the 
 one is more extensive and more perfect than the other, 
 still there can be no conflict between them. Daily experi- 
 ence ought to convince us how limited is our knowledge. 
 Yet our pride urges us to think that we can be acquainted 
 with even the secrets of the Godhead. We certainly are 
 not, and cannot be bound to believe without such evidence 
 as will be sufficient to satisfy his mind. That evidence 
 must be the exhibition of truth to our own reason, or our 
 perfect satisfaction that we receive the testimony of God. 
 Without this evidence no man is bound to believe. The 
 humblest individual who walks the earth has not been sub- 
 jected by his Creator to any dominion which can enthral 
 his intellect ; he stands before his Maker as independent 
 in his mind as does the brightest intelligence which scans 
 the perfections of the Deity, and glows in the raptures of 
 his vision. It is true that we are made lower than the 
 ministering spirits who surround the throne of heaven. Yet 
 we are not made subject to them. Nor is any man's mind 
 made subject to his fellow man. But we all are upon this 
 ground made originally equal ; all bound to believe God 
 when He speaks, all bound to admit His infinite knowl- 
 edge, to testify to His unerring truth, and to pay the 
 homage of our submission to His declaration. Every creat- 
 ure must bow every faculty before the Creator, but to the 
 Creator alone. Thus we find the fundamental principles of 
 revealed religion to be, that man is bound to pay to God
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 213 
 
 the homage of his understanding by believing Him when 
 He makes a revelation. This belief is faith ; that is, the 
 belief, upon the testimony of God, of truths or facts which 
 unaided human reason could not discover. And since we 
 should exert ourselves to discover truth, we cannot be 
 excused from making the inquiry as to whether God made 
 a revelation, and if He did what were His communications? 
 Nor can it be to us a matter of indifference whether we 
 take up truth or error for regulating the determinations of 
 our will. If it was not beneath the dignity of God to 
 stoop for the instruction of man, it cannot be a degrada- 
 tion for man to raise himself to learn from his Creator. 
 It is his duty to learn and to obey. The view then given 
 by us of revealed religion is that it consists in believing 
 God when He teaches us, and in obeying Him when He 
 commands us, and of course adhering to His institutions. 
 Whatever is the necessary consequence of this great prin- 
 ciple we say is religion. Anything which is not embraced 
 in this, is not religion. It may be superstition, it may be 
 fanaticism, it may be infidelity, it may be folly; but it is not 
 religion. Faith, then, is not folly, it is not abject slavery 
 of the mind, it is not visionary fanaticism, it is not irra- 
 tional assent to unintelligible propositions ; but it is be- 
 lieving upon the testimony of God what human reason 
 could not discover, but what a provident and wise Deity 
 communicates for the information of our minds and the 
 direction of our will. 
 
 And surely there are a multitude of truths which are 
 known to God, and whose discovery is yet beyond the 
 reach of our limited faculties. AVe are surrounded by mys- 
 teries of nature ; we observe innumerable facts, not one of 
 which has yet been explained, and many of which would 
 be almost pronounced contradictions, although known to be 
 in co-existence. Man is himself a mystery to man yet the 
 God who formed his body, and created his soul, plainly 
 sees and distinctly understands all the minute details of 
 the wonderful machine of his body, and is well acquainted
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 with his vital principle; the nature and essence of the 
 soul are within His view. He is lifted above the heavens; 
 His days are from eternity to eternity ; He pervades all 
 space ; His eye beholds the worlds which roll in the firma- 
 ment, and embraces the infinite void ; all things which 
 exist are exposed to His vision ; whilst man, the diminu- 
 tive speck upon a spot of creation, scarcely distinguishes 
 the objects which dimly show within ' his confined horizon ; 
 shall he presume to say that nothing exists beyond the 
 narrow precincts of his temporary prison? Or, if the God 
 of heaven declares some of the riches which lie scattered 
 through His works ; if He vouchsafes to inform us of His 
 own nature or of ours, that our relations may be more 
 specifically understood ; our hopes more clearly founded ; our 
 zeal better excited; our determinations better regulated, and 
 our acts more suitably, and simply, and satisfactorily directed; 
 shall stunted little man presume to say that perhaps he is 
 deceived, because he has only the testimony of God, but 
 not the testimony of his own reason? Does not his own 
 reason tell him that God neither can be deceived, nor can 
 He deceive His creatures ? Thus his own reason informs 
 man, that the testimony of God making a revelation, is the- 
 very highest evidence of truth the surest ground cf 
 certainty. 
 
 It might sometimes happen, that what is found to have 
 been testified by the Deity contradicts what would appear, 
 to spine individuals, to have been ascertained by the pro- 
 cess of their own reasoning. Our principle is plain ; God 
 cannot err, man frequently has erred, and is perpetually 
 liable to mistake. If, then, we have certain proof of the 
 declaration of the Creator, there can be no difficulty in 
 arriving at the reasonable, the practical, the correct result; 
 that result is again our great principle it is the duty of 
 man to believe God when He testifies ; and the simple 
 inquiry will be regarding the question of fact, " Has God 
 testified ? " If He has, our doubts must cease ; our belief 
 is demanded by reason and by religion. Indeed, they are
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 215 
 
 never opposed to each other ; upon patient inquiry they 
 will always be found mutually to aid each other. The his- 
 tory of the world presents to us the exhibition of the 
 weakness of the human mind perpetually changing its 
 theories ; perpetually adding to its stock of information ; fre- 
 quently detecting its own mistakes ; correcting its aberrations, 
 and proving its imbecility, whilst it asserts its strength. 
 The eternal God, infinite in His perfections, is always the 
 same ; in Him there is no vicissitude ; alone, changeless 
 amidst a changing universe; His vesture and decoration He 
 may change, but He is eternally the same, in His knowl- 
 edge as in His truth; the heavens and the earth may 
 pass away ; but His word cannot fail. 
 
 \Ve are thus brought to the simple inquiry concerning 
 the fact of a revelation. The truth of a fact must be 
 always ascertained by testimony : that testimony must be 
 such as ought to be sufficient to produce conviction of 
 truth, before belief can be reasonably required. When that 
 sufficient testimony has been adduced, to withhold belief 
 would be unreasonable unreasonable rejection of evidence, 
 where there is no question as to the revelation of God, 
 cannot be innocent. The refusal to examine is plainly 
 against the first principle of religion ; contrary to the plain- 
 est maxims of reason. A mistake honestly made is par- 
 donable, but the rejection of evidence must be irreligious. 
 
 In - examining whether revelation has been actually made, 
 we are met by a variety of preliminary difficulties, before 
 we are permitted to enter upon the evidence of the fact ; 
 but I should hope that a few plain observations would 
 easily remove them. As I give but a very imperfect out- 
 line of the ground of proof respecting this head, my object 
 being rather to hasten forward to some specialties regard- 
 ing that particular Church in which I have the honor of 
 being a minister, than to dwell upon the general ground 
 which is common to us all, they must be few. But there 
 is a philosophy, which endeavors to stop our progress at 
 this pass. Philosophy did I call it! No I was wrong to
 
 216 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 dignify it with that appellation. It is a species of perplex- 
 ing sophistry, which, clothing itself in the garb of rational 
 inquiry, asks a thousand questions, to which neither itself 
 nor philosophy can answer with satisfaction. They are 
 questions which bewilder the mind, but cannot assist the 
 understanding; they are fully sufficient to show the weak- 
 ness of our reason, and to teach us to distrust ourselves 
 because of the imperfection of our faculties. But urged too 
 far, they might force us to conclude that we should make 
 no exertion, because we are not omnipotent; that we should 
 make no inquiry, because we cannot elucidate all that is 
 dark; that we can have no certainty, because there are 
 some cases of doubt ; and that we have no information, 
 because there is some knowledge beyond our reach. That 
 certainly does not deserve the name of philosophy which 
 would only fill the world with doubts, and conjectures, and 
 probabilities, instead of knowledge of fact founded upon 
 evidence of testimony. Sophistry, having led you from your 
 plain path and bewildered you in a labyrinth, by turns 
 smiles at your folly, sheds the tear of mocking condolence 
 for your degradation, and sneers at your baffled efforts to 
 extricate yourself. Calm and dignified philosophy unfolds 
 to you the plain evidence of facts ; and having fully estab- 
 lished the truth of the fact, draws thence the irresistible 
 conclusion ; thus leading in a way in which even fools can- 
 not err. This is the path of religion. 
 
 I may be asked, when will man know that he has evi- 
 dence of fact; and how shall he know it? There are 
 some questions which are more plainly answered by our 
 conviction than by any induction. The feeling of the evi- 
 dence is so strong that we can, by the very expression of 
 the feeling, testify to others what they know, because they 
 too feel as we do, and they know that we should, by any 
 attempt at inductive proof, make perfectly obscure that 
 which, without this effort, would be fully and confessedly 
 evident. Ask me how I know that I have evidence of 
 light being now diffused around me; how you have cvi-
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 217 
 
 dence that I now address you ; how we all have evidence 
 of our existence ; who will undertake, by any process of 
 reasoning, to produce a stronger feeling of conviction than 
 exists by the very feeling of the evidence? Nor have we 
 any form of expression which would carry more conviction 
 to the mind than that which announces the feeling itself; 
 each individual will know when that feeling exists within 
 him. No speculation will aid him to the knowledge of the 
 fact; and where the general testimony of mankind is given 
 to the existence of this feeling, it cannot but have an inti- 
 mate connection with truth. If it had not, the God who> 
 formed our nature, such as it is, would have placed us 
 under a delusion from which we could not be extricated ; and 
 the assertion of this not only would destroy every criterion 
 by which truth could be distingushed from error, but would 
 be blasphemy against the Creator of the universe. 
 
 Let us come to view how we ascertain the fact of reve- 
 lation. If there is any special work which is so peculiarly 
 and exclusively that of an individual, as that it can be 
 performed by no other, the fact of the existence of that 
 work establishes the fact of his presence; and if his pres- 
 ence is a testimony by him of his concurrence in declara- 
 tions then made, he is reponsible for the truth of those 
 declarations. We believe miracles to be works above 
 the power of created beings, and requiring the immediate 
 presence and agency of the Divinity, and given by Him 
 as the proof of His commission to the individuals or socie- 
 ties whom He makes witnesses to men of truth revealed 
 by Him. The feeling of the miracle being evidence of 
 His presence for this purpose, is so general, and its tes- 
 timony so fully given by the human race, as well by 
 their spontaneous declaration as by their whole course of 
 conduct, that it would argue in our Creator Himself a 
 total disregard for man's information, if He permitted its- 
 existence during so many centuries, and with such inevita- 
 ble results, unless it were a criterion of truth. The same 
 consequences would necessarily follow from a permission, on
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 the part of God, of a general delusion of mankind as to 
 the species of works that were miraculous. When the feeling 
 generally existed, and was acted upon most extensively 
 during a long series of ages, that works of a peculiar 
 description were emphatically miracles, and that the per- 
 formance of those miracles was an undoubted proof of God's 
 presence to uphold the truth of the declarations made in 
 His name by the agents or the instruments used in these 
 Avorks: the Author of our nature would be chargeable with 
 aiding in our delusion, if He did not, as He could, and 
 .as His perfections would demand, interfere to correct the 
 error. 
 
 Our next observation must regard the quantity of testi- 
 mony which would be required to prove one of those 
 miraculous facts. The assertion has sometimes been made, 
 that more than usually would suffice for establishing an 
 -ordinary fact, would be necessary to prove the existence of 
 a, miracle. We altogether dissent from this position. The 
 facts, in the one case, are precisely as obvious to exam- 
 ination as in the other. Strange as the assertion which I 
 am about to make will probably appear to many who have 
 honored me with their attention, I plainly say that it will 
 be found, upon reflection, that there is far less danger of 
 deceit or mistake in the examination of a miraculous fact, 
 than there is in one of ordinary occurrence. The reason 
 is simple, and I believe natural and evidently sufficient. 
 The mind is less liable to be imposed upon, when its curi- 
 osity is greatly excited, and when its jealousy and suspi- 
 cions are awakened, than when it is prepared to expect 
 and to admit what it is daily, perhaps hourly, in the habit 
 of expecting and admitting. Ordinary events excite no curi- 
 osity, create no surprise, and there is no difficulty in admit- 
 ting, that what has frequently occurred occurs again ; the 
 statement of such an occurrence will easily pass ; but the 
 state of the mind is widely different, when we eagerly seek 
 to ascertain whether what has never been witnessed by us 
 before, has now come under our observation, or whether
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 219 
 
 we have not been under some delusion; whether an attempt 
 has not been made to deceive us. We, in such a case, 
 become extremely jealous ; we examine with more than 
 ordinary care, and we run less risk of being deceived or 
 mistaken. 
 
 No person doubts the power of the Creator, the supreme 
 Legislator and Preserver of the universe, to suspend any 
 law of nature in the course of its operation, or to select 
 some individual case which He will except from the opera- 
 tion of that law, and during His own pleasure. The ques- 
 tion can never be as to this power, as to the possibility 
 of a miraculous interference ; but it always must regard 
 the fact, and that fact must be established by testimony, 
 and without the evidence of testimony, no person who was 
 not present can be required to believe. There does not 
 and cannot exist any individual or tribunal, with power to 
 require or command the humblest mortal to believe with- 
 out evidence. 
 
 There is no place in which the rules of evidence are 
 better understood or more accurately observed than in our 
 respectable courts of law. Permit me, for the moment, to 
 bring your attention to one of those cases which frequently 
 presents itself to the view of our citizens. There stands a 
 citizen charged with the murder of his fellow-man. Long 
 experience, deep study, unsullied purity, calm impartiality, 
 and patience for investigati n, form the judicial character ; 
 they are found upon the bench. Steady integrity, the power 
 of discrimination, the love of justice, a deep interest in the 
 welfare of the community, and the sanction of a solemn 
 pledge to heaven, are all found in the jury. The public 
 eye is upon them, and the supreme tribunal of public 
 opinion, after an open hearing of the case, is to pronounce 
 upon the judges and the jurors themselves. The life or 
 death, the fame or infamy of the accused lies with them, 
 and is in their keeping, at the peril of their feelings, their 
 character, their conscience, and their souls. The decision 
 must be made by the evidence arising from testimony, and
 
 220 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 that the testimony of men, and those men liable to all 
 the weakness and all the bad passions of humanity ; yet 
 here, in this important case, a solemn decision must be 
 made. That jury must be satisfied that the person now 
 said to be dead was living, that he is now dead, that the 
 change from life to death was produced by the act of their 
 fellow-citizen now arraigned before them; that this act was 
 done with sufficient deliberation to proceed from malicious 
 intent ; that for this act he had no authority ; he who was 
 deprived of life being a peaceable person, under the pro- 
 tection of the State. In this there is frequently much per- 
 plexity, and little testimony, and that testimony frequently 
 regarding not the substantial ingredients of the crime, but 
 establishing facts, from which those that form the in- 
 gredients are only derived by inference. Still we find 
 convictions and have executions, and the jury, with the appro- 
 bation of the bench, and the assent of the community, 
 unhesitatingly put on solemn record their conviction of the 
 truth of facts which they never saw, and of which they 
 have only the testimony of their fellow-men; and upon this 
 testimony society agrees that property, liberty, life and fame, 
 shall all be disposed of with perfect assurance of truth 
 and justice. 
 
 I will now suppose that court constituted as I have 
 described, and for the purpose of ascertaining the fact of 
 murder. A number of respectable witnesses depose to the 
 fact of the person stated to be slain having been alive. 
 They were in habits of intimacy with him, were his com- 
 panions during years, some of them have seen his dead 
 body, in presence of others who also testify to their having 
 seen and examined that body ; those last were present when 
 the prisoner, with perfect deliberation, inflicted a wound 
 upon the deceased. There can be no doubt as to the 
 identity of the deceased, and there is none as to the identity 
 of the prisoner. A number of physicians testify their opinion 
 as to the wound so given, and which they examined, being 
 a sufficient cause of death. The accused produces no author-
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 221 
 
 ity for Ills act; there has been no process of law against 
 the deceased, who was a peaceable and well-conducted citi- 
 zen. How could that jury hesitate ? They must, painful 
 as is the task, they must consign the unfortunate culprit to 
 the just vengeance of the law ; the judge must deliver him 
 to the executioner, and the public record of the State must 
 exhibit his infamy. Life and character must both disap- 
 pear ; they are swept away by the irresistible force of 
 evidence, founded upon human testimony. The widow must 
 hang her head in shame ; in the recess of her dwelling 
 she must sit in lonely, disconsolate, unsupported grief; the 
 orphans blush to bear their father's name ; the brothers 
 would forget their kindred ; and perhaps even gray hairs 
 would gladly bow still lower, compelled by grief and years 
 to court the concealment of the grave. 
 
 Still, when a fact becomes evident from the examination 
 of testimony, we must yield our assent to that fact, with- 
 out regarding its consequences. 
 
 Let me continue my supposition. Before the dissolution 
 of that court, whilst it is yet in session, the jury still 
 occupying their seats a rush is made into the hall the 
 same identical witnesses appear again ; but they are accom- 
 panied by the deceased, now raised to life. They testify that, 
 as they were departing from the court, a man, whom they 
 produce, proclaimed that he was commissioned by the Most 
 High to deliver His great behests to his fellow-men ; and 
 that to prove the validity of his commission, he summoned 
 them to accompany him to the tomb of the man whose death 
 they had so fully proved, and that by an appeal to heaven 
 for the authenticity of his commission, the man should 
 revive. They went they saw the body in the grave the 
 claimant upon heaven called upon the eternal God to show 
 that He had sent him to teach his fellow-men. He calls the 
 deceased the body rises the dead has come to life. He 
 accompanies them to the court; he is recognized by his 
 acquaintances confessed by his friends felt by the people ; 
 lie speaks, he breathes he moves, he eats, he drinks, lie
 
 222 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 lives amongst them. Can that court refuse to say that it 
 is satisfied of the fact of the resuscitation ? What would 
 any honest man think of the members of that jury should 
 they swear that this man had not been resuscitated by the 
 interference of that individual who thus proves his com- 
 mission ? If that jury could, upon the testimony of those 
 witnesses, find the first fact, why shall they not, upon the 
 same testimony, find the second? 
 
 But, we may be asked, how we know that this man was- 
 dead? Probably it was only a mistake. He could not have 
 been totally bereft of life. Ask the jury, who, upon the 
 certainty of the fact of death, consigned their fellow-citizen 
 to infamy and to the gallows. Shall we admit the certainty 
 for the purposes of human justice, and quibble with our 
 convictions to exclude the testimony of heaven? This, 
 indeed, would be a miserable sophistry. "Would any court 
 upon such a plea, so unsupported, issue a respite from 
 execution? An isolated perhaps, with nothing to rest upon, 
 set up against positive testimony, resting upon the uncon- 
 tradicted evidence derived from the senses, from experience, 
 and from analogy; a speculative possibility against a sub- 
 stantive fact, by which the very possibility is destroyed ! 
 
 Where is the cause of doubt? Where the difference 
 between the two cases? In both suppositions the essential 
 facts are the same life, death identity; the difference 
 consists in the accidental circumstances of the priority of one 
 to the other. The one is the ordinary transition from life 
 to death, an occurrence which is to us most mysterious and 
 inexplicable, but with the existence of which we are long 
 familiar; the other a transition from death to life, not more 
 mysterious but which rarely occurs, and when it does occur, 
 is most closely examined, viewed with jealous scrutiny, and 
 which excites deep interest, and to admit the truth of 
 which there is no predisposition in the mind. The facts 
 are precisely the same in the case of the murder and 
 of the miracle ; the accident of the priority of one to 
 the other constitutes the whole difference. And surely if
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 223 
 
 witnesses ~an tell me that a man who has never died shows 
 all the symptoms of life, the same witnesses can tell me the 
 same fact, though that man had passed from death to life. 
 The symptoms of life are always the same, and the testimony 
 which will establish the fact of life at one time, by proving 
 the existence of those symptoms, will be at any time sufficient 
 for the same purpose. The same is to be said of the 
 symptoms of death and of the testimony which will establish 
 the fact by proving their existence. It may be objected that 
 no adequate cause is assigned for this extraordinary occur- 
 rence. The answer is twofold. To be convinced of the truth. 
 of a fact, it is not necessary that I should know the cause 
 of its existence ; it suffices for me to know the existence 
 of the fact itself, and its existence will not be the less certain 
 though I should never be able to discover the cause. How 
 many facts do we every day witness, whose causes are still 
 to us inaccessible and undiscovered! Next: An adequate 
 cause is here distinctly pointed out and referred to. He 
 who first breathed into the nostrils of man, whom He fash- 
 ioned from the dust, a living soul, is now equally powerful 
 to call back the departed spirit to its mouldering tenement 
 of clay. 
 
 In the Mosaic in the Christian dispensation, what multi- 
 tudes of miraculous facts attest the presence of the Deity 
 the revelations of heaven ! During what a length of time 
 were not those facts open to every species of examination ! 
 How favorable were the circumstances for the detection of 
 imposition, for the exposure of fanaticism, for the ridicule of 
 folly, if the impostor, the fanatic, or the fool had claimed 
 to be the messenger of heaven ! Thus we believe that our 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ instructed man in the 
 doctrines of truth, had authority to prescribe laws of morality, 
 and founded institutions to which we are religiously bound 
 unalterably to adhere. If the miraculous facts, which estab- 
 lish this conclusion, are not in full evidence, I, for one, 
 must profess that I must blot from my mind all that I have 
 been ever led to believe were facts of history.
 
 224 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 A peculiarity of our religion is, that we may at any moment 
 risk its truth or falsehood upon the truth or falsehood of 
 the statement of any one or the whole of a vast variety of 
 facts. We know nothing of speculation, we know nothing 
 of opinion. Opinions form no part of our religion. It is 
 all a statement of facts, and the truth of those facts can at 
 any moment be brought to the test. With this we stand or 
 fall. Allow me to adduce one fact as an instance and an 
 illustration. 
 
 The Founder of our Church, the Saviour of the world, 
 foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, and that not a stone 
 should be left upon another of the mighty mass of the 
 splendid temple. One of our prophets foretold that upon 
 the establishment of the new law which we profess, the 
 sacrifice should cease, and never be restored, in that temple. 
 The sacrifice did cease the city was sacked the temple 
 was destroyed: the Christians proclaimed that the temple 
 would never be rebuilt, the sacrifice would never be restored. 
 The Roman emperor Julian, having apostatized from the 
 faith, was determined to humble the Church which he 
 had deserted, and by establishing one fact to defeat their 
 prophecy, to prove the delusion of the Nazarenes or Galileans, 
 as he termed the Christians. With the wealth of the Roman 
 empire, the power of his sceptre, the influence of his place, 
 and the devotion of the most zealous people under heaven, 
 he made the attempt. The whole Jewish people, animated 
 with love of country and of religion, cheered by their neigh- 
 bors, urged on by their emperor, flattered by his court, 
 undertook the work. They rooted up the old foundations 
 of the temple, until indeed there was not left a stone upon 
 a stone ; they prepared to rebuild. History testifies their 
 disappointment. Cyril of Jerusalem, a bishop of our Church, 
 and Ammianus Marcellinus, the emperor's historian, a Chris- 
 tian and a pagan, together with a cloud of other witnesses, 
 inform us of their discomfiture. Centuries have elapsed. 
 The prophecy and the attempt are both on record. To-day 
 we say, as our predecessors said then : " Build that temple,
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 225 
 
 offer one sacrifice according to the Mosaic rites within its 
 walls, and we acknowledge our delusion." But we cannot, 
 for any speculative opinions of philosophers, abandon the 
 evidence of miracles, of prophecy, and of history united. 
 
 My brethren, 1 come now to a new part of my subject. 
 "VYe have seen that our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ made 
 a revelation to the human race ; our next and very natural 
 inquiry must be to discover how we shall ascertain what that 
 revelation is. This is the place where we arrive at the 
 essential distinction between the Roman Catholic Church 
 and every other; it is, indeed, upon this question the whole 
 difference turns ; and to this it must be always brought back. 
 The doctrine which, as a prelate of that Church, and from 
 my own conscientious conviction, I preach, differs very 
 widely indeed from what is generally professed and acted 
 upon by the great majority of our citizens, and by a vast 
 portion of the respectable and enlightened assemblage wnich 
 surrounds me. I shall state our doctrine fully upon this 
 head; but I do not feel that it would be correct or delicate 
 on my part to enter at present upon the field of polemics 
 for its vindication. Still it will be permitted that I give 
 an outline, imperfect and defective it must be, for the cause 
 which I have assigned, of the reasons for that faith which 
 is in us. 
 
 And here let me assure you that if, in the course of my 
 observations, any expression should escape from me that may 
 appear calculated to wound the feelings of those from whom 
 I differ, it is not my intention to assail, to insult, or to give 
 pain ; and that I may be pardoned for what will be in truth 
 an inconsiderate expression, not intended to offend. Neither 
 my own feelings, nor my judgment, nor my faith would 
 dictate to me anything calculated to embitter the feelings of 
 those who differ from me merely for that difference. My 
 kindest friends, my most intimate acquaintance, they whom 
 I do and ought to esteem and respect, are at variance with 
 my creed; yet it. does not and shall not destroy our affection. 
 In me it would be ingratitude; for I must avow, and I do 
 
 15
 
 226 DISCOURSE UEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 it most willingly, that in my journeys through our States 
 I have been frequently humbled and abashed at the kind- 
 ness with which I have been treated. I came amongst you 
 a stranger, and I went through your land with many and 
 most serious and unfortunate mistakes, for which you were 
 not blamable, operating to my disadvantage. If a Roman 
 Catholic bishop were in truth what he is even now generally 
 supposed to be, in various parts of this Union, lie should not 
 be permitted to reside amongst you ; yet was I received into 
 your houses, enrolled in your families, and profited by your 
 kindness. I have frequently put the question to myself 
 whether, if I had similar impressions regarding you, I could 
 have acted with the like kindness; and I must own, I 
 frequently doubted that I would. It is true, you labored 
 under serious mistakes as to what was my religion, and what 
 were my duties and my obligations. But you were not 
 yourselves the authors of those mistakes ; nor had you within 
 your reach the means of correcting them. I feel grateful to 
 my friends who have afforded me this opportunity of perhaps 
 aiding to do away with those impressions ; for our affections 
 will be more strong as those mistakes will be corrected; 
 and it must gratify those who, loving the country, behold 
 us spread through it, to be assured, that we are not those 
 vile beings that have been painted to their imaginations, 
 and which ought not to be allowed existence in any civilized 
 community. 
 
 Upon our principles, my brethren, we must not speculate; 
 we must always keep our eye steadily upon facts. The 
 wisest man might be misled in speculation ; might make 
 great mistakes in forming opinions ; but if he has evidence 
 of a fact he has ground upon which he can rest with 
 certainty; and the inevitable consequence of that fact pro- 
 duces certainty also. Let us then look for facts instead of 
 hazarding conjectures or maintaining opinions. 
 
 It is a fact that our blessed Redeemer did not write His 
 communications; it is equally certain that He neither gave 
 a command nor a commission to have them written. It is a
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 227 
 
 fact, that His religion was fully and extensively established 
 before any part of the Scriptures of our new law was com- 
 mitted to writing. We therefore believe it to be evident 
 that our religion was not established by the dissemination 
 of writings. 
 
 We have abundant testimony to show that our blessed 
 Redeemer, besides having publicly taught the people, selected 
 a few persons whom he more fully instructed and duly 
 authorized to teach also. They were His companions during 
 life, and after His death they were the promulgators of His 
 doctriue. Their commission from Him was not to become 
 philosophers, discussing what was probably the nature of 
 God and the obligation of man, and examining what means 
 they would esteem to be most likely to lead mankind to 
 eternal happiness. They were constituted witnesses to others, 
 to testify what the Saviour revealed to them, and to speak 
 of positive facts with undoubting certainty; to state what 
 He actually told, what He precisely commanded, what He 
 positively instituted, and for what purpose, and what were 
 to be the consequences. All this was matter-of-fact testified 
 by witnesses, not discovered by disquisitions of philosophy. 
 The teachers were not to add, they were not to diminish, 
 they were not to change; the perfection of the revelation 
 consisted in preserving the account purely unchanged. We 
 find it is a fact that others were added to the commission 
 of teachers. The very nature of the case exhibited the 
 necessity of such addition, because the original commissioners 
 would not suffice for the multitude to be taught. Natural 
 reason pointed out the course which testimony shows us was 
 followed. They who were originally constituted by the 
 Redeemer to form the teaching tribunal, selected those whom 
 they found best instructed, and being satisfied of their 
 integrity by the testimony of those who had long known 
 them, they were themselves judges of their full acquaintance 
 with the truths which were to be taught and of their ability. 
 They ordained them as fellow-witnesses, extended to them 
 the power of the commission, and thus in every city were
 
 228 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 chosen faithful men, who might be fit to teach others that 
 form of sound words which had been committed to them- 
 selves before many witnesses. The people who heard the 
 testimony of the first teachers were also capable of observing 
 if any deviation had been made by their successors. Those 
 first teachers and their associates were scattered abroad 
 widely through the world, but in all places they taught the 
 same things, for truth could not be contradictory. Some 
 persons sought after novelties, and separated from the great 
 body, which itself remained united in government and in 
 doctrine, though widely scattered through the world. Those 
 isolated and independent divisions followed each some theory 
 of its own, having some peculiarity by which each was 
 distinguished from the other, each judging and deciding for 
 itself, and each claiming to have preserved the true doctrine. 
 This state of things existed almost at the very origin of the 
 Christian Church, and has since continued more or less 
 extensively. It was not until the eighth year after the 
 ascension of our Lord, or the year 41 of our era, that the 
 first part of the New Testament was written by St. Matthew, 
 who was one of the earliest companions of the Saviour and 
 an Apostle. Many of the Christians had committed to 
 writing several facts and discourses which they had learned. 
 Many of their accounts contained much that has never 
 reached us. Some years afterwards, St. Mark, who was not 
 an Apostle, but who was a companion of St. Peter, the 
 president of the apostolic body, first in honor and first in 
 jurisdiction, abridged much of what St. Matthew had written, 
 and added much of his own, which lie had probably learned 
 from St. Peter. Those books had a limited circulation 
 amongst the Christians in some places, but highly as they 
 were valued, they were not looked upon as the exclusive 
 evidence of the doctrines of the Redeemer, and the very 
 fact, which is of course incontestable, that a vast quantity 
 of what we all now receive as His doctrine is not contained 
 in them, but was subsequently written, renders it impossible 
 for any of us to assume this principle. In the year 53 of 
 our era, St. Luke, who was a physician in Antioch, and
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 229 
 
 who had been occasionally a companion of St. Paul, and 
 had conversed with many of the other disciples and 
 Apostles, began to write his Gospel from the accounts 
 collected through others, and chiefly to counteract the circula- 
 tion of many erroneous accounts which were written. He 
 probably had not seen either of the two Gospels written by 
 Matthew or Mark. About ten years after this, he wrote the 
 Acts of the Apostles as a continuation of his history, and in 
 it he principally confines himself to the account of the labors 
 of St. Paul, as he was his companion, and had the oppor- 
 tunity of observing his proceedings. Upwards of thirty 
 years more elapsed before St. John wrote his Gospel at the 
 request of the Churches of Asia Minor, in order to testify 
 against the errors of several persons who then troubled those 
 Churches with their speculations and imaginations. He had 
 previously written his book of Revelations, being an obscure 
 prophecy of some future events blended with history and 
 vision. He had written some epistles to Churches and to 
 individuals on particular occasions. St. Paul, in the dis- 
 charge of his duties, had been sometimes consulted upon 
 particular questions by Churches which he had founded or 
 visited ; and some of his epistles are extant, in which he 
 answers their difficulties, gives them instruction suitable to 
 their circumstances, and makes several regulations. He also 
 wrote on other occasions to Churches and to individuals, as 
 did three or four of the other Apostles; some of those letters 
 remain ; we are informed, and think it not unlikely, that 
 many more have been lost. 
 
 Thus, during the first century, it is a fact, that no such 
 book as we now receive, called the New Testament, was 
 used or adopted in the Church as the mode for each indi- 
 vidual or each Church to ascertain what was the doctrine 
 of Christ. The several portions of which it is composed had 
 indeed been written and were used, but they were not col- 
 lected together, and very probably no individual had a copy 
 of the whole. But those were not the only books of the 
 same description which circulated, for there were very many
 
 230 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 others purporting to be Gospels and epistles ; and it would 
 indeed be very difficult for any individual who desired to 
 know the doctrine of the Redeemer, to discover it from 
 books, in such a state of things. 
 
 Another fact is also obvious : That in this century the 
 Apostles and most of those whom they had associated with 
 them in their commission died. During their lives, they 
 were the teachers of the doctrine; they testified what Christ 
 had taught, and it was by reference to their tribunal it 
 was ascertained. But a question here naturally presents 
 itself to us. Should a difference of testimony be found 
 amongst those teachers, it is very evident that one of them 
 must have, to say the least, made a mistake ; how was an 
 honest inquirer after truth to know what God has revealed? 
 It is plain, we say, that truth and error must exist in such 
 a case, however innocent the erring party might be. And 
 unless there were a very plain and simple mode of detect- 
 ing that error, He who gave the revelation would not have 
 provided for its preservation. And as this difference not 
 only might exist, but did actually occur at a very early 
 period within this same century, the evidence of truth would 
 have been lost in the difference of testimony, and revela- 
 tion would have been made useless almost as soon as it 
 had been given. We say that the common rule of evidence 
 arising from testimony would have been sufficient, when 
 properly applied, to have detected the error. That rule is : 
 Examine the witnesses fully as to the fact, and if the vast 
 majority, under proper circumstances, will agree in the tes- 
 timony, it is the evidence of truth. Our history exhibits 
 to us, in the lifetime of the Apostles, the facts of the dif- 
 ference, the examination, and the decision by this rule; and 
 also the further fact, that they who would not abide by 
 the decision were no longer considered as holding the doc- 
 trine which had been revealed, but as making new opinions, 
 and substituting what they thought ought to be, instead of 
 preserving what had always been. We then find those who 
 continued to testify the doctrine of the Apostles holding
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 231 
 
 communion with them, recognized as joined in their com- 
 mission, and authorized also to extend and to perpetuate 
 the same. Thus, although the Apostles and their associates 
 <lied within this century, still that tribunal of which they 
 were the first members survived, and at the end of this 
 period was far more numerous and much more widely 
 extended through the world; and it was to this tribunal 
 recourse was had to ascertain what was the doctrine of 
 our blessed Redeemer. Originally this tribunal consisted of 
 Peter and his associates, the other Apostles ; now it con- 
 sisted of the successor of Peter, and the successors of the 
 other Apostles, and of their associates through the world. 
 
 No king could say that he would regulate the doctrines 
 for his people ; no nation had authority to modify those 
 doctrines for themselves. The perfection of religion consists 
 in preserving the doctrines such as they have been given 
 by God in revelation. The difference of temporal govern- 
 ment cannot alter what He has said. Thus, there was formed 
 but one Church through many nations one tribunal to tes- 
 tify in every place the same doctrine all the individuals 
 who taught were witnesses for or against each other the 
 whole body, with the successor of Peter at its head, watch- 
 ful to see that each taught that which was originally 
 delivered. 
 
 In the second century the same system continues ; simi- 
 lar facts present themselves to our view; the mode of ascer- 
 taining what Christ had taught was, by the declarations of 
 this permanent body, thus continued. The books of the 
 New Testament were, perhaps, better known and more gen- 
 erally read, but their circulation was comparatively limited, 
 their authority not sufficiently developed, and they were by 
 no means considered as the only source from which indi- 
 viduals, or even congregations, could draw a full knowledge 
 of the revelations of the Saviour. It was not until after 
 the lapse of three centuries that the members of that living 
 tribunal, which had always been the witness of doctrine, 
 selected the books that form the New Testament from the
 
 232 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 various other works of a similar description, which had 
 been very freely disseminated. We have full evidence of 
 the plain fact, that this tribunal had been the authoritative 
 witness of the revealed truths from the beginning, and that 
 it was only after a long lapse of time that body separated 
 the writings known as the Scriptures of the New Law 
 from several spurious works of little or no value, some of 
 them even false and pernicious. And our belief is, that the 
 mode of ascertaining the doctrine of truth originally was, 
 and continued to be, from the testimony of that tribunal, 
 rather than by the mere testimony of those books. 
 
 What would be the authority of those books, without the 
 authority of that tribunal? Bring any written document 
 into any court of justice; lay it on the table; what will 
 it prove? Will you not first produce evidence to show 
 what it is? You must prove by the testimony of some 
 competent witness the nature and authenticity of a written 
 document before that written document can be used. With- 
 out having been thus established, it lies useless before the 
 court. It may be what it purports to be, but it is plain 
 that a written or printed book may not be what it 
 assumes in its title ; a document flung upon the table of a 
 court lies there without any use, until it is made useful by 
 testimony besides itself. The record of a court must be 
 proved by the officer of that court; fictions and forgeries 
 are as easily printed or produced as are the genuine state- 
 ments of truth; and it does not derogate from the value of 
 a genuine document, to say that it needs first to be proved, 
 for no document can prove itself. 
 
 Our doctrine then is, that in all cases of difference as to 
 faith, between the commissioned teachers of the Church, or 
 in any such differences between others, the mode originally 
 used will procure for us evidence of truth. The question 
 never can be respecting opinion ; it must always be con- 
 cerning fact; that fact is what God did reveal. The orig- 
 inal witnesses spread through the world testified this fact 
 to their associates and to their successors ; this testimony
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 233 
 
 was thus continued. In the second or third century, the 
 bishop in Greece could testify what had been transmitted 
 to him ; the Parthian bishop gave his testimony ; the 
 Egyptian added his; the Italian told what he had been 
 taught; their agreement could not have been the effect 
 of accident. The prejudices, the national habits, and the 
 thousand accidental differences of each made them sufficiently 
 watchful of each other : their joint and concurrent testimony 
 must have been full proof of the sameness of the testi- 
 mony of their predecessors, until all met in the Apostles 
 who heard it from Jesus Christ. We say, that when the 
 great majority of the bishops united with their head, the 
 Bishop of Rome, who succeeds to Peter, thus concur in 
 their testimony, it is evidence of truth; we will infallibly- 
 come to a certain knowledge of what God has revealed^ 
 This is our doctrine of the infallibility of the Church - 
 and thus we believe that we will ascertain what Christ 
 taught, by the testimony of the majority of bishops united 
 to their head, whether assembled or dispersed through their 
 sees all over the world. 1 
 
 Others may be of opinion that this is an irrational that 
 this is an incorrect, that this is an insufficient mode. We 
 do not view it in that light; and I may be permitted to 
 say for myself, perhaps it might be deemed prejudice > 
 perhaps a weakness of intellect, or a slavery of mind'; to- 
 me it appears a much better mode of attaining its great 
 object than to take up the Scriptures and decide solely for 
 myself; better than to depend upon the authority of any 
 individual, however learned, or pious, or inspired with 
 heavenly knowledge, he might be deemed. I am not infal- 
 lible ; but in virtue of my place I give my testimony ; T 
 may err, but the majority of my brethren will correct that 
 error. A few others may err ; still the testimony of the 
 majority prevails thus individuals may separate from us r 
 
 'Consult here, for a clear definition and fnll exolanation of the infallibility 
 of the Church and the Pope, Newman's answer to Gladstone, in the second vol- 
 ume of "Difficulties of Anglicans."
 
 234 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 but our unity and our testimony remains. "We do not 
 profess to believe our Pope infallible. 1 We believe, that 
 by virtue of the divine appointment, he presides amongst 
 us, but we are fellow-witnesses with him. 
 
 But this power of decision is by its own nature extremely 
 limited. We are witnesses to our brethren, not despots over 
 men's minds. Our testimony must be confined to what has 
 been revealed; we cannot add, we cannot diminish. Such 
 is the duty of a witness, such is ours. All the Popes and 
 bishops, all the councils which have ever existed, or which 
 may exist, have not and cannot have the power of com- 
 manding the humblest individual to believe one particle 
 more on the subject of revelation than what they testify God 
 to have taught. When they exhibit what has been taught 
 "by heaven, man is bound to believe. Let them say: 
 " Besides this which God has revealed, we are of opinion 
 that you would do well to believe this, which He has not 
 taught, but which we think a very good doctrine." He is 
 free to act as he may think proper, his belief would not be 
 faith, it would be receiving the opinions of men, not the 
 teaching of heaven ; this mode of teaching is never used 
 in our Church. The decisions of our councils are the 
 exhibition of the original revelation, not the expression 01 
 adopted opinions. So, too, the whole body of our Church 
 cannot omit to teach any revealed truth ; she must teach 
 all ; she must be a faithful witness ; neither adding, omit- 
 ting, nor changing. 
 
 In our mode of examining, although we believe the 
 Founder of our Church made a promise of His divine 
 guidance to protect our body from erring, we take all the 
 natural means which will aid in the discovery of the original 
 fact. We not only have known the testimony of those from 
 whom we learned, and that of those with whom we associate ; 
 l)ut we have the records of our Churches, we have the 
 
 > It Is now, though it was not then, a dogma of the Church that the Pope, 
 when speaking ex cathedra, or as the Pastor ternug, is infallible. Vids "Difficul- 
 ties of Anglicans," Vol. II.
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 235 
 
 documents of antiquity. We have the writings of our 
 ancient, and venerable, and eminent bishops and doctors, 
 coming from every age and from every nation. We have 
 the decisions of former councils, \ve have the monuments 
 which have been erected, the usages which have prevailed, 
 the customs which continue, and when we take up the 
 sacred volume of the Scriptures, we collate its passages 
 with the results which we gather from those sources. The 
 prelates of our several nations make this examination in 
 every quarter of the globe, each testifies what he has found 
 in conjunction with those of his vicinity who could aid him 
 in his research, and thus we obtain testimony of the whole 
 world respecting facts in which the world is deeply interested. 
 Can it be slavery in me to bow to the decision of this 
 tribunal? Frequently, questions which have been long since 
 decided in this manner are revived. Our answer in those 
 oases is very short : " This has been already determined." 
 We are told this is limiting the operations and chaining 
 down the freedom of the human mind. Perhaps it is. But 
 if the proper use of the faculties be the discovery of truth, 
 and that truth has been already discovered, what more is 
 necessary? When investigations have been made, and results 
 arrived at, why investigate still ? You go into court to 
 defend your property, you have your titles fully investigated, 
 judgment is given in your favor, it is put upon record; a 
 new litigant calls upon you to go over the same ground ; 
 will not the record of the judgment against his father protect 
 you ? Or must you, because he choose to trouble you, burn 
 that record, and join issue again? We quote the decisions 
 of former times as proofs that investigation has been already 
 made, and that a decision has long since been had. And 
 what has once been found to have been revealed by God, 
 cannot by any lapse of time cease to be revelation. If the 
 fact shall have been once fully proved, that proof must be 
 good always ; if a record thereof be made, that record is 
 always evidence. 
 
 A political difficulty has been sometimes raised here. If
 
 236 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 this infallible tribunal, which you profess yourselves bound 
 to obey, should command you to overturn our government, 
 and tell you that it is the will of God to have it new 
 modelled, will you be bound to obey it? And how then 
 can we consider those men to be good citizens who profess 
 to owe obedience to a foreign authority to an authority 
 not recognized in our Constitution to an authority which 
 has excommunicated and deposed sovereigns, and which has 
 absolved subjects and citizens from their bond of allegiance? 
 Our answer to this is extremely simple and very plain ; 
 it is, that we would not be bound to obey it that we 
 recognize no such authority. I would not allow to the 
 Pope, or to any bishop of our Church, outside this Union, 
 the smallest interference with the humblest vote at our most 
 insignificant ballot-box. He has no right to such interfer- 
 ence. You must, from the view which I have taken, see 
 the plain distinction between spiritual authority and a 
 right to interfere in the regulation of human government 
 or civil concerns. You have in your Constitution wisely 
 kept them distinct and separate. It will be wisdom, and 
 prudence, and safety to continue the separation. Your Con- 
 stitution says that Congress shall have no power to restrict 
 the free exercise of religion. Suppose your dignified body 
 to-morrow attempted to restrict me in the exercise of that 
 right; though the law, as it would be called, should pass 
 your two houses and obtain the signature of the President, 
 I would not obey it, because it would be no law, it would 
 be an usurpation ; for you cannot make a law in violation 
 of your Constitution you have no power in such a case. 
 So, if that tribunal which is established by the Creator to 
 testify to me what He has revealed, and to make the neces- 
 sary regulations of discipline for the government of the 
 Church, shall presume to go beyond that boundary which 
 circumscribes its power, its acts are invalid ; my rights are 
 not to be destroyed by its usurpation ; and there is no 
 principle of my creed which prevents my using my natural 
 right of proper resistance to any tyrannical usurpation. You
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 237 
 
 have no power to interfere with my religious rights ; the 
 tribunal of the Church has no power to interfere with my 
 civil rights. It is a duty which every good man ought to 
 discharge for his own and for the public benefit, to resist 
 any encroachment upon either. We do not believe that 
 God gave to the Church any power to interfere with our 
 civil rights or our civil concerns. Christ our Lord refused 
 to interfere in the division of the inheritance between two 
 brothers, one of whom requested that interference. The 
 civil tribunals of Judea were vested with sufficient authority 
 for that purpose, and He did not transfer it to His Apostles. 
 It must hence be apparent, that any idea of the Roman 
 Catholics of these republics being in any way under the 
 influence of any foreign ecclesiastical power, or indeed of 
 auy Church authority, in the exercise of their civil rights, 
 is a serious mistake. There is no class of our fellow- 
 citizens more free to think and to act for themselves on the 
 subject of our rights than we are; and I believe there is 
 not any portion of the American family more jealous of 
 foreign influence, or more ready to resist it. We have 
 brethren of our Church in every part of the globe, under 
 every form of government ; this is a subject upon which 
 each of us is free to act as he thinks proper. We know 
 of no tribunal in our Church which can interfere in our 
 proceedings as citizens. Our ecclesiastical authority existed 
 before our Constitution, is not affected by it; there is not 
 in the world a constitution which it does not precede, with 
 which it could not co-exist ; it has seen nations perish, 
 dynasties decay, empires prostrate ; it has co-existed with 
 all, it has survived them all, it is not dependent upon 
 any one of them ; they may still change, and it will still 
 continue. 
 
 It is again urged, that at least our Church is aristocratic, 
 if not despotic, in its principles, and is not calculated for 
 a republic that its spirit is opposed to that of repub- 
 licanism. This objection cannot be seriously urged by any 
 person who has studied history, nor by any person who
 
 238 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 is acquainted with our tenets. Look over the history of 
 the world since the establishment of Christianity, and where 
 have there been republics ? Have the objectors read the 
 history of Italy ? A soil fertile in republics, and most 
 devoted to our religion ! What was the religion of Wil- 
 liam Tell? He was a Roman Catholic. Look not only to 
 the Swiss republics, but take San Marino this little State, 
 during centuries, the most splendid specimen of the purest 
 democracy, and this democracy protected by our Popes- 
 during these centuries. Men who make the assertions to 
 which I have alluded cannot have read history. Amongst 
 ourselves, what is the religion of the venerable Charles 
 Carroll of Carrollton? Men who make these assertions 
 cannot have read our Declaration of Independence. What 
 was the religion of the good, the estimable, the beloved 
 Doctor Carroll, our first Catholic Archbishop of Baltimore, 
 the founder of our hierarchy, the friend of Washington, 
 the associate of Franklin? Have those men been degraded 
 in our Church because they aided in your struggle for the 
 assertion of your rights, for the establishment of our glori- 
 ous and our happy republic ? No they are the jewels 
 which we prize, the ornaments of our Church, the patriots 
 of our country. They and others, whom we count as our 
 members, and esteem for their virtues, have been the inti- 
 mate and faithful associates of many of our best patriots 
 who have passed from our transitory scene, and of some 
 who yet view in consolation our prosperity. What is the 
 religion of Simon Bolivar? What the religion of the whole 
 population of our republican sisters upon the southern con- 
 tinent? We are always assailed by speculation. We always 
 answer by facts. Have we been found traitors in your 
 councils, unfaithful to your trust, cowards in your fields, 
 or in correspondence with your enemies ? Yet we have 
 been consulted for our prudence, confided in for our 
 fidelity, enriched your soil with our blood, filled your decks 
 with our energy; and though some of us might have wept 
 at leaving the land of our ancestors because of the injus-
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 tice of its rulers, we told our brothers who assailed you 
 in the day of battle that we knew them not, and we 
 adhered to those who gave to us a place of refuge and 
 impartial protection. Shall we then be told that our religion 
 is not the religion calculated for republics, though it will 
 be found that the vast majority of republican States and 
 of republican patriots have been, and even now are, Roman 
 Catholic? It is true, ours is also the religion of a large 
 portion of empires, and of kingdoms, and of principalities. 
 The fact is so far an obvious reason, because it is the 
 religion of the great bulk of the civilized world. Our 
 tenets do not prescribe any form of government which the 
 people may properly and regularly establish. No revelation 
 upon which my eye has fallen, or which ever reached my 
 ear, has taught me that the Almighty God commanded us 
 to be governed by kings, or by emperors, or by princes, 
 or to associate in republics. Upon this God has left us 
 free to make our own selection. The decision upon the 
 question of expediency as to the form of government for 
 temporal or civil concerns, is one to be settled by society, 
 and not by the Church. We therefore bind no nation or 
 people to any special form ; the form which they may adopt 
 lies not with us, but with themselves. What suits the 
 genius and circumstances of one people might be totally 
 unfit- for another ; hence, no special form of human gov- 
 ernment for civil concerns has been generally established 
 by divine authority. But the God of order who commands 
 men to dwell together in peace, has armed the government 
 which has been properly established by the principles of 
 society, with power for the execution of the functions which 
 are given by society to its administration. Whilst it con- 
 tinues, within its due bounds, to discharge properly its 
 constitutional obligations, it is the duty of each good mem- 
 ber of society to concur in its support. He who would 
 resist its proper authority, would in this case resist the 
 ordinance of the God of peace and of order, and, as the 
 Apostle says, would purchase damnation for himself. This
 
 240 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 principle applies alike to all forms of government properly 
 established and properly administered to republics and to 
 kingdoms alike. It is then a mistake to imagine that our 
 Church has more congeniality to one species of civil gov- 
 ernment .than to another ; it has been fitted by its Author, 
 who saw the fluctuating state of civil rule, to exist independ- 
 ently of any, and to be suited to all. Its own peculiar 
 forms for its internal regulation may and do continue to 
 be adhered to under every form of temporal rule. 
 
 But is it not a tenet of our Church, that we must per- 
 secute all those who differ from us? Has not our religion 
 been propagated by the firebrand and by the sword? Is 
 not the Inquisition one of its component parts ? Are not 
 our boasted South American republics persecutors still? And 
 in the code of our infallible Church have we not canons of 
 persecution which we are conscientiously bound to obey and 
 to enforce? Did not the great Lateran Council, in 1215, 
 command all princes to exterminate all heretics ? If, then, 
 we are not persecutors in fact, it is because we want the 
 power, for it is plain that we do not want the disposition. 
 
 I would humbly submit, that not one of these questions 
 could be truly answered in the affirmative. The spirit of 
 religion is that of peace and of mercy, not that of persecu- 
 tion; yet men of every creed have persecuted their brethren 
 under the pretext of religion. The great Founder of. our 
 Church, at a very early period, checked this spirit in His 
 Apostles. When some cities would not receive His doc- 
 trine, they asked why He did not call down fire from 
 heaven to destroy them ; but His calm and dignified rebuke 
 was, that they knew not by what spirit they were led; it 
 was the spirit of human passion assuming the garb of 
 heavenly zeal. I know of no power given by God to any 
 man, or to any body of men, in the Christian dispensa- 
 tion, to inflict any penalty of a temporal description upon 
 their fellow-men for mere religious error. If such error 
 shall cause the violation of peace, or shall interfere with 
 the well-being of society, temporal governments, being estab-
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 241 
 
 lished to prevent such disorders, have their own inherent 
 right, but not a religious commission, to interfere merely 
 for that prevention. Each individual is responsible to God 
 for his conduct in this regard ; to Him, and to Him only, 
 we stand or fall. He commissioned the Church to teach 
 His doctrine but He did not commission her to persecute 
 those who would not receive it. He who beholds the evidence 
 of truth and will not follow it, is inexcusable ; he who 
 will not use his best exertions to obtain that evidence, is 
 inexcusable ; he who having used his best exertions for 
 that purpose, and having with the best intentions made a 
 mistake in coming to his conclusion, is not a criminal 
 because of that mistake. God alone, the searcher of our 
 hearts, can clearly see the full accountability of each indi- 
 vidual upon this head because each person must be 
 accountable according to his opportunities. I feel that many 
 and serious mistakes are made by my friends in this 
 country. I know who are mistaken, but far be it from 
 me to say that all who err are criminal. I have fre- 
 quently asked myself whether, if I had had only the same 
 opportunities of knowing the doctrine of my Church and 
 its evidences that many of them have had, I would be 
 what I now am. Indeed, it would be very extraordinary 
 if I was. They labor under those mistakes, not through 
 their ow r n fault in several instances ; and if the Roman 
 Catholic Church were, in her doctrines and her practices, 
 what they have been taught she is, I would not be a 
 Roman Catholic. They imagine her to be what she is not ; 
 and when they oppose what they believe her to be, it is 
 not to her their opposition is really given. To God, and 
 to Him alone, belongs it ultimately to discriminate between 
 those who are criminal and those who are innocent in their 
 error; and I look in vain through every record, in vain 
 I listen to every testimony of my doctrine to discover any 
 command to persecute, any power to inflict fine, or dis- 
 qualification, or bodily chastisement upon those who are in 
 mere religious error. It is no doctrine of the Roman 
 
 16
 
 242 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 Catholic Church ; I do not know that it is the doctrine 
 of any Church calling itself Christian ; but, unfortunately, 
 I know it has been practiced by some Roman Catholics, 
 and it has been practiced in every Church which accused 
 her of having had recourse thereto. I would then say it 
 was taught by no Church ; it has been practiced in all. 
 One great temptation to its exercise is the union of any 
 Church with the State ; and religion has more frequently 
 been but a pretext with statesmen for a political purpose, 
 than the cause of persecution for zeal on its own behalf. 
 
 Christ gave to His Apostles no commission to use the 
 sword or the brand, and they went forth in the simplicity 
 of their testimony, and the evidence of their miracles, and 
 the power of their evidence, to convert the world. They 
 gave freely their own blood to be shed for the sake of 
 religion, but they shed not the blood of their opponents. 
 Their associates and their successors followed their example, 
 and were successful by that imitation. And the historian. 
 Avho represents the chastisements of infidel barbarians, by 
 Christian princes, for the protection of their own people, 
 and the security of their own property, misleads the reader 
 whom he would fain persuade, that it was done for the 
 purposes of religion at the instigation of those who laid 
 down their own lives in the conversion of those barbarians. 
 It is true, indeed, that we cannot call error truth, nor style 
 truth error ; it is true that we say there must continue to 
 be an essential distinction between them ; it is true that 
 we cannot belie our consciences, nor bear false witness to 
 our neighbors, by telling them that we believe they adhere 
 to the doctrines of Christ, when they contradict what we 
 receive as those doctrines ; we cannot believe two contra- 
 dictory propositions to be at the same time true. But such 
 a declaration on our part does not involve as its consequence 
 that we believe they ought to be persecuted. The Inquisi- 
 tion is a civil tribunal of some States, not a portion of our 
 religion. 
 
 We now come to examine what are called the persecuting
 
 1'lzCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 243 
 
 laws of our Church. In the year 1215, at the Council of 
 Lateran, certain heresies were condemned by the first canon; 
 and amongst other things this canon recites as Catholic 
 faith, in opposition to the errors of those whom it con- 
 demned, that there is but one God, the Creator of all 
 things, of spirits as well as bodies ; the Author of the Old 
 Testament and of the Mosaic dispensation, equally as of 
 the New Testament and of the Christian dispensation ; that 
 He created not only the good angels, but also the devil 
 and the bad angels, originally coming good from His hand, 
 and becoming wicked by their own malice, etc. In its 
 third canon it excommunicates those heretics, and declares 
 them to be separated from the body of the Church. Then 
 follows a direction, that the heretics so condemned are to 
 be given up to the secular powers, or to their bailifls, to 
 be duly punished. This direction continues to require of 
 all bishops and others having authority, to make due search 
 within their several districts for those heretics, and if they 
 will not be induced to retract their errors, desires that 
 they should be delivered over to be punished. There is 
 an injunction then to all temporal lords to cleanse their 
 dominions by exterminating those heretics; and if they will 
 not, within a year from having been so admonished by 
 the Church, cleanse their lands of this heretical filth, they 
 shall be deprived if they have superior lords, and if they 
 be superior lords and be negligent, it shall be the duty 
 of the metropolitan and his provincial bishops to excom- 
 municate them, and if any one of those lords paramount 
 so excommunicated for this negligence shall continue during 
 twelve months under the excommunication, the metropolitan 
 shall certify the same to the Pope, who finding admonition 
 useless, shall depose this prince, and absolve his subjects 
 from their oaths of fealty, and deliver the territory over to 
 Catholics who, having exterminated the heretics, shall remain 
 in peaceable possession. 
 
 This is the most formidable evidence adduced against the 
 position which I have laid down, that it is not a doctrine
 
 244 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 of our Church, that we are bound to persecute those who 
 differ from us in belief. I trust that I shall not occupy 
 very much of your time in showing that this enactment 
 does not in any way weaken that assertion. I shall do 
 so, by satisfying you that this is a special law for a par- 
 ticular case ; and also by convincing you that it is not a 
 canon of the Church respecting any of those points in 
 which we admit her infallibility; nor indeed a canon of 
 the Church. 
 
 The doctrines condemned in this first canon originated in 
 Syria, touched v lightly at the islands of the Archipelago, 
 settled down in Bulgaria, and spread into the south of 
 Europe, but were principally received in the vicinity of 
 Albi, in France. The persons condemned held the Mani- 
 chsean principle of there being two creators of the universe ; 
 one a good being, the author of the New Testament, the 
 creator of good angels, and generally of spiritual essences ; 
 the other an evil being, the creator of bodies, the author 
 of the Mosaic dispensation, and generally of the Old Testa- 
 ment. They stated that marriage was unlawful, and co- 
 operation with the principle of evil was criminal. The 
 consequences to society were of the very worst description, 
 immoral, dismal, and desolating. The Church examined the 
 doctrine, condemned it as heretical, and cut off those who 
 held or abetted it from her communion. Here, according 
 to the principles which I have maintained before you, her 
 power ended. Beyond this we claim no authority; the 
 Church, by divine right, we say, infallibly testifies what 
 doctrines Christ has revealed, and by the same right, in the 
 same manner, decides that what contradicts this revelation 
 is erroneous ; but she has no divine authority to make a 
 law which shall strip of their property, or consign to the 
 executioner, those whom she convicts of error. The doctrine 
 of our obligation to submit docs not extend to force us to 
 submit to a usurpation ; and if the Church made a law upon 
 a subject beyond her commission for legislation, it would be 
 invalid ; there would be no proper claim for our obedience ;
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 245 
 
 usurpation does not create a right. The council could by 
 right make the doctrinal decision ; but it had no right to 
 make the temporal enactment; and where there exists no 
 right to legislate on one side, there is no obligation of 
 obedience on the other. If this was then a canon of the 
 Church, it was not one in making which she was acting 
 within her constitutional jurisdiction, it was a usurpation of 
 temporal government, and the doctrine of infallibility does 
 not bear upon it 
 
 Every document respecting this council, the entire of the 
 evidence respecting it, as well as the very mode of -framing 
 the enactments, prove that it was a special law regarding 
 a particular case. The only persons whose errors were con- 
 demned at that council were those whom I have described. 
 The general principle of legal exposition restraining the 
 application of penal enactments must here have full weight, 
 and will restrain the application of the penalty to the only 
 criminals brought within its view. But the evidence is still 
 more confirmed by the particular words of definite meaning, 
 this and filth, which were specially descriptive of only those 
 persons ; the first by its very nature, the second by the 
 nature of their crime ; and the continued exposition of the 
 enactment restrained its application to the special case, 
 though frequently attempts have been made by individuals 
 to extend its application, not in virtue of the statute, but 
 in virtue of analogy. It would then be improperly forcing 
 its construction to say that its operation was to be general, 
 as it evidently was made only for a particular case. 
 
 In viewing the preamble to this council, as well as from 
 our knowledge of history, we discover that this was not 
 merely a council of the Church, but it was also a congress 
 of the civilized world. The state of the times rendered 
 such assemblages not only usual but necessary; and each 
 legislative body did its own business by its own authority ; 
 and very generally the subjects which were decided upon by 
 one body in one point of view, came under the consideration 
 of the other assembly in a different point of view, and their
 
 246 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 
 
 separate decisions were engrossed upon a joint record. Some- 
 times they were preserved distinct and separate; but copyists, 
 for their own convenience, brought together all the articles 
 regarding the same subject, from what source soever they 
 were obtained. Such was precisely the case in the instance 
 before us. There were present on this occasion, by them- 
 selves or by their legates, the King of Sicily, Emperor-elect 
 of the Romans, the Emperor of the East, the King of France, 
 the King of England, the King of Arragon, the King of 
 Jerusalem, the King of Cyprus, many other kings, lords 
 paramount, sovereign States, and princes. Several of the 
 bishops were princes or barons. In the ecclesiastical council, 
 the third canon terminated exactly in one sentence, which 
 was that of the excommunication or separation from the 
 Church of those whom the first canon had condemned, 
 whatever name or names they might assume ; because they 
 had in several places several appellations, and were continu- 
 ally dividing off and changing names as they separated. 
 The duty and the jurisdiction of the council came to this, 
 and the ancient records give no more as the portion of its 
 enactments. But the congress of the temporal powers then 
 made the subsequent part as their enactment; and thus this 
 penal and civil regulation was not an act of the council, 
 but an act of the congress. It is not a canon concerning 
 the doctrine of the Church, nor indeed is it by any means 
 a canon, though the copyists have added it to the canon as 
 regarding the very same subject; and as confessedly the 
 excommunication in the third canon regarded only the 
 special case of those particular heretics, the addition of the 
 penal enactment to this particular canon is confirmatory 
 evidence that those who added it knew that the penalty in 
 the one case was only co-extensive with the excommunication 
 in the other. 
 
 Having thus seen that this canon of the Council of 
 Lateran was not a doctrinal decision of our Church estab- 
 lishing the doctrine of persecution and commanding to per- 
 secute, but that it was a civil enactment by the temporal
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 247 
 
 power against persons whom they looked upon as criminals, 
 it is more the province of the politician or of the jurist than 
 of the divine to decide upon its propriety. I may, how- 
 ever, be permitted to say that in my opinion the existence 
 of civilized society required its enactment, though no good 
 man can approve of several abuses which were committed 
 under the pretext of its execution, nor can any rational 
 man pretend that because of the existence of a special law 
 for a particular purpose every case which may be thought 
 analagous to that for which provision was made is to be 
 illegally subjected to those provisions. 
 
 We are now arrived at the place where we may easily 
 find the origin and the extent of the papal power of 
 deposing sovereigns and of absolving subjects from their 
 oaths of allegiance. To judge properly of facts, we must 
 .know their special circumstances, not their mere outline. 
 The circumstances of Christendom were then widely different 
 from those in which we now are placed. Europe was then 
 under the feudal system. I have seldom found a writer, 
 not a Catholic, who, in treating of that age and that 
 system, has been accurate, and who has not done us very 
 serious injustice. But a friend of mine, who is a respect- 
 able member of your honorable body, has led me to read 
 Hallam's account of it ; and I must say that I have sel- 
 dom met with so much candor and, what I call, so much 
 truth. From reading his statement of that system it will be 
 plainly seen that there existed amongst the Christian poten- 
 tates a sort of federation, in which they bound themselves 
 by certain regulations, and to the observance of those they 
 were held not merely by their oaths, but by various pen- 
 alties. Sometimes they consented that the penalty should 
 be the loss of their station. It was of course necessary 
 to ascertain that the fact existed before its consequences 
 should be declared to follow ; it was also necessary to 
 stablish some tribunal to examine and to decide as to the 
 existence of the fact itself, and to proclaim that existence. 
 Amongst independent sovereigns there was no superior, and
 
 248 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 it was natural to fear that mutual jealousy would create 
 great difficulty in selecting a chief; and that what orig- 
 inated in concession might afterwards be claimed as a right. 
 They were, however, all members of one Church, of which 
 the Pope was the head, and in this respect, their common 
 father; and by universal consent it was regulated that he 
 should examine, ascertain the fact, proclaim it, and declare 
 its consequences. Thus he did in reality possess the power 
 of deposing monarchs, and of absolving their subjects from 
 oaths of fealty, but only those monarchs who were mem- 
 bers of that federation, and in the cases legally provided 
 for, and by their concession, not by divine right, and 
 during the term of that federation and the existence of his 
 commission. He governed the Church by divine right, he 
 deposed kings and absolved subjects from their allegiance 
 by human concession. I preach the doctrines of my Church 
 by divine right, but I preach from this spot not by that 
 right but by the permission of others. 
 
 It is not then a doctrine of our Church that the Pope 
 has been divinely commissioned either to depose kings or 
 to interfere with republics, or to absolve the subjects of 
 the former from their allegiance, or interfere with the civil 
 concerns of the latter. When the persecuted English Cath- 
 olics, under Elizabeth, found the Pope making an unfounded 
 claim to this right, and upon the shadow of that un- 
 founded right making inroads upon their national independ- 
 ence, by declaring who should or who should not be their 
 temporal ruler, they well showed how little they regarded 
 his absolving them from their allegiance, for they volun- 
 teered their services to protect their liberties, which their 
 Catholic ancestors had labored to establish. And she well 
 found that a Catholic might safely be entrusted with the 
 admiralty of her fleet, and that her person was secure 
 amongst her disgraced Catholic nobility and gentry and their 
 persecuted adherents ; although the Court of Rome had 
 issued its bull of absolution, and some divines were found 
 who endeavored to prove that what originated in voluntary
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 249 
 
 concession of States and monarchs was derived from divine 
 institution. If then Elizabeth, of whose character I would 
 not wish in this place to express my opinion, was safe 
 amidst those whom she persecuted for their faith, even 
 when the head of their Church absolved them from alle- 
 giance, and if at such a moment they flocked round her 
 standard to repel Catholic invaders who came with conse- 
 crated banners, and that it is admitted on all hands that 
 in so doing they violated no principle of doctrine or of 
 discipline of their Church, as we all avow ; surely America 
 need not fear for the fidelity of her Catholic citizens, whom 
 she cherishes and whom she receives to her bosom with 
 affection and shelters from the persecution of others. Neither 
 will any person attempt to establish an analogy between 
 our federation and that of feudalism, to argue that the 
 Pope can do amongst us what he did amongst European, 
 potentates under circumstances widely different. 
 
 It has been frequently objected to us, that our Church 
 has been more extensively persecuting than any other. This- 
 is not the place to enter into a comparison of atrocities ; 
 but I will assert, that when weighed against each other 
 our scale will be found light indeed. Did any person think 
 proper to conjure up the victims from the grave, I would 
 engage to produce evidence of the inflictions upon us in 
 abundance, until the hairs of our hearers should stand on 
 end, and humanity interpose to prevent the recital. But 
 the crimes of individuals or of assemblies are not the doc- 
 trines of a Church. 
 
 I had other subjects which I desired to treat of in your 
 presence, but I feel I have trespassed too long upon your 
 patience. Let us go back to our view of religion. We 
 may now say that all the law and the prophets can be 
 reduced to the two great commandments as our blessed 
 Saviour gave them : Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
 with thy whole heart, and thy whole soul, and thy whole 
 mind, and with all thy strength ; this is the first and 
 the greatest. Love is affectionate attachment founded upon
 
 250 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 
 
 esteem. We seek to know the will of those whom we love 
 that we may bring ours to be in conformity therewith. The 
 will of God is, that we should seek to know what He 
 teaches, because, indeed, He would not have taught with- 
 out desiring that we should learn. Our Saviour Himself 
 tells His disciples, if they love Him they will keep His 
 Word. The proof, then, of our love is not to be exhibited 
 in our mere declaration, it is to be found in the manifes- 
 tation of our assiduity to know what our Creator has 
 taught, that it may be the rule of our practice that we 
 may believe His declarations, obey His injunctions, and 
 adhere to His institutions. As His knowledge surpasses 
 ours, so His declarations may regard facts beyond our 
 comprehension, and our faith be thus built upon the evi- 
 dence of His Word for things which we have not seen, 
 and His promises exhibit to us the substance of what we 
 hope to enjoy, because He has pledged His veracity, not 
 because our reason makes it manifest. It is our duty to 
 love Him so as to be zealous for discovering what He has 
 taught, that we may pay to Him the homage of our 
 understanding, as well by its exertion as by its submission. 
 Let me then exhort you to this love. Investigate for the 
 purpose of obtaining the knowledge of truth, and then pay 
 the homage of your will by determining to act in con- 
 formity with what you shall have discovered. Submit your 
 affections to His law, bring your passions in subjection 
 thereto. Of ourselves we are weak, in His grace we can 
 become strong. His institutions have been established, that 
 through them we might be strengthened in that grace. It 
 is therefore our duty, as it is our interest, to have recourse 
 to them. Reason, religion, wisdom, which is the perfection 
 of both, lead us to this conclusion. It necessarily, then, 
 is incumbent on us to search for where those instutitions 
 are to be found. 
 
 The second commandment is like the first : Thou shalt 
 love thy neighbor as thyself for the sake of God. The 
 Apostle asks us, How can a man say that he loves God
 
 DISCOURSE BEFORE CONGRESS. 25] 
 
 whom he hath not seen, and hate his neighbor whom he 
 seeth ? and that neighbor is made in the likeness of God. 
 The Saviour commands us even to love our enemies, to 
 <lo good to those who hate us, and to pray for those who 
 calumniate and persecute us. Nothing can excuse us from 
 the discharge of this duty, the observance of this great 
 commandment. No difference of religion can form a pre- 
 text for non-compliance. Religion, that holy name, has too 
 often been abused for this end, that man might flatter 
 himself with having the sanction of heaven for the indul- 
 gence of a bad passion. In these happy and free States 
 we stand upon the equal ground of religious right ; we 
 may freely love and bear with each other, and exhibit to 
 Europe a contrast to her jealousies in our affection. By 
 inquiry we shall correct many mistakes, by which our 
 feelings have been embittered ; we shall be more bound 
 together in amity, as we become more intimate ; and may 
 our harmony and union here below produce that peace and 
 good will emblematic of our enjoyment of more lasting 
 happiness in a better world.
 
 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 1 
 
 IN tracing the history of nations, the philosopher discovers 
 the basis upon which he must raise his general observations, 
 because those observations are usually but results drawn from 
 a multitude of facts. For this purpose, the history of the 
 savage is in some degree as necessary as the history of civil- 
 ized man; because in the one we see the development of our 
 principles and passions unrestrained by the rules of civiliza- 
 tion, and in the other we find the consequences of those 
 rules. Thus, the proper aim of philosophy being the dis- 
 covery of that wisdom which will procure human happiness, 
 the history of the human race is amongst the best studies 
 of the philosopher. 
 
 But as man is an immortal being, whose existence continues 
 beyond the span of his sojourn upon this earth, and who will 
 remain in his new state during eternity, the philosopher 
 ought to inquire in the history of the human race for those 
 events which will tend proximately or remotely to elucidate 
 the important concerns of his perpetual happiness ; and 
 several of those are to be found in the religion of nations. 
 Leaving for a time the region of revelation, let us examine 
 some of the facts that history presents to our view in those 
 times and places wherein no claim is made, upon sufficient 
 grounds, to supernatural instruction. 
 
 A writer who, by his pleasing style and bold manner, 
 drew after liim for a time, not only the light and thoughtless 
 body of English readers, but even many of those who were 
 distinguished for intellect, has by a fallacious theory diverted 
 the attention of several men of genius and ability from fact 
 
 ' An Essay read at a public meeting: of the Literary and Philosophical Society 
 of Charleston, 8. C., at the City Hall, on Wednesday, January 10, 1827. 
 
 (258)
 
 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 253 
 
 to speculation ; leaving the beaten paths of earth, he rose on 
 the wing of imagination and caused his followers to soar 
 above the plain way of events into the clouds of conjecture ; 
 and, substituting probability for evidence, he next assumed 
 possibility for fact, and thus created amusing visions for 
 established history. From what had thus been given in 
 place of the proceedings of our predecessors he drew con- 
 clusions which were perfectly logical, and nothing was 
 requisite to uphold their truth, save that which was the 
 original deficiency, namely, the correctness of the statement 
 upon which they rested. But a more discriminating age 
 is detecting the aberrations of Mr. Hume, and we, too, may 
 add our little examination to the general fund of evidence 
 from which more useful materials may be procured by 
 those who build their systems upon observation and not 
 upon imagination. 
 
 One of this gentleman's theories was, that polytheism was 
 the original religion of men, and that this original religion 
 was created by an affrighted fancy. Yet even for this he 
 deserves not the credit of originality, as a pagan poet had 
 been amongst his leaders in the assertion ; and with as little 
 support from former fact, as might be easily seen. Mr. 
 Hume proceeds from this assumption to state, that as man 
 became enlightened, his reason corrected the superstition of 
 his terror, and brought him to acknowledge the unity and 
 supremacy of the Deity; hence, he would conclude, that 
 man has no knowledge of religion except from the progress 
 of his reason, and that the notion of revealed religion is a 
 delusion. If the facts were as the essayist assumed, his 
 conclusions would be good. But if history will destroy the 
 assumed correctness of his statements, his argument has no 
 foundation. Hence, the investigation becomes to all men a 
 matter of importance, and it would appear to be the duty 
 of each nation to bear testimony to the facts which come 
 under its own view. 
 
 If man had been originally a savage, who reasoned him- 
 self into civilization, and as he became civilized cast
 
 254 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 
 
 away his superstitions and religious errors, of which poly- 
 theism was the most absurd ; the savage who chases the 
 deer through our wilderness and who is by the opponents of 
 revelation said to invoke the Great Spirit, who is one and 
 impervious to the senses, must surpass in his civilization 
 the philosophers of Greece, the merchants of Egypt and of 
 Tyre, and the senate and the people of Rome. " Red- 
 Jacket " is superior to Solon or to Cicero, " The Mad 
 Tiger" is preferable to Socrates or to Virgil. Horace and 
 Pliny must bow to the superior wisdom of " The Sleep- 
 ing Wolf" and of "The Cat that Watches." Besides the 
 absurdity of such consequences, which flow legitimately from 
 the assumed principle and supposed fact, we have in safe 
 history undoubted evidence that theism was man's first 
 religion, from which he degenerated, and that the savage was- 
 not his original state. Sir William Jones in his essay on 
 the gods of Greece, Italy, and India, very rationally eluci- 
 dates the first of these positions, but I have seen it far 
 better treated and upon a more extensive scale by a French 
 writer of the last century. The proof of the latter posi- 
 tion cannot be mistaken or overlooked by any attentive 
 reader of ancient history, and the writer to whom I have 
 alluded finely shows the progress of tribes to barbarism in 
 the early ages of the world. When we cast our eyes upon 
 Egypt, Persia, Greece, and the northwestern coast of Africa r 
 we need scarcely recollect the shade which passed over 
 Europe to confirm in our minds the truth that a civilized 
 people may degenerate, and that the human mind is not 
 steadily and uniformly progressive. There is a delusive sem- 
 blance of philosophy which constructs theories by the force of 
 imagination, and then regulates the nature of occurences 
 to harmonize with these preconcerted systems. There i 
 also a duty which even to the philosopher is not always 
 easy : that of reconciling minor facts to a principal occur- 
 rence of whose truth he has convincing evidence. In this 
 case, candor, patience, and industry will generally insure 
 success in our attempt to remove the apparent incompatibil-
 
 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 255- 
 
 ities, which at first sight startle the inexperienced, prevent 
 the progress of the idle, and give occasion to the false 
 conclusions of the thoughtless. 
 
 Of this description is the difficulty which presents itself 
 when we view the varieties of the human race, in conjunc- 
 tion with the fact that all those beings are the descendants- 
 of Noe. The difference of color, the difference of structure, 
 the difference of religion, the difference of customs, and the 
 separation of continents, have been obstacles to the admis- 
 sion of the common origin at a period so comparatively 
 recent. I shall not touch upon the first two topics, but L 
 shall advert a little to the others; though the facts upon 
 which my observations will rest shall not be all adduced 
 in the present essay. 
 
 I wish to make a passing remark upon the theory of Mr. 
 Hume, before I enter more deeply upon my subject. We 
 know that our red brethren are far from being civilized.. 
 ^Ve know that the inhabitants of Greece were much polished ;. 
 that the Romans excelled us in many of the accomplishments, 
 of the social state. Yet those Greeks and Romans were 
 polytheists, and our Indian is said to be a theist. If the 
 Indian, by the exercise of his reason, rose from polytheism, 
 he must have risen from the barbarous state of the Greek 
 and Roman, to his own state of superior civilization, or he 
 has in his rude state preserved the original religion of his- 
 fathers, and thus their original religion was theism. No 
 person will venture to make the first assertion. Mr. Hume 
 would not permit us to make the second. But is the name 
 of any man to impede our progress from the premises 
 to a conclusion? In truth, they who declaim against the 
 vassalage of the human mind to religion, will be found 
 upon inquiry to be its worst tyrants. But, although the 
 discovery might not be made upon our continent, to the 
 antiquarian this exhibition is not new. Nations have been 
 found when the Roman eagle soared in his loftiest flight 
 and the Roman people bowed in their most degrading 
 idolatry, who would have been called barbarian, and these
 
 256 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 
 
 people, if not theists, had very limited polytheism. The 
 Irish druid is said by many antiquarians to have been a 
 theist. Evidence of his religion remains, but no evidence 
 has been exhibited to show that his religion regarded more 
 than one God; though that God was Baal. The Persian 
 worshiped fire, yet it is not so clearly established that 
 his adoration was always paid to the element and not to 
 the Deity of whom earthly and celestial fire were only 
 emblems. 
 
 If our opponent argues that the diversity of religion 
 creates suspicion of a diversity of origin, he must allow 
 the force of the principle that similarity of religious belief 
 and worship seems to indicate a common origin. Indeed, 
 though neither is fully evident, the latter is much the 
 more probable. Few centuries have elapsed since European 
 Christians were members of a common Church, and had 
 almost universal singleness of faith ; into ' how many sects 
 are they now divided, and how many families are so 
 opposed in belief as that they who are united by the 
 closest ties of nature are at perfect variance upon the score 
 of religion? But if we discover a similarity between the 
 religious observances of the American, and the Persian, and 
 the Hindoo, we may more naturally conclude that they 
 have sprung from a common stock, whence they brought 
 those observances, or had a common teacher, or some inter- 
 course by means of which one learned from the other; 
 because it would contradict our experience to assert that 
 this agreement is the result of accident. 
 
 The French writer, to whom I have before alluded, 
 traces the human family from its renewal after the deluge 
 through its subsequent migrations, and finds in climate, in 
 soil, in customs produced by special necessities and by 
 occurrences of which we have in several instances good his- 
 torical evidence, sufficient cause for the variance of worship 
 and the origin of polytheism. The mythology of several 
 portions of mankind is in admirable accordance with what ' 
 he lays down. Thus, the Egyptian found in the very leek
 
 . RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 257 
 
 of his garden a portion of that great spirit which ani- 
 mated the universe, and which poured fertility upon the 
 land, when from the hidden recess of his dwelling he com- 
 municated himself through the medium of water. The Per- 
 sian beheld his glories in the sun, and the heat of fire was 
 the sacred mode through which his blessings were bestowed. 
 In Scandinavia he spoke in the whirlwind, and passed 
 along creating the solemnity of terror, and acknowledged 
 by the howlings of the invisible spirits of the forest ; his 
 abode was on the summit of the rocks, or in the recesses' 
 of caverns, and his rage urged on the desolating flood; far 
 from exhibiting his beneficence by water, he gave it in his 
 wrath. Thus, the Scandinavian abhorred what the Egyptian 
 worshiped. 
 
 I believe, then, that to the calm and unbiased investi- 
 gator of ancient history and of the customs and religious 
 observances of those nations which have not been blessed 
 with the light of revelation, it will appear that the original 
 religion of mankind was theism, and that the several systems 
 of polytheism and idolatry will appear to have arisen from 
 various circumstances in different places, joined to the cor- 
 ruption of man's heart and the feebleness of his intellect ; 
 and that many kinds of superstition having thus arisen 
 amongst a people whose ancestors had a common religion 
 prescribing the worship of one God, the characters of those 
 several superstitions were originally unlike, but having once 
 been established in the primitive nations, the observances 
 would continue with some alterations in those nations and 
 in their colonies, and hence, that a striking similitude of 
 religious observances between two tribes would lead to the 
 conclusion that they had a common origin. 
 
 Of course the resemblance must be striking, and the 
 coincidence, however exact, can form but one link of the 
 chain which would bind them in a common origin. Upon 
 this subject I shall close my observations with an extract 
 from a dissertation by Sir William Jones, in whose senti- 
 ments, as here given, I fully concur :
 
 RELIGION OF AME1UCAN INDIANS. 
 
 "We cannot justly conclude, by arguments preceding the 
 proof of facts, that one idolatrous people must have borrowed 
 their deities, rites, and tenets from another ; since gods of 
 all shapes and dimensions may be framed by the boundless 
 powers of imagination, or by the fraud and follies of men, 
 in countries never connected. But when features of resem- 
 blance, too strong to have been accidental, are observable 
 in different systems of polytheism, without fancy or prejudice 
 to color them and improve the likeness, we can scarcely 
 help believing that some connection has immemorially sub- 
 sisted between the several nations who have adopted them. 
 It is my design in this essay to point out such a resemblance 
 between the popular worship of the old Greeks and Italians, 
 and that of the Hindoos ; nor can there be any room to 
 doubt of a great similarity between their strange religions 
 and those of Egypt, China, Persia, Phcenice, Syria ; to 
 which perhaps we may safely add some of the southern 
 kingdoms, and even islands of America; while the Gothic 
 system, which prevailed in the northern regions of Europe, 
 was not merely similar to that of Greece and Italy, but 
 almost the same in another dress, with an embroidery of 
 images apparently Asia-tic. From all these, if it can be 
 satisfactorily proved, we may infer a union or affinity between 
 the most distinguished inhabitants of the primitive world 
 at the time when they deviated, as they did too early deviate, 
 from the rational adoration of the only true God." 
 
 The learned and philosophical author compiled the essay 
 in which this is found in the year 1784. In his discourse 
 "On the Origin of Families and Nations," delivered before 
 the Asiatic Society in Calcutta, on the 23d of February, 
 1792, he states as a corollary from testimonies adduced 
 in six previous annual discourses, the great likelihood "that 
 the tribes of Mish, Cush and Rama settled in Africa and 
 India; while some of them, having improved the art of 
 sailing, passed from Egypt, Phcenice, Phrygia, into Italy 
 and Greece, which they found thinly peopled by former 
 emigrants, of whom they supplanted some tribes, and united
 
 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 259 
 
 themselves with others ; whilst a swarm from the same hive 
 moved by a northerly course into Scandinavia, and another 
 by the head of the Oxus, and through the passes of the 
 Imaus into Cashghcr and Eighur, Khata and Khoten, as 
 far as the territories of Chin and Tancut, where letters have 
 been used and arts immemorially cultivated; nor is it 
 unreasonable to believe that some of them found their way 
 from the eastern isles into Mexico and Peru, where traces 
 were discovered of rude literature and mythology, analogous 
 to those of Egypt and India." 
 
 As my aim is to excite my associates and fellow-citizens 
 to investigate the history of the aboriginal inhabitants of our 
 rising and prosperous country, I may be again permitted 
 to make an interesting extract from the work of the great 
 President of the Asiatic Society, as it will exhibit in that 
 elder continent the attainment of a result which I am con- 
 vinced must always be found the consequence of impartial, 
 and judicious, and truly philosophical investigation. I would 
 desire to urge forward on this continent those who have 
 more leisure, more opportunity, and better qualifications than 
 I can pretend to. I would entreat of them fully to investi- 
 gate the history of a race too quickly, I fear, about to 
 disappear from the land of their fathers, and to place on 
 record those facts whose truth could be established, in the 
 hope, and indeed with the confidence, that in America the 
 result would be the same as it has been found in Asia, 
 as is testified and proved by Sir William Jones. 
 
 " In the first place, we cannot surely deem it an incon- 
 siderable advantage, that all our historical researches have 
 confirmed the Mosaic accounts of the primitive world ; and 
 our testimony on that subject ought to have the greater 
 weight, because, if the result of our observations had been 
 totally different, we should nevertheless have published them, 
 not indeed with equal pleasure, but with equal confidence, 
 for truth is mighty, and whatever be its consequence, must 
 always prevail. But independently of our interest in corrob- 
 orating the multiplied evidences of revealed religion, we
 
 260 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 
 
 could scarcely gratify our minds with a more useful and 
 rational entertainment than the contemplation of those won- 
 derful revolutions in kingdoms and States, which have 
 happened within little more than four thousand years ; 
 revolutions almost as fully demonstrative of an all-ruling 
 Providence, as the structure of the universe and the final 
 causes, which are discernible in its whole extent and even 
 in its minutest parts. Figure to your imagination a moving 
 picture of that eventful period, or rather a succession of 
 crowded scenes rapidly changed. Three families migrate 
 in different courses from one region, and in about four 
 centuries establish very distant governments and various 
 modes of society. Egyptians, Indians, Goths, Phenicians, 
 Celts, Greeks, Latins, Chinese, Peruvians, Mexicans, all, 
 sprung from the same immediate stem, appear to start nearly 
 at one time, and occupy at length those countries, to which 
 they have given or from which they have derived their 
 names. In twelve or thirteen hundred years more, the 
 Greeks overrun the land of their forefathers, invade India, 
 conquer Egypt, and aim at universal dominion. But the 
 Romans appropriate to themselves the whole empire of 
 Greece, and carry their arms into Britain, of which they 
 speak with haughty contempt. The Goths, in the fullness 
 of time, break to pieces the unwieldy colossus of Roman 
 power, and seize on the whole of Britain, except its wild 
 mountains ; but even those wilds become subject to other 
 invaders of the same Gothic lineage. During all these 
 transactions, the Arabs possess both coasts of the Red Sea, 
 subdue the old seat of their first progenitors, and extend 
 their conquests on one side, through Africa into Europe 
 itself and on another beyond the borders of India, part of 
 which they annex to their flourishing empire. In the same 
 interval, the Tartars, widely diffused over the rest of the 
 globe, swarm into the northeast, whence they rush to com- 
 plete the reduction of Constantine's beautiful domains, to 
 subjugate China, to raise in these Indian realms a dynasty 
 splendid and powerful, and to ravage, like the two other
 
 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 261 
 
 families, the devoted regions of Iran. By this time the 
 Mexicans and the Peruvians, with many races of adven- 
 turers variously intermixed, have peopled the continent and 
 isles of America, which the Spaniards, having restored their 
 old government in Europe, discover, and in part overcome. 
 But a colony from Britain, of which Cicero ignorantly 
 declared that it contained nothing valuable, obtain the pos- 
 session, and finally the sovereign dominion of extensive 
 American districts, whilst other British subjects acquire a 
 subordinate empire in the finest provinces in India, which 
 the victorious troops of Alexander were unwilling to attack. 
 This outline of human transactions, as far as it includes the 
 limits of Asia, we can only hope to fill up, to strengthen 
 and to color by the help of Asiatic literature ; for in history 
 as in law, we must not follow streams, when we may inves- 
 tigate fountains, nor admit any secondary proof, where 
 primary evidence is attainable." 
 
 The discourse from which this is extracted was delivered 
 on the 28th of February, 1793. Little more than thirty 
 years have elapsed since that period, and how many aston- 
 ishing revolutions have occurred ! Take the map of Europe 
 as it then was and compare it with what is now placed 
 before the world. Events which might be spread over the 
 pages which history allots to centuries are crowded within 
 a portion of the tablet which is given to individual recol- 
 lection. Crowns are immersed in the blood of those whom 
 they were given to decorate. Wild anarchy celebrates her 
 orgies amid the mangled corpses of a devoted nation, and 
 dares to pollute the sacred name of freedom with her 
 blaspheming lips. The very divisions of time are changed 
 to attempt the obliteration of that first institution of the 
 Creator, which gives rest to the weary and hope to the 
 desponding. The vilest outcasts of the more virtuous sex 
 are placed upon the altars of the living God for homage of 
 those men who boasted that they were to illuminate a 
 benighted world. Congregated potentates of Europe are 
 resisted successfully by a stripling to whom this nation
 
 262 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 
 
 entrusts her destinies; almost each of her capitals sees him 
 seated above her throne, and almost every one of her 
 monarchs is the creature of his will, until the blasphemy 
 has ceased and the impiety is removed. Then he who was 
 in himself a dynasty becomes a captive and perishes in 
 prison as singular in its construction as was the career of 
 him whose ashes it contains. 
 
 How rapid also has been the progress of this western 
 hemisphere within that little time ! Here too the work of 
 centuries has been accomplished in less than half a century. 
 Britain, it is true, possesses one million of subjects on our 
 northern frontier ; can these be the American districts of 
 which the president of the Asiatic Society boasted that 
 Britain had the sovereignty? At the time of the delivery 
 of his discourse, perhaps some lurking hope remained that 
 the old colonies would request the protection of their former 
 stepmother. But that hope has long since been extinguished, 
 and forever ; where three millions of subjects had been in 
 a state of political dependence, and several of them under 
 religious disqualification, now over ten millions of freemen 
 enjoy all the advantages of civil and religious liberty: their 
 flag is seen on every ocean, and their consuls reside in 
 every port. The Spaniard too has lost his dominion, and 
 on the south as in the west, the progress of freedom and 
 of improvement is indeed astonishing. And may I be 
 permitted to add the expression of my hope that " the 
 beautiful domains of Constantino" may receive, from heaven 
 and from earth, sufficient aid to be at length successful in 
 their effort to expel the drones of the northeastern hive? 
 
 But what has been my object in this apparent digression? 
 To show that when we calculate upon the progress of events 
 by the progress of time, we are frequently led to erroneous 
 conclusions. Frequently indeed appearing to accelerate his 
 pace, he seems to outstrip events, and a century would, by 
 some whose system of analogy is too perfect for an imperfect 
 state of being, be charged as erroneously inserted. At other 
 times the philosophist, though the evidence of facts was
 
 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 263 
 
 perfect, would by speculation prove to his own satisfaction, 
 and to the amusement of others, that it was impossible for 
 these occurrences to have taken place within the period 
 assigned in the record. He would thus treat history with 
 as little mercy as Procrustes treated his guests. 
 
 I would propose that such speculations should be alto- 
 getlier laid aside, that we should endeavor to follow that 
 plan upon which the Asiatic Society proceeded, that we 
 should in America endeavor to discover, and to discuss, and 
 to preserve those facts connected with the aborigines of our 
 country, which might tend not only to exhibit much curious 
 and interesting information to gratify the public, but which 
 would greatly tend to elucidate subjects which are of great 
 importance to the whole human race. 
 
 My present object is to lay before you some general 
 observations which 1 think arise from the view of facts 
 respecting the religion of the aboriginal possessors of this 
 vast continent. Those which I shall exhibit are few and 
 deficient of interest in themselves, but they may prove in 
 their result very useful to lead us to rational conclusions 
 as to the origin of this people. I am aware that my 
 information is extremely limited upon this subject, but 
 probably some of the facts upon which my observations 
 rest are not very generally known, and my effort will at 
 all events, I trust, produce the one good effect of eliciting 
 for the public benefit much more extensive and interesting 
 details than I have had the leisure or the opportunity to 
 collect. The facts to which I refer are testified by the 
 missionaries of the Roman Catholic Church, and are such 
 as have fallen under their own observation during their 
 residence in the midst of the tribes whose language they 
 learned and whose customs they carefully observed, that 
 they might be able to discharge the solemn duty in which 
 they were engaged. The relators are persons who had 
 received the most liberal education, and who voluntarily 
 relinquished all the advantages of civilized society, and 
 buried themselves in the depths of the wilderness, exposed
 
 264 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 
 
 to every privation and affliction, for the sake of bearing 
 the testimony of truth to a neglected portion of their 
 brethren ; they foresaw the probability of martyrdom, and 
 it was not unfrequently the recompense of their laborious 
 devotion to the Gospel of truth. Their letters were not 
 intended generally for publication, but were the official 
 communications of what was their observation of the progress 
 which they made, transmitted to their superiors. Thus we 
 may safely look upon them as good witnesses, being com- 
 petent and faithful. 
 
 In a former part of this essay, I used the assertion of 
 those who, whilst they denied the truth of revelation, 
 asserted that our Indian tribes were pure theists, who 
 worshiped only one God. In order to refute their assumed 
 principle, and to destroy that theory which they have sub- 
 stituted for history, I now come to the examination of the 
 questions : Is the religion of the Indian tribes of America 
 pure theism, or are they idolaters? Have they any religious 
 system? And if they have, what is its leading characteristic? 
 
 Father Sebastian Rasles, a Jesuit, who was slain at 
 Narantsonak, an Indian settlement, in what is now the State 
 of Maine, on the 23d of August, 1724, left France in July, 
 1689, for the missions of Canada, and arrived on the 13th 
 of October, in the same year, at Quebec, when he imme- 
 diately commenced the study of the Indian languages. 
 Father de la Chasse, of the same society, and superior of 
 the missions of New France, writes of him in the month 
 of October, subsequent to his death : " We were surprised 
 at the facility with which he could acquire languages, and 
 the application with which he sought the knowledge of the 
 dialects of the different tribes. There is not a dialect on 
 this continent of which he had not some tincture. Besides 
 the language of the Abnakis, which he spoke during a long 
 period, he knew also the Huron tongue, that of the Ottaways 
 and that of the Illinois ; he had served with great fruit in 
 the several missions where they are used." 
 
 In the month of October, preceding his death, Father
 
 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 265 
 
 Rasles wrote to his brother a very long letter, giving an 
 outline of his labors and observations, during upwards of 
 thirty years' continual residence in one or other of the 
 tribes which occupied the range of country from Kaskaskia 
 to Lake Superior, and skirting the then British settlements 
 round on the north to the mouth of the Kennebec. In 
 this he remarks, that he found the general principle of 
 their superstition was the same as that which he discovered 
 amongst the Ottowas. This people, he states, worship Man- 
 itous, and the description which he gives of this worship 
 bears a strong similitude to that which we find amongst 
 pagan nations, save that their worship was not generally 
 public and social, but private and paid by them individ- 
 ually. Though they speak of spirits, yet being acquainted 
 only with sensible objects, especially the animals found in 
 their country, they imagine that in these animals, or rather 
 in their skins or plumage, there exist Manitous, or Genii, 
 or spirits who govern the universe, and are the masters- 
 of life and death. They call the great spirit of all beasts- 
 and birds Oussakita, or, as we would pronounce it, Was- 
 sakita. There are Manitous who preside over nations, and 
 each individual has his own. When they went to hunt 
 they made offerings of tobacco, powder, and lead, and of 
 the skins of beasts, well dressed, to Wassakita. The offer- 
 ing was fastened to the end of a pole and raised on high, 
 accompanied by a prayer to the following effect : " Wassa- 
 kita, we present to thee the herb for smoke, and the 
 means of slaying beasts : vouchsafe to receive these presents, 
 and do not permit the game to escape our track ; allow 
 us to kill them in great numbers, and of the very fattest, 
 that our children may not want either clothing or food." 
 
 Michibichi was the Manitou of the waters and of fish, 
 and sacrifice was offered to him in nearly the same man- 
 ner when they were going to fish or make a voyage. 
 This sacrifice was made by casting into the waters tobacco, 
 food, kettles, etc., beseeching him that the waters of the 
 river might flow gently, that no rock should break the 
 canoe, and that he would grant them abundance of fish.
 
 266 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 
 
 I am greatly inclined to believe that the mode in which 
 individuals selected their Manitous is the foundation of 
 those names of Indians which are so peculiar to our abo- 
 rigines. The subject might, perhaps, be worth an inquiry, 
 unless more be known concerning it than I am as yet 
 aware of. The account given by Father llasles of the 
 selection is as follows : 
 
 " When an Indian wishes to adopt a Manitou, the first 
 animal which presents itself to his imagination during sleep 
 is generally that which he selects. He kills one of this 
 description, and places the skin or plumage in the most 
 respectable part of his hut ; then he prepares a feast in 
 its honor, during which he makes his harangue in terms 
 the most respectful. Thenceforward it is recognized as his 
 Manitou." 
 
 He also gives an account of the manner in which the 
 Indian uses this consecrated spoil : " Besides the common 
 Manitou, each has his own individually, which is either a 
 bear, or a beaver, or a bustard, or some such animal. 
 He carries the skin of this animal with him to war, on 
 hunting expeditions, and on his journeys; he is persuaded / 
 that it will preserve him from every danger, and make 
 him successful in his enterprises." 
 
 Amongst the different tribes through which he passed, 
 from leaving the Hurons and Ottowas and arriving in the 
 country of Illinois, he reckons, of different tongues, the 
 following tribes : Maskoutings, Jakis, Omikoues, Iripegouans, 
 Outagamis. Most of those names probably differ in the 
 mode of spelling from that by which we should better 
 recognize them. However, in 1768, Carver informs us that 
 the Ottegamias were met by him, but farther west; and 
 in 1780 Hutchins mentions them as a considerable tribe in 
 Illinois. Between those five nations and the Ottowas he 
 states the only difference is in language, consequently, they 
 were worshipers of the Manitous. 
 
 The next piece of evidence which I adduce is founded 
 upon the testimony of Father Gabriel Marest, of the same
 
 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 267 
 
 society, in a letter written by him to Father German, also 
 a Jesuit. It is dated from Kaskaskia, November 9, 1732. 
 Father Rasles was still living, but had been fourteen or 
 fifteen years withdrawn from the mission of Illinois and 
 stationed amongst the Abnakis. In stating the situation of 
 the place from which he writes, he informs the person to 
 whom his letter is addressed, that the Illinois discharges 
 itself into the Mississippi in little less than the 39th 
 degree of latitude. I believe it is but about eight minutes 
 south of the 39th degree, upon our best modern maps. 
 Seven leagues below this he fixes the mouth of the Mis- 
 souri, which, he writes, was better known then by the 
 name of Pekitanoui, or the muddy river. After describing 
 the country as far as the "Wabasb, and fixing the latitude 
 of Kaskaskia in the 38th degree, where it appears on our 
 modern maps, he proceeds to give the account of the people 
 who occupied the country. 
 
 It would be hard, he writes, to say what was their 
 religion, for it consisted only in some superstitious practices 
 by which their credulity was imposed upon ; and giving 
 similar reasons as those which we have before seen for the 
 worship of the Manitous in the manner described, he pro- 
 coeds to a more particular detail. 
 
 " The warriors," he writes, " carry their Manitous in a 
 mat, and unceasingly invoke them to be victorious over 
 their enemies ; the charlatans likewise have recourse to their 
 Manitous, when they compose their medicine or heal their 
 sick ; they accompany those invocations with songs and 
 dances, and frightful contortions, to create the belief that 
 they are agitated by their Manitous." " Who, they say, can 
 resist the power of the Manitou? Is he not the master 
 of life and of death? If the patient dies, the death is 
 attributed to some occurrence which took place after the 
 departure of the charlatan." I have seen in one of the 
 letters an account of an attack made upon an Iroquois 
 Christian, as the death of a woman who had been under 
 the influence of the Manitous, was attributed by the char-
 
 268 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 
 
 latan to the repetition of the beads. Father Marest relates 
 a similar occurrence within a month previous to the date 
 of this letter in Illinois, and also gives an account of many, 
 narrow escapes of his own on similar occasions. This 
 Father places upon record the account of a very curious 
 public conference, which took place some time previous to 
 the date of his letter, between Father Marmet and one of 
 the conjurers of the tribe of Mascoutens, who dwelt upon 
 the "VVabash. The conjuror adored a buffalo as his Mani- 
 tou. The Father gradually brought him to declare that it 
 was not the buffalo, but the Manitou of the buffalo, which 
 was under the earth, was the object of his adoration, and 
 that it was this Manitou which did benefit to his patients; 
 he farther brought him to acknowledge that the bear, the 
 wolf, and the other animals whose Manitous his country- 
 men adored were also powerless. He then asked if man, 
 w r ho was the master of beasts, had not a special Manitou, 
 to which the other answered, that doubtless he had, whence" 
 the Father drew the inference from him, that as man had 
 dominion over the beasts, the Manitou of man was supe- 
 rior to all others, and that it was folly to invoke those 
 who were subordinate, to the utter neglect of him who was 
 superior. Whatever the force of the reasoning might have 
 been, it was lost upon the conjurer and his followers. 
 
 The fact of sacrifice being offered to the Manitou is very 
 clearly established in this letter of Father Marest. He 
 states that a great mortality occurred amongst the Indians 
 on the "VVabash, near the station of Father Marmet. During 
 the prevalence of the sickness, the conjurers, finding the 
 deaths increase, held' a solemn assembly, at which nearly 
 forty dogs were slain, and the victims, thus immolated, 
 were lifted on poles and offered to the Manitou, in order 
 to implore the removal of the plague. When the mortality 
 increased they attributed it to their Manitou having been 
 overcome by the Deity of the French, and the chief conjurer 
 made a procession round the fort, acknowledging that life 
 and death were in the hands of the Manitou of the French,
 
 UEL1GION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 269 
 
 and that the Indians were almost exterminated, and entreat- 
 ing the good Manitou to keep death back and to send forth 
 life from his coffer, that they might be healed. An instance 
 of an opposite description is also testified in this letter. 
 Father Bergier, the missionary in the village of the Tam- 
 arouas, having died, the conjurers came into the village 
 after the departure of Father Marest, who had interred him, 
 and danced with great joy round the cross which had been 
 planted in the centre of the village, each boasting as he 
 sung that it was his Manitou that caused the missionary's 
 death; they concluded by pulling up the cross and breaking 
 it to pieces. 
 
 Coming down farther on the Mississippi, we shall make, 
 for the present, but a transitory visit to the Natchez. In 
 the month of July, 1730, Father Petit, of New Orleans, 
 gave an account of the massacre committed upon the French 
 at Natchez, on the 28th of the preceding November, to 
 Father Avaugour, the procurator of the North American 
 missions. 
 
 In this letter he states that the Natchez is the only nation 
 on this continent that appears to have a system of religion 
 regularly established, and he finds much similarity between 
 some of their practices and religious customs and those of 
 the ancient Romans. Probably we shall draw different con- 
 clusions at another time, than that the aborigines of this 
 continent either were a Roman colony, or derived their 
 religion from Italy. I shall at present confine myself to a 
 mere recital of facts, of whose truth I am convinced by the 
 testimony. At Natchez they had a temple filled with idols ; 
 those idols were figures of men and beasts, and were held 
 in the highest veneration. The architecture was indeed 
 rude ; the place had the appearance of a large oven of 
 earth, about one hundred feet in circumference, and the 
 entrance to its interior was through a door of only four feet 
 in height, by three wide; it had no window, and the roof 
 was protected by a triple covering of mats. On the outside 
 were the wooden figures of three eagles, one white, one red,
 
 270 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 
 
 and one yellow ; in front of the door was a porch, with 
 an outer door ; the guardian of the temple held his station 
 in this porch ; a palisade enclosed the whole ; and on this 
 were placed the skulls of those whom their warriors had 
 slain. 
 
 Within the temple were shelves upon which the bones 
 of their chieftains were kept in baskets, and those of their 
 attendants, Avho were immolated to accompany them in death, 
 were placed near the remains of the chief. But one shelf, 
 which stood alone, had several painted boxes, in which the 
 idols were kept ; they were stone and brick figures of men 
 and women, the heads and tails of extraordinary serpents, the 
 skins of owls stuffed with grass, pieces of crystal, and the 
 jaws of large fishes. In the year 1699, they had a bottle 
 and the bottom of a glass which they preserved with great 
 care. The sisters of the great chief were the only women 
 who had permission to enter the temple, and only some of 
 the men had the privilege; the common people were not 
 allowed even to carry in the food which was to be placed 
 near the relics of their friends, to satisfy their spirits, but 
 it was carried by the guardian. About a century since the 
 nation had six villages only, but each possessed its temple;, 
 however, their statement was that at one period they had 
 sixty towns, in each of which there was an edifice of this- 
 kind. 
 
 I suspected, at first, that the idols might have been only 
 kept as in a museum, more as objects of curiosity than for 
 the purposes of worship ; but a little examination soon con- 
 vinced me that this conjecture was unfounded, as I perceived 
 distinct evidence to the contrary. Two great festivals were 
 annually celebrated at the temple, at the termination of each 
 of which, in the exhortation to the discharge of duty given 
 by the chief, the principal and concluding admonition 
 regarded the worship of the spirits which resided in the 
 temple, and the instruction of the children in their religious 
 duties to them. In the year 1702, the temple of Natchez 
 was destroyed by lightning, and seven or eight women,
 
 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 271 
 
 who cast their children into the flames for the purpose of 
 appeasing the gods by the sacrifice of what they held most 
 dear, were publicly applauded for this act of religion by 
 the chief, who also exhorted the other women, on similar 
 occasions, to imitate so excellent an example. The first 
 fruits of the harvest were also brought to be offered at 
 this temple, and all gifts made to the nation were first 
 presented within, by the guardian, to the deities, before 
 they were taken to the chief, who subsequently distributed 
 them. A perpetual fire was kept burning herein, but 
 great care was taken to prevent its blazing ; the guardian r 
 who during his quarter of duty staid in the porch, had care 
 of this fire ; the old men brought the fuel, which was either 
 oak or walnut tree, and the logs were never laid over cack 
 other lest a blaze should be produced. 
 
 The chief appoints the guardians of the temple. But the 
 sun was their principal object of adoration, and the chief 
 was therefore styled the brother of the sun, and his hut 
 was always built upon an elevated mound of earth, and of 
 a similar appearance with the temple itself. At sunrise he 
 came out to salute his elder brother with three cries, for 
 which purpose his door was open to the east. After this- 
 salutation he called for his calumet, and offered the three- 
 first whiffs of smoke from his tobacco, then he pointed out 
 the course which his brother was to travel to the west, and 
 thus concluded his morning service. 
 
 Father Petit also informs us that when the Natchez went 
 to war, the head warriors carried their idols, which they 
 called their spirits, securely wrapped up in skins, and in 
 the evening when they were about to encamp they hung 
 those idols upon "a red pole, fixed in a slanting way, so 
 that the idols should hang at the side wfiere their enemies- 
 lay. Before lying down the warriors danced singly before 
 them, each with his tomahawk bravely menacing the dis- 
 tant foe. The doctors, also, when they attended their patients 
 carried their spirits, as they called them, in their baskets; 
 and made frequent invocations to them for aid during their
 
 272 RELIGION OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 
 
 stay or their operations. Other conjurers regulated the 
 weather, and some undertook to procure drought, whilst 
 the powers of others extended only to rain, it being acknowl- 
 edged that the same spirit or idol could not procure both. 
 Father Petit, who has given this account during his pri- 
 ority at New Orleans, had previously spent a considerable 
 time amongst the Choctaws. 
 
 One consideration forces itself upon the mind. If the 
 Indians of this continent had been theists, they would have 
 been almost an exception to those other hordes of whom 
 we have any history, and must have appeared so to those 
 missionaries who would not have failed to notice the dif- 
 ference and to mention the fact ; but they, on the con- 
 trary, call them idolaters, and place them on a level with 
 the uncivilized tribes of whom the Church had in all ages 
 numerous accounts, and who were almost universally poly- 
 theists. The history of their Manitous, and of the grada- 
 tions, and of the opposition of those Manitous, and of the 
 opposition supposed to exist between the Indian and the 
 French Manitous, is plainly exhibited. The worship of the 
 sun and of idols in the temple of Natchez and in the 
 other temples of that nation, all tend clearly to the con- 
 clusion that the aboriginal Indians of what is now the 
 middle range of our States, were polytheists, and as we have 
 reason to believe that their religion was a correct general 
 exhibition of that of their brethren, I think it may be 
 fairly deduced that the religion of North America was 
 polytheism. Such also was that of most nations when, fol- 
 lowing their own devices, they swerved from the ancient 
 religion of their progenitors, which was the worship of one 
 God, as we have good proof, from history and from other 
 monuments, to establish.
 
 PEN PICTURES OF HOME. 1 
 
 I. 
 
 Ox Thursday, June 26, a public consistory was held in 
 the ducal chamber at the Vatican for the purpose of giving 
 their hats to the new cardinals, viz., Tiberi, Bishop of 
 Jeoci, in the Papal States, and late Nuncio in Spain, 
 who was created cardinal September 30, 1831, and reserved 
 in petto; his resignation published July 2, 1832, but who 
 had arrived in Kome only within the previous week; 
 Canali, Bottiglia, and Polidori. The four new cardinals 
 went to the Sistine Chapel, at the altar of which they 
 were successively sworn in presence of the Cardinal-dean, 
 Pacca, first of the order of bishops, Cardinal Galleffi, 
 Camerlengo of the holy Roman Church, Cardinal Odescalchi, 
 vice-chancellor, Doria-Pamphilia, first cardinal-priest present, 
 Rivarola, first cardinal-deacon present, Mattei, Cardinal Cam- 
 erlengo of the sacred college, and the Most Rev. Lui 
 Frezza, Archbishop of Chalcedon, secretary of the congrega- 
 tion of consistory and of the sacred college. 
 
 The sala regia, or royal hall, of the Vatican palace is 
 a splendid room of vast extent, to which you ascend by 
 the scala regia, or royal staircase, which is a magnificent 
 flight of steps between the Church of St. Peter and the 
 Vatican palace. As you enter you have on your right, at 
 one extremity of the hall, the gate which leads into the 
 Pauline Chapel ; on turning towards the left and advanc- 
 ing about fifty or sixty feet into the room, you have on 
 your left the gate of the Sistine Chapel, and on your 
 
 1 These sketches were written during Bishop England's second visit to Rome 
 to attend to the affairs of tho Haytian Legation, and appeared in 1834. 
 
 18 /S7.
 
 274 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 right that of the sala clucale or ducal hall. On entering 
 this hall, which is about fifty feet wide, it was found that 
 the consistory was assembled. At the farther extremity, 
 about OIIG hundred feet distant, an elevated platform, to 
 which there was an ascent of three steps, extended across- 
 the room ; at either extremity was a large and massy 
 door, tastefully decorated ; raised on the platform midway 
 between them, under a canopy of crimson and gold, the 
 Papal throne was elevated three steps more, having on 
 each side the flabelli displayed. The Pope was clothed in 
 a rich cope, w r earing a plain mitre of cloth of gold, with 
 his domestic prelates, principal officers, civil and military, 
 and the guard of nobles occupying the platform on each 
 side. In front, at a moderate distance, the bench for car- 
 dinals ranged at each side, and crossed nearly towards the 
 third part of the hall, forming three sides of a parallelo- 
 gram. The cardinal-dean sat at the inner extremity towards 
 the Pope's right hand, wearing his purple cappa, with his 
 train-bearers seated at his feet; five other cardinal-bishops 
 sat on his right in their successive order, then the car- 
 dinal-priests according to their seniority; opposite the cardi- 
 nal-dean the third senior cardinal-deacon sat, at the inner 
 extremity of the bench, towards the left of His Holiness 
 and his junior brethren, extending outwards on his left, 
 until the junior deacon was found near the junior priest > 
 the two senior deacons stood on either side of the Pope. 
 All the cardinals were similarly habited and attended. The 
 Prince Orsini, the head of the ancient Guelph family and 
 present senator of Rome, stood as prince-assistant at the 
 throne on the right of the first cardinal-deacon. On your 
 right, as you entered the room, a beautiful and convenient 
 gallery, with open lattice-work in front, had been erected 
 for ladies, of whom there were several ; the number that 
 might be thus accommodated would be at least one hun- 
 dred and fifty. Under these galleries, behind the cardinal- 
 deacons and junior priests, there were accommodations for 
 prelates and distinguished strangers. I observed in this
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 275 
 
 place Captain Read, of the Constellation frigate, and some 
 of his officers. The space immediately next the cardinals' 
 bench was occupied by the Swiss guard, drawn up in line 
 across the hall, in their ancient costume, and having their 
 spears. The rest of the room was filled with monks, friars, 
 officers, civil and military, priests and laymen, of all nations 
 and tongues. 
 
 Silence was proclaimed. Some of the consistorial advo- 
 cates addressed the Holy Father upon various subjects in 
 the way of motions for consistorial decisions. Amongst 
 them was one who made the preliminary motion for pro- 
 ceeding to the beatification of the venerable servant of God, 
 Maria Clotilda Xavier, of Bourbon, a queen of Sardinia. 
 Eight cardinals then left the hall they were the deacons 
 and junior priests to introduce from the Sistine Chapel 
 the four cardinals who had just previously taken the oaths. 
 These four arrived in the hall, going successively to the 
 throne and kissing the Pope's right foot and right hand, 
 after which the Holy Father embraced him. They next 
 went to their brethren of the sacred college, commencing 
 with the cardinal-dean, and were embraced by each of 
 them successively in like manner. After this each went on 
 his knees before the Holy Father, who, with the proper 
 prayer and suitable admonition, placed the red hats on 
 their heads successively, gave his blessing and retired. The 
 cardinals then went to the Sistine Chapel with their newly 
 admitted brethren ; here the Te Dcum was chanted in supe- 
 rior style, at the conclusion of which the proper prayer 
 was said for the new cardinals, who were again embraced 
 by their brethren, of whom only thirty-one were present. 
 In the evening each new cardinal visited St. Peter's Church, 
 then the cardinal-dean, and returning home had a party of 
 his friends, and appeared in full dress. During the assem- 
 bly the keeper of the Pope's wardrobe brought the hat in 
 state, and delivered it with a suitable address, to which the 
 cardinal made an appropriate answer. The palaces of the 
 city were illuminated.
 
 276 PEN PICTCRES OF ROME. 
 
 As a sort of supplement, I might add that on the same 
 afternoon the Pope received in the kindest manner, in his 
 gardens, the visit of Captain Read, his lady, the chaplain 
 (a Presbyterian clergyman), and eight or ten officers of the 
 Constellation frigate, amongst whom there was only one 
 Catholic, Lieutenant Francis Rail, of the marines ; they 
 were presented by Mr. Cicognani, the Consul of the United 
 States. 
 
 II. 
 
 The great festival of the Apostles St. Peter and St. 
 Paul, was celebrated on Sunday, June 29, with the usual 
 solemnity. Of course, you are aware that the celebration 
 commences at first vespers ; the Church in her celebration 
 of public offices following the ancient Judaic mode of 
 observing the ecclesiastical day, from evening until evening. 
 At this point, therefore, all the great festivals commence. 
 
 The w r eather, at this time of the year, is nearly as warm 
 as in Charleston, S. C.; the thermometer generally being, 
 at midday, about 27 of Reaumur or 92 of Fahrenheit, 
 without any sea breeze. There are, therefore, very few 
 strangers in the city; hence, although I should suppose 
 there were upwards of fifteen thousand persons at St. 
 Peter's, it appeared almost deserted. 
 
 The procession left that hall of the Vatican which is 
 called the robing-room at about half past five o'clock. It 
 was not very large. The number of extraordinary cham- 
 berlains and chaplains, together with the other ecclesiastical 
 officers who preceded the cross, in red sutanes and surplices, 
 did not appear to be over one hundred ; probably an equal 
 number of civil officers. The sub-deacon, accompanied by 
 his seven acolytes, followed them ; behind him were the 
 porters of the red staff. The Swiss guards, in their ordinary 
 dress, now dotted the remainder of the procession on either 
 side ; then followed the greater prelates under the episcopal 
 order, probably about forty, and the twelve penitentiaries
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 277 
 
 of St. Peter's in red chasubles. The number of assistant 
 bishops in red copes and plain white mitres was ten, the 
 two junior of whom were the Right Rev. Dr. Baine, Bishop 
 of Siga and Vicar Apostolic of the western district of Eng- 
 land, and the Bishop of Charleston. They were followed 
 by the cardinal-deacons, about six in number, clothed in their 
 dalmatics and mitred, having their train-bearers and other 
 attendants. After them came about thrice as many cardinal- 
 priests, mitred, wearing chasubles, and similarly attended ; 
 they were followed by five of the cardinal-bishops, mitred, 
 wearing copes, and similarly attended. The governor of 
 Rome, the Prince Orsini, who is senator of Rome and 
 assistant at the throne, together with the deputation from 
 the Roman magistracy, surrounded by the general staff of the 
 military, the guard of nobles .and the mace-bearers, and a 
 special detachment of the Swiss, carrying large two-handed 
 swords, followed. In the midst of this division came the 
 Pope, in a cope and mitre of plain cloth of gold, having 
 on either side the two senior cardinal-deacons then in the 
 city, and followed by the major-domo, the treasurer, the 
 chamberlain, the rest of the household, and a number 
 of others. 
 
 As soon as His Holiness arrived in the ducal hall, he 
 was conducted to his chair, which was immediately raised 
 upon their shoulders by the grooms in attendance, and was 
 thus borne to the altar. The procession continued to advance 
 through the royal hall, down the scala regia, until it arrived 
 at the equestrian statue of Constantino, which is on your 
 left as you descend, and about three-fourths of the space 
 down to the ground-floor ; then, turning to the right, it 
 descended by a few steps into the vestibule of the great 
 Church of St. Peter. Here, the chapter of this basilica and 
 its clerks, .with the archpriest, Cardinal Galeffi, at the head, 
 about sixty or seventy in number, received the array, 
 allowing it to pass through two lines formed facing inward, 
 in which the chapter and clergy stood arranged, in the 
 centre of the vestibule itself; behind these lines, on each
 
 278 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 side, a range of military was formed in single file, and tne 
 people crowded the rear ; across the middle of the vestibule, 
 from the great centre gate of the church, towards that which 
 opens in the porch to the front of the basilica, the respectable 
 body of the Capitoline guards, in their fine uniform, were 
 drawn up facing the archway which opened from the statue 
 of Constantine. In the rear of the battalion, the military 
 bands were stationed in front of the civic guards or militia, 
 who were formed in line of two deep along the other wing 
 of the vestibule leading towards the equestrian statue of 
 Charlemagne, which, on the south side of the vestibule, 
 corresponds with that of Constantine on the north. 
 
 As soon as the head of the procession entered this ves- 
 tibule the bands commenced occasional gratulations. Arrived 
 at the great middle gate of .bronze, the procession, leaving 
 the Capitoline guards on its left, turned to the right into 
 the church. Here the regular troops were drawn up in 
 single file, facing inwards, leaving in the centre a space 
 of from sixty to eighty feet wide, for the procession which 
 now began to move slowly up the centre towards the great 
 altar under the dome. This mighty mass appeared to be 
 of solid gold, blazing also witli lights under its massive 
 twisted columns and great canopy of Corinthian brass. The 
 numerous lamps that burned round the balustrade of the 
 confession, which shows the tomb of the Apostle several 
 feet below, seemed, in the distance, like the flowing of a 
 stream of liquid fire lambent about the base of the ma- 
 jestic altar. 
 
 As soon as the Holy Father turned into the vestibule, the 
 bands gave their full salute, the bells redoubled their enliv- 
 ening peal, and the voices of the capitular choir repeated, 
 in solemn chant, the declaration of the Saviour, made 
 eighteen centuries ago, to the predecessor of Gregory XVI. 
 " Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram sedificabo ecclesiam 
 meam, et portse inferi non prcevalebunt adversus cam Thou 
 art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, 
 and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The
 
 PE2T PICTURES OF EOME. 279 
 
 Holy Father, in meek, dignified humility, imparted the 
 blessing as he was borne along. A rich canopy was sus- 
 tained by prelates over his chair, and the flabelli waved 
 majestically on either side. Over the vestibule, from a 
 window that opened into the church, immediately above the 
 great door, six trumpets announceed the entrance of the 
 Holy Father. The troops presented arms as the greater 
 prelates who followed the cross advanced ; but when the 
 Father of the faithful approached, with their arms still pre- 
 sented, they bent a knee. The masters of ceremony were 
 stationed from place to place along the line, and as the 
 procession approached the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament on 
 the right, about four hundred feet after it had entered the 
 church, it was arranged line within line on either side 
 towards the gate of this chapel. The chair was let down, 
 the Holy Father descended and knelt in adoration for a 
 few moments ; all knelt with him. He rose, resumed his 
 seat, the lines began to extend forward, the procession 
 advanced towards the choir that was enclosed beyond this 
 great altar. Your readers ought to know that the platform 
 and steps of this altar are not, as is usual in modern 
 churches, towards the entrance, but have the back of the 
 altar -itself towards the principal gate, as was more usual 
 in the ancient edifices. A partition covered with crimson 
 damask and broad gold lace, was drawn across the centre 
 aisle about one hundred and fifty feet beyond the altar to 
 its front, and, consequently, having the altar between it and 
 the gate. Against this partition a large platform was raised, 
 to which there was an ascent of six or eight steps, and upon 
 this platform was the papal throne, opposite the steps which 
 ascended to the corresponding platform of the altar. On 
 the right the Prince Orsini stood by the throne itself; in 
 front of him, considerably towards the verge, the first car- 
 dinal-bishop sat ; a cardinal-deacon sat on either side of 
 the throne, and on the upper steps at either side the 
 assistant-bishops stood or sat; below them, on one side, 
 was the Roman magistracy; on the other the judges and 
 officers of the chief civil, criminal, and ecclesiastical tribu-
 
 280 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 nals. Below, on either side, the cardinals were ranged on 
 elevated benches, and on lower ones at their feet their 
 train-bearers sat. Nearer to the altar the other members 
 of the papal chapel were variously disposed, and from the 
 lamps of the confession, on either side of the altar, back 
 to the cardinals' benches, the guards of nobles in close 
 single files filled up the space to prevent any intrusion. 
 On benches behind the cardinals were archbishops and 
 bishops not assistant, civil and military officers, the heads 
 of religious orders, foreign ambassadors, etc. 
 
 After the Pope was seated, the cardinals, archbishops, 
 bishops, and penitentiaries of St. Peter's went successively 
 to pay the usual homage, the first by kissing his right 
 hand, the second by kissing his right knee, and the third 
 by kissing his right foot. After this, the solemn intona- 
 tion of the Vespers was given by the Holy Father and 
 continued by the choir. The scene Avas sublime. The sen- 
 sations were deep, solemn, and highly impressive. 
 
 After Vespers the pallia were brought up from the tomb 
 of the Apostles, upon a salver covered with rich silk, and 
 presented to the Pope to be blessed. Perhaps your readers 
 do not know, and would wish to be informed, that a pal- 
 lium is a sort of woolen collar with five purple crosses 
 on it, which is worn on solemn occasions by patriarchs, 
 archbishops, and a few privileged bishops, and is emblem- 
 atic of their right of presidency in their districts. The 
 wool is shorn from lambs blessed on the Festival of St. 
 Agnes at her church outside the city ; they are shorn at 
 a particular time, and the wool is spun and woven by the 
 nuns of a particular convent under her invocation; the col- 
 lars are then laid upon the tomb in the confession of St. 
 Peter, to signify the connection of the bearer with his 
 apostolical authority. They are brought and blessed at first 
 Vespers on June 28, and replaced upon the tomb until 
 demanded for a new prelate, who, upon receiving it, renews 
 his oath of fealty to the Holy See, has it placed on his 
 neck, wears it on solemn occasions, and has it buried with 
 him.
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 281 
 
 III. 
 
 Preparations had been made for illuminating the exterior 
 of the Church of St. Peter, as soon as night should fall. 
 Xo description can convey an adequate idea of the spectacle 
 which this presents. The dome is somewhat larger than 
 the Church of St. Mary of the Martyrs, which is the old 
 Pantheon; and this is not only surmounting the roof, but 
 raised considerably above it. This Pantheon is much larger 
 than the circular church in Meeting street. 1 Imagine this 
 as only one of three domes, of which it is, indeed, far the 
 largest, elevated considerably above the roof of a church, 
 the fagade of which is a grand pile of architecture ; this 
 dome is half surrounded by columns, and the one by which 
 the entablature over them is crowned, closely ribbed to its 
 summit. Over this is a ball, in which I was one of eight 
 persons standing erect, and we had room for at least four 
 others, and this ball is surmounted by a cross. From the 
 sides of the front two wings of splendid architecture project 
 forward upwards of eighty feet ; at their extremities are 
 lofty columns, over which run the proper entablatures 
 crowned by pediments ; from these enormous colonnades 
 recede almost semi-circularly from each wing, sweeping, 
 with their hundreds of pillars, round the immense piazza, 
 capable of containing probably one hundred thousand human 
 beings upon the area within their embrace. In the centre 
 of this is a rich Egyptian obelisk, resting upon the backs 
 of four lions, couchantp upon the angles of a fine pedestal. 
 Half way from this obelisk, at each side towards the 
 colonnade, are two magnificent fountains, probably the most 
 superb in the world. Each appears to be a capacious 
 marble vase elevated upon a sufficiently strong but gracefully 
 delicate stem ; the summit of this vase is at the elevation 
 of about twelve feet. From its centre rises, to nearly the 
 same height, another still more slender and delicately shaped 
 
 1 A peculiar church building in Charleston, S. C.
 
 "282 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 stem, from whose summit is projected, to a considerable 
 height, a water-spout which, gracefully bending near its ( 
 summit and yielding to the direction of the wind, as it 
 forms its curve and descent, is separated into a sort of 
 sparkling spray of pearls and silver intermixed. About 
 twelve other spouts shoot round this central liquid column, 
 diverging from it on every side as they rise, and falling, 
 with a similar appearance, at somewhat of a less elevation. 
 They seem, in the distance, to be like rich plumes of some 
 gigantic ostrich waving gracefully in the breeze, whilst the 
 descending shower is received in the capacious vase, from 
 whose interior it is conducted to various fountains in the 
 city. Hundreds of statues lift their various forms, appearing 
 larger than life, over the frieze and cornice of the colonnade ; 
 whilst at the foot of the majestic flight of steps by which 
 you ascend to the portico of the church, two ancient statues 
 of St. Peter and St. Paul have for centuries rested upon 
 their pedestals. The facade of the church itself is sur- 
 mounted by the colossal statues of the twelve Apostles. 
 
 The illumination consisted of two parts. The lamps for 
 the first part were disposed closely, in colored paper, along 
 the architectural lines of this mighty mass, about the ribs 
 of the domes, around the ball, and on the cross. 
 
 To me, as I looked from the bridge of St. Angelo, the 
 scene appeared like a vision of enchantment. It seemed 
 as if a mighty pile of some rich, black, soft material was 
 reared in the likeness of a stupendous temple, and the 
 decorations were broad lines of burning liquid gold. The 
 ball and the cross were seen as if detached and resting in 
 the air above its summit. It was indeed a becoming emblem 
 of the triumph of a crucified Redeemer over this terrestrial 
 ball. After I had passed the bridge and as I approached 
 the piazza, the front of the church and the expanse of the 
 colonnade exhibited their lines of light. The specks which 
 formed those lines glowed now more distinct and separate, 
 and though their continuity was lost, their symmetry was 
 perfect and magnificent. The immense piazza was thronged
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 283 
 
 with carriages and persons on foot, whilst a division of 
 the Papal dragoons, one of the finest and best disciplined 
 bodies of cavalry in existence, moved in sections and single 
 files through the multitude, calmly, but steadily and firmly, 
 preserving order. Scarcely a word is heard above a whisper ; 
 iin accident is of so rare an occurrence as not to be 
 calculated upon. The Cardinal Secretary of State has a 
 gallery in front of the church, to which foreign ambassadors 
 and a fow other strangers of distinction are invited. I 
 observed Captain Read and his wife in this gallery, and 
 many of our officers were promenading below. 
 
 About an hour elapsed from the commencement, when 
 the motion of a brighter light was observed towards the 
 summit of the cupola, a large star seemed to shoot upwards 
 to the cross, asd, as if by a sudden flash from heaven, 
 the whole edifice appeared to blaze in the glare of day. 
 A thousand lights, kindled by some inconceivably rapid 
 communication, shed their beams upon every part of the 
 building. Pillars and pilasters, with their vases, shafts, ami 
 capitals ; mouldings, friezes, cornices, pediments, architraves, 
 pannels, doors, windows, niches, images, decorations, enrich- 
 ments, domes all, with their faint lines of golden light, 
 now softened to a milder lustre, were revealed in brilliant 
 relief to the enraptured eye. The fountains were magnifi- 
 cently grand, and richly pure, and softened into a refresh- 
 ing white. The multitude was silent. The horses w r ere still. 
 The glowing cross, elevated above the Vatican hill, beamed 
 to the wide plains and distant mountains its augury of future 
 glory because of past humiliation. The crowd began to move, 
 a low buzz of conversation began, and then the horses' 
 tramp, followed by the rattling of wheels. And whilst tens 
 of thousands remained yet longer, other thousands moved 
 in various directions to their homes, or to distant elevated 
 points for the sake of a variety of views. 
 
 I went to the magnificent Piazza del Popolo. It was 
 
 , literally a desert ; but in its stillness, and the dereliction 
 
 of its obelisk, its fountains, and its statues, by the very
 
 284 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 contrast to the scene that I had left, there arose a feeling: 
 
 * O 
 
 of new sublimity. It was more deep it was more solemn, 
 but it was less elevated ; not so overpowering, nor so im- 
 pressive as to that which it succeeded. My object was to 
 ascend from this place to the Monte Pincio ; the command- 
 ing view from which would enable me to look over the 
 city at the great object which attracted every eye. But the 
 gates of the avenue at this side were closed, and I had 
 to go to the Piazza di Spagna, and there to ascend by 
 the immense and beautiful flight of steps to the Trinita 
 dei Monti. Standing here in front of the Convent of the 
 Ladies of the Sacred Heart, the view of St. Peter's was 
 indeed superb. I proceeded up towards the public gardens 
 lately formed on the summit of this ancient residence of 
 so many of the remarkable men of five-and-twenty ages. 
 At various intervals I stopped and turned to view the 
 altered appearance presented by the mass of light as seen 
 from those different positions. As I contemplated it I 
 reflected that it must soon be extinguished like the transient 
 glories of the philosophers, the heroes, the statesmen, the 
 orators who successively passed over the spot on which I 
 stood. A humble fisherman from Galilee, and an obscure 
 tent-maker from Tarsus, were confined in the dungeons of this 
 city. Seventeen hundred and sixty-eight years had passed 
 away since one of them was crucified with his head down- 
 wards, on the Vatican Hill, and the other was beheaded near 
 the Ostian AVay. They had been zealously faithful in dis- 
 charging the duties of their apostleship. In the eyes of 
 men their death was without honor, but it was precious in 
 the sight of God. Grateful and admiring millions from 
 year to year proclaim their praises, whilst the Church 
 exhibits their virtues as proofs of the power of the Saviour's 
 grace, as models for the imitation of her sons. Oh ! let 
 my soul die the death of the just, and let my last end 
 be like to theirs! Translated from this earth they live 
 in heaven. Tried for a time and found faithful, they enjoy 
 a glorious recompense. The God that we serve is merciful
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 285 
 
 iu bestowing His grace, and is exceedingly bountiful in 
 crowning His own gifts, by giving to us through the merits 
 of His Son a recompense for those acts of virtue which 
 He enables us to perform. 
 
 I found myself again near the summit of the steps 
 I descended and retired to my home reflecting upon the 
 wonders wrought by the Most High through the instru- 
 mentality of those two great saints, the celebration of whose 
 festival had thus commenced. The ardent Peter and the 
 active Paul ! The name changed to signify the office to 
 which he should be raised. The Vicegerent of heaven's 
 King bearing the mystic keys with powers of legislation and 
 of administration, Whatever thou shall bind on earth shall 
 be bound in heaven, whatsoever thou shall loose on earth 
 shall be loosed also in heaven. Yes ! upon this rock was 
 the Church of the Saviour built. Its principal weight of 
 administration rested upon him, -who of himself was weak, 
 but who, converted and sustained by Christ, was strong. 
 " Before the cock shall crow twice this night, thou shall 
 thrice deny Me. Yes! Satan hath desired to have thee that 
 he might sift thee as wheat ; but I have prayed for thee 
 that thy faith fail not. And thou once converted, confirm 
 thy brethren ! " The strongest power that hell can muster 
 in its gates, to make a furious assault upon that Church, 
 the weighty administration of which shall rest upon you, 
 and upon those that shall succeed you, shall from time to 
 time be marshaled and sent forth for the destruction of 
 that body which the Saviour organized like a well-ordered 
 kingdom upon earth for the attainment of heaven ; but the 
 gates of hell shall not prevail against it ! The dynasties 
 of nations have perished the palaces of the Caesars are in 
 ruins their tombs have mouldered with the bodies they 
 contained, but the successors of Peter continue. Under the 
 orders of Nero, the two Apostles were consigned to what 
 was imagined to be destruction. The vaults of the tyrant's 
 golden palace are covered with vegetation. Standing on the 
 unseemly ruins of the remnant of this monster's monument,
 
 286 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 by the side of the Flaminian way, through the obscurity 
 of the night, the Christian peasant looks towards that blaze 
 of light, which, from the resting-place where the relics of 
 the head of the Church and of the doctor of the Gentiles 
 are found, breaks forth and irradiates the eternal city and 
 its monumental environs. 
 
 If Peter is elevated in station, Paul is not less glorious 
 in merit. He, too, looked back with sorrow on that day 
 when he held the clothes of those who slew Stephen. But 
 how nobly did he redeem his error. A vessel of election 
 to bear the good odor of Christ into the palaces of kings 
 a torrent of eloquence flowing into the barren fields of 
 a vain philosophy to fertilize and adorn a rich exhibition 
 of virtue, winning by its beauty, attracting by its symmetry, 
 and exciting to activity by emulation a glowing meteor of 
 benediction, dissipating the clouds of error, shedding the 
 lustre of truth around, and warming the hearts of the 
 beholders to charity on earth, that they might be fitted for 
 glory in heaven. 
 
 IV. 
 
 On June 30 a chapel of the bishops assistant at the 
 throne was held at the Church of St. Paul, on the Ostian 
 road. This is the great basilica which was consumed by 
 fire about eleven years ago. In this conflagration the grand 
 altar and the place where the relics of the Apostles repose 
 escaped. Hundreds of workmen continue to be employed 
 in the restoration of this fine church, and considerable 
 progress has been made. The transept is covered in, the 
 columns of the aisles are erected, and most of them have 
 their capitals mounted. The shafts are a beautiful iron 
 gray granite, each shaft one piece of upwards of twenty feet 
 in height, and the cap a fine white marble, Corinthian or 
 composite, each in two blocks ; very few are Ionic. The 
 aisles of this church are new as far as the transept. The 
 floor is to be raised three feet above its old level, as on
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 287 
 
 some former occasions the Tiber rose to such a height a& 
 to overflow it. Probably twenty years more, at least, must 
 pass away before this church can be used, though probably 
 five hundred men are continually employed upon it. The 
 offices are at present performed in three chapels the old 
 sacristies, each of which would make a moderate sized. 
 American church. 
 
 On this day also two of the cardinal-bishops consecrated 
 each two of the newly-appointed bishops just nominated. 
 But on the subsequent Sunday I was present at a cere- 
 mony which to me was quite new the consecration of a. 
 Catholic Bishop according to the Greek rite. It took place 
 in the Greek Church, on the Via del Babuino, and was 
 rather thinly attended, as it was not generally known. I 
 do not believe that there were five hundred persons in 
 the church. The prelate consecrated was Gabriel Smicsiti- 
 laszbi Crisio ; the consecrating prelate was the Most Rev- 
 erend Basil Tomaggiani, a native of Pera, Constantinople,, 
 born in the year 1762, a minor conventual friar and 
 Archbishop of Durazzo who for a number of years has 
 resided in this city for the purpose of performing the 
 episcopal functions of the Greek rite. He was assisted by 
 two Latin doctors, Lewis Cardelli, a minor reformed friar, 
 Archbishop of Acrida in partibus, and Lewis Grati, a 
 Servite (formerly Archbishop of Smyrna, which he resigned)' 
 friar, Bishop of Gallimicio in partibus. The deacon was 
 the same that sung the Gospel in Greek, at St. Peter's,, 
 at the Papal High Mass on the Festival of SS. Peter and 
 Paul, and the sub-deacon was from the Propaganda. Sev- 
 eral other students from this college also attended to sing 
 the other parts of the service according to their rite. An 
 American bishop and an American priest in plain official 
 dress, not vestments, and a few other clergymen of various 
 orders were permitted to go within the partition which 
 separates the Greek altars from the congregation. Small as 
 the number present was, the persons composing it were col- 
 lected from many nations, and though all of one faith, 
 yet followed several rites.
 
 288 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 The ceremony as regards vesture, instruments, and form, 
 was far more simple than the Latin rite. The consecrating 
 prelate only laid one hand on the head of the person 
 consecrated, the assisting prelate holding the book of the 
 Gospels on his shoulders during the imposition. The cro- 
 sier is altogether of a different form from that used by 
 the Latins. It is shorter, more slender, and in place of a 
 crook has a double curve, as if two serpents had their 
 tails inserted in the top of the shaft and their bodies 
 stretched horizontally in opposite directions for about six 
 inches each, after which they turn upwards bending their 
 heads towards each other so as to approach within about 
 a couple of inches. This is given to the person to be 
 consecrated, when he is made a doctor, immediately after 
 his profession of faith and oath of fealty previous to the 
 Mass. No unction of either the head or hand is used, 
 nor is any mitre placed on his head. He, on the proper 
 occasion after his consecration, takes the Greek mitre, 
 \vhich is very different in its shape from that of the 
 Latins, being in fact a crown. Upon the whole the cere- 
 mony was very interesting, though by no means so solemn 
 or imposing as that of the Latins. On the same day 
 (July 6) Cardinal Odescalchi, Vice-Chancellor of the Holy 
 Roman Church and Bishop of Sabina, went in state to the 
 Church of St. Andrew on the Quirinal hill, the novitiate 
 of the Jesuits, and consecrated Francis Strani, Bishop of 
 the diocese of Massa di Carrara; the assistants were the 
 Most Reverend John Soglia, Archbishop of Ephesus, and 
 the Most Reverend Constantino Patozzi, Archbishop of 
 Philippi and major-domo to His Holiness. 
 
 All the Italian bishops are consecrated in this city by 
 cardinals, though the pontifical directs that as far as possible 
 the bishop should be consecrated in the midst of his own 
 people in the church to which he is promoted. The custom 
 here originated in the practice, very properly established, 
 of having the bishops elect of these countries examined in 
 theology and canon law and certified as perfect in their
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 289 
 
 knowledge of both, by a very respectable congregation of 
 cardinals, prelates, theologians and jurists, previous to their 
 being approved and nominated by His Holiness in the 
 consistory. I recollect that one of the most learned of this 
 body of examiners, the present Bishop of Orvietto, having 
 been appointed by the Pope, from his personal knowledge 
 of his learning and merit, could not obtain the necessary 
 certificate from his brother examiners, without undergoing 
 a very rigorous and searching trial. When thus in the holy 
 city, and examined, approved and named, they generally 
 preferred being consecrated by a cardinal-bishop, and the 
 custom is now grown into a law. I must acknowledge that 
 I prefer the discipline laid down in the pontifical. 
 
 As your readers might wish to see a list of this congrega- 
 tion, and thus have an idea of the constitution of those 
 committees of business, I shall give you a list of the present 
 congregation for the examination of bishops elect. 
 
 Examiners in Theology. 
 
 CARDINALS: 1. Pacca. 2. Zurla. 3. Micara. 4. Lam- 
 bruschini. 5. Marco-y-Catalan. 
 
 FATHERS : 6. Master Dominic Buttaoni, a Dominican friar, 
 Master of the Sacred Palace. 7. Master Thomas Antonino 
 Degola, of the same order, Secretary of the Index. 8. 
 John da Capistrano, ex-General Minister of the Reformed 
 Minor Observantine Friars. 9. Lewis Togni, Prefect-General 
 of the Fathers Infirmarians for the Charitable Care of the 
 Sick. 10. Laurence da Camerata, of the Order of Friars 
 Capuchins, Apostolic Preacher for the Papal Household. 
 11. The Abbate Paul del Signore, a Canon Regular of St. 
 Saviour's of Lateran. 12. John Roothan, General of the 
 Society of Jesus. 13. The Abbate Don Ambrose Bianchi, 
 Vicar-General of the Benedictine Congregation of Camaldoli. 
 14. Cherubino da Arienzo, of the Order of Friars Minors, 
 Observantines. 15. Master Laurence Tardi, Vicar-General 
 
 19
 
 290 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 of the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine. 16. Don Emilio 
 Jacopini, of the Order of Regular Minor Clerks. 
 
 Examiners in Canon Law. 
 
 CARDINALS: 1. Galleffi. 2. De Gregorio. 3. Falzacappa. 
 4. Odescalchi. 5. Fransoni. 6. Sala. 
 
 MOST REVEREND: 7. Joseph della Porta Ronciglione, 
 Patriarch of Constantinople. 8. Francis Canali, lately cre- 
 ated cardinal, Archbishop of Larissa. 9. John Soglia, Arch- 
 bishop of Ephesus. 
 
 THE PRELATES : Rev. Jerome Bontadosi, auditor (or 
 assessor) of His Holiness. Silvester Bargagnati, one of the 
 clerks of the chamber (Court of Appeals). Rev. Joseph 
 Mezzofanti, First Keeper of the Vatican Library, of whom 
 Lord Byron had so high an opinion ; probably one of the 
 first linguists in existence ; he speaks with facility thirty- 
 four living languages, and several of the dead tongues. 
 
 SECRETARY: The Most Rev. Joseph Vespigniani, Arch- 
 bishop of Tyana. 
 
 "When I contemplated one of those congregations, as-d 
 after taking each individual separately and considering his 
 erudition and respectability upon a variety of other grounds, 
 and then viewed the aggregate of their merits; how did I 
 pity the little beings who, without knowing one particle of 
 the mode in which business is done here or concerning 
 the character or qualifications of the councilors of the 
 Holy Father, write and speak of mankind, ignorance, the 
 dark ages, the mariner's compass, the art of printing, the 
 feudal times Martin Luther, Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, &c. 
 
 By the bye, as we have touched this chord I amused 
 some of our Americans, whilst they were in this city about 
 three weeks since, by taking them to Monsignor Mezzofanti, 
 with whom I have the happiness of an intimate acquaintance, 
 and procuring from him one of the pieces in his archives, 
 an antograph love letter of the gallant monarch to Miss 
 Anne. It is written in French, and not easily legible at
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 291 
 
 the first inspection; in the flourish to his signature is a heart 
 in the midst of which, upon examination, you find the initials 
 of the lady's name, A. This letter is pasted on the leaf of 
 a book which contains a copy of the piece in a more modern 
 and legible hand, by the aid of which the original is easily 
 deciphered. Some ladies who joined the American party 
 examined it with considerable minuteness. His majesty did 
 not seem* to be in the beheading humor when it was written. 
 The learned keeper produced another piece of whose authen- 
 ticity there could be no question : the copy of Henry's work 
 in defence of the Catholic doctrine, of the seven sacraments, 
 against Martin Luther, which work procured for his majesty 
 so many polite compliments from the sainted reformers and 
 for him and his successors from the Holy See the title of 
 "Defender of the Faith" .which title those successors have 
 with such admirably good taste preserved, whilst they robbed, 
 whipped, banished, hanged, quartered, embowelled, and 
 beheaded their beloved subjects for believing as his majesty 
 then wrote ! The dedication of this work to His Holiness 
 was subscribed by his majesty with his own royal hand, 
 and- the work has been preserved ever since with care 
 in the archives of the holy city. Monsignor Mezzofanti 
 requested of the ladies to compare the signatures, which 
 were palpably the work of the same hand. He was requested 
 by them very naturally to give the history of the way in 
 which the lady's letter came into the Vatican, which he did 
 to our satisfaction ; but as I am so stupid, the chain of 
 succession has got entangled in my memory, and I shall not 
 just now venture to guess. Probably, if nothing more 
 important banishes the determination, 1 shall ask my friend 
 for the history, when next we meet, and shall try to recollect 
 it for you then. 
 
 V. 
 
 This is the period when the examinations are made in 
 all the schools and colleges in the city. I do not know 
 exactly the number of students, but I am perhaps consid-
 
 292 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 erably under the mark in saying they are something over 
 two thousand. On Thursday, July 17, I attended at the 
 defence of his theses, by an American student at the Urban 
 College, generally known as that of the Propaganda. The 
 number of young men in this institution is over one 
 hundred. 
 
 The process is generally as follows : During the private 
 examinations at the several periods of the year, by the 
 professors of the college itself, and also at that towards 
 the end of the academical season, by others as well as by the 
 professors of the house, one or more of the best pupils 
 are selected to defend the theses. A thesis, as your read- 
 ers are aware, is a position or stated proposition. Several 
 of these are selected from the scientific course, which the 
 student publishes and declares that he will be ready, at a 
 fixed time and place, to defend against all opponents. The 
 lists are regularly prepared for this scholastic knight, who 
 appears duly sustained to exhibit his powers ; nor is this 
 tournament a mere idle display, in the rivalry of the 
 schools ; there are often formidable encounters and numer- 
 ous spectators, and not unfrequently serious disasters. There 
 is a formidable Jesuit here, a professor of dogmatic the- 
 ology at the Roman College, who has lately swept, in a 
 comparatively short encounter, half a dozen of those youth- 
 ful aspirants from the field of fame ; and their teachers 
 were neither insensible nor inactive on and after the 
 encounter. The effects of this carnage are not yet at an 
 end ; gauntlet after gauntlet is flung down, and the Budges 
 of such feats are in continual requisition 
 
 On the present occasion, Martin John Spalding, 1 a Ken- 
 tuckian and the senior student of the United States of 
 North America, a pupil of the Urban College, published a 
 respectful and manly Latin address to the congregation of 
 cardinals presiding over the affairs of the Propaganda, in 
 which, after wishing their eminences happiness and health, 
 
 i Since Archbishop of Baltimore, and now dead.
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 293 
 
 he informs them of what he considers the blessings diffused 
 by their institution, for which they deserve thanks. As he 
 has finished the usual course of studies, he has determined 
 to express publicly his gratitude by sustaining his theses, 
 expressing the doctrines which he shall endeavor to teach 
 in those distant regions to which he is about to return. 
 For this purpose he will appear, God willing, in the morn- 
 ing, in the great hall of the college, when and where it 
 shall be lawful for any one who thinks proper to contro- 
 vert what he undertakes to defend. In the afternoon he 
 will appear in the college chapel, where three select cham- 
 pions will successively make their assaults, after which he 
 will be ready to meet any other that might be disposed 
 to try his strength. 
 
 Then follows a list of two hundred and fifty-six propo- 
 sitions which he undertakes to defend. They are drawn 
 from the several treatises of theology and canon law ; copies 
 of this were sent to the other colleges, and special invi- 
 tations were given to several individuals whose attendance 
 was particularly desirable. 
 
 About half past eight o'clock on Thursday morning I 
 arrived at the gate of the college, on the pavement in front 
 of which was a profuse scattering of sweet-smelling green 
 leaves ; the bay and myrtle predominated. The gate itself 
 was open, and this fragrant path marked the way to the 
 interior. The strewing continued up the great staircase, 
 along the open gallery of the first floor, to the great door 
 leading to the principal corridor, along this passage to the 
 gate of the principal hall. This room, about eighty feet 
 in length by forty wide and twenty in height, has its 
 walls decorated with paintings of students of this college, 
 under the inflictions of the deadly pain by which they were 
 in remote regions martyred for their discharge of duty ; 
 thus exhibiting to the youth who are therein educated the 
 constancy which the Church expects from them under simi- 
 lar circumstances. At the further extremity, opposite the 
 door, was a carpeted platform elevated two steps. Upon
 
 294 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 this the young Kentuckian was seated, with a small table 
 before him, having also next to him on one side his pro- 
 fessor of theology, a Roman, and on the other his professor 
 of law, a Bavarian count, who is a priest and rector of 
 the college. The renowned scholar, Angelo Mai, presided, 
 being seated on your right, as you entered the hall near 
 this platform.. A range of chairs extended on either side, 
 leaving a passage of about ten feet wide in the centre, 
 from the door to the platform. These chairs were intended 
 for cardinals, bishops, or other prelates and professors who 
 might arrive. Ranges of benches parallel to these, on each 
 side, behind, were pretty generally thronged by students of 
 that and of other colleges and by many strangers. No car- 
 dinal was present in the forenoon ; the Bishop of Charles- 
 ton was the only prelate of the episcopal order. But 
 several others of various grades, secular and regular, amongst 
 whom were the rectors and professors of various colleges, 
 occupied most of the chairs. 
 
 The first argument had been concluded when I arrived; 
 it was conducted by an Italian secular priest, whose name 
 I could not learn. The second was made by a Dominican 
 friar, a man of very great talent and ingenuity; he had 
 also nearly concluded. An infirmarian, or. crutched friar, 
 conducted the third with considerable spirit and ability. 
 By the bye, you should in America say, that what I call a 
 crutched friar, is in Italy called a crucifero, or " cross-bearer." 
 He wears a red cross on the right breast of a black habit, 
 and his obligation is to spend his time in attending the sick, 
 especially in infirmaries. Hence I call him an infirmarian. 
 This invaluable order of devoted men was founded by St. 
 Camillo of Lellis. Next succeeded an Irishman, a student 
 of the Roman Seminary, who did argue most lustily against 
 the real presence and sacrifice of the Mass. The next was 
 a German Jesuit, well known in the United States, Father 
 Kohlman, who for nearly half an hour argued eloquently 
 against the primacy of the Holy See. He was followed 
 by Signor Rosa, one of the minutanti, and a professor of 
 theology, who argued against the power of remitting all sins
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 295 
 
 in the Sacrament of Penance. Dr. Wiseman, 1 Rector of the 
 English College, next argued for the figurative meaning of 
 the words of our Saviour, in the institution of the Eucharist, 
 introducing various analagous passages from Persian, Arabic, 
 and other Asiatic writers, some of which are pompously 
 brought forward in the preface to ponderous tomes of 
 polyglots, by an Oxford doctor of modern celebrity. The 
 celebrated Monsignor Mezzofanti then followed with con- 
 siderable subtlety and acutencss, when the great bell 
 announced midday. 
 
 The young American had now been upwards of four hours 
 sharply engaged in scholastic disputation, in tne Latin lan- 
 guage, with men of various nations and of no ordinary 
 calibre, and had not failed or hesitated in a single answer. 
 
 To a stranger the style of this mode of disputation is 
 altogether a novelty. You are carried back by the intro- 
 duction of the argument to all the pompous style of ancient 
 heraldry and regulated courtesy of disputation. The dis- 
 putant generally commences by a high wrought compliment 
 to the institution, to its various officers, to the particular 
 professor of the science in which he is to make his assault, 
 to the genius and erudition of the defender; then speaks of 
 his own defects, how reluctant he is to couch a lance against 
 so powerful an opponent, but if he makes a pass or two', 
 it is not in the vain hope of a victory for which there is 
 no chance, but that taught by the prowess he will elicit, he 
 may improve. He then commences his attack and presses 
 on, generally with great vigor. The defender in turn pro- 
 fesses the high estimation in which he holds his opponent; 
 introducing in his description an enumeration of the offices 
 he has held, the honors he has obtained, and the great 
 qualities for which he is remarkable. Then he briefly 
 recapitulates the argument, dissects it, and takes its separate 
 parts for successive examination, and after having thus 
 disposed of it, he says that he is inclined to think it not 
 so strong as at first supposed., 
 
 1 Sin^e CarJiral, and now dead.
 
 296 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 There was a recess for rest, dinner, and preparation for 
 the afternoon. But on this occasion the assembly was more 
 solemn. The disposition of the church was similar to that 
 of the hall. The ecclesiastical dresses, however, were for 
 cardinals, bishops, and other prelates, what were called 
 robes of the second class ; the cardinals in red, the bishops 
 in purple, and such of the other prelates as were entitled 
 to it in the same color. The cardinals, of whom only seven 
 were present, sat on very rich chairs on the right side of 
 the chapel facing the door; those chairs were elevated one 
 step above the level of the floor. Three chosen disputants 
 occupied the first places on the opposite side, then the 
 bishops, &c. The Swiss guards formed at the door and 
 lined the passage. The exercises began with an exceedingly 
 ingenious argument against the Primacy of St. Peter, made 
 with great tact and skill by the prelate Raffaelle Fornari, 
 Canonist of the Penitentiary, former Professor of Theology 
 in the Propaganda, and a man of the very first ability. 
 This lasted nearly three quarters of an hour. The second 
 was on the subject of Greece, by Father Perrone, a Jesuit, 
 Professor of Dogmatic Theology in the Roman College ; 
 he is a man of the most profound research and great logical 
 powers, with an admirable memory. The engagement lasted 
 Tialf an hour. Nearly as long again was occupied in an 
 argument against the divine character of Christianity, by 
 Father Modena, Assistant to the Master of tbe Sacred Palace 
 and a Dominican friar. The cardinals rose and shook hands 
 with the Kcntuckian, who was carried away by his fellow- 
 students in triumph. 
 
 Thus ended the public disputation at about eight o'clock. 
 This is a specimen of Roman schools and monkish ignorance. 
 
 VI. 
 
 The charge of monkish ignorance, with all its unmeaning 1 
 concomitants, comes against this city with a very bad grace 
 from places where as yet comparatively little has been done 
 to promote or to sustain a literary spirit. It is true Rome
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 297 
 
 had her days of light, flimsy gossamer-like semblance of 
 science. She had also her day of melancholy oppression. 
 She has had the peace of her children destroyed by the 
 turmoil of faction ; she has had to weep over the fury of 
 her sons, and to mingle her tears with the torrents of their 
 blood, not shed in the defence of public rights, but for the 
 purposes of ambition. Religion often restrained and soothed 
 the desperado ; but religion herself was sometimes trodden 
 down and bruised and wounded in the unholy affrays pro- 
 duced by the lust of power. In those days the din of 
 confusion distracted even the monk in his cloister; and 
 closing the pages or rolling up the parchment, he wept and 
 prayed before the altar ; or if he came out, it was to make 
 an effort for peace, it was to cast himself between the 
 exasperated victor and his prostrate victim ; to lift the 
 emblematic crucifix by which the God of mercy and the 
 Judge of men admonished the one, and to fling the protecting- 
 mantle of religion over the other. The day of tumult, the 
 arena of faction, the intrigues of ambition, the contests of 
 violence, are not favorable to the pursuits of literature. And 
 in this holy city, as in all other places, human passions are 
 found in human beings. Rome has had her vicissitudes. 
 Yet may she look around in calm dignity, and with the 
 roll of ages unfolded and the surface of the globe exhib- 
 ited to the beholders, firmly ask where is her rival. The 
 number of literary and scientific societies at present not 
 merely in existence but in operation here, exceeds that of 
 any other city that I know, or perhaps that is known. 
 Instead of a general description, I shall give you a few 
 details ; and those probably not one-fourth of what might 
 be collected within the same period, as I was occupied in 
 such a way as to leave me little leisure. 
 
 The Academy of the Catholic Religion held one of its 
 stated meetings on the evening of Thursday, April 24. 
 The president of this academy is the Most Rev. Dr. John 
 Soglia, Archbishop of Ephesus ; the secretary ad interim is 
 the Rev. Father John Baptist Rosani, Procurator-General
 
 298 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 of the Eegular Clerks for Pious Schools. The academy 
 consists of a large number of highly talented and erudite 
 clergymen and laymen, and they have a very respectable 
 body of honorary members in various parts of the 
 world. The object is to make those literary researches 
 which are demanded by the peculiar circumstances of the 
 times, for the illustration and support of the Catholic 
 religion. They meet in a large hall at the Roman Uni- 
 versity, generally called the Sapienza. On this evening 
 Father Olivieri, General of the Dominican friars, read an 
 extremely interesting and erudite essay, to prove that, with- 
 out a knowledge of Sacred Scriptures, it was utterly 
 impossible to have any accurate notions of either the 
 antiquities or the history of Egypt. The substance of the 
 composition is given in the following outline : Some well- 
 deserved compliments to the exertions of the learned acade- 
 mician, Monsignor Testa, for his famous dissertation, by 
 which was demonstrated the correct epoch of the zodiac of 
 Denderah, that by some exquisites is thrown back to ages 
 before the flood, and by others to ages before the crea- 
 tion ; he then remarked upon the value of those Egyptian 
 monuments, which, whatever might be the object of those 
 that sought and produced them, gave, by their own authentic 
 symbols and explanations, results always favorable to the 
 cause of religion. Upon this principle he considered Egypt 
 as connected with the great facts of sacred history ; he 
 enumerated the several kinds of antiquities remaining to us. 
 A vast collection is found in the galleries of the Vatican, 
 and some in other parts of the city. He showed the aids 
 furnished by profane erudition, especially from the cata- 
 logues of monarchs of the Egyptian dynasties; he proved that, 
 without the help of the sacred volumes, it is impossible to 
 make any reasonable distribution of those numbers. Accord- 
 ing to the chronology which approximates nearest to the 
 Hebrew copies considered as most to be relied upon and 
 to the Latin Vulgate, it is impossible to go beyond Cham, 
 the son of Noe. The journeys of Abraham and his sojourn
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 299 
 
 in Egypt exhibit, as does all the history of that period, 
 the infancy of political institutions in that country, the 
 monuments of which cannot precede the time of Joseph, 
 the great-grandson of Abraham, under whose administration 
 the power and grandeur of the Egyptian monarchs had 
 their origin. Finally, the learned academician demonstrated, 
 with evidence, that the arts and sciences had no earlier 
 origin than the days of his administration in that country, 
 which was one of the most precocious of Africa, and equal, 
 perhaps, to any in Asia. He showed that, previous to the 
 deluge, considerable progress had been made in many of 
 the arts which flourished in ancient Egypt; and that a 
 mighty process of time would not be required for the 
 attainment of such a grade of knowledge, seeing that God 
 had created man in a state of adult vigor, endowed with 
 language for the communication of ideas, and with infor- 
 mation necessary not only for the preservation of life, but 
 for the father of future generations. The meeting Avas well 
 attended ; amongst those present were Cardinals Pedicini, 
 Zurla, and Lambruschini, ordinary canons of the academy; 
 several archbishops, bishops, distinguished prelates, nobles, 
 and literary men of various ranks. 
 
 The Archaeological Academy is a very highly respectable 
 society, which holds its meetings in the great hall of the 
 Roman Archiginnasio. Its object is the illustration of ancient 
 monuments, and especially the correction of any popular errors 
 respecting those generally best known. Protector, Cardinal 
 Galleffi ; President, the Marquis Commander Louis Biondi ; 
 Secretary, the Cavaliere Peter Hercules Visconti. In such 
 a city as Rome, a society of this description is most use- 
 ful. The number of ancient Pagan monuments that line 
 the wall on your right, as you enter by the long passage 
 to the galleries and chambers of statues in the Vatican 
 the corresponding monuments of early Christianity on your 
 left the succession of Egyptian monuments in the various 
 chambers by which you pass to that which contains the 
 iine painting of George IV of England, by Sir Thomas
 
 300 P^V PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 Lawrence, and the casts of the Grecian marble, not to 
 speak of the vast quantities daily produced from the exca- 
 vations, would well employ many learned antiquarians. 
 
 A stated meeting was held on the 12th of June, under 
 the presidency of the Marquis Biondi. The Academician 
 Cavaliere T. Monaldi pronounced the eulogy of Domenico 
 Sestina, a noble Florentine, deeply learned in the knowl- 
 edge of medals, and a corresponding member of the academy. 
 The secretary then produced an ancient Italian vase, con- 
 siderably adorned with figures, and which was found in 
 the month of last December in the excavations near Bol- 
 sena, and which now belongs to the collection of Signer 
 Campanari, in this city. The learned secretary showed that 
 it contained amongst others representations of the last 
 libation made by Hector on parting from Priam and Hecuba 
 previous to encountering Achilles. He thence took occasion 
 to discuss the origin of the Italian arts, and of the poets 
 who inspired the artists, vindicating in arts for Italy a 
 priority over Greece. There were present on the occasion 
 Cardinals Zurla, Sala, Castracane, Gazzoli, Mattei, and Gri- 
 maldi, all honorary members. His eminence Cardinal James 
 Monico, Patriarch of Venice, was admitted to honorary 
 membership. 
 
 Another meeting of this Society was held on the evening 
 of the 26th of June, on which occasion the secretary con- 
 tinued the reading of a dissertation of which he had given 
 a portion at a previous meeting. It was by the corre- 
 sponding member and associate, Cavaliere Prockesch d'Osten, 
 on the antiquities of the Island of Naxos. Then an illustra- 
 tion was given of a military diploma of the Emperor Adrian, 
 now first brought to view. It was written by the corre- 
 sponding member and associate, Signor Clement Cardinali. 
 At this meeting there were present Cardinals Zurla, Sala, 
 and Grimaldi, honorary members, besides many others of 
 high respectability. 
 
 On the 19th of June there was another meeting of the 
 Academy of the Catholic Religion, on which occasion the
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 301 
 
 Rev. Secretary read a very fine essay of the academician, 
 Cavaliere Angelo Maria Ricci, a Knight of Malta and an 
 excellent poet, " On the influence which the Catholic religion 
 has always had on the progress of literature and the fine 
 arts." The best judges of style gave high praises to this 
 composition, for its perspicuity, elegance, varying harmony 
 with the varying tone of the subject, and a simple sweet- 
 ness of delicate, natural expression. Since Charles Villers 
 obtained the prize from the National Institute of France in 
 1802 for his essay to show that the religious changes 
 made by Luther improved literature and the arts, it has 
 to a certain extent been fashionable to copy, to imitate, or 
 to emulate his effort. The academician reviewed the alle- 
 gations of a whole host of those gentry, showing upon how 
 flimsy a foundation they rested, going from age to age of 
 previous centuries to exhibit that before the bold professor 
 of Wittenberg ventured upon the defence of the first thesis, 
 the arts and sciences had attained and lost, and ; gain 
 attained, again lost many of those accidental improvements 
 which were with so little reason attributed to his innova- 
 tions. The principles and powers of sound criticism were 
 here well applied. 
 
 It was demonstrated in the fullness of evidence, that in 
 the dark days of a desolating barbarism, which anti-Christian 
 hordes spread over the civilized countries of Europe, the 
 fine arts, science, and literature owed their asylum to Popes, 
 bishops, and monks, who preserved, cultivated, cherished, 
 and restored them until, by their indefatigable and protracted 
 exertions, those ferocious conquerors were softened into 
 humanity, subjected to religion, and brought to the porch of 
 civilization ; that as society, thus reformed, was advancing 
 towards perfection, these ennobling appendages were also 
 receiving their development. The essayist then proceeded 
 by analysis, by comparison, and by examples to show how 
 much the spirit of the Catholic religion and the purity of 
 its morality contributed to render more sublime and perfect 
 the conceptions of the poet, of the philosopher, and of 
 the artist.
 
 302 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 The meeting was attended by cardinals Castracane and 
 Grimaldi, by the Archbishop of Acrida, and by many 
 distinguished prelates, nobles, clergy, and other literary 
 characters. 
 
 The object of the Academy of St. Luke is the encourage- 
 ment, improvement and cultivation of the fine arts. Its 
 officers are: President, Cavaliere Gaspare Salvi; Vice- 
 President, Professor Thomas Minardi; Ex-President, Cavaliere 
 Antonio D'Estre; Secretary of the Council, Professor Louis 
 Poletti ; Steward, Clement Caval Folchi ; Perpetual Secretary 
 of the Academy, Professor Salvatore Batti. 
 
 In the schools, there are the following professorships : 
 Painting, two, Pozzi and Minardi ; Sculpture, two, Thor- 
 waldsen and Tenerani ; Theory of Architecture, Gaspare 
 Salvi; Practical Architecture, Valadier; Elementary and Orna- 
 mental Architecture, Julius Camporesa; Geometry, Perspective, 
 and Optics, Peter Delicati; Anatomy, Cajetan Albites; History, 
 Mythology, and Dress, Salvatore Batti. Besides the above 
 who are in actual employment, there are belonging to the 
 Society resident professors of merit, that is, men whose 
 professional merits, duly ascertained, have entitled them 
 to be enrolled ; of them there are of the several classes, 
 the following number : Class of Painting Councillors, 8 ; 
 Academicians of merit, 4 ; Landscapes, 4 ; Engravers of 
 copper-plate, 2. Every name here is that of a man high in 
 fame. Class of Sculpture Councillors, 8; Academicians 
 of merit, 4; Engravers in steel and hard stone, 3. Class 
 of Architecture Councillors, 8 ; Academicians of merit, 4. 
 This is a first rate institution. The schools, all of which 
 are supported by the Pope, and the lectures in which are 
 gratuitous, are held in the Roman University or Archiginnasio. 
 
 At a meeting of this academy on the 6th of this month, 
 the president in the chair, he spoke upon several topics, 
 but particularly of a receipt, dated June 28, by which he 
 assigns a rich uniform dress, to be worn on state occasions 
 by the professors of merit of this institute. It reckons 
 amongst its honorary members several of the most distin-
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 303- 
 
 guished men of various nations, eminent patrons of the fine 
 arts or cultivators of science connected therewith. 
 
 On the 30th of June, by a joint regulation of both the 
 Archaeological Academy and that of St. Luke, they held 
 their yearly joint assembly; on this occasion the great hall 
 was decorated with peculiar splendor. His eminence, Cardinal 
 Dom Placido Zurla, Vicar-General of Rome, Prefect of the 
 Council of Studies, a Benedictine monk of the congregation 
 of Camaldoli, and probably one of the most polished scholars, 
 and most eloquent men in Europe, was the orator. His 
 theme was the influence of religion on the fine arts. He 
 dwelt principally on the sublime group of Canova in the 
 Chapel of the Pieta at St. Peter's, as well as on the other 
 splendid productions by means of which genius consigned 
 the fame of the artist to the care of immortality. Canova 
 was president of both the societies. The close logical 
 reasoning, the glowing and distinct illustrations, and the 
 expanded philosophical reflections which flowed in such 
 strong and harmonious language from this eminent, good, 
 and extraordinarily active man, now in the sixty-sixth year 
 of his age, delighted his auditory and drew forth repeated 
 bursts of applause. Amongst those present were noticed the 
 Cardinal Camerlengo Galleffi, protector of both societies, 
 Cardinals Macchi, Lambruschini, Sala, Castracane, Monico r 
 Polidori, Rlvarola, Gazzoli, Mattei, and Grimaldi. The 
 treasurer, Tosti, better known as the president of the fine 
 establishment of San Michele, and a very large body of 
 prelates, nobility, and literary men, and patrons of the arts, 
 most of whom, as are all above named, were honorary 
 members of one or both academies. It was thought by some 
 that the Pope would attend to compliment the orator, who- 
 is his confessor, and formerly was his superior, as they are 
 monks of the same order, but His Holiness was not present. 
 
 VII. 
 
 On the afternoon of the 6th of July the Tiberine Acad- 
 emy held a stated meeting at its hall in the Palazzo Muti, 
 at Aracreli, near the capitol ; President, Charles Marquis
 
 304 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 Antichi ; secretary, the lawyer John Baptist de Dominis. 
 The object is the cultivation of polite literature ; occasion- 
 ally, or rather as incidentally connected with the principal 
 object, antiquities. I believe this academy has public meet- 
 ings every week for a considerable portion of the year. 
 Their president is elected annually. This .meeting was one 
 of what is called " di libero argomento," which gives 
 greater scope to the academicians to introduce any species 
 of composition. 
 
 On the evening of the 6th the president began by read- 
 ing a production of his own, exceedingly well written, 
 pointing out the principles and regulations by whose means 
 the theatre might, without difficulty, be made truly profit- 
 able, as an institution for public instruction as well as 
 a public amusement. He was followed by the vice-president 
 of this year, the Rev. Father, Master John Baptist Rosani, 
 procurator-general of the pious schools and professor of 
 eloquence in the Nazarene College. This learned and respect- 
 able clergyman read what was called a very fine piece of 
 heroic poetry composed by him for the occasion, but I could 
 'not well understand the subject. The learned and polished 
 scholar, Cavaliere Angelo Maria Ricci, followed with a short 
 composition called "il Capitolo," which is a poetic vision 
 in the style of Dante, the lyric ode. The secretary intro- 
 duced the architect, Gaspare Servi, who read a composition 
 styled "i Decasillabi," or lyric poetry of ten- syllables in each 
 line. This gentleman is one of the council of the year for 
 the Tiberine Academy. Epigrams were produced in Italian 
 and Latin by Cavaliere Michael Angelo Barberi and the 
 Abbate Don Antonio Somai, the treasurer. Sonnets and 
 other light productions by the following academicians were 
 interspersed, viz., Count Thomas Gnoli, dean of the con- 
 sistorial advocates, Rev. Raimondo Pigliacelli, professor of 
 theology in the Urban College of the Propaganda, Messrs. 
 Philip Zampi, of the council, and Hannibal Lepsi, perpetual 
 archivist of the academy. 
 
 The Linchi, or Lynxes, is considered one of the most
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 305 
 
 scientific academies of the city. The proper title is Nuovi 
 Linchi, or New Lynxes. The old society to which it suc- 
 ceeds had done an immensity for science, but had ceased 
 to exist. The principal object is to look out with the 
 watchfulness designated by the name for the discoveries 
 and improvements of natural philosophy in every place, and 
 to turn them to advantage. The Cavaliere Don Feliciano 
 Scarpellini, a respectable priest, is the director and per- 
 petual secretary. Their meeting place is in the capitol, in 
 which is an observatory under the care of this learned 
 director; there is another at the Roman College under the 
 care of the Jesuits. 
 
 On the evening of the 13th a meeting of this academy 
 was held, at which nine cardinals were present, besides a 
 great number of prelates of various grades and several of 
 the nobility, clergy, and literati. The session was opened 
 with an oration delivered by Cardinal Odescalchi, Bishop of 
 Sabina, Vice-Chancellor of the Holy See, archpriest of the 
 Basilica of St. John Lateran, and prefect of the congrega- 
 tion of affairs of bishops and regulars. In it his eminence, 
 in fine language, exhibited and described the motives which 
 animated and urged Prince Frederick Cesi, the founder of 
 this excellent academy. 
 
 This cardinal was followed by the Cavaliere Scarpellini, 
 a man dear to science and to literature, precious to this 
 academy, to which he concentrates honorable and heavy 
 labors. He gave a summary of the academical acts of the 
 past year, in which he exhibited the exertions and progress 
 of the distinguished members and their merited rewards. 
 He dwelt with peculiar emphasis and satisfaction on an 
 exceedingly useful discovery in optics, by the illustrious 
 Signor Alberto Gatti, the extraordinary perfection given to 
 reflecting mirrors in pictra dura, and which is a matter of 
 the very first importance in the construction of telescopes. 
 In doing so he not only bestowed the due meed of praise 
 on the inventor, but paid a just compliment to the papal 
 government, which animated, aided, and urged him forward 
 20
 
 306 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 in his exertions, as also to the academy that saw the 
 utility of the discovery and exerted itself to procure the 
 advantage for science and the credit for Rome. 
 
 On the evening of the 10th of this month the Academy 
 of the Archseologia held their last stated meeting for the 
 academical year. They will not assemble for ordinary busi- 
 ness until after October. On this occasion the secretary 
 read a dissertation transmitted by the corresponding asso- 
 ciate, Cavaliere Luigi Nardi, in which he gives the history 
 of the commentaries of Pope Pius II, who died in 1464 r 
 having governed the Church nearly six years. The asso- 
 ciate describes the different editions of this work, and 
 informs the academy that an apograph, or antique MS. 
 copy of these commentaries of an early date has been 
 found in the Gambalunga of Rimino, which has many very 
 fine and useful passages, by which this work of the learned 
 pontiff can be well corrected and made perfect, as has long 
 been desired. 
 
 The secretary then entered upon a train of reasoning in 
 regard to the early culture of Indian arts, based on the paint- 
 ing of an antique Italian vase, found this year in the Bol- 
 senian excavations, and kept in the fine collection of the 
 Campanari in this city. This vase is a Tyrrhenian pitcher 
 two Roman palms and nine inches in height. On the 
 principal side it exhibits, distinguished by their names, Ajax 
 and Achilles. They appear to have cast lots to decide, as 
 the secretary supposes, some military contest. The perfect 
 execution of the figures in black upon a yellow ground, in 
 the best style, does honor to the artist already well knoAyn 
 by other discovered works ; he has marked his name, 
 Ezecia, in two places upon this vessel, which is one of 
 the most precious that is known. 
 
 Besides the above, I know the following : The Academy 
 of Noble Ecclesiastics : Protector, Cardinal Pacca, dean of 
 the sacred college, and Bishop of Ostia; President, the Most 
 Rev. James Sinibaldi, Archbishop of Damietta. Theological 
 Academy, holding its meeting in the Roman University :
 
 FEX PICTURES OF ROME. 307 
 
 Protectors, Cardinals Pacca, Zurla, Lambruschini, and Albano ; 
 Secretary, Rev. Angelo Mai. Unica of Ecclesiastics of St. 
 Paul, held in the Church of Sant. Appolonara : Protector, 
 Cardinal Zurla ; First Regulator, Most Rev. John Soglia, 
 Archbishop of Ephesus; Secretary-General, Rev. Pius Bigui. 
 The Arcadia, for lighter literature, and improvisation ; its 
 ordinary meetings are held at the Serbatorio, in the Via 
 del Lavatore, near the splendid fountain of Trevi; the 
 solemn ones at the capitol : Guardian-General, the Rev. 
 Gabriel Laureani; Pro-Guardian, Don Paolo Barola. The 
 Latin Academy holds its sessions in the Palazzo Sinibaldi ; 
 of this, the lawyer Francis Guadagni is president, and 
 Signor Frederic Petrilli is secretary. The Philharmonic 
 Academy unites perhaps the most splendid assemblage of 
 vocal and instrumental performers in any one body in the 
 world. I have been more than once at their performance, 
 to which, in the proper seasons, the respectable strangers 
 in the city are generously invited. It is a pity that their 
 rooms are not larger. The principal one would scarcely 
 accommodate four hundred persons. Prince D. Francis Bor- 
 ghese is president of the Academy, and Signor Joseph Spada 
 is secretary; their rooms are in the Palazzo Lancelloti, near 
 the Piazza Navona. The Philodramatic Academy holds its 
 meetings at No. 18, near the Palazzo Cesarini in the Via 
 del Pavone, under the presidency of the commander, Pietro 
 of the Princes Odescalchi ; the secretary is Signor Joseph 
 Capobianchi. The names of these several societies suffi- 
 ciently denote with the explanations given what are their 
 general objects. I do not know of any other. I believe 
 they are twelve in all. 
 
 The Theological Schools are numerous, and the rivalry 
 in science is not small. Amongst those schools one belonging 
 to the Franciscan Order has lately made a considerable 
 display. In 1588, Pope Sixtus V founded the College of 
 St. Bonaventure in the Convent of the XII Apostles, for 
 young minor conventual students. This has generally sus- 
 tained a fair character and produced some learned men. In
 
 308 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 last June, a triennial examination for degrees was held, and 
 the objectors were not idle. The bachelors who had attained 
 their first honors in the provincial schools of the Order, 
 now came to this college not only to seek their higher grade 
 by examination, but also, by literary contest, to seek for the 
 pre-eminence of their several schools and teachers. Cardinal 
 Brancadoro, who is now seventy-nine years of age and thirty- 
 three years a cardinal, and is the senior on the bench of 
 cardinal-priests, is Archbishop of Fermo and protector of 
 this college. Being unable to attend, he requested Pacca, 
 the cardinal-dean to represent him. The degrees of the 
 successful candidates were conferred under the regency of 
 the Rev. Father, Master Hyacinth Guarlerni, on Saturday 
 the 12th inst. After which the Rev. Father Collegial, 
 Antonio Casaro of Calatafemi, in Sicily, who had been 
 .selected for the purpose, defended his theses, which he had 
 dedicated to Cardinal Brancadoro. The defence was made 
 in the Church of the XII. I remained "only a few moments, 
 and as the propositions that I saw selected by the objectors 
 were mere squabbles upon scholastic opinions, I took but 
 little interest in the useless subtlety of metaphysical abstrac- 
 tion in which they were engaged. 
 
 The following is a list of the theological seminaries and 
 colleges of Rome, besides that of the Roman University or 
 Sapienza. I give them here as they are recognized, though 
 in many instances two are united in one establishment, and 
 others, though they keep separate houses, yet attend the 
 same course of lectures: 1. The Roman Seminary for the 
 diocese of Rome. 2. The Seminary of the Chapter of St. 
 Peter's, for that church, etc. Colleges : 3. The Roman, 
 taught by the Jesuits. 4. The Urban, at the Propaganda. 
 5. Germanico-Hungarian, at the Gesii. G. Of St. Thomas 
 of Aquin. 7. Salviati. 8. Capranicense. 9. English. 10. 
 Scotch, now at the Propaganda. 11. Irish. 12. Greek, at 
 the Propaganda. 13. Maronist, do. 14. Ginnasi. 15. Pam- 
 phili. 16. Bandinelli. 17. Ghislieri. 18. Clementine. 19. 
 Nazarine. 20. Sabine. 21. Of Liege. 22. Of Neophytes. 
 23. Carasoli Piceno.
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 309 
 
 The Roman University, or the Sapienza, is an institu- 
 tion of vast literary convenience and unusual facilities. Its 
 body of professors is a host indeed ; its schools open to 
 every aspirant. I shall give you the summary. The Car- 
 dinal Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church is ex-offieio 
 arch-chancellor of this university. (Galleffi is at present 
 Camerlengo.) Deputy-rector : Monsignor Jerome Bontadosi, 
 consistorial advocate. The first college is that of consistorial 
 advocates, consisting of a dean, secretary, and seven mem- 
 bers. The vice-rector is the advocate, Raffaelle Bertinelli. 
 Second college: Theologians, a president, secretary, and four- 
 teen members, of whom two only are seculars ; the others 
 of the various religious orders. Third college : Medicine 
 and Surgery, a dean, secretary, and sixteen doctors. Fourth 
 college: Philosophy, a president and thirteen members. Fifth 
 college : Philology, u president and eight members. In the 
 lists of the above councillors is many a learned name. Pro- 
 fessors and Lecturers : 1 . Sacred Department. Holy Scrip- 
 tures, one ; Speculative Theology, three ; Theological topics, 
 one; Moral Theology, one; Ecclesiastical History, one; Sacred 
 Physics, one. 2. Department of Laws. Natural Law and 
 Law of Nations, one ; Public Ecclesiastical Law, one ; Insti- 
 tutions of Canon Law, one ; Texts of Canon Law, one ; 
 Institutes of Civil Law, one ; Texts of Civil Law, two ; 
 Institutes of Criminal Law, one. 3. Department of Medi- 
 cine and Surgery. Anatomical Institutes, one ; Physiology, 
 one ; Elements of Chemistry, one ; Botany, one ; Practical 
 Botany, one ; Pathology, etc., one ; Therapeutics and Ma- 
 teria Medica, one ; Theory and Practice of Medicine, one ; 
 Medical Jurisprudence, one ; Clinical Lectures, two ; Com- 
 parative Anatomy and Natural History of Animals, one ; 
 Surgery, etc., one; Obstetrics, one; Clinical Surgery, one; 
 Practical Pharmacy, one ; Veterinary Surgery, one. 4. De- 
 partment of Philosophy. Experimental Physics, one ; Intro- 
 duction to the Calculus, one ; Sublime Calculus, one ; Me- 
 chanics and Hydraulics, one ; Optics and Astronomy, one ; 
 Architecture as connected with Statics and Hydraulics, one;
 
 310 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 Descriptive Geometry, one; Mineralogy and Natural History, 
 one; Archaeology, one. 5. Department of Philosophy. Latin 
 and Italian Eloquence and Roman History, one ; Hebrew, 
 one; Arabic, one; Syro-Chaldaic, one. Besides these forty- 
 seven professors, all paid by the Pope, there are six jubi- 
 lated or superannuated professors, five emeriti, or persons 
 having honorably retired, and two honorary, not counting 
 the director of the chancery. Yet Home is the enemy of 
 
 learning ! 
 
 VIII. 
 
 August 1st was the Festival of the Liberation of St. Peter, 
 or as it is called, " St. Peter's Chains," and I was desirous 
 of being present at the church at which it is celebrated, 
 but a slight indisposition prevented my going out in the 
 morning. In the afternoon I got into a carriage and told 
 the coachman to drive to the Esquiline Hill to San Pietro 
 in Vincola. When I arrived, I found the open space in 
 front occupied by carriages, a few beggars, and a consid- 
 erable number of persons going in and coming out. A 
 large screen of canvass was extended forward like a shed 
 at a considerable height, attached to the front of the church, 
 to keep off the scorching sun, and the ground was strewed 
 with bay and other sweet-smelling evergreens and shrubs. 
 Upon entering the church I perceived they were chanting 
 the solemn second vespers at the principal altar. The 
 church was decorated with fine crimson silk and gold lace, 
 covering many of the columns in the principal parts, and 
 a large portion of the walls. Other tapestry covered other 
 parts. The abbot was seated at the epistle side of the 
 altar, coped and mitred, and his community occupied their 
 places in the recess behind the altar, to its front, for this 
 i.s one of the old-fashioned altars whose back is to the 
 church. I took my place in the transept on the same side, 
 under the splendid and powerful organ, having opposite to 
 me at the other extremity of the transept the magnificent 
 mausoleum of Pope Julius II of which the extraordinary
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 311 
 
 statue of Moses, by Michael Angelo, forms the most striking 
 part. The music was indeed rich and varied, and the 
 singing of the choir was exquisite. 
 
 About midway between the porch and the altar, on your 
 right hand as you enter, is the altar upon which the relics 
 from which the church takes its title were placed on this 
 festival. It was richly decorated, and the candles were 
 lighted. A fine casket of considerable size contained the 
 relics. They are the chains with which it is said the 
 Apostle St. Peter was bound in Jerusalem and in Rome, 
 and which are believed to have miraculously united. I 
 have not as yet examined the evidence on which the asser- 
 tion rests ; and as it is no article of faith, I am not 
 called upon to believe farther than my own judgment will 
 have dictated after having examined the special grounds of 
 the assertion. I shall, for the present, suppose the truth 
 of the statement. I have a promise from the abbot of 
 being furnished with a copy of the testimony, which I 
 shall examine at my leisure. From time to time a priest 
 in a surplice and stole came, properly accompanied, to the 
 altar, opened the casket, and drawing out the chain, one 
 extremity of which remained fastened to the interior of 
 the case itself, applied the other extremity to the necks 
 of those who knelt before him, after which they kissed the 
 relic, whilst he repeated a short form of prayer on their 
 behalf. As I had not the opportunity of examining the 
 church and relics as closely as I could wish, by reason of 
 the service and of the crowd, I departed, determined to go 
 this morning, at an early hour, for that purpose. 
 
 Accordingly, I went and had every facility. I saw the 
 abbot, who is an exceedingly learned man, Dom Paolo Del 
 Signore, Professor of Church History in the Roman Univer- 
 sity, and having told him my desire to examine minutely 
 the chains and their history, he kindly accompanied me, 
 and directed all concerned with any department of the 
 establishment, to give me full information, aid and oppor- 
 tunity.
 
 312 p^V PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 I went to the altar upon which the chains were placed. 
 This case stands upon four short silver-gilt legs, about an 
 inch in height; it is made of hard wood, lined with velvet, 
 and covered outside with plates of highly chased silver ; 
 it is about eight or ten inches high, about fifteen or six- 
 teen inches front and twelve deep ; the cover, which is 
 solidly attached, rises gradually towards the centre from 
 four sides, to about two inches in height, and the projec- 
 tion is less than half an inch, the entire in the form of 
 a roof nearly square. A child, finely executed in silver, 
 with loose, flying drapery, stands on its summit, his right 
 hand moderately extended and holding a tiara, his left 
 gracefully and easily carried across his chest, towards the 
 right side, a little above the hip, and from it hangs a 
 chain. The chasing is principally free fancy scroll-work 
 around seraphim. The front is a gate, having two large 
 oval glazed apertures, through which you see the links of 
 chain coiled up within the case. I opened this and drew 
 out the chain. It consists of thirty-two links of moderate 
 size, from three to four inches in length ; I should sup- 
 pose the heaviest link would not exceed the weight of six 
 ounces. At one extremity is a light sort of hoop suffi- 
 ciently large to embrace the neck or both wrists ; it con- 
 sists of two parts united to each other and to the chain 
 by a rivet or gudgeon, oh which, as on a hinge, they 
 turn ; one of these has a loop or eye at its extremity, 
 and the other two prongs, one of which being introduced 
 into the eye both might with some force be so twisted 
 together as to secure the junction, and confine whatever 
 was enclosed by the hoop. Upon close examination it will 
 be easily perceived that there are three descriptions of 
 links : four are much lighter and more delicate than the 
 rest, and one by which they are united to the others has 
 the soldering of the junction made with silver. These links 
 arc said to have belonged to the chain with which St. 
 Paul was bound. A number of the other links, I did not 
 count how many, but I should suppose eight or ten, are
 
 PEN" PICTURES OF ROME. 313 
 
 less gross than the others, and appear much more worn at 
 the places of contact. No mark of junction, however, is 
 observable; and it is, moreover, asserted that one of the 
 chains with which the Apostle was bound under Herod in 
 Jerusalem, having been given in that city to Eudocia, the 
 Empress of Theodosius the Younger, was sent by her to 
 Rome to her daughter Eudoxia, who brought it to the 
 Pope, and he had in his possession a chain with which the 
 Apostle had been bound in Rome under Nero. Both chains 
 formed, as it were, a spontaneous union, by the immediate 
 influence of the divine power; and the links of St. Paul's 
 chain having been added, they are preserved as memorials 
 and relics, by means of which the faith of the people 
 might be strengthened, and on regular days of solemn 
 observance, the facts might be better brought under public 
 consideration, and the gratitude and piety of the multitude 
 increased, in like manner as God Himself regulated the 
 exhibition of the brazen serpent to the multitude of Israel, 
 the preservation of the manna in the ark, the rod of 
 Aaron, and other relics which the chosen people long held 
 in pious veneration. One of these links is fastened to the 
 interior of the case with a hasp ; and the case itself, whilst 
 it remains upon this altar, is chained to it, and under 
 continual observation. It is exhibited twice in the year ; 
 once on a day within the octave of SS. Peter and Paul, 
 I think the 3d of July and the 1st of August, and during 
 their octaves. The painting at this altar is the delivery 
 of Peter from prison by the angel, as related in Acts xii. 
 At other times the relic, enclosed in its casket, is placed 
 in a large case of less costly materials, and kept in a 
 recess in the wall of the society with some other relics. 
 This recess is closed by an iron grating, the key of whose 
 lock is held by the abbot. Outside this grate is a beau- 
 tiful bronze gate with two locks, the key of one of which 
 is kept by the cardinal, who is titular of this church, at 
 present Castracane degli Antimenelli, and the other by the 
 Pope's major-domo, at present the Most Rev. Dr. Patrizi, 
 Archbishop of Philippi.
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 The church is built upon the site of the baths of Titus, 
 on the Esquiline, not very far from the Coliseum. The 
 -original building, which dates as far back as the end of 
 the fifth century, did not extend beyond the present main 
 nave as far as the transept. This is easily distinguished 
 from the rest ; it consists of three aisles separated by two 
 colonnades crowned with arches ; the middle aisle is about 
 forty feet wide, and each of the others about half that 
 Avidth. In each of those, I may call them arcades, are 
 ten fine fluted Doric columns of Grecian marble taken 
 from the baths of Dioclesian ; each shaft is but a single 
 block, upwards of twenty feet in length. Upon a smart 
 friction with iron, a sub-sulphureous smell is perceptible. 
 At the termination of this middle aisle is a lofty arch, 
 ;sustained by two fine columns of granite with marble cap- 
 itols of the composite order ; this begins the more recent, 
 but yet sufficiently ancient part of the building. The large 
 conch-like recess which forms the sanctuary was a portion 
 of the baths of Titus. The altar and choir are on the 
 ancient model; the altar considerably forward, with its back 
 towards the church, so that the celebrant standing at it faces 
 the congregation ; and the benches of the choir attached to 
 the wall of the recess, with the president's seat at its 
 extremity exactly facing the altar, but having it between 
 him and the people. I shall not in this place speak of 
 its decorations, or paintings, or any other particulars. Be- 
 tween this recess and the old church of Eudoxia is the 
 transept, a fine open space. When you enter it and look 
 towards the altar, you have on your left a beautiful organ, 
 and on your right, at the other extremity, the splendid 
 monument of Julius II, who died in 1513. I cannot 
 undertake to describe this. But probably, as few of your 
 readers have seen accounts of it, I shall give them a very 
 faint idea of this great work of the celebrated sculptor, 
 whose conceptions were all gigantic as his genius. 
 
 The monument occupies the larger portion of the ex- 
 tremity of the transept, and consists of two stories. The
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 315 
 
 lower has three compartments, and is upwards of twenty- 
 feet high. Four immense blocks of pure white marble 
 projecting from the back and formed into partitions, whose 
 fronts are decorated with bold and beautiful scrolls and 
 bear various emblematic devices, give a division of three 
 great stalls, of which that in the centre is much the largest. 
 Seated in this, considerably forward, in an easy, dignified, 
 and commanding attitude, in a loose, flowing robe, with the 
 tables of the law resting in his right hand, the colossal figure 
 of the mighty leader of the host of Israel fixes the attention 
 of the most negligent. Every joint is massive, every limb 
 is immense, but the entire is in the most symmetrical pro- 
 portion. The muscles of that arm which smote the rock 
 seem braced as the rock itself, and yet you would imagine 
 that the finger of an infant would leave the impression of 
 its touch upon the surface ; the drapery would change its 
 tblds in the agitation of breeze, or with the motion of the 
 limb it covers. There is something expressively majestic in 
 the flowing of those wreaths of beard; the eye shows keen 
 vigor and penetration, and looks upon some object of mighty 
 moment, with a degree of interest, mingled with momentary 
 satisfaction and the consciousness of the power to command ; 
 the lips are parted, and we are not astonished to hear, that 
 the mighty artist, when he perfected his work, stood with 
 his own eye riveted upon that face, and after the absorption 
 of his faculties, carried away by his feeling, and anxious to 
 know what lay concealed, impatiently struck the knees, which 
 he could reach with his chisel, and cried, " Speak ! " 
 
 The figure of Meditation in the niche on his right, and 
 that of Prudence on his left, would, if placed elsewhere, be 
 well worthy of attention. They as well as those over them 
 were made by Mateo Lupo ; but the observer is perpetu- 
 ally drawn off, without perceiving the process by which it 
 is effected, to the principal figure itself. 
 
 The second story is divided in like manner. The Pon- 
 tiff, Julius II, is reclining in a posture half raised from 
 his cushion, and stooping forward as if to point the
 
 316 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 observers to the contemplation of the sainted Hebrew who 
 sits below. He is in pontificals, wearing his tiara. In a 
 niche considerably above him is a finely executed statue 
 of Religion, w y ith a child in her arms ; this innocent holds 
 a bird that attracts his attention ; as far as I could observe 
 it was a dove, emblematic of himself. In the recesses at 
 each side of the Pontiff are Temperance on the right and 
 Pontifical Sagacity upon the left. The effect produced by 
 the group is magnificent. 
 
 Turning to my left, to enter the sacristy by a door 
 which is to the right of the monument, my attention was 
 arrested by the painting over the altar which was close at 
 hand, and which terminated the right aisle of the church. 
 It was not large, nor was the light strong, nor the piece 
 very distinctly seen, yet I saw it was worthy of a mas- 
 ter's name. I am no connoisseur. I am ignorant of those 
 phrases which are familiar even to companions of the vir- 
 tuosi. But I know when I am affected; and generally I 
 can discover what occasions the feeling. A fine female 
 figure, in which calm dignity, without affectation, and the 
 expression of a noble intellect, were blended with the intre- 
 pidity of that heroism which becomes her sex, and that 
 softness and delicacy which are compatible with the strength 
 and vigor and healthful firmness of attained womanhood. 
 A terrific dragon, whose glaring eyeballs showed a raging 
 fire that burned without consuming, its distended mouth 
 exhibiting a projected tongue whose point was formidable 
 and whose livid hue denoted the poison with which it was 
 swollen, gave also to view its destructive ranges of teeth. 
 The vapor which issued from the throat of this monster 
 seemed pestilential even to the eye ; and many a scaly and 
 nervous fold was discerned through the murky mass which 
 covered the abyss that glowed below. With her eye steadily 
 fixed on the monster, Margaret serenely contemplated the 
 vain efforts that he made ; whilst her right hand steadily 
 held aloft, even within his view, that cross by which she 
 was protected. How beautifully impressive was the lesson
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 317 
 
 that it taught; showing at once the violence, the fury, and 
 the origin of passion, and the facility with which it is 
 overcome by the powerful application of the merits of a 
 crucified Saviour ! The brother drew aside the curtains 
 from the window. The countenance of the saint was mildly 
 radiant; and the fire of the assailant seemed more hot. 
 Her serenity was undisturbed, her drapery was exquisite. 
 Hers was the expression of that humble consciousness of 
 divine support, by which victory is felt as secure even 
 before the close of the contest. I asked who was the 
 artist. " He was," said the brother, " a man who wanted 
 bread. He had genius, but he found no protector. He 
 would have died of hunger, but for the canons regular of 
 the Lateran Basilica; for such is our title, though others 
 have been substituted for us in that church. Our commu- 
 nity saved Guercino from want, and in return for the hos- 
 pitality he received, he repaid us by his pencil." "And 
 this St. Margaret is by Guercino," said I. 
 
 Leaving the altar of St. Margaret, we went towards the 
 sacristy. The hall into which we first entered had a finely 
 paved floor of large mosaic, many of the component parts 
 of which were pietra dura, or precious stone, as contradis- 
 tinguished from marble. The pavement itself was that of 
 the ancient baths of Titus, as was that of the two rooms 
 that served for the sacristy. To me the contemplation of 
 this floor was one of the best evidences of the imperial 
 wealth and general luxury of Rome about eighteen centu- 
 ries ago. Porphyry, serpentine, stellato were amongst the 
 more ordinary parts, and giallo antico, verde antico, rosso 
 antico were in profusion. 
 
 My object was to see the place in which the chains are 
 usually kept. The recess is about three feet deep in the 
 thickness of the wall and carefully lined. It is over the 
 vesting table opposite you as you enter, at the height of
 
 318 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 about six feet from the floor to the sill of the doors. The 
 aperture is about four feet square in the centre of the 
 wall ; it is surrounded by a line entablature of antique 
 yellow marble with its mouldings neatly executed ; at the 
 sides are two Ionic pilasters of Sicilian jasper, with the 
 caps and volutes of marble richly gilt. Midway towards 
 the angle on each side are corresponding marble panels in 
 the wall, each nearly as large as the aperture. Each of 
 these consists of three slabs of equal size ; that in the 
 centre is serpentine stellato, with dark porphyry on either 
 side. Readers might not all know that this serpentine is 
 a stone of a varied green color, and is harder than mar- 
 ble therefore it is called pietra dura, or hard stone. It 
 has the same quality as cornelian, jasper, etc. When it 
 has a number of small white stars it is called stellato. 
 This is rare and much esteemed. These panels are sur- 
 rounded by old mosaic. 
 
 The ceiling is vaulted, but the arches which form this 
 vault spring from the four sides, and as the room is not 
 a square but an oblong parallelogram about twenty feet by 
 fifteen, a panel, formed where the arches would meet is 
 oblong too. Upon this there is a fine fresco of the liberation 
 of Peter by the angel. Four other frescoes surround this 
 on the vault ; at the head is Peter getting out of his boat 
 to walk to Jesus whom lie sees upon the shore ; at the 
 foot is the committal of Peter to prison by Herod ; on the 
 right is the death of Annanias and Sapphira; and on the 
 left, the healing of the cripple who asked alms at the 
 Beautiful Grate of the temple. At the angles, niches rise in 
 the vaults, in which appropriate devices are given ; three 
 niches also rise at each side of the vault from the springing 
 of the arch. In the centre one, over the recess for the 
 preservation of the relics, is a fresco of the Blessed Virgin, 
 and the others are occupied by saints. The remainder of 
 the ceiling was decorated, in the year 1500, by ^ucchari, 
 with sprigs and scrolls after the manner of the baths of 
 Titus; these are also colored in fresco and are in an excel- 
 lent state of preservation.
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 319" 
 
 The gates of the recess are perhaps some of the best 
 executed bronzes in existence. Each gate consists of three 
 panels, the middle one being the principal ; this is about 
 eighteen inches square, surrounded by a fine border, with 
 varied enrichings in delicate bronze. The subject on the 
 one to your left as you examine is the imprisonment of 
 Peter. Upon the portion which exhibits the main group 
 there are at least seventeen human figures in various reliefs 
 and different attitudes; the whole is wrought in a masterly 
 and delicate style. Herod sits on his tribunal, with his 
 emblems of office; the seat is in a fine niche of a large- 
 building. From the windows of the upper floor a number 
 of persons are seen looking at the crowd that proceeds from 
 the tribunal to the gate of the prison; the Apostle is prom- 
 inent in this crowd, with an air of dignified resignation, 
 approaching the door into which the keeper is thrusting his 
 ponderous key. In the background, in fine perspective, is 
 seen the front of some public building with three large- 
 niches, at various distances from the spectator, each con- 
 taining some statue. The drapery is finely wrought, and 
 on many of the figures portions of it are remarkably well 
 gilt. Some of the persons appear to stand out fully sepa- 
 rated from the panel, whilst little more than the outlines 
 of others are discernible. On the oblong panel, over this, 
 in the upper compartment, are two winged children, one at. 
 each extremity, who hold the ends of a finely filled fes- 
 toon of leaves and flowers; over the centre of the festoon 
 is the scutcheon with the family arms of Rovera ; a sort 
 of tree with its branches interwoven at the top and the 
 tiara projecting. On the lower compartment, which corre- 
 sponds in size and shape with the upper, are two trees r 
 one at each extremity, the trunks near the ends, and the 
 higher branches extending so as to meet nearly at the top 
 of the centre ; under each tree is a winged child, and in 
 the centre the inscription in raised letters : SIXTUS QUARTUS, 
 POXTIFEX MAXIMUS. 
 
 On the corresponding gate to your right hand the upper
 
 320 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 
 
 compartment is similar, but that a cardinal's hat supplies 
 the place of the tiara. The only difference in the lower 
 compartment is the inscription, which is : JULIUS CARD. 
 SANCTI PETRI AD VINCULA; SANCTJE ROMANS ECCLESI.E 
 PCENITENTIARIUS, MCCCCLXXVii. The middle panel is divided 
 into three parts. That on your right exhibits the interior 
 of a prison ; the Apostle is lying on the floor, chained to 
 a soldier on each side, both sleeping, one reclining, the 
 other nearly erect and leaning against an angle. The angel 
 is awakening the Apostle; aud in the background other 
 sleepers are seen, soldiers and prisoners intermixed. In the 
 centre is the passage outside this dungeon, which extends 
 clown a good distance in excellent perspective, with a statue 
 in a niche at its termination. The angel leads Peter from 
 the dungeon, treading cautiously upon some armor that 
 lies scattered over the floor. The Apostle seems doubting 
 the reality of his delivery, yet is very careful to keep 
 close to his conductor. The compartment on the left is the 
 outer wall of the prison in which was the large iron gate, 
 opening spontaneously to allow a passage. After passing 
 through this the Apostle felt assured of his safety. 
 
 The collections of leaves and other decorations that go 
 around each gate comprising its three panels are wrought 
 with a lightness and softness of appearance equal to wax. 
 This is one of the chef d'oauvres of the brothers Pullajoli, 
 who cast the fine gates of St. Peter's at the Vatican. 
 Their remains are interred in this church at the Esquiline. 
 Cardinal Julius Eovera was nephew to Pope Sixtus IV, 
 and had this and other works executed for this church, 
 of which he was the titular cardinal-priest. 
 
 X. 
 
 The respectable abbot of St. Peter's has kindly furnished 
 me with the dissertation which lie promised, compiled by 
 one of his order. It is a work now very scarce, of about 
 fifty pages, quarto; a production which, however, must have
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME. 321 
 
 occupied much time, and required great patience and pro- 
 found research. The writer is one of those laborious, en- 
 lightened, judicious and candid critics, whom the monas- 
 teries have furnished in great abundance. He shows that 
 it cannot be distinctly known at present whether the church, 
 which originally stood upon the site now occupied by that 
 in which the chains are kept, was, as many authors state, 
 the first which the Apostle Peter dedicated after his arrival 
 in Rome and that hence it was called, subsequently, and 
 before the chains were placed there, St. Peter's Church. 
 He shows that the chains were, from the earliest period, 
 held in high estimation in Rome. He does not, however, 
 bring such testimony as would make evidence for their 
 authenticity, unless we admit one or more of the miracles 
 which he relates as wrought by their means ; and one at 
 least of these is sustained by testimony which to me 
 appears fully sufficient, making direct and circumstantial evi- 
 dence abundant for every person who has not determined to 
 be incredulous. He avows that great difficulty and indis- 
 tinctness is found in the testimony respecting the miraculous 
 junction of the chains brought from Jerusalem and that 
 with which the Apostle was bound in Rome ; and states 
 that he can find no evidence beyond an unsustained and 
 vague and imperfect tradition. But respecting the bringing 
 of one of the chains from Jerusalem to Rome, the testi- 
 mony amounts to a very great probability, though by no 
 means sufficient to produce certainty. The reading of the 
 work has, upon the whole, produced in my mind the con- 
 clusion of the authenticity of the relic itself; though I am 
 not satisfied of the sufficiency of the proof by which it is 
 sought to sustain several particular statements that are mat- 
 ters of pious belief. I look upon its preservation and ex- 
 hibition to public respect to be not only rational and 
 laudable, but exceedingly useful to religion. I write from 
 my own experience when I inform you that by it the un- 
 derstanding is enlightened, the heart is moved; the respect- 
 ful recollection of the Apostle raises the soul to a still 
 
 21
 
 322 PEN PICTURES OF RONE. 
 
 higher veneration for the commission with which he was 
 invested, and of the faithful and painful discharge of whose 
 duties this chain is an enduring witness. He who contem- 
 plates the relic upon the altar and witnesses that iron 
 which enclosed the martyr's neck, bows in silent adoration, 
 more resigned to the worldly and transient afflictions which 
 Providence allots to him. The history of the saints is the 
 justification of that Providence, which by some afflictions 
 subjects to a penance in this transient state and makes 
 perfect by tribulation those who, enriched by grace, are 
 found faithful and destined for glory. Who would not prefer 
 to suffer upon earth, and to be glorious in heaven with 
 Lazarus and with Peter, than to die like Dives or like 
 Nero? The sumptuous repasts have long since ceased. The 
 bright and delicate vesture has faded and decayed. The 
 golden palace is a heap of ruins. Ages have flowed away, 
 and eternity is yet, if I might use the expression, in the 
 very infancy of its duration. Sorrow is changed into joy, 
 and the instrument of pain, the badge of disgrace, has 
 become the evidence of fidelity, as it was the occasion of 
 merit, and continues to be the emblem of triumph and the 
 incitement to virtue. We feel the full force of that passage 
 of the Apostle in which he says, that " God chooses the 
 foolish things of the world that He might confound the 
 wise and the weak things of the world that He might con- 
 found the strong and the ignoble things of the world, and 
 the contemptible things of the world, did God choose, and 
 the things that are not, that He might bring to nought 
 the things that are, so that no flesh should glory in His 
 sight." 
 
 In this church is another of Guercino's pieces, which at- 
 tracted my notice, and for a time riveted my attention 
 more even upon the moral than upon the production of the 
 artist. The altar over which it is placed is near that of 
 the chains; St. Augustine, the great Bishop of Hippo, is 
 finely represented in the mood of most intense investigation. 
 In the features you at once perceive the deep research and
 
 PEN PICTURES OF ROME 323 
 
 the anxiety of inquiry ; the eye would seem to penetrate 
 beyond the sphere of his existence, and to scrutinize a 
 world far, far beyond the scan of ordinary men. He is 
 seated near the margin of the ocean ; and a beautiful child, 
 at a small distance from the prelate, seems to be equally 
 intent upon his own occupation. He has a large shell with 
 which he appears determined to draw off the waters of the 
 ocean and to pour them on the land. 
 
 The saint relates that one day when endeavoring to form 
 some idea of the nature of the infinite and eternal Creator, 
 and led in his contemplations to try find some objects of 
 comparison and to discern the mode of the Triune exist- 
 ence of the Almighty; after many a fruitless effort, he 
 saw that a child thus occupied was the best emblem of 
 an aspiring mortal who would endeavor, with his limited 
 faculties, to grasp infinity. It reminded me of the solemn 
 and sublime address of the Lord Himself to the wise, the 
 patient, and the contemplative Eastern : 
 
 ""When the morning stars sang together, and all the 
 sons of God made joyful melody, who shut up the sea with 
 doors when it broke forth as issuing out of the womb? 
 When I made a cloud the garment thereof, and wrapped 
 it in a mist as in swaddling bands, I set my bounds 
 around it, and made it a bar and doors ; and I said : 
 Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt go no further, and 
 here thou shalt break thy swelling waves." x 
 
 i Job, c. 38, v. 7-11.
 
 THE WALDENSES. 
 
 I HAVE found the following article in a Protestant 
 paper : 
 
 "AN OLD CONFESSION OF FAITH. 
 
 " l Where was your religion before Luther ? ' is a stand- 
 ing interrogatory, fabricated for the double purpose of sus- 
 taining the pretensions of the Papacy to universal Catholi- 
 cism, and to tantalize unlettered Protestants, by assuring 
 them that their religion is of a very modern origin. The 
 question, however, can be triumphantly answered. But, with- 
 out attempting it at present, we shall merely adduce the 
 Confession of Faith which was adopted by the much-perse- 
 cuted Waldenses more than 400 years before Luther. 
 
 " There are several confessions of the faith of these 
 Christians of the valleys, some of them bearing a very 
 early date, still extant. Sir Samuel Morland has fixed the 
 date of the earliest in the year 1120; it reads as follows: 
 
 "<1. We believe and firmly maintain all that is contained 
 in the twelve articles of the symbol, commonly called the 
 Apostles' Creed, and we regard as heretical whatever is 
 inconsistent with the said twelve articles. 2. We believe 
 that there is one God, Father, Son, and Spirit. 3. We 
 acknowledge, for canonical Scriptures, the books of the I 
 Holy Bible. (The books enumerated correspond exactly with ! 
 our received canon ; the Apocrypha is excluded). 4. The : 
 boeks above mentioned teach us that there is one God 
 Almighty, unbounded in wisdom, and infinite in goodness, i 
 and who in His goodness has made all things ; for He ; 
 created Adam after His own image and likeness : but, '. 
 through the enmity of the devil and his disobedience Adam 
 
 (234)
 
 THE WALDENSES. 325 
 
 fell, sin entered into the world, and we became transgressors 
 in and by Adam. 5. That Christ had been promised to 
 the fathers who received the law, to the end that knowing 
 their sin by the law, and their unrighteousness and insuf- 
 ficiency, they might desire the coming of Christ to make 
 satisfaction for their sins and to accomplish the law by 
 Himself. 6. That at the time appointed by the Father, 
 Christ was born; a time when inquiry everywhere abounded, 
 to make it manifest that it was not for the sake of any 
 good in ourselves, for we were all sinners, but that He who 
 is true might display His grace and mercy towards us. 
 7. That Christ is our life, and truth, and peace, and right- 
 eousness, our shepherd and our advocate, our sacrifice and 
 peace, who died for the satisfaction of all who should 
 believe, and rose again for our justification. 8. And we 
 also believe, that there is no other mediator or advocate 
 with God the Father but Jesus Christ; and as tc the 
 Virgin Mary, she was holy, humble, and full of grace. 
 And this we also believe concerning all other saints, namely, 
 that they are waiting in heaven for the resurrection of their 
 bodies at the day of judgment. 9. We also believe that, 
 after this life there are but two places, one for those that 
 are saved, the other for the damned, which two we call 
 paradise and hell, wholly denying that imaginary purgatory 
 of Antichrist, invented in opposition to the truth. 10. 
 Moreover, we have ever regarded all the inventions of men 
 in the affairs of religion as an unspeakable abomination 
 before God ; such as the festival days and vigils of saints, 
 and what is called holy water, the abstaining from flesh on 
 certain days, and such like things ; but, above all, human 
 inventions which produce distress, (probably meaning pen- 
 ance), and are prejudicial to the liberty of mind. 12. We 
 consider the sacraments as signs of holy things, or as the 
 visible emblems of invisible blessings. We regard it as 
 proper and even necessary, that believers use these symbols 
 and forms when it can be done. Notwithstanding which, 
 we maintain that believers may be saved without these
 
 326 THE WALDENSES. 
 
 signs when they have neither place nor opportunity of 
 observing them. 13. We acknowledge no sacrament as of 
 divine opportunity but baptism and the Lord's Supper. 
 14. We honor the secular powers with subjection, obedience, 
 promptitude, and payment.' 
 
 "Several subsequent confessions of the "VValaenses are of 
 similar tenor, recognizing all the fundamental doctrines of 
 the Reformation ; but some parts of them are more pointedly 
 directed against the errors of the Romish Church, such as 
 the restricting of. the use of the Scriptures to the clergy, 
 the infallibility of the Pope, &c. The AValdenses seem at 
 all times to have laid particular stress upon the point of the 
 Church of Rome being the Antichrist, the harlot of 
 Babylon, the man of sin, the son of perdition, spoken of 
 in the New Testament prophecies; and they insisted strenu- 
 ously upon the necessity of separation from her communion, 
 though they nevertheless inculcate obedience to their Popish 
 rulers." 
 
 Before entering into the particulars of this confession, it 
 may be as well, supposing the truth of its date, to consider 
 its claim to the term old. The present is the year 1837 
 from the birth of our Saviour, that is to say, 1804 from 
 the descent of the Holy Ghost and the establishment of the 
 Christian Church. Now, supposing the correctness of the 
 date fixed by Sir Samuel Morland, 1120, this confession is 
 717 years old, and 1087 years after the establishment of 
 the Church; that is, 370 years nearer to our day, than to 
 that of the descent of the Holy Ghost. This is no great 
 evidence of its Christian antiquity! 
 
 Again, it is said to be more than 400 years before Luther. 
 Now Martin Luther was born on the 10th of November, 
 1483, that is 363 years after the supposed date of this con- 
 fession, and I am indeed at a loss to discover how 363 is 
 more than 400. 
 
 But this is not all. The writer tells us that it is the 
 confession of the Waldenses. Everybody knows that the 
 Waldensca were so called because they were the disciples
 
 THE 1VALDENSES. 327 
 
 and the followers of Peter Waldo, who did not begin to 
 form any disciples until after the year 1160, that is forty 
 years after the period assigned for the date of this confession 
 of faith, and thus the period of more than 400 years must 
 be reduced to 323 at the most before the birth of Martin 
 Luther ; and this gentleman was not more than thirty-four 
 years of age when he began to assail the Church. I believe 
 that it can be shown by good evidence that the document 
 called " The Old Confession of Faith," an abstract of which 
 is given above, and a more full copy of which I have lying 
 on the table before me, was not formed until about twenty- 
 five years after the year 11 GO, which would reduce the 
 more than 400 years to less than 300 years before Luther. 
 
 My object is not to diminish the value of this very old 
 confession, by detracting from its antiquity, but to show the 
 danger of loosely dealing in general assertions when persons 
 are treating of facts. Another object is to show the danger 
 of trusting to loose writers, when a person undertakes to 
 give the copy or even the substance of such a document 
 as a confession of faith. 
 
 I shall now supply a few omissions, not denying that in 
 the form above given there is a pretty accurate description 
 of some of the articles, but totally denying that the formu- 
 lary is either perfect, complete, adequate, or full, in 
 representing the doctrines of the followers of Peter "Waldo, 
 at any moment after they drew up anything like a confession 
 of their belief. 
 
 A considerable portion of the above formulary is taken 
 from their book called " The Spiritual Calendar ;" more 
 is taken substantially but not verbally from the description 
 or history of Perrin. For instance, Article 3 is not taken 
 exactly as a copy, but substantially and not very accurately; 
 but Articles 12 and 14 are literal translations, the original 
 of which we give as a literary curiosity : 
 
 "12. Xos cresen que li sacrament son segnal de la cosa 
 sancta o forma vesibla de gratia non vesibla, tenent esserbon 
 que li fidel uzan alcunas vecs duquisti diet segnal, o forma
 
 328 THE WALDEKSES. 
 
 vesibla, si la se po far. Ma impergo nos cresen et tenen 
 que li predict fidel pon esser fait saifs non recebent li preeict 
 segnal quand non han lo luoc, ni lo modo de poer uzar de 
 li predict segnal." 
 
 " 14. Nos deven donar, a la potesta secular, en subjection, 
 en obedienga, en prompteza et en pagament." 
 
 The omissions are very many. I shall state a portion : 
 
 1. No notice is taken of their grand principle and most 
 important charge against the Catholic Church, viz.: That 
 she ceased to be the Church of Christ under Pope Sylvester, 
 in the beginning of the 4th century, because she accepted 
 temporal possessions from the Emperor Constantine, whereby, 
 leaving apostolical simplicity and evangelical poverty, she 
 became the conventicle of Satan. 
 
 2. No notice is taken of their assertion, that they believed 
 the Church was become the scarlet lady, because the Pope 
 and the prelates in his communion were murderers, inasmuch 
 as they approved of or at least permitted the waging 
 of war. 
 
 3. They pronounced the Church to be fallen, because she 
 admitted distinctions between her members, styling some of 
 them clergy of various orders, and others laity, thereby 
 destroying their Christian equality. 
 
 4. They condemned the Church because she allowed priests 
 to possess their family property, contrary to the divine 
 precept in Deuteronomy xviii. 
 
 5. They taught that the Church was an abomination in 
 the eye of heaven, because its clergy were permitted to 
 receive prebends, or portions, or stipends, or pensions from 
 foundations of real estate, attached to churches, contrary 
 to the above and other laws. 
 
 6. They complained of the un-Christian conduct of the 
 Church in allowing persons who were guilty of the crime 
 of possessing land, as property of their own, and not as 
 that of the community, to receive the sacraments. 
 
 7. They taught that the Church had grossly erred from 
 the true religion of Jesus Christ, by having churches endowed
 
 THE WALDENSES. 329 
 
 with property, thereby straying from holy poverty and 
 deluding the unfortunate persons who were guilty of the 
 crime of such endowments. 
 
 8. They believed that it was an attribute of Antichrist 
 to leave a legacy to a church, and therefore that it was 
 criminal to bequeath and criminal to receive such legacy. 
 
 9. They did not consider that any pastor of souls was 
 qualified for his place except he supported himself by the 
 labors of his hands, as the Apostles did, and they considered 
 the Church which supported the clergy from any other funds 
 to be the scarlet lady. 
 
 10. They taught, that there should be no distinction of 
 offices in the Church, as it only favored vanity instead of 
 promoting religion. 
 
 11. Notwithstanding the 14th Article, they professed to 
 believe that all princes and judges were in a state of 
 damnation. 
 
 12. They condemned as vanities of the devil all the 
 academies or privileged schools or literary distinctions. 
 
 I could swell the catalogue, but I have gone sufficiently 
 far to show that the AValdenses would, if to-day they could 
 reappear amongst us, condemn the disciples of Luther and 
 of Calvin equally -as they would the Roman Catholic Church 
 for several of those damnable and Antichristian errors ; 
 against which they inveighed in their day, as loudly as 
 those do who, without holding their principles, claim them 
 as their predecessors, and who undertake to condemn us 
 also to-day. 
 
 I have given the above abstract of some omissions to 
 the alleged copy of the confession of the AValdenses proper. 
 
 But were I to follow up the peculiarities of the sects 
 into which this offset from the Church divided in a few 
 years after its separation from the Catholic body, I could 
 indeed fill many sheets. 
 
 The AValdenses proper were frequently designated Leon- 
 ists, from the city of Lyons, where they had their origin, as 
 they were also called Poor Men of Lyons, from their profes-
 
 330 THE WALDENSES. 
 
 .sion of evangelical poverty and declaiming against riches 
 and the possession of private property. They had various 
 other names from the places of their abode and remarkable 
 leaders ; Good Men, from their sanctimonious appearance 
 and contempt for luxury and wealth. 
 
 They branched chiefly into the following sects : 
 
 1. Sciscidents, who contended for the necessity of receiv- 
 ing the Eucharist, and approached nearer to the Catholic 
 doctrine respecting the nature of this sacrament. 
 
 2. Ortlibens, who professed the doctrines correctly, but 
 gave mystic interpretations by which they evaded their true 
 sense. They, amongst other curious notions, believed that 
 there was no Trinity previous to the incarnation, and that 
 Jesus was the son of Joseph; that marriage was good, but 
 its use was criminal. They looked for the judgment and 
 the millennium upon the conversion of the Pope and the 
 emperor. 
 
 3. The Ordibarists, besides some of the above notions, 
 believed that the Trinity was to be found in the members 
 of their society. 
 
 4. The Cathari, or Puritans, who, amongst a variety of 
 other peculiar errors, considered this world to have been 
 created by the devil, looked upon marriage to be criminal, 
 as also the eating of meet, of eggs, or of cheese, under 
 any circumstances. This division soon became subdivided 
 into Albanians and Bagnolensians, whose errors I do not 
 notice. 
 
 5. The Paterinians, who admitted Lucifer only as a sub- 
 creator, and had strange notions of marriage. 
 
 6. The Passagenians, who, amongst other peculiarities, 
 considered the ritual portion of the Jewish law obligatory 
 upon Christians. 
 
 I could enumerate at least a dozen more, down to the 
 Lollards; but I have far exceeded the limits I proposed 
 to observe in this article. 
 
 The Bohemian remnant of this sect presented its confes- 
 sion of faith to Ferdinand, King of the Romans and of
 
 THE WALDENSES. 331 
 
 hernia, in 1538, but it is very greatly altered from 
 
 at produced by the writer under review, in many very 
 capital points, especially where in its thirteenth article it 
 treats of the nature of the Eucharist. Luther praises it, 
 because it expresses the doctrines of the real presence, as 
 does also the formulary which they sent to Hungary to 
 King Ladislaus. Melanchthon and Bucer eulogize it also. 
 Calvin, however, was by no means content with their decla- 
 rations, and even in 1560 his answer to two of their 
 messengers was, that their confession of faith, as it stood, 
 could not be received or subscribed with safety. 
 
 This effort respecting the Waldenses is always full of 
 trouble and perplexity to those who have essayed to obtain 
 a semblance of antiquity by claiming these Poor Men of 
 Lyons for their predecessors in the faith. This mode of 
 stopping even at 1120 is unsatisfactory and useless. The 
 best and wisest course is to go up to the days of the 
 Apostles at once. Moore, in his " Travels of an Irish 
 Gentleman in Search of a Religion," furnishes the entire 
 evidence in chapter xxvii, and shows that Simon Magus 
 held some of those tenets which, after having been occa- 
 sionally forgotten and revived, are contained in that con- 
 fession of faith which the Waldenses published about eleven 
 centuries later. A few more of the articles are shown by 
 the same author in chapter xxii and xxiii to have been 
 known at even an earlier period, for some were professed 
 at Capharnaum in the Saviour's presence, in this simple 
 phrase : " How can this man give us his flesh to eat ? 
 This saying is hard, and who can bear it?" 
 
 Should any of them ask this writer, " Where was your 
 religion before Luther ? " I have no doubt but by the aid 
 of a little industry he could triumphantly answer, that it 
 existed in scattered portions through various ages, from the 
 days of the Apostles. As for my part, he may calculate 
 upon my poor assistance, should he need it.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 
 
 DENMARK. 
 
 THIS country is a portion of that large tract formerly 
 known by the name of Scandinavia, and was, about the 
 close of the seventh century, given its modern appellation. 1 
 
 Hume, who is certainly one of the worst authorities we 
 know, where religion is even incidentally concerned, states 
 that "the Emperor Charlemagne, though naturally generous 
 and humane, had been induced by bigotry to exercise great 
 severities upon the pagan Saxons in Germany, whom he 
 had subdued ; and, besides often ravaging their country 
 with fire and sword, he had, in cold blood, decimated all 
 the inhabitants for their revolts, and had obliged them, by 
 the most rigorous edicts, to make a seeming compliance with 
 the Christian doctrines." 
 
 My object, at present, is not to examine critically How 
 many falsehoods are contained in the paragraph which I 
 have quoted, but I distinctly assert that it was neither 
 religion nor bigotry that caused this monarch to inflict 
 severites upon the pagan Saxons, but their frequent rebel- 
 lions, or, as Hume calls it, "revolts," and the perpetual 
 guilt of persecution and plunder of Christians in their 
 vicinity, who were his subjects, and whom he was bound 
 by every law, human and divine, to protect. Mr. Hume 
 frequently lays before his readers facts without stating their 
 true cause, and many of his readers take the causes upon 
 his authority as they find the facts generally admitted and 
 incontrovertible. Thus he is guilty of deceit, not exactly by 
 forging facts, but by misstating their causes and their 
 consequences. 
 
 > See Horn's "Scandinavian Literature." This work was published in Chicago, 1884. 
 
 (332)
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-DENMARK. 333 
 
 I have read the edicts of Charlemagne, and must say, 
 that I cannot discover one which obliges the pagan Saxons 
 to a seeming or a real compliance with the Christian doc- 
 trine ; and I am under the impression that such edicts, 
 rigorous or otherwise, cannot be in existence, because we 
 do find others in existence with which they would be 
 incompatible. The fact is, many other critics whose sagacity 
 was equal to Hume's, whose information was at least 
 equally accurate, and who, though they differed in religion 
 as much from Charlemagne as did Mr. Hume, had much 
 less virulent bigotry than he had. Bigotry is not confined 
 to one side of a question. Those men give the true cause 
 for the severity, perhaps cruelty, of the monarch : " He 
 could place no dependence upon their promises nor their 
 oaths ; and the moment his forces were withdrawn, after 
 the conclusion of a treaty to observe which they had sworn, 
 they were again in arms." How would General Jackson 
 treat such uersons ? The cases are parallel. Is Jackson a 
 bigot ? * 
 
 Those Saxons retired into Jutland and the isles at the 
 mouth of the Baltic, and, to use the words of Hume, 
 " meeting there with a people of similar manners, they 
 were readily received amongst them ; and they soon stim- 
 ulated the natives to concur in enterprises which both 
 promised revenge upon the haughty conqueror" who 
 informed Hume that Charlemagne was haughty? "and 
 afforded subsistence to those numerous inhabitants with 
 which the northern countries were now overburdened." 
 
 This was the origin of the Danish invasions. Their 
 first descent upon England was in the year 787. In 794, 
 they made another incursion upon Northumberland. Poor, 
 innocent, harmless beings ! "Would it not be the excess of 
 bigotry to punish them because they were pagans, particu- 
 larly as the executioners of vengeance must necessarily be 
 Roman Catholics? In 832, they began more formidable 
 
 i An allusion to President Jackson's treatment of the American aborigines. The 
 words are quoted from one of his despatches .
 
 334 HISTORICAL SKETCHES DENMARK. 
 
 and systematic invasions ; and, by Mr. Hume's reasoning, 
 to oppose their burning the country, their rapine, their 
 abuse of women, their enslaving or massacre of men, particu- 
 larly of nuns or monks, would be unpardonable bigotry. 
 Yet Hume calls them pirates ! 
 
 It was no easy matter to convert this people ; but witn 
 God's assistance, their conversion was effected not by 
 rigorous edicts, but by mild and apostolic preaching. 
 
 In the year 822, St. Adelard, Abbot of Old Corbie, and 
 cousin-german of Charlemagne, founded the abbey of New 
 Corbie, otherwise Corwey, upon the Weser, about nine 
 miles from the city of Paderborn, and established very 
 regular discipline therein. Amongst the monks who came 
 hither from Old Corbie in France was one named Anscha- 
 rius, called by the Germans Sharies, and by the French 
 Ansgar. He was sent with a number of missionaries into 
 Jutland and other parts of Scandinavia, and their preaching 
 was eminently successful. They were favored by Harald, 
 a prince of Denmark, who had been baptized in the court 
 of Louis Debonnaire. In 832, Anscharius was made Arch- 
 bishop of Hamburg and Legate Apostolic by Pope Gregory 
 IV. In 845, the Normans and Danes, in an irruption, 
 burned the city of Hamburg, and in 849, the See of 
 Bremen becoming vacant, the Pope united that of Hamburg 
 thereto, and made St. Anscharius archbishop of the two. 
 The more northern regions having relapsed into idolatry, 
 the saint made new efforts for their conversion, which were 
 more permanently successful. He was greatly aided by the 
 exertions of Ebbo, Archbishop of Rheims. The first bishop 
 of Bremen was St. Wilchad, an Englishman, a native of 
 Northumberland, who was the first Christian missionary that 
 passed the Elbe. He died in 789 or 790. 
 
 St. Rembert, a native of Flanders, in the vicinity of 
 Bruges, succeeded St. Anscharius in the See of Bremen, 
 in the year 865. He made great progress in spreading 
 the faith in Denmark, and likewise began the conversion 
 of the Sclavi or Vandals and of the Brandenburghers. He 
 died on the llth of June, 888.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-DENMARK. 335- 
 
 King Eric I was baptized in 826. One of his successors, 
 Swein or Sweno II apostatized, but his successor Knut or 
 Canute II, surnamcd the Great, who also succeeded Edmond 
 Ironside on the throne of England in 1017, became a 
 Catholic. In his reign many of his followers embraced 
 Christianity in England, and many of the English eccle- 
 siastics labored upon the Danish mission. Amongst these 
 latter was St. William, who had been chaplain to Canute, 
 and was afterwards Bishop of Roschild, in the isle of 
 Zealand. Upon the death of Canute, he was succeeded in 
 his Danish dominions by his son Swein, whom the bishop 
 had more than once to reprove for his choler and injustice, 
 but who, entering into himself, was subsequently not only 
 religious, but greatly useful in the propagation of the faith. 
 St. AVilliam and he both died and were buried in Eoschild, 
 in the year 1067. 
 
 About two centuries later, St. Hyacinth, a member of the 
 illustrious house of the counts of Oldrovens, one of the 
 most noble in Silesia, son of Count Konski, and born in 
 the castle of Saxony, in 1185, and who was also one of 
 the first members of the Dominican Order, having received 
 the habit from St. Dominic himself in Rome, in the month 
 of March, 1218, was a zealous apostle of this nation. The 
 faith flourished therein, from its first planting and increase, 
 as has been mentioned, until the anarchy and divisions of 
 the sixteenth century. 
 
 In the year 1518, Christian II was King of Denmark; 
 he was a tyrannical, ambitious, unprincipled monarch, and 
 particularly aimed at getting possession of the crown of 
 Sweden. Stenon, the Swedish king, suspected the Arch- 
 bishop of Upsal and other prelates of his dominions of 
 being favorable to the views of Christian, who in the next 
 year invaded Sweden and got possession of the throne. His 
 cruelties were excessive. This man added hypocrisy and 
 sacrilege to his murders and usurpations. Driven from 
 Stockholm, the Danish king no longer concealed his senti- 
 ments, but made open profession of his attachment to the
 
 336 HISTORICAL SKETCHES DENMARK. 
 
 Lutheran cause. He was rejected by Denmark, his uncle 
 Frederic, the Duke of Holstein, having been raised to the 
 throne. Christian took refuge in Holland, whence he 
 returned with an army to regain the throne, in 1531 ; but 
 being defeated and taken, he was cast into prison, where he 
 died in the year 1559. Stenon having died in 1520, of a 
 wound received in battle, Gustavus, the son of Eric Vasa, 
 was chosen king of Sweden. 
 
 In Denmark, the new monarch, Frederic, introduced 
 Lutheranism, and proscribed and persecuted the Catholics. 
 He died in 1535, and was succeeded by his son, Chris- 
 tian III, a good and moderate king, with the exception of 
 his following the example of his father in the attempts to 
 eradicate the Catholic religion by violence. Having founded 
 a college at Copenhagen, and greatly encouraged learning, 
 he died in 1559, and was succeeded by Frederic II. Very 
 few of the inhabitants preserved their faith, and the number 
 of clergymen were almost brought to nothing; the stragglers 
 who lay hid in the country could seldom be discovered. 
 
 Somewhat more than a century later, an eminent Danish 
 gentleman named Nicholas Stenon, who was born in Copen- 
 hagen in the year 1638, was famous in Italy for his 
 knowledge, particularly in medicine and anatomy. He resided 
 at the court of the Grand Duke of Tuscany in the year 
 1670. His parents had been Lutherans, and he was himself 
 educated in that sect, and imbibed the strongest prejudices 
 against Catholics ; but finding by his intercourse with them 
 and his closer reading and observation, that his notions of 
 their belief and practice were altogether erroneous, his pre- 
 judices yielded to his judgment, and he some time after- 
 wards became a Roman Catholic. Christian V, successor 
 of Frederic III, was then King of Denmark, and being 
 zealous for the improvement of the college of Copenhagen, 
 lie insisted upon the return thither of Mr. Stenon, to fill 
 the chair of anatomy, promising that he should be undis- 
 turbed on the score of religion. Mr. Stenon went thither, 
 but soon found that public prejudice was more powerful
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES SWEDEN. 337 
 
 than the protection of a monarch. He returned into Italy, 
 and, in the year 1677, he was consecrated Bishop of Titi- 
 opolis, in partibus, and appointed by Innocent XI Vicar 
 Apostolic of the northwest of Europe. His principal resi- 
 dence was at Hamburg. He died at Schwerin, in Mecklen- 
 burg, on the 24th of November, 1686, after having effected 
 much good. He paid as much attention as his means 
 would admit or their wants acquired to the few Catholics 
 that were still found in his native country, and it is only 
 in the same way they have been as yet looked after, 
 though their numbers are now greatly increased and the 
 profession of their religion is in a large degree sanctioned. 
 The total population of Denmark is stated at present at 
 1,565,000 of whom the Catholics are upwards of 60,000, 
 perhaps 65,000. But as the religion is now and has been 
 of late making considerable progress, the number at present 
 is much greater than formerly. 
 
 SWEDEN. 
 
 Tins large tract of country was but little known, and 
 we believe thinly inhabited, at the commencement of the 
 Christian era. All to the north of Germany was, we may 
 say, undiscovered, certainly unexplored. It was not until 
 the arms of Charlemagne had struck terror into the northern 
 barbarians, that it was safe to go amongst them. 
 
 In my account of Denmark, I mentioned the elevation of 
 St. Anscharius to the See of Bremen and to legatine authority. 
 About the year 830 the King of Sweden sent to Louis 
 Debonnaire for missionaries to preach Christianity amongst 
 his subjects. St. Anscharius, then a monk at New Corbie, 
 and Vitmar, another of the same house, were selected for that 
 purpose, and had books and ornaments to present from the 
 emperor to the king. Anscharius had been previously in 
 Denmark, where he had planted the faith. On their voy- 
 age they were plundered by pirates, and arrived quite 
 22
 
 338 HISTORICAL SKETCHES SWEDEN. 
 
 destitute at Biorc, then the capital of Sweden, and the 
 principal harbor and royal residence. Upsal was, at that- 
 time, a considerable city; but its site was much nearer 
 to where Stockholm now is than to where the present city 
 of Upsal is built. Biorc is described as being situated 
 upon an island two days' sail from Upsal ; and we sup- 
 pose it must be that island which is now called "Waxholm,, 
 at the mouth .of Lake Melar. Being received kindly by 
 the king, they preached with great success, and found a 
 considerable number of Christian slaves, who were delighted 
 at the opportunity of receiving the sacraments, of which 
 they had long been deprived. Herigar', governor of the 
 capital, an intimate friend of the monarch, was converted 
 at an early period, and greatly aided their exertions. 
 
 Anscharius, when raised to the See of Bremen, about the 
 year 850, sent missionaries to revive the spirit which had r 
 during some years, slumbered in Sweden ; and then, by 
 his own presence, roused it to energy and activity. The 
 good work was continued by his successor, St. Rembert. 
 
 Again, in or about the year 925, Hunni, Archbishop of 
 Bremen, arriving at Birca, which we suppose to be the 
 same as Biorc, found but one priest remaining in Sweden; 
 during the short and bloody reigns of the monarchs in the 
 preceding sixty years, religion had been nearly forgotten. 
 He died during his apostolic labors in that country, and 
 was succeeded in the archbishopric of Bremen by St- 
 Adaldagus, who filled that see during fifty-four years, and 
 greatly promoted the conversion of the Swedes, and estab- 
 lished some sees amongst them. Odincar, the elder, a 
 religious Dane, and his nephew, of the same name, Bishop 
 of Ripa, in Jutland, and one of the royal race of Denmark, 
 who was consecrated by Libentius, Archbishop of Bremen, 
 about the year 1000, labored much also in the conversion of 
 Sweden. 
 
 Nearly sixty years before the arrival of Bishop Odincar, 
 King Olas Scobcong had requested the British King Edred 
 to procure some missionaries for Sweden. Sigefride, an
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-SWEDEN. 339 
 
 eminent priest of York, in England, undertook the task ; 
 and on the 21st of June, 950, he arrived at Wexio, in 
 the territory of Smaland, in Gothland. Twelve of the prin- 
 cipal inhabitants of this district were his first converts. St. 
 Sigefride had received episcopal consecration before his arrival 
 in Sweden and ample missionary powers, by virtue of which 
 he was enabled to erect new sees and to fill them. He 
 erected the Sees of Lingkopping in West Gothland and Skara 
 in East Gothland. He then appointed his nephew Uduman 
 to take charge of his See of Wexio, and went farther north. 
 He baptized King Olas and his household and his army, 
 established the See of Strengues, and restored that of Upsal, 
 which had been founded by St. Anscharius. During his 
 absence from Wexio, the idolaters plundered the ehurch, and 
 murdered Uduman and his two brothers, Sunaman a deacon, 
 and Wiamar a sub-deacon. St. Sigefride having returned to 
 Wexio, prevailed on the king to spare the lives of the 
 murderers, and refused to accept a fine which was levied 
 upon them ; and having re-established his church he died, 
 and was buried in his cathedral in the year 1002. 
 
 The faith was propagated in another part of Sweden, soon 
 after, by St. Eskill, an Englishman, who was consecrated 
 Bishop of Xordhans Kogh, and martyred by the pagans at 
 Strengis. Adelbert, Archbishop of Bremen, and Sweyn II, 
 King of Denmark, did much in this century to extend the 
 reign of truth in Sweden. 
 
 In the year 1148, St. Henry, an Englishman, who 
 had labored strenuously on the Swedish and other northern 
 missions, together with his countryman, Cardinal Nicholas 
 Breakspear, apostolic legate, and afterwards Pope Adrian 
 IV, did much to confirm and to establish the faith. 
 
 Upsal was raised to the dignity of an archbishopric 
 during the incumbency of Stephen, its sixth bishop and 
 first archbishop; and in 1160, Pope Alexander III created 
 the archbishop of that see metropolitan and primate of the 
 Swedish Church. We may, at this period, consider Sweden 
 as fully converted.
 
 340 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-SWEDEN. 
 
 In the year 1517 the persons commissioned by the Pope 
 to preach up indulgences for the contribution towards build- 
 ing the Church of St. Peter's in Koine were guilty of 
 great excesses and extortions in Sweden. Angus Arcem- 
 boldi, Legate of the North, was the chief commissioner there, 
 and had the sanction of Stenon, administrator, claiming to 
 be King of Sweden. In an interview with that ruler, the 
 legate attempted to reconcile him to Gustavus Troil, Arch- 
 bishop of Upsal; but Stenon gave him sufficient reasons 
 to justify his distrust in Gustavus, and showed the proba- 
 bility of the prelate's holding an improper correspondence 
 with Christian II of Denmark, well known by the appella- 
 tion of the Nero of the North, and who wished to con- 
 firm his authority in Sweden. The Danish king having 
 manifested his hostility, Stenon had the Primate of Upsal 
 tried by the senate, and being convicted, he was deprived 
 of his revenues and confined in a monastery. The prelate 
 had privately made an appeal to Rome, in which he stated 
 his case to be one of great hardship. Arccmboldi was 
 instructed to demand his release and restitution. Stenon 
 and the senate refused; upon which Leo X placed Sweden 
 under an interdict, and excommunicated Stenon and the 
 senate. The Archbishop of Lunden, in Holstein, and the 
 Bishop of OJcnsea were charged with the execution ; and 
 Christian of Denmark, who hypocritically appeared to be 
 still a Catholic, though in truth a Lutheran, was requested 
 to aid them. Stenon now seized upon the money which 
 had been collected for Arcemboldi, and a new excommu- 
 nication followed ; and Christian, who longed for the oppor- 
 tunity, entered Sweden at the head of his army. Stenon 
 died lighting at the head of his troops. Christian got pos- 
 session of the capital. The archbishop was released and 
 reinstated in his revenues. The bloody Christian treacher- 
 ously seized upon and put to death in one day, at an 
 entertainment where all appeared to be peace and amity, 
 the principal lords of Sweden. He then, at the instigation 
 of the Primate of Upsal, required the two prelate commis-
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-SWEDEN. 341 
 
 sioncrs to investigate the proceedings under which the pri- 
 mate had been originally punished; but, as their proceedings 
 were too slow, he of his own authority condemned and 
 executed ninety-six senators who survived, and amongst whom 
 . were the Bishops of Stremgncn and Skara. The prior of St. 
 John of Jerusalem, who had manifested most patriotism, 
 was fastened to a St. Andrew's Cross, embowelled, and his 
 heart torn out. The bodies were then ranged in a line, 
 and all the heads raised on spears; after which the soldiers 
 were let loose upon the populace. Next day an amnesty 
 was published, but violated as soon as the people made 
 their appearance. Christian then invited to a conference six 
 bishops who had refused to assist at his Swedish corona- 
 tion ; and they, imagining that peace was at length to be 
 given, met him they were seized upon and burned. This 
 caused so general an insurrection that the tyrant fled. Hav- 
 ing left Sweden, he made open profession of Lutheranism. 
 
 Olaus Petri had already introduced the novel doctrines 
 amongst the Swedes. Gustavus, the Son of Eric Vasa, 
 Duke of Gripsholm, had, after a variety of difficulties and 
 extraordinary escapes, found, amongst the hardy miners of 
 Dalecarlia, a patriotic spirit. He began the liberation of 
 his country with his little band ; his standard soon floated 
 victorious and overshadowed multiplied thousands. Gustavus 
 Ericson, or Vasa, was chosen king. He wanted money: 
 Olaus informed him that, according to the Lutheran prin- 
 ciples, it was lawful to take away what was possessed by 
 the monasteries, and to reduce the income of the parish 
 churches. Gustavus, who had, during his captivity in Den- 
 mark, been predisposed to this new system, began to pave 
 the way for carrying it into execution, but met considerable 
 opposition from the fe\v bishops that still remained in 
 Sweden ; thenceforward, Gustavus encouraged the Lutheran 
 preachers. 
 
 Pope Adrian YI sent, as his legate to Gustavus, John 
 Magni, an eminent and highly informed Swedish ecclesiastic. 
 The king received him kindly, and prevailed upon him to
 
 342 HISTORICAL SKETCHES SWEDEN. 
 
 accept the primacy which was now vacant, by the degra- 
 dation and banishment of the late unprincipled incumbent. 
 The new primate soon perceived the true object at which 
 the king aimed, for it had been proposed to him to con- 
 voke a synod and to establish the Lutheran doctrine. The 
 primate was not a man to betray his charge, but he saw 
 he could not avert the storm ; he, therefore, returned to 
 Rome. 
 
 In the year 1527 the king assembled the senate at 
 Upsal, and subsequently at Arosen ; at which meeting he 
 declared, that unless they abolished the religion and the 
 supremacy of the Roman See, he would abdicate : and that 
 the revenues of the State demanded the confiscation of the 
 Churchlands and property. Though a considerable portion 
 of the legislature was composed of Roman Catholics, they 
 were awed into acquiescence to his demands. He left what 
 he called liberty of conscience. The spirit of Dalecarlia 
 was still unbroken ; and this brave people, being all Roman 
 Catholics, they took up arms to oppose the invasion of 
 their rights of conscience and the plunder of the property 
 consecrated to the support of their pastors, by him whom 
 they had borne on their shoulders to victory and to a 
 throne. Gustavus, after having subdued them, treated the 
 Dalecarlians in the most severe and cruel manner, because 
 they did not choose to change their religion. 
 
 In 1542 the king procured from the general assembly 
 the nomination of his son Eric as his successor, and the 
 regulation that the crown should be hereditary; he also 
 caused them to swear to the maintenance of Lutheranism, 
 without tolerating any other religion. He had previously 
 ran through the provinces at the head of a large body 
 of cavalry, extirpating Catholicity. 
 
 The . Lutheranism which he established has, in its exter- 
 nal appearance and discipline, more affinity to the Catholic 
 religion than any other sort of the new system. There are 
 archbishops, bishops, priests, and deacons ; their liturgy very 
 much resembles that of Rome, and they have confession
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-SWEDEN. 343 
 
 and absolution and penance, but the confession is not 
 always private. 
 
 Eric XIV succeeded, upon the death of his father, Gus- 
 tavus, in 1560, but his conduct was that of a madman. 
 He was deposed in 1568 for a variety of cruelties, and 
 his attempt at raising Catherine, one of his concubines, who 
 had been a fruit-girl in Stockholm, to the dignity of queen. 
 
 His brother, John III, was chosen to succeed him. He 
 was married to Catherine, of the Jaggelon family, daughter 
 to Sigismund, King of Poland. This queen was a Roman 
 Catholic, and her husband having made a profession of 
 that faith, in presence of Father Posse vin, a Jesuit, was 
 desirous of having his dominions reconciled to the Holy 
 See. For this purpose he sent Pontus de la Gardie to 
 Home with proposals of reunion; but the Swedish nobility 
 gave their decided opposition to the measure, though many 
 of the clergy had manifested their anxiety to co-operate 
 with the king. The project was unsuccessful, but a num- 
 ber of priests gained admittance into Sweden, and were 
 able to console and to administer to the scattered members 
 of the Church who were in the country. The queen died, 
 leaving only one son, Sigismund, who adhered to the 
 religion of his parents, and obtained the crown of Poland; 
 though he lost that of Sweden, on account of his religion, 
 through the intrigues of his uncle, Charles IV, son of 
 Gustavus, who procured the deposition of Sigismund, and 
 his own appointment, under the title of Charles IX. He 
 is mentioned in high terms of commendation by some of 
 the early Protestant writers, for having, through religious 
 zeal, supplanted his nephew and usurped his throne. 
 
 Christina succeeded her father, the renowned Gustavus 
 Adolphus, the head of the Protestant League, upon his death 
 in 1654, in the twenty-eighth year of her age. This extra- 
 ordinary woman resigned her throne, and abjured the religion 
 she had previously professed, embracing the doctrines of the 
 Catholic Church. Hitherto, the renowned and learned 
 daughter of the great Gustavus had been the object of
 
 344 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-SWEDEN. 
 
 admiration and of eulogy, the pride of the north. But now, 
 the most scrutinizing criticism, pried into all her conduct, 
 and doubts as to whether she were really a great woman 
 began to be entertained; and it was stated, aye, seriously 
 stated, that it was not because she believed in the truth 
 of those doctrines, to profess which she renounced a throne, 
 that she changed her religion, but because " the austere 
 manners and narrow acquisitions of the Swedish clergy 
 were not likely to have attached her to their opinions ; and 
 they certainly were little able to vie in her estimation with 
 the splendid and courtly dignitaries of the Romish Church." 
 But the historiographer, from whom we have made the 
 quotation, has, in his zeal against the Romish religion, 
 overlooked the fact, that the queen of Sweden, at the time 
 of her conversion, had not an opportunity of seeing and 
 conversing with those splendid and courtly dignitaries whom 
 she subsequently met in the polished and literary circles 
 of the South ; for in Sweden there were then but a few 
 obscure and indigent Catholic clergymen, who had renounced 
 the pomp of the world and exposed themselves to affliction, 
 that they might comfort a persecuted flock. It is true, the 
 attainments of the Swedish Lutheran clergy were never 
 great. 
 
 Christina traveled into France, Italy, and Germany, 
 spending much of her time in Rome. Upon the death of 
 Charles Gustavus X, the cousin of Christina, to whom she 
 had resigned the throne, her finances being embarrassed, she 
 in 1660 went into Sweden to obtain payments, but was very 
 badly received by her former subjects. They refused her 
 incomes, pulled down her chapel, and some Italian clergymen 
 who accompanied her were insulted and exposed to imminent 
 danger. The States required a repetition of her act of 
 renunciation, before they would suffer her to receive her 
 revenue; and she then bade a final adieu to her country, 
 and died in Rome in 1689. 
 
 Charles XI, who succeeded his father, Charles X, was one 
 of the most stern, arbitrary, and despotic monarchs. He
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-NORWAY. 345 
 
 published an edict forbidding the exercise of any religion 
 but that of Luther, in Sweden, about the year 1690. This 
 caused great dissatisfaction, for at that period numbers of 
 other sectaries were in several parts of his kingdom who 
 disliked the Lutheran mode nearly as much as they did 
 the Catholic religion. 
 
 The events of the last century in this country have 
 nothing to do with the religious view which it is my 
 object to give. In the year 1810 the then reigning mon- 
 arch was forced to a resignation, and Bernadotte, who rose 
 from the lowest ranks of the army to be a general officer 
 and marshal in the revolutionary service of France, upon 
 obtaining the throne changed his name and religion. He 
 was crowned by the name of Charles John, and having 
 abjured the Roman Catholic faith, he professed Lutheranism. 
 
 The present Swedish dominions contain nearly three mil- 
 lions of inhabitants, of which the principal portion are 
 Lutherans. From the documents we have seen, we believe 
 they may be estimated as follows : 
 
 Lutherans 2,250,000 
 
 Other Protestants 450,000 
 
 Eoman Catholics 80,000 
 
 2,780,000 
 Add to these the inhabitants of Lapland, who are mostly 
 
 Pagans, estimated at 60,000 
 
 Total population '. 2,840,000 
 
 NORWAY. 
 
 NORWAY was part of Scandinavia. About seventy years 
 before the Christian era, Odin or "VVodan, a Scythian chieftain 
 from the borders of the Palus Moeotis, came into Scandinavia 
 and subdued the aborigines. His wife was Frigga or Freia, 
 and the most valiant of his sons was Thor. Subsequently 
 they were considered as the three principal deities of the
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES NORWAY. 
 
 North ; and as the Orkneys, the Shetland and Faroe Islands, 
 together with Iceland and part of Scotland, came under their 
 dominion, their mythology diffused . itself through those 
 regions. The Danes, who had possession of England, had, 
 before their conversion to Christianity, the same doctrines 
 .and deities as the Norwegians. The Romans had introduced 
 their mythology too into Britain, and the Saxons had a 
 blending of the observances of the North and South, before 
 their conversion. 
 
 The days of the week derived their appellations from 
 the deities. Sunday was sacred to Apollo or the sun, 
 Monday to Diana or the moon, Tuesday to Mars, amongst 
 the Romans, but the Northerns took the liberty of changing 
 the name to suit the appellation of that of their own 
 favorite, Tsycne, one of the sons of "Wodan ; Mercury was 
 dispossessed of his day, in order to leave room for Odin 
 or Wodan, who thus got Wednesday; Jove was obliged to 
 give up his day to the superior claims of Thor ; and as 
 the next day was sacred to Venus, this Grecian lady was 
 forced to yield to the superior claims of Freia, the beauty 
 of the North; but Saturn was permitted to retain quiet 
 possession of his own day. 
 
 I have been led to this little digression from noticing 
 the state of Norwegian mythology in the early days of 
 Christianity. From what I have said, my readers must see 
 that the faith was considerably spread in the kingdoms of 
 Denmark and Sweden, in the ninth century. Persecution in 
 one place has usually been the cause of its establishment 
 in other places, especially in the first ages. Such was the 
 case in Scandinavia. 
 
 About the year 915, Gourm, King of Denmark, was 
 violent and inexorable in the persecution of the Christians 
 in his dominions ; his object was to extirpate the professors 
 of the religion of our Lord. There were many martyrs, but 
 many also fled, and carried with them the doctrines of 
 salvation. Some of the fugitives going into Norway, first 
 brought the light of faith into those darkened regions, and
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES NORWAY. 347 
 
 warmed the hearts of a benumbed people into gratitude to 
 heaven. 
 
 The missionaries sent by St. Adaldagus in this age also 
 aided in the great work, in that part of Norway which 
 borders upon Sweden, where they were more occupied. 
 
 Harald, King of Denmark, procured many missionaries 
 for the North, a few of whom penetrated into Norway. 
 After the martyrdom, his sovereign, who had raised the 
 infidels in rebellion, was subdued by Eric in Sweden: and 
 one of the consequences of an application to Eric by Poppo, 
 Bishop of Sleswick, was the facility and encouragement 
 afforded for following up the northern missions. 
 
 The state of Norway had been hitherto unsettled ; but 
 about the year 1020 the independence and integrity of the 
 kingdom were established. Olaus or Olave, son of Harald 
 Granscius, Prince of Westfold, in Norway, by his wife 
 Asta, daughter of Gulbrand Kuta, the Governor of Gul- 
 brand's Dale or Valley, sailed for England in the year 
 1013. Norway was then, and had been for some time, 
 annoyed and partitioned by Sweno, King of Denmark, Olave 
 Scot Konung, son of Eric, King of Sweden, and Eric, son 
 of Hacon, Earl of Norway. At the time of leaving his 
 country, Olave was a Christian, and formed the design of 
 having Norway freed from the oppression of foreigners and 
 the darkness of paganism. He assisted King Ethelred 
 against the Danes, after the death of Sweno, and thus 
 emancipated his countrymen from their oppression. He next 
 waged war against Olaus Scot Konung, who had succeeded 
 his father upon the throne of Sweden ; and having obtained 
 exemption of the Norwegian territory from the future 
 aggressions and incursions of Sweden, he married the 
 daughter of the Swedish monarch, who was also a Chris- 
 tian, and by a domestic regulation with the earl, he became 
 monarch of Norway. 
 
 Previous to his leaving England he procured a number 
 of zealous missionaries, whom he brought with him one 
 of them, Grimkele, was consecrated Bishop of Drontheim.
 
 348 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-NORWAY. 
 
 The laws of Norway were revised and amended, and civ- 
 ilization began to spread itself, together with Christianity, 
 and both were also communicated to Iceland and the islands. 
 
 Olave is honored as a saint in the Church ; his acts 
 were those of a wise potentate and a man of pure religion. 
 He used his utmost exertions to extirpate idolatry, but 
 this so exasperated the adherents to paganism that they 
 took up arms, and, being assisted by Canute of Denmark, 
 they overcame him. Olaus took refuge with his father-in- 
 law, who aided him with troops to recover his throne, but 
 he was slain at Stickstadt, north of Drontheim, on the 29th 
 of July, 1028. 
 
 After some commotions, Hackin, whom Canute made Vice- 
 roy of Norway, being drowned, and Sweno, the son of 
 Canute, and viceroy after his cousin Hackin, having fled 
 from Norway, Harald, \ the brother of St. Olaus, persecuted 
 the Christians and encouraged the pagans. Many suffered 
 martyrdom under him ; Adelbert, Archbishop of Bremen, 
 finally prevailed on him to desist. But in 1035 Magnus, 
 the son of Olave, being of age, was called out of Russia, 
 where he had taken refuge, and placed upon the Norwegian 
 throne. He rebuilt the Cathedral ef Drontheim in such a 
 style of magnificence as to be considered the pride of the 
 North ; it was dedicated under the invocation of his father, 
 whose shrine was richly ornamented. This prince did much 
 for the propagation of the faith. 
 
 Nicholas Breakspear, who was afterwards Pope Adrian 
 IV, was, together with some others of his countrymen, 
 employed upon the northern missions, particularly in Nor- 
 way, of which he is often called the apostle, about the 
 year 1140. Pope Eugenius III, in approbation of his zeal 
 and success, created him Cardinal and Bishop of Alba; 
 and in the next century St. Hyacinth, one of the first 
 Dominican friars, preached in that country with great fruit, 
 about a century after it had been the theatre of Cardinal 
 Breakspear's exertions. 
 
 I am not aware of any particular facts that accompanied 
 the change of religion in Norway, in the sixteenth century,
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES RUSSIA. 349 
 
 which would require special notice in such a summary as 
 I give. Placed between Sweden, Denmark, and Scotland, 
 where what was called " reformation " was carried on in a 
 style of masterly severity, persecuting all who would not 
 conform to the new tenets, and sometimes bowed under the 
 yoke of Denmark, sometimes under that of Sweden, the 
 Church of Norway was destroyed towards the middle of 
 that century, and Lutheranism was upheld and protected. 
 Some Catholics still were to be found in Norway, and some 
 other descriptions of Protestants, but Lutheranism was and 
 is the dominant sect. 
 
 ESTIMATE. 
 
 Lutherans 700,000 
 
 Other Protestants 200,000 
 
 Roman Catholics 30,000 
 
 Pagans 30,000 
 
 960,000 
 
 Iceland was converted to the Catholic faith, principally 
 in the thirteenth century, and the professors of that faith 
 were persecuted into a conformity with the Norwegian and 
 Danish changes, and left without Homan Catholic clergymen, 
 in the commencement of the seventeenth century. 
 
 The Faroe Islands were converted earlier to the faith, 
 and retained it longer than Iceland ; we scarcely know how 
 to characterize the religion of either at present. In both 
 portions the number of Catholics is inconsiderable, not 
 exceeding 5,000 ; the other sects calling themselves Chris- 
 tians, about 20,000, and pagans upwards of 20,000. Very 
 little exertion is at present made to communicato instruc- 
 tion to these people. 
 
 RUSSIA. 
 I. 
 
 THIS vast country contains the principal portion of the 
 ancient Sarmatia, Scythia, and part of what was Scandinavia. 
 The Tartars and Muscovites, in later times, were the chief 
 occupants of these extensive territories ; and, in the inter-
 
 350 HISTORICAL SKETCHES RUSSIA. 
 
 mediate . period, after the emigrations of the Goths and 
 Vandals, the Sclavi, the Russi, the Hunni, the Turci, and 
 various other tribes, extended themselves more or less 
 through these undefined regions. Russia extends through 
 Europe and Asia, and comprises a portion of America. I 
 shall here confine myself to a very brief and general state- 
 ment of the establishment of Christianity and its decay in 
 European Russia. 
 
 In the seventh and eighth centuries, some knowledge of 
 the Christian religion was obtained by the barbarous tribes 
 above mentioned, from slaves whom they had taken from 
 the civilized nations in some of their incursions, and from 
 fugitives and adventurers from those nations. But very- 
 little progress was thus made; some persons, brought to a 
 knowledge of the great mysteries of redemption, were bap- 
 tized, principally by laymen. 
 
 In the beginning of the ninth century, Michael the 
 Stammerer and his successor, Theophilus, iconoclasts and 
 emperors of the East, persecuted the Catholics, especially 
 the holy Patriarchs of Constantinople, Saints Nicephorus " and 
 Methodius. Theodora, the widow of Theophilus, admin- 
 istered during the minority of her son Michael III, whom 
 she educated in the Roman Catholic faith. About the year 
 848, the Chazari, who were a tribe of Turci that had 
 migrated from the banks of the Volga, the ancient Dra, 
 sent a solemn embassy to the regent and her son, with a 
 request to have some Christian missionaries procured for 
 them. They were at that time governed by Chagans, or 
 Chams r who had regal authority, and were but one of seven 
 or eight tribes similarly circumstanced. 
 
 Theodora applied to St. Ignatius, Patriarch of Constan- 
 tinople, who sent a number of clergymen under Cyril, a 
 very learned priest, who was surnamed the Philosopher. 
 Cyril's original name was Constantino. He was a native 
 of Thcssalonica, noted for his zeal and piety equally as for 
 his learning. Having instructed the nation, baptized the 
 Cham, and organized churches, he returned to Constantinople.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-RUSSIA. 351 
 
 Accompanied by his brother, St. Methodius, St. Cyril 
 afterwards preached the faith in several parts of what is 
 now Turkey, and in part of the present Austrian domin- 
 ions ; but from his first mission under the authority of St. 
 Ignatius, who held communion with and acknowledged the 
 supremacy of the Pope, the southern part of what is now 
 Russia received the faith. 
 
 From Bulgaria, where the two brothers spread the light 
 of the Gospel, it penetrated into the southwestern parts of 
 the same empire, then held by the Sclavi, who had gone 
 southwards. 
 
 In the year 892, Rurick, Sinens, and Tyuwor, three 
 brothers, came by invitation from the "Warengi, on the 
 borders of the Baltic, and governed the Russi and Sclavo- 
 nians in their vicinity. Rurick, being the survivor, was 
 sole monarch. He fixed his residence near Lake Lagoda. 
 His son Igor transferred his seat of government to Kiow. 
 Olga, his wife, surviving him, and going to Constantinople, 
 was instructed in the faith, and was there baptized. Though 
 her son Suastoslas died an idolater, yet her grandson 
 Wladimtr the Great, embraced Christianity and was bap- 
 tized; ho married Anne, a Grecian princess, and built the 
 city of Wladimiria. By his means the truths of the Gos- 
 pel were made known in another portion of what is now 
 the Russian empire. 
 
 The manner in which Olga, who is also called Helena, 
 conducted herself in very delicate circumstances is worthy 
 of notice. Her husband Ihor, or Igor, undertook an expe- 
 dition against Constantinople, and having been repulsed by 
 the generals of the Emperors Romanus and Constantino, 
 was slain by the Dreulans upon his retreat ; Olga, his 
 widow, then a pagan, revenged his death, subdued the 
 Dreulans, and governed her husband's dominions with great 
 prudence. About the year 945, she being then in peace, 
 went to Constantinople ; was instructed and baptized by the 
 name of Helena, leaving the government to her son Suas- 
 toslas. After her conversion she returned home, and died
 
 352 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-RUSSIA. 
 
 in the year 970. Her son never embraced Christianity, but 
 his son Wladimir, or, according to others, spelled Volodi- 
 mir, became a Christian, and obtained in marriage Anne, 
 the sister of the two associated brothers, the Emperors 
 Basil and Constantine. Nicholas Chrysoberga, the Roman 
 Catholic Patriarch of Constantinople, sent, in 977, a num- 
 ber of clergy under the authority of Michael, whom he 
 appointed their superior, into this country, in which they 
 established the faith and extended considerably the influence 
 of the Gospel. The title of Volodimir was Duke of the 
 Russi. In the year 1156 George, Duke of Russia, built 
 Moscow ; and it was only in the year 1552 that I wan, or 
 John II, took the title of Czar, or King of Muscovy. 
 
 That part of Poland which belongs to this empire owes 
 its conversion principally to the zealous labors of St. Adal- 
 bert, or Albert, in the first instance. 
 
 Adalbert was born in Bohemia in the year 956, and 
 was in baptism called Woytiach, which, in Sclavonian, sig- 
 nifies " Help of the Army." Being placed by his parents 
 under the care of Adalbert, Archbishop of Magdeburg, the 
 greatest care was taken of his education, and the arch- 
 bishop in confirmation gave him his own name. He was 
 promoted to holy orders in 983 by Diethmar, Bishop of 
 Prague, and in that same year was appointed successor to 
 this same prelate, who died soon after his ordination. He 
 was consecrated by the Archbishop of Mentz. Finding but 
 little fruit from his preaching in Prague, he went to Rome 
 and had his resignation accepted by Pope John XV in 
 989, and retired into a monastery ; but in 994 the same 
 Pope, at the solicitations of the Archbishop of Mentz, com- 
 pelled him to resume his see, with a proviso, that if his 
 exertions there should be fruitless, he might retire whither 
 he would. Profiting by this clause, upon discovering the 
 perfect inutility of his attempts to bring to practical religion 
 & people who merely listened to and admired him, and 
 were content with the bare and barren profession of the 
 faith, he went to preach to the infidels of Poland and
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-RUSSIA. 353 
 
 Hungary, and was on terms of friendship with Stephen, 
 king of the latter place, whom he had specially instructed. 
 
 Being again ordered by Pope Gregory V to return to 
 Prague, he was refused admittance by Boleslas, Prince of 
 Bohemia, and a number of his adherents, upon which he 
 retired into Poland, where Miceslas was then duke, and 
 whose son and principal counsellor, Boleslas, was a par- 
 ticular friend of Adalbert. This Bosleslas, succeeding in 
 his wishes of having the people instructed, saw a vast 
 accession to ^ the Christian Church, through the labors of the 
 holy bishop, who was martyred by a body of Prussian 
 infidels, on the 23d of April, 997. Duke Miceslas sent 
 ambassadors to Rome, but he died before their return in 
 999; he was succeeded by his son Boleslas I, surnamed 
 Chabri or the Great, who became the first King of Poland. 
 
 Miceslas, his father, having in 965 embraced the faith 
 upon his marriage with a Christian princess, daughter of 
 Boleslas, Duke of Bohemia, and sister to him W 7 ho opposed 
 the reiiurn of St. Adalbert to Prague, caused the introduc- 
 tion of the Gospel into his dominions, and it was fully 
 established under the auspices of the son. 
 
 Still further north was a people called Russi or Rutheni, 
 who were some of the most northern European Scythians. 
 They derived their pedigree from the ancient Roxolani 
 mentioned by Strabo and Pliny, as beyond the Boristhynes, 
 near the Gatse. The word Rosscia in their language signi- 
 fies scattering : and they were supposed to be denominated 
 from living, not in towns or cities, but scattered over the 
 country. Nations, similarly scattered, were by the Greeks 
 called Spori, or scattered. 
 
 About the latter end of the tenth century, a young 
 Saxon nobleman, named Boniface or Bruno, leaving the 
 court of the Emperor Otho III, joined the Order of Cam- 
 aldoli under St. Romuald, and after a long preparation by 
 prayer and retirement and meditation, presented himself to 
 Pope John XVIII, to preach to the infidels. Having 
 received the necessary faculties, he was consecrated arch- 
 
 23
 
 354 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-RUSSIA. 
 
 bishop of his mission by Taymont, Archbishop of Magde- 
 burg. Passing through Prussia, he entered the territory of 
 the Russi, where he made several converts, having endured 
 much persecution and affliction ; he baptized one of the 
 kings of that place and several of his people. Soon after 
 this, he was seized upon by the- infidels and beheaded,, 
 together with eighteen of his companions, in the year 1009 ; 
 but the faith continued to make considerable progress after 
 his death. 
 
 Finland was principally converted by St. Henry, Arch- 
 bishop of Upsal, in 1151. 
 
 In the next century, St. Hyacinth, of the Order of St. 
 Dominic, a noble Silesian, of whom I have made mention 
 before, extended the faith greatly in Poland. Subsequently 
 passing into Lesser Russia, Moscovy, and the neighboring 
 nations, he preached with great fruit until the destruction 
 of Kiow by the Tartars, in 1231, when he returned into- 
 Poland, w r here he remained for some time, and then pro- 
 ceeded to join several other members of his order who 
 were sent into Tartary. Thousands having embraced the 
 faith, one of their princes, together with several lords of 
 his nation, attended at the Council of Lateran in 1245. 
 Having penetrated through Tartary nearly to Thibet and 
 the East Indies, he founded in several places Christian 
 churches. Thence* coming back to Poland, he again entered 
 Red Russia, where he made many additional converts, and 
 returning to Cracow, died in 1257. 
 
 In the year 846, upon the death of St. Methodius, 
 Patriarcli of Constantinople, St. Ignatius was raised to that 
 dignity. The Emperor Michael III was led, by his favorite 
 uncle Bardas, into the most shameful excesses of profligacy. 
 The holy patriarch remonstrated with him, but in vain. 
 Bardas was, for his criminal habits, driven from the sacra- 
 ments and excommunicated. His rage led him to threaten 
 to stab Ignatius, but he bethought himself of a less 
 revolting mode of revenge. He persuaded the young 
 monarch ihat his mother domineered over him and deprived
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES RUSSIA. 355 
 
 him of his just power recommended that Ignatius should 
 be ordered to cut off her hair ' and that of her three 
 daughters, and have them placed in some monastery. The 
 patriarch, of course, refused to perform so irreligious an 
 act of violence. Upon which, by the instigation of Bardas, 
 Michael had his minions to perform the acts of violence, 
 and Ignatius was banished to a monastery in the isle of 
 Terebinthus, where every effort w r as used to force him to 
 a resignation, which he refused. Photius, a very learned 
 but very profligate relative of the emperor, was ordained 
 bishop, from being a layman in office at the court, and 
 on the sixth day intruded into the patriarchal chair, on 
 Christmas day, 858. A synod of bishops met in Constan- 
 tinople, and excommunicated Photius, who also proceeded 
 against them, not merely with a similar form, but by force 
 of arms and with the aid of Bardas. I do not here find 
 it necessary to dwell upon facts which shall hereafter be 
 particularized ; suffice it to say, that after the unravelling 
 of much deceit, Photius was excommunicated by Rome, 
 which he had endeavored to deceive. In return, in the 
 year 866, by the aid of the emperor, he held a sort of 
 council at Constantinople, in which he excommunicated and 
 pronounced sentence of deposition against Pope Nicholas, 
 and thus commenced the Greek Schism. Bardas was put 
 to death in that year by the emperor for conspiring against 
 his life ; and in September of the next year, the emperor 
 himself was slain by his guard, for attempting to depose 
 Basil, whom he had joined with him in the empire. Basil 
 succeeded and banished Photius ; Ignatius was restored and 
 the schism healed, but its effects were not destroyed. Pho- 
 tius, upon the death of Ignatius, in 878, took possession 
 of the Church of St. Sophia with an armed force, and 
 obtained from John VIII the appointment to the patri- 
 archate at the request of Basil, upon conditions which 
 Photius never fulfilled. The intruder was then condemned 
 by John, and by his successors Martin or Marinus, Adrian 
 III, and Stephen V. After the death of Basil, his son
 
 356 HISTORICAL SKETCHES RUSSIA. 
 
 Leo the Wise, or the Philosopher, succeeded, who at the 
 request of Pope Stephen banished Photius into a monastery 
 in Armenia, where he died. The union was then perfect 
 between the Popes and the Patriarchs of Constantinople 
 during upwards of a century; but the schism under Michael 
 Cerularius, in 1053, made a very considerable portion of 
 the East separate from the centre of unity 
 
 The vicinity of Southern Russia to Constantinople, their 
 union for so long a time with that metropolis, from which 
 their forefathers had received the faith, and the similarity 
 of their discipline, would appear to cause the Muscovites 
 easily to be led into the separation. The contiguity of 
 Kiow, the then capital of the Russians, to the city, caused 
 more frequent communications between the dukes of Russia 
 and the emperors of the East, so that the court and the 
 principal ecclesiastics, having joined in the schism, it would 
 be more generally adhered to. 
 
 This, however, was not the case, for we find strong and 
 impregnable evidence of the Russian churches continuing 
 Catholic during centuries, notwithstanding the unfounded 
 assertions of many sectaries and Catholics to the contrary. 
 I have already noticed that Vladimir, the son of Igor, was 
 the duke who principally established the faith of Kiow and 
 the rest of his dominions. His successor was Jaroslas, his 
 son, who was succeeded in 1078 by "Wsevolod I, his grand- 
 son, in whose reign Ephrem, Metropolitan of Kiow, executed 
 the bull of Urban II for the feast of the translation of 
 the relics of St. Nicholas, of Bari, on the 9th of May. 
 His son, Andrew Bogoliski, transferred the ducal residence 
 from Kiow to Wladimiria. In 1156 George, Duke of 
 Russia, recovered Kiow, and built Moscow, so called from 
 a monastery called Moskoi, which previously stood there, 
 and had its name from Mus or Muisk men, that is, the 
 seat or residence of select men. Under George II, Duke 
 of Muscovy, in the beginning of the thirteenth century, 
 many of the Russians were involved in the schism, but in 
 1244, they were formally reunited to the Holy See. His
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES- RUSSIA. 357 
 
 son, Alexander, succeeded in 124G. He is honored as a 
 saint in the Russian Church, and lived and died in the 
 faith and communion of the Roman Catholic Church ; he 
 is called St. Alexander Newski, or of Newa, from a great 
 victory he obtained over the Poles and Teutonic Knights 
 in Livonia, on the banks of Newa, when he was Prince 
 of Novogorod, in 1241 ; his death took place in 1262, at 
 Gorodes. The Czar, Peter the Great, built a convent of 
 Basillian monks to his honor near St. Petersburg, and in 
 1725, Catherine instituted the second order of Russian 
 knighthood under his name. In 1304 Daniel, fourth son 
 of Alexander, left by his father Duke of Moscow, after the 
 death of his three elder brothers, became ruler, and made 
 Moscow the ducal residence. In 1415, during the reign of 
 Basil or Vasili II, Photius, Metropolitan of Russia, residing 
 at Kio\v, joined in the Greek schism, and being deposed 
 on that account by a council held at Kovogrodek, he retired 
 into Great Russia, and there spread his poison. His suc- 
 cessor in Kiow, Gregory, assisted at the Council of Con- 
 stance. There were then and had been for some time in 
 Russia seven archbishops and a proportionate number of 
 bishops. 
 
 The schism having made rapid progress, in the year 
 1588 the Archbishop of Moscow was, by Jeremy, the schis- 
 matical Patriarch of Constantinople, declared Patriarch of all 
 Russia, and was recognized as such by the schismatical 
 patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, upon con- 
 dition that he should be chosen by them. Most of the 
 Muscovites, thenceforward, were engaged in the schism, and 
 joined several heresies thereto. But the archbishops of Kiow 
 still continued Catholic, as did almost all Polish Russia, 
 which, since the year 1600, has been under a metropolitan 
 of Kiow, archbishop of Ploses, and bishops of Presmilin, 
 Liceoria, and Leopold; but in 1686, Kiow being ceded to 
 the Muscovites, they established a schismatical metropolitan 
 therein Photius and Jonas II being the only preceding 
 prelates who were not Catholics.
 
 358 HISTORICAL SKETCHES -RUSSIA. 
 
 The first czar was Iwan, or John IV, in 1552. In the 
 reign of Czar Michael Alexis AVitz, Nicon, an ambitious 
 and crafty man, was the schismatical patriarch ; he told 
 the czar that it w r as a useless and derogatory custom for 
 the Patriarch of Muscovy to seek for confirmation from 
 Constantinople or the other patriarchates ; that he derived 
 his power from the Holy Ghost, and ought not to seek it 
 from man. The czar countenanced him, and he quickly 
 increased the number of archbishops and bishops in the 
 State. Having regulated Church affairs to his liking, he 
 next assumed a right to guide the decisions of the senate, 
 and to direct the czar in making peace or war, lest he 
 might act against conscience, and insisted that he should 
 decide upon the justice or injustice of the laws previous to 
 their promulgation. The czar and the senate opposed his 
 pretensions ; he would not abate a particle excommunicated 
 several of the senate, and excited rebellion, in which much 
 blood was shed. The czar finding the patriarch still unsub- 
 dued, assembled a council in 1667, paying the expenses of 
 any bishop in or out of his dominions who would attend; 
 it consisted of three patriarchs, twenty-seven archbishops, 
 one hundred and ten bishops, and one hundred and fifty 
 other Russian ecclesiastics. 
 
 This synod deposed the patriarch, ordering that he should 
 be confined during the rest of his life in a convent and 
 fed on bread and water : 
 
 That the czar and senate should have votes in the elec- 
 tion of the patriarch, who should be amenable to their 
 judgment: 
 
 That the Patriarch of Constantinople should have no 
 right to the appellation of the head of the Russian Church, 
 nor any authority therein, but such ab the czar should 
 think proper to bestow on him : 
 
 That no more property should be given or left to con- 
 vents or churches ; and that the patriarch should have no 
 authority to erect new dioceses or establishments without 
 the consent of the czar and the senate.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-RUSSIA. 359 
 
 II. 
 
 In 1588, the great body of the Russian clergy and people 
 joined in the Greek schism, and in 1667, they formed an 
 independent establishment, of which, in fact, they made the 
 czar and senate of the empire the head, and rejecting the 
 authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople, formally sepa- 
 rated from him. The patriarchs of Moscow still had many 
 quarrels with the court until the time of Peter the Great. 
 
 The descendants of Rurick, whom I have noticed before, 
 as the founder of the race of dukes and czars, became 
 extinct in Feeder or Theodore, in 1598. After some con- 
 tention and confusion, Michael, of the family of Romanow, 
 allied to the preceding czars, was chosen Great Duke of 
 Muscovy, in 1613. His third descendant was Peter the 
 Great, who founded the Russian empire. In the year 1700, 
 the patriarchate became vacant, and after nineteen years, 
 Peter, who had made some unsuccessful negotiations for a 
 reunion with the See of Rome, declared himself head of 
 the Russian Church, had an archbishop appointed for 
 Moscow, and placed the Church government under a sort 
 of committee, consisting of ecclesiastics and laymen in 
 which state it still continues. 
 
 There is a considerable division in the Russian Church, 
 a large body who called themselves Sterawersi, or old 
 faithful, having separated from the principal sect. This 
 division has existed for a long time, but the formal sepa- 
 ration was made in the patriarchate of Nicon. They were 
 persecuted by the dominant party until Peter the Great 
 established a limited freedom of conscience, tolerating every 
 religion, but forbidding any persons to leave the Russian 
 Church for the purpose of joining the Roman Catholic. 
 
 Lutheranism was introduced at an early period of the 
 sixteenth century, particularly by the Swedes into Finland, 
 which, until lately, belonged to them, and into the adjoining 
 parts of Archangel and Xovogorod. In 1559, William of 
 Furstenberg, Herr Meister of Livonia, or Grand Master of
 
 360 HISTORICAL SKETCHES RUSSIA. 
 
 the Teutonic Knights, who then governed Livonia, having 
 become a Lutheran, resigned his office in favor of Gotthard 
 Kettler, who had been his coadjutor master. This man 
 having also embraced the new doctrines, ceded a part of 
 Livonia to the Danes, and the principal portion to Poland, 
 receiving the investiture of the dukedoms of Courtland and 
 Samagotia, as secular. The new doctrines spread from those 
 places into Russia, so that Lutheranism made considerable 
 progress in the northwestern part of that country. In the 
 year 1581, Pope Gregory XIII wrote to the czar, John 
 Vasilievitz, who was a Roman Catholic, to request he 
 would send the Lutheran preachers out of his dominions ; 
 but the czar wrote back a refusal, stating that in his 
 country all nations should have the free exercise of their 
 several religions. 
 
 Many Calvanists subsequently found their way thither 
 from the more southern regions of Europe, particularly 
 through Poland and Germany, and in the time of Peter 
 the Great, from Holland, and lately from Scotland. 
 
 The Armenians separated from the See of Rome, as well 
 as those in its communion, are by no means a small number 
 of the Christians of this country. The latter, of course, 
 being members of the universal Catholic body, are to be 
 ranked under their proper head. A very considerable 
 portion of this body which was schismatic, and resided in 
 Poland under a patriarch, was reunited to the Catholic 
 Church, together with its patriarch, in 1616. 
 
 After the conquest of Greece by the Turks, and the 
 establishment of Mahommedanism in the east of Europe, 
 many of the Mussulmen settled in Russia, and, at present, 
 the number in the European part of that empire is by 
 no means inconsiderable. 
 
 By these several means, the Roman Catholic religion 
 has been greatly reduced in this large empire, but still the 
 numbers who have adhered to it are by no means few. 
 
 In the middle of the last century, the Jesuits, who had 
 been frequently the objects of gross misrepresentation and
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES RUSSIA. 
 
 unfounded calumny, were established in many places, to 
 diffuse the light of science in this country. They had pre- 
 viously labored as missionaries, and been, to a certain, 
 degree, successful ; but, when they were driven from the 
 rest of Europe, they, in the dominions of Catherine, found 
 an asylum. The great obstacle to their labors was prin- 
 cipally the law which forbade any person to become a 
 convert; yet many, notwithstanding this law, embraced the, 
 doctrines of the Church. In 1782, the number of Roman 
 Catholics had greatly increased ; and in the next year, 
 at the request of the Empress Catherine II, Stanislaus, 
 Siestrzencewez was consecrated in Rome first Archbishop of 
 Mohilow, and Primate of the Roman Catholic Church of 
 Russia, on the Feast of St. Thomas, the Apostle, December 
 21. The patriarchate of Kiow has thus been superseded. 
 
 Upon the seizure of a considerable part of w r hat once 
 was Poland by the Empress of Russia, in the last century, 
 a considerable accession was made to the Catholic popula- 
 tion of the empire ; and when those usurpations had 
 received a character of permanence, there were some regula- 
 tions of the See of Rome, to settle the jurisdictions of the 
 bishops of Poland, etc., within such limits as would not 
 interfere with the boundaries of those powers, to which 
 they were severally subject. 
 
 In most places within the Russian dominions, as well 
 in the Catholic as in the Russian Churches, the liturgy is 
 in the Sclavonian dialect. This was established by St*. 
 Methodius, after the death of his brother Cyril, by the 
 authority of Pope John VIII, in the year 879, which 
 custom was confirmed by Pope Urban VIII, and his suc- 
 cessor, Innocent X, about 1650; by the Synod of Zamoski,, 
 held in 1720, under Innocent XI, then by Pope Innocent 
 XIII, and finally by Benedict XIV, in the Bullar. Const. 
 98, dat. an. 1744, and Const. Ex pastorali muncrc, 1754. 
 
 The Sclavonic is, probably, with the exception of the- 
 Arabic, the most extensive language extant. But its modern- 
 dialects are as different from the old mother tongue as any
 
 362 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-RUSSIA. 
 
 modern language is from those which are now called dead 
 languages ; and the liturgy in the Latin or Greek would 
 be equally intelligible to the congregation as in the tongue 
 which is used still by the discipline of the Roman Catholic 
 Church, no particular portion thereof having authority to 
 -change the language of its rite without either the general 
 consent of the whole body or of its head, that is, the bishops 
 of the universal Church or the Bishop of Rome. And the 
 same reasons which cause the retention of the other original 
 languages, Latin, Greek, Coptic, and Syriac, or Chaldaic, 
 which is the modern Hebrew, in the liturgies of several 
 other portions of the Roman Catholic Church, operate with 
 equal force for retaining the old Sclavonic in Russia and 
 in the other countries where it was originally adopted. 
 
 A breviary and missal of this tongue, which had been 
 revised and corrected by Caraman, afterwards Archbishop 
 of Jadra, he having been properly authorized, were printed 
 in Rome in 1741 : according to the rules of a dictionary 
 of that language, titled Azbuguiderium, i. e., A,b,c,derium. 
 The best grammar thereof was compiled by Smotriski, a 
 Basilian monk, and printed at "\Vilna in 1619 reprinted 
 at Moscow in 1721. 
 
 Some of the Churches in Poland and Moravia, which had 
 originally received the Latin liturgy, about the year 1000, 
 wished to use the Sclavonian liturgy; but upon the same 
 principle which causes the retention of the Sclavonian, in 
 those Churches where it was originally established, a synod, 
 held at Spalatro, under John, Archbishop of Salona, expressly 
 prohibited its introduction to those churches. Maynard, the 
 Pope's legate in those parts, forbade its use in any public 
 office, to those Churches and clergy who had previously 
 used the Latin tongue. These decisions were confirmed by 
 Pope Alexander II ; Pope Gregory VII, the successor of 
 Alexander, renewed the decree, applying it to the Churches 
 in Germany, which were in like manner omitting the 
 Latin and adopting the Sclavonian. Some ignorant would-be 
 critics, who merely catch at the first glimpse of an apparent
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-RUSSIA. 363 
 
 contradiction to form a judgment and to pronounce a con- 
 demnation, and some insidious men of ability who oppose 
 the Catholic Church, quote these apparently conflicting decrees 
 of several Popes, and similar ones, as proofs of the insta- 
 bility of Catholic doctrine, and triumphantly ask, " Is this 
 Church infallible?" I really do not know how such men 
 ought to be answered; for, in the first place, it would be 
 necessary to give them either honesty or information, or 
 both. Had they such qualifications, they would acknowledge, 
 that so far from being conflicting, these decrees proceed 
 upon the same principle, but applied variously, under, 
 different circumstances ; and next, Eoman Catholics do not 
 <;laim infallibility for the Pope in everything ; nor for the 
 Church, except in doctrines of faith and morality; and 
 these decrees do not regard either the doctrines of faith 
 or the principles of morality, which are immutable; but 
 the regulation of discipline, which might, at any moment, 
 be changed by proper authority. 
 
 In Russia, some of the Churches have been planted by 
 the missionaries from the East, and some by those from 
 the West. Each portion had its peculiar ceremonies and 
 forms of prayer, different from the other, though their 
 doctrines of faith, their principles and morality, and their 
 essential discipline, were exactly the same; those Churches, 
 generally still retain, not only their original language, but 
 also their original ceremonies and forms. Hence, amongst 
 the Russian Catholics, great diversity of secondary discipline 
 is observable. This has given rise to the assertions of 
 some unskillful writers, who conclude that there must be 
 a difference of belief, because there is a difference of 
 external forms. As well might they conclude that Jansenists 
 are Roman Catholics, because all the external forms are 
 similar. As well might they conclude that the persons 
 who frequent St. Mary's Church in Philadelphia are in the 
 communion of the Roman Catholic Church, because the 
 young man who officiates therein observes the same forms 
 as are observed by duly authorized Roman Catholic priests.
 
 364 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-RUSSIA. 
 
 Communion in spirituals consists in believing the same 
 doctrines of faith, being united under the same Church 
 government, and obeying the authority of that government, 
 and having, of course, the same sacraments. The Russian 
 Catholic Churches believe the same doctrines that are 
 believed by all other Roman Catholic Churches. They have 
 the same sacraments that all other Roman Catholics have ; 
 and they are under the government of bishops, who hold 
 communion with and are subject to the Bishop of Rome, 
 who is the centre of unity and communion for all Roman 
 Catholics throughout the world. They acknowledge this 
 authority and they obey it; though having been properly 
 authorized therefor, their liturgical language and their acci- 
 dental ceremonies, which are matters of ecclesiastical disci- 
 pline, differ from those of other Churches. By not observing 
 this distinction between what is essentially necessary and 
 what is matter of conventional regulation, many superficial 
 writers and readers have made egregious blunders ; and by 
 willfully confusing what ought to be accurately distinguished, 
 many ingenious sophists have created considerable delusion. 
 
 Hence, Russia exhibits in her Roman Catholic Churches, 
 perhaps the greatest diversity of discipline among all the 
 nations, if we except the city of Rome, where there are 
 Churches of all rites in communion with the Holy See. 
 You find the Greek and Latin rites, in the Greek and 
 Latin languages, and both in the old Sclavonian tongue, 
 and the Armenian and Syriac rites, all used in several 
 Roman Catholic Churches, having different discipline, but 
 holding the same faith, and subject to the game authority, 
 and united in the common father of Christendom, the 
 Bishop of Rome. 
 
 At present, there are in Russia a legate of the Holy 
 See, the Archbishop of Mohilow, and several bishops, the 
 exact number I do not know, and a very considerable 
 number of the clergy of the several rites, and monks and 
 friars of various orders, together with the faithful attached 
 to them, in union with the Bishop of Rome and the rest
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-EUROPEAN TURKEY. 365 
 
 of the Roman Catholic Churches ; and during the last 
 twenty or thirty years, notwithstanding the difficulties to 
 conversion created by the laws, the progress of Catholicity 
 in this vast empire has been and continues to be steady 
 and considerable. 
 
 From the documents which I have been able to collect 
 and to compare, I believe the following estimate will be 
 found a pretty accurate representation of the religious situa- 
 tion of the European portion of Russia : 
 
 Various divisions of the Russian established and other similar 
 
 Churches, separated from the Holy See, about 20,000,000 
 
 Roman Catholics of various rites 9,000,000 
 
 Lutherans 3,000,000 
 
 Other Protestants 1,500,000 
 
 Mahometans 1,250,000 
 
 Pagans 3,500,000 
 
 Total population of European Russia , 38,250,000 
 
 EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 I. 
 
 a contrast does this country now exhibit to what 
 it once was ! How faded in its religious glories ! How 
 debased its morality ! What a series of instructive events 
 does its history contain ! The research of the antiquarian, 
 the imagination of the poet, the investigation of the phi- 
 losopher, the classic taste of the scholar, the reflection of 
 the legislator, may all here find abundant employment. 
 Here, too, the fragments which have escaped the unsparing 
 hand of time and the ravages of barbarism and avarice, 
 still exhibit models for an age which boasts of its progress 
 beyond those which have preceded it. Upon this soil 
 liberty had its defenders. Themistocles and Miltiades 
 and Leonidas are no more. Demosthenes has long been 
 silent. The productions of Apelles are decayed, and where 
 are the men? They have vanished from this world they
 
 366 HISTORICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 
 exist in another. We have no ground for determining their 
 fate. The God who searches the hearts of men, who alone 
 could judge of the opportunities which He afforded them, 
 and who alone could determine how they corresponded with 
 those opportunities, has judged them, and has not revealed 
 that judgment to us. It would, therefore, be rashness and 
 presumption in us to prononnce upon the fate of others, 
 without a sufficient motive to direct our judgment. We 
 have not such a motive, neither are we constituted judges- 
 over these men ; but our duty is to labor strenuously in 
 turning to account the opportunities afforded to ourselves. 
 And in contemplating the history of religion in Greece, 
 which is the present Turkey in Europe, we have a most 
 instructive lesson for the direction of our conduct. 
 
 The Apostle St. Paul appears to have been the first 
 Christian missionary in Greece, at least the first who founded 
 Churches and established bishops in the country. 
 
 We read in chapter xvi of the Acts of the Apostles, 
 that when St. Paul was at Troas in Lysia he saw, in a 
 dream, an inhabitant of Macedonia inviting him to go 
 thither and help them ; on which account he sailed from 
 Troas, and passing the Island of Samothracia he went to 
 Neapolis, which was upon the confines of Thrace in Mace- 
 don thence he went to Philippi, and subsequently to 
 Amphipolis, Apollonia, and Thessalonica whence he was 
 sent to Beroea, when he sailed to Athens, where he preached 
 in the Areopagus ; subsequently he established the Church 
 of Corinth. 
 
 After having left Greece in the year 53, Churches having 
 been established in those several places which I mentioned, 
 he remained some time in Asia; but, in the year 57, he 
 again sailed from Troas for Maccdon to revisit his Grecian 
 Churches ; and having written from Macedon his second 
 epistle to the Corinthians, he complains of some divisions 
 and irregularities amongst them, answers some questions pro- 
 posed by them concerning marriage and celibacy (c. vii and 
 xi), complains of some irregular practices at the time of
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-EUROPEAN TURKEY. 367 
 
 receiving the Holy Eucharist, and states that upon his 
 arrival he will make a regulation upon the subject 
 (v. 34). He was at Corinth in the year 58, when he 
 wrote his epistle to the Romans; and St. Augustine 1 informs 
 us that it was then he made the regulation, that no per- 
 son should receive the Holy Eucharist except fasting, unless 
 in case of danger of death; which was immediately adopted 
 as a general rule by the whole Church, and has continued 
 unchanged to the present day. In the next year St. Paul 
 left Greece and the bishops whom he had established in 
 the several churches zealously followed up his labors, and 
 soon spread the light of the Gospel through that country. 
 
 Amongst the bishops who governed those Churches, the 
 most remarkable in the first and second ages were St. 
 Denis, the Areopagite, first Bishop of Athens, appointed 
 and consecrated by St. Paul to that charge in the year 
 51 ; St. Denis, Bishop of Corinth in the time of Pope 
 Soter, about the year 170; Publius, who was Bishop of 
 Athens in the year 1 50 ; and his successor, Quadratus,. 
 who was one of the first apologists for the Christians, he 
 having drawn up and sent one to the Emperor Adrian ; 
 Athenagoras, an Athenian philosopher, who had been con- 
 verted to Christianity, also presented an apology for the 
 Christians in the reign of Marcus Aurelius. 
 
 Greece also gave many martyrs to the Church in the 
 succeeding ages ; but the blood of the martyrs only ferti- 
 lized the soil of Christianity. 
 
 In the year 323, by the defeat of Licinius, Constantine 
 the Great found himself at the head of the Roman Empire; 
 and in that year, at Byzantium, in Thrace, he had deter- 
 mined to think of becoming a Christian. He had not 
 been altogether uninstructed in its principles, having imbibed 
 them from his holy mother, St. Helena. Upon his arrival 
 at Byzantium, he was waited upon by a deputation of 
 Pagan philosophers, who represented to him the great evils 
 that would flow from innovation, and the folly of changing 
 
 i Ep. 118 ad. Jan.
 
 368 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 
 from the faith of his fathers, and the possibility of serving 
 God with a good heart under any system of religion. 
 Alexander, the Bishop of Byzantium, was called before the 
 emperor and asked if he could answer their arguments. 
 The bishop requested one to be selected to speak for all; 
 and after he had commenced his train of reasoning, Alex- 
 ander stated that he was no great logician, but the servant 
 of a God of might, who could instantly confound human 
 pride, and commanded the philosopher, in the name of 
 Jesus Christ, to be silent. He was struck dumb. Con- 
 stantine immediately afterwards published edicts favorable to 
 the Christians ; and upon the site of Byzantium, he raised 
 the city which, after himself, he called Constantinople, and 
 which, from being the seat of the empire, was frequently 
 called New Rome. 
 
 Arius, the author of an impious and blasphemous heresy 
 in Alexandria, the capital of Egypt, came to Constantinople 
 to try and make interest with the emperor. Alexander 
 refused to receive him into communion or permit him to 
 enter any of the churches of his diocese ; but Arianism 
 insinuated itself into Greece and caused much calamity. 
 Sometimes the emperors and courtiers upheld the Arians 
 and persecuted the Catholics. After the time of Constan- 
 tine, the See of Constantinpple was raised to the metro- 
 politan dignity; it had been previously suffragan to the 
 Archbishop of Heraclea, in Thrace. An attempt was made 
 in the Council of Chalcedon, in 451, to elevate its rank 
 above every other see, except Rome ; and by the contriv- 
 ance of the clergy of Constantinople and several of the 
 suffragans and neighboring bishops, a canon to that effect 
 was voted ; it was the 28th ; but St. Leo, who was then 
 Pope, gave his sanction only to the first 27, thereby 
 excluding that which was the 28th, and a number of other 
 canons which were irregularly passed after the departure 
 of the legates, Paschasinus, Bishop of Lilybum, Lucentius, 
 Bishop of Ascoli, and Boniface, a priest of Rome, who 
 presided in the name of St. Leo, together with several
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 369 
 
 other prelates. St. Protarius, Patriarch of Alexandria, and 
 the bishops of Egypt, together with a considerable portion of 
 the Oriental prelates, also opposed this innovation; and for 
 .some time the bishops of Constantinople relinquished their 
 pretentions. 
 
 In the year 553, the second general council of Constan- 
 tinople was held, and a new attempt was made to raise 
 that see to the patriarchal dignity and to extend its juris- 
 diction. This was scarcely resisted, and Constantinople 
 .thenceforward ranked next in dignity to Rome. 
 
 We have, in the history of the Greek Church, which 
 may be said principally to consist in the history of the 
 See of Constantinople, one of the strongest and most melan- 
 choly exhibitions of the fatal consequences of the domination 
 -of worldly power over the affairs of the Church ; and in 
 the exhibition of to-day, we have the confirmation of my 
 .assertion. If religion be made to depend for its support 
 upon worldly means or the power of princes or States, it 
 will become the sport of human folly and the prey of 
 Jmman passion. Constantinople was elevated to dignity by 
 iiuman power and worldly intrigue, and those same causes 
 Jhave also produced its degradation. 
 
 Before the death of Alexander, bishop of that see in 
 340, Paul, a native of Thesalonica, who had been a deacon 
 of his church, was recommended by that prelate as his 
 'successor. He was regularly appointed and consecrated. 
 JJut the Arian party were desirous of having one who 
 would favor their views ; and accordingly they raised up 
 Maeedonius, one of their partisans, to be Paul's competitor. 
 The Emperor Constantius banished Paul and Maeedonius, 
 -and invited Eusebius, Bishop of Nicomedia, to govern that 
 see. Thus we perceive how soon worldly domination began 
 to exhibit itself upon the profession of the faith by the 
 emperors, and how quickly they found amongst the clergy 
 Avilling instruments. Paul took refuge with St. Maximinus 
 Bishop of Triers, in Gaul, whence he proceeded to Rome, 
 for the purpose of laying his case before the Pope. Here 
 
 24
 
 370 HISTORICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 
 he found St. Athanasius, who had come for a like purpose, 
 uuder similar circumstances, having been driven from his 
 See of Alexandria, in Egypt, by the Arians also. 
 
 Pope Julius I was holding a synod, which was attended 
 by eighty bishops; and after examining the cases of Athan- 
 asius and Paul, he restored them to their sees, and sent 
 them back with letters of injunction to their flocks. 
 Eusebius, however, kept forcible possession of the See of 
 Constantinople until his death, about nine or ten months 
 after. The Arians had gained considerable sway over Con- 
 stantius, and again procured the banishment of Paul. 
 
 Hermogenes, his general, was ordered by Constant! us, who 
 was in Antioch upon his way to Thrace, to pass by Con- 
 stantinople and to drive Paul out of the city. The people 
 resisted the general, and he was slain. Constantius came 
 to the city, pardoned the people, and banished the bishop. 
 Paul, upon his own application and at the request of the 
 Pope, received, in 344, letters from Constans, the Emperor 
 of the West, to his brother Constantius, requesting he would 
 suffer the bishop to remain in his see for the government of 
 his Church. Thus, he was enabled to remain until 350, 
 when, Constans dying, his enemies succeeded in procuring his 
 banishment, and he was, in 351, strangled in prison in 
 Cucusus, a small town in a most unhealthy situation in the 
 deserts of Mount Taurus, upon the confines of Cappadocia 
 and Armenia, having been previously left six days without 
 food in his dungeon. 
 
 Philip, the prefect of the Pretorian band, was the officer 
 commissioned to remove Paul from his see and knowing 
 the facility of exciting a tumult in Constantinople he, though 
 an Arian, privately sent for Paul, and showed him the 
 order for his banishment, requesting that, to preserve peace, 
 he would quietly obey. Meantime a crowd had assembled 
 outside the bath where the bishop and the prefect con- 
 versed. The bishop, seeing contention useless, consented 
 and the prefect caused a passage to be privately broken 
 through the rear of the building, through which the bishop
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 371 
 
 escaped, and lay concealed in the palace until lie tfas em- 
 barked for the place of his destiny. 
 
 Philip next proceeded to fulfill the other part of his 
 commission, and took Macedonius in state to be installed 
 in the Cathedral. The Catholics and the Novations united 
 in their opposition, blocked up the passages, and refused 
 to make "way; the military were brought out, and upwards 
 of three thousand persons were killed on both sides. The 
 prefect conducted Macedonius into the church and placed 
 him in possession of the episcopal throne. The intruder 
 now turned his attention to annoy the Novatians, and find- 
 ing they were pretty numerous in Paphlagonia he procured 
 an order from the emperor to have four regiments sent to 
 compel them to embrace Arianism. The Paphlagonians pre- 
 pared for the contest, and the soldiers were nearly all slain. 
 
 Upon a subsequent occasion he was opposed by the people 
 in an attempt to remove the body of Constantiue from the 
 Church of the Apostles to that of St. Acacius, which caused 
 dreadful carnage in the churches. The emperor, at length, 
 weary of the repetition of these scenes, undertook to depose 
 him. Macedonius now hated the Arians equally as he did 
 the Catholics. The former denied the divinity of the Son 
 of God the latter believed in the divinity of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Macedonius, in 
 order to oppose both, asserted the divinity of the Son, and 
 denied that of the Holy Ghost thus forming a new sect, 
 which, after him, were called Macedonians and Pneuinato- 
 machics, and other times Marathonians ; the first name they 
 derived from their founder the second from the peculiarity 
 of their doctrine, opposers of the Holy Ghost the third 
 from Marathon, Bishop of Nicomedia, who was a principal 
 abettor of their errors, and without whose aid it is sup- 
 posed the sect never would have been formed. This error 
 spread principally through Thrace, along the shores of the 
 Hellespont, and in Bithynia, and was condemned in the 
 first Council of Constantinople in 381. 
 
 The perpetual interference of the emperors and their offi-
 
 372 HISTORICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 
 cers, who sometimes were Catholics, and sometimes mem- 
 bers of some one of the various new heresies which w T ere 
 perpetually ravaging the Church of Constantinople, together 
 with the restless spirit of its population, caused the greatest 
 disorders and irregularities in this Church. St. John Chry- 
 sostom and St. Gregory Nazianzen, two of the brightest 
 ornaments of the Christian world, were bishops of this see, 
 and suffered the greatest persecutions and afflictions for their 
 attempts to preserve Church discipline. 
 
 At the Council in 381 the title of St. Gregory Isazian- 
 zen to the See of Constantinople was recognized ; but, find- 
 ing that he could not preserve the peace of the Church 
 consistently with its discipline, he resigned, and was suc- 
 ceeded by Nectarius. The emperor wrote to the Pope, 
 requesting that, for the sake of peace, he would confirm 
 these acts. 
 
 II. 
 
 I have merely glanced at the prominent facts which the 
 early history of this portion of the Church exhibits. We 
 have seen, however, that Byzantium was an episcopal see, 
 subjeqt to the Archbishop of Heraclea, in Thrace, and that 
 although this town was by Constantino enlarged and orna- 
 mented and raised to the dignity of a capital of the 
 empire, this made no change in the bishop's title, until 
 subsequently, after much exertion, first it was raised to be 
 an archbishopric, then began to lay claim to the patriarchal 
 dignity, not from any allegation of original divine right, but 
 from the concession of some councils and the voluntary 
 submission of some bishops. Still, however, in the year 
 381, this claim was not recognized by Rome nor generally 
 admitted. 
 
 la the year 381 a provincial council was held in that 
 city,, at which St. Meletius, Patriarch of Antioch, presided, 
 and during the celebration of which he died. He was keld 
 in such esteem for his sanctity that the people pressed 
 round the dead body to touch it with linen, which they
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 373 
 
 afterwards preserved as relics. The acts of this council 
 were afterwards received by the whole Church, and thus it 
 has the authority, of a general council from its acceptation. 
 
 The second canon of this council regulates the discipline 
 of jurisdiction and boundary, prohibiting the bishops from 
 creating confusion by interfering in the concerns of other 
 Churches, and renews the decisions of the Council of Nice 
 by forming the provinces, stating that Alexandria should 
 govern the province of Egypt; the eastern bishops should 
 regulate their own. discipline, paying due honor to the pri- 
 macy of the Church of Antioch, according to the Nicene 
 statutes ; the bishops of Asia Minor should also regulate 
 their own discipline ; those of Pontius that of their prov- 
 ince, and the bishops of Thrace that of this province. 
 This canon is found also in its proper place in the code 
 of canon law, 9 qti. 2 cap. Episcopi qui extra. The thirty- 
 fourth of the apostolic canons had previously made a sim- 
 ilar enactment, so far only as regarded ordinations, under 
 the penalty of deposition of the person ordaining and of 
 those ordained. The Greek copy of this canon of Con- 
 stantinople has a paragraph which is not found in the Latin 
 copy, regulating, that "the Churches amongst the barbarians 
 shall be administered according to the custom of the fathers, 
 which has been preserved." 
 
 The canon of the Council of Nice principally referred 
 to is the sixth. The fifteenth and sixteenth have also a 
 bearing upon the case. Gratian quotes a canon of the 
 Council of Antioch, held in 341, under Julius I, to the 
 same effect. (Episcopum non debere, cap. 9 quaest. 9 ; in 
 others, quaest. 2). This was the thirteenth canon of Antioch; 
 and in the twenty-second of the same synod, the principle 
 v-us applied to special cases. This Council of Antioch was 
 far from being general, and some of its canons were rejected; 
 Imt the thirteenth and twenty-second are' amongst those 
 received and confirmed, as having been founded upon the 
 principle of the canon of the general Council of Nice, and 
 confirmed by the first Council of Constantinople, which
 
 374 HISTORICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 
 became general by acceptation ; and in the year 410 Pope 
 Innocent T, who rejected some of the canons of this council 
 and admitted others, received and confirmed the thirteenth 
 and twenty-second. It was upheld by several other decisions 
 during upwards of eleven hundred years ; it was finally rati- 
 fied by the Council of Trent, when that council remodelled 
 the discipline, and repealed a considerable portion of the 
 canons of the preceding ages. In the sixth session, held 
 on the 13th of January, 1547, the fifth canon of reforma- 
 tion, which was the last canon of that session, re-enacts 
 and confirms the principle of the second canon of the first 
 Council of Constantinople, with a penalty nearly similar to 
 that of the thirty-fourth apostolic canon, and the editor 
 quotes as precedents those two canons, together with those 
 of Nice and Antioch ; the thirteenth of the second Council 
 of Aries, about 442; the third and nineteenth canons of 
 the Council of Sardica, in the year 347, under the famous 
 Osius, Bishop of Cordova; and the fifteenth canon of the 
 third Council of Orleans, held in 538. 
 
 There was, however, a special object in passing this second 
 canon at Constantinople, which was only exhibited by the 
 production of the third canon. Thrace having been now 
 made a province, and placed upon an equality with Egypt 
 and the province of Antioch, there having been also a 
 number of new provinces created, which were not previ- 
 ously known, the next regulation should concern their rank. 
 In Nice, the only patriarchates recognized were Antioch, 
 which had formerly been the See of Peter, and Alexandria, 
 which was the see of his disciple, St. Mark. Other prov- 
 inces of minor note were referred to, without being named; 
 but now we find not only Antioch and Alexandria, but 
 also Asia Minor, Pontus, and Thrace. 
 
 The third canon then proceeds to give Constantinople 
 the first rank amongst those, and enacts : " Let the Bishop 
 of Constantinople have the first place of honor after the 
 Bishop of Rome, because Constantinople is New Rome." 
 
 This canon was not approved of by the Pope, nor was
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-EUROPEAN TURKEY. 375 
 
 it accepted together with the other canons in the West, 
 nor in Egypt, though it was partially received in Syria 
 and in Asia Minor. The patriarchate of Antioch did not 
 comprehend Thrace. That country was in the western 
 patriarchate, which, upon two grounds, therefore, required 
 the assent of the Bishop of Rome, for any change in 
 territorial jurisdiction or precedence, first as patriarch of 
 that special district, and next as head of the whole Church. 
 Yet, though it was not ratified by him, it was acted upon 
 voluntarily by those who enacted it; and we find also the 
 second canon violated almoct immediately, for the Bishop 
 of Constantinople not only governed Thrace, but interfered 
 in Pontus and Asia Minor, and part of Antioch ; and the 
 emperors who were anxious to add as much as possible 
 to the splendor of the new imperial city, gave their coun- 
 tenance and support to the usurpation ; but to this day 
 the consequences of endeavoring to create and uphold 
 spiritual power by such means, have destroyed religion in 
 this miserable Church. 
 
 About this time, the errors of Apollinaris, Bishop of 
 Laodicea, made some progress in the Churches of Greece. 
 The principle of his error was found in the doctrines of 
 Pythagorean philosophy. The reputed sage had taught that 
 man had two souls, the rational and the sensitive, the one 
 a pure spirit which possessed the higher powers of our 
 nature, the other a nondescript substance, which was the 
 receptacle of sensation and the seat of passion. Apollinaris 
 taught that Christ had the sensitive soul, but not the 
 rational soul, the existence of which he contended would 
 be useless in consequence of the union of the divinity. 
 St. Gregory Nazianzen, who had abdicated the See of Con- 
 stantinople, which was now governed by Nectarius, opposed 
 this error in the East, and St. Ambrose, of Milan, wrote 
 against it in the West, and St. Anathasius in Africa. 
 
 The successor of Nectarius was St. John Chrysostom. 
 This holy man used all the influence of his zeal, his 
 eloquence, and his piety, to restore the discipline of the
 
 37G HISTORICAL SKETCHES-EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 
 Church, but the power of the court was too strong, and 
 his efforts were unavailing. The Empress Eudoxia always 
 found a sufficient number of the clergy ready to aid her 
 in her projects of persecution against a prelate who was 
 alike unmoved by the threats of power or the blandish- 
 ments of luxury. He was frequently banished for the 
 discharge of duty and as often recalled. On Easter eve, 
 A. D. 404, four hundred soldiers attacked the faithful, who 
 followed him to a private chapel, where he was baptizing 
 the catechumens, as he could not consistently with the 
 principles of the Church go into the cathedral. Vast num- 
 bers were slain, the baptismal fonts filled with blood, the 
 very Eucharist trampled under foot by savages who called 
 themselves Catholics. The holy bishop ended his days in 
 exile, from the hardships he endured on his transportation 
 to Armenia, in the month of September, 407. 
 
 Arsacius, brother to Nectarius, the former prelate, was- 
 intruded upon the Church, but Pope Innocent I refused to- 
 recognize or receive him into communion, and he was sup- 
 ported by the court. This was the first schism between 
 the Latin and Greek Churches. Fourteen months after 
 this, Anticus, an Armenian monk, was promoted to this 
 see, and was received into communion upon his erasing 
 from the dyptics of his Church the name of Arsacius, and 
 substituting that of John Chrysostom, which the usurper 
 had erased. The Church of Alexandria had the misfortune 
 to have at its head, previously to this, Theophilus, the 
 worst enemy of St. John Chrysostom ; he was succeeded 
 by his nephew, Cyril, who made a similar change in the 
 dyptics of Alexandria to that which Atticus made in those 
 of Constantinople. Atticus was succeeded by Sisinnius; and 
 after his death, Nestorius was brought thither from Antiocli, 
 in 428. 
 
 III. 
 
 Scarcely was Nestorius fixed in his see when he began 
 to introduce erroneous doctrines which he had imbibed 
 from Theodore of Mopsuestia. He taught in his cathedral 

 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-EUROPEAN TURKEY. 377 
 
 that Christ had two persons as he had two natures, and 
 therefore, that the expression which was usual amongst 
 Christians when speaking of the blessed Virgin was incor- 
 rect that they should not style her Mother of God, because 
 she was only mother of the human person, but not of the 
 divine person. The people rose up instantly and interrupted 
 him in the midst of his discourse, stating that he was 
 changing their doctrines, and that if an angel from heaven 
 were to preach a c different doctrine from what they had 
 received from Jesus Christ through the Apostles and their 
 successors, they could not receive it, for they were bound 
 to believe the revelations of God, and it would be impiety 
 to believe doctrines contradictory to what Jesus Christ 
 delivered. 
 
 Theodore of Mopsuestia fell into his error by too vio- 
 lently opposing Apollinaris. Nestor ius carried the false 
 principles of Theodore to farther results than his teacher, 
 and thus in their consequences proved their falsehood. 
 Besides endeavoring to abolish the expression respecting the 
 Blessed Virgin, which had been always known in the- 
 Church, Nestorius tried also to banish other phrases equally 
 consecrated by truth and usage, and which the pagans cited 
 as proofs of the folly of Christianity: "A God has died," 
 " God has suffered." Nestorius stated that those expressions 
 arose from a mistake of the doctrine, but his flock contended 
 that their belief was correct and his doctrine a novelty. 
 
 The new archbishop was in high favor at court and 
 immediately procured the aitl of the civil and military 
 power for his support, but the people Avould not change 
 their faith. As every error will necessarily create opposition,, 
 and that opposition create noise and tumult, not only was 
 this wretched Church now torn into factions, but these also- 
 communicated their feelings and opinions to their neighbors, 
 so that all Greece and a considerable portion of Asia and 
 Egypt became embroiled. St. Cyril, the Patriarch of Alex- 
 andria, having been consulted by some of the monks of 
 his district, decided that the Archbishop of Constantinople
 
 378 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 
 had erred. Nestorius had the decision of Cyril answered 
 by Photius, to which Cyril replied, and now the contest 
 was violent. 
 
 Acacius, Bishop of Berea, and John, Patriarch of Antioch, 
 condemned Nestorius, but were of opinion that Cyril was 
 too violent. Cyril and Nestorius had both written to Pope 
 Celestin, who held a provincial council at Rome, in which 
 Nestorianism was condemned, as it was also in a provincial 
 council held by Cyril in Egypt. Nestorius retorted its own 
 anathemas upon the synod of Alexandria, and appealed to 
 a general council. This general council was held at Ephesus 
 in 431, and Nestorius was condemned there; after which, 
 the more strongly to mark their faith, the Catholics took , 
 every occasion of using the very phrases which Nestorius 
 strove to abolish "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for 
 us sinners now and at the hour of our death," etc. Nes- 
 torius, having been deposed, retired to a monastery, but 
 did not embrace the true faith. The Emperor Theodosius 
 the younger prohibited the assemblies of the Nestorians, 
 and banished numbers of them, who went principally to 
 Persia and Syria. 
 
 This same Theodosius had the relics of St. John Chry- 
 sostom brought with great pomp from the East to Constan- 
 tinople, in the time of Proclus, the successor of Nestorius. 
 Flavian succeeded Proclus, and in his time another heresy 
 originated in this city. Eutyches, the archimandrite or 
 abbot of a monastery near Constantinople, was its author. 
 
 The rage of opposition to Nestorianism was such amongst 
 this speculative and hot-headed people, that it was easy to 
 lead them to the other extreme. Nothing was wanted but 
 a leader, and Eutyches was fitted for that post. Austere 
 and mortified, his appearance of sanctity, together with the 
 situation which he held, gave him weight with the multi- 
 tude, who were greatly taken with the vehemence of his 
 declamations against Nestorianism. He was more headstrong 
 and obstinate than intelligent or well informed, and he was 
 held in some estimation at court. His spirit had also
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-EUROPEAN TURKEY. 379 
 
 something of a disposition to persecute, and he is looked 
 upon as a promoter of the severities inflicted upon the 
 Xestorians. 
 
 Eutyches inveighed against the impiety of those who 
 dared to say that in Jesus Christ there were two persons, 
 when there were not even two natures ; for although the 
 Son of God assumed our nature, in Him it was destroyed. 
 It was no longer human nature after the personal union ; 
 Jesus Christ had then but one person and one nature. 
 The Nestorian denied that Christ was one person possessing 
 two natures. Eutyches denied that Christ had two natures 
 in one person. The Catholic Church has always taught 
 that in Christ there are two natures, the divine and human, 
 united in one person. The errors of Eutyches were spread 
 through several monasteries, and found their way into 
 Egypt and the East. Eusebius, Bishop of Dorylea, who 
 had been one of the earliest opponents of Xestorius, was 
 also one of the first to detect the error of Eutyches. 
 Finding his remonstrances with the archimandrite unavailing, 
 he presented a formal complaint for heresy, without speci- 
 fying the tenets against him, to Flavian, who then presided 
 in a synod at Constantinople, which was held to regulate 
 a dispute between the metropolitan of Lydia and two of 
 his suffragans. 
 
 The abbot was summoned to attend, but feigned several 
 excuses, and had it privately whispered through the monas- 
 teries that Flavian was a tyrant, who would not admit him 
 to communion unless he signed a paper which he did not 
 understand. Being obliged to appear before the synod, he 
 was convicted; but availing himself of his credit at court, 
 he obtained through the emperor an order for a council at 
 Ephesus. Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria, aasumed the 
 presidency. Together with a small party which was attached 
 to Eutyches, he disregarded the authority of the papal legates 
 who came to preside, deposed Flavian and those who had 
 suspended and condemned the archmandrite. Him they 
 restored, and then finding the majority of bishops to be
 
 380 HISTORICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 
 opposed to their acts, Dioscorus introduced the army, which 
 was at his command. The orthodox bishops protested 
 against this violence, but the opposite party cried out to 
 put down their opponents. Flavian was trodden to such a 
 state as soon produced his death, and others with difficulty 
 escaped. None of the acts of this horrid assembly have 
 been received by the Church. Pope St. Leo condemned 
 this synod, and did all he coukl to prevail on Theodosius 
 to suffer a proper council to assemble, but he would not 
 consent. The Pope saw it would be useless to convoke it 
 in opposition to the wishes of the emperor; but Theodo- 
 sius soon dying, Marcian, his successor, afforded every 
 facility, and a general council was held at Chalcedon, in 
 which Eutyches was condemned, in the year 451. This 
 was the fourth general council. Dioscorus was deposed and 
 banished. 
 
 Anatolius contrived to get into the See of Constantinople, 
 after the death of Flavian ; and his ambition urged him 
 in the Council of Chalcedon to attempt elevating the rank 
 of Constantinople. Favored by the court and a consider- 
 able number of the bishops, a resolution w"as obtained in 
 one of the sessions, after the regular business had been 
 disposed of, by which resolution it was agreed, " That since 
 the Church of Constantinople has the honor equally with 
 Rome of being an imperial city and the seat of a senate, 
 it ought to enjoy equal privilege and dignity with the 
 Church of Rome, and therefore the provinces of Pontus 
 and Asia and Thrace ought to belong to its jurisdiction, 
 and be subject to the Bishop of Constantinople, and that 
 their metropolitans should thenceforward be consecrated at 
 Constantinople." 
 
 But when this was read in presence of the legates they 
 immediately rejected and condemned it, stating that their 
 instructions from the Pope upon the subject were clear and 
 definite. 
 
 The Fathers who had agreed to it were further pre- 
 vailed upon to write to the Pope, requesting he would
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 381 
 
 confirm what his legates had refused to sanction, and their 
 own words will exhibit the influence which was employed. 
 After stating their condemnation of Eutyches in conformity 
 with the wishes of the Pope, and concurring with his 
 legates, they continue : " "\Ve have thought fit to regulate 
 some points of discipline, for the peace and welfare of the 
 Church, in giving to the Bishop of Constantinople the next 
 rank after Rome, but your legates have opposed it though 
 we have only in this confirmed the judgment of the one 
 hundred and fifty bishops assembled in Constantinople in 
 the reign of Theodosius the Great, which bishops decreed 
 also that the Bishop of Constantinople should have priv- 
 ilege next after your Holy See. In opposing it, we sup- 
 pose your legates were only moved by the desire of 
 leaving to you the honor of doing personally this act, 
 which is to insure- the peace of the Church. In our 
 decree we have been influenced by the wish of the em- 
 peror, the desire of the senate, and the request of the 
 whole imperial city. By your confirmation you will insure 
 the everlasting gratitude and strict adherence of the See of 
 Constantinople. And as the credit of the good actions of 
 children redound to the glory of their father, we pray you 
 to honor our decrees by your judgment ; and as we, your 
 children, have joined in your judgment of faith, so you, 
 our head, may in return concur in the regulation which 
 we have originated as productive of great good. By so 
 doing, you will also highly gratify the emperor and the 
 imperial city." 
 
 St. Leo refused his sanction, and wrote to the emperor 
 and to his religious empress and to the Archbishop of Con- 
 stantinople, expostulating with them and giving the reasons 
 for his refusal, stating, amongst others, that the civil 
 dignity of a city was no ground for its ecclesiastical pre- 
 eminence. It may also be remarked, that in this council 
 there was no Patriarch of Alexandria to make opposition, 
 for in the very first session Dioscorus had been deposed. 
 Juvenal of Jerusalem held but an honorary distinction void
 
 382 HISTORICAL SKETCHES- EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 
 of jurisdiction, and Maximus of Antioch did not appear to 
 interest himself; for by giving Pontus and Asia proper to 
 Constantinople, together with Thrace, there was no encroach- 
 ment upon his jurisdiction, as it did not extend north of 
 Mount Taurus and the river Tigris. But the bishops of 
 the province of Ephesus strongly opposed it. Another 
 lemark which should be made here is, that even at this 
 period Greece proper, which is the ancient Peloponnesus 
 and Achaia, together with Macedonia, Epirus, and Illyricum, 
 were not in the patriarchate formed or intended to be 
 formed for Constantinople, but were in the western patri- 
 archate, of which Thrace was originally a portion. 
 
 Though the canons by which it was hitherto attempted to- 
 raise Constantinople were thus rendered invalid, still they 
 were not inoperative. The ambition of the emperors and 
 their courtiers, and sometimes the ambition and sometimes 
 the weakness of the archbishops of the new imperial city r 
 joined to the submission of the bishops of the new 
 division, gave virtually an efficacy to the regulation. Ana- 
 tolius exercised the power by the consent sometimes of 
 those over whom he claimed jurisdiction, and at other 
 times aided by the civil power he compelled submission. 
 This introduction of the civil power to cause the execu- 
 tion of ecclesiastical decrees has been the ruin of Church 
 discipline, and has laid the foundation of the intermeddling 
 of kings and emperors with Church concerns, and has been 
 productive, upon the whole, of incalculable mischief. 
 
 After the death of Anatolius, Gennadius, a good and 
 pious bishop, governed the Church of Constantinople during 
 a few years, and upon his death, in 471, Acacius, a bishop 
 of a very different character, occupied his place. 
 
 The Emperor Marcian died in 457, and was succeeded by 
 Leo Marcelles, who reigned until 474, when he was 
 succeeded by Zeno the Isaurian, who filled the throne 
 until 491, with the exception of the period that Basiliscus 
 tyrannized in Constantinople, during the temporary abdica- 
 tion of Zcno and his flight into Isauria.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 
 During that period the dreadful effects of this new 
 interference in ecclesiastical concerns exhibited themselves. 
 When the Christians were persecuted by the emperors, 
 religion was preserved pure and uncontaminated ; but when 
 the emperors became the protectors of the Church, and the 
 union of Church and State was formed, bishops became 
 courtiers, and the episcopacy was now in a place of less 
 trouble, less danger, less privation, more honor, more 
 wealth, and more influence. Courtiers regulated Church 
 affairs by the principles of human policy, and the \ Church 
 was agitated by the concussions of the State. The igno- 
 rance of Leo, the vacillating tyranny of Basiliscus, and the 
 officious interference of Zeno, under the guidance of the 
 wily Acacius, threw everything into confusion ; there was 
 scarcely a see in the Patriarchate of Constantinople, whose 
 bishop was not exiled or deposed by one or other of 
 those three rulers ; and persecution for difference of faitli 
 began to be formally introduced into Christianity. 
 
 Leo was orthodox, but ignorant ; Zeno cared nothing for 
 religion, and plundered his subjects, whilst the barbarians 
 ravaged his provinces with impunity. He having fled to- 
 avoid the rage of the people, Basiliscus, brother-in-law to> 
 Leo, usurped the throne. He wished to make a party, 
 and finding many Eutychians to whom he was attached, 
 he condemned the Council of Chalcedon, and banished and 
 deposed several bishops who refused to sign his act of 
 condemnation. After two years, upon the return of Zeno, 
 he was sent by him into Oappadocia, where he and his 
 wife and children were put into a castle, the apertures of 
 which were ^uilt up, and the unhappy inmates left there 
 to starve. Zeno undid all that Basiliscus had done, and 
 deposed those whom he had favored. But the Catholics and 
 Eutychians had now come to violent opposition. To try and 
 reconcile both parties, Acacius 4 recommended to the emperor 
 to publish an edict, in which the exposition of the Catholic 
 faith concerning the incarnation was accurately given; but to 
 gratify the Eutychians, no mention was made of the Council
 
 384 HISTORICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 
 of Chalcedon, or of its decrees. This edict was called 
 Henotikon, or edict of union. The Eutychians refused 
 to embrace its doctrines the Catholics refused to treat a 
 general council with disrespect. Acacius advised Zeno to 
 punish both. The emperor followed his advise, and banished 
 most of the bishops of the empire, persecuting both sides 
 most unsparingly. This is the first instance we find on 
 record of monarchs regulating the doctrines of religion. 
 
 Pope St. Leo died in 461, and was succeeded by St. 
 Hilary, who died in 470. His successor was St. Simplicius, 
 who died in 483, and was succeeded by Felix III. This 
 Pope sent three legates, Vitalis and Misenus, bishops, and 
 Felix, to Constantinople, to remonstrate against this perse- 
 cution, to have the edict cancelled, and to prevail upon 
 the emperor to withdraw his support from Peter Moggus, 
 the unprincipled Patriarch of Alexandria. Acacius had so 
 completely gained upon the emperor that he had the legates, 
 thrown into prison, and then succeeded in bringing the two 
 bishops to enter into communion with Peter Moggus. The 
 Pope assembled a council in Home, deposed his legates 
 and excommunicated Acacius, who in return excommunicated 
 the Pope. This began the second schism of Constantinople. 
 
 Acacius died in 488, and was succeeded by Flavita, who 
 not only was a schismatic but a heretic. The wretched 
 people were now divided into three parties, the Catho- 
 lics, the Eutychians, and a middle party called the Doubt- 
 ful all irreconcilable. Flavita was soon succeeded by 
 Euphemius, who held the Catholic faith, and received the 
 Council of Chalcedon, but he found the district in a mis- 
 erable situation. Acacius had, in revenge for the excom- 
 munication of Felix, deposed most of the orthodox bishops, 
 and Flavita was anxious to fill their places with Eutychians, 
 so that the faith was lost in many of the Churches. 
 Euphemius wrote to Pope G^Jasius, the successor of Felix, 
 who died in 492, that he condemned Dioscorus and received 
 the Council of Chalcedon, praying to be received into com- 
 munion. Gelasius required the name of Acacius to be
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-EUROPEAN TURKEY. 385 
 
 taken off the dyptics of Constantinople, and that of Felix to 
 be inserted. Euphemius refused to comply with the first part, 
 but willingly offered to comply with the second part of 
 the requisition. Gelasius, therefore, refused him communion, 
 and the schism continued. Meantime Zeno was succeeded in 
 the empire by Anastatius I, who at first punished all the 
 parties, but subsequently attaching himself to the Eutychians, 
 he deposed and banished Euphemius, and had Macedonius 
 substituted for him by some bishops, whom he procured 
 for the purpose. The schism continued under Macedonius, 
 though his faith was orthodox. Anastatius soon found 
 means, as he had inclination, and deposed and banished 
 Macedonius, as also Flavian of Antioch, and Elias of Jeru- 
 salem, for holding to the Council of Chalcedon. St. Sabas 
 the Abbot and other holy men remonstrated with the em- 
 peror, who desisted a little from his persecution, and a 
 profession of faith and petition for communion was- sent to 
 Pope Symmachus by most of the Churches, stating that they 
 thought it bard to be punished for the fault of Acacius. . 
 The Pope answered that the profession was orthodox, but 
 that they should acknowledge also the propriety of the 
 condemnation of him whose crime they acknowledged. 
 
 Meantime Vitalian, a Scythian, raising a vast body of 
 troops, under pretence of defending the Catholic faith, over- 
 ran Scythia and Mysia, penetrated through Thrace, and laid 
 siege to Constantinople. The emperor promised to reunite 
 himself to Rome, and the troops withdrew. He applied to 
 Pope Hormisdas, who required the same conditions as his 
 predecessors had. The emperor refused, but many of the 
 bishops and monasteries acceded and were reconciled. St. 
 Sabas and a number of other holy men again applied to 
 the emperor, and he appeared to relent, but still delayed. 
 He died in the year 518, in the 88th year of his age, 
 and was succeeded by Justinus I; and in the year 519, 
 through the latter's intervention, the names of Acacius and 
 Flavita, Euphemius and Macedonius were taken off the 
 dyptics, the faith of Chalcedon restored, and an end put to 
 the schism. as
 
 386 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 
 IV. 
 
 After the reconciliation with Rome in 519, there was a 
 considerable calm in the Church of Constantinople. The 
 Emperor Justin I dying in 527, was succeeded by Justinian 
 I, his nephew, whose wife Theodora was a Eutychian. 
 This emperor had a religious turn and a great propensity 
 for legislation, the union of both which qualities in a 
 person possessed of his authority made him a torment to 
 the Church. He was at the commencement of his reign a 
 Roman Catholic, and not only religious but austere and 
 mortified. He devoted very little time to his meals and 
 to sleep. He frequently fasted two days upon one poor 
 meal of wild herbs and other vegetables. He soon began 
 the career of theologian and ecclesiastical legislator. He is 
 the first prince that we find usurping this power; but his 
 earliest 'edicts, though regarding ecclesiastical persons, had 
 more the appearance of civil than of ecclesiastical legislation; 
 on which account the usurpation did not wear so obnoxious 
 an aspect as to require strenuous opposition, especially in 
 the unsettled state of that portion of the Church. Besides, 
 the object of the edicts was evidently good and necessary, 
 and the execution of the law was committed to the patriarch, 
 and through him to the metropolitans. He also published 
 a profession of faith, which contained the doctrine of the 
 Catholic Church, and on this account was pretty generally 
 subscribed. He manifested great zeal for the conversion of 
 heretics and infidels, and brought many to the external 
 profession of the faith, though most persons agree that he 
 made more hypocrites than converts; 'and indeed the means 
 which he used, viz.: rewards and punishments, were better 
 calculated to produce hypocrisy than conviction. Some per- 
 sons go so far as to say that he had an interest in tlmsc 
 persecutions, for that he put into his private coffers the 
 proceeds of the confiscations to which he subjected the 
 obstinate. 
 
 The Eutychians having caused great trouble at Alexandria
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 387 
 
 in Egypt, and even made a schism amongst the Catholics, 
 the emperor had a conference between six Catholic and 
 six schismatical bishops in his palace, the result of which 
 was the reconciliation of one of the schismatical prelates 
 and some of the clergy and the exasperation of the others. 
 Justinian drew up a formulary of faith anew, and sent it 
 to the Pope, John I, a successor of Hormisdas, requesting 
 him, as " the head of all the bishops," to confirm it. 
 This form contained a clear exposition of the true faith, 
 and was approved of by the Pope in 529, and subscribed 
 by most of the Oriental bishops. 
 
 Justinian was desirous of reducing the laws of the empire 
 into a better form than they were in, and for that purpose 
 employed some of the ablest lawyers and chief officers 
 of his time. 
 
 In 529, he published "the Code," so called as being 
 the book which contained the select constitutions of the 
 preceding emperors and his own, which he wished to pre- 
 serve in force ; and in 534, a more correct and improved 
 selection was set forth. In 533 the best decisions of the 
 lawyers upon cases under those constitutions were published 
 under the title of Digests, or Pandects, and this was 
 immediately followed by four books of Institutes, or intro- 
 duction to the study and application of this law and those 
 decisions. There was an appendix called Novelise, which 
 principally consisted of ecclesiastical laws compiled in like 
 manner, and of several laws of his own modern enactment. 
 The entire of this forms what is called the Civil or 
 Justinian Code. Many of the ecclesiastical regulations were 
 never received by the Church, and several that were received 
 have been subsequently annulled by contrary usage, by 
 disuse, or by repeal, or by the enactments of canons which 
 are inconsistent with the entries of the Novelise. Such as 
 were of force at any time received their authority not from 
 the enactment of Justinian, but from the acceptation of the 
 Church. One of the principal topics in this appendix 
 regarded the appointment of bishops. Some of the Eastern
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 
 Churches received the discipline there laid down, but very 
 few iu the West acted on it. 
 
 The discipline in the Western Churches was? principally 
 founded upon the canons of the Apostles, the canons of 
 the Councils of Nice, Constantinople, Ephesus, aixl Chal- 
 ccdon, which were general, and of the provincial councils 
 of Ancyra, the capital of Galatia, in Asia Minor, held in 
 314; Gangres, the capital of Paphlagonia, held in 470; 
 Neocesarea, in Cappadocia, now called Tocat, held about 
 the year 315 ; three Councils of Antioch, in Syria, in 265, 
 359, and 452 ; Laodicea, in Phrygia, in the time of Pope 
 Damasus, and some others, found in the collection of 
 Dionysius the Little, a Scythian monk, who became a priest 
 of the Church of Rome, of eminent piety and literary 
 ability, and who, in 520, published the first collection of 
 canon law, to which, a few years afterwards, he added the 
 Decretals of the Popes Siricius, Innocent I, Zozimus, Boni- 
 face I, Celestin I, Leo the Great, Gelasius I, and Anasta- 
 sius II. This same Dionysius was an excellent arithmetician 
 and astronomer ; he renewed the computation of the cycle, 
 that of Cyril having nearly expired ; and substituted the 
 computation by the Christian era for that of consulate and 
 other modes of keeping account. Many persons are of 
 opinion, however, that he fell into a mistake, which has 
 never been corrected, of four years in the assignment of 
 the exact period of the Incarnatioi 
 
 Another remark is also necessary upon the Novelise, and 
 indeed upon the whole Justinian code. I have before 
 noticed the conduct of Justinian in compelling persons to 
 profess a faith to which they were riot attache^. This had 
 produced many bad results, amongst which that now adverted 
 to was not trivial. Tribonian, a heathen, who pretended 
 to be a Christian, was questor, which office is nearly the 
 same as a judge in equity. This man, who was one of 
 the best lawyers of the age, was by no means as upright 
 as he was learned. Procopins and Suidas accuse him of 
 having been excessively corrupt and venal. He was one
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCIIES-^EUROPEAN TURKEY. 389 
 
 of the chief compilers of the Pandects and editors of the 
 Novelise, and frequently exhibited in them how little ho 
 was influenced by the principles of that religion which his 
 interest obliged him to profess against his conviction. 
 
 I have stated before that the Empress Theodora was a 
 Eutychian. But like all heresies, the Eutychian was now 
 divided into several minor sects, a considerable one of 
 which was called that of the Acephalists ; they were obsti- 
 nate opponents of the Council of Chalcedon. To this sect 
 the empress specially attached herself. Upon the death of 
 Epiphanius the patriarch, in 535, she contrived to have 
 Anthimus, who was a member of this sect, raised to the 
 See of Constantinople from the See of Trebisond, which he 
 had previously filled. 
 
 . St. Agepctus, who had succeeded John II in the See of 
 Rome, was consecrated on the 4th of May, 535, and at 
 the request of Theodotus, King of the Goths in Italy, 
 went to Constantinople for the purpose of endeavoring to 
 dissuade Justinian from sending an expedition to recover 
 Italy. In this he failed; .but the Catholics of the imperial 
 city accused their patriarch of heresy. Agapetus refused to 
 receive Anthimus into communion, unless he subscribed the 
 decrees of Chalcedon, and complained of the irregularity of 
 his translation from Trebisond. The emperor and empress 
 used their influence in vain with the Pope to allow the 
 translation to stand valid. Anthimus returned to his former 
 see, and the Pope consecrated Mennas patriarch of the 
 imperial city, and excommunicated Anthimus, unless he 
 would subscribe the decrees of Chalcedon. This created for 
 the Pope the enmity of the empress and all her adherents. 
 Agapetus died at Constantinople on April 18, A. D., 530, 
 and his body was brought to Rome for interment. 
 
 Upon the death of St. Agapetus, Silverius, son of Pope 
 Hormisdas, who had been married previous to his ordination, 
 was consecrated on the 8th of June, 536. Belisarius, the 
 general of Justinian, having made himself master of Sicily 
 in 535, took Naples in 53G ; and marching toward Rome,
 
 390 HISTORICAL SKETCHES -EUROPE AN TURKEY. 
 
 that city was, at the request of Pope Silverius, delivered 
 up to him. The empress looked upon this as a good 
 opportunity of promoting her views ; wrote to the Pope, 
 requiring him either to acknowledge Anthimus Bishop of 
 Constantinople, or to proceed to that city and examine his 
 cause. Upon the receipt of the letter Silverius remarked 
 that the packet would cost him his life. He wrote back 
 that he could not betray the cause of the Catholic faith. 
 
 At this time Vigilius, one of the archdeacons of the 
 Roman Church, who had .accompanied the late Pope, was 
 still at Constantinople. The empress promised to have him 
 made Pope, as Rome was now in her power, and to bestow 
 upon him a large sum of money, provided he would con- 
 demn the Council of Chalcedon, and restore to communion 
 Anthimus, who was to be reinstated in Constantinople, and 
 Severus and Theodosius, the Eutychian patriarchs of Antioch 
 and Alexandria. The conditions were acceded to, and 
 Vigilius set off for Home, with a letter to Belisarius, com- 
 manding him to banish Silverius and have Vigilius placed 
 in his stead. Constantinople had long felt the evils of a 
 connection with the State ; and the melancholy review which 
 I have already made shows but too evidently the terrible 
 effects of this unnatural and demoralizing association. This 
 was the first attempt upon the See of Rome by the same 
 agents. 
 
 Belisarius showed great reluctance to execute this com- 
 mission ; but his wife, Antonina, who was a confidant and 
 favorite of the empress, had an undue ascendancy over him 
 and prevailed. "The empress commands me," said the gen- 
 eral, " I must obey. He who seeks the ruin of Silverius, 
 and not I, shall answer for it at the last day." The Pope 
 was accused, to afford a pretext for executing the order, of 
 having held a treasonable correspondence with Vitiges, the 
 Goth, who was raised to the throne in place of Theodotus, 
 who was deposed. To prove this, a letter was produced 
 as. from the Pope, inviting Vitiges to attack the city and 
 he would open its gates. It was proved that this
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 391 
 
 was forged by Marcus, a lawyer, and Julianus, a military 
 man, who had been suborned by the empress' friends. 
 Belisarius entreated the Pope to comply with the request 
 of his mistress, and not place him under the necessity of 
 doing what he said was his' duty. The Pope declared that 
 he could not abandon his own duty, and that the power 
 of rulers could not justify him before God. He then took 
 refuge in the Church of St. Sabina. The general contrived 
 to get him out of the church, and had him privately 
 removed; and Vigilius was consecrated on the 22d of 
 November, 537, it being published that Silverius had vol- 
 untarily resigned. The good Pope was removed to Palmaria, 
 in Lycia, the bishop of which place treated him with the 
 kindness due to the Father of the faithful, and obtained 
 from the emperor an order for his restoration, unless he 
 could be proved guilty of high treason. The executioners 
 of the empress' orders contrived his detention in the little 
 Island of Palmaria, where he died, some say of ill treat- 
 ment, others by the hand of an assassin, on the 20th of 
 June, 538. 
 
 Vigilius repented of his crimes, and though theretofore 
 an intruder, was now confirmed in his place, and became 
 the successor not only to the dignity, but to the firm 
 orthodoxy of Silverius, so that the designs of Theodora 
 were frustrated. 
 
 Still, however, Justinian could not refrain from interfering 
 in the concerns of the Church ; and the opponents of 
 Catholicity, amongst whom his wife was the most restless 
 and not the least artful, took advantage of this propensity. 
 Justinian had a council held under Hennas, in which laws 
 were passed anew against the Nestorians and several sects 
 of Eutychians ; and the emperor persecuted all who would 
 not receive those laws. Changing their appellation, some 
 of those proscribed sectaries now took up the doctrines of 
 Origen ; and an application was made to the emperor, who 
 actually neglected the government of the empire to get 
 entangled in theological broils, to have them condemned.
 
 392 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 
 He drew up a new edict, in which he divided the errors 
 of Origen into classes, ranged them under six heads, and 
 condemned them. He sent a copy of this to Mennas, 
 requiring him to have the bishops of his patriarchate and 
 their abbots to subscribe thereto, and informing him that 
 he had sent copies to Pope Vigilius and to the other 
 patriarchs for the same purpose. The edict contained no 
 error, and was received and subscribed. Whilst his majesty 
 was thus employed, Chosroes, King of Persia, was ravaging 
 his eastern territories with impunity. Nor could the daily 
 accounts of successive disasters withdraw him from ecclesi- 
 astical legislation. 
 
 Amongst the insincere subscribers to the edict which 
 condemned the errors of Origen, one of the principal was 
 Theodore Ascidas, visitor or exarch of the New Laura, 
 founded by St. Sabas the abbot, in 507. This man after- 
 wards contrived to obtain the Bishopric of Csesarea in Cap- 
 padocia, and became the rallying point of the Origenist 
 Eutychians. He was a man of consummate artifice am} 
 unexcelled hypocrisy. Being 011 good terms with Justinian 
 and favored by Theodora, he devised a mode of, as he 
 thought, covertly destroying the authority of the Council of 
 Chalcedon. He told the emperor that if, instead of pub- 
 lishing edicts of condemnation against the Acephalists and 
 other Eutychians, he would only have the Nestorians who 
 were condemned at Ephesus fully put down, all the Euty- 
 chians would join the Church. He stated their objection 
 to receiving the Council of Chalcedon to be, that in this 
 council Nestorianism was tolerated, and that upon this 
 sole ground they rejected the council ; that this Nestorian 
 doctrine was held by Theodore of Mopsuestia, who was 
 treated by the council as orthodox, though it was from 
 him Nestorius learned the errors; that it received as ortho- 
 dox the letter of Ibas of Edessa to Maris the Persian, 
 which was full of Ncstorianism ; and that if those errors 
 and their abettors were condemned by an edict, as well as 
 the errors of Tlicodoret of Cyrus, in opposition to St. 
 Cyril, the Acephalists would subscribe willingly to the edict.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 393 
 
 Justinian wanted but an opportunity to commence new 
 work; and now that it was afforded, lie began. The party 
 knew that if the edict were once published, Justinian, 
 whose pride was excessive, would never retract it. They 
 calculated thus to bring discredit upon the Council of 
 Chalcedon, and, by the power of the emperor, force the 
 Catholics to subscribe contradictions or submit to persecu- 
 tion ; but they were disappointed. Justinian published his 
 edict condemning the three chapters such was the appella- 
 tion of those writings in 545 but it contained only the 
 assertion of true doctrine. 
 
 V. 
 
 The edict of Justinian on the affair of the three chapters 
 caused great disunion in the Church. The Eutychians 
 boasted that the Council of Chalcedon was partially con- 
 demned thereby, many of the Catholics were of the same 
 opinion, and several others could see in the edict only the 
 declaration of the Catholic faith, without any reproach flung 
 upon the Fathers of Chalcedon. 
 
 This is not the place for me to examine the grounds of 
 their opinions. I only mention facts historically. A schism 
 between the Catholics was the consequence. Pope Vigilius, 
 who was at Constantinople, issued a condemnation of those 
 documents styled a judicatum, saving, however, all respect 
 for the authority of the Council of Chalcedon. Vigilius 
 also placed the Empress Theodora under excommunication, 
 and broke off special communication Avith Mennas. 
 
 The judicatum, so far from healing the schism, increased 
 it. Vigilius then proposed to assemble a council for the 
 examination of the chapter; and, pressed on all sides, 
 superceded the judicatum by another decree called the con- 
 stitutum, in which under a different formula, the same 
 errors were condemned, and a prohibition was issued to 
 derogate from the authority of the Fathers, who had preceded 
 those times. The emperor and his officers ill-treated the
 
 394 UISTOKICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 
 Pope in such a manner, as frequently to endanger his life ; 
 he was imprisoned to force him to acts against his con- 
 science, and kept in a state of durance, which left his acts 
 void to that authority to which those of a free agent only 
 are entitled. 
 
 Meantime, in the year 553, there was an assembly of 
 bishops held, at which very few of the westerns attended. 
 The council was opened in the private apartments of the 
 cathedral of Constantinople; and after the bishops had pro- 
 ceeded for some time in their deliberations, the Pope had 
 the constitutem sent to them, and protested against the 
 irregularity of the proceedings. However, the sessions con- 
 tinued, and the errors of the three chapters were condemned; 
 and in the last session the prelates recognized, received, 
 and confirmed the acts of the Councils of Nice, Constanti- 
 nople, and Chalcedon, and declared their faith to be the 
 same as that which was defined in those four councils, and 
 excommunicated those who would not receive all their 
 decisions. Eutychius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Apol- 
 linaris, of Alexandria, and the bishops, signed the acts of 
 the council. 
 
 The emperor still detained Vigilius in the imperial city ; 
 but having succeeded in forcing him to confirm the acts of 
 this council in about six months, he gave him leave to 
 return into Italy. Still the troubles caused by the tyrannical 
 interference of Justinian were not appeased. And although 
 in the several documents which came from Vigilius, and 
 the acts of the synod, there was nothing but the true doc- 
 trine of the Church, the irregularity of the proceedings 
 threw the whole transaction into discredit, and the miscon- 
 structions of the sectaries rendered doubtful the exact 
 doctrines which were held. The council was therefore by 
 no means generally received. Vigilius died in Sicily, on 
 his return to Home. 
 
 Justinian either built or repaired in Constantinople, at his 
 own cost, thirty-one churches, amongst which was the great 
 church of St. Sophia, which is at this day a splendid
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 395 
 
 mosque. He also, in other parts of the empire, built 
 thirty churches, ten hospitals, and twenty-three monasteries ; 
 but he made an inglorious peace with Chosroes, King of 
 Persia, preferring to embroil himself and his empire in the 
 theological disquisitions to discharging his duty by protect- 
 ing his people from the ravages of enemies, and securing 
 peace and justice for them in their temporal concerns, 
 which had been specially entrusted to his care. This 
 Emperor, in his latter years, fell into the heresy of the 
 Incorruptibles, and after having been a persecutor for doc- 
 trine, a torment to the Church, a defender of faith, and a 
 violator of discipline, he died out of the pale of that 
 Church, in the year 556, having latterly begun to persecute 
 those who held the Catholic faith, for not having followed 
 him in his errors ; amongst whom was Eutychius, the 
 patriarch of the imperial city. 
 
 His successor was Justin II, who held the Catholic foith, 
 and recalled all the Catholic prelates who had been banished 
 by his uncle, with the exception of Eutychius. But though 
 his doctrine was orthodox, his morality was corrupt. He 
 died in 578, and was succeeded by Tiberius Constantine, 
 who recalled the patriarch from Pontus, where he had 
 spent twelve years in exile. St. Gregory the Great> who 
 was afterwards Pope, was at this time nuncio from Pope 
 Pelagius II, in the imperial city, and was on the most inti- 
 mate terms with the emperor and his successor. By the 
 exertions of the prelates, who were now free to use their 
 best efforts, heresy and schism disappeared in several parts. 
 The patriarch taught that by the resurrection the bodies 
 would be impalpable; but upon a conversation with the 
 nuncio, he was convinced of his error and openly cor- 
 rected it. 
 
 After a reign of four years, Tiberius died, and was 
 succeeded by Maurice, in 582. Gregory was soon afterwards 
 recalled to Rome, and in 590 succeeded Pelagius in the 
 pontificate. At the close of this century, John the Faster, 
 a man of extraordinary austerity of life, but also of stern
 
 39G HISTORICAL SKETCHES- EUROPE AN TURKEY. 
 
 manners, was in the See of Constantinople. He went in 
 his progress a step farther than any of his predecessors, 
 and took the title of Universal Bishop. Gregory wrote to 
 reprove him for the presumption, requiring him to desist 
 from using so equivocal a phrase, which had never been 
 used by any bishop. Gregory, who knew well the history 
 of the Constantinopolitan aggressions, and the ambition of 
 the emperors to elevate the authority of that see, as well 
 as the flattery of the provincial prelates, justly thought it 
 would be giving his sanction to a principle of usurpation, 
 to permit this to pass unnoticed. John answered that he 
 did not assume the title as claiming jurisdiction over all 
 the Churches, but over a great many. Gregory, however, 
 insisted upon the title being altogether disused, which 
 John for a time complied with. 
 
 The Emperor Maurice was extremely avaricious. This 
 unfortunate passion caused him to refuse the payment of 
 a small ransom demanded by the Khan of the Avari, for 
 the release of ten thousand prisoners whom he had taken. 
 This barbarian put them to death, and Maurice, looking 
 upon himself as their murderer, was overwhelmed with 
 grief. However, untaught by this, he ordered his troops 
 into winter quarters beyond the Danube, that he might 
 support them at less expense in an enemy's country. After 
 the massacre of the prisoners, the emperor frequently prayed 
 that God might rather punish him in this life than in the 
 next. His prayer appears to have been heard and granted. 
 
 The troops beyond the Danube, displeased at their hard 
 treatment, revolted, and chose Phocas, exarch of the centu- 
 rions, as their leader, crossed the Danube, and came 
 to Constantinople, where they proclaimed Phocas emperor. 
 Maurice fled from the city. Many persons stating that 
 Phocas could riot reign whilst Maurice lived, a party was 
 sent after the unfortunate fugitive, who was taken with his 
 wife and eight children, and in the vicinity of Chalccdon 
 they were deliberately murdered before his face, the unhappy 
 father exclaiming frequently that verse of the 118th Psalm,
 
 ULST01HCAL SKETCHES-EUROPEAN TURKEY. 397 
 
 "Thou art just, O Lord, and Thy judgments are equitable." 
 The unhappy monarch himself was slain last ; and Phocas 
 thus was elevated upon a blood-stained throne. He was 
 crowned by Cyriacus, the patriarch, who still assumed the 
 title of Universal Bishop. 
 
 St. Gregory the Great died in 604, and was succeeded 
 by Sabinianus, whose successor was Boniface III, who, 
 during his short pontificate, procured an order from Phocas 
 to the imperial city, forbidding them to use the obnoxious 
 title which John the Faster had attempted to establish and 
 Cyriacus had assumed. . . 
 
 Phocas was deposed and put to death by Heraclius in 
 610, during the occupation of the See of Constantinople by 
 Scgius. In the year 625, Chosroes, King of Persia, who 
 still ravaged Judea and the eastern provinces, required as 
 a condition for peace, which Heraclius sought, the apostacy 
 of the empire from Christianity and the adoption of the 
 religion of the Persians. Heraclius rejected the proposal 
 and prepared for vigorous operations ; and it is fit here 
 to remark, that it was upon this occasion the Turks, who 
 were a savage tribe in the northwest of Asia, were brought 
 down by Heraclius into Thrace ; and about this period 
 also Mahomet began his progress in Arabia. 
 
 YI. 
 
 I have made considerable progress in exhibiting the rev- 
 olutions of religion in 'this unfortunate country; but the 
 events thicken as I proceed ; and as my object at present 
 is not to give a detailed history of religion, but a sufficient 
 sketch to enable my readers generally to know the manner 
 in which each portion of the Church came to its present 
 situation, I shall not find it necessary to dwell so much 
 in detail upon the subsequent history of Turkey or Greece. 
 In my account of Russia, I showed how the faith was 
 introduced to the "southern part of that nation ; and as the 
 northern part of what is at present Turkey in Europe and
 
 398 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 
 the southern part of Russia were then occupied by the 
 same hordes, the history of one is the history of the 
 other. I shall still, therefore, confine myself to the history 
 of Thrace and Greece. 
 
 Heraclius, having determined upon carrying on the war 
 vigorously against Chosroes, King of Persia, was not much 
 occupied with theology at first. However, the various sec- 
 taries which now arose produced perpetual contention and 
 theological disputes, and the speculative Greeks were ever 
 and ever making new distinctions and inventing new subtle- 
 ties. The original errors having been with respect to 
 the nature of our blessed Redeemer, every particle, if I 
 may use an expression of that nature, was subjected to 
 their examination. A new contest no~v arose. 
 
 Sergius, Archbishop of Constantinople, was a disguised 
 Eutychian, and anxious covertly to introduce his doctrines, 
 he began with Heraclius. His imperial pupil, charmed 'with 
 the care of his new preceptor and gratified at the compli- 
 ments paid to his progress in the theological erudition, 
 adopted the dictates of the archbishop as the results of 
 his own convictions. Nor was Heraclius the only pupil of 
 the plotting prelate. Many others were infected with the 
 new opinions, which as yet had not been brought to full 
 light. 
 
 Eutychianism consisted in the doctrine of the singleness 
 of the Redeemer's nature. This doctrine had been con- 
 demned. Of course, to teach it openly would insure con- 
 demnation. But if there was only a single will, there 
 was of course in the Redeemer only a single rational nature. 
 Could the doctrine of this single will be covertly estab- 
 lished, the singleness of nature would be thus taught. This 
 first doctrine had not yet been examined nor formerly pro- 
 scribed, and Sergius inculcated that in Christ there was 
 but ono will, and thus he prepared the way for the intro- 
 duction of Eutychianism. 
 
 Athanasius, Patriarch of the Jacobites, who were a great 
 body of Eutychians, having been informed by Sergius of
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-EUROPEAN TURKEY. 399 
 
 the dispositions of Heraclius, went to meet his majesty at 
 Hierapolis, and informed him that he and his people were 
 anxious for a reunion with the Church, 'and that he would 
 make such a profession of faith as would satisfy the Patri- 
 arch of Constantinople, and offered to content himself with 
 expression that in Christ there was only one will. Herac- 
 lius, anxious for this union, embraced the proposition joy- 
 fully, and declared that he would take every step in his 
 power to have Athanasius raised to the See of Antioch. 
 
 Cyrus, Bishop of Phasis, was another of the conspirators 
 who, under the pretext of union, peace and charity, came 
 to offer his services for the harmony of the faithful ; and 
 it was contrived that he obtained the See of Alexandria. 
 Thus, without any noise, the principal sees of the East 
 were, through the cunning of Sergius, in the power of 
 Monothelites. Sophronius, a Syrian monk, was the first 
 who exposed the heresy. He besought the Patriarchs of 
 Alexandria and Constantinople in vain. They drew up a 
 form to be subscribed by all who desired union with the 
 Church. It consisted of nine articles ; and the seventh 
 only, which contained the doctrine of Monotheletism, was 
 erroneous. The Eutychians ran in crowds to sign it, and 
 the emperor was gratified. 
 
 The next step was to guard against the condemnation of 
 Rome. For this purpose Sergius wrote to Pope Honorius 
 that a most brilliant prospect was now before them of 
 reuniting to the Church all the contending sects of the 
 East ; that the Patriarch of Alexandria had been eminently 
 successful ; that crowds were every day flocking in to 
 reunite themselves ; and that no obstacle was raised but 
 by the unauthorized interference of the monk Sophronius, 
 who was creating difficulties by discussing a new question 
 upon which the Scriptures contained nothing, and which 
 the councils had never even entertained, and which, though 
 many of the Fathers had touched upon, still was more a 
 question for grammarians than for bishops ; and that, as 
 all the success of their exertions depended upon peace, it
 
 400 HISTORICAL SKETCHES EUROPEAN TURKEY. 
 
 was requested that Honorius would command silence upon 
 this new topic. The artifice succeeded; and the Pope, thus 
 deceived, wrote a 'letter desiring that there should be no 
 disputes about words, and that Sophronius should not 
 trouble the Patriarch of Alexandria. 1 Sophronius was mean- 
 time raised to the See of Jerusalem, and held a council 
 in which Monotheletism was condemned. He wrote to 
 Honorius, and in return the Pope sent a second letter, in 
 which he repeated his desire of silence upon the subject. 
 Sophronius, aware that there must have been some imposi- 
 tion practiced upon the Holy See, selected Stephen, Bishop 
 of Doria, upon whom he placed the greatest reliance, and 
 taking him to Mount Calvary, bound him solemnly, as he 
 would account to that Saviour who there shed His blood, 
 to go to Rome and to lay the facts distinctly before the 
 Pope, and gave him upwards of six hundred passages of 
 the Fathers, which clearly contained the doctrines of two 
 wills, the human and the divine, together with Scriptural 
 texts. The Monothelites did all they could to intercept 
 the holy bishop ; but though they waylaid him in a variety 
 of places, he arrived safely in Home, but found Honorius 
 had died. 
 
 Meantime Sergius composed a document, which Heraclius 
 published under the title of Ecthesis, or an explanation, 
 in 639. The doctrines of the Trinity and of the Incarna- 
 tion are clearly stated in Catholic terms in this document ; 
 but there is a passage regarding the unity of will in the 
 Redeemer, which is susceptible of an explanation in either 
 sense. This document caused great commotion. Severinus 
 was the immediate successor of Honorius ; but dying after 
 ti pontificate of four months, he was succeeded by John 
 IV, who, learning the true state of the question from the 
 Bishop of Doria, condemned the Ecthesis in 640. Heraclius 
 thereupon revoked the document, and informed the Pope 
 that it had been drawn up by Sergius. 
 
 'This does not touch tho infallibility of tho Pope, since he was here acting 
 not in tho formal character of Pastor Etcrnua.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-EUROPEAN TURKEY. 401 
 
 Jerusalem was taken by the Mussulmen, under the 
 Caliph Omar, in 638; and in the following year, on the 
 llth of March, 639, St. Sophronius died. The Emperor 
 Heraelius was succeeded in 641 by Constantine, who, after 
 a reign of more than three months, made way for Hera- 
 cleonas, and he in six months was succeeded by the Em- 
 peror Cons tans, in the same year 641. 
 
 Sergius, Bishop of Constantinople, died in 638, and was 
 succeeded by Pyrrhus, a Monothelite. This prelate, having 
 joined with Martina and Heracleonas in their wicked 
 poisoning of Constantine and the usurpation of Heracleonas, 
 fled from the city after the punishment of the empress and 
 the usurper. Paul, another Monothelite, occupied the See 
 of Constantinople ; and he prevailed upon Constans, the 
 emperor, in 648, to publish his edict called the Type, 
 imposing silence on the Catholics and the Monothelites. 
 The Type was condemned by Pope Theodore in the same 
 year. Pyrrhus, having passed from Africa to Rome, 
 retracted his errors, and was received into communion by 
 the Pope. Thence he passed to Ravenna, where, at the 
 instigation of the exarch Olympius, he relapsed into his 
 errors, in the expectation of being restored to the favor of 
 the emperor ; and Paul dying in 655, he again got into the 
 see of the imperial city. Many of the best, bravest, and 
 wisest men of the empire fell victims to the relentless 
 persecution of the Monothelites : amongst them was the 
 holy Pope Martin, who, after severe torture in Constan- 
 tinople, died of want and ill-treatment, in exile in the 
 Chersonesus. 
 
 Constans dying in 668, was succeeded by his son, Con- 
 stantiue Pogonatus, who was a Catholic. He requested the 
 Pope Donus to assemble a council ; but that pontiff, in 
 688, was succeeded by Agatho, who complied with the 
 emperor's request, and sent his legate to preside at the 
 synod, which assembled in Constantinople in the month of 
 November, 680. Theodore, a Monothelite, had succeeded 
 Pyrrhus in the see of that city; and he having been 
 
 26
 
 402 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-THE GREEK SCHISM. 
 
 deposed, his place was filled by George, a Catholic. In 
 this council the Monothelite heresy was condemned, as were 
 its abettors ; and amongst them Honorius the Pope had his 
 memory censured for his criminal silence and neglect of 
 opposing the progress of heresy. Pope Agatho dying in 
 Rome before the acts of the council reached him, its canons 
 were confirmed by his successor, Leo II. This is the third 
 Council of Constantinople and the sixth general council. 
 
 THE GREEK SCHISM. 
 I 
 
 I FEAR exceedingly that a pure republican form of gov- 
 ernment cannot be established by this valorous people ; the 
 miscalled Holy Alliance cannot bear a free government to 
 exist within the sphere of its action. 1 I fear that the only 
 hope of patriotic and brave Greece must rest on the posi- 
 tion advanced by some of her agents even to receive a 
 king from some reigning house in Europe. This seems to 
 be the alternative between two evils ; to choose Egyptian 
 bondage or European monarchy, and we can hardly blame 
 this suffering people for preferring the latter as the less 
 of the two evils. The friend of Greece and humanity must 
 shed a tear of sympathy over the uncertain and dangerous 
 condition in which Greece now stands, according to the 
 latest and best authenticated accounts from Europe. 
 
 Having gone thus far into the civil concerns of Greece, 
 let us see a little of the religious history of this people. 
 For the first eight centuries of Christianity, the Greek or 
 Eastern Church was in full communion with the Western 
 or Latin Church, and under the jurisdiction and supremacy 
 of the Bishop of Home, successor to St. Peter, and visible 
 head of the Church of Christ on earth. During this period 
 several errors were broached in the East. Much of the 
 
 i These feara were confirmed.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-TEE GREEK SCHISM. 403 
 
 Platonic and Pagan philosophy existed among the Greek 
 Christians, and by endeavoring to incorporate or reconcile 
 these principles with the principles of the Gospel, several 
 errors in religion were introduced. In order to correct 
 these errors and to establish the true principles of the 
 Gospel, general councils of the Church were from time to 
 time convened : and so we perceive that the first eight 
 general councils were held in the East. 
 
 The first was held at Nice, in 325, regarding the divinity 
 of Christ, and condemning the Arian heresy. The second at 
 Constantinople, in 381, regarding the divinity of the Holy 
 Ghost, and condemning the heresy of the Semi-Arians, the 
 Sabellians, and the Macedonians. The third at Ephesus, in 
 431, against the Nestorians, showing that there was only 
 one person in Christ, and that the Blessed Virgin is the 
 Mother of God. The fourth at Chalcedon, in 451, against 
 the Eutychians, showing that there were two natures in Christ. 
 The fifth at Constantinople, in 553, respecting the errors of 
 Origen and the three chapters. The sixth at Constantinople, 
 in 680, against the Monothelites, proving that there were two 
 wills and operations in Christ. The seventh at Nice, in 787, 
 condemning the Iconoclasts (image-breakers), and establishing 
 the doctrine of proper respect to sacred images. The eighth 
 at Constantinople, in 8G9, against the schism of Photius. This 
 proud and usurping prelate gave origin to the unfortunate 
 separation of the Greek from the Catholic Church. Until 
 this period both Churches were under one head, and though 
 the Eastern Church lost many members by the above- 
 named heresies, the great body were still Catholic, and in 
 full communion with the Catholic Apostolic Church of Rome. 
 One fact is very striking: that though the several sepa- 
 ratists of the Eastern Church differ from the Catholic 
 Church, yet they agree with her in all those points on 
 which Protestants differ from the Catholic doctrine. 
 
 The history of Photius, the remarkable schismatic, must 
 be examined. Bardas, the uncle of the young Emperor 
 Michael, who then governed the Eastern Empire, gave great
 
 404 HISTORICAL SKETCHES THE GREEK SCHISM. 
 
 scandal by his profligate mode of living. Ignatius, Patri- 
 arch of Constantinople, and son of Emperor Michael le 
 Begue, predecessor of Leo the Armenian, felt it his duty 
 to tell this profligate prince how injurious his example was 
 to Christianity. He requested of him to look at least to 
 his own soul ; but this good advice only inflamed the pas- 
 sion of the royal delinquent. This public sinner presented 
 himself to partake of the Eucharist on the Festival of 
 Pentecost; the patriarch refused him the Holy Communion. 
 Bardas vowed vengeance, and .formed a determination to 
 ruin him in the eyes of the Emperor. * In three days after 
 a deputation was sent to Ignatius, requiring of him to 
 resign his see. He resisted all promises and threats. The 
 emperor disregarding the canons of the Church, appointed 
 Photius patriarch. This wicked man possessed great accom- 
 plishments, of mind and body, but his unbounded ambition 
 and finished hypocrisy tarnished the whole. Having consid- 
 erable property, he possessed the means of making many 
 supporters ; by his assiduous application to literature he 
 acquired a great reputation ; in ecclesiastical learning he 
 made considerable proficiency. Having secured the patron- 
 age of Bardas, he paved the way to his nomination to the 
 patriarchate. He was then a layman ; but he contrived to 
 get himself through the several orders to episcopacy in six 
 days ! At his consecration he promised to hold communion 
 with Ignatius, and in less than two months he declared 
 vengeance against him and all his communion. Ignatius 
 was hurried from prison to prison and most cruelly treated. 
 Every means was employed to force from him a resigna- 
 tion of his sec. But Photius, impatient of delay, assembled 
 a sham council, with the support of the emperor, and 
 declared Ignatius deposed. He also procured the deposition 
 of all the bishops who remained firm to Ignatius ; they were 
 cast into prison, and Ignatius was exiled to the Isle of Les- 
 bos. In the meantime Photius sent a delegation to Home to 
 have his own title confirmed, and the deposition of Igna- 
 tius ratified, on the pretence that Ignatius, through infirmity,
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-TEE GREEK SCHISM. 405 
 
 was no longer able to discharge the duties of his office. 
 Pope Nicholas was on his guard ; he sent two legates to 
 Constantinople to get a correct statement of the case. The 
 legates were not permitted to inquire into the facts, and 
 were told that if they did not report favorably for Pho- 
 tius they would be sent into cruel exile. After long resist- 
 ance they yielded to the emperor's will. Ignatius was 
 removed to the Isle of Terebintius, where he suffered much ; 
 thence called to assist at a council formed in order to 
 forward the views of Photius. Ignatius intending to assist 
 in his patriarchal robes, was commanded by the emperor 
 to come in the garb of a simple monk ; he obeyed, and 
 came to the council, where the emperor attended ; pressed 
 to give in his resignation, and not yielding, he was sent 
 away : in ten days after he was forced to return, for he 
 declared his intention not to be present at such a council, 
 which was held in violation of all the rules of the Church. 
 False charges were made against Ignatius ; it was said that 
 he had been consecrated without an electoral decree ; a 
 sentence of deposition was pronounced against him ; he was 
 divested of the pallium and of his episcopal robes and was 
 declared unworthy of the priesthood. Photius caused him 
 to be shut up in the vault of Constantine Copronymus. 
 He was given in charge to three cruel guards, who stripped 
 him of his clothes and placed him on a cold flag during 
 the rigors of the winter season. Left for eight days with- 
 out food or repose, he was put into a marble tomb, and 
 bound therein, and left a whole night in this cruel pos- 
 ture ; unbound the next day, and his hand forcibly put to 
 sign a deed, drawn up by Photius, to the following pur- 
 port : " I, Ignatius, the unworthy Patriarch of Constanti- 
 nople, declare that I have been raised to this sec without 
 an electoral decree, and that I have tyrannically governed 
 the same." This pretended declaration was presented to the 
 emperor, and Ignatius was set at liberty. The illustrious 
 prelate then sent to Rome a memorial signed by the metro- 
 politans, fifty bishops, and many priests ; he related what 
 he had suffered and prayed for redress.
 
 406 HISTORICAL SKETCHES -THE GREEK SCHISM. 
 
 Photius, not yet satisfied, advised the emperor to make 
 Ignatius read aloud in the Church of the Apostles, at Con- 
 stantinople, his act of resignation, and to cause his hand 
 to be cut off and his eyes plucked out. Ignatius being 
 informed of the whole, escaped this new persecution by 
 flight. In the garb of a slave he retreated by night from 
 the city, and fled to the Isle of Propontide. He suffered 
 much in his flight, and was closely sought for by Photius. 
 
 In the meantime Photius wrote hypocritical letters to 
 Pope Nicholas, saying: "When I reflect on the great duties 
 of the episcopal station, and on the weakness of man, and 
 on my own in particular, I am surprised that any one 
 could be found to assume such serious obligations. I can- 
 not express my regret on beholding myself invested with 
 such a burden. My predecessor having resigned his see, 
 the clergy, the metropolitans, and especially the emperor, 
 full of kindness towards others, but of cruelty toward me, 
 and regardless of my opposition, have laid the episcopal 
 charge on my shoulders. Thus, in spite of my tears and 
 regrets, they have forced me into the episcopacy." Con- 
 scious of hifi own imposture, he exhibited forged letters 
 from the Pope, which he himself had penned. The forgery 
 was discovered, but he contrived to evade the deserved 
 pmiishmcnt. Photius was equally criminal in concealing 
 t!ie scandals of the Emperor Michael. This profligate prince 
 laughed at all the ceremonies and doctrines of Christianity. 
 
 Pope Nicholas being duly informed of what passed at 
 Constantinople, held a council and condemned Photius as 
 a usurper. He wrote to Constantinople, saying that lie 
 would never hold communion with Photius, unless lie 
 renounced his usurped see. 
 
 Cscsar Bardas met a fatal end, and Photius lost his 
 chief supporter. Michael suspecting Bardas, got him torn 
 to pieces. Photius, yielding to the times, strongly inveighed 
 against Bardas, and endeavored to merit the good graces 
 of Michael. Many having retired from the communion of 
 Photius, on receiving the papal mandate, he excited a vio-
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-TEE GREEK SCHPSM. 407 
 
 lent persecution against them. He deprived some of their 
 dignities others of their property, and sent others into 
 exile. On seeing that the Pope cut him off from his 
 communion, he excommunicated the Pope in turn. To give 
 a coloring to his proceedings, he held what he called a 
 general council, where the emperor presided, and some 
 legates from the East. False charges and false witnesses 
 were produced against Pope Nicholas. Photius pretended 
 to take the part of the Pope, and said he ought not to 
 be condemned in his absence. The members of the council 
 opposed his feigned opposition, and a sentence of deposition 
 was pronounced against the Pope. He sent the acts of the 
 council to the Roman Emperor, Lewis, and begged of 
 him to banish Pope Nicholas, as being condemned by a 
 general council. 
 
 This proceeding, of course, broke off all communion 
 between the See of Rome and Photius ; but to support 
 his usurpation, Photius wrote a circular to the Eastern 
 bishops, accusing the Latin Church of errors. Behold the 
 prototype of Martin Luther. The accusation was, that the 
 Roman Church held that the Holy Ghost "proceeded not 
 only from the Father, but from the Son." To the present 
 day, this is the chief point on doctrinal matters between 
 the Greek schismatics and the Catholic Church. 
 
 Pope Nicholas being informed of this charge, wrote a 
 pastoral letter on the unjust proceedings of the Greek 
 emperor, and refuted the calumnies advatfeed against the 
 Church of Rome. 
 
 The Emperor Michael still proceeded in his iniquitous 
 career. AVishing to assassinate Basilius in a chase, he was 
 himself killed by his own guards in a state of intoxication, 
 and Basilius was proclaimed emperor. On the next day 
 Photius was banished and Ignatius recalled from his exile. 
 Basilius, with the advice of Ignatius, wrote to Pope Adrian 
 to assemble a general council, in order to heal the wounds 
 inflicted on the Church by the schism of Photius. The 
 Pope sent three legates to Constantinople, where they were
 
 408 HISTORICAL SKETCHED THE GREEK SCHISM. 
 
 received with every mark of respect. The emperor paid 
 them due honors and requested of them to exert all their 
 influence to establish a reunion of the Churches. 
 
 II. 
 
 Pope Adrian, having duly convened a general council to 
 restore peace to the Greek Church, the council was accord- 
 ingly opened on the 5th of October, 869, in the Church 
 of St. Sophia, at Constantinople. The Pope's legates, to 
 whom was assigned the first place, presented their creden- 
 tials to the Emperor Basilius or Basil, by whom they were 
 received with marks of profound respect; the Patriarch 
 Ignatius took his seat next to the Pope's legates, then the 
 legates from the patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem. The 
 bishops who suffered persecution from Photius were then 
 introduced. At the close of the first session, the Pope's 
 letter was read to the council. In the next session, those 
 priests and bishops, who yielded to the violence or persua- 
 sion of Photius, presented themselves, and explained the 
 rigorous treatment employed by Photius in order to bring 
 them over to his usurpation. They said they had been 
 chained, cast into hideous dungeons, and supplied with the 
 most offensive food ; they, however, expressed their sorrow 
 for having fallen. 
 
 By order of the legates, Photius attended at the fifth 
 session ; on his appearance, they exclaimed : " Is this Pho- 
 tius who has caused so much trouble in the Church?" 
 Photius affected a profound silence, quoted some texts of 
 Scripture, false in their application and offensive to the 
 council; he persisted in his silence was required to yield 
 to the voice of the council answered by reciting more 
 texts of Scripture, which did not bear on the question, 
 and which only exposed his hypocrisy. 
 
 The Emperor attended at the sixth session ; the bishops 
 favorable to Photius were present, and on being convinced 
 of their error, the greater part renounced the schism.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES THE GREEK SCHISM. 409 
 
 Photius was again exhorted in the seventh to submit. He 
 replied that he had no answer to make to calumny. In 
 the eighth session, the imposition and foul means prac- 
 ticed by Photius, in order to create and continue the 
 schism, were investigated and fully detected. Many of the 
 image-breakers abjured their error. In the ninth session, 
 penance had been imposed on the false witnesses who were 
 procured against Ignatius. When the partizans and accom- 
 plices in crime of the Emperor Michael were arraigned for 
 their wicked proceedings, they advanced as an excuse the 
 threats and menaces of that prince. 
 
 At the tenth and last session, the emperor, with his 
 son, Constantine, attended ; the three ambassadors from 
 Lewis, Emperor of Italy and France, and those from 
 Michael, King of Bulgaria, were present, and about one 
 hundred bishops. They approved of the seven general 
 ouncils confirmed the sentence of Popes Nicholas and 
 Adrian against Photius. Twenty-seven canons of discipline 
 were drawn up, and a confession of faith against the errors 
 of the " Monothelites and Iconoclasts." 
 
 The pride of Photius would not submit; for the space 
 of eight years, which he passed in exile, he was devising 
 means for his restoration. He endeavored, by a singular 
 stratagem, to secure the favor of the Emperor Basil. He 
 framed a genealogy, in which he flattered the pride of the 
 prince by tracing his origin to Tiridades, King of Armenia, 
 and enriched this genealogy with a prophecy "that the reign 
 of Basil would be more illustrious than any of his pre- 
 decessors." Photius transcribed this fictitious narrative on 
 three old parchments, and enveloped them in a moth-eaten 
 cover and thus couched sent them to Theophanes, the 
 emperor's secretary, with whom he had previously com- 
 pounded on the subject. 
 
 Theophanes showed this roll to the emperor as being 
 the oldest and most curious manuscript in the library, and 
 said that nobody was able to read or explain it but Pho- 
 tius. Basil, ignorant of the deception, yielded to the impulse
 
 410 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-TEE GREEK SCHISM. 
 
 of vanity, recalled Photius, received him kindly, and gave 
 him free access to his presence. 
 
 Ignatius fell dangerously ill in the 80th year of his age. 
 On the 24th of October, while the divine office was reciting 
 fit midnight, Ignatius inquired whose feast the Church 
 celebrated on the next day; he was told that of St. James, 
 called the brother of our Lord; he answered, that is my 
 " patron" saint, and having given his benediction to his 
 clergy, he slept in the Lord. The Greek and Latin 
 Churciies honor h : s memory on the day of his death. 
 
 Photius finding Ignatius the great obstacle to his ambi- 
 tious views no more, assumed again the patriarchal chair, 
 and persecuted the friends and adherents of Ignatius, and 
 all in his communion. He gained over some by promises, 
 others by threats, and those who remained faithful he put 
 to death. He gained over the two legates sent by Pope 
 John to Constantinople, regarding some ecclesiastical mat- 
 ters in Bulgaria. He sent delegates to Rome with insidious 
 letters, in order to have himself recognized as the legiti- 
 mate Patriarch of Constantinople. He convened a council, 
 which he endeavored to render as numerous and as respect- 
 able as he could. He contrived to make it appear that 
 the Pope recognized him as a brother patriarch. He was 
 then extolled as a prodigy of learning, moderation, and 
 piety. He induced the Roman legates to declare him legiti- 
 mate patriarch, and to condemn the proceedings of the 
 eighth general council. The Emperor Basil assisted at the 
 sixth session of this sham council, where they rescinded that 
 article of the general council of Constantinople, which decreed 
 that "the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the 
 Son." 
 
 Yet iniquity could not prevail ; Pope John being 
 informed that Photius did not demand pardon for his past 
 transgressions, and that he endeavored to reverse the sentence 
 declared against him by a general council, he (the Pope) 
 rejected him and his false council. The succeeding Pontiffs, 
 Martin, Adrian III, and Stephen V, equally condemned the 
 proceedings of Photius.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-TEE GREEK SCHISM. 411 
 
 The Emperor Basil died in 886, and was succeeded by 
 Leo VI, surnaraed the Philosopher, who Avas fully aware 
 of the iniquitous and schismatical acts of Photius. The 
 great schismatic was exiled to the monastery of the 
 Armenians, where he soon finished his evil career. Peace 
 and unity were then restored to the Greek Church. 
 
 I have endeavored to compress these facts into as narrow 
 limits as possible, in order not to weary some of my 
 readers who appear to have a great aversion to lengthened 
 discussions. Unfortunately we have no good ecclesiastical 
 history in the English language. 1 The histories in Latin 
 and French are rather voluminous, and hence it is no easy 
 matter to collect a good account of Church concerns in a 
 few pages. It would be much easier to give copious 
 extracts than succinct narratives on such matters, but my 
 time and labor are for the public and so I shall spare no 
 pains to satisfy them. 
 
 III. 
 
 In the death of Photius the schismatics lost their head 
 and chief support : the majority of the people returned to 
 Catholic ministry and truth. The letters and works of 
 Photius being in considerable circulation kept alive the 
 spirit of disobedience to the mother Church. Though the 
 materials for fresh schism were for a considerable time ready 
 to burst forth into open insubordination, yet it was not 
 till the year 1050 that the brand of discord was violently 
 hurled into the bosom of the Church by Michael Cerullarius, 
 Patriarch of Constantinople, and a bold proselyte to the 
 views of Photius. Many of the Greek bishops were anxious 
 for some occasion of renewing the schism, and of finding 
 some resolute champion in their cause. The patriarch of 
 Constantinople had lately assumed the title of Universal 
 Bishop, knowing well that such a step would not pass 
 unnoticed by the Pope. Italy was at this period in a 
 
 1 Hefelo's History, now being translated, is such a work, though it bears only on 
 tho fir^t a^s.
 
 12 HISTORICAL SKETCUES-TEE GREEK SCHISM. 
 
 divided condition, and the seat of Avar and desolation, and 
 from the intrigue and influence of some corrupt chieftains 
 and princes, unworthy men were raised to the papal chair, 
 which they dishonored by their irregular lives, and which 
 brought scandal on the Church, and sunk the papal authority 
 in the esteem of the Greek Church. 
 
 During this state of affairs, Michael Cerullarius wrote a 
 letter to one of the Latin bishops, which at once revived 
 and propagated the old schism. He attempted to prove to 
 all the Latin bishops, that Christ, after having celebrated 
 the ancient Paseh in Azymes or unleavened bread, instituted 
 the pasch or Eucharistic Sacrifice of the new law, in 
 leavened bread, and hence Cerullarius charged the Latin 
 Church with error ; he also accused the Latins for shaving 
 their beards, for fasting on Saturdays, for eating strangled 
 meat, and for inserting the word " filioque, from the Son," 
 in the Nicene Creed, and thereby expressing their belief of 
 the Holy Ghost proceeding from the Father and from the 
 Son. He brought other charges equally false and frivolous 
 against the Church, in that the kiss of peace was given at 
 Mass before the Communion, that alleluiah was not sung in 
 Lent, and that due respect was not paid to the memory 
 and relics of the saints ; he concluded by saying that as 
 soon as the Latin Church would correct these errors, he 
 would send other important communications. This at once 
 put the schism beyond the hope of a reconciliation. 
 
 Cardinal Humbert, having read this letter, translated it 
 into Latin, and fient a copy of it to Pope Leo IX. The 
 Pope replied in a long letter, wherein he first complained 
 of the conduct of those who were endeavoring to dis- 
 turb the peace of the Church ; he then added : " Is the 
 Church of Rome, after the lapse of more than one 
 thousand years since the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 now to begin to learn how to celebrate the ' institution ' of 
 the last- supper? Are the instructions of the Apostles 
 Peter and Paul, then of no use?" The conclusion 
 of this letter was worthy of the common Father and
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCHES THE GREEK SCHISM. 413 
 
 of Rome. " Let the Greeks follow the traditions of their 
 fathers. We know that the difference of customs, according 
 to times and nations, is not injurious to salvation, pro- 
 vided we be united in faith and charity." 
 
 In the meantime the Emperor Constantine Monourachus, 
 wishing, through political motives, to keep in with the 
 Pope, wrote him a letter in which he expressed his 
 anxiety to support the union of both Churches, and he 
 induced Cerullarius to write to the same effect. On receiv- 
 ing these letters, Leo replied, and sent three legates, of 
 whom Cardinal Humbert was the chief. In the letter to 
 Cerullarius the Pope styled him merely Bishop of Con- 
 stantinople, which was not conducive to reconcile one to 
 the Catholic Church, who seemed so desirous of .schism. 
 The legates were respectfully received by the emperor, and 
 Cardinal Humbert replied to the letter of Cerullarius, in 
 which he fully vindicated the Roman Catholic Church from 
 the charges of Cerullarius. He showed that Jesus Christ 
 celebrated the Eucharist in unleavened bread, and supported 
 with the great body of commentators that Christ celebrated 
 the legal Pasch, which could not be celebrated with any 
 other but unleavened bread. 
 
 This answer made no impression on Cerullarius ; he 
 refused to see or communicate with the legates. 
 
 They indignantly expressed their displeasure at his con- 
 duct ; perhaps they went too far. They went to the Church 
 of St. Sophia and laid on the altar a sentence of excom- 
 munication against Cerullarius in presence of his clergy and 
 flock ; they then retired, and shook the dust from off their 
 feet, exclaiming : " May God behold him and judge him." 
 The form of excommunication ended with these words : 
 " By authority of the blessed Trinity, of the Apostolic See, 
 of. the seven general councils of the Catholic Church, we 
 subscribe to the sentence of excommunication pronounced 
 by the Pope, and say, let Michael Cerullarius, the pre- 
 tended patriarch, guilty of many crimes, and Leo, Bishop 
 of Arcadia, and all their followers, be separated from the
 
 414 HISTORICAL SKETCHES-TEE GREEK SCHISM. 
 
 Church until they be converted and do penance. Amen, 
 Amen, Amen." They also forbade the laity of Constanti- 
 nople to receive the Holy Communion from any clergyman 
 who attributed errors to the Latin Church. Finally, they 
 received the passport from the emperor and some presents 
 for the Pope. Such a proceeding increased the schism 
 instead of subduing it. Cerullarius, highly incensed at this 
 act, issued a counter-decree : this decree bore his name and 
 those of fourteen metropolitans, and declared that these 
 legates, in attempting to corrupt the holy doctrine, were 
 condemned by the emperor. 
 
 The Greeks after this could not bear the idea of a 
 reconciliation with the Latin Church. They mutually encour- 
 aged each other to support the schism. They supposed that 
 the hasty proceedings of the legates fully justified them, 
 and erroneously attributed the faults of three individuals 
 to the whole body of the Catholic Church. This is a 
 common way of acting Avith all separatists. The schism 
 then considerably extended its pestilential influence. Cities 
 and provinces were soon involved in the vortex, and it 
 came at last to such a pitch that the Greeks looked with 
 more indignation on the members of the Latin Church 
 than they did on the very pagans. Such are the evil effects 
 of passion, disappointment, and the violation of Christian 
 unity. \Ve see to the present day the same melancholy 
 effects produced by similar feelings. Would to God that 
 we all had but " one heart and one spirit," like the primi- 
 tive Christians! May the God of peace and charity infuse 
 into us His Holy Spirit of unity!
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 I. 
 
 THERE is a monthly magazine called the Christian Advo- 
 cate, published in Philadelphia, by A. Finley, in the sixty- 
 seventh number of which, for July, 1828, is found the 
 following preface to a dissertation: 
 
 ""We are indebted to a clerical brother, to whom we 
 lent a few numbers of the 'Archives du Christianisme/ 
 for the following translation. It will convey useful infor- 
 mation to many of our readers, and we earnestly recom- 
 mend to the serious consideration of all ths remarks of 
 the translator at the close. While the Romanists are pur- 
 suing an organized system to diffuse their pernicious errors 
 in our country, it does seem to us that some systematic, 
 endeavors should bo employed to counteract them." 
 
 This dissertation and its appendages are published to the- 
 American people as a deliberate attack upon what the 
 writer is pleased to call the Romanists, that is, the Roman 
 Catholics, to whose body I have the honor and happiness 
 of belonging. I am not aware of any organized system 
 amongst us, save that which is common to all our brethren 
 of other denominations : the system of having our public 
 churches and our regular ministry. If a line of distinction 
 were to bo drawn between the Roman Catholic and the 
 Protestant Churches of the United States, upon tho point 
 of "organized system," I am of opinion t'mt, owing to 
 circumstances which I am in charity bouiivl to suppose 
 beyond the control of those with whom- the remedy lies, 
 the former is manifestly the worst organized Church in 
 our States ; l and it is notoriously defective in the essential 
 
 1 This was written A. D. 1829, sinoi wh3n the principal defects lamented by 
 the writer have been supplied; this langruasre therefore cannot correctly be applied 
 to the Catholic Church of the Unitel States as it now exists. 
 
 (4!5)
 
 416 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 points of system, which are community of counsel and 
 unity of action. If irony and sarcasm were intended by 
 the writer, I lament that he has had the cause afforded 
 for his display; yet still he might have pitied our weak- 
 ness, and if our failure was desirable, he might have con- 
 tinued satisfied that until we shall be able, not to mend 
 our system but to supply its want and to organize our 
 provincial Church, we must be exposed to mortification and 
 disappointment. He should not then have made what does 
 not exist a pretext for this rude assault; and despicable 
 as our weakness may be, it cannot be admitted to excuse 
 his want of urbanity. 
 
 This writer complains of the attempt to diffuse our per- 
 nicious errors. Can he be a Protestant who writes thus ? 
 The first principle of a Protestant is, that the Bible, as 
 understood by those who earnestly seek after truth, will 
 lead to the knowledge of God, and not to pernicious error; 
 now we discover our doctrines in this sacred book as 
 understood by us after earnest search. It is true our 
 tenets do not agree with the opinions of the writer in the 
 Advocate, but surely he claims no infallibility for himself 
 nor for his Church. How dares he, then, call those tenets 
 drawn by us from the Word of God pernicious errors, 
 when it is, according to his own principle, equally a chance 
 that he is in error and that we follow the truth ? 
 
 I cannot avoid here noticing another exhibition of his 
 intention to undervalue us ; but it is not peculiar to him, it 
 is pretty general. Writing in his own name, or in that 
 of the denomination to which he belongs, he calls America 
 our country. Really, I always looked upon America to be 
 as much the country of old Charles Carroll of Carrollton 
 as of any Presbyterian gentleman or of any clerical brother 
 who writes for the Christian Advocate, although I have 
 frequently known the vainglorious boasting of men, who in 
 the same breath proclaimed our Union, " a Protestant 
 country," and bewailing that the people here sat in dark- 
 ness and in the shadow of death, complained that they
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 417 
 
 Avere Sabbath-breakers, even to the travelling in stages and 
 steamboats, yea, so far as to permit small meats to be 
 sold in open market, in Southern cities, on the summer 
 Sabbath morning ! 
 
 However, it seems that full scope was not afforded for 
 the zeal of the writer in the wrestling with those abomi- 
 nations, but that he had a superabundance which could 
 only be expended upon the Romanists. Neither was he 
 content that the venerable Bishop White and his brother 
 Bowen, together with their two armies of zealous ladies, 
 should have the exclusive honor of pelting Popish pastors 
 Avith their paper pellets for their enormous errors, but that 
 this chosen one should, like another Saul, lead his host to 
 complete the victory by pursuing the Philistines, whom Jona- 
 than and his armor-bearer had already routed. 
 
 It cannot be unknown to all that "systematic endeavors" 
 have been during a long period " employed to counteract the 
 Romanists" in all parts of this Union, from the period when 
 the ebulitions of zeal against Popery in New England and in 
 Georgia rendered abortive the mission of Franklin, of Carroll, 
 and of Chase into Canada, doAvn to the present day. You 
 that have ears to hear must frequently have found the religion 
 of your Catholic progenitors "systematically" denounced in 
 prayer and in declamation from the desk, the pulpit, and the 
 stump; in the tale of your horrified grandam and of your 
 enthusiastic attendant in the nursery; in conning over the 
 spelling and the reading book of your infancy, in the nasal 
 eloquence of your pedantic pedagogue, in the learned lucu- 
 brations of your proud professor, as Avell as in the pretty 
 lispings of your sweet Sunday-school spinsters. Yea, this 
 is but a faint outline of the "systematic endeavors," which 
 are so powerfully aided by the upturned eye, the sigh of 
 pity, the ejaculation of pious wonder, and the sanctimonious 
 sneer. If missions hither and thither, if the donations and 
 legacies of the wealthy, if the gathering of the mites of 
 the poor, the calculation of the back stitches and the 
 
 27
 
 418 ST. PETERS ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 hemmings and fellings of the industrious, the prayers of 
 those who are "powerful to wrestle with the Lord/' the 
 publication of the conversions of L ;iik Papists in blank 
 places to the amount of blank numbers, testified by blank 
 witnesses to blank persons of blank respectability; if the 
 distribution of tracts filled with misrepresentations of the 
 Roman Catholic religion and practices, and a thousand other 
 such modes of "systematic endeavors," be not already in 
 existence, the people of America are indeed deluded. What 
 farther "systematic endeavors should be employed to coun- 
 teract the Romanists," the holy editor saith not ; and we 
 cannot determine unless he would induce all the States to 
 imitate North Carolina and New Jersey in their degrading 
 bigotry; for you are of course aware, my friends, that 
 neither of those two sanctified States will admit a Papist 
 to hold any civil office. 1 
 
 The editor then gives the translation of an article from 
 a . French publication, AreJiives du Christianisme, " On the 
 residence of St. Peter at Rome," which dissertation I intend 
 to examine, and then subjoins: 
 
 " Note by the Translator. It will appear from M. Blanc's 
 Scriptural statement of the question respecting Peter's resi- 
 dence at Rome, that it is very doubtful whether that 
 Apostle ever saw Rome, and demonstrably evident that he 
 never was bishop of that city. This removes the very 
 corner-stone on which Roman Catholicism rests. For if 
 Peter was not Bishop of Rome, the Bishops or Popes of 
 Rome are not his successors ; and even the most devoted 
 Catholic must then see, that the assumed authority of the 
 Pope is an unhallowed and unchristian usurpation, the 
 traditions of the Romish Church a tissue of human inven- 
 tions, and the infallibility of that Church a dream. At a 
 time when the emissaries of that delusion are compassing 
 sea and land to gain proselytes, especially in the South 
 and "West of our land, it is believed that the above brief 
 exposure of the false foundation on which they build their 
 
 >Tho law Is now changed.
 
 ST. PETEIt'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 419 
 
 Babel, may not be unprofitable. In France, it lias been 
 republished and circulated in the form of a tract, and it 
 might be attended with benefit to souls, if several thousand 
 copies of it were dispersed in those portions of our own 
 country which are most exposed to the influence and the 
 arts of men, who would have the whole world to wonder 
 after and worship ' the beast/ 
 
 "The translator, in a letter to the editor, which accom- 
 panied the above, very justly adds : 
 
 " l It seems to me that Protestants should not be idle 
 spectators of the exertions of the Catholic priests to waylay 
 the unwary and destroy the simple. I have access to a 
 weekly paper published in Charleston called the United 
 States Catholic Miscellany, which affords melancholy proof 
 of their industry, success, and deep delusion as well as 
 of their hatred of Protestant teachers, and of the unblushing 
 falsehoods they invent and propagate to rivet the fetters of 
 their followers and decoy the ignorant into their toils.'" 
 
 Allow me to address the public freely. You who differ 
 from me in religious sentiment are too frequently under 
 the impression that we are continually in the habit of 
 using insulting and opprobrious language to you and of 
 you, and that you and your ministers always speak of us 
 in kind, mild, charitable, affectionate, and conciliating terms. 
 I would take the liberty of requesting you who agree in 
 tenets with the Christian Advocate, to observe for a few 
 Sabbaths the mode in which Roman Catholics are mentioned 
 or alluded to by your ministers in their prayers and 
 preachings ; and if you have ever heard a Roman Catholic 
 priest, ask your own conscience whether in his service you 
 found him style you or your congregation beasts ; whether 
 you heard him using the phrases which are here used 
 regarding our clergy; seeking unhallowed and unchristian 
 usurpation, emmissacies of delusion, and our Church a 
 Babel ! Do not then, I pray you, be over hasty in con- 
 demning us of want of charity and boasting of your 
 superior liberality.
 
 420 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 I put it to you whether a more insulting and ungenerous 
 passage could be produced than that here used against the 
 "Catholic priests," viz.: that they "waylay the unwary and 
 destroy tho simple." It is not surpassed by the description 
 which follows of the mode " hatred of Protestant teachers, 
 deep delusion, unblushing falsehoods invented by them and 
 propagated by them to rivet the fetters of their followers 
 and decoy the ignorant into their toils." And where is the 
 proof of this terrible charge to be found? Upon the 
 pages of the United States Catholic Miscellany. You are in 
 the habit of reading those pages, and I ask you whether 
 they inculcate that hatred, whether they exhibit that false- 
 hood? I unequivocally assert that a more insolent spirit 
 of bigotry was never breathed than in this wretched 
 expression, a more unfounded charge has never been made 
 than in this offensive paragraph. And yet those men boast 
 of their superior charity and of their superior meekness ! 
 In the name of insulted truth, let them vindicate them- 
 selves if they can ; let them produce from the pages of 
 the Miscellany even one passage which exhibits a tithe of 
 the hatred to Presbyterian or to any other Protestant 
 teachers which is here expressed by this holy man, this 
 " clerical brother," against " Catholic priests ;" and if they 
 cannot, what ought to be thought of this Christian Advocate? 
 
 The great object, however, is to induce " Protestants not 
 to be idle spectators of the exertions of the Catholic 
 priests." Now this forcibly reminds me of a scene which 
 I once witnessed in a court-house. The judges were much 
 anm.yed by the loud though indistinct muttering of some 
 fellow and one of them called to the sheriff to seize upon 
 the delinquent and thrust him into the dock, upon which 
 the tone was changed, and his honor very audibly addressed : 
 " I defy you and the sheriff, for I am already in the 
 dock," and the cachinnations of the crowd (to use a big 
 but expressive word) amused the disturber, whilst they irri- 
 tated the bench. So it is with our priests ; they are 
 already in the dock ; and the advocate of our castigation
 
 ST. PETER S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 421 
 
 knows, that from Maine to Florida, and from the Atlantic 
 the Stony Mountains, some thousands of roarers and 
 some hundreds cf presses assail us and oppose the "exer- 
 tions of the Catholic priests," whilst collectors of rags and 
 of corn and of cents and of dollars incessantly beg for 
 provender and raiment, not only to feed the enthusiastic 
 host of the heavenly assailants, but also to train up others 
 so that they may enter, ready drilled and fully armed, to 
 occupy the places of the veterans who might fall asleep 
 in the Lord. Neither is the arm of the flesh always 
 restrained, nor doth the sword of Gideon always rust in 
 its scabbard ; for beside that the fat of the land is openly 
 reserved for the chosen ones of Israel in North Carolina 
 and New Jersey, I could recount the acts of stout warriors 
 who can smite powerfully in secret and destroy the unholy 
 under the guise of liberality. The Christian Advocate might 
 then rest fully satisfied that the sons of Protestant Israel 
 neither sleep nor slumber; and though he might' himself 
 abominate works of supererogation in theory, he hath in 
 this instance been heterodox in practice ; for of a truth, 
 it is a work of supererogation to call upon Protestants, as 
 he hath done, to oppose the priests. 
 
 II. 
 
 The question which the dissertation undertakes to dispose 
 of, is, whether the Apostle St. Peter was at Rome, and 
 the conclusion drawn is, that he was never in that city. 
 The grounds upon which it is drawn are two. First, that 
 the authorities testifying the fact of his having been there 
 are unworthy of credit ; second, that his having been there 
 is incompatible with the truth of the New Testament. 
 
 This question was never raised during upwards of thir- 
 teen hundred years, and through that whole period every 
 Christian writer that we know of, who had occasion to 
 mention the subject, stated as notorious facts, universally 
 admitted, that St. Peter not only was at Rome, but that
 
 422 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 he was Bishop of Rome and was put to death in the 
 reign of Nero for his religion. It is said that a teacher of 
 WicklifF, named William, asserted that Peter never was at 
 Rome, and this is the earliest contradiction. Be that as it 
 may; Ulric Veleuus, a Lutheran, wrote a book to prove 
 that this Apostle never saw the city; Illyricus also says 
 lie demonstrated it. Calvin only doubts upon the subject; 
 and since his day, the question has been settled by various 
 Protestants just as they pleased; but unquestionably some 
 of their most erudite antiquarians are to be found in the 
 English division, many of the best informed amongst 
 whom state it to be unquestionable, in point of fact, that 
 not only was he there, but that he was Bishop there and 
 died there. 
 
 I believe it is in Frey Gerundo the advice is given to 
 a young preacher who would bring himself into notice, by 
 exciting the astonishment of his congregation, to commence 
 boldly by proclaiming, in a loud and dogmatic tone, some 
 astounding heresy or error, and then, after a suitable 
 pause, in a more subdued tone, inform his hearers that 
 he means to controvert and to demolish what he has laid 
 before them. If I mistake not, the exemplification which 
 is given is the following : I deny that in the Godhead 
 there arc three persons ! So says the Socinian, whose errors 
 I mean to combat. Upon reading the commencement of 
 Monsieur Blanc's dissertation, I was forcibly reminded of 
 the Portuguese preceptor of the young friar who aspired 
 to pulpit fame. 
 
 " It is upon the testimony of Papias, Bishop of Hier- 
 apoli.s, that the Popish tradition rests, respecting St. Peter's 
 being at Rome, his founding a Church there, and for 
 twenty-five years discharging in it the functions of a bishop. 
 Papias was copied by Clement of Alexandria ; Clement 
 was copied by Euscbius, and the latter has been copied 
 by many authors, ancient and modern, who have been, 
 perhaps, too much interested to render credible a fact, 
 which will always be of very little importance to "those
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 423 
 
 who build their faith, not on the person of St. Peter, but 
 upon the corner-stone, Jesus Christ. The account of Papias, 
 which is based upon a hearsay only, abouir eighty years 
 after the occurrence to which it refers, is still extant, and 
 is full of fables and ridiculous tales such as the contest 
 which this Apostle sustained against Simon the sorcerer, 
 his crucifixion, with his head downwards as if Nero had 
 left to the Christians the care of settling the forms of 
 their own punishment and other similar things, which 
 were reported originally only by this Papias himself. Euse- 
 bius, speaking of him, calls him '& man of narrow genius, 
 and too credulous.' " 
 
 Nobly demolished! But allow me to gather up the frag- 
 ments. First I must see who Papias was. He was Bishop 
 of Hierapolis, and flourished about the beginning of the 
 second century. St. Peter w r as put to death in the year 
 65 or 66. Papias died about the year 150, when he was 
 considerably upwards of eighty years old, at the very low- 
 est calculation; I might more safely say much older. Thus 
 in place of being a gatherer of hearsay at the distance 
 of eighty years after the time of Peter, this prelate was 
 more properly speaking a contemporary of the Apostle? 
 though not his acquaintance nor his hearer, but very young 
 and living at a distance. He lived, according to all early 
 writers, in the days of some of the Apostles, and had his 
 accounts from those who saw and heard and lived with 
 them ; and from conversations w r ith those persons he com- 
 piled his five books "An Explication of the Oracles of 
 God." All the ancient writers concur in the testimony of 
 the excellence of character of Papias, so that he is unques- 
 tionably an honest witness; but they also are agreed that his 
 testimonials are to be received with caution, because of his 
 shallow judgment and credulous disposition. The facts which 
 he testifies are of two descriptions, respecting which a pal- 
 pable distinction is easily made. Some of them were of 
 such a nature as required no effort of judgment: such as, 
 knowing where one of the most remarkable of the Apostles
 
 424 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 resided and died. A simple, honest man who held the 
 station of bishop soon after Peter's death, and was a sed- 
 ulous inquirer into the facts regarding the Apostles, could 
 easily learn this and could as easily testify it. But in 
 making inquiry regarding the sayings of the Apostles, he 
 might by reason of his narrow judgment and credulous dis- 
 position be easily misled, as we find he was respecting the 
 opinion of the millennium, of which he was the author. 
 Thus Papias is rather to be considered a contemporary of 
 the Apostles, and fully competent to testify where Peter 
 lived and died, than to be looked upon as a silly old 
 man who is only a gatherer of hearsays respecting nearly 
 a century before. Papias was a contemporary and com- 
 panion of St. Polycarp, ftie disciple of St. John the Evan- 
 gelist, and whom this Apostle constituted Bishop of Smyrna, 
 probably in the year 96. He was also a teacher of St. 
 IrenaBus, who died Bishop of Lyons, and who also derived 
 much of his Christian knowledge from Polycarp; Irenoeus 
 was put to death in the year 202. 
 
 Having thus seen the character of Papias and his com- 
 petency to be a witness of at least the fact where a well 
 and publicly known man who held a high place in the 
 Christian Church lived and died, I come to examine this 
 flippant Frenchman's dash respecting the testimony itself. 
 " It is upon the testimony of Papias that the Popish tra- 
 dition rests." Why, of a truth, if the handing down of 
 a known fact be tradition, yea, even this is tradition, for 
 verily it handeth down the testified fact which was com- 
 monly and publicly known. The flimsy cobweb of the 
 word tradition will not hide from Americans the truth. A 
 fact must be testified by some writer that it might become 
 a portion of recorded history ; and being so testified and 
 recorded as known truth, it does not lose its quality of 
 truth because of being handed down. Thus, suppose AVC 
 had no other original testimony save that of this old writer, 
 still would it not be the less true because it had come 
 from him to us. This is the way in which the Scriptures
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 425 
 
 have come to us, by tradition or delivery, and it was 
 naturally impossible that it could have been otherwise 
 received by us. The question at present is not whether 
 St. Peter was there twenty-five years, nor whether he 
 founded a Church there, nor whether he was crucified with 
 his head downwards, nor whether the story of the contest 
 with Simon is or is not true. Papias might have been 
 misled upon all these points, and yet clearly know and 
 plainly testify that Peter was at Home and died there, 
 though he might err in all the other particulars. I state this 
 merely to narrow the question, not because I doubt the 
 truth of any of the statements. The word tradition then, 
 if meant to be opposed to good history, is a gross mis- 
 representation, for in making this record the Bishop of 
 Hierapolis is a coeval historian, who receives from eye- 
 witnesses and ear-witnesses the testimony of the residence 
 of Peter and of his death at Eome. I doubt if M. 
 Blank, of Philadelphia, was ever in Mexico or saw Itur- 
 bide, yet he might, in writing a history of American rev- 
 olutions, fairly put into such a book the testimony of his 
 being emperor, and dethroned, exiled, having returned, and 
 being slain. No one of us in the United States is igno- 
 rant of those facts ; yet how few of us are even now 
 acquainted with the true state of Mexico ! Whilst, then, 
 we give correct testimony of those facts, we are liable to 
 mistake and to be imposed upon by the accounts of a 
 variety of opinions and conversations of some of the Scotch 
 and Yorkist Masons, who have so much mysterious cabal- 
 ism in the regulation of its aifairs. Thus, respecting the 
 residence and death of the chief of the Apostles, Papias 
 is a good historian, though he might have been deceived 
 in some of the particulars. 
 
 I come next to the assertion that the whole tradition 
 (history) rests upon the testimony of Papias. Never was 
 any assertion more unfounded. We have a great variety 
 of other- evidence to support the fact. The first arrival of 
 St. Paul in Rome is mentioned in Acts xxviii, 14, 15, 16,
 
 426 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 and here it is distinctly stated that the brethren (Christians) 
 came as far as Appii Forum and the Three Taverns to 
 meet him ; consequently there were Christians in that city 
 before his arrival. Previously to this, he had written his 
 epistle to the Romans, where in chapter i, verses 7 and 
 8, it is manifest that Rome was then a city which had a 
 Christian Church, " whose faith was spoken of through the 
 whole world." Now the questions occur: Who made those 
 Christians? Who governed that Church? Certainly not Paul, 
 who had not been there at that time. Not only Papias 
 but a great number of ancient writers inform us that Peter 
 was their Apostle. This was stated to the knowledge of 
 the people of Rome and of all the other Churches and 
 not contradicted but admitted by them all, and in the 
 earliest ages was made a foundation for a claim on the 
 part of Rome for supremacy over the other parts of 
 the Church. Towards several portions of the universal 
 Church, in the earliest ages, the Bishops of Rome used 
 measures which appeared harsh and coercive, and yet 
 we never find a single bishop or Church in those early 
 ages question the fact of Peter's residence and labors in 
 Rome, though we find some of them displeased with the 
 manner in which the authority derived from him was used 
 against themselves. They lived near the Apostolic days, 
 they knew the character of Papias> and still we are gravely 
 told that this simple prelate beguiled and misled them all! 
 Yet this is called criticism. I doubt not but we could find 
 persons who would call it philosophy ! Yes, the philoso- 
 phy of history ! There are some people who seriously give 
 that name to their own speculations against fact. Monsieur 
 Blanc, however, forgets himself a little, for though he told 
 us that it was upon the authority of Papias the Popish 
 tradition of St. Peter's being at Rome, etc., rested, and 
 gives us the account of Papias as based upon a hearsay 
 about eighty years after the occurrence that is, in the year 
 146, or thereabouts he informs us in his next paragraph: 
 "According to the testimony of the same Eusebius, Dio- 
 nysius, Bishop of Corinth, an author of the second century,
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 427 
 
 affirms also that St. Peter and St. Paul met at Corinth, 
 and that they departed together for Rome, where they suf- 
 fered martyrdom." 
 
 One passing remark here might not be amiss, viz., this 
 very accurate antiquarian refers us to the 25th chapter of 
 Book II of Eusebius, as authority for his statement that 
 "St. Peter and St. Paul met at Corinth." Not one sylla- 
 ble in support of such an assertion is to be found in any 
 copy of Eusebius which has fallen under my eye, nor in 
 support of the other avermeilt that "they departed together 
 for Rome." But the history of Eusebius does contain a 
 passage from the said Dionysius, stating that both those 
 saints did instruct the Christians at Corinth, and were 
 united in building or planting the Church at Rome ; and 
 Eusebius also states, that the same author testifies their 
 martyrdom at Rome. Thus we find the essayist gives us 
 another witness besides Papias ; and, therefore, the Popish 
 tradition, even according to himself, does not rest on that 
 prelate alone. This looks like a contradiction. Dionysius 
 died in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, of course before the 
 year 192, and at an advanced age. If Papias wrote at 
 Hierapolis only from a hearsay, eighty years after the 
 transaction, Dionysius in Corinth, who wrote several years 
 before his death his epistle to the Romans, in which this 
 testimony is found, must in all likelihood have learned it 
 from other sources besides the book of the Bishop of 
 Hierapolis. And how strangely must it sound to the Ro- 
 mans when the letter of the Bishop of Corinth was read 
 to them, informing them of what, upon the supposition of 
 our friend, the Reverend Blanc, they knew to be false, 
 viz., that St. Peter, who never was in their city, planted 
 their Church and was put to death in a place where he 
 never had been ! Yet this Dionysius appeared to know the 
 history of the Roman Church very well, for in this same 
 epistle to the Romans, or rather to Soter, their Bishop, 
 he writes, in thanking them for the alms received from 
 Rome for his Church :
 
 428 ST. PETER'S JZOJfJY EPISCOPATE. 
 
 " From the beginning it is your custom to bestow your 
 alms in all places, and to furnish subsistence to many 
 Churches. You send relief to the needy, especially to those 
 who work in the mines ; in which you follow the example 
 of your fathers. Your blessed Bishop Soter is so far from 
 degenerating from your ancestors on that head, that he 
 goes beyond them ; not to mention the comfort and advice 
 which he, with the bowels of a tender father towards his 
 children, affords to all who come to him. On this day 
 we celebrated together the Lord's day, and read your letter 
 as we do that which was heretofore written to us by 
 Clement." 
 
 It will be matter of more than curiosity to compare this 
 with an early Protestant translation : 
 
 " It hath bene your- accustomed manner, euen from the 
 beginning : diuersely to benefit all the brethren, and to 
 send relief throughout the citie, supplying the want of the 
 poore by refreshing them in this sorte, and specially the 
 want of the brethren appointed for slauish drudgerie, and 
 digging of metalls. You Romaines of olde do retaine the 
 fatherly affection of Rome, which holy Soter, your byshop, 
 not only obserued, but also augmented, ministring large and 
 liberall relief to the vse of the sainctes : embracing louingly 
 the conuerted brethren, as a father doth his sonnes, with 
 exhortation of wholesome doctrine. Here also he remem- 
 breth the epistle of Clemens written to the Corinthians, 
 showing the same of auncient custome, to haue bene read 
 in the Church, for thus he writeth : We have this day 
 solemnized the holy Sunday, in the which we haue read 
 your epistle and always will for instructions sake, even as 
 we do the former of Clemens written vnto us." 
 
 "The citie" is here substituted for "many churches;" 
 any person can tell why. The bishop who wrote thus did 
 not need the hearsay nor the tradition of Papias to tell 
 who was the first Bishop of Rome. Of a verity then, 
 Dionysius copied not Papias, as of a truth Monsieur Blanc 
 copied not either Eusebius or Dionysius where he affected 
 to do. Dionysius, however, must also be demolished.
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 429 
 
 " But besides that Dionysius himself complains that his 
 letters have been falsified by heretics, a circumstance which 
 considerably invalidates the authority of his writings, this 
 testimony ought not to outweigh the truth of our holy 
 Scriptures, which, with the divine assistance, we shall bring 
 forward below." 
 
 Then we must, it seems, throw the testimony of this 
 writer away, because he complains that " his letters had 
 been falsified by heretics." If the principle be good, we 
 must give to it all due weight and value ; and, therefore, 
 must make no use of what he thus states to have been 
 so falsified. Of course, M. Blanc cannot reject one por- 
 tion of the passage, and keep another, without giving some 
 sufficient reason therefor. The following is the Protestant 
 translation : 
 
 "When I was mtreated of the brethren to write, I 
 wrote certain Epistles, but the messengers of Satan have 
 sowen them with tares, pulling away some, putting to others 
 some, whose condemnation is laid up of certaine. No 
 marveil then though some endeavored to corrupt the sacred 
 Scriptures of God, when as went about to counterfeit such 
 writings of so small authoritie." 1 
 
 Are we then to reject the Scriptures? Have not heretics 
 endeavored to falsify them? My answer is very simple. 
 Attempts were made to change passages in those epistles 
 of Dionysius regarding doctrine and opinion, but concerning 
 a plain fact, as well known at Rome, whither he wrote, 
 as at Corinth, upon a subject regarding which Rome could 
 not mistake, it would indeed be egregious folly to attempt 
 any counterfeit, for such counterfeit would be at once 
 detected, and would expose him who made it to condemna- 
 tion and contempt. But w r hat a case do our adversaries 
 make out for us, if they call this a forgery? It is equiv- 
 alent to an avowal that in the days of this bishop, there 
 was a body of men who falsified his letters to make it 
 appear that Peter was at Rome, and that their system was, 
 
 i Lib. iv, c. 23.
 
 430 ST. PETERS ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 like ours, founded upon his supremacy. "Will not this 
 destroy his assertion that it was begun by Papias? See the 
 other consequence of arguing as Monsieur Blanc does. We 
 destroy the authority of the Scriptures of God. It is really 
 an avowal of what I am convinced is the fact, that to* 
 destroy the foundations of the Koman Catholic Church you 
 must subvert Christianity. 
 
 But to return. It is plain that the epistle to Soter and 
 the Roman people was not one of those that had been 
 falsified, for they that were changed by heretics were his 
 doctrinal epistles, but this is one merely of thanks for 
 alms. He then learned, not from Papias, but from public 
 evidence, as did Papias himself; hence the French disser- 
 tation states that which is not the fact, when it gives 
 Papias as the only original author of the statement. 
 
 I leave to the " clerical friend " and to his editor to 
 say how they can be certain that the copy of the Scrip- 
 tures which they possess is free from heretical corruptions, 
 if copies had been corrupted by heretics so early as the 
 time of Dionysius. For my part, I avow I could have no 
 certainty respecting the copy which I use, did I not 
 acknowledge the infallible authority of a tribunal which 
 then guarded their purity and continues to do so to-day, 
 but which tribunal is valueless in the eye of those erudite 
 antiquarians. 
 
 Before I proceed to adduce the other testimony, I desire 
 to close my remarks upon the passages which I have 
 adduced from Monsieur Blanc. 
 
 " Papias was copied by Clement of Alexandria, Clement 
 was copied by Eusebius." 
 
 The essayist refers for his authority in making these 
 statements to Eusebius, Hist. Ecc. lib. ii, c. 14, 15, et. seq. 
 How far "ct seq." might extend I know not. But I da 
 know that, after diligent reading of Eusebius, I find no 
 authority for the statement. But in the fifteenth chapter I 
 find the following passage:
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 431 
 
 
 
 "CAP. XV. 
 
 "The foyle of Simon, and mention of the Gospell written by 
 
 St. Marke. 
 
 "When the heauenly worde came thither, immediately 
 the power of Simon, together with him selfe came to nought, 
 and the flame was quenched. But of the contrarie such a 
 light of piety shined in the mindes of such as heard Peter, 
 that they were not suffized with once hearing, neither satisfied 
 with the unwritten doctrine that was deliuered : but earn- 
 estly besought Sainct Marke (whose Gospell is now in use) 
 that he would leaue in writing, vnto them, the doctrine 
 which they had receaued by preaching, neither ceassed they, 
 vntil they had perswaded him, and so geuen an occasion 
 of the Gospell to be written, which is now after Marke. 
 It is reported, that the Apostle vnderstanding of this by 
 inspiration of the holy spirite, was pleased with the motion 
 of those men, and commanded this Gospell now written to 
 be read in the Churches. Clemens, in the sixth of his 
 Ilypotiposeon, reporteth this story. With him agreeth Papias, 
 Bishop of Hierapolis in Asia, who sayth, that of this Marke 
 mention is made of Peter, in his former Epistle, which he 
 compiled being at Rome, and of him the citie of Rome 
 figuratively to be called Babylon, the which is signified 
 when he sayth : the Church partaker of your election, which 
 is at Babylon, saluteth you, and Marke my sonne." 
 
 There is no authority here for stating that the writer 
 of the Hypotiposeon copied from Papias, and when Mon- 
 sieur Blanc made the assertion, he wrote the thing which is 
 not. Neither was Clement the author of that book, though 
 it bears his name. Eusebius wrote in the century succeed- 
 ing that in which Clement died and quotes him ; but I 
 shall show a large body of intervening testimony in several 
 places during the interval, so that to assert as is here 
 done by the dissertator, is to suggest a falsehood, that 
 this was the only course of the testimony, and is also to
 
 432 ST. PETE&S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 suppress the truth, that there was a large host of other 
 witnesses ; and besides, the fact here referred to is not the 
 founding of the Church but the writing of the Gospel by 
 St. Mark at Rome, under the direction of St. Peter. 
 
 III. 
 
 I have shown that M. Blanc's references to Eusebius are 
 not to be relied upon ; that Papias was a contemporary of 
 some of the Apostles, and could easily ascertain who was 
 the first Bishop of Rome ; that he was an honest witness, 
 and even according to the reverend dissertator was not the 
 only witness who, living in the Apostolic days, testified 
 the fact of Peter's residence at Rome; for Dionysius, Bishop 
 of Corinth, who testifies it, was also a contemporary with 
 at least one of the Apostles. 
 
 The next attempt to destroy testimony is the effort to 
 make Pope Clement of Rome say what is the very con- 
 tradictory to his meaning. 
 
 " To all these pretensions, we can oppose, in the first 
 place, the testimony of Clement, who is reckoned to have 
 been the third or fourth Bishop of Rome. This pious and 
 holy person, in his admirable epistle to the Corinthians, 
 expresses himself thus on the subject of St. Peter and, St. 
 Paul: 'Through unjust envy, Peter did not endure one 
 or two but a very great number of trials, and at last, 
 having suffered martyrdom, he went to his place in glory. 
 Through the same envy, Paul received the reward of his 
 patience, having been in prison or in chains seven times, 
 beaten twice, stoned once; and after he had been the herald 
 of the Word of God in the East and in the West, he 
 obtained by faith an illustrious victory. Having reached 
 the extremity of the West, he suffered martyrdom under 
 the emperors. Thus he departed from this world, and went 
 to a holy place, leaving us a singular example of patience.' 
 What is the likelihood, that in the parallel which Clement 
 draws between these two Apostles, he should forget to say 
 that under the emperors he (Peter) suffered the pains of
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 433 
 
 martyrdom ? "Would he have neglected a fact, in this man- 
 ner, which would have given additional weight to his 
 epistle, and done honor to his See ? " 
 
 The passage of Clement is to be explained by the cir- 
 cumstances under wkich it was written, by the comment 
 of contemporaneous writers and of those who lived soon 
 after the period of its publication. Allow me first to 
 remark, without questioning the accuracy of the translation, 
 that this passage does not by any means deny, even by 
 implication, the facts of Peter's residence and death at 
 Home ; so that in truth there is no opposition between 
 those two propositions: "Peter suffered martyrdom at Rome, 
 where he had resided, under the emperor Nero," which is 
 our assertion, and this other : " Peter having suffered mar- 
 tyrdom, he went to the place of his glory," which is 
 Clement's assertion. The clause under the emperors can 
 without any impropriety be referred to both Saints ; for in 
 truth they both suffered in the same place. As to the 
 apparent neglect of Clement, the answer is very simple: The 
 fact of Peter's having suffered at Rome was so well known 
 that it was as unnecessary to mention it at that period 
 to Christians as it would this day be unnecessary to inform 
 a Frenchman that Louis XVI was beheaded in Paris. 
 
 The occasion of the letter was a schism at Corinth, in 
 or about the year 96. This letter is one of which Dio- 
 nysius, Bishop of that See, makes mention in the next cen- 
 tury as having been still read in his Church, and we 
 have seen that this prelate informs us what meaning the 
 passage bore in the assembly to which it was addressed 
 and by which it was preserved, viz., that both the Apos- 
 tles, Peter and Paul, suffered martyrdom in Rome. This 
 Clement was mentioned by St. Paul. 1 His epistle was 
 read in several of the early Churches, and was held in 
 such esteem as to be contained in a very ancient Alexan- 
 drian manuscript copy of the Bible, sent by Cyril Lucar to 
 James I, of England. It was carried from Rome to Corinth 
 
 28 i Phil. iv. 3.
 
 434 STm PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 by Fortunatus, of whom St. Paul makes mention, 1 accom- 
 panied by four messengers from Rome, whom Clement 
 requested the Corinthians speedily to send back to him 
 with good tidings. In all the Churches in which it was 
 read, the belief existed that the martyrdom of both the 
 Apostles occurred in Rome. Eusebius 2 states : 
 
 "CAP. XIII. 
 
 " Of Clemens, his Bishopricke, his testimony, his Epistle* 
 
 "In the twelfe yeare of the raygne of Domitian, when 
 as Anaddus had bene Bishop of Rome twelue years : 
 Clemens succeeded, whome S. Paul, writing to the Philipi- 
 ans, calleth his felow laborer, when he sayth : with 
 Clemens, and the rest of my felow laborers, whose 
 names are written in the booke of life, one undoubted 
 epistle ther is of his, extant, both worthy and notable, the 
 which he wrote from Rome unto Corinthe, when sedition 
 was raysed among the Corinthians : the same Epistle we 
 haue knowne to haue bene reade openly, and publikely, in, 
 many churches, both of old, and amongest us also. That 
 at that tyme ther was raysed a sedition amongst the 
 Corinthians, JEgcsippus is a witness of creditt." 
 
 And this author distinctly testifies the martyrdom to 
 have taken place in Rome, 3 upon the authority, amongst 
 others, of Origen. It would be altogether too tedious to 
 enumerate the others who, in the first three centuries, testify 
 this to have been the sense of the passage which Mr. Blanc, 
 by a new species of false logic, converts into a contradiction, 
 St. Jerome, Photius, and others of highest authority for 
 erudition and research, give this as its meaning. Amongst 
 the Protestants, Dodwell, Bishop Pearson, Cave, Archbishop 
 Wake, Grabe, and others, follow those ancient and vener- 
 able witnesses. Thus, the passage in Clement's epistle is 
 
 il Cor. xvl, 17. Lib. iii, c. 14. Lib. c. ill, 1.
 
 ST. PETERS ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 435 
 
 one which bears testimony for us and not against us. 
 Eusebius, when lie wrote, had this document, as well as 
 several others, before him, all tending to uphold our posi- 
 tion ; and yet M. Blanc has the modesty to state that this 
 historian only copied Clement of Alexandria who copied 
 Papias, who made his statement upon a hearsay eighty 
 years after the alleged occurrence ! What says Eusebius 
 himself? 
 
 "CAP. I. 
 
 " In what countreyes the Apostles preached Christ. 
 
 "When as the Jewish affrayres stood as before is declared, 
 the Holy Apostles and Disciples of our Saviour were 
 dispersed troughout the world. Thomas (as by tradition 
 we receaue) chose Parthia : Andrew, Scythia ; John, Asia : 
 where he made his abode, and died at Ephesus. Peter is 
 reported to haue preached to the dispersed lewes through- 
 out Pontus, Gallachia, Bithynia, Cappadocia, and Asia, who 
 about this latter time, tarrying at Rome, was crucified with 
 his head downwards, which kind of death he him selfe 
 desired. What shall I say of Panic, which from Jerusalem 
 to Illyricum, filled all places with the Gospel of Christ; 
 and at the last suffred martyrdome at Home under Nero? 
 These thinges are manifestly and word by word declared by 
 Orifjen, in the third tome of his commentaries upon Genesis." 
 
 "CAP. II. 
 
 " Who was the first Bishop of Rome. 
 
 " Linus first, after the martyrdome of Peter and Paule, 
 was chosen Bishop of Rome, Paule about the latter end in 
 the salutation of the epistle which he wrote vnto Timothe, 
 from Rome, maketh mention of him, saying: Eubulus saluteth 
 thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia" 
 
 This is a very extraordinary mode of upholding the asser- 
 tion, that Eusebius copied Clement of Alexandria. One 
 may easily observe, then, the little value of this writer's 
 statements.
 
 436 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 Ignatius was a disciple of St. Peter and St. Paul, as 
 also of St. John the Evangelist, with whom he was extremely 
 intimate, and was second Bishop after Peter of the Church 
 of Antioch. Evodius, who, in the year 43, succeeded Peter, 
 was succeeded by this Ignatius. St. John Chrysostom 1 and 
 Theodoret 2 inform us that the appointment of Ignatius 
 was made by St. Peter, and that he was consecrated by 
 him and St. Paul. He governed the See of Antioch during 
 upwards of forty years, and suffered martyrdom in Rome 
 on the 20th of December, 107. In his epistle to the 
 Romans, after he had been sentenced in Antioch to be 
 carried to Rome and delivered to be devoured by beasts at 
 the public games, he alludes, in the following passage, to 
 the authority which Peter and Paul, who had so long 
 been the special rulers of their Church, had over them : 
 " Pray to Christ for me, that in this I may become a 
 sacrifice to God. I do not as Peter and Paul command 
 you ; they were Apostles, I am an inconsiderable person." 
 The whole body of ancient writers inform us that this was 
 an allusion to the command given by those Apostles 
 to the Christians at Rome, not to interfere, by exer- 
 tion, or entreaty, or prayer, to prevent their being sac- 
 rificed. Eusebius, when he wrote, had this document also. 3 
 He mentioned the five books of Church history compiled 
 by Hegesippus, who came to Rome in the Pontificate of 
 Anicetus, about the year 1GO, and remained there until 177, 
 when he returned to the East, and died probably at Jeru- 
 salem, in the year 180, at a very advanced age. 4 Eusebius 
 .states he copied very much from him ; and it is in his 
 work the principal written testimony is first found as to 
 the request of Peter that he might be crucified with his 
 head downwards. In book iii, chap; 2, of Hegesippus, the 
 relation was given. Thus, in Rome itself, and from the 
 persons of all others best qualified to give the account, 
 this author wrote his statement which Eusebius saw; and 
 yet Monsieur Blanc gravely informs us, that he only copied 
 
 'Horn, on 8. Jgnat. ial, I, p. 23. a Lib. ill, c 30. * Lib. iv, c. 21, 23.
 
 S2\ PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 437 
 
 Clement of Alexandria, who copied Papias, who built his 
 tradition on a hearsay about eighty years after the occur- 
 rence, and in Hierapolis ! Of a truth this is a most his- 
 torical critic. 
 
 About fifty years after the time of Dionysius of Corinth, 
 Caius wrote, of whom Eusebius gives us the following 
 account and testimony i 1 
 
 " This enemy of God (Nero) (wherein he was first espied) 
 set vp him selfe to the destruction of the Apostles, for 
 they write that Paule was beheaded and Peter crucified of 
 him at Rome, and that maketh for the credit of our his- 
 tory which is commonly reported, that there be churchyards 
 vnto this day bearing the name of Peter and Pauk. In 
 like manerr Gaius, a Romane, and an Ecclesiasticall per- 
 son, and (after Zcphcrinus), Bishop of Rome, writing unto 
 Proclus, captainc, of the heresie which the Cataphyrgsens 
 held, speaketh thus of the tombes wherein the Apostles 
 Avere layd. I (sayeth he) am able to shewe the banners 
 of the Apostles. For if thou wilt walke vnto Yaticanum, 
 or the waye Ostienses, thou shalt finde there victorious 
 banners, of such as haue builded this Church. And that 
 they were both crowned with martirdome at the same time, 
 Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, afifirmeth in his epistle vnto 
 the Romanes." 
 
 This passage is more correctly translated thus : 
 
 " Therefore, when he (Nero), professed himself the open 
 enemy of the divinity and piety, sought first the death of 
 the very Apostles, as being the leaders and standard-bearers 
 amongst the people of God ; and condemned Paul to lose 
 his head in the city of Rome, and Peter to the punish- 
 ment of the cross. I think it useless to search extrinsic 
 evidence of those things, since their most splendid monu- 
 ments testify to the fact to-day." 
 
 Yet M. Blanc tells us that he only copied Clement of 
 Alexandria, who copied Papias ! 
 
 St. Irenseus, Bishop of Lyons, was born about the year 
 120, in Asia Minor, and was a disciple of the famous 
 
 >Lib. ii, c. 25.
 
 438 ST. PETERS ROMAX EPISCOPATE. 
 
 St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, the pupil of St. Jonn tne 
 Evangelist. Polycarp was the angel of the Church of 
 Smyrna, 1 so commended by. " the Son of Man." He vis- 
 ited Pope Anicetus, in Rome, about the year 158, and cer- 
 tainly was well aware of who was first Bishop of that See. 
 He suffered martyrdom about the year 166, when, accord- 
 ing to his own testimony, he had served Christ eighty-six 
 years, and was at least one hundred years . old. Basnage, 
 a learned Protestant writer, thinks he was an hundred and 
 twenty years old, which would have made him a contem- 
 porary of St. Peter. From him and other eminent prelates 
 Irenseus learned the facts and doctrines of Christianity. 
 Tertullian 2 calls Irenseus " the most diligent searcher of all 
 doctrines." St. Epiphanius calls him a most learned and 
 eloquent man, endowed with all the gifts of the Holy 
 Ghost." Theodoret styles him, "the light of the Western 
 Gauls." The commerce between Marseilles and Smyrna 
 was extensive in the second century, and Irenseus was 
 advised by Polycarp to proceed to Gaul, where many 
 Christians were extending their faith. He was ordained 
 priest by Pothinus, Bishop of Lyons, and in 177 was sent 
 to Rome on business, from the Church of Lyons to Pope 
 Eleutherius ; thus in the city itself he had the full oppor- 
 tunity of investigating the history of its bishops. The 
 Bishop of Lyons having been martyred during the absence 
 of Irenscus, he was selected upon his return to govern 
 that See ; and was slain with a vast number of his flock, 
 in the fifth persecution under Servius, about the year 202. 
 This writer 3 states that the Apostles left their doctrine and 
 the truth of all the mysteries of faith to their successors 
 the pastors, and that it is fit we should have recourse to 
 them to learn ; especially " to the greatest Church, the 
 most ancient and known to all, founded at Rome by the 
 two most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul, which retains 
 the tradition it received from them, and which it derived 
 
 i Rev. 11, 8, 9. Lib. contra Valcnt. c. 6. * Lib. Ill, c. S.
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 439 
 
 through a succession of bishops down to us. Showing 
 which, we confound all who, any way out of self-conceit, 
 love of applause, blindness, or false persuasions, embrace 
 what ought not to be advanced; for to this Church, because 
 of its better presidency, it is necessary that every Church 
 that is, the faithful everywhere should address them- 
 selves ; in which Church the tradition from the Apostles 
 is altogether preserved." He then stated that SS. Peter 
 and Paul chose Linus to succeed at their death ; and he 
 enumerates Anacletus, Clement, Evaristus, Alexander, Sixtus, 
 Telesphorus, Hyginus, Pius, Anicetus, Soter, and Eleuthe- 
 rius, the twelve of the Apostles. This list is also found 
 in Eusebius, 1 copied, as he alleges, from Irenseus. Thus 
 one observes how extremely incorrect is the assertion of 
 the Reverend M. Blanc as to the authority upon which 
 this historian bases his statements. 
 
 Eusebius states, 2 from ancient accounts whose truth he 
 considers to be extremely probable, that Philo, the Jew, 
 who came from Egypt in the beginning of the reign of 
 the Emperor Claudius, met and conferred at Rome with 
 St. Peter, who then preached to the Romans. This was in 
 the year 43 of the common era. 
 
 Arnobius, the famous Numidian rhetorician, who was 
 converted to Christianity in or about the year 302, men- 
 tions the extensive progress of religion in Rome to have 
 been in a great measure caused by the exposure and defeat 
 of Simon Magus, by St. Peter, in that city. 8 
 
 Tertullian, born at Carthage about the year 160, son 
 of a centurion, a man of most comprehensive genius, exten- 
 sive erudition, and deep research, profoundly versed in the 
 Roman laws and the principles of evidence, in his book 
 "On Prescriptions," states that Peter was crucified at Rome, 
 and says that Clement was one of his successors in that 
 See. He has in his book of Prescriptions the following 
 passage : 
 
 iLib. v, c. 6. "Lib, ii, c. xvi. Lib. contra Gent.
 
 440 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 " If you are near Italy, you have Borne ; whence, too, 
 we have authority convenient. Happy Church for which 
 the Apostles poured out their entire doctrine, together with 
 their blood where Peter is assimilated to his suffering 
 Lord, and Paul is crowned in a death like John's." 
 
 St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, was s'on of one of the 
 principal senators of that city, and only at an advanced 
 period of life embraced the Christian faith. His education 
 was one of the first order and his talents excellent; his 
 intercourse w r ith the Church of Rome was very consider- 
 able, after he had been elevated to the see of his native 
 city ; nor w r as it all of the most forbearing and obsequi- 
 ous character. In a variety of places he styles Rome 
 "the See of Peter," "the Chair of Peter," "the principal 
 Church whence the princely unity hath arisen." In his 
 book iv, Epistle 2, to Antonianus we read : " Cornelius 
 was made Bishop, when the place of Fabian, that is the 
 place of Peter, and the degree of the sacerdotal chair, was 
 vacant." This prelate was put to death in the year 258. 
 
 Lactantius, a disciple of Arnobius, at Sicca, in Africa, 
 was converted from Paganism to Christianity at Nicomedia, 
 about the year 290. About the year 317 he became pre- 
 ceptor to Crispus Caesar, in Gaul, by the appointment of 
 Constantine. One of his greatest works is that " Of Divine 
 Institutions," published first in 320. I select the follow- 
 ing passages : 
 
 "Christ at the time of His departure manifested to His 
 disciples the things that were to happen, which Peter and 
 Paul preached at Rome." 
 
 "After Nero had slain them (Peter and Paul), Vespa- 
 sian extinguished the name and nation of the Jews, and 
 did all those things which they foretold were to take 
 place." 1 
 
 St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, was born about the 
 year 296, and amongst other passages of his writings is 
 the following, taken from his letter to the Hermits : 
 
 i Mb. iv. c. 21.
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 441 
 
 "At first they did not spare even Liberius, Bishop of 
 Rome ; not being moved by any reverence, for that his 
 See was Apostolic." 
 
 In the same lie introduces Liberius declaring : 
 
 " Never has such been handed down to us by the 
 Fathers, who have received their tradition from the blessed 
 and great Peter." 
 
 Origen, the fellow student of Plotinus and Longinus, 
 the disciple of Ammonius Saccas, was certainly no mere 
 copyist without cause. This great master of the Catechet- 
 ical school of Alexandria was born in the year 184 ; about 
 the year 212 he went to Rome, in the Pontificate of 
 Zepherinus, and was unquestionably well qualified to ascer- 
 tain its ecclesiastical history. It is upon his authority also 
 that Eusebius relates the manner in which St. Peter was 
 crucified with his head downwards, at his own request: 
 
 "And Peter having waited at Rome to the last, was 
 crucified there, his head being downwards, which was so 
 besought by himself, lest he should appear to be equalled 
 to his Lord." 1 
 
 I suspect it required no special indulgence from ISTero 
 to leave the executioner the power of agreeing to the 
 request of one to suffer, so far as regarded the position of 
 his body. It is a miserable sneer of sophistry to insinu- 
 ate that such an acquiescence on the part of the execu- 
 tioner was equivalent to " allowing Christians the care of 
 settling their own forms of punishment." 
 
 All these and a great many more who bear similar 
 testimony lived before or together with Eusebius, the his- 
 torian, who was born in the year 270. Their works and 
 those of several others were in his hands. How absurd 
 then is the statement that he was the mere copyist of a 
 copyist of hearsay? 
 
 I come now to exhibit the effort which the essayist 
 makes to destroy the entire value of all the witnesses. 
 
 iLib. iii, in Genes.
 
 442 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 He had previously made his assaults upon Papias, Diony- 
 sius of Corinth, and Eusebius. But this he feels will not 
 serve his purpose, and he, as if in a mere transient man- 
 ner, as a matter too plain to be questioned, too palpable 
 to require proof, states that not a single passage from any 
 of the ancient writers is of any avail when adduced by 
 a Roman Catholic, but if it be adduced by a Protestant 
 it is conclusive. You will probably think this a very 
 -extraordinary position. But do not pass a hasty judgment. 
 
 " Let us also make, in passing, the remark, that when 
 the Fathers are produced against us in order to support 
 dogmas or facts, which our opponent feels himself inter- 
 ested in maintaining, we ought to be the more upon our 
 guard, because the Council of Trent has decided that the 
 books of the ancient Fathers ought to be purged, (expur- 
 cjati) ; a circumstance that, consequently, should make us 
 very circumspect in the admission of passages which they 
 -cite against us ; while, on the other hand, the passages of 
 these Fathers which we allege, remain in all their force, 
 since W 7 e possess the books of the ancients only from the 
 hands of our adversaries." 
 
 Now suppose the Council of Trent made such a deci- 
 sion, and that it was carried into execution ; all that 
 -could follow would be, that after the close of that council 
 the works would have been garbled; that is, passages 
 would have been omitted. But my argument rests upon 
 the passages which have been retained, and unless the wit- 
 nesses contradict themselves, none of the expugned passages 
 could have asserted what contradicts those retained. Hence, 
 ven were I to admit the truth of this statement, his con- 
 clusion would be unsupported. 
 
 Again : The Council of Trent did not close its session 
 until the year 1563, at which period a large portion of 
 Europe and several of its universities were Protestant, and a 
 great number of ancient copies of the works of the Fathers 
 were in the hands of the Protestants, as well as in the 
 libraries of those universities and cathedrals, as in those
 
 ST. PETER- S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 443 
 
 of the monasteries, colleges and schools, which they 
 seized on, and in the hands of many private individuals. 
 The council could not purge all those copies of the obnox- 
 ious passages which they contained ; why not adduce those 
 passages and thus convict the Catholics of this alleged 
 garbling? Those works and printed copies of them are at 
 this day in the hands of Protestants, and they have been so 
 during the existence of the Protestant Churches; when such 
 is the case, what use would be the purging of the copies 
 held by the Catholics? 
 
 Monsieur Blanc perhaps thinks that using the Latin 
 word expurgati will be sufficient proof that the council 
 made such a decree. It is painful but it is necessory to 
 inform you that the council made no such decree or de- 
 cision. AVriters like M. Blanc and the " clerical brother " 
 and the editor of the Christian Advocate are too fond of 
 using this mode of attack upon us. It would have been 
 as easy and more satisfactory to have referred to the ses- 
 sion when the decree was made, to the page of the work 
 in which it might be found, or to the head under which 
 it was classed, as to write the Latin word expurgati. 
 
 Thus it is very plain that in three paragraphs of this 
 dissertation w r e have a very large number of glaring mis- 
 statements, as well as the manifestation of a desire to de- 
 stroy the credit of all the ancient witnesses and documents 
 of Church history, merely because they manifestly prove 
 the truth of a fact which our " clerical brother " hates to 
 admit. It is a little extraordinary that men who belong 
 to a Christian society should be so anxious to extinguish 
 all the ancient lights of the Church, and to create a chaos 
 or to leave a blank between the period at which St. Luke 
 concludes his account of the Acts of the Apostles and the 
 present day ; or a comparatively recent period. 
 
 Having thus shown the disingenuity, the sophistry, and 
 want of honesty of M. Blanc, in his first assertions, I 
 shall proceed to examine another very flippant expression 
 of his essay :
 
 444 ST. PETER ' S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 " Clement was copied by Eusebius, and the latter has 
 been copied by many authors, ancient and modern, who 
 "have been, perhaps, too much interested to render credible 
 a fact which will always be of very little importance to 
 those who build their faith, not on the person of Peter, 
 but upon the corner-stone, Jesus Christ." 
 
 In the first place I would remark that I know of no 
 persons who build their faith upon the person of St. 
 Peter. If it be meant to insinuate that Roman Catholics 
 do, the insinuation is untrue. When Christ changed the 
 name of Simon to Peter, or rock, He declared that upon 
 that rock He would build His church, and that the gates 
 of hell should not prevail against it. 1 Roman Catholics- 
 believe that our blessed Lord did build His Church upon 
 that Peter or rock, by making Peter its first chief pastor 
 after His own ascension ; but he never desired the people 
 to build their faith or belief upon that rock, but upon 
 Jesus Christ Himself. When a Roman Catholic makes an 
 act of faith, he declares that he believes the articles of 
 his religion because God has revealed them ; and thus the 
 truth of God is the foundation of his faith. Christ then 
 built the Church upon St. Peter, but Roman Catholics 
 build their faith upon the Saviour Himself. 
 
 Eusebius principally used the compilation of Julianas 
 Africanus, and the history of the Church written by St. 
 Hegesippus, the former in his chronicle, the latter, so far 
 as it came, viz., to the year 170, in his history; but he 
 had also in his possession the writings of the various 
 authors above quoted, most of which he cites himself. I 
 would then ask what is to be thought of a man who, like 
 this Monsieur Blanc, boldly makes a grossly untrue asser- 
 tion viz., that Eusebius only copied Clement of Alex- 
 andria, on this subject, Clement having only copied Papias, 
 and Papias only writing upon a hearsay about eighty years 
 after the death of Peter? Will not all conclude with me, 
 
 ' Matt, xvi, 18.
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 445 
 
 even before examining the subsequent writers, that this 
 
 Frenchman was either very ignorant or I shall not 
 
 write the alternative? I do not like to call men who 
 differ from me beasts, idolaters, unhallowed usurpers, de- 
 luders, babblers, unblushing liars, and such other names. I 
 am not sufficiently polished for this; I am a plain repub- 
 lican ; I do not like to call nick-names, though I 
 might see that a man writes what he ought not. The 
 history of Eusebius was brought down to the epoch of 
 the defeat of Licinius, in 323 ; all the authorities which I 
 have quoted, hitherto, were anterior to this event. 
 
 IY. 
 
 The essayist concedes- to us, from that period forward, 
 the host of writers who admit the truth of the fact. 
 However, this concession is made with a very bad grace, 
 for, in the first place, it is asserted that in obedience to 
 a decision of the Council of Trent, their works have been 
 garbled, and in the next place, that the ancient and 
 modern authors who have copied from Eusebius were gen- 
 erally too much interested to render the fact credible. I 
 have already disposed of this first statement. 
 
 I shall here make what appears to me a very natural 
 observation. It is conceded by the essayist that at the 
 early period of the fourth century it was publicly stated 
 that St. Peter suffered martyrdom in Rome. He would 
 not, I presume, deny that the Bishops of Rome did at 
 that period claim a supremacy in the Church, because of 
 their being the successors in his See. He would not, I 
 suppose, deny that then, and for many years after, several 
 bishops and their flocks not only submitted to that claim, 
 but strenuously supported it. Consequently, is it not pass- 
 ing strange, that from the mass of ancient authors he 
 cannot cite one passage to question the truth of what all 
 the ancient writers assert? Surely the Council of Trent, 
 which was opened in 1545, could not have purged the
 
 446 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 Fathers before the time of Arius in 320, of Macedonius 
 in 360, of Nestorius in 430, of Eutyches in 450, of 
 Heraclius in 640, of Constans in 668, of Leo the Isaurian 
 in 740, or of Photius in 880. All those men and their 
 followers and adherents opposed the Bishops of Rome, and 
 were condemned by those prelates. Yet not one syllable 
 do they urge in denial of the martyrdom of Peter at 
 Rome ; not one of them attempts to deny the notorious 
 fact that the Bishops of that See were, in their episcopacy 
 thereof, the successors of that Apostle. I presume we shall 
 not be told that those opponents were interested in making 
 it credible. 
 
 Shall we be told that the prelates, the divines, and the 
 critics of the Protestant Church of England are interested 
 in rendering it credible? No nation, no Church, can boast 
 of brighter genius, more varied talent, deeper erudition, 
 and more general scholarship, than is to be found in the 
 ratio of their numbers in that national Church. It is true 
 that in the fury of their early efforts against Popery, as 
 was the phrase of the day, neither John Knox in Scot- 
 land nor the Mussulman in the East made a more holy 
 havoc of the documents of ancient days. As the Bible 
 with the one and the Koran with the other Avere the only 
 books which contained true knowledge, and were worthy of 
 the believer's attention, so after being stripped of the 
 mammon of iniquity with which their covers and cases 
 were enriched, whole hecatombs of ungodly parchments were 
 offered as holocausts to the spirit of innovation. Yet still, 
 as the "monkish" collection was immense, and the zeal of 
 the ravagers was after a time restrainei, the learned men, 
 who subsequently arose in the English Church, had ample 
 opportunities for indulging their critical and antiquarian 
 research. To the testimony of Archbishop AVake, Bishop 
 Pearson, Dodwell, Cave, and a host of this description, I 
 would merely add the following remark of the acute 
 Winston : 
 
 " Mr. Bower, with some weak Protestants before him, 
 almost pretended to deny that St. Peter was ever in
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 447 
 
 Rome; concerning which matter take my own former words 
 out of my three Tracts, p. 53. Mr. Baratier proves most 
 thoroughly, as Bishop Pearson lias done before him, that 
 St. Peter was at Rome. This is so clear in Christian 
 antiquity, that it is a shame for any Protestant to con- 
 fess that any Protestant ever denied it. This partial pro- 
 cedure demonstrates that Mr. Bower has by no means got 
 clear of the prejudices of some Protestants, as an impar- 
 tial writer of history, which he strongly pretends to be, 
 ought to do, and has in this case greatly hurt the Pro- 
 testant cause instead of helping it." x 
 
 Baratier was an eminent Protestant divine, whose dis- 
 sertation was printed at Utrecht in 1740. It is entitled 
 "A Chronological Inquiry about the most ancient Bishops 
 of Rome, from Peter to Victor." In it he demonstrates 
 the fact which had been so ably exhibited in the learned 
 dissertation of Bishop Pearson. 
 
 Will it be pretended then that English, French and 
 German Protestant divines are interested in rendering this 
 fact credible? The Rev. M. Blanc is not more opposed 
 to the See of Rome than they were ; the Christian Advo- 
 cate is not more inimical to what he and they call Popery 
 than were those writers. But they were men who had 
 read extensively and searched deeply upon the subject. 
 
 I shall now adduce the testimony of men whom the 
 essayist would, perhaps, with some show of ground, assert 
 were interested, because they were Roman Catholics. Are 
 we then to reject the evidence furnished by the best wit- 
 nesses of the brightest days of Christianity merely because 
 it will lead to a conclusion at which some gentlemen do 
 not choose to arrive? 
 
 St. Epiphanius was born at Eleutheropolis, in Palestine, 
 in the year 310. In his youth he closely studied the 
 Hebrew, the Egyptian, the Syriac, the Greek, and the 
 Latin languages, for the purpose of being better able to 
 
 >Mem. of his own life, p. 599.
 
 448 sr. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 study the Holy Scriptures. He retired into a monastery in 
 the desert of Egypt, whence he returned to Palestine in 
 333, and built a monastery near the place of his birth, 
 in which his time was divided between labor, study and 
 prayer. About the year 367 he was chosen Bishop of 
 Constantia, now Salamis, in the island of Cyprus. In 382 
 he accompanied St. Paulinus of Nola to Home, during the 
 pontificate of Damasus. Scarcely a book of note was to 
 be found which he had not studied, and he had improved 
 his reading by travel and observation. His death occurred 
 in 403. In his account of the twenty-seventh heresy, which 
 is that of Carpocrates, he distinctly states : " Peter and Paul 
 were the first in Koine." He follows up the succession 
 by stating : " The succession of Bishops in Rome had this 
 consecution, Peter and Paul, Linus, Cletus, Clement, 
 Evaristus, Alexander," &c. 
 
 This is pretty strong testimony, given by a man of ex- 
 tensive knowledge and reading, whose research was close 
 and protracted, and whose opportunities were abundant and 
 ample. 
 
 St. Jerome was born in the year 329 or 331, and lived 
 to the year 420, enjoying extraordinary advantages of ex- 
 tensive information in Home, in Palestine, and in various 
 other places where the best opportunities of knowledge were 
 to be found. He writes of himself: "When a boy I 
 studied the liberal arts at Rome. I was wont to make a 
 round to visit the tombs of the Apostles and Martyrs, 
 with others of the same age and inclinations, and often to 
 descend into the caves which are dug deep into the earth, 
 and have for walls on each side the bodies of those that 
 are interred there." 1 His close application to the study of 
 the Holy Scriptures has never been exceeded, perhaps never 
 equalled; no one better knew the whole range of ecclesias- 
 tical affairs. In his notices of illustrious men we read the 
 following brief but emphatic and explicit testimony : 
 
 iLib. 12, c. 40, Ezcch.
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 449 
 
 " Simon Peter went to Rome in order to vanquish 
 Simon Magus, and there he held the sacerdotal Chair 
 during twenty-five years, that is, to the fourteenth or last 
 year of Nero, by whom he was fastened to the Cross, and 
 suffered martyrdom, with his head down towards the earth." 
 
 In his epistle to Marcella we read the following testi- 
 mony regarding Rome, which, however, as the centre of 
 former pagan infidelity, he styles the Babylon of the 
 Apocalypse : " There exists the Holy Church ; there are the 
 trophies of the Apostles and of the martyrs, there the true 
 confession of Christ, there too the faith preached by the 
 Apostle, and the Christian name daily raising itself on 
 high, having trodden on the Gentile system." 
 
 In his epistle I to Pope Damasus, the 37th Bishop of 
 Rome, concerning the name hypoatasls, he has the follow- 
 ing testimony : " I speak with the successor of the fisher- 
 man and the Disciple of the Cross ; I am joined in com- 
 munion with your Holiness, that is, to the Chair of Peter." 
 
 St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, was born in Gaul in the 
 year 340, where his father, who was at the time prefect 
 of the Prffitorium, kept his court. Ambrose himself, when 
 Governor of Liguria and JEmilia, was chosen for the See 
 of Milan and consecrated in the year 374 ; he died in 
 397. His instruction was had in Rome, and no person 
 could be more fully qualified than he was by education, 
 by habit, and by principle, to investigate the origin of 
 that Church. It is from 'his oration against Auxentius 
 Avhich is found in his epistles, lib. 5, that we read one 
 of those accounts of St. Peter, at which the Rev. Monsieur 
 Blanc, the clerical brother, and the Christian Advocate 
 would affect to sneer as a "ridiculous tale," "a fable," &c. 
 But my wise friends ought to be aware that we have re- 
 ceived the Holy Scriptures, which contain many similar 
 statements, only from the same hands, and by the same 
 testimony which transmits to us those tales and fables, as 
 the sage and critical trio are pleased to designate them.
 
 450 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCQPATE. 
 
 St. Ambrose is stating an occurrence which took place 
 after the Christians had prevailed upon Peter to leave 
 the city of Rome in order to escape : " He began to go 
 beyond the walls by night, and seeing Christ meet him in 
 the gate-way, as if entering the city, he said : ' Lord whither 
 goest Thou ? ' Christ answered : l I come to Rome for the 
 purpose of being again crucified.' Peter understood the 
 divine answer to relate to his own cross, &c. ... 
 Being quickly seized upon, he by his Cross honored the 
 Lord Jesus." 
 
 In his Book III on the Sacraments, chap, i., he has- 
 the following testimony, showing the ground upon which 
 he made a statement : " Truly we have as the author of 
 this our assertion Peter the Apostle, who was the Priest 
 of the Roman Church." 
 
 St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, was born of illustrious- 
 parents, at Bordeaux, in the year 353, educated in the 
 most famous schools, and possessed all the advantages of 
 talent, fortune, books, and communication with the most 
 learned men of his time, in various places where he re- 
 sided. He entered upon retirement from his worldly 
 grandeur in the year 390, and was consecrated in 409, 
 and died in 431. In his book " Natali," 3, he gives u& 
 the following testimony : " And Rome herself, powerful in 
 the sacred monuments of the heavenly leaders, in Peter 
 and in Paul." 
 
 St. John Chrysostom was born about the year 344, at 
 Antioch. He was the only son of Secundus, the coni- 
 mander-in-chief of the imperial troops in Syria. His name 
 in his eulogy; his knowledge was indeed extensive, as 
 his tongue was eloquent. He was ordained deacon in 381; 
 priest in 386; and was consecrated Bishop of Constanti- 
 nople on the 26th of February, 398, and died on the 
 14th of September, 407. In his Commentary on the 18th 
 Psalm we read : " Because Peter the fisherman took posses- 
 sion of the chief royal city, he shines, even after death, 
 more splendid than the sun."
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 451 
 
 In his Homily 32, on the epistle to the Romans, he 
 states : " The heavens do not shine so brightly when the 
 sun shoots forth his rays, as doth the city of the Romans, 
 pouring out the light of those two lamps through all the 
 world. From this place Paul will be snatched, from this 
 place Peter. Consider, and be astonished what a spectacle 
 Rome will behold, tc wit, Paul arising suddenly from the 
 repository together with Peter, and borne upwards to meet 
 the Lord." 
 
 Eutropius, an excellent historian born in the same cen- 
 tury, who wrote ten books of the history of Rome down 
 to the time of the Emperor Valcns, gives the following 
 testimony in his book vii " On the Life of Nero :" 
 "Finally he ad led this to all his other crimes, that he 
 butchered the holy Apostles of God, Peter and Paul." 
 
 St. Sulpicius Ssverns, of a rich and illustrious Roman 
 family, was born near Toulouse in Aquitain, about the 
 year 360. He was a most acute and eloquent barrister, of 
 extensive reading and deep erudition. Upon the death of 
 his wife he retired and devoted himself altogether to piety 
 and literature. Some writers state that he was ordained 
 priest, but doubts exist upon the subject. He compiled an 
 ecclesiastical history and some works of hagiography. The 
 language of his abridged history, to the year 400, is such 
 as to deserve a comparison in style with best of the 
 earlier ages, and procured for him the appellation of the 
 Christian Sallust. His death occurred about the year 420, 
 when it was generally supposed he was a monk in a 
 monastery, founded near Marseilles, by Cassian, who came 
 thither from Constantinople about twelve years previously. 
 Here is his testimony : " The divine religion had grown 
 strong in the city, Peter being Bishop there, and Paul 
 
 having been afterwards led to Rome Paul and 
 
 Peter were capitally sentenced, of whom one was beheaded 
 with a sword; Peter was lifted on a cross." l 
 
 i Sac Hist., lib. 2.
 
 452 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 The Emperor Theodosius the Great reigned from 395 to 
 408, and from his situation must have had good oppor- 
 tunities of knowing the general impression of the wise and 
 the learned of his own day, as well as the history of pre- 
 vious times. This emperor must, if local prejudices or 
 partialities swayed him, have been less disposed to favor 
 Rome than Constantinople. Let us view his testimony 
 given in "G. de summa Trinitate, et fide Catholica, L. 
 cunctos populos :" " We desire all the people who are 
 under the rule of our clemency to be exercised in that 
 religion, whose preservation as yet . amongst the Romans 
 declare it to have been to them delivered by the blessed 
 Apostle Peter." 
 
 St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, was born at Tagaste in 
 Numidia in the year 354. His education was most care- 
 fully looked after, his talents were of the first order, and 
 his research was extensive and accurate. Having been in- 
 structed in the Christian doctrine by St. Ambrose, as well 
 as by an aged priest named Simplician, whom Pope Da- 
 masus had formerly sent to instruct Ambrose himself, he 
 became a Christian, and was baptized by St. Ambrose, on 
 Easter eve, in the year 387. In. the course of two or 
 three years afterwards he was ordained priest, and was 
 consecrated bishop in the year 395, and died in the year 
 430. I might quote many passages from his voluminous 
 writings to sustain the facts which I here uphold. I shall 
 be content with the following : " Rome commends more 
 solemnly, and with greater celebrity, the merits of Peter 
 and of Paul, because they suffered on the same day." 1 
 " What hath the Chair of the Church of Rome done to you, 
 that Chair in which Peter sat> and in which Anastasius 
 now sits ? " 2 
 
 In his sixteenth epistle, he enumerates the Bishojs of 
 Rome from Peter to Anastasius. 
 
 Paul Orosius, a learned priest of Tarragona, in Spain, 
 who about the year 416 was in Palestine and in several 
 
 1 Lib. 1, c. 10, do conscnsu, Evangel. Lib. 11. c. 51, contra llttcras rctiliam.
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 453 
 
 parts of the most flourishing divisions of the Church, the 
 doctrine and knowledge of which he had fully known, 
 testifies in lib. vii, c. 6 of his history : 
 
 "In the beginning of the reign of Claudius, Peter, the 
 Apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ, came to Rome, and by 
 faithful discourse taught the saving faith to all, and approved 
 it by most powerful virtues, and from that time Christians 
 began to be at Rome." 
 
 " For Nero first at Rome punished and slew Christians, 
 and endeavoring to extirpate the very name, he put to 
 death the most blessed Apostles of Christ, Peter by the 
 cross and Paul by the sword." 
 
 Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus, was consecrated in 423 ; 
 his see was about 80 miles from Antioch. He died in the 
 year 458, before he had reached his 70th year. He was 
 deeply versed in every branch of Syriac, Greek, and Hebrew 
 learning, highly esteemed for his critical and philosophical 
 powers. An unfortunate dispute existed between him and 
 St. Cyril, of Alexandria, legate of Pope Celcstine, regarding 
 the personal criminality of Xestorius, Bishop of Constanti- 
 nople ; so that Theodoret was no flatterer of the See of 
 Rome. He made a valuable compilation of Church history 
 from the year 324, when Eusebius closed, to the year 
 429 ; besides writing several other works. In his Com. on 
 chapter i, to the Romans, we have this testimony : 
 
 "The great Peter first gave to them (the Romans; tne 
 Gospel doctrine." 
 
 In his epistle to Pope Leo the Great, writing of Rome, 
 he states : 
 
 " She possesses the sepulchres of our common Fathers 
 and doctors of the truth, of Peter and of Paul, which 
 illuminate the souls of the faithful." 
 
 " They (Peter and Paul) have made your See the more 
 illustrious ; this is the sum of yonr goods. But God hath 
 now also rendered your See bright and worthy of remark, 
 when he hath placed your Holiness in that seat which 
 emits the rays of the orthodox faith."
 
 454 ST. PETER S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 I could swell tliis catalogue, but to what purpose? Noth- 
 ing is more plainly exhibited upon the records of antiquity, 
 in the writings of historians, in the letters of bishops^ in 
 the edicts of emperors, in the documents of Churches, in 
 public monuments, in the acts of councils, in the avowal 
 of opponents, than that the blessed Apostle Peter was at 
 Borne, was first Bishop of Rome, and died in that city, 
 being Bishop thereof. Let any man of common discernment 
 now compare the small portion of our evidence which I 
 have adduced, with this miserable sophistry of the lauded 
 Monsieur Blanc of Mens, Isere, and draw his own conclusion. 
 
 I have t\vo other points to meet, which, of course, I 
 shall thoroughly discuss, viz., whether by Babylon, St. Peter 
 meant Rome, or the city of Chaldea, or Grand Cairo ; and 
 also whether Scripture does not contradict my position. 
 But I was desirous of first giving a small specimen of 
 our tradition, which is so much undervalued by those who 
 have not had the opportunity of knowing the meaning which 
 we attach to the word. With us tradition means conclusive 
 evidence derived from the earliest ages. It might be of 
 very little importance to the essayist, to his clerical brother, 
 and to the Christian Advocate, to know what was the doc- 
 trine of the true believers of the early ages, the doctrine 
 of those men who alone can be to us the witnesses of the 
 authenticity and the integrity of the holy Scriptures. We 
 pretend to no private inspiration to lead us individually to 
 the knowledge of which book is and which is not canon- 
 ical. The canon by which the distinction was originally 
 made was found in the judgment and authority of those 
 men who composed the Church of Christ in those primitive 
 ages ; the writers whom I have adduced as my witnesses 
 are also the witnesses of their canons. Reject their testi- 
 mony in one case, and how can you consistently retain it 
 in another? Thus the holy trio destroy the holy Scrip- 
 tures, and yet they make those Scriptures, which they so 
 destroy, the foundation of their belief!
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 455 
 
 The host of witnesses adduced by me might indeed have 
 "been interested in rendering credible the fact that Peter 
 vras at Rome ; and I am convinced they were, because 
 they were so interested in rendering truth credible, and 
 they proved their interest by their devotion thereto, exhib- 
 ited in labors, in self-denial, by splendid virtue, in immense 
 sacrifices, and frequently by martyrdom. But could they 
 create monuments at Rome to commemorate facts which the 
 Roman people knew to be fiction? Could they persuade 
 the world that Peter, who must have died somewhere, and 
 the place of whose death must have been known, did not 
 oie there, but died where he never had been, where no 
 monument was found, no tradition existed, no claim was 
 made? It would be folly in me to enumerate the absurd- 
 ities which those suppositions would involve. But in calling 
 forward a few from the host at my disposal, I have omitted 
 several of the early Bishops of Rome itself: such as 
 Clement and Anacletus in the first century, men who knew 
 and spoke with Peter at Rome ; Marcellus in the third 
 century; Damasus and Innocent, who lived in the fourth; 
 Leo the Great and Gelasius, who are of the fifth century. 
 I have omitted the testimonies of Councils such as that 
 of Sardica in 347 and of Chalcedon in 451. I have ceased 
 to unfold the roll of ages, not because it was deficient in 
 authorities, but because I am convinced that I have exhib- 
 ited more than enough to satisfy any reasonable person. 
 
 If it be said that the Chrysostoms, the Ambroses, the 
 Augustines, the Epiphaniuses, the Jeromes, the Eusebiuses, 
 the Orosiuses, and the other luminaries of that splendid 
 galaxy which marked the Christians' path from earth to 
 heaven with the milk of celestial doctrine in the early days 
 of the Church, were interested in upholding the system 
 to-day called Popery: they who make the assertion identify 
 modern Popery, as they are pleased to call our religion, 
 and the Christian system of the best, the brightest, and 
 the earliest days of the Church. How then, in the name 
 of consistency, can we be charged with innovations, when
 
 456 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 we desire to be tried by the testimony of those ancient 
 Fathers? How can our separated brethren claim to hold 
 the principles of the primitive Church, when their continual 
 efforts are directed to the destruction or the depreciation 
 of its splendid documents and noble witnesses ? 
 
 Y. 
 
 I proceed to examine the next paragraph of Monsieur 
 Blanc's production : 
 
 " The tradition of this journey of St. Peter to Rome 
 rests, moreover, upon the supposition that the Babylon, 
 from which he wrote his first epistle, was Rome. Euse- 
 bius strengthens this conjecture by saying that Peter ' fig- 
 uratively called Rome Babylon.' But many learned men 
 with reason maintain that the name Babylon ought to be 
 taken in its proper signification, for Babylon of Chaldea, 
 or that of Egypt, which is now Grand Cairo, where there 
 were many Jews, to whom Peter was specially sent, as St. 
 Paul teaches us, in the second chapter of his epistle to 
 the Galatians." 
 
 The second chapter of the epistle to the Galatians states, 
 indeed, a general regulation which was adopted for a division 
 of labor, by which Peter was principally to labor amongst the 
 Jews and Paul principally amongst the Gentiles ; but each of 
 them did frequently labor amongst both descriptions. 1 Peter 
 first received Gentiles into the Church, and Paul frequently 
 preached in the synagogues, and even in the city of Rome 
 itself he sought to bring the children of Israel to the knowl- 
 edge of their Messias. If we look to the Acts of the 
 Apostles, xiii, 14, we shall find abundant evidence of the fact, 
 and verse 46 exhibits that it was not either unusual or acci- 
 dental. " To you it behoved us to speak first the word of 
 God; but seeing you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy 
 of eternal life ; behold we turn to the Gentiles." The same 
 principle is exhibited in Acts xvii, 1, 2, 10, 17; xviii, 
 4, 5, 19; xix, 8; xxviii, 17, 23, 28, &c., as also in many 
 
 >Acts, i, 48.
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 457 
 
 other passages. The fact of his addressing an epistle to the 
 Hebrews shows clearly that St. Paul found himself at 
 perfect liberty to .seek for their salvation and to bring them 
 into the Christian fold. Hence, upon the same ground, 
 though the principal charge of laboring specially amongst 
 the Jews was assumed by Peter, this selection did not 
 interfere with his concern for the Gentiles. The chapter 
 referred to by the essayist does not, therefore, preclude the 
 laboring of Peter amongst the Gentiles. 
 
 I will now suppose that it was the duty of Peter to 
 reside where a large body of Jews had been collected 
 together. I shall adduce testimony to show that there was 
 such an assemblage in Rome. In Josephus 1 we read that 
 when the Jews sent fifty ambassadors to Rome for the 
 purpose of lodging a complaint against the administration 
 of Herod, in the reign of Augustus, there were "above 
 eight thousand of the Jews already at Rome," joined ia 
 the commission with those fifty delegates from Palestine. 
 The number of that nation residing in the city about the 
 thirtieth year of the reign of Augustus, which corresponds 
 with the beginning of the Christian era, has been estimated 
 by good statistical antiquarians at considerably upwards of 
 twelve thousand ; several of whom would not join in the 
 accusation against Herod, nor in petitioning for the restora- 
 tion of the Jewish laws. During the forty-three years that 
 intervened between this period and the arrival of Peter, 
 the calamities and dissensions of Judea, as well as the 
 tyranny of the petty rulers by whom it was harassed, 
 caused the emigration of large bodies of its inhabitants, 
 reat numbers of whom took up their abode in the capital 
 of the empire; so that in the reign of Caligula, Philo 
 wrote that the larger portion of the city beyond the Tiber 
 was occupied by Jews. Dio, the historian, 2 informs us that 
 in the reign of Claudius, who assumed the imperial purple 
 in the year 41, and died in 54, that emperor found so 
 many of the nation in Rome, that although desirous of 
 
 lAntiquit., Lib. xvil, c. 11. * Lib. 9.
 
 458 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 banishing them, he feared to do so, and merely published 
 at first an edict to prohibit their assemblage, lest they 
 should create a sedition. Our statement is, that Peter 
 arrived in this city in the beginning of the reign of 
 Claudius, probably about the middle or latter part of the 
 year 43. There can be no question but that there "was 
 then an ample field amongst the Jews in Rome open for 
 his exertions ; because probably, at that period, no other 
 city in the universe contained so extensive an assemblage 
 of that nation. 
 
 The preaching of this Apostle must have created con- 
 siderable excitement amongst the Jews, as we may judge by 
 analogy, from the relations given in the Acts of the Apos- 
 tles. Hence, allowing for the carelessness and contempt 
 with which a Gentile writer usually treated what was called 
 the superstition of the Jews, we can easily find the true 
 meaning of the blunder of Suetonius (in Claudio) : " He ex- 
 pelled from Rome the Jews, who were in a continual tumult 
 at the instigation of Chrestus." The explanation is as obvi- 
 ous as it is correct. Though Christ was not there, His 
 Apostle was; and this expulsion, which took place in the 
 ninth year of Claudius, probably caused Peter, who was 
 the leader of the Christians, to leave the city for some 
 time. In examining the circumstances of Babylon and of 
 Grand Cairo, I shall show that in neither place was there 
 any such field open for the labors of this Apostle as there 
 was in Rome; so that it will be clear, the reference to 
 the second chapter of the epistle to the Galatians is a 
 delusion. Even Monsieur Blanc does not venture to assert 
 that when St. Peter wrote "the Church which is in Baby- 
 lon, elected together, saluteth you, and so doth my son 
 Mark," he did not mean Rome ; he merely tells us, that 
 "many learned men with reason maintain that the name of 
 Babylon ought to be taken in its proper signification for 
 Babylon of Chaldea, or that of Egypt, where were many 
 Jews." It is, however, not a little remarkable that those 
 "many learned men," who are all moderns, cannot inform
 
 ST. PETER'S HOMAN EPISCOPATE. 459 
 
 us from which Babylon it was written, though they are 
 certain that it was not written from Rome ; neither do 
 they vouchsafe to conjecture where St. Peter died, though 
 they are convinced that it was not at Rome ; nor will 
 they show us where he labored, though verily it could 
 not be at Rome. 
 
 I shall now proceed to show sufficient grounds for sub- 
 stituting the word Babylon for Rome, in the epistle itself, 
 by the writer. First, I have already demonstrated that the 
 Jews were banished from the city in the reign of Claudius, 
 because of the tumults occasioned by the introduction of 
 Christianity. They soon began to return, but slowly and 
 privately at first. St. Peter was the most obnoxious 
 personage, as well to the great body of his own nation, 
 as to the rulers of the city; upon which score prudence 
 would suggest that he should not too openly and unneces- 
 sarily exhibit to every person that he again resided in that 
 city. Could he find a word designating his abode, to those 
 who would not betray him, and which would not point him 
 out to his opponents, its "use would be natural. Such a 
 word was Babylon. 
 
 He wrote primarily to converted Hebrews, who had been 
 accustomed to such figures of speech, and who were con- 
 versant with the writings of the prophets, in which they 
 abounded. Amongst this people the name of a city or of 
 a region had generally attached an historical recollection, 
 which immediately exhibited what many phrases would be 
 required to describe. Sodom was a city of unnatural crime, 
 Egypt an idolatrous people, Canaan an accursed race, Baby- 
 lon was the prison of their fathers, the enemy of their 
 nation, the usurper of their rights, the tyrant of their race, 
 the proud and inexorable mistress of their captive rulers. 
 Such also in the days of Peter was pagan Rome; and 
 the Asiatic Jews were so well accustomed to designate that 
 mighty city by the name, that the Evangelist St. John so 
 styles it, amongst other places, in Rev. or Apocal. xiv, 8; 
 xvi, 19 ; xvii, 5 ; xviii, 2, 10, 21. To support the fact
 
 460 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 of their being so accustomed to style Rome, I could pro- 
 duce the testimony of Tertullian, lib. 3, contra Marcion, 
 Andreas and Aretas in Apoc. xvii, St. Jerome in Isaiam 
 xlvi, and xlvii, besides many others, who, together with 
 Papias, Eusebius, and the several early writers, state that 
 St. Peter meant Rome in this first epistle by the word 
 Babylon. Not only has Martin Luther designated the city 
 of Rome by this name, when he compiled his book, " Of 
 the Babylonish Captivity," but hundreds of zealous Protest- 
 ants perpetually apply to us Romanists, as they call us, 
 all that is written against Babylon in the Revelations. It 
 is to be hoped that the gentlemen do not mean to say 
 and to unsay with the same breath. I will then conclude 
 that Peter had a sufficient cause for styling Rome Babylon, 
 and that in so doing he was intelligible to the persons 
 for whom he wrote. 
 
 I might here rest my case, and upon the testimonies of 
 the ancient witnesses assert, that we have in this epistle 
 the declaration of Peter himself, that he was at Rome. 
 Let those who assert that he was the founder of the 
 Church in Babylon of Chaldea, or of that in Grand Cairo, 
 adduce their authorities ; let them produce the records of 
 those Churches ; let them give to us the catalogue of his 
 successors; let them inform us of the place, the time, the 
 manner of his death ; let them refer us to one ancient 
 writer who gives the shadow of a contradiction to my 
 statement, or who affords even the most flimsy basis upon 
 which to rest their conjectures. 
 
 I go yet farther, and I ask if it was not written from 
 the Babylon of the Apocalypse, which is Rome, from what 
 Babylon was it written ? The answer which I receive 
 is a conjecture. I have produced positive testimony. What 
 species of logic is that which would destroy positive testi- 
 mony by the conjecture of a possibility? But I yield all 
 this, and proceed to examine the conjectures themselves. 
 In truth the advocates of each will refute the advocates 
 of the other. Those who contend that the epistle was
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 461 
 
 written from Chaldea state that in the second, which was 
 written from the same place (c. ii, v, 15), the word Bosor 
 i.s a Chaldaic expression, and that this furnishes evidence 
 .sufficient for the residence of the writer. I have but a 
 very passing remark to make upon the extraordinary 
 obstacle. A transcriber might have written Bosor for Beor, 
 by mistake, and the word would then cease to be Chal- 
 daic. Again, between the period when Moses wrote that 
 Balaam was the son of Beor, and the period of Peter's 
 writing his epistles, the Hebrew people had been cap- 
 tives in Chaldea; and long before the Apostle's day, 
 the Syro-Chaldaic had been substituted for the ancient 
 Hebrew. Several pure Chaldaic words were also adopted, 
 of which Bosor might have been one. 
 
 The ground next taken by those persons is, that although 
 the Jews of Babylon had been greatly reduced in number 
 by the destructive ravages made upon them under Anileus 
 and Asineus, as well by the Babylonians as by the united 
 Greeks and Syrians, still there were many of them who 
 survived and settled in Chaldea, as the last chapter of 
 Josephus, lib. xviii, exhibits. They also state that there 
 are no grounds whatever for the supposition of those who 
 assert that Peter went into Egypt and there founded a 
 Church at Babylon, now called Grand Cairo. But they think 
 it extremely probable that he who preached in Bithynia, 
 Galatia, Pontus, and ' Cappadocia, did go to Babylon of 
 Chaldea, which was in his vicinity, and came through it 
 to Syria. They say it is on all hands allowed that he 
 was at Antioch, and it is natural to suppose that he went 
 thence to Babylon of Chaldea, where a great number of 
 Jews dwelt, and remained with them for some time. 
 
 My readers will observe that all this is merely con- 
 jecture and probability, save the assertion that no evidence 
 exists of his having founded a Church in Egypt. 
 
 Now, the good gentlemen of the other side assure us 
 that Babylon of Egypt must have been the city of his 
 sojourn; for they demonstrate that, at this period, the
 
 462 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 Jews were banished from the Chaldean city, which had 
 also become nearly a desert and that Peter, having preached 
 in Egypt and having established the See of Alexandria, 
 of which they gave no proof, went to the city of Babylon, 
 now called Grand Cairo, and there established his own see. 
 Thus, if we leave the fight between our adversaries, they 
 will destroy each other. 
 
 I shall give an outline of the reasoning upon which we 
 allege that this epistle was not written from Babylon in 
 Chaldea. In the first place, we have no testimony to 
 uphold the assertion that Peter ever went to that city ; 
 and we have abundant evidence that he did go to Rome, 
 which was known amongst the Jews and the early Chris- 
 tians under the name of Babylon, because of the crimi- 
 nality of its pagan inhabitants, their pride, their lust of 
 dominion, their oppression of the people of God, and their 
 accumulated idolatry. Next, we have the testimony of 
 Pliny to show that the city of Chaldea was then in a state 
 verging upon ruin and hastening to decay. That author, 
 book vii, c. 26, writes, that at this period it was reduced 
 to a state of solitude, exhausted by the vicinity of Seleucia, 
 upon the Tigris, which had been built as its destructive 
 rival by Nicanor. Strabo informs us, that it was then 
 comparatively a desert; and Diodorus states that but a 
 very small portion of the remains of that city was inhabited. 
 
 Add to these testimonies that of Josephus, who informs 
 us in the chapter before cited, that, after the death of 
 Anileus and his companions, which occurred before the 
 reign of Claudius, when this epistle was written, the Jews 
 who remained in Babylon, not finding themselves sufficiently 
 strong to resist the other inhabitants, most of them left 
 the place and took up their abode in Seleucia. Six years 
 after that migration, a plague, which ravaged this 
 devoted Babylon, swept away the remnant which lingered 
 amidst its ruins. Xor were those who took refuge in 
 Seleucia much more fortunate ; for the Greeks and Syrians 
 of that city, having conspired, suddenly attacked their Jew-
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 463 
 
 ish fellow-citizens, of whom they massacred upwards of 
 50,000. The few survivors then of this nation that yet 
 wept upon the borders of the Euphrates or Tigris, were 
 sheltered in Neerda and in Nisibi. Are we, then, because 
 of the word Bosor is Chaldaic, and because the right of 
 Roman primacy rests upon the fact of Peter's having been 
 at Rome, to declare that because there were Jews in 
 Babylon before the period of their flight and extermina- 
 tion, this Apostle, as being chiefly anxious for their con- 
 version, went to dwell in a city where scarcely one of 
 that nation had remained? 
 
 Surely, though that destruction should not even have 
 taken place previous to the writing of this epistle, and 
 though we should not have good reason to know that St. 
 Peter and his brethren were guided by the prophetic spirit 
 to which futurity is open, still we must acknowledge that 
 he and they received from on high light to understand 
 the Scriptural prophecies ; and he needed only to look 
 through the book of Isaias to be convinced thsit, " Babylon, 
 the oppressor, should come to nothing," xvi, 4. "Its 
 pride should be brought down to hell," v, 11. "Its name 
 was to be destroyed, the remains, the bud, and the off- 
 spring," v, 22. " It was to be made a possession for the 
 ericus and pools of waters it was to be swept and worn 
 out with a besom," v, 23. " It was to be destroyed like 
 Sodom and Gomorrah," xiii, v, 19. "It should not be 
 inhabited forever, neither should the Arabian pitch his tent 
 there, nor shepherds rest there," v, 20. "But wild beasts 
 should rest there, the houses should be filled with serpents, 
 ostriches should dwell there, and the hairy ones should 
 dance there," v, 21. "Owls should answer one another 
 in it," v, 22. And yet, with this prophecy under his 
 eye, and the proof of its beginning to be accomplished in 
 full evidence before him, the holy trio would, against its 
 own judgment and the evidence of all antiquity, send 
 Peter to Chaldea, that they might keep him out of Italy! 
 Admirable critics ! Profound antiquarians ! Learned com-
 
 464 ST. PETE&S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 mentators ! If farther evidence was required of the proph- 
 ecies, it might be easily found in chapter xxi of the same 
 prophet, in Jeremias, chap. 1, li, and in several other 
 places. From these topics, I conclude that Peter could not 
 have written from Babylon in Chaldea, for his residence 
 in which we have not a particle of evidence, nor any 
 evidence of a Church existing there in his day, nor any 
 likelihood of his going thither 
 
 M. Blanc states, that in the Egyptian Babylon there 
 "were many Jews to whom Peter was specially sent." If 
 by " many Jews " he means such a number as a few 
 thousands, the information is quite new to me. This city 
 was called Bubasticus, in the Nomos Heliopolitis, and is 
 now probably the city of Grand Cairo. It was built by a 
 Persian colony after the subjugation of Egypt by Cambyses, 
 about 500 years before the period of Peter's writing. In the 
 time of Strabo, which Avas a little previous to the days of 
 this Apostle, it was considered chiefly as a strong citadel, 
 which formed a good garrison for one of the Roman legions 
 then sent to guard Egypt (Strabo lib. xvii); but we are left 
 without any information of its being a place in which either 
 Jews or Christians dwelt in any numbers during more than 
 four centuries later than this period. Indeed, the Jews of 
 Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, Cappadocia, and generally of Asia 
 Minor, knew very little, if anything, of this distant city of 
 Egypt. According to this view, which is the best that I can 
 give of the Egyptian Babylon, there appears nothing to 
 support the assertion of the essayist, that in this city there 
 " were many Jews to whom Peter was specially sent." Thus, 
 without evidence of the fact, without any probable grounds 
 even for conjecture, merely because of the name of Babylon 
 and the dislike to Rome, we are to cast away the testimony 
 of the ancient witnesses and to place the Apostle in Grand 
 Cairo ! 
 
 It is natural to presume that, if he had been there, a 
 Christian Church would have existed in this city, yet of 
 this we have no evidence. Even Spanheim, a learned
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 465 
 
 Protestant divine, with all his research, could not discover 
 an earlier Bishop of Grand Cairo than Cyrus, whose name 
 is mentioned in the first proceedings of the Council of 
 Chalcedon, in 451. Baronius, however, will have it that 
 Zosimus, who lived under the Emperor Justin the younger, 
 about a century later than that period, is the first. I 
 shall grant Spanheim the benefit of his ' discovery, but how 
 far will it bring his party on their way? To this I shall 
 add a remark of Calmet, which has great force. Suppose 
 Home to be out of the question, and the word Babylon 
 written as the place of the writer's abode; would not 
 those persons who lived in the vicinity of this ancient 
 metropolis, and who scarcely knew of the Egyptian city, 
 naturally look to the Chaldean, unless some guarded phrase 
 or well-known circumstance corrected their mistake ? Yet 
 here is no such phrase, and if any such circumstance 
 existed, it must have been known to the early writers, 
 some one of whom would have thrown light upon the 
 subject, and prevented the supposed delusion under which 
 all Christians labored during so many centuries, in believing 
 the Babylon of St. Peter to be the Babylon of St. John. 
 These few testimonies and observations will show why I 
 state that Peter, by writing from Babylon, informs us that 
 he writes from Rome, and not from a city on the Eu- 
 phrates, the Tigris, or the Nile. Upon these grounds, 
 I assert that in the Scripture itself, and under Peter's 
 own hand, we have evidence of his having been in Rome. 
 
 I shall here introduce the testimony of the learned Hugo 
 Grotius, who, though not within the pale of our commu- 
 nion, gave strong evidence in our favor on more subjects 
 than the present. In his remarks upon this epistle he 
 states : 
 
 "The ancient and the modern interpreters differ concerning 
 Babylon. The ancients interpret it to be Rome, where no 
 true Christian will doubt that Peter was ; the moderns, 
 Babylon in Chaldea ; I agree with the ancients." 
 
 so
 
 466 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 Some faw gentlemen, not being able to get over the 
 difficulties of Babylon upon the Euphrates nor of Babylon 
 upon the Nile, have recollected that Seleucia was also- 
 called by this ominous name ; but I suspect that Seleucia 
 might have been considered as altogether placed beyond our 
 question after the massacre of 50,000 Jews and the flight 
 of the remainder to Neerda and to Nisibi. But a French 
 Protestant divine, Louis Capelle, who died in 1658, not 
 satisfied with either of the above conjectures, and of all 
 things disliking to go to Rome, fixed upon Jerusalem as 
 the Babylon of Peter, because there Christ was slain and 
 the Apostles persecuted. My object, however,, being only 
 to discharge the task which I have undertaken, that is, to 
 examine M. Blanc's dissertation, I shall not go out of it 
 into extraneous topics to quarrel with Mr. Capelle. 
 
 VI. 
 
 I now proceed to examine the question, whether the 
 Scriptures, as quoted by Monsieur Blanc, contradict our 
 statement, which consists of three distinct propositions, viz. : 
 1. That St. Peter the Apostle was at Rome. 2. That he 
 was Bishop of that city. 3. That he, being its Bishop, 
 suffered martyrdom there. 
 
 This writer does not adduce any distinct passage of the 
 Scriptures which denies or is incompatible with either or 
 the whole of our three propositions ; but he assumes, by 
 a chronological arrangement which is unwarranted, that some 
 Scriptural statements, whose truth we admit, are irrecon- 
 cilable with the truth of our positions. It would, therefore, 
 be well for us to have accurate notions of what we assert, 
 so that we may be able to distinguish what we require and 
 .support, from what it is assumed we contend for. In the 
 first place, though I believe that St. Peter went to Rome 
 in the first or second year of the reign of the Emperor 
 Claudius, if not in the last year of Caligula ; it will be 
 sufficient for my purpose if I prove that he was there 
 only twenty-one or twenty-four years after, viz., in the
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 467 
 
 latter part of the reign of Nero ; for if he was then put 
 to death, being Bishop of Rome, our three propositions 
 will stand, and his office was to be continued in that city, 
 unless, what is not pretended, he transferred it elsewhere. 
 What says M. Blanc? 
 
 "The best Catholic ecclesiastical writers put the martyr- 
 dom of Stephen in the seventh year after the death of 
 Jesus Christ; in other words, A. D. 40. The conversion 
 of St. Paul, at soonest, happened this year. Thus we see 
 seven years already past. At this epoch, St. Peter was 
 still at Jerusalem with the other Apostles ; and not until 
 some time afterwards, he was sent with St. John to 
 .strengthen the Samaritans, who had been converted by the 
 ministry of St. Philip. * Xow when the Apostles who were 
 at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the "Word 
 of God, they sent unto them Peter and John/ (Acts viii, 
 14). At this epoch, Peter was still under the authority of 
 the Apostolical college ; it was only five or six hundred years 
 afterwards, that he seized upon the sovereign power, in the 
 person of his successors. After the conversion of St. Paul, 
 we find St. Peter at Lydda, where he cured Eneas, (Acts 
 ix, 3234); at Joppa, where he raised Dorcas from the dead, 
 (ix, 36-41); at Csesarea, where he converted Cornelius, (x). 
 Upon the report spreading that Peter had eaten with the 
 Gentiles, he returns to Jerusalem, and vindicates himself 
 before ' them that were of the circumcision,' (xi). This 
 journey of Peter, his preaching in the provinces of Judea, 
 Samaria, and Galilee, his abode at Joppa, and the other 
 events which St. Luke relates, occupy a space of three 
 years (A. D. 43). "We learn that the Christians, dispersed 
 on occasion of the death of Stephen, had carried the good 
 savor of the Gospel to Antioch. Thither Barnabas was 
 immediately sent, who, seeing the grace of God, departed 
 to Tarsus, to seek Paul (Acts ix, 25), and bring him to 
 Antioch, where they remained 'a whole year,' (xi, 26 
 A. D. 44). About this time the famine predicted by Agabus 
 should be placed, the martyrdom of St. James, the impris-
 
 468 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 onment of St. Peter, and his remarkable deliverance (Acts 
 xii). Thus far St. Peter is constantly found in Judca, not 
 manifesting upon any occasion the desire of going to Rome; 
 and why should he have gone thither, since that city fell 
 not within his charge ? St. Paul says positively : * The 
 Gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as 
 the Gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; for He that 
 wrought effectually in Peter to the Apostleship of the 
 circumcision, the same was mighty in me towards the 
 Gentiles James, Cephas, and John, gave to me and Bar- 
 nabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go unto 
 the heathen and they unto the circumcision.' (Gal. ii, 7-9). 
 St. Paul, three years after his conversion, going up to 
 Jerusalem to carry the alms of the Christians of Antioch 
 and the circumjacent places, met Peter there, with whom 
 he remained fifteen days. (Acts xi, 30 ; Gal. i, 18). He 
 went up thither a second time, fourteen years afterwards, 
 Gal. ii, 1), and there he still met with Peter and his 
 principal colleagues, (v. 9, A. D. 58). Behold, then, Peter 
 constantly at Jerusalem, seven years ten years twenty-five 
 years, after the death of Jesus Christ. If we read with a 
 little attention the eleventh verse of this second chapter 
 of the epistle to the Galatians, it appears that it was not 
 till after this time that St. Peter went to Antioch, where, 
 it is pretended, this Apostle occupied the episcopal chair 
 for seven years ; which would be still so many to be 
 deducted from his pretended residence at Home." 
 
 It is perhaps cruel to take this little scrap of chronology 
 to pieces, but so it is, that my conviction imposes upon 
 me the task. Xo\v it is very well ascertained that in the 
 various systems of calculation, there exists a difference of 
 from four to five years between the computation of our 
 era and the true period of the birth of our Redeemer. 
 For this a very sufficient cause is obvious. The compu- 
 tion by the Christian era was not immediately commenced; 
 indeed it was only in 527 of our common, era, which was 
 the last year of the Eastern Emperor Justin I, that Dionysius
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 469 
 
 Exiguus, a learned Scythian, who was an abbot in Homo, 
 published a paschal cycle, in which he began his compu- 
 tations by taking the first of January next after the birth 
 of our Saviour, for the commencement of his first year. 
 The venerable Bede, who compiled a learned work, "De 
 Temporum ratione" in 731, uses a different computation ; 
 for he begins his reckoning) which was continued by sev- 
 eral until lately, from, the 25th of March previous to the 
 birth of Christ, that is, the day of the enunciation, so that 
 what he would call the first of April, 732, would by 
 Dionysius be called 731. Some moderns have yet more 
 perplexed the subject by speculations which they miscall 
 " historical philosophy." We have, however, two excellent 
 checks in the list of consuls and in the testimony of the 
 early Christian Fathers. By accurately examining we find, 
 that by the computation upon those principles, our present 
 era is, as has long been acknowledged, upwards of four 
 years too late. According to the computation of Varro, 
 Christ was born in the consulship of Augustus (12) and 
 L. Crn. Sulla, or the fortieth of the reign of Augustus, 
 A. U. C. 749 ; he was baptized in his thirtieth year, and 
 was crucified on the 25th of March, in the thirty-third 
 year of his age, of the common era 29, in the consulship 
 of the two Gemini. Amongst other authorities for this are 
 Tertullian, adv. Jud. c. 8 ; St. Augustin, lib. xviii, c. 54, 
 " De civitate Dei ; " Victor Aquitanus ; the Liberian cal- 
 endar, etc. This was in the year 15 of Tiberius reigning 
 alone ; which statement is also supported by Lactantius, 
 lib. iv, c. 10, St. Prosper, etc. Having thus regulated the 
 mode of computing by the vulgar era, I have to state that 
 the erudite gentleman has not vouchsafed to give us the 
 names of "the best Catholic writers." How fond he is of 
 turning our forces against ourselves ! " AVho place the mar- 
 tyrdom of St. Stephen in the year 40." I must adhere 
 to those whom I have read, and place it in the same 
 year that our Saviour was crucified. In doing this, I shall 
 be supported, amongst others, by the learned Protestant
 
 470 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 Scaliger, and by Valesius in his notes upon the historian 
 Eusebius, lib. ii, ch. 1. I shall also be upheld by Alban 
 Butler, who, upon such a subject, is no mean authority. 
 Thus, in the first four lines of this paragraph, I gain eleven 
 years upon this most learned Theban : so that even if the 
 rest of his paragraph were correct, he ought to write A. D. 
 47, in place of 58. How wretched a contrivance is the 
 attempt to introduc3 a new question as decided, in Acts 
 viii, 14, "Peter still under the authority of the Apostolical 
 college," when the question under examination is merely 
 as to his residence and death at Rome ! AVith this alleged 
 authority I have at present no concern. 
 
 A great variety of other dates are to be settled here in 
 a very different way from that in which Monsieur Blanc 
 touches them off. All the ancient writers agree that after 
 the death of Stephen, that is, in the course of the year 
 30, the Apostles went round to the vicinity of Judea, but 
 did not disperse into other nations until the twelfth year 
 from our Saviour's death. In the fifth of those years, 
 Peter fixed his See at Antioch , this would leave him 
 more than the three years, claimed by the essayist, for the 
 occurrences related in Acts viii, ix, x and xi. When an 
 Apostle fixed his see in any particular city, it by no 
 means follows as a necessary consequence that he never 
 visited any other. A bishop's see is the principal place 
 where he usually resides, but he is frequently absent on 
 visitations, at councils, and on a variety of other occasions ; 
 so that the fixing of his Sec at Antioch is by no means 
 a reason for assuming that the Apostle was never absent 
 from that city. The statement of Paul's visit to Peter at 
 Jerusalem, according to M. Blanc, will not interfere with 
 this supposition ; my object at present being, first, to take 
 the essayist's own order of facts, which order, however, the 
 sacred volume does not determine. I shall use the liberty 
 which he gives me of placing the conversion of Paul in 
 the year after the death of Stephen, or the second year 
 after, if it pleases him better. Paul states, that " three
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 471 
 
 years after this," not his conversion, but his return to 
 Damascus, he went to Jerusalem and stayed fifteen days 
 with Peter (Galat.' i, 18). Now according to M. Blanc 
 this might well have occurred previous to Peter's fixing 
 his See at Antioch, or if we stnte this visit to have been 
 in the year 37, as it is made by some who say that Paul 
 did not return to Damascus until 33, Peter, though Bishop 
 of Antioch, might have been on a visit in Jerusalem. 
 
 M. Blanc, however, has to account in this place for a 
 contradiction of his own to Paul, who, in Gal. i, inform- 
 ing us of his first visit to Jerusalem, states the object of 
 his journey was "to see Peter," and this previously to his 
 having been called by Barnabas to Antioch; yet M. Blanc 
 tells us, that this is the same visit cf which mention is 
 made in Acts xi, 30, whereas the whole body of ancient 
 witnesses as well as St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles 
 testify that they were different visits. Paul's object in his 
 epistle to the Galatians was not to state all the visits 
 which he had paid to Jerusalem, but to state those by 
 occasion of which he met any of the other Apostles in 
 that city; and as the object of his first journey was "to 
 see Peter," the object of his next was to carry alms. ~\Ve 
 are not then to confound both journeys as the essayist 
 does, but to distinguish them, as the ancients and the 
 Scriptures have done. 
 
 But why, if his object was truth, docs the writer pass 
 over chap, ix of the Acts, in which mention is made of 
 this first visit? Why does he at once bring us to chap. 
 xi where the second visit is related ? In his epistle to the 
 Galatians Paul states that after his conversion he went 
 into Arabia and returned to Damascus, three years after 
 which he went up to "see Peter," who was in Jerusalem. 
 In Acts ix, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, we are told by St. 
 Luke how he went from Damascus to Jerusalem. In this 
 same place we are informed of the manner in which he 
 was sent from that city to Caesarea and Tarsus ; there he 
 is left, until we find in Acts xi, 25, that he is brought
 
 472 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 to Antioch, and then, in v, 30, lie makes another journey 
 from Antioch to Jerusalem. 
 
 But the good gentleman has so prettily attempted to 
 interweave facts separated by years, and to transpose their 
 order, that I must here stop to replace them. The first 
 visit of Paul to Jerusalem was fourteen years previous to 
 his second meeting of Peter in that city. (Gal. ii, 1). 
 Paul was not at Antioch before his calling on Peter in 
 the third or fourth year after his return to Damascus ; 
 neither did he go from Jerusalem to Antioch at this time, 
 but was brought by the disciples into regions which he 
 mentions in Gal. i, 21, Cilicia and Syria. Having tarried 
 in those regions during three or four years, and his aid being 
 called for in Antioch subsequently to the dispersion of the 
 other Apostles and the departure of Peter from that city, 
 he in the beginning of the reign of Claudius accompanied 
 Barnabas thither; because of the necessities of that Church, 
 arising from the large number of converts. (Acts xi, 25, 
 26, etc). The time is here marked by the sacred writer 
 in verses 27 and 28. Claudius began his reign as we see 
 in 41. There is nothing in the Bible to prevent our 
 asserting that at this same period Peter was cast into prison 
 in Jerusalem and miraculously delivered, as related in Acts 
 xii, previously to his going to Rome ; and that he occa- 
 sionally visited the East so as to have met Paul again 
 in Jerusalem in 51. However, I shall, instead of those 
 surmises lay down what appears to be the general testi-' 
 mony of all the ancient writers, viz. : That Peter founded 
 the See of Antioch in the year 33, and occasionally vis- 
 ited Jerusalem and the neighboring regions; that in 37, 
 when he was at Jerusalem, he was visited by Paul, who 
 went thence to Cilicia and its vicinity, and that Peter 
 having gone to Rome in 40, Paul was about 41 or 42 
 brought by Barnabas to labor for a time in Antioch; that 
 Peter, having returned to visit the East, was cast into 
 prison by Herod in Jerusalem in 44, and escaped as 
 related in Acts xii, and going back to Rome, remained
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 473 
 
 until the expulsion under Claudius in 49 ; when returning 
 a second time to the East, he was at Jerusalem at the 
 council in 51 (Acts xv), where Paul met him the second 
 time, fourteen years after their first interview. But in the 
 . meantime whilst Peter was absent on his second visit to the 
 West, in the end of 44 or 45, Paul had been to Jeru- 
 salem with the alms from Antioch and other places. 
 (Acts xi, 30). 
 
 I am here obliged to notice another instance in which 
 the essayist asserts incompatibilities. He states that Bar- 
 nabas was sent to Antioch immediately after the dispersion 
 of the Christians, upon the death of Stephen. I shall 
 merely remark that St. Luke's object in this chapter 
 evidently is to follow up the account which he had given 
 in chap, x, and the first part of chap, xi, of the admis- 
 sion of Gentiles into the Church. Hence he treats the 
 subject historically and apart, without interweaving it with 
 the other occurrences. A single observation will show this 
 to be a correct statement. The conversion of St. Paul did 
 not occur until after the increase of the Christians, by 
 reason of their first dispersion upon the death of Stephen. 
 (Acts viii, 1 to 5). Now between the statement in this 
 passage and its repetition, so far as regarded a particular 
 place, viz., Antioch, in Acts xi, 19, a great many occur- 
 rences, which occupied several years, are summarily related 
 without mentioning the exact order of their dates. It was 
 "not until some years after the death of Stephen that Cor- 
 nelius was received into the Church, as related in Acts x. 
 Peter's explanation followed this occurrence, and then the 
 sacred historian, having mentioned this account and decision 
 of Peter, reverts to the former period of several years 
 previous, for the purpose of showing how the Church of 
 Antioch had a great number of converts, and to continue 
 therein the history of St. Paul, which occupies the chief 
 share of his attention thenceforth. Hence it would be 
 absurd to state that the occurrence related in the 19th 
 verse immediately followed that whose relation had been
 
 474 ST. PETER'S RON AN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 closed in the 18th. It is equally clear that the transactions 
 related in verses 19, 20, 21 and 22, took up several years. 
 In verse 19 it is plain that the first disciples preached 
 only to the Jews at Antioch. It is obviously clear from 
 chap, xi, 1, 2, 3, that the Apostles and brethren who 
 were in Judea, did not look upon themselves as authorized 
 to receive the Gentiles into the Church until after they 
 had received the explanation of St. Peter. It is only in 
 verse 18 we find their first recognition of the principle 
 that they might be received. They could not, therefore, 
 have previously sent Barnabas to Antioch, and this recog- 
 nition having been some years after the death of Stephen, 
 they could not have sent Barnabas thither immediately after 
 his death, as M. Blanc says they did. But suppose this 
 -difficulty now removed, still Barnabas could not have found 
 Saul in Tarsus, until after his conversion, his return from 
 Arabia to Damascus, his journey three years afterwards to 
 Jerusalem, and his going thence to Cacsarea and Tarsus, 
 in which place he tarried for some considerable time. So 
 that if Paul came to Antioch in 44, as we believe he did, 
 and soon after the arrival of Barnabas, as was the fact, 
 this latter could not have gone thither before 42 or 43, 
 at which period Peter, having left Antioch, was in Rome, 
 or on his way thence back to Asia. We shall also find 
 time for him previously to have spent three years in his 
 visits through the regions mentioned in Acts viii, ix, x 
 and xi, besides seven years being permitted to elapse from 
 his having fixed his See in Antioch, until his departure 
 for Home; and we can easily conceive that within those 
 seven years he might frequently have visited Jerusalem, on 
 one of which occasions St. Paul paid him a visit of fifteen 
 days, in the year 37. M. Blanc, then, besides suppressing 
 the reference to this visit, which is related in Acts ix, 
 endeavors to confound it with that mentioned in Acts xi, 
 and makes the statement in Galatians i, refer to the latter, 
 when in fact it refers to the former; thus endeavoring to 
 destroy the evidence of one of those journeys. He next,
 
 ST. PETEITS ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 475 
 
 against all the ancient witnesses, defers the martydom of 
 Stephen full seven years, and omits to correct the calcula- 
 tion of the era by upwards of four years, so as to throw 
 twelve years out of the account. Then to give a color of 
 truth to his statements, he makes the Apostles send Barnabas 
 to Antioch immediately after the death of Stephen, when it is 
 evident that such could not have been their procedure for 
 several years thereafter; and he makes Barnabas bring Paul 
 from Tarsus within a year or two after the death of the first 
 deacon, when it is manifest, from the accounts of Paul 
 himself and of Luke, that this could not have occurred at 
 the soonest before the lapse of from eight to twelve or thir- 
 teen years after that period. Again, the essayist assumes that 
 because Peter was twice met at Jerusalem by Paul, he could 
 not in the fourteen years which elapsed between those inter- 
 views have been at Antioch and at Rome. 
 
 You will then perceive that our distribution of Peter's 
 time creates no difficulty in explaining all the passages of St. 
 Luke, whilst it also agrees with all the accounts of the 
 ancient writers. Whereas M. Blanc's mode of mixing up 
 and confounding dates and facts makes Scripture contradict 
 itself, and it also contradicts all the ancient witnesses. 
 
 Why Peter should go to Home, even for the sake of the 
 Jews, if for no other cause, I have already shown. That 
 he went to Antioch after the Council of Jerusalem, which 
 was held in 51, that is, fourteen years after 37, we also 
 freely admit, and that for his imprudence he was admon- 
 ished by St. Paul, I also believe, though several good 
 critics are of opinion that the Cephas mentioned in Galat. 
 ii, 14, and who was reproved was not St. Peter, but 
 another disciple. My own opinion, however, is in unison 
 with that of the great body of commentators, that it was 
 St. Peter the Apostle who was so admonished, though in 
 verse 8, speaking of the Apostle, the writer calls him 
 Peter, and in the next verse he mentions James, Cephas 
 and John, whereas it is not an unusual mode thus to write 
 of the same person, almost in the same line, by two
 
 476 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 different names. However, suppose it be Peter; his being 
 now at Antioch does not argue that he had not been 
 previously there and also at Rome ; so that hitherto, as 
 you will have perceived, the difficulties and contradictions 
 are on the side of our opponents. I shall have to reduce 
 his A. D. 58 to A. D. 51. 
 
 "But this is not all. St. Paul w r rote to the Romans in 
 the year 57 or 58, about twenty-five years after the death 
 of Jesus Christ. At this very time St. Peter ought to 
 have been at Rome, or never. Meanwhile St. Paul glories 
 in being especially their Apostle : ' I speak to you Gen- 
 tiles, inasmuch as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles, I 
 magnify mine office/ If St. Peter had been settled and 
 acknowledged as their proper Apostle or bishop for several 
 years past, would it not have been great arrogance in Paul 
 to deprive him, after some sort, of his title and character? 
 Above all, would it not have been great injustice to say, 
 ' From Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have 
 fully preached the Gospel of Christ. Yes, so I have strived 
 to preach the Gospel, not w r here Christ was named, lest I 
 should build upon another man's foundation ? ' (Rom. xv, 
 19, 20). How then should he think of going to Rome, 
 if St. Peter had already built there the first Church of 
 the world?" 
 
 What I have stated in my last section answers this. 
 
 "Why, in the long detail of salutations, which fill almost 
 the whole chapter of this epistle, is there no mention made 
 of the great head of the universal Church ? In A. D. 60, 
 when Paul arrived at Rome, he called together the prin- 
 cipal Jews that were in the city (Acts xxviii, 17), with- 
 out supposing himself to usurp the rights and the authority 
 of the Prince of the Apostles, without- even thinking of 
 St. Peter, who beyond controversy would have been of the 
 greatest utility to him in his bonds. (A. D. 62). St. Paul 
 remained two whole years in Rome (Acts xxviii, 30) ; he 
 wrote from thence divers letters to the Ephesians, Colos- 
 sians, Philemon, and the Philippians ; all these letters close
 
 ST. PE TEE'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 477 
 
 with the salutations of the principal Christians of that 
 famous city, and nowhere do we find a single word of St. 
 Peter. How shall this silence be accounted for (consistently 
 with Peter's supposed presence at Rome)? Truly, I should 
 be curious to know. 'Aristarchus ' (it is said in the Epis- 
 tle to Colossians, ch. iv, 10, 11), * my fellow-prisoner and 
 Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas and Jesus, who is called 
 Justus, who are of the circumcision : these only are my 
 fellow-workers unto the kingdom of God, who have been a 
 comfort to me.' Mark well the words 'these ONLY.' How 
 injurious to St. Peter, if he had been at Rome ! " 
 
 To this mighty query a short reply will be sufficient. 
 1. That St. Peter, being frequently absent from the city ot 
 Rome, might to the knowledge of Paul himself have been 
 elsewhere at the very time that he wrote his epistle ; or 
 that Phebe, who perhaps was the bearer of the letter to 
 the Romans, was to deliver it to Peter, if in the city, 
 and he was to make the salutations. The omission of the 
 name of Peter is therefore no evidence that this was not 
 his See. The same might be said of the omission of the 
 names of other known prelates in other epistles. 2. That 
 although the ordinary successors of Peter were to enter 
 upon his full rights as head of the Church, the extraor- 
 dinary mission which each Apostle had specially and imme- 
 diately from Christ was not under Peter's control, but the 
 extraordinary commission of each Apostle was to expire 
 with himself, and the surviving pastors were to be subor- 
 dinate to the successor of Peter. Such is the testimony of 
 antiquity, and this supported by the testimony of facts, in 
 those early days. Hence there was no necessity for any 
 one of the Apostles to apply to his brother for a power 
 which they both possessed in common, viz., that of preach- 
 ing and administering by the commission of Jesus Christ 
 to the whole world. 3. The Jews whom St. Paul called 
 to him at Rome were those who did not belong to the 
 'Church, but who were in communion with those who opposed 
 Paul himself in the East; and a very sufficient reason is
 
 17 ST. PETER'S ROMAN EPISCOPATE. 
 
 found for his not calling upon Peter, either in the fact of 
 his absence from the city, for he spread the faith in sev- 
 eral other parts of Italy, and in other regions farther West 
 or if he was in the city, in the fact of his being most 
 obnoxious to the unconverted Jews, who and whose fathers 
 had been banished, because of the tumults caused by his 
 former preaching, about eleven years before. This will also 
 account for the mighty word OXLY, without being an im- 
 putation upon the zeal of Peter. 
 
 One objection only remains. 
 
 "Arrived, for the second time, at Rome, A. D. G5 or 
 66, and the 10th or llth of the reign of Nero. He was 
 then put in so close a prison that Onesiphorus could 
 scarcely find him (2 Tim. i, 17), and the persecution was 
 so great, that he wrote to his dearly beloved pupil, Tim- 
 othy, (2 Tim. iv, 16), that 'no man stood with him, but 
 all men forsook him.' Would not this have been a fine 
 eulogy on St. Peter, if he had been at Rome? Let us 
 farther observe, that this Apostle, to whom was committed 
 the circumcision, as we have remarked above, never wrote 
 an epistle to the Romans ; that he never speaks of them 
 in the two letters which we have from him ; and that, in 
 writing the second, to the same Churches to which he had 
 written the first, (2 Peter, iii, 1), he speaks to them as 
 aware that he would shortly quit this earthly tabernacle. 
 (2 Pet. i, 14). Let us finally remark that St. Peter 
 although near his departure from this world, salutes the 
 faithful only on the part of Marcus his son, (1 Pet. v, 
 13), without speaking of St. Paul, whose companion iii 
 martyrdom some would have him to be." 
 
 St. Peter's eulogy is found in his imprisonment; and if 
 neither Paul nor any person save Mark could approach 
 him, it accounts for the omission of all other names, if 
 indeed it is necessary to account for the omission. Mon- 
 sieur Blanc, who ridicules the notion of Nero's permitting 
 St. Peter to request that his crucifixion might take place 
 with his head downwards, would indeed have room for his
 
 ST. PETER'S ROMAN. EPISCOPATE. 479- 
 
 jocularity, were AVC to state that he permitted him and 
 Paul, upon the eve of their martyrdom, to consult together 
 upon the form of an exhortation of perseverance to a people 
 whom he had doomed to extermination ! 
 
 I have done with M. Blanc. Allow me to sum up my 
 statements. I have shown that there is nothing in Scrip- 
 ture to interfere with the testimony of Peter's having been 
 Bishop of Rome and suffering martyrdom in that city. I 
 have shown that a host of ancient testimony and modern 
 criticism of the opponents as well as the friends of the 
 Bishops of Rome sustain the facts. I have shown that if 
 we reject this testimony we must reject the Bible, because 
 we receive the sacred volume only through similar, I might 
 say, the same witnesses. I have shown that M. Blanc's 
 theory, besides contradicting St. Paul and St. Luke, con- 
 tradicts itself, whilst our statement is free from any such 
 difficulty. I have shown numerous and important assertions 
 of his to be contrary to the fact.
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 3 
 
 i. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND : 1 have waited until the account of 
 the failure of your hopes reached me. Having now ascer- 
 tained that the British House of Lords has rejected the 
 Emancipation Bill, I address myself to you. To you who 
 know so well my convictions and sentiments, upon the 
 great question of your rights, it will be subject of little 
 wonder to learn, that I have been more gratified at the 
 failure of this bill, than I would have been at its success. 
 I believe, you differ with me in the conclusion, although 
 I have no doubt we agree in principle. My object in 
 thus publicly addressing you, is to show to those who 
 may read what I publish, in what we differ, and where I 
 conceive you have greatly mistaken, or where I am very 
 much in error. As regards me, placed where I now am, 
 my views, my opinions, and my acts regarding my native 
 country are matter of no moment, yet still I will not 
 yield to you in love of Ireland. Not so with you ; every 
 thought, opinion, or act of yours is important, has great 
 influence, and in a certain crisis might determine the fate 
 of Erin. When I address you then, I have in view to 
 rouse you, by our former tics and still subsisting friend- 
 ship, to examine carefully which of us is wrong; when I 
 call upon you thus publicly it is to induce some of our 
 former fellow-laborers, from whose memory my name is 
 perhaps not yet obliterated, to guard their judgments against 
 the influence of your name, which they would be ungrateful 
 
 ' This series of loiters was addressed to D.miel O'Conncll by Bishop England, 
 who, while in Ireland, was the Liberator's right hand, remonstrating against the 
 Irish Statesman's attitude towards the dlsfranchi*ement of the forty shilling free- 
 holders of Ireland as a compensation for Catholic Emancipation. They were 
 published first in 1826.
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 481 
 
 if they did not revere ; but though you are my friend 
 and their benefactor, your judgment is not infallible. And 
 I trust I am able to say with justice of myself, " amicus 
 Plato, amicus Socrates, sed magis arnica Veritas." A further 
 object which I propose to attain by publishing at this side 
 of the Atlantic, is, that as the question of Irish wrongs 
 begins deeply to interest the people of America, they may 
 be able to learn the true state of the question, and not 
 be misled by the garbled extracts which many of our 
 editors make from the dishonest publications of the British 
 press. You can have no idea of the very imperfect notions 
 which men, otherwise extremely well informed, have of the 
 religious and political state of Ireland. 
 
 You are fully aware that I have had equal opportunities 
 with most others of knowing all the bearings of the 
 Catholic question ; that I had better opportunities than many 
 others of knowing the state of the freeholders. I know their 
 misfortunes, their temptations, and their conduct. Few could 
 know as well as I did what sort of men were the Catholic 
 clergy, and you and I have not unfrequently conversed upon 
 the subject of their being paid salaries by the crown. The 
 few years which have passed away since I sat with you at 
 the same board, took part in the same debates, and since we 
 both habitually made those topics the subject of our anxious 
 thought and confidential communications, can not have pro- 
 duced so great an alteration m their circumstances as to have 
 rendered me unfit to question you a little regarding their 
 present state and your late conduct. 
 
 There are three topics of matter. 1. The relief of the 
 Catholics. 2. The modification of the elective franchise. 
 3. The payment of the clergy. There are four descriptions 
 of persons to be contemplated. 1. The Catholics of the 
 British Empire; perhaps we had as well confine our view 
 to those alone of Ireland. 2. The Irish nation, or rather 
 the Irish province of the British Empire ; fuimus Troes. 
 3. The government of Great Britain. 4. The people of the 
 British nation. 
 21
 
 482 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 The papers here have represented you as anxious for 
 the relief of the Catholics ; indeed it would be strange if 
 you were not, it would be strange if every Catholic, if 
 every lover of Ireland, if every lover of civil and religious 
 liberty, if every just man were not. You sought it upon 
 that principle which always led you to seek it, and were 
 I to make an unnecessary and profane oath as did that 
 ill-advised and infatuated Duke of York, the Bishop of 
 Osnaburgh, I could upon the most solemn and sacred 
 pledge aver that I have never known any Roman Catholic 
 seek it upon any other principle. The principle is that of 
 the great, good, venerable, liberal, and charitable Protestant 
 Bishop of Norwich ; a principle which, as you have fre- 
 quently expressed yourself, would give emancipation to the 
 Catholic in Great Britain, (let me add in North Carolina 
 and New Jersey), to the Protestant in Spain, and to the 
 Christian in Constantinople. The principle is that although 
 God will in another state of existence punish the criminal 
 unbeliever, He has given to no man, to no body of men, 
 power to punish him in this present state of existence for 
 mere disbelief of doctrine; but that He has left conscience 
 free as regards society, though bound as regards Himself. 
 This is the principle of religious liberty, not the principle 
 of irreligious licentiousness. Persecution has frequently made 
 hypocrites ; I doubt whether it ever made a convert. Hy- 
 pocrisy is a crime of the highest order, and though instances 
 might be adduced where persecution made converts, the 
 means should be lawful before they could be applied to 
 produce the effect. 
 
 The relief bill brought in by Sir Francis Burdett, which 
 was passed by the British House of Commons, and lost 
 in the British House of Lords, was a bill which would, 
 if carried, indeed have emancipated the Irish Catholics and 
 brought great blessings of tranquility, contentment, industry, 
 and happiness to Ireland ; perhaps it might not have 
 answered the purposes of the British government, but it 
 would undoubtedly have strengthened and comforted the
 
 THE 1UISH FRANCHISE. 483 
 
 British nation. Had this been the only measure contem- 
 plated, every good man would have desired its success and 
 would have regretted its failure. But to confine our views 
 to this bill would be looking at the question very imper- 
 fectly; it was but the first of three terms of a compound 
 sum : To the casual observer, the parts appeared separable, 
 but upon closer inspection the delusion was apparent and 
 the crotchets of the statesman bound them inseparably 
 together. We must not then view the benefits of the one 
 without examining the evils of the others ; the deduction to 
 bo made by the second quantity, which was negative, might 
 be greater than the positive amount of benefit conferred by 
 the first, and although the third term was positive too, when 
 examined it might be found to result in the bestowing of 
 positive evil. One of our American sages relates of himself 
 that when a boy, being very anxious to procure a whistle, 
 he thoughtlessly gave to an urchin who observed his anxiety 
 considerably more than its value. Young Franklin was 
 amused for a time with the sounds, but when the charms of 
 novelty had vanished and he had made some inquiries, he 
 discovered that he had given a great deal too much for his 
 whistle. Believe me, my friend, Mr. Canning observed your 
 anxiety, and he knows very well how to sell a whistle. 
 
 The newspapers stated that you were favorable to the bill 
 for disfranchising the forty shilling freeholders in the counties, 
 and making the lowest qualification in those counties ten 
 pounds yearly freehold interest. AVhat a crowd of times 
 and places, and persons and conversations, and speeches and 
 consultations, rushed upon my mind ! I know what the 
 British press is. I know one of its principles is to vilify, 
 to traduce, to calumniate, and to misrepresent you, and 
 every one who stood on the same side that you did, and 
 to bepraise, magnify, and extol all our opponents from our 
 positive enemies, the Duke of York, the Dublin aldermen, 
 Lord Bamlon's little corporation, and the 'prentice boys of 
 Deny, up to our superlative enemies, Mr. Canning, and 
 him whom it would delight to have maces laid before him
 
 484 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 upon the Irish velvet cushion. Believe me, my friend, I 
 felt convinced that this press, still nearly, if not altogether 
 the same, as it was five years ago, had misrepresented 
 you; and I almost felt warranted from my recollections, to 
 assure the editors here, that there must have been some 
 very extraordinary mistake. My Irish papers were due 
 rather longer than usual ; at last they arrived. I found a 
 letter of yours, complaining that you had been misrep- 
 resented. I began to feel satisfied. I took up another 
 paper and I found what I sought, John Lawless' letter, 
 complaining, as I would have done, had I believed as he 
 Stated. I looked for your examination, I read your well- 
 known principles in your answers, that you preferred 
 universal suffrage. I have seen it in full operation ; like 
 every other system, it has its evils ; but it is far better 
 than I thought it was when I was in Ireland. The 
 advantages are greater than we used to rate them, and the 
 evils fewer and lesser than we used to admit into our 
 calculation. I was pleased when I found you speak your 
 former sentiments. Yet I found Lawless pertinaciously 
 fastening upon you, and you endeavoring to shake him off 
 and to keep the people quiet. Yes ! to keep the people 
 quiet. I recollected the Divan. You cannot forget the 
 Divan. You know the prudent portion of the natural leaders 
 induced you to join with them in close meetings, to do 
 the people's business without the people's consent, even in 
 a manner which the people did not like, against the 
 people's will. But we soon brought you back to the agita- 
 tors ; you were too honest to remain with the natural 
 leaders. I must inform my American readers that the 
 natural leaders were a number of Catholic gentlemen, whose 
 fathers had been more fortunate than some of their fellow 
 Catholics in keeping a portion of their property, preserving 
 their titles of nobility, or acquiring property, recovering 
 nobility, or attaining to baronetage, whilst their less fortu- 
 nate fellow-sufferers endured the loss of everything, except 
 their religion and their honor, and perhaps their recollee-
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 485 
 
 tions. The sons and survivors of the more fortunate, 
 though infinitely less numerous portion, formed a sort of 
 Catholic aristocracy, and not content with being always 
 complimented by the people with the first place in their 
 affections and esteem, and preferred to the men of sound 
 sense and strong nerve, whom the people made their asso- 
 ciates, the natural leaders affected great prudence and 
 moderation, and in proportion as they were permitted to 
 visit the clerks of the lord lieutenant's secretary, they were 
 observed to dislike the agitators, as they called their asso- 
 ciates. They at length withdrew from the agitators ; the 
 government presses praised the natural leaders ; their super- 
 lative enemies, that is, the soi disant friends of the Catholics, 
 shook hands with the natural leaders, and were shocked 
 at the rudeness of the agitators. A few close meetings of 
 the seceders took place; though you, my friend, were the 
 prince of agitators, you were induced to attend. Your 
 motives were good. The people were astonished to see you 
 at those close meetings which they called the Divan. Indeed, 
 if my recollection serves me right, you told me you scarcely 
 were conscious of your personal identity at those meetings. 
 But you discovered that their principles and ours were 
 essentially at variance. We both sought emancipation ; this 
 was the object of the agitator, this was the object of the 
 natural leader. But we disagreed in this : the agitator 
 would give nothing but gratitude and loyalty to the govern- 
 ment which would do him justice; the natural leader 
 would give something else. The one begged for his right 
 as a boon, and would be grateful for what would be 
 accorded. He said : " All is due, but I shall be grateful 
 for anything which you bestow ; you shall have my fidelity 
 and my thanks ; I have no more to give." The other 
 asked in the same way, but added : " Besides fidelity and 
 gratitude, I am ready to go as far as I can, in taking 
 something from popular rights, and adding this to the 
 prerogative of the crown." 
 
 You could not betray your country, you would not do 
 this. One or two of our little poets sung; you recognized
 
 486 TUE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 the notes; your soul became enamored with the melody; 
 you fluttered round your cage ; you found an aperture, 
 and we soon heard you warbling your harmonious effusions, 
 full of life and joy and the pride of liberty, in our own 
 green bower. These days, my friends, were days of trial, 
 but they were days of pleasure, too. My eye fills, my 
 heart grows soft, and I fancy myself thousands of miles 
 hence, when memory brings me back amongst you. I recol- 
 lect the cold prudery of the heartless Judge Downes, when 
 lie committed murder upon Irish-English, and solemnly told 
 a jury, upon his oath, that pretence and purpose were 
 synonymous in Ireland, and a Dublin jury swore that his 
 lordship's inconsistencies were good grammar ; though you 
 know the jury was a selection of your beggarly Dublin 
 corporation, who would not have committed . even a venial 
 sin, in the breach of every rule of Louth's grammar, 
 because " nemo tcnetur ad impossible." I recollect Lord 
 Manner's solemn visage. Even Mr. Sauriu glides before 
 my eye in the domination of ascendancy, in the semblance 
 of evangelical meekness ; but his distended bag yawns like 
 the insatiable grave, and desires to bring down all that 
 dared to aspire to freedom, into the same prison-house 
 with the beggar and the vagrant, and the thief and the 
 felon, to prove that all men are equal ; and that the law 
 i.i just which says, that he who will not swear what he 
 does not believe, shall be persecuted, whilst the perjurer 
 shall be his judge. Yes, in all this there is a comfort 
 which no one can describe ; but which the victim of such 
 men feels. Yon, and I, and our associates, have felt it, 
 when in the disquisition of our wrongs we measured how 
 far principle extended, and drew our line beyond which 
 no one was to go, within which no -stranger was to be 
 admitted. Each of us was to be prepared for his dun- 
 geon, because no one of us knew who would be its first 
 tenant. And the triumvirate to which I have alluded, together 
 with Mr. Peel, charitably intended its benefit for us all. 
 In such a time as this, Daniel O'Connell was teaching me
 
 THE 1RISII FRANCHISE. 487 
 
 the nature of feudal tenure, the origin of freehold, the 
 mode in which it might be acquired, secured, and extended. 
 When our vessel was just settling down upon the quiescent 
 sea, the storm having wasted its fury, the waves having 
 nearly subsided ; when our flags and sails and smaller 
 cordage had been torn from our masts, and those masts 
 themselves had been kept in their place, only by the 
 newly acquired bracings of the elective franchise, what 
 would Daniel O'Connell have said to the man who would 
 request of him an axe, that he might cut away some of 
 those shrouds and stays, which had withstood the fury of 
 the tempest, in which our royals and topgallants had been 
 blown away ? 
 
 You told the committee that you preferred universal suf- 
 frage. Granted ; but when you found your superlative ene- 
 mies about to give Catholic emancipation and to diminish 
 popular rights, and when the vigilant Lawless called upon 
 the people to protect their rights, you told the people to 
 be quiet. I repeat, this reminds me of the Divan. I can- 
 not reconcile it with your duty, with your character. 
 
 II. 
 
 I assume that you knew the bill to disfranchise the forty 
 shilling freeholders in counties would be brought into the 
 British legislature if the emancipation bill were introduced; 
 and that if the latter was enacted, so would the former. 
 I assume that you were not only silent yourself, but that 
 when our friend Lawless called upon the people to resist 
 this bill, you told the people to be quiet. I assume, there- 
 fore, that you considered Catholic emancipation to be of 
 more value than the possession of the elective franchise in 
 the counties by forty shilling freeholders, even as they are 
 now constituted. In thus stating the case I give you all 
 the advantage, because I candidly believe you did say that 
 the forty shilling franchise as now held in the counties, 
 was an evil ; and that if no emancipation were to be 
 granted, it would be right to change the qualification. I
 
 488 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 differ with you upon two points. First, I believe the loss 
 of the franchise would be a greater evil than would be 
 compensated for by any species of emancipation, even simple 
 repeal, which would be the most perfect. Secondly, I do 
 look upon the possession of the forty shilling franchise in 
 counties, as now it exists, to be a greater good than the 
 modification to ten pound qualification. 
 
 The solution of the first difficulty will principally depend 
 upon the decision regarding the second question. We will 
 therefore take that question first. You know better than 
 I can express, the vast difference between theory and practice. 
 Originally the distinction, in Great Britain, between free- 
 hold, and chattel, and copyhold estate, had in it something 
 intelligible to even a plain mind. The copyholder was a 
 villain ; the cultivator of the soil who, during a certain 
 number of years, paid his rent for the leave to cultivate 
 and take away the produce, was little better. Neither of 
 those Avas tho freeman of Magna Charta. The first was 
 but another modification of what I see here every day 
 amongst our colored population. But the man who held 
 the benefice, during life, and by service becoming a free- 
 man, was the freeholder. During his life he held and 
 used his benefice. 
 
 Long since, however, scutage was substituted for free 
 service; and as this scutage was a payment in money or 
 its equivalent, the distinction between the mode of pay- 
 ment for the lands held by the freeholder, the copyholder, 
 and the holder of real chattel, has vanished. Thus, the 
 premises are destroyed, and Great Britain, by one of her 
 legal fictions, lays the foundation of her elective franchise 
 upon an illusion, an absurdity, viz., a supposition against 
 fact. I now ask you in sober sadness, when the law is 
 founded in such fiction, can you reconcile the consequences 
 of this fiction to reasonable fact? You must expect prac- 
 tical folly t.T be the consequence of such fiction. Hence, 
 you must not look for anything reasonable in the British 
 mode of voting. The distribution of the right to vote is 
 capricious, the result of fiction, absurdity, and injustice.
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE, 489 
 
 You will be able to judge how I recollect your lessons, 
 when you shall have read my explanation of Irish free- 
 holds for my American friends ; and laying aside the legal 
 technicality, inform them of what is actually the state of 
 things ; so that by their knowing exactly what an Irish 
 freeholder is, they may be able to determine whether the 
 disfranchisement of the forty shilling freeholder would be 
 an evil or .a benefit; to whom it would be useful, to 
 whom it would be injurious. 
 
 In Ireland, formerly, lands were held by tanistry. The 
 tanist, or chief of a clan, held all the land belonging to 
 the clan. He distributed offices, and gave to the officers 
 certain portions of the common stock. When the English, 
 partly by fraud and partly by force, got possession of the 
 land, they abolished the custom of tanistry, and held the 
 land from the kings of England, according to the Norman 
 fashion. This Norman fashion, which was the feudal cus- 
 tom of Normandy, was introduced into England by Wil- 
 liam the Conqueror in 1060. We have, then, to see its 
 nature. All the land was vested in the king. He gave 
 it in parcels to his. dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, and 
 barons, upon the condition that each of those would do 
 him a service becoming a man of his condition; and so 
 long as he or any of his heirs male could be found who 
 would do his duty, the freehold was to vest in such 
 males descendant; but should there be no male descendant 
 of the original grantee capable of doing duty, the land 
 was to revert to the king that is, was to be escheated 
 or to go into his fisc or treasury, until the king should 
 give it to another who would do that duty. The duty 
 was such as became a man, and this was the reason that 
 the descent was confined to the males. 
 
 Upon the abolishment of tanistry in Ireland, this feudal 
 title was established. The possessions were generally large, 
 and the service light ; and the person holding thus was 
 said to hold of the crown or as in fee. Thus, holding as 
 in fee was very different from the Anglo-Saxon allodial
 
 490 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 tenure ; because the Saxon, who held by allodial tenure, 
 was the true owner of the soil but the Anglo-Norniau, 
 who held as in fee, was in fact a tenant of the crown, and 
 the king was the real owner of the land. These dukes or 
 leaders, marquises or wardens that is, guardians of the 
 marches, or frontier lands, earls, viscounts or lieutenants of 
 the king's companions, and barons or lesser lords, were 
 called pares or equal that is, peers. In their own right 
 they sat together with the king in his court ; they 
 were his council. But the services required from some of 
 them were of such a nature as to demand the united 
 exertions of many men ; and those, men of free condition. 
 One of the principal services was that of war; and many 
 of the warriors required were to be horsemen, equites, 
 knights, with armigers or esquires. To insure the attend- 
 ance of such persons so as to enable him to do his duty 
 to the king, the peer divided his estate into parcels ; one 
 portion he kept for his own domain ; he then had several 
 parcels, each a knight's fee, or sufficient for the sup- 
 port of a knight and his proper number of esquires ; their 
 service during life was the payment for their land. Hence, 
 they held by free service, the land was called a benefice, 
 they were called freeholders. But if the peer wished to 
 have his domain cultivated, in order to furnish neces- 
 saries for his castle, villani, villains, who never went to 
 war, but who, dwelling in villages, cultivated ground, were 
 employed to do this. The peer, not caring to be troubled 
 with looking after them, fixed with each what yearly 
 contribution was expected from him ; the villain paid this, 
 and all that he gained over this was his own. Sometimes 
 a bargain was made with the villain for a certain number 
 of years, and at the expiration of this term, his lease 
 having run out, lie had no claim to a renewal. Some- 
 times the sum was fixed, and to continue so, each party 
 being bound for a certain number of years ; but a copy of 
 the forms to be gone through for a renewal was exhibited 
 in the office of the seneschal or steward of the peer; and
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 491 
 
 the tenant conforming to the directions of that copy, was 
 c-ntitled to a renewal ; this was the copyholder of England. 
 The difference between the mere villain and the copyholder 
 consisted in this, that when the villain's term expired, he 
 had no right of prior claim ; but the copyholder had a 
 right of preference to any other, if he conformed to the 
 customs according to the copy. Each peer made what 
 customs he pleased, and thus the copies were always 
 different upon different estates, sometimes different upon 
 several parcels of the same estate. 
 
 The' customs were said to be the will of the lord ; and 
 the lord's will was construed to be, whether he would or 
 no, in conformity to the copy in the office of his seneschal, 
 n duplicate of which the tenant held. But this could not 
 come down later than the first of Richard I, which was 
 fixed by common usage as the period previous to which 
 the barrigy right of the copyholder stands good. Subse- 
 quently to this, no copyholder could establish a new claim. 
 Thus, in Ireland, especially outside the pale, there could 
 be no copyhold. In fact, I believe there is not, and cannot 
 be, a copyholder in Ireland. 
 
 The other freeholder imitated the peer frequently in 
 letting his ground, or part of it, to a villain, for a certain 
 yearly rent. And thus we now perceive that, after some 
 time, there were : the peer who held of the king, the 
 knight who generally held of the peer, but sometimes of 
 the king himself, the esquire, who generally held of the 
 knight, though sometimes immediately of the king or of 
 the peer. The peer was the king's hereditary counsellor ; 
 the knight and the esquire were also freeholders. Those 
 who held as knights or esquires, held during life, and 
 could not alienate their -land, but could let it to be cul- 
 tivated at a certain rent for one or more years. To hold 
 and use the land during their lives was in them, but they 
 had not dominion of the land. It was to them a benefice, 
 not allodial possession. The cultivator of the soil who paid 
 a yearly sum to the freeholder could not give a freehold
 
 492 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 title ; but he might let or sell the chattel which he had, 
 viz., a right during a certain number of years to culti- 
 vate the soil without impoverishing the freehold, and to take 
 away all the produce when he had paid the freeholder the 
 sum agreed upon. 
 
 After some time, the British kings preferred raising stand- 
 ing armies, which they paid, to calling upon the peers to 
 furnish men ; and they commuted the service by men into 
 a service by money. The peers also got from the knights 
 and esquires, money instead of service. Thus, all land 
 held by deed for one or more lives is freehold, but no 
 land held for a term of years is freehold ; for the man 
 who holds a copy, or for a term of yoars, is still con- 
 sidered as a villain. His property, even if it should 
 amount to 50,000 per annum, is chattel ; but a free- 
 holder has a more honorable tenure. The right of voting 
 was, in feudal times, confined, so far as regarded landed 
 property, to the freeholder, and so it continues. \Ye have, 
 my friend, often spoken of the folly and the absurdity of 
 this custom. But we shall soon see some of its cruel 
 injustice. 
 
 In process of time the great landed proprietors leased 
 out the principal portion of their lands for rents in money. 
 A peer who held perhaps forty thousand acres, kept one 
 thousand for his demesne : his tenants occupied the remain- 
 ing thirty-nine thousand acres. Much of this was leased 
 out to rich persons, who, when the peer wanted money, 
 gave him a considerable fine, and were charged with only 
 a low rent. If the person who paid the fine desired, as 
 he generally did, to have a freehold, he got a title during 
 lives, renewable forever, upon the payment of a trifling 
 sum at each renewal. This was equivalent to perpetuity, 
 but it left the property vested in the peer, and gave a 
 perpetual benefice to the tenant, who always had, by virtue 
 of his covenant, an indefeasible claim to the renewal upon 
 the performance of the original stipulation. Thus the quan- 
 tity of freehold property in Ireland would have been im-
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 493 
 
 mense had there been no check put to its acquisition, 
 because most all the land had been confiscated and granted, 
 as in fee simple, to new possessors subsequently to this 
 change of service into rent : and persons taking from those 
 who held as in fee simple, would have preferred a free- 
 hold to a chattel interest. Besides several advantages in a 
 pecuniary point of view, the right to vote for members to 
 serve in parliament, and at the election of coroners, was 
 attached thereto. You know, however, the manner in which 
 Catholics were prevented from obtaining their fair share of 
 this species of property ; this I shall afterwards examine. 
 After some time freeholders were classed according to the 
 value of their freeholds. 1. Those who had an interest 
 worth fifty pounds a year or upwards. 2. Those who pos- 
 sessed an interest of twenty pounds a year, but less than 
 fifty. 3. Those who possessed an interest of forty shillings, 
 but not twenty pounds yearly. To these were to be added 
 rent-chargers, that is, persons who, by a covenant, were 
 entitled to claim a sum of money, yearly, from a freehold 
 during a life or lives : for this, too, was a benefice, the 
 claim must be upon the freehold, not upon the freeholder ; 
 and the amount of the rent-charge must be deducted from 
 the value of the freehold, and the other charges to which 
 it is liable must be subtracted before the freehold can be 
 rated and classed. The law finally regulated that no rent- 
 charger could vote except he possessed, at least, a claim 
 for twenty pounds yearly; and no freeholder, except he 
 had a clear yearly interest of forty shillings at the least, 
 above all charges payable out of his freehold; it also 
 required that he should produce his title in an open court 
 of magistrates once in seven years, and that the rent- 
 charger should produce his title in like manner, and the 
 freeholder make affidavit of the nature of his mode of 
 tenure, whether by dwelling upon, by tilling, or by grazing, 
 and that he did not procure his title fraudulently, nor in 
 exchange for a freehold in any other county. The clerk 
 of the court endorsed the deed so produced, and registered
 
 -194 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 it, and the freeholder was not permitted to vote until after 
 the expiration of twelve months, and he was then liable to 
 be examined upon oath as to all the facts and the con- 
 tinuance of their truth, and as to his not having been 
 bribed or led to expect aiiy reward for his vote. Neither 
 the twenty or fifty pound freeholders w T ere required to pro- 
 duce their title-deeds, but the former should renew their 
 registry once in seven years. They could also vote in six 
 months after registry. You and every man who knows Ire- 
 land, knows and laments that many of the forty shilling 
 freeholders are manufactured Tor elections and brought up 
 to register without getting possession of their title-deeds : 
 the landlord's agent takes good care to pay the fees, and 
 to take up certificates, and exhibit title-deeds and all other 
 documents, which he then keeps, and hurries those creatures 
 through complex affidavits which they do not understand, 
 and drives them up, in like manner, to vote for they 
 know not whom. You complain of this as an evil, 
 and think it would serve the cause of morality and of 
 liberty to make the qualification ten pounds, instead of 
 forty shillings. Perhaps you are right, but I believe you 
 are not. The question is two-fold : first, as regards moral- 
 ity; next, as regards the purity of representation. You must 
 forgive me for the profanation of the phrase, I shall exam- 
 ine the question presently. Meantime I shall describe to 
 my American friends a scene to which I was witness on 
 one of those days of registry. 
 
 Several forty shilling freeholders had consulted me, and 
 I was examining their titles to know if they could, with 
 a safe conscience, take the registry oath. Next came on the 
 Catholic's oath of allegiance, which I had no difficulty to 
 tell them might be taken by every Catholic who desired 
 to maintain the constitution and uphold the king upon the 
 throne. I observed one man, rather nged, who looked a 
 little serious as the clerk proceeded to read that part of 
 the oath which abjures the king-killing doctrine; which 
 asserts that the Pope's infallibility is not an article of
 
 TEE IRISH FRANCHISE. 495 
 
 faith ; that no man is bound to perform a wicked act, 
 though commanded by the Church'; that no man can be 
 forgiven his sins by any Pope or priest, at the mere will 
 of such Pope or priest, but contrition and restitution are 
 absolutely required ; the first for all sinners, the last for 
 those who have been dishonest. Here he looked quite 
 religious and sentimental ; at the conclusion he made the 
 sign of the cross, took the oath, held the pen for his 
 signature with great reverence, bent his knee to the jus- 
 tices, and bowed to the clerks. A friend of his asked 
 him what he thought of the place. " I never was in a 
 court before," said he, "and always feared to come, because 
 I was told it was the devil's house, and that all the 
 lawyers were his children; that .the judges were great but 
 very bad men, sent by the king to hang and transport 
 Catholics whenever they could find any law for it, but to 
 let all the Protestants go free, whatever they might have 
 done. But I find it was all my mistake ; a court is just 
 as good a place as a chapel : and I cannot observe any 
 difference in the sermons you will get here and from 
 Father B , except the difference between English and 
 Irish, and between reading from a parchment and speaking 
 without it. God Almighty bless that fine looking gentle- 
 man over ; 'tis very well his gray head becomes him ; why 
 I am sure they told me he was a Protestant ; but this, 
 too, must be a mistake, because he told me how to go 
 to confession, and to mind the priest and the bishop and the 
 Pope ; but the bishop himself never told us better things 
 about confession, and absolution, and contrition, and satisfac- 
 tion; and the justices took care the sermon should do me 
 good, for they bid him watch to see whether I would kiss 
 the book." 
 
 I was greatly struck at the number of mistakes which 
 the poor man made, yet he actually spoke r.s he thought. 
 T\vo things only he knew plainly: that by swearing the 
 oath of allegiance he bound himself to be loyal, and that 
 his loyalty to a Protestant king was not incompatible with 
 his faith as a lloman Catholic.
 
 496 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 III. 
 
 You would not convict of perjury the poor man who 
 mistook for a sermon the abjuration of the calumnies with 
 which we are assailed, and three good justices of the county 
 of the city of Cork for Roman Catholics, and the respect- 
 able clerk of the peace for a preacher ; and a Roman 
 Catholic preacher too. Now I ask you which of the two 
 is a plainer oath : the oath of the Catholic's allegiance 
 together with its appendant declarations, or the oath of a 
 forty shilling freeholder? I fear you will find by my last 
 letter that I have not done my teacher much credit by my 
 exhibition. I was a forty shilling freeholder ; I believe I 
 knew as much as most of the same class of electors 
 respecting the nature of my title to register and to vote ; 
 yet this oath was really one of terror and of complexity. 
 If I recollect rightly there were not less than a dozen 
 different propositions to be distinctly sworn to by a forty 
 shilling freeholder, and I have more than once found the 
 gentlemen of the long robe seriously puzzled to make out 
 the exact meaning of some of the passages. I recollect the 
 words of one part of the oath, " nor have I procured it 
 (the freehold) fraudulently, nor has it been granted fraud- 
 ulently to me," in some few of the printed affidavits, by 
 a mistake of the corrector of the press the words "to me" 
 were omitted. A contested election came on in 1812; the 
 candidate for whom I voted, lost his seat by a deficit of 
 30 votes. But had those defective affidavits been admitted 
 he would, I believe, have been the sitting member. A 
 very protracted debate took place before the assessor of 
 the returning officer, in which it was contended that all 
 the grants, and of course the grant to the occupant, were 
 procured by the grantee ; that if it was not procured by 
 him fraudulently, it could not have been granted fraud- 
 ulently to him by the grantor : yet the decision was 
 against us; and I am disposed to say correctly and legally. 
 I ask how is it possible to teach all the technical legal
 
 THE HUSH FRANCHISE. 497 
 
 distinctions of this affidavit to the general body of small 
 farmers and laborers who are county freeholders ? I have 
 doubts but its expressions would puzzle Sir William Curtis, 
 or even a Dublin alderman, whom it would be at least 
 petit treason to disfranchise. 
 
 The complexity of the oath might give a well-trained, 
 acute lawyer more exact ideas of the precise qualification ; 
 but it operates quite in a different way with the general 
 body of the people. The multiplicity of terms and their 
 legal precision create a difficulty of arriving at the precise 
 meaning. Thus, a great many persons take the oath with a 
 general impression of their right to do so, but without a 
 special knowledge of the exact foundation of that right. Far 
 be it from me to countenance loose swearing, but equally far 
 be it from me to assert that all who swear thus are corrupt 
 perjurers. Many persons who swear thus hope they are right, 
 but fear they are wrong, and with the instinctive sagacity of 
 their character, and in full accordance with nature, when 
 questioned by others in an ambiguous manner, they will 
 quibble to protect themselves ; their fears increase, and they 
 will perhaps endeavor to escape the imputation of perjury by 
 the commission of falsehood. This is a lamentable state of 
 things, but it is not extensive, deliberate, corrupt, wilful 
 perjury. A grsat remedy would be, making the expressions 
 less complex ; a man would then know what he was called 
 upon to swear. 
 
 Now, my friend, let me remind you of another circum- 
 stance, which will operate greatly in favor of the freeholders' 
 integrity. Thousands of the forty shilling freeholders who 
 scarcely, if at all, understand English, are sworn through the 
 medium of an interpreter. Their language is not that of 
 Lord Chatham ; it is the .remnant of an older and once 
 a richer tongue, though we trace now but the indistinct 
 shade of where two centuries since a deep shadow was 
 distinctly marked. It is still abundantly sufficient for all 
 the business of your peasantry, the lively repartee of their 
 pungent wit, such as the peasantry of no other nation had. 
 
 33
 
 498 TEE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 And that peasantry is enslaved. It is, and I know it, 
 fully adequate to the most glowing description, the most 
 clear elucidation and the most pathetic appeals of religion. 
 The harp can even now with its torn strings swell the 
 terrific commands of the God of Sinai, louder than the 
 pealing burst, which rolled in thunder round the summit 
 of the awful mount, and imitate also with its soothing 
 strains, the voice of Him who told His own history, when 
 He related the parable of the good Samaritan. Yes ! my 
 friend, and well you know the truth of what I assert. It 
 was not in Romaic that Demosthenes roused the feelings 
 of his hearers, but perhaps a Romaic tongue now rekindles 
 Grecian fires : it was not in Romaic that Homer sung ; 
 but perhaps some Romaic bard now feeds the sacred flame. 
 Shall it be imputed as a crime to the Irish peasant that 
 though stript of his franchise, he preferred the tongue of 
 his fathers to the tongue of his oppressor, who stript him 
 first of his lands, next of his character, then gave him 
 the alternative of surrendering his franchise or his religion? 
 Your ancestor and mine gave up the franchise ; we regained 
 it without injury to our religion. And will you, my friend, 
 
 now . No! I will not write it. Still, still, you 
 
 are Daniel O'Connell; I will pledge my life for your integ- 
 rity. But I will not, I cannot blind my short-sighted judg- 
 ment. It is imperfect : but it is nature to prize greatly that 
 with which we are not too abundantly gifted. Nature will 
 excuse my obstinate adherence to my own views, and as I 
 love the land of my fathers, I am prompted to publish my 
 opinion to be weighed as it deserves by those who may deign 
 to read. Forgive me this digression. You say " the forty 
 shilling freeholder must be disfranchised, because he is a 
 perjurer." How many chances are there of mistake in the 
 complex nature of his affidavit ; in his ignorance of the 
 origin and nature of freehold right, and why is it privi- 
 leged over chattel interest ; in the medium through which 
 lie is sworn with an interpreter who understands one 
 language imperfectly, and speaks the other worse, a sort
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 499 
 
 of hedge-attorney, perhaps, who might know how to get 
 through the common routine of sessions' practice by his 
 knowledge of law as trade, though ignorant of it as a 
 science? The peasant knows that he has a deed, conveying 
 to him ground at a reduced rent. Like the woman in the 
 Eastern tale, who was to spurn the caliph from her feet, 
 after she would have realized an immense fortune from 
 her basket of glass, by multiplied sales and increasing 
 profits, his imagination anticipates the mighty profits arising 
 from an acre of potato ground, half an acre of wheat, half 
 an acre of oats, a patch of flax, and the cabin. In the 
 moment of this reverie, you would as soon lead him to 
 swear bona fide that it was worth ten pounds yearly, as 
 that it was worth forty shillings. 
 
 The landlord, while inducing him to register, is kind 
 and indulgent, grunts the leave of the bog for cutting turf, 
 the use of a horse to assist in ploughing, and does a 
 thousand acts of civility which are all worth at least five 
 pounds yearly to him, should they be continued, as he 
 hopes they would. You or I would not, perhaps, believe 
 he has an interest in it. His state is deplorable, but he is 
 not a corrupt perjurer. He is urged to register by his 
 landlord, by the attorney, and by his own feelings. He 
 persuades himself that he is fully qualified. 
 
 But I have given you the advantage hitherto. I must 
 begin to make somo entries upon the other side of the 
 book. There is a great host of forty shilling freeholders 
 in the towns which are in those counties. Generally speak- 
 ing, they are intelligent and patriotic; they know the rights 
 and duties of freeholders, and they love their country; 
 they could not be ten pound freeholders, not for want of 
 property, but for want of freehold. They have abundance 
 of chattel, but very little freehold. Allow me to enumerate : 
 There are thirty-two counties in Ireland ; in these, there 
 are, if I recollect rightly, but five cities which would 
 retain, by the intended bill, the qualification of forty shilling 
 freeholders to vote. Those cities would soon lose it by
 
 500 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 analogy, if they would not lose it by trick, upon the third 
 reading. In those counties, there are several large towns 
 containing from five thousand to twenty thousand inhabitants 
 each. All the forty shilling freeholders in those towns, 
 containing, perhaps, nearly a million of souls, are to be 
 disfranchised because of perjury and corruption. I assert 
 that, as a general proposition, there is no perjury in those 
 towns. I write from my own knowledge of several of 
 them, and I assert that I have never known a better or 
 more honest class of independent voters than the men 
 whom this bill would disfranchise in those towns. Look 
 to the registry of the county of Cork, and see how many 
 of the honest and incorruptible men of the Cove of Cork 
 would be disfranchised. Mallow was considered not to be 
 sunk to the level of corrruption and perjury; Youghall 
 boasted of some honest men; Bantry was not sunk to a 
 degraded state ; Kinsale had some independent small free- 
 holders, and I should be sorry to think Bandon is worse 
 than when I lived in it. I have not gone through one- 
 fourth of the towns of this one county, and there was no 
 question but the county of Cork is one of the most 
 degraded in Ireland in its representation ; but that belongs 
 to some future remarks. I now examine only the question 
 of perjury and demoralization. There was much, but it was 
 not so extensive as to require disfranchisement. In England, 
 they would not disfranchise a rotten borough, every man of 
 which was proved to be corrupt and degraded. We shall 
 hereafter see why the British parliament is so well disposed 
 to protect Irish purity. Is that parliament itself very free 
 from perjury and corruption? I recollect one of its most 
 upright and conscientious members, whom you well know, 
 being in conversation with me upon the subject of your 
 claims. I asked him whether, as a good Protestant, he 
 did not think it would be meritorious to induce us to 
 lay aside our idolatry. " Why," said he, " we do not 
 believe you to be idolators." "But," I replied, "you 
 swear H." " Pugh, pugh," said he, " you must not think
 
 THE IRIStI FRANCHISE. 501 
 
 that we believe it, though we swear it; the oath is a 
 mere form which must be gone through, to take our seats." 
 " Let me understand you," said I. " Though every member 
 of the House of Commons swears that wo are idolaters, 
 no one of them believes what he swears to be a fact?" 
 " Why you put it too plainly," said he ; " it will sound 
 better, and indeed be correct, if you say we must go 
 through the form of the oath before we can take our 
 seats." "And," said I, "the Lords must go through the 
 same form?" "Yes." "The bishops are not exempt?" said 
 I. " No," said he, " the bishops all go through the form." 
 " Do the bishops believe us to be idolators ? " I asked. 
 "No, no, you wrong them," said he; "some of them, per- 
 haps two out of forty-three, are liberal men ; and I do 
 not believe that one of the others really looks upon you 
 as idolators." Thus, my friend, we have a British bencli 
 of bishops, who go through a form of oath which they 
 do not believe to be true ; and a House of Commons, 
 which swears against its conviction ; all shocked at a few 
 mistakes and some perjury of your wretched forty shilling 
 freeholders, in registering their freeholds and in giving their 
 votes ; and though Grampound and old Sarum would give 
 godly men to this pure legislature, the great bulk of the 
 Irish counties must be disfranchised for the mistakes of 
 one in ten, and the perjury and corruption of one in 
 twenty of their voters. In which eye is the beam? I 
 look upon you to have been honest. How can I look 
 upon the men who have corrupted their tenants and forced 
 the perjury upon them to be so? When I hear the 
 friends of the ministry crying out against the perjury and 
 corruption of electors, it reminds me of the sailor and the 
 preacher who threatened to denounce the crew to God, as 
 violators of His law. " My eyes," said the tar, " but it 
 is always the greatest rogue becomes king's evidence." 
 
 Some of the forty shilling freeholders are guilty of corrupt 
 perjury; certainly the great minority; therefore, all the 
 forty shilling freeholders ought to be disfranchised. The
 
 502 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 British parliament, bishops, lay-lords, and commons, all 
 " go through a form of oath," of which they do not believe 
 the contents to be true ; therefore, as guardians of morality 
 and as men whose ears tingle at the very echo of the 
 sound of perjury, they ought to punish those corrupt free- 
 holders whom, they have themselves corrupted, and the 
 honest freeholders, who would not be corrupted by them. 
 You and I were punished by those people, because we 
 would not swear against our consciences. They told us that 
 we were punished because we were not credible upon oath; 
 their irony was cruel calumny, accompanied by heartless 
 persecution. I need not advise you against persecution, for 
 you are no bigot ; but I advise you against irony. The 
 parliament of Great Britain knows that its members are 
 all obliged to swear what few or none of them believe, 
 and this not in one but in a dozen propositions. Do not 
 then insult them by saying, that they ought to disfranchise 
 a political body, only a vast minority of which is corrupt, 
 a majority of which, I fearlessly say, is honest. Such 
 disqualification might have another bad eifect. It might 
 tend to encourage perjury, because, upon a knowledge of 
 of facts, the poor people Avould perhaps imagine that the 
 British parliament had despoiled them of their rights, 
 because there was not a sufficient proportion of the con- 
 stituents assimilated to the representatives, in their mode 
 of going through the form of a political oath. Upon an 
 abstract view of the proposal, I would say : " Do what you 
 can to put a stop to corruption and to perjury." But, 
 viewing tilings as they really are in Ireland, I say: "It 
 is cruel injustice to disfranchise the Irish Catholic, whilst 
 the English Protestant, equally guilty, nay, more guilty, 
 for the British boroughs are more corrupt than the Irish 
 counties, is left unpunished." I will clearly show, before 
 I finish, that the correct view of this case is what I here 
 exhibit. 
 
 Thus, I say, the perjury and corruption which, it is 
 pretended, call for the disfranchiscment, do not exist to
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 503 
 
 the extent assumed; and if their existence demands the 
 destruction of the rights of the Irish freeholder, the same 
 cause calls for the disfranchiscment of the English electors, 
 of the Irish freemen in cities, and of the pure British 
 parliament; and much more cause exists in each of those 
 latter cases, than in the former. I assert, therefore, that 
 perjury and corruption of the forty shilling freeholder is 
 not the cause but the pretext for depriving him of his 
 franchise. " I am called a robber," said the unfortunate 
 captive of the Macedonian king, " because I can command 
 only one small ship ; but you are called a conqueror, 
 because your spoliations are more extensive, and your 
 means of mischief greater." There is more perjury, more 
 venality, more corruption in your parliament, in your 
 bloated corporations, in your large freeholders, and in your 
 miserable little protected sinks of malevolent bigotry, your 
 small Orange freemen, in a tenfold ratio of their numbers, 
 than in the forty shilling freeholders. If then hatred of 
 corruption, detestation of perjury, and love of integrity, be 
 the motives of the destroyers of the franchise, why not 
 begin where the evil is most palpable and most desperate? 
 I know you would, if you could. This attack upon the 
 forty shilling freeholder did not originate with you ; but 
 you ought to have withstood it. You ought to have acted 
 as Lawless did. 
 
 But, would not raising the qualification to ten pounds 
 put a stop to this evil, or at least diminish it ? No : I 
 do not think it would. You are fully aware that the men 
 who would manufacture a forty shilling freeholder, would 
 be as well disposed to manufacture one of ten pounds; 
 and the man who would be corrupt enough to swear 
 against the fact that he had the value of a shilling, which 
 he had not, would be disposed to swear the same to any 
 amount. The perjury and the corruption do not consist in 
 the sum but in the disposition. The only effect would be 
 to diminish the number of honest votes, and to diminish 
 the whole number of voters. The proportion of honest
 
 504 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 men who would be disfranchised would be greater than 
 that of knaves who w r ould be kept away. This is not 
 mere speculation. 
 
 Previous to 1793, when the elective franchise was restored 
 to Catholics, none of the upright, conscientious Catholics 
 could vote; but, as I am informed, a large portion of the 
 offscouring and dregs of the body always were employed 
 to personate Protestant freeholders, and I am told that any 
 corruption which was known since, was purity compared 
 to the profligacy of the preceding period. I have a very 
 faint recollection of a contested election in the county of 
 Cork before 1793; I recollect only two circumstances. I 
 saw the successful candidates chaired, and I shall never 
 forget the public and continued exclamations against the 
 perjury, corruption, and profligacy of the agents and pre- 
 tended freeholders. I have since then witnessed what was 
 said to be the worst species cf malpractices used at 
 elections ; arid I uniformly heard all those who were older 
 than me fcay, that they were not in any w r ay an approxi- 
 mation to the corruption and crime which was usual before 
 the restoration of their rights to Catholic forty shilling 
 freeholders. Thus, as far as the examination of principle 
 and of fact, and the comparison of what now is with what 
 was before 1793, can lead me, I am decidedly of opinion 
 that changing the freeholder's lowest qualification to ten 
 pounds, would not benefit the cause of morality. I have 
 no doubt that such benefit was not amongst the objects of 
 those who proposed it. 
 
 IV. 
 
 I have shown from facts that the forty shilling freeholder 
 has a will of his own. I wish to show,, in like manner, 
 that, generally speaking, the twenty pound freeholder has 
 less will of his own, is more a slave to his landlord. I 
 promised to show this by proof from facts. I shall give, 
 in the form of a dialogue, the substance of what I have 
 frequently listened to. A forty shilling freeholder is rernon-
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 505 
 
 strating with one of Mr. Blake's men who had common 
 decency and shame and some property in his hands, viz., 
 a twenty pound freeholder, "a totally different class from 
 the forty shilling freeholder." 
 
 Forty. Neighbor, why do you hold back? Why don't 
 you come to the committee room and do as the rest of 
 us are doing ? 
 
 Twenty. 'Tis easily said ; a man must consider for his 
 family. The committee can do without me ; I wish them 
 success. 
 
 Forty. Certainly they can ; and without me ; but if every 
 person gives only good wishes, there will be nobody to 
 vote, and then we will be trodden down as they used to 
 walk upon us before we got the freehold leases, when they 
 used to turn us off the land, and let in the little Protest- 
 ants and the bucks, 1 and we were not considered worth 
 the dirt of their shoes ; the poor Protestants and the 
 greatest rogues among ourselves, men that would swear to 
 lies and take bribes, were then the best men in their 
 esteem. But we now get civility sometimes and we arc 
 courted, because the landlord knows the election will come 
 about some time or another. 
 
 Twenty. Don't you know the landlord is against our 
 committee? and do you want me to go and get my goods 
 and stock distrained for the rent? 
 
 Forty. Surely I know as well as you do. Didn't his 
 attorney send to tell me that I owed now a whole year's 
 rent, and that he had a mind to press me for the whole, 
 but he supposed if I went to speak to the landlord 
 himself at the other committee room, I could get easy 
 terms, and he wanted to know what I was doing here. 
 You don't owe more than a year's rent? 
 
 Twenty. No, nor the year's rent in full, but you know 
 it is easier to make up five years of your rent than one 
 year's rent of mine ; and besides, if it comes to the worst,, 
 and that you lose your little interest, it is less evil to 
 lose a small interest than a large one ; it is easier to buy 
 
 1 Mock freeholders who swore to what they did not possess.
 
 506 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 your stock than mine ; if I was only a forty shilling man, 
 I'd go to the committee as soon as you would. Forty 
 shilling men can go together and help one another, but it is 
 not so convenient for twenty pounders to do so. Besides, 
 what is the difference to us? The three candidates all 
 promise to support the Catholic bill. One man is as good 
 for that purpose as another. I must go with the landlord. 
 JBut if I had only your bit of ground, I would not care, so 
 much, and if you had mine, you would leave your committee 
 to themselves. 
 
 Forty. What makes the candidates all promise to vote now 
 for the Catholic bill? They did not promise this the last 
 time. That time we had only one candidate in our favor 
 and the Orangemen laughed at us. Since then we made 
 three times as many freeholders as we had then. I'll vote 
 for the man that was with me when we were weak. Besides, 
 he'll not give his vote to have so much taxation on us ; he 
 won't vote for the man that let the soldiers loose upon us, 
 since we cannot get out of the ground rent and rates and 
 tithes and taxes more than its produce is worth; nor will he 
 vote to take us from our little families because we happen to 
 be too far from home to be within doors before the fall of 
 ihe sun. Surely, you know there are some of our members 
 worse than any Protestants, and this man and other Protest- 
 ants are not to be sunk to a level with the landlord. Stay 
 Avith us ; he wants tenants as much as we want land. 
 
 I assure you, my friend, that I have frequently witnessed 
 dialogues of this description, in much stronger language; 
 and that, so far from twenty pound freeholders having a 
 -will more independent than those of forty shillings, I 
 believe it is generally, in the counties, quite the reverse, 
 because they have a greater stake subject to the landlord's 
 discretionary harassing. 
 
 Now I come to your fifty pound freeholders. They are 
 of two kinds: 1. Those who hold as in fee; with respect 
 to them you know they are generally dependent upon the 
 crown for many favors and for more expectations. Their
 
 TUB HUSH FRANCHISE. 507 
 
 sons and brothers are in the army, in the navy, in the 
 Church, in the public offices, etc. Though in the abstract 
 they are independent, I ask you, in fact, are they -not 
 really more the slaves of their party or of the crown or 
 castle, than the forty shilling freeholder is of his land- 
 lord ? 2. The middlemen : are they not, more generally 
 speaking, the greatest slaves, as being most in arrears ; 
 having heavy rents ; having received some favors and 
 expecting others ; besides cringing to be permitted to hunt, 
 and to dine, and to shoot with their betters? There are 
 several exceptions in each of those divisions, but I know 
 the general statement to be correct. In the counties, my 
 impression is that, as time advances, the small freeholders 
 will become more independent; and that it is the dread 
 of this which harasses Messrs. Canning, Plunkett, etc. 
 
 The county of Cork is the worst represented that can 
 be ; yet you will tell me it has an immense registry ot 
 forty shilling freeholders, and their will and interest are 
 opposed to the sitting members for whom many of them 
 have voted. Therefore, you will say it is clear they have 
 no will of their own, and that I am in error. I shall 
 answer by facts. Mr. Poiisonby once spoke with me upon 
 the subject ; and though I made him no promise, I pri- 
 vately made an essay to try whether the same effect could 
 be produced in the county, that was in the county of the 
 city, and by the same means. I uniformly found the 40s. 
 interest honest and ready to act. But I found the middle- 
 men, who ought to co-operate, not only not willing to do 
 so, but actually opposed to any such proceeding, and this, 
 as many of them declared to me, because they were in 
 the power of their landlords much more than the poorer 
 freeholders were ; some of those were gentlemen whom you 
 well know, swaggering, independent gentlemen, who voted 
 on the 3d of September, 1813, "that property was the 
 standard of opinion," and who were then as aristocratic as 
 Anthony Richard Blake is now. I mention but one county, 
 because I write from my own knowledge, but I have been
 
 508 THE IKISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 told and do believe that in several other counties the case 
 was the same. I therefore assert : 1 . That the assumption 
 that 40s. freeholders have no will of their own, is against 
 the fact. 2. That the assumption that large freeholders are 
 more independent of their landlords, is against the fact. 
 Therefore the reasoning built on such assumptions is a 
 perfect delusion. 
 
 The fact is known from experience and all the practical 
 reasoning leads to the conclusion, that however mean his 
 station, however apparently dependent he may be, the 
 humble 40s. freeholder is the least corrupt part of the 
 constituency of . Ireland. Let us view that constituency. I 
 shall give to the American to contemplate a picture which 
 will exhibit to him the vast superiority of his simple 
 qualification for a voter, over the complicated machinery of 
 Gothic and Saxon and Norman institutions, subsisting in 
 the imperfection of the blended defects of each and the 
 combination of all rendered more intricate by fiction, so 
 that the mind becomes bewildered, and the juggler is 
 allowed to play with his puppets at his pleasure. 
 
 The first class of electors are the beneficed clergymen of 
 the Established Church ; they come in upon the tenure of 
 the benefice during life, for the service which they are 
 supposed to give in return is free and honorable. No 
 man would presume to breathe a whisper that this parson 
 is to be disfranchised, because he has no will of his own. 
 Now, my friends, there are in Ireland upwards of four- 
 teen hundred voters of this class. I put the question 
 openly : Does any man in Ireland believe that two hun- 
 dred of those parsons are men who vote independently? 
 For my own part I do not believe that fifty of them do. 
 I write it as a notorious fact, not as a charge, not as a 
 reproach. Those gentlemen who have received their livings 
 by presentation from lay patrons, consider it a compliment, 
 which as gentlemen they owe to those who presented their 
 livings to vote as they wish. Those who receive their 
 livings by the gift of the crown, feel that the crown
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 509 
 
 expects their votes, and also that if the court candidate 
 will not get it, the court will give no farther promotion 
 to the recusant, and the crown is daily purchasing the 
 right of patronage from the proprietors, in order to increase 
 its influence at elections. 
 
 There are eight or nine hundred other clergymen, curates 
 and expectants, who vote with those from whom they have 
 expectation. They are voters by virtue of their own 
 property or by being freemen of corporations. Now, my 
 friend, did any person propose to disfranchise those men, 
 though every one knows and acknowledges that not one in 
 ten of them is an independent voter? But the aristocratic 
 Anthony Richard Blake will say they have property, and 
 therefore must be independent; most of the gentlemen of 
 this last class are fifty pound and twenty pound free- 
 holders. I care not whether a man is influenced by what 
 he calls a gentlemanly feeling of gratitude, or by expecta- 
 tion of favor, or by dread of his landlord. The result 
 is the same. He is influenced ; he is not independent. 
 Besides this, the clergymen are swayed by all the other 
 motives which operate upon the other large freeholders. 
 Thus, it is a notorious fact, that no person ever expects 
 an Irish clergyman of the establishment to give an 
 independent vote. The government, the bishop, and his 
 patron, all exercise over him more sway than any land- 
 lord does over any freeholder. Yet it would be considered 
 sacrilege to touch his franchise, and you would yourself 
 be horrified at the proposal, though you did taunt my 
 friend John Lawless for what you were graciously pleased 
 to call his under-growl in defence of my quondam com- 
 rades, the 40s. freeholders, whom you advised to be silent, 
 whilst Mr. Plunkett was stripping them, as he could not 
 incarcerate you ! Was this like Daniel O'Connell ? Would 
 any quondam fellow-agitator have acted so ? I do not 
 want to strip the clergy of their votes ; but if the forty 
 shilling freeholder is to be disfranchised because he is not 
 master of his own vote, you must a fortiori disfranchise
 
 510 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 upwards of two thousand parsons. Then indeed would we 
 have a yell of " No Popery " and " Church in danger." 
 
 The next class of electors which I will exhibit, is that 
 most highly respectable division called the men of old 
 families and large properties. 
 
 One of those esquires could register a freeholder not 
 only of fifty pounds per annum, but over twenty thou- 
 sand pounds per annum ; that is, my good American 
 readers, about ninety thousand dollars a year. Surely the 
 aristocratic Anthony Richard Blake will now triumph ; for 
 clearly this man must be a more independent voter than 
 a 40s. freeholder, a fellow who is not worth a greater 
 interest than nine dollars a year. He will tell you, by 
 the common rule of proportion, that the former gentleman 
 has ten thousand times as much sense, as much know- 
 ledge, as weighty an opinion as one of the mere rabble, 
 because "property is the standard of opinion." 
 
 But who could influence such an independent man as 
 this ? I answer that there are very many men of this 
 description who cannot be influenced by any unfair or 
 unbecoming means. But there are several others who have 
 less will of their own than any forty shilling freeholder 
 has, and what enslaves their will enslaves all the others 
 of inferior grades in proportion. 
 
 Several of those great landed proprietors have enormous 
 rent-rolls but trifling incomes. Money has been raised to- 
 vast amount upon bonds bearing interest by their prede- 
 cessors and by themselves for various purposes for for- 
 tunes for the females, outfits and annuities for younger 
 brothers, and extravagant expenses. How often does it 
 happen that in Ireland a man whose estate produces thirty 
 thousand pounds yearly, pays away more than twenty thou- 
 sand in interest! The appearance must be kept up, how- 
 ever, to suit the rank, and the means to insure this must 
 be had recourse to. Government has vast patronage in 
 the Church the bishoprics, the deaneries, and a multitude 
 of rich benefices. Here is provision for younger sons and
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 511 
 
 for sons-in-law, but there must be a quid pro quo : the 
 court candidate must be supported at elections. Commands 
 in the army and navy, distinctions, governorships, embas- 
 sies, secretaryships, places in the revenue, on the several 
 public boards, inspectorships, sinecures, pensions, and all 
 the d cderas. The bench, the chairmanship of counties, the 
 offices in the courts, the places of high sheriff, attorney 
 and solicitor-general, law-adviser and counsel to the several 
 boards ; the physician of the forces, surgeons of the hos- 
 pitals, regiments, etc. ; commissioners in the militia, etc. 
 Here are several thousands of places all at the disposal 
 of the crown. Viewing those, the large embarrassed free- 
 holder says : " My poverty but not my will consents." 
 His family, his relations, his creditors who wish to fill 
 those places, importune him. He is exposed to tempta- 
 tions which never assail the forty shilling freeholder. I 
 put it to my friend O'Connell to say, if the latter is to 
 be disfranchised, ought not the former? 
 
 You know too well the manner in which all minor 
 offices are disposed of. Generally speaking, they are in 
 the actual gift of the court member, who is bound to 
 vote for the minister, in the House of Commons ; and he 
 gives them to twenty pound and occasionally forty shilling 
 freeholders or their relatives who will vote to send him 
 to the House of Commons. Every person who knows Ire- 
 land, knows that to be the fact. Here is a picture for 
 the American to contemplate ! And the men who are thus 
 returned to the honorable House unblushingly ask to dis- 
 franchise the men w T hom this corrupting influence can scarcely 
 reach. 
 
 I shall now hazard an opinion and a conjecture. The 
 opinion is : That so increasing the number of voters as to 
 make the influenced portion the decided minority will be 
 the most likely mode of destroying this corruption. Every 
 increase of the number of voters will approximate to this 
 desirable state. And every diminution of the number of 
 voters will increase the power of the crown and of its
 
 512 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 dependents. Suppose, against the fact, the forty shilling 
 freeholders to be now equally influenced as the other 
 electors, still increasing their number would be more likely 
 to decrease the power of the crown, because a large body 
 is less manageable than a small body; and the facts which 
 we observe prove the principle. The crown can procure a 
 return, with facility, in the small bodies; but, even if 
 through its influence it should succeed in large bodies, it 
 is always after a serious struggle. A landlord, too, could 
 more easily influence twenty large freeholders who live 
 upon his estate, than he could two hundred small free- 
 holders. When the number of voters was small, before 
 1793, elections were easily managed by the crown and the 
 proprietors of boroughs ; but since then the number of 
 voters has been gradually increasing, and the electors are 
 not so easily managed. The crown and the great landlords 
 find their influence greatly checked ; the people at large 
 find their consequence greatly increased. The extension of 
 the franchise, in 1793, did more to rescue Ireland from 
 degradation than any other act could have done; and my 
 conjecture is, that now the crown and the great landholders 
 have combined to narrow the right of suffrage, to check the 
 progress of popular rights, and to endeavor to gain a portion 
 of that domination which they have lost, and to secure what 
 yet remains. I think I see the proof of this in the eager- 
 ness with which the aristocrats who used to oppose Catholic 
 emancipation, rush forward to petition that emancipation 
 might be granted upon the condition of their being delivered 
 from an unmanageable body of electors, who will not permit 
 them to make their bargains with government as comfortably 
 as their fathers used, when the number of voters was less 
 and the small body was more easily managed. Here was a 
 tremendous water-spout rising in your course, and which 
 would have inevitably swamped your vessel, had it poured 
 upon her; yet you were displeased with the man, who, 
 looking ahead, fired a gun to dissipate the portentous 
 column; because, forsooth, the demon of the whirlwind
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 513 
 
 would be displeased at the report, and tell your crew that 
 although he had* them stowed under hatches and driven 
 your steersmen from the helm, you still were agitating 
 demagogues ; no doubt the report of such a gun was an 
 under-growl ! Alas, poor Ireland ! was it not an unpardon- 
 able offence in John Lawless, to have called your children 
 to your protection, when orders had been issued not to 
 utter a syllable until after the keeper should have had his 
 hand upon you and was actually turning the screws of 
 your manacles? And have I so far forgotten the land of 
 my birth ani the spirit of my former associates in a 
 very few short years, as not to have been astounded at 
 reading that in an aggregate meeting of the Catholics of 
 Ireland, the man who thus protected his country was received 
 with partial hissing? But let me congratulate him upon 
 the occurrence. In every community there will be found 
 men whose praise is censure and whose censure is praise ; 
 I should suspect I was a traitor to Ireland, had I been 
 applauded by the men who shouted for the Marquis of 
 Londonderry. 
 
 V. 
 
 I trust that it has been shown : 1 . That although many 
 of the registered forty shilling freeholders were manufac- 
 tured, still the vast majority of them were and are bona 
 fide freeholders. 2. That so far from being generally per- 
 jurers, they generally have a high respect for their oath. 
 Oh, I am galled and ashamed at being compelled by any 
 circumstances connected with you to have been obliged to 
 write this ! 3. That as a body they are less corrupt than 
 any other class of Irish voters. No comparison can be 
 formed between their political purity and the political corrup- 
 tion of the freemen of corporations. 4. That as a body they 
 are less liable to influence and less under its operation than 
 the clergy, the large proprietors, and the twenty and fifty 
 pound freeholders. Remark, I compare the aggregate body 
 on the one side to the aggregate body on the other. I make 
 
 S3
 
 514 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 no individual comparisons, and I also take them, in the ratio 
 of their numbers, respectively. You may, for instance, in 
 one barony find a clergyman perfectly independent ; three or 
 four proprietors unembarassed and incorruptible ; eight or ten 
 respectable twenty pound freeholders ; and in this collection 
 of twenty-five unexceptionable men, you have spirit, integrity 
 and patriotism. You may in that same barony produce two 
 hundred forty shilling freeholders, one-fourth of whom are 
 either slavish or corrupt. Yet you will have one hundred 
 and fifty honest men, whom the bill would disfranchise. But 
 this view even is grossly partial, because it assumes, against 
 the fact, that through the island all the honest votes are to 
 be found amongst the clergy and gentry. You may recollect 
 the homely answer of a countryman of ours to a person who 
 told him that his family must be very bad, as there were so 
 many who bore his name hanged, though hanging is not, in 
 Ireland, evidence of criminality : " My good sir," was the 
 reply, "there were more bearing my name hanged than were 
 good men bearing your name, and there are now a greater 
 number of good persons of my name living than ever were, 
 are, or will be, of your name in the world." In the ratio 
 of their numbers the forty shilling freeholders are the best 
 and most independent voters in Ireland. Should this be 
 ever read in Ireland, I am quite aware of the manner in 
 which it will be received at the first reading; but the 
 numbers who will acknowledge its truth will be continually 
 on the increase as examination will be made. 
 
 But why not amend the system by destroying the slavish 
 and the corrupt portion? Do, if you will; but begin where 
 the evil is greatest. You say you cannot; the Church 
 cannot be touched ; lay but a finger upon it, and Mr. 
 Plunkett, the worthy son of a Presbyterian clergyman, will 
 be actually in hysterics, and the Catholic Mr. Blake will 
 be shocked and will need the aid of thieves' vinegar to 
 preserve him from the contagion of democracy. Well, to 
 give Mr. Plunkett a chance of the chancellorship, and to 
 leave it in Mr. Blake's power to climb the bench or to
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 515 
 
 creep into the Commons (is not this House too democrat- 
 ical for this aristocrat?) We will leave the churchmen 
 untouched and the large freeholders unmolested. But pro- 
 vided always upon the condition that they leave the small 
 freeholders unmolested, but not otherwise. There are some 
 evils in the system, but many of these evils arise from 
 the unreasonable mode of continuing a feudal test, to know 
 who is a freeman in a system where freedom and indepen- 
 dence are not now connected with feudal tenure. Every 
 freeman ought to have a vote. This is the principle of 
 the old English constitution. In the Saxon days, in the 
 Norman times, there were villains and thralls ; they were 
 not freemen. Now your mode of ascertaining who is a 
 freeman, is to ask does his foot touch the soil of Britain? 
 He is free. I have not the spirit to transcribe nor even 
 to allude to the description of the beautiful vision which 
 presented itself to Curran's imagination, and which his 
 ardor mistook for real fact: when he told us of the 
 sinking of the altar and the god before the genius of 
 universal emancipation. Oh, my friend, it is sickening to 
 read so eloquent a sentence and to find how you are 
 mocked when you come to examine the reality. True, 
 there is no god; but there is an altar over which the 
 demon of discord presides, grinning a ghastly smile of 
 bitter mockery at the deluded reader of Curran's vision. 
 This idol of my native land, begrimed with blood, sur- 
 rounded with halters and instruments of torture, is raised 
 upon the rights of Ireland as a pedestal ; the yells of 
 party orgies swell the peals of adoration ; human victims 
 palpitate, and the smoke of their carcasses rises like incense 
 to his distended nostrils. We behold those whom pestilence 
 and famine and desolation have prostrated, fill the temple: 
 their infuriated relatives rush to assail those who mock 
 their woes with hypocritical distributions of Bibles and 
 religious tracts, and thunder out their anathemas in the 
 shape of insurrection acts, and white-boy acts and peel in 
 acts, and tithing acts ; many of those relatives are seized
 
 516 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 and banished, the others by the use of their franchise 
 would indeed demolish this altar, destroy this temple, and 
 lay this spirit, and therefore it is that they who would 
 perpetuate the idolatry would deprive them of their fran- 
 chise, because, like every other worship, the worship of 
 this demon brings profit to his priesthood. 
 
 If every man in Ireland is a freeman, why has not 
 every man in Ireland his elective franchise ? And if this 
 be a freeman's characteristic, why will you deprive so many 
 thousands of my countrymen of their freedom? Or will 
 they permit ' it ? Mr. Shiel said you could persuade them 
 to be content after the spoliation. Could you ? Then they 
 deserve worse than slavery. "Would you? Your punishment 
 ought to be more afflictive than theirs. If Mr. Shiel stated 
 what was a fact, I thank God I do not live in Ireland. 
 I thank God I live amongst men who value their rights, 
 and will never listen to any who dares to advise about 
 even the possibility of their retrenchment. No, no ! this 
 is one of Mr. Shiel's mistakes. He has a beautiful imag- 
 ination. He sees this not in Ireland, but with his mind's 
 eye. He sees it in that space between earth and heaven ; 
 he bodies it forth in words, and gives to airy nothing a 
 habitation and a name. 
 
 But you would not strip Irishmen of their rights ; you 
 would give the right of universal suffrage. Why, then, did 
 you tell them to be silent? " Qui tacet consentire videtur." 
 Why did you scoff at the under-growl of Jack Lawless? 
 
 But you would leave a respectable constituency. You 
 would disfranchise thousands. You would reduce men who 
 now have a right to vote to the state of slaves who have 
 no vote. But there would arise a substantial class of ten 
 pound freeholders, and there would be more comfort amongst 
 the peasantry. Do you seriously believe this would be the 
 result? I do not, and I found my opinion upon my 
 knowledge of the Irish landlords. 
 
 But suppose the landlord gives a tenant an interest of 
 ten pounds instead of forty shillings. If it arises from
 
 THE WISII FRANCHISE. 517 
 
 
 
 the landlord's generosity, the tenant will be under an 
 obligation ; if it arises from the tenant's industry and 
 means, he has how the same industry, the same means. 
 The change would be injurious to freedom; and this is 
 the reason why all the tyrannical land-jobbers and the 
 aristocratic land-owners, who detest the sound of Catholic 
 emancipation, are ready to give even emancipation at this 
 price. Thus they profess their opinion to be that which 
 I have expressed ; that this docs more injury to civil 
 liberty and to Irish freedom, than would be compensated 
 for by Catholic emancipation. 
 
 But, hitherto, I have been obliged to keep one great 
 consideration out of view, viz.: That the quantity of 
 property in Ireland, out of which freehold interest could 
 arise, is much smaller than is generally imagined. 
 
 You are to deduct from the surface of the island : First, 
 all the bishops' lands, which are held by tenants for terms 
 of years generally with the clause of toties quoties, that is, 
 the occupying tenant has, upon certain conditions, a right 
 to get a renewal from the bishop's tenant, who is his 
 landlord, as often as that landlord gets a renewal from 
 the bishop. Next, the glebe land, the college lands, and 
 those of several corporations, which are not allowed to 
 make a freehold. I believe this would sweep away more 
 than one-fourth of the country, upon which no freehold 
 can exist. 
 
 Before 1778, no Roman Catholic could take a lease of 
 a house or land for a longer term than thirty-one years, 
 and if the land was worth more than a trifling considera- 
 tion over the yearly rent, any Protestant could, upon paying 
 that advanced sum, turn the Catholic out and enter into 
 possession. 
 
 But when the success of the people of America taught 
 England that prudence which is miscalled generosity, Cath- 
 olics, upon swearing allegiance, were permitted to take 
 leases at low rents and for 999 years. The first relief of 
 the Irish Catholic from his bondage is due to America,
 
 518 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 which may God enrich with every blessing ! And, perhaps, 
 were it given to us to see through the mist of futurity, 
 we would discover that the ecstatic consolation of completing 
 this work of philanthropy and charity is reserved for this 
 land, whose soil teems with the blood and sweat of grateful 
 Irish Catholics. 1 
 
 The Catholics, soon after the passing of this law, began 
 to acquire real chattel to a considerable amount ; and, in 
 fourteen years, had got into possession of a vast quantity 
 of land, under leases for long terms of years. In 1782, 
 they were permitted to take freehold, but not to vote, for 
 which reason they still took chattel. 
 
 This greatly curtailed the quantity of land in towns, cities, 
 and counties which might be made freehold, because no 
 freehold can arise out of a real chattel. Thus, when in 
 1793, the French Revolution and the United Irishmen 
 made the English goverment exhibit a little more mock- 
 generosity, the Catholics could become freeholders, and were 
 restored to their franchise except in the corporations ; the 
 quantity of land by means of which they could obtain the 
 franchise was greatly limited, and had, in fact, been prin- 
 cipally curtailed by the conversion thereof into real chattel. 
 The wealthy Protestants had the old confiscated Catholic 
 property as in fee simple; they were all freeholders, and 
 freeholders to a large amount. There was scarcely a Prot- 
 estant above the rank of a beggar, who, if he was a free- 
 holder, was not so to the value of twenty pounds. But 
 the rich Catholic had made the most of his money, by 
 giving the Protestant a large fine to reduce the yearly 
 rent of ground which he took for a long term of years, 
 when he could not take as freehold, or if he had a free- 
 hold he could not vote, though he was frequently richer 
 than his landlord, who had a freehold of perhaps two or 
 three thousand pounds per annum. In 1793 this Catholic 
 wished to become a freeholder, and he could with diffi- 
 
 ' Since Bishop England's <lny tho Irish In America have become a larger body 
 than thoso at home; and It is becoming apparent every day that they will play 
 no small part in freeing Ireland from Briti h rule.
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 519 
 
 culty procure a forty shilling freehold, though owning real 
 chattel to a great amount. 
 
 From those facts it is clear that there could be very 
 few Protestant 40s. voters, and the vast majority of Cath- 
 olic voters must, for several years, be persons of that 
 description ; that smallness of freehold generally would argue 
 poverty in the Protestant, and would by no means indi- 
 cate it in a Catholic; and that to disfranchise the small 
 freeholders generally would be, however impartial in appear- 
 ance, nearly equivalent to a disfranchisement of the Irish 
 Catholics. The Catholic voters, I believe, are now to the 
 Protestant voters through Ireland in the ratio of three to 
 one; and by this disfranchisement of the 40s. freeholders, 
 the Catholic voters would be to the Protestant in the ratio 
 of one to five, if we take corporations, though the Prot- 
 estant population is to the Catholic in the ratio of one 
 to over six. Almost every Irish Protestant either is or 
 has it in his power to become a voter. It is a matter of 
 great' difficulty to a Roman Catholic to become qualified. 
 I have known Roman Catholics, whose property was worth 
 more than twenty thousand pounds, during two or three 
 years anxiously endeavoring to obtain, for more than its 
 value, as much freehold property as would enable them to 
 register as 40s. freeholders, and still unable to obtain it. 
 If, then, it is so difficult to obtain a qualification of 40s., 
 would not the difficulty be increased by making it five 
 times as great? And if my views of the facts be correct, 
 would not the ten pound freeholder, who would owe his 
 franchise to the indulgence of his landlord, be a worse 
 slave than the present 40s. freeholder? And would it not 
 be unjust to the individuals and injurious to the principle 
 of civil liberty and of morality and integrity, to deprive 
 the least corrupt portion of the constituency of their right, 
 under the false pretext of their having abused it? to take 
 from the body of the people the characteristic of freemen, 
 and to diminish the number of persons to be influenced, 
 thereby creating a facility which w r ould tempt the corrupter?
 
 520 TEE IRISH FRANCHISE, 
 
 Would Ireland be compensated for these evils by Mr. 
 Blake's aristocracy? What will you put in competition 
 with the liberties of your country? I am sick of the sub- 
 ject. Amongst the several possibilities that ever rose before 
 my understanding, the necessity of thus remonstrating with 
 you upon this topic, was one of the last I could imagine. 
 
 Did you not see the dreadful innovation, like some dark 
 cloud rising in the east, obscuring the sun of your hope, 
 darkening the prospects of your country, communicating its 
 gloom to every countenance, collecting every kindred speck 
 as it rose, lowering upon your liberties, as it spread upon 
 the horizon, and threatened in the zenith? Every timid 
 man fled, every prudent man feared, every honest man 
 bewailed, that which was likely to ensue ; whilst you stood 
 calmly descanting upon the. glories of that luminary which 
 it veiled, the innocence of its lightning, the harmony of 
 its thunder, and the benefits which would ensue to the land 
 after the deluge which it would pour forth should have 
 swept away the hovels of the forty shilling freeholders and 
 their inmates to the gulf of ruin ; then, indeed, a new 
 order of things would arise, " Jam redit Astrsea." The 
 Orange persecutor would become charitable and kind; the 
 middleman, benevolent ; the landlord would be a protector ; 
 the magistrate, impartial ; the parson would be liberal ; 
 the tithe-proctor, merciful ; the tax-gatherer, tender-hearted ; 
 and a happy race of peasants would enjoy the soil. Did 
 you believe all this would happen? If you did, your hopes 
 were greater than were those of your friend. 
 
 VI. 
 
 I shall now conclude my remarks upon the attempt to 
 destroy the rights of the Irish Catholic electors. I call 
 it the attempt to destroy their rights, because I believe I 
 have fully shown, that if the bill had passed, this destruc- 
 tion would be its inevitable consequence. Thus it would 
 be injuring religious liberty, without naming religion ; it 
 would be injuring civil liberty, by stripping thousands of
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 521 
 
 their franchise ; it would be maintaining the Protestant 
 ascendency in Ireland, without calling it Protestant ; it 
 would be the Avorst species of persecution, viz., persecution 
 in disguise. Every person now points with reproof and 
 scorn to your boasting masters, who assume to be most 
 liberal, whilst they arc well known to be the most perse- 
 cuting government in the civilized world. The South 
 American, just emerged from bondage, is more liberal, and 
 when he refuses to your government the right of making 
 religious establishments in his country, for your Protestant 
 merchants, it is because he has been informed that those 
 merchants petition to continue the oppression of his fellow- 
 Catholic in Great Britain ; and because he sees that those 
 merchants will, if permitted to make such establishments, 
 deluge his country with bad translations of the Bible, and 
 tell the people that their priests are knaves, whose religion 
 is a sacrilegious traffic upon dirty bits of brown paper, 
 and who give men leave to rob their neighbors, provided 
 they share the plunder with them. 1 
 
 As he knows he has religion and is not an idolater, 
 and as he knows those vile falsehoods would create mis- 
 chievous irritation, he thinks it just as well to keep that 
 Christianity which came down from the Apostles through 
 his fathers, as to substitute any modification thereof, which 
 Britain or even New England can bestow upon him. But 
 he enacts no law to deprive the people of the country of 
 their civil rights, because they will not give up the 
 religion of their ancestors ; and this is more liberality and 
 justice than Great Britain has evinced since the days of 
 Henry VIII. Is there in the world a parallel to British 
 intolerance? The inquisitors prevented the people from 
 making changes in religion, upon the ground that any 
 essential change must destroy it. Britain persecutes them 
 for not changing with her, though she says that they might 
 err in making those changes. The Inquisition could keep 
 all its victims in a few dungeons ; Britain has not, in 
 three centuries, ever had less than millions of victims at 
 
 'See article on "Bulls of the Crusades" in the second volume.
 
 522 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 a time. Ireland has been one vast prison, and every member 
 of her ascendency has been an inquisitor. I disapprove of 
 the Inquisition. It never was a portion of our religion, 
 as is erroneously imagined. But in the most angry times 
 of religious acrimony, forgive me the expression, British 
 writers have had to ransack our Church for the names of 
 a few persecutors who filled our episcopal chairs ; the 
 world has to rest but upon very few dignified names in 
 the modern British hierarchy, who stand an exception hon- 
 orable to themselves from its bench of bishops. Britain is 
 not insensible to this j and therefore the oligarchy which 
 rules her is anxious to assume the appearance of a virtue 
 which it has not. It wishes to keep the Irish Catholics 
 powerless, but still yearns to have the semblance of being 
 liberal, and finding that it cannot destroy the power of a 
 Catholic nation, such as Ireland is, without destroying its 
 civil rights, it attempts to do both by one act; and that is, 
 by disfranchising a large body of electors, who, under present 
 circumstances, must almost universally be Catholics, and then 
 in return, it will dole out favors to a chosen few, and pay 
 the clergy, that they may aid in enslaving the people. Thus 
 Britain will endeavor to wipe away the stigma of her disgrace, 
 and still do the very acts for which that stigma was 
 deserved. 
 
 Look to the history of our country and decide by facts. 
 I have been amused by what has been miscalled the phi- 
 losophy of history such is Hume's : a mockery of reason- 
 ing not worthy of even the dignity of a sophism, which 
 attemps to argue you out of truth, by supposing it possible 
 that a fact which is related did not occur ; and discover- 
 ing possibilities that motives might have been, of the 
 existence of which there is no proof, but evidence the 
 other way. And then without evidence, and contrary to 
 evidence, you are upon the philosophy of history to sup- 
 pose the fact which history exhibits did not occur, or if 
 you cannot be brought to that, you must at least believe 
 by philosophy, that the agent had motives which are dif-
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 523 
 
 ferent from the true ones. This is one kind of philosophy 
 with which I hope never to be imbued. Some reflection 
 has led me to study history after a different fashion. I 
 look upon history to be a record of facts, not a system 
 of speculation. I examine the truth of the record by the 
 rule of testimony; where I have evidence of the fact, I 
 believe it ; where I have not, I draw no conclusion. In 
 like manner I deal with motives and dispositions. The 
 object of my study of history is to argue by analogy. My 
 conclusions from analogy in history can only be highly 
 probable, but where I cannot be certain, I may prudently 
 be guided by high probability. After having studied this, 
 I give nothing for the professions of statesmen ; I judge 
 them by their acts. Our venerable friend, Bishop Moylan, 
 of Cork, frequently told me, during his illness, and with 
 serious emphasis and for useful purposes, how little reliance 
 was to be placed upon British statesmen by the Catholics 
 of Ireland. His warning was conveyed in the relation of 
 a multitude of facts, in which he had been too well 
 instructed, because he and other bishops had been very 
 often artfully deluded by great and good men and by 
 sincere friends. I shall never forget his dying injunction 
 to me upon the subject. 
 
 Look then to Irish history. I pass over the acts of 
 William and Mary; I pass over those of Anne; I pass 
 over the cruel inflictions under George I; the whole period 
 of the mean and deceitful Charleses and Jameses ; the 
 atrocious times of Elizabeth I consign also for the present, 
 to oblivion ; I begin with the ascension of George II. Up 
 to this period the Irish Catholics were not deprived of 
 the elective franchise, though by an act, which, if I am 
 rightly informed, can only find its parallel in the old 
 colony of Maryland, they were in the reign of Charles II 
 shut out of their houses of legislature, of which they were 
 members ; excluded without any semblance of law or 
 authority, but by a simple vote of their associates ; and 
 most part of their lands having been taken away, and they
 
 51 THE JfflSU FRANCHISE. 
 
 being excluded from most of the corporations, though they 
 had the right of electors in law, they did not generally 
 possess it in fact, for want of qualification, during the 
 reigns of William and Mary, Anne, ajid George I. But 
 when George II came to the throne, Primate Boulter, who 
 was then tho chief oligarch of Ireland, observed that the 
 number of Catholics who by law were qualified to vote 
 had greatly increased, and that the Clanrickarde family 
 had been, through Catholic influence, thrown out of the 
 representation of Galway. The family of Portumna had 
 then become Protestant, and joined the oligarchy. But the 
 Catholics committed a worse crime, one which Britain 
 seldom forgives. They were then to the Protestants as five 
 to one, and for the first time some Irish Protestants began 
 to look to the welfare of Ireland, and to form the Irish 
 party in support of the civil liberty of their country; 
 against those men Primate Boulter formed the English 
 party; the Catholics joined the patriotic Irish Protestants, 
 and with them sought the benefit of their common country. 
 They voted in electing the parliament of 1727. And that 
 very parliament in whose election they concurred deprived 
 them of the elective franchise, and this was done by the 
 contrivance of the oligarchy, in a clause by way of amend- 
 ment, at one of the late stages of a bill, without notice 
 or debate. In what does this nefarious act differ from the 
 late attempt, so far as principle and apparent object are 
 concerned ? The cases are very nearly parallel. Primate 
 Boulter wanted no debate then. All was done without 
 agitation. It is true this late bill Avould not make so 
 extensive a sweep ; and Mr. Anthony Richasd Blake might 
 get into the House of Commons. 
 
 The act of George II disfranchised two-thirds of the 
 Irish electors; so would the bill of Mr. Littleton. I could 
 insure you a pretty ascendency to plague you, did it pass. 
 
 But the analogy will hold still farther. At that time, 
 too, there was a Catholic rent, the payment of which was 
 prevented, and the association broken up. Whilst an act
 
 TILE IRISH FRANCHISE. 525 
 
 was pending to prevent Papists from acting as solicitors, 
 the Catholics of Dublin and Cork entered into a subscrip- 
 tion to defray the expenses of opposing the bill. An 
 interdicted priest, one Hennesy, became, as all such unfor- 
 tunate men will become, the accuser and defamer of his 
 Church ; he informed the government that this subscription 
 was for the purpose of bringing in Popery and the 
 Pretender. I do not find that he added " wooden shoes." 
 The papers of the collectors were seized and laid before 
 the House of Commons, I know not whether in a green 
 bag or in a red bag. After the examination, the committee 
 reported that it appeared to them, " that under color of 
 opposing heads of bills, great sums of money had been 
 collected and raised, and a fund established by the Popish 
 inhabitants of the kingdom, through the influence of their 
 clergy, highly detrimental to the Protestant interest and of 
 imminent danger to the present happy establishment." From 
 the printed report of the committee of the House of Com- 
 mons, it was manifest that this subscription for bringing 
 in. Popery and the Pretender amounted to the enormous 
 sum of five pounds, lawful money of Ireland ! Your late 
 association had a purse also, and was to do great mischief; 
 under color of procuring bills, it was to be highly detri- 
 mental to the Protestant, that is, the Orange, interest, and 
 of imminent danger to the present happy establishment, 
 which makes the most salubrious and fertile island in the 
 world, inhabited by the most patient and laborious and 
 vigorous people on earth, the most wretched spot of human 
 endurance on the surface of the globe. 
 
 The liberal Protestants of Ireland and the Irish Catholics 
 associated for the .benefit of their country. A subscription 
 was made ; it was more than five pounds. The donation 
 of the Duke of Leinster, one of the best of Irishmen, the 
 mite of the laboring 40s. freeholder, the confluence of the 
 intermediate contributions, all formed a grand national 
 reservoir, by means of which a nation thirsting for justice 
 might be refreshed even under the fiery ray of a consuming
 
 526 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 oligarch. This was more than could be endured by the 
 enemies of Ireland. Your association was put down ; the 
 payment of your rent prevented; but as you were not 
 quite as powerless as your predecessors under George II, 
 some cunning should be resorted to before you could lose 
 your franchise. Kind words, soothing promises, valueless 
 professions of patriotism and friendship, won upon you, 
 and you were induced with the best intentions to give the 
 worst advice. To tell the Catholics of Ireland to remain 
 quiet, until after every hope of their children should have 
 been destroyed, by stripping the great body of the people 
 of the last remnant of their rights their franchise Oh ! 
 my friend, how could you have ever, not consented, for 
 you did not, but permitted, whilst you had a tongue to 
 speak, a finger to write, or a hand to raise how could 
 you have permitted the poor Irish peasant whom I know 
 you love, that poor man who has so often borne you in 
 triumph upon his shoulder; whose heart expanded when 
 you appeared; whose first shout was the expression of 
 your name ; whose aifection for you was boundless as his 
 confidence in you; whose triumph was your fame; whose 
 little earning was a treasure open for your application to 
 the public good how could you have permitted that man 
 to be disfranchised? And this, after he placed his money 
 at your disposal and his rights in your keeping? 
 
 If I know anything of the policy of the union of Great 
 Britain and Ireland, it was chiefly devised for the purpose 
 of destroying the influence of the Catholic electors of Ire- 
 land. Their influence was increasing, they would have 
 gradually driven the Irish Commons to do them justice, 
 there would cease to be a Catholic and a Protestant party, 
 but there would be an Irish party, and that party would 
 be the majority of the nation, comprising men of every 
 belief. This was not to the taste of the British Cabinet. 
 The Orangeman was told by the whisperer from the castle : 
 " The Papists have the elective franchise ; their numbers 
 are great ; their voters are multiplying ; your Irish Com-
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 527 
 
 mons must soon emancipate them, unless you join our 
 British Protestant House : in Ireland only the Papists are 
 a majority; in a united empire, they are a minority: 
 consent to the union, or you will be overwhelmed." The 
 castle told the Catholics : " The Irish Orangemen are so 
 corrupt that emancipation never will be granted by the 
 Irish House of Commons in which those Orangemen are 
 and must continue to be a decided majority, but the 
 English Protestants are without prejudice, or if they have 
 fears, in case of emancipation, of seeing Catholics become 
 a majority in the Irish House, they can have no dread 
 from admitting a minority consisting of Catholics into a 
 united parliament; the Irish Commons are corrupt, venal 
 and bigoted; it is only by a union with Britain that the 
 Irish Catholic can expect emancipation." Already pensions 
 were held out to the clergy and the nefarious and almost 
 simoniacal traffic was commenced. Better men could not 
 exist than the bishops whom wily statesmen deluded. The 
 union was effected by duping the Catholic; I once thought 
 the Orangeman too was duped, but it is now clear he 
 was not. It was an actual disfranchisement of the Irish 
 Catholic by leaving him an influence in choosing only 
 about one-tenth of the British House in which his rights 
 were to be now disposed of, instead of leaving him an 
 influence in the election of two-thirds of the Irish House, 
 which before the union was to decide upon his fate. The 
 eifect of this disfranchisement was in truth the same to 
 the Irish Catholic, as if an act had passed disqualifying 
 electors of that communion from voting for twelve-thirteenths 
 of the members of the Common House ; as it must be 
 manifest that whether you increase in certain ratio the 
 number of members who are returned by Protestants only, 
 or diminish the number returned by Catholics and Prot- 
 ests in the ratio, the result will be the some. But by 
 this act both ratios were combined against the Catholic ; 
 and the hopes of Ireland were given to the keeping of 
 eleven British and two Irish members. The Catholics could
 
 528 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 return one of the Irish and had no influence over the 
 return of the British members. 
 
 And now the oligarchy seeks to deprive the Irish Cath- 
 olic of even this moderate influence. Did not the act of 
 union sufficiently neutralize the power restored to the Cath- 
 olic by the act of 1793? 
 
 And what has the result been? You have during a 
 quarter of a century been bowing and dancing attendance upon 
 your masters, and how have their promises been fulfilled? 
 But you have grown strong, and they know it. You have 
 lately united and pressed your claims. The eye of the 
 world is upon you and upon them. They are worried by 
 you, but still they bid defiance to public opinion. Instead 
 of doing you even tardy justice, they cunningly contrive to 
 sow dissension amongst you, and endeavor to rob you of 
 that which constitutes your strength. How often has Bri- 
 tain lulled you into a false security and let in the enemy 
 upon you. But you rose in your might, broke the new 
 cords and the ropes of sinews, and your frown terrified 
 your foe. Your appearance was uncourtly, you were agi- 
 tators, it would become you better to cast away those curl- 
 ing locks which indicate your barbarity and corruption. 
 Do, pray, allow your uncouth 40s. freeholders to be trimmed 
 off. You will then be fit to enter the royal presence of 
 the princes of Philistia. Do you not see, the secret of 
 strength is made manifest? You know the source of your 
 weakness. Why will you dally in danger? Though your 
 hair should grow, your eyes will have been previously 
 destroyed ; in your fury you may grope for vengeance, and 
 perish together with your oppressors. But now be prudent, 
 and you need not dread this deplorable alternative of 
 slavery; you need neither grind in a mill, nor shake the 
 pillars of the State. Cherish the source of your energy; 
 guard it as the apple of your eye; reject the blandishments 
 of your disguised enemies ; this is your maxim of safety. 
 
 But, my friend, a word more with you. The examina- 
 tion of the effects of the union has reminded me of a
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 529 
 
 fact. "When Ireland was threatened with this calamity ; 
 when terror scowled upon the visage at every satellite of 
 the castle ; when desolation swept the fields ; when the 
 streets of her metropolis were almost empty; when the 
 widow durst not mourn ; when the orphan's eye looked in 
 vain for that father whose name his tongue could not utter; 
 when in such days as these traffic and barter were used 
 to despoil the people, and the Catholics were assured by 
 men who never kept faith with Catholics, that a united 
 parliament would grant what that parliament has repeatedly 
 refused, one little patriotic band had the hardihood to 
 walk boldly to the vicinity of the castle of Dublin, that 
 in the very hearing of the agents of their country's ruin, 
 in the face of the country, they might at least make a 
 protest against the destruction of the rights of their country. 
 The formidable guard with the pointed bayonet stood to 
 prevent this band from entering the Royal Exchange ; but 
 they gained admittance. And one young man who never 
 did and never will yield to terror, raised his voice that 
 day and thus addressed his fellow-Catholics : 
 
 He said, that under the circumstances of the present day, 
 and the systematic calumnies flung against the Catholic char- 
 acter, it was more than once determined by the Roman 
 Catholics of Dublin to stand entirely aloof, as a mere sect, 
 from any political discussion, at the same time that they 
 were ready, as forming generally a part of the people of 
 Ireland, to confer with and express their opinions in con- 
 junction with their Protestant fellow-subjects. 
 
 This resolution, which they entered into, gave rise to an 
 extensive and injurious misrepresentation, and it was asserted 
 by the advocates of union, daringly and insolently asserted, 
 that the Roman Catholics of Ireland were friends to the 
 measure of union, and silent allies of that conspiracy formed 
 against the name, the interest, and the liberties of Ireland. 
 
 This libel on the Catholic character was strengthened by 
 the partial declarations of some mean and degenerate mem- 
 
 34
 
 530 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 
 
 bers, wrought upon by corruption or by fear, and unfor- 
 tunately it was received with a too general credulity. 
 Every union pamphlet, every union speech, impudently put 
 forth the Catholic name as sanctioning such a measure, 
 which would annihilate the name of the country, and there 
 was none to refute the calumny. In the speeches and 
 pamphlets of anti-unionists, it was rather admitted than 
 denied, and at length the Catholics themselves were obliged 
 to break through a resolution which they had formed, in 
 order to guard against misrepresentation, for the purpose of 
 repelling this worst of misrepresentations. 
 
 To refute a calumny directed against them as a sect, 
 they were obliged to come forward as a sect, and in the 
 face of their country to disavow the base conduct imputed 
 to them, and to declare that the assertion of their being 
 favorably inclined to the measure of a legislative incorpora- 
 tion with Great Britain, was a slander the most vile, a 
 libel the most false, scandalous, and wicked that ever was 
 directed against the character of an individual or a people. 
 "Sir," said he, "it is my sentiment, and I am satisfied 
 it is the sentiment, not only of every gentleman who now 
 hears me, but of the Catholic people of Ireland, that if 
 our opposition to this injurious, insulting, and hated measure 
 of union were to draw upon us the revival of the penal 
 laws, we would boldly meet proscription and oppression, 
 which would be the testimonies of our virtue, and sooner 
 throw ourselves once more on the mercy of our Protestant 
 brethren, than give our assent to the political murder of 
 our country; yes, I know I do know, that although 
 exclusive advantages may be ambiguously held forth to the 
 Irish Catholic to seduce him from the sacred duty he 
 owes his country; I know that the Catholics of Ireland 
 still remember, that they have a country, and that they 
 will never accept of any advantages as a sect which would 
 debase and destroy them as a people." 
 
 Those Catholics joined with that young patriot in his 
 protest. You are that young man ; fear could not operate
 
 THE IRISH FRANCHISE. 531 
 
 upon you. I have always honestly addressed you : I must 
 have no false delicacy upon a public question, in which 
 the dearest interests of our . common native land and our 
 common religion are deeply involved. I will use the bold- 
 ness of my friendship and love of my native land and 
 my religion, even with the pain which it gives me to say r 
 that I believe you were seduced to hesitate, by men by 
 whom you were surrounded, by men whom I know, by 
 men who would not stand by you at the Royal Exchange 
 on that day; by men who know not the meaning of the 
 word country, but who well know the meaning of the 
 word court. Do, my friend, let Daniel O'Connell, in 1826, 
 upon this question, maintain the principle which he so 
 nobly sustained in 1800; the news will cheer many an 
 Irishman who is numbed near the pole or who glows 
 under the equator; and the name of his friend will stili 
 be surrounded with the affection and the prayers of 
 
 JOHN, Bishop of Charleston*
 
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