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4 P|M|^ EEV. A, J. RYAN, Editor AUGUSTA, Ga., JANUARY 9, 1869. ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS AND BUSINESS LETTERS FOR TIIE “BAN NER OF ITIE SOUTH” SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO TIIE PUBLISHERS - L. T. BLOME & CO. STILL MORE ABOUT THE COMMON SCHOOLS, The continued discussion of this sub ject will not, wo hope, weary *our read ers; and, may not we trust, be fruitless. It is, certainly, a subject of vast impor tance, in as much as it is connected with the moral and intellectual well-being of the rising geneiation; and we hope that our readers will not grow tired with us if we recur thus frequently to the subject. We quote, again, from the Report of the Hoard of Education of Savannah: “ The Board regrets that an\ r person in ihc community should decline to accept the opportunities of education offered by their Public School system.” We are very much obliged to the Board for their regrets, and we recipio cate—and we regret that the Public School system of the Board is so secta rian and denominational, that very many parents arc conscientiously obliged to keep their children from these “oppor tunities of education” which they offer. Some of which “opportunities” are these : The Hebrew child has the opportunity of learning a prayer his parents reject; the Catholic child has an opportunity of reading, or hearing read, a Protestant Bible, yclept the “pure, unadulterated Word of God;” also, the child of Catholic parentage has the opportunities of study ing histories wherein his Church is base ly misrepresented, wherein he reads in sults flung at the Head of his Church— wherein he reads facts falsely related— wherein he finds every uprising against the Church lauded to the skies—wherein he reads of the glories of the Reforma tion, and the pure and holy Luther, whose utterances against the Church were so foul and filthy, that no Infidel-gentleman of the present day would say the like. These, gentlemen, are some of the “ opportunities of education” which you so kindly offer. With many thanks, we beg to decline such wonderful opportuni ties* Certainly, gentlemen, you are wondrously kind ! Again, we quote: “ They (the Board) do not, however, acknowledge any blame or fault in them selves, or their School system, upon that subject, or on that account.” That smacks a little of a Pharisaical spirit, does it not? You don’t blame yourselves—of course you do not, for you know no better; but, “self praise is no commendation.” With your permis sion, then, we will blame not yourselves, but your system; though we are bound to admire the very high opinion which your Board has the honor to entertain of its own self. Ton are welcome to your admiration —it must be very agreeable, indeed. The Report goes on to state in very dogmatic tone and terms, certain general propositions in regard to the relations be tween tax-payers, and the benefits to be conferred by taxes; to which proposi tions, we demur—because such proposi tions are taken as proved when they are not proved. In other words, they arc mere assertions; and yet, the Report presents them as if they were established and accepted axioms. After quoting two acts of the Legisla ture of Georgia and an ordinance of the City of Savannah, the Report continues : “ 'The Board has no right to make dis criminations or distinctions among pupils, or to classify them according to the reli gious tenets in which their guardians may desire them to be instructed. Any exclusiveness on such subjects must be j chargeable to those who assert and prac ; tice it, and not to any conduct, rule, or principle of the Board of Education,” Ac. Well, your rule in regard to the use of the Protestant Bible and anti-Catholic text-hooks—that, we suppose, is not a “discrimination”—that, in your opinion, is not “exclusiveness.” Would you al low a text-book to be used in your Schools that attacked Protestantism ? You would not. Would.you allow the use of books unjustly attacking the Catholic faith ? You do. And still, you repeat so com placently that there is no discrimination nor exclusiveness. We wonder, gentle men, how you can so frequently assert, and so coolly assume, what is denied by the very rules and books of your false School system. “ There is no complete power without concentration,” you say. If you are Southern men, you deny that principle in politics. It you are Protestants, you deny that principle in religion. How ad mit it in regard to your School system ? Answer that. “ The members of the Board respect piofoundly the feelings and opinions of the constituents of each and every religious sect,” Ac. If you do, act up to your words, and change or revise your School books. They do not respect “ the feelings and opinions of the constituents” of the; Cath olic Church —though they do “ respect the feelings” of each and every sect.” But, we are done with the Report, though not with the subject. The Report quotes in its own favor written law—against it we quote un written equity. The Report tries to bol ster itself on acts of legislation—we urge against it arguments from Reason and Justice. The Report is contradicted by the very rules of the system which it advocates. We arc willing to concede the good intention of the Board of Edu cation which presented the Report, but the Report is a poor reply to the just pe tition of the Right Reverend Bishop, die Reverend Clergy, and the Catholic Laity of Savannah. But, whether we have a share of the School Fund or not, we shall not allow our Catholic children to enter Schools wherein their faith is tampered with, their feelings wounded, and their Church maligned. Here iu Augusta, wc have a large and flourished Catholic School for boys—and our pupils would favorably compare, in the moral and intellectual order, with those of any public School in the City of Savannah; and as for girl ß , Heaven help those whose pure, fresh, guileless hearts arc exposed to the dan gers and temptations of the public Schools, where, all that there is of daily positive religious influence consists in the Bible once read and the Lord’s Prayer twice said. That, certainly, is giving Religion in homeopathic doses. % A PRESBYTERIAN NEWSPAPER ON THE CHURCH -THE OLD, OLD STORY ABUSE AND MISREPRESENTATION, Rev. and Dear Father Ryan: I here enclose a little comment upon an extract from an editorial in the “Pres byterian, of Fayetteville, N. C. The ar ticle is a strange one to be issued in a country whose boast it is to ignore reli gious views in civil matters. But with him, as with others, I suppose, “Bea Turk or a Jew, but not a Roman Catho lic.” Thus runs the extract: “The Romish Church in this Country. That wonderful combination of worldly wisdom and ghostly power, the lvomish Church system, is rapidly assuming a posi tion in this country that demands the ear nest attention of every thinking man. \v e have been wont, in former days, to think and speak of Romanism as something of which history tells us, and as something that still held baneful sway in distant parts of the earth—but as something with which we had really very little to do. Its errors were not those with which wc were called to contend ; its power was not that which we feared in the enemies around us. But these times have passed away. Silently and “whilst men slept J the Ro mish authorities have laid their plans, and worked them to such an extent that a vast deal of power—political, so cial, and religious—is now wielded by this’ Church in every part of our coun- try. Our own State is not to be ex cepted in this assertion. “Heretofore we have, perhaps, felt the influence of Romanism as little as any State in the Union, as we have had but few emigrants' from Papal coun tries settling amongst us, and very few of the native population have been of that faith. And no systematic effort has been made to secure converts. But North Carolina has recently been erect ed into a Diocese; a young, active, zeal ous, intelligent, and prepossessing Bishop has been appointed; an accession, has beef! made to the clergy by importa tion from abroad; and our State is evi dently embraced in the general scheme of Romanizing this country. Henceforth, we are to view these people as amongst us—working earnestly as Roman Catho lics know how to work—to advance the interests of that Church, and to bring souls into subjection to the. Pope of Rome. “Unusual effort seems to be made just now to acquire influence and £>ower in the Southern States. It has recently been stated in the newspapers that the sum of SOOO,OOO has been appropriated for carrying on the work of the Romish Church in the South. What immense results may be accomplished by such an outlay, especially in the present condi tion of the Southern people! We are now peculiarly susceptible to influence from such lavish expenditures. Many of those who, a few years ago. were wealthy,arc now impoverished. They are themselves persons of education and refinement; they estimate highly the ad vantages of a liberal education, and the bitterest drop in their cup of privation is that they are unable to provide such an education for their children. Just then some Roman Catholic school is presented to their notice. It offers every induce ment —thorough training, accomplish ments, etc. —and all gratuitously, or at a mere nominal price. The temptation is too much—the children go into the school, to bo trained into Romanism, and the pa rents are at once half converts to that Faith. The shrewdness with which the Roman Catholic Church became all things to all men, during the late war, is now also an element of influence with many of our people. No more bitter and relentless foe was found anywhere than in Archbishop Hughes, the . highest dignitary in the Roman Catholic Church in this country; a very large proportion of the soldiers of the Union Army, were Roman Catholics; yet some very pleas ant, and even complimentary, letters passed between His Holiness at Rome and the President of the Confederate States. Many Priests, Sisters of Charity, etc.—who never permit their good deeds to be hid under a bushel— were kind to our sick and wounded soldiers; though what was done by Protestants would out weigh ten-fold ail that was done by these. But Roman Catholics know how to make the most of all they do in the way of charity and benevolence And their acts of kindness and self-denial during the war—of which we acknowledge there were many noble examples —are now harped upon to their praise and commen dation, when all that Protestants did seems to have been forgotten. “These things have given a favor to Romanism, in the eyes of many of our people, that it would not otherwise have had. And this favor has evidently been perceived. Hence, the great efforts now making in the South —the multiplication of Schools, of Churches, of Ministers, aud of all the appliances used for the propa gation and establishment of the Faith of Rome among our afflicted and suffering people. VVe are to be subjected to all the agencies that the experience of cen turies can devise and boundless resources in men and money can command, to make our beloved land--fair even in her ruin —a province of the Pope’s Spiritual Em pire. Shall such a result be attained ? Shall the Protestantism planted here by our fathers —many of them fleeing from Roman oppression—yield now to the power that drove them hither 't Shall we take to our embrace a system whose boast it is that it never changes, because it may here present a fair and attractive exterior? The principles of Protestant ism are too dear to be thus given up. A struggle is before us us important in its results as any ever fought by the Church f God for truth and righteousness, for lie honor of Christ, and the weltare ot mmortal souls. We shall resume this subject at an early day. Reverend Sir : 1 have seen the notice in your paper about Romanism. Do not be alarmed. Your fears are exaggerated. In the first place, we are not foreign emissaries—but Americans and Southerners by birth— who, upon close examination, have neither horns nor cloven hoof. More flattering than really true, is your statement about $600,000 —upon which I would like to have some information —and of the whereabouts of that army of Priests that has landed upon our sunny shores to sweep through the South, “ Romanizing everything;” and, also, a little informa tion about those institutions which can board and teach gratuitously—or almost so —numbers. Aud, did you write that article to be accepted by enlightened minds. It is, indeed, an echo of the past —worthy of the days of ’54, when lawless mobs could riot in the name of Truth and Religion in every town, and city, and district from Maine to Louisiana. Let me tell you, sir, Know Nothingism and John Rrownism were the happy fruits of such editorials, and we reap now their bitter effects. Sir, such an article is a libel upon the chivalrous tone of the Southern mind. Are we afraid of the Truth ? Are we a nation of prejudice? Strange, indeed, that Catholic doctrines, when known and rightly explained by authorized teachers, should possess such charms of attraction. Sir, the matter is this : when you and others wonder at and fear Catholic influence, you show that you kflow nothing about its doctrine. Bear in mind, the Catholic Church is not a political body; she has nothing to do with North, or with South, and it any of her children, be they high or low in sta tion, enter upon the worldly stage of politics thereon, they are merely laymen. They have to lay aside their spiritual character. A Bishop or a Priest is a man, and he may be a patriot; may think this is right, that wrong; but our Church is a house of prayer—of peace. Your reflection upon Catholic charity is certainly not generous, nor eveu cor rect. If the acts of “these angels” who can brave the infection ol the pest house, and amid the horrors of the battle-field calm the troubled soul of the dying sol dier, if they are lauded their praise is found ofiener in the mouths of those who have oilier religious views, but whose honest candor cannot but venerate the sacrifice of country, of home, of the world, for the cause of God. We are not afraid of the Truth, but I do despise prejudice. If you wish to com bat Rome, or in other words, the Catholic Church, begin first at home; sustain your own decaying system. We attack no man, but preach the Gospel of Christ; and, would to God that the Pulpits had a few years ago been contented with utter ing the Word of God, and not lashed the whole nation into the storm of war which we have just passed through. Our fair South would not now be a wild waste, nor a widowed mother, ever disconsolate, whose sorrow true Religion may soothe, but whose tears for her martyred dead must ever flow. Mark 6. Gross, Wilmington. Will Father Gross allow us to thank him for thus, and at once, taking a bold stand against calumny, and for the calum niated Church? Whensoever he desires the use of our columns, he is a thousand times welcome. We are glad that the Faith has such fearless defenders in North Carolina as himself and Right Rev. Dr. Gibbons; and wc are sure that if zeal, purity, learning, energy, aud fearlessness iu the cause of Truth deserve success, they shall certainly win it. Father Gross will allow us also to say that we believe he deals somewhat too courteously with the presumption aud ig norance of the writer of the article on which he offers his comments. In that extract there are eighteen mistakes of ignorance, or falsehoods of malice. If the author of the article wishes us to do so, we will poiut them out. It is too late to make religious capital out of the igno rance or prejudice of the people. But the poor Ministers, who still, from pulpit or through paper, regale the minds of their people with false assertions and base calumnies against the Church whose power is increasing, while theirs is fast waning, do so because they need bread and butter for themselves, aud wives, and children \ r et, their very hatred of us helps us; their very fear of us brings us into greater notice ; their very tirades against us set some minds to thinking about our doctrines, and that is exactly what we want. So, go on, Reverend Sirs, and more power to you; rant away as much as you please. \\ e rather like it. It does us good to be hated by men such as you have the honor to be. Your sectarianism is on its last legs—a few more years—a few more antics—a few more absurdities, and the miserable servility of sectarianism will pass away and yield to the “ liberty of the children of God,” which is secured by the one Catholic Church. "THE FLIGHT AND CAPTURE OF JEFFER SON DAVIS/’ Whatever may have been the faults of Mr. Jefferson Davis, it is not the part of a generous nature to expose them now Whatever may havA been his faults, they were, in our judgment, rather errors of the head, and not of the heart, lie de voted his talents, his energies, his <er vices, to the cause of his beloved South, and, in his person, received the punish ment of his people’s so-called “ crime” against the Government of the United States. We can well remember how his burning words of eloquence stirred the flagging zeal of our people, and how his patriotic example nerved them to persistence in defence of their cause, even when hope itself had fled. \V»» mm remember how passionately he ex claimed, in one of the last of his public speeches, that, “with the fall of the Southern Confederacy, Constitutional Liberty would go down forever”—and we know how well the prophecy has been fulfilled. We can remember his patriot ism, his sacrifices, and his virtues—we can remember them, and glory in them as part and parcel of one of the grandest and most sacred struggles the world ever witnessed. And his faults, be they few or many, we of the South, at least, should cover with the glory of his noble deeds, and the mantle of generous chari ty. So believing, it is with pain and mortification that we read in the umns of Packard's Monthly , a Northern publication, an article abusive, and, as we believe, misrepresentative ot the distinguished Confederate, and which article is from the pen of Mr. Edward A. Pollard, a Southern man. This arti cle constitutes the text of this editorial. That we may do no injustice to Mr. Pollard, we give his article entire, and feel sure that our readers will share the mortification and indignation which we have felt in its perusal. Admitting that Mr. Davis had prepared for flight from this country, even before the final catastrophe which saw the sun of the Confederacy go down in darkness and despair, it was his duty to do so. If the Cause which he represented failed, he and the other leaders of that Cause were to receive the punishment of their people’s “ treason” as they would have received the glory of reward and honor had their cause triumphed. When the armies had disbanded, “ the sword of Robert Lee” been surrendered, and the “Conquered Banner” furled hopelessly away, Mr. Davis could do no more for his country, lie had “ fought the good fiidit he had done all that lav in his power to uphold the cause of Southern Independence; and he had failed. In stead of the hero of victory, lie was the criminal of defeat, and his life was for feited by the laws of that Government against whose power he had so vainly struggled. It was now his duty to save that cause from farther degradation by placing it out of the power of its ene mies to degrade him. Nay, more, it was his duty to secure for himself and his fellow leaders an asylum where they might, if practicable, renew the efforts now abandoned, of establishing a South ern Republic. And, more than this, it was his duty to secure the retreat and safety of his family. There were motives which fully justified the flight of the ex- President, even if Mr. Pollard’s account were strictly correct. But, to show that Mr. Davis was not ignomiiiiously flying from the enemy, we quote Mr. Pollard’s own words : “Mr. Davis was accompanied at tlie first stage ot his flight by his family; some of his personal stall', and three members of his Cabinet: Gen. Breckinridge, - retary of War; Mr. Benjamin, Secretary of State, and Mr. Reagan, Postmaster General. * * * Arrived at Dan ville, Mr. Davis issued a proclamation. * * '* In a few days afterward came the news of Lee’s surrender; and the President and his party again saa j turned their faces to the South. Den. Breckinridge being despatched to Den. Johnston’s fines only to bring back to the party on their route the sorrowful new-' of his surrender, and to increase the may of their flight. Pacts teas tnc