The great American battle; or, The contest between Christianity and political Romanism

Front matter

CORNELL

UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

Preface

" 0, Bay I does the Star -Spangled Banner yot wave, O'or the Land of the Froo and the Home of tho Brave?"

What a burst of life and principle does the very name of America introduce I — bubbling with ever-springing sap, and glorying in the fact that her anatomy is before us.

The land for which generation after generation have spent their substance, their energy, and their virtue — which contains the bones of their dead, who died for it — their savings and their nourishment.

And when influences deep, palpable, and universal, are striving with marked celerity to arrest her chief work, it is not wonderful she should feel it. Glorious movement, what heart shall not respond to it 1 The hand that guides this light is a Divine one — it is none other than the hand of God.

America has done, and is doing, the world's work, in establishing the only true principles of liberty the world has ever known. If she is thus important to universal man, how much more so to America ? Alone with her blood she has watered the tree that she planted ; and it has flourished because of its closeness to the root from which it sprouted.

Our lives, our country, our homes, our hearts — this sympathy and love constitute the genius, the wealth, and the strength of America.

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IV PEEFACE.

She will never be pardoned for the exhibition of this sparkling liberty, which attempts to give the world freedom. She started with blood-stained energy, and incorruptible virtue, and must be solid and constant as the globe. For Americans the first country must be America — the second, America — all, America ! Our first and last motto is, Hope !

The balanced moment has come, and in the language of expiring faith, let us call out for light, more light, Lord. We are sustaining the greatest weight ever laid on human life. And who that has caught but the feeblest ray of this liberty is willing to renounce it ?

The American spirit must imbue the American sentiment, and the goal should be fixed before the starting-point is taken, by all who press American soil. To give life and durability, which shall implant, by education, the country in the heart of the child, is the means at America's command for her salvation. And America, to be saved thus, must be saved in her infancy. Before the child increases and enlarges, it must exist. This is the inspiration of the American mind ; and believing God had raised this independent Nation upon which to foster his own glorious Truth, let man from his birth recognize Him in his own beloved country. Who by origin and adoption is in her — is of her — is enshrined in her, must live and die in her.

America has a mission to teach the world, in her language, her history, and her laws. Her great heart and soul were found in a feeble body, which gave it independence — it was the instinct, the inspiration, the energy, which made the heroes of our liberties.

No mere formulas, religious or political, can bind America — we can, without spade, or mattock, or pick, lay her bare to her foundations — and, alive, or concealed in the coffins or charnel-houses, and in the bones of the dead, faithfulness to the Constitution and laws which seal our liberties, may be found inscribed. The brave deeds of our fathers speak to us — the thought of freedom is in their blood.

PREFACE. V

The power of sacrifice was the spirit which carried them to triumph ; and all that concrete living spirit yet survives. No Gordian knot, consecrated by absurdity did they fearj£_dweuss ; no problems of political sages escaped their logi<v'"lt was the heroism of inspiration which led them to love our' country ; and American patriotism would survive were it engulfed in the bosom of despotism — the soul of America and Americans is an instinct which can never perish.

For the first time I appear before the public. As a woman, I shrink with timidity and distrust. I have no affiliations with any principles which place her in a sphere at variance with that refined delicacy to which she is assigned by Nature. I have no aspirations to extend her influence or position. And from the Press, the accomplished and enlightened Editorial Corps of the country, who are assured I have no political, religious, or personal animosities to resent, I bespeak kindness, generosity, courtesy, and forbearance.

In my friends, who are distinguished by associations with all parties, and sects, and creeds, I have all confidence that, however much they may differ, they will neither resent nor grow cold.

Connected as I am with those holding the Roman Catholic as well as Protestant faith, who came to this land to enjoy fortune and not to seek it ; alike imbued with the spirit and instinct of Liberty, which led them to take refuge under our Institutions, which they assisted to perpetuate — it would not be consonant with reason or taste to arraign them ! — and though myself a Protestant, communing, in the faith of Protestants, with our common Eedeemer, I honor that paternal ancestry, of which I in common descended, with the anriV ble, distinguished, and worthy Archbishop who bore my name, the first in the United States, and one of the heroic signers of our Independence, of which abundant proof is at hand. Yet it is not with my family relations, Protestant or Catholic, with which the public feel interest or concern ; but only in the merits or importance of the subjects discussed. And when I reflect upon America's great end and errand, and see the necessity of passing through the domain

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of equilibration, to avail ourselves of the thought which must penetrate and burn, if we wish to perpetuate our freedom, I feel that the truth and earnestness which have brought out the American party, will make it pardonable in all eyes to plead for the Protestant Institutions, which shall foster, sustain, and cherish the principles of liberty and the free government of the United States of America as an incomparable blessing, to whose allegiance, in spirit and in truth, the American only feels and acknowledges responsibility.

Introduction

TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC :

By a Friend of the Authoress.

Byron, on the eve of the war of Greece, says : "It is time to act ; and what signifies self, if a single spark of that genius which would be worthy of the past can be bequeathed unquenchably to the future ? It is not one man, nor a million, but the spirit of liberty which must be spread."

It is this spirit which breasted the Straits of Thermopylae ; it is this which nerved the arm of Tell, when, with his unerring bow, he shot off the apple, and reserved the remaining arrow for Geisler, the tyrant of his country ; it is this which gathered the little band in the Mayflower, and planted them on the eternal rock of Plymouth ; it is this which moved, like the waves of the sea, the breasts of the colonists, and unsheathed the sword of Washington ; it is this which planted the " Eagle" over the " Cross of St. George," and made the " Lion and the Unicorn" crouch beneath the " Stars and Stripes ;" it is the same spirit that now animates their Protestant descendants, and which says to the encroachments of the Papacy, " Pass not the Rubicon which guards the portals of Freedom from the tread of Despotism. We know you — well painted in the

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Apocalypse— you have the face of a man, but the hoofs and horns of a ' dragon.' " And yet this " dragon" is here ; his presence is felt ; his breath is diffusing its poison ; his touch has wounded, and already partially withered our schools, the ballot-box, and the Bible. "Why is this ? Is Freedom less dear than when it first lifted its banner in 1776? But the spirit of party reigns— the power of the Papal priesthood is invoked, and the votes of the numerous subjects of the Pope are demanded for aspirants for office. Is it not an anomaly — is it not one of the most singular facts in this Protestant free country, that there can be found an individual who professes to be a Protestant, whatever the party bias or education may be, that can barter the true principles of American Liberty for priestly influence or Papal despotism ? To prevent so baneful an evil, we must have an independent and patriotic Press, and books of the right American stamp. And we rejoice to find that the true Protestant spirit is neither apathetic nor dead. To foster and invigorate this spirit, this book has been prepared ; and how ought all who are born in this Protestant land of liberty, and who enjoy, untrammeled by Papal tyranny and priestcraft, the light of science and of Bible truth, to welcome every publication calculated to spread information, dissipate the clouds of mental and moral darkness, and restore the poor, blinded Papists, in bondage to priestcraft, to their native, orignal right of freedom of conscience — freedom of Bible Eepublican independence. Thousands in every section of our vast territory, and many of our statesmen and active politicians, are still in the dark on the subject of Popery. lbant obscuri sub node.

The subject of this book is no fiction. It is no evanescent tribute

INTRODUCTION. IX

to a prurient taste, developing the ingenious plot of a silly love-tale, decorating some imaginary hero in false colors, and by the charm of its drapery, and splendor of its style, throwing a "brilliant halo around fashionable vice, to please and recreate the lounging moments of a Custom-house clerk, or to beguile from more instructive and innocent reading a boarding-school Miss. Many of the authors, especially of the modern school, may say, in the words of a celebrated writer,

" Oar busy pens have lighted fools The way to dusty death."

This just accusation will not apply to this book. This work is founded on fact, real, historical, and of transcendent importance to every citizen of this country. .The Authoress, Miss Anna Ella Carroll, is a Protestant, of the family of the Carrolls of Maryland being the daughter of ex-Governor Carroll, of Maryland, the history of whose immediate ancestors, as well as his own, is conspicuous in the annals of that State.

The Authoress has been induced, by the request of friends, in view of the dangers which, at present and prospectively, surround her beloved country, to write a series of chapters, conveying her thoughts on various momentous subjects, addressed to America and Americans, with the design to revive the memories of their noble Revolutionary sires, to rekindle an emulation, to imitate their virtues, to remind them of their heroic deeds, to cherish and maintain inviolate the charter of their liberties, to beware, in the language of Washington's Farewell Address, of " foreign influence ;" to resist the false pretensions, the artful intrigues, and bold aggressions of the emissaries of Borne, and to transmit the magnificent

X INTRODUCTION.

legacy left them by their fathers, unimpaired, to future generations.

There is nothing in this book to give the slightest offence, for it is free from sectarian motives, from political or party aims, from any acerbity of feeling towards Roman Catholics ; it is the system of Popery against which it warns, not individuals. It is the production of a young lady of refined education, and of a high order of intellect. It conveys the purest lessons of ethics and of wisdom, in "thoughts that breathe, and words that burn;" abounding in sprightly humor, thrilling reminiscences, luminous descriptions of historical incidents and character, and the most vivid and touching appeals to the heart and the understanding. Inheriting the love of country, the social and noble virtues, the heroic chivalry of her ancestry, the authoress illustrates these traits with a pen dipped in " Castalian dews," glowing with the bright colors of the rainbow, and in a style of surpassing beauty and intellectual power, exhibits the principles of a sound and lofty patriotism, and the most sublime expositions of the rights and duties of American citizens. "Would that there were a thousand such talented female pens, glowing with emotions of love and devotion to their country, and throwing their burning eloquence over the hearts of the fathers and mothers, the sons and the daughters, to awaken the slumbering energies, and to revive the exalted emotions of native, primitive patriotism.

The authoress has carefully avoided to touch upon the sectional interests of North, or South, or East, or West. She surveys the mighty Union of the States as being under one government, and subject to the same destiny — beautifully embodied in the motto,

"H PHTBIBTTS ITNITM."

She leaves the diversified interests of the States to the supervision 1*

INTRODUCTION. XI

and wise legislation of disinterested and magnanimous statesmen ; while, with a heart of the gentlest kindness, but earnest and impressive arguments, she advocates the cause of her whole country. In the language of Miss Hannah Moore,

" Our country is a whole, Of which we all are parts ; nor should a citizen Began:! his interests as distinct from hers ; No hopes or fears should touch his patriot soul But what affects her honor or her shame."

This book is well-timed for the important crisis of our country, and it enters on a precious and great mission. It is addressed to all classes of readers, without distinction of name, or creed, or nativity. To all lovers of their country it will be a welcome companion and a timely mentor, and especially will it be appreciated by Americans. little mind3, of unworthy and sinister aims, and a Jusuitical press, may express opposition ; and so the peerless character of "Washington, and the spotless fame of Hancock, were assailed, but which their own shining virtues repelled at an immeasurable distance, and their virtues only appeared more conspicuous by such attempts ; so this book, by its own intrinsic excellence and faultless beauties, will carry the seal of its own worth and sterling and unquestioned patriotism along with it wherever it is read.

We feel a pride that our Authoress has added one more literary gem to works of merit ; that, amid the busy cares, the varied and noisy vicissitudes, and, too often, discordant tumults of public opinion, a star of no ordinary brightness has arisen in our firmament, to shed the rays of genius over our civic landscape ; to disperse the clouds that cast their ominous shadows ; to inspire with new vigor xil INTRODUCTION.

and life our countrymen, and to adorn the literary galaxy of her country. Let the young men who value their privileges, and aspire to an honorable rank among the wise and good, and as patriots in society, read this book, and imbibe its spirit and maxims. Let the women of America, and especially the daughters, who would emulate all that is lovely and matronly in the noble virtues of the Mothers of the Eevolution, occupy their leisure hours, with an earnest interest, over these pages, and drink in their salutary lessons.

" Education," said Burke, " is the cheap defence of nations." So we commend this book, as one of those happy and sterling productions which will illustrate the same aphorism, and throw a safeguard around the edifice of our liberties, more precious and enduring than the materials of stone and brass which constitute its temporary and pregnable fortifications.

HOEACE GALPEN.

New Yoke, 1855.

OF Zf.ARYJtANJ?

CHAPTEE I.

THE WOMEN OF AMERICA.

" American "Women, be faithful and brave, Tour Liberty's perilled, your Bible's to savel Then the Star-spangled Banner will continue to wave, O'er the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave."

"When America was born in the depth of the winter, m the thick of snow-storm and drift, amidst poverty, famine, danger, and oppression, woman hovered over its destinies like a shadow, and gave freely her sacrifice, her sustenance, and her nourishment. And when yet an infant in the world, who more than she should come again to its succor ? when pale and ill, it needs her active sympathy and her encouraging smile. The blood of America was poured out for woman, her home, her altar, and her fireside ; it has given its soul to her, and it cannot die but with her. And as the soul disappears but once from its mortality, so woman but once can save America. America in eternity, is in eternity forever. God has given to woman to enlighten America, and to America to light the world. When night closes on all beside, America sees, and

14 THE GKEAT AMERICAN BATTLE.

while God and -woman are with her, she must be invincible to the world.

Hence, when a fearful eclipse is threatening to hide her from the face of the sky, who, more than woman, should interpose between the shadow and the sun? And it is the high destiny of the Am erican woman now to lay her hands on this young world, and save it from a crisis which portends her glory or her fall. Who can say it is a low lot, to put honor on that country for which our mothers thought it glory to live and suffer, to toil or die ? And now, when America's religion and political regeneration are staked, does woman need a rougher instruction to bind her to the cause which has so pre-eminently blessed her; does she want labor, or toil, or hunger, terror, or doubt, to make the path of duty plain ? " The Fate of the child," said Napoleon, " is the work of his mother." The Fate of America is the work of America's daughters. On their stern virtue, their cultivated intelligence, their faithfulness to duty, to God, and their country, depend America's salvation now.

"Washington did not hesitate to ascribe to these qualities of his mother, all his greatness and his triumphs, just as the Gracchi, Coriolanus, and Napoleon did. It is the spirit of the women of 76 that should now circulate and diffuse like a wave over the nation. Who believes, had women then been beguiled into indifference, slothfulness, misapprehension, or distrust, wavering in faith to her God and duty to her country, the liberties of America would ever have been achieved? "Who doubts the efficacy of that energy and virtue, of those prayers and tears, of that vehemence and pertinacity, which woman pressed into the American cause ? With the blood of the first hero which watered Bunker Hill, sprang the desire for independence in every woman's heart; and loving ardently what she felt so holy, she threw into our revolutionary struggle her feelings, her principles, her imagination, and her substance. She enkindled the name which spread through all the Colonies, and carried its light into the depths of the people ; and when her unselfish love was seen, interposing for freedom, it bound together tightly all former clashing interests — it awoke the nation into life, and men saw and felt liberty carved before their eyes, on the earth and in the sky. Sparta, Greece, and Eome, furnish bright illustrations of woman's heroism and devotion to country, but only in America has woman, enlightened by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, bearing the standard of the Word of God, been dignified with the true mission of freedom, which is to bless the world.

Summon your resolution, said the women of Carolina to their husbands, brothers, and sons ; yield not to the fury of tyrants — hesitate not to prefer* prisons to infamy ; you are martyrs to a cause most grateful to Heaven — most sacred to men. Thus, teaching patriots to be more than patriots, they ground all difficulties to dust, and, in an hour of deep despair, when the obtuse nature of human perception hid our fortunes in a cloud, when men saw only in lumps and masses,

•were blundering and quarrelling with weak vehemence and superlativeness, woman appeared, as the angel of hope, to the American cause, and infused a thrill of joy by her deep sacrifices and her rocky faith in the God of battles. Thus a new impetus was felt in the whole fibre of the Colonies ; their hearts swelled, their veins thickened, as the thought of freedom rushed into their blood. They communed with it in their eyes and in their brain; and ever after, vanquished or victorious, that thought of securing it was uppermost — " We were not born to die !" The same spirit that the women of South Carolina displayed, blazed over the nation. Women felt their mission freighted Avith the weightiest convictions which encompassed two worlds. Heaven and America were of God ! And whilst every selfish thought was surrendered, they neither sighed nor wept without meaning ; but with accuracy, skill, and truth, they measured the progress of the revolution, and gave their energy, their sympathy, and service, when and where it was needed. They followed their husbands, their fathers, and sons, to the ships, the dungeon, or the battle-field; they sought out American prisoners — nourished, supported, and encouraged them ; and when English tyranny was exercised by banishment or confiscation, they surrendered home, and comfort, and luxury, and like true women followed, amidst pestilence, famine, or death the fortunes of those with whom their virtuous affections were enshrined. " Where thou goest, I will go ■ where thou diest, I will die " is an instinct in woman as clear and shining as the stars. "Eebel" was an epithet in which our revolutionary mothers gloried, because it illustrated the birth, growth, and omnipresent nature of that independence which soared to the skies. After the invasion of South Carolina, a visible change was palpable : the patriot women grasped and appropriated those reverses, until the real took the place of the impossible thoughout the Southern Provinces.

When Congress called on all the States to complete their regiments, the patriot women of all the States organized to cany forward the requirement. In a town in Pennsylvania a regiment was furnished, armed, and equipped, exclusively by women; they wrought spirited inscriptions on their banners, and exhorting the regiment never to dishonor their flag, dispatched it for duty to the theatre of danger. There were no pleasure-loving, ease-taking women of the Revolution to affect sympathy in verses, to vapor and play ; but delighting only in what affected the interest of the soldier, or the power and sacredness of the cause, all associations were eschewed, all places of amusement or pastime discarded. The thought of the wounded, the dying, or the dead, engrossed their lives, their souls, their hearts, their activity. They suspended their jewels and their valuables to give bread to. the soldier, who was fighting to shield them — to make pillows or graves for those who kad died for them.

In Philadelphia an organization was formed at this juncture, and placing the wife of Washington at its head, these patriotic women went from house to house to incite liberality to the American cause. And thus, emulated by all the States, in activity and sacrifice, an invaluable strength was added to the pecuniary power, to facilitate and guard the machinery of war. From elegance and opulence women joyously submitted to penury and even beggary ; they wore the same garments summer and winter, often went barefooted, in their self-denying spirit, to give nourishment to the famished or perishing soldier.

After the battle of Cannae, won by Hannibal, the victor was afraid to come down the walls of Eome. The Senate called the people to sacrifice spontaneously their wealth and jewels ; the women came first to do it ! so true it is that patriotism is intuitively developed by woman in all ages. "Woman has a high political mission to fulfil in America, but it is only as a moral agent — her aim is to develop the child for God and his country. She implants these in the soul; and whilst the morals of the country depend upon her, she may be said to guard the integrity of her country. For this reason she is endowed with that divine spirit of love, antagonistical to selfishness. "Who, then, so fitted to teach honor before gain, principle before duty, interest before pleasure, God's work before man's work?

The Peri, excluded from Paradise, made many efforts to regain it ; the sight of a dying patriot would not do ; the kiss of a faithful girl on the lips of her betrothed, covered over with plague, would not dobut when she brought the first prayer of a man converted to charity and brotherly love for his oppressed fellow, the door opened. And only when woman is eminent for the faithful performance of every holy and domestic duty, have her brave deeds and her noble thoughts been properly accepted by the stronger sex ; and hence in Protestant America and with a Protestant Bible in her hand, has woman successfully, because worthily, plead, and prayed, and toiled for freedom.

"We read of the heroine who defended Argos with her valor, when her countrymen were slain ; of the friend of Antigone, who bit off her tongue sooner than betray the fortunes of her country to a political enemy ; of the women of Holland in their struggle for independence ; of the brave maid at the siege of Saragossa ; but with what different emotions comes to us the history of that courageous Christian mother of New Jersey, who, relying on her innocence and the cause which endeared her to her husband, was shot in her window, surrounded by her children, who were sprinkled with her blood I Self-sacrificing, self-postponing, she was solicitous only for her country, when the cruel arm of a fierce Hessian of the British army, aimed his bayonet at her bosom, and summoned her to her God!

It is the moral, Christian, rather than maternal love, to which all great and good men ascribe the influence of woman — and she only evinces her native dignity, and occupies her true position, as woman, when she seeks and propounds man's moral and ultimate good. The intellect of woman must then be cultivated — her first and last refuge is education — it is this which secures respect, confidence, and appreciation, and united with moral power, she becomes an arm of strength to free America. When thus the country is implanted in the heart of the child, the country is secure. From the youth of America, the character of American women may be learned — upon them depend the fortunes of her sons, and upon her sons depends America. During the long, fierce, and sanguinary struggle for our liberties, not an instance is recorded where a mother ever withheld a son from battle — whilst thousands exist, in every section of the country, showing how they were incited when they wavered. And if, as we have seen, women have been once a faithful auxiliary to the will of America, how much greater are the incentives which should bring them forward now !

On America's great baptismal day, the Spirit of God moved like- a wave over the whole nation; it was Protestant America, and the Bible was the cornerstone on which the mighty structure rested ; and when we inquire what it is that is now shaking America, and attempting to unsettle her basis, and toss her like boys toss a ball, from her foundation,— the problem is solved— she bears on her vast bosom the seal of the Book of Life ! It is to take from her this halo of light and of glory, which surrounds her, to mount the sun and to rob him of his rays, to put Bome's Vicegerent in the place of America's God ! Arrogant mortal, thou dust before the moth, let Borne trust in thee, but the people of America must trust in the living God!

Nero wished Eome's population were but a single neck, that he might exterminate it at a blow ; so has this Popish Hierarchy but one single aim, and that is, mankind itself.

It has fomented discord, weakened and oppressed America ; it has poisoned her habits, bit at her freedom, robbed her of her rights, and undermined her national character. What was -the oppression of the "stamp act"? — what all the consumption taxes of England, which aroused America to her indefeasible rights, and made her a blood-stained child, comparable to the wound now made upon her heart in seeking the destruction of her Bible ? And when her conscience, her religion, all that survives death and the grave are perilled, as well as her honor, her freedom, and her nationality, what less can women do than come now to reveal its vitality ?

And if the women of America have soul or eye, now or never they must be the pillar of support in the great moral and political revolution, which designs the overthrow of Popish oppression in Protestant America ! — and with a bosom thrilling with the necessities of the moment, a heart filled with the purity of the feeling — a mind balanced on the convictions of the great principles of the Protestant Bible — in God's name, we say, come ! every nail and every tack has a place in the great structure of human liberty I

Unprepared because unsuspecting, the expulsion of the Bible from our institutions of education has been demanded by intolerant Eome, and yielded by free America. Popish prelates have come with their scissors in their hands and lopped out before our eyes, the thoughts and the arguments of American freedom — every truth precious to liberty, which its founders sought to carve in the mountains and hills, and on the plains of America, have been maimed and murdered before the youth of America ! Let woman reassure America that she shall not be the nursery for Papal Eome — that the will of God, and not priestcraft and jugglery, shall govern the mind of America. That the ground on which we stand is not slippery ground ; that the soil which has drank the spirit, and been enriched by the blood of its heroes and martyrs, that has been fashioned and moulded by iron implements, the plough, the hoe, and the spade, cannot be blotted out by the mere draft of a Papal pencil.