which unfounded imputations are attributed by political or sectarian rancour, as among the worst vices of the age. If any public motive should require that the miserable calumny to which I have referred should be contradicted or repelled, you have here my authority for so doing. But [I trust] that a life of nearly threescore years has established for me a character, such as it is, that does not require to be defended or propped. I could wish, therefore, that I might be permitted to pass the remainder of my days in the quiet discharge of my duties, and that no further notice should be taken of this contemptible falsehood. You will, however, act in relation to it as your judgment shall direct.

With very respectful sentiments,

I am, sir,

Your obliged and humble servant,

WILL. GASTON.

We have this week received a little pamphlet of ten or eleven pages, purporting to be an extract from the Baltimore Literary and Religious Magazine, for this month. It is entitled, An Address to the American People, and comes from the senior editor of the Magazine itself, Reverend Robert J. Breckenridge.

The nature of this address may be known from its introduction, which we give in words and figures and mode of print, exactly as we find it:

HONORABLE MR. GASTON, OF NORTH CAROLINA.-CATHOLIC PERFIDITY.—PROSTITUTION OF

THE PUBLIC PRESS.

"Being on the eve of departing from the United States, in discharge of a public duty committed to my hands, by that branch of the church of Jesus Christ, of which I am a member, I feel myself imperiously bound by a sense of what is due to myself, as well as to the cause of truth and public morality, to lay before my countrymen the following correspondence; for I am well aware, that the same religious principles which teach men to swear falsely, and keep no faith with those who, as they say, have no faith will prompt those who are so tardy and reluctant to speak even in necessary explanation, when I am present and ready to reply, to be bold and prompt even in attack, when I am far away; nor can I doubt, that the prostitution of the public press to the Catholic superstition, which has wrought me so much injury, though so great injustice in despite of all my personal efforts to the contrary, will lend itself to the same designs in circumstances more favourable to success.

"I have then solemnly to call the attention of the American people to the facts established by the following papers, which will go far to show: 1. That the Roman Catholic religion not only admits, but approves of false swearing, when Papists can gain advantage thereby. 2. That the political newspapers of the day, to some ex

tent, applaud this tremendous principle; and, to a still greater extent, are grossly subservient to the religious sect which teaches and practises it!''

The attention of the reader is directed first to the letter of Judge Gaston, of North Carolina, and the introductory remarks which precede it, both of which are taken from the Lexington (Va.) Gazette, of February 5th, 1836.

The letter of Judge Gaston, which we some time since copied, is then set forth, and it is followed by a very extraordinary production of Mr. Breckenridge, in the shape of a letter to the editor of the Lexington Gazette, in which he complains that the Hon. Judge treated him with "contemptuous silence," when in his Magazine he charged the Judge with perjury, because he took the oath of office when he was elected to that station which he decorates by his talent and his virtue. He requests the editor will insert his "article of four or five pages" of attack, printed last July in his Magazine, entitled Judge Gaston, of North Carolina, Religious Liberty, Mental Reservation. He then proceeds to say, that Judge Gaston "continuing to be a Roman Catholic, swore that be believed the Protestant religion to be true;" to prove this, he quotes the thirty-second article of the old Constitution of the State of North Carolina:

"This, sir, is the plain matter-of-fact of the case. By the thirty-second article of the late Constitution of North Carolina, it was provided, 'that no person who shall deny the being of God, or the truth of the Protestant religion, or the divine authority either of the Old or New Testaments, or who shall hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the state, shall be capable of holding any office or place of trust or profit, in the civil government within this state.' Yet Judge Gaston, being and continuing a Papist, was appointed a judge under this constitution, and actually took the usual oaths to support that which he trampled under foot, even while he called God to witness, that he believed that to be true, which in his secret soul he was satisfied was false!!

"You will allow me, sir, to say, in my own defence, that I have been kicked into this Popish controversy, by the priests and others around me: that the case of Judge Gaston was no private matter, but a public and official act; that as such, it has been used as a strong and frightful illustration of the natural and necessary fruits of a false and bloody superstition, which is spreading in all directions in this country, and which foreign states and princes are conspiring to establish as the public religion of America; and that, in the whole case, the talents, public services, and private virtues of Judge Gaston have been fully admitted, indeed stated; but this act of his is undeniable and indefensible, and which, while it persecutes on principle all who reject it, at the same time corrupts all who receive it.

"If you will look at the article to which I have already alluded, you will discover that four grounds of defence set up by the friends of this gentlemen, are slightly examined: 1. That the provision in the Constitution of North Carolina was a mere dead letter. 2. That he was not bound to know what was meant by the terms 'Protestant religion,' as they were not defined either in the laws or constitu

tion of his state. 3. That the oath he took was actually true; and that, though a Catholic, he might believe the Protestant religion to be true. 4. That he got a dispensation to take this oath. These were actual defences which I had heard suggested in his own state, by his own friends, over and over, during two journeys entirely across the state, in two different directions, which I had then recently taken. For the notice taken of them, I refer you to the printed article."

He then appears to think that it would have been a better excuse for the Judge to have admitted that he got the dispensation, and acted under it, than to deny that he got it, and say that he took the oath without; and avows that he only repeats what he has learned, "admitting as relatively probable, what hundreds disposed to excuse the Judge repeated as true."

The Lexington editor declined the insertion, as it was inconvenient to him for many reasons, which he specifies, to admit religious controversy into his columns, and amongst them the following:

"But, sir, I would not entertain this controversy, if the Pope were to release me from my pledges, because it would exclude more useful and interesting matter from my paper, (a small weekly sheet,) and is entirely uncalled for, there being scarcely an individual in the county who does not consider the Church of Rome as a sink of iniquity, and the enemy of God and man. Why, sir, a good many of my subscribers stopped their papers, because I dared to defend the Catholics, and all of them censured me for saying a word in their favour.

"A Catholic controversy is as much out of place in my paper, as a political controversy would be in your magazine. Your main reason, then, for asking the insertion of your communication in the Gazette is overruled.

"Judge Gaston's letter was in reply to the charge of 'Senex,' that he had obtained a dispensation from the Bishop of Baltimore to commit perjury, and not in answer to the article in your periodical. He merely mentions that your magazine had made a similar charge against him; but this surely does not make you a party to the controversy, or give you any 'right' to reply through my paper. If Judge Gaston has done you any specific injury, through my paper, most certainly you shall be permitted to redress it; but you must confine yourself to that point."'

Yet even this compliment, of "the sink of iniquity," and "the enemy of God and man," is not enough to satisfy Mr. Robert J. Breckenridge, and he asserts that the editor's refusal was founded on pretexts. By the by, we would remark, that in this same part of Virginia, where this complimentary notion of the Church of Rome is entertained, ten years have elapsed since we have been assured by a respectable priest, that only a few months previously he had been obliged to submit to the examination of his head, to satisfy the well-informed and enlightened brethren in the faith of Mr. Robert J. Breckenridge, that he had no horns, after which they took his word for his having no tail.

Mr. Breckenridge next states that he applied to the editor of the Baltimore Gazette, requesting that, as he published Judge Gaston's

letter, copying it from the Lexington Gazette, he would publish his reply, and the refusal of the Lexington editor. The editor wrote a respectful reply, which is also given, declining the publication, as, convinced by experience, that it could not be usefully or safely admitted into the columns of a newspaper.

Thus disappointed, he wrote to the editor of the Baltimore Chronicle the following note:

"BALTIMORE, March 9, 1836.

"Robert J. Breckenridge presents his respects to Mr. Barnes, and begs leave to trouble him, so far as to ask his attention to the subject contained in the packet of letters sent him herewith.

"The entire object of this application is to obtain the publication in the Chronicle, of the letter addressed by R. J. B. to the Lexington (Va.) Gazette; and which was refused first by that paper, and then by the Gazette of this city, for reasons and under circumstances which the letters of Messrs. Baldwin and Gwynn will explain.

"He is the more urgent for the publication of the letter which he asks Mr. B. to admit into his journal; because, as he is on the eve of leaving the United States, he wishes Mr. Gaston to see, as early as possible, the position which he is resolved to occupy, as regards a subject with relation to which all the whole Catholics and half Catholics in the country, seem already so perfectly organized for Mr. Gaston, and against the very clearest principles of morality and public virtue.

"Alas! sir, if public men are allowed in the most formal, official acts, to take false oaths, and those who love truth well enough to remark on it, are to be held up to public scorn, and then denied the only effectual means of defence, because there is a certain superstition in the country which tolerates false swearing, then, indeed, the public press and the public morals too are sadly out of joint.''

And in his publication, he appends to his letter to the editor of the Baltimore Gazette, the following kind and charitable note to the following portion of his text: "It is now above a year since the paper you now edit, (which was then controlled by another person, 21) published repeated attacks on me, and refused to allow me to defend myself."

After this set of documents, the address is wound up to its conclusion, in the following words::

"And is it so great a crime to love truth? Has it ceased to be a sin against God, and a crime under our laws, and an offence against good morals, for fraud and falsehood to be formally and even officially committed? No, this is not so, by any means. If I had acted as Judge Gaston has, my sect would have deposed me from

21This individual, who, though nominally a Protestant, was, as an editor, the mere creature of the Papist party, and especially or the priests, is now in the Maryland penitentiary, for robbing the Baltimore post-office. I deplore his unhappy fate; but, at the same time, I cannot too gratefully recall the goodness of God, that has so soon brought to light and to just punishment a man whose position gave him great power, a power which he used in the most cruel manner to undermine my character, at the same moment that other minions of the priests were threatening my life. God has thus far signally preserved me from both conspiracies."

my ministry-my congregation would have shut my church doors against me-my friends would have wept over me, as one undone and the whole world would have had but one opinion about it-and that opinion would have been that I was a degraded man. Then, why not mete the same measure to Judge Gaston? I will tell you why. It is because Judge Gaston is a Papist; and his creed admits and approves his conduct. And therefore, let every man that loves God, pity and forgive Judge Gaston; and frown down his pestiferous superstition, as the parent of all vice, and the enemy of every virtue!

"But is the public press already Catholic or Infidel? Is the whole editorial corps converted, subsidized, afraid, or totally indifferent? No, this is by no means 80. If a Methodist judge was to take a false oath, or a Presbyterian judge commit a flagrant violation of morality, or an Episcopal judge outrage public decency, or a Deistical judge be guilty of deliberate perfidy in official affairs, in all these cases, the public press would fully respond to the public feeling-and the judge would be disgraced, if not degraded! Why deal out a different measure to a Catholic judge? I .will tell you why. It is because every Catholic in the world makes common cause with every other Catholic in the world, and with the Pope of Rome, as the head of all the world, and with the Catholic church, as the mother and mistress of all the churches in the world! Virtue is nothing, truth is nothing, religion is nothing, country is nothing: the church is all: and the Pope its head, and all its true members form one universal conspiracy against every good of man, and the honour of God himself. Printers feel the force, though they may deny the reality of this conspiracy. If Mr. Gwynn abuses me, or any other Protestant, in his paper, no one interferes; it is a personal affair, to be decided on its merits. If he writes ten lines against Archbishop Eccleston, in eight days, his paper would probably be ruined. And this, although every word he has said of him were pregnant with truth, and vital to the public welfare! Oh! then let every man that loves his race, his children, his inestimable rights, his glorious country, rouse himself up to the contemplation of the principles and designs of this atrocious society, which aims at no less than the universal monarchy of the world; and which, though it pursues this object under the guise of religion, is bound by no principle, human or divine. Oh! how willingly would I become their victim, if that might be the means of making my country feel that every sentiment of patriotism, every emotion of philanthropy, and every principle of true religion equally impel us to suppress, by all lawful means, this unparalleled superstition, as the enemy alike of God and man.

"BALTIMORE, March 12, 1836.''

"Ro. J. BRECKENRIDGE.

We have the honour of knowing Judge Gaston, and we feel pained that so pure and gifted a son of America should be thus assailed, even were it by a maniac. We know something of Mr. Ro. J. Breckenridge, and of the fantastic tricks which he played in Baltimore; and we do know the whole history of what he is pleased to call perjury and dispensation. We have heretofore, through respect for Judge Gaston, abstained from interfering in this matter, and probably we shall act against his wishes and feelings, and judgment, in noticing it even now.

The value of oaths in the estimation of Catholics is evident, from