m you have the impudence to address, are all fools? Do you suppose
they are men of no reading or information? If they know any thing, they
certainly know that the oath of naturalization they, the Catholics,
take, weighs no more with them than a feather. A Catholic can evade the
force of any oath, by a _mental reservation_. Here is what Sanchez says,
the very highest Catholic authority, whose teaching, including this
interpretation of oaths, has been endorsed by the Council of Trent:

"It is lawful to use _ambiguous terms_ to give the impression a
different sense from that which you understand yourself. A
person may take an oath that he has not done such a thing,
though in fact he has, by saying to himself it was not done on
a certain day, or before he was born, or by concealing any
other similar circumstances; which gives another meaning to it.
This is extremely convenient, and always very just, when
necessary to your health, honor, or prosperity."

In addition to this, let me tell you, if you never before knew the fact,
that Judge Gaston, a distinguished Jurist, and a gentleman of excellent
character, though a rigid Roman Catholic, of North Carolina, was
appointed to a seat upon the Supreme Bench of that State. The
Constitution of that State, unlike those of almost all other States,
requires every Judge to take an oath, among other things, that HE
BELIEVES IN THE TRUTH OF THE PROTESTANT RELIGION. Mr. Gaston asked time
to think over the matter--he repaired to the Archbishop at Baltimore,
doubtless obtained a dispensation--wrote back to Raleigh from there,
that he would take the oath--returned, and in due time solemnly swore
that _he believed in the truth of the Protestant Religion_. He died in
Raleigh, one of the Judges of the Supreme Court--but lived and died a
Roman Catholic!

During the past month, in this city, W. G. McAdoo, the Attorney General
for this Judicial Circuit, had some Irish Catholics brought before the
Grand Jury, to testify in cases of unlawful gaming and the retailing of
ardent spirits. The Clerk swore them on a common English Testament, and
they returned to the Jury room, and testified that they knew of no
cases! The Attorney for the Commonwealth then procured the _Catholic
Douay Bible_, with a large _Cross_ upon its outside, swore them upon
this--sent them in, and they _disgorged_, telling of various cases, and
enabling the Jury to find bills against even so