r thinks he will have done something
towards the salvation of that parent and his house, by showing him how
he may educate his children, and save them from those subtle snares laid
to rob them and him of happiness here and hereafter; for, without true
religion and virtue, there is neither enjoyment nor happiness even in
this world.

But are the principles sound, and the estimate he has formed of American
character and the conduct and motives of the sectarian parsons correct?
There may be, and undoubtedly there is, great variety in American
character; and, so far, what may be true of the people of one state or
county, may not at all be applicable to those of the rest; but as far as
regards sectarianism and its slanders of the church, and the low
character, intellectually and morally, of the parsons, ministers,
dominies, and preachers, with few honorable exceptions, it may be said,
in the words of the poet,--

"Ex uno disce omnes."

"They are all chips of the same block;" and the description in the
following pages of their attempts to proselytize, seduce, and corrupt,
is not at all exaggerated, as thousands of candid American Protestants
can testify. Perhaps the sectarian dominies do not see the sad
consequences that are infallibly produced on the minds of their hearers,
after they come to detect the frauds and falsehoods which the parsons
inculcate on them when children; but they are in _the cause_, and
morally responsible for that doubt, irreligion, and downright infidelity
which are the well-known characteristics of the male and female youth
of our great country, and which threaten such disastrous consequences to
society.

Yes, dominies, you are responsible for all the extravagances of modern
times, for the irreparable loss to virtue and society of the noble youth
of your country. You hate the church of God because she is a witness
against you. The priest, the nun, and the recluse are objects of your
malice; for they are living examples of what you call impossible morals,
and refuters of the code of low virtue you practise and preach. The
faith of the Catholic laity, too, you endeavor to destroy, in order more
securely to deceive your hearers, and to secure your children, your
wives, and yourselves, that bread which you eat by the dissemination of
error, contradiction, and contention, and which you are too lazy to
"earn by the sweat of your brow."

_Finally._ This work is submitted to the reader by one who will b