The Catholic Writings of Orestes Brownson

Michael P. Federici

Description

This collection of thirteen original essays by Orestes Augustus Brownson (1803–1876), a major political and philosophical figure in the American Catholic intellectual tradition, presents his developed political theory in which he devotes central attention to connecting Catholicism to American politics. These writings, which date from 1856 to 1874, cover not only his conversion to Catholicism after experimenting with a variety of religious and political beliefs but also slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the era of Jacksonian democracy, and a host of social, political, and economic issues. During this time, Brownson became one of the nation’s leading thinkers and critics. Although faced with a dominant Protestant culture, Brownson argued for a political and social culture influenced by his deeply held Catholic faith. He defended Catholicism from the common charge that it was incompatible with American constitutionalism and, in fact, argued that it was the only spiritually viable foundation for American politics. He defended the political theory and institutions of the American framers, applauding their realistic view of human nature and the importance of both virtue in political leaders and checks and restraints in their constitutional structures. He opposed the rising influence of populist democracy by explaining its flawed assumptions about human nature and the possibilities of politics. Michael P. Federici's well-written introduction situates these essays within a coherent theme and explains how these essays are especially relevant to contemporary debates about populism, race, American exceptionalism, and the relationship between religion and politics. The book will interest students and scholars of American political thought, as well as those with an interest in religion and politics.

The objection to the Catholic Church just now most insisted on in our country is, that she is hostile to our form of government. From all quarters, from the press, the rostrum, the legislative hall, and the Protestant pulpit, we hear it proclaimed, in every variety of tone, that the church ought not to be tolerated in these United States, for she is anti-republican in her spirit and influence, and if once permitted to gain a foothold on our soil, she would destroy our free institutions, and deprive us of the inestimable advantages of self-government. This objection I propose to meet and refute, by showing what really is the relation of Catholicity to republicanism.

I must, however, premise that I am always humbled in my own opinion, when I am called upon to reply to an objection of this sort. It is humiliating in the extreme to be forced to defend the spiritual against objections drawn from the temporal, or religion against objections drawn from politics. Religion, if any thing, is for man the supreme law, and must take precedence of every thing else; and the very idea of a church, is that of an institution founded by Almighty God, for the purpose of introducing and sustaining the supremacy of his law in the government of human affairs. If religion and politics are opposed, politics, not religion, must give way. No man, I care not who he is, whether a Catholic or a Protestant, a pagan or a Mahometan, if he has any conception of religion at all, denies, or can deny, that he should place his religion first, and that all else in his life should be subordinated to it. He who denies that his religion should govern his politics, as well as all his actions, virtually denies morality, denies the divine law, and asserts political atheism. To subject religion to politics, or to object to a religion because incompatible with this or that political theory, is, in principle, to deny the sovereignty of God himself, and to fall below the most degrading form of gentilism.

It is also humiliating, in this nineteenth century, in this free and enlightened country, when most of us profess to be Christians, to be obliged to meet the objections urged by the old carnal Jews against our Lord. Is it not mortifying, after Christianity has been preached for eighteen hundred years, to find one’s own countrymen still back in the gross carnal views of those who crucified its Founder between two thieves? The objection strikes at the very foundation of Christianity itself. The objection is not that Catholicity is hurtful to the soul, or insufficient to secure salvation in the world to come. As a religion, looking to the eternal welfare of the soul, there are few to find fault with it, and the majority even of those who urge the objection, would, no doubt, confess, if man’s chief end was to make sure of heaven, that the Catholic religion, as far as there is any difference, is probably the best. The real character of the objection is not, that our religion is not a good religion for heaven, but that it is a bad religion for this world. It is unfavorable to our worldly interests, to our temporal prosperity, and to our political and social well-being. “We do not like the Catholic religion,” say our non-Catholic friends, “because it neglects this world, and we find in Catholic countries a vast amount of poverty, idleness, and dirt, and a lack of that thrift, that activity, that enterprise, and that industry, whose hammer rings from morning till night, till far into the night, so remarkable in Protestant countries. It does not favor the development of the material resources of a nation, does not extend commerce, manufactures, trade, industry, as does Protestantism, that religion so well adapted to our earthly wants.” So, as man’s business is to make sure of this world, and “jump the world to come,” it is concluded that Protestantism is true, and Catholicity is false!

Examine this objection and you will find that it is at bottom the objection of the old carnal Jews to our Lord. They interpreted the prophecies in a carnal sense, and applied them to this world. They expected a Messiah, but they expected him to come as a temporal prince, to establish a temporal kingdom, and to secure his followers all the riches and pleasures of this world, to enable them to overcome all their enemies, and enjoy an earthly paradise. When he came, not in all the pomp of an earth-born grandeur, not with the retinue and majesty of an earthly monarch, but as a spiritual prince, meek and lowly of heart, followed only by poor fisherman, despised publicans, and a few pious women, promising indeed happiness to his followers in another world, yet in this world only self-denial, persecution, and mortification, they could not recognize him as the expected Messiah; they rejected him, and in the bitterness of their rage cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” The objection against the church now urged in our country is precisely the same, and expressed almost in the same words. “If,” said they, “we let this man go on, the Romans will come and take away our name and nation.” “If,” say our Know-Nothing adversaries, “we let this church go on, get a foothold in the country, the Romans (Roman Catholics) will take away our republic, and reduce us to slavery.”

But though I regard it as a reproach to our age and country that such an objection should be brought, I still feel it necessary, as things go, to meet it, and to meet it fairly; and this I hope to be able to do without recognizing its legitimacy, or in the least subordinating religion to politics. I shall not attempt to meet it by showing what some Catholics may have done, that Catholics have at times resisted the ecclesiastical authority, bid defiance to the pope, and sustained their temporal sovereign against him. I do not propose to meet it by citing instances of liberty or of despotism among Catholics, nor the opinions professed by individual Catholics, because I may be answered, and answered truly, that Catholics do not always obey their religion, or act in accordance with its spirit. I propose, therefore, to show, first, what are the constituent elements of a republic, and secondly, that the church, in order to its salutary working, must be one of them.

(excerpted from chapter 2)

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Editor’s Introduction

1. The Day-Star of Freedom (April 1856)

2. The Church and the Republic (July 1856)

3. Mission of America (October 1856)

4. The Convert (September 1857)

5. The Great Rebellion (July 1861)

6. State Rebellion, State Suicide (April 1862)

7. The Federal Constitution (January 1864)

8. The President’s Message and Proclamation (January 1864)

9. Liberalism and Progress (October 1864)

10. Beecherism and its Tendencies (January 1871)

11. The Papacy and the Republic (January 1873)

12. The Democratic Principle (April 1873)

13. Constitutional Guaranties (April 1874)

Index

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Philosophie politique
• Political
• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• PHILOSOPHY
• Philosophie et théologie
• Religión
• American politics
• Politics
• Christianity
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 30 novembre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268104603
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Catholic Writings of Orestes Brownson
THE CATHOLIC WRITINGS OF ORESTES BROWNSON
MICHAEL P. FEDERICI
UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME PRESS
NOTRE DAME, INDIANA
Copyright © 2019 by University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
undpress.nd.edu
All Rights Reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Brownson, Orestes Augustus, 1803–1876, author. | Federici, Michael P., editor.
Title: The Catholic writings of Orestes Brownson / Michael P. Federici.
Description: Notre Dame : University of Notre Dame Press, [2018] | Includes index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2018044502 (print) | LCCN 2018049895 (ebook) | ISBN 9780268104597 (pdf) | ISBN 9780268104603 (epub) | ISBN 9780268104573 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Christianity and politics—Catholic Church.
Classification: LCC BX1793 (ebook) | LCC BX1793.B76 2018 (print) | DDC 282/.73—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018044502
∞ The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources .
This e-Book was converted from the original source file by a third-party vendor. Readers who notice any formatting, textual, or readability issues are encouraged to contact the publisher at [e-mail]
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Editor’s Introduction
1 The Day-Star of Freedom (April 1856)
2 The Church and the Republic; or The Church Necessary to the Republic, and the Republic Compatible with the Church (July 1856)
3 Mission of America (October 1856)
4 The Convert; or, Leaves from My Experience (September 1857)
5 The Great Rebellion (July 1861)
6 State Rebellion, State Suicide (April 1862)
7 The Federal Constitution (January 1864)
8 The President’s Message and Proclamation (January 1864)
9 Liberalism and Progress (October 1864)

10 Beecherism and Its Tendencies (January 1871)
11 The Papacy and the Republic (January 1873)
12 The Democratic Principle (April 1873)
13 Constitutional Guaranties (April 1874)
Index
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
T he publication of any scholarly book depends on the efforts of several people. It is my pleasure to thank those who were instrumental in encouraging me to write and compile this book and those who helped to produce it. First, I would like to thank Greg Butler of New Mexico State University, who encouraged me to take on the project. Greg is a Brownson scholar whose advice and guidance were essential in the selection of the original essays and the focus of the introduction. Three research assistants helped to do the painstaking work of preparing the original essays for print. Kimberly Damcott, Rachel Falkenstein, and J. J. Mikulec spent hours with me combing through the texts to ensure that they were accurate. Steve Wrinn, at Notre Dame University Press, invited me to submit a proposal for the project. His guidance through the production process was done with professional care and unselfish use of his time. The production staff at the press was a pleasure to work with. Ann Donahue’s copyediting skills improved the quality of my writing. She identified errors in the original texts that I missed. Wendy McMillen designed the beautiful cover for the book, and Mathew Dowd did the initial work on the manuscript with professional precision. Three readers made suggestions that helped me see weaknesses in the manuscript that provided the opportunity to revise it in a way that improved its clarity and substance. I am also indebted to the College of Liberal Arts at Middle Tennessee State University, where I chair the Department of Political Science and International Relations. Karen Petersen, the CLA dean, was kind enough to reduce my teaching load for the fall 2017 semester, which made completing the manuscript more manageable. My former dean at Mercyhurst University, Phil Belfiore, also was generous in granting me reduced teaching loads that made this and other research projects possible. As always, my greatest gratitude is to my family—my daughters, Libby and Amy, and my wife of nearly thirty years, Frances. Over the years they have endured the burdens of my work with great patience and grace. For these virtues and more, I am forever grateful.
ABBREVIATIONS B&T “Beecherism and Its Tendencies” C The Convert CG “Constitutional Guaranties” C&R “The Church and the Republic” DP “The Democratic Principle” D-SF “The Day-Star of Freedom” FC “The Federal Constitution” GR “The Great Rebellion” L&P “Liberalism and Progress” MA “Mission of America” PM&P “The President’s Message and Proclamation” P&R “The Papacy and the Republic” SRSS “State Rebellion, State Suicide”
INTRODUCTION
M easured by the appearance of scholarly books published in the last seventy-five years or so, interest in the political theory of Orestes Brownson (1803–76) has risen, and for good reason. 1 He wrote dozens of insightful essays that address fundamental problems of political and social order. His best-known work, The American Republic: Its Constitution, Tendencies and Destiny (1865), is an insightful and original analysis of the American republic and the meaning of American constitutionalism. Brownson was especially interested in the spiritual and religious foundations of political order. In particular, he was one of the few nineteenth-century Americans to examine important problems related to political order and Catholic Christianity. He articulated an American perspective on republican constitutionalism and its dependence on a Catholic political culture during one of the most tumultuous times of American history. His most prolific and mature writing corresponds to the two decades surrounding the Civil War, a conflict that took the lives of two of his sons. He was well placed historically and, although an autodidact, well equipped intellectually to consider essential issues involving American identity and American political order. Few in his day could match his spirited defense of the Constitution, the church to which he converted in midlife, and the Union that he ardently defended during the Civil War.
Brownson’s writings fill twenty volumes, made up primarily of essays that he published over the course of his adult life and that cover a wide range of subjects related to politics, religion, education, economics, and social issues like marriage and family. The first half of his life was a spiritual odyssey, during which he moved from one faith and political ideology to another, including Presbyterianism, Universalism, socialism, scientific progressivism, transcendentalism, and finally Catholicism. Once he converted to Catholicism, at roughly age forty, he became an ardent defender of the faith until his death in 1876. The Catholic Brownson was especially interested in the compatibility of Catholic Christianity and American constitutionalism, something that many Americans questioned if not rejected. He did more than posit their compatibility; he intellectually synthesized them in a way previously unknown to the American public. His synthesis was bold if not audacious given the cultural hegemony of Protestant Christianity in nineteenth-century America.
A common thread runs through most of Brownson’s writings—the search for a viable spiritual foundation for the American political order. That search led him to the conclusion that Protestant Christianity, the dominant religious tradition in America, was destructive to American constitutionalism, and Catholic Christianity was the only intellectually, spiritually, and practically viable foundation for the American republic. Moreover, he believed the realization of an authentically Catholic public philosophy or civil religion in America would ignite the worldwide expansion of “the Christian ideal of society” 2 and be the instrument of Christ’s final triumph over evil. Evaluating such a controversial claim gets to the heart of Brownson’s political theory, and it requires an understanding of particular aspects of his thought, including his views on popular sovereignty, democracy, public opinion, representation, religious liberty, church-state relations, natural aristocracy, and the Civil War.
The essays included in this volume, ranging from 1856 to 1874, are representative of the intellectually mature and Catholic Brownson. They cover the final phase of his political theory in which he devotes central attention to connecting Catholic Christianity to American politics. Brownson’s political theory provides important insights regarding the spiritual foundation of the American constitutional order. His contention that Catholic Christianity is the only viable spiritual authority for the American republic requires readers to consider the philosophical and cultural efficacy of such a claim, as well as its validity in light of the counterclaims of others, who believe that political regimes should rest on secular foundations or religious pluralism.
Brownson based his conclusions about an American public philosophy or civil religion, on a constitutional theory that emphasized the American framers’ distinction between pure democracy and republican constitutionalism. 3 He understood that these forms of government were not only significantly different institutionally but were also fundamentally at odds in their respective assumptions about human nature and the prospects for popular government. The rise of popular government involved a tension between competing types of democracy that both Tocqueville and Brownson identified and the American framers understood. The variety of government connected to a purer and more direct form of democracy was part of a larger effort to emancipate human beings from outer authority of any kind, monarch, church, class, and tradition included. These sources of authority were considered unnecessary because of humans’ natural goodness. Brownson lumped Protestant Christianity into this move