The Influence of the Priesthood of
America Upon the Morals of This Country.
An institution which is allowed to flourish in this country, should
be an institution whose teachers are in harmony with the fundamental
principles of godliness, morality and liberty, and unless they are,
the teachers at once become traitors.
Now, is not this common sense logic and every-day philosophy?
We want to investigate and see if this logic and philosophy is not
reasonable and founded upon common sense, and if we find that it is,
then any man or woman of intelligence must acknowledge that if the
teachings and the fundamental principles of a free country are
correct, then the doctrines of Catholicism are altogether wrong, and
the sooner the American people can arrive at this conclusion, the
better it will be for us, for if the teachings of our Protestant
forefathers are right, and the teachings of Rome are wrong, the
quicker we can eradicate and stamp out these popish doctrines, the
better it will be for our posterity.
If this country is a home for those who love liberty, then the
influence of the priesthood of America is detrimental to the
fundamental principles of America, as Catholicism does not teach
patriotism and loyalty of country, as the burden of her teachings is,
"Loyalty to the Pope," and the Pope of Rome, who is at the head of
the Catholic Church; is a despot pure and simple--yea, he is worse
than a despot, as he rules his followers by a superstitious belief,
which teaches that not only the body of Rome's followers is subject
to the Pope's every whim, but the soul as well is directly under the
control of this despotic sovereign.
A Roman Catholic form of government is more despotic than a monarchy
which is ruled by an absolute despot, as these monarchs who have
absolute sway in the affairs of the state only are satisfied with
this absolutism, but not so with Catholicism, as she haunts her
followers to the grave and then demands of their surviving relatives
that homage be paid her in order to keep their dead out of the
regions of despair.
It matters not how strong we are in our endeavors to do right, the
commission of wrong under our nose will corrupt to a certain extent
the morals of the young, and I say without fear of contradiction that
the priestcraft of this and every other country are, as a whole, a
set of men whose morality is below par; however, I sincerely believe
that there are some few who are chaste, but I am sorry to say that
this class is greatly in the minority; and why should it be
otherwise, as the priesthood is composed of men who are mortal, and
the vow of celibacy which they must take before they enter the
priesthood is an unnatural and an unreasonable vow, and one which is
not kept sacred by one out of every fifty; thus you will see at once
that the priestcraft is a cancer upon the body of morality, for
whenever the young and rising generation learns that those who are
supposed to teach them in chastity and morality, are men who will
commit the very sins which they have been taught are heinous. Then,
what can you expect of future generations, and what must eventually
be the morals of a country which is controlled by the priestcraft?
We do not have to confine ourselves to the recital of the immorality
of the priestcraft of foreign countries, but we could mention scores
of cases that have happened in this country and which will continue
to happen as long as the Romish Church demands the vows of celibacy
by the priestcraft.
We will give you an instance of the practices of Romanism in this
country which happened no later than November of this year (1903),
and if I had the space, I could fill this volume full of such actions
by the priestcraft.
Priest Geo. D. Sander, of St. Leonard's Catholic Church, Hamburg
avenue and Jefferson street, Brooklyn, New York, was known in that
city as a devout Catholic priest, and he was also known in Far Hills,
New Jersey, as a race horse man, by the name of "Geo. West," who was
interested in a stock farm, on which lived a woman known as "Mrs.
Geo. West," but her right name is Mrs. Mamie Kipp, who formerly
belonged to Priest Sander's church, but disappeared from Brooklyn
very mysteriously, and whose whereabouts had been unknown to her
family and her friends, until it was learned that she was living on
this stock farm at Far Hills, N.J., and bore the fictitious name by
which this priest was known.
The double life of Priest Sander began in 1901. Then Jos. C. Peck,
racer and raiser of trotting horses, met this priest in Albany, who
wore the ordinary garb of a citizen. They met at the race track,
which was not a very good recommendation to say the least of it, for
the Rev. Father Sander. Peck found that this priest was a keen judge
of horses and their love for horses established a bond of friendship
between them.
In Baltimore, a short time afterwards, these two men again met at the
race track. Peck told Priest Sander that he had just sold a stock
farm at Millington, N.J., and contemplated buying another. Sander
told Peck that he was the owner of a fine mare named "Ethel Burns,"
and that he would place her on Peck's farm if he purchased it. He
told Peck that his mare had a track record of 2:20-1/4 and a trial
record of 2:16.
Peck informed this priest that he was a bachelor. Priest Sander
proposed that they should keep house jointly and said that he would
provide a housekeeper and share the expense of the establishment. He
was the guardian, he said, of a Mrs. Mamie Kipp, who had had some
trouble with her husband and who wanted to get away from Brooklyn. He
informed Peck that this lady had a young son, and that he would bring
both the mother and son to the farm at Far Hills, N.J.
It was obvious that the priest could not indulge in his love for fast
horses, and make regular visits to the stock farm in his priestly
robes, as he knew it would cause considerable comment; so this priest
suggested to Peck that Mrs. Kipp be called "Mrs. Geo. West," and that
it be given out to the neighbors that she was the wife of a drummer
for a large mercantile house in New York, and further stated that he
could visit this woman as "George West," and not create any comment.
The trainmen became acquainted with this priest and considered him a
"good fellow," as he was always smoking and played the part of a
"drummer" in an elegant manner, and these trainmen came to know "Geo.
West" as Peck's partner in the race horse business.
The merchants about Far Hills knew this priest as the husband of
"Mrs. West," and when this priest would put in his appearance at Far
Hills, the neighbors, of course, thought it was nothing more than
natural that "Mrs. West's" husband should come to see her whenever he
could get an opportunity to get off of the road.
The accounts for the supplies of the household were billed sometimes
to "Geo. West" and sometimes to Jos. C. Peck, thus you will see that
Priest Sander acknowledged by these bills that he was "Geo. West."
This story got to be noised about, and the Protestant element of
Brooklyn as well as Priest Sander's flock became very much interested
in the tale, and sent a reporter out to interview Jos. C. Peck, and
the first question this reporter asked him was, "Is that the picture
of your sister?" pointing to a portrait of the woman hanging on the
wall. "No," he replied. "That is Mrs. West." The reporter asked if it
was not the picture of Mrs. Mamie Kipp. Peck hesitated, his lips
trembling, and he began to look very nervous, then he gave way
completely and said: "Yes, it is Mrs. Mamie Kipp." "How does she come
here under the name of 'Mrs. West,' and who is 'Mr. West?'" was then
asked, which Peck refused to answer.
With these facts in hand, the reporter returned to Brooklyn and
sought Priest Sander in his parlor, in his parish residence, and the
first question he asked him was this: "You own a trotting horse out
at Far Hills, N.J., don't you?" The answer was, "Yes." "Don't you own
a string of trotting horses?" The answer was, "Certainly not! Who
told you that?" The reporter replied, "Oh, no; you don't own a string
of horses as Priest Sander, but as 'Geo. West,' don't you?" Priest
Sander tried to look surprised, and he folded a slip of paper he
held in his hand and got very nervous and replied, "Now, that is a
pretty story, isn't it; who told you all this?"
The reporter laid before him all the facts he had gathered at Far
Hills, and demanded that he affirm or deny the story. Then this
priest said, "I may as well confess; it will be the ruin of me; it
will take the bread out of my mouth, but you have got it absolutely
straight." The reporter asked Priest Sander if he positively didn't
know that this woman who sailed under the name of "Mrs. Geo. West"
wasn't Mrs. Mamie Kipp.
This priest, not being content with the dastardly part that he had
played in his immoral conduct with Mrs. Kipp, absolutely denied that
it was Mrs. Mamie Kipp, and further declared that he knew nothing
about her, except that she was the "housekeeper" at Peck's farm, and
why she was called "Mrs. West" he did not know; thus you will see
that while he was guilty of immorality with Mrs. Mamie Kipp, he also
was a notorious liar; but bear in mind that this same Priest Sander
was still at this time presiding over a Catholic church in Brooklyn.
The reporter was determined to lead him out as far as possible so he
repeated again, "Are you absolutely positive that 'Mrs. West' at
Peck's farm is not Mrs. Mamie Kipp?"
This priest replied that he was "positive," and stated that this
woman at Peck's farm was Peck's housekeeper, and further stated that
he did not know anything about her at all, when he knew as well as he
knew that he was living that he had been the cause of her forsaking
her husband in Brooklyn, and also had been instrumental in her going
to Far Hills, N.J., where he could live his life of shame without
molestation.
After this vagabond had made this denial, Mr. Peck was again seen at
Far Hills, N.J., and emphatically stated that Priest Sander had told
him that this woman was Mrs. Mamie Kipp, and that he knew that this
priest was living in adultery with her.
What is the consequence? Did the Roman Catholic Church excommunicate
this bundle of perfidy for immorality? Ah, no! As the "moguls" and
"high up" officials of Catholicism are cognizant of the fact that the
priestcraft are, as a whole, the most immoral set of men that ever
infested the face of the earth. Now, what can we expect of the morals
of a country which has for its leaders and teachers men of this
caliber? We might as well expect our daughters to become women of
virtue and godliness, who were raised in houses of ill fame, as to
expect young men and women to become men and women of morality and
chastity, who have for their teachers such men as Priest Sander of
Brooklyn, New York.
There is no denying the fact that Catholicism has already a strong
hold upon the affairs of this country, as we find the hydra-headed
demon in every branch of our government, and since such is the case,
it is folly to deny the fact that if Catholicism is what we have
shown it to be, that her influence is demoralizing, and the influence
of the priesthood of America upon the morals of this country is bound
to be detrimental, and who will deny the truthfulness of my
assertions, as I have not misstated a single paragraph in this book;
and if this is true, what shall we expect of the present generation
and the generations that are yet unborn, if we permit Catholicism to
make as great headway in the future as she has in the past?
We call to mind another case which belongs to the history of to-day,
and in this chapter we desire to refer to the present sins of the
priestcraft, as history teems with the abominations of the
priestcraft immorality, but in this chapter we want to thoroughly
convince the reader that the same immorality that has existed in the
ranks of Catholicism in bygone centuries, is to-day as degrading and
as rampant as it ever was, and if we can do this, we feel satisfied
that we will impress the Protestant world with the importance of
overthrowing the power of the Pope, and erecting in its stead the
true spirit of Protestantism, whose influence will not blight the
characters of our boys and girls, but which will make of them an army
of giants, ever ready to battle for the chastity of our American
homes.
One of the most fashionable Roman Catholic churches in New York City
is "St. Cecilia's," situated on North Henry and Herbert streets.
Only a few years ago the organist of this church went to the room of
the priest in charge, in company with a little boy. The priest
informed this boy to stay down stairs, and invited the organist to
his parlor, near which were his living rooms. This priest locked the
door behind him, and without a moment's warning, leaped upon her like
a beast and attempted to bear her down upon the sofa and commit an
assault, but her cries frightened him away.
With flushed face she rushed from this priest's room and passed the
servant, out into the street, with the priest begging her to say
nothing about what had happened. We want to know if this attempted
crime injured the priest in the estimation of Catholicism? Not by any
means, as he continued to serve the church in the capacity of priest,
after both this girl's father and mother had publicly denounced him
as a seducer of virtue.
The entire congregation learned of this priest's attempted assault
upon virtue, but this degrading notoriety did not injure him in the
least, as his services are just as crowded as they were before. This
outrage was carried before the bishop of the diocese in which this
church was situated, but nothing was done.
The priest which we refer to was a drunkard, and he drank as deeply
after this attempted assault as before, and in a short time he
assaulted a 12-year-old girl, and not long after that he assaulted
his servant, who was a girl 18 years of age, and continued his raid
upon her virtue until one day, while in a drunken spree, he struck
her and injured her, and she made public the actions of this human
viper, who had been parading in the robes of a priest.
Did this exposure disgrace him in the eyes of the Catholic officials
who were above him? Not at all, as he continued to serve this New
York church without molestation, and it was a notorious fact, and
known by the members of his church what he was accused of, but still
hundreds of boys and girls, young men and young women, and old men
and old women, bowed at the feet of this depraved devil and
confessed their sins.
If we cared, we could write from now until our old arm would become
palsied with age, and each chapter would be a new story of the
perfidy and hellishness of the priestcraft, as every age reeks with
the stench of their immorality, and the countries which are
completely under the power of the Pope of Rome are only the shadows
of what this country will become if this demon of darkness is not
halted, for the influence of the priesthood in America upon the
morals of this country will spread its blight over the face of our
fair land until our nation's morals will be a nauseating sight to
behold.
Reader, remember what I tell you to-day: that unless the spirit of
Protestantism takes a firm stand in this land against Catholicism, we
will find our Protestant hopes and ambitions within the near future
paralyzed by the infusion of Rome's immorality.
[Illustration: "A CATHOLIC TOOL."
"Begging in the name of the Lord, but in reality to support the
Priestcraft in their idleness."]