sooner was this elder lady provided for, than this incarnate demon,
B. K., commenced the seduction of the younger lady. He succeeded, and
ruined her, too. But there was no difficulty in providing for them; both
became nuns. And here, you people of Massachusetts in particular, be it
known to you, fathers and mothers, who have sent your daughters to be
educated in the Ursuline Convent, Charlestown, Massachusetts--I mean
that which you felt it your duty to pull down, a few years ago, and
which was situated upon Mount Benedict--that both these nuns held high
stations in the convent which you pulled down, and that at the very
period of its destruction. Pools, "dolts, double dolts," as the Jesuit
Rodin calls all who contribute to the support of Popish nunneries, are
you not ashamed of yourselves? Are females who have been the prostitutes
of priests in foreign countries, and who in nine cases out of ten
continue to be so here, the only teachers competent to instruct your
daughters? Are there no American ladies--no Protestant ladies--capable
of teaching your children? Must American parents go to Europe, and
take from the 546 purlieus of Popish convents, instructors for their
children? A poor compliment to American Protestant ladies, and a sad
commentary it is upon the total ignorance of American theologians
respecting Popish morals in Europe.
Here we have a case in point This is not an old lie, as Popish priests
and their supporters call all accusations against them; it is a new one,
if a lie at all; it is one which I know myself, and can prove. I
knew these nuns personally, before they came to this country. I was
acquainted with them before they became nuns. I saw them in the convent
at Mount Benedict. They were great favorites of Bishop Fenwick.
They were spoken of by some of the first families in the city of
Boston, as models of piety; and to my own knowledge, two or three
young ladies--and these the daughters of New England Protestants--were
counselled by their mothers to take particular notice of the manners of
those two nuns in particular, and imitate them, as nearly as possible.
Nor can any one be surprised or scandalized, if I acknowledge my
weakness in stating that I could not resist an involuntary impulse to
laugh at them "in my sleeve." Does Bishop Fenwick desire the names of
these two nuns? It is true, they might be Magdalens, but "_credat Judeas
Apella, sed non ego_."
When these things are permitted in the very centre of New England--when
they are permitted to exist in the enlightened city of Boston--the
capitol of a State whose people, as a body, I may venture to say,
are not equalled in the world, for intelligence and general
information--what can save the people of the United States from
corruption, and from gradually declining into its very depth? When the
impure waters of Popery are permitted to flow into our lakes and fresh
streams, must not all be contaminated, in time? Must not the atmosphere
of our freedom be impregnated with immorality, disease, and final death?
What, under these circumstances, can save us? God alone may do it
He alone can do it, and he will do it; but we must ask him for his
interposition; we must humbly pray that he would save us, for he has
promised us nothing without asking for it And so sure as we ask him in
a proper spirit, we shall receive. He has himself made us this
promise--the word of the Great I AM is pledged--He will redeem it.
It is with great reluctance that I dwell any longer on these impure
subjects, but a sense of duty compels me to do so. It is useless to
do otherwise; "the impurities of Popery must be known;" they have been
comparatively hidden in this country--they have been long buried in the
_cells, pits, and caves_, of the Romish Church--they must be dug up,
even if the whole superstructure of the nation should be undermined
thereby; for what is a nation without morals? Who, if he had a house
partly built, and only then discovered that the foundation was not a
secure one,--who, I say, under these circumstances, would not arrest the
progress of the workmen thereon, and order them to undo what they had
already done? No prudent man would hesitate in such a case, even at the
expense of levelling to the ground what he had already accomplished.
And why should a nation act differently from an individual, in many
circumstances, at least?
An eminent philosopher of olden times exclaimed, and not without much
indignation, "_Quid leges sine moribus?_" and might we not say with
equal propriety, _Quid republica sine moribus?_ If our Republic, or any
part of it, is based upon a hollow or unsafe foundation, or if there
be any part of that foundation defective, or likely to give way, to
the imminent danger of the superstructure, should not that defect be
entirely removed? Undoubtedly; prudence and economy would require it;
and when worldly prudence and all temporal concerns require such a
course, should not the great moral interests of the country require it
at the hands of the people as a duty, to lay their foundation on nothing
but what is sound, and to allow no substance to be introduced into any
portion of the superstructure, which may be in any way defective, or in
any way endanger its permanency?
Popery now seems to form an ingredient, if not a part of our national
structure of morals, and until that rotten and defective part is
removed, the superstructure can never be raised with safety to its
proper and legitimate height. This is the only consideration which
induces me to dwell longer, or even so long as I have done, upon the
obscene subject of auricular confession. All I have said on the subject
might have been comprised within a more narrow space than I have
allotted to it, and thus many disgusting sights might have been hidden
from the eye of the reader. There are some, I am aware, who wish to hear
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; but even among
those, I find many who, though they admit the truth of my statements,
still contend that the cases I have stated are isolated, and endeavor
to show that I draw general conclusions from particular premises. Even
Popish priests admit--because they cannot do otherwise--that many of my
statements cannot be questioned, but contend that though these may be
true, it does not follow that Popish priests or nuns can, as a body, be
accused of immorality. "_A particalari ad generate non valit conclusion_"
say these profound logicians. But suppose I admit that thus far they are
right, and that there are exceptions to the sweeping accusations which I
have made against them as a body; does this prove any thing for them?
Is the general rule or general principle to be denied because there are
exceptions to either? Surely not; were there a thousand exceptions to
a general rule; were there a million of exceptions, to one single and
general principle, it would not falsify the rule itself, or invalidate
the principle. Papists are doing much to justify their doctrines. That
unfortunate Brownson, to whom I have alluded heretofore, is recognized
by them as their apostle and the expounder of their faith in the United
States; but the crowd of words which he uses in his discourses and
lectures, in justification of Popery and on the morality of its priests
and nuns, is too thick and too dense for a single idea, much less a
single fact, to be dragged from it, and it so happens that he does
more harm than good. Nor can it be otherwise; a net woven too thick
is useless to the fishermen; a tree with too many leaves and blossoms
seldom has any fruit, and is unproductive to the husbandman; so it is
with the lectures and teachings of Papists and their apostle. They are
made up of words meaning nothing, proving nothing, and in reality aiming
at nothing but deception, which ultimately must fail, for we are told
upon high authority, and every man's experience adds force to the
saying, "truth must prevail."
It is therefore my duty to state facts generally true, no matter how
numerous the exceptions may be. I therefore hesitate not to reiterate
the general charge, that Popish priests and nuns are corrupt and immoral
almost beyond conception.
I must ask the reader's indulgence once more. He will, I trust, not
feel fatigued or impatient, while I relate to him another instance of
immorality perpetrated by a Popish priest, and sanctioned, at least, by
three of the most respectable Popish bishops in the United States,
and by the whole body of an order of nuns in the United States, called
_sisters of charity_. The case which I am about to relate is one which
I give not upon hearsay, nor even upon the positive testimony of others;
it is one within my own knowledge; I know the parties to this whole
transaction; I have known them for years back; they are now living, and
if Bishop Hughes or Fenwick has the least curiosity upon the subject, I
will furnish him with the names of the principal actors in this tragedy.
Would that I could write so that what I write should become visible to
the eye, and musical to the ear! O! that I could only leave behind me
a correct picture of what I have known of Popery! Could I scatter it
before me, dash it around me, and fling it behind me--would Protestants
aid me, so as to place it where no one could miss seeing it--Americans
would shrink from it as they would from a frozen corpse.
But as I cannot do all that I should wish to do, and as Americans seem
so wrapped up in their present wants as to care but little for their
posterity, I must only do what I can under existing circumstances, and
leave the event in the hands of Providence.
Soon after my arrival in Philadelphia, and just about the time that
Papists disapproved of my endeavors to circulate the Bible among the
poor, a Roman Catholic priest of the name of O. S. called on me,
and showed me letters of recommendation which he had from Bishop T.
of--------, Ireland, and countersigned by the Roman. Catholic Bishop of
New York, to Bishop England, of South Carolina, He stated to me that
he was in want of money and clothing, and asked me to lend him fifty
dollars and pay his passage to Charleston, South Carolina, assuring me
that he would immediately remit me any amount that I might expend on his
account, by the first opportunity. I took him with me to my tailor's and
gave him an order for such clothes as he might want, amounting, cloak
and all, to one hundred and ten dollars. From that I took him down to
one of the packets which then ran betwixt Philadelphia and Charleston,
and commanded, I think, by Captain Crofts; paid fifty dollars for his
passage, and bespoke the kind attentions of the worthy Captain, who,
I understood afterwards, left nothing undone to render the voyage as
comfortable as possible. He arrived in Charleston in due time, and was
well received by Bishop England, who, to do him justice, possessed many
of the kindest feelings of the human heart, and exhibited through life
one of the strangest mixtures of religion and infidelity, of charity and
bigotry, of republicanism and toryism, of Christianity and idolatry,
and of humility and intolerance, that perhaps ever existed in the Popish
Church in this country. But, "_nihil de mortuis nisi bonum_" he and I
have had some severe sparring at each other; we were friends in
private, but enemies in public; he knew I was right, but was afraid to
acknowledge it; he wished me well, but dared not avow it; he loved his
mitre, but I despised it, and though I would cherish the head that wore
it, I would kick in the dust the Popish gewgaw itself. But, "_adrem_"
Bishop England, soon after the arrival of the priest O. S., advised him
to enter on a _retreat_, in order to prepare himself for the mission
on which he was about to send him. He did so; and after a due course
of instruction upon the arduous and delicate duties of a confessor, he
appointed him parish priest of--------, in one of the Stales over which
he, as he modestly termed it, had spiritual jurisdiction.
There lived in the parish to which this now Rev. confessor was
appointed, a gentleman of respectability and wealth. Bishop England
supplied this new missionary with strong letters of introduction to
this gentleman, advising him to place his children under his charge, and
assuring him that they should be brought up in the fear of God and love
of religion. The family was large,--there were several daughters, some
partly grown up, and others quite young. Those alone who know the joyous
and happy life of a planter's family, in good circumstances, can form
any adequate idea of the bliss and happiness that reigned among these
children.
------ MISSING PAGES ---- 553-554 ------
His conscience would not permit him to call upon me. I had just
renounced the Pope of Rome as the beast spoken of in the scriptures. I
was a heretic, and no good Popish Christian was permitted even to pay
me my just debts. He passed on, and what, think you, Americans, were
the fruits of his mission? He prevailed upon the eldest daughter of the
respectable gentleman to whom he was introduced, to go to confession to
him, and the next I heard of him was, that he had been seen passing
at full speed, in a light sulky, through the village where I kept my
office; and what, think you, was the cause of this speed? what drove him
in such haste from his parochial residence? Do you not know reader? can
you not anticipate? Has not the insight which I have given you into
the immorality of Popish priests, already suggested to you that this
individual was a fugitive from some crime, and that its avenger was in
pursuit of him? It was so, reader.
[ILLUSTRATION: The Father in pursuit of the Priest p566]
This Reverend Popish wretch seduced the eldest daughter of his
benefactor, and the father, becoming aware of the fact, armed himself
with a case of pistols and determined to shoot the seducer. But there
was in the house a good Catholic servant, who advised the seducer to
fly. He did so, in the manner I have stated, with the insulted father in
full pursuit of him; but the fugitive was in time to take steam and thus
eluded his pursuer. He soon arrived in Charleston, the Right Reverend
Bishop understood his case, advised him to go to _confession, absolved
him from his sin_, and having washed him white and immaculate as
a snow-drop, sent him on to New York to preach _morality_ to the
Gothamites, who enjoy the superlative beatitude of being under the
_spiritual jurisdiction_ of Bishop Hughes.
But this is only the beginning of the tale, and distasteful as it
must be to you, Right Reverend guardians of the morality of the Popish
Church, you must sit still awhile. I am well aware of your impatience:
you dislike control of any kind; so do all people of rude manners,
narrow intellects, and sour tempers, such as all Popish bishops, with
whom I have been acquainted, possess. One single happy recollection of
the past, a single grateful feeling, has never elevated nor sweetened
the life of a Popish bishop, as far as I have ever known; and it is
perhaps requiring too much of you, my beloved brethren,--brethren you
know we are, in spite of what heretics can do,--to ask you to sit down
patiently and hear me out You will have to do it though, and I trust it
may be for your benefit hereafter.
As soon as your erring brother disgraced and debauched the daughter
of an American citizen, and obtained remission for so doing from his
ghostly father, in the confessional, his victim, after a little time,
having given birth to a fine boy, goes to confession herself and sends
her child of sin to the Sisters of Charity residing in --------, to be
taken care of as '_nullius filius!_.' As soon as this child was able to
walk, a Roman Catholic lady, who knew the whole transaction, adopted
the child as her own; and states now, as she has done all along, to her
acquaintances, that it was a poor unknown orphan whom she found in the
streets, without father or mother to claim it. But the very gist of the
story is to come yet. The real mother of the child soon after removed to
the city of--------, told the whole transaction in _confession_, to the
Roman Catholic Bishop of--------, who, knowing that she had a handsome
property, introduced her to a highly respectable Protestant gentleman,
who soon after married her. Nor is this all the kind Bishop has done.
He soon after introduced to this gentleman the sister of charity who
had provided for the illicit offspring of this priest, concealing its
parentage and representing it as having no father nor mother living.
The gentleman was pleased with the boy,' and the holy Bishop finally
prevailed upon him and his wife to adopt the child as their own. Here
is a pretty specimen of Jesuitism! The boy is the child of a priest,
the wife is the mother of the child, and the husband is the dupe of the
Bishop, adopting as his own child that of a priest by his _own_ wife.
Here is a pretty specimen of a Jesuit web. Would that I had the talent
of a Eugene Sue to unravel it and stretch it from one end of this
country to the other. Look at the affair yourselves, Americans; examine
it in all its atrocious bearings, from beginning to end, and say if
you have ever heard or read of a more brutal outrage upon morality
and domestic happiness. A Popish bishop sends one of his priests on a
mission, with the ostensible view of converting American citizens from
the evil of their ways, and the errors of their Protestant doctrines.
Americans receive him hospitably; he selects from among them one of
their most fascinating daughters; seduces her in the _confessional_,
the _Infallible Church_ makes provision for the illicit offspring of
the seduction; the crime and the consequence are both concealed by
the bishop. He induces a respectable man to marry this prostitute, and
contrives, by the secret machinery of Popery, to dupe him still farther,
by prevailing on him to adopt the offspring of his prostituted wife as
his own son; and the whole of this is effected, at least so far as the
adoption of the child is concerned, through the instrumentality of a
_sister of charity_ now living and residing in the city of--------.
The mother knew at the time, that the child whom her deceived husband
adopted as a destitute orphan was her own. The husband is now living, a
worthy and respectable man, and the scoundrel priest, who brought sorrow
into the house of his father-in-law and sent him prematurely to his
grave, has been frequently a guest at his table.
Do Bishops Hughes and Fenwick desire the names of the parties to this
tragic and villanous outrage upon American credulity? They are known to
me personally. The seduction took place about eighteen years ago, and
the Reverend Popish seducer has been, not long since, and perhaps is
now, located somewhere in the vicinity of Worcester, Mass.
_Dolts, double dolts_, as the Jesuit Rodin, of Eugene Sue notoriety,
observed of all who are the dupes of Papists,--how long will you permit
yourselves to be the dupes of Popish priests and Jesuits? You are now
building a college--aye, a _Jesuit college_--in the very centre of New
England,--Worcester, Mass. You do not wish, I presume, that the race
of Jesuits should be extinct amongst you; and if you cannot obtain them
otherwise than by importation, you are naturally fearful that such may
be the case; hence it is, perhaps, that you are liberally contributing
your money to build colleges for the education of priests, and schools
for _sisters of Charity_. Your great anxiety for encouraging domestic
manufactures might have influenced you in this respect, and you may rest
assured--or even take my word for it--that as long as you have Popish
colleges and Popish nunneries side by side, your semi-annual dividends
of Jesuits and nuns, amongst the States of the Union, will be entirely
satisfactory to you. But, to be serious, if Popery be studied as it
should be by Americans, it will prove a useful lesson to the rising
generation.
For twenty years this country has been more imposed upon than any other,
for the same length of time, by Popish priestcraft; so much so that the
people are now become accustomed to the repetition of their enormous
frauds, and are no longer surprised at them. I confess that it is
the gross impostures which I saw practised upon Americans, that first
prompted me to expose them. I have tried, and am now trying, to give
some rational account of the extraordinary phemomenon that Popery should
predominate among a people almost proverbial for their intelligence and
inquiring disposition. I thought, and do now think, that nothing can
be more acceptable and valuable to Americans, than a well-authenticated
statement of some of the practices adopted by Papists to impose upon the
Protestants of this country; nor did I see any other manner of removing
the almost national insanity of our citizens, in relation to the Romish
Church, than by laying before them facts and acts, to many of which I
have been myself an eye-witness. How American Protestants could continue
for any length of time--even for a month or week--ignorant of the
schemes of the Church of Rome, or her de* signs for the overthrow of
this republic, has often been to me a matter of no little surprise; it
can only be accounted for by a supposition almost as extravagant,
viz., that Popery has never been properly studied by Americans. I have
proposed all along, and I now repeat the proposal to Americans, to
accompany me in the study of Popery. If the Romish Church be studied as
it ought to be, by the young and the old of our citizens, it will prove
a useful lesson to the present and coming generations,--but that lesson
must be studied well. It must not be run over carelessly; its elements
must be examined in order to understand the whole machinery of Popery;
the whole plan of it must be remodelled; and in order to effect this,
it must be taken to pieces, and every piece carefully and separately
examined. It has been long hidden from the public eye; it has been along
time considered a treasure exclusively belonging to the Popish priests.
They have buried it for safe keeping in the dark and dreary vaults of
corrupt Rome. These vaults must be opened, the gilded columns with which
they are surrounded must be torn down, and all must be laid bare to
the naked eye. The divine laws or systems of morality, intended for the
government of man, should be always open to his inspection, and nothing
short of the steady effort of our people can effect this or rescue
ourselves or our country from the evils with which we are now threatened
by the machinations of the Popish Church. The crimes and immoralities of
Romish priests have long been crying to heaven for vengeance; they now
cry for it from every quarter of the globe. I have said that they have
been crying for vengeance, for centuries back. I have proved the fact
to the satisfaction of any man who is not wilfully blind to truth. But
I shall not rest here; I will give you other proofs. Cardinal Campaggio,
who was sent to England to arrange the divorce of Queen Catharine,
informs us--every English historian knows this fact--"that a priest, who
marries, commits a greater sin than if he kept many concubines." Here
is a specimen of pure Popish morality, promulgated by a Cardinal, a man
next in office to the Pope himself with the full sanction of the said
Pope, and the whole conclave of Cardinals of which he was a member;
and yet the religion of this man, and that of Bishop Hughes, and Bishop
Fenwick, is the very religion which Americans are now endeavoring to
introduce into this country, and fasten upon the souls and consciences
of our people.