to keep in mind the fact, that St Bernard lived between the sixth and
sixteenth centuries; that very time, at which the Popish Church in the
United States tells us, through its apostle Brownson, that it displayed
a remarkable degree of activity. St Bernard lived in the twelfth
century, and as Bishop Hughes, Bishop Fenwick, and their mouthpiece, the
infidel Brownson, inform us, was one of the greatest and best men of the
age. There was no appeal, in his day, from the opinion of St. Bernard;
he was looked up to by the whole Romish Church, as a model for the
imitation of the Romish clergy, and it is not at all likely that he
would calumniate, traduce, or do any injustice to a body of men of which
he was himself a member. What does St Bernard say of the priests of his
day? Hear it, Americans! hear it, you sympathisers! you who can scarcely
read my accusations against the priests of the United States. Listen!
all you who bow the knee, and kiss the hands, the rings, the robes and
the other gewgaws worn by these angels, Hughes and Fen wick; listen! all
of you, to what St. Bernard says. "Priests commit such acts of turpitude
in secret as it would be scandalous to express." Chamancis, a Romish
priest and an orthodox writer, well known to Bishops Hughes and
Fenwick--if they know any thing besides political intriguing--declares,
and calls the attention of his readers to the fact, that the _adultery,
impiety, and obscenity of priests_ [Romish] is beyond description, "They
crowd," says he, "into houses of ill fame; in gambling and in dancing,
they are seen to pass from the company of infamous women, from the altar
to the mass. To veil a woman in these convents," continues Chamancis,
"is synonymous with prostituting her,_" This distinguished writer, and
virtuous reprover of the Popish priesthood, died about the middle of the
fourteenth century, just at the period when, according to Popish writers
in the United States, Popery flourished in all its glory. Mezerey, a
French historian, and as good authority as Papists can desire, he being
a Papist himself, assures us, that before the English Reformation, the
whole body of the Romish priesthood were fornicators_.
What say the sympathisers of Popery to this? Has Mezerey told an old
lie? Has Chamancis told an old lie in telling us that it was a common
practice in Popish countries, for Catholic bishops and priests to pass
from houses of ill fame, and from the company of infamous women, to the
altar and to the mass.
This will not be believed in the United States. "There is not a word of
truth in it," says the professed infidel. "I will not believe a word of
it," says the busy Puseyite, Prude; "it cannot be that the dear priests
would be guilty of such things." I will frankly confess that it is
difficult to believe statements so entirely abhorrent to human nature as
those given by Popish priests against their own brethren, and I will
not deny, that it took me a long time, before I could yield more than
a reluctant assent to many of them; nor did I ever fully give them
sanction until I had made a personal examination into their truth. But,
now that I have made that examination, I declare most solemnly, upon the
honor of a man, that, as Chamancis expresses it, it is a common practice
for priests, in all the Roman Catholic countries in which I have been,
to go direct from houses of ill fame to the altar and to the mass. This
I have seen and witnessed myself.
But it will be asked, "how do you know? you must have been in those
places yourself." I plead guilty to the charge, if charge the enemy
of morality will make of it. While in the cities of Mexico and Havana,
about two years ago, at considerable personal expense, I visited many
of the dens frequented by Popish priests, especially in, the city of
Mexico. 1 went there for the benefit and better information of my fellow
beings. I did not then, neither do I now, accuse myself of any violation
of the first principles of morality; I believe, on the contrary, that
I am entitled to some degree of commendation from my Protestant fellow
citizens, for the efforts which I have made, in Mexico and Havana, to
ascertain the truth or falsehood of those complaints which we daily hear
against the immoralities of Popish bishops, priests, and nuns. How many
have we seen plunging themselves into the midst of disease, contagion,
and death, for the good of their fellow beings, and for the sole purpose
of advancing the science of medicine! and is nothing to be done, or
shall nothing be done for the science of morals? Must we stand and fold
our arms while the malaria of Popery is stalking all over our land,
carrying death and disease with it wherever it goes? Paralyzed be that
arm which would fold itself in such a case!
I have often seen men who were ornaments to society, who were the pride,
the comfort, and perhaps the sole support of their wives and children,
whom they loved and almost adored, plunging themselves into the midst of
yellow fever, or perhaps Asiatic Cholera, for the benefit of mankind
and almost at the certain peril of their own lives; and shall a man who
loves religion and the cause of morals, do nothing to exalt, to glorify
the great cause of salvation? shall he not risk something, to confirm
the statements which are crowding upon us day after day, in relation to
the immorality of Popish priests?
During my residence in Mexico, the following circumstance occurred, to
my own knowledge: an English gentleman, then, and I believe now residing
in Mexico, met me by appointment, at my hotel, soon after dusk in the
evening. The object of his calling upon me was to comply with a request,
which I had previously made, that he would accompany me to one of the
most fashionable houses of ill fame and gambling, where he knew the
higher orders and dignitaries of the Roman Catholic Church were in the
habit of visiting, and making assignations, with the wives and daughters
of the members of their respective congregations. He stated that an
entrance to the house where he was going to carry me would cost me a
doubloon, and that if I wished to become thoroughly acquainted with the
mysteries of the place and obtain access to it in future, I should spend
two or three more doubloons at the game of Monte, a favorite game of
priests and women of loose habits in Mexico. Chamancis immediately
occurred to me; I recollected the account which he had given of the
priests of the Romish Church. Here was an opportunity of testing the
accuracy of his statements; here was a chance of knowing, from the
testimony of my own senses, whether Popish priests were or were not
the incarnate demons which he and others represented them to be; and
I determined to avail myself of an opportunity which might never again
occur. Accordingly I accompanied my friend, and, by his advice, took
notes of the transactions of that evening of my life. It will not be
expected, I presume, that I should give here, a transcript of those
notes; it would be improper to do so; delicacy forbids it; it probably
might do more harm than good. There is such a thing as driving a screw
too far; it may be forced so as to split the timber it was designed to
secure. I shall avoid this, if possible, but there is a circumstance
which it is my duty to mention, and which shows in a clearer light
than any other I could adduce, the utter degradation, and worse than
idolatry, of those unfortunate beings who are strictly educated in the
practices of Popery, but particularly in Popish confession.
Let the reader fancy to himself one of the most splendid residences in
the city of Mexico; let him further place himself in imagination in a
gorgeously furnished suit of rooms, occupied by a number of the most
lascivious-looking females, most of them wearing veils. Let him further
fancy a Romish priest entering those rooms, and one of those women
advancing to meet him, and then prostrating herself on her knees to ask
his blessing and kiss the hem of his garment Let him further fancy this
debased wretch of a priest imparting his blessing to this daughter
of sin and error, and he will form a better idea of the immorality of
Popish priests, and the incalculable evils which, under the mask of
sanctity, they are capable of doing, than it is in my power to give him.
Let the reader, if he will, fill up the space between the entrance
of this solemn-looking villain into the synagogue of Satan, and his
departure from it, and then say whether Chamancis exaggerated the
enormities of those sins and hidden crimes committed and sanctioned by
Popish priests. I kept my eye upon one of those priests, from the moment
he entered this house of ill fame until twelve o'clock at night. At the
moment the clock struck twelve, he and I were drinking champagne, and
I sat with him from that until four o'clock in the morning, when I
accompanied him to mass. He had no idea of my being a Protestant; and
believing me to be a Roman Catholic, all restraint was laid aside, and
thus I enjoyed the sorrowful pleasure, if I may so say, of witnessing
Popery in "_puris naturalibus_." Revolting and repugnant as the scene
which I witnessed appeared to me, there was still something in it
which struck at my heart a heavier blow than that which met my eye.
Ignorance--Popish ignorance--was at the bottom of all this. What but
ignorance--ignorance of her rights--of nature's rights--ignorance of
all that tends to elevate nature, could induce those women to go and
prostrate themselves before a common partner in their guilt, and ask his
blessing? Oh! the sceptre which Popish ignorance sways over mankind
is an iron sceptre. Popery sways it over some of the finest regions
inhabited by man. Witness-Mexico. Under its icy influence there can
arise no generous, no daring spirit of adventure in the cause of God;
subjection and fear soon become the predominant passions of humanity;
all the noble faculties of man are chilled and frozen. Robe ignorance in
purple, as it is in the Romish Church, and everything must wither before
its march; there can be no contemplative delights or pleasures where
Popery rules. There can be nothing pure, nothing intellectual, to raise
man from the mire of sensuality to any degree of excellence, dignity, or
honor; all must be reduced to that state in which we now find the people
and priests in Mexico. Without knowledge or the means of obtaining
it, the mind of man necessarily falls into a state of weakness and
imbecility. Education, and that the education of the Bible, is to the
mind of man what food is to the body. Have you ever observed, reader,
that a mind destitute of a Bible education invariably acquires a sort of
low cunning? It is intent upon no higher purpose than something mean and
selfish. Is it not so in the whole population of Mexico? and I ask the
candid historian if it is not so in every country where Popery prevails?
A degradation of the understanding, and an ignorance like that which
we now see in Mexico, among the poor Irish, and among the poor of all
Catholic countries, is in all cases accompanied by what is worse than
ignorance, if possible,--great wickedness and depravity of heart. They
are not able in Mexico, or in those other countries under Popish sway,
to occupy themselves in the energies of thought, in honorable action,
in refined manners and conversation, in trade, in learning, in national
improvements, in navigation, manufactures, canals, and railroads.
No; the very reverse is the fact I appeal to history to sustain the
assertion. The dupes of Popery in Mexico, Spain, Ireland, Italy, and
elsewhere, are engaged in mischievous trifles, wanton habits, and
wickedness, which render them the most useless and troublesome citizens
in the whole circle of society.
Fallen indeed they are, from what they ought to be. Who can
recognize--notwithstanding their external configuration--in the Papists
of the present day, their lineal descent from the Egyptians, Grecians,
Romans, and Maletians,--the glory of their times, the instructors of the
world, and the benefactors of humanity. God stamped his image upon these
men. He stamped it upon every created being at the hour of his birth. He
created man in little less than the angels; but the glorious image seems
obliterated; the divine stamp seems to have been broken, and man can
scarcely now be known by his resemblance to his Maker. Popery, that
curse of the earth, that scourge of mankind, that source of moral evil
and fountain of death and sin, has been allowed to flow in upon us, and
thus the great land-marks of humanity have been removed,--the divine
stamp almost ceases to be visible.
Popery has in its spirit something malignant, something hateful and
hostile to all who profess a different creed. All acquainted with the
history of Popery, can bear testimony to the fact that there is an
undying hope and wish in the mind of all Catholics, that the Protestant
religion should be entirely extirpated. There may be, and there
undoubtedly are, exceptions to this rule; so there are to every other
rule; but there is no denying the general truth, that the extirpation of
the Protestant religion, and of the whole Protestant race, together
with the confiscation of Protestant property, and the overthrow of
all Protestant governments, are among the fondest hopes of the Popish
Church. This cannot be disguised, at least from those who have been
educated in the doctrines of the Popish church. Many Catholics there
are, I admit, who would be glad, and who even endeavor to disguise
this from themselves; but they cannot do it; it is a truth as well
established as any other; it is as plain as the sun in the heavens,
however they may try to conceal it This, like other truths, will be
denied in the United States; but it is perfectly useless to conceal
the fact from our people. Watch the progress of Popery in a neighboring
country; see the efforts which O'Connell is making in Ireland, under
the immediate sanction of the Pope of Rome, to overthrow the Protestant
government of England, and to reduce that country to obedience to the
court of Rome; look at the proceedings of the bishops of the Romish
Church in this country, and ask yourselves what they are aiming at.
"Ireland for the Irish," says O'Connell, the Pope's agent at the other
side of the Channel. "Americans shant rule us," say the Pope's agents
in the United States. Can language be plainer than this? Can treason be
expressed in stronger or more emphatic language? O'Connell means Ireland
for the Pope. Bishop Hughes of New York, and the other Popish agents in
this country, clearly mean, and wish to be understood so--the United
States for the Pope. I ask any man whether the language of O'Connell
and the Pope's agents in this country, is even susceptible of any
other interpretation? What meaning can we attach to the words of Bishop
Hughes, who is the Pope's organ in the Empire State of New York, except
that which is plain and obvious--Americans shant rule us. Who, then,
does this Popish agent want to rule them? Obviously the Pope of Rome. I
can scarcely suppose him or his brother bishops subject to such lunacy
as to fancy for a moment that he could bring this great nation into
subjection to the Pope of Rome; but must we not admit, at the same
time, that his language, and the entire political course of his Popish
brethren, during the last year or two, have looked very much like it.
Have not Papists all over the world, during the last few years, assumed
a more daring and menacing attitude? Have not their language
and measures, even in this country, become more turbulent and
insurrectional? Let Americans ponder well upon this. It is not long
since O'Connell, the Pope's mouth-piece for this country, as well as
Ireland, addressed the deluded Irish in the following language; and
remember, Americans, that I tell you Bishop Hughes of New York, and
every other Popish bishop in the United States, will soon make use of
similar words to their respective flocks in this country: "Force and
violence are not to be used. If the time for using them were to come,
there is one here will tell you that the time has come." You will also
recollect, Americans, that I tell you that they will receive for answer
that which the Pope's agent received in Ireland--"we will follow"
Popish bishops and priests will preach peace to their people, but let
not Americans forget that they have confessionals, where they can infuse
into their minds the poison of rebellion and treason. When a Popish
bishop preaches peace, he means it not; he means war to the knife with
heretics and heresy. Robespierre, shortly before the French Revolution,
delivered a series of lectures against capital punishment; and sooner
should I trust him for sincerity, than I would a Popish priest when he
cries peace with heretics. That blood-thirsty and sanguinary villain,
Robespierre, exhorted his followers not to confiscate the property of
those who might be found guilty of opposition to the people; but much
safer should I consider the property or estate of him who incurred the
displeasure of Robespierre, than I should that of an American Protestant
citizen who fell into the hands of the Pope's agent and executioner in
the United States.
Murat, a character well known to the readers of the history of the
French Revolution, lectured loudly against capital punishment; but what
was his conduct? He consigned more to the guillotine than any other man
in France. His hands were stained with blood; but bloody as his hands
were, and thirsty for more blood as his heart was, much sooner would
I have trusted myself to him, and much safer should a Protestant feel
himself in such hands, than in those of a Popish bishop or priest. But
it is not my present purpose to expatiate upon the cruelties of Popery;
I will only state incidentally that the Protestant citizens of this
country have much to fear from the influx of Papists amongst them, not
only in a moral, but a political point of view. Nearly the whole body
of Irish Roman Catholics have resolved to migrate to this country. They
will do so, if that treacherous disturber of their peace and happiness,
Daniel O'Connell, does not succeed in overthrowing the Protestant
government in England. Extensive preparations are already being made in
this country for their reception, together with their leader, if they
can effect his escape from the gallows. The Catholic population of
Ireland is at present 6,620,000. This immense body are united, to a
man, in that abominable belief. _Heretici destraindi sunt_. This is a
fundamental article of Popish faith.
No faith is to be kept with heretics. It is firmly believed by the
six millions and upward of Irish Roman Catholics, that the Pope is the
lawful head of their church. Disguise this as they may, entangle it as
they can, in Popish sophistry, the fact is not the less true. Assuming
it to be so, Americans can easily fancy the inevitable danger of
admitting Catholics among them without strong and safe restrictions.
Many there are, and those, too, men of great moral worth, who do not
deem it necessary or proper to impose any restrictions whatever on the
admission of Papists amongst us; they seem to think, and maintain their
opinion with some show of reason, that Popery may now, as in former
times, prove advantageous to society. These philanthropists evidently
mistake Popery for Christianity. I have had occasionally many
interesting conversations with some of my fellow citizens, on the
subject, and have found that not a few of them have taken up the
strange idea, that because Popery, or rather Christianity, was greatly
instrumental in checking the first inroads of martial power and
barbarity upon civil society and Christian peace, its progress in this
country, comparatively new, must be accompanied by similar blessings.
Papists frequently and tauntingly ask Protestants "Where would be your
Bible, were it not for our Church?" and let it be understood, that they
invariably mean, by our Church, the Church of Christ. Many of the
poor followers of the Pope are sincere in asking this question; and so
totally ignorant are they of the very elements of Christianity, that
they really believe the Bible could not exist, if their church were
overthrown.
It is questioned by statesmen, and by many political philosophers,
whether it is good policy to disturb thia delusion. European statesmen
contend that it is not, and it is much to be regretted that many of
our American statesmen seem to incline to the same opinion. The French
philosophers--at least their political philosophers--seem all of one
mind upon the subject, and contend, with great plausibility, that
opinions which have stood the test of time for a given number of years,
had better be left undisturbed.
Many have gone even so far as to say that "ignorance is bliss;" but this
sentiment, and such philosophy, is too stale for the present generation.
It has had its day; Popery lent to it its powerful aid in the middle
ages, and bitter indeed were its fruits. The Popish church, too, has had
its day; so had the Jewish church, and much is due to both for the good
which they have done. Many in both those churches, and during their
respective influence, could see no farther than that "ignorance was
bliss" to the savage hordes who first formed the nucleus of social and
civil society. Did they know in their savage state the extent of their
animal power, without mind to direct its force and capability of evil,
the consequences would be, not social order or distributive justice,
but universal chaos and general confusion. Ignorance may be said to
have been bliss to these unlettered hordes and savages; science and
literature, had they blazed upon them in their full noon brilliancy,
would not have been appreciated by them, they would only have dazzled and
confounded them still more. It would be dangerous to place within the
reach of a thirsty savage a bowl of Prussic acid; he might drain to the
dregs the fatal poison, and thus that which, in the hands of science,
might have been useful and legitimate, would become the instrument of
death.
It would be unsafe to place a lighted torch in the hand of a sportive
child, and send him to play with it in a powder magazine; the
consequence might be death to him and to all around him. It was probably
so at one time with science and learning. It was perhaps, in a great
measure, bliss to be without them, until the human mind was prepared
to make a proper use of both; it is so even in the animal and vegetable
world, and why should it not be so in the world of mind and thought?
Who, for instance, would place on a horse a harness which youth and want
of exercise did not enable it to carry? Who would sow wheat in a soil
unprepared to receive it? No prudent man would do either; and certainly
much credit is due to those early Christians, and even to Jews and
Papists, for what they have done, and for anything they have effected
in preparing the minds, especially those of northern barbarians, for the
reception of the sciences, but particularly the glorious science of the
Christian religion, with all its saving truths and holy principles.
Infinite indeed are the obligations under which our ancestors have
placed us, in opening our minds and preparing them for the reception
of so many moral and scientific truths; and if the Popish church has
contributed in any measure to this, I am as willing to thank her and
give her full credit for all she has done, as the most hypocritical
Jesuit that ever lived, or the most liberal Christian that practically
denies human 25 depravity. But are there no more truths to be evolved,
ether in moral or civil science, than those which have seen open to our
view in the infancy of the Romish church, and for which I, for one, am
willing to give her credit in all that she has done? Were there not many
sources opened, even in the days of the glories of the Jewish Church,
and Romish Church, too, which lave been closed up, and must remain
closed forever? Was not the Jewish religion, when it first dawned
upon that devoted people, like the early beams of some fresh morning,
fragrant and cheering to the captive in his cell? But that religion has
passed away. It was glorious in its time; but does it follow, did it
follow, or can it follow, that we should now embrace it? Must we hug the
shadow, when the substance ceases to exist?
The outward form of the Romish church was once attractive and beautiful
in the extreme; its gorgeous ceremonies, its high masses, the vestments
of its priests, its music, its processions, its indulgences, its
semi-pagan, or rather worse than pagan, idolatries, had in them much
that was imposing, and well suited to their times; they were calculated
to overawe northern barbarians,--then the enemies of Christianity and of
civil rights. The Church of Rome did much to prevent the few among these
barbarians from trampling to the dust the rights of their serfs, who
constituted a vast majority of the people, and for this I am as willing
as any other to give her credit; but the Church of Rome has done her
work long since; her days of glory are numbered--her sun has long since
set-not in triumph, but in blood--not in victory, but in death.