commencement of this book. As usual, I have paid no attention to order,
literary style, or argumentative consecutiveness. Let this, however,
not be attributed to any want, on my part, of due respect for the good
opinion of my readers. My sole object in writing this book was to state
facts, a knowledge of which I deemed necessary and useful to my fellow
citizens; and as I knew full well that it was perfectly immaterial to
the majority of them, how or in what manner these facts were stated,
provided they were true, I have given them at random, just as they
occurred to me--_currente calamo_. Besides this, I am pretty much of the
opinion of Swift, and value not the rules of art as high as others do:
"Nature, I thought, performed too mean a part, Forming her movements to
the rules of art."
I will now return to the subject of auricular confession, and the gross
immorality practised by priests in the Popish confessionals. But I must
say, as I have often done before, that it is impossible to prove to the
Protestant inhabitants of the United States all, or even many of the
particulars of those various accusations which I have advanced against
Popish bishops and priests. The system of confession itself, and the
manner in which it is made, render the thing impossible. No one can
understand the doctrine of Popish confession, except those who have been
Popish priests, and have acted themselves in the capacity of confessors.
The man who has not been a Free Mason, for instance, may accuse that
ancient society of Free and Accepted Masons of sanctioning, or even
perpetrating crimes, but all his accusations will go for nothing, if he
has not been a Mason himself, for the very obvious reason that he knows
nothing, and could know nothing of Masonry, from his own knowledge; and
hence it is that we find Jesuit priests and Popish presses turning
into ridicule, and not without some cause, many Protestant writers and
Protestant newspapers for accusing them of things they know nothing at
all about. Here I have had the advantage of Popish priests and Popish
presses, and hence it probably is that my books against Popery have
had such extensive circulation, and have silenced, as it were by magic,
almost every Roman Catholic Press in the United States. And let it not
be deemed vanity in me, should I recommend to those editors who have
established presses with the avowed intention of exposing Popery, to be
cautious in their charges against the Papists, for one unfounded charge
is apt to destroy the weight of a thousand which may be true; and I am
sorry to see that many such charges are made by pious men, and even
by learned men on other subjects, but who seem far in advance of their
prudence. No man can detect a flaw in an argument sooner than a Jesuit,
and no press can turn it into more bitter ridicule than a Jesuit press.
No matter who the reputed editor of the press may be, every article in
it is revised and corrected by a Jesuit bishop or his deputy, before it
meets the public eye; and hence, perhaps, arises much of the popularity
of my books. I have never advanced a charge against Jesuits or Popish
priests, which I did not know to be true; I have never accused them, as
a body, of being guilty of a crime in the confessional, which I did
not know, of my own knowledge, to be undeniably true; and to do them
justice, they have never denied it.
That the Romish confessionals are sinks of unparalleled corruption,
seduction, and the most revolting impurities, is but too well understood
in Papal countries. Michelet understands it in France, so does Eugene
Sue; but still far better does John Ronge understand it in Switzerland,
because he has been, but the other day, a Roman Catholic priest himself.
The Catholic priests in almost all Germany understand this, and seem
now determined, through their fearless champion Ronge, to lay before
the view of mankind the wicked impurities practised in the Romish
confessional; and indeed it is a matter of astonishment that any people
should sanction amongst them the practice of sending young females to
confession to priests who are taught and commanded by their church to
question them on subjects so indelicate and gross that of necessity
impure thoughts must arise in their young minds. I can of my own
knowledge say, that if it had been the intention of any body of men to
corrupt the morals of the human race, to habituate the children of
both sexes to impurity, filth and profligacy, it would be impossible to
devise a scheme more completely adapted to produce that effect than
the practice of confessing to priests, and the establishment of Popish
nunneries amongst them. The common sense of mankind, the ordinary
feelings of morality, would have made it impossible to carry into effect
such a project, unless it had assumed the mask of a religious duty to
God.
It is said in the United States that if priests were so immoral as I
have represented them to be, and in the habit of taking such liberty
with females at the confessional as I have accused them of,
that virtuous females--and there must be some such among Roman
Catholics--would not continue long to go to confession to those priests
who take indelicate liberties with them. One would suppose that such
females would leave the church altogether. How little--I repeat it for
the hundredth time--do Americans know of the wheels within wheels in the
great machine of Popery! guilty priests who have made attempts to seduce
virtuous females at the confessional, and found that they could not
succeed, understand how to manage their case well. The church, in her
infallible wisdom, has made provision for such events. It is well known
in Europe, and let it be henceforward known in the United States, that
there are two distinct and separate orders of priests--seculars and
regulars. The secular order is composed chiefly of parish priests
and their curates, whose duty it is to hear the confessions of their
parishioners. The order of regulars is composed of friars, who are
sub-divided into several minor orders, and who have no parochial duties
to discharge, unless especially deputed to do so by the Bishop or his
deputy of the diocese in which they may be located. It is so arranged
by the secular priests, that whenever they fail in seducing their
penitents, and are detected by them, that one of these friars shall
immediately be at hand to hear the confessions of all such females, and
forgive them their sins _on condition that they shall never reveal to
mortal being the thoughtless peccadillo of their parish priest, who for
the moment forgot himself and whose tears of repentance now moisten the
ground on which he walks!_
Let me make this more plain by supposing a case or two, by way of
illustration. Suppose the Popish bishop of New York were a young,
athletic, amorous man; suppose he fixed his eye upon a young married
woman, or some fascinating lady of his flock--the supposition is a
very wild one, I admit--suppose he try to seduce one or either at the
confessional, and she reject his criminal overtures,--how would his
Popish _lordship_ act on this occasion? He always has at his elbow some
friar, and that friar a foreigner, whom he directs to go, instanter, and
hear the confession of those ladies. The friar knows his duty too well
to disobey the orders of the Pope's viceroy in New York, and the whole
affair is hushed up, perfectly to the satisfaction of the ladies, who
are absolved from their sins, and entirely to that of his lordship, who
Knows full well that the affair will never be heard of again. This friar
is a sort of spiritual rover, and as soon as he has done his business in
New York, is despatched to Boston, or elsewhere, until he visits perhaps
every diocese in the Union. He then returns home to Rome, never to visit
this country again. Another is sent in his place, and thus the work
of seduction and immorality goes on, from year to year, in Popish
confessionals, and almost under our very eyes, without our knowledge,
while the guilty monsters, priests and bishops, are rioting at our
hospitable tables, feasting upon our richest viands, and sipping our
oldest wines. Things are so arranged in the Popish church, that the
crimes of the priests in or out of the confessional, are seldom known to
the great mass of the people. Such are the means adopted by the church
of Rome to cloak and conceal from the public eye the profligacies of
her priests and bishops, that it is almost impossible to detect these
culprits and bring them to legal punishment. If, for instance, a priest
commit a crime in Boston, which the representative of the Popish church
in that city thinks may, by possibility, come to light, and throw any
discredit upon the church, or diminish his own personal influence in
that city, funds are placed in his hands by the church, to meet the
expenses of removing him to any part of the world he chooses, and the
guilty priest needs only what is technically called an _exeat_, to
insure him a warm reception from any Popish bishop in the universe. It
is a general practice of the bishops in the Romish church, to exchange
guilty priests with each other; they are very punctual in reciprocating
such favors. When nuns or Roman Catholic females commit crimes in
convents, which can no longer be concealed, the holy and infallible
church provides means for their instant removal to a different diocese.
But should they still persevere in their iniquities, and should it be
found impossible to prevent further illicit intercourse between them
and their confessors, means are provided to send them to some foreign
country. We have now several foreign nuns in the United States. By
foreign nuns I do not mean foreigners who became nuns in this country. I
mean those who became nuns in foreign countries, and who have been
sent amongst us as such, for the purpose of educating our children,
and educating them in the doctrines of _their pure religion_. And I
positively assert, to the best of my own belief, and partly of my
own personal knowledge, that there is not to be found among them an
individual, much of whose previous life has not been spent in criminal
intercourse and illicit connexion with their confessors and priests.
This is no random assertion of mine. I make the allegation with shame
and sorrow, but the cause of truth demands it; and justice to my fellow
citizens who are in the habit of sending their children to school to
these consummate hypocrites, renders it imperative upon me that I should
declare the truth, however unpalatable it may be.
Will the reader indulge me, while I quote a passage or two from the
London Quarterly Review, for June, 1844? The editors of that periodical
are gentlemen of great respectability, and men of well-established
veracity, whose statements confirm some of my assertions. "The heads
of the Church themselves, admit the liability of abuse through the
confessional, and frequent exhortations are published, desiring all
women, who have improper _solicitations_ made to them there, to denounce
the confessor; but a moment's consideration will show the inutility of
this exhortation; and one instance, which we shall give, must suffice
for all. An Italian gentleman of our acquaintance, removed with his
family, from the place of his nativity, to a town in another State; soon
after their arrival the wife went to the confessional, in the parish
church, where improper proposals were made to her; she ran home and
acquainted her husband; he made a formal complaint to the proper
authorities, in her name; a day was appointed for the examination of
the charge; and when the time arrived, the lady naturally declined to
appear. It is obvious that just in proportion as the person offended, is
delicate, and the offence gross, there will be the greater difficulty in
inducing the complainant to come forward." The truth of this is obvious
to all, and here lies one great security against detecting a licentious
and criminal priest. Were it not for this, our citizens would hoot at
them as they walked our streets. Were it not for this, Popish priests
and confessors would never be admitted into their houses, or occupy a
seat at the table of any decent or virtuous family. I know so well, of
my own knowledge, the nature of those questions and solicitations, that
are offered by Popish priests to women in the confessional, that I
can scarcely believe any woman could be found, who would appear in the
presence of men, or before any tribunal, civil or ecclesiastical, and
repeat the language by which her ears have been insulted.
Popish priests understand human nature well; they know the timid and
shrinking disposition of a virtuous woman. They feel that they are safe
from public prosecution, so long as their solicitations and criminal
overtures are known only to women of reputation. If it were not for
this, our criminal courts could not contain the number of those reverend
wretches, among Popish priests, who should appear before our criminal
tribunals. Even Roman Catholic laymen, of rank and intelligence, have no
idea of the enormities committed by their priests. Effectual means
are taken, by the Church of Rome, to conceal their enormities from the
public eye. The extent of immorality is so great in Catholic countries,
in Germany, France, and, _sub rosa_, in Ireland, that it is considered
an evidence of prudence, in a priest, to keep a mistress, rather than
be a public scandal. It is thought by the Irish that their priests are
peculiarly chaste and virtuous; they boast of this. I know the Irish
priests as well as any other man living; I have lived among them; I
was one of them; I acted as a confessor among them, and held in that
capacity a higher position than any of my age in the country; and I
solemnly declare, that I never knew a chaste man among them. Every
parish priest that ever I knew in Ireland, kept a mistress whom he
called a _housekeeper_, or some female whose duty or whose apparent
business it seemed to be, to superintend his wardrobe or some such
thing; but such is the credulity of the poor Irish, and such their
idolatrous veneration for their priests, that I really believe, if they
detected one of them in _flagranti crimine_, they would not credit
the testimony of their own senses. It occurs, sometimes,--though very
seldom,--that one of those Irish priests is detected; the punishment,
in that case, is simply his removal to another parish. I have known
immoralities committed in the houses of Irish parish priests, so heinous
that they cannot be put to paper; and yet the poor Irish Catholics, who
seem fated to be the victims of every species of delusion and imposture,
look upon their priests as perfect models of piety-; and consider their
agent, Daniel O'Connell,--that enemy of peace and happiness,--as one of
the most perfect specimens of patriotism that ever basked in the
pure air of freedom. The poor Irish believe, most implicitly, in the
necessity of Auricular Confession; and such is their delusion, that many
of them, even in this country, will not be persuaded, at this day,
that their priests take any pay for absolving them from their sins and
forgiving their crimes. It is not many days ago since a respectable
physician in Boston told me that an Irish Roman Catholic, in that city,
offered to bet him five hundred dollars that Roman Catholic priests
demanded no pay for pardoning sins. Can this be delusion, or
infatuation, or is it a species of witchery that thus deceives,
enchains, and blinds a people, in all other respects of quick
imagination and natural talents? I am free to confess, that I know not
how to account for it myself. I am perfectly at a loss what to call it;
but there it is, strange as it may appear.
I would ask that gentleman who offered to make the above bet, or any
other Roman Catholic who ever lived in Ireland, whether he has heard of
such a thing as _stations of confession_, which are held two or three
times a year by every parish priest in Ireland; or whether he has ever
heard of such a thing as the _Viaticum_, which is given to the sick,
after confession, and in _arliculo mortis_. I cannot suppose that there
is, in this country, an Irish Roman Catholic who has not seen and
heard of both, and who does not know that these are modes and practices
adopted by Irish priests for the purpose of collecting payment for
the pardon of sins. There are regulations published in each diocese
in Ireland, and put forth among the priests, by episcopal authority,
regulating _clerical dues_. Specific sums are laid down for mass, and
for auricular confession,--which the Church of Rome calls a sacrament,
by the name of _penance_,--for marriage, for baptism, extreme
unction, &c. The parish priest selects two or more houses in each
parish,--invariably those the most wealthy among the farmers,--and gives
notice from the altar, the Sunday previous, that on a certain day, of
the coming week, he will hold a _station of confession_ at the house of
A--------; this notice is equivalent to saying,--and is understood in no
other sense, _all of you who have not come to confession for a certain
time, or who wish to go to confession now, come forward and pay me my
dues_. The wily priest never says, come and pay me for pardoning your
sins; that would never do. Protestants may hear it, and it would surely
go abroad that Irish priests were not entirely disinterested, and that
they could no more live by prayer alone than other people. I have, by
order of the parish priest, for whom I acted as curate during a short
time, held many of those _stations of confession_, and never did a
Yankee pedler drive a harder bargain with his customers, than I was
compelled to make with those who came to confession to me, for
payment for pardoning their sins; 'crediti amici,' however strange the
declaration may appear to you; I have been ordered by the same Popish
priest, in Ireland, to administer what is called, in Popish parlance,
the _Sacrament of Extreme Unction_, and to give to the dying patient the
_Viaticum_; I have done so hundreds of times, but never until, by order
of the same priest, payment was made to me in advance, whenever there
was the least doubt of the ability of the patient or his friends to pay.
Before the _Viaticum_ is given, or permitted to be given by the Irish
bishops, it is required that the dying sinner should confess; for be
it known, the poor Irish Catholic is persuaded, that this _Viaticum_ or
wafer, made of flour and water, is the great God himself. The _Viaticum_
is contained in a small box, called a _pixis_, and large enough to
contain from ten to fifty of these wafers or Gods, and is carried in the
breeches pocket of the priest. Do not laugh, American Protestants, or
imagine that I am dealing in fables; I have gone, hundreds of times, to
hear the confessions of dying Irish Papists, and given them one of these
Viaticums or Gods, fifty or sixty of which, I have often carried at
a time in my pocket My orders were, upon all occasions, never to give
absolution or the Viaticum, to any one, until payment was first insured
to me; otherwise I had to pay the parish priest out of my own funds.
Scenes which take place on such occasions, are truly heart-rending. The
poor sick and simple Irish Catholic, believes that he shall be damned to
all eternity, if he is not anointed and forgiven his sins by the priest.
He would cheerfully pay him if he had the means; he would cheerfully
sell the blanket that shelters him from the cold blasts of winter, to
pay the hard-hearted priest; but the blanket is often worth nothing, is
often but a filthy, lousy rag, such as no American can form the least
conception of, though the well-fed priest lives in luxury. I have known
some curates in Ireland, who had no means of their own, to take the
chickens, the ducks, or turkeys of poor men whom they _anointed_, and
who had no money to pay the priest for pardoning their sins, and tie the
legs of those fowls together, throwing them across their saddles, and
carrying them home to pay the parish priest The poor curate perhaps was
not worth a dollar, and dare not return to the priest without bringing
with him his dues.
It is extremely unpleasant to dwell upon the disgusting scenes which are
daily witnessed in the sick rooms of the Irish peasantry. The idea of
dying without obtaining _absolution_ and extreme unction from a Roman
Catholic priest, is agonizing and intolerable to a poor Irish Papist,
and it is considered as an everlasting stigma even upon his posterity.
Every effort is therefore made to procure a _shilling_, which is the
minimum charge made by a priest for administering extreme unction. Any
man may judge of the feelings and mental distress of a dying man who
believes that he has not an hour longer to live, and that his eternal
salvation depends upon the absolution of his sins and the application
of extreme unction, or _blessed oil_, by his priest. But the dying
individual is not the only one who suffers; the wife, the children,
and grandchildren, participate in his mental sufferings; and those
warm-hearted creatures would give, and do give, the last potato from
their table, or the last basket of turf in their possession, to a
priest, rather than witness any longer the sufferings of the dying
parent. It must seem strange that this people should not make some
effort to shake off the chains with which their priests have bound
them to the car of Popery; but they will not. Such is the influence of
superstition over their minds, that they will suffer on forever, unless
Protestant Christians do something to relieve them. The Protestant
government of Great Britain would willingly break those chains which
bind this generous and warm-hearted people to Popery, but they will not
have them broken. The Popish bishops of Ireland have recently refused
to accept the provision which the Protestant government of Great Britain
seems willing to make for the support of the Roman Catholic church and
priests in Ireland. That demon in human shape--that traitor in the guise
of a patriot and Christian--Daniel O'Connell, advises the Roman Catholic
bishops of Ireland not to accept the state provision which Great Britain
is willing to make for the priests of the Irish Catholic church. This
man's drafts upon the credulity of mankind are very large--so large
that I believe they cannot be honored much longer. Why do Irish priests
refuse the state provision which Great Britain is willing to make for
them? Why do they not accept it from that source, rather than drag it
from the poor, in shillings, in chickens, ducks, turkies, barrels of
potatoes, pounds of butter, cishes of turf, &c. &c.? Why does Daniel
O'Connell advise them, in his traitorous harangues, not to receive the
liberal provision which the British government seems willing to make for
them? The reason is plain to the most careless and superficial thinker.
The traitor knows very well that the ultimate success of all his
ambitious designs depends upon the cooperation of the Popish church and
its priests in Ireland. He knows full well that if the priests were paid
by the State, they would lose their influence with the people, and that
he would lose the cooperation of both in his treacherous designs to
overthrow Protestant governments and Protestant religion in England and
elsewhere. Disguise it as he may, cover it over with Jesuitical varnish
of what thickness or depth be pleases, it is evident that the overthrow
of Protestantism in Church and State is the grand object which O'Connell
and the Popish church have in view, in their present movements, both in
Ireland and in the United States. The Popish bishops and O'Connell are
aware that the moment the parish priests and curates of Ireland were
paid their dues, they (the bishops and O'Connell) must lose their
influence with the great mass of the people. This is evident to
myself. But what sort of influence would they lose? Must they lose that
influence which a Christian minister of the gospel would like to possess
over his flock, and which every good man likes to see in all evangelical
religions? I answer in the negative, and I challenge fair contradiction.
They could lose nothing which a pious Christian or a good citizen would
desire to retain. They could only lose their influence as rebels to God
and traitors to the rights of man.
Will Americans reflect for a moment that we have about three millions of
the disciples of O'Connell and Popish bishops in this country? Let every
lover of our constitution ponder seriously upon this fact.
How do Popish bishops persuade their people to blind submission to their
will, and to the will of the traitor O'Connell? It is done through the
confessional.