CHAPTER 11
We read in the history of Paganism that parents were often, in
those dark ages, slaying their children upon the altars of their gods, to
appease their wrath or obtain their favours. But we now see a strange thing. It
is that of Christian parents forcing their children into the temples and to the
very feet of the idols of Rome, under the fallacious notion of having them
educated! While the Pagan parent destroyed only the temporal life of his child,
the Christian parent, for the most part, destroys his eternal life. The Pagan
was consistent: he believed in the almighty power and holiness of his gods; he
sincerely thought that they ruled the world, and that they blessed both the
victims and those who offered them. But where is the consistency of the
Protestant who drags his child and offers him as a sacrifice on the altars of
the Pope! Does he believe in his holiness or in his supreme and infallible power
of governing the intelligence? Then why does he not go and throw himself at his
feet and increase the number of his disciples? The Protestants who are guilty of
this great wrong are wont to say, as an excuse, that the superiors of colleges
and convents have assured them that their religious convictions would be
respected, and that nothing should be said or done to take away or even shake
the religion of their children.
Our first parents were not more cruelly deceived by the seductive words of the
serpent than the Protestants are this day by the deceitful promises of the
priests and nuns of Rome.
I had been myself the witness of the promise given by our superior to a judge of
the State of New York, when, a few days later that same superior, the Rev. Mr.
Leprohon, said to me: "You know some English, and this young man knows
French enough to enable you to understand each other. Try to become his friend
and to bring him over to our holy religion. His father is a most influential man
in the United States, and that, his only son, is the heir of an immense fortune.
Great results for the future of the Church in the neighbouring republic might
follow his conversion."
I replied: "Have you forgotten the promise you have made to his father,
never to say or do anything to shake or take away the religion of that young
man?"
My superior smiled at my simplicity, and said: "When you shall have studied
theology you will know that Protestantism is not a religion, but that it is the
negation of religion. Protesting cannot be the basis of any doctrine. Thus, when
I promised Judge Pike that the religious convictions of his child should be
respected, and that I would not do anything to change his faith, I promised the
easiest thing in the world, since I promised not to meddle with a thing which
has no existence."
Convinced, or rather blinded by the reasoning of my superior, which is the
reasoning of every superior of a college or nunnery, I set myself to work from
that moment to make a good Roman Catholic of that young friend; and I would
probably have succeeded had not a serious illness forced him, a few months
after, to go home, where he died.
Protestants who may read these lines will, perhaps, be indignant against the
deceit and knavery of the superior of the college of Nicolet. But I will say to
those Protestants, It is not on that man, but on yourselves, that you must pour
your contempt. The Rev. Mr. Leprohon was honest. He acted conformably to
principles which he thought good and legitimate, and for which he would have
cheerfully given the last drop of his blood. He sincerely believed that your
Protestantism is a mere negation of all religion, worthy of the contempt of
every true Christian. It was not the priest of Rome who was contemptible,
dishonest and a traitor to his principles, but it was the Protestant who was
false to his Gospel and to his own conscience by having his child educated by
the servants of the Pope. Moreover, can we not truthfully say that the
Protestant who wishes to have his children bred and educated by a Jesuit or a
nun is a man of no religion? and that nothing is more ridiculous than to hear
such a man begging respect for his religious principles! A man's ardent desire
to have his religious convictions respected is best known by his respecting them
himself.
The Protestant who drags his children to the feet of the priests of Rome is
either a disguised infidel or a hypocrite. It is simply ridiculous for such a
man to speak of his religious convictions or beg respect for them. His very
humble position a the feet of a Jesuit or a nun, begging respect for his faith,
is a sure testimony that he has none to lose. If he had any he would not be
there, an humble and abject suppliant. He would take care to be where there
could be no danger to his dear child's immortal soul.
When I was in the Church of Rome, we often spoke of the necessity of making
superhuman efforts to attract young Protestants into our colleges and nunneries,
as the shortest and only means of ruling the world before long. And as the
mother has in her hands, still more than the father, the destinies of the family
and of the world, we were determined to sacrifice everything in order to build
nunneries all over the land, where the young girls, the future mothers of our
country, would be moulded in our hands and educated according to our views.
Nobody can deny that this is supreme wisdom. Who will not admire the enormous
sacrifices made by Romanists in order to surround the nunneries with so many
attractions that it is difficult to refuse them preference above all other
female scholastic establishments? One feels so well in the shade of these
magnificent trees during the hot days of summer! It is so pleasant to live near
this beautiful sheet of water, or the rapid current of that charming river, or
to have constantly before one's eye the sublime spectacle of the sea! What a
sweet perfume the flowers of that parterre diffuse around that pretty and
peaceful convent! And, besides, who can withstand the almost angelic charms of
the Lady Superior! How it does one good to be in the midst of those holy nuns,
whose modesty, affable appearance and lovely smile present such a beautiful
spectacle, that one would think of being at heaven's gate rather than in a world
of desolation and sin!
O foolish man! Thou art always the same ever ready to be seduced by glittering
appearances ever ready to suppress the voice of thy conscience at the first view
of a deductive object!
One day I had embarked in the boat of a fisherman on the coast of one of those
beautiful islands which the hand of God has placed at the mouth of the Gulf of
St. Lawrence. In a few minutes the white sail, full-blown by the morning breeze,
had carried us nearly a mile from the shore. There we dropped our anchor, and
soon our lines, carried by the current, offered the deceitful bait to the
fishes. But not one would come. One would have thought that the sprightly
inhabitants of these limpid waters had acted in concert to despise us. In vain
did we move our lines to and fro to attract the attention of the fishes; not one
would come! We were tired. We lamented the prospect of losing our time, and of
being laughed at by our friends on the shore who were waiting the result of our
fishing to dine. Nearly one hour was spent in his manner, when the captain said,
"Indeed, I will make the fishes come."
Opening a box, he took out handfuls of little pieces of finely-cut fishes and
threw them broadcast on the water.
I was looking at him with curiosity, and I received with a feeling of unbelief
the promise of seeing, in a few moments, more mackerel than I could pick up.
These particles of fish, falling upon the water, scattered themselves in a
thousand different ways. The rays of the sun, sporting among these numberless
fragments, and thousands of scales, gave them a singular whiteness and
brilliancy. They appeared like a thousand diamonds, full of movement and life,
that sported and rolled themselves, running at each other, while rocking upon
the waves.
As these innumerable little objects withdrew from us they looked like the milky
way in the firmament. The rays of the sun continued to be reflected upon the
scales of the fishes in the water, and to transform them into as many pearls,
whose whiteness and splendor made an agreeable contrast with the deep green
colour of the sea.
While looking at that spectacle, which was so new to me, I felt my line jerked
out of my hands, and soon had the pleasure of seeing a magnificent mackerel
lying at my feet. My companions were as fortunate as I was. The bait so
generously thrown away had perfectly succeeded in bringing us not only hundreds,
but thousands of fishes, and we caught as many of them as the boat could carry.
The Jesuits and the nuns are the Pope's cleverest fishermen, and the Protestants
are the mackerel caught upon their baited hooks. Never fisherman knew better to
prepare the perfidious bait than the nuns and Jesuits, and never were stupid
fishes more easily caught than Protestants in general.
The priests of Rome themselves boast that more than half of the pupils of the
nuns are the children of Protestants, and that seven-tenths of those Protestant
children, sooner or later, become the firmest disciples and the true pillars of
Popery in the United States. It is with that public and undeniable fact before
them that the Jesuits have prophesied that before twenty-five years the Pope
will rule that great republic; and if there is not a prompt change their
prophecy will probably be accomplished.
"But," say many Protestants, "where can we get safer securities
that the morals of our girls will be sheltered than in those convents? The faces
of those good nuns, their angelic smiles, even their lips, from which seems to
flow a perfume from heaven are not these the unfailing signs that nothing will
taint the hearts of our dear children when they are under the care of those holy
nuns?" Angelic smiles! Lips from which flow a perfume from heaven!
Expressions of peace and holiness of the good nuns! Delusive allurements! Cruel
deceptions! Mockery of comedy! Yes, all these angelic smiles, all these
expressions of joy and happiness, are but allurements to deceive honest but too
trusting men!
I believed myself for a long time that there was something true in all the
display of peace and happiness which I saw reflected in the faces of a good
number of nuns. But how soon my delusions passed away when I read with my own
eyes, in a book of the secret rules of the convent, that one of their rules is
always, especially in the presence of strangers, to have an appearance of joy
and happiness, even when the soul is overwhelmed with grief and sorrow! The
motives given to the nuns, for thus wearing a continual mask, is to secure the
esteem and respect of the people, and to win more securely the young ladies to
the convent!
All know the sad end of life of one of the most celebrated female comedians of
the American Theatre. She had acted her part in the evening with a perfect
success. She appeared so handsome, and so happy on the stage! Her voice was such
a perfect harmony; her singing was so merry and lively with mirth! Two hours
later she was a corpse! She had poisoned herself on leaving the theatre! For
some time her heart was broken with grief which she could not bear.
Thus it is with the nun in her cell! forced to play a sacrilegious comedy to
deceive the world and to bring new recruits to the monastery. And the
Protestants, the disciples of the Gospel, the children of light, suffer
themselves to be deceived by this impious comedy.
The poor nun's heart is often full of sorrow, and her soul is drowned in a sea
of desolation; but she is obliged, under oath, always to appear gay! Unfortunate
victim of the most cruel deception that has ever been invented, that poor
daughter of Eve, deprived of all the happiness that heaven has given, tortured
night and day by honest aspirations which she is told are unpardonable sins, she
has not only to suppress in herself the few buds of happiness which God has left
in her soul; but, what is more cruel, she is forced to appear happy in anguish
of shame and of deception.
Ah! if the Protestants could know, as I do, how much the hearts of those nuns
bleed, how much those poor victims of the Pope feel themselves wounded to death,
how almost every one of them die at an early age, broken-hearted, instead of
speaking of their happiness and holiness, they would weep at their profound
misery. Instead of helping Satan to build up and maintain those sad dungeons by
giving both their gold and their children, they would let them crumble into
dust, and thus check the torrents of silent though bitter tears which those
cells hide from our view.
I was traveling in 1851 over the vast prairies of Illinois in search of a spot
which would suit us the best for the colony which I was about to found. One day
my companions and myself found ourselves so wearied by the heat that we resolved
to wait for the cool night in the shade of a few trees around a brook. The night
was calm; there were no clouds in the sky, and the moon was beautiful. Like the
sailor upon the sea, we had nothing but our compass to regulate our course on
those beautiful and vast prairies. But the pen cannot express the emotions I
felt while looking at that beautiful sky and those magnificent deserts opened to
our view. We often came to sloughs which we thought deeper than they really
were, and of which we would keep the side for fear of drowning our horses. Many
a time did I get down from the carriage and stop to contemplate the wonders
which those ponds presented to our view.
All the splendours of the sky seemed brought down in those pure and limpid
waters. The moon and the stars seemed to have left their places in the firmament
to bathe themselves in those delightful lakelets. All the purest, the most
beautiful things of the heavens seemed to come down to hide themselves in those
tranquil waters as if in search of more peace and purity.
A few days later I was retracing my steps. It was day-time; and, following the
same route, I was longing to get to my charming little lakes. But during the
interval the heat had been great, the sun very hot, and my beautiful sheets of
water had been dried up. My dear little lakes were nowhere to be seen.
And what did I find instead? Innumerable reptiles, with the most hideous forms
and filthy colours! No brilliant start, no clear moon were there any more to
charm my eyes. There was nothing left but thousands of little toads and snakes,
at the sight of which I was filled with disgust and horror!
Protestants! when upon life's way you are tempted to admire the smiling lips and
unstained faces of the Pope's nuns, please think of those charming lakes which I
saw in the prairies of Illinois, and remember the innumerable reptiles and toads
that swarm at the bottom of those deceitful waters.
When, by the light of Divine truth, Protestants see behind these perfect
mockeries by which the nun conceals with so much care the hideous misery which
devours her heart, they will understand the folly of having permitted themselves
to be so easily deceived by appearances. Then they will bitterly weep for having
sacrificed to that modern Paganism the future welfare of their children, of
their families, and of their country!
"But," says one, "the education is so cheap in the nunnery."
I answer, "The education in convents, were it twice cheaper than it is now,
would still cost twice more than it is worth. It is in this circumstance that we
can repeat and apply the old proverb, `Cheap things are always too highly paid
for.'"
In the first place, the intellectual education in the nunnery is completely
null. The great object of the Pope and the nuns is to captivate and destroy the
intelligence.
The moral education is also of no account; for what kind of morality can a young
girl receive from a nun who believes that she can live as she pleases as long as
she likes it that nothing evil can come to her, neither in this life nor in the
next, provided only she is devout to the Virgin Mary?
Let Protestants read the "Glories of Mary," by St. Liguori, a book
which is in the hands of every nun and every priest, and they will understand
what kind of morality is practiced and taught inside the walls of the Church of
Rome. Yes; let them read the history of that lady who was so well represented at
home by the Holy Virgin, that her husband did not perceive that she had been
absent, and they will have some idea of what their children may learn in a
convent.
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CHAPTER 12 Back
to Top
The word education is a beautiful word. It comes from the
Latin educare, which means to raise up, to take from the lowest degrees to the
highest spheres of knowledge. The object of education is, then, to feed, expand,
raise, enlighten, and strengthen the intelligence.
We hear the Roman Catholic priests making use of that beautiful word education
as often, in not oftener, than the Protestant. But that word
"education" has a very different meaning among the followers of the
Pope than among the disciples of the Gospel. And that difference, which the
Protestants ignore, is the cause of the strange blunders they make every time
they try to legislate on that question here, as well as in England or in Canada.
The meaning of the word education among Protestants is as far from the meaning
of that same word among Roman Catholics as the southern pole is from the
northern pole. When a Protestant speaks of education, that word is used and
understood in its true sense. When he sends his little boy to a Protestant
school, he honestly desires that he should be reared up in the spheres of
knowledge as much as his intelligence will allow. When that little boy is going
to school, he soon feels that he has been raised up to some extent, and he
experiences a sincere joy, a noble pride, for this new, though at first very
modest raising; but he naturally understands that this new and modest upheaval
is only a stone to step on and raise himself to a higher degree of knowledge,
and he quickly makes that second step with an unspeakable pleasure. When the son
of a Protestant has acquired a little knowledge, he wants to acquire more. When
he has learned what this means, he wants to know what that means also. Like the
young eagle, he trims his wings for a higher flight, and turns his head upward
to go farther up in the atmosphere of knowledge. A noble and mysterious ambition
has suddenly seized his young soul. Then he begins to feel something of that
unquenchable thirst for knowledge which God Himself has put in the breast of
every child of Adam, a thirst of knowledge, however, which will never be
perfectly realized except in heaven.
The object of education, then, is to enable man to fulfill that kingly mission
of ruling, subduing the world, under the eyes of his Creator.
Let us remember that it is not from himself, nor from any angel, but it is from
God Himself that man has received that sublime mission. Yes, it is God Himself
who has implanted in the bosom of humanity the knowledge and aspirations of
those splendid destinies which can be attained only by "Education."
What a glorious impulse is this that seizes hold of the newly-awakened mind, and
leads the young intelligence to rise higher and pierce the clouds that hide from
his gaze the splendours of knowledge that lay concealed beyond the gloom of this
nether sphere! That impulse is a noble ambition; it is that part of humanity
that assimilates itself to the likeness of the great Creator; that impulse which
education has for its mission to direct in its onward and upward march, is one
of the most precious gifts of God to man. Once more, the glorious mission of
education is to foster these thirstings after knowledge and lead man to
accomplish his high destiny.
It ought to be a duty with both Roman Catholics and Protestants to assist the
pupil in his flight toward the regions of science and learning. But is it so?
No. When you, Protestants, send you children to school, you put no fetters to
their intelligence; they rise with fluttering wings day after day. Though their
flight at first is slow and timid, how happy they feel at every new aspect of
their intellectual horizon! How their hearts beat with an unspeakable joy when
they begin to hear voices of applause and encouragement from every side saying
to them, "Higher, higher, higher!" When they shake their young wings
to take a still higher flight, who can express their joy when they distinctly
hear again the voices of a beloved mother, of a dear father, of a venerable
pastor, cheering them and saying, "Well done! Higher yet, my child,
higher!"
Raising themselves with more confidence on their wings, they then soar still
higher, in the midst of the unanimous concert of the voices of their whole
country encouraging them to the highest flight. It is then that the young man
feels his intellectual strength tenfold multiplied. He lifts himself on his
eagle wings, with a renewed confidence and power, and soars up still higher,
with his heart beating with a noble and holy joy. For from the south and north,
from the east and west, the echoes bring to his ears the voices of the admiring
multitudes "Rise higher, higher yet!"
He has now reached what he thought, at first, to be the highest regions of
thought and knowledge: but he hears again the same stimulating cries from below,
encouraging him to a still higher flight toward the loftiest dominion of
knowledge and philosophy, till he enters the regions where lies the source of
all truth, and light, and life. For he had also heard the voice of his God
speaking through His Son Jesus Christ, crying, "Come unto Me! Fear Not!
Come unto Me! I am the light, the way! Come to this higher region where the
Father, with the Son and the Spirit, reign in endless light!"
Thus does the Protestant scholar, making use of his intelligence as the eagle of
his wing, go on from weakness unto strength, from the timid flutter to the bold
confident flight, from one degree to another still higher, from one region of
knowledge to another still higher, till he loses himself in that ocean of light
and truth and life which is God.
In the Protestant schools no fetters are put on the young eagle's wings; there
is nothing to stop him in his progress, or paralyze his movements and upward
flights. It is the contrary: he receives every kind of encouragement in his
flight.
Thus it is that the only truly great nations in the world are Protestants! Thus
it is the truly powerful nations in the world are Protestants! Thus it is that
the only free nations in the world are Protestants! The Protestant nations are
the only ones that acquit themselves like men in the arena of this world;
Protestant nations only march as giants at the head of the civilized world.
Everywhere they are the advanced guard in the ranks of progress, science and
liberty, leaving far behind the unfortunate nations whose hands are tied by the
ignominious iron chains of Popery.
After we have seen the Protestant scholar raising himself, on his eagle wings,
to the highest spheres of intelligence, happiness, and light, and marching
unimpeded toward his splendid destinies, let us turn our eyes toward the Roman
Catholic student, and let us consider and pity him in the supreme degradation to
which he is subjected.
That young Roman Catholic scholar is born with the same bright intelligence as
the Protestant one; he is endowed by his Creator with the same powers of mind as
his Protestant meighbour; he has the same impulses, the same noble aspirations
implanted by the hand of God in his breast. He is sent to school apparently,
like the Protestant boy, to receive what is called "Education." He at
first understands that word in its true sense; he goes to school in the hope of
being raised, elevated as high as his intelligence and his person efforts will
allow. His heart beats with joy, when at once the first rays of light and
knowledge come to him; he feels a holy, a noble pride at every new step he makes
in his upward progress; he longs to learn more, he wants to rise higher; he also
takes up his wings, like the young eagle, and soars up higher.
But here begin the disappointments and tribulations of the Roman Catholic
student; for he is allowed to raise himself yes, but when he has raised himself
high enough to be on a level with the big toes of the Pope he hears piercing,
angry, threatening cries coming from every side "Stop! stop! Do not rise
yourself higher than the toes of the Holy Pope!....Kiss those holy toes,....and
stop your upward flight! Remember that the Pope is the only source of science,
knowledge, and truth!....The knowledge of the Pope is the ultimate limit of
learning and light to which humanity can attain....You are not allowed to know
and believe what his Holiness does not know and believe. Stop! stop! Do not go
an inch higher than the intellectual horizon of the Supreme Pontiff of Rome, in
whom only is the plenitude of the true science which will save the world."
Some will perhaps answer me here: "Has not Rome produced great men in every
department of science?" I answer, Yes; as I have once done before. Rome can
show us a long list of names which shine among the brightest lights of the
firmament of science and philosophy. She can show us her Copernicus, her
Galileos, her Pascals, her Bossuets, her Lamenais, ect., ect. But it is at their
risk and peril that those giants of intelligence have raised themselves into the
highest regions of philosophy and science. It is in spite of Rome that those
eagles have soared up above the damp and obscure horizon where the Pope offers
his big toes to be kissed and worshipped as the ne plus ultra of human
intelligence; and they have invariably been punished for their boldness.
On the 22 of June, 1663, Galileo was obliged to fall on his knees in order to
escape the cruel death to which he was to be condemned by the order of the Pope;
and he signed with his own hand the following retraction: "I abjure, curse,
and detest the error and heresy of the motion of the earth," ect., ect.
That learned man had to degrade himself by swearing a most egregious lie,
namely, that the earth does not move around the sun. Thus it is that the wings
of that giant eagle of Rome were clipped by the scissors of the Pope. That
mighty intelligence was bruised, fettered, and, as much as it was possible to
the Church of Rome, degraded, silenced, and killed. But God would not allow that
such a giant intellect should be entirely strangled by the bloody hands of that
implacable enemy of light and truth the Pope. Sufficient strength and life had
remained in Galileo to enable him to say, when rising up, "This will not
prevent the earth from moving!"
The infallible decree of the infallible Pope, Urban VIII, against the motion of
the earth is signed by the Cardinals Felia, Guido, Desiderio, Antonio,
Bellingero, and Fabriccioi. It says: "In the name and by the authority of
Jesus Christ, the plenitude of which resides in His Vicar, the Pope, that the
proposition that the earth is not the centre of the world, and that it moves
with a diurnal motion is absurd, philosophically false, and erroneous in
faith."
What a glorious thing for the Pope of Rome to be infallible! He infallibly knows
that the earth does not move around the sun! And what a blessed thing for the
Roman Catholics to be governed and taught by such an infallible being. In
consequence of that infallible decree, you will admire the following act of
human submission of two celebrated Jesuit astronomers, Lesueur and Jacquier:
"Newton assumes in his third book the hypothesis of the earth moving around
the sun. The proposition of that author could not be explained, except through
the same hypothesis: we have, therefore, been forced to act a character not our
own. But we declare our entire submission to the decrees of the Supreme Pontiffs
of Rome against the motion of the earth." (Newton's "Principia,"
vol. iii., p.450.)
Here you see two learned Jesuits, who have written a very able work to prove
that the earth moves around the sun; but, trembling at the thunders of the
Vatican, which are roaring on their heads and threaten to kill them, they submit
to the decrees of the Popes of Rome against the motion of the earth. These two
learned Jesuits tell a most contemptible and ridiculous lie to save themselves
from the implacable wrath of that great light-extinguisher whose throne is in
the city of the seven hills.
Had the Newtons, the Franklins, the Fultons, the Morses been Romanists, their
names would have been lost in the obscurity which is the natural heritage of the
abject slaves of the Popes. Being told from their infancy that no one had any
right to make use of his "private judgment," intelligence and
conscience in the research of truth, they would have remained mute and
motionless at the feet of the modern and terrible god of Rome, the Pope. But
they were Protestants! In that great and glorious word "Protestant" is
the secret of the marvelous discoveries with which they had read a book which
told them that they were created in the image of God, and that that great God
had sent His eternal Son Jesus to make them free from the bondage of man. They
had read in that Protestant book (for the Bible is the most Protestant book in
the world) that man had not only a conscience, but an intelligence to guide him;
they had learned that that intelligence and conscience had no other master but
God, no other guide but God, no other light but God. On the walls of their
Protestant schools the Son of God had written the marvelous words: "Come
unto Me; I am the Light, the Way, the Life."
But when the Protestant nations are marching with such giant strides to the
conquest of the world, why is it that the Roman Catholic nations not only remain
stationary, but give evidence of a decadence which is, day after day, more and
more appalling and remediless? Go to their schools and give a moment of
attention to the principles which are sown in the young intelligences of their
unfortunate slaves, and you will have the key to tat sad mystery.
What is not only the first, but the daily school lesson taught to the Roman
Catholic? Is it not that one of the greatest crimes which a man can commit is to
follow his "private judgment?" which means that he has eyes, but
cannot see; ears, but he cannot hear; and intelligence, but he cannot make use
of it in the research of truth and light and knowledge, without danger of being
eternally damned. His superiors which mean the priest and the Pope must see for
him, hear for him, and think for him. Yes, the Roman Catholic is constantly told
in his school that the most unpardonable and damnable crime is to make use of
his own intelligence and follow his own private judgment in the research of
truth. He is constantly reminded that man's own private judgment is his greatest
enemy. Hence all his intellectual and conscientious efforts must be brought to
fight down, silence, kill his "private judgment." It is by the
judgment of his superiors the priest, the bishop and the pope that he must be
guided in everything.
Now, what is a man who cannot make use of his "private personal
judgment?" Is he not a slave, an idiot, an ass? And what is a nation
composed of men who do not make use of their private personal judgment in the
research of truth and happiness, if not a nation of brutes, slaves and
contemptible idiots?
But as this will look like an exaggeration on my part, allow me to force the
Church of Rome to come here and speak for herself. Please pay attention to what
she has to say about the intellectual faculties of men. Here are the very words
of the so-called Saint Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Society:-
"As for holy obedience, this virtue must be perfect in every point in
execution, in will, in intellect; doing which is enjoined with all celerity,
spiritual joy and perseverance; persuading ourselves that everything is just,
suppressing every repugnant thought and judgment of one's own in a certain
obedience; and let every one persuade himself, that he who lives under obedience
should be moved and directed, under Divine Providence, by his superior, just as
if he were a corpse (perinde asi cadaver esset) which allows itself to be moved
and led in every direction."
Some one will, perhaps, ask me what can be the object of the popes and the
priests of Rome in degrading the Roman Catholics in such a strange way that they
turn them into moral corpses? Why not let them live? The answer is a very easy
one. The great, the only object of the thoughts and workings of the Pope and the
priests is to raise themselves above the rest of the world. They want to be
high! high above the heads not only of the common people, but of the kings and
emperors of the world. They want to be not only as high, but higher than God. It
is when speaking of the Pope that the Holy Ghost says: "He opposeth and
exalted himself above all that is called God, shewing himself that he is
God." (2 Thess. ii.4). To attain their object, the priests have persuaded
their millions and millions of slaves that they were mere corpses; that they
must have no will, no conscience, no intelligence of their own, just "as
corpses which allow themselves to be moved and led in any way, without any
resistance." When this has been once gained, they have made a pyramid of
all those motionless, inert corpses which is so high, that though its feet are
on the earth, its top goes to the skies, in the very abode of the old divinities
of the Pagan world, and putting themselves and their popes at the top of that
marvelous pyramid, the priests say to the rest of the world: "Who among you
are as high as we are? Who has ever been raised by God as a priest and a pope?
Where are the kings and the emperors whose thrones are as elevated as ours? Are
we not at the very top of humanity?" Yes! yes! I answer to the priests of
Rome, you are high, very high indeed! No throne on earth has ever been so
sublime, so exalted as yours. Since the days of the tower of Babel, the world
has not seen such a huge fabric. Your throne is higher than anything we know.
But it is a throne of corpses!!!
And if you want to know what other use is made of those millions and millions of
corpses, I will tell it to you. There is no manure so rich as dead carcasses.
Those millions of corpses serve to manure the gardens of the priests, the
bishops and the popes, and make their cabbages grow. And what fine cabbages grow
in the Pope's garden!
But that you may better understand the degrading tendencies of the principles
which are as the fundamental stone of the moral and intellectual education of
Rome, let me put before your eyes another extract of the Jesuit teachings, which
I take again from the "Spiritual Exercises," as laid down by their
founder, Ignatius Loyola: "That we may in all things attain the truth, that
we may not err in anything, we ought ever to hold as a fixed principle that what
I see white I believe to be black, if the superior authorities of the Church
define it to be so."
You all know that it is the avowed desire of Rome to have public education in
the hands of the Jesuits. She says everywhere that they are the best, the model
teachers. Why so?
Because they more boldly and more successfully than any other of her teachers
aim at the destruction of the intelligence and conscience of their pupils. Rome
proclaims everywhere that the Jesuits are the most devoted, the most reliable of
her teachers; and she is right, for when a man has been trained a sufficient
time by them, the most perfectly becomes a moral corpse. His superiors can do
what they please with him. When he knows that a thing is white as snow, he is
ready to swear that it is black as ink if his superior tells him so. But some
may be tempted to think of these degrading principles are exclusively taught by
the Jesuits; that they are not the teachings of the Church, and that I do an
injustice to the Roman Catholics when I give, as a general iniquity, what is the
guilt of the Jesuits only. Listen to the words of that infallible Pope Gregory
XVI., in his celebrated Encyclical of the 15th of August, 1832:"If the holy
Church so requires, let us sacrifice our own opinions, our knowledge, our
intelligence, the splendid dreams of our imagination, and the most sublime
attainments of the human understanding."
It is when considering those anti-social principles of Rome that Mr. Gladstone
wrote, not long ago: "No more cunning plot was ever devised against the
freedom, the happiness and the virtue of mankind than Romanism."
("Letter to Earl Aberdeen.") Now, Protestants, do you begin to see the
difference of the object of education between a Protestant and a Roman Catholic
school? Do you begin to understand that there is as great a distance between the
word "Education" among you, and the meaning of the same word in the
Church of Rome, than between the southern and the northern poles! By education
you mean to raise man to the highest sphere of manhood. Rome means to lower him
below the most stupid brutes. By education you mean to teach man that he is a
free agent, that liberty within the limits of the laws of God and of his country
is a gift secured to every one; you want to impress every man with the noble
thought that it is better to die a free man than to live a slave. Rome wants to
teach that there is only one man who is free, the Pope, and that all the rest
are born to be his abject slaves in thought, will and action.
Now, that you may still more understand to what a bottomless abyss of human
degradation and moral depravity these anti-Christian and antisocial principles
of Rome lead her poor blind slaves, read what Liguori says in his book "The
Nun Sanctified": "The principal and most efficacious means of
practicing obedience due to superiors, and of rendering it meritorious before
God, is to consider that in obeying them we obey God Himself, and that by
despising their commands we despise the authority of our Divine Master. When,
thus, a religious receives a precept from her prelate, superior or confessor,
she should immediately execute it, not only to please them but principally to
please God, whose will is made known to her by their command. In obeying their
command, in obeying their directions, she is more certainly obeying the will of
God than if an angel came down from heaven to manifest His will to her. Bear
this always in your mind, that the obedience which you practice to your superior
is paid to God. If, then, you receive a command from one who holds the place of
God, you should observe it with the same diligence as if it came from God
Himself. Blessed Egidus used to say that it is more meritorious to obey man for
the love of God than God Himself. It may be added that there is more certainty
of doing the will of God by obedience to our superior than by obedience to Jesus
Christ, should He appear in person and give His commands. St. Phillip de Neri
used to say that religious shall be most certain of not having to render an
account of the actions performed through obedience; for these the superiors only
who commanded them shall be held accountable." The Lord said once to St.
Catherine of Sienne, "Religious will not be obliged to render an account to
me of what they do through obedience; for that I will demand an account from the
superior. This doctrine is conformable to Sacred Scripture: `Behold, says the
Lord, as clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hands, O Israel!'
(Jeremiah xviii. 6.) A religious man must be in the hands of the superiors to be
moulded as they will. Shall the clay say to Him that fashioneth it, What art
Thou making? The Potter ought to answer `Be silent; it is not your business to
inquire what I do, but to obey and to receive whatever form I please to give
you.'"
I ask you, American Protestants, what would become of your fair country if you
were blind enough to allow the Church of Rome to teach the children of the
United States? What kind of men and women can come out of such schools? What
future of shame, degradation, and slavery you prepare for your country if Rome
does succeed in forcing you to support such schools? What kind of women would
come out from the schools of nuns who would teach them that the highest pitch of
perfection in a woman is when she obeys her superior, the priest, in everything
he commands her! that your daughter will never be called to give an account to
God for the actions she will have done to please and obey her superior, the
priest, the bishop, or the Pope? That the affairs of her conscience will be
arranged between God and that superior, and that she will never be asked why she
had done this or that, when it will be to gratify the pleasures of the superior
and obey his command that she has done it. Again, what kind of men and citizens
will come out from the schools of those Jesuits who believe and teach that a man
has attained the perfection of manhood only when he is a perfect spiritual
corpse before his superior; when he obeys the priest with the perfection of a
cadaver, that has neither life nor will in itself.
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CHAPTER 13 Back
to Top
Talleyrand, one of the most celebrated Roman Catholic bishops
of France, once said, "Language is the art of concealing one's
thoughts." Never was there a truer expression, if it had reference to the
awful deceptions practiced by the Church of Rome under the pompous name of
"Theological studies."
Theology is the study of the knowledge of the laws of God. Nothing, then, is
more noble than the study of theology. How solemn were my thoughts and elevated
my aspirations when, in 1829, under the guidance of the Rev. Messrs. Rimbault
and Leprohon, I commenced my theological coarse of study at Nicolet, which I was
to end in 1833!
I supposed that my books of theology were to bring me nearer to my God by the
more perfect knowledge I would acquire, in their study, of His holy will and His
sacred laws. My hope was that they would be to my heart what the burning coal,
brought by the angel of the Lord, was to the lips of the prophet of old.
The principal theologians which we had in our hands were "Les Conferences
d'Anger," Bailly, Dens, St. Thomas, but above all Liguori, who has since
been canonized. Never did I open one without offering up a fervent prayer to God
and to the Virgin Mary for the light and grace of which I would be in need for
myself and for the people whose pastor I was to become.
But how shall I relate my surprise when I discovered that, in order to accept
the principles of the theologians which my Church gave me for guides I had to
put away all principles of truth, of justice, of honour and holiness! What long
and painful efforts it cost me to extinguish, one by one, the lights of truth
and of reason kindled by the hand of my merciful God in my intelligence. For to
study theology in the Church of Rome signifies to learn to speak falsely, to
deceive, to commit robbery, to perjure one's self! It means how to commit sins
without shame, it means to plunge the soul into every kind of iniquity and
turpitude without remorse!
I know that Roman Catholics will bravely and squarely deny what I now say. I am
aware also that a great many Protestants, too easily deceived by the fine
whitewashing of the exterior walls of Rome, will refuse to believe me.
Nevertheless they may rest assured it is true, and my proof will be irrefutable.
The truth may be denied by many, but my witnesses cannot be contradicted by any
one. My witnesses are even infallible. They are none other than the Roman
Catholic theologians themselves, approved by infallible Popes! These very men
who corrupted my heart, perverted my intelligence and poisoned my soul, as they
have done with each and every priest of their Church, will be my witnesses, my
only witnesses. I will just now forcibly bring them before the world to testify
against themselves!
Liguori, in his treatise on oaths, Question 4, asks if it is allowable to use
ambiguity, or equivocal words, to deceive the judge when under oath, and at no.
151 he answers: "These things being established, it is a certain and common
opinion amongst all divines that for a just cause it is lawful to use
equivocation in the propounded modes, and to confirm it (equivocation) with an
oath.... Now a just cause is any honest end in order to preserve good things for
the spirit, or useful things for the body."*
"The accused, or a witness not properly interrogated, can sear that he does
not know a crime, which in reality he does know, by understanding that he does
not know the crime, concerning which he can be legitimately enquired of, or that
he does not know it so as to give evidence concerning it."**
When the crime is very secret and unknown to all, Liguori says the culprit or
the witness must deny it under oath. "The same is true, if a witness on
another ground is not bound to depose; for instance, if the crime appear to
himself to be free from blame. Or if he knew a crime which he is bound to keep
secret, when no scandal may have gone abroad." ***
"Make an exception in a trial where the crime is altogether concealed. For
then he can, yea, the witness is bound to say that the accused did not commit
the crime. And the same course the accused can adopt, if the proof be not
complete, ect., because then the judge does not legitimately
interrogate."****
Liguori asks himself, "Whether the accused legitimately interrogated, can
deny a crime, even with an oath, if the confession of the crime would be
attended with great disadvantage." The saint replies:"Elbel, ect.,
denies that he can, and indeed more probably because the accused is then bound
for the general good to undergo the loss. But sufficiently probable Lugo, ect.,
with many others, say, that the accused, if in danger of death, or of prison, or
of perpetual exile, the loss of property, the danger of the galleys, and such
like, can deny the crime even with an oath (at least without great sin) by
understanding that he did not commit it so that he is bound to confess it, only
let there be a hope of avoiding the punishment." *
"He who hath sworn that he would keep a secret, does not sin against the
oath by revealing that secret when he cannot conceal it without great loss to
himself, or to another, because the promise of secrecy does not appear to bind,
unless under this condition, if it does not injure me."
"He who hath sworn to a judge that he would speak what he knew, is not
bound to reveal concealed things. The reason is manifest." **
Liguori says whether a woman, accused of the crime of adultery, which she has
really committed, may deny it under oath? He answers: "She is able to
assert equivocally that she did not break the bond of matrimony, which truly
remains. And if sacramentally she confessed adultery, she can answer, `I am
innocent of this crime,' because by confession it was taken away. So Card, who,
however, here remarks that she cannot affirm it with an oath, because in
asserting anything the probability of a deed suffices, but in swearing certainty
is required. To this it is replied that in swearing moral certainty suffices, as
we said above. Which moral certainty of the remission of sin can indeed be had,
when any, morally well disposed, receives the sacrament of penance."***
Liguori maintains that one may commit a minor crime in order to avoid a greater
crime. He says, "Hence Sanchez teaches, ect., that it is lawful to persuade
a man, determined to slay some one, that he should commit theft or
fornication." *
"Whether is it lawful for a servant to open the door for a harlot? Croix
denies it, but more commonly Bus. ect., with others answer that it is
lawful."
"Whether from fear of death, or of great loss, it may be lawful for a
servant to stoop his shoulders, or to bring a ladder for his master ascending to
commit fornication, to force open the door, and such like? Viva, ect., deny it,
and others, because, as they say, such actions are never lawful, inasmuch as
they are intrinsically evil. But Busemb, ect., speak the contrary, whose
opinion, approved of by reason, appears to me the more probable."**
"But the salmanticenses say that a servant can, according to his own
judgment, compensate himself for his labour, if he without doubt judge that he
was deserving of a larger stipend. Which indeed appears sufficiently probable to
me, and to other more modern learned men, if the servant, or any other hired
person, be prudent, and capable of forming a correct judgment, and be certain
concerning the justice of the compensation, all danger of mistake being
removed." ***
"A poor man, absconding with goods for his support, can answer the judge
that he has nothing. In like manner an heir who has concealed his goods without
an inventory, if he is not bound to settle with his creditors from them, can say
to a judge that he has not concealed anything in his own mind meaning those
goods with which he is bound to satisfy his creditors." *
Liguori, in Dubium II., considers what may be the quantity of stolen property
necessary to constitute mortal sin. He says:-
"There are various opinions concerning this matter. Navar too scrupulously
has fixed the half of regalem, others with too great laxity have fixed ten
aureos. Tol., ect., moderately have fixed two regales, although less might
suffice, if it would be a serious loss."**
"Whether it be mortal sin to steal a small piece of a relic? There is no
doubt but that in the district of Rome it is a mortal sin, since Clement VIII.
and Paul V. have issued an excommunication against those who, the rectors of the
churches being unwilling, steal some small relic: otherwise Croix probably says,
ect., if any one should steal any small thing out of the district [of Rome], not
deforming the relic itself nor diminishing its estimation; unless it may be some
rare or remarkable relic, as for example, the holy cross, the hair of the
Blessed Virgin, ect." ***
"If any one on an occasion should steal only a moderate sum either from one
or more, not intending to acquire any notable sum, neither to injure his
neighbour to a great extent by several thefts, he does not sin grievously, nor
do these, taken together, constitute a mortal sin; however, after it may have
amounted to a notable sum, by detaining it, he can commit mortal sin. But even
this mortal sin may be avoided, if either then he be unable to restore, or have
the intention of making restitution immediately, of those things which he then
received."****
"This opinion of Bus. is most probable, viz., if many persons steal small
quantities, that none of them commit grievous sin, although they may be mutually
aware of their conduct, unless they do it by concert: also Habert, ect., hold
this view; and this, although each should steal at the same time. The reason is,
because then no one person is the cause of injury, which, per accidens, happens
by the others to the master." *
Liguori, speaking of children who steal from their parents, says:"Salas,
ect., say that a son does not commit grievous sin, who steals 20 or 30 aurei
from a father possessing yearly 1500 aureos, and Lugo does not disprove of it.
If the father be not tenacious, and the son have grown up and receive it for
honest purposes. Less, ect., say that a son stealing two or three aureos from a
rich father does not sin grievously; Bannez says that fifty aureos are required
to constitute a grievous sin who steals from a rich father; but this opinion,
Lug, ect., reject, unless perchance he is the son of a prince; in which case
Holzm. consents."**
The theologians of Rome assure us that we may, and even that we must, conceal
and disguise our faith.
"Notwithstanding, indeed although it is not lawful to lie, or to feign what
is not, nevertheless it is lawful to dissemble what is, or to cover the truth
with words, or other ambiguous and doubtful signs for a just cause, and when
there is not a necessity of confessing. It is the common opinion."***
"Whence, if thus he may be able to deliver himself from a troublesome
investigation, it is lawful (as Kon has it), for generally it is not true that
he who is interrogated by public authority is publicly bound to profess the
faith, unless when that is necessary, lest he may appear to those present to
deny the faith."****
"When you are not asked concerning the faith, not only is it lawful, but
often more conducive to the glory of God and the utility of your neighbour to
cover the faith than to confess it; for example, if concealed among heretics you
may accomplish a greater amount of good; or if, from the confession of the faith
more of evil would follow for example, great trouble, death, the hostility of a
tyrant, the peril of defection, if you should be tortured. Whence it is often
rash to offer one's self willingly." * The Pope has the right to release
from all oaths.
"As for an oath made for a good and legitimate object, it seems that there
should be no power capable of annulling it. However, when it is for the good of
the public, a matter which comes under the immediate jurisdiction of the Pope,
who has the supreme power over the Church, the Pope has full power to release
from that oath." (St. Thomas, Quest. 89, art. 9, vol. iv.)
The Roman Catholics have not only the right, but it is their duty to kill
heretics.
"Excommunicatus privatur omni civili communicatione fidelium, ita ut ipsi
non possit cum aliis, et si non sit toleratus, etiam aliis cum ipso non possint
communicare; idque in casibus hoc versu comprehensis, Os, orare, communio, mensa
negatur."
Translated: "Any man excommunicated is deprived of all civil communication
with the faithful, in such a way that if he is not tolerated they can have no
communication with him, as it is in the following verse, `It is forbidden to
kiss him, pray with him, salute him, to eat or to do any business with
him.'" (St. Liguori, vol. ix., page 62.)
"Quanquam heretici tolerandi non sunt ipso illorum demerito, usque tamen ad
secundam correptionem expectandi sunt, ut ad sanam redeant ecclesiae fidem; qui
vero post secundam correptionem in suo errore obstinati permanent, non modo
excommunicationis sententia, sed etiam saecularibus principibus exterminandi
tradendi sunt."
Translated: "Though heretics must not be tolerated because they deserve it,
we must bear with them till, by a second admonition, they may be brought back to
the faith of the Church. But those who, after a second admonition, remain
obstinate in their errors must not only be excommunicated, but they must be
delivered to the secular powers to be exterminated."
"Quanquam heretici revertentes, semper recipiendi sint ad poenitentiam
quoties cujque relapsi furint; non tamen semper sunt recipiendi et restituendi
ad bonorum hujus vitae participation nem...recipiuntur ad poenitentiam...non
tamen ut liberentur a sententia mortis."
Translated: "Though the heretics who repent must always be accepted to
penance, as often as they have fallen, they must not in consequence of that
always be permitted to enjoy the benefits of this life. When they fall again
they are admitted to repent. But the sentence of death must not be
removed." (St. Thomas, vol. iv., page 91.)
"Quum quis per sententiam denuntiatur propter apostasiam excommunicatus,
ipso facto, ejus subditi a dominio et juramento fidelitatis ejus liberati sunt."
"When a man is excommunicated for his apostasy, it follows from that very
fact that all those who are his subjects are released from the oath of
allegiance by which they were bound to obey him." (St. Thomas, vol. iv.,
page 91.)
Every heretic and Protestant is condemned to death, and every oath of allegiance
to a government which is Protestant or heretic is abrogated by the Council of
Lateran, held in A.d. 1215. Here is the solemn decree and sentence of death,
which has never been repealed, and which is still in force:
"We excommunicate and anathematize every heresy that exalts itself against
the holy, orthodox and Catholic faith, condemning all heretics, by whatever name
they may be known; for though their faces differ, they are tied together by
their tails. Such as are condemned are to be delivered over to the existing
secular powers, to receive due punishment. If laymen, their goods must be
confiscated. If priests, they shall be first degraded from their respective
orders, and their property applied to the use of the church in which they have
officiated. Secular powers of all ranks and degrees are to be warned, induced,
and, if necessary, compelled by ecclesiastical censure, to swear that they will
exert themselves to the utmost in the defense of the faith, and extirpate all
heretics denounced by the Church who shall be found in their territories. And
whenever any person shall assume government, whether it be spiritual or
temporal, he shall be bound to abide by this decree.
"If any temporal lord, after being admonished and required by the Church,
shall neglect to clear his territory of heretical depravity, the metropolitan
and the bishops of the province shall unite in excommunicating him. Should he
remain contumacious for a whole year, the fact shall be signified to the Supreme
Pontiff, who will declare his vassals released from their allegiance from that
time, and will bestow the territory on Catholics to be occupied by them, on the
condition of exterminating the heretics and preserving the said territory in the
faith.
"Catholics who shall assume the cross for the extermination of heretics
shall enjoy the same indulgences and be protected by the same privileges as are
granted to those who go to the help of the Holy Land. We decree, further, that
all who may have dealings with heretics, and especially such as receive, defend,
or encourage them, shall be excommunicated. He shall not be eligible to any
public office. He shall not be admitted as a witness. He shall neither have the
power to bequeath his property by will, nor to succeed to any inheritance. He
shall not bring any action against any person, but anyone can bring an action
against him. Should he be a judge, his decision shall have no force, nor shall
any cause be brought before him. Should he be an advocate, he shall not be
allowed to plead. Should he be a lawyer, no instruments made by him shall be
held valid, but shall be condemned with their author."
But why let my memory and my thoughts linger any longer in these frightful
paths, where murderers, liars, perjurers and thieves are assured by the
theologians of the Church of Rome that they can lie, steal, murder and perjure
themselves as much as they like, without offending God, provided they commit
those crimes according to certain rules approved by the Pope for the good of the
Church!
I should have to write several large volumes were I to quote all the Roman
Catholic doctors and theologians who approve of lying, of perjury, of adultery,
theft and murder, for the greatest glory of God and the good of the Roman
Church! But I have quoted enough for those who have eyes to see and ears to
hear.
With such principles, is it a wonder that all the Roman Catholic nations,
without a single exception, have declined so rapidly?
The great Legislator of the World, the only Saviour of nations, has said:
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of God."
A nation can be great and strong only according to the truths which form the
basis of her faith and life. "Truth" is the only bread which God gives
to the nations that they may prosper and live. Deceitfulness, duplicity,
perjury, adultery, theft, murder, are the deadly poisons which kill the nations.
Then, the more the priests of Rome, with their theology, are venerated and
believed by the people, the sooner that people will decay and fall. "The
more priests the more crimes," a profound thinker has said; for then the
more hands will be at work to pull down the only sure foundations of society.
How can any man be sure of the honesty of his wife as long as a hundred thousand
priests tell her that she may commit any sin with her neighbour in order to
prevent him from doing something worse? or when she is assured that, though
guilty of adultery, she can swear that she is pure as an angel!
What will it avail to teach the best principles of honour, decency and holiness
to a young girl, when she is bound to go many times a year to a bachelor priest,
who is bound in conscience to give her the most infamous lessons of depravity
under the pretext of helping her to confess all her sins?
How will the rights of justice be secured, and how can the judges and the juries
protect the innocent and punish the guilty, so long as the witnesses are told by
one hundred thousand priests that they can conceal the truth, give equivocal
answers, and even perjure themselves under a thousand pretexts?
What government, either monarchical or republican, can be sure of a lease of
existence? how can they make their people walk with a firm step in the ways of
light, progress, and liberty, as long as there is a dark power over them which
has the right, at every hour of the day or night, to break and dissolve all the
most sacred oaths of allegiance?
Armed with his theology, the priest of Rome has become the most dangerous and
determined enemy of truth, justice, and liberty. He is the most formidable
obstacle to every good Government, as he is, without being aware of it, the
greatest enemy of God and man.