.^ ,0c>^ s^^^. .0^^ Vl^^^ ) A , SYNOPSIS POPERY AS IT WAS AS IT IS. By WILLIAM HOGAN, Esq., FORMERLY ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST. BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY SAXTON & KELT NEW YORK: SAXTON & MILES. ^. • PHILADELPHIA: G. B. ZJEBER & CO. 18 4 5. OF*CONGKc.SS WASmNGTON ^6' ^ .\^^^ Entered according to Act of Coagress, in the year 1845, by In tlie Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. LC Control Number li tinp96 028021 PREFACE. In submitting the following pages to the public, I can say, with truth, that I ana actuated by no other motive than a sincere desire to promote the interest, and con- tribute all in my power to perpetuate the free institutions, of this, my adopted country. It is many years since I have had any intercourse or connection with the church or priests of Rome ; and I vainly imagined that, after the first outbreak of their animosity, for repudiating their doctrines, it would suc- ceed into a calm indifference. I was aware of the cus- tom, in that church, to defame and calumniate all who *' went out from her;" but especially those who have held any distinguished position. Against such, appeals are immediately made to the peo- ple by their priests, until, finally, maddened by sophistry, fanaticism, and falsehoods, they look upon the seceder as one whom it is their duty to destroy ; and in whose word, honor, and virtue, no confidence is to be reposed. The object of the Romish church, in this, cannot be mistaken. It is too plain to escape even the least observant eye. A lawyer who can render legally valueless the testimony of opposing witnesses, seldom fails in establishing his case ; and hence it is that the Romish church never fails to de- stroy, if she can, the credibility of all who break loose from PREFACE her, knowing them to be the best witnesses of her imquities. But for some jears back, and until recently, the riolence of Popish priests against myself seemed to slumber. This was natural. In the body ecclesiastic, as well as in the natural body, a morbid excitement often succeeds a stupor; and recently these gentlemen have assailed me again. To apparent indifference, succeeded a frantic zeal ; and from one end of this continent to the other, they have tried to injure me, by appeals to the public through their presses, and especially through the con- fessional. All this I would have disregarded, as usual, but I find that these priests have become politicians, and that every blow aimed at me, for the free exercise of my judgment as to the best mode of worshipping God, is aimed at the constitution of my adopted country, which grants this blessing, without let or hindrance, to all the children of men. Well aware that Americans are not acquainted with the desigiis of Popery against their country and its insti- tutions, I feel it my duty to lay before them the following pages. The perusal of them will satisfy every American that our country is in danger, not so much from enemies abroad as from foes within. They will find that Papists have reduced political, as well as religious corruption, to a system, and are, at this moment, practising it amongst us, upon a great and gigantic scale. THE FOLLOWING PAGES RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 4.MERICAN REPUBLICANS, - THE AUTHOR. SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. When this country renounced its allegiance to the British crown, and proclaimed itself independent, Popery was on the wane in Europe ; it was there getting more sickly, more languid and feeble, until it had little more than a mere nominal existence ; but while its blossoms were fading, its thorns retained their vitality, inflicting pains and wounds on all who came in contact with them. The Jesuits, one of the most influential orders of friars belonging to the Roman church, continued still active as ever in their fiendish avocations ; they roamed about, like so many gnomes, from country to country, and from people to people, carrying with them, and strewing on their paths, the seeds of moral death on all that was precious and valu- able in the social system. Whatever they touched was blighted ; whatever they said or preached breathed treachery ; wherever they went, vice, crime, and duplicity marked their track. But dark as the times were then, enshrouded as they had been in ignorance, and idolatrous as the people were, they began to manifest some dissatisfaction at the machinations of Jesuits in their eff'orts to acquire temporal power. They began to feel it in 8 SYNAPSIS OF POPERY, the loss of their property, out of which they too late saw themselves gradually swindled ; they felt it ia the loss of their liberty and civil rights, out of which they had been persuaded, all for the good OF THE CHURCH. Eudurauce became mtolerable, and those unhallowed agents had to be partially suppressed. The Popish church, at this time, seeing the influence of her most active agents gradually diminishing, her ancient glories fading, and her power vanishing from her grasp ; and scarcely able to breathe any longer in the putrid atmos- phere which her own corruption and impurities had created, very naturally turned her eyes to- wards this brilliant new world. It was then young and beautiful ; it abounded in all the luxu- ries of nature ; it promised all that was desirable to man. The holy chqrch, seeing these irresistible temptations, thirsting with avarice, and yearning for the reestablishment of her falling greatness, soon commenced pouring in among its unsuspect- ing people hordes of Jesuits and other friars, with a view of forming among them institutions which were already found to be destructive to the peace and morals of all social and religious principles in Europe. We now see Popish colleges, and nun- neries, and monastic institutions, springing up in our hitherto happy republic ; and, if similar causes continue, as they have ever done, to produce similar eflfects, it needs no prophet's eye to see, nor inspired 'tongue to tell, what the consequences must be to posterity. Many suppose that Popery has been modified ; that it is different now from what it was in ancient times ; that the spirit which actuated Papists in those dark days ceases to influ- ence them now that the facr2:ot. the rack, and vari- AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. y ou^ Other modes of torture, are not still in use in the Roman church, and that it has long ceased to lay claim, by divine right, to temporal sovereignty, or to any otlier of those prerogatives which they formerly insisted upon. There are some so fastidiously liberal as to grant them all immunities which may be with safety granted to other sects ; others there are, so patriotic as to hold at defiance all their power; and others so self-conceited as to fancy themselves an over-match even for Jesuits, in religious chi- canery and pohtical intrigue. All this arises, not from want of true zeal in American Protestants, but because they are unac- quainted with the canons of the Romish church. These canons are inaccessible to the majority of the American people, even of theologians, and with the purport and meaning of them none but those who have been educated Roman Catholic priests have much or any acquaintance. I hesitate not to say — although I do so with the utmost respect and deference — that there are but few American theologians who have much acquaintance with the doctrines or canons of the Romish church. They form no part of their studies ; a knowledge of them is not necessary in the legitimate discharge of their pastoral duties ; and hence it is, that in many of their controversies with Romish priests, they are not unfrequently browbeaten, bullied, and often almost ignominiously driven from the arena of controversy by men who, in point of general information, virtue, piety, zeal, and scriptural knowledge, are greatly their inferiors. He who argues with Catholic priests must have had his education with them ; he must be of the^n and from among them. He must know, from expe- rience, that they will stop at no falsehood where 10 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, the good of the church is concerned ; he must know that they will scruple at no forgery when they desire to establish any point of doctrine, fundamental or not fundamental, which is. taught by their church ; he must be aware that it is a standing rule with Popish priests, in all their con- troversies with Protestants, to admit nothing and deny every thing, and that, if still driven into diffi- culty, they will still have recourse to the archives of the church, where they keep piles of decretals,- canons, rescripts, bulls, excommunications, inter- dicts, &c., ready for all such emergencies; some of them dated from three hundred to a thousand years before they were written or even thought of ; showing more clearly, perhaps, than anything else, the extreme ignorance of mankind between the third and ninth centuries, when most of these forgeries were palmed upon the world. With the aid of these miserable forgeries, they attempt to prove, among other things, that the divine right of the Pope to the sovereignty of this world was acknowledged by the fathers of the church, in the earliest days of Christianity. There are to be found now, in the Vatican at Rome, canons and decretals which go to show that the Pope was considered ''equal to God," as early as the third century. More of these impious forgeries attempt to show that some of the most pious fathers of the church, in the days of her unquestioned sanctity and piety, acknowledged ''Mary, the mother of Jesus, to be equal to -God the Son, and deserved supreme adoration." With these forged instruments, they attempt to show that the pi;imitive Christians believed in the real and actual presence of the whole body and blood of Christ, in the wafer which they call the Eucharist, AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. ll Monstrous, horrible, and impious, as these absurdi- ties are, I once believed them myself. So much for the prejudices of education. The object of the following pages is to show, first, the origin of Papal power ; secondly, to call the attention of Americans to its rapid growth in many of the nations of the earth ; and, thirdly, to put my fellow citizens on their guard against giving it any countenance or support within the limits of the United States. ORIGIN OF THE TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPE. We have no authentic evidence that the bishops or presbyters of the primitive Christian church laid claims to temporal power, much less to uni- versal sovereignty, such as Popes have arrogated to themselves, in subsequent times, even down to the present day. Constantine, as we are informed by the best authorities, was the first to unite civil and ecclesiastical power. He introduced Christianity among the Romans by civil authority. This oc- curred between the years 272 and 337; but never during his reign, nor before i*t, was there an in- stance of a bishop or presbyter of the church aspiring to temporal jurisdiction. They were poor and persecuted ; they were meek and humble ; they were well content with the privilege of worshipping God in peace. The instructions of their divine Master were fresh in their minds — they almost still rung in their ears. They felt that they were sent into the world with special instructions to •' preach the gospel to every crea- ture." Their heavenlv Master told them that his 12 SYNOPSIS OF POPKRY, ^^ kingdom was not of this world." They felt the full force of that high and holy admonition, ^'Ren- der to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." They cheerfully submitted lo the civil authorities. They claimed not the right of giving away kingdoms, crowning em- perors, deposing princes, and absolving their sub- jects from their oaths of allegiance. These pure Christians and devout men asked for no distinctions, but those of virtue and zeal in the cause of Christ ; they sought for no wealth but that of Heaven ; they desired no crown but that of glory; they sought no tiara save that of martyrdom ; they were sur- rounded by no court but that of the poor ; no col- lege of cardinals waited on their pleasure ; . there were no iiuiicios sent from their court ; no foreign ambassadors passed between them and the powers of this earth. The only court with which they had business to transact, and in which-' their treas- ures were laid up, was the court of Heaven ; and their only ambassadors at that court were the angels of heaven, sent forth to minister unto them. Bat this state of things did not last long. As a modern writer beautifully expresses it, ^- the trail of the serpent is over us all." The Emperor Constantine, seeing the poverty of the primitive church, — her vast and progressive increase in num- bers and the consequent demand upon her charities, — granted to her bishops permission to hold prop- erty, real and personal. This concession on the part of Constantine, simple and trifling as it seemed to be ; this commingling of the things of heaven and earth, was unnatural. It contained within itself the principles of dissolution, or rather of entire destruction: and became, in time, the source from which have sprung most of the wars, massacres, AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS, 13 and bloody strifes, that have desolated and divided into fragmentary sections, the richest, the fairest, and the finest portions ol the globe, during the last fif- teen hundred years ; and will continue to do so, unto the end of time, unless the advance of civili- zation, and the great progress which the human mind has made in ethics, morals, and metaphysics, on this continent, puts an immediate check to Popish interference with the policy of our country. Could we suppose an individual, who knew nothing of ancient times ; who was an entire stran- ger to the darkness which pervaded Europe during the middle ages ; who had no acquaintance with the pretensions, arrogance and insolence of Roman pontiffs ; who knew no ottier constitution and no other laws but those of our own country ; he could not but feel surprised at being first told, that there now lived in Rome, an upstart ecclesiastic, called a " Pope^ who has the hardihood to assert that he is Sovereign Lord, and that too by divine right, of these United States, as well as of all other kingdoms of this world. He goes even further, and con- tends that his predecessors had similar divine rights, and that all the citizens and inhabitants of this country owed allegiance to him personally, and to no one else, unless delegated by him to receive it. But strange as this may appear, it is no less true, as I will show from authorities, which cannot be questioned, by those who claim such extravagant immunities. The Pope of Rome predicates his claim to uni- versal sovereignty upon the power of loosing and binding on earth and in heaven ; which, in the ex- uberance of their fancy, Roman Catholic writers contend was given to St. Peter. Their next step is to prove, that this supremacy was acknowledged 2 14 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, by the primitive fathers of the charch, and conse- quently their rights and claims are beyond dispute. But before I proceed to give any of the authori- ties, upon which Roman Catholic writers rest the antiquity of the recognition of their Pope's tem- poral power, it may not be amiss to inform the reader, that the very first on which they rely is one of the most unblushing forgeries on record; and is dated about six hundred years previous to the time at which it purports to have been written. It is taken from the words of a conveyance of certain temporal concessions, said to be made by the Em- peror Constantino to Pope Sylvester, some time between the second and third centuries. It is in the following words : ^^ We attribute to the chair of St. Peter all impe- rial dignity, glory, and power. We give to Pope Sylvester, and to his successors, our palace of Late- ran, one of the finest palaces on earth ; we give him our crown, our mitre, our diadem, and all our im- perial vestments; we resign to him all our imperial dignity. We give the Holy Pontiff, as a free gift, the city of Rome, and all the western cities of Italy, as well as the western cities of other countries. To make room for him, we abdicate our sovereignty over all these provinces, and we withdraw from Rome, transferring the seat of our empire to Byzan- tium ; since it is not just that a terrestrial emperor shall retain any power where God has placed the head of the church." It would be a waste of time to show that no such donation as the above ever existed. No mention is made of it in any history of the Popes that has ever been written, or in any other document which had reference to them during the reign of Constantino. It is a forgery so shallow, unreal, and unsubstantial, AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 15 that there is no well-educated historian, and never has been one, who gave it any credence. The his- torian Plewry pronounces it a falsehood ; and he, being a Roman Catholic, must be considered good authority upon all matters relating to the holy church. The quotation, however, from this supposed deed of ^concession, by Constantino to Pope Sylvester, is not without instruction to the citizens of this country. It should arouse them to a sense of the dangers which are hovering over them. It should remind them that every thing is perishable. The fairest flower must fade ; the love- liest lily must wither ; the laughing rose must droop ; even our fair republic may lose its bloom, and pass away. A state of things may arise in this country, when its executive may be a Papist, its ju- diciary Papists, and a majority of its population may be Papists. These things are not beyond the range of possibility ; and are you sure that your own de- scendants, and those of the pilgrim fathers, may not, one day or other, give this republic as a free gift to the head of the Papal church? You are now strong — so was Rome. Your power is now irresistible — so was that of Rome and other countries. Your arms are invincible — so were those of Rome. You are now distinguished all over the world, for your progress in the arts and sciences ; the world looks to you as models of patriotism and pure republican- ism — so did the world once look to Rome. But what is Rome now, and what drove her from the high position she once occupied ? -I will tell you ; — the intrigues of the Popish church. And a similar fate awaits you, unless you cut off all connection, of whatever name, between the citizens of the United States and the church of Rome. . While this sink of iniquity breathes, it will carry with it destruction and death wherever- it goeth. 16 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, We have had several histories of the Popes, and the first mention made of donations to them, at least of any comparative value, is by Anastasius, who wrote about the beginning of the tenth century, or a little before the close of the ninth. He informs us that Charlemagne conferred upon the Holy See (as that hotbed of iniquity is impiously, even at .the present day, called) lohole pi^ovinces^ and ac- knowledged that they belonged to the Pope by divine right ; though it is well understood, and de- nied by no competent historian, that Charlemagne never even owned these provinces. It is well known to the readers of history, that there existed no empire of any extent, but that of the East, until the beginning of the eighth century. Charlemagne assumed the title of King of Italy, in the year eight hundred. He received homage from the Pope, and so far from being subject to him, he acknowledged no divine right in him ; but on the contrary, he held the Pope in strict subjection to himself. He even went so far as to prohibit the Holy See from receiv- ing donations of any kind, w^hen given without the consent or to the prejudice of those who had just and equitable claims to them. This, if there were no other proof, is sufficient to show that neither the Popes nor the Holy See had any pretensions to universal supremacy, or to supremacy of any kind, as far down as the eighth century. It will not be denied that the civil au- thorities of Rome were liberally disposed towards the Popes or fathers of the church in the early days of Christianity. The Emperor Theodosius the Great, who died in the year three hundred and ninety five, recommended to all his subjects to pay *'a due respect to the See of Rome." Valentian III. commanded his subjects ^^not to depart from AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 17 the faith and customs of the Holy See.^'' It will however be borne in mindj that this Valentian was acknowledged emperor at the age of six, and his affairs were managed principally by his mother. So dissipated were his habits, that he finally fell a victim to them. Dlit up to this period there is no evidence whatever that the Popes either claimed or exercised temporal authority. About this time several councils met for the pur- pose of adjusting disputes that arose between the sons of the successor of Charlemagne, who unwisely, as historians suppose, divided his empire into three equal parts anong them. It was at one of these councils, that the doctrine of the divine right of Popes to teraporal authority was first broached by the production of some of those forged documents to which I have heretofore alluded. Pope Gregory the Fourth took an active part in fomenting the dissen- sions which necessarily arose from the division which the successor of Charlemagne had made of his em- pire among his sons. The Pope, with that craft peculiar to all ecclesiastics of the Roman Catholic denominations, was active in widening the breach between father and sons, and having effected this to his content, his next move was to sow further dissensions between the sons themselves, and finally to create such a general confusion and dissatisfac- tion among all parties, as to render a mediator ne- cessary. Having attained his object, he offered his services to the Imperial Father, and it was accepted. He presented himself at his camp, obtained an entrance, and what were the consequences ? , His- tory tells the tale — it was a tale of treachery. This serpent, clothed in his pontificals, enters the camp, tampers with the chief officers of the empe- ror's army, absolves them from all further allegiance 9 # 18 SYNOPSIS OF POPERYj to him, and promises them forgiveness both here and hereafter. Some adherents of the emperor, indignant at this conduct of the Pope, remonstrated with him ; and what was his answer ? ^* Know you," said this insolent Pope, addressing himself to the people, '^ that my chair is above the chair of the emperor." But this Pope did no more than every succeeding one would have done under simi- lar circumstances. If we look back to the page of history, from the present period to the days of Char- lemagne, Louis Debonaire, and Gregory the Fourth, we shall find that it has been an invariable practice with the Roman See to sow dissensions and dis- union in every government where it has obtained a footing, with the ultimate view of its final over- throw and subjecting it to Popish vassalage. Americans will bear in mind that Roman Catho- lics believe their church to be infallible ; that she never changes ; that what was deemed right by her in the days of Gregory and those of his imme- diate successors, is right now, and, vice versa, what she deems right now was right then. In a word, the church of Rome is infallible. This is believed by every one of her members at the present day. It is taught by every Popish bishop and priest in the United States. The following curse is contained in the Roman Catholic Breviary, in which, every Romish priest reads his prayers three times every day. ^- Qui dicit ecclesiam catholicain Romanam 7ion esse infal- libilem, anathema sit — Whoever says that the Ro- man Catholic church is not infallible, let him be accursed." Such is the belief of every Roman Catholic. Will not Protestant Americans pause and reflect for a moment ? The population of the United States is about twenty millions, and about AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 19 two millions are Papists. Consequently, seventeen millions and a half of our people are accursed and damned^ according to the doctrine of the Romish ritual ; and yet we Protestants are called upon to ex- tend the hand of friendship to these Papists, and our legislators are asked to grant them charters to build colleges, churches, nunneries, and monk-houses, not for the purpose of teaching the growing genera- tion the revealed will of God, as read in the Scrip- tures, but to persuade them that all other religions, except that of Rome, are erroneous ; that their pa- rents, brothers, and sisters, are heretics, accursed forever, and by implication entitled to no allegiance from them. The Pope is now setting on foot a movement which is intended to embrace the whole world, and of which he desires Rome to be the sol^ representa- tive, centre, and circumference. The powers of the Pope have met with several severe shocks since the Reformation. His forces have been broken, his armies of Jesuits, his friars of all orders, Dominicans, Franciscans, and Capuchins, have been scattered and enfeebled. He determined to arm himself afresh, and this new world appeared to him as the safest ground on which he could unite his scattered forces in Europe. This he well knows cannot be done, without throwing some fire-brand of dissension among our people, which at this moment he is try- ing to effect ; and which nothing but the resistance offered to him by American Republicans can check or prevent. On the continuance, strength, and union of this party, depends the stability of our government. This the Romish priests and bishops well know, and are beginning to feel ; and hence they are de- nouncing them from their pulpits, and in all their 20 presses. But no Protestant opposes this party* Why call it a party? It is no party. It is but the spontaneous move of the good and the virtuous of all parties v/ho love their God, their Bibles, and their country, and upon whose strong arm and bold hearts rests the question whether Americans shall be free or the slaves of his royal holitiess the Pope of Rome. Often have I lifted my voice, a feeble one, indeed, in favor of American Republicans, I b,elieve their cause is the cause of God and freedom^ and upon them every American and every Protes- tant foreigner must rely for protection against the merciless spirit of Popery. , It requires no stretch of imagination to fancy a diiference of opinion, or even of interest, between the citizens of this country. Suppose, for instance^ that the Nor^h and South were at variance ; suppose them actually at war with each other; what would be the course of the Pope^s emissaries, hundreds of whom are now roaming through this land ? The safest course and the surest mode of ascertaining what they would do in such an event, is to look back and ascertain what they have invariably done under similar circumstances. It is seldom wrong, and as a general principle it is safe, to judge of the future from the past ; and if so, there can be no doubt of the course which Jesuits and Roman Catholics would pursue in the event of any difficulties or collisions between the people of the different sec- tions of this country. Would they try to reconcile them ^ Did they ev^er do so in a like case ? What was the conduct of the Jesuits and Popes as early as the eleventh century, when the Roman people differed in opinion as to their form of government, and some points of religious faith ? The Pope laid an interdict upon the whole people: the weaker KS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 21 party was overpowered by the Papal authorities ; and their leader, as Flewry informs us, was burned alive by order of the Pope Adrian. Frederick, called Barbarossa, who was the tool of the Pope on this occasion, became the next victim to his bar- barity. And why ? what had he done ? what crime did he commit against the state? His only crime was, — ^he refused to hold the Pope's stirrup. For this he incurred the displeasure of Adrian, nor did he ever enjoy a day's peace until the Pope seduced him into an expedition against Saladin; where, to- gether with thousands of others, who were per- suaded to undertake that religious crusade, he died after several hard fought victories. The history of the Popes, in all ages, shows that they never abandon any temporal or spiritual au- thority to which they lay claim ; and had they the power of enforcing it now, they would exact froni this country the same obedience which they did in the most benighted days of the middle ages. Should a separation of these States take place ; should the chain that has bound us together for the last half cen- tury, in links of love and social happiness, be unfor- tunately broken, by any untoward circumstances ; think you, fellow citizens, that foreign Papists in this country would try to reweld it? Far from it. They would unite in breaking it, link by link, until not a particle of it remained. This they have done in every country where they obtained a footing ; this they are doing now, under various pretences, all over Europe; and should this country escape the fate of others, where Jesuits and Popes dare to exercise their supposed authorities, it will stand prominent and proudly, though solitary and alone, amid the records of age», and ruins of time. I have no such hope. The efforts which are now making to check 22 the progress of Popery, may, perhaps, retard the day of our downfall ; but come it must, unless the allegiance, \yhich is now demanded by the Pope of Rome from his subjects in the United States, is un- qualifiedly forbidden. The Pope is a temporal prince. Like other kings and princes, he should never be permitted to meddle, directly or indirectly, temporally or spiritually, with this country. He should not be permitted to appoint bishop or priest to any church, diocese, living, or office in the United States. The Pope^s bulh^ rescripts, letters, &c., &c., -should not be published or read from any pulpit this side of the Atlantic ; and, though Roman Catholics should not be prevented from the free exercise of their religion, they should be compelled to do so without reference to foreign dictation. If they must have a Pope, let him be an American, and sworn to support our constitution. Let him, and all Roman Catholics, be denied the right of voting, or of holding any office of honor, profit, or trust, under the government of the United States, until they forswear all allegiance, in spiritual as well as temporal affairs, to all foreign potentates and Popes. Until this is done, an oath of allegiance to this government, by a Roman Catholic, is enti- tled to no ^credit, and should not be received. This will appear evident to Americans, if they will turn their attention for a moment to the following oath, which is taken by every Romish bishop, before he is permitted to officiate, as such, in any of these United States : — '• I do solemnly swear, on the holy evangelist, and before xllmighty God, to defend the domains of St. Peter against every aggressor ; to preserve, aug- ment, and extend, the rights, honors, privileges, and powers of the Lord Pope, and his 'successors ; to AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 2.3 observe, and with all my might to enforce, his de- crees, ordinances, reservations, provisions, and all dispositions Avhatever, emanating from the court of Rome ; to pers.ecute and combat^ to the last extremity^ heretics^ scismatics^ a?id all ivho loill not pay to the sovereign pontiff all the obedience which the sove- 7^eign shall reqnirey While this oath is obligatory upon Romish bish- ops, they are not to be trusted. They should not be permitted to interfere, directly nor indirectly, with the institutions, laws, or ordinances of any Protestant country. Their oaths should not be taken in courts of justice ; their followers, every one of whom is bound by a similar oath of alle- giance, should be excluded from our grand juries, from our petit juries, but more especially, from our halls of legislation ; for wherever and vv^henever the supposed interest of the Pope clashes with that of the civil authority, or even with the adminis- tration of reciprocal justice, a Papist, under the control of his bishop, will not hesitate to sacrifice the good of the country, the interest, life, and pros- perity of his fellow-being, for the good of the church. Of the truth of this, history abounds with examples, and Popish writers are replete with authorities. Thomas Aquinas, whose authority no Roman Catholic questions, says in his work de Regem.^ ^^ The Pope, as supreme king of all the world, may impose taxes and destroy towns and castles for^ the preservation of Christianity." The American* reader will bear in mind, that by Christianity, St. Thomas means Popery. Pope Gregory the Seventh, about the year one thousand and fifty, has made use of the following language, and proclaimed it as the doctrine of the Romish Church. ^' The Pope 24 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, ought to be called Universal Bishop. He alone ought to wear the tokens of imperial dignity ; all princes ought to kiss his feet; he has power to depose emperors and kings, and is to be judged by none." Pope John the Twelfth, in the year nine hundred and iifty-six, announced th-e following to be the universal belief, that '^Whosoever shall ven- ture to maintain that our lord the Pope cannot decree what he pleases, let him be accursed. '^ Pope Bonifice the Eighth, in 1294, declares, er cathedra, '' that God has set Popes over kings and kingdoms, and whoever thinks otherwise declares him accursed.'' The same Pope, in another place, says, '^ We therefore declare, sriy, define; and pro< nounce it to be necessary to salvation, that every human creature shouM be obedient to the Roman- pontiff." The Pope of the present day, as every Roman Catholic writer maintains and teaches the laity to believe, has the same power 21010 that the Popes had at any period of chutch history. The council of Trent, the last held in the Popish church, declares that Pius the Fifth, who was then Po]:k3 of Rome, '' was prince over all nations and kingdoms, having pov/er to pluck up,, destroy, matter, ruin, plant, and buifd." Cardinal Zeba, a sound theologian according to Popish belief, maintains, with much ingenuity, ^' that the Pope can do all things which he wishes, and is empowered by God to do many things which he himself cannot do.'' All writers upon canon few compliment the Pope by calling him mir Lord the Pope, and this title w^s confirmed to- him by the council of Lateran. In the fourth session of that council, it is maintained '-that all mortals are to be judged by the Pope, and the Pope by nobody at all." Massonius, who wrote the life of Pope AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 26 John the Ninth, tells us that a bishop of Rome, namely, a Pope, cannot commit even sin without praise." Were there no other reproach upon the Romish church but the bare utterance of such blasphemy as this, it would be enough to disgust mankind; it should raise every voice in her condemnation,^ and every hand to pull down this masterpiece of Satanic ingenuity. But strange as it may appear, the present Pope maintains similar claims, and enforces obedience ; nay, more ; — in this year of our Lord, 1S45, insists upon the right of deposing all in power, and of absolving their subjects from further allegiance. But, extravagant as Papal pretensions were be- tween the ninth and tenth centuries, it was only about the middle of the eleventh that they began to show themselves in the full blaze of their hide-'" ous deformity. Hildebrand, whom we have had oc- casion to mention as Gregory the Seventh, shook off all civil restraint, and proclaimed the universal and unbounded empire of the Popes over the rest of the world. As Shoberl expresses it, ^^ he caused to be drawn up a declaration of independence in all things, temporal and spiritual, expressly specifying the Pope's divine right of deposing all princes, giving away all kingdoms, abrogating existing laws, and substituting in their place such as the holy Pope for the time being may approve oV^ This declaration, or bill of rights, is correctly translated by Sho- berl, and published in his work, entitled, '' The Rise and Progress of the Papal Power." Many, proba- bly, may read this volume, who have had no oppor- tunity of seeing ShoberPs work ; and others there are, who may refuse giving his statement that 3 26 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 0* credence which circumstances compel them to give the writer. Having been educated a Roman Catholic priest, and the fact being well known that admission can- not be had into her priesthood without being well versed, at least in her own doctrines, it is fairly to be presumed that my statements are entitled to full credit, when those of Protestants may be denied by Romish priests, who, while united with that church, are compelled, under pain of being cursed, to subscribe to any falsehood, however gross, pro- vided it subserves the interest of the Pope ] and deny any truth, however plain, rather than contra- dict or weaken the authorities by which the impi- ous follies and wicked pretensions of the church of Rome are supported. 1 will give this bill of rights to my readers. It should be in the hands of every American. It should find a place in every primary school in the United States. It should be among the first lessons of infancy, so that every child, when he grows up and sees a Roman Catholic bishop or priest^ should pause and ask himself, Does that man believe those things ? Are we called on to pass laws for the support and protection of churches, where such doctrines, as this hill contains, are promulgated? Can we trust the man who pro- mulgates them, or those who subscribe to them ? Is it safe to live in the same community with them ? Do they not endanger our civil institutions? Do they not jeopardize the morals of our children? Will it not, at some future day, be a blot upon the page of our history, and a foul stain upon oilr char- acter for intelligence, that we have ever sanctioned such doctrines, or that we had ever allowed men who professed them, any participation in our civil AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 27 rights ? But let Pope Gregory's declaration of Papal divine rights speak for itself, '' The Romish church is the only one that God has founded. ^^ The title* of universal belongs to the Roman pontiff alone. ^^He alone can depose and absolve bishops. ^'His legate presides over all the bishops in ev- ery council, and may pronounce sentence of deposi- tion against them. *' The Pope can depose absent persons. "It is not lawful to live with such as have been excommunicated. '' He has the power, according to circumstances, to make new laws, to create new churches, to trans- form a chapter into an abbey, and to divide a rich bishopric into two, or to unite two poor bishoprics. *'He alone has a right to assume the attributes of empire. "All princes must kiss his feet. " His name is the only one to be uttered in the churches. " It is the only name in the world. " He has a right to depose emperors. " He has a right to remove bishops from one see to another. " He has a right to appoint a clerk [priest] in every church. " He, whom he has appointed, may govern an- other church, and cannot receive a higher benefice from any private bishop. " No council can call itself general without the order of the Pope. " No chapter, no book, can be reputed canonical without his authority. 28 SYNOPSIS OF POPERr, "No one can invalidate his sentences; he can abrogate those of all other persons. " He cannot be judged by any one. *^ All persons whatsoever are forbidden to pre- sume to condemn him who is called io the apostol- ical chair. " To this chair must be brought the more impor- tant causes of all the churches. " The Roman church is never wrong, and will never fall into error. " Every Roman pontiff, canonically ordained, be- comes holy. "It is lawful to accuse when he permits, or when he commands. "He may, without synod, depose and absolve bishops. " He is no Catholic who is not united to the Romish church. t-/ The Pope can release the subjects of bad princes from all oaths of allegiance." Those who have not been educated Roman Cath- olics, or who have not lived in Catholic countries, will find it difficult to suppose that such pretensions as the above should ever have been entertained or submitted to : extravagant, absurd, wild, and wick- ed as they are, they have been acquiesced in by the court of Rome ; and are, at this day, contended for, and would be enforced, in this country, had that church the power to do so. She has never resigned the rights claimed in the above declaration ; and there is not a Roman Catholic who dares assert the contrary, without a dispensation from his bishop or his priest to tell a deliberate falsehood, with a view of deceiving Americans for the good of the church. This, however, they can always obtain and grant to each other, as circumstances may require* AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 29 While a Roman Catholic priest, I have often re- ceived and given such indulgences myself; and there is not a period in the Christian world, since the days of Pope Gregory, when all the powers and prerogatives, enumerated in the above Papal bill of rights, were not claimed and acted upon by Popes of Rome, down to the hour at which I write. Let us test the truth of this assertion by the unerring rule of history, although it may seem unnecessary, as no Roman Catholic will deny it ; at any rate, it will not be questioned by those who have any ac- quaintance with the history of their own church. I am well aware that the majority of Roman Cath- olics in this country know nothing of the religion which thej^ profess, and for which they are willing to fight, cont'^nd, and shed the blood of their fellow beings. I am not even hazarding an assertion, when I say there is not one of them who has read the gospels through, or who knows any more about the religion he professes, than he does about the Koran of Mohammed. He is told by the priest, ** that Christ established a church on earth ; that it is infallible ; and that they must submit implicitly to what its popes, priests, and bishops teach, under pain of eternal damnation." This is all the great mass of Roman Catholics know of religion ; this is all they are required to learn ; and hence it is that these people are unacquainted with the pretensions of the Pope, the intrigues of Jesuits, or the impositions practised upon them by their bishops and priests. But to the history of Papal pretensions. As early as the year 1066, Gregory, who was then Pope, summoned William the Conqueror, kiug of Eng- land, to repair to Rome, prostrate himself upon his knees, and do homage to his holiness. This William refused ; but his holiness deemed it expe- 3* 30 SYNOPSIS OF POPBtiy, ^ dient to compromise the matter, though he did not yield a jot of his very modest pretensions. This humble foHower of the Redeemer looked upon Sar- dinia and Russia as a portion of his dominions. The following extract of a letter of his, to the sove- reign of Russia, is a fair sample of the insolence of this man Pope, or rather this God Pope, as his subjects considered him. ^^ We have given you a crown to your son, who is to come and to receivia it at our hands on taking an oath of allegiance to us." He also commanded the emperor of Greece *^to abdicate his crown," and he also deposed the king of Poland. This modest Pope wrote to^ the diflferent princes of Spain, ^' that it would be much better to give up their country to the Saracens, than not pay homage to the See of Rome.'V He excom- municated Philip the First of France, because he refused to ^^pay homage to him." Writing to the French bishops, he says, " Separate yourselves from the communion of Philip; let the celebration of the holy mass be interdicted throughout all France ; and know that^ with the assistance of God, we Will deliver that kingdom from such an oppressor.'* This same Po}:je excommunicated Henry the Fourth, *' because he refused to acknowledge him as his superior," and absolved his subjects from their oath of allegiance to him : and what was the result ? Henry was obliged to submit. Having repaired to the Pope's court, he was stopped at the entrance, and before he was permitted to appear in the pres- ence of this ruffian Pope, who was then shut up with Matilda, countess of Tuscany, one of the numerous women with whom he lived on terms of intimacy^ he was compelled to undress and put on a hair shirt. The Pope then condescended to say, *^ that Henry should fast three days, before he AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 31 could be permitted to kiss his holiness's toe ; and he would then absolve him upon promise of good behavior.'^ Alexander the Third, about the year 1160, de- posed Frederic First, king of Denmark; and placing his foot upon his neck, he impiously exclaimed, *^ Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder." This practice and these pretensions to sovereign power, continued down to the days of Elizabeth ; and from thence down •to the presejit moment. . Pope Pius V. excommunicated Elizabeth, and ab- solved her subjects from their oath of allegiance ; and while doing so, addressed to himself the fol- lowing words from the Psalmist : '^ See, I have this day set thee over the nations, and over the king- doms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy, to build up, and to throw down." More of this here- after. Such were the doctrines of the Romish church in 1558. Such were the practices of that church for centuries previous ; nor is there one single in- stance on record of her having modified or abridged the extent or magnitude of her claims, unless when compelled to do so hy coercion; and even then«he did not abandon her claim, but only ceased to ex- ercise it in obedience to the law of force. The Rom- ish church, in this country, as I shall show, claims the same temporal powers now which she has al- ways claimed and exercised for so many centuries. She would now depose the executive of this country, as she did Philip of France, if she dared do so. The Pope would absolve our citizens from their . oath of allegiance, had he the power of carrying his dispensation into effect ; and what is the duty of Americans under such circumstances? Are you to submit passively? Is it your duty to wait and 32 SYNOPSIS OF PO^JERY, witness the growth of Popery among you, to nour* ish and feed it with the life blood of your existence as a nation, until the monster outgrows your own strength and strangles you, to satiate its inordinate appetite ? I lay it down as a sound principle in political as well as moral ethics, that if a govern- ment finds, within the limits of its jurisdiction, any sect or party, of whatever doctrine, creed, or denom- ination, professing principles incompatible with its permanency, or subversive of the unalienable right of self government, and worshipping God, according to the dictates of each and every man's conscience, that sect or party should be removed beyond its limits, or at least excluded from any participation in the formation or administration of its laws. Would it, for instance, be wise in our govern- ment to encourage the Mormons to introduce among us^ as the law of the land, the ravings and prophesies of Joe Smith ? Suppose that sect main- tained that Joe Smith was their Lord God ; that the kingdoms of this world were his ; that he claimed and did actually exercise the right of dethroning kings, and was endeavoring, by every means in his power, to place himself in a position to exercise, at no distant period, the right of deposing our presi- dents, state governors, and absolving our people from their oaths of allegiance. Should not that sect, as such, be instantly crushed ? Should it not, at least, be forbidden to interfere, directly or indi- rectly, with our civil institutions ? Let us suppose the prophet Joe Smith to hold the seat of his gov- ernment in Europe, and that Europe was full to overflowing with Mormons ; we may further sup- pose this great high priest to have thousands and millions of subordinate ofiicers, sworn and bound together by oaths cemented in blood, to sustain AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 33 him as their sovereign ruler, by every means which human ingenuity could devise, and at every sacri- fice of truth and honor. Suppose, further, that this high priest was annually sending thousands of his subjects to this country, with no other view but to possess your fertile lands and overthrow your government, and substituting in its place that of this foreign priest and tyrant ; would you per- mit them to land upon your shores? Would you allow them to pollute the purity of your soil ? Would you allow their unclean hands to touch the altars of your liberty ? Would you not first insist that they should purge themselves from the sins and slime of Mormonism, and free themselves from all further connection with this monster man, and would-be God, who impiously demanded blind obedience and unqualified homage ? I could an- swer for you, but I will not ; the history of your republic answers for you ; the movements, which are now going forth from one end of your country to the other, are answering for you, in tones too solemn and too loud to be drowned by the roaring of Popish bulls. But it is much to be feared that Americans do not yet fully understand the dangers to be apprehended from the existence of Popery in the United States. It is difficult to persuade a single-hearted and single-minded republican, whose lungs were first inflated by the breath of freedom, whose first thoughts were, that all men had a nat- ural right to worship God as they pleased — that any man could be found, so lost to reason, interest, and principle, as to desire to barter those high priv- ileges, which he may enjoy in this country, for oppression and blind submission to the dictates of a Pope, or even any body of men, civil or ecclesi- astic ; still less can an American believe, without 34 SYNOPSIS OF B,OPERY, difficulty, that he who sees the excellence and practical operation of our form of government, will try to overthrow it, by submitting to any creed, to any king or Pope, who requires from him alle- giance, incompatible with that which he has already sworn to maintain. Nor, generally speak- ing, will men do those things. While man believes in the moral obligations of an oath, he will not easily violate it. While he believes that there is an all-seeing Providence, to whom alone he is accountable, for his actions, he will be cautious in committing offences ; but once satisfy a man, that there is, within his reach, a power which can pardon his sins, even those of perjury ; which can change abstract evil into good, and he will stop at nothing. While the pardon of offences is a marketable article, it never will want for a purchaser, so prone are we to the commission of crime. Let man have an adviser, in whom he is taught to place unlimited confidence, on whom he looks as the representative of his God on earth, and he soon becomes his ready tool for good or for evil. Such precisely is the position in which ninety-nine out of a hundred Roman Catholics are placed. They are told by their priests, that, as members of society, the first allegiance they owe is to the head of their church, the Pope of Rome, and the next to the government, defacto^ under which they live ; but these well-practised ecclesiastical im- postors never forget to add, that the first alle- giance, being of a spiritual character, absorbs and supersedes the latter ; thus annulling, and render- ing the oath of allegiance, which they take to our government, something worse than even mere mockery ; and hence it is, that very few Catho- lics, particularly the Irish, ever read the constitu- AS IT WA9 AND AS IT IS. 35 tion of the United States, nor do they require it to be read for them. They know not, they care not what it is. It is enough for them to believe that the oath, which they take to support it, is not obli- gatory. Of this they are assured by their priests. Yet strange, these very priests tell them they com- mit mortal sin by becoming Freemasons, or uniting themselves with that excellent and benevolent association, the Odd Fellows. And why, reader, do they do this? Why prevent them from uniting with Odd Fellows or Freemasons? Why has the Pope recently cursed all Odd Fellows ? Why has he sent a bull to this country, cautioning Cath- olics against having any thing to do with them? Why have the Romish priests, from one end of this country to the other, echoed these curses? Did the Pope discover any bad thing in the constitu- tion or rules of action of Freemasons or Odd Fel- lows? Are these institutions aiming at the over- throw of any fixed principles in morals, in religion, or in virtue ? No such allegation is made. Why then do Popes and priests forbid Roman Catholics from uniting with them ? It is expressly because the Pope knows nothing about those excellent institutions. It is because he is aware he can make no use of them ; but let those societies beware, if they wish to keep their secrets. They should not allow any man to join them until he first swears that he is not a Roman Catholic; otherwise some Jesuits will get among them, and the next packet will convey their doings to his royal holiness the Pope. I cannot illustrate more clearly the value which foreign Roman priests and their followers put upon an oath of allegiance to this government, than by stating a conversation which occurred between -86 SYNOPSIS qV POPERY, myself and a Jesuit, the Rev. Dr. De Barth, then vicar-general of the diocese of Pennsylvania, and residing in Philadelphia. It took place some years ago, and his opinion of the validity of an oath of allegiance to this government, is the same now that is held by all Papists. 1 will give it by way of question and answer, just as it occurred. Question by Mr. De Barth, Do you intend becoming a citizen of the United States ? Ansioer. I believe not, sir. I don't think I could conscientiously take an oath of allegiance to this government, without violating that which I have taken at my ordination. Mr, De B, You are entirely mistaken. Any part of your oath of allegiance to this country, which may be incompatible with your first and greater allegiance to the head of your church, cannot be binding on yoii. Arts. I have doubts upon that subject. Mr, De B, What ! doubt your superior, sir ? This looks badly. It threatens heresy. Have you been conversing with any heretics of this coun- try? Declare your intentions, sir, to become a citizen. Take the oath ; it is necessary you should be empowered to hold real estate for the good of the church. The church must have her property out of the hands of trustees ; in this coun- try they are all heretics ; we must get rid of them in St. Mary's church. This led me into an examination of the alle- giance which I swore to the Pope at my ordination. I found that I owed him none ; that I was the dupe of an early education ; that I owed allegiance only ro my God and the country which protected my life, my liberty, and my freedom of .conscience ; and without further conversation with this intriguing AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS, 6i and debauched Jesuit — as I subsequently found him — I became a citizen of the [Jnited States as soon as possible ; renouncmg all allegiance, tem- poral and spiritual, to his holiness the Pope; and firmly resolved to induce all others, who, like myself, had been the dupes of Popish intrigue, to cut loose from them. I determined to support no civil con- stitution but that of the United States, and to have no one for my guidance in spiritual matters but my own conscience and the word of God. POPISH BISHOPS AND PRIESTS ABSOLVE ALLEGIANCE TO PROTESTANT GOVERNMENTS. I am aware of the difficulty there is in persuad- ing Protestant Americans, that Roman Catholic bishops and priests teach their people to believe^ that they, the priests, possess the power of absolv- ing them, either from their oath of allegiance or any otheT crime. It is, however, time to speak plainly to Americans. It is time to let them know that there exists in the midst of them a body of people, amounting in number to about two millions, who believe in this doctrine, so corrupt in itself, and so well calculated to disturb the joeace and har- mony of society. There is not a priest or bishop in the United States who dares deny this ; they act upon it every day. It is customary with the priests to confess weekly, and to forgive each other's sins; and^I am sorry to say, from my knowedge of them, since my infancy to the present moment, that there is not a more corrupt, licentious body of men in the world. But I will not be judge, accuser, and witness, in this case. I know well that Americans 4 38 SYNOPSIS OF FOPERV, \ will take the ipse dixit of no man. They are no! in the habit of lightly judging any individual or body of men, in any case. I will, therefore, lay before them the Roman Catholic doctrine on the subject of penance and confession, as taught by the council of Trent, and now believed and practised by Roman Catholics in the United States. I will only add, that I have taught these doctrines myself,^ when a Roman Catholic priest, and while groping my way through the darkness of Popery. There are many now living who heard and received them from me, and to whom I have no apology to make for the errors into which I led them, except that^ like themselves, I was the dupe of early education. The following are some of the canons of the- council of Trent concerning penance or confession : '^ Whoever shall say, that those words of the Lord and Saviour : Receive the Holy Ghost ; whose sins you shall forgive^ they are forgiven them^ and whose sins you shall fetain, they are retained ; are not to be understood of the power of remitting and retaining sins in the sacrament of penance, as the Catholic church has always un-derstood, from the beginning ; but shall falsely apply them against the institution of this sacrament, to the authority of preaching the gospel ; let him be accursed I ^* Whoever shall deny that sacramental confession has either been instituted by divine command, or is necessary to salvation ; or shall say that the mode of secretly confessing to a priest alone, which the Catholic church always has observed from the beginning, and still observes, is foreign^ from the institution and command of Christ, and isahum£Hi invention ; let him be accursed ! '• Whoever shall affirm, that in the sacrament of penance, it is not necessary by divine command, for AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 39 the remission of sins, to confess all and every mortal sin, of which recollection may be had, with due and diligent premeditation, including secret offences, and those which are against the two last precepts of the decalogue, and the circumstances which change the species of sin : but that this confession is useful only for the instruction and consolation of the penitent, and was anciently ob- served, only as a canonical satisfaction imposed upon him ; jor shall say, that they who endeavor -to confess all their sins, wish to leave nothing for the divine mercy to pardon ; or finally, that it is not proper to confess venial sins ; let him be accursed ! ** Whoever shall say, that the confession of all sins, such as the church observes, is impossible, and that it is a human tradition, to be abolished by the pious ; or that all and every one of Christ's faithful, of both sexes, are not bound to Obsertre it once in the year, according to the constitution of the great Lateran council, and that for this reason, Christ's faithful should be advised not to confess in the time of Lent ; let him be accursed ! ^'Whoever shall say, that the sacramental abso- lution of the priest is not a judicial act, but a mere ministry to pronounce and declare, that sins are remitted to the person making confession, provided that he only believes that he is absolved, even though the priest should not absolve seriously, but in joke ; or shall say, that the confession of a peni- tent is not requisite, in order that the priest may absolve him ; let him be accursed ! *^ Whoever shall say, that priests who are living in mortal sin do not possess the power of binding and loosing ; or that the priests are not the only 40 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, ministers of absolution, but that it was said to all and every one of Christ's faithful : Whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heave?! ; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earthy shall be loosed also in heaven ; and whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained : by virtue of which words, any one may forgive sin ; public sins, by reproof only, if the offender shall acquiesce ; and private sins, by voluntary confes- sion ; let him be accursed ! *^ Whoever shall say; that bishops have not the right of reserving cases to themselves, except such as relate to the external polity of the church, and therefore that the reservation of cases does not hin- der the priest from truly absolving from reserved cases ; let him be accursed ! " Whoever shall say, that the whole penalty, together with the guilt, is always remitted by God, and that the satisfaction of penitents is nothing else than the. faith by which they apprehend that Christ has satisfied for them ; let him be accursed ! ^' Whoever shall say, that satisfaction is by no means made to God, through Christ's merits, for sins as to their temporal penalty, by punishments inflicted by him, and patiently borne, or enjoined by the priests, though not undergone voluntarily, as fastings, prayers, alms, or also other works of piety, and therefore that the best penance is nothing more than a new life ; let him be ac- cursed ! ^' Whoever shall say, that the satisfactions by which penitents redeem themselves from sin through Jesus Christ, are no part of the service of God, but traditions of men, obscuring the doctrine AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 41 concerning grace, and the true worship of God, and the actual benefit of Christ's death ; let him be accursed ! "• Whoever shall say, that the keys of the church were given only for loosing, not also for binding, and that therefore the priests, when they impose punishments upon those who confess, act against the design of the keys, and contrary to the insti- tution of Christ ; and that it is a fiction, that when by virtue of the keys the eternal penalty has been removed, the temporal punishment may still often remain to be suffered ; let him be accursed ! " I must be j:>ermitted here to remind Americans, that all Roman Catholics are taught to believe, and distinctly to understand, that whatever they confess to their priests, is not to be revealed ; nor is the in- dividual, who confesses, permitted to reveal what- ever the priest says or does to him or her, except to another priest. For instance, should a priest in- sult or attempt to seduce a woman, aud succeed in doing so, she dare not reveal it under pain of dam- nation, except to another priest in confession, who is bound also to secrecy ; and thus, priests, bishops, popes, and all females of that denomination, may be guilty of licentiousness, — the bare mention of which would pollute the pages of this or any other work, — with impunity. The priests can first par- don the woman, and then themselves, according to the doctrines of the infallible church of Rome. This is not all. It is not enough that the sanction of the church should be given to these enormities; but priests also claim the right of concealing, from the civil authorities, any knowledge which they may have of crimes against the state as well as the power of forgiving them. The following is the language of the church upon that subject. Attend 4* 49 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, I to it, fellow citizens, and tremble at the dangers that threaten the destruction of your republic, from the introduction of Popery among you. *^ Although the life or salvation of a man. or the ruin of the state, should depend upon it, what is discovered in confession cannot be revealed. The secret of the seal — confession — is more binding than the obligation of an oath.*' If a confessor is asked, what he knows of a fact communicated to him, he must answer that he does not know it ; and, if necessary, confirm it by an oath ; and '' this is no perjury,'* says the Popish church, '' because he KNOWS it not as man, but as GOD.*' There is Popery for you, in its naked beauty ! If a man wishes to murder, or to rob you, he may go to his priest, apprize him of his intention, confess to him that he will assuredly murder and rob you, or that he has done so already, and yet this priest may be your next door neighbor, and he will not make it known ; and why, reader ? Because he knows it as God J and as God he tells the murderer to come to him and he will forgive him. It is not at all im- possible but the day may come when this country may be at war with Europe. We can easily fancy the despots of Europe forming another holy alii- a7ice, for the laudable purpose of suppressing de- mocracy. France, Austria, Spain, Italy, and a large portion of Germany and Switzerland, together with the HOLY SEE, would necessarily constitute that holy junto ; and if so, and war were declared by them against this country, what would be the con- sequence? Inevitable ruin; certain defeat ; not caused by foes abroad, but by foes within, leagued by the most solemn ties, and bound by the most fearful oaths to sacrifice our country, and all we value, for the advancement of the Roman church. AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 43 That there is a foe in the midst of us, capable of doing so, no man acquainted with the doc- trines and statistics of the Roman Catholic church in this country can deny. It has now: — Dioceses, 21 ; apostolic vicarate, 1 ; number of bishops, 17 ; bishops elect, 8 ; priests, 634; churches, 611 ; other stations, 461 ; ecclesias- tical seminaries, 19; clerical students, 261 ; literary institutions for young men, 16 ; female academies, 48 ; elementary schools, passim^ throughout most of the dioceses ; periodicals, 15 ; population, 1,300,- 000. Late accounts carry the population up to 2,000,000. The increase of the Romish church, in this country, since 1836, amounts to 12 bishops, 293 priests, 772 churches and other stations, 1,400,000 individuals, and other things in proportion. Should the said church go on increasing for the next thirty years as she has done for the last eight years, the Papists would be a majority of the popu- lation of the United States, and the Pope our supreme temporal ruler. I have stated to you before what the doctrines of these two millions are in relation to the power of the Pope ; and I repeat it now, and most sol- emnly assure you, that there is not a Roman Cath- olic in Europe or the United States who does not believe that the Pope has as good a right to govern this country.as he has to govern Italy ; and that he is, and of right ought to be, our king. Pope Gregory VII. has declared, " that the Pope alone ought to wear the tokens of imperial dignity, and that all princes ought to kiss his feet.'' There is not a Roman Catholic clergyman, whether bishop or priest, who does not believe that it is the duty 44 of our president, our gov^nors, and magistrates, to do the same. Bellarmine, one of the best authorities among Catholic writers, says, ^' The supremacy of the Pope over all persons and things is the main sub- stance of Christianity." Mark that, fellow-citi- zens ! That is the belief of Bishop Hughes, of New York ; that is the belief of Bishop Fenwick, of Boston, and of every other Roman Catholic bishop in the United States, as I will soon show. Pope Boniface VIII. says, ^* It is necessary to salvation that all Christians be subject to the Pope." Bzovius, an orthodox Roman Catholic writer, whose authority no bishop or priest will venture to question, says of the Pope — ^^He is judge in heaven, and in all earthly jurisdiction supreme ; he is the arbiter of the world.'' Mosco- vius, another eminent Popish writer, informs us that '^ God's tribunal and the Pope's tribunal are the same." Pope Paul IV., in one of his bulls, published in the year 1557, declares, that *'all Protestants, be they kings or subjects, are cursed ; " and this doctrine is an integral portion of the law of the Roman Catholic church, as may be seen in the fifth book of the decretals of the council of Trent. This is not all. We find in the forty-third canon of the council of Lateran, that '' all bishops and priests are forbidden from taking any oath of allegiance," except to the Pope. We find in another part of the decrees of the council of Lateran, held under Pope Innocent III., the following denunciation : — '•' All magistrates who interpose against priests in any criminal case, whether it be for murder or high treason, let him be excommunicated." Bear that in mind, Ameri- A3 IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 46 can Protestants ! If a priest murder one of you, if he commit high treason against your government, your magistrates dare not interfere, under pain of being damned. So says the infallible Roman CHURCH ; and so will she act, should she ever ac- quire the power of doing so, in this country. It is said by Lessius, an eminent Jesuit writer, and professor of divinity in the Roman Catholic colle^ of Louvaine, who wrote about the year 1620, and whose authority no Roman Catholic dare doubt, under pain of eternal damnation, that " the Pope can annul and cancel every possible obligation arising from an oath." This he taught to his students in the college of Louvaine. This same doctrine has been taught in the college of Maynooth, Ireland, where I was educated myself. It is taught there at the present day. See the works of De La Hogue. Judge you, Americans, what safety there is for your republic, while ' you s^ipport and sustain among you a sect numbering two millions, who are sworn to uphold such doctrines as, the fore- going. The very domestics in your houses are spies for the priests. Nothing transpires under your own roofs which is not immediately known to the bishop or priest to whom your servants confess. But you may say, "' The confessor will not reveal it." Here you are partly right, and partly mistaken ; and it is proper to explain the course adopted by priests in such matters as con- fession. If it be the interest of the church, that what is confessed should be made public, the priest tells the party, to make it known to him, '^ out of the confes- sional,^^ and then he uses it to suit his own views ; perhaps for the destruction of the reputation, or 46 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, fortune, of the very man, or family, employing this domestic. But it may be replied that Roman Catho- lics are good-natured people ; that they are generous and industrious. Admitted : I will even go fur- ther ; there is not a people in the world more so. Nature has done much for them, especially those of them who are natives of Ireland ; but the want of a correct education has corrupted their hearts, and imbittered their feelings ; they are not to be trusted with the care or management of the affairs of Protestant families. It is not generally known, nor perhaps suspected, by Protestant parents, who employ Roman Catholic domestics, in nursing and taking care of their chil- dren, that these nurses are in the habit of taking their children privately to the houses of their priests, and bishops, and there getting them baptized^ according to the Roman Catholic ritual. I state this as a fact, within my own knowledge. While 1 officiated as a Roman Catholic priest, in Phila- delphia, I baptized hundreds, I may say thousands, of Protestant children, without the knowledge or consent of their parents, brought to me secretly, by their Roman Catholic nurses ; and I should have continued to do so till this day, had not the Lord, in his mercy, been pleased to visit me, and show me the wiles, treachery, infamy, corruption, and intrigue of the church, of which the circumstances of birth and education caused me to be a member. It was usual with me in Philadelphia, in St. Mary's church, of which I was pastor, to have service every morning at seven o'clock ; and often when I returned home, between eight and eleven, have I found three, four, and sometimes six and eight children, whose parents were Protestants, waiting for me, in the arms of their Roman Catholic nurses, AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 47 to be baptized. This is a common practice in every Protestant country, where there are Roman Catholic priests; but as far as my experience goes, it prevails to a greater extent iu the United States than elsewhere ; and I should not be in the least surprised, if at this time, in the city of Boston, nearly all the infants, nursed by Roman Catholic women, are baptized by their priests and bishops. Roman Catholic women are unwilling to come in contact, even with heretic infants. They believe them damned^ unless baptized by a Romish priest. There is another fact, indirectly connected with this subject, which is not generally known. It is believed by Roman Catholics, that all mothers, after their confinement, are to be churched by some Romish priest or bishop. This churching is per- formed by the repetition of a few prayers, in Latin, a sprinkling of holy water, and the woman who does not submit to this mummery, is believed by any Roman Catholic nurse whom she may employ, to be eternally damned^ together with her child. They go so far as to say, that the very ground upon which the unchurched mother walks is ac- cursed ; that the very house in which she lives is accursed ; and that all she says and does Js accursed. So firmly have the Romish priests and bishops fastened this belief upon the minds of their dupes, that at this moment in Ireland, and I may venture to say in this city of Boston, no Catholic woman will leave her bed after confinement, without being churched, lest the ground on which she walks may be accursed. Until this ceremony is performed, none of her Catholic neighbors will hold any inter- course with her. How then can Protestant mothers expect otherwise, than that Catholic nurses will 48 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, have their children baptized by priests ! or what security can they have that they will not, under the direction of priests, try to turn the minds of their children from the contemplation of truth, and pure gospel light, to the foul sources of Popery and superstition! Look to this, American mothers. It may not be amiss in this connection, to lay be- fore American Protestants, the doctrine of the Rom- ish church upon baptism ; and, lest I may be ac- cused of setting down aught in malice, I shall do so in the words of the council of Trent. Canons of the Council of Trent concerning Baptism, '' 1. Whoever shall say that the baptism of John had the same virtue as the baptism of Christ ; let him be accursed ! - i' 2. Whoever shall say that true and natural water is not absolutely necessary for baptism, and there- fore wrests those words of our Lord Jesus Christ, as though they had been a kind of metaphor : ' Ex- cept a man be born of water, and the Holy Spirit ; ' let him be accursed ! '^ 3. Whoever shall say that in the Roman church, which is the mother and mistress of all churches, the doctrine concerning the sacrament of baptism is not true; let him be accursed ! *^ 4. Whoever shall say that the baptism which is also given by heretics, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, with the intention of doing what the church does, is not true baptism ; let him be accursed ! [Here is another of those rules, by which the holy Romish church leaves herself room to impose upon the public. Can any man believe, can any one even suppose a case, where- a heretic acts, or intends AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS- 49 to act, according to the intention of the church of Rome ? The very act of heresy was against that church and her doctrines ; and the truth is, if the church would speak honestly, or her priests and bishops do so for her, all who are not baptized in the Romish church, and who are baptized, are eternally damned. So thinks, and so teaches,^ the Popish church.] " 5. Whoever shall say that baptism is optional, that is, not necessary to salvation ; let him be accursed ! ^^ 6. Whoever shall say that a baptized person cannot, even if he would, lose grace, how much soever he may sin, unless he is unwilling to believe ; let him be accursed ! ^' 7. Whoever shall say that baptized persons, by baptism itself, become debtors to preserve faith alone, and not the whole law of Christ ; let him be accursed ! ^* 8. Whoever shall say tbat baptized persons are free from all precepts of holy church, which are either written or traditional, so that they are not bound to observe them, unless they choose to sub- mit themselves to them of their own accord ; let him be accursed ! "• 9. Whoever shall say that men are so to be re- called to the memory of the baptism which they have received, that they may regard all the vows which are made after baptism as null and void, by virtue of the promise already made in baptism itself, as if by it they detract from the faith which they have professed, and from the baptism itself; let him be accursed ! " 10. Whoever shall say that all the sins which are committed after baptism, by the mere remem- brance and faith of the baptism received, are 60 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, either dismissed or become venial ; let him be accursed ! ^•^11. Whoever shall say that a baptism, truly and with due ceremony conferred, is to be repeated on him who has denied the faith of Christ among infidels, when he is converted to repentance ; let him be accursed ! ^' 12. Whoever shall say that no one is to be baptized, except at that age at which Christ was baptized, or in the article of death ; let him be accursed ! ^' 13. Whoever shall say that infants, because they have not the act of faith, are not to be reck- oned among believers after having received bap- tism, and on this account are to be re-baptized when they arrive at years of discretion ; or that it is better that their baptism be omitted, than that they should be baptized in the faith only of the church, when they do not believe by their own act ; let him be accurst ! ^' 14. Whoever shall say that baptized children of this kind, when they have grown up, are to be asked whether they wish to have that ratified which their sponsors promised in their name When they were baptized ; and that when they reply that they are unwilling, they are to be left to their own choice; and that they are not in the mean- time to be compelled by any other punishment, to a Christian life, except that they be prohibited the enjoyment of the Eucharist, and the other sacra- ments, until they repent; let him be accursed ! " This last canon, as the reader perceives, explains fully why Roman Catholics are so anxious for the baptism of Protestant children by their priests. It gives them the power of compelling those children, should they deem it expedient to do so, to profess AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 51 the Catholic faith, and thereby strengthening her power. They try to alienate the children from the parents ; or calculating upon that natural affection, with which a parent clings to a child, they hope to bring over the parent also to the Catholic faith ; or, failing in this, they hope to break up those alliances of blood which nature has established, and that comniunity of interest and feeling, which society has sanctioned, and religion and nature have blessed, between parent and child. A true Papist will stop at nothing to advance the power of the Pope, or the interest of the holy church. Heretics, by which the reader will under- stand all who do not belong to the Roman Catho- lic church, are to be destroyed, cost what it will. Death, and the destruction of heretics, is the watch- word of Popery. Down with Protestant govern- ments, kings, presidents, governors, judges, and all other civil and religious authorities, is the war-cry in Popish countries. They desire neither to live nor die with us. They refuse to be laid down in the same common earth with us. Need this be provqfl to Americans ? One would suppose not. Our intercourse with Roman Catholic countries is such, at present, that there can be no longer any doubt of this fact. Our commercial transactions with Spain, Portu- gal, South America, Mexico, and the neighboring Island of Cuba, enables many of our people to judge for themselves, and say Avhat is now the con- dition of Protestants in those countries where Popery predominates. Can a Protestant worship God in those coiuitries, according to the dictates of his own conscience ? He cannot. They are all t©ld by their priests, that a Protestant is a thing too unclean to worship God, until he is first baptized, 52 SYNOPSIS OF POPERYj and then shrived or confessed by their priests. A Protestant cannot even carry his Bible with him, into these countries. Many of my fellow-citizens, who may see this statement, will bear testimony to its truth. When a Protestant arrives at any port in a purely Catholic country, his trunks and his person are examined ; and if a bible is found in them, or about him, it is taken from him. The ministers of his religion dare not accompany him, or if he does, his lips are sealed, under pain of a lingering death. Should sickness lay its heavy hand upon him, there is no minister to attend him, no Bible allowed him, from which he may quench his thirst for the waters of life. Should death visit him, there is no one to close the eyes of the lonely Protes- tant stranger. A good Roman Catholic would not touch the accursed heretic, and when dead he is not allowed the rights of Christian interment ; he must be cast by the wayside, as suitable food for the hog, the dog, and the buzzard. How many a worthy American have I seen myself, in Cuba, cast away when dead, as you would a car- rion, not even a coffin to cover him ; and why all this ? Because he was a heretic ; because he did not believe in the supremacy of the Pope, and the infallibity of the Romisli church ; and yet those inhuman wretches, those libels upon religion and humanity, come among us, ask you for lands on , which to build churches and pulpits, from which they curse you and your children ; become citizens of your republic, inmates in your families, with smiles on their faces and curses in their hearts for you. Let not this language be deemed exaggera- tion. I have heard it, I have witnessed it, I have seen it. And yet Americans, heedlessly fancying themselves and their institutions secure, refuse AS IT WAS AND AS IT I's. 53 these, their sworn enemies, and foes of their religion, nothing they ask for. Such is the hstlessness and apathy of our people upon this subject, that, as far as I am acquainted, ho appeal has ever been made to our government, to ask even for a modification of those barbarities, with which our Protestant citi- zens are treated, in Roman Catholic countries ; nor has there been any effort made to alter our free constitution, so as to enable us to retaliate upon those Popish monsters, and obtain from the blood- thirsty cowards, at the point of the bayonet, those common privileges, which are almost among the necessary appurtenances of humanity, and which even a Pagan would scarcely deny to a fellow- being. I hold it as undeniable, that even as Protestants, we are, at least by implication, entitled by our trea- ties of alliance with Popish countries, to far dif- ferent treatment from that which we receive ; and had the question been considered by our people^ either in their primary meetings, or through their representatives, they would have long since, insist- ed upon due protection and respect for the natural rights of their citizens abroad. These natural rights can neither be sold nor exchanged; their free exercise is guaranteed by implication in every treaty we make with foreign nat^ions, and cannot be violated by them without giving just cause of war. Let political casuists say what they please, there is no principle better established in political ethics, than that all international treaties of amity and commerce, should be formed, and if formed, should be ke{)t, upon principles of justice and reciprocity. The same national amity and courtesy, which our Protestant country extends to Popish nations and 5* 54 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY; their people, should be extended by them to us. By national friendship and comity, is not, I appre- hend, and should not, be meant or understood, the privilege of seUing a bale of cotton here or a bag of cotfee there. It includes the iree exercise of the rights of the parties thereto, so far. at least, as they are not incompatible with each other, or with the general principles of natural or national law. The Spaniard, the Portuguese, the Italian, the Mexican, or Cuban, may worship his God, the Vir- gin Mary, or any saint he pleases, and no American will disturb him ; no American will forbid him. If he dies, his priests may have him buried where he will. This is as it should be. Man has a nat- ural right to worship God : it is a right implanted in his very nature. As well may we say to a man, thou shalt not breathe the air of our country, as say, thou shalt not worship the God that gave thee birth ; and as well also may we say, thou shalt not worship that God except according to the mode which we prescribe, as forbid him doing so at all. The natural right of worshipping God, or a first cause, implies the right of doing so according to the dictates of each man's conscience, provided, in doing it. we interfere with none of those laws, which civilized nations should reverence. This is the principle on* which we act with Popish coun- tries and p»eople. and upon th^ principle of recip- rocal justice, we ought to demand similar treatment from them. We have friendly treaties with these people. Friendly, forsooth 1 Can that man or that nation be friendly, who forbids us to read our Bibles within tljeir territories, or to bury^ our dead among their dead, or to Avorship God according to the usages of our forefathers, or the dictates of our own con- AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 55 science? Such treaties should rather be termed treaties for the abrogation of natural rights of Americans loithin Popish doTuinioiis. We enjoy no rights there ; and if we have any by impUcation, under our treaties, they are impiously wrested from us by a wicked rabble of priests and bishops, dis- tinguished only for their ignorance, rapacity, and licentiousness. I solemnly call upon every American citizen, who reveres his God, respects his fellow-citizens, or values the happiness of his country, to submit no longer to Popish insolence abroad, and to allow them no rights in this country, which they are not willing to reciprocate. If our existing treaties of amity with Popish powers are not sufficient to pro- test us in tlie free exercise of our religion, when among them, let us break them, let us tear them asunder, aud scatter them as chaft' before the wind. They were never binding upon us. They were made in violation of natural rights, which God alone could give, and man cannot take away. Call upon your government to protect you ; choose no man as your representative who will allow Popery to flourish in this free soil, and witness the religion ^ of your forefathers trampled upon, with impunity, by Papists in a neighboring country ; and if you cannot obtain your rights by law, you will show the world that you have, at least, moral and phys- ical courage enough to redress your wrongs. Let not Papists, who, at the distance of a few days' sail from your ports, would deny your brother the rights of Christian interment, or the consolation of dying with his Bible in his hand, dare call up- on your aid, to propagate a religion, which incul- cates principles worse and more dangerous than were ever practised in Pagan lands. 56 * SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, Much sympathy is felt and expressed, particu- larly in this state of Massachusetts, where I write, for some of her colored population, because it is deemed necessary, in slave states, to prevent them from commingling with their slaves, lest they may excite them to dissatisfaction with their condition, and ultimately to insurrection. It is deemed a matter of such magnitude that Massachusetts, in the plenitude of its sympathy, felt herself called upon to send an ambassador to South Carolina, to protect her citizens, and demand redress for this supposed outrage upon her rights. It is not my in- tention to enter into the merits or demerits of the question at issue between the states of Massachu- setts and South Carolina. I will merely state, that the former consists in this, viz : by a law of the state of South Carolina, every free person of color, entering that state, is liable to be im.prisoned till he leaves the state. This is done by South Carolina and some other slave states, as a necessary measure of precaution ; but the prisoner is kindly treated ; at least, we hear nothing to the contrary ; no such complaint is made by Massachusetts. The prisoner is allowed the free exercise of his religion ; his friends may visit him almost at any hour; his spiritual instructor is never denied access to him ; he may have his Bible with him, or any other books he may think proper. But this will not satisfy the sympathizing people of Massachusetts. They call public meetings of their citizens ; threaten to dissolve the union ; and declare they will raise a sufficient military force to invade South Carolina, and redress this outrage upon a citizen's rights, at the point of the bayonet. Man is truly a strange being, and various indeed are the currents of his sympathies, but still more va- AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 5% rious and unaccountable are the causes which often set them in motion. It is comparatively but seldom, that a colored citizen of the North goes to slave states ; but if there should be the least infraction of his civil rights, the whole North flies into a pas- sion ; and yet this very people of the North can see the citizens of their own country, kindred, and blood, in a neighboring Popish port of Havana, for instance, deprived of all their rights, both conven- tional and natural, without a murmur. Not a com- plaint is heard in New England, from the son, whose father is confined in the dungeons of Cuba, not because he is suspected of any intention to cre- ate insurrection, but simply because he refused to kneel to some wooden image, which a parcel of debauched priests are lugging about the streets ; or because he expresses his belief that such pro- cessions and mummeries are worse than Pagan idolatry. The American Protestant, who will dare worship his God publicly, or even in private, within the walls of his own house, unless with closed doors, and without the knowledge of the Popish spies of the Inquisition, is liable to imprisonment, from which, in all probability, he is never to be released. If a Bible be found in his house, it is burned, and he and his family are cast into jail. This is the case in every country where the Popish church has power enough to make its religion that of the state ; and yet we have treaties of amity with these countries. What a burlesque upon amity ! what a mockery of friendly relations, with a people who deny us the exercise of the natural right which every man has, to worship God as he pleases ! who compel our lathers, brothers, and our sons, to bow the knee, in idolatrous worship, to 58 STN'OPSIS OF POPERY; wooden images, and particles of bread, which are paraded as Gorls. through the streets, in Roman Catholic countries. Friendly relations, forsooth, with a people who consider ns damned, and already consigned to perdition! And yet we hear no com- plaint in Massachusetts, of cruelties to our citizens; nothing is said of the violation of those friendly re- lations, secured to us by treaty, and annually de- clared by our presidents, in their messages, to exist and to be maintained between our people and those Popish countries. When we hear of an American citizen in Cuba, when we hear of his natural rights being trampled under foot, by Catholic governors, bishops, and priests, no complaint is made of a vio- lation of friendly alliance ; no meeting is called to express sympathy for the individual sufferer, or indignation against the treacherous government of Popery ; no act of our legislature has been passed, making appropriations to send ambassadors to these neighboring nations, for injuries done to our citi- zens ; and yet it is a well-known fact, that where one colored citizen of New England is imprisoned, for a few days, in South Carolina, there are a thou- sand of our enterprising seamen and merchants; con- fined in the dungeons of Spain. Italy, Portugal, Mexico, and Cuba, at our very door. How long will these outrages be tolerated ? A Popish captain comes here; the hands before the mast are Papists; the ship may have her chaplain, or may have as many little godsj and saints, indulgences, scapulas, beads, and rosaries, as they please : they may land, captain, crew, saints, and all, and no one molests them : but if an American ship arrives at the very port from which the other sailed, her captain and crew are forbidden even to carry their Bible on shore : but should the ship have a Protestant chaplain, and that chaplain AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 59 venture on shore, with his congregation of sailors — • all American freemen — he dare not take his Bible with him, or hold religious worship on this Popish soil ; and should this captain, chaplain, or any of the crew die, he is not allowed Christian burial^ unless he can buy the privilege from profligate priests, at an enormous sacrifice of money, and after certain purifications eff*ected by holy water, and smoking, which they call incense. This is what our government calls friendly relations. How long shall we be amused by the executive messages, annually informing us of receiving -'as- surances of friendship from Popish countries ? " Let the people take this subject into their own hands ; l.et them have no alliance, no treaty, no commerce with a people, who will deny them the right of worshipping God peaceably and respect- fully, or who will refuse them the right of burying their dead decently and with due solemnity. The treaties which are made with Papists begin, on their part, with the most solemn avowal of good faith, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They assure us of their friendly sentiments towards us under this solemn and awful sanction ; but no sootier is this promise made — no sooner have they pledged their honor, their faith, and all that is holy, to support it — than they disregard all those obliga- tions, feeling and believing that they are already dispensed with by their church, which teaches them to hold no faith with heretics. The priests, however, and bishops, more craft.y than the mass of their people, plead state necessity for withhold- ing from us privileges which we give them. This is a shallow pretext, and worthy only of the source from which it comes. Can any case be supposed, or any necessity arise, to violate the eternal princi- 60 SYNOPSIS Oi' POPERY, pies of right and wrong, of justice and truth? Are moral and national obligations anything more than mere dead letters and leaden rules, which can be bent by hands strong enough to do so, and to suit their own purposes and designs? Suppose a man in private life — suppose further, that man to be a Papist — he enters into a treaty of alliance and friendship with a Protestant: he calls God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to witness that he will fulfil his engagement; we can easily fancy the Protestant, within the jurisdiction of that Papist, reading his Bible, without interfering or any way molesting the individual within whose jurisdiction he is. Let us imagine this Protestant seized by the Papist, thrown into prison by him, while alive, and if dead, thrown away as food for the birds of prey. Would you call this fulfilling the obligations of friendship or friendly alliance ? Would the Protestant ever enter into such a treaty of alliance again ? Would not ever}^ Protestant who witnessed this transaction look upon the Pa- pist who committed it, even though he be but a private individual, as a bad man, with whom no further intercourse ought to be had? Assuredly, he would. But let it be borne in mind, that ac- tions do not change their nature ; immutable prin- ciples are always the same ; they do not change with the paucity or number of actors ; what is bad in an individual will be wrong in a nation, and in every individual of that nation. The only diflfer- ence is, that an act of perfidy and bad faith in a nation is, if possible, worse in itself, and infinitely more mischievous, than if committed by an in- dividual. Our political sophists may deay this, and gloss over the conduct of Popish governments towards AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 61 our citizens while among them ; but they cannot long hide from our people that the eternal laws of truth cannot be violated ; nor can their meaning be fritteVed away by the technicalities of treaties. Truth, whether moral or political, is like the sun of heaven ; it is but one — it is the same every where. It is sometimes clouded, it is true, but these clouds are momentary ; they pass away, and it shines again in its native brilliancy. The day is fast coming, and I trust it has even arrived, when Americans will see, that by a treaty of amity is not meant the right of shipping our commodities to Popish countries, and receiving theirs in exchange; reserving to one party the privilege of denying to the other a right dearer to him than all earthly considerations ; and which is guarantied to him by the eternal laws of God, while the other party is under no restraint as to the full and free enjoyment of those natural rights. And here, I beg leave to say to our legislators, that Protestant Americans, upon due reflection, will not long give their assent to any treaty, nor form an alliance with any coun- try, which shall deny them the free exercise of their religion. The American, w^ho will enter into an alliance with the Pope, or a Popish country, explicitly agrees to deny his God, and forswear the religion -of his forefathers. He virtually consents that the party with which he makes the agreement shall be privileged to curse and damn him, his country, his religion, and his rights. This needs no proof. Look around you, and see your citizens in Mexico denying their God by submitting to Popish laws, which forbid their worship according to the dic- tates of their conscience. Were your puritan fore- fathers to witness this, would they not exclaim, 6 62 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, ^^ Shame upon our degenerate sons, who will barter their religion and their birthright for the petty advantages of commerce ! " No wonder that Popish priests and Popish presses should call Americans cowards and the so7is of cowa?^ds. Who but a coward, and what but a nation of cowards, would surrender that liberty of conscience which, their forefathers purchased at the price of blood? This Americans do by assenting to a treaty Avith ^ny country which does not guarantee to them the right of worshipping God without hindrance. Americans will not forget, though they cannot too often be reminded of the fact, that those coun- tries where their feelings are thus outraged are, de facto, governed by the Pope and his vicegerents, whose actions for centuries back have proved them to have been no other than conspirators against the improvement and happiness of the human race. What were the means by which they Conducted their governments ? The very same that they are now in every Roman Catholic country, all over the globe ; craft, dissimulation, oppression, extortion, and above all, fire, faggot, and the sword. There is not an article of their faith, nor a sacrament of their church, which is not enforced by curses, as I shall show in the sequel. These vicegerents of the humble Redeemer have the insolence to ape the very thunders of heaven. History informs us, that their robes have been crimsoned in blood. Their images of saints, some of which I have seen in Mexico, made of solid gold, and many of them six feet high and well-proportioned, were wrung from the poor. Many of those countries, which they now pos- sess, and where God and nature have scattered plenty, have been made barren by Popish avarice, AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 63 and the licentiousness of its priests. The fields, which laughed with plenty, they have watered with hunger and distress. They found the world gay with flowers, and with roses: they dyed it with blood. They and their doctrines acted upon it like the blast of an east wind. Popery, since the eighth century in particular, has been what a pes- tilence or conflagration is to a city. Come with me, in imagination, to Italy, and judge for yourselves. Pass on with me, to Spain, Portugal, South America, and you will see that I am not exaggerating. You will find that I have only told truth, but not the whole truth. No tongue can tell it. We have no language to express it. I will give you a few instances of the fruits of Popery in the neighboring island of Cuba. What I am about stating has come under my own observation ; and is, besides, a matter of record, and accessible to many. The natives of Cuba pay fifteen millions per annum to her most Christian Majesty, the queen of Spain. They support an army of sixteen thousand men, every one of whom is a native of old Spain, kept there for the sole purpose of ex- torting this enormous annual tribute. The number of priests there is immense. They, too, must be supported at the point of the bayonet. These priests are known to b^ the most profligate vaga- bonds in creation. And why, it will naturally be asked, should such men be tolerated? Why supply them with money to gamble at the faro table, at cock-fights and bull-fights ? The reason is plain ; they act as spies for the Pope, who, in reality, manages the government of old Spain, and con- trives to draw, from that already impoverished and distracted country, the last dollar of a people whom God has endowed with every virtue, and a capacity 64 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, of cultivating them, had not the curse of Popery fallen upon them. Such is the avarice of the Popish church and Popish tyrants, that, if a farmer in Cuba kills even a beef for his own use, he must pay the govern- ment ten per cent, upon its value. When I weis in Cuba, the farmer must pay ten and a half dollars duty upon every barrel of flour imported into the island ; when he might raise, in the field, before his own door, the finest wheat in the world, if the gov- ernment would let him. Such are but a few of the blessings of Popish goverments. Do Americans desire this republic reduced to such a state of vas- salage as this ? or will you profit by these lessons, which experience is daily teaching you ? Wherever you turn your eyes, and see Popery in the ascendant, you will find it the Pandora's box, out of which every curse has issued; without even leaving hope behind. It should, therefore, be suppressed on its appearance in any country. It should be the duty of every good man to extirpate it, and sweep it, if possible, from the face of the globe. It is nothing better than a political machine, cunningly devised, for the propagation of despotism. It is the mas- terpiece of Satanic wickedness. Execrated and exploded be this infernal machine ! and thanks forever be to that God, who has shown me its in- tricacies, in time to save me from becoming what, I know of my own knowledge, Roman Catholic priests are — hypocrites, infidels, and licentious debauchees, under the mask of sanctity and holi- ness. Their religion is supported by curses^ as I have before stated, and will now prove from the doctrines of their own church. The reader has al- ready been told, that the Popish church maintains the doctrines that a belief in seven sacraments is AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 65 necessary to salvation. These sacraments are desig- nated as follows : Baptism^ Confirmation^ Eucha^ rist, Penance^ Extreme Unction^ Holy Orders^ and Mati^imony, And she enforces this by curses, I have ah-eady enumerated the curses with which she en- forces her belief in baptism. The next sacrament is Confirmation, enforced by the following eloquent curses, pronounced by the infallible council of Trent : — *' 1. Whoever shall say that the confirmation of baptized persons is a needless ceremony, and not rather a true and proper sacrament : or that ancient- ly it was nothing else than a kind of catechizing, by which the youth expressed the reason of their faith before the church ; let him be accursed ! ^'2. Whoever shall say that they do despite to the Holy Spirit who attributes any virtue to the holy chrism of confirmation'; let him be accursed! *'3. Whoever shall say, the ordinary minister of holy confirmation is not the bishop alone, but any mere priest whatsoever ; let him be accursed ! " The next sacrament is the Eucharist. The fol- lowing is the doctrine of the Romish church in re- lation to this : — Decree of the Council of Florence for the Instruc" tion of the Ar^nenians, ^' The third is the sacrament of the Eucharist, the matter of. which is wheaten bread, and wine from the vine; with which, before the consecration, a very small quantity of water should be mixed. But water is thus mixed, since it is believed that the Lord himself instituted this sacrament in wine, mixed with water: besides, because this agrees with the representation of our Lord's passion : be- cause it is recorded that blood and water flowed 6* 66 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, forth from the side of Christ : and also because this is proper to signify the effect of this sacrament, which is the union of Christian people with Christ : for water signifies the people, according to Rev. xvii. 15. And he said to ?7ie, the waters, ichich thou sawest, lohere the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and nations, and tongues. ^^ The form of this sacrament are the words of the Saviour, by which this sacrament is performed : for the priest, speaking in the person of Christ, per- forms this sacrament : for, by virtue of the words themselves, the substance of the bread is converted into the body, and the substance of the wine into the blood, of Christ ; yet so that Christ is con- tained entire under the form of bread, and entire under the form of wine : Christ is entire also under every part of the consecrated host, and of the con- secrated wine, after a separation has been made. The effect of this sacrament, which it produces in the soul of a worthy partaker, is the union of the person to Christ," &c. Canons of the Council of Trent, concerning the Most Holy Sacrament of the Euchai^ist. ^^ 1. Whoever shall deny that, in the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist are contained truly, re- ally, and substantially, the body and blood, togeth- er with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore the entire Christ, but shall say that he is in it only as in a sign, or figure,' or virtue ; let him be accursed ! '^2 Whoever shall say that in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, the substance of bread and wine remains together with the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and shall deny that wonder- ful and singular conversion of the whole substance AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 67 of the bread into the body, and of the whole sub- stance of the wine into the blood, only the forms of bread and wine remaining, which conversion indeed the Catholic church most aptly calls tran- substantiation ; let him be accursed ! ^'3 Whoever shall deny that in the adorable sacrament of the Eucharist, the entire Christ is contained under each kind, and under the single parts of each kind, when a separation is made ; let him be accursed ! ^^ 4. Whoever shall say that the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are not present in the ad- mirable Eucharist so soon as the consecration is f^erformed, but only in the use when it is received, and neither before nor after, and that the true body , of our Lord does not remain in the hosts, or con- secrated morsels, which are reserved or left after the communion ; let him be accursed ! ^^5. Whoever shall say either that remission of sins is the principal fruit of the most holy Eucha- rist, or that no other effects proceed from it ; let him be accursed ! ^- 6. Whoever shall afRrm that in the holy sacra- ment of the Eucharist, Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, is not to be adored, even with the ex- ternal worship of latria, and therefore that the Eucharist is to be honored neither with peculiar festive celebration, nor to be solemnly carried about in processions according to the laudable and uni- versal rite and custom of the church, or that it is not to be held up publicly before the people that it may be adored, and that its worshippers are idolaters ; let him be accursed ! " 7. Whoever shall say that it is not lawful that the holy Eucharist be reserved in the sacristy, but that it must necessarily be distributed to those who 68 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, are present immediately after the consecration ; or that it is not proper that it be carried in procession to the sick ; let him be accursed ! ^^ 8. Whoever shall say that Christ, as exhibited in the Encharist, is eaten only spiritually, and not also sacramentally and really ; let him be accursed ! ^' 9. Whoever shall deny that each and every one of Christ's faithful, of both sexes, when they have attained to years of discretion, are obliged, at least once every year, at Easter, to qommune ac- cording to the precept of holy mother church; let him be accursed! '^ 10. Whoever shall say that it is not lawful for the officiating priest to administer the communion to himself ; let him be accursed ! " 11. Whoever shall affirm that faith alone is a sufficient preparation for taking the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist ; let him be accursed ! And lest so great a sacrament be taken unworthily, and therefore to death and condemnation, the said holy synod doth decree and declare, that sacra- mental confession must necessarily precede in the case of those whom conscience accuses of mortal sin, if a confessor is at hand, however contrite they may suppose themselves to be. But if any one shall presume to teach, preach, or pertinaciously assert, or in publicly disputing, to defend the con- trary, let him by this very act be excommunicated." Canons of the same Council concer?iing the Com- miinion of Children^ and in both Kinds. ^' 1. Whoever shall say that each and every one of Christ's faithful ought to take both kinds of the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, by the com- mand of God, or because necessary to salvation ; let him be accursed ! AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 69 ^^2. Whoever shall say that the holy Catholic church has not been induced, by just causes and reasons, to administer the communion to the laity, and also to the clergy not officiating, only under the form of bread ; or that she has erred in this ; let him be accursed ! ^^3. Whoever shall deny that the whole and entire Christ, the fountain and author of all graces, is received under the one form of bread, because, as some falsely assert, he is not received under both kinds, according to the institution of Christ ; let him be accursed ! " 4. Whoever shall say that the communion of the Eucharist is necessary for little children be- fore they have attained to years of discretion ; let him be accursed! " &c. The next in order is Extreme Unction. Canons of the Council of Trent concerning Extreme Unction. *' I. Whoever shall say that extreme unction is not truly and properly a sacrament instituted by Christ our Lord, and promulgated by the blessed apostle James, but only a rite received from the fathers, or a human invention ; let him be accursed ! ''2. Whoever shall say that the sacred anointing of the sick does not confer grace, nor remit sins, nor raise up the sick, but that it has now ceased, as if the gift of healing existed only in past ages ; let him be accursed ! ^^ 3. Whoever shall say that the ceremony of extreme unction in the practice which the holy Roman church observes, are repugnant to the meaning of the blessed apostle James, and that, therefore, they are to be changed ; let him be accursed ! " The sixth sacrament is that of Orders. 70 Canons of the Council of Trent cmicerning Orders, *^ 1. Whoever shall say that in the New Testa- ment, there is not a visible and external priesthood : or that there is not any power of consecrating and ofTering the true body and blood of the Lord, and of remitting and retaining sins r but only the office and naked ministry of preaching the gospel ; or that they who do not preach are surely not priests; let him be accursed ! *' 2. Whoever shall say that besides the priest- hood there are not other orders in the Catholic church, both greater and inferior, by which as by certain steps, the priesthood may be attained; let him be accursed ! '^3. Whoever shall say that orders, or sacred or- dination, is not truly and properly a sacrament instituted by Christ the Lord ; or that it is a cer- tain human invention, devised by men ignorant of ecclesiastical things, or that it is only a certain ceremony of choosing the ministers of the word of God and of the sacraments ; let him be ac- cursed ! ^' 4. Whoever shall say that by sacred ordination the Holy Spirit is not given, and that therefore the bishops say in vain, Receive the Holy Ghost : or that by it character is not impressed : or that he who has once been a priest may again become a layman ; let him be accursed ! '• 5. Whoever shall say that the sacred unction which the church uses in holy ordination is not only not required, but is contemptible and perni- cious ; likewise also the other ceremonies of orders; let him be accursed ! "• 6. Whoever shall say that in the Catholic church there is not a hierarchy instituted by divine ^ AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 71 appointment, which consists of bishops, priests, and ministers ; let him be accursed ! *^ 7. Whoever shall say that bishops are not su- perior to priests, or that they have not the power of confirming and ordaining; or that which they have is common to them with the priests ; or that orders conferred by them without the consent or call of the people or the secular power, are imll and void; or that they who have been neither duly ordained nor sent by" ecclesiastical and canon- ical power, but come from some other source, are lawful ministers of the word and sacraments ; let him be accursed ! ^^ 8. Whoever shall say that the bishops, who are appointed by the authority of the Roman pon- tiff, are not lawful and true bishops, but a human invention ; let him be accursed ! " Canons of the Council of Ti^ent concerning Marriage, ^^ 1. Whoever shall say that marriage is not truly and properly one of the seven sacraments of tlie evangelical laws instituted by Christ the Lord, but that it is invented by men in the church and does not confer grace ; let him be accursed ! ^'2. Whoever shall say that it is lawful for Christians to have several wives at once, and that this is forbidden by no divine law ; let him be accursed ! ^'3. Whoever shall say that only those degrees of relationship and affinity, which are expressed in Leviticus, can hinder marriage from being con- tracted, and annul the contract; and that the church cannot disjx^nse in any of them, or appoint that more may hinder and annul ; let him be accursed ! '^4. Whoever shall say that the Church could 72 ^ SYNOPSIS OF fOPKRY, ♦ not constitute impediments annulling marriage', or that in cou^ituting tiiem, she has erred ; let him be accursed ! '' 5. Whoever shall say that the bond of mar- riage may be dissolved on account of heresy, or mutual dislike, or voluntary absence from the hus- band or wife ; let him be accursed ! *^ 6. Whoever shall say that a marriage solem- nized, but not consummated, is not annulled by^he solemn profession of a religious order by one of the parties ; let him be accursed ! '' 7. Whoever shall say that the church errs, when she has taught and teaches that according to the evangelical and apostolical doctrine, the bond of marriage cannot be dissolved on account of the adultery of one or the other of the parties, and that neither of them, not even the innocent party who has given no cause for the adultery, may con- tract another marriage, whilst the party is livings and that he commits adultery, who marries another after putting away his adulterous wife^ or she, who marries another, after putting av/ay her adulterous husband ; let him be accursed ! '^ 8. Whoever shall say that the church is in error when, for many reasons, she decrees that a separation may be made between married persons, as to the bed, or as to intercourse, either for a cer- tain, or an uncertain time; let him be accursed. '^ 9. Whoever shall say that the clergy, consti- tuted in sacred order, or regulars, who have solemn- ly professed chastity, may contract marriage, and that the contract is valid, notwithstanding ecclesi- astical la^^v, or vow, and that to maintain the oppo- site, is nothing else than to condemn marriage ; and that all may contract marriage, who do not think that they have the gift of chastity, even though they have vowed it ; let him be accursed : as God AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 73 does not deny this to those who seek it aright, nor does he suffer us to be tempted above what we are able to bear. ^' 10. Whoever shall say that the married state is to be preferred to a state of virginity, or celibacy, and that it is not better and more blessed to remain in virginity, or celibacy, than to be joined in mar- riage ; let him be accursed ! '^ 11. Whoever shall affirm that the prohibition of the solemnization of marriage, at certain times of the year, is a tyrannical superstition^ borrowed from the superstitions of the Pagans, or shall con- demn the benedictions, and other ceremonies, which the church uses at those times ; let him be ac- cursed ! *^ i2. Whoever shall affirm that matrimonial causes do not belong to the ecclesiastical judges ; let him be accursed ! " The atrocity of the above doctrines, is evident to every reflecting mind. Protestants can now see for themselves, whether they can safely hold any communion with them, or have any confide^nce an Roman Catholics. There is not a Protestant Christian in the United States, nor in the world, who is not publicly and solemnly denounced, as an accursed being, by the Roman Catholic church, and by each and every one of its members ; but in addition to those curses, which I have enumerated, there is another more solemn ) one which is anmi- alty pronounced against them, by the Pope of Rome, and by every bishop and priest in this country. It is known by the title of Bulla in cend Domini, The curse contained in this bull, is pronounced annually at Rome, by the Pope, on Thursday before Good Friday. It includes every living being who is not a Roman Catholic. AH our pres- 7 74 * SYNOrSlG OF P OP Elif, idents, vice-presidents, members of congress, gov- ernors, magistrates, municipal authorities, officers of our navy and armVy all our Protestant clergy- men, whether Unitarians, Presbyterians, Episcopa- lians, Baptists, or Methodists : and upon all these,, without distinction, the Pope of Rome, dressed in his royal robes, invokes the curse of Heaven, once at least every year. Every priest in the Roman church is bound to do the same. It was a part of my own duty, and one which I never failed to dis- charge, uotil 1 protested against the doctrines of the Romish church. The Popish priests never deemed it prudent to pronounce this curse publicly, in the United States, but while I was among them,, we ne^er omitted to do so privately, on the morn- ing of Thursday before Good Friday. It com- mences- with the following words on. the part of the Pope : — *' We, therefore, following the ancient custom of our predecessors, of holy memory, do firstly — ex- communicate and curse, in the name of Almighty God, Fath-er, Sou, and Holy Ghost,, and by the au-. thority of St. Peter and St. Paul, and by our own authority, all Heretics,- Hussites, Wickliffites, Lii- therans, Calvinists, Huguenots, Anabaptists, Trinita- rians, and all apostates from th^ faith,, and all who read their books," &c., &c. This curse includes every soul in the United States^ who is not a Roman. Catholic. Will you, Americans give these meu and their doctrines footing among you ? Will they longer dare to curse you and your children with impunity ? In the 6th section of the above bull, the Pope and his priests curse all civil powers, who impose taxes without the consent of the Roman court. In the 13th section, they curse all who maltreat A3 IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 75 cardinals, bishops, or priests. You are, therefore, to take heed and not quarrel with priests, though they insult your wives, or debauch your families. In the 15th section, all are cursed, who take away jurisdiction from the court of Rome, and prefer leaving causes of difference between them and priests, to our civil tribunals. In the 17th section, all are cursed, who- in any case appeal to civil tribunals, when the difficulty is between Romish priests and citizens. In the 18th section, the Pope curses all who take away church property. In the 19th section, the Pope curses all who, without express license from him, impose taxes on priests, monasteries, nunneries, or churches. Our legislature is sitting while I write. Take heed, gentlemen, lest you tax the Roman Catholic bishop Fenwick, or any of his priests. Be sure you do not tax his real estate, his nunneries, or other property. If you do, you are doubly damned. In the 20th section, the church curses all judges, and magistrates, who shall sit in judgment on a bishop or priest, without license from the holy see. In the 22d section, this bull is declared to be bind- ing forever, and it is brought to a conclusion by a solemn assurance that if any priest shall violate it, he shall incur the wrath of Almighty God, and of St. Peter and Paul. I would again ask Americans whether Roman Catholic priests, or bishop, or the two millions of followers which they have in this country, are any longer to be trusted. I tell Americans, and I pro- claim it to the world, that they are spies upon our re- public ; they are the sworn foes of our laws, of our principles, and of our government; and they are united by the most fearful oath never to rest while ib our religious liberty lasts, and to use every means which ingenuity can devise, and treachery and per- jury accomplish, to effect its overthrow, and substi- tute in its place, the religion of the Pope ; a religion, if such a name can be given to a most infamous system of policy, which for sixteen hundred years has deluged Europe in blood. I make these assertions, not at random, not upon hearsay, not upon the authority of Protestant wri- ters, but upon that of Roman Catholic theologians, and upon my own personal knowledge. I solemnly declare it to be my deliberate opinion, that it is the duty of all civil governments on the face of the earth, to unite in exchiding, from their territories, all Roman Catholic priests and bishops, as their deadly enemies, and the sworn transgressors of all national law ; and for us in this country to counte- nance them, while they have any connection with the Pope of Rome, or profess to owe him any alle- giance, is nothing short of a species of insanity. The bull of which I have spoken, is taught in every Roman Catholic college in the United States. The students in those institutions are educated in the belief that their chlirch, which is infallible, re- quires of them to be unfaithful to this heretical government, and not only that, but to betray it, whenever the interest of the church demands it. Every Irish Roman Catholic priest, who comes to this country, is instructed by his bishop, to pull down, if possible, the standard of heresy, which he is told he will find waving over the United States, and erect in its place that of the Pope, which he swears to defend. These are the principles of priests and their fol- lowers, who are coming amongst you in thousands ; whom you have encouraged for the last fifty years, until at last, you have emboldened them, by your AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. ' 77 mistaken sensibility and mock philanthropy, to say and proclaim to the universe, Americaiis shanH rule us. This was their motto, during the last presidential election ; a motto devised and blessed by those turbulent demagogues and pensioned agents of the Pope, in New York. But they are not the only Papists who have proclaimed that Americans shall not rule them. The same has been done in Philadelphia and Boston. These men are at the bottom of all the riots, tumults, and popular commotions, v/hich have occurred in this country for several years back. Witness the disturbances in Philadelphia, in 1821 and 1822, by an Irish bishop, ki trying to get possession, in the name of the Pope, of church property, estimated to bp worth over a mil- lion of dollars. (I shall refer to this hereafter.) Witness the riots in the same city last May, where several A^iericans have been sacrificed to the fury of a Popish mob. Witness the proceeding in this city of Boston, on the occasion of a nun having made her escape from the convent in Charlestovvn,to avoid, I have no doubt, what delicacy forbade her to men- tion. Other causes were assigned for her escape, and some were weak enough to deem them sufficient ; but from my own knowledge of convents, there can be no doubt of the real cause of the escape of the virtuous young lady, of whom mention is made. Here is another instance of the morbid and mis- taken sensibility of many of our people. A certain number of Popish agents have applied to our legis- lature to build a jail^ which they call a convent, in our very midst. To this jail, they attach a school, for the education of young ladies, and for this ostensible purpose, numbers of older ones are kept in the jail or convent, by the Pope's ligents. 78 • SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, The young ladies, who are sent to this school, are treated with kindness and attention ; every thing is done to please, to flatter them, and even to cultivate their minds. The interior of the jail or nunnery is depicted in the most delightful colors. The hap- piness of the inmates is said to be equal to the saints in paradise. No opportunity is lost to impress on the minds of their pupils, the temporal as well as eternal beatitudes of this convent, until, finally, the young minds of the scholars become perfectly enchanted, and, in the full glow of their youthful imagination, they determine to become NUNS. This step, too, they are taught to take with apparent caution ; they must serve a noviciate, go through all the ceremony of wearing a white veil ; the old nuns representing to them the happiness they are about to enjoy, Avhen they are about to assume the black veil. But when this is done, the poor innocent victims soon feel the horrors of their condition. They are confined to solitary cells, to which no one has access but the priests, and thus, in our very midst, a free born American citizen is seduced from her parents, from her guardians, and fellow-citizens, and no one is permitted to go and ask her freely how she likes her condition. She is confined there with more severity, and watched more closely, than any female in a Turkish Seragl- io ; and as we all recollect, a few years ago, a Popish bishop, Avith his priests, and some thousands of their subjects^ viz., Irish Papists, threatened to sack the city of Boston, because the people deemed it necessary to pull down that synagogue of satan, the Charlestown nunnery. I am not an advocate of mobs or riots ; I would observe the law of the land, and see it enforced at every risk ; but there is a point .bX which no man would support even the civil law. AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 79 There are laws founded upon necessity, and the eter- nal laws of morality, which have a paramount claim upon our allegiance. Suppose some hoary-headed profligate should obtain a charter to build a house on Mount Benedict ; suppose further, he attaches a school to it, to be governed by the faded victims of jiis former dissipation, with a view of making money for himself ; suppose he and they had the address to gather around them some of the most innocent, lovely, and respectable females in the country ; let us even suppose that ninety-nine in a hundred of those young ladies left that school with unblemished reputation and high accomplishments ; and we had that evidence that only one in a hundred fell victims to the designs of the founders of this corrupt institution; who would hesitate to determine what should be done with this institution, or this nunnery, as Roman Catholic priests would call it? An answer is not necessary. But suppose the hoary-headed gentleman should apply to the le- gislature to rebuild it, would they do so ? There was a time when their acquaintance with Popery might have induced them to say aye, if such a reso- lution were introduced ; but now that they have seen Popery in its native colors, withered should be the tongue of him who Avould advance such a proposition ; and paralyzed should be the arm of the American who would support it. But it may be replied, that the Roman Catholic church is diff'er- ent now from what it was in ancient times ; that it has essentially changed in its doctrine and in its discipline. Others may say that Protestants, too, have been in- tolerant, and guilty of many cruelties, in the propa- gation of their religion. This is freely admitted ; but there is this wide diff*erence between the two religions. The Popish creed inculcates persecution 80 and utter extermination of all who do not believe in its doctrines ; while on the contrary, the creed of the latter has never, and does not now, inculcate any other doctrine, than Jesus Christ, and him cru- cified. In plain English, the Romish church curses all who differ -from her ; while the Protestant church blesses all, though they may be in error, and sincerely prays for their conversion. The spirit of the latter breathes nothing but love, joy, peace, and good will to mankind ; that of the former, mal- ice, hatred, ill will, and persecution. This has been her uniform theory from the middle of the third century, and as I will now show you, from the lips of her own divines, and canonized saints, her members have never ceased to reduce it to practice, Cyril, who is to this day invoked, and prayed to as a saint, taught and practised the above Romish doctrine. He was bishop of Alexandria, in the year four hundred and twelve. There is not a Roman Catholic, who is not taught to pray to him ; and, of course, they can have no objection to my giving him as authority. Whatever St. Cyril believed, is believed by Papists now. Whatever he did was right, and according to sound doctrine ; consequently as Holy Mother, the church, never errs, and never can err, it must be right now. Let us see what this saint has done and believed, in his time. Socrates, a native of Constantinople, gives the following account of a portion of the life of St. Cyril, and other bishops of Alexandria. I take it from his ecclesiastical history. The bishops of Alexandria had begun, says Soc- rates, to exceed the limits of ecclesiastical power, and to intermeddle with civil affairs, imitating, thereby, the bishop of Rome, whose sacred author- ity had, long since, been changed into dominion and empire. AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 81 The governors of Alexandria, looking upon the increase of the Romish episcopal power as a dim- inution of the civil, watched the bishops, in order to restrain them within the limits of the spiritual, and prevent their encroaching on the temporal jurisdiction. But Cyril, from the very beginning of his episcopacy, bade defiance to civil power, act- ing in such manner as showed but too plainly that he would be kept within no bounds. Soon after his installation, he caused, by his own authority, the churches, which the Novitians were allowed to have in Alexandria, to be shut up, seized on the sacred utensils, and plundering the house of their bishop, Theapemptus, drove him out of the city, stripped of every thing he possessed. Not long after this, Cyril put himself at the head of a Christian mob, and, without the knowledge of the governor, took possession of the Jewish synagogue, drove the Jews out of Alexandria, pillaged their houses, and allowed the Christiajis — all Papists — who were concerned with him in the riot, to appropriate to themselves all their effects. This the governor highly resented, and not only rebuked Cyril very severely, for thus encroaching on his jurisdiction, and usurping a power that did not belong to him, but wrote to the emperor, complaining of him for snatching the sword of justice from him, to put it into the hands of the undeserving multitude. This occasioned a misunderstanding, or rather an avowed enmity between St. Cyril and the gov- ernor. With the saint sided the clergy, the greater part of the mob, and the monks; with the gov- ernor, the soldiery and the better class of citizens. As the two parties were strangely animated against each other, there happened daily skirmishes in the streets of Alexandria. The friends of the gov- 82 ernor, generally speaking, made their party good, having the soldiery on their side. But one day, as the governor was going out in his chariot, attended by his guards, he found himself, very unexpectedly, surrounded by no fewer than five hundred monks. The monks were, in those days, the standing army of the bishops, but are now of the Pope's alone. The monks in the service of St. Cyril, having sur- rounded the governor's chariot, dispersed the small guard that attended it, fell upon him, dangerously wounded him, and determined to put an end to the quarrel between him and St. Cyril, by taking his life. The citizens, alarmed at his danger, flew to his rescue, put the cowardly monks to flight, and having seized on the monk by whom the governor was wounded, delivered him into his hands. The governor, to deter others, caused the monk to be put to death. But St. Cyril, partly to reward the zeal which the monk had exerted in attempting to assassinate his antagonist, caused him to be honored as a holy martyr. The partizans of St. Cyril, en- raged at the death of the monk, and under the advice of this Romish saint, determined to revenge it ; and the person they singled out among the friends of the governor to wreak their rage and revenge on, was one who, of all the inhabitants of Alexandria, deserved it the least. This was the famous and celebrated Hypatia, the wonder of her age for beauty, for virtue, and knowledge. She kept a public school of philosophy in Alexandria, where she was born, and her reputation was so great, that not only disciples flocked from all parts to hear her, but the greatest philosophers used to consult her as an oracle, with respect to the most abstruse points of astronomy, geometry, and the AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 83 Platonic philosophy, which she was particularly well versed in. Though she was very beautiful, and freely conversed witli men of all ranks, yet they were so awed by her known virtue and mod- esty, that none ever presumed to show, in her pres- ence, the least symptom of passion. The gov- ernor entertained the highest opinion of her abili- ties, often consulted her, and in all perplexed cases governed himself by her advice. As she was the person in Alexandria whom he most valued, St. Cyril and his friends, to wound him the more effectually, entered into a conspiracy to destroy this beautiful and innocent lady. This barbarous resolution being taken, as she was one day returning home in her chariot, a band of the dregs of the people, encouraged and headed by one of St. Cyril's priests, attacked her in her chariot, pulled her out of it, and throwing her on' the ground, dragged her to the great church called Csesareum ; there they stripped her naked, and with sharp tiles, either brought with them or found there, continued cutting, tearing, and mangling her flesh, till nature, yielding to pain, she expired under their hands. Her death did not satisfy their rage and fury. They tore her body in pieces, dragged her mangled limbs through all the streets of Alex- andria, and then gathering them together, burned them. Such was the end of the famous Hypatia, the most learned person of the age she lived in ; but she was not a Roman Catholic. Can you, Americans, believe that this very Cyril is now a saint in the Roman Catholic church ; that he is daily prayed to, honored, and worshipped by Pa- pists ? Can you believe that the Catholics Avhom you employ in your houses, the nuns to whom you intrust the education of your children, daily invoke the intercession of this murderous Cyril ? 84 SYNOPSIS OF POPER^'^, And think you, fellow-citizens, that the spirit of the Popish bishop, Cyril, has died with him, or that the church, which approved of his conduct, would refuse to sanction a similar act at this day ? If you do, you are mistaken. Was the conduct of Cyril ever censured by the church? Were the murders and atrocities which he com.mitted, and caused to be committed, even disapproved by the holy mother ? If they were, I would ask at what council was it done ? Where and when was such a council held ? Who was the presiding Pope ? The fact is, so far from incurring the displeasure of the Romish church, this notorious Popish mur- derer of Jews and heretics was canonized and sainted; and similar distinctions would be now awarded to him who would commit similar crimes, if his holiness the Pope deemed it prudent to have such crimes committed. We saw an instance of the spirit which act- uated Cyril, some years ago, in this city, when, in the case of the Ursuline Convent, to which I have already referred, every Papist within fifty miles of Boston, who was able to bear arms, volun- teered his aid to his bishop, in taking vengeance upoQ our citizens, merely because they would not sanction among them the existence of a house, called a nunnery, and used as a jail, for the con- finement of some of our most virtuous females, against their will. Had Miss Reed, who escaped from that den of profligacy, been caught by her Popish pursuers, and without the knowledge of our citizens, what would have been her fate ? She might not have been torn to pieces, as Hypatia was, but her torments wonld not have been less cruel. She would have been kept upon her bare knees, perhaps ten hours in the twenty-four, for months. .>S IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 85 She would be obliged to pray to the same aS'^. Cyril, and a string of such vagabonds, for the re- mission of her sins. She would be compelled to kiss the ground and lick it with her tongue, at stated intervals, and bread and water her diet, until the zeal of her holy confessors was perfectly satis- fied. And if those who aided her escape were de- tected, what would have been their fate ? " Thanks to our republican government, they could not be punished in this country ; but had they committed the deed under a purely Catholic government, the infallible church would consign them to the inqui- sition, and have broken them upon the rack. This is the church, and her members are the men, whom you are countenancing amongst you. The Romish church never surrendered the right which she once claimed of destroying heretics. She only suspends it for the moment, until her strength and numbers shall enable her to enforce it. But there are some who will not believe this, especially when Catholic priests and bishops deny it. Many Protestants, who are natives of this country, and unacquainted with Roman Catholic doc- trines, will not believe it. Many, even, of our Protestant clergymen will scarcely believe it^ such is the. craft and consummate falsehood of priests and bishops, that I have never met with one Protestant who entertained the most remote idea that keeping no faith with heretics, and persecuting them to death, formed any portion of the doctrine of the church of Rome. This is owing to the fact of their being born in a free country, at a distance from the seat of Rom- ish power, and their having little access and no acquaintance with the standard works of Popery. Many, even, of the native born Americans, who S 86 SYNOPSIS OF POPEir/j have become Roman Catholics, "know little or nothing of the doctrines of the church into which they have permitted themselves to be seduced. I will hazard the assertion, that there are not ten lay members amongst them, in the United States, who have read the works of Belarmine, the canons, or decrees of the various councils that have been held in the Popish church, or even the corpus juris ca- nonici, containing the decrees of the council of Trent. If the writings of De La Hogue, used in the college of Maynooth, Ireland, or the works of An- toine or Den, taught in that college when I was a student there, were thoroughly read, and the doc- trines contained in those standard works of Popery understood, there is not a moral man living who would not shun the church of Rome, as a thing too unclean, too impure, too licentious, too wicked, too corrupt, and of too persecuting a character to be allowed to exist at all. This their priests well know ; and, having recently discovered that a few copies of Den's "Theology" had found their way into this country, they have the unblushing effrontery to deny that his work was ever approved of by the church, or was ever received as such in any college in Ireland. I studied in the college of Maynooth, and have read speculative theology under Dr. De La Hogue, and moral theology under Dr. Antoine, in the same class with several priests now in this country^ and among other works which we read in that class was the " Moral Theology " of the Rev. Peter Den ; especially his treatise de Peccatis. I have the pleasure of an acquaintance with some native Americans who are become Roman Catholics. They are men of honor, moral worth, and possess highly cultivated minds. They were AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 87 religious men ; and deeming a connection with some ciiurch to be necessary, and seeing nothing of the Romish church but its seductive and impos- ing ceremonies, they united themselves with it, or, if they happened to hesitate in joining it, and deemed it necessary to consult with Catholic priests and bishops, these crafty Jesuits soon fur- nished them with Catholic works manufactured for such occasions, and unobjectionable to the most pious Christian ; taking good care, at the same time, to keep out of their way such works as I have alluded to, from w^hich they may learn that there is no religion in the Popish church, and that it is np more than a political machine, devised for the suppression of republicanism, knowledge, and the liberties of man. Let us pass over the time which intervened be- tween the fourth and twelfth centuries. The his- tory of the Popes and the Romish church, during that period, is replete with crimes committed by Popes, and atrocities sanctioned by the church, at the bare mention of which humanity shudders. The very earth is almost saturated with the blood which Popish despots caused to be shed under the mask of religion, but, in reality, for the advance- ment of their own temporal power. I will now show that the spirit of Cyril had not died with him. Daring th^ reign of Pope Inno- cent III., that holy pontiff discovered that there was, in the province of Narbonne and in several other provinces of the south of France, a religious sect, called the Albigenses, who presumed to differ from the Romish church, and had the audacity to beliQve that the Bible was the only rule of faith. They rejected the external rites of the Romish church, except baptism and the Lord's supper. 88 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, They had no faith in images, indulgences, and Other such semi-pagan mummeries. Auricular confession and the forgiveness of sins by man they rejected as impious. They looked upon nunneries as places of sin, instituted by priests, as a sort of substitute for the marriage of the clergy. They demolished such of them as were in existence among them, and declared the marriage of the clergy as lawful and honorable. They scouted at the idea of the temporal jurisdiction of the Pope over the nations of the earth, and looked upon him as emphatically the Man of Sin. These orimes, of course, were not long over- looked by the infallible church I They were here- sies. These people were heretics, and the holy mother, in the plenitude of her affection for her strayed children, determined that they should be exterminated. But how was this to be done? The holy father, Pope Innocent III., was not long in determining. He sent two spies amongst them, of the names of Guy and Regnier. These were Monks, whose hands were already stained with blood. They were empowered by the Pope, to use their own discretion in checking the her- esy of the Albigenses by fire, sword, faggot, or the inquisition, which employed all those means upon such occasions. The Albigenses however, w^ere so numerous, their lives so pure, so chaste and correct, that this was not easily accomplished ; and his holiness had to preach a crusade against them, and pub- lished «i bull addressed to all the authorities of southern France, declaring them accursed and ex- communicated, and giving absolution to all who should murder them and take possession of their property. Here are the words of the bull. ^*Ac- AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 89 cordiag to the canonical sanctions of the holy fathers, no faith ought to be kept with those who do not keep faith with God, or are separated from the communion of the faithful " — Papists. *^ We release, by our apostoHcal authority, all those who deem themselves bound to them by any oath, either of alliance or fealty ; we permit every Catholic man to seize their persons, to take their lands, and keep them for the purpose of extirpa- ting heresy." Here, Americans, is a specimen of true, genuine Popery, as Innocent expresses it, ^'-sanctioned by the canons and holy fathers of the Romish church,^^ People of New England, what think you of it ? Bear in mind that this is not the act of a few fanatics; it is^not the belief of a few zeal- ots. If it were, it would be wrong to charge it to the Romish church. All denominations have had among them fanatics ; but the extravagances of a few individuals are not chargeable to the body to which they might have belonged. Even our New England Presbyterian forefathers had amongv them persecutors ; but who, in his sound mind, could charge this to the Presbyterian church ? There is nothing in their creed or doctrines which sanctions the persecution of those who differ from them, and there the Romish church diflers from all others. The persecution and destruction of heretics, and the confiscation of their property, is an zntegTal part of the Roman Catholic faith, and the watch- word of Papists. The crusade against these unfortunate Albigen- ses commenced its march about the year 1209. Indulgences were offered to all who would unite in the war, and history informs us that the Pope and his vassals in the church raised an army of 8* 90 monks and pious Papists, amounting to between three and five thousand men, who were to serve for forty days ; at the termination of which, the Pope, in one of his heavenly transports, saw that '^ every one of the sect of the Albigenses should be massacred." To this army his holiness caused to be added, by an offer of indulgences, multitudes of -peasants, with scythes and clubs, who were to be under the command of monks, and whose pecu- har duty it was, to slaughter the wives and chil- dren of these heretics^ while their husbands and fathers were engaged in the field with their adversaries. Horrible ! Yet this is a true picture of what has been, and what will be in this country, at some future day, should Popery gain the ascen- dancy. It is much to be lamented that the Christian League, as it is termed, had not looked to this, in place of going abroad in search of objects worthy of their philanthropy. They seem to me to have acted like a man who, while his own house is in a blaze, runs out to see if there be any of his neighbors' houses on fire, and leaves ^his own to smoulder into ruins. Assi:iredl3^, such a man would not be deemed prudent, nor should he even be considered sane. Far be it from me to think or speak disrespect- fully of the pious and reverend gentlemen who compose that league ; but their solicitude for the welfare of a foreign country and a foreign people appears to me strange, when all their charities are much more needed at home. They desire the suppression of Popery, especially in Italy, where it is kept alive by Austrian bayonets and Popish bulls, and where it will live until those bayonets- are broken and those bulls are burned. They can AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 91 no more suppress Popery in Italy, than they could confine a fire with a flaxen band. The continuance of Popery depends upon this country alone. Extinguish it in the United States, and it dies every where. The old world is sick of it ; it has cursed it long enough. It is for us alone to say whether it shall live or die. Americans alone can sound the death knell of Popery ; and, if this Christian League will unite their energies and bring them all to bear, in excluding Popery from the United States, they will be conferring a blessing, not only upon this, but upon the old world. But to return to our subject. Cruel, beyond measure, were the sufferings of the Albigenses, a few instances of which I beg to lay before my readers, as specimens of Popish charity and their mode of fulfilling that holy commandment, ^^ Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." When the Pope's army arrived at a place called Beziers, the citizens were, of course, alarmed. The Pope's legate sent many messengers among them, advising them to give up such heretics, with their wives and children, as continued obstinate among them. They replied in the following words — ^'Rather than be base enough to do ivhat is required of us, and abandon our religious principles, roe will eat our children first, and our wives will die loith us.^^ On receiving this answer, the Pope's army, or rather incarnate devils, rushed upon them so sud- denly, and in such numbers, that they had to surrender, after little or no resistance. There were many among them who were not heretics, but, seeing the injustice done to their fel- low-citizens, and knowing the purity of their lives, united with them in resisting oppression. Some 92 SYNOPSIS OF POPEllYj of the most merciful of the Pope's army, entertain- ing scruples as to what should be done to those who were not heretics and happened to fall into their hands, deemed it a duty which they owed to holy mother^ to consult the Pope's legate upon this oc- casion ; and what, Christian reader, think you was the reply of this representative of the Roman Catholic church 1 What was the anewer of this imbodiment of Popery? It was what it would be this day, under similar circumstances. — " Kill them all; the Lord loill kjioio his own ! ''^ At this an- swer, the bells rung, by order of this legate, and never ceased to toll, until fifteen thousand were butchered upon the spot, according to the ac- count given by the legate himself; although a contemporary historian, named Bernard Itier, and much better authority than this blood-thirsty legate, informs us that thirty-eight thousand were slaugh- tered in cold blood. During this time. Pope Innocent and the infalli- ble church were not idle in other parts of France. Wherever heresy existed, or heretical blood was to be shed, there were to be found the representatives of the holy church, until not a^vestige of the Prot- estant doctrines of the Albigenses was to be seen. Nearly all its ministers and its followers suffered the most cruel deaths, and their church was drowned in the blood of its defenders. But the man of sin being still apprehensive that some vestige of Prot- estantism might remain, or that the life of some unfortunate member of the Albigenses might have escaped, the Popish murderers established, in those countries, that accursed tribunal, the Inquisition ; some of whose members appeared in the guise and occupation of farmers, to act as spies among that AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 93 class of people ; others as merchautSj mechanics, ifcc. To these were added female Jesuits, some of whom were shop-keepers, milliners, servant-maids, &c. ; and, suitably educated, whenever necessary, were ready to act their parts well. Thus no man was safe. No family, no lady, was safe. They dreaded the very air they breathed. They knew not when the officers of the inquisition would call them from their homes, their children, tlieir husbands, and their wives, to be cast into the dungeon of the inquisition, without knowing their offence, or who accused them. This was Popery in the twelfth century ; this was Popery in the fourth century ; and this is Popery in the nineteenth century. Americans, are you aware that there are Jesuit nuns now in this country ? Are you aware of the reasons why they are so anxious to get Protestant rather than Catholic scholars into their schools ? The reason is this ; they are in this country spies upon your actions. Your thoughts, your designs, your influence, the probable amount of your wealth, and your political opinions, are known to your children. These Jes- uit nuns worm themselves into your confidence ; the young hearts of their pupils are soon laid bare to these artful hypocrites ; and before you scarcely notice the absence of your children, your domestic secrets are known to some Popish agent, who makes such use of them as the holy church may direct. This is done daily. I make this statement of my own knowledge, and I warn you, if you value your domestic happiness, or the peace and harmony of your children, never permit one of them, male or female, to enter a school kept by nuns or Jesuits. From these observations, the reader must have seen that Popery, in its teachings and actions,- is, 94 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, and has been, the same always. What, then, be- comes of the assertions, so frequently made by Ro- man Catholic priests and bishops, that the doctrmes of the church, in relation to heretics, have been re- laxed ? Certain it is, at all events, that there has been no mitigation in the treatment of heretics down to the thirteenth century. Let us come down a httle farther, and see if any had taken place during the thirteenth century. We discover none whatever. It was during this century, that the ^^ Greater Excommunication," as it is called, was pronounced by the Pope, and the whole church, against all who should interfere with the clergy in the exer- cise of their temporal or spiritual rights. The curse was pronounced, by every parish priest, throughout the Papal world, four times a year, — Christmas^ Easter] Pentecost^ and All-Halloivs day. The curse is in the following words, and is now repeated on the same days, by the Pope and all the priests and bjshops of the Romish church, not publicly, — that they dare not do, — but in private. ^^ Let them be accursed, eating and drinking, walk- ing and sitting, speaking, and holding their peace, waking and sleeping, rowing and riding, laughing and weeping, in house and in field, in water and on land, in all places ; cursed be their heads and their thoughts, their eyes and their ears, their tongues and their lips, their teeth and their throats, their shoulders and their breasts, their feet and their legs, their thighs and their inward parts ; let them re- main accursed, from the sole of their foot 'to the crown of their heads ; and just as this candle (the cursor has a lighted candle in his hand, which he extinguishes) is deprived of its present light, so let them be deprived of their souls in hell." AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 95 Such is the curse which the Pope pronounced against all heretics in the thirteenth century ! and however surprised you may be, a similar one is pronounced once a year against all Protestants. There are many Americans who cannot believe that such a curse as the above, has ever been pro- nounced against a fellow-being. I have conversed with some intelligent Protestants in this city, who doubted whether such an anathema was ever uttered, and seemed struck with horror, as well as surprise, when I informed them that it was pro- nounced against myself in Philadelphia in presence of, at least, three thousand people. The reader must know, by this, that I am a heretic, and look upon the introduction of Popery into the United States, as the greatest evil which Providence has permitted to fall upon us. Arise, fellow-citizens, in the fuhiess of your power, — every Protestant in this country is a heretic, as well as myself We are all annually cursed and damned by 'a set of Popish agents, bishops, and priests ; men who, from my own personal acquaintance with them, I know to be unworthy of your friendship or your support ; who walk your streets with apparent sanctimonious- ness, but whose lives in private are such as delicacy forbids me to mention. These men, under pretence of being democrats, are attacking your liberties with the club of Her- cules. They are acquiring gigantic force. You have recently witnessed the truth of this assertion ; they fancied they had strength enough to cut you down as the legate of Pope Innocent did the Al- bigenscs in the twelfth century. They bid defiance to reason, argument, and the law of yoin* land ; and it grieves me to see every thing yielding to their power, as chaff before the wind. But Providence 96 interposed, and these miserable dupes of Romish priests received a check, which, if followed up, will have a salutary effect in future. But, I pray you, be on your guard ; watch the movements of Papists among you ; have no confidence in them ; have as little as possible to do with them. Trust them in nothing which may either directly or in- directly involve their religion. I most solemnly appeal to our national and state legislatures, to ex- clude them from every office of honor, profit, or trust, while they have any connection whatever, spiintual or temporal^ with the Pope of Rome. Believe them not, when they tell you that their allegiance to the Pope is only spiritual. I under- stand what they mean by spiritual allegiance. From what has been stated, it is clear that no mod- ification had taken place in Popish pretensions dur- ing the thirteenth century, neither had the church relaxed one iota in her persecutions of heretics. On the contrary, her cruelties increased-the declarations of Popish priests to the contrary notwithstanding. Let us now see what has been the conduct of the Popish church towards heretics, from the latter end of the thirteenth century to the conclusion of the fourteenth. How was the illustrious John Wickliffe, pro- fessor of divinity in Oxford, treated by the church of Rome, during the reign of Boniface IX. But let us first see what the crimes of Wickliffe were, for which he had been so severely punished by the holy Roman church. The illustrious and good Wickliffe, the founder of the Reformation, whose very name every Christian venerates, main- tained, 1st, That the Scriptures contain all truths necessary to salvation ; 2d, That in the Scriptures only, is to be found, a perfect rule of Christian AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 97 practice ; Sd, He denied the authority of the Pope in temporal matters ; 4th, He maintained that the Pope was the Man of Sin, the son of perdition, to which St. Paul alluded, '^sitting as God in the temple of God." As soon as the opinions of Wick- liffe were ascertained, Gregory XL, the ruling Pope, addressed a bull to the primate of England, ordering him to have Wickliffe arrested and impris- oned, until he received further instructions. The popularity of Wickliffe was such, that this step was considered dangerous ; ancf we find that nothing further was done to this eminently pious man, than banishing him from the university of Oxford into private life, where he died in peace, and went to his grave with the blessings of the good and the virtuous. But this did not satisfy the Pope, nor the infallible church. O, no. The holy mother never forgives a heretic, dead or alive. As soon as Wickliffe departed this life, in the sixty-first year of his age, the church and Papists exhibited the wildest symptoms of joy. One of their writ- ers, in giving an account of his death, uses the fol- lowing language : ^' On the day of St. Thomas, the martyr, that limb of the devil, enemy of the church, deceiver of the people, idol of heretics, mirror of hypocrites, author of schism, sower of hatred, and inventor of lies, John Wickliffe, was, by the immediate judgment of God, suddenly struck with a palsy, which seized all the members of his body, when he was ready to vomit forth his blas- phemies against the blessed St. Thomas, in a ser- mon which he had prepared to preach that day! " But holy mother was not yet satisfied. She had not the felicity of hanging Wickliffe ; her ears were not delighted with his groans upon the rack ; 9 98 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, she did not hear his flesh hissing amid the flames of the faggot, nor his bones breaking upon the wheel ; she must, however, have all the revenge left to satiate her malice. Thirty years after the death of Wickliff*e, the infallible council of Con- stance, at which the Pope presided, passed an order that the body and bones of John Wickliff'e, if they might be known and discerned from the bodies of faithful people — Papists — should be taken from the ground and thrown far away from the burial of any churcTi, according to the canon laws and decrees. This decree was not put in execution for thirteen years afterwards. His grave was then opened and his body disinterred with great solemnity, and in the presence of the Catholic bishop of Lincoln, it was publicly burned, and the ashes thrown into a neigh- boring rivulet. But the indignities off'ered to Wickliffe, while living, and after his death, were not sufficient to appease the malice of Papists. Blood, and blood alone, could satiate their thirst for revenge. His followers were hunted up and mer- cilessly put to death. Among the first of his fol- lowers, who suff*ered, was Lord Cobham, a noble- man, distinguished for his valor, devotion to his country, and true piety. His character was with- out blemish, and his morals and patriotism un- doubted ; but he was a heretic ; he was among the followers of Wickliffe ; he believed in the Holy Scriptures. This was crime enough, and for this ^he was excoynniunicated. Cobham appealed to the Pope, but the appeal was refused : he was cited again ; he was offered absolution, if he would sue for it, and submit to the Popish church. This he refused ] the consequence was, he was thrown into AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 99 prison, from which he escaped and was not retaken for nearly four ^^ears, he was, however, finally cap- tured after a most heroic resistance. He might have escaped again, being an over- match for his captor, had not a pious Roman Cath- olic woman^ while he was nobly defending him- self, taken up a stool, and with a desperate blow, broken both his legs. In this condition he was recommitted to prison until he was sentenced to death foi^ his heresy. The sentence was, '• that he should be drawn from his place of confinement through the city of London, to Temple Bar, there to be hanged, and burned hanging." The historian Bale gives a most affecting account of his exe- cution. '^ On the day appointed," says Bale, ^4ie was brought out of the Tower with his arms bound behind him, having a very cheerful countenance. Then he was laid upon a hurdle as though he had been a most heinous traitor to the crown, and so drawn forth into St. Giles's field, where they had«get up a new gallows. When he arrived at the place of exe- cution, and taken from the hurdle, he fell down de- voutly on his knees, and prayed God to forgive his enemies. Then he stood up and beheld the multi- tude, exhorting them, in the most godly manner, to follow the laws of God, written in the Scriptures, and to beware of such teachers as they see contrary to Christ, in their conversation and living, with many other special councils. Then was he hanged up there, by the middle, in chains of iron, and so con- sumed alive in the fire, praising the name of the Lord, so long as life lasted. In the end he com- mended his soul into the hands of God, and so, most Christianly, departed home, his body being re- solved to ashes," 100 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY. Thus was a nobleman, and a noble Cjiristian, most barbarously put to death for believing that the Bible contained God's truth ; and therein differing from the Roman church, which teaches that the traditions of the fathers, and dreams of m.onks, are of equal authority. Followers of Wickliffe, — and there are many of you in this country, who are an honor to his name, — have you ever reflected that there are nearly two millions of Papists in these United States, who entertain the same belief that the mur- derers of Cobham did ; who believe that you are all exconuniuiicated.^ as he was. aad who, if they had the power, would consign yourselves, your wives, and children, to the same fate ? and who are taught by their church, that, in so doing, they would be serving God? Romish priests may deny this. They do well. Otherwise, an indignant populace would tear them to pieces, or at least banish them from this land of freedom. But I tell the priest or bishop, who dares deny it, that they are liars, — wilful and deliberate liars. I too have been a priest, and I solemnly declare • to the world, and to my fellow-citizens of the United States in particular, that to keep no faith ivitk her- etics, but to destroy them^ is one of the most solemn duties of a Catholic ; and I go further, and state to you, that if a bishop or priest denies this, upon oath, you are not to believe him : his church re- quires from him to keep no faith with heretics, but to destroy and extirpate them. It allows him also to deny, under oath, the existence of such an obli- gation. Do you, followers of Wickliffe, require any proof of this ? It is a serious charge, and should not be lightly made. I therefore refer you to the letters of AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 101 Martin IV., who was Pope in the year 1417, and considered one of the best Popes the Romish church ever had. This Pope, in one of his letters to the Duke of Lithuania, makes use of the following strong and emphatic language. '' Be assured^ thou siiinest mortally, if thou keep thy faith loith here- tics^ St. Thomas Aquinas teaches the same doc- trine. Innocent VIIl., who was Pope in 1484, de- clares "that all persons who are bound by any con- tract lohalever to heretics are- at liberty to break it, even though they had sworn an oath to fulfil it^ You here see, that I have done no injustice to Ro- man Catholics, in putting you on your guard against them, and charging them with a willingness to destroy yourselves, your wives and children, as heretics, had they power and opportunity of doing so. I am supported by the authority of Pope Martin V., and Pope Innocent VIII. ; and though in your estimation, those blood-thirsty vagabonds may give no weight to my testimony, still it cannot fail to be highly satisfactory to Papists. Some of the Catholics may tell you, that the followers of Wickliffe were a seditious people ; that they threat- ened to overthrow the civil institutions of the country ; that all law and order were set at defiance by them ; and that this was the cause of their per- secution. This is false in fact — it is historically false. If the followers of Wickliife, or Lollards, as they were called, were disturbers of the peace ; if their lives were seditious, disorderly, and rebellious, why were they not indicted, under some statute of the realm, made and provided to take cognizance of such crimes? Why were they not even accused of such crimes? Was the meek, mild, and learned John Wickliife, accused or indicted for disturbing the peace ? Was 102 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY5 it for disturbing the peace, that his venerable bones were disinterred thirty years after being deposited in the cold grave ? Was it for disturbing the peace, and for riotous proceedings, his bones were subsequently burned, and their ashes thrown into the next river ? Was it for disturbing the peace, the learned and brave Cobham was hung in iron chains, by the middle. No such accusation has ever been brought against these great and good men, or against thousands who suffered with them. They were accused only of heresy. Papists were their accusers ; Papists were their judges; and Papists were their execu- tioners. But the malice of those blood-thirsty Catholics was not even then satiated. It is as fresh now^ as it was then. Papists are not content, that hundreds of years ago, Wickliffe and hi§ followers should be persecuted, and the greater portion of them massa- cred and burned. Their memories, also, are objects of Popish hatred, even to this day on which I write. They represent them as enemies of the human race. As despisers of chastity and moral- ity. You will probably see these charges advanced against them in the Popish presses throughout the United States. But recollect, Americans, thd^t age does not improve the piety of Papists. The older holy mother gets, the harder becomes her heart, and the more bitter her virulence. I might satisfy you, if necessary, on the testimony of the most . respectable Protestant writers, that there lived not in the world, a people more simple, more pious, or virtuous than the Waldenses, or WicklifBtes. It may be said of them, with truth, ^^ qualis pater tales jilii,^^ But I will not refer to Protestant authority; knavish, lying, Popish priests may question it ! I refer you, for the character of this persecuted AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 103 people, to an early Popish historian, Florimond — History of Heresy, book vii. ch. 7. '' They " — the Waldenses — says this writer, ^* have nothing in their mouths but Christ the Sav- iour — they know nothing else than Jesus Christ. These people read the Bible continually, in such a manner that they know all the books of it by heart." Horrid people these WicklifRtes must be, to read the Bible until they know it by heart ! And as these Bible-reading and Bible-loving p'eople now constitute a vast majoritj^ of our citizens, I call up- on them to rise in the full force of their moral pow- er, and ward off from themselves and their children, the curse of Popery, or the fate of Wickliffe and his followers will assuredly be theirs. Many of you, Americans, me followers of Wickliffe. You believe as he believed ! You live as he lived ! You love peace as he loved it. Do you wish to con- tmue as you are now ? Or will you permit a flood of vile priests, monks, and nuns, to overrun your country, and seduce your children from the paths of virtue, in which your own example and the perusal of their Bibles have taught them to walk ? I now call your attention to the belief and prac- tice of the Romish church in the fifteenth century, and you will find that heresy and heretics were still persecuted by her. Witness the conduct' of Pope Innoceni VHI. toward the Vaudois. He sent one of his Jesuit legates amongst them, with instructions to prevail on Louis XH. to extirpate them from his dominions, without even hearing any deputies which they might send him. The answer of Louis did him much credit — '^ Though I were at war with a Turk or the devil, I would hear what he had to say for^ himself " They accordingly 104 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY. made their defence ; and, npon this, the good King Louis sent commissioners to examine the state of things among them. The following was their re- port, as history informs us : •' Having made a strict inquiry into their mode of Hving, we cannot dis- cover the least shadow of the crimes imputed to them. On the contrary, it appears that they pious- ly observe the Sabbath, baptize their children after the manner of the primitive church, and are thor- oughly instructed in the doctrine of the apostles' creed, and in the law of God." On hearing this report, the king exclaimed, in a passion, addressing himself to the Pope's legate — "By the holy mother of God, these heretics, whom you and the Pope urge me to destroy, are better men than you or my- self." He, however, soon departed this life, and every man acquainted with history knows what their sufferings were from the time of his death down to the days of Cromwell, who, whatever his faults may have been, fired with indignation at the barbarities committed by the Romish church, inter- posed in behalf of those persecuted people, and called upon Protestant princes and sovereigns to aid him in protecting them. I will not burden the reader with a history of the sufferings of these people. It is familiar even to our schoolboys. I must, however, repeat the fact, that they were persecuted for no other reason than because they believed the Bible contained all the truths necessary to salv^ation, and because thej^ did not believe in all the mummerjes of Popery. Will Catholic bishops and priests still continue to assert that their church does not teach them to persecute heretics, and to hold no faith with them ? Will they continue to assert, that the Pope of Rome does not claim temporal as well as spiritual jurisdiction over AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 105 the kingdoms of the earth ? or if they do, are we compelled to listen to them ? There is scarcely any one who does not recollect the conduct of the holy see, as it is nicknamed, towards Queen Elizabeth, on her ascension to the throne of England. The queen sent a messenger to the court of Rome, to inform the Pope of the event. This was an act of state courtesy ; but his holiness had the insolence to reply to the messen- ger who represented his sovereign : '^ Tell your mistress that England was held in fief of the apos- tolic see ; that she could not succeed, being ille- gitimate ; nor could she contradict the declarations made in that matter by his predecessors, Clement VII. and Paul III. Tell your mistress,'' said this insolent ecclesiastic, ^' that it was great boldness in her to assume the crown without my consent, for which, in reason, she deserves no favor at my hands ; yet if she will renounce her pretensions and refer herself wholly to me, I would show a fatherly affection to her, and do every thing for her that could consist with the dignity of the Roman see.'''' Fellow-citizens, do you want any other proof to satisfy you that the Pope of Rome claims universal jurisdiction over kings, queens, nations, kingdoms, and all mankind? It is only about three hundred years since this occurred ; and is there evidence on record that the Pope has resigned the prerogative of universal dominion which he then claimed? You may laugh at the idea of his claiming it over this country ; but, mark what I tell you, some suc- cessor of the present Pope will not only claim, but exercise it in less than half the time that has elapsed since the days of Elizabeth. Other objects may divert your attention from this subject ; you 106 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, may sleep on in fancied security, but your sleep may be fatal. ^^ America," as a talented writer (Giustiniani) ex- presses it, "is the promised land, the land of the Jesuits' operations. To obtain the ascendency, they have no need of a mercenary Swiss guard ^ or the assistance of the holy alliance^ but a majori- ty of votes. 'which can easily be obtained by an importation of Roman Catholics from Ireland, Ba- varia, and Austria. Rome, viewed at a distance, is a colossus ; near at hand, its grandeur diminishes, its charm is lost. But the Jesuits are every where the same — cunning, immoral, and sneaking in- triguers, until they have obtained the ascendency. Rome feels her weakness at home ; she knows her- self to be a mere political institution, dressed in the garment of Christianity. She takes good care to uphold that holy mHitia, the Jesuits, in order to appear what she is not. It is a strife for existence. I am not a politician," says this writer, " but know- ing the active spirit of Jesuitism^ and the indif- ference of the generality of Protestants, I have no doubt whatever, that in te?i years the Jesuits will have a mighty influence over the ballot-box, and in twenty 'they will direct it according to their own pleasure. Now they fawn, in ten years they will menace, and in twenty command." In this city they not only " fawn," but they have proceeded to ^'menace." Some of the knowing ones among the Catholics now bctast that they have the power to govern this city, and they intend to exercise it. This is no idle threat. Even now'^ though they are actually less in numerical strength in the aggregate, than the Protestants, and pay far less for the support of our free schools, they, never- theless, have succeeded in depriving Protestant AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 107 children of the privilege of using the Bible for a school-book, as they have been wont to do. Prot- estants may sleep on if they will, but they may be assured that they are sleeping on the sides of a burning volcano, and that ere long they will be awakened, but too late, we fear, by the angry thunders of the upheaving fires within, which shall scathe and desolate the fair heritage they now enjoy. I entreat you, fellow-citizens, never to forget the solemn declaration of the father of your country : ^'Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake ; since history and experience prove, that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of a republican government." This is the warning of the immortal Washington, and should not pass un- heeded. To the same eff'ect spoke other revolu- tionary patriots. Jefl'erson says, ^.^' I hojoe we may find' some means in future of shielding ourselves from foreign influence, political, commercial, or in whatever form it may be attempted. I can scarcely , withhold myself from joining in the wi^ of Sila^. Deane — that there were an ocean of fire between this and the old world." And Madison said, ^' For- eign 'influence is truly a Grecian horse to the re- public. We cannot be too careful to exclude its entrance." The cruelty of Papists, the intrigue and craft of Popes, the hypocrisy of Jesuits, the d^^nasties which they have overthrown, the devastations and carnage which they had occasioned, for centuries back, were matters of historical notoriety, and were well known to our pure-minded and clear-headed fore- fathers. They dreaded similar occurrences in this 108 happy republic, which they have bequeathed to us as their trustees, to be handed down to posterity; and hence arose their warnings to be on our guard against all foreign interference with our institutions or our country. Ponder upon those warnings, and let each and every Protestant in the Union pledge himself to guard our liberties, as the apple of his eye. I speak from experience. I am myself a foreigner by birth, though a resident of this country for thirty years. My life has been a checkered one. Born a Roman Catholic in the south of Ireland, educated a Ro- man Catholic priest, officiating in that capacity for some years, here, as well as in my native eoun-^ try, and for many years a member of the bar in South Carolina and Georgia, I could not fail to acquire a correct knowledge of the doctrines and practices of the Romish church. The result of my experience is, that the doctrines of the Roman Catholic church are fatal to the morals of any peo- ple ; at variance with sound national policy and pure religion. It is a rank and poisonous weed,, which will fiourish even in the soil of liberty. Would that I could eradicate it ! Would that you would enable me to tear up this Upas, which is spreading its poison, from one end of our land to the other ! Would that you could aid me in muz- zling those Popish bloodhounds, who are freely cours- ing over our eastern mountains and western valleys ! Already have they scented blood, and I warn you to be on your guard or they will scent more. I am no sectarian ; I am not the tool of any party, either in church or state. I have never asked the countenance or support of any religious denomination, nor has any ever been tendered to me. I have stood alone in my opposition to that AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 109 hydra-headed monster, Popery. There is no abuse which I have not received; no cahnnny which has not been heaped upon me; no crime which they have not accused me of ; no scurrilous epithet which they have not apphed to me. All this I have met single-handed ; but I would bear it again, rather than submit to the iniquitous doctrines of Popery. I would bear it again, rather than sub- mit, as noAive Americans have done, and are doing, to be publicly denounced, as cowards and so7is of cowards and pirates. But, fellow-citizens, they do not consider you cowards and pirates alone ; they will, by-and-by, apply to you a term, which you will better deserve. It is sweet, it is a euphonious name, and I trust you will bear it with as much Christian philan- thropy, as you have that of cowards, and pirates — Fools. It is the only ignominious term, in the English language, which they have not applied to myself, and I assure my fellow-citizens, natives of this country, that if you are willing to be governed by the Pope of Rome, and his priests, and bishops, I shall never question your paramount claim to this preeminent distinction. Can you bear the follow- ing opprobrious language applied to you by the Jesuit, now the Boston Pilot, the organ of the bishop of that city. ^' How in the name of con- science," says this Popish organ, '^ can a man have the impudence to find fault with honest emigrants, whose own fathers were emigrant pirates ? '''^ You are also complimented by the Literary and Catholic Sentinel, another Popish press, in Philadelphia. That blessed organ of Popery, the Sentinel, in its comments upon a sermon delivered by that elo- quent Presbyterian divine, McCalla, thus eulogizes New England. He, Mr. McCalla, knew the char- 10 110 SYNOPSIS OF PO^ERYj acter of his New England audience, that their minds were warped by fanaticism, darkened by bigotry, and vitiated by the abhorred, and atrocious principles inculcated by the vile and sanguinary wretches^ called the Pilgrim Fathers. He well knew that the mental capacity of the generahty of his hearers were chained down by ignorance." Very flattering this, especially to Bostonians, and their puritan fathers. Their fathers were san- guinary wretches, if we believe Papists, and the people of Boston are an ignorant set of boobies.- You, Americans, may bear all this; you know not the designs of Popery, but I do ; and v/hile I have- liberty to write, I will write for liberty, and in opposition to Popery. Truth may be unpalatable to Papists, but it is nry duty to record it. Among the instructions which I received from my bishop in Ireland, when he sent me out to this country as a Catholic priest, was one to which I beg to call your attention. The same is given to every priest in the United States. ^'^Let it be your first duty to extirpate heretics, but be cautious as to the manner of doing it. Do nothing without consulting the bishop of the diocese^ in which you may be located ; and if there be no bishop there^ advise with the metropolitan bishop. He has his instructions from Rome, and he understands the character of the people. Be sure not to permit the members of our holy church, v/ho may be under your charge, to read the Bible. It is the source of all heresies. Whenever you see an opportunity of building a church, m.ake it known to your bishop. Let the land be purchased for the Pope, and his successors in office. Never yield or give up the divine rights which the head of the church has, by virtue of the Keys, to the government of North AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. Ill America, as well as every other country. The con- fessional will enable you to know the people by degrees ; with the aid of that holy tribunal^ and our bishops, who are guided by the spirit of Godj we may expect, at no distant day, to bring over North America to the bosom of our holy church." This needs some explanation. By extirpating heresy, he meant the conversion of heretics to the Romish church, without violence, if possible, if not, by such means as the Romish church has adopted in all ages. You have already seen what these means were — I need not now repeat them ; but you shall see them more plainly, when I lay before you, as I intend to do hereafter ; the ways and means which the church has adopted, to bring over the Huguenots from the darkness of Protest- ant error, to the glorious light of Popish truth. The Bible, as you are aware, is a forbidden book in the Romish church. I remember when acting as Popish priest, in Philadelphia, having ventured to suggest to the very Rev. Mr. De Barth, then acting as vicar-general of that diocese, the advantages of educating the poor, and circulating the Bible among them. He scouted at the idea, as heretical, and lodged a written complaint against me, before the archbishop of Baltimore, then Romish metropolitan. I was reprimanded ver- bally, through the aforesaid De Barth. He was too crafty to send it in writing ; the Papists were not then strong enough to forbid, openly, the reading of the Bible. It was then too soon to seal up the fountain of eternal life in this free country. The most sympathizing Protestants could scarcely be- lieve then, that in less than thirty years. Papists would not only dare forbid it to be read, by their 112 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, f own people, and in their own schools, but cast it out of Protestant schools, as they did the other day in New York. What are we coming to, Amer- icans ? Your ancestors have come to this country, with no recommendations but holy lives ; with no fortune but their pious hearts and strong arms ; with no treasure but the word of God. Will you now permit Papists to cast those Bibles out of your schools, to burn them on the public streets, as they have done in the state of New York, under the inspection of Popish priests, as proved on the oath of several respectable witnesses? That priest, however, did no more than every priest and bishop would do, did he deem it expedi- ent ; and here, fellow-citizens, let me assure you, that same power which authorizes that priest, or any other priest, to burn your Bibles, also author- izes him to burn every heretic or Protestant in this country. The same power which authorizes them to offi- ciate as priests, empowers them to destroy heretics^ whenever it is expedient ; and is ready to absolve them from the commission of this foul deed. Saint Thomas Aquinas, in his second book, chapter the 3d, page 58, says: '^ Heretics, may justly be killed.'^ But you will answer, there is no danger of this. They can never acquire the power to enact any laws in this country which would sanc- tion such a doctrine. How sadly mistaken you are ! How lamentably unacquainted with the se- cret springs or machinery of Popery ! I regret that circumstances oblige me so often to introduce my own name, but it cannot be well avoided, for the purpose of explaining certain Popish transac- tions in the United States. While I was a Romish priest in Philadelphia, and soon after my difference AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 113 with the archbishop of Baltimore, in relation to the introduction of the Bible, a consultation was held between the Popish priests in the diocese of Philadel- phia, and it was secretly resolved by them, that the best mode of checking Hogan'^s heresy^ as they were pleased to term my advocating the reading of the Bible, was to take possession of the church in which I officiated, in the name of the Pope. They accordingly wrote to his holiness, humbly praying this MAN-GOD to send them out a bishop, and to give him, and his successors in office, a lease of St. Mary's church, in Philadelphia, and all the ap- purtenances thereunto belonging. Accordingly his ROYAL HOLINESS the Popc scut them a bishop \vith the aforesaid lease. I was immediately ordered out of the church ; and having refused to depart, un- less the trustees thought proper to remove me, this emissary of the Pope, only a few days or weeks in this country, had me indited and imprisoned for disturbing public worship, or in other words, offi- ciating in St. Mary's church, even with the full and undivided consent of the trustees. But the bishop's legal right was questioned ; the case was brought before the supreme court of Penn- sylvania. Chief Justice Tighlman presiding. I was discharged from bail and custody, and the rights of the trustees, under their charter from the state, sustained. But the priests and bishops were not content with this decision. They put their heads once more together, and fancied that they dis- covered another mode by which they could rob the people of their rights, and defeat the intentions of the donors of the property of St. Mary's church ; and what was their plan, tfiink you, fellow-citi- zens ? The bishop called a meeting of all the priests 10 * 114 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, and leading Catholics in the diocese. Every lay member was ordered to bring with him a hickory stick. The meeting was held in the chnrch of St. Joseph ; and at the hour of twelve at night, the Romish bishop of the diocese of Pennsylvania^ an Irishman, not more than a few months in the coun- try, attended in his pontificals, told the multitude who were there assembled to lay down their sticks in one pile, in order that he might bless them for their use. This was done as a matter of course. The bishop said mass, sprinkled holy water npon the sticks, blessed them, and this done, the whole party bound themselves by a solemn vow never to cease until they elected a legislature in Pennsylvania that would annul the charter of St. Mary's church ; and, as an ximerican citizen, I blush to state the fact, they succeeded. The charter was annulled by an act of the legislature, and property, worth over a million of dollars, would have passed into the hands of the Pope and his agents, were there not a provision in the constitution of that state empowering the su- preme court to decide upon the constitutionality of the acts of the legislature. We brought the questionof the constitutionality of the act, which annulled the charter, before the court, Justice Tighlman still presiding. The court decided in the negative, otherwise the trustees and myself would have been defeated ; I should have been fined and imprisoned, and they ousted out of their trust. This, I believe, was the first attempt the Pope has made to establish his temporal potver in this country ; and it is a source of consolation to me, dearer almost than existence itself, to be the first to meet this holy bull. If I have not strangled him, and trampled him to death, I have, at least, the comfort of seeing his horns so blunted, that his AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 115 bellowings have been, ever since, comparatively harmless. But there seems a recuperative power in the BEAST. He is again attempting to plant his foot upon our soil, and establish his temporal power amongst us ; and how is he trying to accomplish this, fellow-citizens ? The Papists have united themselves together as a body, headed by their priests, and resolved to carry, through the ballot box, what they cannot otherwise accomplish, at least for the present. Popish priests have all be- come politicians ; they publicly preach peace, good order, and obedience to the '^ powers that be," but they tell the people in the confessional, to disre- gard those instructions, and stop at nothing w^hich may promote the interests of the church. They have now, what they call ^^ religious news- papers," under the supervision of their bishops, but in which not a word of pure religion, or Christian charity, is to be found. They are political presses, whose object is to overthrow our laws, our govern- ment, and introduce, in their stead, anarchy and confusion. These people — and here I allude to Irish Catholics and their priests in particular — have no regard for the obligations of an oath. Let the priest only tell them that it is for the good of the church, and they will stop at no crime ; no, not even at murder ; and they are daily becoming more audacious, in consequence of the support which they receive from unprincipled politicians, and the mor- bid indifference of Protestants. I have shown you, in a former page, that the in- crease of Catholics, in this country, will soon give them a majority of voters : and who, think you, will they vote for? A Protestant is it ? Any man distinguished for virtue, and for love of republican principles? Assuredly not. 116 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, Will they select such a man as the vh'tuous and pious Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey ? Will they choose such a man as the upright and honorable Archer, of Virginia ? Will they cast their votes for such a man as the honest John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina; than whom, whatever may be his politics, there is not a greater or a better man of the age. I might name hundreds, equally good and great men, who are disqualified, by their virtues, from receiving the votes of Popish vassals. None but mercenary demagogues, such as the Pope's tool, Daniel O'Connell, who generously sacrifices five thousand pounds a year to obtain fifty-six thousand, the sum which he received last year in order to ameliorate the condition of the poor Irish. Give the power, and they will elect such a political desperado as this restless O'Connell, a Jesuit by education, an intriguer by nature, and as great a coward as ever drew breath. This is the champion, and his followers — the Irish — are the people, who call Americans cowards, and their '' pilgrim fathers," pirates and sanguinary wretches. These are the men, with Daniel O'Connell at their head, number- ing nine millions of the ^' bravest men in the icorld^'^^ who have been for centuries. a.nd are now, on their knees, begging favors from the British government. Americans, too, once asked for favors, or rather their just rights, from that government, but not having obtained them, they drew their swords, threw away their scabbards, and, though the whole population of the United States did not, at that time, amount to two and a half millions, they fought for their rights, and they won them. Yet these Popish braggarts, but wretched slaves, call you cowards, AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 117 and your fathers pirates. How long will you suf- fer this ? We know, from history, that Popery and liberty cannot coexist in the same country. A Popish government has never advanced human happiness. It never promotes any object truly great or philan- thropic. How deplorable would it be, did this country fall a prey to those who are trying to es- tablish it amongst us. The truth is, Popish glory, the trappings of its court, have been always the silly objects of the Roman church, while the mass of her people has ever been left in the recesses of want, obscurity, and ignorance. Americans, at present, seem sunk in a sort of po- litical lethargy ; and this is taken advantage of, by foreign priests and Jesuits ; but I would tell those disturbers of our peace, not to trust too much to this apparent sluggishness ; a calm often precedes a storm : the continued insolence, abuses, and threats of Papists, may arouse our young lion, and, if I mistake not — although, appearances are at present against it — his holiness and his minions, who are trying to set up a power in this country unknown to our constitution, and not enumerated in our bill of rights, may have occasion to tremble. To effect this, however, without the shedding of blood, it is necessary — indispensably necessary — that no Papist should hold office, or even vote, un- til he ceases to have any connection, or hold any alliance with the Pope, who is ^foreign potentate^ as well as head of the church. Let them come amongst us, if they will, but let it be with healing on their wings, and not to disturb our peace and tranquillity. Let them prove themselves the friends of liberty, religion, and mankind, and Americans will receive them with open arms, admit them to a 118 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, full participation in all their own privileges, and ex- tend to them the hand of friendship ; but never let this be done, until they forswear expressly and without mental reservation^ all allegiance, of what- ever kind, and under whatever name, to the Pope of Rome, who is ^ foreign potentate^ and acknowl- edged as such by the powers of Europe. When a Papist refuses to do this, trust him not. I repeat it, trust him not, Americans. He is a spy amongst you, a traitor to your country, and the sworn ene- my of your religion and your liberties. This, however, they do not. They come amongst you with different motives and far different characters. Though I know them well, it would be impossible for me to express to you the designs which mark their entrance into this country. They cross the Atlantic, under instructions from their priests, and bring nothing with them but their bigotry, intolerance, and ignorance. Their tastes, their passions, and their native hatred of Protestants are wafted over to us, and are al- ready corrupting the morals of our people. In their native country they feel, or pretend to feel, oppressed by British laws and British government. They are taught by their priests to despise their government, at home ; that its laws are all penal, and that there is no crime in evading them. There is not an Irish Catholic, who leaves that country, but feels it his duty to resist the laws of Protestant England, and evade, by perjury or otherwise, their execution. ^' In no country in the world," says a modern writer, ^' are the rights of property so recklessly violated : amongst no people on the face of the earth are the obligations of an oath, or the discharge of the moral duties, so utterly disregarded. Any man, the greatest cul- AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 119 prit, can find persons to prove an alibi ; the most atrocious assassin has but to seek protection, to obtain it. And why is this so ? Because the reUgious instruction of the people has been total- ly neglected ; because their priests have become politicians ; because their bishops, pitchforked from the potatoe-basket to the palace, have become drunk with the incense offered to their vanity ; and the patronage granted in return for their unprinci- pled support, instead of checking the misconduct of the subordinates, stimulate them to still further violence, and stop at nothing which can forward their objects. Because the opinions of the people are formed on the statements and advice of mendi- cant agitators, who have but one object in view — their own aggrandizement. Because a rabid and revolutionary press, concealing its ultimate designs under the motive of affording protection to the weak, seeks to overthrow all law and order, pandering to the worst passions of an ignorant and ferocious populace." Irish priests and Irish bishops complain of pov- erty and grievances at home. They complain that men of property leave their homes and spend their incomes abroad ; but as this writer, to whom I have alluded expresses it, '' What encouragement do they give to such as return from their resi- dences abroad ? ^\ Allow me, fellow-citizens, to give you an instance of the treatment which Protestants of fortune receive from Irish Roman priests, when they do return to reside upon their estates in Ireland. 1 quote from the same au- thor : — '' The Marquis of Waterford, a sportsman, boundless in his charities, frank and cordial in his maimers, not obnoxious on account of his politics, and admitted on all hands to be one of the best 120 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, landlords in Ireland, comes to reside, and spend his eighty thousand sterhng per annum, in the coun- try. He gets up a splendid establishment in the county of Tipperary ; and how is he treated ? His hounds and horses were twice poisoned. There are scarcely any Protestants in the county of Tipperary. His offices were fired, and his ser- vants, with difficulty, saved their lives. Com- pelled to abandon Tipperary — that sink of Popish iniquity, every nook and corner of which I am acquainted with — this generous and fine-hearted young nobleman retires to his family mansion, in Waterford ; and how is he received there ? I will not tell you ; let his parish priest tell the story. *^Men of Portlan," says this holy Romish priest^ addressing the tenants and neighbors of the Mar- quis of Waterford, '^ you were the leading men who put down Beresford, in '26 (the marquis's father) ; I call on you now, having put down one set of tyrants, to put down another set of tyrants, the marquis himself." Many of the Romish priests, which we have in this country, are from that very county of Tippe- rary, and thousands of the poor Irish amongst us have had their education, such as it is, from such worthy apostolic successors as the parish priest of the Marquis of Waterford. Such are the people to whom you are yield- ing the destinies of this happy republic, by allow- ing them to vote at your elections, or to hold any office of honor or trust, while they have any con- nection with the head of their church, the Pope of Rome. Let the reader pass on from Popish Tippe- rary to Protestant Ulster, and he will see that the crimes of the Irish, and the miseries which many of them suffer, are to be attributed almost solely to their religion and their priests. AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 121 Mr. Kohl, a fair and very impartial writer, at least, upon Ireland, and who is often quoted by the great agitator, O'Connell, says, — in passing from that part of the country, where the majority of the inhabitants profess the Roman Catholic re- ligion to that in which the great bulk of the popu- lation are Protestants or Presbyterians, — " On the other side of these miserable hills, whose inhabi- tants are years before they can afford to get the holes mended in their potatoe kettles, (the most im- portant article of furniture in an Irish cabin,) the territory of Leinster and that of Munster begins. The coach rattled over the boundary line, and all at once we seemed to have entered a new world. I am not in the slightest degree exaggerating when I say, that everything was as suddenly changed as if by an enchanter's wand. The dirty cabins by the road side were succeeded by neat, pretty cot- tages ; well cultivated fields and shady trees met the eye on every side. At first I could scarcely believe my own eyes, and thought the change must be merely local, caused by particular management of that particular state, but the improvement lasted, and continued to show me that I was among a to- tally different people, the Scottish settlers, and the industrious Presbyterians." We see, in this country, the same difference of character and habits, between the Irish Protestants and the Irish Ccitholics. The Irish Protestant, wherever you find him, laboring on his loom in the north of Ireland, working in a fao-tory in New England, keeping a shop in New York, or culti- vating a plantation in Carolina, values his home and integrity, as pearls of great price. He is gen- erally temperate, frugal, and industrious. We sel- dom, or never, hear him accused of disturbing the peace, or fraudulently voting at elections; on the 11 122 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, whole, he arrives amongst lis a worthy man, and, in time, becomes a useful citizen ; and to what is this owing? It is owing to his education. He has been taught the Bible in his youth ; from this he learned to love his God, above all things, and his neighbor as himself. But how is it with the Roman Catholic, who comes amongst you ? Scarce does he land on your shores, when he becomes more turbulent, more noisy, and more presumptuous, than when he left his native bogs. As soon as he confesses to his priest, he hurrahs for democracy, by which he means anarchy, confusion, and the downfall of , heretics. He must vote ; if he cannot do so fairly, his priest tells him how to evade the obligations of an oath. He will swear to support a constitution, which he never read, and never was read to him ; he goes again to the confessional, and leaves that sacred tribunal with an oath upon his lips, that ^^ Americans shall not rule him.'' He soon hears the words, '- Pilgrim Fathers ; '' he goes to his priest, and asks what these words mean ; he is told that they were vile wretches, pirates^ who came to this country many years ago, and whose sons were all cotoards, and thus we see that, as far as it is in their powder, they are trying to reduce this country, and its native inhabitants, to a level with that in which their vile religion — Popery — has placed them- selves. If we could cast our eyes over the history of the world, we should be struck with horror at the fatal consequences of Popery. Wherever its followers have had an ascendency, or wherever they have it now, they appear to be conspirators against the happiness of the human race. What were the means by which Popish kings, emperors, and princes, conducted their gov- ernments — with the advice and consent of the AS IT V\^AS AND AS IT IS. 123 Pope of Rome^ the vicegerent of heaven ? Craft, extortion, fire, and sword. What are the means by which those governments, which at this day are under the Pope and his priests, are conducted? The Pope apes the very thunders of heaven, and such are the "imitative powers" of his priests and bishops, that they are equally as destructive as the original. I have alluded to the contrast be- tween the Catholic and Protestant people of Ire- land. The one prosperous and happy ; the other poor, miserable, and degraded. Heaven's vice- gerent, as the bishops call the Pope, and the Pa- pists call the bishops, seldom bestow a thought upon their subjects, except to gull and inveigle them for the aggrandizement of their church ; and we now see Ireland, one of the fairest countries upon earth, a country over which God has scattered plenty, and to which nature is peculiarly bounti- ful, reduced to want by insolent, haughty bishops, and vile, profligate priests. That beautiful land which nature taught to smile with abundance, they have watered with tears, and with blood, all the result of Popery ; and this has been its eff*ect every where. It operates like the east wind, causing blasting, barrenness, and desola- tion, wherever it goes, and nothing, but the hercu- lean arm of this young and vigorous republic can check its progress among ourselves. But I may be told that nothing is to be dreaded in this country from Papists ; that they have neither numbers, nor means, to accomplish their designs upon our institutions. Let us see whether this is so. I have stated, in a former page, the number of bishops, priests, seminaries, and Papists, in this country. I have also shown you, to a demonstra- tion, that if the number of emigrant Papists should continue to increase for the next thu'ty years, as 124 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, the)' have for the last eight, they will be a majority of the population of the United States, and the Pope our supreme temporal ruler. Permit me, now, to give you some idea of what their means are, at least such portion of them as they derive from Europe, and you can judge for yourselves what they are in the United States. I will give you the amount sent from Europe, during the years 1841, 1842, and 1843. 1 quote from their own books and receipts. To Mr. Lefevre, coadjutor and ad- ministrator, at Detroit, . . Mr. Purcell, Bishop of Cincin- nati, Mr. Fenwick, Bishop of Boston, Mr. Kenrick, coadjutor and adjninistrator, Philadelphia, Mr. Hughes, coadjutor and administrator, of New York, Mr. Miles, Bishop of Nashville, Mr. Flaget, Bishop of Bards- town, Mr. Hailandiere, Bishop of Vin- cennes, For the Congregation of the Eu- dists, in the Diocese of Vin- cennes, Mr. Rosati, Bishop of St. Louis, Mr. Chanels, Bishop of Natchez, Mr. Blanc, Bishop of New Or- leans, Mr. Portier, Bishop of Mobile, Mr. England, Bishop of Charles- ton, Mr. Whelan, Bishop of Rich- mond, The Missions of the Priests of Mercy in the United States, The Missions of the Lazarists in the United States, . . . The Missions of the Jesuits in the state of Missouri, . The Missions of the Jesuits in the state of Kentucky, . . 1841. 1842. 1843. $1,97160 $1,010 95 $7,44764 7,778 52 3,700 28 5,554 20 3,063 32 9,448 80 2,866 40 3,660 43 2,968 56 1,145 76 8,236 08 4,575 60 10,885 72 4,452 84 9,020 22 4,006 16 8,676 06 8,291 88 12,245 87 10,603 36 3,720 00 10,519 88 4,775 40 3,463 32 10,21140 3,958 08 1,860 00 10,884 72 2,29172 2,745 35 1,835 82 1,979 04 3,958 08 4,583 04 6,259 60 7,440 00 4,452 84 2,864 40 4,575 60 4,947 60 6,235 68 4,575 60 3,720 00 8,55600 6,510 00 7,513 60 5,580 00 5,952 00 2,790 00 3,348 00 3,720 00 103,891 75 85,799 82 97,745 50 AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 125 With such an amount of funds annually, from abroad, in the hands of a body of men, who un- derstand how to manage and appropriate them, perhaps better than any other association in the world, with the majority of the population of these United States, and having but one single object in view, namely, the supremacy of their Pope and their church; what have Americans not to fear? They will avail themselves of a corrupt state of representation ; they will procure a majority in your national legislature, and then, I say, woe be to your liberties. Your school-houses, which now ring, at stated hours, with the praises and glories of God on high, wherein children are given to drink of the waters of life, will be converted into monk-houses, and lying-in-hospitals ; prayers to God will no longer be heard in them ; vagabond saints and wooden images will be the only objects of adoration ; ignorance and vice will take the place of intelli- gence and virtue ; idleness will take the place of industry ; at]d the free American who, heretofore, was taught to walk erect before God and man, will shrivel and dwindle into a thing fit only to crouch before a tyrant Pope, and become a hewer of wood and drawer of water, for lazy and gluttonous priests, who, for centuries, have been trying to extinguish the light of reason and science, and who, even at the present moment, aye, at our very doors, are trying to abolish some of the finest productions of genius. Witness the prohibition, recently, in France, of the publication of the Wandering Jew. Witness the prohibition of its circulation in Cuba; and why is it prohibited? Because it exposes some of the trickery of Jesuitism — because it lays bare some 11 ^ 126 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, ^ of the intrigues of that hellish association — and because holy mother church knows full well, that no honest or honorable man could see her in her native deformity, without a shudder of disgust — because she knows that herself and her priests are but whited sepulchres, filled not with dead men's bones, but with the living fires of despotism, ava- rice, lust, and treachery — because she knows that Eugene Sue, who has written the Wandering Jew, is a Roman Catholic, well acquainted with the practices of Jesuits, sanctioned by the church. A continuation of the Wandering Jew, and its circu- lation, might show the world, even if there were no better authority, that monasteries and nunneries, under the control of Jesuits, were but vast Sodoms and prisons, full of crime and pollution. Eugene Sue could, and I believe would, show the world, if his health had not failed him, that Roman Catholic priests and bishops, though for- bidden, under pain of excommuiiication^ to marry, were allowed to keep concubines. I refer the reader to the memoirs of the Romish bishop, Scipio de Ricci, for the truth of this assertion. I also re- fer you to another valuable work, Binnii Concillia, first volume, page 737. You will find the same in a work called Corpus Juris Canonicij page 47, to be had in the Philadelphia Library. You will find the same permission sanctioned by the council of Toledo, at which Pope Leo presided. The only restriction put upon the licentiousness of priests, by the council of Toledo, was to forbid them from *' keeping more than one concubine at a time, at least i7i public^ Cardinal Campeggio expressly says, '^ that a priest who marries commits a more grievous sin than if he kept many concubines." St. Bernard, who AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS, 127 died about the beginning of the twelfth century, and who must have been a very charitable man, as all Catholics now pray to him, tells the world that *^ bishops and priests commit acts in secret, which it would be scandalous to express." Pope John XIL, was convicted by a general council, of /ormca^^'o/i, murder^ adultery, B,nd in- cest, but these were not sufficient to depose him. He still believed in holy mother, the church, and his own infallibility. There is not an indi- vidual who reads these statements, and is at all ac- quainted with history, who does not know that Pope Paul III., who convened the council of Trent, had made large sums of money from li- censes given to houses of ill fame in that city. The holy church to this day, in the city of Mex- ico, to my own knowledge, receives large sums from the same sources, and these are supported principally by monks, friars and priests. No won- der, then, that the publication of the Wandering Jew should be prevented in Catholic cotmtries. The writer, Mr. Sue, is a man of the world, he has read the book of nature with as much attention as he has those in his library. He is a well-read his- torian, and possesses an admirable faculty of com- municating his ideas. He clothes them with a sim- plicity and beauty, almost peculiar to himself. The man that could depict Rodin, the sanctimonious Jesuit, in his true character, as Mr. Sue has done, must necessarily be silenced in a Catholic country. It must not be known that Jesuits may come among us in the garb of merchants, or in any other disguise which they may please to assume ; no in- timation must be given, that the poisoned cup, the assassin's dagger, tlie desperate sea-captain, or the valiant soldier, could be concealed under a Jesuit's 128 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, cowl, or that he may throw off that cowl, at his pleasure, and exchange it for a pea-jacket, a dancing pump, the violin, the fencing foil, or even the cos- tume of a barber, or tamer of wild beasts. It will not answer the purposes of the holy CHURCH, that a man should live and write, who is capable of raising the curtain which hides its de- signs, and conceals the instruments, which she has ever used, and is now using, for the destruction of liberty. Such a man is the author of the Wan- dering Jew. No man can look at the picture which he has drawn of Ignatius Morok, without recognizing, in its every feature, those of a Jesuit and a villain. He travelled about, in the assumed character of a ^^ tamer of wild beasts," but in reality, he was a Jesuit missionary, and sent by that order, with full power to accomplish, by miy means within his power, one of the most infamous acts of fraud that ever was committed by man. He was accompanied, (as the reader of Eugene Sue will find,) by a lay Jesuit, named Karl, and I cannot give my readers a better idea of Jesuitism, as it ever has been, and is now, than by requesting of them to observe the course adopted by those two villains in accomplishing the object of their errand. Look at their treatment of the honest and faithful Dagobert. Look at the cruelties which they in- flicted on the two iiniocent orphans, committed to his charge. See the schemes, by which they have made even the wife of Dagobert subservient to their designs. See the arts by which Jesuit priests crept into families, under various disguises, sowing amongst them discord, hatred, and domestic strife. They have put the father against the son, and the son against the father ; husband against wife, and AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 129 wife against husband ; brother against sister, and sister against brother. See how they have con- trived to filch from the poor and almost starving, the last sou they possessed, to have masses said for the repose of the souls of those who were actually living, to the knowledge of the priest, though rep- resented by him at the confessional, to have been long since dead ! * See how one of those vagabond Jesuits, in the as- sumed character of a physician, aided by one of the sisters of that order. Madam de St. Dizier, imposed upon the heiress. Mademoiselle de Cardoville. He offered his services to accompany her to visit a friend of hers, but had a private understanding with a lay Jesuit^ in the disguise of a hack-driver, to take them to a lunatic asylum, where he deposited the heiress. I will not quote from the ^^ Wandering Jew," it would be depriving my readers of much pleasure ; but I would recommend the perusal of it, in order to become acquainted with some of the prominent features of Jesuitism. The work ap- pears as a romance, but it contains many sad and serious facts. It is a compendium of Jesuitism, and should be looked upon as a warning to the citizens of this new world. Americans will scarcely beheve that we have any such Jesuits in this coun- try, as are described in the Wandering Jew. I tell them they are mistaken ; we have them in every state in the Union, but especially in New York, Maryland, District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. I speak from my own knowledge. " Bred in the harem, all its ways 1 know." A word to those who have daughters, and for- tunes to give them ; arid also to those young ladies, who have fortunes in their own right. 130 SYNOPSIS OF popi:ry, Jesuits will leave nothing undone, to form ac- quaintance with the children of such as are supposed to be wealthy. The Catholic bishops of the Uni- ted States, in their annual and semiannual de- spatches to Rome, boast that they are peculiarly fortunate in gaining converts from such families, and I trust a word of caution from me will not prove useless. The mode which Jesuits have adopted, in aj^ proaohing such families, are various : but the most general, and hitherto the most successful is, to in- duce their children to go to their colleges and schools. In these, every male and female teacher is to bend the minds of their scholars towards Popery, and to report progress twice a week to their supe- riors. But when parents do not send their children to Jesuit schools, the next expedient is to get Roman Catholic servants into the family, who are instructed in the confessional by the priests how to proceed, especially with their young daughters, in prepossessing their minds in favor of the Romish church, and the great beatitudes of a single life. I have known cases myself, where it was not deemed prudent to go so far as to say one word in favor of the Catholic church, or of a single life. The young ladies may be engaged, and their young hearts pledged. A different course must now be pursued, and the Popish domestic has her instructions accordingly. vShe must find out to whom the lady is, or is likely to be, engaged ; and it must be broken off, not abruptly — that is not the way Jesuits do things — it is to be done gradually. Their young minds must be poisoned, but the poi- son must be given in small quantities, until finally it produces the desired effect ; and then the happi- ness and the glories of a nun^s life are to be the AS IT Was and as it is. 131 theme of conversation, more or less, according to the mstriictions received in the confessional. It is not long since I met with a Protestant friend of mine, and in the course of conversation, some allusion was made to the subject of nunneries. He observed that their schools were excellent ; that his daughter had just finished her education there, a!id had returned home in perfect ecstacy with her school, with the lady abbess who presided over it, and with all the nuns by whom she had been edu- cated. *'It is said,'' observed this gentleman to me, ^' that nuns try to tamper with the religious opinions of their pupils, and endeavor to make ' nuns of them,' but there is no truth in this; they never interfered with my daughter's religious opinions, nor did they insinuate to her the most remote idea of taking the veil^ or becoming a nun?'' 1 made no reply — courtesy forbade it. I might easily have answered my friend, but I feared the answer, which truth compelled me to give, would hurt his feelings. I might have said to him, Sir, your daughter had not a dollar in her own right, neither had you one to give her, and you must know that Jesuits seldom covet penniless applicants for the black or lohite veil. You should have also known that, although your daughter may have seemed very beautiful in your eyes, she was proba- bly devoid of those external charms which would attract the libidinous eye of a Jesuit. When ladies are taken into a convent by Jesuits, they must be possessed of something' more than ordinary attrac- tions. These reverend Jesuits, having the liberty of choosing, are rather fastidious. Yerbwm sat. Truly, and from my heart, 1 pity the female, who risks herself in the school of Jesuit nuns. She hazards all that is dear to her. Though she may 132 SYNOPSIS OF POPKllY, leave it, single-minded and innocent as she entered, — as I believe they all do who do not become nuns, — still the peril of going there at all is eminently hazardous and dangerous. But woe be to those who become nuns. I have been chaplain to one of those nunneries ; and I assure my readers, on the honor of a man, who is entirely disinterested, and whose circumstances place him in an independent position, who wants neither favors nor patronage from any individual, that the very air w,e breathe, or the very grouud upon which we walk, is not made more obedient or more subservient to our use, than a nun, who takes the black veil^ is to the use of Popish priests and Jesuits. The internal economy and abominations of a convent are horrible in the extreme. I dare not mention them, otherwise my book would, and ought to be, thrown out of every respectable house in the city. 1 will only call my reader's attention to the fact, that, in all Catholic countries, nunneries hdive foundling hospitals attached to them. This any man can see who goes to France, Spain, Portu- gal, or Mexico. It will be seen, even in this country, that they have their private burying places and secret vaults. It is not more than five or six years, since a num- ber of Jesuits, in Baltimore, petitioned the legisla- ture of Maryland for leave to run a subterraneous passage from one of their chapels to a nunnery, dis- tant only about five hundred yards. The object of the petitioners was too plain. It was the most daring outrage ever offered any deliberative body of men ; but, much to the credit of the legislature of Maryland, they rejected the petition with undis- guised marks of indignant scorn. These statements will be rather unpalatable to AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 133 Jesuits, but my only regret is, that decency forbids a full development of the crimes committed, with perfect impunity, in Popish convents. In New York, every effort seems to be making, by the pres- ent legislature of that state, to suppress immorality. A bill is now before that body, making adultery a penitentiary offence ; yet Popish priests are build- ing nunneries there, and if Roman Catholic ladies think it proper to hold a fair to collect money for the building of those nunneries, these very New Yorkers will contribute their money freely; and thus, this ill-placed liberality, which Americans bestow, not only there but elsewhere, becomes the cause of evils which they seem desirous to crush. How is it with us in Massachusetts? Look at our statute book, and if we are to judge from that, of the utter detestation with which our people look upon immorality of ev'ery kind, we deserve to be considered paragons of propriety. Should there be amongst us a house, even of equivocal fame^ our guardians of the night and civil officers are allowed to demand entrance into it at any hour, and if re- fused, they may use force. Yet we have convents amongst us, nunneries and nuns too. Poor help- less females are confined in them, but not an officer in the state will presume to enter. If admission is asked, it may or may not be given by the mother abbess or one of the reverend bullies of the insti- tution ; but no force must be used. The poor imprisoned victims, whether content or not with her station, must bear it without a groan or a murmur. This should not be in any civilized country ; and I will venture the assertion, that it could not con- tinue one hour, at least among the moral and chari- table people of Boston, were they not utterly uri- 12 134 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, acquainted with the iniquities of the Romish church. This fully explains the opposition to the circula- tion of the Wandering Jew by the infallible church. I have given the reader but a faint view of the persecutions of Popery, down to the close of the fifteenth century, and revolting as they are, there is no record to be found from which we can even infer, that the church has ever altered her doctrine or practice, on the subject of exterminating here- tics, namely, all who are not Roman Catholics. If there were any such record, it could not have escaped my notice. Some Pope or some council would, long since, have given it to the world. I was, as has been stated, born a Roman Catholic, and educated a priest in that church. I solemnly declare to yon, fellow-citizens of my adopted coun- try, that nothing has been more forcibly impressed upon my mind, by my teachers, when a boy — by the priest to whom I confessed when young — by the professors under whom I read Popish theol- ogy — or by the bishop who ordained me, and with whom I lived subsequently as chaplain — than the obligation I was under of extirpating heresy, by argument, if possible ; and, if not, by any other means, even to the shedding of blood. And there is not now, in this country, an Irish priest nor an Irish Roman Catholic, and true son of the church, who does not believe that, if he could collect all the heretics in the United States, and form them into one pile, he would be serving God in applying a torch to it. And, incredible as it may appear to you, their church teaches them that, in doing so, they would be serving you. The doctrine is taught now, as it was in past AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 135 ages, by their priests, that the body must be de- stroyed^ for the good of the soul. ^' It is a benefit," say the pious Popish priests, ^' to heretics to be killed ; the fewer ivill be his sins^ and the shorter will be his hell! '' You naturally shudder at this doctrine, but it is not many years since Leo XII., in one of his bulls of jubilee^ or indulgence to the faithful, announces publicly, and without shame, or sorrow, proclaims to Catholics, his beloved sub- jects, that in order to obtain the indulgence granted by that bull of jubilee, there are two conditions, without which, they can derive no benefit from it, namely, the exaltation of the holy mother church, and the extirpation of heresy. This ^' blessed bulV^ was published in 1825, and directed to the archbishop of Baltimore, and all other Popish bish- ops in the United States, to be made such use of as their lordships may think proper ! Will you believe it, Americans, that this doctrine is taught, this very day, in the college of Maynooth, Ireland. You will find it in De LaHogue's Tract. Theolog. ch. viii. p. 404, of the Dublin edition. No priest or bishop will question the authority of Dr. De La Hogue. He has been professor in that col- lege for nearly half a century. I must, however, add here, for the information of all who are unac- quainted with the doctrine of the pious frauds prac- tised by Romish priests, that their respective bishops, or in his absence, the vjcar-general, can give any of them a dispensation to deny any truth or to tell any falsehood for the '^ exaltation of holy mother church." I have received such dispensations my- self, but, not having the fear of the Pope before my eyes, I took the liberty of disregarding them. Many will ask me, Why have you not made t: ese things known before now? There were many reasons why I suppressed them. 136 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, I knew my motives, however disinterested, might then be questioned ; secondly, the pubUcmind was not prepared for the developments which I have made. Thirdly, my love of peace and quietness induced me to withdraw to a part of the country, distant from the scene of my controversy, hoping that the miscreant priests and bishops of the Rom- ish church would permit me to pursue my new profession of the law, without interruption. But in this, as I ought to have known, I was disap- pointed. Although I have not, since I left Phila- delphia, until very recently, even replied to the cal- umnies which vagabond Irish priests who infest this country, and the still greater vagabond bishops who govern them, together with the tools which they keep in their employment, have heaped upon me ; still they have, in the true spirit of their vocation^ never ceased to pursue me with their vengeance. No sooner had I abjured the Pope, disregarded his bulls^ and thereby become a heretic, than they had me burnt in efRgy ! But much more gratified would they be, had they my person in the place of the effigy. I still remained unmoved. Soon after this, Bishop England, of Charleston, South Carolina, es- tablished a press, called the *^ Catholic Miscellany," whose columns teemed, for months, — almost for years, — with the grossest and vilest abuse against me ; yet while this restless demagogue, who is now in his grave, was spewing forth his filthy abuse, I was prospering in my profession, and partially re- covering my health, which I thought was radically destroyed by the persecutions I suffered in Phila- delphia ; and thus, while the Pope in Rome, and the Romish bishops and priests of this country, were cursing me, Heaven was blessing my efforts and AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 137 gaining me the confidence of the virtuous and good, whom I had the pleasure of meeting in my inter- course with the world. Strange indeed are the practices of Papists! Previous to my heresy in Philadelphia, there was not in that city a more popular man — not another more respected; I may almost say, that there was no man, of any pursuit or calling, whose friendship was more courted. Yet the moment I committed the unpardonable sin of differing with the Pope of Rome, every one of his faithful children, not only tbere but throughout the world, was bound by his oath of allegiance to persecute me in every possible way. Never forget, Americans, that the same oath of allegiance, which binds them to persecute me, is also binding on them to persecute and destroy you. Some of you will say, this cannot be. A church, numbering among her priests such men as Massillon, Fenelon, Chevereux, and Taylor of Boston, can- not entertain, much less command, a spirit of perse- cution. True, as far as we can judge, these were godly men. They would be an honor to any reli- gion. But in the Popish church, they were like stars that strayed from their homes, and losing their way, fell, by accident, upon the dark firma- ment of sin and Popery ; but even there, their na- tive light could not be obscured ; on the contrary, the darker the clouds around them, the more beau- tiful and brilHant did their light appear. Poor Taylor, — '^ Peace be to thy memory, — we have been friends together.'^ Methinks I can, even now, feel the warm pressure of thy hand, see the chari- ties of thy soul beaming in thy speaking eye and gentle countenance, yet thou too had been consid- ered almost a heretic in the city of New York, and 12* 138 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY5 would have been denounced as such by the rude and vulgar bishop of that diocese, had not the ami- able Chevereux interfered. Often have I regretted that this Mr, Taylor, who was my classmate, and companion of my youth, had not, in addition to his private virtues, more fortitude and decision of character. He was the Erasmus of his day, in the United States. He was born and educated a gentleman; so was the amia- ble but timid Erasmus. He was educated a Ro- man Catholic ; so was Erasmus. He was a chaste and elegant classical scholar ; so was Erasmus. Taylor, knowing full well the corruptions of the Romish church, went from New York to Rome, about the year 1822, in order to induce the Pope to modify such of its doctrines as were objection- able in this country. But he wanted courage, and hastily retreated back, lest he should be consigned to the inquisition. Erasmus, too, wanted courage, a quality as necessary for a reformer as it is to a general in storming a city and hence it is ; that those two amiable men, similar in character and dispo- sition, though living in ages widely apart, have lived ostensibly members of a church, whose doc- trines they loathed from the very bottom of their souls. This might have been the temper, the character, and the cause, why such men as Massillon and Fenelon have lived and died Roman Catholics. They felt, probably, as Erasmus did, when he said, *^It is dangerous to speak, and dangerous to be si- lent." ^^ I fear," said he, in another place, *^ that if a tumult arose, I should be like Peter in his fall." It is not at all strange, that such men as we have spoken of, should have contented them- selves with having inculcated virtue, and de- AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 139 nounced vice. There were such men in all ages, and, as a modern writer expresses it, ^' in all great re- ligious movements there are undecided characters." But let it be borne in mind, that even great and good as they seemed to be, and eloquent and pious as they appeared, still they are only excep- tions in the great body of the advocates of Popery. No wonder Americans look back to those lights in the dark and bloody wilderness of Popery. It is refreshing to see them. They are green spots in the deserts made barren and desolate, by Popish iniquities ; and long may their memories shine in unclouded lustre. It is pleasant to the historian, who is wearied and disgusted with contemplating the past and present horrors of Popery, to turn for a moment from the frightful spectacle, and rest in devout con- templation on the lives of those comparatively ex- •cellent men. Ho^ mistaken are those would-be philanthropists, who, at the present time, teach Americans to infer, that, because those were good and holy men, "possessing a pious and forgiving spirit, it follows that the Papist church, her bish- ops and priests, entertain a similar spirit. This is equivalent to telling them that all history, past and present, is false, a mere romance, the dream of madmen. It is equivalent to telling them that the very history and records of the lives of Fenelon, and Massillon, &c., were entitled to no credit. Who can read, and not see that Rome has spilt oceans of blood to enforce her cruel creed ! Who can read, and not see that she has squandered treasures enough to relieve the poor of civilized Europe, in establishing and keeping up a despotism inimical to man and hateful to God ! The Papists, even in this country, do not deny 140 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, that they intend to eradicate heresy, and to use every means which their church considers legitimate to effect that purpose. This the priests preach from their pulpits; this they tell you to your beards. They admit their determination to bring these United States, if possible, under the spiritual con- trol of the court of Rome. They use the word spiritual, in utter contempt of your understanding, to deceive you, and while using it, they laugh at your credulity. Popish spiritual control, spiritual allegiance ! It is almost incredible that any body of men should have the impudence to come for- ward, in the nineteenth century, and talk of spir- itual allegiance to his royal holiness the King of Rome. They admit their determination to possess this country, and have the modesty to ask you to give them lands and churches, and means to accom- plish their object, and effectuate your destruction. Their next step will be to quarter upon you an ar- my of friars, Jesuits, or monks, who will carry at the point of the bayonet what is left undone by duplicity, treachery, and intrigue. This has been the fate of every country where Popery has found a resting place, and America is the only nation which, for the last three centuries, has given them such a footing. They tried what they could do in China. They succeeded in establishing sev- eral bishoprics, Jesuit convents, nunneries, monk- houses and churches, among the peaceable and quiet Chinese ; but happening to differ among themselves on the subject of their respective temporal rights, they, as in duty bound, referred their differences to the Pope. This movement came to the ears of the emperor of China, whom they had so long and so successfully deceived by the cant words, spirit- AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 141 ual allegiance to the Pope, The parties were summoned before his commissioner to ascertain what was meant by spiritual allegiance. They tried to explain it, but all their ingenuity, all their subtity, could not satisfy the commissioner that spiritual allegiance meant anything else than what it fairly expressed, and a.s soon as he found that it meant, in the eyes of the Pope and the Romish church, things real and tangible, such as real estate, the conveying it from the rightful owner under the laws of the land, to another under the laws of the Pope, who lived in Rome, he satisfied him- self, that the spiritual supremacy of the Pope meant, among other things, the power to govern the kingdoms of the earth ; to give away, and take them away, to whom and from whom, his royal holiness pleased. The emperor instantly issued an order, directing that every Roman Catholic bishop, priest, friar, Jesuit, monk, and nun, within his em- pire, should quit, within a given time, on pain of losing their heads. Many of them disobeyed the order and were executed, and their churches lev- elled to the ground. The Chinese had no objection to Papists wor- shipping God, according to the dictates of their own conscience ; but as soon as it was discovered that they owed spiritual allegiance to a foreign power, they deemed it prudent to remove them from the country. But the Chinese are barbarians^ and it seems reserved for this new world of ours, to in- terpret properly the meaning of spiritual allegiance, and in all differences, between our citizens and the agents of the Pope, as to the temporalities of the Romish church, to lay the subject before his royal holiness^ and be governed by his decision. Witness the difference between Bishop Hughes u% of New York, and the trustees of a Roman Catholic church in Buffalo^ only a few weeks ago. Witness that in New Orleans, between the bishop and the trustees of the Roman Catholic church. All these were referred to the Pope, who decided the matter^ without any respect or regard to the laws of this gov- ernment. Call you this spiritual allegiance ? Call you this an exercise of spiritual power, on the part of his royal holiness the Pope ? Yes, you do ; and it would not much surprise me, if the Papists of this- very city of Boston should recommend to its legis- lature, to lay the difficulties between themselves and the state of South Carolina, before the Pope of Rome for adjudication. Should the day ever arrive, when the Papists have a majority in your legislature, and a difter- ence should occur between these states, the Pope will be called in to decide it. I am at a loss to know how, even in these days of transcendental- ism, any other meaning can be given to spiritual allegiance, than that which the Roman Catholic gives it in practice. They consider the Pope, as the spiritual head of the church, has, a fortiori^ a divine right to be the head and sovereign of the world. This is the sense in which Catholics under- stand and act upon it, and swear to support the Pope, as the supreme arbiter of the destinies of the world. The Chinese understood this. The em- peror of Russia understands it at the present day ; and though a Catholic himself, no priest or bishop, within his vast dominions, dare avow any allegiance, spiritual or temporal, to the king or Pope of Rome. The holy synod of St. Petersburg, Russia, have notified the Catholic missionaries, who have in- cited rebellion, and interfered with the civil author- ities in Georgia, to renounce their intercourse with AS IT WAS ATsD AS IT IS. 143 the see of Rome, or quit the country. But Ameri- cans, in the alembic of their fertile brains, have manufactured a definition for spiritual (^llegiance, peculiarly their own, for which the Papists are so much obliged to them, that whenever an opportu- nity of knocking out the aforesaid brains occurs, they will do so. Witness in the Philadelphia riots, , the usual Veni, Creator, is sung ; the project, what- 188 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, ever it may be, is sanctioned ; every priest in Ireland is prepared to carry it into effect ; and all that now remains to be done is, to give the great beggar his secret orders. What can Peel, or his few supporters, do against such a party as this ? Nothing, unless the government changes its mode of proceeding against O'Connell, Maynooth, and the Irish bishops. But it is to be feared, that this will not be done while Peel is at the head of affairs. England, once indomitable, and always brave ; England, proud of her religion and of her laws, seems recently to forget her ancient glories. She is showing the white feather : she is dallying with Popery, and singing lullabies to quiet and put asleep Daniel O'Connell and his Irish bishops, whose treason and political treachery can only be stopped, and should have been stopped long since, by con- signing the greatest layman that ever lived, and a few of his right reverend advisers, to transportation for life. Americans may think this wrong, but though I have not the least pretension to the faculty of pro- phesying, I think I can safely tell them, that, in less than twenty years, they will have to enact much severer laws against Roman Catholics than any which are now recorded against them on the statute book of Great Britain. It must be borne in mind, that Popery never bends, and therefore it should and must be broken. It was in this college of Maynooth, and from those bishops and priests, with whom Sir Robert Peel is dallying, I first learned that the king of England w^as an usurper. It was they, who first taught me that the Pope of Rome — virtute clavorum, by virtue of tlie keys — was the rightful sovereign of England, as well as of all the kingdoms of the earth. It was in the AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 189 college of Maynooth, I was taught to keep no faith with heretics^ and that it was my solemn duty to exterminate them ; it was there I first learned, that any oath of allegiance, which I may take to a, Prot- estant government, was null and void, and need not be kept. It was at this same college of Maynooth, that nine tenths of the priests in this country received their education ; and is it not deplorable to re- flect, that such men as Sir Roberi Peel, in Eng- land, and several equally distinguished in this coun- try, should be so entirely blindfolded and unmindful of the interest of their respective countries, as to give any countenance, aid, or support to Popery, or Popish institutions among them ? I trust, however, and fondly hope, that this imprudent, impolitic, and ill-advised scheme of Sir Robert PeePs, will be resisted and thrown out of parliament, with such marks of disapprobation as becomes every honest Protestant and true Briton. Will those who sympathize with Popery in the United States, look back to the page of history ? and if they will not iake instruction from me, let them take it from the past. Let them listen to the voice of the dead, and learn a lesson from them. Let them read the history of France. Who urged on all the opposi- tions that have been made, from time to time, to the government and constituted authorities of that country ? What were the causes, remote or im- mediate, of all the blood that has been shed in France for centuries back ? The Pope of Rome and his agents. It is truly to be lamented, that Napoleon liad not lived longer ; he might, it is true, have caused some disturbance, and hastened the fall of some of the tottering thrones of Europe. Spain, Italy, Portugal, 190 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, and even Austria and Prussia, might have ceased to have kings, by divine right; but a far better order of things could not fail soon to have arisen. The Pope would have been hurled from his throne ; Napoleon would have stripped from him the trap- pings of royalty ; he would have taught him to feel, and reduce to practice the heavenly declaration of his Divine Master, which his holiness now repeats in sol- emn mockery, j^egiium meum non est de hoc niundo. He would have confined him to his legitimate duty, in place of spending his time in dictating political despatches to foreign powers, and sending bulls of excommunication which are now become laughing- stocks to all intelligent men ; he might be devoted to the advancement of true Christianity, and the' world saved from those contentions and disturb- ances, occasioned by this man of sin and his agents. Why will not our statesmen reflect upon these things, lest in some future contest with the powers of Europe the scales of victory may be turned against them by this man of sin, whose agents in this country, as I have heretofore remarked, amount to nearly two millions. The defeat or subversion of the government of Great Britain, by Popish power, is equivalent to a victory gained by it over the United States. I tell the Protestants of Eng- land and of the United States, that their respective governments are doomed to fall, if Popery gains the ascendency over either ; and all those who try to foment or urge any difficulties between them, are not the friends of either, but the enemies of both. It is only by the combined eff*orts of Protestants, all over the world, that Popery can be crushed, and peace, and religion, and fraternal love, restored to mankind. AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 191 I have produced some facts that admit of no de- nial^ and I put the question, confidently, to every honest and sensible Protestant in England or Amer- ica, who is un warped by prejudice or interest, whether the cause of liberty is not in danger, and likely to decline, if we any longer submit to or acquiesce in the doctrines of Popery ! And I ask every reflecting American in particular, whether the influence which Popery has now in this country, is not likely to create anarchy, or even despotism amongst us, though we may preserve the forms of a free constitution ! I have alluded to the struggles in England with Popery ; I have mentioned the name of that dema- gogue, O'Connell, because he is the agent of the Pope for both countries, and because I believe it is the mutual interest of the two to unite, and stand shoulder to shoulder in opposition to Popish in- trigues, evolved in the proceedings of this selfish and dangerous man, O'Connell. The designs of O'Oonnell and the Irish bishops, and those of the Pope and his Jesuit agents in the United States, are proved upon testimony which admits of no de- nial, viz : their own admissions. O'Connell, the mouthpiece of Popery in Ireland, avows publicly that Protestant England shall not govern Irish Pa- pists, and the Pope's agents in the United States declare and swear, that Americans shall not ride them. How are the English and Americans to treat this common enemy ? Let them go into the ene- my's armory, divest themselves of their mawkish sympathy, buckle on the very armor which their enemy wears, and adopt the mode of warfare used by them. Give the common enemy no quarters, assail, them from every point, and the subjects of his holiness the Pope, either in Great Britain or the 192 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, United States, will not long remain insensible to the miseries, into which the great national rent beg- gar has plunged them. This, however, I find cannot be easily done in the United States. The difficulty with our people is this, they would find it much easier to assume the armor used by the common enemy, than to lay down that of sympa- thy and hospitality, which they have heretofore worn, and thus, although a moral and religious people, their zeal is but dim and sluggish, while that of their adversaries, the Pope and his agents, burns higher and clearer every day. This must not be. God and freedom forbid it. The political contest, which has just ended, has tended greatly, at least for the moment, to im- bolden and encourage Popery. Each party courted the Papists, and they supported him from whom they expected most favors. They laid their meshes, nets, and traps for President Polk ; but I believe they have been '^caught in their own traps.^^ That gentleman is said to be a moral and religious man, and one of the last in the world to countenance idola- try, blasphemy, or treason amongst us. But now that the contest is over, and no further avowal of distinct party principles is necessary or profitable, it is to be hoped that the good and virtuous of both parties will unite in passing such laws, as will shield our country and our people from any further Popish in- terference with our government or our institutions. He, w^ho shall bring about this desirable result, and those who aid him, will merit the gratitude of their country. In the present position of parties, much is ex- pected from the great '^ American Republican " asso- ciation, which has recently been formed throughout the United States. Every eye is fixed upon its AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 193 movemeiitSj and the hopes of all Protestants hang upon its success. Do not disappoint us, American Republicans. You alone can save the Protestant foreiguer from the persecutions of Popery, and we call upon you, by the memory of your sires, to shield us from it. You have a great part to act ; you are young ; but the purity of your principles, and the justice of your cause, abundantly supply what is wanting in age. You are the mediators between two great politi- cal parties, whose extremes cannot meet, or if they did, would only tend to render their respective centres still more corrupt, by their internal powers of contamination. Neither of those parties will ever consent to be governed by the other; nor has either of them the moral courage to come forth boldly and say to Popery^ Stand off, thou unclean thing. Thou hast polluted all Europe for ages past ; stand aloof from us ; wash thy polluted hands and blood- stained garments ; until then, thou art unfit to en- ter the temple of our liberties. Thou art, in thy very nature, impure, and hast already diffused amongst us too much of thy deadly poison before we took the alarm. Like an iufected atmosphere, thou hast silently entered the abodes of moral health; thou hast penetrated the strong holds of our free- dom, without giving us any warning! Avaunt, thou SCARLET LADY OF BABYLON ! rcccdc to the Pon- tine marshes, whence thou earnest, and no longer infect the pure air of freedom ! The foul stains of thy corruption shall no longer be permitted to spot the pure and unsullied insignia of independence ! I am aware that the sympathizers with Popery will say that such language as the above is rather harsh. They will tell us it is cruel. They will assert, in their usual mawkish style, that it was 17 194 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY. never the intention of the framers of our constitu- tion to treat those who come amongst us with un- kindness. They themselves invited the oppressed of every land, creed, and people, to our shores. They extended the hand of friendship to all, with- out distinction of party, sect, or religion. So they did, and so do their descendants. Any and every man is welcome to this country. Whether he comes from the banks of the Euphrates, shores of the Ganges, or bogs of Ireland, he is sure to re- ceive from Americans a warm and hospitable recep- tion. His person, his liberty, cind his property, are protected; but there is a condition under which this reception is given, and w^ithout which it never should be granted. The recipient of all these fa- vors is required to yield obedience to the mild and equitable laws of the United States : forswearing at the same time, all allegiance to any other king, potentate, or power whatever. This condition, so just, so reasonable, and so politic, is generally complied with by all foreigners, who land in these United States, with the exception of Roman Cath- olics. All others come amongst us, and either re- fuse at once to become citizens, or honestly incor- porate themselves with us. The Papist alone re- fuses incorporation with Americans. He alone comes amongst us the avowed enemy of our insti- tutions, and the sworn subject of a foreign king, the Pope of Rome. Among all the foreigners who land upon the shores of this country, none but Pa- pists avow any hostility to its institutions. They alone would dare say, " Amei^icans sha'iiH rule ws." On them alone have Americans just cause to look as traitors to their government, and foes to their religion ; and they alone should be singled out as just objects of fear and jealousy. AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 195 I have, in the preceding pages, traced the origin of the Papal temporal power to its proper source ; and endeavored to follow the coarse of its turbid and muddy stream, through many of its sinuosities and canonical — if I may use such a term — gyrations, down to the middle of the 16th century. 1 freely admit that I have made many '• short cuts^^^ and have been obhged to pass unnoticed several of its acute angles. Were I to proceed '^ pari passu ^^ with its course, taking all its bearings and accom- panying them with the necessary observations, it would require a volume at least ten times as large as that which I now respectfully present to the public. I shall, however, if Providence leaves me health, continue the subject of Popery as it was AND AS IT IS. I will dissect the Body Papal, so that every American, who honors me with the pe- rusal of my observations, will see its inmost struc- ture. I have studied its anatomy ; I understand all its minutiae ; and if any can view the skeleton without horror and shame for having so long con- tributed to feast and fatten the monster, it shall not be my fault. The performance of this operation will be, in every point of view, extremely unpleas- ant. Whichever way I look, the prospect must be disagreeable. Behind, I can only see an object in which I once felt an interest, and with which I was unfortunately connected : and before, nothing is to be seen but further persecutions and calum- nies. But, cost what it may, it shall not be said of me by friend or foe, that I have shrunk from the performance of a duty which I owe to the cause of morality, and to my adopted country. I have merely touched upon the persecuting and treacherous spirit of the Popish church. The profli- gacy of its priests are scarcely noticed by me as yet. Its idolatries and blasphemies are barely allu- 196 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, ded to. Indulgences, miracles, and the iniquities committed in nunneries, are scarcely glanced at. The twilight view, which I have given of these subjects, is only intended for a better observation of them, under the full light of some mid-day sun. Before I conclude this volume, permit me to give you a brief view of Popery as it is at this very day on which I write. 1 have a double object in doing this. First, what I am about stating has perhaps escaped the notice of many of my fellow-citizens; and secondly, it will confirm one of the most serious charges which I have made against Papists ; and thirdly it will prove to a demonstration, that Roman Catholic priests and bishops, who surround us and live amongst us, are a set of barefaced liars, whose entire disregard for truth fits them for no other society than that of brigands and felons. The reader will bear in mind that Roman Cath- olics are the loudest advocates of religious freedom. He will also not forget that I have charged them with being its most inveterate enemies. The Pa- pists and myself are now fairly at issue. Either they are right and I am wrong, or vice versa, I have sustained my accusation against them by proofs derived from their own general coun- cils, and from their uniform practice for centuries back. Still, these Catholics will say and assert publicly, in their pulpits, and at their meetings, religious and political, that they were always and are now the advocates of religious toleration. Let the past for a moment be forgotten. I presume no one will question what the practices of the Rp- mish church have been in relation to religious toleration in former times. Let us rather see what it is now among our neighbors in Madeira ; and as all Roman Catholics are a ii7iit in faith and AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 197 practice, we may judge from what we see m Ma- deira, of what may be seen, and if not seen, is felt, in the United States. I submit the following let- ter to my readers. . It is from one of the most re- spectable men in Madeira. ^^ Religious Persecution in Madeira. We have just had a sort of miniature civil war. Dr. Rally, who has been converting the natives, is the original cause of it. He converted the woman they sentenced to death here not long since. Having been imprisoned for some time, the doctor was at last liberated, and resumed his habit of preaching to the people in his house ; and it was not generally known, until within a short time, that he had made several hundred converts. On ascertaining this fact, the Governor, Don Oliva de Correa, at the request of the priests of the estab- lished church, who feared that the people might throw off their allegiance to the Roman Catholic church, appointed a country police to prevent the Protestants from assembling together. On Sunday week, the converts of St. Antonia de Sierra, while engaged in prayer, were assailed by the police, who broke in the door, knocked down the person who was officiating in the service, broke the benches, and dispersed the people, except four or five whom they took prisoners, and then proceeded to town. After going two miles, the police were overtaken by the populace, armed with pitchforks, rusty mus- kets, hoes, &c. ^' The police were overpowered, and after being ducked in the river by the mob, they were tied together by the hands and feet and left on the road ; the Protestants returning to the mountains with their rescued comrades. One of the police officers, who escaped from the mob, made his way 17* 198 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, to town and alarmed the government. Three hun- dred and fifty soldiers were immediately ordered out ; the police were released from their confine- ment on the road-side, and the army marched to the villages of the " Rallyites." The dwellings were fired indiscriminately ; several aged women, who could not fly to the mountains, were put to the torture, to make them reveal the places of con- cealment of the 'heretics.' 'I'he Catholic army then proceeded up the mountain to massacre the Protestants ; but in passing the foot of the hill they were assailed by the Protestants above, who threw down stones and rocks upon them, killing eight soldiers and wounded forty others severely. As soon as the troops could be gathered after their fright and alarm, they opened a deadly fire upon the Protestants, chasing them five miles over the country, taking eighty or ninety prisoners, and kill- ing and wounding several of the unfortunate wretches. '' The army marched their prisoners down to the sea-coast, to Machico, where they were put on board the Diana fifty gun frigate, and taken thence to Punchal. The vessel of war, Don Pedro, was left at anchor on Machico to awe the country, but another, the Vouga, which had been despatched to Lisbon with official accounts of the battle, ran aground and had to return for repairs. The Don Pedro will therefore go to Lisbon. The captives will be sent to Lisbon, I suppose for trial, some time next week. Dr. Rally, the cause of the dis- turbance, remains at his house unmolested, which is singular. I don't think they will let him be quiet long. The Ycrktown, American sloop-of-war, was here the other day. We have had a beautiful winter so far. About four hundred people have come here this year for the benefit of their healtii." AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS, 199 The above letter was received in New York a few weeks ago, and needs no comment. If any Pa- pist doubts it, he can easily write to Madeira and ascertain its truth or falsehood. Until then he has no reason to be surprised if American Protestants shall refuse to hold any connection or communion with them. There is one feature in the letter to which I would call the attention of the reader. It shows not only the persecuting spirit of Popery, but the uniformity and consistency of their mode of opera- tion. Go back to the former persecutions of the Popish church against the followers of WicklifTe and the Huguenots. The Wicklifhtes had to fly to the mountains for shelter ; but they were hotly pur- sued and cut down by the swords of their fiendish persecutors. They were massacred and butchered, even in the fissures and caves of their native rocks and mountains. The Protestants in Madeira, only a few weeks ago, had to fly to the mountains from a bloodthirsty, Popish soldiery, headed by their priests and monks. There, at our very doors, and in a country with which we have treaties of friend- ship and alliance. American Protestants are butch- ered and slaughtered by Popish savages, under the mask of religion ; and when the news of this trans- action reached our own shores, what action has been taken upon the subject ? Was there any in- dignation meeting called ? Were there any resolu- tions passed ? Were there any ambassadors ap- pointed in New England or elsewhere to ascertain the cause of this bloody tragedy ? Did our govern- ment demand any explanation from the authorities at Madeira ? The writer is not aware of any. Our government is too much occupied with affairs of more importance, viz., Who shall be Secretary of 200 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, Stafe^ wno shall be Secretary of War, &c. The interest of morality seems a matter of minor im- portance with the ^^ powers that be." The blood of our Protestant fellow-citizens, the cries of their widows and orphans cannot reach the eye or ear of our grave law-makers. The question with them seems, not what our country may become, by the treachery and persecutions of Popery, which are witnessed along the whole line and circnmference of our own coast — a question of far more impor- tance to them seems to be. Who shall hold the fat- test office, or whether Massachusetts or South Caro- lina is in the right on the subject of the imprison- ment of a few citizens, belonging to the former, by the latter; while they witness all around, and in the very midst of them, Popish priests and bishops persecuting their fellow-citizens abroad, and gnaAving at their very vitals at home. Fatal delu- sion this on the part of our government and people ! I have accused the Pvomish church and her priests of treachery, prevarication, and fraud, in all their dealings with Protestants. Their guilt has been established by proofs and ev^idences such as they cannot deny, viz., the canons of their church and their own admission. There is not a people in the world more anxious for correct information on all subjects than Americans ; and it is, therefore, the more singular that they should be so indifferent to the all-important subject of Popery. This, however, may be accounted for,*in some measure. The moral monstrosities — if I may use such language — of Popery, are such, that it requires something more than ordinary faith to believe them, and a greater power of vision than generally falls to the lot of man, even to look at them. There are objects on which the human eye cannot rest with- AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 201 out blinking, and upon which nothing but force or fear can induce it to fix its gaze for any length of time. It will always gladly turn from them, and rest upon something else. This may account for the fact that my adopted countrymen and fellow Protestants pay so little attention to the subject of Popery, or the hideous crimes and revolting deeds which it has ever taught, and its priests have ever practised. I cannot otherwise account for the apparent in- difference and unconcern of our government and people on the subject of our relations with Catholic countries, and the encouragement given to Popish emissaries in the United States. I have myself seen so much of Popery, that my mind shrinks from the further contemplation of its iniquities. I can assure my Protestant friends, that nothing but an inherent love of liberty, and a desire, as far as in my power, to ward off that blow which I see Popery treacher- ously aiming at Protestants and the Protestant re- ligion in the United States, could ever have induced me to publish these pages ; and, although I feel that I have already drawn too heavily on the indulgence of my readers, I cannot dismiss the subject without laying before them another evidence of Popish treachery, which occurred only a few weeks ago, on the island of Tahiti. It seems that in 1822, or thereabouts, an indi- vidual, named M. Moerenhout, representing him- self a native of Belgium, arrived in Valparaiso, and obtained a situation as clerk from Mr. Duester, the Dutch consul in that city. After some time, he gains the confidence of his employer, on whom, to- gether with two more merchants, he prevailed to charter a vessel, and send a cargo by her to the So- ciety Islands, with himself as supercargo. They 202 SYNOPSIS OF POPERYj did SO accordingly in 1829, and the worthy super- cargo appropriated to his own use the whole profits of the voyage, and continued for some time longer upon the island, selling whisky, brandy, and other liquors. In 1834, (says the Q,uarteily Review, from which, together with other sources, I derived my information,) this gentleman departed for Europe, with a view of communicating with the French government ; or rather, as I am informed upon good authority, to confer with the order of Jesuits in that country. On his way to Europe, this Moerenhout came to the United States, obtained some letters of introduction in New York and Boston, with which he proceeded to Washington ; and on the strength of them, was appointed United States' consul for Tahiti. With the title of consul-general of theUnited States, this diplomatist proceeds to France, and im- mediately — no doubt according to previous arrange- ment — entered into all the plans of the Jesuits for the extirpation of Protestantism in the Society Islands. He became the agent of the Propaganda in France, an institution placed under the patron- age of St. Xavier. The duty of converting all the islands of the Pacific, from the South to the North Pole, is committed to this Propaganda, and a decretal to that effect was confirmed by the Pope on the 22d June, 1823. K bishop was appointed for Eastern Oceania, and several priests preceded him to the islands. Among these priests was an Irish catechist^ by the name of Murphy. The bishop, it seems, established himself at Valparaiso, while the priests proceeded to Tahiti. I here give an instance of the manner in which those Popish m.issionaries discharge their duties. You will find it the October number of the Foreign (Quar- terly Review. You may rely upon the statement. AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 203 The Popish missionaries have acted in the case just as I should have done myself when a Romish priest, in obedience to the instructions given by the infal- lible church. '-'• I always bear about me," says the reverend Jesuit, Patailon, ^'a flask of holy water and another of perfume. I pour a little of the latter upon the child, and then, whilst its another holds it out without suspicion^ I change the flasks and sprinkle the water that regenerates^ unknown to any one but myself." This is what the holy church calls a pious fraud ; and this is what the priests of Boston are doing, in a little different manner, to the chil- dren of Protestant mothers. In Tahiti, Popish priests make Christians by jugglery, under the very eye of the mother. In the United States they make Christians of Protestant children by ordering their Catholic nurses to bring them secretly to the priest's house to be baptized. But let us resume the subject of the Jesuit mis- sionaries from the Propaganda in France to Tahiti. The Jesuits, always wary and cautious, deemed it necessary, before they landed upon the island in a body, to send one of their number in advance, in order to ascertain ^' how the land lay," and what their prospects of success were ; and accordingly, in 1836, the Irish Jesuit^ Murphy^ proceeded alone, disguised as a carpenter, and landed safely at a place called Papeete. The unsuspecting inhabitants re- ceived the scoundrel among them just as Ameri- cans receive Jesuits in this country ; and while he was acting the traitor, and clandestinely writing to Jesuits, they shared with him the hospitality of their tables — precisely as Americans have done, for the last fifty years, to other Murphies^ in this country. 204 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, During this whole time that Mnrphy was on the island, working as a carpenter, he had secret in- terviews with the American consul, Moerenhout, until he succeeded in bringing into the island his brother missionaries. They could not, however, remain on the island without permission from the queen, and the payment of a certain sum of money. The queen refused them permission to remain, un- der any circumstances, fearing, as she well might, that some treason was contemplated against her government. The Jesuits called a meeting, and, under the patronage of the American consul, they urged their demand to remain, comparing them- selves to St. Peter, and the Protestants to St. Simon, the magician. I use the language of the (Quarterly. I must here observe, in justice to our government, that the conduct of Moerenhout, United States' consul at Tahiti, was promptly disavowed, and he was immediately removed from office. But, not- withstanding the improper interference of the American consul, they were ordered to leave the island. It is due to the Protestant missionaries to state, that they took no part whatever in the expulsion of these Jesuits ; nor could they, in justice to themselves or to the cause of morality, interfere in preventing it. A French writer, speaking of the occupation of Tahiti, says : ^* The Catholic priests, instead of going to civilize bar- barous nations and checking debauchery, seem, on the contrary, only desirous of becoming rivals to the Protestant ministers, and decoying away their proselytes." As soon as the expelled Jesuits arrived in France, one of them proceeded to Rome, to consult with his holiness the Pope ; the result of which was, an immediate order to a French AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 205 captain, named Dupetit Thouars, who was then stationed at Valparaiso, to proceed to Tahiti, and de- mand reparation for a supposed indignity to France. Here we see the influence of the Pope, and an evidence of Jesuit intrigue. In what consisted the alleged indignity to France ? Had not the queen of Tahiti the right to receive or refuse those Jesuit missionaries, if she had evidence that they were spies among her people ? If it appeared clear to her that the object of those reverend intriguers' visit was only to overthrow her government, and to decoy away from the path of virtue and re- ligion both herself and her subjects, what right had Louis Phillippe or the French government to look upon this as an indignity to the French na- tion ? The fact is, if the whole truth were known, Louis Phillippe knew but little of this affair, and his minister for foreign aff*airs, or some other mem- ber of his cabinet, was either imposed upon or bribed by Jesuits. A statement of the difficulties, into which the hitherto peaceful island of Tahiti has been thrown by Jesuits, could not fail to be interesting to my readers ; but, as the whole affair is to be found in the Foreign Quarterly, I refer the public to that work. I cannot, however, dismiss the subject, without asking the reader's particular attention to the Irish Jesuit^ Murphy^ who figures so con- spicuously in the transaction. A brief view of the conduct of this reverend spy cannot fail to have a good eff'ect, and must tend greatly to remove that delusion under which the Protestants of the United States have so long labored. I have been recently conversing with a very intel- ligent member of the Massachusetts legislature, on the subject of Jesuitical intrigue. I stated to him 18 206 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY; that it was a common practice among them, ever since the formation of that societj^, to keep spies in all Protestant countries, under various disguises and in different occupations. But though I had given him such proofs' as could scarcely fail to satisfy any man, yet he replied, as American Protestants gen- erally do, on all such occasions, ^' Those iz7nes are gone by. The Ro^nish church is not at all noiv^ lohatit was in the days you speak of^ But, when the fact was made plain to him — when he learned from authority, admitting of no doubt, that only a i^'^ weeks ago, a Jesuit, and an Irishman too, crept into Tahiti in the disguise of a carpenter, and con- tinued to work there, in that character, until he laid a proper foundation for the overthrow of the Protes- tant religion on that island, his incredulity seemed to vanish ; the cloud, which so long darkened his vision, evaporated into thin air; and my impression is, that he no longer thinks our country safe, unless something is done to exclude forever all Papists, without distinction, from any participation in the making and administration of our laws. This Murphy^ to whom allusion is made, ap- peared m great distress when he arrived among the natives of Tahiti. He seemed entirely indiiferent upon the subject of religion ; all he wanted, appar^ ently, was employment. This was procured for him among the simple natives by the American consul^ both of whom soon united themselves together, ac- cording to some previous arrangement ; and, while they were ^^ breaking bread " with the natives^ they were laying plans for their destruction. A blow was aimed at their national and moral existence, and the death of both has nearly been the result. Thus we see a harmless and inoffensive people, only just res- cued from a savage state by the laudable efforts of AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 207 Protestant missionaries, partly thrown back again into their original condition by infidel Popish priests, whose '^ god is their belly," whose religion is alle- giance to their king, the Pope, and whose sports and pastimes consist in debauching the good and virtuous of every country. The flourishing condition of Tahiti, before the Jesuits found access to it, is well known in this country. Peace, plenty, and religion flourished among its people — all produced by the eff'orts of our Protestant missionaries. But what sad changes have Jesuits efl'ected among them ! By their intrigues they have caused a difficulty between Tahiti and France. The French government fancied itself insulted; false representations were made by the Jesuits; and, with the aid of their brethren in France, the government was deceived and the isl- and blockaded, until reparation was made by the inoffensive queen, Pomare. I will quote an in- stance of the conduct of the French — all Roman Catholics^ and under the advice of Jesuits — after they entered Tahiti. It is taken from the Foreign Quarterly Review of October, and not denied by the French themselves. ^^ After persuading four chiefs, who were author- ized to act in the absence of the queen, to affix their names to a document, asking ' French protection,' a boat was sent by the French captain, Dupetit Thouars, to a place called Eimeo, with ^ perernptori/ order for queen Pomare to sign it within twenty- four hours. ^' It was evening before the boat reached the place whither Pomare had retired with her family. Her situation was one in which it is the custom for wo- men to receive the most anxious and respectful at- tention from all of the opposite sex, especially if 208 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, they call themselves gentlemen. She was every moment expected to give bu'th to a child ; and, ac- cording to custom, had come to lie-in at Eimeo, leaving Paraita, who basely betrayed his trust, re- gent in her absence. On learning the demand made by Thouars, the queen, surprised and alarmed, sent for Mr. Simpson, the missionary of the island, and a long and painful consultation ensued. Armed re- sistance was obviously impossible. The only al- ternative was between dethronement and protection. Pomare at first determined to choose the former, but her friends pressing round her, represented that Great Britain, the court of appeal whither all the grievances of the world are carried for redress, would certainly interfere ; that subjection would be but temporary, and that she would ultimately tri- umph. Stretched on her couch, in the first pangs of labor, the unfortunate queen withstood all sup- plications until near morning. Mr. Simpson ob- serves, that this was indeed ^ a night of tears.' Many hours were passed in silence, interrupted only by the sobs of the suffering Pomare. ^^ Let us leave her for a while, and turn to consider in what manner the French buccaneer and his crew passed the same night. We refer to no inimical statement. Our authority is a letter which went the round of all the Paris papers, written by an of- ficer on board the Reine Blanche, who did not seem to perceive any thing at all immoral in what he re- lated. His intention was merely to excite the envy of his fellow-countrymen by detailing the delights that were to be found in the new Cythera of Bou- gainville. We dare not follow him into his details. It will be enough to state that more than a hundred women were enticed on board the ship, and there compelled to remain all night, under pretence that AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 209 it would be dangerous to row them back in the dark. Some were taken to the officers' cabin, others Avere sent to the youthful midshipmen, the rest to the crew. When this account made its appearance, the government, alarmed at the effect it might produce, published an official declaration in the ' Moniteur,' (30 Mars,) addressed to ^French mothers,' deny- ing the truth of the statement. But M. Guizot, or whoever directed this disavowal, merely argued from* the silence of his own despatches — if they were silent — and not long before, in the voyage of Dumont d'Urville, published by royal 'ordon- nance,' a description of conduct, still more atro- cious, had been given to the world. '^ Towards morning, the sufferings of Pomare in- creasing, her resolution began to fail her, and at length she signed the fatal document. Then burst- ing into a jlood of tears, she took her eldest son, aged six years, in her arms, and exclaimed, ' My child, my child, I have signed away your birth- right ! ' In another hour, with almost indescriba- ble pangs, she was delivered of her fourth child. Meanwhile the boat which carried the news of her yielding, sped for the port of Papeete. The sea was rough, and the wind threatened every moment to shift. The white sail was beheld afar off by the look-out on the mast of the Reine Blanche, and it was thought impossible she could reach by the ap- pointed time. Thouars, however, troubled himself but little about all these things. He was fixed in his resolve, that if the answer did not arrive before twelve he would bombard Papeete. The guns were loaded, gun-boats stationed along the shore ; and whilst the frightened inhabitants crowded down to the beach, beseeching, with uplifted hands, that their dwellings might be spared, the ruthless pirate, 18^ 210 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, bearing the commission of the king of France, was giving his orders, and burning to emulate the ex- ploits of Stopford and Napier at St. Jean d'Acre, by destroying a few white-washed cottages on the shore of a little island in the Pacific. Hero ! wor- thy the grand cross of the legion of honor which was bestowed on him for this achievement ! Worthy the sword raised by farthing subscriptions among ' haters of the English,' which was presented to him for so distinguished an exploit ! What exulta- tion must have filled his breast as he beheld the white sail of the boat scud for a moment past the entrance of the port ; and what sorrow, when, by a skilful tack, it bore manfully along the very skirts of the breakers, and rushed through the hissing and boiling waters into the placid bay of Papeete, ex- actly one half hour before mid-day ! " We must pass rapidly over the arrangements which followed. The treaty of protection pro- fessed to secure the external sovereignty to the French, but to leave the internal to the queen. The former, however, were empowered ' to take whatever measures they might judge necessary for the preservation of harmony and peace.' When we learn that the ever recurring M. Moerenhout was appointed royal commissioner to carry out this treaty, we at once perceive that Pomare had in re- ality ceased to reign. How this base person em- ployed his power may be discovered from the fact, that it became his constant habit, when he desired to obtain the signature of the queen to any distaste- ful document, to vituperate her in the lowest lan- guage, and shake his fist in her face. '^ It has been asserted, in this country and else- where, that the passive resistance of the queen and people to the proper establishment of the protecto- AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 211 rate, did not begin until the arrival of Mr. Pritch- ard on the 25th of February, 1843. The object of this has been to attribute all the subsequent dif- ficulties experienced by the French to him. But the fact is well known, that before he made his ap- pearance the queen had written to the principal European powers, stating that she had been com- pelled against her will to accept the protectorate of France. On the 9th of February also, a great pub- lic meeting, presided at by the queen, was held, in which speeches of the most violent description were made. It was resolved, however, that by no overt act the French should be furnished with an excuse for further arbitrary proceedings. The de- termination come to, was to write for the opinion of Great Britain. '^ The morning after this meeting Moerenhout went to the queen and acted in a manner so gross and in- sulting, that she determined to complain to Sir Thomas Thompson, of the Talbot frigate, who promised her protection. All this happened, as we have seen, before the arrival of Mr. Pritchard, who, in truth, instead of proving a firebrand, introduced moderation and caution into the councils of Po- mare. Sir Toup Nicolas, it is true, commanding the Vindictive, which brought our consul to Tahiti, did go so far, despising some of the forms which were perhaps necessary, as threaten that unless the French ceased to molest British subjects, he would use force to compel them. He is said even to have cleared for action. When we consider what was daily passing under his eyes, there was some ex- cuse for this gallant captain's warmth. Setting aside the insults offered to our own countrymen, he was the spectator of constant tyrannical conduct towards the queen. Messrs. Reine and Vrignaud, 212 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, under whose name all this was done, were but in- struments in the hands of the sagacious Moeren- hout. The following letter of queen Pomare, hitherto, we believe, unpublished, will throw some light on his conduct. It is addressed to Toup Nic- olas, who took measures to fulfil the wishes it contains. * Paofae, March 5, 1844. ' O Commodore, 'I make known unto you that I have oftentimes been troubled by the French consul, and on ac- count of his threatening language I have left my house. His angry words to me have been very strong. I have hitherto only verbally told you of his ill-actions towards me ; but now I clearly rfiake these known to you, O Commodore, that the French consul may not trouble me again. I look to you to protect me now at the present time, and you will seek the way how to do it. ' This is my wish, that if M. Moerenhout, and all other foreigners, want to come to me, they must first make known to me their desire, that they may be informed whether it is, or is not, agreeable to me to see them. ' Health and peace to you, ' O servant of the dueen of Britain, (Signed) ' Pomare, ^ dueen of Tahiti, Mourea, &c. &c.' ^' During the time that elapsed between the estab- lishment of the protectorate and the third visit of Dapetit Thouars to Tahiti, the only overt act which the French could complain of was the hoist- ing of a fancy flag by the queen over her house. Whatever difficulties existed at the outset, had been in reality overcome in spite of the ^ intriguing Mr. AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 213 Pritchard.' Even M. Guizot has declared in his place in the chamber of deputies : * There existed on the admiral's arrival none of those difficulties which are not to be surmounted by good conduct, by prudence, by perseverance, by time, or which require the immediate application of force' Nev- ertheless, on the first of November, 1843, our buc- caneering admiral entered the harbor of Papeete, and wrote immediately to inform the queen that unless she pulled down the flag she had hoisted, he would do so for her, and at the same time depose her. In spite of his threats, however, she refused compliance ; and Lieutenant D'Aubigny landed at the head of five hundred men, to occupy the island. The speech in which this person inaugurated French dominion in Tahiti was one of the richest speci- mens of bombast and braggadocia ever uttered. ^' Milch merriment might be excited by its repeti- tion, but it has already caused the sides of Europe to ache, more than once. Suffice it to say, that the deposed queen fled on board the Biitish ship of war, the Dublin, commanded by Capt. Tucker, and Papeete was, for many days, like a town takei] by storm. Drunkenness, debauchery, rioting, filled its streets, and every means were taken to undo what the missionaries had, by half a century's labor, accomplished." The above is another melancholy evidence of the spirit of Popery ; and if any thing can open the eyes of our people to a sense of danger from it, this evidence cannot fail to do so. I lay it down as a truth — though I may be censured for the boldness of such an assertion — that there is not a man of common sense, or ordinary penetration, who does not see, at a glance, that our danger as a nation, and our morals as a people, are eminently perilled 214 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, bjL-the continuance of Popery amongst us. There are certain truths which need not be proved ; they prove themselves. Like the sun, which is seen by its own light, they carry with them their own evi- dence ; and, among those self-evident truths, I see none more clear or more lucid, than that Popery, which has taken root in this country, will — if not torn up and totally uprooted before long — dash to pieces the whole frame of our republic. S]fonpa- thizers, Puseyites, and all other such bastard Prot- estants, may think differently. Be it so. Valueless as my opinion may be, let it be herein recorded, that^ I entirely disagree with them. It seems that another speck of Popery is just making its appearance on the north-west horizon of our national firmament. It appears, by accounts very recently received from Oregon, that the Prop- aganda in Rome has sent out a company of Jesuits and nuns to that territory. Popish priests and Jesuits seldom travel without being accompanied by nuns : they add greatly to their comforts while on their pilgrimage for the advancement of morality and chastity. Hitherto the occupants of Oregon have advanced quietly. They have adopted a temporary form of government, established courts of law, and such municipal regulations as they deemed best calculated to forward their common interest. But the modern serpent^ Jesuitism, has already entered their garden : the tree of Popery has been planted : it is now in blossom, and w^ill soon be seen in full bearing. It is truly a melan- choly refiection to think that this pest^ Popery, should find access to all places and to all people. One year will not pass over us, before the aspect of things in Oregon will be entirely changed. These Jesuits who arrived there have been pre- AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 215 ceded by some Popish spy — somQ reverend Irish Murphy, in thiS capacity of carpenter^ or perhaj)S horse-jockey, has gone before them, and has been laying plans for their reception. I venture to say, it will be discovered, at no distant day, that all the good which our Protestant missionaries have done lhe\'Q will soon be undone by Popish agents. They will commence, as they have done in Tahiti, by causing some panic among the resident settlers. They will find in Oregon, as well as in our United States, some functionary who may want their aid ; and he, like many of the unprincipled functionaries among ourselves, will give them his patronage in ex- change. Liberty has, in reality, but few votaries among oflficeholders, in comparison with Popery ; and this is one of the chief causes of the great advances which the latter is making, and has been making, especially for the last six or eight years. Look around you, fellow-citizens, and you will scarcely find an individual in office, from the President to the lowest office-holder, possessed of sufficient moral courage to raise his voice against Popery. But jus- tice to Anjericans requires me to say, that in this the groat mass of the people are without blame — for ] cannot call certain leading, unprincipled [)oliticians, the people. The first steps which foreign priests and Jesuits have taken, in disturbing the harmony of our republican system of government, might have been easily checked ; but those who have repre- sented the people, and who held offices of honor and emolument, were not, and will not be, disturb- ed by a moment's reflection on a pro[ier sense of their duty. The whole responsibility of the gross outrages offered to our Protestant country, by Popish pries's and Papal allies, rests upon our representa- tives in Congress. They could, if they would, have 216 SYNOPSIS OF POFERr, long since checked Popery ; and it is now high time that the people should take this matter into their own hands, and so alter the constitutions of their respective states^ as to exclude Papists from any positive or negative participation in the creation or execution of their laws. Jesuits calculate with great accuracy upon the selfishness of man: they know that, generally speaking, it is paramount to all other considerations. Artful, intriguing, avaricious, and more licentious themselves than any other body of men in the world, they soon discover all that is vulnerable in the American character, and take advantage of it. They discover that popular applause is greatly coveted by Americans ; and this is the reason why we see established among us so many repeal asso- ciations. The writer understands that several of those associations are now formed in Oregon ; and if was at their request that the Pope had sent out Jesuits and nuns amongst them. Repeal is looked upon as the great lever by which the whole political world can be turned upside down. Its members meet in large numbers, in order to show the gullible Americans the consequent extent of their power^ and the great advantage which some officehunter may gain by bringing them over to his views. The bait has taken well hitherto ; but as we have — sol- emnly attested by the sign manual of the Pope him- self — seen his object in causing to be established repeal societies, the American, who continues here- after to encourage them, deserves the execration of every lover of freedom. The Pope tells Americans^ through his agent, O'Connell, what the design and objects of all the movements of Papists in the United States are ; and I trust, when Americans see them in their true colors, they will sink deeply mto their hearts. AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 2ir Hear, then, I entreat you, Americans, the lan- guage of O'Connell, as the Pope's agent, as uttered by him in the Loyal National Repeal Association m Dublin, Ireland. It is addressed to Irish Catholics in the United States. Where you have the electoral franchise^ give your votes to none hut those who will assist you in so holy a struggle. You should do all in your power to carry out the pious inten^ tions of his holiness the Pope. This is plain lan- guage^ there is no misunderstanding it. It is ad- dressed to Papists, whether in Oregon or the United States, and what are the pious intentions of the Pope ? I will tell you. I understand those matters probably better than you do. The object is, in the first place, to extirpate Protestantism ; and, secondly, to overthrow this republican government, and place in our executive chair a Popish king. This is the sole design of all the ramifications of the va- rious repeal clubs throughout the length and breadth of the United States and its territories. O'Con- nell — the greatest layman living — is the nuncio of the Pope for carrying this vast and holy design into execution. Will Americans submit to this ? Will they again attend repeal associations ? Does not every meeting of the repeal party impliedly make an assault upon our constitution ? Is not this for- eign demagogue endeavoring to pollute our ballot- box ? and will you any longer trust an Irish Papist, who is the fettered slave of the Pope ? Aye ! a greater slave than the African, the Mussulman, or the Chinese. Never before was there such a com- bination formed for the destruction of American liberty, as that of Irish repealers, and never before was such an insidious attempt made to pollute the morals of the wives and daughters of Americans, as that which Jesuits have for years made, and are 19 218 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, now making, by the introduction of priests and nun- neries among them. Repeal unchains the loud blasts of conspiracy, and opens the bloody gates of sedition ; yet this Re- peal lives in the very midst of us, I can almost hear, while I am writing these lines, the wild shouts of its lawless members ; and to the shame and everlasting disgrace of Americans, the sons of free and noble sires, there are many of them, at the very repeal meetings to which I allude, aiding and abetting them in aiming their mad and wild blows at liberty, while she sleeps sweetly, perhaps dreaming that she was safe, with the spirits of Washington, Warren, and others, watching over her slumbers. Sleep on, fair goddess ! Popish traitors cannot, shall not disturb thee. American Republi- cans will not let them ; and to you, Protestant for- eigners, I would most earnestly appeal. Let us stand by those noble patriots. We know what tyr- anny is 1 We felt many of its pains and penalties. We know what Popery is ! It has desolated our na- tive land 1 It has made barren our fairest fields ! It has sealed up from our parents, our brothers, sisters, and relatives, the eternal fountain of life ! It is drunk with the blood of the saints ! It has closed against us the gates of liberty ! It has rendered us strangers to its blessings, and it was not until we landed upon these shores, that we were first per- mitted to inhale its fragrance or taste its fruits. But now that we enjoy all these blessings, let us thank God for them. Let us be grateful to Ameri- cans for receiving us among them, and prove by our deeds that we are not unworthy of the kind and ' hospitable reception which they gave us, by being foremost amongst them in resisting and warding off the blows which that enemy of mankind, the Pope, AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 219 and his foul-mouthed nuncio, Daniel O'Connell, with his Irish repealers, are striking at American freedom ! They shall not succeed. The slaves of a Pope cannot succeed. " The sensual and the dark rebel in vain, Slaves by their own compulsion ! In mad game They burst their manacles, and wear the name Of freedom, graven on a heavier chain. O Liberty ! with profitless endeavor ' Have I pursued ttiee many a weary hour ; — But thou nor swell'st the victor's strain, nor ever Didst breathe thy soul in forms of human power. Alike from all, howe'er they praise thee — Nor prayer, nor boastful name delays thee — Alike from priestcraft's harpy minions. And factious blasphemy's obscener slaves, Thou speedcst on thy subtle pinions. The guide of homeless winds, q,nd playmate of the waves I And there I felt thee ! — on that sea-clifTs verge. Whose pines, scarce travelled by the breeze above, Had made one murmur with the distant surge ; — Yea, while I stood and gazed, my temples bare, And shot my being through earth, sea, and air, Possessing all things with intensest love, O Liberty ! my spirit felt thee there I " Deacidffied using the Bookkeeper process. Neutraiiz'ng agent: Magnesium Oxide TreatmenT Date: Jan. 2006 PreservationTechnologies ^ A WORLD LEADEFt IN PAPER PRESERVATION 1 1 1 Thomson Pari< Drive Cranberry TovkTship. PA 1 6066 (724)779-2111 ^^^'