Skip to main content

Full text of "The 4th Degree oath of the Knights of Columbus : an un- American secret society bound to the Italian Pope by pledges of treason and murder"

See other formats


of  % 


5th  Edition 


An  Un-American  Secret  Society 
Bound  to  the  Italian  Pope,  By 
Pledges  of  Treason  and  Murder 


By 

THOS.  E.  WATSON 

Author  of  "The  Story  of  France,"  "Napoleon,"  "Life  and  Times 
of  Andrew  Jackson,"  "Life  and  Times  of  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son," "The  Roman  Catholic  Hierarchy,"  Etc. 


Published  by 

THE  TOM  WATSON  BOOK  COMPANY,  Inc. 

THOMSON,  GEORGIA 
1928 


of  % 


5th  Edition 


An  Un-American  Secret  Society 
Bound  to  the  Italian  Pope,  By- 
Pledges  of  Treason  and  Murder 


By 

THOS.  E.  WATSON 

Author  of  ''The  Story  of  France,"  "Napoleon"  "Life  and  Times 
of  Andrew  Jackson,"  "Life  and  Times  of  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son," "The  Roman  Catholic  Hierarchy,"  Etc. 


Published  by 

THE  TOM  WATSON  BOOK  COMPANY,  Inc. 

THOMSON,  GEORGIA 
1928 


Copyright,  1927 

GEORGIA  WATSON   LEE   BROWN 

Thomson,  Ga. 


The  4th  Degree  Oath  of  the  Knights 
of  Columbus 


WHAT    IS   THE   TRUTH    ABOUT    THE   4TH    DEGREE 
OATH  OF  THE  KNIGHTS  OF  COLUMBUS? 

THE  most  convincing  witnesses  against  popery  are  those  who 
voluntarily  left   it.     They   are   the   men   and   women   who 
were  on  the  inside.     They  could  see  and  hear  with  their 
own  eyes  and  ears. 

Thousands  of  these  seceders  from  popery  are  people  whose 
motives  and  characters  are  above  suspicion. 

They  do  not  quit  Romanism  to  gain  a  reward,  or  to  make 
money.  Oftener  than  not,  the  seceders  shoulder  a  cross,  rather 
than  win  a  crown,  when  they  turn  their  backs  upon  the  persecuting 
and  murderous  church  of  the  Italians. 

One  of  the  most  notable  seceders  was  the  late  James  A. 
O'Connor,  of  New  York. 

Another  was  the  late  Baroness  Von  Zedtwitz,  who  inherited 
a  part  of  the  Caldwell  fortune  in  Kentucky,  and  who,  when  a 
mere  impressionable  girl,  was  cajoled  and  flim-flammed  out  of 
the  money  which  started  the  Pope's  great  university  in  Washing- 
ton City. 

She  knew  Roman  Catholicism  from  the  inside,  and  she  wrote 
a  book  about  it,  "The  Double  Doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome." 

Another  fact  which  the  Romanist  papers  do  not  mention  is, 
that  one  of  the  most  powerful  arraignments  of  popery  was 
written  by  Anna  Ella  Carroll,  of  Maryland — a  member  of  that 
celebrated  Catholic  family. 

Rev.  James  A.  O'Connor  founded  "The  Converted  Catholic 
Magazine,"  in  New  York,  and  he  spent  many  years  of  unrequited 
toil  exposing  the  rottenness  and  the  dangers  of  Rome. 

When  he  died  from  an  accident  several  years  ago,  he  was 
succeeded  by  Bishop  Manuel  Ferrando,  who  is  also  a  seceder 
from  popery, 

589141 


In  Open  Letters  to  Cardinal  Gibbons,  this  ex-priest  whose 
character  cannot  be  attacked,  has  said  that  he  himself  when  a 
priest,  had  discovered  conditions  in  convents  that  were  fully  as 
bad  as  those  described  by  Maria  Monk. 

Cardinal  Gibbons  did  not  dare  to  deny  the  accusation,  and 
no  Romanist  paper  has  dared  to  ask  Dr.  Ferrando  to  name  those 
convents. 

Now,  it  must  occur  to  you,  that  here  is  a  witness  whose 
testimony  about  the  secret  oaths  taken  by  priests  on  the  inside 
deserves  implicit  belief.  In  the  absence  of  denial,  and  impeach- 
ment, this  witness  ought  to  convince  your  reason. 

What  does  he  say  about  the  disputed  oath  of  the  Fourth 
Degree  Knights  of  Columbus? 

(Mark  you!  in  most  all  of  the  Romanist  denials,  no  mention 
is  made  of  the  Fourth  Degree.) 

In  his  magazine  for  December,  1912,  Dr.  Ferrando  said: 

"Although  it  is  repugnant  to  us,  we  are  inclined  to  believe  in 
the  authenticity  of  the  oath  as  it  is  quoted,  or  of  something  very 
similar  to  it,  from  the  internal  evidence  we  have  of  the  workings 
of  the  Roman  Church." 

Dr.  Ferrando  uses  the  editorial  "we" ;  but  his  statement 
amounts  to  this — 

"From  what  I  know  myself,  from  having  been  on  the  inside 
of  Romanism,  I  believe  the  Knights  have  just  such  a  secret  oath 
as  has  been  published." 

That's  a  mighty  strong  declaration :  it  was  published  before 
the  oath  was  printed  and  circulated  by  Megonigel  and  Shade,  of 
Philadelphia — the  printer  and  the  barber,  both  poor  men. 

Why  didn't  the  brave  James  A  Flaherty,  Supreme  Knight 
and  Supreme  Traitor  and  Supreme  Coward,  and  Supreme  Liar — 
why  didn't  Flaherty  prosecute  Bishop  Manuel  Ferrando? 

Philadelphia  is  close  to  New  York :  and  there  are  thousands 
of  these  valiant  4th  degree  traitors  in  New  York :  why  didn't  they 
pounce  upon  Dr.  Ferrando? 

Why  is  it  that  these  brave  Romanists  have  never  dared  to  pro- 
secute any  man  or  zvoman  zvho  has  been  inside  of  popery? 


Southern  Pampbleu 
«are  Book  Collection  . 
UNC-Chapel  Iftu     '^ 


They  dare  not  do  it ! 

The  ex-priest  knows  too  much !  The  ex-nun  knows  too 
much! 

The  foot-kissers  will  fling  mud  at  the  seceders,  but  they 
know  better  than  to  hale  them  into  court. 

Take  my  own  case,  for  instance :  I,  an  outsider,  quoted  some 
popish  nastiness  in  Latin,  and  was  arrested  for  it. 

Ex-Priest  P.  A.  Sequin  not  only  published  the  same  Latin, 
but  translated  the  same  Latin  into  extremely  nasty  English. 

Yet,  they  did  not  dare  to  arrest  Seguin,  although  I  brought 
him  to  Augusta,  and  he  sold  his  obscene  books  all  over  the  town. 
He  rubbed  elbows  with  priests  while  he  was  in  Augusta,  and 
Seguin's  wife  was  offered  a  thousand  dollars  if  they  would  go 
back  to  Wisconsin. 

When  the  brave  old  man  and  his  fine  wife  stood  their  ground, 
and  sJwwed  that  they  meant  to  tell  zvJiat  they  knew,  at  my  trial,  the 
case  was  continued  by  the  prosecution. 

There  I  was  under  a  criminal  prosecution  for  publishing  the 
very  stuff  that  ex-priest  Seguin  was  publishing  and  selling;  yet, 
they  did  not  dare  to  lay  their  hands  on  Seguin,  zvho  had  been  on 
the  inside  of  the  Roman  church,  and  who  knew  it  for  what  it 
actually  is. 

Continuing  his  editorial.  Bishop  Ferrando  says — 

"In  my  personal  experience  in  convents  and  religious  so- 
cieties of  all  kinds,  I  have  come  across  many  oaths  embodying 
the  satne  ideas,  and  couched  in  equally  barbarous  and  repulsive 
language;  and  it  is  not  at  all  an  uncommon  thing  that  such  oaths 
should  be  signed  IN  BLOOD." 

That  awful  charge  was  published  in  December,  1912.  It  was 
in  February.  1913,  that  the  brave  Flaherty  picked  out  the  printer 
and  the  barber,  and  jumped  on  them.  They  had  no  money,  and 
the  man  without  money  may  be  a  man  without  friends  who  are 
able  to  hire  good  lawyers. 

Spoiling  for  a  fight  the  ferocious  Flaherty  picked  out  the 
tzvo  men  zvho  zvere  least  able  TO  FIGHT  BACK.  '  "H 

The  barber  and  the  printer  did  not  vouch  for  the  oath ;  Bishop 
Ferrando  did. 


The  ex-priest  had  said  in  his  Decemher,  1912,  magazine,  that 
during  the  time  he  was  on  the  inside  of  the  Roman  church  he 
had  seen  many  such  oaths,  with  the  same  murderous  ideas  and 
the  same  barbarous  language,  and  that  it  was  not  uncommon 
for  these  helHsh  oaths  to  be  signed  in  the  blood  of  those  who  took 
them. 

The  Philadelphia  printer  had  not  said  anything  like  that. 
The  barber  did  not  say  he  had  seen  just  such  oaths  inside  the 
popish  institutions. 

But  Dr.  Ferrando  did  say  that  he  had  seen  just  such  oaths, 
that  he  knew  them  to  have  been  signed  in  blood,  and  that  from 
the  knozvledge  he  gained  on  the  inside,  he  believed  that  the  4th 
Degree  Knights  did  swear  to  that  devilish  oath ! 

And  the  brave  Flaherty  and  his  Big  Lawyer  Gaffney,  passed 
over  Dr.  Ferrando,  %vho  kneiv,  and  landed  heavily  on  two  poor 
workmen,  who  did  not  know. 

Evidently,  Flaherty  and  Gaffney  know  who  to  kick. 


HAS  THE  ALLEGED  KNIGHTS  OF  COLUMBUS 

OATH  BEEN  PROVED  A  FAKE  ?     HAS  A 

LIBEL  BEEN  REBUKED? 

From  the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic,  from  Maine  to  Florida,  the 
Knights  of  Columbus  have  sent  telegrams — or  caused  them  to  be 
sent  and  published — advertising  the  fact  that  tzvo  obscure  laborers, 
who  probably  have  neither  money  nor  "pull",  pleaded  guilty, 
when  prosecuted  for  printing  the  alleged  K.  of  C.  oath. 

The  promptitude  with  which  this  glorious  news  has  been 
flashed  over  the  wires  and  published  in  such  a  number  of  States, 
so  far  apart,  at  practically  the  same  time,  would  seem  to  indicate 
a  well  prepared  plan. 

First,  of  all,  let  us  get  the  facts,  as  published  by  the  Knights 
themselves.  The  Catholic  Citicen,  of  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  will 
be  a  good  paper  to  consult. 

On  its  first  page,  it  publishes,  on  Feb.  7,  1914,  a  picture  of 


Supreme  Knight  James  A.  Flaherty,  and  gives  an  account  of 
the  alleged  trial  of  the  Libel  case.  On  the  editorial  page,  appears 
a  whoop  of  joy,  under  the  headline — 

"A  Knock-out  hloiv." 

The  knock-out,  we  learn  from  the  editor,  is  given  to  all  those 
who  circulate  the  "skulking  lie"  about  this  K.  of  C.  oath,  and 
is  given  ^3;  the  outcome  of  the  Libel  case  in  Philadelphia,  where 
these  two  poor  laboring  men  lived. 

C.  H.  Shade  and  Charles  Megonigel,  were  prosecuted  for 
having  printed  and  circulated  the  oath. 

They  were  charged  with  Libel  and  conspiracy.  They  were 
arrested  on  Feb.  27,  1913,  a  full  year  ago.  They  gave  bond,  after 
a  preliminary  hearing  on  Feb.  29,  1913. 

What  delayed  this  case  for  a  whole  year? 

What  sort  of  sleight-of-hand  work  has  been  done  while  these 
two  men  were  out  on  bond  ? 

Didn't  the  valiant  James  A.  Flaherty  yearn  for  a  speedy 
vindication?  Didn't  he  know  that  he  ought  to  strike  while  the 
iron  was  hot?  Why  did  he  so  suddenly  cool  off,  and  then  wait 
so  long  before  pressing  these  cases? 

The  defendants  must  have  known  that  they  were  entitled  to 
a  trial  by  jury.  They  must  have  known  that  they  could  compel 
the  prosecution  to  produce  the  constitution,  by-laws,  ritual,  &c., 
of  that  secret  society. 

Flaherty  knew  it,  too.  Flaherty  was  in  court,  but  he  did 
not  produce  any  books,  papers,  documents,  or  ritual. 

Joseph  P.  Gafifney,  the  big  lawyer  of  the  Knights  of  Columbus, 
was  also  present  in  court,  but  he  had  none  of  the  Society's  papers 
with  him. 

They  dared  not  produce  tliose  papers  and  let  the  judg^  and 
jury  inspect  them! 

The  printers  had  acted  in  good  faith  and  had  taken  the  oath 
from  The  Menace.  They  had  seen  the  oath  in  other  papers. 
They  had  seen  it  circulated  during  a  political  campaign. 

Therefore,  in  the  absence  of  proof  of  actual  malice,  the  de- 
fendants were  certain  to  be  acquitted. 

But  they  had  no  money  to  hire  expensive  lawyers ;  and  besides, 
they  have  become  rattled  by  threats.  That's  one  of  Rome's 
ways — to  silence  enemies  b\  threats. 


8 

However  this  may  be,  they  pleaded  guilty  of  Libel  and  Con- 
spiracy. 

What  zvas  the  conspiracy?  Nobody  even  claims  that  there 
was  any.  Hovi^  could  two  ordinary  laborers  conspire  against 
the  Pope's  American  Army  of  300,000  armed  men,  some  of 
whom  are  the  wealthiest  and  most  powerful  citizens  of  the 
country  ? 

Nevertheless,  the  two  laborers  pleaded  guilty  of  "conspiracy." 

Little  fiste,  Trip,  had  conspired  to  bite  the  Army,  for  Trip 
says  so  himself. 

I  merely  mention  this  absurd  phase  of  the  matter  to  strength- 
en my  theory  of  a  "frame-up"  between  the  defendants  and  the 
Supreme  Knight  Flaherty. 

The  defendants  having  pleaded  guilty,  were  not  fined  one 
cent,  nor  ordered  to  a  single  hour  of  imprisonment ! 

Flaherty  told  the  Judge  (Wilson)  that  the  plea  of  guilty  had 
vindicated  the  Knights  of  Columbus,  and  that  was  all  he  wanted. 

Yet  he  asked  Judge  Wilson  to  keep  sentence  suspended  over 
the  heads  of  these  two  men. 

If  the  plea  of  guilty  was  enough,  why  demand  very  much  more, 
and  get  it? 

Why  keep  the  sword  of  vengeance  hanging  over  the  heads  of 
these  poor  fellows? 

Under  the  circumstances,  could  anything  be  less  calculated 
to  inspire  confidence  in  the  good  faith  of  this  prosecution  than 
the  fact  that  Supreme  Knight  Flaherty  and  his  big  lawyer  vir- 
tually demanded  that  these  two  men  be  left  in  the  power  of  the 
Knights  of  Columbus? 

Flaherty  and  Gaflfney  told  Judge  Wilson  that  they  would  be 
satisfied  "if  the  court  would  discharge  the  defendants  under  a  sus- 
pension of  sentence." 

As  who  should  say,  "These  men  have  vindicated  us,  but  we 
want  them  kept  in  our  power.  Leave  that  sentence  hanging  over 
them,  ready  to  come  down  upon  them,  and  to  smash  them,  any 
day  we  choose." 

I  don't  think  very  much  of  a  vindication  like  that,  do  you? 


Judge  Wilson  allowed  Flaherty  to  say  in  open  court,  but  not 
under  oath,  the  following  words,  vindicating  the  vindication: 

"This  alleged  oath  is  a  tissue  of  falsehoods  from  the  first 
word  to  the  last — absolutely  false.  This  prosecution  was  brought 
simply  to  vindicate  the  Knights  of  Columbus,  because  of  the 
wide  circulation  given  to  this  vile  and  scurrilous  circular.  Its 
purpose  was  to  breed  strife  and  arouse  religious  bigotry.  The 
alleged  oath  is  absolutely  baseless  and  of  such  a  flagrant  character, 
that  it  is  indeed  surprising  that  anyone  would  give  it  the  slightest 
credence." 

Now  I  hope  Mr.  James  A.  Flaherty  and  his  big  lawyer,  Gafif- 
ney,  will  read  a  few  words  of  mine  and  then  take  such  action  as 
they  may  deem  necessary  and  proper. 

(1.)  When  James  A.  Flaherty  and  Joseph  Gaffney,  side- 
stepped such  publishers  as  The  Menace,  The  Jeffersonian  Pub- 
lishing Co.,  Scarboro's  Liberator,  and  various  other  publishers  of 
that  alleged  K.  of  C.  oath,  being  afraid  to  prosecute  these  strong 
companies,  and  chose,  instead,  to  jump  on  two  workmen  who  have 
to  depend  upon  their  daily  labor  for  their  daily  bread,  the  said 
Flaherty  and  the  said  Gaffney  did  a  most  cowardly  and  contemp- 
tible thing. 

(2.)  Long  before  Flaherty  and  Gaffney  jumped  that  printer, 
Megonigel,  and  that  barber.  Shade,  the  Augusta  Georgia,  Knights 
of  Columbus  had  publicly  pledged  themselves,  in  The  Chronicle, 
to  show  that  4th  degree  oath  to  three  Protestant  ministers,  Revs. 
DuBose,  Cree  and  Jones;  and  after  having  published  this  pledge 
they  backed  down  from,  it. 

I  had  scornfully  and  repeatedly  defied  Victor  J.  Dorr  and  his 
brother  Knights  to  show  that  oath:  Victor  &  Co.  were  afraid 
to  do  it. 

(3.)  The  alleged  oath  is  not  a  tissue  of  lies.  The  alleged 
oath  is  substantially  the  true  one. 

The  alleged  oath  does  not  vary,  in  any  essential  particular, 
from  the  damnable  Jesuit  oath  which  Cardinal  Gibbons  took. 


10 

Every  Jesuit  priest  takes  an  oath  that  contains  all  the  venom, 
the  murder,  the  ruthless  persecution,  and  the  blind  obedience  to 
the  Pope,  that  were  in  the  published  Knights  of  Columbus  oath. 

(4.)  The  foot-prints  of  the  Jesuits,  on  the  records  of  history, 
prove  that  they  comindt  the  crimes  which  they  szvear  to  commit. 

That's  the  reason  so  nearly  all  of  the  Roman  Catholic  coun- 
tries expelled  these  diabolical  Jesuits. 

(5.  The  published  oath  of  the  Knights  of  Columbus  is  in 
substantial  accordance  with  the  Canon  law  of  Flaherty's  church, 
in  accordance  with  popish  decrees,  in  accordance  with  the  voice  of 
Councils,  in  accordance  with  the  dreadful  and  invariable  practice 
in  Roman  Catholic  countries  WHERE  THE  JESUITS  HAVE 
BEEN  SUPREME. 

(6.)  The  Jesuits  are  noiv  supreme  throughout  the  Catholic 
church.  They  control  the  Pope — they  would  poison  him  if  he 
defied  them,  just  as  they  poisoned  Pope  Clement  XVI.,  who 
abolished  their  whole  devilisJi  organisation. 

I  hereby  notify  James  A.  Flaherty  and  his  big  lawyer,  Gaff- 
ney,  that  I  make  these  statements  deliberately,  and  with  a  full 
sense  of  the  responsibility  involved. 

The  Pope's  American  Army,  these  traitorous  4th  Degree 
Knights  of  Columbus,  is  fully  armed,  and  its  war-chest  is  doubt- 
less full  of  ammunition  for  those  rifles  which  they  have  been 
threatening  to  use  on  us. 

Archbishop  James  E.  Quigley  of  Chicago,  publicly  made  that 
threat ! 

He  declared  that  if  we  dared  to  use  the  popish  church  as  it 
had  been  used  in  France  and  Spain,  those  soldiers  of  the  Pope 
would  be  ready  for  us. 

"We  will  answer  ballots  with  bullets,"  said  Quigley,  the  Arch- 
bishop who  so  worthily  acts  as  spokesman  for  the  Christ  who 
said  to  Peter,  in  Christ's  direct  extremity,  "Put  up  thy  sword !" 

The  Brooklyn  Tablet,  the  official  popish  organ  for  all  that 
vast  population  of  Roman  Catholics  in  and  around  New  York 


11 

City,  boasted  editorially  of   the  manner  in  which  these  armed 
soldiers  of  the  Pope  meant  to  cut  their  way  to  the  White  House! 

And  Archbishop  Blenk's  paper,  The  Morning  Star,  New  Or- 
leans, has  editorially  denounced  our  ''lying"  Constitution  and 
Declaration  of  Independence. 

If  the  fight  is  inevitable,  let  it  come;  The  sooner  we  know 
whether  we  are  to  have  a  Papal  Empire  inside  of  our  People's 
Republic,  the  better  for  all  concerned. 

Let  us  not  stop  with  "a.  suspended  sentence"  over  two  labor- 
ing men,  one  of  whom  would  seem  to  be  an  Irishman,  like  the 
valiant  Flaherty,  and  who  may  be  doing  James  A.  Flaherty  a 
friendly  service  by  acting  as  dummy  in  this  queer  libel  case. 

"Megonigel" — that  sounds  pretty  good.  Flaherty,  Gaffney, 
Tumulty,  O'Connell,  O'Connor,  Murphy,  Quigley,  Donoghue, 
Megonigel — how  familiar  the  sound ! 

Is  Megonigel  a  Catholic?  Is  Shade  a  Catholic?  Did  they 
play  dummy  for  the  valiant  Knights,  to  accommodate  those  mid- 
night conspirators,  and  to  enhance  the  glory  of  Holy  Church  and 
the  Virgin  Mary? 

The  whole  case  bears  a  suspicious  aspect. 

If  Flaherty  wanted  to  act  the  Man  and  tell  the  Truth,  why 
did  he  not  at  least  show  the  Fourth  Degree  oath  to  Judge  Wilson 
and  swear  that  it  was  the  genuine  oath ! 

If  the  oath  is  what  Flaherty  said  it  is,  why  this  unconquerable 
disposition  TO  HIDE  IT? 


12 

THE  OATHS  OF  TREASON  AND  MURDER.  THE 

BISHOP'S  OATH,  THE  CARDINAL'S  OATH,  THE 

JESUIT'S  OATH,  AND  THE  FOURTH  DEGREE 

OATH  OF  THE  KNIGHTS  OF  COLUMBUS. 

CALLING  THE  BLUFF  OF  THE 

JACKSONVILLE  KNIGHTS 

OF  TREASON. 

The  Knights  of  Columbus  must  be  spending  a  large  sum  of 
money,  scattering  hand-bills,  and  buying  space  in  the  newspapers 
to  circulate  what  they  are  pleased  to  call  ""the  brazen  confession 

OF   FRAUD." 

In  these  publications,  the  Knights  of  Columbus  are  denoun- 
cing those  who  publish  the  alleged  Fourth  Degree  Oath  of  their 
Treason  League. 

They  say  the  Oath  is  a  forgery,  and  that  the  alleged  Jesuit 
Oath  is  likewise  a  forgery. 

The  Knights  are  making  the  most  of  a  letter,  written  by 
The  Menace,  to  Mr.  Leroy  N.  King,  of  Philadelphia,  the  date 
of  the  letter  beitig  March  5,  1913. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  a  printer  named  Megonigel,  and 
a  barber  named  Shade,  were  arrested  in  Philadelphia  at  the 
instance  of  James  A.  Flaherty,  Supreme  Knight  of  the  Treason 
League. 

After  the  case  had  been  on  the  docket  for  a  year,  the  de- 
fendants consented  to  a  perfunctory  plea  of  guilt  and  were  re- 
leased without  fine  and  without  sentence  to  imprisonment. 

They  were  charged  with  having  printed  and  circulated  the 
alleged  4th  Degree  Oath  of  the  Knights  of  Columbus,  a  copy  of 
which  will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  booklet. 

Mr.  Leroy  King  represented  himself  as  having  been  em- 
ployed by  the  defendants  in  the  above  stated  case,  and  his  letter 
to  The  Menace  was  written  by  him  in  that  capacity:  he  virtually 
asks  that  The  Menace  furnish  him  with  the  evidence  to  prove 
that  the  4th  Degree  Knights  were  bound  by  that  kind  of  an  Oath. 

In  replying  to  Mr.  King,  The  Menace  told  him  that  it  did  not 
possess  a  copy  of   the  oath,   but   "we  believe  we  are   in  a   fair 


13 


way  to  get  it." 

Unfortunately,  The  Menace  added,  "the  statement  in  a  recent 
issue  of  The  Menace  which  led  you  to  believe  that  we  had  it  in  our 
possession,  whik  somewhat  of  a  bluff  on  our  part,  was  based  on 
the  fact  that  we  know  where  it  can  be  had." 

Candor  compels  me  to  say  that  The  Menace  made  a  bad  break 
in  writing  such  a  sentence.  Our  people  do  not  like  bluffs:  they 
demand  SINCERITY. 

So  far  as  I  can  see,  no  effort  whatever  was  made  to  defend 
Megonigel  and  Shade.  Virtually,  Mr.  King  asked  The  Menace 
for  ammunition ;  and  when  he  did  not  get  it,  he  threw  down  his 
gun. 

Why  did  this  case  drag  along  for  a  whole  year?  Why  did 
not  Mr.  King  serve  the  Knights  of  Columbus  with  notices  to 
produce  their  papers  in  court?  Why  did  he  not  compel  James 
Flaherty  and  the  other  head  ofBcials  of  the  Treason  League,  to 
show  their  ritual,  their  pledges,  their  by-laws  and  their  4th  De- 
gree oath? 

If  the  conduct  of  The  Menace  was  a  mistake,  what  must  we 
say  of  the  conduct  of  the  lawyer  who  was  employed  to  defend  the 
printer  and  that  barber? 

The  Menace  is  not  a  sworn  attorney :  The  Menace  did  not 
take  a  fee  to  defend  those  men :  The  Menace  had  no  right  to 
compel  the  Knights  to  produce  their  oath  of  Treason.  The 
Menace  was  not  a  party  to  the  case  at  all.  The  Menace  had  no 
standing  in  court. 

What  kind  of  a  lawyer  is  it  that  grounds  arms  and  sur- 
renders, when  one  supposed  witness  says  he  knows  nothing  of 
the  facts  ? 

What  moral  or  legal  right  did  Mr.  Leroy  King  have  to  call 
upon  The  Menace  to  do  what  his  clients  employed  liim  to  do? 

The  fact  that  King  threw  up  his  hands  and  gave  The  Menace's 
letter  to  the  Knights,  indicates  a  trap  laid  for  The  Menace.  -^ 

'J  hat  The  Menace  walked  right  into  it,  is  not  pleasing  to  h.s-,- 
but  what  will  right-thinking  .Americans  suspect  about  the  men 
ivho  laid  the  trap/ 


14 

If  Chief  Knight  James  A.  Flaherty  was  acting  on  the  square, 
why  did  he  not,  at  least,  show  the  4th  degree  oath  to  the  pre- 
siding judge,  and  then  ask  the  judge  to  announce  that  the  oath 
was  what  this  Treason  League  claims  it  to  be. 

..Flaherty  made  a  verbal,  unsworn  statement,  but  did  not  pro- 
duce any  evidence,  written  or  verbal. 

Five  Knights,  of  Jacksonville,  sign  a  "Challenge"  to  show  the 
oath  to  three  Protestant  clergymen. 

Only  five?  Why,  in  Augusta,  Georgia,  more  than  a  dozen 
Knights  published  a  signed  pledge  to  show  that  oath. 

BUT  THEY  HAVE  NEVER  SHOWN  IT. 

Those  Augusta  Knights  named  the  three  Protestant  preachers 
— Cree,  Jones  and  DuBose — to  whom  they  would  show  the  4th 
degree  oath.     And  tlieii,  were  afraid  to  keep  their  word ! 

Now,  I  have  no  time  to  spend  in  Jacksonville,  where  the 
Knights  slap  the  face  of  a  Methodist  preacher  who  uses  free 
speech  in  his  pulpit,  and  where  Dixie  reviles  a  Christian  preacher 
for  doing  the  same  thing. 

/  have  no  lives  to  throzv  away  among  such  brutes  as  Ben 
Burbridge;  nor  do  I  care  to  have  my  face  slapped  by  the  Jackson- 
ville Knights. 

Consequently,  their  challenge  for  someone  to  come  to  Jack- 
sonville to  meet  them,  is  not  accepted. 

But  I  make  this  counter  challenge. 

I  will  put  up  the  $1,000  against  their  $5,000— as  they  de- 
mand— if  they  will  come  to  Thomson,  Georgia,  and  submit  to  the 
arbitrament  of  the  three  Protestant  ministers  who  live  here,  or 
of  the  three,  who  were  selected  by  the  Augusta  Knights. 

My  proposal  is  to  prove — 

( 1 ) .  That  the  oath  taken  by  the  three  American  Cardinals, 
is  an  Oath  of  Treason  and  Persecution. 

(2.)  That  the  oath  taken  by  Romanist  bishops  /,v  an  oath 
that  logically  leads  to  murder : 

(3.)  That  the  Jesuit  oath,  as  heretofore  published  in  books, 
pamphlets  and  papers,  is  an  oath  of  treason,  and  of  crime — lead- 
ing logically  to  just  such  persecutions,  massacres,  burnings,  and 
outlawries  as  popery  has  practised  for  ages. 


15 

(4.)     That  the  oath  of  the  4th  Degree  Knight  contains  the 

elements  of  treason,  of  disloyalty  to  our  free  principles  of  Church 
and  State,  of  ruthless  boycott  and  persecution,  and  of  the  same 
horrible  encouragement  to  murder,  that  is  contained  in  Romanist 
theology,  Romanist  canon  lazv,  Romanist  secret  oaths  and  societies, 
and  Romanist  history. 

I  will  place  a  certified  check  for  $1,000  with  the  Bank  of 
Thomson,  the  oldest  and  strongest  of  our  local  banks,  and  not 
connected  with  me  in  any  way.  Let  those  Jacksonville  Knights 
put  up  their  $5,000.  Then  let  it  be  agreed  that  the  informal 
court  of  three  clergymen  shall  have  the  same  authority  to  send  for 
persons  and  papers,  that  a  Congressional  Investigation  Committee 
possesses. 

My  references  are  The  Georgia  Railroad  Bank;  Ramsey  & 
Legwen,  Cotton  Factors;  The  McDuffie  Bank,  The  Bank  of 
Thomson. 

The  challengers  are  — P.  J.  D.  Larmoyeux,  A.  N.  O'Keefe, 
T.  J.  Golden,  J.  A.  Wrigley,  J.  S.  Keane. 

Now,  let  them  show  their  honesty,  by  coming  to  a  town  where 
preachers  are  not  slapped  for  preaching  their  own  opinions  in  their 
own  churches. 

If  these  Knights  have  nothing  to  hide,  why  so  much  conceal- 
ment ? 

If  they  are  not  afraid  to  show  that  4th  degree  oath,  why  is 
it  that  they  resort  to  every  dodge  and  subterfuge  to  keep  from 
showing  it  ? 

Your  brutal  Ben  Burbridge  slapped  the  face  of  the  Methodist 
preacher.  John  A.  Hendry— cursed  him  and  slapped  him  on  the 
streets  of  Jacksonville,  because  he  had,  in  his  own  pulpit,  de- 
nounced popery. 

Your  brutal  mobs  have  beaten  up  such  fearless  Protestants 
as  William  Loyd  Clark,  P.  A.  Seguin,  Jeremiah  Crowley,  Otis 
L.  Spurgeon,  and  Horace  Bolles. 

Your  brutal  mob  attacked  a  peaceable  Baptist  congregation, 
assembled  in  a  Baptist  church,  at  Carbondale,  Pennsylvania,  be- 
cause it  was  listening  to  a  lecture  against  popery. 

Your  brutal  mob  kidnapped  and  maltreated  a  peaceable  citi- 
zen at  Anoka,  Minn.,  because  he  was  supposed  to  be  the  anti- 
papal  lecturer,  Dancey. 


16 

Your  brutal  organization  boycotted  my  own  business,  tried 
to  destroy  it,  and  endeavored  to  send  me  to  the  penitentiary  be- 
cause I  had  published  a  chapter  out  of  one  of  your  devilish 
books. 

There  isn't  a  CRIME  contemplated  in  the  alleged  4the  Degree 
Oath  that  you  have  not  ATTEMPTED,  OR  COMMITTED. 

Your  4th  Degree  men  are  armed  members  of  a  Treason 
League, — and  the  law  ought  to  break  you  up — just  as  the  law 
broke  up  the  Mollie  Maguires  and  the  Ku  Klux  Klan. 

Your  Treason  League  is  a  more  dangerous  enemy  to  the 
general  welfare  of  this  country,  than  the  Black  Hand  ever  was — 
more  dangerous  than  White  Slavers  are ! 

You  are  bound  by  oath  as  vassals  of  a  foreign  potentate — 
a  usurper  at  that  and  the  vilest  of  imposters — the  deadliest  enemy 
to  democracy,  to  labor,  to  self-government,  to  Home  Rule,  to 
morality  and  true  reli,gion. 

You  have  no  legal  right  to  vote,  serve  on  juries,  or  hold 
office :  by  the  oath  you  take,  you  voluntarily  become  aliens ;  and 
you  should  not  be  allowed  to  exercise  any  civil  right,  or  political 
privilege,  that  other  aliens  are  not  permitted  to  enjoy. 

If  you  were  coming  into  this  country  from  Italy,  you  would 
have  to  swear  off  that  treasonous  oath,  before  you  could  become 
naturalized  citizens. 

If  you  were  Italians,  living  in  Rome,  and  bound  to  the  Italian 
pope  as  you  are  now  bound,  it  would  not  be  any  of  our  business ; 
and  you  would  not  be  a  menace  to  our  liberties. 

The  fact  that  you  are  spies  and  traitors,  inside  our  citadel, 
is  what  constitutes  our  danger  from  you,  and  gives  us  the  right 
to  know  your  plots  and  purposes. 

What  are  you  buying  those  rifles  for? 

Why  are  you  doing  all  of  this  secret  drilling? 

Why  this  "Militia  of  Christ",  which  Archbishop  Quigley 
boastfully  declared  was  ready  to  fight,  when  the  Italian  pope  gave 
the  word? 

Who  is  it  your  Italian  boss  wants  you  to  fight? 

When  do  you  expect  your  orders  from  Italy? 


17 

What  sort  of  Christianity  is  it  that  needs  so  many  secret 
societies,  so  many  secret  oaths,  so  many  secret  drill-masters,  so 
many  swords  and  rifles? 

Do  you  think  we  are  blind?  Do  you  imagine  that  we  will 
allow  these  menacing  preparations  for  war  to  continue  indefinite- 
ly? 

Do  you  fancy  that  the  Italian  priest,  wearing  the  triple  crown, 
can  take  his  own  time,  and  use  his  own  methods  to  subvert  our 
democratic  institutions  ? 

Already  your  brutal  mobs  have  attacked  our  churches,  beaten 
our  speakers,  threatened  the  lives  of  others,  and  shouted  in  the 
streets  of  such  cities  as  Brooklyn,  "DEATH  TO  THE  PRO- 
TESTANTS!" 

Already  your  Quigleys  and  your  Phelans  have  insolently  told 
us  that  your  Italian  boss  has  the  right  to  "punish"  Protestants, 
for  being  Protestants,  just  as  the  State  has  the  right  to  punish 
criminals  for  being  criminals. 

And  the  Quigleys  and  Phelans  tell  us  that  your  Itailian  boss 
will  use  your  swords  and  guns  when  he  chooses  to  do  so. 

In  August,  1913,  I  wrote  to  priest,  D.  S.  Phelan,  whose 
Western  Watchman  is  a  great  Romanist  organ.  Phelan  himself 
is  a  strong  man,  and  a  brave  one,  a  thoroughly  typical  Roman 
priest.  He  was  educated  under  Pope  Leo  XIII.,  who  enjoined 
it  upon  popish  teachers  to  instill  into  the  minds  of  clerical  students 
the  doctrines  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas. 

These  doctrines  inculcate  every  principle  contained  in  the 
Jesuit  oath,  and  in  the  alleged  oath  of  4th  degree  Knights  of 
Columbus.  Among  other  things,  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  teaches 
that  heretics — all  non-Catholics  are  heretics — may  be  punished  in 
every  way,  even  unto  death. 

Therefore,  I  was  not  surprised  by  Phelan's  answer  to  my 
questions. 

Let  me  quote  two  of  the  questions  and  his  answers  thereto : 

Question :  Do  you  say  and  maintain  that  the  pope  has  the 
right  to  use  physical  force? 


18 

If,  so,  in  what  cases,  to  what  extent,  and  upon  what  grounds? 

Answer :  The  Pope,  as  the  church's  chief  executive,  has  the 
right  to  use  physical  force.  Who  shall  deny  it  to  him?  He 
has  been  given  a  mission  by  God,  and  whatsoever  measure  law- 
fully conduces  to  the  success  of  that  mission  he  can  employ.  Phy- 
sical punishment  is  a  lawful  means  of  promoting  justice  and 
morality.     The  State  uses  them.     The  church  can  if  she  chooses. 

Question:  Do  you  approve  the  persecution  of  Protestants 
in  Peru  and  other  States  controlled  by  your  church? 

If  so,  upon  what  grounds? 

Answer:  Protestants  are  not  persecuted  in  Peru.  They 
ARE  SUPPRESSED.  The  grounds  for  suppressing  them  is :  they 
are  a  nuisance. 

Question :  Do  you  approve  religious  toleration  in  this  coun- 
try? 

If  so,  upon  what  grounds? 

Answer :  I  do  not  approve  of  religious  or  immoral  tolera- 
tion. Blasphemy  and  indecency  are  rightly  punished  by  fine  and 
imprisonment. 

Thus  he  classes  Protestantism  with  blasphemy  and  indecency. 


It's  up  to  you,  Messrs.  Knights  of  the  Pope's  Treason 
League. 

Toe  the  mark,  now — or  hack  down! 

Advertising  The  Menace  as  a  fraud,  does  not  prove  that  your 
secret  order  is  not  a  Treason  League. 

And  when  you  say  that  the  Jesuit  oath  is  a  forgery,  /  know 
that  you  lie,  for  that  oath  has  been  dragged  into  court,  just  as  the 
Bishop's  oath  was  dragged  from  concealment  when  the  British 
Parliament  got  after  your  murderous  hierarchy. 


19 

You  had  a  mighty  fine  chance  to  show  that  oath  in  the  Me- 
gonigel  case,  and  you  were  afraid  to  show  it. 

Flaherty  lied  about  it,  in  a  verbal  unsworn  statement,  just  as 
you  lie  about  it,  in  your  newspaper  advertisements. 

Now,  come  and  face  the  music;  IF  YOU  DARE! 


ALLEGED  KNIGHTS  OF  COLUMBUS  OATH. 

(Extracts —  4th  Degree.) 
,  now  in  the   Presence  of   Almighty  God,  the 


Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  the  blessed  St.  John  the  Baptist,  the  holy 
apostles,  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  and  all  the  Saints,  sacred  host 
of  Heaven,  and  to  you,  my  Ghostly  Father,  the  superior  general 
of  the  society  of  Jesus,  founded  by  St.  Ignatius  Loyola,  in  the 
pontification  of  Paul  the  III.,  and  continued  to  be  present,  do 
by  the  womb  of  the  Virgin,  the  matrix  of  God,  and  the  rod  of 
Jesus  Christ,  declare  and  swear,  that  his  Holiness,  the  Pope,  is 
Christ's  vice-regent,  and  is  the  true  and  only  head  of  the  Catholic 
or  Universal  Church  throughout  the  earth;  and  that  by  virtue  of 
the  keys  of  binding  and  loosing  given  his  holiness  by  my  Savior, 
Jesus  Christ,  he  hath  power  to  depose  heretical  kings,  princes, 
States,  commoH wealths  and  governments  that  they  may  be  safely 
destroyed.  Therefore,  to  the  utmost  of  my  power,  I  will  defend 
this  doctrine  and  his  Holiness'  right  and  custom  against  all 
usurpers  of  the  heretical  or  Protestant  authority  whatever,  es- 
pecially the  Lutheran  Church  of  Germany,  Holland,  Denmark, 
Sweden  and  Norway,  and  the.  now  pretended  authority  and  church- 
es of  England  and  Scotland,  and  the  branches  of  same  now  es- 
tablished in  Ireland,  and  on  the  continent  of  America  and  else- 
where, and  all  adherents  in  regard  that  they  may  be  usurped  and 
heretical,  opposing  the  sacred  Mother  Church  of  Rome. 

/  now  denounce  and  disown  any  allegiance  as  due  to  any 
heretical  king,  prince  or  State,  named  Protestant  or  Liberals,  or 
obedience  to  any  of  their  laws,  m,agistrates  or  officers. 


20 

/  do  further  declare,  that  I  will  help,  assist  and  advise  all  or 
any  of  his  Holiness'  agents,  in  any  place  where  I  should  be,  in 
Switzerland,  Germany,  Holland,  Ireland  or  America,  or  in  any 
other  kingdom  or  territory  I  shall  come  to,  and  do  my  utmost  to 
extirpate  the  heretical  Protestant  or  Masonic  Doctrines,  and  to 
destroy  all  their  pretended  powers,  legal  or  otherwise. 

I  do  further  promise  and  declare  that,  notwithstanding  I  am 
dispensed  with  to  assume  any  religion  heretical  for  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  Mother  Church's  interest;  to  keep  secret  and  private 
all  her  agent's  counsels  from  time  to  time,  as  they  entrust  me, 
and  not  divulge,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  word,  writing  or  cir- 
cumstance whatever,  but  to  execute  all  that  should  be  proposed, 
given  in  charge,  or  discovered  unto  me,  by  any  Ghostly  Father  or 
any  of  this  sacred  order. 

I  do  further  promise  and  declare  that  I  will  have  no  opinion 
or  will  of  my  own  or  any  mental  reservaiion  whatsaever,  even 
as  a  corpse  or  cadaver  (perinde  ac  cadaver),  but  will  unhesitating- 
ly obey  each  and  every  command  that  I  may  receive  from  my 
superiors  in  the  militia  of  the  Pope  and  of  Jesus  Christ. 

That  I  will  go  to  any  part  of  the  world  withersoever  I  may 
be  sent,  to  the  frozen  regions  of  the  North,  to  the  burning  sands 
of  the  desert  of  Africa,  or  the  Jungles  of  India,  to  the  centers  of 
civilization  of  Europe,  or  to  the  wild  haunts  of  the  barbarous 
savages  of  America,  without  murmuring  or  repining,  and  will  be 
submissive  in  all  things  whatsoever  is  communicated  to  me. 

I  do  further  promise  and  declare  that  I  will,  when  opportunity 
presents,  make  and  wage  relentless  war,  secretly  and  openly, 
against  all  heretics,  Protestants  and  Masons,  as  I  am  directed 
to  do,  to  extirpate  them  from  the  face  of  the  whole  earth;  and 
that  I  will  spare  neither  age,  sex  or  condition,  and  that  I  will 
burn,  hang,  waste,  boil,  flay,  strangle,  and  bury  alive  these  in- 
famous heretics ;  rip  up  the  stomachs  and  wombsp  of  the  women, 
and  crush  their  infants'  head  against  the  walls,  in  order  to  anni- 
hilate their  execrable  race.  That  when  the  same  cannot  be  done 
openly,  I  will  secretly  use  the  poisonous  cup,  the  strangulation  cord, 


21 

the  steel  of  the  poinard,  or  the  leaden  bullet,  regardless  of  the 
honor,  rank,  dignity  or  authority  of  the  persons,  whatever  be 
their  condition  in  life,  either  public  or  private,  as  I  at  any  time 
may  be  directed  so  to  do,  by  any  agent  of  the  Pope,  or  Superior 
of  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Holy  Father  of  the  Society  of  Jesus. 

In  confirmation  of  which  I  hereby  dedicate  my  life,  soul  and 
all  corporeal  powers,  and  with  the  dagger  which  I  now  receive 
I  will  subscribe  my  name,  written  in  my  blood,  in  testimony  there- 
of ;  and  should  I  prove  false  or  weaken  in  my  deternlination,  may 
my  brethren  and  fellow  soldiers  of  the  militia  of  the  Pope,  cut 
off  my  hands  and  feet  and  my  throat  from  ear  to  ear,  my  belly 
opened  and  sulphur  burned  therein  with  all  the  punishment  that 
can  be  inflicted  upon  me  on  earth  and  my  soul  shall  be  tortured 
by  demons  in  eternal  hell  forever. 

That  I  zvill  in  voting  ahvays  vote  for  a  Knight  of  Columbus 
in  preference  to  a  Protestant — especially  a  Mason  and  that  I  will 
leave  my  party  so  to  do;  that  if  tzvo  Catholics  are  on  the  ticket 
I  zvill  satisfy  myself  zvhich  is  the  better  supporter  of  the  Mother 
Church  and  vote  accordingly. 

That  I  zvill  not  deal  zvith  or  epiploy  a  Protestant  if  in  my 
pozver  to  deal  zvith  or  employ  a  Catholic.  That  I  zvill  place 
Catholic  girls  in  Protestant  families  of  the  heretics. 

That  I  zvill  provide  myself  zvith  arm,s  and  ammunition  that 
I  may  be  in  readiness  zvhen  the  zvord  is  passed,  or  I  am,  com- 
manded to  defend  the  church,  either  as  an  individual  or  zvith  the 
militia  of  the  Pope. 

All  of  which  I, : ,  do  swear  by  the  blessed  Trinity  and 

the  blessed  Sacrament  which  I  am  now  to  receive,  to  perform  and 
on  my  part  to  keep  this  my  oath. 

In  testimony  thereof.  I  take  this  most  holy  and  blessed  Sac- 
rament of  the  Eucharist,  and  witness  the  same  further,  zvith  my 
name  zvritten  zvith  the  point  of  this  dagger,  dipped  in  my  ozvn 
blood,  and  seal,  in  the  face  of  this  Hol\  Sacrament. 


Signature 

(Copied   from   Congressional   Record  of   February    15th,    1913). 


22 

REASONS  FOR  BELIEVING  THAT  THE  KNIGHTS 

OF  COLUMBUS  (4th  DEGREE)  TAKE  AN  OATH 

SIMILAR  TO  THE  ONE  PUBLISHED  IN  THE 

CONGRESSIONAL  RECORD  OF  FEB.  15,  1913. 

(A.)  It  is  in  line  with  the  undeniable  oaths  of  Bishops 
Cardinals  and  Jesuit  priests.  Those  undeniable  oaths  have  been 
proven  in  Court,  have  been  published  for  generations,  have  been 
practised  for  centuries,  and  have  never  been  denied  by  any  repre- 
sentative prelate  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church. 

No  American  bishop,  archbishop,  or  cardinal,  or  Jesuit  priest, 
has  dared  to  go  before  the  public  denying  those  damnable  oaths. 

The  denials  are  made  by  laymen  Catholics  who  may  not  know 
any  better. 

Only  a  few  months  ago.  Priest  D.  S.  Phelan,  of  The  Western 
Watchman,  wrote  to  me  a  letter  for  publication  in  which  he  practi- 
cally admitted  that  popery  requires  its  votaries  to  do  what  the  al- 
leged Oath  of  the  Knights  binds  them,  to  do. 

Priest  Phelan's  letter  was  published  in  The  Jeffersonian. 

In  substance,  he  said  that  his  Church  had  as  much  right  to 
put  a  man  to  death  for  heresy,  as  the  State  had  to  execute  him  for 
murder,  arson,  and  rape. 

The  greater  includes  the  lesser ;  therefore,  if  the  Pope's  church 
has  the  right  to  kill  you  for  not  being  a  Roman  Catholic,  it  has 
a  right  to  inflict  lighter  penalties — such  as  boycott,  imprisonment, 
torture,  ostracism,  and  other  forms  of  punishment. 

(B.)  The  alleged  4th  degree  Oath  is  in  line  with  the  dogmas 
of  popish  Councils,  of  popish  decrees,  of  the  popish  theology,  and 
of  the  popish  canon  law. 

The  Popes  have  claimed  and  exercised  the  right  to  imprison, 
torture,  and  kill.  They  have  done  so  for  hundreds  of  years. 
The  claims  of  the  Popes  have  not  been  withdrawn ;  and  they  are 
yet  exercised  wherever  possible.     Thus  the  Spanish  teacher,  Fer- 


23 

rer,  was  murdered  a  few  years  ago,  because  he  was  introducing 
secular  education  into  priest-ridden  Spain. 

The  Council  of  Trent,  the  canon  law  of  the  Roman  church, 
and  the  official  publications  of  the  present  Pope,  as  well  as  those 
of  his  immediate  predecessors,  all  make  to  the  same  end,  to-wit, 
the  right  of  the  Roman  church  to  punish  people  for  not  becoming 
subject  to  the  Pope. 

They  say  that  "persecute"  is  not  the  right  word,  but  that 
"punish"  is  correct:  to  the  heretic  who  is  tortured,  starved,  boy- 
cotted, ostracised,  or  murdered,  it  matters  little  whether  they  call 
it  "punishment"  or  "persecution." 

But  in  the  oath  taken  by  bishops  and  cardinals  the  word  is 
"persecute"  :  in  the  Jesuit  oath  the  word  is  "extirpate." 

History  shows  that  Popes  persecute  and  extirpate;  and  the 
crime  ranges  all  the  way,  from  the  assassination  of  a  private  in- 
dividual to  the  massacre  of  a  sect. 

In  the  Canon  law,  now  of  force  in  the  Roman  Catholic  church, 
we  read — 

"(6.)  If  any  man  say  that  her  intolerance  in  the  condem- 
nation of  all  sects  is  not  divinely  commanded 

let  him  be  accursed. 

(12.)  If  any  man  say  that  the  power  of  the  church  lies  only 
in-counsel  or  persuasion,  but  not  in  legal  commands,  in  coercion 
and  compulsion,  by  external  jurisdiction,  and  in  wholesome  pains, 
let  him  be  accursed." 

"The  Bull  of  Pope  John  XXII.  condemned  John  Gianduno 
and  Marsilius  of  Padua  as  heretics,  because  they  denied  to  the 
church  the  right  of  punishing  by  corporal  pains,  and  it  declared 
that  she  could  inflict  pains  even  unto  death."  (See  "The  Pope, 
the  Kings,  and  the  People,"  William  Arthur,  Vol.  I.,  p.  23.) 

"Princes  ...  in  ecclesiastical  affairs  have  no  laws  to 
give,  but  humbly  expect  them  from  the  Church.  They  have  to 
hear  and  believe. 

They  have  to  obey  ....  and  to  make  others  obey." 
(Phillips  II.,  561.) 

Father  Scrader  says:  "The  Allocution  of  Dec.  15,  1856, 
contains  not  merely  the  CONDEMNATION  OF  FREEDOM 


24 

OF  WORSHIP,  but  also  the  condemnation  of  unrestricted 
FREEDOM  OF  THOUGHT,  FREEDOM  OF  SPEECH,  and 
FREEDOM  OF  THE  PRESS." 

It  is  Scrader  who  uses  the  small  capital  to  emphasize  the 
papal  law  on  those  subjects.  Der  Papst  und  die  modermen 
Ideen.     Heft.  II.,  p.  35.) 

In  the  Syllabus  which  sums  up  the  powers  of  the  Roman 
church,  we  find — 

"She  has  the  right  to  require  that  the  Catholic  religion  shall 
be  the  only  religion  of  the  State,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others. 

She  has  the  power  of  requiring  the  State  not  to  permit  free 
expression  of  opinion. 

She  has  the  right  to  uphold  the  laws  of  religious  orders  against 
the  civil  authority;  the  right  to  deprive  the  latter  of  power  to  aid 
any  who,  after  having  taken  vows,  should  seek  to  escape  from 
monasteries  or  nunneries. 

She  has  the  right  to  hold  kings  and  princes  to  her  jurisdiction, 
and  of  denying  that  their  power  is  superior  to  her  own  in  determ- 
ining questions  of  jurisdiction." 

In  other  words,  the  Pope  will  fix  the  boundary  line  of  his 
own  power,  and  the  Civil  Power  must  submit. 

That  makes  the  Pope  the  Supreme,  universal  Lord  of  the  whole 
world. 

"She  has  the  right  to  deprive  the  civil  authority  of  power  to 
sanction  divorce,  in  any  case." 

All  persons  desiring  a  divorce  must  apply  to  the  Italian  priest 
who  wears  the  triple  crown  at  Rome.  (Arthur's  work  already 
cited,  Vol.  I.,  p.  74-5.) 

St.  Thomas  Aquinas  is  a  favorite  theologian  with  the  Papacy. 
The  late  Pope  Leo  XIII.  was  particularly  fond  of  Saint  Thomas, 
and  in  the  Encyclical  or  Scholastic  Philosophy  he  directed  the 
teacher  to  "make  it  their  task  to  instill  the  doctrine  of  Thomas 
Aquinas  into  the  minds  of  their  scholars."       '         •     - 

One  of  the  great  doctrines  of  Saint  Thomas — a  doctrine 
which  the  teachers  were  to  instill  into  the  minds  of  their  scholars 
is,  that  the  Roman  Catholic  church  may  boycott,  ostracise,  and 
starve  the  heretic — "excommunication,"  as  proclaimed  and  prac- 


25 

tised  by  the  Popes  means  just  that.  The  person  excommunicated 
is  cut  off  from  all  human  ties,  intercourse  and  help :  nothing  is 
left  him  but  to  submit,  or  die. 

But,  Saint  Thomas,  going  further,  teaches  expressly  that  the 
Roman  church  may  kill,  as  well  as  excommunicate. 

"With  regard  to  heretics,"  he  wrote,  "two  elements  are  to  be 
considered;  one  element  on  their  side,  and  the  other  on  the  part 
of  the  Church.  On  their  side  is  the  sin  whereby  they  have  de- 
served, not  only  to  be  separated  from  the  Church  by  excommuni- 
cation, but  also  to  be  banished  from  the  world  by  death. 

For  it  is  a  much  heavier  offense  to  corrupt  the  faith,  whereby 
the  life  of  the  soul  is  sustained,  than  to  tamper  with  the  coinage, 
which  is  an  aid  to  temporal  life.  Hence,  if  coiners  or  other 
malefactors  are  at  once  handed  over  by  secular  princes  to  a  just 
death,  much  more  may  heretics,  immediately  they  are  convicted 
of  heresy,  be  not  only  excommunicated,  but  also  justly  done  to 
die. 

But  on  the  part  of  the  Church  is  mercy  in  view  of  the  con- 
version of  them  that  err,  and  therefore  she  does  not  condemn  at 
once,  but  'after  the  first  and  second  admonition,'  as  the  apostle 
teaches.  After  that,  however,  if  the  man  is  still  found  perti- 
nacious, the  Church,  having  no  hope  of  his  conversion,  provides 
for  the  safety  of  others,  cutting  him  off  from  the  Church  by  the 
sentence  of  excommunication ;  and.  further,  she  leaves  him  to  the 
secular  tribunal  to  be  exterminated  from  the  world  by  death." 
(Aquinas  Ethicus :  or  The  Moral  Teaching  of  St.  Thomas."  A 
translation  of  the  principal  portion  of  the  second  part  of  "Summa 
Theologica,"  by  Joseph  Rickaby,  S.  J.,  Vol.,  page  332.) 

That  is  where  Priest  D.  S.  Phelan  got  the  doctrine  which  he 
manfully  announced  in  The  Jeffersonian. 

His  teachers  had  instilled  it  into  his  mind,  as  Pope  Leo  XHI. 
had  commanded  them  to  do. 

And  I  have  some  respect  for  a  brave  Romanist,  like  Phelan, 
who  boldly  tells  the  truth  about  the  real  law  of  his  so-called  church. 


.Uf-fi 


26 

He  gloats  over  the  massacre  of  Huguenots,  Waldensians, 
Dutch  and  English:  he  exults  over  Catholic  intolerance  in  Peru 
and  Spain :  he  courageously  proclaims  his  allegiance  to  the  Italian 
pope,  and  shouts,  "To  hell  with  the  Government  of  the  United 
States." 

I  can  respect  a  man  of  that  sort ;  but  for  these  sneaking, 
lying,  treacherous  Knights  of  Columbus,  my  scorn  and  contempt 
knows  no  limits. 

The  alleged  oath  is  in  exact  keeping  with  the  laws  of  their 
church  and  with  the  teachings  of  her  most  approved  theologians — 
also  with  other  oaths  not  denied,  and  a  bloody  record  that  cannot 
be  obliterated. 

For  all  the  foregoing  reasons,  I  declare  my  belief  in  the  sub- 
stantial correctness  of  the  alleged  Oath  as  it  appears  in  "The  Con- 
gressional Record." 

I  have  confined  myself  to  Roman  Catholic  canonists  who 
have  acted  as  professors  at  Maynooth  College,  or  whose  text- 
books are  in  use  at  that  Irish  College  of  priestly  education.  I 
have  other  noted  works  on  the  subject  before  me  as  I  write,  which 
are  equally  insistent  as  to  the  necessity  for  Roman  Catholic  States 
to  suppress  Protestantism.  One  is  by  Dr.  Joseph  Hergenrother, 
professor  of  canon  law  at  the  University  of  Wurburg,  entitled, 
"Catholic  Church  and  Christian  State."  It  is  generally  known 
that  the  writer  of  this  work  was  rewarded  by  the  Pope  for  his 
labors  by  the  presentation  of  a  cardinal's  hat.  On  page  309  of 
Volume  II.  we  find  the  assertion  that  "it  is  not  contrary  to  the 
spirit  of  Christianity  to  punish  heretics  with  death  by  fire." 

Professor  Marianus  de  Luca,  S.  J.,  in  the  year  1900  A.  D., 
wrote  as  follows  : — "The  good  that  is  most  necessary  to  the  Church 
is  the  unity  of  the  true  faith,  and  that  cannot  be  preserved  unless 
the  heretic  be  handed  over  to  death  .  .  .  .  So  when  heretics 
have  been  left  to  the  secular  arm  the  judges  must  inflict  on  them 
the  penalty,  not  of  death  only,  but  of  fire."  (Public  Ecclesiastical 
Law."  pp.  58-60.) 

(The  above  paragraph  is  quoted  from  a  booklet,  "Irish  Pro- 
testant and  the  Fear  of  Persecution,"  by  Arthur  Walsh,  published 


27 

by  The  Imperial  Protestant  Federation  of  London,  England,  in 
1914.) 

My  countrymen !  I  beg  you  to  ponder  upon  the  solemn  warn- 
ing of  the  late  Canon  Melville,  of  the  Church  of  England : 

"Make  peace,  if  you  will,  with  Popery;  receive  it  into  your 
Senate;  shrine  it  in  your  churches;  plant  it  in  your  hearts;  but 
be  ye  certain,  as  certain  that  there  is  a  heaven  above  you,  and  a 
God  over  you,  that  the  Popery  thus  honoured  and  embraced,  is 
the  very  Popery  that  was  loathed  and  degraded  by  the  holiest  of 
your  fathers:  the  same  in  haughtiness,  the  same  in  intolerance, 
which  lorded  it  over  kings,  assumed  the  prerogative  of  Deity, 
crushed  human  liberty,  and  slew  the  saints  of  God." 

FRIEND!  God  requires  every  one  of  His  servants  to  resist 
soul-destroying  Popery,  which  eventually  ruins  every  land  in  which 
it  flourishes. 


28 

TWO  ROMANIST  OATHS  AS  PRINTED  BY  EX-PRIEST 
P.  A.  SEGUIN,  AND  NOT  DENIED. 

THE  CARDINAL'S  OATH. 

"I, ,   Cardinal  of  the  Holy  Roman   Church,  do 

promise  and  swear  that,  from  this  time  to  the  end  of  my  life, 
I  will  be  faithful  and  obedient  unto  St.  Peter,  the  holy  apostolic 
Roman  church  and  our  most  holy  lord,  the  Pope  of  Rome  and 
his  successors,  canonically  and  lawfully  elected ;  that  I  will  give 
no  advice,  consent  or  assistance  against  the  Pontifical  Majesty 
and  person ;  that  I  will  never  knowingly  and  advisedly,  to  their 
injury  or  disgrace,  make  public  the  counsels  entrusted  to  me  by 
themselves,  or  by  messengers  or  letters ;  also  that  I  will  give 
them  any  assistance  in  retaining,  defending  and  recovering  the 
Roman  Papacy  and  the  regalia  of  Peter,  with  all  my  might,  and 
endeavor,  so  far  as  the  rights  and  privileges  of  my  order  will  al- 
low it,  and  will  defend  them  against  all  their  honor  and  state; 
and  I  will  direct  and  defend,  with  due  form  of  honor  the  Legates 
and  Nuncios  of  the  Apostolic  See,  in  the  territories,  churches 
monasteries  and  other  benefices  committed  to  my  keeping;  and 
I  will  cordially  co-operate  with  them  and  treat  them  with  honor 
in  their  coming,  abiding  and  returning,  and  that  I  will  resist 
UNTO  BLOOD,  all  persous  whatsoever,  who  shall  attempt  anything 
against  them.  That  I  will,  by  every  way  and  by  every  means, 
strive  to  preserve,  augment  and  advance  the  rights,  honors,  privi- 
leges, the  AUTHORITY  of  the  Holy  Roman  Bishop,  our  Lord  the 
Pope  and  his.  before  mentioned,  successors;  and  that,  at  what- 
ever time  anything  shall  be  decided  to  their  prejudice,  which  is 
out  of  my  power  to  hinder,  as  soon  as  I  shall  know  that  any  steps 
or  measures  have  been  taken  in  the  matter,  I  will  make  it  known 
to  the  same  our  Lord  or  his  successors,  or  some  other  person  by 
whose  means  it  may  be  brought  to  their  knowledge.  That  I  will 
keep  and  carry  out  and  cause  others  to  keep  and  carry  out  the 
rules  of  the  Holy  Father,  the  decrees,  ordinances,  dispensations, 
reservations,  provisions,  apostolic  mandates  and  constitutions  of 


29 

the  Holy  Father  Sextus,  of  happy  memory,  as  to  visiting  the 
threshold  of  the  Apostles  at  certain  prescribed  times,  according 
to  the  TENOR  of  that  which  I  have  just  read  through.  That  I  will 
seek  out  and  oppose,  persecute  and  fight  (ommi  conatu  persecu- 
turum  et  impugnaturum)  against  heretics,  schismatics  who  op- 
pose our  Lord,  the  Pope  of  Rome  and  his  before  mentioned  suc- 
cessors, and  this  I  will  do,  with  every  possible  effort." 

(Signature), then  sent  to  the  Pope. 

A  PRIEST'S  OATH 

"I, ,  now  in  the  presence  of   Almighty  God,  the 

blessed  Virgin  Mary,  the  blessed  Michael  the  Archangel,  the 
blesed  St.  John  the  Baptist,  the  Holy  Apostle  St.  Peter  and  St. 
Paul  and  the  Saints  and  Sacred  Host  of  Heaven,  and  to  you,  my 
Lord,  I  do  declare  from  my  heart,  without  mental  reservation 
that  the  Pope  is  Christ's  Vicar-General  and  is  the  true  and  only 
Head  of  the  Universal  Church  throughout  the  earth,  and  that, 
by  virtue  of  the  Keys  of  binding  and  loosing  given  to  his  Holi- 
ness by  Jesus  Christ  he  has  power  to  depose  Heretical  Kings, 
Princes,  States,  Commonwealths  and  Governments,  all  being  il- 
legal without  his  sacred  confirmation,  and  that  they  may  safely 
BE  destroyed.  Therefore,  to  the  utmost  of  my  power,  I  will  de- 
fend this  •  doctrine  and  His  Holiness'  rights  and  customs  against 
all  usurpers  of  the  Protestant  authority  whatsoever,  especially 
against  the  now  pretended  authority  and  Church  in  England  and 
all  adherents,  in  regard  that  they  may  be  usurped  and  heretical, 
opposing  the  Sacred  Mother,  the  Church  of  Rome. 

I  DO  RENOUNCE  AND  DISOWN  ANY  ALLEGiAncE  as  due  to  any 
Protestant  King,  Prince  or  State,  or  obedience  to  any  of  their 
inferior  officers.  I  do  further  declare  the  doctrine  of  the  Church 
of  England,  of  the  Calvinists,  Huguenots  and  other  Protestants, 
to  be  damnable  and  those  to  be  damned  who  will  not  forsake  the 
same. 

I  do  further  declare  that  I  will  help,  assist  and  advise  all  or 
any  of  his  Holiness'  agents,  in  any  place  wherever  I  shall  be,  and 
to  do  my  utmost  to  extirpate  the  Protestant  doctrine  and  to  de- 


30 

stroy  all  their  pretended  power,  regal  or  otherwise.  I  do  further 
promise  and  declare  that,  notwithstanding  I  may  be  permitted  by 
dispensation  to  assume  any  heretical  religion  (Protestant  Denomi- 
nations) for  the  propagation  of  the  Mother  Church's  interest, 
to  keep  and  private  all  her  agents'  counsels  as  they  entrust  me, 
and  not  to  divulge,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  word,  writing  or  cir- 
cumstances whatsoever,  but  to  execute  all  which  shall  be  proposed, 
given  in  charge  or  discovered  unto  me  by  you,  my  most  Reverend 
Lord  and  Bishop. 

All  of  which,  I,  ,  do  swear  by  the  blessed  Trinity 

and  blessed  Sacrament  which  I  am  about  to  receive,  to  perform, 
on  my  part  to  keep  inviolably,  and  do  call  on  all  the  Heavenly  and 
Glorious  Host  of  Heaven  to  witness  my  real  intention  to  keep 
THIS  MY  OATH. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  take  this  most  Holy  and  Blessed 
Sacrament  of  the  Eucharist  and  witness  the  same  further  with 
my  consecrated  hand,  in  the  presence  of  my  Holy  Bishop  and  all 
the  Priests  who  assist  him  in  my  Ordination  to  the  Priesthood. 

THE  JESUIT'S  OATH. 

The  oath  of  the  Jesuit,  as  Jesuitism  does  in  every  thing, 
transcends  in  intolerance  and  wickedness,  all  other.  This  oath 
came  to  light  in  the  celebrated  trial  of  Father  Lavalatte,  in  Paris, 
in  the  year  1761,  when  the  "Constitutions"  of  the  Society  and 
other  holy  things  (?)  were  dragged  from  the  secret  councils 
of  iniquity.  The  existence  of  such  an  oath,  that  the  Jesuits  take 
this  oath,  indeed,  that  they  take  any  oath,  has  been  denied  in  this 
country.  But  as  well  might  the  Jesuits  deny  that  Loyola  ever 
lived,  or  that  there  was  ever  an  Order  of  Jesuits.  Here  is  the 
oath: 

I, ,  now  in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God,  the  blessed 

Virgin  Mary,  the  blessed  Michael  the  Archangel,  the  blessed 
St.  John  the  Baptist,  the  holy  Apostles  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 
and  all  the  saints  and  sacred  hosts  of  heaven,  and  to  you  my 
ghostly  fathers,  do  declare  from  my  heart,  without  mental  reser- 


31 

vation,  that  his  holiness  pope ,  is  Christ's  Vice  General, 

and  is  the  true  and  only  head  of  the  Catholic  or  Universal  Church 
throughout  the  earth;  and  that  by  virtue  of  the  keys  of  binding 
and  loosing  given  to  his  holiness  by  my  Savior  Jesus  Christ,  he 
hath  pomer  to  depose  heretical  kings,  princes,  States,  common- 
wealths, and  governments,  all  being  illegal  without  his  sacred  con- 
fimation,  and  that  they  may  safely  be  destroyed.  Therefore,  to 
the  utmost  of  my  power,  I  shall  and  will  defend  this  doctrine,  and 
his  holiness'  rights  and  customs,  against  all  usurpers  of  the  here- 
tical (Protestant)  authority  whatsoever;  especially  against  the 
new-pretended  authority  and  Church  of  England,  and  all  ad- 
herents, in  regard  that  they  and  she  be  usurpal  and  heretical  op- 
posing the  sacred  mother  church  of  Rome.  /  do  renounce  and 
disown  any  allegiance  as  due  to  any  heretical  king,  prince  or  State 
named  Protestant,  or  obedience  to  any  of  their  inferior  magistrates 
or  officers.  I  do  further  declare  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Church 
of  England,  the  Cavinists,  the  Huguenots,  and  others  of  the  name 
Protestants,  to  he  damnable,  and  they  themselves  are  damned  and 
to  be  damned,  that  will  not  forsake  the  same.  I  do  further  de- 
clare that  I  will  help,  assist,  and  advise  all  or  any  of  his  holiness' 
agents  in  any  place  wherever  I  shall  be,  in  England,  Scotland,  and 
Ireland,  or  in  any  other  territory  or  kingdom  I  shall  come  to, 
and  do  my  utmost  to  extirpate  the  heretical  Protestant's  doctrine, 
and  to  destroy  all  their  pretended  powers,  regal  or  otherwise,  I 
do  further  promise  and  declare,  that  notwithstanding,  I  am  dis- 
pensed with  to  assume  any  religion  heretical,  for  the  propagating 
of  the  mother  church's  interest,  to  keep  secret  and  private  all  her 
agents'  councils,  from  time  to  time,  as  they  entrust  me,  and  not 
to  divulge,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  word,  writing,  or  in  any  cir- 
cumstance whatsoever,  but  to  execute  all  that  shall  be  proposed, 
given  in  charge,  or  discovered  unto  me,  by  you,  my  ghostly  father, 

or  any  of  this  sacred  convent.      All  what  I. ,  do  swear 

by  the  blessed  Trinity,  and  blessed  Sacrament  which  I  am  now 
to  receive,  to  perform,  and  on  my  part  to  keep  inviolably;  and  do 
call  all  the  heavenly  and  glorious  host  of  heaven  to  witness  these 


32 

my  real  intention  to  keep  this  oath.  In  testimony  whereof,  I 
take  this  most  holy  and  blessed  Sacrament  of  the  Eucharist;  and 
witness  the  same  with  my  hand  and  seal,  in  the  face  of  this  holy 

convent,  this day  of Ano 

Domini " 


THE  CANON  LAW  OF  POPERY 

The  Canon  Law,  the  undisputed  fundamental  code  of  Rom- 
anism, is  utterly  incompatible  with  the  Constitution  and  laws 
of  our  Republic,  as  witness  the  following  leading  provisions, 
gleaned  therefrom  by  Dr.  G.  F.  Von  Schulte,  Professor  of  Canon- 
ical Law  at  Prague,  viz  : 

"L  All  human  power  is  from  evil,  and  must  therefore  be 
standing  under  the  Pope.  i^  t 

"H.  The  temporal  powers  must  act  unconditionally,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  orders  of  the  spiritual. 

'TIL  The  Church  is  empowered  to  grant,  or  to  take  away, 
any  temporal  possession. 

'TV.  The  Pope  has  the  right  to  give  countries  and  nations 
which  are  non-Catholic  to  Catholic  regents,  who  can  reduce  them 
to  slavery. 

"V.  The  Pope  can  make  slaves  of  those  Christian  subjects 
whose  prince  or  ruling  power  is  interdicted  by  the  Pope. 

"VI.  The  laws  of  the  Church,  concerning  the  liberty  of  the 
Church  and  the  Papal  power,  are  based  upon  divine  inspiration. 

VII.  The  Pope  has  the  right  to  annul  State  laws,  treaties, 
constitutions,  etc. ;  to  absolve  from  obedience  thereto,  as  soon 
as  they  seem  detrimental  to  the  rights  of  the  Church,  or  those  of 
the  clergy. 

"IX.  The  Pope  possesses  the  right  or  admonishing,  and,  if 
needs  be,  of  punishing  the  temporal  rulers,  emperors,  and  kings, 
as  well  as  of   drawing  before  the  spiritual  forum  any  case  in 


33 


which  a  mortal  sin  occurs. 

"X.  Without  the  consent  of  the  Pope  no  tax  or  rate  of  any 
kind  can  he  levied  upon  a  clergyman,  or  upon  any  Church  what- 
soever. 

"XI.  The  Pope  has  the  right  to  absolve  from  oaths,  and 
obedience  to  the  persons  and  the  laws  of  the  princes  whom  he 
excommunicates. 

"XI 1.  The  Pope  can  annul  all  legal  relations  of  those  in  ban, 
especially  their  marriages. 

"XIII.  The  Pope  can  release  from  every  obligation,  oath, 
vow,  either  before  or  after  being  made. 

"XIV.  The  execution  of  Papal  commands  for  the  persecution 
of  heretics  causes  remissions  of  sins. 

"XV.  He  that  kills  one  that  is  excommunicated  is  no  mur- 
derer in  a  legal  sense." 

These  Canons  are  amply  corroborated  by  the  following  para- 
graphs from  the  Syllabus  of  Pius  IX.,  issued  Dec.  8th,  1864,  and 
subsequently  by  the  Decree  of  Infallibility  confirmed  as  truths 
eternal  and  equal  in  authority  with  the  Decalogue,  viz : 

"The  State  has  not  the  right  to  leave  every  man  free  to  pro- 
fess and  embrace  whatever  religion  he  shall  deem  true. 

"It  has  not  the  right  to  enact  that  the  ecclesiastical  powers 
shall  require  the  permission  of  the  civil  power  in  order  to  the 
exercise  of  its  authority. 

"It  has  not  the  right  to  treat  as  an  excess  of  power,  or  as 
usurping  the  rights  of  princes,  anything  that  the  Roman  Pontiffs 
of  Ecumenical  Councils  have  done. 

"It  has  not  the  right  to  adopt  the  conclusions  of  a  National 
Church  Council,  unless  confirmed  by  the  Pope. 

"It  has  not  the  right  of  establishing  a  National  Church  separate 
from  the  Pope. 

it  has  not  the  right  to  the  entire  direction  of  puljlic  schools. 

"It  has  not  the  right  to  assist  subjects  who  wish  to  abandon 
the  monasteries  or  convents." 

Then  in  the  same  Syllabus  the  rights  and  powers  of  the  Church 
are  afifirmed  thus,  viz  : 

"She  has  the  right  to  require  the  State  not  to  leave  every  man 


34 


free  to  profess  his  own  religion. 

"She  has  the  right  to  exercise  her  power  without  the  per- 
mission or  consent  of  the  State. 

"She  has  the  right  to  prevent  the  foundation  of  any  National 
Church  not  subject  to  the  authority  of  the  Roman  PontilT. 

"She  has  the  right  to  deprive  the  civil  authority  of  the  entire 
government  of  public  schools. 

"She  has  the  right  of  perpetuating  the  union  of  Church  and 
State. 

"She  has  the  right  to  require  that  the  Catholic  religion  shall 
be  the  only  religion  of  the  State  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others. 

"She  has  the  right  to  prevent  the  State  from  granting  the 
public  exercise  of  their  own  worship  to  persons  immigrating 
into  it. 

"She  has  the  power  of  I'equiring  the  State  not  to  permit  free 
expressions  of  opinion." 


ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWO  REASONS  WHY  I  LEFT 
THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

By  Ex-Priest  J.  Donnelly. 

1.  Because  Roman  Catholic  Moral  Theology  teaches  that  her 
members  may  equivocate,  dissemble,  perjure,  steal  and  even  mur- 
der, if  it  be  for  the  good  of  the  Church. 

2.  Because  she  has  corrupted  the  Holy  Scriptures,  denied 
them  to  her  people  for  ages,  and  left  out  the  second  commandment 
of  God  entirely  from  the  decalogue,  that  her  image  worship  might 
not  appear  so  culpable  and  blasphemous. 

3.  Because  the  law  of  the  Church  teaches  that  if  the  Priest 
learns  in  the  confession  from  his  penitent  that  the  latter  is  about 
to  plot  the  burning  of  a  city,  the  destruction  of  all  the  inhabitants 
thereof,  he  must  say,  if  interrogated  outside  the  confessional, 
that  he  knows  nothing  about  it;  and  if  in  a  court  of  justice,  he 


35 

is  to  confirm  his  statement  by  an  oath. 

4.  Because  her  worship  of  any  praying  to  saints  is  un- 
scriptural,  unreasonable  and  absurd.  For  saints  to  hear  the 
prayers  of  all  Roman  Catholics,  it  is  necessary  that  they  be  in  all 
places  at  the  same  time  and  be  omniscient.  He  is  able  to  see 
the  motives  of  the  heart  and  hear  all  supplications — God,  the  Al- 
mighty One.  "For  thou  only  knowest  the  hearts  of  the  children 
of  men."     (II.  Chron.  6:30.) 

5.  Because  of  the  monstrous  and  idolatrous  doctrine  of  the 
mass,  in  which  she  teaches  that  the  Priest  consecrates  the  water 
into  the  fiesh  and  blood  of  Christ,  and  presents  him  to  thousands 
of  people,  whole  and  entire,  in  thousands  of  places  at  the  same 
time.  This  seems  to  me  contrary  to  Scripture,  reason  and  all 
experience.  We  have  no  instance  of  where  Christ  when  on 
earth  was  ever  in  more  than  one  place  at  a  time.  When  teaching 
in  the  synagogue.  He  was  not  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane. 
When  in  the  temple,  He  was  not  walking  with  Mary  and  Joseph 
on  the  way  from  Jerusalem 

The  Lord's  Supper,  of  which  the  mass  is  a  mockery,  was  not 
literal,  but  figurative  of  Christ's  body.  It  was  to  be  a  com- 
memoration. For  so  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread  and  drink  this 
cup.  ye  do  show  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come."      (1  Cor.  11 :26.) 

6.  Because  she  teaches  that  the  sacrament  of  baptism  re- 
generates, makes  people  Christians  and  heirs  to  heaven.  She, 
therefore,  contradicts  the  Bible,  which  declares  that  we  are  justi- 
fied by  faith,  and  that  faith  and  salvation  are  personal,  and  cannot 
be  olitained  by  proxy. 

7.  Because  she  teaches  that  the  infant  which  dies  without 
baptism  shall  never  enter  into  the  presence  of  God;  and  on  the 
other  hand  that  the  highway  robber,  the  blasphemer,  gambler, 
drunkard,  thief  and  murderer  who  may  confess  to  a  Priest,  and  do 
penance,  will  i)ossess  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Little  children 
of  whom  Christ  said.  "Suffer  them  to  come  unto  me.  and  forbid 
them  not.  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Think  of  these 
going  into  outer  darkness,  while  the  bloodthirsty  assassin  goes  to 


36 

the  Holv  of  Holies  to  enjoy  the  paradise  of  God  forever! 

8.  Because  confession  to  a  priest  is  immoral,  indecent  and 
contrary  to  the  Scriptures,  which  command  us  to  go  to  God 
alone. 

9.  Because  auricular  confession  dwells  on  thoughts  and  uses 
language  so  obscene  that  if  uttered  outside  in  ordinary  society 
both  Priest  and  penitent  would  be  arrested  and  prosecuted  for 
using  obscene  language. 

10.  Because  the  confessional  box  paves  the  way  for  an  in- 
voluntary celibate  and  too  often  an  intemperate  man,  to  the  moral 
ruin  of  his  unsophisticated  female  penitent. 

11.  Because  of  the  command  of  the  Apostle  to  "Confess  your 
sins,  one  to  another,"  is  violated  by  the  priests,  who  insist  on  their 
enslaved  victims  to  confess  to  them,  but  they  themselves  never 
in  turn  kneel  down  and  confess  to  the  people. 

12.  Because  of  her  traditions  and  dogmas  and  bulls  which 
contradict  the  word  of  God,  and  make  it  of  no  avail.  There  is 
no  Scriptural  authority  for  any  of  her  sacraments  as  she  teaches 
them.  Especially  is  this  true  of  the  five  bastard  sacraments : 
Confirmation,  Penance,  Extreme  Unction,  Ordination  and  Matri- 
mony. 

13.  Because  of  her  perilous  and  wicked  doctrine  of  "Inten- 
tion," which  teaches  it  to  be  lawful  to  steal  if  you  form  the  in- 
tention of  making  restitution.  According  to  that  "intention," 
\'ou  mav  take  a  neighbor's  article,  provided  you  have  not  the 
intention  of  stealing  it.  If  afterwards  you  consume  the  property 
or  lose  it,  the  real  owner  can  get  nothing  if  you  have  not  where- 
with to  restore.  In  that  case  the  law  that  obtains  is,  ''Necessitas 
lion  habit  legem."  (That  is,  "Necessity  has  no  law.")  He  must 
\A\i  up  with  what  he  gets — nothing — on  the  principal  of  "What 
cannot  be  cured  must  be  endured."  But  the  thief  rests  at  ease 
under  the  doctrine,  in  that  he  had  not  the  "intention"  of  originally 
stealing  the  article,  but  just  using  it  for  a  time  for  his  own  use. 

14.  P>ecavue  no  Roman  Catholic  is  ever  siu'e  of  salvation, 
as  he  is  not  certain  of  the  Priest  having  the  rigiit  intention  when 
]);i])li/:ing   \\\m.      it"   llie    Priest   had   not   the   intention   to   do   what 


37 

Rome  does,  the  baptism  is  null  and  void,  and  consequently,  all 
other  sacraments  are  null.  "If  any  one  shall  say  that  the  in- 
tention of  giving,  at  least  what  the  Church  does,  is  not  required 
in  ministers  while  they  administer  the  sacraments,  let  him  be  ac- 
cursed."    Council  of  Trent,  Canon  10,  De  Sacramentis. 

15.  Because  a  good  and  merciful  God  would  not  commit  the 
salvation  of  souls  to  the  intention  or  non-intention  of  an  ecclesi- 
astical body  of  men,  who,  for  unholy  living  and  impure  lives, 
are  hardly  equaled  by  any  other  class  of  notorious  sinners. 

16.  Because  I  found  that  nearly  all  the  doctrines  of  Rome 
were  unscriptural,  and  were  never  taught  by  Christ  or  His  Apos- 
tles, or  practiced  by  the  early  Christians. 

17.  Because  Rome  teaches  that  to  be  saved  it  is  necessary 
to  belong  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  And  Christ  and  His 
Gospel  teach  that  salvation  is  by  direct  personal  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  "He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life; 
and  that  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see  life,  but  the 
wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him." — (John  3  •.36.) 

18.  Because  the  Church  of  Rome  interprets  most  of  the 
Scriptures  in  a  literal,  material  sense,  where  Christ  speaks  in  a 
figurative  and  spiritual  sense. 

19.  Because  she  impresses  the  people  with  a  false  idea  of  the 
word  "Church." 

20.  Because  I  saw  and  touched  the  instruments  of  the  In- 
quisition, by  which  multitudes  of  honest  Christians  were  put  to 
a  slow,  heart-rending  death  for  the  crime  of  being  suspected  of 
heresy.  When  I  saw  the  tortures  of  "walling  up,"  the  "burning 
pile,"  the  "red-hot  ovens,"  the  "deadly  pulley,"  the  "iron  virgin," 
the  cold  "water-pressure"  on  the  brain.  When  I  obtained  suffi- 
cient evidence  that  Priests,  Bishops  and  Monks  who  claimed  to 
be  the  representatives  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus,  helped  to 
apply  the  torch  to  the  limbs  of  their  fellow  men,  I  shed  tears, 
and  prayed  God  to  show  me  the  way  our  from  a  system  that 
strangled,  burned  and  murdered. 

21.  Because  the  confessional  is  blasphemy  and  a  reproach 
to  Jesus  Christ,  who  invites  the  sinners  to  come  for  his  mercy. 


38 

"If  we  confess  our  sins,  He  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our 
sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness."  (I.  John  1 :9.) 

22.  Because  Priests  violate  the  secrecy  of  the  confessional 
in  speaking  to  one  another  about  the  sins  they  hear  in  the  confes- 
sion in  such  a  way  that  the  listeners  know  to  whom  they  refer. 

23.  Because  intoxication  is  the  rule,  rather  than  the  ex- 
ception, among  all  Priests. 

24.  Because  of  her  idols  and  images,  which  are  not  only 
venerated,  but  worshipped.  The  blessed  Apostle  says :  "Flee 
from  idols."      (I.  John  5:21.) 

25.  Because  she  condemns  marriage  in  Priests,  Bishops  and 
Monks,  and  thus  conflicts  with  the  word  of  God,  which  says :  "A 
Bishop  must  be  blameless,  the  husband  of  one  wife."  (I.  Tim.  3  :2.) 
And,  "To  avoid  fornication,  let  every  man  have  his  own  wife." 
(I.  Cor.  7:2.) 

26.  Because  of  the  Church's  unscriptural  doctrine  of  Ex- 
treme Unction,  which  teaches  the  departing  soul  to  settle  its 
thoughts  on  visible  things,  such  as  candles,  oils,  holy  water,  instead 
of  looking  to  Jesus  Christ,  whose  blood  cleanseth  from  all  sin." 
(I.  John  1:7.) 

27.  Because,  no  matter  how  holy  Roman  Catholics  may  live, 
and  no  matter  how  many  good  works  they  may  perform,  the 
Church  gives  them  no  assurance  of  heaven  on  their  departure 
hence,  but  presents  them  with  doubts,  fears  and  the  certainty  of  a 
burning  purgatory,  even  for  the  just,  before  they  can  enter 
Heaven.  With  them  there  is  no  "This  day  thou  shalt  be  with  me 
in  paradise." 

28.  Because  the  Church  teaches  that  sprinkling  infants  re- 
generates them,  and  makes  them  members  of  the  Church,  and 
children  of  God. 

29.  Because  in  the  early  Christian  Churches,  those  only  were 
baptized  who  believed.  "Then  Peter  said  unto  them,  repent 
and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for 
the  remission  of  sins.  Then  they  that  gladly  received  his  word 
were  baptized."     Acts  2:38-41.) 

30.  Because  the  Church  receives  into  her  membership  the 
unconverted  and  baptizes  them,  where  in  the  Church  of  Christ 


.^9 

in  all  ages  those  only  were  baptized  who  were  previously  con- 
verted. Even  the  Apostle  Paul  was  first  converted  and  then 
baptized,  "And  he  received  his  sight  forthwith,  and  arose  and  was 
baptized."     (Acts  9:18.) 

31.  Because  wooden  instruments  called  crosses,  also  images 
of  the  virgin  and  saints,  are  retained,  venerated  and  worshipped. 

32.  Because  the  second  commandment  forbids  the  making 
of  any  "graven  image,  or  any  likeness  of  anything  that  is  in  the 
heaven  above  or  that  is  in  the  earth  beneath,  or  that  is  in  the 
water  beneath  the  earth.  Thou  shalt  not  bow  down  thyself  to 
them,  nor  serve  them,  for  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God."  (Exodus 
20:35.) 

33.  Because  the  Church  admonishes  the  people  to  have  re- 
course to  the  intercession  of  the  saints,  and  to  venerate  their 
relics;  and  because  the  sacred  Scriptures  say:  "There  is  one 
God,  and  one  mediator  between  God  and  man,  the  man  Christ 
Jesus."  (I.  Tim.  2:5.)  "I  am  the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life. 
No  man  cometh  uto  the  Father  but  by  me."  (John  14  :6.) 

34.  Because  I  believe  that  purity  is  a  holier  state  than  celi- 
bacy ;  but  the  Church  insists  on  celibacy  for  Priests,  Deacons  and 
Bishops. 

35.  Because  enforced  celibacy  is  radically  wrong,  and  is  con- 
trary to  the  Word  of  God.  "A  Bishop  must  be  blameless,  the 
husband  of  one  wife,  vigilant,  sober,  of  good  behavior,  given  to 
hospitality,  apt  to  teach,  not  given  to  wine."      (I.  Tim.  3:2,  3.) 

36.  Because  in  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  the 
Church  teaches  that  the  flesh  and  blood  of  Christ  is  present  in 
a  material,  carnal  sense,  and  the  Scripture  says :  "It  is  the  spirit 
that  quickeneth,  the  flesh  that  profiteth  nothing;  the  words  that 
I  speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit  and  they  are  life."  (John  6:63.) 

37.  Because  the  Church  demands  the  people  to  go  to  the 
Priest  in  the  confessional  to  obtain  pardon  of  sins,  and  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  invites  sinners  to  come  to  Him  for  forgiveness. 
"Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will 
give  you  rest."     (Matthew  11 :28.) 


40 

38.  Because  the  Church  makes  the  Pope  its  head  on  earth, 
whereas  there  is  no  head  other  than  Christ  Jesus.  "For  the  hus- 
band is  head  of  the  wife  as  Christ  is  head  of  the  Church." 
(Ephesians  4:23.) 

39.  Because  the  mass  is  a  fraud,  imposed  on  the  impHcit 
confidence  of  a  credulous  people,  under  the  pretense  that  it  is  the 
same  as  Christ's  sacrifice  on  the  Cross,  and  that  the  Priest's  mass 
liberates  the  souls  of  the  dead  from  an  imaginary  purgatory. 
The  Word  of  God  declares  that  Christ  offered  one  sacrifice  for 
sins  forever  and  then  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God.  (Heb. 
10:11,  12.) 

40.  Because  the  Romish  Church  makes  the  Virgin  Mary  the 
refuge  of  sinners,  the  "gate  of  heaven,"  the  "comfort  of  the 
afflicted,"  the  "morning  star,"  the  "health  of  the  weak,"  and  the 
"help  of  Christians." 

41.  Because  the  Church's  aim  is  to  keep  the  people  in  in- 
tellectual, moral  and  physical  slavery,  and  make  them  "hewers  of 
wood  and  carriers  of  water"  the  world  over. 

42.  Because  an  orthodox  Roman  Catholic  owes  allegiance 
to  the  ecclesiastical  government  of  the  Pope  of  Rome,  who  teaches 
his  superiority  over  and  above  all  secular  powers ;  and,  therefore, 
cannot  be  a  legal  citizen  to  any  civil  government. 

43.  Because  a  large  number  of  the  Popes  have  been  the 
most  immoral  wretches  who  ever  appeared  in  human  form. 

44.  Because  all  the  Popes  interfere  with  politics  and  have 
been  the  greatest  curses  of  the  Nations  on  Earth. 

45.  Because  the  papacy  teaches  dogmas  and  human  canons 
that  contradict  the  teaching  of  Christ,  and  has  persecuted  unto 
death  for  conscience's  sake. 

46.  Because  Rome  denies  Jesus  Christ  to  be  our  Advocate, 
our  Redeemer  and  our  Saviour,  by  exalting  Mary  to  be  "our 
most  loving  advocate,"  and  "the  protectress  of  all  sinners." 

47.  Because  the  Church  has  persecuted  the  Bible,  discouraged 
its  reading  and  study  among  the  people,  and  recommends  instead 
thereof  the  Priest's  prayer  book  and  Bishop's  catechism. 

48.  Because  the  Church  has  failed  to  bring  the  unconverted 


41 

to  a  holv  life.     Her  meml)ers  live  and  die  unhappy  in  mind  and 
conscience,  always  looking  for  some  help  they  never  find. 

49.  Because  I  have  learned  from  long  and  careful  experience 
that  Priests  and  Bishops  do  not  preach  for  the  interest  of  Christ 
and  His  kingdom,  hut  for  Rome  and  the  almighty  dollar. 

50.  Because  the  apostles  and  disciples  of  Christ  never  dressed 
in  roval  vestments — never  said  mass  in  Latin  or  in  any  other 
language — never  permitted  man,  woman  or  child  to  hend  the 
knee  to  them  in  confession — never  heard  confession  at  all ;  never 
despised  marriage  in  Priests  or  Bishops,  but  blessed  it  and  re- 
commended it  as  "honorable  in  all."  They  never  used  wine,  holy 
water,  candles,  wafers,  incense,  "agnus  dei,"  scapulars,  medals, 
relics  or  pocket  gods  of  any  kind. 

51.  Because  the  mass  ofifers  an  opportunity  to  a  large  ma- 
jority of  priests  to  mock  and  blaspheme  the  Lord  Jesus  by  cele- 
brating it  in  a  drunken  state. 

52.  Because  the  Church  changes  her  doctrines  so  often  that 
Catholics  themselves  for  the  most  part  do  not  know  what  their 
Church  really  believes  or  teaches. 

53.  Because  the  Romish  teaching  is  nowhere  established  by 
the  Bible. 

54.  Because  I  feel  more  secure  to  live  by  faith  and  the  Word 
of  God  than  by  traditions  and  the  alleged  infallibility  of  men. 

55.  Because  indulgences  are  held  out  by  the  Church  and 
are  indirectly  and  directly  procured  by  paying  out  of  the  pocket 
hard  cash. 

56.  Because  purgatory  seems  to  me  to  be  established  not 
for  the  purpose  so  much  of  drawing  souls  form  the  fiery  pit,  as 
for  drawing  the  money  from  the  pockets  of  a  credulous  people. 

57.  Because  I  firmly  believe  that  it  is  of  pagan  origin,  and 
devilish  in  the  extreme  for  men  to  adore  the  host. 

58.  Because  1  believe  that  Priests  and  Bishops,  instead  of 
being  vicars  and  ambassadors  of  the  Holy  One,  are  but  microbes 
and  human  parasites,  the  farther  from  which  we  betake  ourselve.s 


42 

the  happier.  hoHer  and  more  successful  in  this  Ufe  and  the  Hfe 
to  come  we  shall  be. 

59.  Because  I  found  more  wicked  men  and  seducers  among 
the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  than  among  any  other  class  of  men  of 
equal  numbers. 

60.  Because,  according  to  the  Scriptural  idea,  the  Roman 
Church  is  no  Christian  Church  at  all.  All  who  believe  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  are  of  the  Christian  Church,  wherever  found, 
and  to  them,  and  not  a  hierarchial  body  of  men,  is  the  com- 
mission given  to  preach  and  teach  and  to  forgive  trespasses 
against  each  other.  To  them  is  the  promise  made,  and  not  to 
a  Priest  or  Pope,  that  the  Ploly  Spirit  will  abide  with  them  all 
their  days  to  comfort,  to  teach  and  to  guide  to  the  consummation 
of  the  world. 

61.  Because  I  am  satisfied  from  history,  and  especially  from 
my  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  that  neither  Saints  Peter,  Paul,  John, 
James,  Thomas,  or  any  other  followers  of  Christ  did  what  the 
Priei:ts,  Bishops  and  Pope  of  Rome  do  now. 

62.  Because  long  experience  has  taught  me  that  the  Church 
gives  the  people  no  equivalent  for  the  immense  sums  of  money 
she  extorts  from  them. 

63.  Because  the  Church  forbids  a  man  to  use  his  own  reason, 
or  be  guided  by  the  testimony  of  his  own  senses. 

64.  Because  I  prefer  to  be  saved  by  the  free  grace  of  the 
Lord  and  Savior,  promise  to  all  who  will,  than  to  risk  my  sal- 
vation, by  proxy  and  purchase  grace  of  men  who  have  none  to 
spare,  even  for  themselves. 

65.  Because  I  will  never  give  up  a  certainty  for  an  uncer- 
tainty. 

66.  Because  I  want  to  use  my  own  brains  that  God  has 
given  me  to  beget  knowledge  to  prove  all  things,  "and  hold  fast  to 
that  which  is  good."  ,       . 

67.  Becaus,e  I  prefer  to  be  condemned  by  the  Priest  for  re- 
jecting his  expensive  salvation,  than  to  be  condemned  on  the  last 
(Vdv  ])}'  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  for  rejecting  free  salvation  pur- 
chased by  the  precious  blood  of  Christ. 

68.  Because  I  prefer  to  read  the  Scrijjtures  and  judge  for 
myself  1)\'  the  aid  of  the  ilol\-  Spirit,  though  1  be  called  a  "heretic," 
a  "turn-coat"  and  "l)lack  sheep,"  than  to  receive  the  milk  of  the 


43 

Word  from  men  who  don't  know  it,  and  be  called  "a  good,  holy 
Roman  Catholic." 

70.  Because  I  find  in  every  land  in  which  I  traveled,  that, 
for  the  most  part,  good  Roman  Catholics  make  bad  Christians, 
and  wicked  Christians  make  good  Roman  Catholics.  Of  course, 
true  Christians,  converted  men,  cannot  become  Roman  Catholics. 

71.  Because  I  believe  the  Pope,  who  refuses  to  be  instructed 
in  faith  and  morals,  in  that  he  knows  it  all,  is  anti-Christian,  and 
the  son  of  perdition. 

72.  Because  I  could  not  believe  that  the  public  schools,  for 
the  best  interests  of  any  Nation,  ought  to  be  under  the  control 
of  the  Church. 

7Z.  Because  I  could  not  be  a  true  American  citizen  and  take 
sides  with  a  system  that  is  a  disgrace  to  the  fundamental  institu- 
tions of  our  country. 

74.  Because  I  do  not  believe  that  "education  outside  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  is  a  damnable  heresy." 

75.  Because  I  cannot  believe  that  Saints  Patrick,  Joseph, 
Peter,  Bridget,  or  any  of  them,  can  be  in  different  places  at  the 
same  time  to  hear  prayers,  and,  therefore,  that  they  cannot  help 
us  in  any  way. 

76.     Because  the   Church   has   always   opposed   the   liberty   of 
the  press,  the  liberty  of  speech,  and  even  the  liberty  of  thought. 

77.  Because  I  consider  it  blasphemy  to  call  the  Pope  "King 
of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords." 

78.  Because  the  Church  that,  has  used  the  chain,  the  thumb- 
screw, the  virgin  crib,  the  fagot  to  make  people  give  up  their 
religious  convictions,  cannot  be  the  Church  of  Christ. 

79.  Because  I  believe  that  no  Church  has  a  right  to  make 
slaves  of  those  who  desire  to  worship  God  according  to  their 
own  conscience.  • 

80.  Because  I  believe  that  civil  laws  are  binding  on  the  con- 
science of  every  subject  of  the  Nation,  whether  these  laws  be 
comfortable  to  the  teachings  of  Rome  or  not. 

81.  Because  1  cannot  persuade  myself  to  believe  that  the 
laws  o\  the  land  are  null  and  void,  in  that  they  do  not  agree  with 


44 

the  laws  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

82.  Because,  I  believe  that  no  Church  has  power  to  absolve 
its  members  from  oaths  and  their  allegiance  to  the  civil  govern- 
ment. 

83.  Because  the  Church  teaches  that  she  has  the  power  to 
alter  all  civil  laws  that  are  opposed  to  equity. 

84.  Because  the  Church  warns  the  people  through  the  con- 
fessional to  have  no  intercourse  whatever  with  those  who  once 
belonged  to  her  faith. 

86.  Because  the  Church  loves  authority  better  than  truth ; 
and  form  more  than  spirit. 

87.  Because  through  all  history  she  has  proven  herself  the 
mother  of  ignorance,  intolerance  and  superstition. 

88.  Because  she  has  added  to  and  taken  from  the  Word  of 
God. 

89.  Because  her  teachings  are  calculated  to  encourage  sin 
and  induce  to  unholy  living. 

90.  Because  I  never  knew  the  Church  to  cut  off  a  member 
for  violating  any  of  the  ten  commandments,  but  knew  of  her 
persecuting  unto  death  those  who  persisted  in  worshipping  God 
according  to  dictates  of  conscience. 

91.  Because  I  have  been  ashamed  of  Church  history  and  the 
very  immoral  lives  of  a  large  number  of  the  Popes  of  Rome. 

92.  Because  I  saw  more  light  in  the  common  people  of  the 
Protestant  Churches  than  I  have  seen  in  the  clergy  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church. 

93.  Because  1  have  found  in  the  Church  as  much^ — if  not 
more — drunkenness,  violence,  deception,  blasphemy,  desecration 
of  the  Sabbath,  and  all  manner  of  uncleanliness,  than  I  ever  found 
in  any  equal  number  of  people  in  the  world. 

94.  Because  I  have  found  that  forbidding  to  marry,  to  eat 
meat  on  Fridays,  to  abstain  from  honest  industry  on  certain 
Church  days — to  discipline  the  holy  with  whips  to  make  it  obey 
the  soul.  etc..  are  pagan  inventions  and  should  be  extirminated 
from  civilized  beings. 

95.  Because  that  1  find  wearing  vestments,  saying  mass, 
blessing  beads  and  water,  bearing  incense  and  candles,  praying  to 


45 

saints  and  angels  are  also  of  pagan  origin,  the  same  being  prac- 
ticed until  this  day  by  Indians,  Chinese  and  aboriginal  savages. 

96.  Because  there  is  no  Pope  in  the  Bible. 

97.  Because  the  Pope's  doctrine  and  Saint  Peter's  don't  agree. 

98.  Because  the  Church  teaches  that  no  man  has  a  right  to 
choose  his  religion. 

99.  Because  nearly  all  of  the  Roman  doctrines  are  estab- 
lished by  men,  and  of  recent  day,  as  anyone  may  see  from  history. 

100.  Because  I  find  the  Church  to  be  a  political  organiza- 
tion, instead  of  an  assembly  embracing  the  people  of  God. 

101.  Because  it  is  a  secret  society  full  of  peril  to  the  Nation. 

102.  Because  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  today  what  she 
always  was — the  intolerant  blood-thirsty  tiger.  On  her  own 
testimony  she  cannot  change — "et  semper  eadem."  That  is :  "She 
is  always  the  same." 

We  take  this  extract  from  a  sermon  preached  in  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  June  30,  1913,  by  Priest  D.  S.  Phelan,  editor  of  the  well 
known  Romanist  Church  paper,  The  Western  Watchman,  of  that 
city.     Father  Phelan  said : 

"And  why  is  it  that  the  Church  is  strong;  why  is  it  every- 
body is  afraid  of  the  Catholic  Church?  And  the  American 
people  are  more  afraid  of  her  than  any  people  of  the  world.  Why 
are  they  afraid  of  the  Catholic  Church?  They  know  what  the 
Catholic  Church  means.  It  means  all  the  Catholics  of  the  world ; 
not  of  one  country,  or  two  countries,  but  all  the  countries  of  the 
world. 

"And  it  means  more  than  that;  it  means  that  the  Catholics 
of  the  world  love  the  Church  more  than  anything  else,  that  the 
CATHOLICS  OF  THE  WORLD  LOVE  THE  CHURCH 
MORE  THAN  THEY  DO  THEIR  OWN  GOVERNMENTS, 
MORE  THAN  THEY  DO  THEIR  OWN  NATION,  more  than 
they  do  their  own  people,  more  than  they  do  their  own  fortunes, 
more  than  they  do  their  own  selves. 

"We  of  the  Catholic  Church  are  ready  to  go  to  the  death  for 
the  Church.     Under  God  she  is  the  supreme  object  of  our  wor- 


46 

ship.  Tell  us  that  we  think  more  of  the  Church  than  we  do  of 
the  United  States;  of  course  we  do.  Tell  us  we  are  Catholics 
first  and  Americans  or  Englishmen  afterwards ;  of  course  we  are. 
Tell  us  in  the  conflict  between  the  Church  and  the  civil  govern- 
ment we  take  the  side  of  the  Church;  of  course  we  do.  Why, 
if  the  government  of  the  United  States  were  at  war  with  the 
Church,  we  would  say  tomorrow,  TO  HELL  WITH  THE 
GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES;  and  if  the 
Church  and  all  the  governments  of  the  world  were  at  war,  we 
would  say,  TO  HELL  WITH  ALL  THE  GOVERNMENTS 
OF  THE  WORLD. 

"They  say  we  are  Catholics  first  and  Americans  decidedly 
afterwards.  There  is  no  doubt  about  it.  We  are  Catholics 
first,  and  we  love  the  Church  more  than  we  love  any  and  all  the 
governments  of  the  world. 

"Let  the  governments  of  the  world  steer  clear  of  the  Catholic 
Church ;  let  the  emperors,  let  the  kings  and  the  presidents  not 
come  into  conflict  with  the  head  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Because 
the  Catholic  Church  is  everything  to  all  the  Catholics  of  the 
world ;  they  renounce  all  nationalities  where  there  is  a  question  of 
loyalty  to  her.  And  why  is  it  that  hope  is  so  strong?  Why  is  it 
that  in  this  country,  where  we  have  only  seven  per  cent  of  the 
population,  the  Catholic  Church  is  so  much  feared?  She  is 
loved  by  all  her  children  and  feared  by  everybody. 

"Why  is  it  the  Pope  is  such  a  tremendous  power?  Why  the 
Pope  is  the  ruler  of  the  world.  All  the  emperors,  all  the  kings, 
all  the  princes,  all  the  presidents  of  the  world  today  are  as  these 
altar  boys  of  mine.  The  Pope  is  the  ruler  of  the  world.  Why? 
Because  he  is  the  ruler  of  the  Catholics  of  the  world — the  Catho- 
lics of  all  the  world;  and  the  Catholics  of  all  the  world  would  die 
for  the  rights  of  the  Pope.  He  is  the  head  of  the  Church,  and 
they  would  die  for  the  Church.  And  the  Church  is  the  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  they  need  not  have  any  misgivings  on  that 
score;  they  need  be  no  misconception  there — the  Catholics  of 
the  world  are  Catholics  first  and  always ;  they  are  Americans,  they 
are  Germans,  they  are  French  or  they  are  English  afterwards." 


47 


I 

T 
T 
t 
? 
? 
X 
T 

t 

*f 

t 
t 

t 

? 
? 


Historical  Works  of 
Thomas  E.  Watson 

On  Sale  at 

The  Tom  Watson  Book  Co.,  Inc. 

Thomson,  Georgia. 


4 

V 
y 

? 

I 
? 

I 

I 

I 
I 

I 

t 

I 
I 
? 

I 


:t!THE  STORY  OF  FRANCE 
11  Vols. 


T 

y 

X  Regarded  as  standard  authon- 

Xty  in  France;  has  been  trans- 

il 

Xlated  into  French,  and  used  as 

X  text  book  in  French  colleges. 

I 

X     $6.00  per  set,   delivered. 
X 


NAPOLEON 

Sold  in  France  as  the  best 
one-volume  Life  of  the  Em- 
peror. 

$3.50  delivered. 


:life   and   times   of 
:  thomas  jefferson 

For  several  years  the  author 
owned  a  summer  home  with- 
in sight  of  Jefferson's  home, 
and  secured  much  of  his  ma- 
terial for  this  work  from  fam- 
ily records  of  the  neighbor- 
hood. 

$3.50  delivered. 


THE  HOUSE  OF  HAPS- 

BURG        I 

One  of  the  author's  last  his-i 

torical  works;  states  cause  oi% 

recent  European  War;  shows y 

y 
the   origin   of    the   House   of  X 

Hapsburg,  the  growth  of  the^ 

Papal  Power  of  Rome.  y 


50  cents  postpaid. 


V^^  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  •  ♦  -^^  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ''^*  ♦  ♦  ♦  "i^*  ♦  ♦  ♦  •  ♦  *  *  ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


48 

I       A  Price  List  of  Watson's  | 

I  Books  and  Booklets  i 

I  I 

»^  IN  PRINT  FOR  DISTRIBUTION  4 

1  I 

•|  Story  of  France  Complete  (11  vols.)   $6.00  *} 

♦|»  Napoleon  3.50  *^» 


j*      Life  and  Times  of  Thomas  Jefferson 3.50  a 

V      Political  and  Economic  Handbook  1.50  X 

)*      A  Chapter  on  Socialism  .25  X 

•j*      House  of  Hapsburg-  .50  X 

y      Roman  Catholic  Church  .25  ♦!♦ 

j  ♦♦ 

X      Short  History  of  Papacy  and  Popes .25  *l* 

X      Watson's  Magazine   (Supplement)   .25  ^* 

J:      Mr.  Watson's  Editorials  On  the  War .25  *!* 

t  ♦  ♦ 

X      What  Are  Your  Constitutional  Rights?  .25  *^ 

X  Maria  Monk  and  Her  Revelations  of  Convent  Crimes     .35  i* 

t  ♦> 

X  Roman  Catholics  in  America  Falsifying  History     .25  x 

X      Watson's  Jeffersonian  Magazine   (July-Dec.) 1.00  f^ 

:*:      The  Religion  You  Don't  Want  .10  J 

X      The  Cordele  Platform  of  the  F.  U.  .10  ? 

.»♦      Socialists  and  Socialism  1.00  X 

I«*      Prose  Miscellanies  1.00  *!* 

!«!      Fourth  Degree  Oath  of  the  K.  of  C 50  jl 

Ijl      Rome's  Law  or  Ours  Which?  .25  ji 

X      The  Watsonian    (12  months)   1.00  t 

*l*     Arguments    Against    Conscription    .10  X 

♦|»  Is  There  a  Roman  Catholic  Peril?  X 

jl*              Here  is  Proof  of  it .25  X 

*\*      Speech  Against  Conscription  .25  X 

♦{♦  The  Italian  Pope's  Campaign  Against  the  Constitu-  I|^ 

j*             tional  Rights  of  American  Citizens 25  I»I 

j*  What  Goes  On  in  the  Nunneries  and  I|I 

][♦             Is  Your  Brain  For  Sale 25  <^ 

I  THE  TOM  WATSON  BOOK  COMPANY,  Inc.  ♦»! 

♦!•  THOMSON,   GEORGIA  ♦}* 


It  is  easy  for  me  to  understand   the   Scotchman   who  kneels  on   the  i 

site  of  the  home  of  William  Wallace;  easy  to  understand  the  Frenchman  1 

who  is  thrilled  by  the  "Marseillaise;"  easy  to  understand  the  Italian  who  i 
treasures  a  relic  or  a  memory  of  Garibaldi:  but  it  is  impossible  to  under- 
stand the  men  who  feel  it  an  honor  to  kiss  the  hand  of  a  crowned  and 
sceptred    fool,    who    inherited    his    kingship    from    another    crowned    and 

sceptred  fool,  and  whose  greatest  aim  in  life  is  to  hand   down   the  royal  f 

office  to  a  long  line  of  crowned  and  sceptred  fools.  j 

— Tims.    E.   Watson,  j 

l|,n          „|^          ,j,j , 11^, „„___„„ „„          ,11 fl, „  ,__     __    .              ^^     ^__     ^_  A.