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"Charles Chiniquy (1809-1899) a Canadian
Prysbyterian convert from Roman Catholicism, born at Kamouraska, Quebec, Canada
of Roman Catholic parents, and studied at the college of Nicolet, Canada,
professor of belles-lettres there after graduation until 1833. in 1833 ordained
a Roman Catholic priest, and until 1846 was vicar and curate in the province of
Quebec where he established the first temperance society, winning the title
"Apostle of Temperence of Canada." In 1851 established an extensive
Roman Catholic colony at Kankakee, Illinois. In 1858 left the church of Rome
and joined the Canadian Presbyterian Church taking his congregation at Kankakee
with him. Lectured in England and in Australia (1878-1882). Published a number
of books and tracts on temperance and anti-Romanism, some of which became very
popular and were translated into several languages." (From "The
Wycliffe Biographical Dictionary of the Church," page 90, Elgin S. Moyer,
1982, İMoody Press, Chicago, IL)
Table of Contents
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The Bible and the Priest of Rome |
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My First School days at St. Thomas- The Monk and Celibacy |
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The Confession of Children |
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The Shepherd Whipped by His Sheep |
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The Priest, Purgatory, and the Poor Widow's Cow |
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Festivities in a Parsonage |
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Preparation for the First Communion- Initiation to Idolatry |
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The First Communion |
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Intellectual Education in the Roman Catholic College |
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Moral and Religious Instruction in the Roman Catholic Colleges |
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Protestant Children in the Convents and Nunneries of Rome |
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Rome and Education- Why does the Church of Rome hate the Common Schools of the United States, and want to destroy them?- Why does she object to the reading of the Bible in the Schools? |
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Theology of the Church of Rome: its Anti-Christian Character |
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The Vow of Celibacy |
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The Impurities of the Theology of Rome |
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The Priests of Rome and the Holy Fathers; or, how I Swore to give up the Word of God to follow the Word of Men |
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The Roman Catholic Priesthood, or Ancient and Modern Idolatry |
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Nine Consequences of the Dogma of Transubstantiation- The Old Paganism under a Christian Name |
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Vicarage, and Life at St. Charles, Rivierre Boyer |
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Papineau and the Patriots in 1833- The Burning of "Le Canadien" by the Curate of St. Charles |
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Grand Dinner of the Priests- The Maniac Sister of Rev. Mr. Perras |
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I am appointed Vicar of the Curate of Charlesbourgh- The Piety, Lives and Deaths of Fathers Bedard and Perras |
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The Cholera Morbus of 1834- Admirable Courage and Self-Denial of the Priests of Rome during the Epidemic |
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I am named a Vicar of St. Roch, Quebec City- The Rev. Mr. Tetu- Tertullian- General Cargo- The Seal Skins |
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Simony- Strange and Sacrilegious Traffic in the S0-called Body and Blood of Christ- Enormous Sums of Money made by the Sale of Masses- The Society of Three Masses abolished, and the Society of One Mass established |
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Continuation of the Trade in Masses |
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Quebec Marine Hospital- The First Time I carried the "Bon Dieu" (the wafer god) in my Vest Pocket- The Grand Oyster Soiree at Mr. Buteau's- The Rev. L. Parent and the "Bon Dieu" at the Oyster Soiree |
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Dr. Douglas- My first Lesson on Temperance- Study of Anatomy- Working of Alcohol in the Human Frame- The Murderess of Her Own Child- I for ever give up the use of Intoxicating Drinks |
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Conversions of Protestants to the Church of Rome- Rev. Anthony Parent, Superior of the Seminary of Quebec; His peculiar way of finding access to the Protestants and bringing them to the Catholic Church- How he spies the Protestants through the Confessional- I persuade Ninety-three Families to become Catholics |
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The Murders and Thefts in Quebec from 1835 to 1836- The Night Excursion with Two Thieves- The Restitution- The Dawn of Light |
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Chambers and his Accomplices Condemned to Death- Asked me to Prepare them for their Terrible Fate- A Week in their Dungeon- Their Sentence of Death changed into Deportation to Botany Bay- Their Departure of Exile- I meet one of them a Sincere Convert, very rich, in a high and honourable position in Australia, in 1878 |
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The Miracles of Rome- Attack of Typhoid Fever- Apparition of St. Anne and St. Philomene- My Sudden Cure- The Curate of St. Anne du Nord, Mons. Ranvoize, almost a disguised Protestant |
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My Nomination as Curate of Beauport- Degradation and Ruin of that Place through Drunkenness- My Opposition to my Nomination useless- Preparation to Establish a Temperance Society- I write to Father Mathew for advice |
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The Hand of God in the Establishment of a Temperance Society in Beauport and Vicinity |
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Foundation of Temperance Societies in the Neighbouring Parishes- Providential Arrival of Monsignor De Forbin Janson, Bishop of Nancy- He Publicly Defends Me against the Bishop of Quebec and for ever Breaks the Opposition of the Clergy |
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The God of Rome Eaten by Rats |
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Visit of a Protestant Stranger- He Throws an Arrow into my Priestly Soul never to be taken out |
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Erection of the Column of Temperance- School Buildings- A noble and touching act of the People of Beauport |
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Sent to succeed Rev. Mr. Varin, Curate of Kamouraska- Stern Opposition of that Curate and the surrounding Priests and People- Hours of Desolation in Kamouraska- The Good Master allays the Tempest and bids the Waves be still |
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Organization of Temperance Societies in Kamouraska and surrounding Country- The Girl in the Garb of a Man in the Service of the Curates of Quebec and Eboulements- Frightened by the Scandals seen everywhere- Give up my Parish of Kamouraska to join the "Oblates of Mary Immaculate of Longueuil" |
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Perversion of Dr. Newman to the Church of Rome in the light of his own Explanations, Common Sense and the Word of God |
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Noviciate in the Monastery of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate of Longueuil- Some of the Thousand Acts of Folly and Idolatry which form the Life of a Monk- The Deplorable Fall of one of the Fathers- Fall of the Grand Vicar Quiblier- Sick in the Hotel Dieu of Montreal- Sister Urtubise: what she says of Maria Monk- The Two Missionaries to the Lumber Men- Fall and Punishment of a Father Oblate- What one of the best Father Oblates thinks of the Monks and the Monastery |
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I accept the hospitality of the Rev. Mr. Brassard of Longueuil- I give my Reasons for Leaving the Oblates to Bishop Bourget- He presents me with a splendid Crucifix blessed by his Holiness for me, and accepts my Services in the Cause of Temperance in the Diocese of Montreal |
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Preparations for the Last Conflict- Wise Counsel, Tears, and Distress of Father Mathew- Longueuil the First to Accept the Great Reform of Temperance- The whole District of Montreal, St. Hyacinthe and Three Rivers Conquered- The City of Montreal with the Sulpicians take the Pledge- Gold Medal- Officially named Apostle of Temperance in Canada- Gift of £500 from Parliament |
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My Sermon on the Virgin Mary- Compliments of Bishop Prince- Stormy Night- First Serious Doubts about the Church of Rome- Faithful Discussion with the Bishop- The Holy Fathers opposed to the Modern Worship of the Virgin- The Branches of the Vine |
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The Holy Fathers- New Mental Troubles at not finding the Doctines of my Church in their Writings- Purgatory and the Sucking Pig of the Poor Man of Varennes |
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Letter from the Rev. Bishop Vandeveld, of Chicago- Vast Project of the Bishop of the United States to take Possession of the Rich Valley of the Mississippi and the Prairies of the West to Rule that Great Republic- They want to put me at the Heart of the Work- My Lectures on Temperance at Detroit- Intemperance of the Bishops and Priests of that City |
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My Visit to Chicago in 1857- Bishop Vandeveld- His Predecessor Poisoned- Magnificent Prairies of the West- Return to Canada- Bad feelings of Bishop Bourget- I decline sending a Rich Woman to the Nunnery to enrich the Bishop- A Plot to destroy me |
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The Plot to destroy me- The Interdict- The Retreat at the Jesuit's College- The Lost Girl, employed by the Bishop, Retracts- The Bishop Confounded, sees his Injustice, makes Amends- Testimonial Letters- The Chalice- The Benediction before I leave Canada |
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Address presented me at Longueuil- I arrive at Chicago- I select the spot for my Colony- I build the first Chapel- Jealousy and Opposition of the Priests of Bourbounais and Chicago- Great Success of the Colony |
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Intrigues, Impostures, and Criminal Life of the Priests in Bourbounais- Indignation of the Bishop- The People ignominiously turn out the Criminal Priest from their Parish- Frightful Scandal- Faith in the Church of Rome seriously shaken |
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Correspondence with the Bishop |
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The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary |
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The Abominations of Auricular Confession |
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The Ecclesiastical Retreat- Conduct of the Priests- The Bishop forbids me to distribute the Bible |
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Public Acts of Simony- Thefts and Brigandage of Bishop O'Regan- General Cry of Indignation- I determine to Resist him to his Face- He employs Mr. Spink again to send me to Gaol, and he Fails- Drags me as a Prisoner to Urbana in the Spring of 1856, and Fails again- Abraham Lincoln defends me- My dear Bible becomes more than ever my Light and my Counsellor |
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Bishop O'Regan sells the Parsonage of the French Canadians of Chicago, pockets the Money, and turns them out when they ocme to complain- He determines to turn me out of my Colony and send me to Kahokia- He forgets it the next day and publishes that he has interdicted me- My People send a Deputation to the Bishop- His Answers- The Sham Excommunication by Three Drunken Priests |
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Address from my People, asking me to Remain- I am again dragged as a Prisoner by the Sheriff to Urbana- Abraham Lincoln's Anxiety about the issue of the Prosecution- My Distress- The Rescue- Miss Philomene Moffat sent by God to save me- Lebel's Confession and Distress- My Innocence acknowledged- Noble Words and Conduct of Abraham Lincoln- The Oath of Miss Philomene Moffat |
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A Moment of Interruption in the Thread of my "Fifty Years in the Church of Rome," to see how my said Previsions about my defender, Abraham Lincoln, were to be realized- Rome the implacable Enemy of the United States |
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The Fundamental Principles of the Constitution of the United States drawn from the Gospel of Christ- My First Visit to Abraham Lincoln to warn him of the Plots I knew against his Life- The Priests circulate the News that Lincoln was born in the Church of Rome- Letter of the Pope to Jeff Davis- My last Visit to the President- His admirable Reference to Moses- His willingness to die for his Nation's Sake |
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Abraham Lincoln a true Man of God, and a true Disciple of the Gospel- The Assassination by Booth- The Tool of the Priests- John Surratt's House- The Rendezvous and Dwelling Place of the Priests- John Surratt Secreted by the Priests after the Murder of Lincoln- The Assassination of Lincoln known and published in the Town Three Hours before its occurrence |
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Deputation of Two Priests sent by the People and the Bishops of Canada to persuade us to submit to the will of the Bishop- The Deputies acknowledge publicly that the Bishop is wrong and that we are right- For peace' sake I consent to withdraw from the Contest on certain conditions accepted by the Deputies- One of those Deputies turns false to his Promise, and betrays us, to be put at the head of my Colony- My last Interview with him and Mr. Brassard |
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Mr. Desaulnier is named Vicar-General of Chicago to crush us- Our People more united than ever to defend their Rights- Letters of the Bishops of Montreal against me, and my Answer- Mr. Brassard forced, against his conscience, to condemn us- My answer to Mr. Brassard- He writes to beg my Pardon |
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I write to the Pope Pius IX, and to Napoleon, Emperor of France, and send them the Legal and Public Documents proving the bad conduct of Bishop O'Regan- Grand-Vicar Dunn sent to tell me of my Victory at Rome, and the end of our Trouble- I go to Dubuque to offer my Submission to the Bishop- The Peace Sealed and publicly Proclaimed by Grand-Vicar Dunn the 28th March, 1858 |
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Excellent Testimonial from my Bishop- My Retreat- Grand-Vicar Saurin and his Assistant, Rev. M. Granger- Grand-Vicar Dunn writes me about the new Storm prepared by the Jesuits- Vision- Christ offers Himself as a Gift- I am Forgiven, Rich, Happy, and Saved- Back to my People |
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The Solemn Responsibilities of my new Position- We give up the name of Roman Catholic to call ourselves Christian Catholics- Dismay of the Roman Catholic Bishops- My Lord Duggan, co-adjutor of St. Louis, hurries to Chicago- He comes to St. Anne to persuade the People to submit to his Authority- He is ignominiously turned out, and runs away in the midst of the Cries of the People |
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Bird's-eye View of the Principal Events from my Conversion to this day- My Narrow Escapes- The End of the Voyage through the Desert to the Promised Land |
My father, Charles Chiniquy
[pronounced, "Chi-ni-quay"], born in Quebec, had studied in the
Theological Seminary of that city, to prepare himself for the priesthood. But a
few days before making his vows, having been the witness of a great iniquity in
the high quarters of the church, he changed his mind, studied law, and became a
notary.
Married to Reine Perrault, daughter of Mitchel Perrault, in 1803 he settled at
first in Kamoraska, where I was born on the 30th July, 1809.
About four or five years later my parents emigrated to Murray Bay. That place
was then in its infancy, and no school had yet been established. My mother was,
therefore, my first teacher.
Before leaving the Seminary of Quebec my father had received from one of the
Superiors, as a token of his esteem, a beautiful French and Latin Bible. That
Bible was the first book, after the A B C, in which I was taught to read. My
mother selected the chapters which she considered the most interesting for me;
and I read them every day with the greatest attention and pleasure. I was even
so much pleased with several chapters, that I read them over and over again
till I knew them by heart.
When eight or nine years of age, I had learned by heart the history of the
creation and fall of man; the deluge; the sacrifice of Isaac; the history of
Moses; the plagues of Egypt; the sublime hymn of Moses after crossing the Red
Sea; the history of Samson; the most interesting events of the life of David;
several Psalms; all the speeches and parables of Christ; and the whole history
of the sufferings and death of our Saviour as narrated by John.
I had two brothers, Louis and Achille; the first about four, the second about
eight years younger than myself. When they were sleeping or playing together,
how many delicious hours I have spent by my mother's side, in reading to her
the sublime pages of the divine book.
Sometimes she interrupted me to see if I understood what I read; and when my
answers made her sure that I understood it, she used to kiss me and press me on
her bosom as an expression of her joy.
One day, while I was reading the history of the sufferings of the Saviour, my
young heart was so much impressed that I could hardly enunciate the words, and
my voice trembled. My mother, perceiving my emotion, tried to say something on
the love of Jesus for us, but she could not utter a word her voice was
suffocated by her sobs. She leaned her head on my forehead, and I felt two
streams of tears falling from her eyes on my cheeks. I could not contain myself
any longer. I wept also; and my tears were mixed with hers. The holy book fell
from my hands, and I threw myself into my dear mother's arms.
No human words can express what was felt in her soul and in mine in that most
blessed hour! No! I will never forget that solemn hour, when my mother's heart
was perfectly blended with mine at the feet of our dying Saviour. There was a
real perfume from heaven in those my mother's tears which were flowing on me.
It seemed then, as it does seem to me today, that there was a celestial harmony
in the sound of her voice and in her sobs. Though more than half a century has
passed since that solemn hour when Jesus, for the first time, revealed to me
something of His suffering and of His love, my heart leaps with joy every time
I think of it.
We were some distance from the church, and the roads, in the rainy days, were
very bad. On the Sabbath days the neighbouring farmers, unable to go to church,
were accustomed to gather at our house in the evening. Then my parents used to
put me up on a large table in the midst of the assembly, and I delivered to
those good people the most beautiful parts of the Old and New Testaments. The
breathless attention, the applause of our guests, and may I tell it often the
tears of joy which my mother tried in vain to conceal, supported my strength
and gave me the courage I wanted, to speak when so young before so many people.
When my parents saw that I was growing tired, my mother, who had a fine voice,
sang some of the beautiful French hymns with which her memory was filled.
Several times, when the fine weather allowed me to go to church with my
parents, the farmers would take me into their caleches (buggies) at the door of
the temple, and request me to give them some chapter of the Gospel. With a most
perfect attention they listened to the voice of the child, whom the Good Master
had chosen to give them the bread which comes from heaven. More than once, I
remember, that when the bell called us to the church, they expressed their
regret that they could not hear more.
On one of the beautiful spring days of 1818 my father was writing in his
office, and my mother was working with her needle, singing one of her favourite
hymns, and I was at the door, playing and talking to a fine robin which I had
so perfectly trained that he followed me wherever I went. All of a sudden I saw
the priest coming near the gate. The sight of him sent a thrill of uneasiness
through my whole frame. It was his first visit to our home.
The priest was a person below the common stature, and had an unpleasant
appearance his shoulders were large and he was very corpulent; his hair was
long and uncombed, and his double chin seemed to groan under the weight of his
flabby cheeks.
I hastily ran to the door and whispered to my parents, "M. le Cur'e arrive
("Mr. Curate is coming"). The last sound was hardly out of my lips
when the Rev. Mr. Courtois was at the door, and my father, shaking hands with
him, gave him a welcome.
That priest was born in France, where he had a narrow escape, having been condemned
to death under the bloody administration of Robespierre. He had found a refuge,
with many other French priests, in England, whence he came to Quebec, and the
bishop of that place had given him the charge of the parish of Murray Bay.
His conversation was animated and interesting for the first quarter of an hour.
It was a real pleasure to hear him. But of a sudden his countenance changed as
if a dark cloud had come over his mind, and he stopped talking. My parents had
kept themselves on a respectful reserve with the priest. They seemed to have no
other mind than to listen to him. The silence which followed was exceedingly
unpleasant for all the parties. It looked like the heavy hour which precedes a
storm. At length the priest, addressing my faith, said, "Mr. Chiniquy, is
it true that you and your child read the Bible?"
"Yes, sir," was the quick reply, "my little boy and I read the
Bible, and what is still better, he has learned by heart a great number of its
most interesting chapters. If you will allow it, Mr. Curate, he will give you
some of them."
"I did not come for that purpose," abruptly replied the priest;
"but do you not know that you are forbidden by the holy Council of Trent
to read the Bible in French."
"It makes very little difference to me whether I read the Bible in French,
Greek, or Latin," answered my father, "for I understand these
languages equally well."
"But are you ignorant of the fact that you cannot allow your child to read
the Bible?" replied the priest.
"My wife directs her own child in the reading of the Bible, and I cannot
see that we commit any sin by continuing to do in future what we have done till
now in that matter."
"Mr. Chiniquy," rejoined the priest, "you have gone through a
whole course of theology; you know the duties of a curate; you know it is my
painful duty to come here, get the Bible from you and burn it."
My grandfather was a fearless Spanish sailor (our original name was
Etchiniquia), and there was too much Spanish blood and pride in my father to
hear such a sentence with patience in his own house. Quick as lightning he was
on his feet. I pressed myself, trembling, near my mother, who trembled also.
At first I feared lest some very unfortunate and violent scene should occur;
for my father's anger in that moment was really terrible.
But there was another thing which affected me. I feared lest the priest should
lay his hands on my dear Bible, which was just before him on the table; for it
was mine, as it had been given me the last year as a Christmas gift.
Fortunately, my father had subdued himself after the first moment of his anger.
He was pacing the room with a double-quick step; his lips were pale and
trembling, and he was muttering between his teeth words which were
unintelligible to any one of us.
The priest was closely watching all my father's movements; his hands were
convulsively pressing his heavy cane, and his face was giving the sure evidence
of a too well-grounded terror. It was clear that the ambassador of Rome did not
find himself infallibly sure of his position on the ground he had so foolishly
chosen to take; since his last words he had remained as silent as a tomb.
At last, after having paced the room for a considerable time, my father
suddenly stopped before the priest, and said, "Sir, is that all you have
to say here."
"Yes, sir," said the trembling priest.
"Well, sir," added my father, "you know the door by which you
entered my house: please take the same door and go away quickly."
The priest went out immediately. I felt an inexpressible joy when I saw that my
Bible was safe. I ran to my father's neck, kissed and thanked him for his
victory. And to pay him, in my childish way, I jumped upon the large table and
recited, in my best style, the fight between David and Goliath. Of course, in my
mind, my father was David and the priest of Rome was the giant whom the little
stone from the brook had stricken down.
Thou knowest, O God, that it is to that Bible, read on my mother's knees, I
owe, by thy infinite mercy, the knowledge of the truth to-day; that Bible had
sent, to my young heart and intelligence, rays of light which all the sophisms
and dark errors of Rome could never completely extinguish.
In the month of June, 1818, my
parents sent me to an excellent school at St. Thomas. One of my mother's
sisters resided there, who was the wife of an industrious miller called Stephen
Eschenbach. They had no children, and they received me as their own son.
The beautiful village of St. Thomas had already, at that time, a considerable
population. The tow fine rivers which unite their rapid waters in its very
midst before they fall into the magnificent basin from which they flow into the
St. Lawrence, supplied the water-power for several mills and factories.
There was in the village a considerable trade in grain, flour and lumber. The
fisheries were very profitable, and the game was abundant. Life was really
pleasant and easy.
The families Tachez, Cazeault, Fournier, Dubord, Frechette, Tetu, Dupuis,
Couillard, Duberges, which were among the most ancient and notable of Canada,
were at the head of the intellectual and material movement of the place, and
they were a real honour to the French Canadian name.
I met there with one of my ancestors on my mother's side whose name was F.
Amour des Plaines. He was an old and brave soldier, and would sometimes show us
the numerous wounds he had received in the battles in which he had fought for
his country. Though nearly eighty years old, he sang to us the songs of the
good old times with all the vivacity of a young man.
The school of Mr. Allen Jones, to which I had been sent, was worthy of its
wide-spread reputation. I had never known any teacher who deserved more, or who
enjoyed in a higher degree the respect and confidence of his pupils.
He was born in England, and belonged to one of the most respectable families
there. He had received the best education which England could give to her sons.
After having gone through a perfect course of study at home, he had gone to
Paris, where he had also completed an academical course. He was perfectly
master of the French and English languages. And it was not without good reasons
that he was surrounded by a great number of scholars from every corner of
Canada. The children of the best families of St. Thomas were, with me,
attending the school of Mr. Jones. But as he was a Protestant, the priest was
much opposed to him, and every effort was made by that priest to induce my
relatives to take me away from that school and send me to the one under his
care.
The name of the priest was Loranger. He had a swarthy countenance, and in
person was lean and tall. His preaching had no attraction, and he was far from
being popular among the intelligent part of the people of St. Thomas.
Dr. Tachez, whose high capacity afterwards brought him to the head of the
Canadian Government, was the leading man of St. Thomas. Being united by the
bonds of a sincere friendship with his nephew, L. Cazeault, who was afterwards
placed at the head of the University of Laval, in Quebec, I had more opportunities
of going to the house of Mr. Tachez, where my young friend was boarding.
In those days Dr. Tachez had no need of the influence of the priests, and he
frequently gave vent to his supreme contempt for them. Once a week there was a
meeting in his house of the principal citizens of St. Thomas, where the highest
questions of history and religion were freely and warmly discussed; but the
premises as well as the conclusions of these discussions were invariably
adverse to the priests and religion of Rome, and too often to every form of
Christianity.
Though these meetings had not entirely the character or exclusiveness of secret
societies, they were secret to a great extent. My friend Cazeault was punctual
in telling me the days and hours of the meetings, and I used to go with him to
an adjoining room, from which we could hear everything without being suspected.
From what I heard and saw in these meetings I most certainly would have been
ruined, had not the Word of God, with which my mother had filled my young mind
and heart, been my shield and strength. I was often struck with terror and
filled with disgust at what I heard in those meetings. But what a strange and
deplorable thing! My conscience was condemning me every time I listened to
these impious discussions, while there was a strong craving in me to hear them
that I could not resist.
There was then in St. Thomas a personage who was unique in his character. He
never mixed with the society of the village, but was, nevertheless, the object
of much respectful attention and inquiry from every one. He was one of the
former monks of Canada, known under the name of Capucin or Recollets, whom the
conquest of Canada by Great Britain had forced to leave their monastery. He was
a clock-maker, and lived honourably by his trade. His little white house, in
the very midst of the village, was the perfection of neatness.
Brother Mark, as he was called, was a remarkably well-built man; high stature,
large and splendid shoulders, and the most beautiful hands I ever saw. His long
black robe, tied around his waist by a white sash, was remarkable for its
cleanliness. His life was really a solitary one, always alone with his sister,
who kept his house.
Every day that the weather was propitious, Brother Mark spent a couple of hours
in fishing, and I myself was exceedingly fond of that exercise, I used to meet
him often along the banks of the beautiful rivers of St. Thomas.
His presence was always a good omen to me; for he was more expert than I in
finding the best places for fishing. As soon as he found a place where the fish
were abundant, he would make signs to me, or call me at the top of his voice,
that I might share in his good luck. I appreciated his delicate attention to
me, and repaid him with the marks of a sincere gratitude. The good monk had
entirely conquered my young heart, and I cherished a sincere regard for him. He
often invited me to his solitary but neat little home, and I never visited him
without receiving some proofs of a sincere kindness. His good sister rivaled
him in overwhelming me with such marks of attention and love as I could only
expect from a dear mother.
There was a mixture of timidity and dignity in the manners of Brother Mark
which I have found in on one else. He was fond of children; and nothing could
be more graceful than his smile every time that he could see that I appreciated
his kindness, and that I gave him any proof of my gratitude. But that smile,
and any other expression of joy, were very transient. On a sudden he would
change, and it was obvious that a mysterious cloud was passing over his heart.
The pope had released the monks of the monastery to which he belonged, from
their vows of poverty and obedience. The consequence was that they could become
independent, and even rich by their own industry. It was in their power to rise
to a respectable position in the world by their honourable efforts. The pope
had given them the permission they wanted, that they might earn an honest
living. But what a strange and incredible folly to ask the permission of a pope
to be allowed to live honourably on the fruits of one's own industry!
These poor monks, having been released from their vows of obedience, were no
longer the slaves of a man; but were now permitted to go to heaven on the sole
condition that they would obey the laws of God and the laws of their country!
But into what a frightful abyss of degradation men must have fallen, to believe
that they required a license from Rome for such a purpose. This is,
nevertheless, the simple and naked truth. That excess of folly, and that
supreme impiety and degradation are among the fundamental dogmas of Rome. The
infallible pope assures the world that there is no possible salvation for any
one who does not sincerely believe what he teaches in this matter.
But the pope who had so graciously relieved the Canadian monks from their vows
of obedience and poverty, had been inflexible in reference to their vows of
celibacy. From this there was no relief.
The honest desires of the good monk to live according to the laws of God, with
a wife whom heaven might have given him, had become an impossibility the pope
vetoed it.
The unfortunate monk was bound to believe that he would be for ever damned if
he dared to accept as a gospel truth the Word of God which says:-
"Propter fornicationem autem, unusquisque uxorem suam habeat, unaquaque
virum suum habeat. (Vulgate Bible of Rome.) Nevertheless to avoid fornication
let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own
husband." (I Cor. vii. 2.) That shining light which the world contains and
which gives life to man, was entirely shut out from Brother Mark. He was not
allowed to know that God himself had said, "It is not good that man should
be alone, I will make him an help-meet for him" (Gen. ii. 18.) Brother
Mark was endowed with such a loving heart! He could not be known without being
loved; and he must have suffered much in that celibacy which his faith in the
pope had imposed upon him.
Far away from the regions of light, truth and life, that soul, tied to the feet
of the implacable modern Divinity, which the Romanists worship under the same
name of Sovereign Pontiff, was trying in vain to annihilate and destroy the
instincts and affections which God himself had implanted in him.
One day, as I was amusing myself, with a few other young friends, near the
house of Brother Mark, suddenly we saw something covered with blood thrown from
a window, and falling at a short distance from us. At the same instant we heard
loud cries, evidently coming from the monk's house: "O my God! Have mercy
upon me! Save me! I am lost!"
The sister of Brother Mark rushed out of doors and cried to some men who were
passing by: "Come to our help! My poor brother is dying! For God's sake
make haste, he is losing all his blood!"
I ran to the door, but the lady shut it abruptly and turned me out, saying,
"We do not want children here."
I had a sincere affection for the good brother. He had invariably been so kind
to me! I insisted, and respectfully requested to be allowed to enter. Though
young and weak, it seemed that my friendly feelings towards the suffering
brother would add to my strength, and enable me to be of some service. But my
request was sternly rejected, and I had to go back to the street, among the
crowd which was fast gathering. The singular mystery in which they were trying
to wrap the poor monk, filled me with trouble and anxiety.
But that trouble was soon changed into an unspeakable confusion when I heard
the convulsive laughing of the low people, and the shameful jokes of the crowd,
after the doctor had told the nature of the wound which was causing the
unfortunate man to bleed almost to death. I was struck with such horror that I
fled away; I did not want to know any more of that tragedy. I had already known
too much!
Poor Brother Mark had ceased to be a man he had become an eunuch!
O cruel and godless church of Rome! How many souls hast thou deceived and
tortured! How many hearts hast thou broken with that celibacy which Satan alone
could invent! This unfortunate victim of a most degrading religion, did not,
however, die from his rash action: he soon recovered his usual health.
Having, meanwhile, ceased to visit him; some months later I was fishing along
the river in a very solitary place. The fish were abundant and I was completely
absorbed in catching them, when, on a sudden, I felt on my shoulder the gentle
pressure of a hand. It was Brother Mark's.
I thought I would faint through the opposite sentiments of surprise, of pain
and joy, which at the same time crossed my mind.
With an affectionate and trembling voice he said to me, "My dear child,
why do you not any more come to see me?"
I did not dare to look at him after he had addressed me those words. I liked
him on account of his acts of kindness to me. But the fatal hour when, in the
street before the door, I had suffered so much on his account that fatal hour
was on my heart as a mountain which I could not put away I could not answer
him.
He then asked me again with the tone of a criminal who sues for mercy:
"Why is it, my dear child, that you do not come any longer to see me? you
know that I love you."
"Dear Brother Mark," I answered, "I will never forget your
kindness to me. I will for ever be grateful to you! I wish that it would be in
my power to continue, as formerly, to go and see you. But I cannot, and you
ought to know the reason why I cannot."
I had pronounced these words with downcast eyes. I was a child, with the
timidity and happy ignorance of a child. But the action of that unfortunate man
had struck me with such a horror that I could not entertain the idea of
visiting him any more.
He spent two or three minutes without saying a word, and without moving. But I
heard his sobs and his cries, and his cries were those of despair and anguish,
the like of which I have never heard since.
I could not contain myself any longer, I was suffocating with suppressed
emotion, and I would have fallen insensible to the ground if two streams of
tears had not burst from my eyes. Those tears did me good they did him good
also they told him that I was still his friend.
He took me in his arms and pressed me to his bosom his tears were mixed with
mine. But I could not speak the emotions of my heart were too much for my age.
I sat on a damp and cold stone in order not to faint. He fell on his knees by
my side.
Ah! if I were a painter I would make a most striking tableau of that scene. His
eyes, swollen and red with weeping, were raised to heaven, his hand lifted up
in the attitude of supplication: he was crying out with an accent which seemed
as though it would break my heart -
.
"Mon Dieu! Mon
Dieu! que je suis malheureux!"
My God! My God! what a wretched man am I!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The twenty-five years that I
have been a priest of Rome, have revealed to me the fact that the cries of
desolation I heard that day, were but the echo of the cries of desolation which
go out from almost every nunnery, every parsonage and every house where human
beings are bound by the ties of Romish Celibacy.
God knows that I am a faithful witness of what my eyes have seen and my ears
have heard, when I say to the multitudes which the Church of Rome has bewitched
with her enchantments: Wherever there are nuns, monks and priests who live in
forced violation of the ways which God had appointed for man to walk in, there
are torrents of tears, there are desolated hearts, there are cries of anguish
and despair which say in the words of brother Mark:
.
"Oh! que je suis
malheureux!"
Oh! how miserable and wretched I am!
No words can express to those
who have never had any experience in the matter, the consternation, anxiety and
shame of a poor Romish child, when he hears, for the first time, his priest
saying from the pulpit, in a grave and solemn tone, "This week, you will
send your children to confession. Make them understand that this action is one
of the most important of their lives, and that for every one of them, it will
decide their eternal happiness or misery. Fathers and mothers, if, through your
fault, or his own, your child is guilty of a bad confession if he conceals his
sins and commences lying to the priest, who holds the place of God Himself,
this sin is often irreparable. The devil will take possession of his heart: he
will become accustomed to lie to his father confessor, or rather to Jesus
Christ, of whom he is a representative. His life will be a series of
sacrileges; his death and eternity those of the reprobate. Teach him,
therefore, to examine thoroughly his actions, words and thoughts, in order to
confess without disguise."
I was in the church of St. Thomas when these words fell upon me like a
thunderbolt.
I had often heard my mother say, when at home and my aunt since I had come to
St. Thomas, that upon the first confession depended my eternal happiness or
misery. That week was, therefore, to decide about my eternity.
Pale and dismayed, I left the church, and returned to the house of my
relatives. I took my place at the table, but could not eat, so much was I
troubled. I went to my room for the purpose of commencing my examination of
conscience and to recall all my sinful actions, words, and thoughts. Although I
was scarcely over ten years of age, this task was really overwhelming for me. I
knelt down to pray to the Virgin Mary for help; but I was so much taken up with
the fear of forgetting something, and of making a bad confession, that I
muttered my prayers without the least attention to what I said. It became still
worse when I commenced counting my sins. My memory became confused, my head grew
dizzy; my heart beat with a rapidity which exhausted me, and my brow was
covered with perspiration. After a considerable length of time spent in those
painful efforts, I felt bordering on despair, from the fear that it was
impossible for me to remember everything. The night following was almost a
sleepless one; and when sleep did come, it could scarcely be called a sleep,
but a suffocating delirium. In a frightful dream, I felt as if I had been cast
into hell, for not having confessed all my sins to the priest. In the morning,
I awoke, fatigued and prostrated by the phantoms of that terrible night. In
similar troubles of mind were passed the three days which preceded my first
confession. I had constantly before me the countenance of that stern priest who
had never smiled upon me. He was present in my thoughts during the day, and in
my dreams during the night, as the minister of an angry God, justly irritated
against me on account of my sins. Forgiveness had indeed been promised to me,
on condition of a good confession; but my place had also been shown to me in
hell, if any confession was not as near perfection as possible. Now, my
troubled conscience told me that there were ninety-nine chances against one,
that my confession would be bad, whether by my own fault I forgot some sins, or
I was without that contrition of which I had heard so much, but the nature and
effects of which were a perfect chaos in my mind.
Thus it was that the cruel and perfidious Church of Rome took away from my
young heart the good and merciful Jesus, whose love and compassion had caused
me to shed tears of joy when I was beside my mother. The Saviour whom that
church made me to worship, through fear, was not the Saviour who called little
children unto Him, to bless them and take them in His arms. Her impious hands
were soon to torture and defile my childish heart, and place me at the feet of
a pale and severe looking man worthy representative of a pitiless God. I was
made to tremble with terror at the footstool of an implacable divinity, while
the gospel asked from me only tears of love and joy, shed at the feet of the
incomparable Friend of sinners. At length came the day of confession; or rather
of judgment and condemnation. I presented myself to the priest.
Mr. Loranger was no longer priest of St. Thomas. He had been succeeded by Mr.
Beaubien, who did not favour our school any more than his predecessor. He had
even taken upon himself to preach a sermon against the heretical school, by
which we had been excessively wounded. His want of love for us, however, I must
say, was fully reciprocated.
Mr. Beaubien had, then, the defect of lisping and stammering. This we often
turned into ridicule, and one of my favourite amusements was to imitate him,
which brought bursts of laughter from us all.
It had been necessary for me to examine myself upon the number of times I had
mocked him. This circumstance was not calculated to make my confession easier,
or more agreeable.
At last the dreaded moment came. I knelt at the side of my confessor. My whole
frame trembled. I repeated the prayer preparatory to confession, scarcely
knowing what I said, so much was I troubled by fear.
By the instructions which had been given us before confession, we had been made
to believe that the priest was the true representative yes, almost the
personification of Jesus Christ. The consequence was, that I believed my
greatest sin had been that of mocking the priest. Having always been told that
it was best to confess the greatest sin first, I commenced thus: "Father,
I accuse myself of having mocked a priest."
Scarcely had I uttered these words, "mocked a priest," when this
pretended representative of the humble Saviour, turning towards me, and looking
in my face in order to know me better, asked abruptly, "What priest did
you mock, my boy?" I would rather have chosen to cut out my tongue than to
tell him to his face who it was. I therefore kept silent for a while. By my
silence made him very nervous and almost angry. With a haughty tone of voice he
said, "What priest did you take the liberty of thus mocking?"
I saw that I had to answer. Happily his haughtiness had made me firmer and
bolder. I said, "Sir, you are the priest whom I mocked."
"But how many times did you take upon you to mock me, my boy?"
"I tried to find out," I answered, "but I never could."
"You must tell me how many times; for to mock one's own priest is a great
sin."
"It is impossible for me to give you the number of times," answered
I.
"Well, my child, I will help your memory by asking you questions. Tell me
the truth. Do you think you have mocked me ten times?"
"A great many times more, sir."
"Fifty times?"
"Many more still."
"A hundred times?"
"Say five hundred times, and perhaps more," answered I.
"Why, my boy, do you spend all your time in mocking me?"
"Not all; but unfortunately I do it very often."
"Well may you say unfortunately; for so to mock your priest, who holds the
place of our Lord Jesus Christ, is a great misfortune, and a great sin for you.
But tell me, my little boy, what reason have you for mocking me thus?"
In my examinations of conscience I had not foreseen that I should be obliged to
give the reasons for mocking the priest; and I was really thunderstruck by his
questions. I dared not answer, and I remained for a long time dumb, from the
shame that overpowered me. But with a harassing perseverance the priest
insisted upon my telling why I had mocked him; telling me that I should be
damned if I did not tell the whole truth. So I decided to speak, and said,
"I mocked you for several things."
"What made you first mock me?" continued the priest.
"I laughed at you because you lisped. Among our pupils of our school, it
often happens that we imitate your preaching to excite laughter."
"Have you often done that?"
"Almost every day,especially in our holidays, and since you preached
against us."
"For what other reasons did you laugh at me, my little boy?"
For a long time I was silent. Every time I opened my mouth to speak courage
failed me. However, the priest continuing to urge me, I said at last, "It
is rumoured in town that you love girls; that you visit the Misses Richards
every evening, and this often makes us laugh."
The poor priest was evidently overwhelmed by my answer, and ceased questioning
me on this subject. Changing the conversation, he said:
"What are your other sins?"
I began to confess them in the order in which they came to my memory. But the
feeling of shame which overpowered me in repeating all my sins to this man was
a thousand times greater than that of having offended God. In reality this
feeling of human shame which absorbed my thought nay, my whole being left no
room for any religious feeling at all.
When I had confessed all the sins I could remember, the priest began to ask me
the strangest questions on matters about which my pen must be silent. I
replied, "Father, I do not understand what you ask me."
"I question you on the sixth commandment (seventh in the Bible). Confess
all. You will go to hell, if through your fault you omit anything."
Thereupon he dragged my thoughts to regions which, thank God, had hitherto been
unknown to me.
I answered him: "I do not understand you," or "I have never done
these things."
Then, skillfully shifting to some secondary matter, he would soon slyly and
cunningly come back to his favourite subject, namely, sins of licentiousness.
His questions were so unclean that I blushed, and felt sick with disgust and
shame. More than once I had been, to my regret, in the company of bad boys; but
not one of them had offended my moral nature so much as this priest had done.
Not one of them had ever approached the shadow of the things from which that
man tore the veil, and which he placed before the eye of my soul. In vain did I
tell him that I was not guilty of such things; that I did not even understand
what he asked me; he would not let me off. Like the vulture bent upon tearing
the poor bird that falls into his claws, that cruel priest seemed determined to
defile and ruin my heart.
At last he asked me a question in a form of expression so bad that I was really
pained. I felt as if I had received a shock from an electric battery; a feeling
of horror made me shudder. I was so filled with indignation that speaking loud
enough to be heard by many, I told him: "Sir, I am very wicked; I have
seen, heard and done many things which I regret; but I never was guilty of what
you mention to me. My ears have never heard anything so wicked as what they
have heard from your lips. Please do not ask me any more of those questions; do
not teach me any more evil than I already know."
The remainder of my confession was short. The firmness of my voice had
evidently frightened the priest, and made him blush. He stopped short and began
to give me some good advice, which might have been useful to me if the deep
wounds which his questions had inflicted upon my soul had not so absorbed my
thoughts as to prevent me from giving attention to what he said.
He gave me a short penance and dismissed me.
I left the confessional irritated and confused. From the shame of what I had
just heard from the mouth of that priest I dared not life my eyes from the
ground. I went into a retired corner of the church to do my penance; that is,
to recite the prayers he had indicated to me. I remained for a long time in
church. I had need of a calm after the terrible trial through which I had just
passed. But vainly sought I for rest. The shameful questions which had been
asked me, the new world of iniquity into which I had been introduced, the
impure phantoms by which my childish heart had been defiled, confused and
troubled my mind so strangely that I began to weep bitterly.
Why those tears? Why that desolation? Wept I over my sins? Alas! I confess it
was shame, my sins did not call forth these tears. And yet how many sins had I already
committed, for which Jesus shed His precious blood. But I confess my sins were
not the cause of my desolation. I was rather thinking of my mother, who had
taken such good care of me, and who had so well succeeded in keeping away from
my thoughts those impure forms of sin, the thoughts of which had just now
defiled my heart. I said to myself, "Ah! if my mother had heard those
questions; if she could see the evil thoughts which overwhelm me at this moment
if she knew to what school she sent me when she advised me in her last letter
to go to confession, how her tears would mingle with mine!" It seemed to
me that my mother would love me not more that she would see written upon my
brow the pollution with which that priest had profaned my soul.
Perhaps the feeling of pride was what made me weep. Or perhaps I wept because
of a remnant of that feeling of original dignity whose traces had still been
left in me. I felt so downcast by the disappointment of being removed farther
from the Saviour by that confessional which had promised to bring me nearer to
Him. God only knows what was the depth of my sorrow at feeling myself more
defiled and more guilty after than before my confession.
I left the church only when forced to do so by the shades of night, and came to
my uncle's house with that feeling of uneasiness caused by the consciousness of
having done a bad action, and by the fear of being discovered.
Though this uncle, as well as most of the principal citizens of the village of
St. Thomas, had the name of being a Roman Catholic, he yet did not believe a
word of the doctrines of the Roman Church. He laughed at the priests, their
masses, their purgatory, and especially their confession. He did not conceal
that, when young, he had been scandalized by the words and actions of a priest
in the confessional. He spoke to me jestingly. This increased my trouble and my
grief. "Now," said he, "you will be a good boy. But if you have
heard as many new things as I did the first time I went to confess, you are a
very learned boy;" and he burst into laughter.
I blushed and remained silent. My aunt, who was a devoted Roman Catholic, said
to me, "Your heart is relieved, is it not, since you confessed all your
sins?" I gave her an evasive answer, but I could not conceal the sadness
that overcame me. I thought I was the only one from whom the priest had asked
those polluting questions. But great was my surprise, on the following day,
when going to school I learned that my fellow pupils had not been happier than
I had been. The only difference was, that instead of being grieved, they
laughed at it. "Did the priest ask you such and such questions?" they
would demand, laughing boisterously. I refused to reply, and said, "Are
you not ashamed to speak of these things?"
"Ah! ah! how very scrupulous you are," continued they. "If it is
not a sin for the priest to speak to us on these matters, how can it be a sin
for us?" I stopped, confounded, not knowing what to say.
I soon perceived that even the young schoolgirls had not been less polluted and
scandalized by the questions of the priest than the boys. Although keeping at a
distance, such as to prevent us from hearing all they said, I could understand
enough to convince me that they had been asked about the same questions. Some
of them appeared indignant, while others laughed heartily.
I should be misunderstood where it supposed that I mean to convey the idea that
this priest was more to blame than others, or that he did more than fulfill the
duties of his ministry in asking these questions. Such, however, was my opinion
at the time, and I detested that man with all my heart until I knew better. I
had been unjust towards him, for this priest had only done his duty. He was
only obeying the pope and his theologians. His being a priest of Rome was,
therefore, less in crime than his misfortune. He was, as I have been myself,
bound hand and foot at the feet of the greatest enemy that the holiness and
truth of God have ever had on earth the pope.
The misfortune of Mr. Beaubien, like that of all the priests of Rome, was that
of having bound himself by terrible oaths not to think for himself, or to use
the light of his own reason.
Many Roman Catholics, even many Protestants, refuse to believe this. It is,
notwithstanding, a sad truth. The priest of Rome is an automaton a machine
which acts, thinks and speaks in matters of morals and of faith, only according
to the order and the will of the pope and of his theologians.
Had Mr. Beaubien been left to himself, he was naturally too much of a gentleman
to ask such questions. But no doubt he had read Liguori, Dens, Debreyne,
authors approved by the pope, and he was obliged to take darkness for light,
and vice for virtue.
Shortly after the trial of
auricular confession, my young friend, Louis Cazeault, accosted me on a
beautiful morning and said, "Do you know what happened last night?"
"No," I answered. "What was the wonder?"
"You know that our priest spends almost all his evenings at Mr. Richard's
house. Everybody thinks that he goes there for the sake of the two daughters.
Well, in order to cure him of that disease, my uncle, Dr. Tache, and six
others, masked, whipped him without mercy and he was coming back at eleven
o'clock at night. It is already known by everyone in the village, and they
split their sides with laughing."
My first feeling on hearing that news was one of joy. Ever since my first
confession I felt angry every time I thought of that priest. His questions had
so wounded me that I could not forgive him. I had enough self-control, however,
to conceal my pleasure, and I answered my friend:
"You are telling me a wicked story; I can't believe a word of it."
"Well," said young Cazeault, "come at eight o'clock this evening
to my uncle's. A secret meeting is to take place then. No doubt they will speak
of the pill given to the priest last night. We shall place ourselves in our
little room as usual and shall hear everything, our presence not being
suspected. You may be sure that it will be interesting."
"I will go," I answered, "but I do not believe a word of that
story."
I went to school at the usual hour. Most of the pupils had preceded me. Divided
into groups of eight or ten, they were engaged in a most lively conversation.
Bursts of convulsive laughter were heard from every corner. I could very well
see that something uncommon had taken place in the village.
I approached several of these groups, and all received me with the question:
"Do you know that the priest was whipped last night as he was coming from
the Misses Richards'?"
"That is a story invented for fun," said I. "You were not there
to see him, were you? You therefore know nothing about it; for it anybody had
whipped the priest he would not surely boast of it."
"But we heard his screams," answered many voices.
"What! was he then screaming out?" I asked.
"He shouted out at the top of his voice, `Help, help! Murder!'"
"But you were surely mistaken about the voice," said I. "It was
not the priest who shouted, it was somebody else. I could never believe that
anybody would whip a priest in such a crowded village."
"But," said several, "we ran to his help and we recognized the
priest's voice. He is the only one who lisps in the village."
"And we saw him with our own eyes," said several.
The school bell put an end to this conversation. As soon as school was out I
returned to the house of my relatives, not wishing to learn any more about this
matter. Although I did not like this priest, yet I was much mortified by some
remarks which the older pupils made about him.
But it was difficult not to hear any more. On my arrival home I found my uncle
and aunt engaged in a very warm debate on the subject. My uncle wished to
conceal the fact that he was among those who had whipped him. But he gave the
details so precisely, he was so merry over the adventure, that it was easy to
see that he had a hand in the plot. My aunt was indignant, and used the most
energetic expressions to show her disapprobation.
That bitter debate annoyed me so that I did not stay long to hear it all. I
withdrew to my study.
During the remainder of the day I changed my resolution many times about my
going to the secret meeting in the evening. At one moment I would decide firmly
not to go. My conscience told me that, as usual, things would be uttered which
it was not good for me to her. I had refused to go to the two last meetings,
and a silent voice, as it were, told me I had done well. Then a moment after I
was tormented by the desire to know precisely what had taken place the evening
before. The flagellation of a priest in the midst of a large village was a fact
too worthy of note to fail to excite the curiosity of a child. Besides, my
aversion to the priest, though I concealed it as well as I could, made me wish
to know whether everything was true on the subject of the chastisement. But in
the struggle between good and evil which took place in my mind during that day,
the evil was finally to triumph. A quarter of an hour before the meeting my
friend came to me and said:
"Make haste, the members of the association are coming."
At this call all my good resolutions vanished. I hushed the voice of my
conscience, and a few minutes later I was placed in an angle of that little
room, where for more than two hours I learned so many strange and scandalous
things about the lives of the priests of Canada.
Dr. Tache presided. He opened the meeting in a low tone of voice. At the
beginning of his discourse I had some difficulty to understand what he said. He
spoke as one who feared to be overheard when disclosing a secret to a friend.
But after a few preliminary sentences he forgot the rule of prudence which he
had imposed upon himself, and spoke with energy and power.
Mr. Etienne Tache was naturally eloquent. He seemed to speak on no question
except under the influence of the deepest conviction of its truth. His speech
was passionate, and the tone of his voice clear and agreeable. His short and
cutting sentences did not reach the ear only: they penetrated even the secret
folds of the soul. He spoke in substance as follows:
"Gentlemen, I am happy to see you here more numerously than ever. The
grave events of last night have, no doubt, decided many of you to attend
debates which some began to forsake, but the importance of which, it seems to
me, increases day by day.
"The question debated in our last meeting `The Priests' is one of life and
death, not only for our young and beautiful Canada, but in a moral point of
view it is a question of life and death for our families, and for every one of
us in particular.
"There is, I know, only one opinion among us on the subject of priests;
and I am glad that this opinion is not only that of all educated men in Canada,
but also of learned France nay, of the whole world. The reign of the priest is
the reign of ignorance, of corruption, and of the most barefaced immorality,
under the mask of the most refined hypocrisy. The reign of the priest is the
death of our schools; it is the degradation of our wives, the prostitution of
our daughters; it is the reign of tyranny the loss of liberty.
"We have only one good school, I will not say in St. Thomas, but in all
our county. This school in our midst is a great honour to our village. Now see
the energy with which all the priests who come here work for the closing of
that school. They use every means to destroy that focus of light which we have
started with so much difficulty, and which we support by so many sacrifices.
"With the priest of Rome our children do not belong to us: he is their
master. Let me explain. The priest honours us with the belief that the bodies,
the flesh and bones of our children, are ours, and that our duty in consequence
is to clothe and feed them. But the nobler and more sacred part, namely, the
intellect, the heart, the soul, the priest claims as his own patrimony, his own
property. The priest has the audacity to tell us that to him alone it belongs
to enlighten those intelligences, to form those hearts, to fashion those souls
as it may best suit him. He has the impudence to tell us that we are too silly
or perverse to know our duties in this respect. We have not the right of
choosing our school teachers. We have not the right to send a single ray of
light into those intellects, or to give to those souls who hunger and thirst
after truth a single crumb of that food prepared with so much wisdom and
success by enlightened men of all ages.
"By the confessional the priests poison the springs of life in our
children. They initiate them into such mysteries of iniquity as would terrify
old galley slaves. By their questions they reveal to them secrets of a
corruption such as carries its germs of death into the very marrow of their
bones, and that from the earliest years of their infancy. Before I was fifteen
years old I had learned more real blackguardism from the mouth of my confessor
than I have learned ever since, in my studies and in my life as a physician for
twenty years.
"A few days ago I questioned my little nephew, Louis Cazeault, upon what
he had learned in his confession. He answered me ingenuously, and repeated
things to me which I would be ashamed to utter in your presence, and which you,
fathers of families, could not listen to without blushing. And just think, that
not only of little boys are those questions asked, but also of our dear little
girls. Are we not the most degraded of men if we do not set ourselves to work
in order to break the iron yoke under which the priest keeps our dear country,
and by means of which he keeps us, with our wives and children, at his feet
like vile slaves.
"While speaking to you of the deleterious effects of the confessional upon
our children, shall I forget its effects upon our wives and upon ourselves?
Need I tell you that, for most women, the confessional is a rendezvous of
coquetry and of love? Do you not feel as I do myself, that by means of the
confessional the priest is more the master of the hearts of our wives than
ourselves? Is not the priest the private and public confidant of our wives? Do
not our wives go invariably to the feet of the priest, opening to him what is
most sacred and intimate in the secrets of our lives as husbands and as
fathers? The husband belongs no more to his wife as her guide through the dark
and difficult paths of life: it is the priest! We are no more their friends and
natural advisers. Their anxieties and their cares they do not confide to us.
They do not expect from us the remedies for the miseries of this life. Towards
the priest they turn their thoughts and desires. He has their entire and
exclusive confidence. In a word, it is the priest who is the real husband of
our wives! It is he who has the possession of their respect and of their hearts
to a degree to which no one of us need ever aspire!
"Were the priest an angel, were he not made of flesh and bones just as we
are, were not his organization absolutely the same as our own, then might we be
indifferent to what might take place between him and our wives, whom he has at
his feet, in his hands even more, in his heart. But what does my experience
tell me, not only as a physician, but also as a citizen of St. Thomas? What
does yours tell you? Our experience tells us that the priest, instead of being
stronger, is weaker than we generally are with respect to women.
His sham vows of perfect chastity, far from rendering him more invulnerable to
the arrows of Cupid, expose him to be made more easily the victim of that god,
so small in form, but so dreadful a giant by the irresistible power of his
weapons and the extent of his conquests.
"As a matter of fact, of the last four priest who came to St. Thomas, have
not three seduced many of the wives and daughters of our most respectable
families? And what security have we that the priest who is now with us does not
walk in the same path? Is not the whole parish filled with indignation at the
long nightly visits made by him to two girls whose dissolute morals are a
secret to nobody? And when the priest does not respect himself, would we not be
silly in continuing to give him that respect of which he himself knows he is
unworthy?
"At out last meeting the opinions were divided at the beginning of the
discussion. Many thought it would be well to speak to the bishop about the
scandal caused by those nightly visits. But the majority judged that such steps
would be useless, since the bishop would do one of two things, namely, he would
either pay no attention to our just complaints, as has often been the case, or
he would remove this priest, filling his place with one who would do no better.
That majority, which became a unanimity, acceded to my thought of taking
justice into our own hands. The priest is our servant. We pay him a large
tithe. We have therefore claims upon him. He has abused us, and does so every
day by his public neglect of the most elementary laws of morality. In visiting
every night that house whose degradation is known to everybody, he gives to
youth an example of perversity the effects of which no one can estimate.
"It had been unanimously decided that he should be whipped. Without my
telling you by whom it was done, you may be assured that Mr. Beaubien's
flagellation of last night will never be forgotten by him!
"Heaven grant that this brotherly correction be a lesson to teach all the
priests of Canada that their golden reign is over, that the eyes of the people
are opened, and that their domination is drawing to an end!"
This discourse was listened to with deep silence, and Dr. Tache saw by the
applause that followed that his speech had been the expression of every one.
Next followed a gentleman named Dubord, who in substance spoke as follows:
"Mr. President, I was not among those who gave the priest the expression
of public feeling with the energetic tongue of the whip. I wish I had been,
however; I would heartily have co-operated in giving that lesson to the priest
of Canada. Let me give my reason.
"My daughter who is twelve years old, went to confession as did the others
a few weeks ago. It was against my will. I know by my own experience that of
all actions confession is the most degrading in a person's life. I can imagine
nothing so well calculated to destroy for every one's self-respect as the
modern invention of the confessional. Now, what is a person without
self-respect especially a woman? Without this all is lost to her for ever.
"In the confessional everything is corruption of the lowest grade.
"In the confessional, a girl's thoughts are polluted, her tongue is
polluted, her heart is polluted yes, and forever polluted! Do I need to tell
you this? You know it as well as I do. Though you are now all too intelligent
to degrade yourselves at the feet of a priest, though it is long since you have
been guilty of that meanness, not one of you have forgotten the lessons of
corruption received, when young, in the confessional. Those lessons were
engraved on your memory, your thoughts, your heart, and your souls like the
scar left by the red-hot iron upon the brow of the slave, to remain a perpetual
witness of his shame and servitude. The confessional is a place where one gets
accustomed to hear, and repeat without a scruple, things which would cause even
a prostitute to blush!
"Why are Roman Catholic nations inferior to nations belonging to
Protestantism? Only in the confessional can the solution of that problem be
found. And why are Roman Catholic nations degraded in proportion to their
submission to the priest? It is because the oftener the individuals composing
those nations go to confession, the more rapidly they sink in the scale of
intelligence and morality. A terrible example of this I had in my own house.
"As I said a moment ago, I was against my daughter going to confession;
but her poor mother, who is under the control of the priest, earnestly wanted
her to go. Not to have a disagreeable scene in my house, I had to yield to the
tears of my wife.
"On the day following that of her confession they believed I was absent;
but I was in my office, with the door sufficiently open to allow me to hear
what was said. My wife and daughter had the following conversation:
"`What makes you so thoughtful and sad, my dear Lucy, since you went to
confession? It seems to me you should feel happier since you had the privilege
of confession your sins.'
"Lucy made no answer.
"After a silence of two or three minutes her mother said:
"`Why do you weep, dear child? Are you ill?'
"Still no answer from the child.
"You may well suppose that I was all attention. I had my suspicions about
the dreadful ordeal which had taken place. My heart throbbed with uneasiness
and anger.
"After a short time my wife spoke to her child with sufficient firmness to
force her to answer. In a trembling voice and half suppressed with sobs my dear
little daughter answered:
"`Ah! mamma, if you knew what the priest asked me, and what he said to me
in the confessional, you would be as sad as I am.'
"`But what did he say to you? He is a holy man. You surely did not
understand him if you think he said anything to pain you.'
"`Dear mother,' as she threw herself into her mother's arms, `do not ask
me to confess what the priest said! He told to me things so shameful that I
cannot repeat them. But that which pains me most is the impossibility of
banishing from my thoughts the hateful things which he has taught me. His
impure words are like the leeches put upon the chest of my friend Louise they
could not be removed without tearing the flesh. What must have been his opinion
of me to ask such questions!'
"My child said no more, and began to sob again.
"After a short silence my wife rejoined:
"`I'll go to the priest. I'll tell him to beware how he speaks in the
confessional. I have noticed myself that he goes too far with his questions. I,
however thought that he was more prudent with children. After the lesson that
I'll give him, be sure that you will have only to tell your sins, and that you
will be no more troubled by his endless questions. I ask of you, however, never
to speak of this to anybody, especially never let your poor father know
anything about it; for he has little enough religion already, and this would
leave him without any at all.'
"I could contain myself no longer. I rose and abruptly entered the
parlour. My daughter threw herself, weeping, into my arms. My wife screamed
with terror, and almost fell into a swoon. I said to my child:
"If you love me, put your hand on my heart and promise me that you'll
never go to confession again. Fear God, my child; walk in His presence, for His
eye seeth you everywhere. Remember that day and night He is ready to forgive
us. Never place yourself again at the feet of a priest to be defiled and
degraded by him!
"This my daughter promised me.
"When my wife had recovered from her surprise I said to her:
"Madam, for a long time the priest has been everything, and your husband
nothing to you. There is a hidden and terrible power that governs your thoughts
and affections as it governs your deeds-- it is the power of the priest. This
you have often denied; but providence has decided to-day that this power should
be for ever broken for you and for me. I want to be the ruler in my own house;
and from this moment the power of the priest over you must cease, unless you
prefer to leave my house for ever. The priest has reigned here too long! But
now that I know he has stained and defiled the soul of my daughter, his empire
must fall! Whenever you go and take your heart and secrets to the feet of the
priest, be so kind as not to come back to the same house with me."
Three other discourses followed that of Mr. Dubord, all of which were pregnant
with details and facts going to prove that the confessional was the principal cause
of the deplorable demoralisation of St. Thomas.
If, in addition to all that, I could have mentioned before that association
what I already know of the corrupting influences of that institution given to
the world by centuries of darkness, certainly the determination of its members
to make use of every means to abolish the usage would have been strengthened.
The day following that of the
meeting at which Mr. Tache had given his reasons for boasting that he had
whipped the priest, I wrote to my mother: "For God's sake, come for me; I
can stay here no longer. If you knew what my eyes have seen and my ears have
heard for some time past, you would not delay your coming a single day."
Indeed, such was the impression left upon me by that flagellation, and by the
speeches which I had heard, that had it not been for the crossing of the St.
Lawrence, I would have started for Murray Bay on the day after the secret
meeting at which I had heard things that so terribly frightened me. How I
regretted the happy and peaceful days spent with my mother in reading the
beautiful chapters of the Bible, so well chosen by her to instruct and interest
me! What a difference there was between our conversations after these readings,
and the conversations I heard at St. Thomas!
Happily my parents' desire to see me again was as great as mine to go back to
them. So that a few weeks later my mother came for me. She pressed me to her
heart, and brought me back to the arms of my father.
I arrived at home on the 17th of July, 1821, and spent the afternoon and
evening till late by my father's side. With what pleasure did he see me working
difficult problems in algebra, and even in geometry! for under my teacher, Mr.
Jones, I had really made rapid progress in those branches. More than once I
noticed tears of joy in my father's eyes when, taking my slate, he saw that my
calculations were correct. He also examined me in grammar. "What an
admirable teacher this Mr. Jones must be," he would say, "to have
advanced a child so much in the short space of fourteen months!"
How sweet to me, but how short, were those hours of happiness passed between my
good mother and my father! We had family worship. I read the fifteenth chapter
of Luke, the return of the prodigal son. My mother then sang a hymn of joy and
gratitude, and I went to bed with my heart full of happiness to take the
sweetest sleep of my life. But, O God! what an awful awakening Thou hadst
prepared for me!
About four o'clock in the morning heartrending screams fell upon my ear. I
recognized my mother's voice.
"What is the matter, dear mother?"
"Oh, my dear child, you have no more a father! He is dead!"
In saying these words she lost consciousness and fell on the floor!
While a friend who had passed the night with us gave her proper care, I
hastened to my father's bed. I pressed him to my heart, I kissed him, I covered
him with my tears, I moved his head, I pressed his hands, I tried to lift him
up on his pillow: I could not believe that he was dead! It seemed to me that even
if dead he would come back to life that God could not thus take my father away
from me at the very moment when I had come back to him after so long an
absence! I knelt to pray to God for the life of my father. But my tears and
cries were useless. He was dead! He was already cold as ice!
Two days after he was buried. My mother was so overwhelmed with grief that she
could not follow the funeral procession. I remained with her as her only
earthly support. Poor mother! How many tears thou hast shed! What sobs came
from thine afflicted heart in those days of supreme grief!
Though I was very young, I could understand the greatness of our loss, and I
mingled my tears with those of my mother.
What pen can portray what takes place in the heart of a woman when God takes
suddenly her husband away in the prime of his life, and leaves her alone,
plunged in misery, with three small children, two of whom are even too young to
know their loss! How long are the hours of the day for the poor widow who is
left alone, and without means, among strangers! How painful the sleepless night
to the heart which has lost everything! How empty a house is left by the
eternal absence of him who was its master, support, and father! Every object in
the house and every step she takes remind her of her loss and sinks the sword
deeper which pierces her heart. Oh, how bitter are the tears which flow from
her eyes when her youngest child, who as yet does not understand the mystery of
death, throws himself into her arms and says: "Mamma, where is papa? Why
does he not come back? I am lonely!"
My poor mother passed through those heartrending trials. I heard her sobs
during the long hours of the day, and also during the longer hours of the
night. Many times I have seen her fall upon her knees to implore God to be
merciful to her and to her three unhappy orphans. I could do nothing then to
comfort her, but love her, pray and weep with her!
Only a few days had elapsed after the burial of my father when I saw Mr.
Courtois, the parish priest, coming to our house (he who had tried to take away
our Bible from us). He had the reputation of being rich, and as we were poor
and unhappy since my father's death, my first thought was that he had come to
comfort and to help us. I could see that my mother had the same hopes. She
welcomed him as an angel from heaven. The least gleam of hope is so sweet to
one who is unhappy!
From his very first words, however, I could see that our hopes were not to be
realized. He tried to be sympathetic, and even said something about the
confidence that we should have in God, especially in times of trial; but his
words were cold and dry.
Turning to me, he said:
"Do you continue to read the Bible, my little boy?"
"Yes, sir," answered I, with a voice trembling with anxiety, for I feared
that he would make another effort to take away that treasure, and I had no
longer a father to defend it.
Then, addressing my mother, he said:
"Madam, I told you that it was not right for you or your child to read
that book."
My mother cast down her eyes, and answered only by the tears which ran down her
cheeks.
That question was followed by a long silence, and the priest then continued:
"Madam, there is something due for the prayers which have been sung, and
the services which you requested to be offered for the repose of your husband's
soul. I will be very much obliged to you if you pay me that little debt."
"Mr. Courtis," answered my mother, "my husband left me nothing
but debts. I have only the work of my own hands to procure a living for my three
children, the eldest of whom is before you. For these little orphans' sake, if
not for mine, do not take from us the little that is left."
"But, madam, you do not reflect. Your husband died suddenly and without
any preparation; he is therefore in the flames of purgatory. If you want him to
be delivered, you must necessarily unite your personal sacrifices to the
prayers of the Church and the masses which we offer."
"As I said, my husband has left me absolutely without means, and it is
impossible for me to give you any money," replied my mother.
"But, madam, your husband was for a long time the only notary of Mal Bay.
He surely must have made much money. I can scarcely think that he has left you
without any means to help him now that his desolation and sufferings are far
greater than yours."
"My husband did indeed coin much money, but he spent still more. Thanks to
God, we have not been in want while he lived. But lately he got this house
built, and what is still due on it makes me fear that I will lose it. He also
bought a piece of land not long ago, only half of which is paid and I will,
therefore, probably not be able to keep it. Hence I may soon, with my poor
orphans, be deprived of everything that is left us. In the meantime I hope,
sir, that you are not a man to take away from us our last piece of bread."
"But, madam, the masses offered for the rest of your husband's soul must
be paid for," answered the priest.
My mother covered her face with her handkerchief and wept.
As for me, I did not mingle my tears with hers this time. My feelings were not
those of grief, but of anger and unspeakable horror. My eyes were fixed on the
face of that man who tortured my mother's heart. I looked with tearless eyes
upon the man who added to my mother's anguish, and made her weep more bitterly
than ever. My hands were clenched, as if ready to strike. All my muscles
trembled; my teeth chattered as if from intense cold. My greatest sorrow was my
weakness in the presence of that big man, and my not being able to send him
away from our house, and driving him far away from my mother.
I felt inclined to say to him: "Are you not ashamed, you who are so rich,
to come to take away the last piece of bread from our mouths?" But my
physical and moral strength were not sufficient to accomplish the task before
me, and I was filled with regret and disappointment.
After a long silence, my mother raised her eyes, reddened with tears, towards
the priest and said:
"Sir, you see that cow in the meadow, not far from our house? Her milk and
the butter made from it form the principal part of my children's food. I hope
you will not take her away from us. If, however, such a sacrifice must be made
to deliver my poor husband's soul from purgatory, take her as payment of the
masses to be offered to extinguish those devouring flames."
The priest instantly arose, saying, "Very well, madam," and went out.
Our eyes anxiously followed him; but instead of walking towards the little gate
which was in front of the house, he directed his steps towards the meadow, and
drove the cow before him in the direction of his home.
At that sight I screamed with despair: "Oh, my mother! he is taking our
cow away! What will become of us?"
Lord Nairn had given us that splendid cow when it was three months old. Her
mother had been brought from Scotland, and belonged to one of the best breeds
of that country. I fed her with my own hands, and had often shared my bread
with her. I loved her as a child always loves an animal which he has brought up
himself. She seemed to understand and love me also. From whatever distance she
could see me, she would run to me to receive my caresses, and whatever else I
might have to give her. My mother herself milked her; and her rich milk was
such delicious and substantial food for us.
My mother also cried out with grief as she saw the priest taking away the only
means heaven had left her to feed her children.
Throwing myself into her arms, I asked her: "Why have you given away our
cow? What will become of us? We shall surely die of hunger?"
"Dear child," she answered. "I did not think the priest would be
so cruel as to take away the last resource which God had left us. Ah! if I had
believed him to be so unmerciful I would never have spoken to him as I did. As
you say, my dear child, what will become of us? But have you not often read to
me in your Bible that God is the Father of the widow and the orphan? We shall
pray to that God who is willing to be your father and mine: He will listen to
us, and see our tears. Let us kneel down and ask Him to be merciful to us, and
to give us back the support which the priest deprived us."
We both knelt down. She took my right hand with her left, and, lifting the
other hand towards heaven, she offered a prayer to the God of mercies for her
poor children such as I have never since heard. Her words were often choked by
her sobs. But when she could not speak with her voice, she spoke with her
burning eyes raised to heaven, and with her hand uplifted. I also prayed to God
with her, and repeated her words, which were broken by my sobs.
When her prayer was ended she remained for a long time pale and trembling. Cold
sweat was flowing on her face, and she fell on the floor. I thought she was
going to die. I ran for cold water, which I gave her, saying: "Dear
mother! Oh, do not leave me alone upon earth!" After drinking a few drops
she felt better, and taking my hand, she put it to her trembling lips; then
drawing me near her, and pressing me to her bosom, she said: "Dear child,
if ever you become a priest, I ask of you never to be so hard-hearted towards
poor widows as are the priests of today." When she said these words, I
felt her burning tears falling upon my cheek.
The memory of these tears has never left me. I felt them constantly during the
twenty-five years I spent in preaching the inconceivable superstitions of Rome.
I was not better, naturally, than many of the other priests. I believed, as
they did, the impious fables of purgatory; and as well as they (I confess it to
my shame), if I refused to take, or if I gave back the money of the poor, I
accepted the money which the rich gave me for the masses I said to extinguish
the flames of that fabulous place. But the remembrance of my mother's words and
tears has kept me from being so cruel and unmerciful towards the poor widows as
Romish priests are, for the most part, obliged to be.
When my heart, depraved by the false and impious doctrines of Rome, was tempted
to take money from widows and orphans, under pretense of my long prayers, I
then heard the voice of my mother, from the depth of her sepulchre, saying,
"My dear child, do not be cruel towards poor widows and orphans, as are
the priests of today." If, during the days of my priesthood at Quebec, at
Beauport, and Kamarouska, I have given almost all that I had to feed and clothe
the poor, especially the widows and orphans, it was not owing to my being
better than others, but it was because my mother had spoken to me with words
never to be forgotten. The Lord, I believe, had put into my mother's mouth
those words, so simple but so full of eloquence and beauty, as one of His great
mercies towards me. Those tears the hand of Rome has never been able to wipe
off: those words of my mother the sophisms of Popery could not make me forget.
How long, O Lord, shall that insolent enemy of the gospel, the Church of Rome,
be permitted to fatten herself upon the tears of the widow and of the orphan by
means of that cruel and impious invention of paganism purgatory? Wilt Thou not
be merciful unto so many nations which are still the victims of that great
imposture? Oh, do remove the veil which covers the eyes of the priests and
people of Rome, as Thou hast removed it from mine! Make them to understand that
their hopes of purification must not rest on these fabulous fires, but only on
the blood of the Lamb shed on Calvary to save the world.
God had heard the poor widow's
prayer. A few days after the priest had taken our cow she received a letter
from each of her two sisters, Genevieve and Catherine.
The former, who was married to Etienne Eschenbach, of St. Thomas, told her to
sell all she had and come, with her children, to live with her.
"We have no family," she said, "and God has given us the good
things of this life in abundance. We shall be happy to share them with you and
your children."
The latter, married in Kamouraska to the Hon. Amaable Dionne wrote: "We
have learned the sad news of your husband's death. We have lately lost our only
son. We wish to fill the vacant place with Charles, your eldest. Send him to
us. We shall bring him up as our own child, and before long he will be your
support. In the meantime, sell by auction all you have, and go to St. Thomas
with your two younger children. There Genevieve and myself will supply your
wants."
In a few days all our furniture was sold. Unfortunately, though I had carefully
concealed my cherished Bible, it disappeared. I could never discover what
became of it. Had mother herself, frightened by the threats of the priest,
relinquished that treasure? or had some of our relatives, believing it to be
their duty, destroyed it? I do not know. I deeply felt that loss, which was
then irreparable to me.
On the following day, in the midst of bitter tears and sobs, I bade farewell to
my poor mother and young brothers. They went to St. Thomas on board a schooner,
and I crossed in a sloop to Kamouraska.
My uncle and aunt Dionne welcomed me with every mark of the most sincere
affection. Having soon made known to them that I wished to become a priest, I
begun to study Latin under the direction of Rev. Mr. Morin, vicar of
Kamouraska. That priest was esteemed to be a learned man. He was about forty or
fifty years old, and had been priest of a parish in the district of Montreal.
But, as is the case with the majority of priests, his vows of celibacy had not
proved a sufficient guarantee against the charms of one of his beautiful
parishioners. This had caused a great scandal. He consequently lost his
position, and the bishop had sent him to Kamouraska, where his past conduct was
not so generally known. He was very good to me, and I soon loved him with
sincere affection.
One day, about the beginning of the year 1882, he called me aside and said:
"Mr. Varin (the parish priest) is in the habit of giving a great festival
on his birthday. Now, the principal citizens of the village wish on that
occasion to present him with a bouquet. I am appointed to write an address, and
to choose some one to deliver it before the priest. You are the one whom I have
chosen. What do you think of it?"
"But I am very young," I replied.
"Your youth will only give more interest to what we wish to say and
do," said the priest.
"Well, I have no objection to do so, provided the piece be not too long,
and that I have it sufficiently soon to learn it well."
It was already prepared. The time of delivering it soon came. The best society
of Kamouraska, composed of about fifteen gentlemen and as many ladies, were
assembled in the beautiful parlours of the parsonage. Mr. Varin was in their
midst. Suddenly Squire Paschal Tache, the seigneur of the parish, and his lady
entered the room, holding me by each hand, and placed me in the midst of the
guests. My head was crowned with flowers, for I was to represent the angel of
the parish, whom the people had chosen to give to their pastor the expression
of public admiration and gratitude. When the address was finished, I presented
to the priest the beautiful bouquet of symbolical flowers prepared by the
ladies for the occasion.
Mr. Varin was a small but well-built man. His thin lips were ever ready to
smile graciously. The remarkable whiteness of his skin was still heightened by
the red colour of his cheeks. Intelligence and goodness beamed from his
expressive black eyes. Nothing could be more amiable and gracious than his
conversation during the first quarter of an hour passed in his company. He was
passionately fond of these little fetes, and the charm of his manners could not
be surpassed as the host of the evening.
He was moved to tears before hearing half of the address, and the eyes of many
were moistened when the pastor, with a voice trembling and full of emotion,
expressed his joy and gratitude at being so highly appreciated by his
parishioners.
As soon as the happy pastor had expressed his thanks, the ladies sang two or
three beautiful songs. The door of the dining-room was then opened, and we
could see a long table laden with the most delicious meats and wines that
Canada could offer.
I had never before been present at a priest's dinner. The honourable position
given me at that little fete permitted me to see it in all its details, and
nothing could equal the curiosity with which I sought to hear and see all that
was said and done by thuds guests.
Besides Mr. Varin and his vicar, there were three other priests, who were
artistically placed in the midst of the most beautiful ladies of the company.
The ladies, after honouring us with their presence for an hour or so, left the
table and retired to the drawing-room. Scarcely had the last lady disappeared
when Mr. Varin rose and said:
"Gentlemen, let us drink to the health of these amiable ladies, whose
presence has thrown so many charms over the first part of our little
fete."
Following the example of Mr. Varin each guest filled and emptied his long wine
glass in honour of the ladies.
Squire Tache then proposed "The health of the most venerable and beloved
priest of Canada, the Rev. Mr. Varin." Again the glasses were filled and
emptied, except mine; for I had been placed at he side of my uncle Dionne, who,
sternly looking at me as soon as I had emptied my first glass, said: "If
you drink another I will send you from the table. A little boy like you should
not drink, but only touch the glass with his lips."
It would have been difficult to count the healths which were drank after the
ladies had left us. After each health a song or a story was called for, several
of which were followed by applause, shouts of joy, and convulsive laughter.
When my turn to propose a health came, I wished to be excused, but they would not
exempt me. So I had to say about whose health I was most interested. I rose,
and turning to Mr. Varin, I said, "Let us drink to the health of our Holy
Father, the Pope."
Nobody had yet thought of our Holy Father the Pope, and the name, mentioned
under such circumstances by a child, appeared so droll to the priests and their
merry guests that they burst into laughter, stamped their feet, and shouted,
"Bravo! bravo! To the health of the Pope!" Everyone stood up, and at
the invitation of Mr. Varin, the glasses were filled and emptied as usual.
So many healths could not be drunk without their natural effect intoxication.
The first that was overcome was a priest, Noel by name. He was a tall man, and
a great drinker. I had noticed more than once, that instead of taking his wine
glass he drank from a large tumbler. The first symptoms of his intoxication,
instead of drawing sympathy from his friends, only increased their noisy bursts
of laughter. He endeavored to take a bottle to fill his glass, but his hand shook,
and the bottle, falling on the floor, was broken to pieces. Wishing to keep up
his merriment he began to sing a Bacchic song, but could not finish. He dropped
his head on the table, quite overcome, and trying to rise, he fell heavily upon
his chair. While all this took place the other priests and all the guests
looked at him, laughing loudly. At last, making a desperate effort, he rose,
but after taking two or three steps, fell headlong on the floor. His two
neighbours went to help him, but they were not in a condition to help him.
Twice they rolled with him under the table. At length another, less affected by
the fumes of wine, took him by the feet and dragged him into an adjoining room,
where they left him.
This first scene seemed strange enough to me, for I had never before seen a
priest intoxicated. But what astonished me most was the laughter of the other
priests over that spectacle. Another scene, however, soon followed, which made
me sadder. My young companion and friend, Achilles Tache, had not been warned,
as I had, only to touch the wine with his lips. More than once he had emptied
his glass. He also rolled upon the floor before the eyes of his father, who was
too full of wine to help him. He cried aloud, "I am choking!" I tried
to lift him up, but was not strong enough. I ran for his mother. She came,
accompanied by another lady, but the vicar had carried him into another room,
where he fell asleep after having thrown off the wine he had taken.
Poor Achilles! he was learning, in the house of his own priest, to take the
first step of that life of debauchery and drunkenness which twelve or fifteen
years later was to rob him of his manor, take from him his wife and children,
and to make him fall a victim to the bloody hand of a murderer upon the solitary
shores of Kamouraska!
This first and sad experience which I made of the real and intimate life of the
Roman Catholic priest was so deeply engraved on my memory that I still remember
with shame the bacchic song which that priest Morin had taught me, and which I
sang on that occasion. It commenced with these Latin words: -
.
Ego, in arte Bacchi,
Multum profeci:
Decies pintum vini
Hodie bibi.
I also remember one sung by Mr. Varin. Here it is: -
Savez-vous pourquoi, mes amis, (bis)
Nous sommes tous si rejouis? (bis)
Amis n'endoutez pas,
C'est qu'un repas
N'est bon.
Qu' apprete sans facon,
Mangeons a la gamelle.
Vive le son, vive le son,
Mangeons a la gamelle,
Vive le son du flacon!
When the priests and their
friends had sung, laughed, and drank for more than an hour, Mr. Vain rose and
said, "The ladies must not be left along all the evening. Will not our joy
and happiness be doubled if they are pleased to share them with us."
This proposition was received with applause, and we passed into the
drawing-room, where the ladies awaited us.
Several pieces of music, well executed, gave new life to this part of the
entertainment. This resource, however, was soon exhausted. Besides, some of the
ladies could well see that their husbands were half drunk, and they felt
ashamed. Madam Tache could not conceal the grief she felt, caused by what had
happened to her dear Achilles. Had she some presentiment, as may persons have,
of the tears which she was to shed one day on his account? Was the vision of a
mutilated and bloody corpse the corpse of her own drunken son fallen dead,
under the blow of an assassin's dagger, before her eyes?
Mr. Varin feared nothing more than an interruption in those hours of lively
pleasure, of which his life was full, and which took place in his parsonage.
"Well, well, ladies and gentlemen, let us entertain no dark thoughts of
this evening, the happiest of my life. Let us play blind man's bluff."
"Let us play blind man's bluff!" was repeated by everybody.
On hearing this noise, the gentlemen who were half asleep by the fumes of wine
seemed to awaken as if from a long dream. Young gentlemen clapped their hands;
ladies, young and old, congratulated one another on the happy idea.
"But whose eyes shall be covered first?" asked the priest.
"Yours, Mr. Varin," cried all the ladies. "We look to you for
the good example, and we shall follow it."
"The power and unanimity of the jury by which I am condemned cannot be
resisted. I feel that there is no appeal. I must submit."
Immediately one of the ladies placed her nicely-perfumed handkerchief over the
eyes of her priest, took him by the hand, led him to an angle of the room, and
having pushed him gently with her delicate hand, said, "Mr. Blindman! Let
everyone flee! Woe to him who is caught!"
There is nothing more curious and comical than to see a man walk when he is
under the influence of wine, especially if he wishes nobody to notice it. How
stiff and straight he keeps his legs! How varied and complicated, in order to
keep his equilibrium, are his motions to right and left! Such was the position
of priest Varin. He was not very drunk. Though he had taken a large quantity of
wine he did not fall. He carried with wonderful courage the weight with which
he was laden. The wine which he had drank would have intoxicated three ordinary
men; but such was his capacity for drinking that he could still walk without
falling. However, his condition was sadly betrayed by each step he took and by
each word he spoke. Nothing, therefore, was more comical than the first steps
of the poor priest in his efforts to lay hold of somebody in order to pass his
band to him.
He would take one forward and two backward steps, and would then stagger to the
right and to the left. Everybody laughed to tears. One after another they would
all either pinch him or touch him gently on his hand, arm, or shoulder, and,
passing rapidly off, would exclaim, "Run away!" The priest went to
the right and then to the left, threw his arms suddenly now here and then
there. His legs evidently bent under their burden; he panted, perspired,
coughed, and everyone began to fear that the trial might be carried too far,
and beyond propriety. But suddenly, by a happy turn he caught the arm of a lady
who in teasing him had come too near. In vain the lady tries to escape. She
struggles, turns round, but the priest's hand holds her firmly.
While holding his victim with his right hand he wishes to touch her head with
his left, in order to know and name the pretty bird he has caught. But at that
moment his legs gave way. He falls, and drags with him his beautiful
parishioner. She turns upon him in order to escape, but he soon turns on her in
order to hold her better.
All this, though the affair of a moment, was long enough to cause the ladies to
blush and cover their faces. Never in all my life did I see anything so
shameful as that scene. This ended the game.
Everyone felt ashamed. I make a mistake when I say everyone, because the men
were almost all too intoxicated to blush. The priests also were either too
drunk or too much accustomed to see such scenes to be ashamed.
On the following day every one of those priests celebrated mass, and ate what
they called the body and blood, the soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, just as
if they had spent the previous evening in prayer and meditation on the laws of
God! Mr. Varin was the arch-priest of the important part of the diocese of
Quebec from La Riviere Ouelle to Gaspe.
Thus, O perfidious Church of Rome, thou deceivest the nations who follow thee,
and ruinest even the priests whom thou makest thy slaves.
Nothing can exceed the care with
which Roman Catholic priests prepare children for their first communion. Two
and three months are set apart every year for that purpose. All that time the
children between ten and twelve years of age are obliged to go to Church almost
every day, not only to learn by heart their catechism, but to hear the
explanations of all its teachings.
The priest who instructed us was the Rev. Mr. Morin, whom I have already
mentioned. He was exceedingly kind to children, and we respected and loved him
sincerely. His instructions to us were somewhat long; but we liked to hear him,
for he always had some new and interesting stories to give us.
The catechism taught as a preparation for our first communion was the
foundation of the idolatries and superstitions which the Church of Rome gives
as the religion of Christ. It is by means of that catechetical instruction that
she obtains for the Pope and his representatives that profound respect, I might
say adoration, which is the secret of her power and influence. With this
catechism Rome corrupts the most sacred truths of the Gospel. It is there that
Jesus is removed from the hearts for which He paid so great a price, and that
Mary is put in His place. But the great iniquity of substituting Mary for Jesus
is so skilfully concealed, it is given with colours so poetic and beautiful,
and so well adapted to captivate human nature, that it is almost impossible for
a poor child to escape the snare.
One day the priest said to me, "Stand up, my child, in order to answer the
many important questions which I have to ask you."
I stood up.
"My child," he said, "when you had been guilty of some fault at
home who was the first to punish you your father or your mother?"
After a few moments of hesitation I answered, "My father."
"You have answered correctly, my child," said the priest. "As a
matter of fact, the father is almost always more impatient with his children,
and more ready to punish them, than the mother."
"Now, my child, tell us who punished you most severely your father or your
mother?"
"My father," I said, without hesitation.
"Still true, my child. The superior goodness of a kind mother is perceived
even in the act of correction. Her blows are lighter than those of the father.
Further, when you had deserved to be chastised, did not one sometimes come
between you and your father's rod, taking it away from him and pacifying
him?"
"Yes," I said; "mother did that very often, and saved me from
severe punishment more than once."
"That is so, my child, not only for you, but for all your companions here.
Have not your good mothers, my children, often saved you from your father's
corrections even when you deserved it? Answer me."
"Yes, sir," they all answered.
"One question more. When your father was coming to whip you, did you not
throw yourself into the arms of some one to escape?" "Yes, sir; when
guilty of something, more than once, I threw myself into my mother's arms as
soon as I saw my father coming to whip me. She begged pardon for me, and
pleaded so well that I often escaped punishment."
"You have answered well," said the priest. Then turning to the
children, he continued:
"You have a Father and a Mother in heaven, dear children. Your Father is
Jesus, and your Mother is Mary. Do not forget that a mother's heart is always
more tender and more prone to mercy than that of a father.
"Often you offend your Father by your sins; you make Him angry against
you. What takes place in heaven then? Your Father in heaven takes His rod to
punish you. He threatens to crush you down with His roaring thunder; He opens
the gates of hell to cast you into it, and you would have been damned long ago
had it not been for the loving Mother whom you have in heaven, who has disarmed
your angry and irritated Father. When Jesus would punish you as you deserve,
the good Virgin Mary hastens to Him and pacifies Him. She places herself
between Him and you, and prevents Him from smiting you. She speaks in your
favour, she asks for your pardon and she obtains it.
"Also, as young Chiniquy has told you, he often threw himself into the
arms of his mother to escape punishment. She took his part, and pleaded so well
that his father yielded and put away the rod. Thus, my children, when your
conscience tells you that you are guilty, that Jesus is angry against you and
that you have good reason to fear hell, hasten to Mary! Throw yourselves into
the arms of that good mother; have recourse to her sovereign power over Jesus,
and be assured that you will be saved through her!"
It is thus that the Pope and the priests of Rome have entirely disfigured and
changed the holy religion of the Gospel! In the Church of Rome it is not Jesus,
but Mary, who represents the infinite love and mercy of God for the sinner. The
sinner is not advised or directed to place his hope in Jesus, but in Mary, for
his escape from deserved chastisement! It is not Jesus, but Mary, who saves the
sinner! Jesus is always bent on punishing sinners; Mary is always merciful to
them!
The Church of Rome has thus fallen into idolatry: she rather trusts in Mary
than in Jesus. She constantly invites sinners to turn their thoughts, their
hopes, their affections, not to Jesus, but to Mary!
By means of that impious doctrine Rome deceives the intellects, seduces the
hearts, and destroys the souls of the young for ever. Under the pretext of
honouring the Virgin Mary, she insults her by outraging and misrepresenting her
adorable Son.
Rome has brought back the idolatry of old paganism under a new name. She has
replaced upon her altars the Jupiter Tonans of the Greeks and Romans, only she
places upon his shoulders the mantle and she writes on the forehead of her idol
the name of Jesus, in order the better to deceive the world!
For the Roman Catholic child,
how beautiful and yet how sad is the day of his first communion! How many joys
and anxieties by turn rise in his soul when for the first time he is about to
eat what he has been taught to believe to be his God! How many efforts has he
to make, in order to destroy the manifest teachings of his own rational
faculties! I confess with deep regret that I had almost destroyed my reason, in
order to prepare myself for my first communion. Yes, I was almost exhausted
when the day came that I had to eat what the priest has assured us was the true
body, the true blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. I was about to eat
Him, not in a symbolical or commemorative, but in a literal way. I was to eat
His flesh, His bones, His hands, His feet, His head, His whole body! I had to
believe this or be cast for ever into hell, while, all the time, my eyes, my
hands, my mouth, my tongue, my reason told me that what I was eating was only
bread!
Has there ever been, or will there ever be, a priest or a layman to believe
what the Church of Rome teaches on this dreadful mystery of the Real Presence?
Shall I say that I believed in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the
communion? I believed in it as all those who are good Roman Catholics believe.
I believed as a perfect idiot or a corpse believes. Whatever is essential to a
reasonable act of faith had been destroyed in me on that point, as it is
destroyed in every priest and layman in the Church of Rome. My reason as well
as my external senses had been, as much as possible, sacrificed at the feet of
that terrible modern god, the Pope! I had been guilty of the incredibility
foolish act, of which all good Roman Catholics are guilty I had said to my
intellectual faculties, and to all my senses, "Hush, you are liars! I had
believed to this day that you had been given to me by God in order to enable me
to walk in the dark paths of life, but, behold! the holy Pope teaches me that
you are only instruments of the devil to deceive me!"
What is a man who resigns his intellectual liberty, and who cares not to
believe in the testimony of his senses? Is he not acting the part of one who
has no gift or power of intelligence? A good Roman Catholic must reach that
point! That was my own condition on the day of my first communion.
When Jesus said, "If I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had
sin; but now they have no cloke for their sin....If I had not done among them
the works which none other man did, they had not had sin; but now have they
both seen and hated both Me and My Father" (John xv.22,24). He showed that
the sin of the Jews consisted in not having believed in what their eyes had
seen and their ears had heard. But behold, the Pope says to Roman Catholics
that they must not believe in what their hands undoubtedly handle and their
eyes most clearly see! The Pope sets aside the testimony most approved by
Jesus. The very witnesses invoked by the Son of God are ignominiously turned
out of court by the Pope as false witnesses!
As the moment of taking the communion drew near, two feelings were at war in my
mind, each struggling for victory. I rejoiced in the thought that I would soon
have full possession of Jesus Christ, but at the same time I was troubled and
humbled by the absurdity which I had to believe before receiving that
sacrament. Though scarcely twelve years old, I had sufficiently accustomed
myself to reflect on the profound darkness which covered that dogma. I had been
also greatly in the habit of trusting my eyes, and I thought that I could
easily distinguish between a small piece of bread and a full-grown man!
Besides, I extremely abhorred the idea of eating human flesh and drinking human
blood, even when they assured me that they were the flesh and blood of Jesus
Christ Himself. But what troubled me most was the idea of that God, who was
represented to me as being so great, so glorious, so holy, being eaten by me
like a piece of common bread! Terrible then was the struggle in my young heart,
were joy and dread, trust and fear, faith and unbelief by turns had the upper
hand.
While that secret struggle, known only to God and to myself, was going on, I
had often to wipe off the cold perspiration which came on my brow. With all the
strength of my soul I prayed to God and the Holy Virgin to be merciful unto me,
to help, and give me sufficient strength and light to pass over these hours of
anguish.
The Church of Rome is evidently the most skillful human machine the world has
ever seen. Those who guide her in the dark paths which she follows are often
men of deep thought. They understand how difficult it would be to get calm,
honest and thinking minds to receive that monstrous dogma of the real corporal
presence of Jesus Christ in the communion. They well foresaw the struggle which
would take place even in the minds of children at the supreme moment when they
would have to sacrifice their reason on the altar of Rome. In order to prevent
those struggles, always so dangerous to the Church, nothing has been neglected
to distract the mind and draw the attention to other subjects than that of the
communion itself.
First, at the request of the parish priest, helped by the vanity of the parents
themselves, the children are dressed as elegantly as possible. They young
communicant is clothed in every way best calculated to flatter his own vanity
also. The church building is pompously decorated. The charms of choice vocal
and instrumental music form a part of the fete. The most odorous incense burns
around the altar and ascends in a sweetsmelling cloud towards heaven. The whole
parish is invited, and people come from every direction to enjoy a most
beautiful spectacle. Priests from the neighbouring churches are called, in
order to add to the solemnity of the day. The officiating priest is dressed in
the most costly attire. This is the day on which silver and gold altar cloths
are displayed before the eyes of the wondering spectators. Often a lighted wax
taper is placed in the hand of each young communicant, which itself would be
sufficient to draw his whole attention; for a single false motion would be
sufficient to set fire to the clothes of his neighbour, or his own, a
misfortune which has happened more than once in my presence.
Now, in the midst of that new and wonderful spectacle of singing Latin Psalms,
not a word of which he understands; in view of gold and silver ornaments, which
glitter everywhere before his dazzled eyes; busy with the holding of the
lighted taper, which keeps him constantly in fear of being burned alive can the
young communicant think for a moment of what he is about to do?
Poor child! his mind, ears, eyes, nostrils are so much taken up with those new,
striking and wonderful things that, while his imagination is wandering from one
object to another, the moment of communion arrives, without leaving him time to
think of what he is about to do! He opens his mouth, and the priest puts upon
his tongue a flat thin cake of unleavened bread, which either firmly sticks to
his palate or otherwise melts in his mouth, soon to go down into his stomach
just like the food he takes three times a day!
The first feeling of the child, then, is that of surprise at the thought that
the Creator of heaven and earth, the upholder of the universe, the Saviour of
the world, could so easily pass down his throat!
Now, follow those children to their homes after that great and monstrous
comedy. See their gait! Listen to their conversation and their bursts of
laughter! Study their manners, their coming in, their going out, their glances
of satisfaction on their fine clothes, and the vanity which they manifest in
return for the congratulations they receive on their fine dresses. Notice the
lightness of their actions and conversation immediately after their communion,
and tell me if you find anything indicating that they believed in the terrible
dogma they have been taught.
No, they have not believed in it, neither will they ever do so with the
firmness of faith which is accomplished by intelligence. The poor child thinks
he believes, and he sincerely tries to do so. He believes in it as much as it
is possible to believe in a most monstrous and ridiculous story, opposed to the
simplest notions of truth and common sense. He believes as Roman Catholics
believe. He believes as an idiot believes!!
That first communion has made of him, for the rest of his life, a real machine
in the hands of the Pope. It is the first but most powerful link of that long
chain of slavery which the priest and the Church pass around his neck. The Pope
holds the end of that chain, and with it he will make his victim go right or
left at his pleasure, in the same way that we govern the lower animals. If
those children have made a good first communion they will be submissive to the
Pope, according to the energetic word of Loyola. They will be in the hands of
the traveler they will have no will, no thought of their own!
And if God does not work a miracle to bring them out from that bondage which is
a thousand times worse than the Egyptian, they will remain in that state during
the rest of their lives.
My soul has known the weight of those chains. It has felt the ignominy of that
slavery! But the great Conqueror of souls has cast down a merciful eye upon me.
He has broken my chains, and with His holy Word He has made me free.
May His name be for ever blessed.
I finished, at the College of
Nicolet, in the month of August, 1829, my classical course of study which I had
begun in 1822. I could easily have learned in three or four years what was
taught in these seven years.
It took us three years to study the Latin grammar, when twelve months would
have sufficed for all we learned of it. It is true that during that time we
were taught some of the rudiments of the French grammar, with the elements of
arithmetic and geography. But all this was so superficial, that our teachers
often seemed more desirous to pass away our time than to enlarge our
understandings.
I can say the same thing of the Belles Letters and of rhetoric, which we
studied two years. A year of earnest study would have sufficed to learn what
was taught us during these twenty-four months. As for the two years devoted to
the study of logic, and of the subjects classed under the name of philosophy,
it would not have been too long a time if those questions of philosophy had
been honestly given us. But the student in the college of the Church of Rome is
condemned to the torments of Tantalus. He has, indeed, the refreshing waters of
Science put to his lips, but he is constantly prevented from tasting them. To
enlarge and seriously cultivate the intelligence in a Roman Catholic college is
a thing absolutely out of the question. More than that, all the efforts of the
principals in their colleges and convents tend to prove to the pupil that his
intelligence is his greatest and most dangerous enemy that it is like an
untamable animal, which must constantly be kept in chains. Every day the
scholar is told that his reason was not given him that he might be guided by
it, but only that he may know the hand of the man by whom he must be guided.
And that hand is none other than the Pope's. All the resources of language, all
the most ingenious sophisms, all the passages of both the Fathers and the Holy
Scriptures bearing on this question are arranged and perverted with
inconceivable art to demonstrate to the pupil that his reason has no power to
teach him anything else than that it must be subjected to the Supreme Pontiff
of Rome, who is the only foundation of truth and light given by God to guide
the intelligence and to enlighten and save the world.
Rome, in her colleges and convents, brings up, or raises up, the youth from
their earliest years; but to what height does she permit the young man or woman
to be raised? Never higher than the feet of the Pope!! As soon as his
intelligence, guided by the Jesuit, has ascended to the feet of the Pope, it
must remain there, prostrate itself and fall asleep.
The Pope! That is the great object towards which all the intelligence of the
Roman Catholics must be converged. It is the sun of the world, the foundation
and the only support of Christian knowledge and civilization.
What a privilege it is to be lazy, stupid, and sluggish in a college of Rome!
How soon such an one gets to the summit of science, and becomes master of all
knowledge. One needs only to kiss the feet of the Pope, and fall into a perfect
slumber there! The Pope thinks for him! It is he (the Pope) who will tell him
what he can and should think, and what he can and should believe!
I had arrived at that degree of perfection at the end of my studies, and J.B.
Barthe, Esq., M.P.P., being editor of one of the principal papers of Montreal
in 1844, could write in his paper when my "Manual of Temperance" was
published: "Mr. Chiniquy has crowned his apostleship of temperance by that
work, with that ardent and holy ambition of character of which he gave us so
many tokens in his collegiate life, where we have been so many years the
witness of his piety, when he was the model of his fellow-students, who had
called him the Louis de Gonzague of Nicolet."
These words of the Montreal Member of Parliament mean only that, wishing to be
saved as St. Louis de Gonzague, I had blindly tied myself to the feet of my
superiors.
I had, as much as possible, extinguished all the enlightenments of my own mind
to follow the reason and the will of my superiors. These compliments mean that
I was walking like a blind man whom his guide holds by the hand.
Though my intelligence often revolted against the fables with which I was
nurtured, I yet forced myself to accept them as gospel truths; and though I
often rebelled against the ridiculous sophisms which were babbled to me as the
only principles of truth and Christian philosophy, yet as often did I impose
silence on my reason, and force it to submit to the falsehoods which I was
obliged to take for God's truth! But, as I have just confessed it,
notwithstanding my goodwill to submit to my superiors, there were times of
terrible struggle in my soul, when all the powers of my mind seemed to revolt
against the degrading fetters which I was forced to forge for myself.
I shall never forget the day when, in the following terms, I expressed to my
Professor of Philosophy, the Rev. Charles Harper, doubts which I had conceived
concerning the absolute necessity of the inferior to submit his reason to his
superior. "When I shall have completely bound myself to obey my superior,
if he abuses his authority over me to deceive me by false doctrines, or if he
commands me to do things which I consider wrong and dishonest, shall I not be
lost if I obey him?"
He answered: "You will never have to give an account to God for the
actions that you do by the order of your legitimate superiors. If they were to
deceive you, being themselves deceived, they alone would be responsible for the
error which you would have committed. Your sin would not be imputed to you as
long as you follow the golden rule which is the base of all Christian
philosophy and perfection humility and obedience!"
Little satisfied with that answer, when the lesson was over I expressed my
reluctance to accept such principles to several of my fellow-students. Among
them was Joseph Turcot, who died some years ago when, I think, he was Minister
of Public Works in Canada.
He answered me: "The more I study what they call their principles of
Christian philosophy and logic, the more I think that they intend to make asses
of every one of us!"
On the following day I opened my heart to the venerable man who was our
principal the Rev. Mr. Leprohon. I used to venerate him as a saint and to love
him as a father. I frankly told him that I felt very reluctant in submitting
myself to the crude principles which seemed to lead us into the most abject
slavery, the slavery of our reason and intelligence. I wrote down his answer,
which I give here:
"My dear Chiniquy, how did Adam and Eve lose themselves in the Garden of
Eden, and how did they bring upon us all the deluge of evils by which we are
overwhelmed? Is it not because they raised their miserable reason above that of
God? They had the promise of eternal life if they had submitted their reason to
that of their Supreme Master.They were lost on account of their rebelling
against the authority, the reason of God. Thus it is today. All the evils, the
errors, the crimes by which the world is over flooded come from the same revolt
of the human will and reason against the will and reason of God. God reigns yet
over a part of the world, the world of the elect, through the Pope, who
controls the teachings of our infallible and holy Church. In submitting ourselves
to God, who speaks to us through the Pope, we are saved. We walk in the paths
of truth and holiness. But we would err, and infallibly perish, as soon as we
put our reason above that of our superior, the Pope, speaking to us in person,
or through some of our superiors who have received from him the authority to
guide us."
"But," said I, "if my reason tells me that the Pope, or some of
those other superiors who are put by him over me, are mistaken, and that they
command me something wrong, would I not be guilty before God if I obey
them?"
"You suppose a thing utterly impossible," answered Mr. Leprohon,
"for the Pope and the bishops who are united to him have the promise of
never failing in the faith. They cannot lead you into any errors, nor command you
to believe or do something contrary to the teachings of the Gospel, God would
not ask of you any account of an error committed when you are obeying your
legitimate superior."
I had to content myself with that answer, which I put down word for word in my
note-book. But in spite of my respectful silence, the Rev. Mr. Leprohon saw
that I was yet uneasy and sad. In order to convince me of the orthodoxy of his
doctrines, he instantly put into my hands the two works of De Maistre, "Le
Pape" and "Les Soirees de St. Petersburgh," where I found the
same doctrines supported. My superior was honest in his convictions. He
sincerely believed in the sound philosophy and Christianity of his principles,
for he had found them in these books approved by the "infallible Popes."
I will mention another occurrence to show the inconceivable intellectual
degradation to which we had been dragged at the end of seven years of
collegiate studies. About the year 1829 the curate of St. Anne de la Parade
wrote to our principal, Rev. Mr. Leprohon, to ask the assistance of the prayers
of all the students of the College of Nicolet in order to obtain the
discontinuance of the following calamity: "For more than three weeks one
of the most respectable farmers was in danger of losing all his horses from the
effects of a sorcery! From morning, and during most of the night, repeated
blows of whips and sticks were heard falling upon these poor horses, which were
trembling, foaming and struggling! We can see nothing! The hand of the wizard
remains invisible. Pray for us, that we may discover the monster, and that he
may be punished as he deserves."
Such were the contents of the priest's letter; and as my superior sincerely
believed in that fable I also believed it, as well as all the students of the
college who had a true piety. On that shore of abject and degrading
superstitions I had to land after sailing seven years in the bark called a
college of the Church of Rome!
The intellectual part of the studies in a college of Rome, and it is the same
in a convent, is therefore entirely worthless. Worse than that, the
intelligence is dwarfed under the chains by which it is bound. If the
intelligence does sometimes advance, it is in spite of the fetters placed upon
it; it is only like some few noble ships which, through the extraordinary skill
of their pilots, go ahead against wind and tide.
I know that the priests of Rome can show a certain number of intelligent men in
every branch of science who have studied in their colleges. But these
remarkable men had from the beginning secretly broken for themselves the chains
with which their superiors had tried to bind them. For peace' sake they had
outwardly followed the rules of the house, but they had secretly trampled under
the feet of their noble souls the ignoble fetters which had been prepared for
their understanding. True children of God and light, they had found the secret
of remaining free even when in the dark cells of a dungeon!
Give me the names of the remarkable and intelligent men who have studied in a
college of Rome, and have become real lights in the firmament of science, and I
will prove that nine-tenths of them have been persecuted, excommunicated,
tortured, some even put to death for having to think for themselves.
Galileo was a Roman Catholic, and he is surely one of the greatest men whom
science claims as her most gifted sons. But was he not sent to a dungeon? Was
he not publicly flogged by the hands of the executioner? Had he not to ask
pardon from God and man for having dared to think differently from the Pope
about the motion of the earth around the sun!
Copernicus was surely one of the greatest lights of his time, but was he not
censured and excommunicated for his admirable scientific discoveries?
France does not know any greater genius among her most gifted sons than Pascal.
He was a Catholic. But he lived and died excommunicated.
The Church of Rome boasts of Bossuet, the Bishop of Meaux, as one of the
greatest men she ever had. Yes; but has not Veuillot, the editor of the
Univers, who knows his man well, confessed and declared before the world that
Bossuet was a disguised Protestant?
Where can we find a more amiable or learned writer than Montalembert, who has
so faithfully and bravely fought the battle of the Church of Rome in France
during more than a quarter of a century? But has he not publicly declared on
his death-bed that that Church was an apostate and idolatrous Church from the
day that she proclaimed the dogma of the Infallibility of the Pope? Has he not
virtually died an excommunicated man for having said with his last breath that
the Pope was nothing else than a false god?
Those pupils of Roman Catholic colleges of whom sometimes the priests so
imprudently boast, have gone out from the hands of their Jesuit teachers to proclaim
their supreme contempt for the Roman Catholic priesthood and Papacy. They have
been near enough to the priest to know him. They have seen with their own eyes
that the priest of Rome is the most dangerous, the most implacable enemy of
intelligence, progress and liberty; and if their arm be not paralyzed by
cowardice, selfishness, or hypocrisy, those pupils of the colleges of Rome will
be the first to denounce the priesthood of Rome and demolish her citadels.
Voltaire studied in a Roman Catholic college, and it was probably when at their
school he nerved himself for the terrible battle he has fought against Rome.
That Church will never recover from the blow which Voltaire has struck at her
in France.
Cavour, in Italy, had studied in a Roman Catholic college also, and under that
very roof it is more than probable that his noble intelligence had sworn to
break the ignominious fetters with which Rome had enslaved his fair country.
The most eloquent of the orators of Spain, Castelar, studied in a Roman Catholic
college; but hear with what eloquence he denounces the tyranny, hypocrisy,
selfishness and ignorance of the priests.
Papineau studied under the priests of Rome in their college at Montreal. From
his earliest years that Eagle of Canada could see and know the priests of Rome
as they are; he has weighed them in the balance; he has measured them; he has
fathomed the dark recesses of their anti-social principles; he has felt his
shoulders wounded and bleeding under the ignominious chains with which they dragged
our dear Canada in the mire for nearly two centuries. Papineau was a pupil of
the priests; and I have heard several priests boasting of that as a glorious
thing. But the echoes of Canada are still repeating the thundering words with
which Papineau denounced the priests as the most deadly enemies of the
education and liberty of Canada! He was one of the first men of Canada to
understand that there was no progress, no liberty possible for our beloved
country so long as the priests would have the education of our people in their
hands. The whole life of Papineau was a struggle to wrest Canada from their
grasp. Everyone knows how he constantly branded them, without pity, during his
life, and the whole world has been the witness of the supreme contempt with
which he has refused their services, and turned them out at the solemn hour of
his death!
When, in 1792, France wanted to be free, she understood that the priests of
Rome were the greatest enemies of her liberties. She turned them out from her
soil or hung them to her gibbets. If today that noble country of our ancestors
is stumbling and struggling in her tears and her blood if she has fallen at the
feet of her enemies if her valiant arm has been paralyzed, her sword broken,
and her strong heart saddened above measure, is it not because she had most
imprudently put herself again under the yoke of Rome?
Canada's children will continue to flee from the country of their birth so long
as the priest of Rome holds the influence which is blasting everything that
falls within his grasp, on this continent as well as in Europe; and the United
States will soon see their most sacred institutions fall, one after the other,
if the Americans continue to send their sons and daughters to the Jesuit
colleges and nunneries.
When, in the warmest days of summer, you see a large swamp of stagnant and
putrid water, you are sure that deadly miasma will spread around, that diseases
of the most malignant character, poverty, sufferings of every kind, and death
will soon devastate the unfortunate country; so, when you see Roman Catholic
colleges and nunneries raising their haughty steeples over some commanding
hills or in the midst of some beautiful valleys, you may confidently expect
that the self-respect and the many virtues of the people will soon disappear
intelligence, progress, prosperity will soon wane away, to be replaced by
superstition, idleness, drunkenness, Sabbath-breaking, ignorance, poverty and
degradation of every kind. The colleges and nunneries are the high citadels from
which the Pope darts his surest missiles against the rights and liberties of
nations. The colleges and nunneries are the arsenals where the most deadly
weapons are night and day prepared to fight and destroy the soldiers of liberty
all over the world.
The colleges and nunneries of the priests are the secret places where the
enemies of progress, equality and liberty are holding their councils and
fomenting that great conspiracy the object of which is to enslave the world at
the feet of the Pope.
The colleges and nunneries of Rome are the schools where the rising generations
are taught that it is an impiety to follow the dictates of their own
conscience, hear the voice of their intelligence, read the Word of God, and
worship their Creator according to the rules laid down in the Gospel.
It is in the colleges and nunneries of Rome that men learn that they are
created to obey the Pope in everything-- that the Bible must be burnt, and that
liberty must be destroyed at any cost all over the world.
In order to understand what kind
of moral education students in Roman Catholic colleges receive, one must only
be told that from the beginning to the end they are surrounded by an atmosphere
in which nothing but Paganism is breathed. The models of eloquence which we
learned by heart were almost exclusively taken from Pagan literature. In the
same manner Pagan models of wisdom, of honour, of chastity were offered to our
admiration. Our minds were constantly fixed on the masterpieces which Paganism
has left. The doors of our understanding were left open only to receive the
rays of light which Paganism has shed on the world. Homer, Socrates, Lycurgus,
Virgil, Horace, Cicero, Tacitus, Caesar, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Alexander,
Lucretia, Regulus, Brutus, Jupiter, Venus, Minerva, Mars, Diana, ect., ect.,
crowded each other in our thoughts, to occupy them and be their models,
examples and masters for ever.
It may be said that the same Pagan writers, orators and heroes are studied,
read and admired in Protestant colleges. But there the infallible antidote, the
Bible, is given to the students. Just as nothing remains of the darkness of
night after the splendid morning sun has arisen on the horizon, so nothing of
the fallacies, superstitions and sophisms of Paganism can trouble or obscure
the mind on which that light from heaven, the Word of God, comes every day with
its millions of shining rays. How insignificant is the Poetry of Homer when
compared with the sublime songs of Moses! How pale is the eloquence of
Demosthenes, Cicero, Virgil, ect., when read after Job, David or Solomon! How
quickly crumble down the theories which those haughty heathens of old wanted to
raise over the intelligence of men when the thundering voice from Sinai is
heard; when the incomparable songs of David, Solomon, Isaiah or Jeremiah are
ravishing the soul which is listening to their celestial strains! It is a fact
that Pagan eloquence and philosophy can be but very tasteless to men accustomed
to be fed with the bread which comes down from heaven, whose souls are filled
with the eloquence of God, and whose intelligence is fed with the philosophy of
heaven.
But, alas! for me and my fellow-students in the college of Rome! No sun ever appeared
on the horizon to dispel the night in which our intelligence was wrapped. The
dark clouds with which Paganism had surrounded us were suffocating us, and no
breath from heaven was allowed to come and dispel them. Moses with his
incomparable legislation, David and Solomon with their divine poems, Job with
his celestial philosophy, Jeremiah, Isaiah and Daniel with their sublime songs,
Jesus Christ Himself with His soul-saving Gospel, as well as His apostles
Peter, John, Jude, James and Paul these were all put in the Index! They had not
the liberty to speak to us, and we were forbidden, absolutely forbidden, to
read and hear them!
It is true that the Church of Rome, as an offset to that, gave us her
principles, precepts, fables and legends that we might be attached to her, and
that she might remain the mistress of our hearts. But these doctrines,
practices, principles and fables seemed to us so evidently borrowed from
Paganism they were so cold, so naked, so stripped of all true poetry, that if
the Paganism of the ancients was not left absolute master of our affections, it
still claimed a large part of our souls. To create in us a love for the Church
of Rome our superiors depended greatly on the works of Chateaubriand. The
"Genie du Christianisme" was the book of books to dispel all our
doubts, and attach us to the Pope's religion. But this author, whose style is
sometimes really beautiful, destroyed, by the weakness of his logic, the
Christianity which he wanted to build up. We could easily see that Chateaubriand
was not sincere, and his exaggerations were to many of us a sure indication
that he did not believe in what he said. The works of De Maistre, the most
important history-falsificator of France, were also put into our hands as a
sure guide in philosophical and historical studies. The "Memoirs du Conte
Valmont," with some authors of the same stamp, were much relied upon by
our superiors to prove to us that the dogmas, precepts and practices of the
Roman Catholic religion were brought from heaven.
It was certainly our desire as well as our interest to believe them. But how
our faith was shaken, and how we felt troubled when Livy, Tacitus, Cicero,
Virgil, Homer, ect., gave us the evidence that the greater part of these things
had their root and their origin in Paganism.
For instance, our superiors had convinced us that scapulars, medals, holy
water, ect., would be of great service to us in battling with the most
dangerous temptations, as well as in avoiding the most common dangers of life.
Consequently, we all had scapulars and medals, which we kept with the greatest
respect, and even kissed morning and evening with affection, as if they were
powerful instruments of the mercy of God to us. How great, then, was our
confusion and disappointment when we discovered in the Greek and Latin
historians that those scapulars and medals and statuettes were nothing but a
remnant of Paganism, and that the worshipers of Jupiter, Minerva, Diana and
Venus believed themselves also free, as we did, from all calamity when they
carried them in honour of these divinities! The further we advanced in the
study of Pagan antiquity, the more we were forced to believe that our religion,
instead of being born at the foot of Calvary, was only a pale and awkward
imitation of Paganism. The modern Pontifex Maximus (the Pope of Rome), who, as
we were assured, was the successor of St. Peter, the Vicar of Jesus Christ,
resembled the "Pontifex Maximus" of the great republic and empire of
Rome as much as two drops of water resemble each other. Had not our Pope
preserved not only the name, but also the attributes, the pageantry, the pride,
and even the garb of that high pagan priest? Was not the worship of the saints
absolutely the same as the worship of the demigods of olden time? Was not our purgatory
minutely described by Virgil? Were not our prayers to the Virgin and to the
saints repeated, almost in the same words, by the worshipers who repeated them
every day before the images which adorned our churches? Was not our holy water
in use among the idolaters, and for the same purpose for which it was used
among us?
We know by history the year in which the magnificent temple consecrated to all
the gods, bearing the name of Pantheon, had been built at Rome. We were
acquainted with the names of several of the sculptors who had carved the
statues of the gods in that heathen temple, at whose feet the idolaters bowed
respectfully, and words cannot express he shame we felt on learning that the
Roman Catholics of our day, under the very eyes and with the sanction of the
Pope, still prostrated themselves before the same idols, in the same temple,
and to obtain the same favours!
When we asked each other the question, "What is the difference between the
religion of heathen Rome and that of the Rome of today?" more than one
student would answer: "The only difference is in the name. The idolatrous
temples are the same: the idols have not left their places. Today, as formerly,
the same incense burns in their honour? Nations are still prostrated at their
feet to give them the same homage and to ask of them the same favours; but
instead of calling this statue Jupiter, we call it Peter; and instead of
calling that one Minerva or Venus, it is called St. Mary. It is the old
idolatry coming to us under Christian names."
I earnestly desired to be an honest and sincere Roman Catholic. These
impressions and thoughts distracted me greatly, inasmuch as I could find
nothing in reason to diminish their force. Unfortunately many of the books
placed in our hands by our superiors to confirm our faith, form our moral
character, and sustain our piety and our confidence in the dogmas of the Church
of Rome, had a frightful resemblance to the histories I had read of the gods
and goddesses. The miracles attributed to the Virgin Mary often appeared to be
only a reproduction of the tricks and deceits by which the priests of Jupiter,
Venus, Minerva, ect., used to obtain their ends and grant the requests of their
worshipers. Some of those miracles of the Virgin Mary equaled, if they did not
surpass, in absurdity and immorality what mythology taught us among the most
hideous accounts of the heathen gods and goddesses.
I could cite hundreds of such miracles which shocked my faith and caused me to
blush in secret at the conclusion to which I was forced to come, in comparing
the worship of ancient and modern Rome. I will only quote three of these modern
miracles, which are found in one of the books the best approved by the Pope,
entitled "The Glories of Mary."
First miracle. The great favour bestowed by the Holy Virgin upon a nun named
Beatrix, of the Convent of Frontebraldo, show how merciful she is to sinners.
This fact is related by Cesanus, and by Father Rho. This unfortunate nun,
having been possessed by a criminal passion for a young man, determined to
leave her convent and elope with him. She was the doorkeeper of the convent,
and having placed the keys of the monastery at the feet of a statue of the Holy
Virgin she boldly went out, and then led a life of prostitution during fifteen
years in a far off place.
"One day, accidentally meeting the purveyor of her convent, and thinking
she would not be recognized by him, she asked him news of Sister Beatrix.
"`I know her well,' answered this man; `she is a holy nun, and is mistress
of the novices.'
"At these words Beatrix was confused; but to understand what it meant she
changed her clothing, and going to the convent, enquired after Sister Beatrix.
"The Holy Virgin instantly appeared to her in the form of the statue at
whose feet she had placed the keys at her departure. The Divine Mother spoke to
her in this wise: `Know, Beatrix, that in order to preserve your honour I have
taken your place and done your duty since you have left your convent. My
daughter, return to God and be penitent, for my Son is still waiting for you.
Try, by the holiness of your life, to preserve the good reputation which I have
earned you.' Having thus spoken, the Holy Virgin disappeared. Beatrix reentered
the monastery, donned her religious dress, and, grateful for the mercies of
Mary, she led the life of a saint." ("Glories of Mary," chap.
vi., sec. 2.)
Second miracle. Rev. Father Rierenberg relates that there existed in a city
called Aragona a beautiful and noble girl by the name of Alexandra, whom two
young men loved passionately. One day, maddened by the jealousy each one had of
the other, they fought together, and both were killed. Their parents were so
infuriated at the young girl, the author of these calamities, that they killed
her, cut her head off, and threw her into a well. A few days after St. Dominic,
passing by the place, was inspired to approach the well and to cry out,
"Alexandra, come here!" The head of the deceased immediately placed
itself upon the edge of the well, and entreated St. Dominic to hear its confession.
Having heard it, the Saint gave her the communion in the presence of a great
multitude of people, and then he commanded her to tell them why she had
received so great a favour.
She answered that, though she was in a state of mortal sin when she was
decapitated, yet as she had a habit of reciting the holy rosary, the Virgin had
preserved her life.
The head, full of life, remained on the edge of the well two days before the
eyes of a great many people, and then the soul went to purgatory. But fifteen
days after this the soul of Alexandra appeared to St. Dominic, bright and
beautiful as a star, and told him that one of the surest means of removing
souls from purgatory was the recitation of the rosary in their favour.
("Glories of Mary," chap. viii., sec. 2)
Third miracle. "A servant of Mary one day went into one of her churches to
pray, without telling her husband about it. Owing to a terrible storm she was
prevented from returning home that night. Harassed by the fear that her husband
would be angry, she implored Mary's help. But on returning home she found her
husband full of kindness. After asking her husband a few questions on the
subject she discovered that during that very night the Divine Mother had taken
her form and features and had taken her place in all the affairs of the
household! She informed her husband of the great miracle, and they both became
very much devoted to the Holy Virgin." (Glories of Mary," Examples of
Protection, 40.)
Persons who have never studied in a Roman Catholic college will hardly believe
that such fables were told us as an appeal for us to become Christians. But,
God knows, I tell the truth. Is not a profanation of a holy word to say that
Christianity is the religion taught the students in Rome's colleges?
After reading the monstrous metamorphoses of the gods of Olympus, the student
feels a profound pity for the nations who have lived so long in the darkness of
Paganism. He cannot understand how so many millions of men were, for such a
long time, deceived by such crude fables. With joy his thoughts are turned to
the God of Calvary, there to receive light and life. He feels, as it were, a
burning desire to nourish himself with the words of life, fallen from the lips
of the "great victim." But here comes the priest of the college, who
places himself between the student and Christ, and instead of allowing him to
be nourished with the Bread of Life he offers him fables, husks with which to
appease his hunger. Instead of allowing him to slake his thirst from the waters
which flow from the fountains of eternal life, he offers him a corrupt
beverage!
God alone knows what I have suffered during my studies to find myself
absolutely deprived of the privilege of eating this bread of life His Holy
Word!
During the last years of my studies my superiors often confided to me the
charge of the library. Once it happened that, as the students were taking a
holiday, I remained alone in the college, and shutting myself up in the library
I began to examine all the books. I was not a little surprised to discover that
the books which were the most proper to instruct us stood on the catalogue of
the library marked among the forbidden books. I felt an inexpressible shame on
seeing with my own eyes that none but the most indifferent books were placed in
our hands that we were permitted to read authors of the third rank only (if
this expression is suitable to such whose only merit consisted in flattering
the Popes, and in concealing or excusing their crimes). Several students more
advanced than myself, had already made the observation to me, but I did not
believe them. Self-love gave me the hope that I was as well educated as one
could be at my age. Until then I had spurned the idea that, with the rest of
the students, I was the victim of an incredible system of moral and
intellectual blindness.
Among the forbidden books of the college I found a splendid Bible. It seemed to
be of the same edition as the one whose perusal had made the hours pass away so
pleasantly when I was at home with my mother. I seized it with the transports
of a miser finding a lost treasure. I lifted it to my lips, and kissed it
respectfully. I pressed it against my heart, as one embraces a friend from whom
he has long been separated. This Bible brought back to my memory the most
delightful hours of my life. I read in its divine pages till the scholars
returned.
The next day Rev. Mr. Leprohon, our director, called me to his room during the
recreation, and said: "You seem to be troubled, and very sad today. I
noticed that you remained alone while the other scholars were enjoying
themselves so well. Have you any cause of grief? or are you sick?"
I could not sufficiently express my love and respect for this venerable man. He
was at the same time my friend and benefactor. For four years he and Rev. Mr.
Brassard had been paying my board; for, owing to a misunderstanding between
myself and my uncle Dionne, he had ceased to maintain me at college. By reading
the Bible the previous day I had disobeyed my benefactor, Mr. Leprohon; for
when he entrusted me with the care of the library he made me promise not to
read the books in the forbidden catalogue.
It was painful to me to sadden him by acknowledging that I had broken my word
of honour, but it pained me far more to deceive him by concealing the truth. I
therefore answered him: "You are right in supposing that I am uneasy and
sad. I confess there is one thing which perplexes me greatly among the rules
that govern us. I never dared to speak to you about it: but as you wish to know
the cause of my sadness, I will tell you. You have placed in our hands, not
only to read, but to learn by heart, books which are, as you know, partly
inspired by hell, and you forbid us to read the only book whose every word is
sent from heaven! You permit us to read books dictated by the spirit of
darkness and sin, and you make it a crime for us to read the only book written
under the dictation of the Spirit of light and holiness. This conduct on your
part, and on the part of all the superiors of the college, disturbs and
scandalizes me! Shall I tell you, your dread of the Bible shakes my faith, and
causes me to fear that we are going astray in our Church."
Mr. Leprohon answered me: "I have been the director of this college for
more than twenty years, and I have never heard from the lips of any of the
students such remarks and complaints as you are making to me today. Have you no
fear of being the victim of a deception of the devil, in meddling with a
question so strange and so new for a scholar whose only aim should be to obey
his superiors?"
"It may be" said I, "that I am the first to speak to you in this
manner, for it is very probable that I am the only student in this college who
has read the Holy Bible in his youthful days. I have already told you there was
a Bible in my father's house, which disappeared only after his death, though I
never could know what became of it. I can assure you that the perusal of that
admirable book has done me a good that is still felt. It is, therefore, because
I know by a personal experience that there is no book in the world so good, and
so proper to read, that I am extremely grieved, and even scandalized, by the
dread you have of it. I acknowledge to you I spent the afternoon of yesterday
in the library reading the Bible. I found things in it which made me weep for
joy and happiness things that did more good to my soul and heart than all you
have given me to read for six years. And I am so sad today because you approve
of me when I read the words of the devil, and condemn me when I read the Word
of God."
My superior answered: "Since you have read the Bible, you must know that
there are things in it on matters of such a delicate nature that it is improper
for a young man, and more so for a young lady, to read them."
"I understand," answered I; "but these delicate matters, of
which you do not want God to speak a word to us, you know very well that Satan
speaks to us about them day and night. Now, when Satan speaks about and
attracts our thoughts towards an evil and criminal thing, it is always in order
that we may like it and be lost. But when the God of purity speaks to us of
evil things (of which it is pretty much impossible for men to be ignorant), He
does it that we may hate and abhor them, and He gives us grace to avoid them.
Well, then, since you cannot prevent the devil from whispering to us things so
delicate and dangerous to seduce us, how dare you hinder God from speaking of
the same things to shield us from their allurements? Besides, when my God
desires to speak to me Himself on any question whatever, where is your right to
obstruct His word on its way to my heart?"
Though Mr Leprohon's intelligence was as much wrapped up in the darkness of the
Church of Rome as it could be, his heart had remained honest and true; and
while I respected and loved him as my father, though differing from him in
opinion, I knew he loved me as if I had been his own child. He was
thunderstruck by my answer. He turned pale, and I saw tears about to flow from
his eyes. He sighed deeply, and looked at me some time reflectingly, without
answering. At last he said: "My dear Chiniquy, your answer and your
arguments have a force that frightens me, and if I had no other but my own
personal ideas to disprove them, I acknowledge I do not know how I would do it.
But I have something better than my own weak thoughts. I have the thoughts of
the Church, and of our Holy father the Pope. They forbid us to put the Bible in
the hands of our students. This should suffice to put an end to your troubles.
To obey his legitimate superiors in all things and everywhere is the rule a
Christian scholar like you should follow; and if you have broken it yesterday,
I hope it will be the last time that the child whom I love better than myself
will cause me such pain."
On saying this he threw his arms around me, clasped me to his heart, and bathed
my face in tears. I wept also. Yes, I wept abundantly.
But God knoweth, that through the regret of having grieved my benefactor and
father caused me to shed tears at that moment, yet I wept much more on
perceiving that I would no more be permitted to read His Holy Word.
If, therefore, I am asked what moral and religious education we received at
college, I will ask in return, What religious education can we receive in an
institution where seven years are spent without once being permitted to read
the Gospel of God? The gods of the heathen spoke to us daily by their apostles
and disciples Homer, Virgil, Pindar, Horace! and the God of the Christians had
not permission to say a single word to us in that college!
Our religion, therefore, could be nothing by Paganism disguised under a
Christian name. Christianity in a college or convent of Rome is such a strange
mixture of heathenism and superstition, both ridiculous and childish, and of shocking
fables, that the majority of those who have not entirely smothered the voice of
reason cannot accept it. A few do, as I did, all in their power, and succeed to
a certain extent, in believing only what the superior tell them to believe.
They close their eyes and permit themselves to be led exactly as if they were
blind, and a friendly hand were offering to guide them. But the greater number
of students in Roman Catholic colleges cannot accept the bastard Christianity
which Rome presents to them. Of course, during the studies they follow its
rules, for the sake of peace; but they have hardly left college before they
proceed to join and increase the ranks of the army of skeptics and infidels
which overruns France, Spain, Italy and Canada which overruns, in fact, all the
countries where Rome has the education of the people in her hands.
I must say, though with a sad heart, that moral and religious education in
Roman Catholic colleges is worse and void, for from them has been excluded the
only true standard of morals and religion, The Word of God!
We read in the history of
Paganism that parents were often, in those dark ages, slaying their children
upon the altars of their gods, to appease their wrath or obtain their favours.
But we now see a strange thing. It is that of Christian parents forcing their
children into the temples and to the very feet of the idols of Rome, under the
fallacious notion of having them educated! While the Pagan parent destroyed
only the temporal life of his child, the Christian parent, for the most part,
destroys his eternal life. The Pagan was consistent: he believed in the
almighty power and holiness of his gods; he sincerely thought that they ruled
the world, and that they blessed both the victims and those who offered them.
But where is the consistency of the Protestant who drags his child and offers
him as a sacrifice on the altars of the Pope! Does he believe in his holiness
or in his supreme and infallible power of governing the intelligence? Then why
does he not go and throw himself at his feet and increase the number of his
disciples? The Protestants who are guilty of this great wrong are wont to say,
as an excuse, that the superiors of colleges and convents have assured them
that their religious convictions would be respected, and that nothing should be
said or done to take away or even shake the religion of their children.
Our first parents were not more cruelly deceived by the seductive words of the
serpent than the Protestants are this day by the deceitful promises of the
priests and nuns of Rome.
I had been myself the witness of the promise given by our superior to a judge
of the State of New York, when, a few days later that same superior, the Rev.
Mr. Leprohon, said to me: "You know some English, and this young man knows
French enough to enable you to understand each other. Try to become his friend
and to bring him over to our holy religion. His father is a most influential
man in the United States, and that, his only son, is the heir of an immense fortune.
Great results for the future of the Church in the neighbouring republic might
follow his conversion."
I replied: "Have you forgotten the promise you have made to his father,
never to say or do anything to shake or take away the religion of that young man?"
My superior smiled at my simplicity, and said: "When you shall have
studied theology you will know that Protestantism is not a religion, but that
it is the negation of religion. Protesting cannot be the basis of any doctrine.
Thus, when I promised Judge Pike that the religious convictions of his child
should be respected, and that I would not do anything to change his faith, I
promised the easiest thing in the world, since I promised not to meddle with a
thing which has no existence."
Convinced, or rather blinded by the reasoning of my superior, which is the
reasoning of every superior of a college or nunnery, I set myself to work from
that moment to make a good Roman Catholic of that young friend; and I would
probably have succeeded had not a serious illness forced him, a few months
after, to go home, where he died.
Protestants who may read these lines will, perhaps, be indignant against the
deceit and knavery of the superior of the college of Nicolet. But I will say to
those Protestants, It is not on that man, but on yourselves, that you must pour
your contempt. The Rev. Mr. Leprohon was honest. He acted conformably to
principles which he thought good and legitimate, and for which he would have
cheerfully given the last drop of his blood. He sincerely believed that your
Protestantism is a mere negation of all religion, worthy of the contempt of
every true Christian. It was not the priest of Rome who was contemptible,
dishonest and a traitor to his principles, but it was the Protestant who was
false to his Gospel and to his own conscience by having his child educated by
the servants of the Pope. Moreover, can we not truthfully say that the
Protestant who wishes to have his children bred and educated by a Jesuit or a
nun is a man of no religion? and that nothing is more ridiculous than to hear
such a man begging respect for his religious principles! A man's ardent desire
to have his religious convictions respected is best known by his respecting
them himself.
The Protestant who drags his children to the feet of the priests of Rome is
either a disguised infidel or a hypocrite. It is simply ridiculous for such a
man to speak of his religious convictions or beg respect for them. His very
humble position a the feet of a Jesuit or a nun, begging respect for his faith,
is a sure testimony that he has none to lose. If he had any he would not be
there, an humble and abject suppliant. He would take care to be where there
could be no danger to his dear child's immortal soul.
When I was in the Church of Rome, we often spoke of the necessity of making
superhuman efforts to attract young Protestants into our colleges and
nunneries, as the shortest and only means of ruling the world before long. And
as the mother has in her hands, still more than the father, the destinies of
the family and of the world, we were determined to sacrifice everything in
order to build nunneries all over the land, where the young girls, the future
mothers of our country, would be moulded in our hands and educated according to
our views.
Nobody can deny that this is supreme wisdom. Who will not admire the enormous
sacrifices made by Romanists in order to surround the nunneries with so many
attractions that it is difficult to refuse them preference above all other
female scholastic establishments? One feels so well in the shade of these
magnificent trees during the hot days of summer! It is so pleasant to live near
this beautiful sheet of water, or the rapid current of that charming river, or
to have constantly before one's eye the sublime spectacle of the sea! What a
sweet perfume the flowers of that parterre diffuse around that pretty and
peaceful convent! And, besides, who can withstand the almost angelic charms of
the Lady Superior! How it does one good to be in the midst of those holy nuns, whose
modesty, affable appearance and lovely smile present such a beautiful
spectacle, that one would think of being at heaven's gate rather than in a
world of desolation and sin!
O foolish man! Thou art always the same ever ready to be seduced by glittering
appearances ever ready to suppress the voice of thy conscience at the first
view of a deductive object!
One day I had embarked in the boat of a fisherman on the coast of one of those
beautiful islands which the hand of God has placed at the mouth of the Gulf of
St. Lawrence. In a few minutes the white sail, full-blown by the morning
breeze, had carried us nearly a mile from the shore. There we dropped our
anchor, and soon our lines, carried by the current, offered the deceitful bait
to the fishes. But not one would come. One would have thought that the
sprightly inhabitants of these limpid waters had acted in concert to despise
us. In vain did we move our lines to and fro to attract the attention of the
fishes; not one would come! We were tired. We lamented the prospect of losing
our time, and of being laughed at by our friends on the shore who were waiting
the result of our fishing to dine. Nearly one hour was spent in his manner,
when the captain said, "Indeed, I will make the fishes come."
Opening a box, he took out handfuls of little pieces of finely-cut fishes and
threw them broadcast on the water.
I was looking at him with curiosity, and I received with a feeling of unbelief
the promise of seeing, in a few moments, more mackerel than I could pick up.
These particles of fish, falling upon the water, scattered themselves in a
thousand different ways. The rays of the sun, sporting among these numberless
fragments, and thousands of scales, gave them a singular whiteness and
brilliancy. They appeared like a thousand diamonds, full of movement and life,
that sported and rolled themselves, running at each other, while rocking upon
the waves.
As these innumerable little objects withdrew from us they looked like the milky
way in the firmament. The rays of the sun continued to be reflected upon the
scales of the fishes in the water, and to transform them into as many pearls,
whose whiteness and splendor made an agreeable contrast with the deep green
colour of the sea.
While looking at that spectacle, which was so new to me, I felt my line jerked
out of my hands, and soon had the pleasure of seeing a magnificent mackerel
lying at my feet. My companions were as fortunate as I was. The bait so
generously thrown away had perfectly succeeded in bringing us not only
hundreds, but thousands of fishes, and we caught as many of them as the boat
could carry.
The Jesuits and the nuns are the Pope's cleverest fishermen, and the
Protestants are the mackerel caught upon their baited hooks. Never fisherman
knew better to prepare the perfidious bait than the nuns and Jesuits, and never
were stupid fishes more easily caught than Protestants in general.
The priests of Rome themselves boast that more than half of the pupils of the
nuns are the children of Protestants, and that seven-tenths of those Protestant
children, sooner or later, become the firmest disciples and the true pillars of
Popery in the United States. It is with that public and undeniable fact before
them that the Jesuits have prophesied that before twenty-five years the Pope
will rule that great republic; and if there is not a prompt change their
prophecy will probably be accomplished.
"But," say many Protestants, "where can we get safer securities
that the morals of our girls will be sheltered than in those convents? The
faces of those good nuns, their angelic smiles, even their lips, from which
seems to flow a perfume from heaven are not these the unfailing signs that
nothing will taint the hearts of our dear children when they are under the care
of those holy nuns?" Angelic smiles! Lips from which flow a perfume from
heaven! Expressions of peace and holiness of the good nuns! Delusive
allurements! Cruel deceptions! Mockery of comedy! Yes, all these angelic
smiles, all these expressions of joy and happiness, are but allurements to
deceive honest but too trusting men!
I believed myself for a long time that there was something true in all the
display of peace and happiness which I saw reflected in the faces of a good
number of nuns. But how soon my delusions passed away when I read with my own
eyes, in a book of the secret rules of the convent, that one of their rules is
always, especially in the presence of strangers, to have an appearance of joy
and happiness, even when the soul is overwhelmed with grief and sorrow! The
motives given to the nuns, for thus wearing a continual mask, is to secure the
esteem and respect of the people, and to win more securely the young ladies to
the convent!
All know the sad end of life of one of the most celebrated female comedians of
the American Theatre. She had acted her part in the evening with a perfect
success. She appeared so handsome, and so happy on the stage! Her voice was
such a perfect harmony; her singing was so merry and lively with mirth! Two
hours later she was a corpse! She had poisoned herself on leaving the theatre!
For some time her heart was broken with grief which she could not bear.
Thus it is with the nun in her cell! forced to play a sacrilegious comedy to
deceive the world and to bring new recruits to the monastery. And the
Protestants, the disciples of the Gospel, the children of light, suffer
themselves to be deceived by this impious comedy.
The poor nun's heart is often full of sorrow, and her soul is drowned in a sea
of desolation; but she is obliged, under oath, always to appear gay!
Unfortunate victim of the most cruel deception that has ever been invented,
that poor daughter of Eve, deprived of all the happiness that heaven has given,
tortured night and day by honest aspirations which she is told are unpardonable
sins, she has not only to suppress in herself the few buds of happiness which
God has left in her soul; but, what is more cruel, she is forced to appear
happy in anguish of shame and of deception.
Ah! if the Protestants could know, as I do, how much the hearts of those nuns
bleed, how much those poor victims of the Pope feel themselves wounded to
death, how almost every one of them die at an early age, broken-hearted,
instead of speaking of their happiness and holiness, they would weep at their profound
misery. Instead of helping Satan to build up and maintain those sad dungeons by
giving both their gold and their children, they would let them crumble into
dust, and thus check the torrents of silent though bitter tears which those
cells hide from our view.
I was traveling in 1851 over the vast prairies of Illinois in search of a spot
which would suit us the best for the colony which I was about to found. One day
my companions and myself found ourselves so wearied by the heat that we
resolved to wait for the cool night in the shade of a few trees around a brook.
The night was calm; there were no clouds in the sky, and the moon was
beautiful. Like the sailor upon the sea, we had nothing but our compass to
regulate our course on those beautiful and vast prairies. But the pen cannot
express the emotions I felt while looking at that beautiful sky and those
magnificent deserts opened to our view. We often came to sloughs which we
thought deeper than they really were, and of which we would keep the side for
fear of drowning our horses. Many a time did I get down from the carriage and
stop to contemplate the wonders which those ponds presented to our view.
All the splendours of the sky seemed brought down in those pure and limpid
waters. The moon and the stars seemed to have left their places in the
firmament to bathe themselves in those delightful lakelets. All the purest, the
most beautiful things of the heavens seemed to come down to hide themselves in
those tranquil waters as if in search of more peace and purity.
A few days later I was retracing my steps. It was day-time; and, following the
same route, I was longing to get to my charming little lakes. But during the
interval the heat had been great, the sun very hot, and my beautiful sheets of
water had been dried up. My dear little lakes were nowhere to be seen.
And what did I find instead? Innumerable reptiles, with the most hideous forms
and filthy colours! No brilliant start, no clear moon were there any more to
charm my eyes. There was nothing left but thousands of little toads and snakes,
at the sight of which I was filled with disgust and horror!
Protestants! when upon life's way you are tempted to admire the smiling lips
and unstained faces of the Pope's nuns, please think of those charming lakes
which I saw in the prairies of Illinois, and remember the innumerable reptiles
and toads that swarm at the bottom of those deceitful waters.
When, by the light of Divine truth, Protestants see behind these perfect
mockeries by which the nun conceals with so much care the hideous misery which
devours her heart, they will understand the folly of having permitted
themselves to be so easily deceived by appearances. Then they will bitterly
weep for having sacrificed to that modern Paganism the future welfare of their
children, of their families, and of their country!
"But," says one, "the education is so cheap in the
nunnery." I answer, "The education in convents, were it twice cheaper
than it is now, would still cost twice more than it is worth. It is in this
circumstance that we can repeat and apply the old proverb, `Cheap things are
always too highly paid for.'"
In the first place, the intellectual education in the nunnery is completely
null. The great object of the Pope and the nuns is to captivate and destroy the
intelligence.
The moral education is also of no account; for what kind of morality can a
young girl receive from a nun who believes that she can live as she pleases as
long as she likes it that nothing evil can come to her, neither in this life
nor in the next, provided only she is devout to the Virgin Mary?
Let Protestants read the "Glories of Mary," by St. Liguori, a book
which is in the hands of every nun and every priest, and they will understand
what kind of morality is practiced and taught inside the walls of the Church of
Rome. Yes; let them read the history of that lady who was so well represented
at home by the Holy Virgin, that her husband did not perceive that she had been
absent, and they will have some idea of what their children may learn in a
convent.
The word education is a
beautiful word. It comes from the Latin educare, which means to raise up, to
take from the lowest degrees to the highest spheres of knowledge. The object of
education is, then, to feed, expand, raise, enlighten, and strengthen the
intelligence.
We hear the Roman Catholic priests making use of that beautiful word education
as often, in not oftener, than the Protestant. But that word
"education" has a very different meaning among the followers of the
Pope than among the disciples of the Gospel. And that difference, which the
Protestants ignore, is the cause of the strange blunders they make every time
they try to legislate on that question here, as well as in England or in
Canada.
The meaning of the word education among Protestants is as far from the meaning
of that same word among Roman Catholics as the southern pole is from the
northern pole. When a Protestant speaks of education, that word is used and
understood in its true sense. When he sends his little boy to a Protestant
school, he honestly desires that he should be reared up in the spheres of
knowledge as much as his intelligence will allow. When that little boy is going
to school, he soon feels that he has been raised up to some extent, and he
experiences a sincere joy, a noble pride, for this new, though at first very
modest raising; but he naturally understands that this new and modest upheaval
is only a stone to step on and raise himself to a higher degree of knowledge,
and he quickly makes that second step with an unspeakable pleasure. When the
son of a Protestant has acquired a little knowledge, he wants to acquire more.
When he has learned what this means, he wants to know what that means also.
Like the young eagle, he trims his wings for a higher flight, and turns his
head upward to go farther up in the atmosphere of knowledge. A noble and
mysterious ambition has suddenly seized his young soul. Then he begins to feel
something of that unquenchable thirst for knowledge which God Himself has put
in the breast of every child of Adam, a thirst of knowledge, however, which
will never be perfectly realized except in heaven.
The object of education, then, is to enable man to fulfill that kingly mission
of ruling, subduing the world, under the eyes of his Creator.
Let us remember that it is not from himself, nor from any angel, but it is from
God Himself that man has received that sublime mission. Yes, it is God Himself
who has implanted in the bosom of humanity the knowledge and aspirations of those
splendid destinies which can be attained only by "Education."
What a glorious impulse is this that seizes hold of the newly-awakened mind,
and leads the young intelligence to rise higher and pierce the clouds that hide
from his gaze the splendours of knowledge that lay concealed beyond the gloom
of this nether sphere! That impulse is a noble ambition; it is that part of
humanity that assimilates itself to the likeness of the great Creator; that
impulse which education has for its mission to direct in its onward and upward
march, is one of the most precious gifts of God to man. Once more, the glorious
mission of education is to foster these thirstings after knowledge and lead man
to accomplish his high destiny.
It ought to be a duty with both Roman Catholics and Protestants to assist the
pupil in his flight toward the regions of science and learning. But is it so?
No. When you, Protestants, send you children to school, you put no fetters to
their intelligence; they rise with fluttering wings day after day. Though their
flight at first is slow and timid, how happy they feel at every new aspect of
their intellectual horizon! How their hearts beat with an unspeakable joy when
they begin to hear voices of applause and encouragement from every side saying
to them, "Higher, higher, higher!" When they shake their young wings
to take a still higher flight, who can express their joy when they distinctly
hear again the voices of a beloved mother, of a dear father, of a venerable
pastor, cheering them and saying, "Well done! Higher yet, my child,
higher!"
Raising themselves with more confidence on their wings, they then soar still
higher, in the midst of the unanimous concert of the voices of their whole
country encouraging them to the highest flight. It is then that the young man
feels his intellectual strength tenfold multiplied. He lifts himself on his
eagle wings, with a renewed confidence and power, and soars up still higher,
with his heart beating with a noble and holy joy. For from the south and north,
from the east and west, the echoes bring to his ears the voices of the admiring
multitudes "Rise higher, higher yet!"
He has now reached what he thought, at first, to be the highest regions of
thought and knowledge: but he hears again the same stimulating cries from
below, encouraging him to a still higher flight toward the loftiest dominion of
knowledge and philosophy, till he enters the regions where lies the source of
all truth, and light, and life. For he had also heard the voice of his God
speaking through His Son Jesus Christ, crying, "Come unto Me! Fear Not!
Come unto Me! I am the light, the way! Come to this higher region where the
Father, with the Son and the Spirit, reign in endless light!"
Thus does the Protestant scholar, making use of his intelligence as the eagle
of his wing, go on from weakness unto strength, from the timid flutter to the
bold confident flight, from one degree to another still higher, from one region
of knowledge to another still higher, till he loses himself in that ocean of
light and truth and life which is God.
In the Protestant schools no fetters are put on the young eagle's wings; there
is nothing to stop him in his progress, or paralyze his movements and upward
flights. It is the contrary: he receives every kind of encouragement in his
flight.
Thus it is that the only truly great nations in the world are Protestants! Thus
it is the truly powerful nations in the world are Protestants! Thus it is that
the only free nations in the world are Protestants! The Protestant nations are
the only ones that acquit themselves like men in the arena of this world;
Protestant nations only march as giants at the head of the civilized world.
Everywhere they are the advanced guard in the ranks of progress, science and
liberty, leaving far behind the unfortunate nations whose hands are tied by the
ignominious iron chains of Popery.
After we have seen the Protestant scholar raising himself, on his eagle wings,
to the highest spheres of intelligence, happiness, and light, and marching
unimpeded toward his splendid destinies, let us turn our eyes toward the Roman
Catholic student, and let us consider and pity him in the supreme degradation
to which he is subjected.
That young Roman Catholic scholar is born with the same bright intelligence as
the Protestant one; he is endowed by his Creator with the same powers of mind
as his Protestant meighbour; he has the same impulses, the same noble
aspirations implanted by the hand of God in his breast. He is sent to school
apparently, like the Protestant boy, to receive what is called
"Education." He at first understands that word in its true sense; he
goes to school in the hope of being raised, elevated as high as his
intelligence and his person efforts will allow. His heart beats with joy, when
at once the first rays of light and knowledge come to him; he feels a holy, a
noble pride at every new step he makes in his upward progress; he longs to
learn more, he wants to rise higher; he also takes up his wings, like the young
eagle, and soars up higher.
But here begin the disappointments and tribulations of the Roman Catholic
student; for he is allowed to raise himself yes, but when he has raised himself
high enough to be on a level with the big toes of the Pope he hears piercing,
angry, threatening cries coming from every side "Stop! stop! Do not rise
yourself higher than the toes of the Holy Pope!....Kiss those holy toes,....and
stop your upward flight! Remember that the Pope is the only source of science,
knowledge, and truth!....The knowledge of the Pope is the ultimate limit of
learning and light to which humanity can attain....You are not allowed to know
and believe what his Holiness does not know and believe. Stop! stop! Do not go
an inch higher than the intellectual horizon of the Supreme Pontiff of Rome, in
whom only is the plenitude of the true science which will save the world."
Some will perhaps answer me here: "Has not Rome produced great men in
every department of science?" I answer, Yes; as I have once done before.
Rome can show us a long list of names which shine among the brightest lights of
the firmament of science and philosophy. She can show us her Copernicus, her
Galileos, her Pascals, her Bossuets, her Lamenais, ect., ect. But it is at
their risk and peril that those giants of intelligence have raised themselves
into the highest regions of philosophy and science. It is in spite of Rome that
those eagles have soared up above the damp and obscure horizon where the Pope
offers his big toes to be kissed and worshipped as the ne plus ultra of human intelligence;
and they have invariably been punished for their boldness.
On the 22 of June, 1663, Galileo was obliged to fall on his knees in order to
escape the cruel death to which he was to be condemned by the order of the
Pope; and he signed with his own hand the following retraction: "I abjure,
curse, and detest the error and heresy of the motion of the earth," ect.,
ect.
That learned man had to degrade himself by swearing a most egregious lie,
namely, that the earth does not move around the sun. Thus it is that the wings
of that giant eagle of Rome were clipped by the scissors of the Pope. That
mighty intelligence was bruised, fettered, and, as much as it was possible to
the Church of Rome, degraded, silenced, and killed. But God would not allow
that such a giant intellect should be entirely strangled by the bloody hands of
that implacable enemy of light and truth the Pope. Sufficient strength and life
had remained in Galileo to enable him to say, when rising up, "This will
not prevent the earth from moving!"
The infallible decree of the infallible Pope, Urban VIII, against the motion of
the earth is signed by the Cardinals Felia, Guido, Desiderio, Antonio,
Bellingero, and Fabriccioi. It says: "In the name and by the authority of
Jesus Christ, the plenitude of which resides in His Vicar, the Pope, that the
proposition that the earth is not the centre of the world, and that it moves
with a diurnal motion is absurd, philosophically false, and erroneous in
faith."
What a glorious thing for the Pope of Rome to be infallible! He infallibly
knows that the earth does not move around the sun! And what a blessed thing for
the Roman Catholics to be governed and taught by such an infallible being. In
consequence of that infallible decree, you will admire the following act of
human submission of two celebrated Jesuit astronomers, Lesueur and Jacquier:
"Newton assumes in his third book the hypothesis of the earth moving
around the sun. The proposition of that author could not be explained, except
through the same hypothesis: we have, therefore, been forced to act a character
not our own. But we declare our entire submission to the decrees of the Supreme
Pontiffs of Rome against the motion of the earth." (Newton's
"Principia," vol. iii., p.450.)
Here you see two learned Jesuits, who have written a very able work to prove
that the earth moves around the sun; but, trembling at the thunders of the
Vatican, which are roaring on their heads and threaten to kill them, they
submit to the decrees of the Popes of Rome against the motion of the earth.
These two learned Jesuits tell a most contemptible and ridiculous lie to save
themselves from the implacable wrath of that great light-extinguisher whose
throne is in the city of the seven hills.
Had the Newtons, the Franklins, the Fultons, the Morses been Romanists, their
names would have been lost in the obscurity which is the natural heritage of
the abject slaves of the Popes. Being told from their infancy that no one had
any right to make use of his "private judgment," intelligence and
conscience in the research of truth, they would have remained mute and
motionless at the feet of the modern and terrible god of Rome, the Pope. But
they were Protestants! In that great and glorious word "Protestant"
is the secret of the marvelous discoveries with which they had read a book
which told them that they were created in the image of God, and that that great
God had sent His eternal Son Jesus to make them free from the bondage of man.
They had read in that Protestant book (for the Bible is the most Protestant
book in the world) that man had not only a conscience, but an intelligence to
guide him; they had learned that that intelligence and conscience had no other
master but God, no other guide but God, no other light but God. On the walls of
their Protestant schools the Son of God had written the marvelous words:
"Come unto Me; I am the Light, the Way, the Life."
But when the Protestant nations are marching with such giant strides to the
conquest of the world, why is it that the Roman Catholic nations not only
remain stationary, but give evidence of a decadence which is, day after day,
more and more appalling and remediless? Go to their schools and give a moment
of attention to the principles which are sown in the young intelligences of their
unfortunate slaves, and you will have the key to tat sad mystery.
What is not only the first, but the daily school lesson taught to the Roman
Catholic? Is it not that one of the greatest crimes which a man can commit is
to follow his "private judgment?" which means that he has eyes, but
cannot see; ears, but he cannot hear; and intelligence, but he cannot make use
of it in the research of truth and light and knowledge, without danger of being
eternally damned. His superiors which mean the priest and the Pope must see for
him, hear for him, and think for him. Yes, the Roman Catholic is constantly
told in his school that the most unpardonable and damnable crime is to make use
of his own intelligence and follow his own private judgment in the research of
truth. He is constantly reminded that man's own private judgment is his
greatest enemy. Hence all his intellectual and conscientious efforts must be
brought to fight down, silence, kill his "private judgment." It is by
the judgment of his superiors the priest, the bishop and the pope that he must
be guided in everything.
Now, what is a man who cannot make use of his "private personal
judgment?" Is he not a slave, an idiot, an ass? And what is a nation
composed of men who do not make use of their private personal judgment in the
research of truth and happiness, if not a nation of brutes, slaves and
contemptible idiots?
But as this will look like an exaggeration on my part, allow me to force the
Church of Rome to come here and speak for herself. Please pay attention to what
she has to say about the intellectual faculties of men. Here are the very words
of the so-called Saint Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Society:-
"As for holy obedience, this virtue must be perfect in every point in
execution, in will, in intellect; doing which is enjoined with all celerity,
spiritual joy and perseverance; persuading ourselves that everything is just,
suppressing every repugnant thought and judgment of one's own in a certain
obedience; and let every one persuade himself, that he who lives under
obedience should be moved and directed, under Divine Providence, by his
superior, just as if he were a corpse (perinde asi cadaver esset) which allows
itself to be moved and led in every direction."
Some one will, perhaps, ask me what can be the object of the popes and the
priests of Rome in degrading the Roman Catholics in such a strange way that
they turn them into moral corpses? Why not let them live? The answer is a very
easy one. The great, the only object of the thoughts and workings of the Pope
and the priests is to raise themselves above the rest of the world. They want
to be high! high above the heads not only of the common people, but of the
kings and emperors of the world. They want to be not only as high, but higher than
God. It is when speaking of the Pope that the Holy Ghost says: "He
opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called God, shewing himself that
he is God." (2 Thess. ii.4). To attain their object, the priests have
persuaded their millions and millions of slaves that they were mere corpses;
that they must have no will, no conscience, no intelligence of their own, just
"as corpses which allow themselves to be moved and led in any way, without
any resistance." When this has been once gained, they have made a pyramid
of all those motionless, inert corpses which is so high, that though its feet
are on the earth, its top goes to the skies, in the very abode of the old
divinities of the Pagan world, and putting themselves and their popes at the
top of that marvelous pyramid, the priests say to the rest of the world:
"Who among you are as high as we are? Who has ever been raised by God as a
priest and a pope? Where are the kings and the emperors whose thrones are as
elevated as ours? Are we not at the very top of humanity?" Yes! yes! I
answer to the priests of Rome, you are high, very high indeed! No throne on
earth has ever been so sublime, so exalted as yours. Since the days of the
tower of Babel, the world has not seen such a huge fabric. Your throne is higher
than anything we know. But it is a throne of corpses!!!
And if you want to know what other use is made of those millions and millions
of corpses, I will tell it to you. There is no manure so rich as dead
carcasses. Those millions of corpses serve to manure the gardens of the
priests, the bishops and the popes, and make their cabbages grow. And what fine
cabbages grow in the Pope's garden!
But that you may better understand the degrading tendencies of the principles
which are as the fundamental stone of the moral and intellectual education of
Rome, let me put before your eyes another extract of the Jesuit teachings,
which I take again from the "Spiritual Exercises," as laid down by
their founder, Ignatius Loyola: "That we may in all things attain the truth,
that we may not err in anything, we ought ever to hold as a fixed principle
that what I see white I believe to be black, if the superior authorities of the
Church define it to be so."
You all know that it is the avowed desire of Rome to have public education in
the hands of the Jesuits. She says everywhere that they are the best, the model
teachers. Why so?
Because they more boldly and more successfully than any other of her teachers
aim at the destruction of the intelligence and conscience of their pupils. Rome
proclaims everywhere that the Jesuits are the most devoted, the most reliable
of her teachers; and she is right, for when a man has been trained a sufficient
time by them, the most perfectly becomes a moral corpse. His superiors can do
what they please with him. When he knows that a thing is white as snow, he is
ready to swear that it is black as ink if his superior tells him so. But some
may be tempted to think of these degrading principles are exclusively taught by
the Jesuits; that they are not the teachings of the Church, and that I do an
injustice to the Roman Catholics when I give, as a general iniquity, what is
the guilt of the Jesuits only. Listen to the words of that infallible Pope
Gregory XVI., in his celebrated Encyclical of the 15th of August, 1832:"If
the holy Church so requires, let us sacrifice our own opinions, our knowledge,
our intelligence, the splendid dreams of our imagination, and the most sublime
attainments of the human understanding."
It is when considering those anti-social principles of Rome that Mr. Gladstone
wrote, not long ago: "No more cunning plot was ever devised against the
freedom, the happiness and the virtue of mankind than Romanism."
("Letter to Earl Aberdeen.") Now, Protestants, do you begin to see
the difference of the object of education between a Protestant and a Roman
Catholic school? Do you begin to understand that there is as great a distance
between the word "Education" among you, and the meaning of the same
word in the Church of Rome, than between the southern and the northern poles!
By education you mean to raise man to the highest sphere of manhood. Rome means
to lower him below the most stupid brutes. By education you mean to teach man
that he is a free agent, that liberty within the limits of the laws of God and
of his country is a gift secured to every one; you want to impress every man
with the noble thought that it is better to die a free man than to live a
slave. Rome wants to teach that there is only one man who is free, the Pope,
and that all the rest are born to be his abject slaves in thought, will and
action.
Now, that you may still more understand to what a bottomless abyss of human
degradation and moral depravity these anti-Christian and antisocial principles
of Rome lead her poor blind slaves, read what Liguori says in his book
"The Nun Sanctified": "The principal and most efficacious means
of practicing obedience due to superiors, and of rendering it meritorious
before God, is to consider that in obeying them we obey God Himself, and that
by despising their commands we despise the authority of our Divine Master.
When, thus, a religious receives a precept from her prelate, superior or
confessor, she should immediately execute it, not only to please them but
principally to please God, whose will is made known to her by their command. In
obeying their command, in obeying their directions, she is more certainly
obeying the will of God than if an angel came down from heaven to manifest His
will to her. Bear this always in your mind, that the obedience which you
practice to your superior is paid to God. If, then, you receive a command from
one who holds the place of God, you should observe it with the same diligence
as if it came from God Himself. Blessed Egidus used to say that it is more meritorious
to obey man for the love of God than God Himself. It may be added that there is
more certainty of doing the will of God by obedience to our superior than by
obedience to Jesus Christ, should He appear in person and give His commands.
St. Phillip de Neri used to say that religious shall be most certain of not
having to render an account of the actions performed through obedience; for
these the superiors only who commanded them shall be held accountable."
The Lord said once to St. Catherine of Sienne, "Religious will not be
obliged to render an account to me of what they do through obedience; for that
I will demand an account from the superior. This doctrine is conformable to
Sacred Scripture: `Behold, says the Lord, as clay is in the potter's hand, so are
you in My hands, O Israel!' (Jeremiah xviii. 6.) A religious man must be in the
hands of the superiors to be moulded as they will. Shall the clay say to Him
that fashioneth it, What art Thou making? The Potter ought to answer `Be
silent; it is not your business to inquire what I do, but to obey and to
receive whatever form I please to give you.'"
I ask you, American Protestants, what would become of your fair country if you
were blind enough to allow the Church of Rome to teach the children of the United
States? What kind of men and women can come out of such schools? What future of
shame, degradation, and slavery you prepare for your country if Rome does
succeed in forcing you to support such schools? What kind of women would come
out from the schools of nuns who would teach them that the highest pitch of
perfection in a woman is when she obeys her superior, the priest, in everything
he commands her! that your daughter will never be called to give an account to
God for the actions she will have done to please and obey her superior, the
priest, the bishop, or the Pope? That the affairs of her conscience will be
arranged between God and that superior, and that she will never be asked why
she had done this or that, when it will be to gratify the pleasures of the
superior and obey his command that she has done it. Again, what kind of men and
citizens will come out from the schools of those Jesuits who believe and teach
that a man has attained the perfection of manhood only when he is a perfect
spiritual corpse before his superior; when he obeys the priest with the
perfection of a cadaver, that has neither life nor will in itself.
Talleyrand, one of the most
celebrated Roman Catholic bishops of France, once said, "Language is the
art of concealing one's thoughts." Never was there a truer expression, if
it had reference to the awful deceptions practiced by the Church of Rome under
the pompous name of "Theological studies."
Theology is the study of the knowledge of the laws of God. Nothing, then, is
more noble than the study of theology. How solemn were my thoughts and elevated
my aspirations when, in 1829, under the guidance of the Rev. Messrs. Rimbault
and Leprohon, I commenced my theological coarse of study at Nicolet, which I
was to end in 1833!
I supposed that my books of theology were to bring me nearer to my God by the
more perfect knowledge I would acquire, in their study, of His holy will and
His sacred laws. My hope was that they would be to my heart what the burning
coal, brought by the angel of the Lord, was to the lips of the prophet of old.
The principal theologians which we had in our hands were "Les Conferences
d'Anger," Bailly, Dens, St. Thomas, but above all Liguori, who has since
been canonized. Never did I open one without offering up a fervent prayer to
God and to the Virgin Mary for the light and grace of which I would be in need
for myself and for the people whose pastor I was to become.
But how shall I relate my surprise when I discovered that, in order to accept
the principles of the theologians which my Church gave me for guides I had to
put away all principles of truth, of justice, of honour and holiness! What long
and painful efforts it cost me to extinguish, one by one, the lights of truth
and of reason kindled by the hand of my merciful God in my intelligence. For to
study theology in the Church of Rome signifies to learn to speak falsely, to
deceive, to commit robbery, to perjure one's self! It means how to commit sins
without shame, it means to plunge the soul into every kind of iniquity and
turpitude without remorse!
I know that Roman Catholics will bravely and squarely deny what I now say. I am
aware also that a great many Protestants, too easily deceived by the fine
whitewashing of the exterior walls of Rome, will refuse to believe me.
Nevertheless they may rest assured it is true, and my proof will be
irrefutable. The truth may be denied by many, but my witnesses cannot be
contradicted by any one. My witnesses are even infallible. They are none other
than the Roman Catholic theologians themselves, approved by infallible Popes!
These very men who corrupted my heart, perverted my intelligence and poisoned
my soul, as they have done with each and every priest of their Church, will be
my witnesses, my only witnesses. I will just now forcibly bring them before the
world to testify against themselves!
Liguori, in his treatise on oaths, Question 4, asks if it is allowable to use
ambiguity, or equivocal words, to deceive the judge when under oath, and at no.
151 he answers: "These things being established, it is a certain and
common opinion amongst all divines that for a just cause it is lawful to use
equivocation in the propounded modes, and to confirm it (equivocation) with an
oath.... Now a just cause is any honest end in order to preserve good things
for the spirit, or useful things for the body."*
"The accused, or a witness not properly interrogated, can sear that he
does not know a crime, which in reality he does know, by understanding that he
does not know the crime, concerning which he can be legitimately enquired of,
or that he does not know it so as to give evidence concerning it."**
When the crime is very secret and unknown to all, Liguori says the culprit or
the witness must deny it under oath. "The same is true, if a witness on
another ground is not bound to depose; for instance, if the crime appear to
himself to be free from blame. Or if he knew a crime which he is bound to keep
secret, when no scandal may have gone abroad." ***
"Make an exception in a trial where the crime is altogether concealed. For
then he can, yea, the witness is bound to say that the accused did not commit
the crime. And the same course the accused can adopt, if the proof be not
complete, ect., because then the judge does not legitimately interrogate."****
Liguori asks himself, "Whether the accused legitimately interrogated, can
deny a crime, even with an oath, if the confession of the crime would be
attended with great disadvantage." The saint replies:"Elbel, ect.,
denies that he can, and indeed more probably because the accused is then bound
for the general good to undergo the loss. But sufficiently probable Lugo, ect.,
with many others, say, that the accused, if in danger of death, or of prison,
or of perpetual exile, the loss of property, the danger of the galleys, and
such like, can deny the crime even with an oath (at least without great sin) by
understanding that he did not commit it so that he is bound to confess it, only
let there be a hope of avoiding the punishment." *
"He who hath sworn that he would keep a secret, does not sin against the
oath by revealing that secret when he cannot conceal it without great loss to
himself, or to another, because the promise of secrecy does not appear to bind,
unless under this condition, if it does not injure me."
"He who hath sworn to a judge that he would speak what he knew, is not
bound to reveal concealed things. The reason is manifest." **
Liguori says whether a woman, accused of the crime of adultery, which she has
really committed, may deny it under oath? He answers: "She is able to
assert equivocally that she did not break the bond of matrimony, which truly
remains. And if sacramentally she confessed adultery, she can answer, `I am
innocent of this crime,' because by confession it was taken away. So Card, who,
however, here remarks that she cannot affirm it with an oath, because in
asserting anything the probability of a deed suffices, but in swearing
certainty is required. To this it is replied that in swearing moral certainty
suffices, as we said above. Which moral certainty of the remission of sin can
indeed be had, when any, morally well disposed, receives the sacrament of
penance."***
Liguori maintains that one may commit a minor crime in order to avoid a greater
crime. He says, "Hence Sanchez teaches, ect., that it is lawful to
persuade a man, determined to slay some one, that he should commit theft or
fornication." *
"Whether is it lawful for a servant to open the door for a harlot? Croix
denies it, but more commonly Bus. ect., with others answer that it is
lawful."
"Whether from fear of death, or of great loss, it may be lawful for a
servant to stoop his shoulders, or to bring a ladder for his master ascending
to commit fornication, to force open the door, and such like? Viva, ect., deny
it, and others, because, as they say, such actions are never lawful, inasmuch
as they are intrinsically evil. But Busemb, ect., speak the contrary, whose
opinion, approved of by reason, appears to me the more probable."**
"But the salmanticenses say that a servant can, according to his own
judgment, compensate himself for his labour, if he without doubt judge that he
was deserving of a larger stipend. Which indeed appears sufficiently probable
to me, and to other more modern learned men, if the servant, or any other hired
person, be prudent, and capable of forming a correct judgment, and be certain
concerning the justice of the compensation, all danger of mistake being
removed." ***
"A poor man, absconding with goods for his support, can answer the judge
that he has nothing. In like manner an heir who has concealed his goods without
an inventory, if he is not bound to settle with his creditors from them, can
say to a judge that he has not concealed anything in his own mind meaning those
goods with which he is bound to satisfy his creditors." *
Liguori, in Dubium II., considers what may be the quantity of stolen property
necessary to constitute mortal sin. He says:-
"There are various opinions concerning this matter. Navar too scrupulously
has fixed the half of regalem, others with too great laxity have fixed ten
aureos. Tol., ect., moderately have fixed two regales, although less might
suffice, if it would be a serious loss."**
"Whether it be mortal sin to steal a small piece of a relic? There is no doubt
but that in the district of Rome it is a mortal sin, since Clement VIII. and
Paul V. have issued an excommunication against those who, the rectors of the
churches being unwilling, steal some small relic: otherwise Croix probably
says, ect., if any one should steal any small thing out of the district [of
Rome], not deforming the relic itself nor diminishing its estimation; unless it
may be some rare or remarkable relic, as for example, the holy cross, the hair
of the Blessed Virgin, ect." ***
"If any one on an occasion should steal only a moderate sum either from
one or more, not intending to acquire any notable sum, neither to injure his
neighbour to a great extent by several thefts, he does not sin grievously, nor
do these, taken together, constitute a mortal sin; however, after it may have
amounted to a notable sum, by detaining it, he can commit mortal sin. But even
this mortal sin may be avoided, if either then he be unable to restore, or have
the intention of making restitution immediately, of those things which he then
received."****
"This opinion of Bus. is most probable, viz., if many persons steal small
quantities, that none of them commit grievous sin, although they may be
mutually aware of their conduct, unless they do it by concert: also Habert,
ect., hold this view; and this, although each should steal at the same time.
The reason is, because then no one person is the cause of injury, which, per
accidens, happens by the others to the master." *
Liguori, speaking of children who steal from their parents, says:"Salas,
ect., say that a son does not commit grievous sin, who steals 20 or 30 aurei
from a father possessing yearly 1500 aureos, and Lugo does not disprove of it.
If the father be not tenacious, and the son have grown up and receive it for
honest purposes. Less, ect., say that a son stealing two or three aureos from a
rich father does not sin grievously; Bannez says that fifty aureos are required
to constitute a grievous sin who steals from a rich father; but this opinion,
Lug, ect., reject, unless perchance he is the son of a prince; in which case
Holzm. consents."**
The theologians of Rome assure us that we may, and even that we must, conceal
and disguise our faith.
"Notwithstanding, indeed although it is not lawful to lie, or to feign
what is not, nevertheless it is lawful to dissemble what is, or to cover the
truth with words, or other ambiguous and doubtful signs for a just cause, and
when there is not a necessity of confessing. It is the common opinion."***
"Whence, if thus he may be able to deliver himself from a troublesome
investigation, it is lawful (as Kon has it), for generally it is not true that
he who is interrogated by public authority is publicly bound to profess the
faith, unless when that is necessary, lest he may appear to those present to
deny the faith."****
"When you are not asked concerning the faith, not only is it lawful, but
often more conducive to the glory of God and the utility of your neighbour to
cover the faith than to confess it; for example, if concealed among heretics
you may accomplish a greater amount of good; or if, from the confession of the
faith more of evil would follow for example, great trouble, death, the
hostility of a tyrant, the peril of defection, if you should be tortured.
Whence it is often rash to offer one's self willingly." * The Pope has the
right to release from all oaths.
"As for an oath made for a good and legitimate object, it seems that there
should be no power capable of annulling it. However, when it is for the good of
the public, a matter which comes under the immediate jurisdiction of the Pope,
who has the supreme power over the Church, the Pope has full power to release
from that oath." (St. Thomas, Quest. 89, art. 9, vol. iv.)
The Roman Catholics have not only the right, but it is their duty to kill
heretics.
"Excommunicatus privatur omni civili communicatione fidelium, ita ut ipsi
non possit cum aliis, et si non sit toleratus, etiam aliis cum ipso non possint
communicare; idque in casibus hoc versu comprehensis, Os, orare, communio,
mensa negatur."
Translated: "Any man excommunicated is deprived of all civil communication
with the faithful, in such a way that if he is not tolerated they can have no
communication with him, as it is in the following verse, `It is forbidden to
kiss him, pray with him, salute him, to eat or to do any business with
him.'" (St. Liguori, vol. ix., page 62.)
"Quanquam heretici tolerandi non sunt ipso illorum demerito, usque tamen
ad secundam correptionem expectandi sunt, ut ad sanam redeant ecclesiae fidem;
qui vero post secundam correptionem in suo errore obstinati permanent, non modo
excommunicationis sententia, sed etiam saecularibus principibus exterminandi
tradendi sunt."
Translated: "Though heretics must not be tolerated because they deserve
it, we must bear with them till, by a second admonition, they may be brought
back to the faith of the Church. But those who, after a second admonition,
remain obstinate in their errors must not only be excommunicated, but they must
be delivered to the secular powers to be exterminated."
"Quanquam heretici revertentes, semper recipiendi sint ad poenitentiam
quoties cujque relapsi furint; non tamen semper sunt recipiendi et restituendi
ad bonorum hujus vitae participation nem...recipiuntur ad poenitentiam...non
tamen ut liberentur a sententia mortis."
Translated: "Though the heretics who repent must always be accepted to
penance, as often as they have fallen, they must not in consequence of that
always be permitted to enjoy the benefits of this life. When they fall again
they are admitted to repent. But the sentence of death must not be
removed." (St. Thomas, vol. iv., page 91.)
"Quum quis per sententiam denuntiatur propter apostasiam excommunicatus,
ipso facto, ejus subditi a dominio et juramento fidelitatis ejus liberati
sunt."
"When a man is excommunicated for his apostasy, it follows from that very
fact that all those who are his subjects are released from the oath of
allegiance by which they were bound to obey him." (St. Thomas, vol. iv.,
page 91.)
Every heretic and Protestant is condemned to death, and every oath of
allegiance to a government which is Protestant or heretic is abrogated by the
Council of Lateran, held in A.d. 1215. Here is the solemn decree and sentence
of death, which has never been repealed, and which is still in force:
"We excommunicate and anathematize every heresy that exalts itself against
the holy, orthodox and Catholic faith, condemning all heretics, by whatever
name they may be known; for though their faces differ, they are tied together
by their tails. Such as are condemned are to be delivered over to the existing
secular powers, to receive due punishment. If laymen, their goods must be
confiscated. If priests, they shall be first degraded from their respective
orders, and their property applied to the use of the church in which they have
officiated. Secular powers of all ranks and degrees are to be warned, induced,
and, if necessary, compelled by ecclesiastical censure, to swear that they will
exert themselves to the utmost in the defense of the faith, and extirpate all
heretics denounced by the Church who shall be found in their territories. And
whenever any person shall assume government, whether it be spiritual or
temporal, he shall be bound to abide by this decree.
"If any temporal lord, after being admonished and required by the Church,
shall neglect to clear his territory of heretical depravity, the metropolitan
and the bishops of the province shall unite in excommunicating him. Should he
remain contumacious for a whole year, the fact shall be signified to the
Supreme Pontiff, who will declare his vassals released from their allegiance
from that time, and will bestow the territory on Catholics to be occupied by
them, on the condition of exterminating the heretics and preserving the said
territory in the faith.
"Catholics who shall assume the cross for the extermination of heretics
shall enjoy the same indulgences and be protected by the same privileges as are
granted to those who go to the help of the Holy Land. We decree, further, that
all who may have dealings with heretics, and especially such as receive,
defend, or encourage them, shall be excommunicated. He shall not be eligible to
any public office. He shall not be admitted as a witness. He shall neither have
the power to bequeath his property by will, nor to succeed to any inheritance.
He shall not bring any action against any person, but anyone can bring an
action against him. Should he be a judge, his decision shall have no force, nor
shall any cause be brought before him. Should he be an advocate, he shall not
be allowed to plead. Should he be a lawyer, no instruments made by him shall be
held valid, but shall be condemned with their author."
But why let my memory and my thoughts linger any longer in these frightful
paths, where murderers, liars, perjurers and thieves are assured by the
theologians of the Church of Rome that they can lie, steal, murder and perjure
themselves as much as they like, without offending God, provided they commit
those crimes according to certain rules approved by the Pope for the good of
the Church!
I should have to write several large volumes were I to quote all the Roman
Catholic doctors and theologians who approve of lying, of perjury, of adultery,
theft and murder, for the greatest glory of God and the good of the Roman
Church! But I have quoted enough for those who have eyes to see and ears to
hear.
With such principles, is it a wonder that all the Roman Catholic nations,
without a single exception, have declined so rapidly?
The great Legislator of the World, the only Saviour of nations, has said:
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of God."
A nation can be great and strong only according to the truths which form the
basis of her faith and life. "Truth" is the only bread which God
gives to the nations that they may prosper and live. Deceitfulness, duplicity,
perjury, adultery, theft, murder, are the deadly poisons which kill the
nations.
Then, the more the priests of Rome, with their theology, are venerated and
believed by the people, the sooner that people will decay and fall. "The
more priests the more crimes," a profound thinker has said; for then the
more hands will be at work to pull down the only sure foundations of society.
How can any man be sure of the honesty of his wife as long as a hundred
thousand priests tell her that she may commit any sin with her neighbour in
order to prevent him from doing something worse? or when she is assured that,
though guilty of adultery, she can swear that she is pure as an angel!
What will it avail to teach the best principles of honour, decency and holiness
to a young girl, when she is bound to go many times a year to a bachelor
priest, who is bound in conscience to give her the most infamous lessons of
depravity under the pretext of helping her to confess all her sins?
How will the rights of justice be secured, and how can the judges and the
juries protect the innocent and punish the guilty, so long as the witnesses are
told by one hundred thousand priests that they can conceal the truth, give
equivocal answers, and even perjure themselves under a thousand pretexts?
What government, either monarchical or republican, can be sure of a lease of
existence? how can they make their people walk with a firm step in the ways of
light, progress, and liberty, as long as there is a dark power over them which
has the right, at every hour of the day or night, to break and dissolve all the
most sacred oaths of allegiance?
Armed with his theology, the priest of Rome has become the most dangerous and
determined enemy of truth, justice, and liberty. He is the most formidable
obstacle to every good Government, as he is, without being aware of it, the
greatest enemy of God and man.
Were I to write all the
ingenious tricks, pious lies, shameful stories called miracles, and
sacrilegious perversions of the Word of God made use of by superiors of
seminaries and nunneries to entice poor victims into the trap of perpetual
celibacy, I should have to write ten large volumes, instead of a short chapter.
Sometimes the trials and obligations of married life are so exaggerated that
they may frighten the strongest heart. At other times the joys, peace and
privileges of celibacy are depicted with such brilliant colours that they fill
the coldest mind with enthusiasm.
The Pope takes his victim to the top of a high mountain, and there shows him
all the honours, praise, wealth, peace and joys of this world, united to the
most glorious throne of heaven, and then tells him: "I will give you all
those things if you fall at my feet, promise me an absolute submission, and
swear never to marry in order to serve me better."
Who can refuse such glorious things? But before entirely shutting their eyes,
so that they may not see the bottomless abyss into which they are to fall, the
unfortunate victims sometimes have forebodings and presentiments of the
terrible miseries which are in store for them. The voice of their conscience,
intelligence and common sense has not always been so fully silenced as the
superior desired.
At the very time when the tempter is whispering his lying promises into their
ears, their Heavenly Father is speaking to them of the ceaseless trials, the
shameful falls, the tedious days, the dreary nights, and the cruel and
insufferable burdens which are concealed behind the walls where the sweet yoke
of the good Master is exchanged for the burdens of heartless men and women.
As formerly, the human victims crowned with flowers, when dragged to the foot
of the altar of their false gods, often cried out with alarm and struggled to
escape from the bloody knife of the heathen priest, so at the approach of the
fatal hour at which the impious vow is to be made, the young victims often feel
their hearts fainting and filled with terror. With pale cheeks, trembling lips
and cold-dropping sweat they ask their superiors, "Is it possible that our
merciful God requires of us such a sacrifice?"
Oh! how the merciless priest of Rome then becomes eloquent in depicting celibacy
as the only way to heaven, or in showing the eternal fires of hell ready to
receive cowards and traitors who, after having put their hand to the plough of
celibacy, look back! He speaks of the disappointment and sadness of so many
dear friends, who expected better things of them. He points out to them their
own shame when they will again be in a world which will have nothing for them
but sneers for their want of perseverance and courage. He overwhelms them with
a thousand pious lies about the miracles wrought by Christ in favour of his
virgins and priests. He bewitches them by numerous texts of Scripture, which he
brings as evident proof of the will of God in favour of their taking the vows
of celibacy, though they have not the slightest reference to such vows.
The text of which the strangest abuses are made by the superiors to persuade
the young people of both sexes to bind themselves by those shameful vows is
Matthew xix. 12, 13, "For there are eunuchs which were born from their
mother's womb; and there are some eunuchs which were made eunuchs of men; and
there are eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of
heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it."
Upon one occasion our superior made a very pressing appeal to our religious
feelings from this text, to induce us to make the vow of celibacy and become
priests. But the address, though delivered with a great deal of zeal, seemed to
us deficient in logic.
The next day was a day of rest (conge). The students in theology who were
preparing themselves for the priesthood, with me, talked seriously of the
singular arguments of the last address. It seemed to them that the conclusions
could not in any way be drawn from the selected text, and therefore determined
to respectfully present their objections and their views, which were also mine,
to the superior; and I was chosen to speak for them all.
At the next conference, after respectfully asking and obtaining permission to
express our objections with our own frank and plain sentiments, I spoke about
as follows:
"Dear and venerable sir: You told us that the following words of Christ,
`There be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of
heaven's sake,' show us evidently that we must make the vow of celibacy and
make ourselves eunuchs if we want to become priests. Allow us to tell you
respectfully, that it seems to us that the mind of our Saviour was very
different from yours when He pronounced these words. In our humble opinion, the
only object of the Son of God was to warn His disciples against one of the most
damnable errors which were to endanger the very existence of nations. He was
foretelling that there would be men so wicked and blind as to preach that the
best way for men to go to heaven would be to make eunuchs of themselves. Allow
us to draw your attention to the fact that in that speech Jesus Christ neither
approves or disapproves of the idea of gaining a throne in heaven by becoming
eunuchs. He leaves us to our common sense and to some clearer parts of
Scripture to see whether or not He approves of those who would make eunuchs of
themselves to gain a crown in heaven. Must we not interpret this text as we
interpret what Jesus said to His apostles, `The time cometh that whosoever
killeth you will think that he doeth God service' (John xvi. 1,2).
Allow us to put these two texts fact to face:
"'There are eunuchs which have "'The time cometh that whosoever made
themselves eunuchs for the killeth you will think that he kingdom of heaven's
sake' doeth God service' (Matt. xix. 12,13.) (John xvi. l,2).
"Because our Saviour has said that there would be men who would think that
they would please God (and of course gain a place in heaven) by killing His
disciples, are we, therefore, allowed to conclude that it would be our duty to
kill those who believe and follow Christ? Surely not!
"Well, it seems to us that we are not to believe that the best way to go
to heaven is to make ourselves eunuchs, because our Saviour said that some men
had got that criminal and foolish notion into their mind!
"Christian nations have always looked with horror upon those who have
voluntarily become eunuchs. Common sense, as well as the Word of God, condemns
those who thus destroy in their own bodies that which God in His wisdom gave
them for the wisest and holiest purposes. Would it not, therefore, be a crime
which every civilized and Christian nation would punish, to preach publicly and
with success to the people that one of the surest ways for man to go to heaven
would be to make himself a eunuch. How can we believe that our Saviour could
ever sanction and such a practice?
"Moreover, if being eunuchs would make the way to heaven surer and more
easy, would not God be unjust for depriving us of the privilege of being born
eunuchs, and thus being made ripe fruits for heaven?
"It seems to us that that text does not in any way require us to believe
that an eunuch is nearer the kingdom of God than He who lives just according to
the laws which God gave to man in the earthly paradise. If it was not good for
man to be without his wife when he was so holy and strong as he was in the
Garden of Eden, how can it be good now that he is so weak and sinful? "Our
Saviour clearly shows that He finds no sanctifying power in the state of an eunuch,
in His answer to the young man who asked Him, `Good Master, what must I do that
I may have eternal life?" (Matt. xix. 16). Did the good Master answer him
in the language we heard from you two days ago, namely, that the best way to
have eternal life is to make yourself an eunuch make a solemn vow never to
marry? No; but He said, `Keep the commandments!' But where is the commandment
of God, in the Old or New Testament, to induce us to make such a vow as that of
celibacy? The promise of a place in heaven is not attached in any way to the
vow of celibacy. Christ has not a word about that doctrine.
"Allow us to respectfully ask, if the views concerning the vows of
celibacy entertained by Christ had been like yours, is it possible that He
would have forgotten to mention them when He answered the solemn question of
that young man? Is it possible that He would not have said a single word about
a thing which you have represented to us as being of such vital importance to
those who sincerely desire to know what to do to be saved? Is it not strange
that the Church should attach such an importance to that vow of celibacy, when
we look in vain for such an ordinance in both the Old and New Testaments? How
can we understand the reasons or the importance of such a strict and, we dare
say, unnatural obligation in our day, when we know very well that the holy
apostles themselves were living with their wives, and that the Saviour had not
a word of rebuke for them on that account?"
This free expression of our common views on the vows of celibacy evidently took
our superior by surprise. He answered me, with an accent of indignation which
he could not suppress: "Is that all you have to say?"
"It is not quite all we have to say," I answered; "but before we
go further we would be much gratified to receive from you the light we want on
the difficulties which I have just stated."
"You have spoken as a true heretic," replied Mr. Leprohon, with an
unusual vivacity; "and were it not for the hope which I entertain that you
have said these things to receive the light you want than to present and
support the heretical side of such an important question, I would at once
denounce you to the bishop. You speak of the Holy Scriptures just as a
Protestant would do. You appeal to them as the only source of Christian truth
and knowledge. Have you forgotten that we have the holy traditions to guide us,
the authority of which is equal to that of the Scriptures?
"You are correct when you say that we do not find any direct proof in the
Bible to enforce the vows of celibacy upon those who desire to consecrate
themselves to the service of the Church. But if we do not find the obligation
of that vow in the Bible, we find it in the holy traditions of the Church.
"It is an article of faith that the vow of celibacy is ordered by Jesus
Christ, through His Church. The ordinances of the Church, which are nothing but
the ordinances of the Son of God, are clear on that subject, and bind our
consciences just as the commandments of God upon Mount Sinai; for Christ has
said, those who do not hear the Church must be looked upon as heathen and
publicans. There is no salvation to those who do not submit their reason to the
teachings of the Church.
"You are not required to understand all the reasons for the vow of
celibacy; but you are bound to believe in its necessity and holiness, as the
Church has pronounced her verdict upon that question. It is not your business
to argue about those matters; but your duty is to obey the Church, as dutiful
children obey a kind mother.
"But who can have any doubt about the necessity of the vows of celibacy,
when we remember that Christ had ordered His apostles to separate themselves
from their wives? a fact on which no doubt can remain after hearing St. Peter
say to our Saviour, `Behold, we have forsaken all and follow Thee; what shall
we have, therefore?' (Matt. xix. 27). Is not the priest the true representative
of Christ on earth? In his ordination, is not the priest made the equal and in
a sense the superior of Christ? for when he celebrates Mass he commands Christ,
and that very Son of God is bound to obey! It is not in the power of Christ to
resist the orders of the priest. He must come down from heaven every time the
priest orders Him. The priest shuts Him up in the holy tabernacles or takes Him
out of them, according to his own will.
"By becoming priests of the New Testament you will be raised to a dignity
which is much above that of angels. From these sublime privileges flows the
obligation to the priest to raise himself to a degree of holiness much above
the level of the common people a holiness equal to that of the angels. Has not
our Saviour, when speaking of the angels, said, `Neque nubent neque nubentur?'
They marry not, nor are given in marriage. Surely, since the priests are the
messengers and angels of God, on earth they must be clad with angelic holiness
and purity.
"Does not Paul say that the state of virginity is superior to that of
marriage? Does not that saying of the apostle show that the priest, whose hands
every day touch the divine body and blood of Christ, must be chaste and pure,
and must not be defiled by the duties of married life? That vow of celibacy is
like a holy chain, which keeps us above the filth of this earth and ties us to
heaven. Jesus Christ, through His Holy Church, commands that vow to His priests
as the most efficacious remedy against the inclinations of our corrupt nature.
"According to the holy Fathers, the vow of celibacy is like a strong high
tower, from the top of which we can fight our enemies, and be perfectly safe
from their darts and weapons.
"I will be happy to answer you other objections, if you have any
more," said Mr. Leprohon.
"We are much obliged to you for your answers," I replied, "and
we will avail ourselves of your kindness to present you with some other
observations.
"And, firstly, we thank you for having told us that we find nothing in the
Word of God to support the vows of celibacy, and that it is only by the
traditions of the Church that we can prove their necessity and holiness. It was
our impression that you desired us to believe that the necessity of that vow
was founded on the Holy Scriptures. If you allow it, we will discuss the
traditions another time, and will confine ourselves today to the different
texts to which you referred in favour of celibacy.
"When Peter says, `We have given up everything,' it seems to us that he
had no intention of saying that he had for ever given up his wife by a vow. For
St. Paul positively says, many years after, that Peter had his wife; that he
was not only living with her in his own house, but was traveling with her when
preaching the gospel. The words of Scripture are of such evidence on that
subject that they can neither be obscured by any shrewd explanation nor by any
tradition, however respectable it may appear.
"Though you know the words of Paul on that subject, you will allow us to
read them: `Have we not power to eat and drink? have we not power to lead about
a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles and as the brethren of the Lord,
and Cephas?' (I Cor. ix. 4, 5). St. Peter saying `We have forsaken everything'
could not then mean that he had made a vow of celibacy, and that he would never
live with his wife as a married man. Evidently the words of Peter mean only
that Jesus had the first place in his heart that everything else, even the
dearest objects of his love, as father, mother, wife, were only secondary in
his affections and thoughts.
"Your other text about the angels who do not marry, from which you infer
the obligation and law on the vow of celibacy, does not seem to us to bear on
that subject as much as you have told us. For, be kind enough to again read the
text: `Jesus answered and said to them, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures,
nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given
in marriage; but are as the angels of God in heaven' (Matt. xxii. 29, 30). You
see that when our Saviour speaks of men who are like angels, and who do not
marry, He takes care to observe that He speaks of the state of men after the
resurrection. If the Church had the same rule for us that Christ mentioned for
the angelic men to whom He refers, and would allow us to make a vow never to
marry after the resurrection, we would not have the slightest objection to such
a vow.
"You see that our Saviour speaks of a state of celibacy; but He does not
intimate that that state is to begin on this side of the grave. Why does not
our Church imitate and follow the teachings of our Saviour? Why does she
enforce a state of celibacy before the resurrection, while Christ postpones the
promulgation of this law till after that great day?
"Christ speaks of a perpetual celibacy only in heaven! On what authority,
then, does our Church enforce that celibacy on this side of the grave, when we
still carry our souls in earthly vessels?
"You tell us that the vow of celibacy is the best remedy against the
inclinations of our corrupt nature; but do you not fear that your remedy makes
war against the great one which God prepared in His wisdom? Do we not read in
our own vulgate: `Propter fornicationem autem unus quisque uxorem snam habeat,
et unaquaque virum suum'? "To avoid fornication let every man have his own
wife, and let every woman have her own husband' (2 Cor. vii. 2).
"Is it not too strange, indeed, that God does tell us that the best remedy
He had prepared against the inclinations of our corrupt nature is in the
blessings of a holy marriage. `Let every man have his own wife, and every woman
her own husband.' But now our Church has found another remedy, which is more
accordant to the dignity of man and the holiness of God, and that remedy is the
vow of celibacy!"
The sound of my last words were still on my lips when our venerable superior,
unable any longer to conceal his indignation, abruptly interrupted me, saying:
"I do exceedingly regret to have allowed you to go so far. This is not a
Christian and humble discussion between young Levites and their superior, to
receive from him the light they want. It is the exposition and defense of the
most heretical doctrines I have ever heard. Are you ashamed, when you try to
make us prefer your interpretation of the Holy Scriptures to that of the
Church? Is it to you, or to His holy Church, that Christ promised the light of
the Holy Ghost? It is you who have to teach the Church, or the Church who must
teach you? Is it you who will govern and guide the Church, or the Church who
will govern and guide you?
"My dear Chiniquy, if there is not a great and prompt change in you and in
those whom you pretend to represent, I fear much for you all. You show a spirit
of infidelity and revolt which frightens me. Just like Lucifer, you rebel
against the Lord! Do you not fear to share the eternal pains of his rebellion?
"Whence have you taken the false and heretical notions you have, for
instance, about the wives of the apostles? Do you not know that you are
supporting a Protestant error, when you say that the apostles were living with
their wives in the usual way of married people? It is true that Paul says that
the apostles had women with them, and that they were even traveling with them.
But the holy traditions of the Church tell us that those women were holy
virgins, who were traveling with the apostles to serve and help them in
different ways. They were ministering to their different wants washing their
underclothes, preparing their meals, just like the housekeeper whom the priests
have today. It is a Protestant impiety to think and speak otherwise.
"But only a word more, and I am done. If you accept the teaching of the
Church, and submit yourselves as dutiful children to that most holy Mother, she
will raise you to the dignity of the priesthood, a dignity much above kings and
emperors in this world. If you serve her with fidelity, she will secure to you
the respect and veneration of the whole world while you live, and procure your
a crown of glory in heaven.
"But if you reject her doctrines, and persist in your rebellious views
against one of the most holy dogmas; if you continue to listen to the voice of
your own deceitful reason rather than to the voice of the Church, in the
interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, you become heretics, apostates and
Protestants; you will lead a dishonoured life in this world, and you will be
lost for all eternity."
Our superior left us immediately after these fulminating words. Some of the
theological students, after this exit, laughed heartily, and thanked me for
having so bravely fought and gained so glorious a victory. Two of them,
disgusted by the sophisms and logical absurdities of our superior, left the
seminary a few days after. The rest, with me had not the moral courage to
follow their example, but remained, stunned by the last words of our superior.
I went to my room and fell on my knees, with a torrent of tears falling from my
eyes. I was really sorry for having wounded his feelings, but still more so for
having dared for a moment to oppose my own feeble and fallible reason to the
mighty and infallible intelligence of my Church!
At first it appeared to me that I was only combating, in a respectful way,
against my old friend, Rev. Mr. Leprohon; but I had received it from his own
lips that I had really fought against the Lord!
After spending a long and dark night of anguish and remorse, my first action,
the next day, was to go to confession, and ask my confessor, with tears of
regret, pardon for the sin I had committed and the scandal I had given.
Had I listened to the voices of my conscience, I certainly would have left the
seminary that day; for they told me that I had confounded my superior and
pulverized all his arguments. Reason and conscience told me that the vow of
celibacy was a sin against logic, morality and God; that that vow could not be
sustained by any argument from the Holy Scriptures, logic or common sense. But
I was a most sincere Roman Catholic. I had therefore to fight a new battle
against my conscience and intelligence, so as to subdue and silence them for
ever! Many a time it was my hope, before this, to have succeeded in
slaughtering them at the foot of the altar of my Church; but that day, far from
being for ever silenced and buried, they had come out again with renewed force,
to waken me from the terrible illusions in which I was living. Nevertheless,
after a long and frightful battle, my hope was that they were perfectly subdued
and buried under the feet of the holy Fathers, the learned theologians and the
venerable popes, whose voice I was determined now to follow. I felt a real calm
after that struggle. It was evidently the silence of death, although my
confessor told me it was the peace of God. More than ever I determined to have
no knowledge, no thought, no will, no light, no desires, no science but that
which my Church would give me through my superior. I was fallible, she was
infallible! I was a sinner, she was the immaculate spouse of Jesus Christ! I
was weak, she had more power than the great waters of the ocean! I was but an
atom, she was covering the world with her glory! What, therefore, could I have
to fear in humbling myself at her feet, to live of her life, to be strong of
her strength, wise of her wisdom, holy with her holiness? Had not my superior
repeatedly told me that no error, no sin would be imputed to me as long as I
obeyed my Church and walked in her ways?
With these sentiments of a most profound and perfect respect for my Church, I
irrevocably consecrated myself to her services on the 4th of May, 1832, by
making the vow of celibacy and accepting the office of sub-deacon.
Constrained by the voice of my
conscience to reveal the impurities of the theology of the Church of Rome, I
feel, in doing so, a sentiment of inexpressible shame. They are of such a
loathsome nature, that often they cannot be expressed in any living language.
However great may have been the corruptions in the theologies and priests of
paganism, there is nothing in their records which can be compared with the
depravity of those of the Church of Rome. Before the day on which the theology
of Rome was inspired by Satan, the world had certainly witnessed many dark
deeds; but vice had never been clothed with the mantle of theology: the most
shameful forms of iniquity had never been publicly taught in the schools of the
old pagan priest, under the pretext of saving the world. No! neither had the
priests nor the idols been forced to attend meetings where the most degrading
forms of iniquity were objects of the most minute study, and that under the
pretext of glorifying God.
Let those who understand Latin read "The Priest, the Women, and the
Confessional," and decide as to whether or not the sentiments therein
contained are not enough to shock the feelings of the most depraved. And let it
be remembered that all those abominations have to be studied, learned by heart
and thoroughly understood by men who have to make a vow never to marry! For it
is not till after his vow of celibacy that the student in theology is initiated
into those mysteries of iniquity.
Has the world ever witnessed such a sacrilegious comedy? A young man about
twenty years of age has been enticed to make a vow of perpetual celibacy, and
the very next day the Church of Rome put under the eye of his soul the most
infamous spectacle! She fills his memory with the most disgusting images! She
tickles all his senses and pollutes his ears, not by imaginary representations,
but by realities which would shock the most abandoned in vice!
For, let it be well understood, that it is absolutely impossible for one to
study those questions of Roman Theology, and fathom those forms of iniquity
without having his body as well as his mind plunged into a state the most
degrading. Moreover, Rome does not even try to conceal the overwhelming power
of this kind of teaching; she does not even attempt to make it a secret from
the victims of her incomparable depravity, but bravely tells them that the
study of those questions will act with an irresistible power upon their organs,
and without a blush says, "that pollution must follow!!!"
But in order that the Church of Rome may more certainly destroy her victims,
and that they may not escape from the abyss which she has dug under their feet,
she tells them, "There is no sin for you in those pollutions!" (Dens,
vol. i. p. 315.)
But Rome must bewitch so as the better to secure their destruction. She puts to
their lips the cup of her enchantments, the more certainly to kill their souls,
dethrones God from their consciences, and abrogates His eternal laws of
holiness. What answer does Rome give to those who reproach her with the awful
impurity of theology. "My theological works," she answers, "are
all written in Latin; the people cannot read them. No evil, no scandal,
therefore, can come from them!" But this answer is a miserable subterfuge.
Is this not the public acknowledgment that her theology would be exceedingly
injurious to the people if it were read and understood by them?
By saying, "My theological works are written in Latin, therefore the
people cannot be defiled, as they do not understand them," Rome does
acknowledge that these works would only act as a pestilence among the people,
were they read and understood by them. But are not the one hundred thousand
priests of Rome bound to explain in every known tongue, and present to the mind
of every nation, the theology contained in those books? Are they not bound to
make every polluting sentence in them flow into the ears, imaginations, hearts
and minds of all the married and unmarried women whom Rome holds in her grasp?
I exaggerate nothing when I say that not fewer than half a million women every
day are compelled to hear in their own language, almost every polluting
sentence and impure notion of the diabolical sciences.
And here I challenge, most fearlessly, the Church of Rome to deny what I say,
when I state that the daily average of women who go to confession to each
priest, is ten. But let us reduce the number to five. Then the one hundred
thousand priest who are scattered over the whole world, hear the confession of
five hundred thousand women every day! Well, now, out of one hundred women who
confess, there are at least ninety-nine whom the priest is bound in conscience
to pollute, by questioning them on the matters mentioned in the Latin pages at
the end of this chapter. How can one be surprised at the rapid downfall of the
nations who are under the yoke of the Pope.
The public statistics of the European, as well of American nations, show that
there is among Roman Catholics nearly double the amount of prostitution,
bastardy, theft, perjury, and murder than is found among Protestant nations.
Where must we, then, look for the cause of those stupendous facts, if not in
the corrupt teachings of the theology of Rome. How can the Roman Catholic
nations hope to raise themselves in the scale of Christian dignity and morality
as long as there remain one hundred thousand priests in their midst, bound in
conscience every day to pollute the minds and the hearts of their mothers,
their wives and their daughters!
And here let me say, once for all, that I am not induced to speak as I do from
any motive of contempt or unchristian feeling against the theological
professors who have initiated me into those mysteries of iniquity. The Rev.
Messrs. Raimbault and Leprohon were, and in my mind they still are, as
respectable as men can be in the Church of Rome. As I have been myself, and as
all the priests of Rome are, they were plunged without understanding it, into
the abyss of the most stolid ignorance. They were crushed, as I was myself,
under a yoke which bound their understanding to the dust, and polluted their
hearts without measure. We were embarked together on a ship, the first
appearance of which was really magnificent, but the bottom of which was
irremediably rotten. Without the true Pilot on board we were left to perish on
unknown shoals. Out of this sinking ship the hand of God alone, in His
providence rescued me. I pity those friends of my youth, but despise them? hate
them? No! Never! Never!
Every time out theological teachers gave us our lessons, it was evident that
they blushed in the inmost part of their souls. Their consciences as honest men
were evidently forbidding them, on the one hand, to open their mouths on such
matters, while, on the other hand, as slaves and priests of the Pope, they were
compelled to speak without reserve.
After our lessons in theology, we students used to be filled with such a
sentiment of shame that sometimes we hardly dared to look at each other: and,
when alone in our rooms, those horrible pictures were affecting our hearts, in
spite of ourselves, as the rust affects and corrodes the hardest and purest
steel. More than one of my fellow-students told me, with tears of shame and
rage, that they regretted to have bound themselves by perpetual oaths to
minister at the altars of the Church.
One day one of the students, called Desaulnier, who was sick in the same room
with me, asked me: "Chiniquy, what do you think of the matters which are
the objects of our present theological studies? Is it not a burning shame that
we must allow our minds to be so polluted?"
"I cannot sufficiently tell you my feelings of disgust," I answered.
"Had I known sooner that we were to be dragged over such a ground, I
certainly never would have nailed my future to the banners under which we are
irrevocably bound to live." "Do you know," said Desaulnier,
"that I am determined never to consent to be ordained a priest; for when I
think of the fact that the priest is bound to confer with women on all of these
polluting matters, I feel an insurmountable disgust and shame."
"I am not less troubled," I replied. "My head aches and my heart
sinks within me when I hear our theologians telling us that we will be in
conscience bound to speak to females on these impure subjects. But sometimes
this looks to me as if it were a bad dream, the impure phantoms of which will
disappear at the first awakening. Our Church, which is so pure and holy that
she can only be served by the spotless virgins, surely cannot compel us to
pollute our lips, thoughts, souls, and even our bodies, by speaking to strange
women on matters so defiling!"
"But we are near the hour at which the good Mr. Leprohon is in the habit
of visiting us. Will you," I said, "promise to stand by me in what I
will ask him on this subject? I hope to get from him a pledge that we will not
be compelled to be polluted in the confessional by the women who will confess
to us. The purity and holiness of our superior is of such a high character,
that I am sure he has never said a word to females on those degrading matters.
In spite of all the theologians, Mr. Leprohon will allow us to keep our tongues
and our hearts, as well as our bodies, pure in the confessional."
"I have had the desire to speak to him upon this subject for some
time," rejoined Desaulnier, "but my courage failed me every time I
attempted to do so. I am glad, therefore, that you are to break the ice, and I
will certainly support you, as I have a longing desire to know something more
in regard to the mysteries of the confessional. If we are at liberty never to
speak to women on these horrors, I will consent to serve the Church as a
priest; but if not, I will never be a priest."
A few minutes after this our superior entered to kindly enquire how we had
rested the night before. Having thanked him for his kindness, I opened the
volumes of Dens and Liguori which were on our table, and, with a blush, putting
my fingers on one of the infamous chapters referred to, I said to him:
"After God, you have the first place in my heart since my mother's death,
and you know it. I take you, not only as my benefactor, but also, as it were,
as my father and mother. You will therefore tell me all I want to know in these
my hours of anxiety, through which God is pleased to make me pass. To follow
your advice, not to say your commands, I have lately consented to receive the
order of sub-deacon, and I have in consequence taken the vow of perpetual
celibacy. But I will not conceal the fact from you, I had not a clear
understanding of what I was doing; and Desaulnier has just stated to me, that
until recently he had no more idea of the nature of that promise, nor of the
difficulties which we now see ahead of us in our priestly life than I had.
"But Dens, Liguori and St. Thomas have given us notions quite new in
regard to many things. They have directed our minds to the knowledge of the
laws which are in us, as well as in every other child of Adam. They have, in a
word, directed our minds into regions which were quite new and unexplored by
us; and I dare say that every one of those whom we have known, whether in this
house or elsewhere, who have made the same vow, could tell you the same tale.
"However, I do not speak for them; I speak only for myself and Desaulnier.
For God's sake, please tell us if we will be bound in conscience to speak in
the confessional, to the married and unmarried females, on such impure and
defiling questions as are contained in the theologians before us?"
"Most undoubtedly," replied Rev. Mr. Leprohon; "because the
learned and holy theologians whose writings are in your hands are positive on
that question. It is absolutely necessary that you should question your female
penitents on such matters; for, as a general thing, girls and married women are
too timid to confess those sins, of which they are even more frequently guilty
than men, therefore they must be helped by questioning them."
"But have you not," I rejoined, "induced us to make an oath that
we should always remain pure and undefiled? How is it then, that today you put
us in such a position that it is almost impossibility for us to be true to our
sacred promise? For the theologians are unanimous that those questions put by
us to our female penitents, together with the recital of their secret sins,
will act with such an irresistible power upon us that we will be polluted.
"Would it not be better for us to experience those things in the holy
bonds of marriage, with our wives, and according to the laws of God, than in
company and conversation with strange women? Because, if we are to believe the
theologians which are in our hands, no priest not even you, my dear Mr.
Leprohon can hear the confessions of women without being defiled."
Here Desaulnier interrupted me, and said: "My dear Mr. Leprohon, I concur
in everything Chiniquy has just been telling you. Would we not be more chaste
and pure by living with our lawful wives, than by daily exposing ourselves in
the confessional in company of women whose presence will irresistibly drag us
into the most shameful pit of impurity? I ask you, my dear sir, what will
become of my vow of perfect and perpetual chastity, when the seducing presence
of my neighbour's wife, or the enchanting words of his daughter, will have
defiled me through the confessional. After all, I may be looked upon by the
people as a chaste man; but what will I be in the eyes of God? The people may
entertain the thought that I am a strong and honest man; but will I not be a
broken reed? Will God not be the witness that the irresistible temptations
which will have assailed me when hearing the secret sins of some sweet and
tempting woman, will have deprived me of that glorious crown of chastity for
which I have so dearly paid? Men will think that I am an angel of purity; but
my own conscience will tell me that I am nothing but a skillful hypocrite. For
according to all the theologians, the confessional is the tomb of the chastity
of priests!! If I hear the confession of women, I will be like all other
priests, in a tomb, well painted and gilded on the outside, but within full or
corruption."
Francis Desaulnier, just as he had foretold me, refused to be a priest. He
remained all his life in the orders of sub-deaconate, in the College of
Nicolet, as a Professor of Philosophy. He was a man who seldom spoke in
conversation, but thought very much. It seems to me that I still see him there,
under that tall centenary tree, alone, during the long hours of intermission,
and many long days during our holidays, while the rest of the students passed
hither and thither, singing and playing, on the enchanting banks of the river
of Nicolet.
He was a good logician and a profound mathematician; and although affable to
everyone, he was not communicative. I was probably the only one to whom he
opened his mind concerning the great questions of Christianity faith, history,
the Church and her discipline. He repeatedly said to me: "I wish I had
never opened a book of theology. Our theologians are without heart, soul or
logic. Many of them approve of theft, lies and perjury; others drag us without
a blush, into the most filthy pits of iniquity. Every one of them would like to
make an assassin of every Catholic. According to their doctrine, Christ is
nothing but a Corsican brigand, whose blood-thirsty disciples are bound to
destroy all the heretics with fire and sword. Were we acting according to the
principles of those theologians, we would slaughter all Protestants with the
same coolness of blood as we would shoot down the wolf which crosses our path.
With their hand still reddened with the blood of St. Bartholomew, they speak to
us of charity, religion and God, as if there were neither of them in the
world."
Desaulnier was looked upon as "un homme singulier" at Nicolet. He was
really an exception to all the men in the seminary. For example: Though it was
the usage and the law that ecclesiastics should receive the communion every
month, and upon every great feast day of the Church, yet he would scarcely take
the communion once a year. But let me return to the interview with our
superior.
Desaulnier's fearless and energetic words had evidently made a very painful
impression upon our superior. It was not a usual thing for His disciples in
theology thus to take upon themselves to speak with such freedom as we both did
on this occasion. He did not conceal his pain at what he called our unbecoming
and unchristian attack upon some of the most holy ordinances of the Church; and
after he had refuted Desaulnier in the best way he could, he turned to me and
said: "My dear Chiniquy, I have repeatedly warned you against the habit
you have of listening to your own frail reasoning, when you should only obey as
a dutiful child. Were we to believe you, we would immediately set ourselves to
work to reform the Church and abolish the confession of women to priests; we
would throw all our theological books into the fire and have new one written,
better adapted to your fancy. What does all this prove? Only one thing, and
that is, that the devil of pride is tempting you as he has tempted all the
so-called Reformers, and destroyed them as he would you. If you do not take care,
you will become another Luther!
"The Theological books of St. Thomas, Liguori and Dens have been approved
by the Church. How, therefore, do you not see the ridicule and danger of your
position. On one side, then, I see all our holy popes, the two thousand
Catholic bishops, all our learned theologians and priests, backed up by over
two hundred millions of Roman Catholics drawn up as an innumerable army to
fight the battles of the Lord; and on the other side what do I see? Nothing by
my small, though very dear Chiniquy!
"How, then, is it that you do not fear, when with your weak reasoning you
oppose the mighty reasoning and light of so many holy popes, and venerable
bishops and learned theologians? Is it not just as absurd for you to try to
reform the Church by your small reason, as it is for the grain of sand which is
found at the foot of the great mountain to try to turn that mighty mountain out
of its place? or for the small drop of water to attempt to throw the boundless
ocean out of its bed, or try to oppose the running tides of the Polar seas?
"Believe me, and take my friendly advice," continued our superior,
"before it is too late. Let the small grain of sand remain still at the
foot of the majestic mountain; and let the humble drop of water consent to
follow the irresistible currents of the boundless seas, and everything will be
in order.
"All the good priests who have heard the confessions of women before us
have been satisfied and have had their souls saved, even when their bodies were
polluted; for those carnal pollutions are nothing but human miseries, which
cannot defile a soul which desires to remain united to God. Are the rays of the
sun defiled by coming down into the mud? No! The rays remain pure, and return
spotless to the shining orb whence they came. So the heart of a good priest as
I hope my dear Chiniquy will be will remain pure and holy in spite of the
accidental and unavoidable defilement of the flesh.
"Apart from these things, in your ordination you will receive a special
grace which will change you into another man; and the Virgin Mary, to whom you
will constantly address yourself, will obtain for you a perfect purity from her
Son.
"The defilement of the flesh spoken of by the theologians, and which, I
confess, is unavoidable when hearing the confessions of women, must not trouble
you; for they are not sinful, as Dens and Liguori assure us. (Dens. vol. i.,
pages 299, 300.)
"But enough on that subject. I forbid you to speak to me any more on those
idle questions, and, as much as my authority is anything to you both, I forbid
you to say a word more to each other on that matter!!"
It was my fond hope that my dear and so much venerated Mr. Leprohon would
answer me with some good and reasonable arguments; but he, to my surprise,
silenced the voice of our conscience by un coup d'etat.
Nevertheless, the idea of that miserable grain of sand which so ridiculously
attempted to remove the stately mountain, and also of that all but
imperceptible drop of water which attempted to oppose itself to the onward
motion of the vast ocean, singularly struck and humbled me. I remained silent
and confused, though not convinced.
This was not all. Those rays of the sun, which could not be defiled even when
going down into the mud, after bewildering one by their glittering appearance,
left my soul more in the dark than ever. I could not resist the presentiment
that I was in the presence of an imposition, and of a glittering sophism. But I
had neither sufficient learning, moral courage, nor grace from God clearly to
see through that misty cloud and to expel it from my mind.
Almost every month of the ten years which I had passed in the seminary of
Nicolet, priests of the district of Three Rivers and elsewhere were sent by the
bishops to spend two or three weeks in doing penances for having bastards by
their nieces, their housekeepers, or their fair penitents. Even not long before
this conversation with our director, the curate of St. Francois, the Rev. Mr.
Amiot, had in the very same week two children by two of his fair penitents,
both of whom were sisters. One of those girls gave birth to her child at the
parsonage the very night on which the bishop was on his episcopal visit to that
parish. These public and undeniable facts were not much in harmony with those
beautiful theories of our venerable director concerning the rays of the sun,
which "remained pure and undefiled even when warming and vivifying the mud
of our planet." The facts had frequently occurred to my mind while Mr.
Leprohon was speaking, and I was tempted more than once to ask him respectfully
if he really thought these "shining rays," the priests, had thus come
into the mire, and would then return, like the rays of the sun, without taking
back with them something of the mire in which they had been so strangely
wallowing. But my respect for Mr. Leprohon sealed my lips.
When I returned to my room I fell on my knees to ask God to pardon me for
having, for the moment, thought otherwise than the popes and theologians of
Rome. I again felt angry with myself for having dared, for a single moment, to
have arrayed my poor little and imperceptible grain of sand drop of water and
personal and contemptible understanding against that sublime mountain of
strength, that vast ocean of learning, and that immensely divine wisdom of the
popes!
But, alas! I was not yet aware that when Jesus in His mercy sends into a
perishing soul a single ray of His grace, that there is more light and wisdom
in that soul than in all the popes and their theologians!
I was then taught what the real foundation of the Church of Rome is, and
sincerely believed that to think for myself was a damnable impiety that to look
and see with my own eyes, and understand with my own mind, was an unpardonable
sin. To be saved I had to believe, not what I considered to be the truth, but
what the popes told me to be the truth. I had to look and see every object of
faith, just as every true Roman Catholic of today has to look and see the same,
through the Pope's eyes or those of his theologians.
However absurd and impious this belief may be, yet it was mine, and it is also
the belief of every true member of the Church of Rome today. The glorious light
and grace of God could not possibly flow directly from Him to me; they had to
pass through the Pope and his Church, which were my only mountain of strength
and only ocean of light. It was, then, my firm belief that there was an
impassable abyss between myself and God, and that the Pope and his Church were
the only bridge by which I could have communication with Him. That stupendously
high and most sublime mountain, the Pope, was between myself and God: and all
that was allowed my poor soul was to raise itself and travel with great
difficulty till it attained the foot of that holy mountain, the Pope, and, prostrating
itself there in the dust, ask him to let me know what my yet distant God would
have me to do. The promises of mercy, truth, light, and life were all vested in
this great mountain, the Pope, from whom alone they could descend upon my poor
soul!
Darkness, ignorance, uncertainty, and eternal loss were my lot, the very moment
I ceased worshiping at the feet of the Pope! The God of Heaven was not my God;
He was only the God of the Pope! The Saviour of the world was not my Saviour;
He was only the Pope's. Therefore it was through the Pope only that I could
receive Christ as my Saviour, and to the Pope alone had I to go to know the
way, the truth, and the life of my soul!
God alone knows what a dark and terrible night I passed after this meeting! I
had again to smother my conscience, dismantle my reason, and bring them all
under the turpitudes of the theologies of Rome, which are so well calculated to
keep the world fettered in ignorance and superstition.
But God saw the tears with which I bedewed my pillow that night. He heard the
cry of my agonizing soul, and in His infinite love and mercy determined to come
to my rescue, and save me. If He saw fit to leave me many years more in the
slavery of Egypt, it was that I might better know the plagues of that land of
darkness, and the iron chains which are there prepared for poor lost souls.
When the hour of my deliverance came, the Lord took me by the hand and helped
me to cross the Red Sea. He brought me to the Land of Promise a land of peace,
life, and joy which passeth all understanding.
There are several imposing
ceremonies at the ordination of a priest; and I will never forget the joy I
felt when the Roman Pontiff, presenting to me the Bible, ordered me, with a
solemn voice, to study and preach it. That order passed through my soul as a
beam of light. But, alas! those rays of light and life were soon to be
followed, as a flash of lightning in a stormy night, by the most sudden and
distressing darkness!
When holding the sacred volume, I accepted with unspeakable joy the command of
studying and preaching its saving truth; but I felt as if a thunderbolt had
fallen upon me when I pronounced the awful oath which is required from every
priest: "I will never interpret the Holy Scriptures except according to
the unanimous consent of the Holy Fathers."
Many times, with the other students in theology, I had discussed the nature of
that strange oath; still more often, in the silence of my meditations, alone in
the presence of God, I had tried to fathom the bottomless abyss which, it
seemed to me, was dug under my feet by it, and every time my conscience had
shrunk in terror from its consequences. But I was not the only one in the
seminary who contemplated, with an anxious mind, its evidently blasphemous nature.
About six months before our ordination, Stephen Baillargeon, one of my fellow
theological students, had said in my presence to our superior, the Rev. Mr.
Raimbault: "Allow me to tell you that one of the things with which I
cannot reconcile my conscience is the solemn oath we will have to take, `That
we will never interpret the Scriptures except according to the unanimous
consent of the Holy Fathers! We have not given a single hour yet to the serious
study of the Holy Fathers. I know many priests, and not a single one of them
has ever studied the Holy Fathers; they have not even got them in their
libraries! We will probably walk in their footsteps. It may be that not a
single volume of the Holy Fathers will ever fall into our hands! In the name of
common sense, how can we swear that we will follow the sentiments of men of
whom we know absolutely nothing, and about whom, it is more probable, we will
never know anything, except by mere vague hearsay?"
Our superior gave evident signs of weakness in his answer to that unexpected
difficulty. But his embarrassment grew much greater when I said:
"Baillargeon cannot contemplate that oath without anxiety, and he has
given you some of his reasons; but he has not said the last word on that
strange oath. If you will allow me, Mr. Superior, I will present you some more
formidable objections. It is not so much on account of our ignorance of the
doctrines of the Holy Fathers that I tremble when I think I will have `to swear
never to interpret the Scriptures, except according to their unanimous
consent.' Would to God that I could say, with Baillargeon, `I know nothing of
the Holy Fathers: how can I swear they will guide me in all my ways?' It is
true that we know so little of them that it is supremely ridiculous, if it is
not an insult to God and man, that we take them for our guides. But my regret
is that we know already too much of the Holy Fathers to be exempt from
perjuring ourselves, when we swear that we will not interpret the Holy
Scriptures except according to their unanimous consent.
"Is it not a fact that the Holy Fathers' writings are so perfectly kept
out of sight, that it is absolutely impossible to read and study them? But even
if we had access to them, have we sufficient time at our disposal to study them
so perfectly that we could conscientiously swear that we will follow them? How
can we follow a thing we do not see, which we cannot hear, and about which we
do not know more than the man in the moon? Our shameful ignorance of the Holy
Fathers is a sufficient reason to make us fear at the approach of the solemn
hour that we will swear to follow them. Yes! But we know enough of the Holy
Fathers to chill the blood in our veins when swearing to interpret the Holy
Scriptures only according to their unanimous consent. Please, Mr.Superior, tell
us what are the texts of Scripture on which the Holy Fathers are unanimous. You
respect yourself too much to try to answer a question which no honest man has,
or will ever dare to answer. And if you, one of the most learned men of France,
cannot put your finger on the texts of the Holy Bible and say, `The Holy
Fathers are perfectly unanimous on these texts!' How can we, poor young
ecclesiastics of the humble College of Nicolet, say, `The Holy Fathers are
unanimously of the same mind on those texts?' But if we cannot distinguish
today, and if we shall never be able to distinguish between the texts on which
the Holy Fathers are unanimous and the ones on which they differ, how can we
dare to swear before God and men to interpret every text of the Scriptures only
according to the unanimous consent of those Holy Fathers?
"By that awful oath, will we not be absolutely bound to remain mute as
dead men on every text on which the Holy Fathers have differed, under the
evident penalty of becoming perjured? Will not every text on which the Holy
Fathers have differed become as the dead carcass which the Israelites could not
touch, except by defiling themselves? After that strange oath, to interpret the
Scripture only according to the unanimous consent of the Holy Fathers, will we
not be absolutely deprived of the privilege of studying or preaching on a text
on which they have differed?
"The consequences of that oath are legion, and every one of them seems to
me the death of our ministry, the damnation of our souls! You have read the
history of the Church, as we have it here, written by Henrion, Berrault, Bell,
Costel, and Fleury. Well, what is the prominent fact in those reliable
histories of the Church? Is it not that the Church has constantly been filled
with the noise of the controversies of Holy Fathers with Holy Fathers? Do we
not find, on every page, that the Holy Fathers of one century very often
differed from the Holy Fathers of another century in very important matters? Is
it not a public and undeniable fact, that the history of our Holy Church is
almost nothing else than the history of the hard conflict, stern divisions,
unflinching contradictions and oppositions of Holy Fathers to Holy Fathers?
"Here is a big volume of manuscript written by me, containing only
extracts from our best Church historians, filled with the public disputes of
Holy Fathers among themselves on almost every subject of Christianity.
"There are Holy Fathers who say, with our best modern theologians St.
Thomas, Bellarmine and Liguori that we must kill heretics as we kill wild
beasts; while many others say that we must tolerate them! You all know the name
of the Holy Father who sends to hell all the widows who marry a second time,
while other Holy Fathers are of a different mind. Some of them, you know well,
had very different notions from ours about purgatory. Is it necessary for me to
give you the names of the Holy Fathers, in Africa and Asia, who refused to
accept the supreme jurisdiction we acknowledge in the Pope over all churches?
Several Holy Fathers have denied the supreme authority of the Church of Rome
you know it; they have laughed at the excommunications of the Popes! Some even
have gladly died, when excommunicated by the Pope, without doing anything to
reconcile themselves to him! What do we find in the six volumes of letters we
have still from St. Jerome, if not the undeniable fact that he filled the
Church with the noise of his harsh denunciations of the scriptural views of St.
Augustine on many important points. You have read these letters? Well, have you
not concluded that St. Jerome and St. Augustine agreed almost only on one
thing, which was, to disagree on every subject they treated?
"Did not St. Jerome knock his head against nearly all the Holy Fathers of
his time? And has he not received hard knocks from almost all the Holy Fathers
with whom he was acquainted? Is it not a public fact that St. Jerome and
several other Holy Fathers rejected the sacred books of the Maccaabees, Judith,
Tobias, just as the heretics of our time reject them?
"And now we are gravely asked, in the name of the God of Truth, to swear
that we will interpret the Holy Scriptures only according to the unanimous
consent of those Holy Fathers, who have been unanimous but in one thing, which
was never to agree with each other, and sometimes not even with themselves.
"For it is a well-known fact, though it is a very deplorable one, for
instance, that St. Augustine did not always keep to the same correct views on
the text "Thou art Peter, and upon that rock I will build My church.'
After holding correct views on that fundamental truth he gave it up, at the end
of his life, to say, with the Protestants of our day, that `upon that rock
means only Christ, and not Peter.' Now, how can I be bound by an oath to follow
the views of men who have themselves been wavering and changing, when the Word
of God must stand as an unmoving rock to my heart? If you require from us an
oath, why put into our hands the history of the Church, which has stuffed our
memory with the undeniable facts of the endless fierce divisions of the Holy
Fathers on almost every question which the Scriptures present to our faith?
Would to God that I could say, with Baillargeon, I know nothing of the Holy
Fathers! Then I could perhaps be at peace with my conscience, after perjuring
myself by promising a thing that I cannot do.
"I was lately told by the Rev. Leprohon, that it is absolutely necessary
to go to the Holy Fathers in order to understand the Holy Scriptures! But I
will respectfully repeat today what I then said on that subject.
"If I am too ignorant or too stupid to understand St. Mark, St. Luke and
St. Paul, how can I be intelligent enough to understand Jerome, Augustine and
Tertullian? And if St. Matthew, St. John and St. Peter have not got from God
the grace of writing with a sufficient degree of light and clearness to be
understood by men of good-will, how is it that Justin, Clemens and Cyprian have
received from our God a favour of lucidity and clearness which He denied to His
apostles and evangelists? If I cannot rely upon my private judgment when
studying, with the help of God, the Holy Scriptures, how can I rely on my
private judgment when studying the Holy Fathers? You constantly tell me I
cannot rely on my private judgment to understand and interpret the Holy
Scriptures; but will you please tell me with what judgment and intelligence I
shall have to interpret and understand the writings of the Holy Fathers, if it
be not with my own private judgment? Must I borrow the judgment and
intelligence of some of my neighbours in order to understand and interpret, for
instance, the writings of Origen? or shall I be allowed to go and hear what
that Holy Father wants from me, with my own private intelligence? But again, if
you are forced to confess that I have nothing else but my private judgment and
intelligence to read, understand and follow the Holy Fathers, and that I not
only can but must rely on my own private judgment, without any fear, in that
case, how is it that I will be lost if I make use of that same private and
personal judgment when at the feet of Jesus, listening to His eternal and
life-giving words?
"Nothing distresses me so much in our holy religion as that want of
confidence in God when we go to the feet of Jesus to hear or read His
soul-saving words, and the abundance of self-confidence, when we go among
sinful and fallible men, to know what they say.
"It is not to the Holy Scriptures that we are invited to go to know what
the Lord saith: it is to the Holy Fathers!
"Would it be possible that, in our Holy Church, the Word of God would be
darkness, and the words of men light!
"This dogma, or article of our religion, by which we must go to the Holy
Fathers in order to know what `The Lord saith,' and not to the Holy Scriptures,
is to my soul what a handful of sand would be to my eyes it makes me perfectly
blind.
"When our venerable bishop places the Holy Scriptures in my hands and
commands me to study and peach them, I shall understand when he means, and he
will know what he says. He will give me a most sublime work to perform; and, by
the grace of God, I hope to do it. But when he orders me to swear that I will
never interpret the Holy Scriptures except according to the unanimous consent
of the Holy Fathers, will he not make a perjured man of me, and will he not say
a thing to which he has not given sufficient attention? For to swear that we
will never interpret anything of the Scriptures, except according to the
unanimous consent of the Holy Fathers, is to swear to a thing as impossible and
ridiculous as to take the moon with our hands. I say more, it is to swear that
we ill never study nor interpret a single chapter of the Bible. For it is
probable that there are very few chapters of that Holy Book which have not been
a cause of serious differences between some of the Holy Fathers.
"As the writings of the Holy Fathers fill at least two hundred volumes in
folio, it will not take us less than ten years of constant study to know on
what question they are or are not unanimous! If, after that time of study, I
find that they are unanimous on the question of orthodoxy which I must believe
and preach, all will be right with me. I will walk with a fearless heart to the
gates of eternity, with the certainty of following the true way of salvation.
But if among fifty Holy Fathers there are forty-nine on one side and one only
on the opposite side, in what awful state of distress will I be plunged! Shall
I not be then as a ship in a stormy night, after she has lost her compass, her
masts, and her helm. If I were allowed to follow the majority, there would
always be a plank of safety to rescue me from the impending wreck. But the Pope
has inexorably tied us to the unanimity. If my faith is not the faith of
unanimity, I am for ever damned. I am out of the Church!
"What a frightful alternative is just before us! We must either perjure
ourselves, by swearing to follow a unanimity which is a fable, in order to
remain Roman Catholics, or we must plunge into the abyss of impiety and atheism
by refusing to swear that we will adhere to a unanimity which never
existed."
It was visible, at the end of that long and stormy conference, that the fears
and anxieties of Baillargeon and mine were partaken of by every one of the
students in theology. The boldness of our expressions brought upon us a real
storm. But our Superior did not dare to face or answer a single one of our
arguments; he was evidently embarrassed, and nothing could surpass his joy when
the bell told him that the hour of the conference was over. He promised to
answer us the next day; but the next day he did nothing but throw dust into our
eyes, and abuse us to his heart's content. He began by forbidding me to read
any more of the controversial books I had brought a few months before, among
which was the celebrated Derry discussion between seven priests and seven
Protestants. I had to give back the well known discussion between "Pope
and Maguire," and between Gregg and the same Maguire. I had also to give
up the numbers of the Avenir and other books of Lamenais, which I had got the
liberty, as a privilege, to read. It was decided that my intelligence was not
clear enough, and that my faith was not sufficiently strong to read those
books. I had nothing to do but to bow my head under the yoke and obey, without
a word or murmur. The darkest night was made around our understandings, and we
had to believe that that awful darkness was the shining light of God! We
rejected the bright truth which had so nearly conquered our mind in order to
accept the most ridiculous sophisms as gospel truths! We did the most degrading
action a man can do we silenced the voice of our conscience, and we consented
to follow our superior's views, as a brute follows the order of his master; we
consented to be in the hands of our superiors like a stick in the hands of the
traveler.
During the months which elapsed between that hard fought, through lost battle,
and the solemn hour of my priestly ordination, I did all I could to subdue and
annihilate my thoughts on that subject. My hope was that I had entirely
succeeded. But, to my dismay, that reason suddenly awoke, as from a long sleep,
when I had perjured myself, as every priest has to do. A chill of horror and
shame ran through all my frame in spite of myself. In my inmost soul a cry was
heard from my wounded conscience, "You annihilate the Word of God! You
rebel against the Holy Ghost! You deny the Holy Scriptures to follow the steps
of sinful men! You reject the pure waters of eternal life, to drink the waters
of death."
In order to choke again the voice of my conscience, I did what my Church
advised me to do I cried to my wafer god and to the blessed Virgin Mary that
they might come to my help, and silence the voices which were troubling my
peace by shaking my faith.
With the utmost sincerity, the day of my ordination, I renewed the promise that
I had already so often made, and said in the presence of God and His angels,
"I promise that I will never believe anything except according to the
teachings of my Holy and Apostolic Church of Rome."
And on that pillow of folly, ignorance, and fanaticism I laid my head to sleep
the sleep of spiritual death, with the two hundred millions of slaves whom the
Pope seem at his feet.
And I slept that sleep till the God of our salvation, in His great mercy, awoke
me, by giving to my soul the light, the truth, and the life which are in Jesus
Christ.
I was ordained a priest of Rome
in the Cathedral of Quebec, on the 21st of September, 1833, by the Right
Reverend Signaie, first Archbishop of Canada. No words can express the
solemnity of my thoughts, the superhuman nature of my aspirations, when the
delegate of the Pope, imposing his hands on my head, gave me the power of
converting a real wafer into the real substantial body, blood, soul and
divinity of Jesus Christ! The bright illusion of Eve, as the deceiver told her
"Ye shall be as gods," was child's play compared with what I felt
when, assured by the infallible voice of my Church that I was not only on equal
terms with my Saviour and God, but I was in reality above Him! and that
hereafter I would not only command, but create Him!!
The aspirations to power and glory which had been such a terrible temptation in
Lucifer were becoming a reality in me! I had received the power of commanding
God, not in a spiritual and mystical, but in a real, personal and most
irresistible way.
With my heart full of an inexpressible joy and gratitude to God, and with all
the faculties of my soul raised to exaltation, I withdrew from the feet of the
pontiff to my oratory, where I passed the rest of the day in meditation on the
great things which my God had wrought in me.
I had, at last, attained the top of that power and holiness which my Church had
invited me to consider from my infancy as the most glorious gift which God had
ever given to man! The dignity which I had just received was above all the
dignities and the thrones of this world. The holy character of the PRIESTHOOD
had been impressed on my soul, with the blood of Christ, as an imperishable and
celestial glory. Nothing could ever take it away from me, in time or eternity.
I was to be a priest of my God for ever and ever. Not only had Christ let His divine
and priestly mantle fall on my shoulders, but He has so perfectly associated me
with Himself as the great and eternal Sacrificer, that I was to renew, every
day of my life, His atoning SACRIFICE! At my bidding, the only and eternally
begotten Son of my God was now to come into my hands in Person! The same Christ
who sits at the right hand of the Father was to come down every day into my
breast, to unite His flesh to my flesh, His blood to my blood, His divine soul
to my poor sinful soul, in order to walk, work and live in me and with me in
the most perfect unity and intimacy!
I passed that whole day and the greater part of the night in contemplating the
superhuman honours and dignities which my beloved Church had conferred on me.
Many times I fell on my knees to thank God for His mercies towards me, and I
could hardly speak to Him except with tears of joy and gratitude. I often
repeated the words of the Holy Virgin Mary: "My soul doth magnify the
Lord, and my spirit doth rejoice in God my Saviour."
The privileges granted to me were of a more substantial kind than those
bestowed upon Mary. She had been obeyed by Christ only when He was a child. He
had to obey me now, although He was in the full possession of His eternal
glory!
In the presence of God and His angels, I promised to live a holy life as a
token of my gratitude to Him. I said to my lips and my tongue, "Be holy
now; for you will not only speak to your God: you will give Him a new birth
every day!" I said to my heart, "Be holy and pure now; for you will
bear every day the Holy of Holies!" To my soul I said, "Be holy now;
for you will henceforth be most intimately and personally united to Christ
Jesus. You will be fed with the body, blood, soul and divinity of Him before
whom the angels do not find themselves pure enough!"
Looking on my table, where my pipe, filled with tobacco, and my snuffbox were
lying, I said: "Impure and noxious weeds, you will no more defile me! I am
the priest of the Almighty. It is beneath my dignity to touch you any
more!" and opening the window I threw them into the street, never to make
use of them again.
On the 21st of September, 1833, I had thus been raised to the priesthood; but I
had not yet made use of the divine powers with which I had been invested. The
next day I was to say my first Mass, and work that incomparable miracle which
the Church of Rome calls TRANSUBSTANTIATION.
As I have already said, I had passed the greater part of the night between the
21st and 22nd in meditation and thanksgivings. On the morning of the 22nd, long
before the dawn of day, I was dressed and on my knees. This was to be the most
holy and glorious day of my life! Raised, the day before, to a dignity which
was above the kingdoms and empires of the world, I was now, for the first time,
to work a miracle at the altar which no angel or seraph could do.
At my bidding Christ was to receive a new existence! The miracle wrought by
Joshua, when he commanded the sun and moon to stop, on the bloody plain of
Gibeon, was nothing compared to the miracle that I was to perform that day.
When the eternal Son of God would be in my hands, I was to present myself at
the throne of mercy, with that expiatory victim of the sins of the world pay
the debt, not only of my guilty soul, but of all those for whom I should speak!
The ineffable sacrifice of Calvary was to be renewed by me that day with the
utmost perfection!
When the bell rang to tell me that the hour was come to clothe myself with the
golden priestly robes and go to the altar, my heart beat with such a rapidity
that I came very near fainting. The holiness of the action I was to do, the
infinite greatness of the sacrifice I was about to make, the divine victim I
was to hold in my hands and present to God the Father! the wonderful miracle I
was to perform, filled my soul and my heart with such sentiments of terror, joy
and awe, that I was trembling from head to foot; and if very kind friends,
among whom was the venerable secretary of the Archbishop of Quebec, now the
Grand Vicar Cazault, had not been there to help and encourage me, I think I
would not have dared to ascend the steps of the altar.
It is not an easy thing to go through all the ceremonies of a Mass. There are
more than one hundred different ceremonies and positions of the body, which
must be observed with the utmost perfection. To omit one of them willingly, or
through a culpable neglect or ignorance, is eternal damnation. But thanks to a
dozen exercises through which I had gone the previous week, and thanks be to
the kind friends who helped and guided me, I went through the performances of
that first Mass much more easily than I expected. It lasted about an hour. But
when it was over, I was really exhausted by the effort made to keep my mind and
heart in unison with the infinite greatness of the mysteries accomplished by
me.
To make one's self believe that he can convert a piece of bread into God
requires such a supreme effort of the will, and complete annihilation of
intelligence, that the state of the soul, after the effort is over, is more like
death than life.
I had really persuaded myself that I had done the most holy and sublime action
of my life, when, in fact, I had been guilty of the most outrageous act of
idolatry! My eyes, my hands an lips, my mouth and tongue, and all my senses, as
well as the faculties of my intelligence, were telling me that what I had seen,
touched, eaten, was nothing but a wafer; but the voices of the Pope and his
Church were telling me that it was the real body, blood, soul and divinity of
Jesus Christ. I had persuaded myself that the voices of my senses and
intelligence were the voices of Satan, and that the deceitful voice of the Pope
was the voice of the God of Truth! Every priest of Rome has come to that
strange degree of folly and perversity, every day of his life, to remain a
priest of Rome.
The great imposture taught under the modern word TRANSUBSTANTIATION, when
divested of the glare which Rome, by her sorceries, throws around it, is soon
seen to be what it is a most impious and idolatrous doctrine.
"I must carry the `good God' to-morrow to a sick man," says the
priest to his servant girl. In plain French: "Je dois porter le `Bon Dieu'
demain a un malade," dit le pretre a sa servante; "mais il n'y en a
plus dans le tabernacle." "But there are no more particles in the
tabernacle. Make some small cakes that I may consecrate them to-morrow."
And the obedient domestic takes some wheat flour, for no other kind of flour is
fit to make the god of the Pope. A mixture of any other kind would make the
miracle of "transubstantiation" a great failure. The servant girl
accordingly takes the dough, and bakes it between two heated irons, on which
are graven the following figures, C.H.S. When the whole is well baked, she
takes her scissors and cuts those wafers, which are about four or five inches
large, into smaller ones of the size of an inch, and respectfully hands them
over to the priest.
The next morning the priest takes the newly-baked wafers to the altar, and
changes them into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. It was
one of those wafers that I had taken to the altar in that solemn hour of my
first Mass, and which I had turned into my Saviour by the five magical words
HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM!
What was the difference between the incredible folly of Aaron, on the day of
his apostasy in the wilderness, and the action I had done when I worshipped the
god whom I made myself, and got my friends to worship? Where, I ask, is the
difference between the adoration of the calf-god of Aaron and the wafer-god which
I had made on the 22nd of September, 1833. The only difference was, that the
idolatry of Aaron lasted but one day, while the idolatry in which I lived
lasted a quarter of a century, and has been perpetuated in the Church of Rome
for more than a thousand years.
What has the Church of Rome done by giving up the words of Christ, "Do
this in remembrance of Me," and substituting her dogma of
Transubstantiation? She has brought the world back to the old heathenism. The
priest of Rome worships a Saviour called Christ. Yes; but that Christ is not
the Christ of the gospel. It is a false and newly-invented Christ whom the
Popes have smuggled from the Pantheon of Rome, and sacrilegiously called by the
adorable name of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
I have often been asked: "Was it possible that you sincerely believed that
the wafer could be changed into God by you?" And, "Have you really
worshipped that water as your Saviour?"
To my shame, and to the shame of poor humanity, I must say, "Yes." I
believed as sincerely as every Roman Catholic priest is bound to believe it,
that I was creating my own Saviour-God every morning by the assumed
consecration of the wafer; and I was saying to the people, as I presented it to
them, "Ecce Agnus Dei" "This is the Lamb of God, who takes away
the sins of the world; let us adore Him;" and prostrating myself on my
knees I was adoring the god made by myself, with the help of my servant; and
all the people prostrated themselves to adore the newlymade god!
I must confess, further, that though I was bound to believe in the existence of
Christ in heaven, and was invited by my Church to worship Him as my Saviour and
my God, I had, as every Roman Catholic has, more confidence, faith, and love
towards the Christ which I had created with a few words of my lips than towards
the Christ of heaven.
My Church told me, every day of my life, and I had to believe and preach it,
that though the Christ of heaven was my Saviour, He was angry against me on
account of my sins; that He was constantly disposed to punish me, according to
His terrible justice; that He was armed with lightning and thunder to crush me;
and that, were it not for His mother, who day and night was interceding for me,
I should be cast into that hell which my sins had so richly deserved. All the
theologians, with St. Liguori at their head, whose writings I was earnestly
studying, and which had received the approbation of infallible Popes, persuaded
me that it was Mary whom I had to thank and bless, if I had not yet been
punished as I deserved. Not only had I to believe this doctrine, but I had to
peach it to the people. The result was for me, as it is for every Roman
Catholic, that my heart was really chilled, and I was filled with terror every
time I looked to the Christ of heaven through the lights and teachings of my
Church. He could not, as I believed, look to me except with an angry face; He
could not stretch out His hand towards me except to crush me, unless His
merciful mother or some other mighty saint interposed their saving supplications
to appease His just indignation. When I was praying to that Christ of the
Church of Rome, my mind was constantly perplexed about the choice I should make
of some powerful protector, whose influence could get me a favourable hearing
from my irritated Saviour.
Besides this, I was told, and I had to believe it, that the Christ of heaven
was a mighty monarch, a most glorious king, surrounded by innumerable hosts of
servants, officers and friends, and that, as it would not do for a poor rebel
to present himself before his irritated King to get His pardon, but he must
address himself to some of His most influential courtiers, or to His beloved
mother, to whom nothing can be refused, that they might plead his cause; so I
sincerely believed that it was better for me not to speak myself to Jesus
Christ, but to look for some one who would speak for me.
But there were no such terrors or fears in my heart when I approached the
Saviour whom I had created myself! Such an humble and defenseless Saviour,
surely, had no thunder in His hands to punish His enemies. He could have no
angry looks for me. He was my friend, as well as the work of my hands. There
was nothing in Him which could inspire me with any fear. Had I not brought Him
down from heaven? And had He not come into my hands that He might hear, bless,
and forgive me? that He might be nearer to me, and I nearer to Him?
When I was in His presence, in that solitary church, there was no need of
officers, of courtiers, of mothers to speak to Him for me. He was no longer
there a mighty monarch, an angry king, who could be approached only by the
great officers of His court; He as now the rebuked of the world, the humble and
defenseless Saviour of the manger, the forsaken Jesus of Calvary, the forgotten
Christ of Gethsemane.
No words can give any idea of the pleasure I used to feel when alone,
prostrated before the Christ whom I had made at the morning Mass, I poured out
my heart at His feet. It is impossible for those who have not lived under those
terrible illusions to understand with what confidence I spoke to the Christ who
was then before me, bound by the ties of His love for me! How many times, in
the colder days of winter, in churches which had never seen any fire, with an
atmosphere 15 degrees below zero, had I passed whole hours alone, in adoration
of the Saviour whom I had made only a few hours before! How often have I looked
with silent admiration to the Divine Person who was there alone, passing the
long hours of the day and night, rebuked and forsaken, that I might have an
opportunity of approaching Him, and of speaking to Him as a friend to his
friend, as a repenting sinner to his merciful Saviour. My faith I should rather
say my awful delusion, was then so complete that I scarcely felt the biting of the
cold! I may say with truth, that the happiest hours I ever had, during the long
years of darkness into which the Church of Rome had plunged me, were the hours
which I passed in adoring the Christ whom I had made with my own lips. And
every priest of Rome would make the same declaration were they questioned on
the subject.
It is a similar principle of monstrous faith that leads widows in India to leap
with cries of joy into the fire which will burn them into ashes with the bodies
of their deceased husbands. Their priests have assured them that such a
sacrifice will secure eternal happiness to themselves and their departed
husbands.
In fact, the Roman Catholics have no other Saviour to whom they can betake
themselves than the one made by the consecration of the wafer. He is the only
Saviour who is not angry with them, and who does not require the mediation of
virgins and saints to appease His wrath. This is the reason why Roman Catholic
churches are so well filled by the poor blind Roman Catholics. See how they
rush to the foot of their altars at almost every hour of the day, sometimes
long before the dawn! Go to some of their churches, even on a rainy and stormy
morning, and you will see crowds of worshipers, of every age and from every
grade of society, braving the storm and the rain, walking through the mud to
pass an hour at the foot of their tabernacles!
How is it that the Roman Catholics, alone, offer such a spectacle to the
civilized world? The reason is very simple and plain. Every soul yearns for a God
to whom it can speak, and who will hear its supplications with a merciful
heart, and who will wipe away her penitential tears. Just as the flowers of our
gardens turn naturally towards the sun which gives them their colour, their
fragrance and their life, so every soul wants a Saviour who is not angry but
merciful towards those who come unto Him. A Saviour who will say to the weary
and heavy laden: "Come unto Me and I will give you rest." A God, in
fine, who is not armed with Thunder and Lightning, and does not require to be
approached only by saints, virgins, and martyrs; but who, through his son
Jesus, is the real, the true, and the only friend of Sinners.
When the people think there is such a God such a loving Saviour to be found in
the tabernacle, it is but natural that they should brave the storms and the
rains, to worship at His feet, to receive the pardon of their sins.
The children of light, the disciples of the gospel, who protest against the
errors of Rome, know that their Heavenly Father is everywhere ready to hear,
forgive, and help them. They know that it is no more at Jerusalem, nor on this
or that mountain, or at Church that God wants to be worshipped (John iv. 21.)
They know that their Saviour liveth, and is everywhere ready to hear those who
invoke His name; that He is no more in that desert, or in that secret chamber
(Matt. xxiv. 26). They know that He is everywhere that He is ever near to those
who look to His bleeding wounds, and whose robes are washed in His blood. They
find Jesus in their most secret closets when they enter them to pray; they meet
Him and converse with Him when in the fields, behind the counter, traveling on
railroads or steamers everywhere they meet with Him, and speak to Him as friend
to friend.
It is not so with the followers of the Pope. They are told contrary to the
gospel (Matt. xxiv. 23), that Christ is in this Church in that secret chamber
or tabernacle! cruelly deceived by their priests, they run, they brave the
storms to go as near as possible to that place where their merciful Christ
lives. They go to the Christ who will give them a hearty welcome who will
listen to their humble prayers, and be compassionate to their tears of
repentance.
Let Protestants cease to admire poor deluded Roman Catholics who dare the storm
and go to church even before the dawn of day. This devotion, which so dazzles
them, should excite compassion, and not admiration; for it is the logical
result of the most awful spiritual darkness. It is the offspring of the
greatest imposture the world has ever seen; it is the natural consequence of
the belief that the priest of Rome can create Christ and God by the
consecration of a wafer, and keep Him in a secret chamber.
The Egyptians worshipped God under the form of crocodiles and calves. The
Greeks made their gods of marble or of gold. The Persian made the sun his god.
The Hottentots make their gods with whalebone, and go far through the storms to
adore them. The Church of Rome makes her god out of a piece of bread! Is this
not Idolatry?
From the year 1833, the day that God in His mercy opened my eyes, my servant
had used more than a bushel of wheat flour, to make the little cakes which I
had to convert into the Christ of the Mass. Some of these I ate; others I
carried about with me for the sick, and others I placed in the tabernacle for
the adoration of the people.
I am often asked, "How is it that you could be guilty of such a gross act
of idolatry?" My only answer is the answer of the blind man of the gospel:
"I know not; one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see."
(John ix. 25).
On the day of my ordination to
the priesthood, I had to believe, with all the priests of Rome, that it was
within the limits of my powers to go into all the bakeries of Quebec, and
change all the loaves and biscuits in that old city, into the body, blood,
soul, and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, by pronouncing over them the five
words: Hoc est enim corpus meum. Nothing would have remained of these loaves
and biscuits but the smell, the colour, the taste.
Every bishop and priest of the cities of New York and Boston, Chicago,
Montreal, Paris, and London, ect., firmly believes and teaches that he has the
power to turn all the loaves of their cities, of their dioceses, nay, of the
whole world, into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Saviour, Jesus
Christ. And, though they have never yet found it advisable to do that wonderful
miracle, they consider, and say, that to entertain any doubt about the power to
perform that marvel, is as criminal as to entertain any doubt about the
existence of God.
When in the Seminary of Nicolet, I heard, several times, our Superior, the Rev.
Mr. Raimbault, tell us that a French priest having been condemned to death in
Paris, when dragged to the scaffold had, through revenge, consecrated and
changed into Jesus Christ all the loaves of the bakeries which were along the
streets through which he had to pass; and though our learned Superior condemned
that action in the strongest terms, yet he told us that the consecration was
valid, and that the loaves were really changed into the body, blood, soul and
divinity of the Saviour of the world. And I was bound to believe it under pain
of eternal damnation.
Before my ordination I had been obliged to learn by heart, in one of the most
sacred books of the Church of Rome (Missale Romanum, p. 63) the following
statement: "If the host after consecration disappear, either by any
accident, as by the wind, or a miracle, or being taken and carried off by any
animal; and if it cannot be recovered, then he shall consecrate another."
And at page 57 I had learned, "If after consecration a fly has fallen in,
or anything of that sort, and a nausea be occasioned to the priest, he shall
draw it out and wash it with wine, and when the mass is finished, burn it, and
the ashes and lotion shall be thrown into the sacrarium. But if he have not a
nausea, nor fear any danger, he shall drink them [ashes and lotion] with the
blood."
In the month of January, 1834, I heard the following fact from the Rev. Mr.
Paquette, curate of St. Gervais, at a grand dinner which he had given to the
neighbouring priests:-
"When young, I was the vicar of a curate who could eat as much as two of
us, and drink as much as four. He was tall and strong, and he has left the dark
marks of his hard fists on the nose of more than one of his beloved sheep; for
his anger was really terrible after he had drank his bottle of wine.
"One day, after a sumptuous dinner, he was called to carry the good god
(Le Bon Dieu), to a dying man. It was in midwinter. The cold was intense. The
wind was blowing hard. There were at least five or six feet of snow, and the
roads were almost impassable. It was really a serious matter to travel nine
miles on such a day, but there was no help. The messenger was one of the first
marguilliers (elders) who was very pressing, and the dying man was one of the
first citizens of the place. The curate, after a few grumblings, drank a
tumbler of good Jamaica with his marguillier, as a preventive against the cold;
went to church, took the good god (Le Bon Dieu), and threw himself into the
sleigh, wrapped as well as possible in his large buffalo robes.
"Though there were two horses, one before the other, to drag the sleigh,
the journey was a long and tedious one, which was made still worse by an
unlucky circumstance. They were met half-way by another traveler coming from
the opposite direction. The road was too narrow to allow the two sleighs and
horses to remain easily on firm ground when passing by each other, and it would
have required a good deal of skill and patience in driving the horses to
prevent them from falling into the soft snow. It is well known that when once
horses are sunk into five or six feet of snow, the more they struggle the
deeper they sink.
"The marguillier, who was carrying the `good god,' with the curate,
naturally hoped to have the privilege of keeping the middle of the road, and
escaping the danger of getting his horses wounded and his sleigh broken. He
cried to the other traveler in a high tone of authority, `Traveler! let me have
the road. Turn your horses into the snow. Make haste, I am in a hurry. I carry
the good god!'
"Unfortunately that traveler was a heretic, who cared much more for his
horses than for the `good god.' He answered:
"`Le Diable emporte ton Bon Dieu avant que je ne casse le cou de mon
cheval!' `The d take your "good god" before I break the neck of my
horse. If your god has not taught you the rules of law and of common sense, I
will give you a free lecture on that matter,' and jumping out of his sleigh he
took the reins of the front horse of the marguillier to help him to walk on the
side of the road, and keep the half of it for himself.
"But the marguillier, who was naturally a very impatient and fearless man,
had drank too much with my curate, before he left the parsonage, to keep cool,
as he ought to have done. He also jumped out of his sleigh, ran to the
stranger, took his cravat in his left hand and raised his right to strike him
in the face.
"Unfortunately for him, the heretic seemed to have foreseen all this. He
had left his overcoat in the sleigh, and was more ready for the conflict than
his assailant. He was also a real giant in size and strength. As quick as
lightning his right and left fists fell like iron masses on the face of the
poor marguillier, who was thrown upon his back in the soft snow, where he
almost disappeared.
"Till then the curate had been a silent spectator; but the sight and cries
of his friend, whom the stranger was pommeling without mercy, made him lose his
patience. Taking the little silk bag which contained the `good god' from about
his neck, where it was tied, he put it on the seat of the sleigh, and said,
`Dear good god! Please remain neutral; I must help my marguillier. Take no part
in this conflict, and I will punish that infamous Protestant as he deserves.'
"But the unfortunate marguillier was entirely put hors de combat before
the curate could go to his help. His face was horribly cut three teeth were
broken the lower jaw dislocated, and the eyes were so terribly damaged that it
took several days before he could see anything.
"When the heretic saw the priest coming to renew the battle, he threw down
his other coat, to be freer in his movements. The curate had not been so wise.
Relying too much on his herculean strength, covered with his heavy overcoat, on
which was his white surplice, he threw himself on the stranger, like a big rock
with falls from the mountain and rolls upon the oak below.
"Both of these combatants were real giants, and the first blows must have
been terrible on both sides. But the `infamous heretic' probably had not drank
so much as my curate before leaving home, or perhaps he was more expert in the
exchange of these savage jokes. The battle was long, and the blood flowed
pretty freely on both sides. The cries of the combatants might have been heard
at a long distance, were it not for the roaring noise of the wind which at that
instant was blowing a hurricane.
"The storm, the cries, the blows, the blood, the surplice, and the
overcoat of the priest torn to rags; the shirt of the stranger reddened with
gore, made such a terrible spectacle, that in the end the horses of the
marguillier, though well trained animals, took fright and threw themselves into
the snow, turned their backs to the storm and made for home. They dragged the
fragments of the upset sleigh a pretty long distance, and arrived at the door
of their stable with only some diminutive parts of the harness.
"The `good god' had evidently heard the prayer of my curate, and he had
remained neutral; at all events, he had not taken the part of his priest, for
he lost the day, and the infamous Protestant remained master of the
battle-field.
"The curate had to help his marguillier out of the snow in which he was
buried, and where he had lain like a slaughtered ox. Both had to walk, or
rather crawl, nearly half a mile in snow to the knees, before they could reach
the nearest farmhouse, where they arrived when it was dark.
"But the worse is not told. You remember when my curate had put the box
containing the `good god' on the seat of the sleigh, before going to fight. The
horses had dragged the sleigh a certain distance, upset and smashed it. The
little silk bag, with the silver box and its precious contents, was lost in the
snow, and though several hundred people had looked for it, several days at
different times, it could not be found. It was only late in the month of June,
that a little boy, seeing some rags in the mud of the ditch, along the highway,
lifted them and a little silver box fell out. Suspecting that it was what the
people had looked for so many days during the last winter, he took it to the
parsonage.
"I was there when it was opened; we had the hope that the `good god' would
be found pretty intact, but we were doomed to be disappointed. The good god was
entirely melted away. Le Bon Dieu etait fondu!"
During the recital of that spicy story, which was told in the most amusing and
comical way, the priests had drunk freely and laughed heartily. But when the
conclusion came: "Le Bon Dieu etait fondu!"
"The good god was melted away!" There was a burst of laughter such as
I never heard the priests striking the floor with their feet, and the table
with their hands, filled the house with the cries, "The good god melted
away!"
Le Bon Dieu est fondu!' "Le Bon Kieu est fondu!" Yes, the god of
Rome, dragged away by a drunken priest, had really melted away in the muddy
ditch. This glorious fact was proclaimed by his own priests in the midst of
convulsive laughter, and at tables covered with scores of bottles just emptied
by them!
About the middle of March, 1839, I had one of the most unfortunate days of my
Roman Catholic priestly life. At about two o'clock in the afternoon, a poor
Irishman had come in haste from beyond the high mountains, between Lake
Beauport and the River Morency, to ask me to go and anoint a dying woman. It
took me ten minutes to run to the church, put the "good god" in the
little silver box, shut the whole in my vest pocket and jump into the
Irishman's rough sleigh. The roads were exceeding bad, and we had to go very
slowly. At 7 p.m. we were yet more than three miles from the sick woman's
house. It was very dark, and the horse was so exhausted that it was impossible
to go any further through the gloomy forest. I determined to pass the night at
a poor Irish cabin which was near the road. I knocked at the door, asked
hospitality, and was welcomed with that warm-hearted demonstration of respect
which the Roman Catholic Irishman knows, better than any other man, how to pay
to his priests.
The shanty, twenty-four feet long by sixteen wide, was built with round logs,
between which a liberal supply of clay, instead of mortar, had been thrown, to
prevent the wind and cold from entering. Six fat, though not absolutely
well-washed, healthy boys and girls, half-naked, presented themselves around
their good parents, as the living witnesses that this cabin, in spite of its
ugly appearance, was really a happy home for its dwellers.
Besides the eight human beings sheltered beneath that hospitable roof, I saw,
at one end, a magnificent cow, with her new-born calf, and two fine pigs. These
last two boarders were separated from the rest of the family only by a branch
partition two or three feet high.
"Please your reverence," said the good woman, after she had prepared
her supper, "excuse our poverty, but be sure that we feel happy and much
honoured to have you in our humble dwelling for the night. My only regret is
that we have only potatoes, milk and butter to give you for your supper. In
these backwoods, tea, sugar, and wheat flour are unknown luxuries."
I thanked that good woman for her hospitality, and caused her to rejoice not a
little by assuring her that good potatoes, fresh butter and milk, were the best
delicacies which could be offered to me in any place. I sat at the table, and
ate one of the most delicious suppers of my life. The potatoes were exceedingly
well-cooked the butter, cream and milk of the best quality, and my appetite was
not a little sharpened by the long journey over the steep mountains.
I had not told these good people, nor even my driver, that I had "Le Bon
Dieu," the good god, with me in my vest pocket. It would have made them
too uneasy, and would have added too much to my other difficulties. When the
time of sleeping arrived I went to bed with all my clothing, and I slept well;
for I was very tired by the tedious and broken roads from Beauport to these
distant mountains.
Next morning, before breakfast and the dawn of day, I was up, and as soon as we
had a glimpse of light to see our way, I left for the house of the sick woman
after offering a silent prayer.
I had not traveled a quarter of a mile when I put my hand into my vest pocket,
and to my indescribable dismay I found that the little silver box, containing
the "good god," was missing. A cold sweat ran through my frame. I
told my driver to stop and turn back immediately, that I had lost something
which might be found in the bed where I had slept. It did not take five minutes
to retrace our way.
On opening the door I found the poor woman and her husband almost beside
themselves, and distressed beyond measure. They were pale and trembling as
criminals who expected to be condemned.
"Did you not find a little silver box after I left," I said.
"O my God!" answered the desolate woman; "yes, I have found it,
but would to God I had never seen it. There it is."
"But why do you regret finding it, when I am so happy to find it here,
safe in your hands!" I replied.
"Ah; your reverence, you do not know what a terrible misfortune has just
happened to me, not more than half a minute before you knocked at the
door."
"What misfortune can have fallen upon you in so short a time," I
answered.
"Well, please your reverence, open the little box and you will understand
me."
I opened it, but the "good god" was not in it!! Looking in the face
of the poor distressed woman, I asked her, "What does this mean? It is
empty!"
"It means," answered she, "that I am the most unfortunate of
women! Not more than five minutes after you had left the house, I went to your
bed and found that little box. Not knowing what it was I showed it to my
children and to my husband. I asked him to open it, but he refused to do it. I
then turned it on every side, trying to guess what it could contain; till the
devil tempted me so much that I determined to open it. I came to this corner,
where this pale lamp is used to remain on that little shelf, and I opened it.
But, oh my God! I do not dare to tell the rest."
At these words she fell on the floor in a fit of nervous excitement her cries
were piercing, her mouth was foaming. She was cruelly tearing her hair with her
own hands. The shrieks and lamentations of the children were so distressing
that I could hardly prevent myself from crying also.
After a few moments of the most agonizing anxiety, seeing that the poor woman
was becoming calm, I addressed myself to the husband, and said: "Please
give me the explanation to these strange things?" He could hardly speak at
first, but as I was very pressing he told me with a trembling voice:
"Please your reverence; look into that vessel which the children use, and
you will perhaps understand our desolation! When my wife opened the little
silver box she did not observe the vessel was there, just beneath her hands. In
the opening, what was in the silver box fell into that vase, and sank! We were
all filled with consternation when you knocked at the door and entered."
I felt struck with such unspeakable horror at the thought that the body, blood,
soul and divinity of my Saviour, Jesus Christ, was there, sunk into that vase,
that I remained speechless, and for a long time did not know what to do. At
first it came into my mind to plunge my hands into the vase and try to get my
Saviour out of that sepulchre of ignominy. But I could not muster courage to do
so.
At last I requested the poor desolated family to dig a hole three feet deep in
the ground, and deposit it, with its contents, and I left the house, after I
had forbidden them from ever saying a word about that awful calamity.
In one of the most sacred books of the laws and regulations of the Church of
Rome (Missale Romanum), we read, page 58, "If the priest vomit the
Eucharist, if the species appear entire, let them be reverently swallowed,
unless sickness arise; for then let the consecrated species be cautiously
separated and laid up in some sacred place till they are corrupted; and
afterwards let them be cast into the sacrarium. But if the species do not
appear, let the vomit be burned, and the ashes cast into the sacarium."
When a priest of Rome, I was bound, with all the Roman Catholics, to believe
that Christ had taken His own body, with His own hand, to His mouth; and that
He had eaten Himself, not in a spiritual, but in a substantial material way!
After eating Himself, He had given it to each of His apostles, who then ate Him
also!!
Before closing this chapter, let the reader allow me to ask him, if the world,
in its darkest ages of paganism, has ever witnessed such a system of idolatry,
so debasing, impious, ridiculous, and diabolical in its consequences as the
Church of Rome teaches in the dogma of transubstantiation!
When, with the light of the gospel in hand, the Christian goes into those
horrible recesses of superstition, folly, and impiety, he can hardly believe
what his eyes see and his ears hear. It seems impossible that men can consent
to worship a god whom the rats can eat! A god who can be dragged away and lost
in a muddy ditch by a drunken priest! A god who can be eaten, vomited, and
eaten again by those who are courageous enough to eat again what they have
vomited!!
The religion of Rome is not a religion: it is the mockery, the destruction, the
ignominies caricature of religion. The Church of Rome, as a public fact, is nothing
but the accomplishment of the awful prophecy: "Because they received not
the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall
send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie." (2 Thess. ii.
10, 11.)
On the 24th September, 1833, the
Rev. Mr. Casault, secretary of the Bishop of Quebec, presented tome the
official letters which named me the vicar of the Rev. Mr. Perras, arch-priest,
and curate of St. Charles, Rivierre Boyer, and I was soon on my way, with a
cheerful heart, to fill the post assigned to me by my Superior.
The parish of St. Charles is beautifully situated about twenty miles south-west
of Quebec, on the banks of a river, which flows in its very midst, from north
to south. Its large farm-houses and barns, neatly white-washed with lime, were
the symbols of peace and comfort. The vandal axe had not yet destroyed the
centenary forests which covered the country. On almost every farm a splendid
grove of maples had been reserved as the witness of the intelligence and tastes
of the people.
I had often heard of the Rev. Mr. Perras as one of the most learned, pious, and
venerable priest of Canada. I had even been told that several of the governors
of Quebec had chosen him for the French teacher of their children. When I
arrived, he was absent on a sick call, but his sister received me with every
mark of refined politeness. Under the burden of her five-and-fifty years she
had kept all the freshness and amiability of youth. After a few words of
welcome, she showed me my study and sleeping room. They were both perfumed with
the fragrance of two magnificent bouquets of the choicest flowers, on the top
of one of which were written the words: "Welcome to the angel whom the
Lord sends to us as His messenger." The two rooms were the perfection of
neatness and comfort. I shut the doors and fell on my knees to thank God and
the blessed Virgin for having given me such a home. Ten minutes later I came
back to the large parlour, where I found Miss Perras waiting for me, to offer
me a glass of wine and some excellent "pain de savoie," as it was the
universal custom, then, to do in every respectable house. She then told me how
her brother, the curate, and herself were happy when they heard that I was to
come and live with them. She had known my mother before her marriage, and she
told me how she had passed several happy days in her company.
She could not speak to me of any subject more interesting than my mother; for,
though she had died a few years before, she had never ceased to be present to
my mind, and near and dear to my heart.
Miss Perras had not spoken long when the curate arrived. I rose to meet him,
but it is impossible to adequately express what I felt at that moment. The
Israelites were hardly struck with more awe when they saw Moses coming down
from Mount Sinai, than I was at the first sight I had of that venerable man.
Rev. Mr. Perras was then about sixty-five years old. He was a tall man almost a
giant. No army officer, no king ever bore his head with more dignity. But his
beautiful blue eyes, which were the embodiment of kindness, tempered the
dignity of his mien. His hair, which was beginning to whiten, had not yet lost
its golden lustre. It seemed as if silver and gold were mixed on his head to
adorn and beautify it. There was on his face an expression of peace, calm,
piety and kindness, which entirely won my heart and my respect. When, with a
smile on his lips, he extended his hands towards me, I felt beside myself, I
fell on my knees and said: "Mr. Perras, God sends me to you that you may
be my teacher and my father. You will have to guide my first and inexperienced
steps in the holy ministry. Do bless me, and pray that I may be a good priest
as you are yourself."
That unpremeditated and earnest act of mine so touched the good old priest,
that he could hardly speak. Leaning towards me he raised me up and pressed me
to his bosom, and with a voice trembling with emotion he said: "May God
bless you, my dear sir, and may He also be blessed for having chosen you to
help me to carry the burden of the holy ministry in my old age." After
half-an-hour of the most interesting conversation, he showed me his library,
which was very large, and composed of the best books which a priest of Rome is
allowed to read; and he very kindly put it at my service.
Next morning, after breakfast, he handed me a large and neat sheet of paper,
headed by these Latin words:
"ORDO DUCIT AD DEUM."
It was the rule of life which he had imposed upon himself, to guide all the
hours of the day in such a way that not a moment could be given to idleness or
vain pastime.
"Would you be kind enough," he said, "to read this and tell me
if it suits your views? I have found great spiritual and temporal benefits in
following these rules of life, and would be very happy if my dear young
coadjutor would unite with me in walking in the ways of an orderly, Christian
and priestly life.
I read this document with interest and pleasure, and handed it back to him
saying: "I will be very happy, with the help of God, to follow, with you,
the wise rules set down here for a holy and priestly life."
Thinking that these rules might be interesting to the reader, I give them here
in full:
.
1.
Rising..........5:30am.
2. Prayer and Meditation............6 to 6:30am.
3. Mass, hearing confessions and recitation of brevarium ..6:30 to 8am.
4. Breakfast......................8am.
5. Visitation of the sick, and reading the lives of the saints......8:30 to
10am.
6. Study of philosophical, historical or theological books 11a.m. to 12.
7. Dinner.........................12 to 12:30.
8. Recreation and conversation.............12:30 to 1:30.
9. Recitation and vespers...................1:30 to 2pm.
10. Study of history, theology or philosophy........2 to 4 pm.
11. Visit to the holy sacrament and reading "Imitation of Jesus
Christ" 4 to 4:30.
12. Hearing of confessions, or visit to the sick, or study..4:30 to 6pm.
13. Supper..................6 to 6:30pm.
14. Recreation..............6:30 to 8pm.
15. Chaplet reading of the Holy Scriptures and prayer.....8 to 9pm.
16. Going to bed............9pm.
Such was our daily life during
the eight months which it was my privilege to remain with the venerable Mr.
Perras, except that Thursdays were invariably given to visit some of the neighbouring
curates, and the Sabbath days spent in hearing confessions, and performing the
public services of the church.
The conversation of Mr. Perras was generally exceedingly interesting. I never
heard from him any idle, frivolous talking, as is so much the habit among the
priests. He was well versed in the literature, philosophy, history and theology
of Rome. He had personally known almost all the bishops and priests of the last
fifty years, and his memory was well stored with anecdotes and facts concerning
the clergy, from almost the days of the conquest of Canada. I could write many
interesting things, were I to publish what I heard from him, concerning the
doings of the clergy. I will only give two or three of the facts of that
interesting period of the church in Canada.
A couple of months before my arrival at St. Charles, the vicar who preceded me,
called Lajus, had publicly eloped with one of his beautiful penitents, who,
after three months of public scandal, had repented and come back to her heart
broken parents. About the same time a neighbouring curate, in whom I had great
confidence, compromised himself also, with one of his fair parishioners, in a
most shameful, though less public way. These who scandals, which came to my
knowledge almost at the same time, distressed me exceedingly, and for nearly a
week I felt so overwhelmed with shame, that I dreaded to show my face in
public, and I almost regretted that I ever became a priest. My nights were
sleepless; the best viands of the table had lost their relish. I could hardly
eat anything. My conversations with Mr. Perras had lost their charms. I even
could hardly talk with him or anybody else.
"Are you sick, my young friend?" said he to me one day.
"No, sir, I am not sick, but I am sad."
He replied, "Can I know the cause of your sadness? You used to be so
cheerful and happy since you came here. I must bring you back to your former
happy frame of mind. Please tell me what is the matter with you? I am an old
man, and I know many remedies for the soul as well as for the body. Open your
heart to me, and I hope soon to see that dark cloud which is over you pass
away."
"The two last awful scandals given by he priests," I answered,
"are the cause of my sadness. The news of the fall of these two confreres,
one of whom seemed to me so respectable, has fallen upon me like a thunderbolt.
Though I had heard something of that nature when I was a simple ecclesiastic in
the college, I had not the least idea that such was the life of so many
priests. The fact of the human frailty of so many, is really distressing. How
can one hope to stand up on one's feet when one sees such strong men fall by
one's side? What will become of our holy church in Canada, and all over the
world, if her most devoted priests are so weak and have so little self-respect,
and so little fear of God?"
"My dear young friend," answered Mr. Perras. "Our holy church is
infallible. The gates of hell can not prevail against her; but the assurance of
her perpetuity and infallibility does not rest on any human foundation. It does
not rest on the personal holiness of her priests; but it rests on the promises
of Jesus Christ. Her perpetuity and infallibility are a perpetual miracle. It
requires the constant working of Jesus Christ to keep her pure and holy, in
spite of the sins and scandals of her priests. Even the clearest proof that our
holy church has a promise of perpetuity and infallibility is drawn from the
very sins and scandals of her priests; for those sins and scandals would have
destroyed her long ago, if Christ was not in the midst to save and sustain her.
Just as the ark of Noah was miraculously saved by the mighty hand of God, when
the waters of the deluge would otherwise have wrecked it, so our holy church is
miraculously prevented from perishing in the flood of iniquities by which too
many priests have deluged the world. By the great mercy and power of God, the
more the waters of the deluge were flowing on the earth, the more the ark was
raised towards heaven by these very waters. So it is with our holy church. The
very sins of the priests make that spotless spouse of Jesus Christ fly away
higher and higher towards the regions of holiness, as it is in God. Let,
therefore, your faith and confidence in our holy church, and your respect for her,
remain firm and unshaken in the midst of all these scandals. Let your zeal be
rekindled for her glory and extension, at the sight of the unfortunate
confreres who yield to the attacks of the enemy. Just as the valiant soldier
makes superhuman efforts to save the flag, when he sees those who carried it
fall on the battlefield. Oh! you will see more of our flag bearers slaughtered
before you reach my age. But be not disheartened or shaken by that sad
spectacle; for once more our holy church will stand for ever, in spite of all
those human miseries, for her strength and her infallibility do not lie in men,
but in Jesus Christ, whose promises will stand in spite of all the efforts of
hell.
"I am near the end of my course, and, thanks be to God, my faith in our
holy church is stronger than ever, though I have seen and heard many things,
compared with which, the facts which just now distress you are mere trifles. In
order the better to inure you to the conflict, and to prepare you to hear and
see more deplorable things than what is now troubling you, I think it is my
duty to tell you a fact which I got from the late Lord Bishop Plessis. I have
never revealed it to anybody, but my interest in you is so great that I will
tell it to you, and my confidence in your wisdom is so absolute, that I am sure
you will never abuse it. What I will reveal to you is of such a nature that we
must keep it among ourselves, and never let it be known to the people, for it
would diminish, if not destroy their respect and confidence in us, respect and
confidence, without which, it would become almost impossible to lead them.
"I have already told you that the late venerable Bishop Plessis was my
personal friend. Our intimacy had sprung up when we were studying under the
same roof in the seminary of St. Sulpice, Montreal, and it had increased year
after year till the last hour of his life. Every summer, when he had reached
the end of the three months of episcopal visitation of his diocese, he used to
come and spend eight or ten days of absolute rest and enjoyment of private and
solitary life with me in this parsonage. The two rooms you occupy were his, and
he told me many times that the happiest days of his episcopal life were those
passed in this solitude.
"One day he had come from his three months' visit, more worn out than
ever, and when I sat down with him in his parlour, I was almost frightened by
the air of distress which covered his face. Instead of finding him the
loquacious, amiable and cheerful guest I used to have in him, he was taciturn,
cast down, distressed. I felt really uneasy, for the first time, in his
presence, but as it was the last hour of the day, I supposed that this was due
to his extreme fatigue, and I hoped that the rest of the night would bring
about such a change in my venerable friend, that I would find him, the next
morning, what he used to be, the most amiable and interesting of men.
"I was, myself, completely worn out. I had traveled nearly thirty miles
that day, to go to receive him at St. Thomas. The heat was oppressive, the
roads very bad, and the dust awful. I was in need of rest, and I was hardly in
my bed when I fell into a profound sleep, and slept till three o'clock in the
morning. I was then suddenly awakened by sobs and halfsuppressed lamentations and
prayers, which were evidently coming from the bishop's room. Without losing a
moment, I went and knocked at the door, inquiring about the cause of these
sobs. Evidently the poor bishop had not suspected that I could hear him.
"`Sobs! sobs!' he answered, `What do you mean by that. Please go back to
your room and sleep. Do not trouble yourself about me, I am well,' and he
absolutely refused to open the door of his room. The remaining hours of the
night, of course, were sleepless ones for me. The sobs of the bishop were more
suppressed, but he could not sufficiently suppress them to prevent me from
hearing them. The next morning his eyes were reddened with weeping, and his
face was that of one who had suffered intensely all the night. After breakfast
I said to him: `My lord, last night has been one of desolation to your
lordship; for God's sake, and in the name of the sacred ties of friendship,
which has united us during so many years, please tell me what is the cause of
your sorrow. It will become less the very moment you share it with your
friend.'
"The bishop answered me: `You are right when you think that I am under the
burden of a great desolation; but its cause is of such a nature, that I cannot
reveal it even to you, my dear friend. It is only at the feet of Jesus Christ
and His holy mother, that I must go to unburden my heart. If God does not come
to my help, I must certainly die from it. But I will carry with me into my
grave, the awful mystery which kills me.'
"In vain, during the rest of the day, I did all that I could to persuade
Monseigneur Plessis to reveal the cause of his grief. I failed. At last,
through respect for him, I withdrew to my own room, and left him alone, knowing
that solitude is sometimes the best friend of a desolated mind. His lordship,
that evening withdrew to his sleeping room sooner than usual, and I retired to
my room much later. But sleep was out of the question for me that night, for
his desolation seemed to be so great, and his tears so abundant, that when he
bade me `good-night,' I was in fear of finding my venerable, and more than ever
dear friend, dead in his bed the next morning. I watched him, without closing
my eyes, from the adjoining room, from ten o'clock till the next morning.
Though it was evident that he was making great efforts to suppress his sobs, I
could see that his sorrow was still more intense that night, than the last one,
and my mental agony was not much less than his, during those distressing hours.
"But I formed an extreme resolution, which I put into effect the very
moment that he came out of his room the next morning, to salute me.
"`My Lord,' said I, `I thought till the night before last, that you
honored me with your friendship, but I see today that I was mistaken. You do
not consider me as your friend, for if you would look upon me as a friend
worthy of your confidence, you would unburden your heart into mine. A true
friend has no secret from a true friend. What is the use of friendship if it be
not to help each other to carry the burdens of life! I found myself honored by
your presence in my house, so long as I considered myself as your own friend.
But now, that I see I have lost your confidence, please allow me frankly to say
to your lordship, that I do not feel the same at your presence here. Besides,
it seems to me very probable that the terrible burden which you want to carry
alone, will kill you, and that very soon. I do not at all like the idea of
finding you suddenly dead in my parsonage, and having the coroner holding his
inquest upon your body, and making the painful inquiries which are always made
upon one suddenly taken by death, particularly when he belongs to the highest
ranks of society. Then, my lord, be not offended if I respectfully request your
lordship to find another lodging as soon as possible.'
"My words fell upon the bishop like a thunderbolt. He seemed to awaken
from a profound sleep. With a deep sigh he looked in my face with his eyes
rolling in tears, and said:
"`You are right, Perras, I ought never to have concealed my sorrow from
such a friend as you have always been for more than half a century to me. But
you are the only one to whom I can reveal it. No doubt your priestly and
Christian heart will not be less broken than mine; but you will help me with
your prayers and wise counsels to carry it. However, before I initiate you into
such an awful mystery, we must pray.'
"We then knelt down, and we said together a chaplet to invoke the power of
the Virgin Mary, after which we recited Psalm li.: `Miserere mihi.' Have mercy
upon me, O Lord!
"Then, sitting by me on this sofa, the bishop said: `My dear Mr. Perras,
you are the only one to whom I could reveal what you are about to hear, for I
think you are the only one who can hear such a terrible secret without
revealing it, and because, also, you are the only friend whose advice can guide
me in this terrible affliction.
"`You know that I have just finished the visit of my immense diocese of
Quebec. It has taken me several years of hard work and fatigue, to see by my
own eyes, and know by myself, the gains and losses in a word, the strength and
life of our holy church. I will not speak to you of the people. They are, as a
general thing, truly religious and faithful to the church. But the priests. O
Great God! will I tell you what they are? My dear Perras, I would almost die
with joy, if God would tell me that I am mistaken. But, alas! I am not
mistaken. The sad, the terrible truth is this' (putting his right hand on his
forehead), `the priests! Ah! with the exception of you and three others, are
infidels and atheists! O my God! my God! what will become of the church, in the
hands of such wicked men!' and covering his face with his hands, the bishop
burst into tears, and for one hour could not say a word. I myself remained
mute.
"At first I regretted having pressed the bishop to reveal such an
unexpected `mystery of iniquity.' But, taking counsel of our very fathomless
humiliation and distress, after an hour of silence, spent in pacing the walks
of the garden, almost unable to look each other in the face, I said; `My lord,
what you have told me is surely the saddest thing that I ever heard; but allow
me to tell you that your sorrows are out of the limits of your high
intelligence and your profound science. If you read the history of our holy
church, from the seventh to the fifteenth century, you will know that the
spotless spouse of Christ has seen as dark days, if not darker, in Italy,
France, Spain and Germany, as she does in Canada, and though the saints of
those days deplored the errors and crimes of those dark ages, they have not
killed themselves with their vain tears, as you are doing.'
"Taking the bishop by the hand, I led him to the library, and opened the
pages of the history of the church, by Cardinals Baronius and Fieury, and I
showed him the names of more than fifty Popes who had evidently been atheists
and infidels. I read to him the lives of Borgia, Alexander VI., and a dozen
others, who would surely and justly be hanged today by the executioner of
Quebec, were they, in that city, committing one-half of the public crimes of
adultery, murder, debauchery of every kind, which they committed in Rome,
Avignon, Naples, ect., ect. I read to him some of the public and undeniable
crimes of the successors of the apostles, and of the inferior clergy, and I
easily and clearly proved to him that his priests, though infidels and
atheists, were angels of pity, modesty, purity, and religion, when compared
with a Borgia, who publicly lives as a married man with his own daughter, and
had a child by her. He agreed with me that several of the Alexanders, the
Johns, the Piuses, and the Leos were sunk much deeper in the abyss of every
kind of iniquity than his priests.
"Five hours passed in so perusing the sad but irrefutable pages of the
history of our holy church, wrought a marvelous and beneficial change in the
mind of Monseigneur Plessis.
"My conclusion was, that if our holy church had been able to resist the
deadly influence of such scandals during so many centuries in Europe, she would
not be destroyed in Canada, even by the legion of atheists by whom she is
served today.
"The bishop acknowledged that my conclusion was correct. He thanked me for
the good I had done him, by preventing him from despairing of the future of our
holy church in Canada, and the rest of the days which he spent with me, he was
almost as cheerful and amiable as before.
"Now, my dear young friend," added Mr. Perras, "I hope you will
be as reasonable and logical in your religion as bishop Plessis, who was
probably the greatest man Canada has ever had. When Satan tries to shake your
faith by the scandals you see, remember that Stephen, after having fought with
his adversary, Pope Constantine II., put out his eyes and condemned him to die.
Remember that other Pope, who through revenge against his predecessor, had him
exhumed, brought his dead body before judges, then charged him with the most
horrible crimes, which he proved by the testimony of scores of eye-witnesses,
got him (the dead Pope), to be condemned to be beheaded and dragged with ropes
through the muddy streets of Rome, and thrown into the river Tiber. Yes, when
your mind is oppressed by the secret crimes of the priests, which you will
know, either through the confessional or by public rumour, remember that more
than twelve Popes have been raised to that high and holy dignity by the rich
and influential prostitutes of Rome, with whom they were publicly living in the
most scandalous way. Remember that young bastard, John XI., the son of Pope
Sergius, who was consecrated Pope when only twelve years old by the influence
of his prostitute mother, Marosia, but who was so horribly profligate that he
was deposed by the people and the clergy of Rome.
"Well, if our holy church has been able to pass through such storms without
perishing, is it not a living proof that Christ is her pilot, that she is
imperishable and infallible because St. Peter is her foundation, `Tu es Petrus,
et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portae inferi non
prevalebunt adversus eam.'"
Oh, my God! Shall I confess, to my confusion, what my thoughts were during that
conversation, or rather that lecture of my curate, which lasted more than an
hour! Yes, to thy eternal glory, and to my eternal shame, I must say the truth.
When the priest was exhibiting to me the horrible unmentionable crimes of so
many of our Popes, to calm my fears and strengthen my shaken faith, a
mysterious voice was repeating to the ears of my soul the dear Saviour's words:
"A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree
bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not good fruit is hewn down
and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them"
(Matt. vii. 18 20), and in spite of myself the voice of my conscience cried in
thundering tones that a church, whose head and members were so horribly
corrupt, could not, by any means, be the Church of Christ.
But the most sacred and imperative law of my church, which I had promised by
oaths, was that I would never obey the voice of my conscience, nor follow the
dictates of my private judgment, when they were in opposition to the teachings
of my church. Too honest to admit the conclusions of Mr. Perras, which were
evidently the conclusions of my church, I was too cowardly and too mean to bravely
express my own mind, and repeat the words of the Son of God: "By their
fruits ye shall know them! A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit!"
The name of Louis Joseph
Papineau will be for ever dear to the French Canadians; for whatever may be the
political party to which one belongs in Canada, he cannot deny that it is to
the ardent patriotism, the indomitable energy, and the remarkable eloquence of
that great patriot, that Canada is indebted for the greater part of the
political reforms which promise in a near future to raise the country of my
birth to the rank of a great and free nation.
It is not my intention to speak of the political parties which divided the
people of Canada into two camps in 1833. The long and trying abuses under which
our conquered race was groaning, and which at last brought about the bloody
insurrections of 1837 and 1838, are matters of history, which do not pertain to
the plea of this work. I will speak of Papineau, and the brilliant galaxy of
talented young men by whom he was surrounded and supported, only in connection
with their difficulties with the clergy and the Church of Rome.
Papineau, Lafontaine, Bedard, Cartier and others, though born in the Church of
Rome, were only nominal Romanists. I have been personally acquainted with every
one of them, and I know they were not in the habit of confessing. Several times
I invited them to fulfill that duty, which I considered, then, of the utmost
importance to be saved. They invariably answered me with jests which distressed
me; for I could see that they did not believe in the efficacy of auricular
confession. These men were honest and earnest in their efforts to raise their
countrymen from the humiliating and inferior position which they occupied
compared with the conquering race. They well understood that the first thing to
be done, in order to put the French Canadians on a level with their British
compatriots, was to give good schools to the people; and they bravely set
themselves to show the necessity of having a good system of education, for the
country as well as for the city. But at the very first attempt they found an
insurmountable barrier to their patriotic views in the clergy. The priests had
everywhere the good common sense to understand that their absolute power over
the people was due to its complete ignorance. They felt that that power would
decrease in the same proportion that light and education would spread among the
masses. Hence the almost insurmountable obstacles put by the clergy before the
patriots, to prevent them from reforming the system of education. The only
source of education, then in Canada, with the exception of the colleges of
Quebec, Montreal and Nicolet, consisted in one or two schools in the principal
parishes, entirely under the control of the priests and kept by their most
devoted servants, while the new parishes had none at all. The greater part of
these teachers knew very little more, and required nothing more from their
pupils, than the reading of the A, B, C, and their little catechism. When once
admitted to their first communion the A, B, C, and the little catechism were
soon forgotten, and 95 in 100 of the French Canadian people were not even able
to sign their names! In many parishes, the curate, with his school teacher, the
notary, and half-a-dozen others, were the only persons who could read or write
a letter. Papineau and his patriotic friends understood that the French
Canadian people were doomed to remain an inferior race in their own country, if
they were left in that shameful state of ignorance. They did not conceal their
indignation at the obstacles placed by the clergy to prevent them from amending
the system of education. Several eloquent speeches were made by Papineau, who
was their "Parliament Speaker," in answer to the clergy. The curates,
in their pulpits, as well as by the press, tried to show that Canada had the
best possible system of education that the people were happy that too much
education would bring into Canada the bitter fruits which had grown in France infidelity,
revolution, riots, bloodshed; that the people were too poor to pay the heavy
taxes which would be imposed for the new system of education. In one of his
addresses, Papineau answered this last argument, showing the immense sums of
money foolishly given by those so-called poor people to gild the ceilings of
the church (as was the usage then). He made a calculation of the tithes paid to
the priests; of the costly images and statues of saints, which were to be seen
then, around all the interior of the churches, and he boldly said that the
priests would do better to induce the people to establish good schools, and pay
respectable teachers, than to lavish their money on objects which were of so
little benefit.
That address, which was reproduced by the only French paper of Quebec, "Le
Canadien," fell upon the clergy like a hurricane upon a rotten house,
shaking it to its foundation. Everywhere Papineau and his party were denounced
as infidels, more dangerous than Protestants, and plans were immediately laid
down to prevent the people from reading "Le Canadien," the only
French paper they could receive. Not more than half-adozen were receiving it in
St. Charles; but they used to read it to their neighbours, who gathered on
Sabbath afternoons to hear its contents. We at first tried, through the
confessional, to persuade the subscribers to reject it, under the pretext that
it was a bad paper; that it spoke against the priests and would finally destroy
our holy religion. But, to our great dismay, our efforts failed. The curates
then had recourse to a more efficacious way of preserving the faith of their
people.
The postmaster of St. Charles was, then, a man whom Mr. Perras had got educated
at his own expense in the seminary of Quebec. His name was Chabot. That man was
a perfect machine in the hands of his benefactor. Mr. Perras forbade him to
deliver any more of the numbers of that journal to the subscribers, when there
would be anything unfavourable to the clergy in its columns. "Give them to
me," said he, "that I may burn them, and when the people come to get
them, give them such evasive answers, that they may believe that it is the
editor's fault, or of some other post-offices, if they have not received
it." From that day, every time there was any censure of the clergy, the
poor paper was consigned to the flames. One evening, when Mr. Perras had, in my
presence, thrown a bundle of these papers into the stove, I told him:
"Please allow me to express to you my surprise at this act. Have we really
the right to deprive the subscribers of that paper of their property! That
paper is theirs, they have paid for it. How can we take upon ourselves to
destroy it without their permission! Besides, you know the old proverb: Les
pierres parlent. (Stones speak.) If it were known by our people that we destroy
their papers, would not the consequences be very serious? Now, Mr. Perrs, you
know my sincere respect for you, and I hope I do not go against that respect by
asking you to tell me by what right or authority you do this? I would not put
this question to you, if you were the only one who does it. But I know several
others who do just the same thing. I will, probably, be obliged, when a curate,
to act in the same manner, and I wish to know on what grounds I shall be
justified in acting as you do."
"Are we not the spiritual fathers of our people?" answered Mr.
Perras.
I replied, "Yes sir, we are surely the spiritual fathers of our
people."
"Then," rejoined Mr. Perras, "we have in spiritual matters, all
the rights and duties which temporal fathers have, in temporal things, towards
their children. If a father sees a sharp knife in the hands of his beloved but
inexperienced child, and if he has good reason to fear that the dear child may
wound himself, nay, destroy his own life with that knife, is it not his duty,
before God and man, to take it from his hands, and prevent him from touching it
any more?"
"Yes," I answered, "but allow me to draw your attention to a
little difference which I see between the corporal and the spiritual children
of your comparison. In the case you bring forward, of a father who takes away
the knife from the hands of a young and inexperienced child, that knife has,
very probably, been bought by the father. It has been paid for with that
father's money. It is, then, the father's knife. But the papers of your
spiritual children, which you have thrown into your stove, have been paid for
by them, and not by you. They are theirs, then, before the laws of God and man,
and they are not yours."
I saw that my answer had cut the good old priest to the quick, and he became
more nervous than I had ever seen him. "I see that you are young,"
answered he; "you have not yet had time to meditate on the great and broad
principles of our holy church. I confess there is a difference in the rights of
the two children to which I had not paid attention, and which, at first sight,
may seem to diminish the strength of my argument. But I have here an argument
which will satisfy you, I hope. Some weeks ago I wrote to our venerable Bishop
Panet about my intention of burning that miserable and impious paper, `Le
Canadien,' to prevent it from poisoning the minds of our people against us, and
he has approved me, adding the advice, to be very prudent, and to act so
secretly that there would be no danger in being detected. Here is the letter of
the holy bishop; you may read it if you like."
"I thank you," I replied. "I believe that what you say in
reference to that letter is correct. But suppose that our good bishop has made
a mistake in advising you to burn those papers, would you not have some reasons
to regret that burning, should you, sooner or later, detect that mistake?"
"A reason of regretting to follow the advice of my superiors! Never!
Never! I fear, my dear young friend, that you do not sufficiently understand
the duties of an inferior, and the sacred rights of superiors in the College of
Nicolet, that there can be no sin in an inferior who obeys the orders or
counsels of his legitimate superiors?"
"Yes, sir," I answered, "the Rev. Mr. Leprohon has told us that
in the college of Nicolet."
"But," rejoined Mr. Perras, "your last question makes me fear
that you have forgotten what you have learned there. My dear young friend, do
not forget that it was the want of respect to their ecclesiastical superiors
which caused the apostasy of Luther and Calvin, and damned so many millions of
heretics who have followed them. But in order to bring your rebellious mind
under the holy yoke of a perfect submission to your superiors, I will show you,
by our greatest and most approved theologian, that I can burn these papers,
without doing anything wrong before God."
He then went to his library, and brought me a volume of Liguori, from which he
read to me the following Latin words: "Docet Sanchez, ect., parato aliquem
occidere, licite posse suaderi, ut ab eo furetur, vel ut fornicetur." *
With an air of triumph he said, "Do you see now that I am absolutely
justifiable in destroying these pestilential papers. According to those
principles of our holy church, you know well that even a woman is allowed to
commit the sin of adultery with a man who threatens to kill her, or himself, if
she rebukes him; because murder and suicide are greater crimes, and more
irremediable than adultery. So the burning of those papers, though a sin, if
done through malice, or without legitimate reasons, ceases to be a sin; it is a
holy action the moment I do it, to prevent the destruction of our holy
religion, and to save immortal souls."
I must confess, to my shame, that the degrading principles of absolute
submission of the inferior to the superiors, which flattens everything to the
ground in the Church of Rome, had so completely wrought their deadly work on
me, that it was my wish to attain to that supreme perfection of the priest of
the Church or Rome, to become like a stick in the hands of my superiors like a
corpse in their presence. But my God was stronger than His unfaithful and blind
servant, and He never allowed me to go down to the bottom of that abyss of
folly and impiety. In spite of myself, I had left in me sufficient manhood to
express my doubts about that awful doctrine of my Church.
"I do not want to revolt against my superiors," I answered, "and
I hope God will prevent me from falling into the abyss where Luther and Calvin
lost themselves. I only respectfully request you to tell me, if you would not
regret the burning of these papers, in case you would know that Bishop Panet
made a mistake in granting you the power of destroying a property which is
neither yours or his a property over which neither of you has any
control?"
It was the first time that I was not entirely of the same mind with Mr. Perras.
Till then, I had not been brave, honest, or independent enough to oppose his
views and his ipse dixit, though often tempted to do so. The desire of living
in peace with him; the sincere respect which his many virtues and venerable age
commanded in me; the natural timidity, not to say cowardice, of a young,
inexperienced man, in the presence of a learned and experienced priest, had
kept me, till then, in perfect submission to the views of my aged curate. But
it seemed impossible to yield any longer, and to bow my conscience before
principles, which seemed to me then, as I am sure they are now, subversive of
everything which is good and holy among men. I took the big Bible, which was on
the table, and I opened it at the history of Susanna, and I answered: "My
dear Mr. Perras, God has chosen you to be my teacher, and I have learned many
things since it has been my privilege to be with you. But I have much more to
learn, before I know all that your books and your long experience have taught
you. I hope you will not find fault with me, if I honestly tell you that in
spite of myself, there is a doubt in my mind about this doctrine of our
theologians," and I said, "is there anything more sublime, in the
whole Bible, than that feeble woman, Susanna, in the hands of those two
infamous men? With a diabolical impudence and malice, they threaten to destroy
her, and to take her before a tribunal which will surely condemn her to the
most ignoble death, if she does not consent to satisfy their criminal desires.
She is just in the position alluded to by Liguori. What will she do? Will she
be guided by the principles of our theologians? Will she consent to become an
adulteress in order to prevent those two men from perjuring themselves, and
becoming murderers, by causing her to be stoned to death, as was required by
the law of the Jews? No! She raises her eyes and her soul towards the God whom
she loves and fears more than anything in the world, and she says, `I am
straitened on every side, for if I do this thing it is death unto me; and if I
do it not, I cannot escape your hands. It is better for me to fall into your
hands, and not to do it, than to sin in the sight of the Lord.' Has not God
Almighty Himself shown that He approved of that heroic resolution of Susanna,
to die rather than commit adultery. Does He not show that He himself planted,
in that noble soul, the principle that it is better to die than break the laws
of God, when He brought His prophet Daniel, and gave him a supernatural wisdom
to save the life of Susanna? If that woman had been guided by the principles of
Liguori, which, I confess to you with regret, are the principles accepted
everywhere in our Church (principles which have guided you in the burning of
`Le Canadien'), she would have consented to the desires of those infamous men.
Nay, if she had been interrogated by her husband, or by the judges on that
action, she would have been allowed to swear before God and men, that she was
not guilty of it. Now, my dear Mr. Perras, do you not find that there is some
clashing between the Word of God, as taught in the Holy Scriptures, and the
teachings of our Church, through the theologians?"
Never have I seen such a sudden change in the face and manners of a man, as I
saw in that hour. That Mr. Perras, who had, till then, spoken with so much
kindness and dignity, completely lost his temper. Instead of answering me, he
abruptly rose to his feet, and began to pace the room with a quick step. After
some time he told me: "Mr. Chiniquy, you forget that when you were
ordained a priest, you swore that you would never interpret the Holy Scriptures
according to your own fallible private judgment; you solemnly promised that you
would take them only according to the unanimous consent of the Holy Fathers
speaking to you through your superiors. Has not Liguori been approved by the
Popes by all the bishops of the Church? We have then, here, the true doctrine
which must guide us. But instead of submitting yourself with humility, as it
becomes a young and inexperienced priest, you boldly appeal to the Scriptures,
against the decisions of Popes and bishops against the voice of all your
superiors, speaking to you through Liguori. Where will that boldness end? Ah! I
tremble for you, if you do not speedily change: you are on the high road to
heresy!"
These last words had hardly fallen from his lips, when the clock struck 9 p.m.
He abruptly stopped speaking, and said, "This is the hour of prayer."
We knelt and prayed.
I need not say that that night was a sleepless one to me. I wept and prayed all
through its long dark hours. I felt that I had lost, and for ever, the high
position I had in the heart of my old friend, and that I had probably
compromised myself, for ever, in the eyes of my superiors, who were the
absolute masters of my destinies. I condemned myself for that inopportune
appeal to the Holy Scriptures, against the ipse dixit of my superiors. I asked
God to destroy in me, that irresistible tendency, by which I was constantly
going to the Word of God to know the truth, instead of remaining at the feet of
my superiors, with the rest of the clergy, as the only fountain of knowledge
and light.
But thanks be to God that blasphemous prayer was never to be granted.
* "Hence
Sanchez teaches, n. 19, with Cajet. Sot. Covar. Valent, that it is lawful to
persuade a man, determined to slay some oen, that he should commit theft or
fornication." (Mor. Theol. lib. iii. t. ii. cap. 2, p. 175, p. 157. Mech.
1845.)
It was the custom in those days,
in the Church of Rome, to give the title of arch-priest to one of the most
respectable and able priests, among twelve or fifteen others, by whom he was
surrounded. That title was the token of some superior power, which was granted
to him over his confreres, who, in consequence, should consult him in certain
difficult matters.
As a general thing, those priests lived in the most cordial and fraternal
unity, and, to make the bond of that union stronger and more pleasant, they
were, in turn, in the habit of giving a grand dinner every Thursday.
In 1834 those dinners were really state affairs. Several days in advance,
preparations were made on a grand scale, to collect everything that could
please the taste of the guests. The best wines were purchased. The fattest
turkeys, chickens, lambs, or sucking pigs were hunted up. The most delicate
pastries were brought from the city, or made at home, at any cost. The rarest
and most costly fruits and desserts were ordered. There was a strange emulation
among those curates, who would surpass his neighbours. Several extra hands were
engaged, some days before, to help the ordinary servants to prepare the
"GRAND DINNER."
The second Thursday of May, 1834, was Mr. Perras' turn, and at twelve o'clock
noon, we were fifteen priests seated around the table.
I must here render homage to the sobriety and perfect moral habits of the Rev.
Mr. Perras. Though he took his social glass of wine, as it was the universal
usage at that time, I never saw him drink more than a couple of glasses at the
same meal. I wish I could say the same thing of all those who were at his table
that day.
Never did I see, before nor after, a table covered with so many tempting and
delicate viands. The good curate had surpassed himself, and I would hardly be
believed, were I to give the number of dishes and covers, plates et
entreplates, which loaded the table. I will only mention a splendid salmon,
which was the first brought to Quebec that year, for which Mr. Amoit, the
purveyor for the priests around the capital, had paid twelve dollars.
There was only one lady at that dinner, Miss Perras, sister of the curate.
However, she was not at all embarrassed by finding herself along among those
jolly celebataires, and she looked like a queen at the head of the table. Her
sweet and watchful eyes were everywhere to see the wants of her guests. She had
an amiable word for every one of them. With the utmost grace she pressed the
Rev. Mr. A. to try that wing of turkey she was so gently remonstrating with the
Rev. Mr. B. for his not eating more, and she was so eloquent in requesting them
all to taste of this dish, or of that; which was quite a new thing in Canada.
And her young chickens! who could refuse to accept one of them, after she had
told their story: how, three months before, in view of this happy day, she had
so cajoled the big black hen to hatch over sixteen eggs in the kitchen; what a
world of trouble she had, when the little dog was coming in, and she (the hen)
was rushing at him! how, many times, she had to stop the combatants, and force
them to live in peace! and what desolation swept over her mind, when, in a dark
night, the rats had dragged into their holes, three of her newly-hatched
chickens! how she had got a cat to destroy the rats; and, how in escaping
Scylla, she was thrown on Charybdis, when, three days after, the cat made his
dinner of two of her dear little chickens; for which crime, committed in open day,
before several witnesses, the sentence of death was passed and executed,
without benefit of clergy.
Now where would they find young chickens in the month of May, in the
neighbourhood of Quebec, when the snow had scarcely disappeared?
These stories, given with an art which no pen can reproduce, were not finished
before the delicate chickens had disappeared in the hungry mouths of he
cheerful guests.
One of the most remarkable features of these dinners was the levity, the
absolute want of seriousness and gravity. Not a word was said in my presence,
there, which could indicate that these men had anything else to do in this
world but to eat and drink, tell and hear merry stories, laugh and lead a jolly
life!
I was the youngest of those priests. Only a few months before, I was in the
Seminary of Nicolet, learning from my grave old superior, lessons of priestly
life, very different from what I had there under my eyes. I had not yet
forgotten the austere preaching of self-denial, mortification, austerity and crucifixion
of the flesh, which were to fill up the days of a priest!
Though, at first, I was pleased with all I saw, heard and tasted; though I
heartily laughed with the rest of the guests, at their bon mots, their spicy
stories about their fair penitents, or at the funny caricatures they drew of
each other, as well as of absent ones, I felt, by turns, uneasy. Now and then
the lessons of priestly life, received from the lips of my venerable and dear
Mr. Leprohon, were knocking hard at the door of my conscience. Some words of
the Holy Scriptures which, more than others, had adhered to my memory, were
also making a strange noise in my soul. My own common sense was telling me,
that this was not quite the way Christ taught His disciples to live.
I made a great effort to stifle these troublesome voices. Sometimes I
succeeded, and then I became cheerful: but a moment after I was overpowered by
them, and I felt chilled, as if I had perceived on the walls of the festive
room, the finger of my angry God, writing "MENE, MENE, TEKEL,
UPHARSIN." Then all my cheerfulness vanished, and I felt so miserable
that, in spite of all my efforts to look happy, the Rev. Mr. Paquette, curate
of St. Gervais, observed it on my face. That priest was probably the one who
most enjoyed everything of that feast. Under the snowy mantle of sixty-five
years, he had kept the warm heart and the joviality of youth. He was considered
one of our most wealthy curates, and he richly deserved the reputation of being
the most epicurean of them all. He was a perfect cook, and with his chaplet or
his breviarium in hand, he used to pass a great part of the day in his kitchen,
giving orders about broiling this beefsteak, or preparing this fricassee, and
that gravy a la Francaise. He was loved by all his confreres, but particularly
by the young priests, who were the objects of his constant attentions. He had
always been exceedingly kind to me, and when in his neighbourhood, I dare say
that my most pleasant hours were those passed in his parsonage.
Looking at me in the very moment when my whole intellectual being was, in spite
of myself, under the darkest cloud, he said: "My dear little Father
Chiniquy, are you falling into the hands of some blue devils, when we are all
so happy? You were so cheerful half-an-hour ago! What is the matter with you
now? Are you sick? You look as grave and anxious as Jonah, when in the big
whale's stomach! What is the matter with you? Has any of your fair penitents
left you, to go to confess to another, lately?"
At these funny questions, the dining-room was shaken with the convulsive
laughter of the priests. I wished I could join in with the rest of my
confreres; for it seemed to me very clear that I was making a fool of myself by
this singularity of demeanor. But there was no help for it; for a moment before
I had seen that the servant girls had blushed; they had been scandalized by a
very improper word from the lips of a young priest about one of his young
female penitents; a word which he would, surely, never have uttered, had he not
drank too much wine. I answered; "I am much obliged to you for your kind
interest, I find myself much honoured to be here in your midst; but as the
brightest days are not without clouds, so it is with us all sometimes. I am
young, and without experience; I have not yet learned to look at certain things
in their proper light. When older, I hope I shall be wiser, and not make an ass
of myself as I do today."
"Tah! tah! tah!" said old Mr. Paquette, "this is not the hour of
dark clouds and blue devils. Be cheerful, as it behooves your age. There will
be hours enough in the rest of your life for sadness and somber thoughts. This
is the hour for laughing and being merry. Sad thoughts for to-morrow." And
appealing to all, he asked, "Is not this correct, gentlemen?"
"Yes, yes," unanimously rejoined all the guests.
"Now," said the old priest, "you see that the verdict of the
jury is unanimously in my favour and against you. Give up those airs of
sadness, which do not answer in the presence of those bottles of champagne.
Your gravity is an anachronism when we have such good wines before us. Tell me
the reason of your grief, and I pledge myself to console you, and make you
happy as you were at the beginning of the dinner."
"I would have liked better that you should have continued to enjoy this
pleasant hour without noticing me," I answered. "Please excuse me if
I do not trouble you with the causes of my personal folly."
"Well, well," said Mr. Paquette, "I see it, the cause of your
trouble is that we have not yet drank together a single glass of sherry. Fill
your glass with that wine, and it will surely drown the blue devil which I see
at its bottom."
"With pleasure," I said; "I feel much honoured to drink with
you," and I put some drops of wine into my glass.
"Oh! oh! what do I see you doing there? Only a few drops in your glass!
This will not even wet the cloven feet of the blue devil which is tormenting
you. It requires a full glass, an over-flowing glass to drown and finish him.
Fill, then, your glass with that precious wine the best I ever tasted in my
whole life."
"But I cannot drink more than those few drops," I said.
"Why not?" he replied.
"Because, eight days before her death, my mother wrote me a letter,
requesting me to promise her that I would never drink more than two glasses of
wine at the same meal. I gave her that promise in my answer, and the very day
she got my pledge, she left this world to convey it, written on her heart, into
heaven, to the feet of her God!"
"Keep that sacred pledge," answered the old curate; "but tell me
why you are so sad when we are so happy?"
"You already know part of my reasons if I had drunk as much wine as my
neighbour, the vicar of St. Gervais, I would probably have filled the room with
my shouts of joy as he does; but you see now that the hands of my deceased,
though always dear mother, are on my glass to prevent me from filling it any
more, for I have already drank two glasses of wine."
"But your sadness, in such a circumstance, is so strange, that we would
all like to know its cause."
"Yes, yes," said all the priests. "You know that we like you,
and we deeply feel for you. Please tell us the reason of this sadness."
I then answered, "It would be better for me to keep my own secret: for I
know I will make a fool of myself here: but as you are unanimous in requesting
me to give you the reasons of the mental agony through which I am just passing,
you will have them.
"You well know that, through very singular circumstances, I have been
prevented, till this day, from attending any of your grand dinners. Twice I had
to go to Quebec on these occasions, sometimes I was not well enough to be
present several times I was called to visit some dying person, and at other
times the weather, or the roads were too bad to travel; this, then is the first
grand dinner, attended by you all, which I have the honour of attending.
"But before going any further, I must tell you that, during the eight
months it has been my privilege to sit at Rev. Mr. Perras's table, I have never
seen anything which could make me suspect that my eyes would see, and my ears
would hear such things in this parsonage, as have just taken place. Sobriety,
moderation, truly evangelical temperance in drink and food were the invariable
rule. Never a word was said which could make our poor servant girls, or the
angels of God blush. Would to God that I had not been here today! For, I tell
you, honestly, that I am scandalized by the epicurean table which is before us;
by the enormous quantity of delicate viands and the incredible number of
bottles of most costly wines, emptied at this dinner.
"However, I hope I am mistaken in my appreciation of what I have seen and
heard I hope you are all right and that I am wrong. I am the youngest of you
all. It is not my business to teach you, but it is my duty to be taught by you.
"Now, I have given you my mind, because you so pressingly requested me to
do it, as honestly as human language will allow me to do. I have the right, I
hope, to request you to tell me, as honestly, if I am, and in what I am wrong
or right!"
"Oh! oh! my dear Chiniquy," replied the old curate, "you hold
the stick by the wrong end. Are we not the children of God?"
"Yes, sir," I answered, "we are the children of God."
"Now, does not a loving father give what he considers the best part of his
goods to his beloved children?"
"Yes, sir," I replied.
"Is not that loving father pleased when he sees his beloved children eat
and drink the good things he has prepared for them?"
"Yes, sir," was my answer.
"Then," rejoined the logical priest, "the more we, the beloved
children of God, eat of these delicate viands, and drink of those precious
wines, which our Heavenly Father puts into our hands, the more He is pleased
with us. The more we, the most beloved one of God, are merry and cheerful, the
more He is Himself and rejoiced in His heavenly kingdom.
"But if God our Father is so pleased with what we have eaten and drunk
today, why are you so sad?"
This masterpiece of argumentation was received by all (except Mr. Perras), with
convulsive cries of approbation, and repeated "Bravo! bravo!"
I was too mean and too cowardly to say what I felt. I tried to conceal my
increased sadness under the forced smiles of my lips, and I followed the whole
party, who left the table, and went to the parlour to drink a cup of coffee. It
was then half-past one p.m. At two o'clock, the whole party went to the church,
where, after kneeling for a quarter of an hour before their wafer God, they
fell on their knees to the feet of each other, to confess their sins, and get
their pardon, in the absolution of their confessors!
At three p.m. they were all gone, and I remained alone with my venerable old
curate Perras. After a few moments of silence, I said to him: "My dear Mr.
Perras, I have no words to express to you my regret for what I have said at
your table. I beg your pardon for every word of that unfortunate and unbecoming
conversation, into which I was dragged in spite of myself; you know it. It does
not do for a young priest, as I am, to criticize those whom God has put so much
above him by their science, their age, and their virtues. But I was forced to
give my mind, and I have given it. When I requested Mr. Paquette to tell me in
what I might be wrong, I had not the least idea that he would hear, from the
lips of one of our veterans in the priesthood, the blasphemous jokes he has
uttered. Epicurus himself would have blushed, had he been among us, in hearing
the name of God connected with such deplorable and awful impieties." Mr. Perras
answered me: "Far from being displeased with what I have heard from you at
this dinner, I must tell you that you have gained much in my esteem by it. I
am, myself, ashamed of that dinner. We priests are the victims, like the rest
of the world, of the fashions, vanities, pride and lust of that world against
which we are sent to preach. The expenditure we make at those dinners is surely
a crime, in the face of the misery of the people by whom we are surrounded.
This is the last dinner I give with such foolish extravagance. The next time my
neighbours will meet here, I will not expose them to stagger, as the greater
part of them did when they rose from the table. The brave words you have
uttered have done me good. They will do them good also; for though they had all
eaten and drunk too much, they were not so intoxicated as not to remember what
you have said."
Then, pressing my hand in his, he said, "I thank you, my good little
Father Chiniquy, for the short but excellent sermon you have given us. It will
not be lost. You have drawn my tears when you have shown us your saintly mother
going to the feet of God in heaven, with your sacred promise written in her
heart. Oh! you must have had a good mother! I knew her when she was very young.
She was then, already, a very remarkable girl, for her wisdom and the dignity
of her manners."
Then he left me alone in the parlour, and he went to visit a sick man in one of
the neighbouring houses.
When alone I fell on my knees, to pray and weep. My soul was filled with
emotions which it is impossible to express. The remembrance of my beloved
mother, whose blessed name had fallen form my lips when her sacred memory
filled my mind with the light and strength I needed in that hour of trial the
gluttony and drunkenness of those priests, whom I was accustomed to respect and
esteem so much their scandalous conversation their lewd expressions and more
than all, their confessions to each other after two such hours of profanity and
drinking, were more than I could endure. I could not contain myself. I wept
over myself, for I felt also the burden of my sins, and I did not find myself
much better than the rest, though I had not eaten or drunk quite so much as
several of them I wept over my friends, whom I had seen so weak; for they were
my friends. I loved them, and I knew they loved me. I wept over my church,
which was served by such poor, sinful priests. Yes! I wept there, when on my
knees, to my heart's content, and it did me good. But my God had another trial
in store for his poor unfaithful servant.
I had not been ten minutes alone, sitting in my study, when I heard strange
cries, and such a noise as if a murderer were at work to strike his victim. A
door had evidently been broken open, upstairs, and someone was running down
stairs as if one was wanting to break down everything. The cries of
"Murder, murder!" reached my ears, and the cries of "Oh! my God!
my God! where is Mr. Perras?" filled the air.
I quickly ran to the parlour to see what was the matter, and there I found
myself face to face with a woman absolutely naked! Her long black hair was
flowing on her shoulders; her face was pale as death her dark eyes fixed in
their sockets. She stretched her hands towards me with a horrible shriek, and
before I could move a step, terrified, and almost paralyzed as I was, she
seized my two arms with her hands, with such a terrible force as if my arms had
been grasped in a vice. My bones were cracking under her grasp, and my flesh
was torn by her nails. I tried to escape, but it was impossible. I soon found
myself as if nailed to the wall, unable to move any further. I cried then to
the utmost compass of my voice for help. But the living spectre cried still
louder: "You have nothing to fear. Be quiet. I am sent by God Almighty and
the blessed Virgin Mary, to give you a message. The priests whom I have known,
without a single exception, are a band of vipers; they destroy their female
penitents through auricular confession. They have destroyed me, and killed my
female child! Do not follow their example!" Then she began to sing with a
beautiful voice, to a most touching tune, a kind of poem she had composed
herself, which I secretly got afterwards from one of her servant maids, the
translation of which is as follows:
.
"Satan's priests
have defiled my heart!
Damned my soul! murdered my child!
O my child! my darling child!
From thy place in heaven, dost thou see
Thy guilty mother's tears?
Canst thou come and press me in thine arms? My child! my darling child!
Will never thy smiling face console me?"
When she was singing these words, big tears were rolling down her pale cheeks,
and the tone of her voice was so sad that she could have melted a heart of
stone. She had not finished her song when I cried to the girl: "I am
fainting, for God's sake bring me some water!" The water was only pressed
to my lips, I could not drink. I was choked, and petrified in the presence of
that living phantom! I could not dare to touch her in any way with my hands. I
felt horrified and paralyzed at the sight of that livid, pale, cadaverous,
naked spectre. The poor servant girl had tried in vain, at my request, to drag
her away from me. She had struck her with terror, by crying, "If you touch
me, I will instantly strangle you!"
"Where is Mr. Perras? Where is Mr. Perras and the other servants? For
God's sake call them," I cried out to the servant girl, who was trembling
and beside herself.
"Miss Perras is running to the church after the curate," she
answered, "and I do not know where the other girl is gone."
In that instant Mr. Perras entered, rushed towards his sister, and said,
"Are you not ashamed to present yourselves naked before such a
gentleman?" and with his strong arms he tried to force her to give me up.
Turning her face towards him, with tigress eyes, she cried out "Wretched
brother! what have you done with my child? I see her blood on your hands!"
When she was struggling with her brother, I made a sudden and extreme effort to
get out of her grasp; and this time I succeeded: but seeing that she wanted to
throw herself again upon me, I jumped through a window which was opened.
Quick as lightning she passed out of the hands of her brother, and jumped also
through the window to run after me. She would, surely, have overtaken me; for I
had not run two rods, when I fell headlong, with my feet entangled in my long,
black, priestly robe. Providentially, two strong men, attracted to my cries,
came to my rescue. They wrapped her in a blanket, taken there by her sister,
and brought her back into her upper chambers, where she remained safely locked,
under the guard of two strong servant maids.
The history of that woman is sad indeed. When in her priest-brother's house,
when young and of great beauty, she was seduced by her father confessor, and
became mother of a female child, which she loved with a real mother's heart.
She determined to keep it and bring it up. But this did not meet the views of
the curate. One night, when the mother was sleeping, the child had been taken
away from her. The awakening of the unfortunate mother was terrible. When she
understood that she could never see her child any more, she filled the
parsonage with her cries and lamentations, and, at first, refused to take any
food, in order that she might die. But she soon became a maniac.
Mr. Perras, too much attached to his sister to send her to a lunatic asylum,
resolved to keep her in his own parsonage, which was very large. A room in its
upper part had been fixed in such a way that her cries could not be heard, and
where she would have all the comfort possible in her sad circumstances. Two
servant maids were engaged to take care of her. All this was so well arranged,
that I had been eight months in that parsonage, without even suspecting that
there was such an unfortunate being under the same roof with me. It appears
that occasionally, for many days, her mind was perfectly lucid, when she passed
her time in praying, and singing a kind of poem which she had composed herself,
and which she sang while holding me in her grasp. In her best moments she had
fostered an invincible hatred of the priests whom she had known. Hearing her
attendants often speak of me, she had, several times, expressed the desire to
see me, which, of course, had been denied her. Before she had broken her door,
and escaped from the hands of her keeper, she had passed several days in saying
that she had received from God a message for me which she would deliver, even
if she had to pass on the dead bodies of all in the house.
Unfortunate victim of auricular confession! How many others could sing the sad
words of thy song.
.
"Satan's priests have defiled my heart,
Damned my soul! murdered my child!"
The grand dinner previously
described had its natural results. Several of the guests were hardly at home,
when they complained of various kinds of sickness, and none was so severely
punished as my friend Paquette, the curate of St. Gervais. He came very near
dying, and for several weeks was unable to work. He requested the Bishop of
Quebec to allow me to go to his help, which I did to the end of May, when I
received the following letter:
Charlesbourgh, May 25th, 1834
Rev. Mr. C. Chiniquy:
My Dear Sir: My Lord Panet has again chosen me, this year, to accompany him in
his episcopal visit. I have consented, with the condition that you should take
my place, at the head of my dear parish, during my absence. For I will have no
anxiety when I know that my people are in the hands of a priest who, though so
young, has raised himself so high in the esteem of all those who know him.
Please come as soon as possible to meet me here, that I may tell you many
things which will make your ministry more easy and blessed in Charlesbourgh.
His Lordship has promised me that when you pass through Quebec, he will give
you all the powers you want to administer my parish, as if you were its curate
during my absence.
Your devoted brother priest, and friend in the love and heart of Jesus and
Mary,
ANTOINE BEDARD.
I felt absolutely confounded by
that letter. I was so young and so deficient in the qualities required for the
high position to which I was so unexpectedly called. I know it was against the
usages to put a young and untried priest in such a responsible post. It seemed
evident to me that my friends and my superiors had strangely exaggerated to
themselves my feeble capacity.
In my answer to the Rev. Mr. Bedard, I respectfully remonstrated against such a
choice. But a letter received from the bishop himself, ordering me to go to
Charlesbourgh, without delay, to administer that parish during the absence of
its pastor, soon forced me to consider that sudden and unmerited elevation as a
most dangerous, though providential trial of my young ministry. Nothing
remained to be done by me but to accept the task in trembling, and with a
desire to do my duty. My heart, however, fainted within me, and I shed bitter
tears of anxiety. When entering into that parish for the first time, I saw its
magnitude and importance. It seemed, then, more than ever evident to me that
the good Mr. Bedard, and my venerable superiors, had made a sad mistake in
putting such a heavy burden on my young and feeble shoulders. I was hardly
twenty-four years old, and had not more than nine month's experience of the
ministry.
Charlesbourgh is one the most ancient and important parishes of Canada. Its
position, so near Quebec, at the feet of the Laurentide Mountains, is
peculiarly beautiful. It has an almost complete command of the city, and of its
magnificent port, where not less than 900 ships when received their precious
cargoes of lumber. On our left, numberless ranges of white houses extend as far
as the Falls of Montmorency. At our feet the majestic St. Lawrence, dashing its
rapid waters on the beautiful "Isle d' Orleans." To the right, the
parishes of Lorette, St. Foy, Roch, ect., with their high church steeples,
reflected the sun's glorious beams; and beyond, the impregnable citadel of
Quebec, with its tortuous ranges of black walls, its numerous cannon, and its
high towers, like fearless sentinels, presented a spectacle of remarkable
grandeur.
The Rev. Mr. Bedard welcomed me on my arrival with words of such kindness that
my heart was melted and my mind confounded. He was a man about sixty-five years
of age, short in stature, with a well-formed breast, large shoulders, bright
eyes, and a face where the traits of indomitable energy were coupled with an
expression of unsurpassed kindness.
One could not look on that honest face without saying to himself, "I am
with a really good and upright man!" Mr. Bedard is one of the few priests
in whom I have found a true honest faith in the Church of Rome. With an
irreproachable character, he believed, with a child's faith, all the
absurdities which the Church of Rome teaches, and he lived according to his
honest and sincere faith.
Though the actions of our daily lives were not subjected to a regular and
inexorable rule in Charlesbourgh's as in St. Charles' parsonage, there was yet
far more life and earnestness in the performance of our ministerial duties.
There was less reading of learned, theological, philosophical, and historical
books, but much more real labour in Mr. Bedard's than in Mr. Perras' parish;
there was more of the old French aristocracy in the latter priest, and more of
the good religious Canadian habitant in the former. Though both could be
considered as men of the most exalted faith and piety in the Church of Rome,
their piety was of a different character. In Mr. Perras' religion there was
real calmness and serenity, while the religion of Mr. Bedard had more of the
flash of lightning and the noise of thunder. The private religious
conversations with the curate of St. Charles were admirable, but he could not
speak common sense for ten minutes when preaching from his pulpit. Only once
did he preach while I was his vicar, and then he was not half through his
sermon before the greater part of his auditors were soundly sleeping. But who
could hear the sermons of Rev. Mr. Bedard without feeling his heart moved and
his soul filled with terror? I never heard anything more thrilling than his
words when speaking of the judgments of God and the punishment of the wicked.
Mr. Perras never fasted, except on the days appointed by the church: Mr. Bedard
condemned himself to fast besides twice every week. The former never drank, to
my knowledge, a single glass of rum or any other strong drink, except his two
glasses of wine at dinner; but the latter never failed to drink full glasses of
rum three times a day, besides two or three glasses of wine at dinner. Mr.
Perras slept the whole night as a guiltless child. Mr. Bedard, almost every
night I was with him, rose up, and lashed himself in the most merciless manner
with leather thongs, at the end of which were small pieces of lead. When
inflicting upon himself those terrible punishments, he used to recite, by
heart, the fifty-first Psalm, in Latin, "Miserere mei, Deus, secundam
magnam misericordiam tuam" (Have mercy upon me, O Lord, according to Thy
lovingkindness); and though he seemed to be unconscious of it, he prayed with
such a loud voice, that I heard every word he uttered; he also struck his flesh
with such violence that I could count all the blows he administered.
One day I respectfully remonstrated against such a cruel self-infliction as
ruining his health and breaking his constitution: "Cher petit Frere"
(dear little brother), he answered, "our health and constitution cannot be
impaired by such penances, but they are easily and commonly ruined by our sins.
I am one of the healthiest men of my parish, though I have inflicted upon
myself those salutary and too well-merited chastisements for many years. Though
I am old, I am still a great sinner. I have an implacable and indomitable enemy
in my depraved heart, which I cannot subdue except by punishing my flesh. If I
do not do those penances for my numberless transgressions, who will do penance
for me? If I do not pay the debts I owe to the justice of God, who will pay
them for me?"
"But," I answered, "has not our Saviour, Jesus Christ, paid our
debts on Calvary? Has He not saved and redeemed us all by His death on the
cross? Why, then, should you or I pay again to the justice of God that which
has been so perfectly and absolutely paid by our Saviour?"
"Ah! my dear young friend," quickly replied Mr. Bedard, "that
doctrine you hold is Protestant, which has been condemned by the Holy Council
of Trent. Christ has paid our debts certainly; but not in such an absolute way
that there is nothing more to be paid by us. Have you never paid attention to
what St. Paul says in his Epistle to the Colossians, `I fill up that which is
behind of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh for His body's sake, which is
the Church.' Though Christ could have entirely and absolutely paid our debts,
if it had been His will, it is evident that such was not His holy will He left
something behind which Paul, you, I, and every one of His disciples, should
take and suffer in our flesh for His Church. When we have taken and
accomplished in our flesh what Christ has left behind, then the surplus of our
merits goes to the treasury of the Church. For instance, when a saint has
accomplished in his flesh what Christ has left behind for his perfect
sanctification, if he accomplishes more than the justice of God requires, that
surplus of merits not being of any use to him, is put by God into the grand and
common treasure, where it makes a fund of merits of infinite value, from which
the Pope and the bishops draw the indulgences which they scatter all over the
world as a dew from heaven. By the mercy of God, the penances which I impose
upon myself, and the pains I suffer from these flagellations, purify my guilty
soul, and raising me up from this polluting would, they bring me nearer and
nearer to my God every day. I am not yet a saint, unfortunately, but if by the
mercy of God, and my penances united to the sufferings of Christ, I arrive at
the happy day when all my debts shall be paid, and my sins cleansed away, then
if I continue those penances and acquire new merits, more than I need, and if I
pay more debts than I owe to the justice of God, this surplus of merits which I
shall have acquired will go to the rich treasure of the Church, from which she
will draw merits to enrich the multitude of good souls who cannot do enough for
themselves to pay their own debts, and to reach that point of holiness which
will deserve a crown in heaven. Then the more we do penance and inflict pains
on our bodies, by our fastings and floggings, the more we feel happy in the
assurance of thus raising ourselves more and more above the dust of this sinful
world, of approaching more and more to that state of holiness of which our
Saviour spoke when He said, `Be holy as I am holy Myself.' We feel an
unspeakable joy when we know that by those self-inflicted punishments we
acquire incalculable merits, which enrich not only ourselves, but our Holy
Church, by filling her treasures for the benefit and salvation of the souls for
which Christ died on Calvary."
When Mr. Bedard was feeding my soul with these husks, he was speaking with
great animation and sincerity. Like myself, he was far away from the good
Father's house. He had never tasted of the bread of the children. Neither of us
knew anything of the sweetness of that bread. We had to accept those husks as
our only food, though it did not remove our hunger.
I answered him: "What you tell me here is what I find in all our ascetic
books and theological treatises, and in the lives of all our saints. I can
hardly reconcile that doctrine with what I read this morning in the 2nd chapter
of Ephesians. Here is the verse in my New Testament: `But God who is rich in
mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace ye are saved....for by
grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift
of God; not of works, least any man should boast.'
"Now, my dear and venerable Mr. Bedard, allow me respectfully to ask, how
is it possible that your salvation is only by grace, if you have to purchase it
every day by tearing your flesh and lashing your body in such a fearful manner?
Is it not a strange favour a very singular grace which reddens your skin with
your blood, and bruises your flesh every night?"
"Dear little brother," answered Mr. Bedard, "when Mr. Perras
spoke to me, in the presence of the bishop, with such deserved euloqium of your
piety, he did not conceal that you had a very dangerous defect, which was to
spend too much time in reading the Bible, in preference to every other of our
holy books. He told us more than this. He said that you had a fatal tendency to
interpret the Holy Scriptures too much according to your own mind, and in a
sense which is rather more Protestant than Catholic. I am sorry to see that the
curate of St. Charles was but too correct in what he told us of you. But, as he
added that, though your reading too much the Holy Scriptures brought some
clouds in your mind, yet when you were with him, you always ended by yielding
to the sense given by our holy Church. This did not prevent me from desiring to
have you in my place during my absence, and I hope I will not regret it, for we
are sure that our dear young Chiniquy will never be a traitor to our holy
Church."
These words, which were given with a great solemnity, mixed with the good
manners of the most sincere kindness, went through my soul as a two-edged
sword. I felt an inexpressible confusion and regret, and, biting my lips, I
said: "I have sworn never to interpret the Holy Scriptures except
according to the unanimous consent of the Holy Fathers, and with the help of
God, I will fulfill my promise. I regret exceedingly to have differed for a
moment from you. You are my superior by your age, your science and your piety.
Please pardon me that momentary deviation from my duty, and pray that I may be
as you are a faithful and fearless soldier of our holy Church to the end."
At that moment the niece of the curate came to tell us that the dinner was
ready. We went to the modest, though exceedingly well spread table, and to my
great pleasure that painful conversation was dropped. We had not sat at the
table five minutes, when a poor man knocked at the door and asked a piece of
bread for the sake of Jesus and Mary. Mr. Bedard rose from the table, went to
the poor stranger, and said: "Come, my friend, sit between me and our dear
little Father Chiniquy. Our Saviour was the friend of the poor: He was the
father of the widow and the orphan, and we, His priests, must walk after Him.
Be not troubled; make yourself at home. Though I am the curate of
Charlesbourgh, I am your brother. It may be that in heaven you will sit on a
higher throne than mine, if you love our Saviour Jesus Christ and His holy
mother Mary, more than I do."
With these words, the best things that were on the table were put by the good
old priest in the plate of the poor stranger, who with some hesitation finished
by doing honour to the excellent viands.
After this, I need not say that Mr. Bedard was charitable to the poor: he
always treated them as his best friends. So also was my former curate of St.
Charles; and, though his charity was not so demonstrative and fraternal as that
of Mr. Bedard, I had yet never seen a poor man go out of the parsonage of St.
Charles whose breast ought not to have been filled with gratitude and joy.
Mr. Bedard was as exact as Mr. Perras in confessing once, and sometimes twice,
every week; and, rather than fail in that humiliating act, they both, in the
absence of their common confessors, and much against my feelings, several times
humbly knelt at my youthful feet to confess to me.
Those two remarkable men had the same views about the immorality and the want
of religion of the greater part of the priests. Both have told me, in their
confidential conversations, things about the secret lives of the clergy which
would not be believed were I to publish them; and both repeatedly said that
auricular confession was the daily source of unspeakable depravities between
the confessors and heir female as well as male penitents; but neither of them
had sufficient light to conclude from those deeds of depravity that auricular
confession was a diabolical institution. They both sincerely believed as I did
then, that the institution was good, necessary and divine, and that it was a
source of perdition to so many priests only on account of their want of faith
and piety; and principally from their neglect of prayers to the Virgin Mary.
They did not give me those terrible details with a spirit of criticism against
our weak brethren. Their intention was to warn me against the dangers, which
were as great for me as for others. They both invariable finished those
confidences by inviting me more and more to pray constantly to the mother of
God, the blessed Virgin Mary, and to watch over myself, and avoid remaining
alone with a female penitent; advising me also to treat my own body as my most
dangerous enemy, by reducing it into subjection to the law, and crucifying it
day and night.
Mr. Bedard had accompanied the Bishop of Quebec in his episcopal visits during
many years, and had seen with his eyes the unmentionable plague, which was
then, as it is now, devouring the very vitals of the Church of Rome. He very
seldom spoke to me of those things without shedding tears of compassion over
the guilty priests. My heart and my soul were so filled with an unspeakable
sadness when hearing the details of such iniquities. I also felt struck with
terror lest I might perish myself, and fall into the same bottomless abyss.
One day I told him what Mr. Perras had revealed to me about the distress of
Bishop Plessis, when he had found that only three priests besides Mr. Perras
believed in God, in his immense diocese. I asked him if there was not some
exaggeration in this report. He answered, after a profound sigh: "My dear
young friend: the angel could not find ten just men in Sodom my fear is that
they would not find more among the priests! The more you advance in age, the
more you will see that awful truth Ah! let those who stand fear, lest they
fall!"
After these words he burst into tears, and went to church to pray at the feet
of his wafer god!
The revelations which I received from those worthy priests did not in any way
shake my faith in my Church. She even became dearer to me; just as a dear
mother gains in the affection and devotedness of a dutiful son as her trials and
afflictions increase. It seemed to me that after this knowledge it was my duty
to do more than I had ever done to show my unreserved devotedness, respect and
love to my holy and dear mother, the Church of Rome, out of which (I sincerely
believed then) there was no salvation. These revelations became to me, in the
good providence of God, like light-houses raised on the hidden and dreadful
rocks of the sea, to warn the pilot during the dark hours of the night to keep
at a distance, if he does not want to perish.
Though these two priests professed to have a most profound love and respect for
the Holy Scriptures, they gave very little time to their study, and both
several times rebuked me for passing too many hours in their perusal; and
repeatedly warned me against the habit of constantly appealing to them against
certain practices and teachings of our theologians. As good Roman Catholic
priests they had no right to go to the Holy Scriptures alone to know what
"the Lord saith!" The traditions of the Church were their fountain of
science and light! Both of them often distressed me with the facility with
which they buried out of view, under the dark clouds of their traditions, the
clearest texts of Holy Scriptures which I used to quote in defense of my positions
in our conversations and debates.
They both, with an equal zeal, and unfortunately with too much success,
persuaded me that it was right for the Church to ask me to swear that I would
never interpret the Holy Scriptures, except according to the unanimous consent
of the Holy Fathers. But when I showed them that the Holy Fathers had never
been unanimous in anything except in differing from one another on almost every
subject they had treated; when I demonstrated by our Church historians that
some Holy Fathers had very different views from ours on many subjects, they
never answered my questions except by silencing me by the text: "If he
does not hear the Church let him be as a heathen or a publican," and by
giving me long lectures on the danger of pride and self-confidence.
Mr. Bedard had many opportunities of giving me his views about the submission
which an inferior owes to his superiors. He was of one mind with Mr. Perras and
all the theologians who had treated that subject. They both taught me that the
inferior must blindly obey his superior, just as the stick must obey the hand
which holds it; assuring me at the same time that the inferior was not
responsible for the errors he commits when obeying his legitimate superior.
Mr. Bedard and Mr. Perras had a great love for their Saviour, Jesus; but the
Jesus Christ whom they loved and respected and adored was not the Christ of the
Gospel, but the Christ of the Church of Rome.
Mr. Perras and Mr. Bedard had a great fear, as well as a sincere love for their
god, while yet they professed to make him every morning by the act of
consecration. They also most sincerely believed and preached that idolatry was
one of the greatest crimes a man could commit, but they themselves were every
day worshiping an idol of their own creating. They were forced by their Church
to renew the awful iniquity of Aaron, with this difference only, that while
Aaron made his gods of melted gold, and moulded them into the figure of a calf,
they made theirs with flour, baked between two heated and well polished irons,
and in the form of a crucified man.
When Aaron spoke of his golden calf to the people, he said: "These are thy
gods, O Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt." So likewise
Mr. Bedard and Mr. Perras, showing the wafer to the deluded people, said:
"Ecc agnus Dei qui tollit peccata mundi!" ("Behold the Lamb of
God which taketh away the sins of the world!")
These two sincere and honest priests placed the utmost confidence also in
relics and scapularies. I have heard both say that no fatal accident could
happen to one who had a scapular on his breast no sudden death would overtake a
man who was faithful in keeping those blessed scapularies about his person.
Both of them, nevertheless, died suddenly, and that too of the saddest of
deaths. Mr. Bedard dropped dead on the 19th of May, 1837, at a great dinner
given to his friends. He was in the act of swallowing a glass of that drink of
which God says: "Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its
colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a
serpent and stingeth like an adder."
The Rev. Mr. Perras, sad to say, became a lunatic in 1845, and died on the 29th
of July, 1847, in a fit of delirium.
I had not been more than three
weeks the administrator of the parish of Charlesbourgh, when the terrible
words, "The cholera morbus is in Quebec!" sent a thrill of terror
from one end to the other of Canada.
The cities of Quebec and Montreal, with many surrounding country places, had
been decimated in 1832 by the same terrible scourge. Thousands upon thousands
had fallen its victims; families in every rank of society had disappeared; for
the most skilful physicians of both Europe and America had been unable to stop
its march and ravages. But the year 1833 had passed without hearing almost of a
single case of that fatal disease: we had all the hope that the justice of God
was satisfied, and that He would no more visit us with that horrible plague. In
this, however, we were to be sadly disappointed.
Charlesbourgh is a kind of suburb of Quebec, the greatest part of its
inhabitants had to go within its walls to sell their goods several times every
week. It was evident that we were to be among the first visited by that
messenger of a just, but angry God. I will never forget the hour after I had
heard: "The cholera is in Quebec!" It was, indeed, a most solemn hour
to me. At a glance, I measured the bottomless abyss which was dug under my
feet. We had no physicians, and there was no possibility of having any one for
they were to have more work than they could do in Quebec. I saw that I would
have to be both the body and soulphysician of the numberless victims of this
terrible disease.
The tortures of the dying, the cries of the widows and of the orphans, the
almost unbearable stench of the houses attacked by the scourge, the desolation
and the paralyzing fears of the whole people, the fatherless and motherless
orphans by whom I was to be surrounded, the starving poor for whom I would have
to provide food and clothing when every kind of work and industry was stopped;
but above all, the crowds of penitents whom the terrors of an impending death
would drag to my feet to make their confessions, that I might forgive their
sins, passed through my mind as so many spectres. I fell on my knees, with a
heart beating with emotions that no pen can describe, and prostrating myself
before my too justly angry God, I cried for mercy: with torrents of tears I
asked Him to take away my life as a sacrifice for my people, but to spare them:
raising my eyes towards a beautiful statue of Mary, whom I believed to be then
the Mother of God, I supplicated her to appease the wrath of her Son.
I was still on my knees, when several knocks at the door told me that some one
wanted to speak to me a young woman was there, bathed in tears and pale as
death, who said to me: "My father has just returned from Quebec, and is
dying from the cholera please come quick to hear his confession before he
expires!"
No tongue will ever be able to tell half of the horrors which strike the eyes
and the mind the first time one enters the house of a man struggling in the
agonies of death from cholera. The other diseases seem to attack only one part
of the body at once, but the cholera is like a furious tiger whose sharp teeth
and nails tear his victim from head to feet without sparing any part. The hands
and the feet, the legs and the arms, stomach, the breast and the bowels are at
once tortured. I had never seen anything so terrible as the fixed eyes of that
first victim whom I had to prepare for death. He was already almost as cold as
a piece of ice. He was vomiting and ejecting an incredible quantity of a watery
and blackish matter, which filled the house with an unbearable smell. With a
feeble voice he requested me to hear the confession of his sins, and I ordered
the family to withdraw and leave me alone, that they might not hear the sad
story of his transgressions. But he had not said five words before he cried
out: "Oh my God! what horrible cramps in my leg! For God's sake, rub
it." And when I had given up hearing his confession to rub the leg, he
cried again: "Oh!what horrible cramps in my arms! in my feet! in my
shoulders! in my stomach!" And to the utmost of my capacity and my
strength, I rubbed his arms, his feet, his shoulders, his breast, till I felt
so exhausted and covered with perspiration, that I feared I should faint.
During that time the fetid matter ejected from his stomach, besmeared me almost
from head to foot. I called for help, and two strong men continued with me to
rub the poor dying man.
It seemed evident that he could not live very long: his sufferings looked so
terrible and unbearable! I administered him the sacrament of extreme unction.
But I did not leave the house after that ceremony as it is the custom of the
priests. It was the first time that I had met face to face with that giant
which had covered so many nations with desolation and ruin, caused so many
torrents of tears to flow. I had heard so much of him! I knew that, till then,
nothing had been able to stop his forward march! He had scornfully gone through
the obstacles which the most powerful nations had placed before him to retard
his progress. He had mocked the art and science of the most skilful physicians all
over the world! In a single step he had gone from Moscow to Paris! and in
another month he had crossed the bottomless seas which the hands of the
Almighty have spread between Europe and America! That king of terrors, after
piling in their graves, by millions, the rich and the poor, the old and the
young, whom he had met on his march through Asia, Africa, Europe, and America,
was now before me! Nay, he was torturing, before my eyes, the first victim he
had chosen among my people! But the more I felt powerless in the presence of
that mighty giant, the more I wanted to see him face to face. I had a secret
pleasure, a holy pride, in daring him. I wanted to tell him: "I do not
fear you! You mercilessly attack my people, but with the help of God, in the strength
of the One who died on Calvary for me, and who told me that nothing is more
sweet and glorious than to give my life for my friends, I will meet and fight
you everywhere when you attack any one of those sheep who are dearer to me than
my own life!"
Standing by the bedside of the dying man whilst I rubbed his limbs to alleviate
his tortures, I exhorted him to repent. But I closely watched that hand-to-hand
battle that merciless and unequal struggle between the giant and his poor
victim. His agony was long and terrible, for he was a man of great bodily
strength. But after several hours of the most frightful pains, he quietly
breathed his last. The house was crowded with the neighbours and relations,
who, forgetful of the danger of catching the disease, had come to see him. We
all knelt and prayed for the departed soul, after which I gave them a few words
about the necessity of giving up their sins and keeping themselves ready to die
and go at the Master's call.
I then left that desolated house with feelings of distress which no pen can
portray. When I got back to the parsonage, after praying and weeping alone in
my chamber, I took a bath, and washed myself with vinegar and a mixture of
camphor, as a preventive against the epidemic. The rest of the day, till ten at
night, was spent in hearing the confessions of a great number of people whom
the fear of death had dragged around my confessional box that I might forgive
their sins. This hearing of confession was interrupted only at ten o'clock at
night, when I was called to the cemetery to bury the first victim of the
cholera in Charlesbourgh. A great number of people had accompanied the corpse
to his last resting-place: the night was beautiful, the atmosphere balmy, and
the moon and stars had never appeared to me so bright. The stillness of the
night was broken only by the sobs of the relations and friends of the deceased.
It was one of the best opportunities God had ever given me of exhorting the
people to repentance. I took for my text: "Therefore, be ye also ready;
for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh." The spectacle
of that grave, filled by a man who, twenty-four hours before, was full of
health and life in the midst of his happy family, was speaking more eloquently
than the words of my lips, to show that we must be always ready. And never any
people entered the threshold of their homes with more solemn thoughts than
those to whom I spoke, that night, in the midst of the graveyard.
The history of that day is the history of the forty days which followed for not
a single one of them passed without my being called to visit a victim of the
cholera more than one hundred people were attacked by the terrible disease,
nearly forty of whom died!
I cannot sufficiently thank my merciful God for having protected me in such a
marvelous way that I had not a single hour of disease during those two months
of hard labours and sore trials. I had to visit the sick not only as a priest,
but as physician also; for seeing, at first, the absolute impossibility of persuading
any physician from Quebec to give up their rich city patients for our more
humble farmers, I felt it was my duty to make myself as expert as I could in
the art of helping the victims of that cruel and loathsome disease: I studied
the best authors on that subject, consulted the most skilful physicians, got a
little pharmacy which would have done honour to an old physician, and I gave my
care and my medicine gratis. Very soon the good people of Charlesbourgh put as
much, if not more confidence, in my medical care, as in any other of the best
physicians of the country. More than once I had to rub the limbs of so many
patients in the same day, that the skin of my hands was taken away, and several
times the blood came out from the wounds. Dr. Painchaud, one of the ablest
physicians of Quebec, who was my personal friend, told me after, that it was a
most extraordinary thing that I had not fallen a victim to that disease.
I would never have mentioned what I did, in those never-to-be-forgotten days of
the cholera of 1834, when one of the most horrible epidemics which the world
has ever seen spread desolation and death almost all over Canada, if I had been
alone to work as I did; but I am happy and proud to say that, without a single
exception, the French Canadian priests, whose parishes were attacked by that
pestilence, did the same. I could name hundreds of them who, during several
months, also, day after day and night after night, bravely met and fought the
enemy, and fearlessly presented their breast to its blows. I could even name
scores of them who heroically fell and died when facing the foe on that
battlefield!
We must be honest and true towards the Roman Catholic priests of Canada. Few
men, if even any, have shown more courage and self-denial in the hour of danger
than they did. I have seen them at work during the two memorable years of 1832
and 1834, with a courage and self-denial worthy of the admiration of heaven and
earth. Though they know well that the most horrible tortures and death might be
the price of their devotedness, I have not known a single one of them who ever
shrank before the danger. At the first appeal, in the midst of the darkest and
stormiest nights, as well as in the light of the brightest days, they were
always ready to leave their warm and comfortable beds to run to the rescue of
the sick and dying.
But, shall we conclude from that, as the priests of Rome want us to do, that
their religion is the true and divine religion of Christ? Must we believe that
because the priests are brave, admirably brave, and die the death of heroes on
the battlefields, they are the true, the only priests of Christ, the successors
of the apostles the ministers of the religion out of which there is no
salvation? No!
Was it because his religion was the divine and only true one that the
millionaire, Stephen Gerard, when in 1793 Philadelphia was decimated by a most
frightful epidemic, went from house to house, visiting the sick, serving,
washing them with his own hands, and even helping to put them into their
coffins? I ask it again, is it because his religion was the divine religion of
Jesus that that remarkable man, during several months, lived among the dying
and the dead, to help them, when his immense fortune allowed him to put a whole
world between him and the danger? No; for every one knows that Stephen Gerard
was a deist, who did not believe in Christ.
Was it because they followed the true religion that, in the last war between
Russia and Turkey, a whole regiment of Turks heroically ran to a sure death to
obey the order of their general, who commanded them to change bayonets on a
Russian battery, which was pouring upon them a real hail of bullets and
canister? No! surely no!
These Turks were brave, fearless, heroic soldiers, but nothing more. So the
priests of the Pope, who expose themselves in the hour of danger, are brave,
fearless, heroic solders of the Pope but they are nothing more.
Was it because they were good Christians that the soldiers of a French
regiment, at Austerlitz, consented to be slaughtered to the last, at the head
of a bridge where Napoleon had ordered them to remain, with these celebrated
words: "Soldiers! stand there and fight to the last; you will all be
killed, but you will save the army, and we will gain the day!"
Those soldiers were admirably well disciplined they loved their flag more than
their lives they knew only one thing in the world: "Obey the command of
Napoleon!" They fought like giants, and died like heroes. So the priests
are a well disciplined band of soldiers; they are trained to love their church
more than their own life; they also know only one thing: "Obey your
superior, the Pope!" they fight the battle of their church like giants,
and they die like heroes!
Who has not read the history of the renowned French man-of-war, the
"Tonnant?" When she had lost her masts, and was so crippled by the
redhot shot of the English fleet that there was no possibility of escape, what
did the soldiers and mariners of that ship answer to the cries of
"Surrender!" which came from the English admiral? "We die, but
do not surrender!"
They all went to the bottom of the sea, and perished rather than see their
proud banners fall into the hands of the foe!
It is because those French warriors were good Christians that they preferred to
die rather than give up their flag? No! But they knew that the eyes of their
country, the eyes of the whole world were upon them. Life became to them a
trifle: it became nothing when placed in the balance against what they
considered their honour, and the honour of their fair and noble country; nay,
life became an undesirable thing, when it was weighted against the glory of
dying at the post of duty and honour.
So it is with the priest of Rome. He knows that the eyes of his people, and of
his superiors the eyes of his whole church are upon him. He knows that if he
shrinks in the hour of danger, he will for ever lose their confidence and their
esteem; that he will lose his position and live the life of a degraded man!
Death seems preferable to such a life.
Yes! let the people of Canada read the history of "La Nouvelle
France," and they will cease from presenting to us the courage of their
priests as an indication of the divinity of their religion. For there they will
see that the worshipers of the wooden gods of the forests have equaled, if not
surpassed, in courage and self-denial in the face of death, the courage and
self-denial of the priests of the wafer god of Rome.
In the beginning of September,
1834, the Bishop Synaie gave me the enviable position of one of the vicars of
St. Roch, Quebec, where the Rev. Mr. Tetu had been curate for about a year. He
was one of the seventeen children of Mr. Francis Tetu, one of the most
respectable and wealthy farmers of St. Thomas. Such was the amiability of
character of my new curate, that I never saw him in bad humour a single time
during the four years that it was my fortune to work under him in that parish.
And although in my daily intercourse with him I sometimes unintentionally
sorely tried his patience, I never heard an unkind word proceed from his lips.
He was a fine looking man, tall and well built, large forehead, blue eyes, a
remarkably fine nose and rosy lips, only a little to feminine. His skin was
very white for a man, but his fine short whiskers, which he knew so well how to
trim, gave his whole mien a manly and pleasant appearance.
He was the finest penman I ever saw; and by far the most skilful skater of the
country. Nothing could surpass the agility and perfection with which he used to
write his name on the ice with his skates. He was also fond of fast horses, and
knew, to perfection, how to handle the most unmanageable steeds of Quebec. He
really looked like Phaeton when, in a light and beautiful buggy, he held the
reins of the fiery coursers which the rich bourgeois of the city like to trust
to him once or twice a week, that he might take a ride with one of his vicars
to the surrounding country. Mr. Tetu was also fond of fine cigars and choice
chewing tobacco. Like the late Pope Pius IX., he also constantly used the snuff
box. He would have been a pretty good preacher, had he not been born with a
natural horror of books. I very seldom saw in his hands any other books than
his breviary, and some treatises on the catechism: a book in his hands had
almost the effect of opium on one's brains, it put him to sleep. One day, when
I had finished reading a volume of Tertullian, he felt much interested in what
I said of the eloquence and learning of that celebrated Father of the Church,
and expressed a desire to read it. I smilingly asked him if he were more than
usual in need of sleep. He seriously answered me that he really wanted to read
that work, and that he wished to begin its study just then. I lent him the
volume, and he went immediately to his room in order to enrich his mind with
the treasures of eloquence and wisdom of that celebrated writer of the
primitive church. Half an hour after, suspecting what would occur, I went down
to his room, and noiselessly opening the door, I found my dear Mr. Tetu
sleeping on his soft sofa, and snoring to his heart's content, while Tertullian
was lying on the floor! I ran to the rooms of the other vicars, and told them:
"Come and see how our good curate is studying Tertullian!"
There is no need to say that we had a hearty laugh at his expense.
Unfortunately, the noise we made awoke him, and we then asked him: "What
do you think of Tertullian?"
He rubbed his eyes, and answered, "Well, well! what is the matter? Are you
not four very wicked men to laugh at the human frailties of your curate?"
We for a while called him Father Tertullian.
Another day he requested me to give him some English lessons. For, though my
knowledge of English was then very limited, I was the only one of five priests
who understood and could speak a few words in that language. I answered him
that it would be as pleasant as it was easy for me to teach the little I knew
of it, and I advised him to subscribe for the "Quebec Gazette," that
I might profit by the interesting matter which that paper used to give to its
readers; and at the same time I should teach him to read and understand its
contents.
The third time that I went to his room to give him his lesson, he gravely asked
me: "Have you ever seen `General Cargo?'"
I was at first puzzled by that question, and answered him: "I never heard
that there was any military officer by the name of `General Cargo.' How do you
know that there is such a general in the world?"
He quickly answered: "There is surely a `General Cargo' somewhere in
England or America, and he must be very rich; for see the large number of ships
which bear his name, and have entered the port of Quebec, these last few
days!"
Seeing the strange mistake, and finding his ignorance so wonderful, I burst
into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. I could not answer a word, but cried at
the top of my voice: "General Cargo! General Cargo!"
The poor curate, stunned by my laughing, looked at me in amazement. But, unable
to understand its cause, he asked me: "Why do you laugh?" But the
more stupefied he was, the more I laughed, unable to say anything but
"General Cargo! General Cargo!"
The three other vicars, hearing the noise, hastily came from their rooms to
learn its cause, and get a good laugh also. But I was so completely beside
myself with laughing, that I could not answer their questions in any other way
than by crying, "General Cargo! General Cargo!"
The puzzled curate tried then to give them some explanation of that mystery,
saying with the greatest naivete: "I cannot see why our little Father
Chiniquy is laughing so convulsively. I put to him a very simple question, when
he entered my room to give me my English lesson. I simply asked him if he had
ever seen `General Cargo,' who has sent so many ships to our port these last
few days, and added that that general must be very rich, since he has so many
ships on he sea!" The three vicars saw the point, and without being able
to answer him a word, they burst into such fits of laughter, that the poor
curate felt more than ever puzzled.
"Are you crazy?" he said. "What makes you laugh so when I put to
you such a simple question? Do you not know anything about that `General
Cargo,' who surely must live somewhere, and be very rich, since he sends so
many vessels to our port that they fill nearly two columns of the `Quebec
Gazette'?"
These remarks of the poor curate brought such a new storm of irrepressible
laughter from us all as we never experienced in our whole lives. It took us
some time to sufficiently master our feelings to tell him that "General
Cargo" was not the name of any individual, but only the technical words to
say that the ships were laden with general goods.
The next morning, the young and jovial vicars gave the story to their friends,
and the people of Quebec had a hearty laugh at the expense of our friend. From
that time we called our good curate by the name of "General Cargo,' and he
was so good-natured that he joined with us in joking at his own expense. It
would require too much space were I to publish all the comic blunders of that
good man, and so I shall give only one more.
On one of the coldest days of January, 1835, a merchant of seal skins came to
the parsonage with some of the best specimens of his merchandise, that we might
buy them to make overcoats, for in those days the overcoats of buffalo or
raccoon skins were not yet thought of. Our richest men used to have beaver
overcoats, but the rest of the people had to be contented with Canada seal
skins; a beaver overcoat could not be had for less than 200 dollars.
Mr. Tetu was anxious to buy the skins; his only difficulty was the high price
asked by the merchant. For nearly an hour he had turned over and over again the
beautiful skins, and has spent all his eloquence on trying to bring down their
price, when the sexton arrived, and told him, respectfully, "Mr. le Cure,
there are a couple of people waiting for you with a child to be baptized."
"Very well," said the curate, "I will go immediately;" and
addressed the merchant, he said,"Please wait a moment; I will not be long
absent."
In two minutes after the curate had donned the surplice, and was going at full
speed through the prayers and ceremonies of baptism. For, to be fair and true
towards Mr. Tetu (and I might say the same thing of the greatest part of the
priests I have known), it must be acknowledged that he was very exact in all
his ministerial duties; yet he was, in this case, going through them by steam,
if not by electricity. He was soon at the end. But, after the sacrament was
administered, we were enjoined, then, to repeat an exhortation to the
godfathers and godmothers, from the ritual which we all knew by heart, and
which began with these words: "Godfathers and Godmothers: You have brought
a sinner to the church, but you will take back a saint!"
As the vestry was full of people who had come to confess, Mr. Tetu thought that
it was his duty to speak with more emphasis than usual, in order to have his
instructions heard and felt by everyone, but instead of saying, "Godfather
and Godmother, You have brought a sinner to the church, you will take back a
saint!" he, with great force and unction said: "Godfather and
Godmother, You have brought a sinner to the church, you will take back a seal
skin!"
No words can describe the uncontrollable burst and roar of laughter among the
crowd, when they heard that the baptized child was just changed into a
"seal skin." Unable to contain themselves, or do any serious thing,
they left the vestry to go home and laugh to their heart's content.
But the most comic part of this blunder was the sang froid and the calmness
with which Mr. Tetu, turning towards me, asked: "Will you be kind enough
to tell me the cause of that indecent and universal laughing in the midst of
such a solemn action as the baptism of this child?"
I tried to tell him his blunder, but for some time it was impossible to express
myself. My laughing propensities were so much excited, and the convulsive
laughter of the whole multitude made such a noise, that he would not have heard
me had I been able to answer him. It was only when the greatest part of the
crowd had left that I could reveal to Mr. Tetu that he had changed the baptized
baby into a "seal skin!" He heartily laughed at his own blunder, and
calmly went back to buy his seal skins. The next day the story went from house
to house in Quebec, and caused everywhere such a laugh as they had not had
since the birth of "General Cargo."
That priest was a good type of the greatest part of the priests of Canada. Fine
fellows social and jovial gentlemen as fond of smoking their cigars as of
chewing their tobacco and using their snuff; fond of fast horses; repeating the
prayers of their breviary and going through the performance of their
ministerial duties with as much speed as possible. With a good number of books
in their libraries, but knowing nothing of them but the titles. Possessing the
Bible, but ignorant of its contents, believing that they had the light, when
they were in awful darkness; preaching the most monstrous doctrines as the
gospel of truth; considering themselves the only true Christians in the world,
when they worshipped the most contemptible idols made with hands. Absolutely
ignorant of the Word of God, while they proclaimed and believed themselves to
be the lights of the world. Unfortunate, blind men, leading the blind into the
ditch!