---------------------------------------- --------- ,transcriber's note3 ,obvious typographic errors have been corrected4 ---------------------------------------- --------- ,,the ,,inevitable ,,crimes ,,of ,,celibacy3 ,,the ,,vices ,,of ,,convents ,,and ,,monasteries1 ,,priests ,,and ,,nuns ,by ,,thos4 ,e4 ,,watson ,author of ,the ,story of ,france1 ,napoleon1 ,life and ,times of ,andrew ,jackson1 ,life and ,times of ,thomas ,jefferson1 ,the ,roman ,catholic ,hierarchy1 ,etc4 ,,thomson1 ,,ga43 #aiaf4 ,press of ,,the ,,jeffersonian ,,pub4 ,,co4 ,thomson1 ,ga4 ,the ,inevitable ,crimes of ,celibacy3 ,the ,vices of ,convents and ,monasteries1 ,priests and ,nuns4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,when any species of wrong-doing can wear the disguise of righteousness1 the blindest among us can see how dangerous that kind of crime may become--how hard to prove1 punish and put down4 ,there are immense ,arabian plains where nomad robbers have practised their profession1 from a time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary2 yet those plains and the nomad bands that pitch their tents beneath the ,oriental sun remain very much as they were in the days of ,abraham4 ,but where robbery has disguised itself as ,law1 and one class has aimed the law-making machine at the others1 saying ,stand and deliver6 whole regions have become deserts1 and great peoples have been blotted out4 ,in fact1 the highwayman1 the cattle-lifter and the pickpocket have never in the least affected the destinies of nations4 ,the pirate and the buccaneer have never been able to destroy the commerce of the seas1 beggar provinces1 and change noble harbors into neglected pools4 ,it is when the robbers intrench themselves in ,parliaments1 ,reichstags and ,congresses1 and the robbery takes the form of ,law1 that spoliation becomes destructive4 ,bank laws and money-contraction laws beat down more victims than armies4 ,protective ,tariff laws1 infinitely more ruinous than all the ,lafittes and ,captain ,kidds1 drive the ,american flag from the seas1 while on land they make a thousand ,rockefellers1 ,carnegies1 ,morgans1 ,guggenheims1 ,mc,cormicks and ,armours1 at the same time that they are casting millions of the despoiled out of house and home4 ,there are realms where religious mendicancy keeps to the primitive forms of the beggar's bowl and pouch4 ,it is the free-will offering4 ,in these countries of voluntary tributes1 religious feeling has branched into the fewest channels1 has lost the least of its original force1 and maintains today its most impregnable position4 ,but where the priestly caste was able to intrench its mendicancy in ,law1 and arrogantly say to the laity1 ,pay me one-tenth of all thou hast6 religion was first to well-nigh lose its beauty and its strength1 and like1 the ,rhine1 almost disappear into the intricate morasses of subdivisions4 ,ten thousand virulent disputes about tithes ushered in the diabolisms of the ,french ,revolution2 and many of my readers will remember how ,charles ,dickens1 when a ,parliamentary reporter1 dropped his pencil in tears1 unable to go on1 as ,daniel ,o',connell described one of the tragedies of a tithe-riot in ,ireland4 ,when ,religion went forth as ,christ sent it forth1 it demanded nothing for the priest4 ,yet1 the same religion1 organized into an episcopacy1 afterwards wrote the tax of one-tenth upon the statute-book1 and sold the widow's cow to pay the priest for his prayer4 ,in those days1 it must have been a gruesome spectacle as the burly parson1 a picture of physical fullness1 stood in the background1 personifying ,law and ,religion1 while the bailiff raided the cotter's wretched premises1 pounced upon pigs and poultry1 or dragged household goods off to public sale4 ,yet1 during centuries of outrage1 pain and starvation1 this sort of robbery disguised itself with a double domino of ,law and ,religion4 ,forgive me1 if ,i digress briefly to mention how vividly ,i was reminded of all this1 by the thrifty1 business-like manner in which ,bishop ,p4 ,j4 ,donohue1 of ,wheeling1 ,west ,virginia1 sold out a laboring man1 ,s4 ,w4 ,hawley1 for rent1 in the year of our ,crucified ,lord1 #aiac4 ,to satisfy the debt due to this most worshipful ,bishop of ,god1 the following personal property was seized1 and advertised for sale1 to-wit3 #c bed springs and #c beds1 #c mattresses1 #a stove1 #b tables1 #aj chairs1 #c pictures1 #a broom1 #d comforts1 #b blankets1 #c quilts1 #d pillows1 and some dishes4 7,it was further stated that ,hawley's back was broken1 while working in the coal mines47 ,george ,alfred ,townsend1 who was so well known to journalism as ,gath1 wrote a novel which he called ,the ,entailed ,hat4 ,the book would have lived gloriously1 had it not been for the hat3 the sternly absurd conditions which this idea about the ,entailed ,hat fastened upon the author1 killed his novel4 ,but there was in it one passage which lingers yet in my recollection1 after the lapse of more than #cj years4 ,there were two brothers1 shrewd1 pushing1 flinty ,jews1 who drove hard bargains1 hard collections1 and filled a store-room with household plunder sold for debt1 and bought in by the ,jews1 to be resold at a profit4 ,gath gave tongue to each article of this pitiful domestic furniture1 torn from the homes of the poor1 and auctioned at public outcry4 ,the old rickety cradle spoke of the babes that had lain in it1 and of the mother-songs that had been sung over it1 as the foot which moves the world softly pedalled the wooden rockers4 ,the loom and the spindle had their stories to tell3 the table and the dishes spoke of the plain meals and unpretentious hospitalities of the lowly3 the chairs remembered the humble hearth and fireside1 and many a circle of bright faces they had helped to form around the cheerful glow of the burning logs4 ,the silent clock1 with no life of moving hands on its dust-covered face1 spoke of how the short and simple annals of the poor had been measured by it1 how it had timed the marriage and the funeral1 the birth and death2 and how it had missed the toil-hardened hands that used to wind it up1 every night4 ,and so on--the dirge of the ,household ,goods6 ,as my eye ran over the items of the poor man's goods ordered to sale for the most worshipful ,bishop ,donohue--the consecrated disciple of ,christ who didn't even have as much of a home as the foxes and the birds--,i might have thought of one or two blistering passages in the glorious old ,code of ,moses2 ,i might have recalled some of the bitterest of the words of ,jesus ,christ1 against those rich1 haughty1 unmerciful lordlings who grind the faces of the poor4 ,but ,i did not3 on the contrary1 that passage in ,gath's novel rose out of the mist of #cj years1 and brought back the plaintive lament of the household goods1 seized1 carried away1 and sold into strange hands to pay a trifling debt4 ,gath1 following literary tradition1 most canonically chose ,jews to act as shylocks3 it would never have occurred to him that a consecrated ,bishop of ,jesus ,christ could sell the poor ,christian's blanket off the bed1 sell the bed itself1 sell the table at which the family ate1 and the chairs that they sat on4 ,not only the mattress on which the tired limbs of labor stretched themselves to rest1 and the pillows upon which the aching head had lain1 but the very broom which swept the floor1 had to be seized to satisfy the rent of this godly landlord1 the ,bishop of a homeless ,christ6 ,to make this picture perfect1 the family ,bible ought to have been levied on--and this ,catholic ,bishop ought to have bought it in4 ,having acquired the ,book in that manner1 a natural curiosity might have prompted him to read it4 ,one thing1 however1 the most worshipful ,bishop might yet do3 he might take the proceeds of the sale of ,hawley's beds1 mattresses1 pillows1 stove1 dishes1 comforts1 blankets1 chairs and broom--and contribute the whole sum to ,foreign ,missions4 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,thou shalt not commit adultery6 ,all ,christians take their laws and their religion more or less from the ,jews4 ,who the ,jews took it from1 is another question4 ,skeptical scholars say that they took it from the older peoples of the ,east1 of the ,nile1 the ,euphrates3 orthodox ,christianity maintains that they took it by revelation direct from ,jehovah4 ,therefore1 every sect in ,christendom stands committed to the proposition that ,god ,almighty1 clothed in all ,his terrors1 with the clouds darkening the skies1 the thunders for ,his heralds and the lightenings for the flaming swords that went before ,his face1 came down to ,sinai1 and wrote upon the everlasting tablets1 ,thou shalt not commit adultery6 7,doway ,bible3 ,deut4 xx3#ad4 ,i will hereafter use this ,roman ,catholic version as the true one1 thus avoiding any dispute with papists as to the accuracy of my quotations47 ,in this ,doway1 or ,douay1 a version of the ,book1 we are somewhat patly told that the first thing which ,adam did1 after having been dispossessed of ,eden1 was to know ,eve his wife1 who conceived and brought forth ,cain1 saying1 ,i have gotten a man through ,god4 ,then she brought forth ,abel2 and before six other verses are ended1 we learn that the brothers are at enmity because of religion1 and that one has killed the other4 ,how ,adam and ,eve were to have propagated the human race1 had ,eve not listened to the snake2 or whether they were to have propagated it at all1 is a mystery which our finite minds were evidently not expected to fathom4 ,nevertheless1 ,saint ,augustine made a heroic effort to answer the riddle2 and his classic theological work1 ,the ,city of ,god1 contains his theory1 still discreetly veiled in the original ,latin1 which1 being interpreted1 is considerably nastier than any other ,english that ,i ever perused in a classical theological work4 ,the first occupation of ,adam outside of ,paradise ought to have some weight with us1 as a time-honored precedent4 ,that wicked mankind1 and ,noe came out of the ,ark1 together with all those animals1 birds1 reptiles1 c41 the very first command given him was1 that he and his family should increase and multiply4 ,apparently1 their obedience to this command was so prompt and effective that the ,lord never reproached him or his descendants for any neglect of duty in that particular4 ,and ,god blessed ,noe and his sons3 and said unto them1 ,increase and multiply1 and fill the earth4 ,it is true that ,noe got drunk1 soon after this2 but the diligent casuists1 who follow every perilous passage in the ,douay ,bible with their indefatigable notes1 tell us that ,noe did not commit a sin by getting drunk1 because he knew not the strength of it1 the wine4 7,thus does ignorance excuse the sinner1 when the casuists need the defense47 ,and through the ,mosaic ,code1 breathes the same spirit and purpose3 it can fairly be summed up in the phrase1 ,thou shalt marry6 ,every encouragement is given to wedlock and to large families3 polygamy itself1 had its reason1 in those hot climates where puberty is reached at so early an age1 and where the child-bearing woman is so quickly aged into unfitness for mating with the robust husband4 ,it was partly because the ,mosaic law gave so little excuse for immorality1 that adultery was so cruelly punished4 ,and the vigor of the ,jewish type1 for so many centuries1 amid so many barbarous persecutions1 and in spite of such wide geographical dispersions1 is the most splendid monument to the eternal wisdom of the command-- ,marry6 ,increase and multiply6 ,fill the earth with lawfully begotten children6 ,honor the ,home6 ,preserve your ,race6 ,do not breed promiscuously6 ,,do ,,not ,,mongrelize6 ,in short1 ,do not commit adultery4 ,as ,moses minutely regulated the patriarchal household1 making the nomad ,jew's wife the queen of his tent1 so ,paul the ,apostle carefully instructed the model priest1 admonishing him to be content with one wife1 and to be watchful over the conduct of his family1 having his children in subjection with all chastity4 7,i may add that ,st4 ,paul lays down the law in a manner that condemns the ,christian bishops who sell out their humble fellows who are unable to pay rent and tithes47 ,the priests of ,assyria and of ,egypt were married men4 ,the priests of the ,jews were married men3 the priests of the ,romans were married men4 ,the ,bishops1 or ,popes1 of ,rome were married men1 during the first four hundred years after ,christ4 7,see ,dr4 ,angelo ,s4 ,rappoport's ,love ,affairs of the ,vatican1 #crd ,edition1 #aiab1 p4 #i47 ,let no one misunderstand me3 ,i freely admit that there are exceptional men and women who voluntarily choose the unmarried life4 ,there have always been such exceptions to the rule1 and there probably always will be3 the reasons need not be discussed4 ,those reasons do not necessarily imply a lack of virility3 some men simply prefer not to take a wife2 some women just naturally fear the loss of independence1 or they never meet the ,king who will take no denial1 or they nobly burden their lives with duties which demand self-sacrifice4 ,the six ,vestals of old ,rome were voluntary celibates3 such men as ,paul1 ,ben ,zoma1 ,montaigne1 ,spinoza1 were voluntary bachelors4 ,it might have been far happier for ,john ,wesley1 ,thomas ,carlyle1 and ,john ,ruskin1 had they persisted in the single state4 ,but enforced spinsterhood and bachelorhood1 is a frightfully different thing4 ,to say to men and women who have taken certain vows1 that they shall never seek happiness in marriage1 never escape mental and physical longing and anguish1 because of such vows1 is to put the selfish will of an earthly priesthood above the will of ,god4 ,it is impossible to conceive of a crucifixion of humanity more unnatural1 more indefensible1 and more necessarily horrible in its consequences4 ,enforced celibacy in normal priests1 simply means adultery1 hidden behind walls and disguised as religion4 ,therefore1 when adultery has to be tolerated1 as an incident to a certain form of ,christianity1 the crime eludes the law1 the illicit intercourse of the sexes identifies itself with a religious system1 and it becomes as impossible to control as does the robber who gains control of the machinery of government4 ,when the robber is the ,law1 who is to punish the criminal8 ,when adultery is elevated into a system which is recognized as a religion1 who is to punish the adulterer8 ,robbery enthroned in the law1 and advancing its demands too far1 has to be dealt with by revolutions4 ,thus it was in ,england1 when the ,great ,charter was won4 ,thus it was in the ,revolution of #afhh4 ,thus it was in ,switzerland1 in ,france1 in the ,american ,colonies1 in ,italy1 in ,germany1 and even in ,spain and ,portugal--not to mention ,south ,america1 and ,mexico4 ,adultery1 interwoven in a religious system1 was one of the main-springs of the ,revolution in ,germany1 in ,england1 in ,holland and in the ,states of the libertine ,popes1 themselves4 ,the enormous popular support given to ,calvin1 ,luther1 and ,knox1 to ,henry ,,viii41 to ,garibaldi1 to ,bolivar1 and to ,juarez1 was largely fanned and fed by the intense wrath of the people against the pope-protected immorality of the priests--the adultery which could not be punished because it was interwoven into the system of popery4 ,the ,popes could not punish the priests1 because the ,popes were equally criminal4 ,the system required celibacy3 the system was against the law of ,god3 the system gave the priest absolute power over women1 and secret access to them4 ,the system needed the unmarried priest1 and the system had to pay the price4 ,the adultery of the priest had to be cloaked and tolerated1 for the simple reason that it was incidental and inseparable4 ,but who made the system8 ,not ,god1 nor the ,bible1 nor the ,apostles1 nor the early ,fathers of the ,primitive ,church3 the system was peculiarly the work of ,hildebrand1 ,pope ,gregory ,,vii4 ,it was this ,pope who formulated the dogma of universal dominion4 ,it was ,gregory who said that1 ,the world derives its light from two sources1 the sun and the moon1 the former symbolizing the ,papacy1 the latter the ,civil ,state4 ,in ,gregory's mind1 the entire ,christian world was his ,empire4 ,the temporal ,princes were his vassals1 every ,kingdom of ,europe was his fief1 every crown1 his to give and to take away4 ,the keys of ,heaven and of ,hell were in his hands2 he was the ,infallible representative of ,jehovah2 and when he spoke1 nations must shout1 ,the voice of the ,pope1 is the voice of ,god6 ,to defend such a power and advance its banners1 a disciplined and devoted soldiery was necessary3 hence1 the priests who could not take wives and have children4 ,a family would divide their allegiance4 ,hence1 also1 the convent and the confessional1 to furnish an outlet to the ungovernable natural desires of full-sexed men4 ,during the three frozen winter days of #ajgg1 when a barefooted ,emperor of ,germany stood outside the castle-gate at ,canossa1 in the snow1 this ,gregory ,,vii4 spent the time inside with his ,mistress1 the ,countess ,matilda of ,tuscany4 ,when the ,pope finally professed himself satisfied with the ,emperor's penitence and submission1 he figuratively placed his foot upon the ,emperor's neck4 ,the ,church had conquered the ,civil ,state4 ,the priest was above the ,king4 ,to ,csar nothing was left1 save what the ,pope might graciously concede4 ,the things that had been ,csar's1 in ,christ's time1 were now the ,pope's4 ,thus1 the ,fisherman not only wore one crown1 but three1 the tiara4 ,he was lord of ,earth1 lord of ,heaven1 lord of ,hell4 ,under the ,gregorian theory1 ,god had become a silent partner in the government of ,creation1 oppressed by the logical necessity of endorsing every decree of the ,infallible ,italian priest4 ,jehovah was become a sort of ,roy ,faineant3 the ,italian ,pope was ,mayor of the ,palace4 ,to vary the illustration1 the ,almighty was become a ,king of ,england1 and the ,pope1 ,prime ,minister4 ,what the ,premier tells the ,king to say1 the ,king says2 and then the ,premier assures the world that what he has told the ,king to say is1 the ,king's speech4 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,in the palace of the ,popes themselves1 what was the result of celibacy8 ,dr4 ,angelo ,rappoport1 of ,rome1 ,italy1 says in his book1 published in #aiab3 ,for centuries the history of the ,roman ,pontiffs reminds one of the most depraved times of ,athens and pagan ,rome1 rather than of ,bethlehem and ,jerusalem4 ,courtesans1 famous for their talent and their beauty1 their intrigues1 and their gallant love affairs1 ruled the ,church and disposed of the tiara4 ,they raised and deposed the ,pontiffs1 imprisoned and assassinated them4 99 99 99 ,their beds became the pedestals from which their lovers ascended the ,pontifical throne4 ,all these ,popes were imitating the mode of life of the ,saracens1 to whom they were paying tribute1 and like true heroes of a seraglio1 these chiefs of ,christendom died by poison or strangulation4 ,they committed follies worthy of ,oriental despots1 and vied in their debaucheries with the ,emperors of pagan ,rome4 ,pope ,john ,,xxii4 ordained priests in a stable1 and swore by ,bacchus and ,venus4 7,john the #bbnd ,papa of that name1 began his ,vicarship of ,god in the year #acaf47 ,cardinal ,baronius exclaims1 ,those infamous prostitutes ruled ,rome1 and their creatures and lovers sat on the throne of ,st4 ,peter4 ,bernard de ,morlaix1 monk of ,cluny1 writes in the #abth century1 ,rome is the impure city of the hunter ,nimrod3 piety and religion have fled its walls4 ,alas6 the ,pontiff1 or rather the ,king of this odious city of ,babylon1 treads under foot the sanctity of the ,gospel and the morality of ,christ4 ,matthew ,paris1 the historian of the #acth century1 says3 ,the holy city has become a place of infamy1 whose lewdness surpass even that of ,sodom and ,gomorrha4 ,so universal was the scandal caused by the bestial vices of the ,popes and the ,italian cardinals that the ,catholic ,parliament of ,england refused to allow ,pope ,innocent ,,iv4 to come to the ,british ,court4 ,why8 ,because1 as the ,house of ,commons roundly declared1 the ,papal ,court spreads such an abominable odor that it should not be permitted in ,england4 7,this was the ,catholic ,parliament of the ,catholic ,king1 ,henry ,,iii41 #acth century47 ,let me quote the brutally frank words of a ,pope-- ,whoever1 writes ,pius ,,ii41 has not felt the fire of love is either a stone or a beast4 ,who is it1 at the age of thirty1 that has not committed a crime for the sake of love8 ,many women have ,i courted and loved3 and as soon as ,i had possessed them1 ,i was filled with loathing for them4 7,the ,infallible ,pius ,,ii4 lived in the #aeth century47 ,inasmuch as the courtesans raised one boy of eighteen1 and another of twelve1 to the throne of ,saint ,peter1 you can imagine what sort of lives they led in that gilded brothel1 the ,pope's palace4 7,pope ,john ,,xii4 was #ah years of age4 ,pope ,benedict ,,ix4 was a lad of #ab years4 ,both were monsters of lust47 ,this being the general picture of the ,popes1 after they quit taking wives1 we are not surprised to learn that their mistresses and their bastards were as well known1 and as socially respectable1 as those of the kings and emperors1 who married because it was a duty1 and ,lotharioed because they found pleasure in it4 ,the illegitimate children of the ,vicars of ,christ were as undenied and undeniable as were those of ,henry of ,navarre1 ,augustus of ,saxony1 ,louis ,,xiv4 of ,france1 and ,charles ,,ii41 of ,england4 ,don ,john of ,austria1 was not more proudly the woods colt of ,charles ,v4 of ,germany1 than was ,csar ,borgia the son of ,his ,holiness1 ,alexander ,,vi4 ,the ,duke of ,berwick was not better known as the bastard of ,james ,,ii4 and ,arabella ,churchill1 than were two of the reigning belles of ,rome1 not many years ago1 recognized as the winsome daughters in the flesh of ,his ,holiness1 ,pope ,pius ,,ix4 ,to complete the picture1 history tells us that ,pope ,john ,,xii41 who was made ,god-on-earth at the age of eighteen1 met his death by the hand of an outraged husband1 at the age of twenty-five4 ,the furious husband broke into the ,pope's bed-room1 in the ,lateran palace1 and slew the adulterer in the arms of the faithless wife4 ,even ,platina mentions this horrible fact1 in his ,lives of the ,popes1 written at the request of ,pope ,sixtus ,,iv41 and published in the year #adgi4 ,platina was a devout ,catholic and was ,superintendent of the ,vatican ,library1 ,rome1 ,italy4 ,in the biography of ,petrarch by ,jerome ,equarciafico1 we learn that this poetic dawn-bird of the ,renaissance had a beautiful sister1 named ,selvaggia4 ,upon this lovely girl1 ,pope ,benedict ,,xii4 looked with the eyes of desire4 ,he made infamous proposals to ,petrarch1 while the poet scornfully rejected4 ,then ,his ,holiness caused it to be whispered to ,petrarch that the ,inquisition felt inclined to question him concerning the orthodoxy of his faith4 ,the ,question1 meant torture1 and ,petrarch fled from ,avignon for his life4 ,but a younger brother of ,selvaggia was more of a man of the world1 as the world went in those days of all-powerful popery2 and this brother gave ear to the ,pope's temptings4 ,by his connivance1 the girl was seized one night1 as she slept1 and carried into the bedroom of the ,vicar of ,christ4 ,when this girl of sixteen realized what was intended1 she fell on her knees1 and piteously begged the ,pope1 the ,holy ,father1 to take pity on her4 ,the raging lusts of the ,pope were only maddened the more by the sight and the touch of her charms1 and he threatened her with eternal damnation if she persisted in her obstinacy4 ,the weeping1 despairing child did persist1 and he had recourse to force 7,love ,affairs of the ,vatican4 ,page #aed47 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,petrarch1 as ,i have said1 may be fairly regarded as the dawn-bird of the ,renaissance1 that marvellous ,easter of ,literature1 when ,european ,intellect1 which popery had buried and set the soldiers of the ,inquisition to guard1 heard the golden trumpet of ,resurrection sounded by the ,byzantine scholars--fleeing from ,moslem invasion--and threw off the shroud of a degrading superstition1 defied the terrors of the stupid fanatic1 and said to all the world-- ,i will be free again1 even though ,i die for it4 ,petrarch was the purest of ten thousand pure1 a lover who lived in the glory of the sentiment1 without even the temptation to plunge the sacred torch into the stream of sensuality--a poet who sang as the bird sings1 because ,nature put music in his brain and heart and throat4 ,petrarch was a devout ,christian2 and to be a ,christian at that time1 meant to be a ,catholic4 ,you may be sure that it was no heretic whom the ,romans publicly honored in ,rome1 in the year #acdb1 and crowned with the laurels that ,virgil had not worn more worthily4 ,surely1 ,petrarch's description of the ,pope's morals and the ,papal ,court will not be spurned as the libel of an abominable heretic4 ,you find there the terrible ,nimrod1 ,semiramis1 armed 99 99 99 the scandalous monument of the most infamous amours4 ,confusion1 darkness and horror1 vice and crime dwell within these precincts4 ,i am only describing to you what ,i have seen with my own eyes4 ,the hope of future life is looked upon as a vain illusion--what is being told of hell as a mere fable4 99 99 99 ,love of truth is considered eccentricity2 chastity1 prudishness4 ,licentiousness is considered broadness of soul1 whilst prostitution here leads to fame and prestige4 ,the more vice one accumulates1 the greater the glory4 ,virtue is considered ridiculous4 99 99 99 ,i shall not speak of violation1 rape1 adultery and incest4 ,they are trifles at the ,pontifical ,court4 ,i shall not relate that the husbands whose wives have been abducted1 are forced to silence and exile4 99 99 99 ,i shall not dwell upon the cruel insult by which the outraged husbands are being compelled to receive in their houses their wives who had been prostituted1 especially when they carry in their wombs the fruit of the criminal love4 ,great ,god6 ,what a picture of the ,papal ,court6 ,petrarch adds1 ,the people are quite aware of everything ,i know myself4 ,the people knew2 the people murmured3 the people were helpless4 ,adultery had interwoven itself into the very fabric of religion2 and the people saw no way to attack the adulterers without being accused of heresy and delivered to the terrible ,inquisition4 ,luther had not yet come4 ,when he did come1 the adulterers said that he was not only a heretic1 but a drunkard and a libertine6 ,william ,hogan was born in ,ireland1 and was educated for the priesthood at ,maynooth ,college4 ,coming to ,america to follow his calling1 he was so shocked by what he learned1 in the ,confessional and otherwise1 that he abandoned popery in utter disgust4 ,when he landed on our shores1 he brought with him letters of introduction to ,de,witt ,clinton of ,new ,york4 ,so favorably was he received that he was elected ,chaplain of the ,new ,york legislature1 unanimously4 ,therefore1 he was not a man with a grievance4 ,every selfish instinct warned him to remain in the service of popery4 ,it was his native honesty and his horror of imposture that caused him to rebel4 ,afterwards1 he published books which reached an immense circulation prior to the ,civil ,war1 but which were forgotten in that shock of armies4 ,they are now seldom seen even in the catalogues of ,old ,book stores4 ,to that splendid gentleman1 ,dr4 ,john ,n4 ,taylor1 of ,crawfordville1 ,indiana1 ,i was indebted for a copy of the edition of #ahef4 ,the volume contains ,hogan's book on ,popery1 and also his ,auricular ,confession and ,popish ,nunneries4 ,on page #bdg1 ,ex-,priest ,william ,hogan says1 in reference to the popish school-teachers1 so numerous now in our ,protestant schools-- ,these ladies1 when properly disciplined by the ,jesuits and priests1 become the best teachers4 ,but before they are allowed to teach1 there is no art1 no craft1 no species of cunning1 no refinement in private personal indulgences1 or no modes or means of seduction1 in which they are not thoroughly initiated4 ,i may say with safety1 and from my own personal knowledge through the ,confessional1 that there is scarcely one of them who has not been herself ,,debauched ,,by ,,her ,,own ,,confessor4 ,the reader will understand that every nun has a confessor2 and here ,i will add1 for the truth must be told at once1 that every confessor has a concubine1 and there are very few of them who have not several4 ,remember that this fearful charge against celibacy was made in #ahef1 in the edition of ,hogan's work which was the #gfth thousand4 ,therefore1 the ex-priest who had brought the best letters of introduction from ,europe1 and who had been unanimously elected ,chaplain of the ,new ,york legislature1 had hurled this hideous indictment at popery and its priest #gf1jjj times4 ,what answer was made to him8 ,none6 ,they furiously abused him1 but did not dare to either prosecute or reply4 ,he had been a priest1 and he knew too much4 ,popery has never dared to prosecute an ex-priest1 or an ex-nun1 where there was any chance to lift the veil that conceals the rottenness of life inside the convents1 and the monasteries4 ,after quoting ,michelet and ,courier and ,llorente on the inevitable lasciviousness and depravity necessarily resulting from denying the priests the right to marry1 ,william ,hogan proceeds-- ,shall the cowl shelter the adulterous monk in this land of freedom8 ,are the sons of freemen to countenance1 nay1 asked to build impassible walls around a licentious1 lecherous1 profligate horde of foreign priests and monks1 who choose to come among us1 and erect a little fortification1 which they call nunneries for their protection8 ,shall they own1 by law and charter1 places where to bury1 hidden from the public eye1 the victim of their lust1 ,,and ,,the ,,murdered ,,offspring ,,of ,,their ,,concupiscence8 ,speaking of ,albany1 ,new ,york1 ,rev4 ,hogan1 on page #bfh1 of ,nunneries1 says-- ,as soon as ,i got settled in ,albany1 ,i had of course to attend to the duty of ,auricular ,confession2 and in less than two months found that those three priests1 during the time they were there1 were the fathers of between #fj and #ajj children1 besides having debauched many who had left the place previous to their confinement4 ,many of these children were by married women1 whose husbands and brothers1 and relatives were ready1 if necessary1 to wade knee-deep in blood for the holy immaculate infallible church of ,rome4 ,and why were these ,american ,catholics willing to wade in blood for popery8 ,because they did not know the truth about it4 ,the same reason holds good today2 and that's the reason the priests are frantically trying to violate our ,constitutional right of free speech and free press4 ,above all things1 the priests dread the day when ,american fathers1 husbands1 sons and brothers find out what it is1 that these devilish priests claim they have a right to say1 and to do1 in their secret intercourse with ,catholic wives1 sisters and daughters4 ,the priests will murder any man1 if they can1 to prevent ,,him from uncovering ,,them4 ,on page #bhc1 ,hogan continues-- ,priests1 nuns1 and confessors are the same now that they were then--#aeth century--all over the world4 ,many of you have visited ,paris1 and do you not see there a lying-in hospital attached to every nunnery in the city8 ,the same is to be seen in ,madrid1 and the principal cities of ,spain4 ,i have seen them myself in ,mexico1 and in the city of ,dublin1 ,ireland4 ,what is the object of these hospitals8 ,it is chiefly to provide for the illicit offspring of priests and nuns1 and such other unmarried females as the priests can seduce through the confessional4 ,but1 it will be said1 there are no lying-in hospitals attached to the nunneries in this country4 ,true1 there are not2 but ,i know from my own experience1 through the confessional1 that it would be well1 if there were4 ,there would be fewer abortions2 there would be fewer infants strangled and murdered4 ,it is not generally known to ,americans that the crime of procuring abortion1 is a common1 everyday crime in popish nunneries4 ,it is not known to ,americans1 that strangling and putting to death infants1 is common in nunneries throughout this country4 ,it is done systematically and methodically1 ,,according ,,to ,,popish ,,instructions4 ,the modus operandi is this--and then the ex-priest describes how the priest1 the father of the child1 baptises it1 and thus insures its passage to ,heaven1 as per popish belief2 and how the abbess1 or ,mother ,superior1 then shuts off the breath of the babe1 at the nose3 after which the poor little body is thrown into the lime-pit to be consumed4 ,father ,hogan also describes how the priests and monks give desired children to wives whose husbands are not productive4 ,the woman is easily led to believe that ,god's will is enlisted in her behalf1 and that ,he has commissioned the priest to accomplish what the husband failed at3 result1 happy wife1 bouncing babe1 rapturous husband1 chuckling priest4 ,father ,hogan tells it all2 and the rancorous papists never dared to hale him into court6 ,,appendix4 ,constable's ,public ,sale4 ,on ,monday1 the #bb;d day of ,september1 #aiac1 between the hours of #i o'clock a4 m4 and #d p4 m4 of said day1 at the residence of ,s4 ,w4 ,hawley in ---- ,town1 district of ,raleigh ,county1 ,west ,virginia1 ,i will sell at ,public ,auction to the highest bidder1 for cash1 the following described personal property1 to wit3 ,three bed springs and #c beds1 #c mattresses1 #a dresser1 #a wash stand1 #a stand table1 #a range stove1 and outfit for said stove1 #b tables1 #aj chairs1 #c pictures1 #a broom1 #d comforts1 #b blankets1 #c quilts1 and #c comforts1 #a safe and dishes and #a set of irons1 #d pillows1 levied upon as the property of ,s4 ,w4 ,hawley ---- a distress warrant for rent ---- to satisfy ---- in my hands for collection in favor of ,p4 ,j4 ,donahue4 ,terms of sale3 ,cash in hand on day of sale4 ,given under my hand this #ajth day of ,september1 #aiac4 ,j4 ,l4 ,,williams1 ,constable of ,raleigh ,county4 ,,state ,,of ,,missouri1 ,county of ,lawrence--ss4 ,before me personally appeared ,marvin ,brown1 and after being duly sworn on his oath says that the above and foregoing is a true and correct copy of the notice of the constable's sale as the same appears from the original now in the possession of the affiant1 and compared by him with the original at the time of making this affidavit4 7,signed7 ,,marvin ,,brown1 ,affiant4 ,subscribed and sworn to before me this #cjth day of ,december1 #aiac4 7,signed7 ,,eugene ,j4 ,mc,n,a,t,t1 ,notary ,public1 ,lawrence ,county4 ,commission expires ,feb4 #aith1 #aiaf4 7,appeared in ,the ,menace1 ,jan4 #aj1 #aiad47 ,what ,happens to ,full ,sexed ,women ,when ,they ,foolishly ,take ,vows ,which ,insult ,nature and ,god8 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,why is it that a human document ten thousand years old has the same effect upon us1 as a newspaper story of yesterday8 ,why is it that we love or hate the men and women who live in the songs of ,homer8 ,why do we grieve1 or rejoice with those who live in the pages of ,plutarch2 and feel deeply moved when ,david and ,jonathan are forced apart2 when ,joseph is sold by his brethren2 when the song of ,solomon voices the deathless devotion of the country girl for her mountain lover2 and when the fanatical ,jeptha is about to slay his innocent1 beautiful daughter8 ,it is because human nature has never changed2 what our fathers were1 we are3 what ,absolom and ,david felt1 we feel4 ,when the brilliant1 wayward ,jewish boy goes astray and meets his untimely fate1 we mourn with his broken father as he wails--,o ,absolom my son1 ,o my son ,absolom6 ,that which women have already been1 women continue to be4 ,helen of ,troy was not essentially different from ,madame de ,pompadour2 ,cleopatra was a more refined ,catherine of ,russia2 ,aspasia was the forerunner of ,madame ,maintenon3 ,sappho was another ,george ,sand2 ,lilly ,langtry was a modern ,phryne2 and ,pauline ,bonaparte had all the charm and voluptousness of ,nell ,gwynne4 ,one reason why the ,old ,testament continues to be a modern book is1 that it is so full of human nature4 ,our first instinct1 when we became violently enraged is1 to kill4 ,in the ,old ,testament1 they do it4 ,considered as a mere human document1 there is more raw slaughter in the ,old ,testament than any book you ever read1 and the details are given with frightfully fascinating realism4 ,no cloak is thrown around ,jacob and ,abraham and ,lot4 ,those citizens are painted with all the warts on4 ,in some of them1 indeed1 the warts fill most of the canvass4 ,that affair of ,david and the other man's wife3 how modern it is6 ,if you will glance over the daily newspaper1 you will find that somewhere or other in this world of today1 another ,david has seen the loveliness of ,uriah's wife2 and the first thing you know this modern ,david 7in a ,derby hat and tailor-made clothes7 is running away with ,bathsheba in an automobile4 ,as to ,solomon and his harem--including the ,ethiopian woman--the subject is too delicate for polite treatment in a high class publication4 ,i must leave such matters to ,mr4 ,william ,randolph ,hearst1 whose ,sunday editions and monthly outputs deal in sex novels1 ,gaby ,deslys1 ,lina ,cavalieri1 ,evelyn ,thaw1 ,mrs4 ,keppel1 and scarlet people generally4 ,the point ,i desired to make is that ,god made men and women to mate with one another1 and thus reproduce and perpetuate the human species4 ,there are no bachelor eagles1 no spinster swans1 no monks among the lions1 no nuns among the deer4 ,when we want to make a bachelor out of a horse1 we resort to surgery4 ,most of us know what ,mooley1 the cow1 does in the ,spring time1 if she is shut up in the pasture with no other company than other ,mooley cows4 ,without pursuing this line of illustration farther1 it is sufficient to say that all animal nature is under the same law4 ,of course1 there are exceptions to all rules4 ,some men repel women3 some women abhor men4 ,some men actually marry1 believing that they are fit for it and then discover that they are not4 ,a tragic instance of this was ,thomas ,carlyle3 another was ,frederick the ,great4 ,our ,president ,james ,buchanan was wise enough not to marry2 and ,charles ,sumner was so fatuous as to do so4 ,but the great law of ,nature is1 ,mate and reproduce6 ,it applies to the flowers1 to the plants1 to the insects1 to the fishes of the sea1 and to the fowls of the air4 ,i have often wondered why we become so accustomed to the outrageously informal conduct of hens and roosters1 pigeons1 ducks1 turkeys1 c41 that we see it and don't see it3 we know it1 and don't know it3 it happens right under our eyes1 and yet we never learn anything from it1 or think anything about it4 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,once again1 let me say1 men and women in their animal natures are just like other animals4 ,they hunger1 they thirst1 they are hot1 they are cold1 they are sick1 they are well1 they love1 they hate1 they fight1 they yearn for mates1 and having found mates1 they mate4 ,allowed liberty1 this natural tendency leads to wedlock1 and legitimate children4 ,the husband and wife make the ,home3 the ,home is the ,gibraltar of organized civilization2 and the children are ,posterity1 in its beginning4 ,thus marriage1 the home1 and the children are the conservators of ,society4 ,if a so-called religion forces #ga1jjj ,american marriageable men and women into hiding places1 where they have physical contact with one another but cannot marry1 what happens8 ,you know what happens4 ,your common sense tells you what happens4 ,your own natural passions tell you what happens4 ,those marriageable men and women--many of them young1 handsome1 buxom1--are shut off from all the world1 by thick walls1 barred windows1 locked doors4 ,the young buxom men can get to the young buxom women4 ,either in the day-time or in the night1 this physical access can be had1 in secret4 ,the men have been taught that they are gifted with supernatural powers2 and that they can forgive each other's sins4 ,the women have been taught that these men cannot sin1 and that in serving these men they will be serving ,god4 ,besides1 if they do sin with the priests1 the priests can forgive the sins4 ,this being so1 what happens1 when the lustful young priest slips into the cloistered convent1 goes to the nun's bed-room and solicits her to yield to him1 as ,mary yielded to the angel8 7,see ,why ,priests ,should ,wed4 ,page #ajc47 ,the cloistered convent is built like a huge dungeon4 ,the encircling walls about it1 are thick and high4 ,no one enters in unto the unmarried women excepting the bachelor priests4 ,the ,law does not enter6 ,the ,italian ,pope draws his line around the dungeons of darkness and mystery1 and the civil authorities dare not go in4 ,everybody knows that young women are caged in those hell-holes4 ,everybody knows that burly1 beefy1 red-faced1 thick-lipped young priests glide in and out4 ,everybody knows what he would do1 if he had the pick of a score of buxom girls1 in a secret place1 he being a bachelor and they being without access to any man but himself4 ,if you were young and had no wife1 you know what would happen1 if you were alone in a pretty girl's bed-room1 and she were educated to yield to you in everything4 ,yet1 these impudent rascals1 the beefy ,irish1 ,italian and ,german priests1 ask you to believe that they never even think of touching those #ef1jjj ,american girls that are caged inside those walls3 ,nevertheless1 you know it is against ,nature for these young men not to want to mate with those women4 ,you know that the cloistered convents would not be built like ,bastilles1 and the world shut out1 if there were not something going on in there which they are afraid for the world to see4 ,you know that where cloistered convents are built and managed like jails1 ,,they ,,are ,,jails6 ,yet1 those impudent rascals1 gliding into the women1 and coming out from the women1 tell you that although the women are taught to obey the priest in all things1 the priest never does say or do what every full-sexed man would do and say1 under the same circumstances4 ,the ,turks had their harems1 and they knew women--likewise1 they knew men4 ,the ,turks had walls1 and bars1 and locked gates1 and sentinels outside to watch4 ,but the ,turks knew how vain are walls1 and barred windows1 locked gates and vigilant sentinels4 ,therefore1 the ,turks always kept eunuchs in the harem itself1 eunuchs whose watchful eyes were ever upon those ladies of the harem4 ,and the eunuchs were powerful men1 strong and fierce1 but unsexed4 ,they had the strength to guard the women1 without the desire to enjoy4 ,but the ,roman ,pope builds harems in all ,christian lands--harems for his priests to whom he denies marriage4 ,there are no eunuchs to guard these women4 ,the men who go in unto them are men of like passions as ourselves2 and there is no eye to watch1 no tongue that will tell1 after the priest has gone inside4 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,our common sense condemns this enforced celibacy which pagan popes invented for their own selfish1 ambitious purposes4 ,or rather1 the ,popes borrowed it from the ,turkish ,sultans who would not allow their chosen body-guard1 the ,janissaries1 to marry4 ,in course of time1 the ,janissaries became more powerful than the ,sultan1 and they had to be exterminated4 ,the ,pope's ,janissaries are now more powerful than the ,pope2 and the wretchedness of his position is that he can neither massacre them1 nor rob them of their women4 ,of all the exalted slaves the world ever saw1 the ,pope is perhaps the most conspicuous example4 ,the ,jesuits rule the priesthood2 the ,jesuits rule the cardinals2 the ,jesuits rule the ,pope--and the ,jesuits have the pick of the most beautiful women throughout the ,christian world4 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,on such a system as this--a system which has denied so many millions of men and women the ,god-given right to live according to ,nature1 history ought to have much to say4 ,what is the evidence and the verdict of impartial ,history8 ,let us try the case3 let us call the witnesses and hear their evidence4 ,if the other side wants to be heard1 the court is open4 ,i will give them as much space for the defense as ,i take for the prosecution4 ,it shall be a perfectly fair investigation4 ,remember1 however1 that the unmarried men and the unmarried women have been hiding within the walls of monasteries and convents1 ever since ,pope ,gregory abolished ,god's ordinance of marriage1 and declared1 virtually1 that the ,pope's will1 and not that of ,god ,almighty1 should govern priests and nuns4 ,remember that there has been every effort made at concealment3 that the dungeons could not tell their awful secrets2 that the light of day was jealously shut out4 ,remember that the nun who willingly submitted to the priest did not wish to expose their mutual guilt4 ,remember that the nun who was forced1 could seldom escape and give the alarm4 ,remember that the babes born in the cloistered convents were seldom seen of men1 and that they could easily be thrown into the hidden vault1 where the quick-lime was ready to eat their bones4 ,remember that it was to the interest of popery to screen the priests1 and that the rulers of ,states were in deadly fear of the wrath of ,popes--wrath which sent death to ,henry ,,iii4 of ,france1 ,william of ,orange1 and ,henry of ,navarre4 ,remember further1 that when ,popes kept acknowledged paramours and bastards in the ,vatican1 the priests had nothing to fear on account of their turning the nunneries into brothels4 ,those nuns whose vows were not broken1 were the ugly ones1 the old and the ailing4 ,the monks had such complete power over wives through the ,confessional1 that many women inside the cloister owed their immunity to the women outside4 ,there was a time1 under popery1 when no ,italian husband was certain that his wife's children were his3 hence1 for a time paternal affection in ,italy almost became extinct4 ,there was a time1 under popery1 when every ,italian wife had an acknowledged lover--her cicisbeo--the priests having paved the way4 ,the husband kept a mistress2 the wife1 a lover2 and the priest enjoyed both wife and mistress1 without bearing the expense of either4 7,see ,sismondi's ,hist4 des ,repub4 d',ital47 ,there was a time1 under popery1 when it was assumed that every ,spanish woman had yielded to a priest4 ,and of course a woman who takes one lover will take another2 and thus ,spain went to moral perdition1 with the priests and the nuns in the lead4 ,the same thing was true of ,portugal1 and of all ,southern ,europe4 ,of ,mexico1 ,central and ,south ,america and ,cuba1 it would be a waste of words to speak4 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,pope ,gregory ,,vii4 introduced the unnatural requirement of celibacy--the forbidding of men and women to do what ,god had equipped them to do1 and prompted them1 by sexual passions to do--the most powerful passions known to humanity--passions which if not naturally gratified lead to crimes of revolting enormity1 to loss of health1 to loss of mental balance1 to loss of shame1 of normal desires1 and of reason itself4 7,consult such books as ,dr4 ,sanger's ,history of ,prostitution2 ,krafft-,ebing's ,psychopathia ,sexualis1 c47 ,soon after enforced celibacy was introduced1 an honest priest1 ,honorius of ,antrim wrote-- ,look at the convents of the nuns1 places of debauchery6 ,these abominable women have not chosen the ,virgin1 but ,phryne and ,messalina as their models4 ,they prostrate themselves before the idol of ,priapus6 7,priapus was the male organ of generation1 and was formerly to be seen throughout ,europe1 especially at public fountains47 ,king ,edgar of ,england wrote-- ,what shall ,i say of the clergy8 ,we find nothing among them but debauchery1 excesses1 orgies1 and unchastity4 ,their abodes are propitious for solitude1 and yet they dwell there not for pious meditation1 but in order to lead lives of debauchery4 ,pope ,benedict ,,viii4 at the ,council of ,pavia deplored the awful vices of the unmarried clergy4 ,nicholas ,clemangis says-- ,the monasteries are no longer sanctuaries devoted to the divinity1 but places of abomination and debauchery--rendezvous of young libertines4 ,indeed1 to make a girl take the veil is equivalent to forcing her into prostitution4 ,the monks of the ,middle ,ages led a life full of orgies1 equalling the dissipations of ,tiberius at ,capri4 ,the concubines and prostitutes were mistresses of the wealth of the monasteries and convents4 ,the good ,catholic1 ,anselm of ,bisate1 wrote-- ,the nuns are not more virtuous than the monks4 ,widows took the veil in order to be free1 and not bound to one man4 ,instead of being the wife of one man1 the nun could be the mistress of several4 7,dr4 ,angelo ,rappaport1 p4 #cf47 ,why was it that ,irenus and ,epiphanius poured out such unprintable descriptions of the immorality of those heretics who refused to marry and who professed to be virgins8 ,did these ,fathers of the ,christian ,church grossly slander those celibate heretics8 ,were the men and the women who indulged in those sexual excesses1 while pretending to be chaste1 any better or any worse than the human creatures of today8 ,was ,cyprian libelling his own brethren and sisters when he described how depraved1 how licentious1 how sodom-like was the conduct of the so-called virgins of his time8 ,cyprian lived in the third century after ,christ1 and he was speaking of the same phase of ,christianity which provoked the immortal passage in ,gibbon4 ,carrying their brazen hypocrisy to unheard of lengths1 the monks and the nuns occupied the same beds1 and yet unblushingly vowed that they had passed through this fiery furnace without the smell of fire on their garments6 ,if ,i were to quote the ,latin in which ,cyprian exposes these shameless harlots and libertines1 the great and good ,u4 ,s4 ,government would perhaps again prosecute me for telling the truth on ,roman ,catholicism4 ,popery is the one thing that you must not tell the truth about1 unless you are prepared to withstand boycott1 abuse1 persecution and threats against your property and life6 7,the curious are cited to ,elliott on ,romanism1 ,vol4 ,,ii41 p4 #djh1 and to ,cyprian to ,pompanius1 ,book ,,ii41 p4 #aha47 ,so well understood was it that young men and young women needed each other1 sexually1 that both in the ,latin and in the ,greek there was a distinctive name given to these holy virgins4 ,the soul marriage of the ancient church was as much like the affinity doings of the present day1 as ,solomon's carryings on were like those of the ,sultan of ,turkey4 ,to the testimony of ,cyprian may be added that of ,chrysostom1 who bewailed the utter licentiousness of the virgins4 ,since ,bishop ,udalric in the year #fjf wrote of the skulls of the six thousand infants found in draining off some fish ponds at the command of ,gregory the ,great1 the slaughter of the babes has gone steadily on4 ,when ,pope ,gregory ascertained that the infants thus killed were born from the concealed fornications of and adulteries of the priests1 he recalled his decree1 extolling the apostolic command4 ,it is better to marry than to burn4 7,elliott ,,ii41 p4 #dji47 ,yet1 when we are told the same story by ,father ,chiniquy1 ,dr4 ,justin ,fulton1 ex-priest ,william ,hogan1 ex-priest ,fresenborg1 ex-priest ,manuel ,ferrando1 ex-nun ,margaret ,shepherd1 ex-nun ,maria ,monk1 ex-priest ,blanco ,white1 ex-priest ,seguin1 and by such submissive ,catholics as ,erasmus1 ,rabelais1 ,campanella and scores of other unimpeachable witnesses1 we are more inclined to listen to the impudent denials of the lecherous priests than to the evidence of those who escape ,,and ,,tell6 ,the denial made by the unmarried priests is at variance with their looks1 is at variance with admitted facts1 is at variance with what we ourselves know of the overwhelming strength of our carnal desires3 yet the impudent denial is so brazen1 so persistent1 and so threatening1 that we either accept it1 or enter the plea of nolle contendere4 ,the accusation against the pretended virgins involves so many apparently good men and chaste women1 that we shrink from remembering the difference between publicity and privacy2 we forget that the treacherous inclination is not felt in the church and in the crowd1 but that it creeps to the secret couch1 under cover of night1 when there is silence1 freedom from interruption and security from detection4 ,we forget how this passion takes advantage of night1 of undress1 and of secret contact of the physical man and woman1 to heat their normal blood1 no matter how sanctified they may really be in their daily visible life4 ,saint ,bernard of the #ajth century exhausts his wrath upon the hideous vices of the monks and nuns behind the partition4 ,what abominable lust6 cries this stern old anchorite4 ,he exclaims-- ,would that those who cannot rule their sexuality would fear to give their conduct the name of celibacy4 ,it is better to marry than to burn4444 ,take away from the church honorable marriage and the undefiled bed1 and do you not fill it with concubines1 incestuous persons1 onanists1 male concubines1 and with every kind of unclean person8 7,bernard's ,sermons ,v4 #bi1 cited in ,elliott1 ,,ii41 #daj47 ,take away honorable marriage from the priests1 and what do you get in place of the bed undefiled8 ,read again that tremendous sentence of ,saint ,bernard1 and then ask yourself1 ,has human nature changed8 ,a typical illustration of priestly seduction is the following3 ,a lady of the name of ,maria ,catharine ,barni1 of ,santa ,croe1 declared on her death-bed1 that she had been seduced through the confessional1 and that she had during twelve years maintained a continual intercourse with priest ,pachiani4 ,he had assured her that by means of the supernatural light which he had received from ,jesus and the holy virgin1 he was perfectly certain that neither of them was guilty of sin1 c4 7,secrets of ,female ,convents1 p4 #eh1 cited by ,elliott1 ,vol4 ,,ii41 p4 #ddh47 ,substantially1 that is the way every priest seduces every nun who yields to him4 ,almost the very formula is mentioned in ,dr4 ,justin ,d4 ,fulton's book which was submitted to ,anthony ,comstock1 the modern ,cato1 before it was published4 ,and ,dr4 ,fulton asserts that ,pope ,pius ,,ix4 authorized this concubinage of priests with nuns1 by a formal ,vatican decree of #ahff4 ,dr4 ,fulton says--page #ig of ,why ,priests ,should ,wed-- ,in the year #ahff1 ,pope ,pius ,,ix4 sanctioned the establishment of one of the most appalling institutions of immorality and wickedness ever countenanced under the form and garb of religion4 ,briefly1 this institution authorized priests and nuns who had been in service long enough to inspire confidence1 to live in sexual relations1 like man and wife4 ,dr4 ,fulton proceeds at length to describe how the priest selects his nun1 how he makes his wishes known to her1 how he quotes ,scripture to overcome her scruples1 how the love room is adorned with holy emblems and images1 how the priest sprinkles holy water over the bed1 how he then kneels and prays for a blessing on the union about to take place1 and then----6 ,as ,i have said a number of times1 ,dr4 ,fulton submitted his manuscript to ,anthony ,comstock4 ,the chaste ,cato of ,new ,york1 advised the omission of many passages2 but the whole of this hideous chapter describing how ,pope ,pius ,,ix4 authorized the priests to make use of the nuns1 sexually1 appears in the book with sufficient clearness to lay it in parallel columns with the abominations of ,sodom1 ,gomorrha1 the ,white ,slave ,traffic1 the ,decameron1 the ,heptameron1 and ,balzac's ,merry ,tales of the ,abbeys of ,touraine4 ,dr4 ,fulton's book was published in #ahhh4 ,he was never prosecuted for that terrible charge against ,pope ,pius ,,ix4 ,he was never sued for libelling the priests and nuns4 ,his charges were never officially denied4 ,cardinal ,gibbons wrote his mendacious book1 ,the ,faith of our ,fathers1 for the purpose of answering all that had been said against ,popery4 ,he mentioned ,maria ,monk by name1 and denounced her true story as false4 ,yet1 although ,gibbons published his book sixteen years after ,dr4 ,fulton had hurled his awful charge against ,pope ,pius ,,ix41 the ,baltimore priest dared not challenge the statement of ,dr4 ,fulton6 ,maria ,monk--poor1 outraged1 persecuted woman1 was dead3 ,dr4 ,justin ,d4 ,fulton1 a fearless1 powerful man1 was alive6 ,gibbons was brave enough to vilely attack the dead woman3 he was too much of a contemptible coward to attack the living man4 ,the living man was ready with his evidence1 and he was a fighter--and the catlike ,gibbons knew it4 ,says ,dr4 ,fulton-- ,at first the female may be a little timid1 c4 ,she may object1 c4 ,but the priest1 representing ,god's angel in this office1 gently soothes the mind and quiets the fears of his future spouse by saying to her1 ,he who will come upon thee is not man1 but is the holy one of ,god1 and this union is pleasing to him2----4 7,at this point ,anthony ,comstock must have blushed and raised an objection1 as the nun was doing1 for the remainder of the sentence is stricken out47 ,but the text continues--,it will be holy and blessed2 therefore ,i say unto thee1 as the angel said unto ,mary1 ,fear not4 ,after this1 the woman1 being convinced by the language of heaven's messenger that all is right1 gives the priest complete assurance of her willingness to submit by saying1 as ,mary said to the angel1 ,be it done unto me according to thy word4 ,then ,dr4 ,fulton so frankly indicates what takes place in that private room1 and upon that consecrated bed1 that ,i really am curious to know what it was that made ,comstock blush1 a few lines above those which thus tell of the soliciting priest1 the yielding nun1 and the ready bed4 ,now1 if you will compare one case with another1 from the time of the early ,fathers down to the present day1 you will detect a similarity that is appalling4 ,the testimony of ,edward ,gibbon1 the skeptical historian1 exactly accords with that of ,saint ,cyprian1 ,chrysostom1 ,jerome and ,bernard4 ,the memorable investigation which ,duke ,leopold of ,tuscany caused to be made of the cloistered convents of ,italy revealed identically the same cess-pools of vice that came to light in ,england when ,henry ,,vii4 uncovered the monasteries4 ,all the literature of the ,renaissance1 after men's minds and pens freed themselves from the ignoble fear of popery1 bear witness to the same universal everlasting truth--,men and women were made for each other1 and no so-called religion can annul the laws of ,nature4 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,when a religion sets up the claim that it can pardon sins1 educate the children to believe it1 destroys those who deny it1 and fixes a scale of money-payments for the pardon of sins1 what sort of fruit is that kind of tree likely to bear8 ,if penance and payment rids me of sin1 my conscience1 like an unused muscle1 becomes enfeebled1 and my proneness to sin is encouraged4 ,pope ,leo ,x4 was the ,vicar of ,christ who ordered lists of sin to be drawn up1 with the price of the pardon opposite each sin4 7,see ,history of ,auricular ,confession1 by ,count ,c4 ,p4 ,de ,lasteyrie1 ,vol4 ,,ii41 p4 #acb47 ,i will quote only a few of these tariff rates established by this ,infallible ,pope4 ,for allowing a ship to sail to convey merchandise to infidels1 #ajj d4 ,for the absolution of any one practising usury1 #g d4 ,for concubinage1 #g d4 ,for intimacy with a woman in a church1 #f d4 ,for pardon of him who has violated a virgin1 #f d4 ,for one who has committed incest1 #e d4 7,the d4 stands for the coin known as the ducat47 ,can you imagine anything more conducive to immorality1 than a religion1 sanctified by the name of ,christ1 which teaches that its priests can forgive sins1 and which publishes a list of market prices for such forgiveness8 ,do you marvel that ,roman ,catholic countries are the immoral countries8 ,do you wonder at the mania for vice and crime among the lower ,italians1 ,spaniards and ,portuguese8 ,when a man could ravish a virgin for six ducats1 what girl had any safety except in the fear that libertines might have of her father or her brother1 or her sweetheart8 ,what sort of hell would we have in ,america if popery gained the upper hand1 and the negro bucks were taught that they could buy pardons for violating white women8 ,god ,almighty6 ,it makes one sick to think that even now they are admitting young black men to the priesthood4 ,what will they do1 inside the cloistered convents8 ,no scream from within can be heard outside4 ,those dead walls tell no tales4 ,the ,law dares not scrutinize the interiors where the negro priests can penetrate2 and we have no legal process to wring the dread ,secret out of the nun's cell6 ,the ,pope's ,empire has been erected inside our ,republic2 and those who represent our ,state1 and our ,law1 are afraid of the ,italian ,pope and the laws of the ,italian church6 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,when the ,commissioners sent by ,king ,henry ,,vii4 visited the monasteries1 the guilt of the inmates was so overwhelmingly evident that hardly any attempt at denial was made4 ,the ,confession of the ,prior and ,benedictines of ,st4 ,andrew's in ,northampton is yet of record1 and it is a fair example4 ,they confessed that they had lived in idleness1 gluttony1 and sensuality1 for which the ,pit of ,hell was ready to swallow them up4 7,burnett1 ,book ,,iii41 p4 #bbg47 ,among the false relics that were found and which had long been used to swindle ignorant believers out of their money1 were a ,wing of the ,angel that had brought to ,england the ,spear which pierced ,christ's side2 some of the coals that had roasted the ,most ,blessed ,saint ,anthony2 numerous pieces of the true ,cross2 a small bottle filled with ,christ's blood2 a ,crucifix which would sometimes bow its head1 sometimes roll its eyes and sometimes move its lips4 7,all this fraudulent rubbish was seized1 taken to ,london1 and publicly destroyed47 ,bishop ,burnett says-- ,but for the lewdness of the confessors of the ,nunneries1 and the great corruption of that state1 whole houses being found almost all with child4 ,that was in the year #aece1 in ,england6 ,in the year #aiaj1 when the nunneries were suddenly broken up in ,spain1 exactly the same state of affairs was discovered6 ,some of the nuns came out leading their children3 some were so far advanced in pregnancy that their condition was evident to all--and as to how many little bones were left in the underground vaults1 ,god alone knows4 ,bishop ,burnett continues-- ,the dissoluteness of ,abbots1 and the other monks1 and the friars1 not only with whores1 but married women1 and their unnatural lusts and other brutal practices1 these are not fit to be spoken of1 much less enlarged on1 in a work of this nature4 444 ,the full report was destroyed by the fanatical papist ,bishop ,bonner1 at the beginning of the reign of ,bloody ,mary4 7,see ,english ,reformation47 ,but ,bishop ,burnett saw extracts from it concerning #add ,houses1 that contains abominations in it1 equal to any that were in ,sodom6 ,put this original evidence side by side with the confession already quoted3 put with it the testimony gathered by ,duke ,leopold of ,tuscany3 add what ,blanco ,white and ,erasmus say2 add what ,s4 ,j4 ,mahoney and ,manuel ,ferrando say3 buttress this mass of evidence with what the ,fathers of the ,church said1 what all the escaped nuns and priests have alleged1 and compare this mountain of proof with what you know about human nature--and how can you harbor a doubt that nunneries and monasteries are today what they always have been8 ,they are houses of hidden iniquity1 and nameless crimes--,,and ,,you ,,know ,,it6 ,that marvellous man of letters1 ,erasmus1 who wrote for the ,reformation1 but who left ,luther and others to fight for it1 says this in his ,colloquies4-- ,i hold up to censure those who entice lads and girls into monasteries against their parents' wills1 abusing their simplicity or superstition1 and persuading them that there is no chance of salvation but in the cloister4 ,if the world were not full of such anglers2 if countless minds had not been most miserably buried alive in such places1 then ,i have been wrong in my conclusions4 ,but if ever ,i am forced to speak out what ,i feel upon this subject1 ,i will paint the portrait of these kidnappers1 and so represent the magnitude of the evil1 that every one shall confess ,i have not been wrong4 7,quoted in ,day's ,monastic ,institutions1 p4 #bci47 ,the infamous ,liguori--a ,roman ,catholic ,saint--calmly assumes that many inmates of the convents are captives1 just as ,erasmus had said they were1 and he lays down the law to these helpless1 kidnapped captives with all the malevolence of a grinning devil4 ,now that you are professed in a convent1 and that it is impossible for you to leave it1 c4 7,monastic ,institutions1 p4 #bid47 ,liguori threatens the captive1 telling the poor creature that if she abandons herself to sadness and regret1 she will be made to suffer a hell here1 and another hereafter4 ,in other words1 ,smile1 prisoner1 smile6 or we will make the convent a hell to you6 ,so says ,saint ,liguori1 whose instructions to the priests1 telling them what filthy questions they must ask the ,catholic women1 are so obscene that ,i was prosecuted by the ,catholic ,knights of ,columbus for having quoted some of them4 ,if ,i had quoted all that ,liguori wrote in coaching the priests1 and teaching them virtually how to disrobe women of their modesty as a prelude to their ruin1 ,i suppose the ,government would have ordered out the troops and had me shot4 ,several times1 ,erasmus has been mentioned as one of the most terrific accusers of the papal system1 its frauds1 impostures1 greed1 ferocity1 its fake miracles1 its pagan adoration of images and relics1 and its rotten immorality4 ,perhaps it is due to the reader that ,i cite him to ,the ,life and ,letters of ,erasmus1 by the historian ,james ,a4 ,froude1 published in this country by ,charles ,scribner's ,sons1 ,new ,york1 in #ahie4 ,from this comparatively recent work1 the student can most readily obtain a general idea of ,popery1 as described by one who was a devout ,catholic1 but not a blind1 servile papist4 ,erasmus was practically an orphan boy1 of somewhat uncertain parentage1 whose life mystery and romance inspired ,charles ,read to write the greatest of all novels1 ,the ,cloister and the ,hearth4 ,mr4 ,froude tells the painful story of the forcing of ,erasmus into monastic vows2 and then follows him as he develops into the most learned and brilliant scholar of ,europe4 ,never a robust man1 always more or less an invalid1 ,erasmus remained inside the ,roman pale1 but abhorred the inherent vices of the system1 denounced those vices with a pen of fire1 endured the terrors and agonies of persecution within his church1 was bitterly abused by the vile priesthood whose putrid lives he uncovered1 was menaced by the dread ,inquisition1 and really suffered more keenly the penalties than ,luther did1 for telling the truth on popery4 ,luther1 a bull-necked1 fearless ,man1 broke out1 and fought popery from the outside4 ,erasmus1 like many of his predecessors1 tried to reform it from within1 and he discovered at last that he might as well have been trying to reform hell4 ,the enraged monks and monkesses did not murder ,erasmus1 as they had murdered ,savonarola1 ,huss1 ,jerome1 c42 but it was because the ,pope had his hands full of other matters1 and the time was not favorable for burning the most illustrious scholar of ,christendom4 ,what did ,erasmus say and write and publish against the vast parasitical growth of paganism1 fraud and imposture that had overgrown ,christianity under the pope8 ,read his ,praise of ,folly1 which has been translated into ,english and can be had through any book-dealer4 ,when you read it1 remember that ,erasmus was never answered1 save by abuse and threats4 ,in his letters to the ,prothonotary of the ,pope1 letters written for the ,pope to read1 and which the ,pope did read1 ,erasmus arraigns the unmarried clergy of ,rome1 her monks and her nuns1 her monasteries and her convents1 in the same terms that are used by the ,preamble to the ,act of the ,british ,parliament which stated that reasons for the dissolution of these ,romish hell-holes4 ,the accusations fathered by ,erasmus and laid before the ,pope1 agree in every essential particular with the revelations of ,blanco ,white1 of ,s4 ,j4 ,mahoney1 ,william ,hogan1 ,joseph ,mc,cabe1 ,bishop ,manuel ,ferrando1 ,margaret ,shepherd1 ,maria ,monk1 and every other witness who has had the courage to uncover these papal dens of infamy1 torture1 vice and crime4 ,i have not the space to quote at any length from the ,letters of ,erasmus3 get the book and read it for yourself4 ,but weigh this passage-- ,men are threatened or tempted into vows of celibacy4 ,they can have license to go with harlots1 but they must not marry wives4 ,they may keep concubines and remain priests4 ,if they take wives1 they are thrown to the flames4 ,parents who design their children for a celibate priesthood should emasculate them in their infancy1 instead of forcing them1 reluctant or ignorant1 into a furnace of licentiousness4 ,what was this furnace of licentiousness8 ,the cloistered convent1 or the monastery4 ,in his notes to the ,new ,testament1 a ,greek translation of which ,erasmus made1 he said1 after alluding to ,st4 ,paul's injunction about the one wife1 that the priests could commit homicide1 parricide1 incest1 piracy1 sodomy and sacrilege3 these can be got over1 but marriage is fatal4 ,he adds that of all the enormous herds of priests1 very few of them are chaste4 ,in his letter to ,lambert ,grunnius1 7in the year #aead7 ,erasmus gives an awful picture of monastic slavery in houses which are worse than brothels4 ,but once a young man is entrapped1 there is no escape4 ,they may repent1 but the superiors will not let them go1 lest they should betray the orgies which they have witnessed4 ,then ,erasmus tells of instances where men were buried alive inside the monasteries to prevent their escape4 ,dead men tell no tales6 ,remember1 reader6 ,erasmus was writing to the ,pope's own ,prothonotary1 in order that the ,holy ,fathers might of a surety know what was going on inside the monastic houses6 ,and in reply1 the ,prothonotary1 ,lambert ,grunnius1 writes to ,erasmus-- ,i read your letter aloud to the ,pope1 from end to end3 several cardinals and other great persons were present4 ,the ,holy ,father was charmed with your style6 ,and the ,holy ,father waxes wroth at some personal grievances of ,erasmus1 and granted him relief from monkish diabolism2 but what was done to correct the frightful conditions which ,erasmus had brought to the ,pope's personal attention8 ,nothing6 ,absolutely nothing4 ,it was the same way when the exposures were made in ,spain1 when they were made in ,tuscany1 when they were made in ,england1 when they were made in the ,philippines6 ,the answer of ,rome is ever the same3 ,nothing can be done4 ,the ,pope knows what enforced male celibacy does1 when screened from the civil law behind thick walls1 and given unlimited license among young women1 who cannot resist1 and who cannot tell6 ,and you know that the ,pope does know--for he also is a male like me and you4 ,again1 ,erasmus asks what would ,saint ,augustine say now1 if he were to see these convents and monasteries become public brothels4 ,in those standard works1 ,the ,history of ,prostitution and ,human ,sexuality1 you will learn the fearful fact that the utter lewdness of nuns and of wives who had been debauched by the priests1 became so universal that the trade of the professional harlot was almost entirely taken away from her4 ,why should loose men pay1 when there were so many places of gratuitous entertainment8 7,lest you heed the deceptive talk which endeavors to convince you that the old tree is now bearing different fruit1 read ,hogan's ,popish ,nunneries1 ,mc,cabe's ,ten ,years in a ,monastery1 ,mc,carthy's up-to-date ,priests and ,people in ,ireland2 and the astounding1 undenied statements of ,bishop ,manuel ,ferrando1 in ,the ,converted ,catholic magazine of ,new ,york ,city47 ,in ,delisser's powerful book1 ,pope1 or ,president8 there is a masterly summing up against ,romanism as revealed by its own writers4 ,among other witnesses1 he cites the evidence of ,mahoney1 the priest who was examined by a ,committee of the ,house of ,commons4 ,a very nefarious use was made of convents1 testified this honest ,irishman4 ,his disclosures corroborated what another honest ,irish priest1 ,hogan1 said several centuries later4 ,a woman 444 is seduced into a convent to live in sin with the bishop and other confessors4 ,it is not human to place a priest where he is allowed to fall1 and suppose him innocent4 ,reader1 commit your daughter to the soldier or hussar who can marry her1 rather than to a ,romish priest4 7,pope1 or ,president1 p4 #ei47 ,in fact1 ,delisser's chapter on ,convent ,exposed is one of the most frightful that ,i ever read--doubly frightful because the ,romanist writers therein quoted assume it to be their right to mistreat women1 just as they please6 ,it is only in such a chapter1 composed of citations from orthodox ,roman ,catholics1 that you can obtain anything like a true conception of the priest's point of view4 ,they have the right to kidnap children3 they have a right to restrain prisoners2 they have a right to compel obedience3 they have a right to shut out the ,state and its law3 they have a right to punish the refractory1 to flog the unruly girl1 to starve her into submission1 to degrade her with disgusting services1 to use her person for their lusts6 ,that is the priest's point of view6 ,study the horrible theology of ,dens and ,liguori3 read what popes have said in denial of a layman's right to criticise a priest2 read what ,rev4 ,blanco ,white said of the systematic depravity of ,romanism4 ,cardinal ,newman had to acknowledge that ,blanco ,white was a man or irreproachable character1 a man you can trust4 ,i have the fullest confidence in his word1 c4 ,and what does this ex-,catholic1 for whom ,cardinal ,newman vouched1 have to say about convents8 ,i cannot1 says he1 find tints sufficiently dark to portray the miseries which ,i have witnessed in convents4 ,crime1 in spite of the spiked walls and prison gates is there4 ,the gates of the holy prison are forever closed upon the inmates3 force and shame await them wherever they might fly4 ,then the ex-priest tells the tragic story of his two sisters1 virtually tortured to death in the ,spanish convent1 he being a witness to their misery and powerless to relieve it4 ,the system held them all6 ,he continues-- ,of all the victims of the church of ,rome1 the nuns deserve the greatest sympathy4 ,white's book was published in #ahbf4 ,like ,pope1 or ,president1 published in #ahei1 it is now out of print4 ,only at long intervals may you see a copy advertised in the catalogues of ,old-book stores4 ,some agency has been most active in destroying anti-,catholic books1 and keeping them out of our ,public ,libraries4 ,consider this sentence in ,hume's ,history of ,england1 ,vol4 ,,ii41 p4 #eib4 ,monstrous disorders are therefore said to have been found in many of the religious houses1 whole convents of women abandoned to lewdness2 signs of abortions procured1 ,,of ,,infants ,,murdered1 of unnatural lusts between persons of the same sex4 ,did poor ,margaret ,shepherd1 or ,maria ,monk make any accusations that were worse than these which we find in a standard history of ,england8 ,in ,aubrey's ,rise and ,growth of the ,english ,people1 the indictment against the convents and the monasteries is equally severe4 ,see ,vol4 ,i41 p4 #hj and #ha4 ,in ,lecky's ,history of ,european ,morals1 we have exactly the same arraignment of this unnatural and polluting system4 ,in ,bower's ,history of the ,popes1 in ,hallam's ,constitutional ,history of ,england1 and in every trustworthy account of the system of enforced celibacy we have the same horrible1 but natural1 description of the lives led by those full-sexed members of both sexes1 who cannot mate legally and decently1 but who are given access to each other under cover of night1 behind the curtain of thick walls1 and with the assurance that1 so long as no scandal leaks out1 no notice will be taken of what is done inside the holy brothel4 ,the very language in which the virgin girl is made to pledge herself as the spouse of ,christ1 is so abominably obscene and suggestive that it is bound to plant impure curiosity in her mind--and1 with a girl1 impure curiosity is the lure to the fall4 ,not especially wishing to be again indicted for quoting the ,pope's nasty language1 ,i will forbear4 ,even in the ,latin1 it is so vile1 lewd1 lascivious1 filthy1 and nasty1 that ,i marvel how any white woman1 under any circumstances1 can allow a beast of a man to use that language to her1 and not slap his face4 ,the language is quoted in ,pope1 or ,president1 pages #hf and #cfj4 ,the ,nun ,sanctified1 of ,saint ,alphonsus ,liguori1 and the ,theology of ,peter ,dens will give the reader a fairly correct idea of what sort of a slave the priests make of a woman1 after she has been ensnared into taking the black veil4 ,in the famous investigation of the convents of ,tuscany1 in #agge1 one of the nuns gave testimony which1 is singularly piquant and unique4 ,besides1 it remained uncontradicted4 ,the name of the witness was ,sister ,flavia ,peraccini4 ,after telling of many escapades she had witnessed inside the convents1 and of many merry times the priests and the nuns had with one another1 ,sister ,flavia ,peraccini deposed-- ,a monk said to me that if a nun's veil were placed on one pole1 and a monk's cowl on another1 so great is the sympathy between the veil and the cowl they would come together1 and unite4 7,unite is the modest word3 copulate1 is meant47 ,i say1 continues the ,sister1 ,i say1 and repeat it1 that whatever the ,superiors know1 they do not know the least portion of the great evils that pass between the monks and the nuns4 ,the foregoing is a mere trifle compared to the whole amount of the undisputed testimony taken by ,duke ,leopold of ,tuscany in #agge4 ,have men and women changed8 ,is human nature the same8 ,it was for all people and all ages that the inspired writer wrote-- ,nevertheless1 to avoid fornication1 let every man have his own wife2 and let every woman have her own husband4 7,i4 ,cor4 #g3ab47 ,the most powerful argument and authority against the ,roman papacy on this question is that of ,jesus ,christ4 ,virtually1 he said that a man must make himself a eunuch--if not born so--before he could live like a eunuch6 ,if the word of ,christ is not conclusive and binding1 where shall we seek the truth8 ,the trouble with papists is1 they are educated outside of the ,bible and common sense2 and they seldom free their minds from the priestly domination established in childhood4 7,,the ,,end47