the education of the twenty or more millions of children in our public schools is the death knell of Roman despotism in this country, and here with the emancipation of millions of Catholics it finds a grave. A REPLY TO CARDINAL GIBBONS'S "THE CHURCH AND THE REPUBLIC " A N article of great interest appeared in the March number, 1909, of the North American Review, "The Church and the Re public," written by Cardinal Gibbons, a gentleman holding a prominent position in the Roman Catholic Church, who has been instrumental in many good works, and through a long life identified with the church, its teachings, and practices both here and abroad; with an intimate knowledge of both, a ready pen, power of analysis and capacity for special pleading, he stands easily the foremost and most prominent figure in our country now holding a commission from Rome, and as a defender of the teachings and practices of what is known as the Roman Catholic Church has no superior. With a wise, astute, comprehensive intellect, straightforward and fearless in expressing his highest sense of right and duty, with a kindly spirit for all humanity and a desire that the world should share with him the consolation of religious teachings enjoyed from early life to the now declining years, he, like most of us, holds tenaciously to early teachings until something else displaces them. For the gentleman personally I can have no animosity, but on the contrary great respect and the most kindly feeling, and in replying to the various matters mentioned in the article referred to, if the language used should be plain and outspoken, it will be to emulate him, if possible, in candor, to say that my reply is directed, rather to the organization he represents, with no sinister object, realizing the difficulty of presenting this matter without seeming prejudice, and with a hope it may give no offense. Before touching upon the article in question, it may be of interest to first inquire as to the past history and present workings of what is called the Roman Catholic Church, of which little is known by the masses. In view of the growth of this organization in America in the past fifty years, its increasing political power, and recent demands for recognition, it may not be amiss to go back on the lines, to ascertain who and where the managers of this foreign organization are, who, through obedient American appointees dependent on them for their positions and salaries, claim to exercise authority over certain cities in our country and without attending responsibility. From the first announcement of a self-made pope -Boniface III, who obtained the supremacy from Phocas, A.D. 604, after the latter had murdered Emperor Mauritius and all his family to this time, it is claimed its advocates have treated the world to one unbroken series of suppression, misrepresentation, and false statements as to its claimed rights and authority now maintained for the benefit of Rome and its army of followers, whose power and position depends on their servility and obedience to orders -- from Rome. The Curia, or sacred college at Rome, manages the church affairs in its own exclusive interest, which the ignorance of the people can neither abolish nor control. It claims, as recently demonstrated in France, and in every other country where it has dared to assert itself, to stand as an independent authority, above the nation, as a whole, and opposing the exercise of the vital powers on which national growth depends, superior to all laws and free from all constitutions. Its chief aim is and has been in the past to keep the people in mental subjection to a small body of self-appointed rulers who are above, and not subject to, public control. The common appellation pope has been restricted to the Roman pontiff since Boniface. As is doubtless known to most readers, popes make cardinals and cardinals make popes. The latter are used by the Curia, or sacred college, to frighten the ignorant and carry out their secret designs for power and gold. I have no desire to again go into the history of the lives of the various popes. The evidence contained in the preceding pages is quite sufficient for all practical purposes, but, as throwing some light on one of these personages, I quote a few sentences from the letter of the late Bishop M. D. Talleyrand to Pope Pius VII. "Should we now look over a list of all the popes from Peter, the fisherman, to our own times, we would discover that the first half of them were beggars and impostors, who were only anxious to lead a life of idleness and pleasure under the mask of sanctity and assumed abnegation, whilst the other half were notorious intriguers, whose lives were spent in the perpetration of the most heinous crimes, and who were followed to their graves by the curses and imprecations of the whole population. Truth, however, bids me draw a line between these monsters and the wise and immortal Ganganelli, the first and only one who ever permitted philosophy to enter into the Vatican. He often expressed the sorrow he felt in countenancing the imposition of those ignorant men who first promulgated the Christian religion, deplored the horrible evils caused by the selfish policy of the popes, grieved at the criminal traffic of the priesthood, at their total disregard of truth, and their efforts to impede the progress of knowledge, that they might keep mankind in the eternal bondage of slavery. He would say, 'No human being in Europe has, either physically or morally, suffered as I have. Confined within the walls of a convent, I was threatened with all the horrors of a dungeon if I did not clothe myself with the garments of religion and hypocrisy, and did not abjure nature and my own species. My docility, frankness, and disinterestedness and large fortune procured me the good opinion of Cardinal Ostali, who obtained in the Conclave a majority of votes in my favor, and I was invested with the purple robes and seated upon the throne as head of the church. The world knows how reluctantly I accepted the situation. I then resolved to overthrow Christianity, that is to say, idolatry, but watched by the sleepless eyes of the thousand Arguses, and always surrounded by the apostles of error, I hoped the time might soon come to execute this important reform. Obliged to assume a contemptible authority, I really blush to appear in Rome, in Italy, or even in Europe. I feel no less shame at the incense which a crapulous superstition lays at my feet and at the homage paid to me as if I were a living idol. I feel that the public opinion looks upon me as the trustee and dispenser of heavenly gifts, the living oracle of a fabled God. But, alas! I know that I |