Book: Thirty Years In Hell

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"I applied cold cloths to her feet; I sat down in the dimly-lighted
infirmary by the side of her bed, and, holding the fevered and
trembling hand, I, in my ignorance, tried to give her some comfort. I
promised to remember her in my intentions, my communions, and at the
sacrifice of the Mass. I spoke to her of the mercy and compassion of
Mary, the 'Mother of Sorrows,' and tried to give her hope by pointing
to her as mediator between her soul and Christ, but I could see that
she received no satisfaction, no assurance. Then her eyes closed and
she dozed for a few minutes, only to wake with a moan of pain--'Oh,
my feet! oh, my feet!' And then again, 'If only I could see my
mother!' would issue from her parched and cracked lips.

"And so I sat through the night, soothing her as well as I knew how,
and repeating aspirations for her, until the dawn crept in and the
nuns' bell rang out at 4:30 o'clock, arousing the inmates. The
quietness and deep stillness still remained throughout the
institution, the sisters and penitents walking in the dimly-lighted
cloisters with soft tread and down-cast eyes, as if in the land of
the silent dead and not the living."

As I write I wonder how it was possible for me to endure the paganism
of Catholicism for thirty years, and the only rational reason I can
give for this endurance is that I, like thousands of these poor nuns
whom I have just written about, was raised to believe that the
teachings of Catholicism were right and the only road that lead to
eternal glory; therefore I look with pity and compassion upon those
black-garbed nuns when I behold them tramping the streets of our
large cities, as I realize that they actually believe they are
performing God's work, when the truth of the matter is that they are
only following the practices of heathen nations.

I could go on and write a thousand pages upon "The Unmarried
Cussedness of the Roman Priestcraft," and each page would be as black
as the shadows of hell, but I deem it unnecessary, as I have
confidence in those who may read this book that they will believe
every word of what I have written, therefore it is unnecessary for me
to dwell longer upon the hideousness of celibacy.

In conclusion, I desire to say that so long as Roman Catholicism
demands that her priestcraft shall not wed, just so long the
priestcraft will remain vultures of virtue and just so long convents
will be turned into carnivals of vice.

It is only natural that such should be the case, as both the
priestcraft and the inhabitants of our convents are brought up from
childhood to believe in the absurdities of Roman Catholicism, and to
believe that all of their many sins can be pardoned by the cungerings
of this Romish doctrine.

My prayer is that the government of the United States may learn in
the near future that the broad light of Protestant inspection must
penetrate these recesses of darkness before we can ever have them
cleansed of their immorality, and this inspection must be made
often, and I sincerely believe that the time is not far distant when
Protestant America will demand that Catholicism shall do away with
her monasteries and nunneries, unless she submits to a rigid
examination of her actions, and whenever she submits it will be
because she is forced to submit, and whenever she is forced to do so,
these monasteries and convents will be closed up, as Protestant
America will not allow nor permit these plague spots to exist to
pollute the fair name of America when she learns of their actual
mission.

[Illustration: "BEING EXCOMMUNICATED FOR READING THE BIBLE."
"May she be damned in her mouth, in her breast, in
her heart and down to her very stomach. Etc. Etc."]




Chapter X.

A Brazen Insult to God.


Catholicism teaches that the Pope of Rome is infallible and cannot
sin, neither can he make a mistake. This claim, if true, would place
the Pope of Rome, who is nothing more nor less than a human being,
upon the same footing as Jesus Christ.

The Bible says, "There are none pure; no, not one." Now, if the claim
of Catholicism that the Pope of Rome is infallible, is true, then the
Bible is a myth and a mockery.

If Catholicism's claim that the Pope of Rome is infallible, is true,
then God is not an impartial God, for if He is an impartial God He
would not bestow upon any of His mortals the gift of purity, without
being ready to bestow the same gift upon all of those who are
deserving, and who by their righteousness deserve this grand and
princely distinction.

We want to use a little common sense and a philosophy that can be
assimilated by any man or woman of ordinary intelligence.

The Bible does not relate in any verse or chapter that any one can
reach the point of infallibility during life. Now, is not this true?
And if it is, then the claim of Catholicism that the Pope of Rome is
infallible is a lie, woven in the devil's loom.

We want to prove to our readers that this claim is one founded upon
fallacious grounds, as the Pope of Rome is elected by the cardinals
of the Catholic Church, who are human and who are often as immoral as
the devil; therefore the infallibility of the Pope rests in human
hands, for it is by these cardinals that the Pope is created,
therefore you will see that by the ballot of these cardinals the Pope
derives his infallibility, and not from any power of God Almighty,
consequently this proclaimed infallibility of the Pope rests in the
hands of these cardinals.

Now, to illustrate this damnable doctrine and show it up in its rabid
ignorance, we will suppose that when Pope Pius X was elected Pope of
Rome that if some other priest had received a majority of one of the
votes of the cardinals, Pope Pius X would never have had this
blessing from God, but he would only have missed it one vote,
therefore you will see that this infallibility which was about to
rest on Pope Pius X, but did not, would have been snatched from him
by the failure of one cardinal to vote for him.

Now, any man or woman of ordinary "horse sense" can see that God
Almighty has nothing whatever to do with filling the office of the
Pope, and this infallibility rests altogether with the pulling power
that the candidate for Pope exercises over the cardinals, as it is an
indisputable fact that there is as much political chicanery in the
election of a Pope as there is in the election of a justice of the
peace at a township election.

We want to learn just how far this infallibility of the Pope goes.
If a man is infallible he can not make a mistake, and I can prove by
every man of broadmindedness and intelligence that the Popes of Rome,
for centuries past, have made nothing but mistakes, and their
mistakes have been not only ruinous to those whom they profess to
teach, but their mistakes have had a tendency to paralyze the
righteous ambitions of every nation to which their influence has
extended. If the claim of Catholicism is true that her Popes are
infallible, then we must acknowledge that this great gift was
received from God Almighty, and we cannot believe such nonsense when
we are aware of the fact that these Popes are elected by the
cardinals, and the election of a Pope depends upon the tactics and
schemes of these cardinals; then, pray, tell us how any man who has
been raised up under the arch-light of Protestantism, or who has had
the searchlight of Protestant intelligence penetrate his soul, can
for a moment believe in the infallibility of the Pope?

I sincerely believe, in fact, I know that there are millions who
believe this damnable doctrine, as I can honestly say that I at one
time believed it myself. But those who do believe it are those who
have been raised beneath the dark shadows of superstition, and my
mission in writing this book is to brush the cobwebs of ignorance
from these dwarfed minds and help to point them to "_the Lamb of God
who taketh away the sins of the world_," and if I can be instrumental
in this mission I will not only open the eyes of the followers of
Catholicism, but I will put stiffening into the backbone of
Protestantism and help them to brand this idolatrous doctrine of
Catholicism wherever she may dare to rear her abominable head.

The great danger in teaching that the Pope is infallible is in making
thieves and murderers of our citizens, for if Catholicism is right in
teaching her followers that the Pope of Rome is infallible, this
doctrine is bound to have an influence that is awful in its effect,
for whenever a man or woman believes in the infallibility of the Pope
they are bound to believe in the infallibility of all things that he
creates; therefore you will see that this doctrine is far-reaching in
its effects, for if a Pope is infallible the bishops which he
creates are infallible, and if the bishops which he creates are
infallible, the priests which they create are infallible, and
whenever we teach a nation this abomination we have a nation of
people which believes that there is no sin so heinous which they may
commit but which may be forgiven by the priesthood, as they have
learned to believe that all things created by the Pope are
infallible, simply because they have been created by the Pope, and
whenever you preach a doctrine that has such effect upon the
inhabitants of any country you will have a set of inhabitants who
will commit crime without hesitation, as they are assured that by
paying a few dollars into the coffers of the priest they can have
their sins pardoned, and whenever you cause a nation to believe this,
you at once have a nation of criminals.

It is, in my estimation, absolutely impossible for an individual who
believes in such a damnable doctrine to become a pure, patriotic
American citizen. Now, this may seem to the reader a very broad
assertion and one that may appear too broad to be substantiated, but
I propose to demonstrate to you that it is only a natural
consequence, and if we fail to make this point clear to the reader's
mind we will not ask them to believe it.

In the first place, we desire to say that the Catholic religion--if
religion it can be termed--is founded upon the rock of superstition.
Every code of their church doctrine teaches that the Pope is
infallible and cannot err, which is absurd, and not only absurd, but
a festering lie, for no man or woman who believes in the teachings of
the Holy Bible can believe in such a doctrine, and whenever a man or
woman does believe in the infallibility of the Pope and believes that
the Pope cannot err, he or she believes that the Pope is superhuman,
and such we know cannot be the case as long as there is life in the
body, as we are all liable to the Adamic sin, as the world at large
was cursed with the Adamic sin in the Garden of Eden.

Now, we want to deal in simple facts and truths that are so simple
that the commonest man of ordinary intelligence can understand.

Now, if the Pope of Rome is infallible, he is immortal, and if every
action of this Pope is pure, then everything that is created by him
must be pure; and if such is the case, I was at one time as pure as
Jesus Christ Himself, as I for thirty years was a Roman Catholic
priest and a creature created by a Roman Catholic Pope. Every man and
woman of very ordinary intelligence knows that neither I nor any
other priest ever was pure; in fact, that man has never lived or died
who could claim infallibility and purity so long as life was left in
his body.

If the doctrines of Catholicism are correct then we have no use for a
God any longer, as we already have a Pope; and should Pope Pius X die
to-day the cardinals to-morrow, or some day in the near future, would
elect another Pope, who would take the place of Jesus Christ Himself,
according to their doctrine; and if such doctrines are true, then the
human family in the future and the unborn millions could be saved as
easily without God as they could with Him, as the Pope would perform
that mission himself.

There are thousands--yea, tens of thousands, who send handkerchiefs
and trinkets each year to Rome to be blessed (?) by the Pope, and
who believe that by having some article which has been blessed (?) by
this presumptuous vagabond will prevent them from being overtaken by
bad luck, ill health or any other misfortune that besets the path of
man.

Now, if the Pope of Rome has the power to bless and sanctify a piece
of cloth, a ring, or any dead and inert object, he undoubtedly is
"_the real thing_," and if such is the case the Bible is a lie, the
gospel a fallacy, and God Almighty becomes a hireling, and we have no
further need of a God.

What can we expect of the followers of Catholicism who believe in
this hellish doctrine, and what can we expect of a nation which is
controlled by those who teach and preach such abominations?

An institution which will teach such damnable ignorance and practice
such superstitious paganism is a plague spot and a curse to any
country, and the man or set of men who claim that the Pope is
infallible offers "_a brazen insult to God_."

[Illustration: "A MODERN JUDAS."
In his wake, misery always follows.]




Chapter XI.

The Characters of the Followers of Catholicism Compared
to the Followers of Protestantism.


I believe that I am not presuming too much when I consider myself
authority on the subject of "Character," as I have had the privilege
of studying the characters of the followers of both Catholic and
Protestant countries, as I have traveled extensively over both Europe
and America and have had occasion to compare the characters of the
followers of the Pope to the characters of the followers of Jesus
Christ, and the comparison is one that will lead any sane man, or
woman, and one who desires to reach a true verdict, to arrive at the
conclusion that it is a physical impossibility for any man or woman
who depends upon mortal wisdom for their inspiration to ever attain
the broadness and purity of character that the man or woman who
lives beneath the shadow of the Cross, and who looks to a living God
for their wisdom.

Character is not a spontaneous fungus which grows without proper
care, as character is an essential that must be cultivated in the
fertile soil of morality, as there is no code of morals which will
stand the crucial test of godliness unless it springs from the
eternal injunctions laid down in the Holy Bible, and without morals
an individual as well as a nation loses its identity among the good
of the land, and when this happens, society in general is the loser,
for whenever we degrade society we degrade ourselves, for there is no
man or woman so strong and powerful in their individuality but what
they can become besmirched and contaminated, to a degree at least, by
the association of those who have been lowered in the scale of
morality by the lack of this most precious jewel of the human family.

We are aware of the fact that Protestantism is not exempt from sin,
as we are well aware that we will find sinners of all degrees in the
Protestant ranks, but we make the assertion, without fear of
contradiction, that the characters in general of the followers of
Protestantism are many times superior to the characters in general of
the followers of Romanism.

We will take the large cities in the United States as an
illustration, and we will find that the saloon-keepers, comparatively
speaking, are from the ranks of Catholicism, and to engage in the
saloon business is no bar to a member of the Catholic Church, for if
this saloon-keeper, no matter if he runs a wine-room in connection
with his saloon and is responsible for the downfall of an army of
precious girls, he is considered a fit subject for heaven by the
Catholic Church provided he liberally donates to the support of this
damnable institution.

Statistics show that ninety-four bar-rooms out of every one hundred
in America are owned and controlled by the followers of Romanism. As
Catholicism establishes and builds character out of money, she makes
money her god, and as long as her followers liberally support the
great army of Catholic dignitaries they are taught that they have
performed the essential part in the establishment of character; thus
you can see what the result of this doctrine would lead to, and you
have demonstrations of this doctrine in this country, and more
especially in other countries where Catholicism is solely responsible
for the condition of the inhabitants.

Everything that is not in the Bible is taken by the Catholic Church
from the heathens and the Jews, and you will find the doctrines and
the practices of Catholicism founded upon heathenish practices and
not upon the broad plane of morals taught by Jesus Christ.

Those who may read this book, and who are not acquainted with the
characters of the rabble of Catholicism, we would be glad to have
them go to any of our large cities and visit some of the districts of
these cities which are inhabited by the followers of Romanism, and
there you will find a class whose countenances alone would condemn
them in any criminal court of the land, as they are men and women who
are made up of a foreign element and from the criminal districts of
European countries, and who are as ignorant as rams and glory in
their ignorance, and who have no idea of patriotism and of loyalty to
country, and only have an idea and desire to worship the images and
symbols of Catholicism, and any man or body of men, or any nation,
who will practice this heathenish worship cannot possess character.

I have traveled extensively over the United States and over European
countries which are controlled by the Pope, and if I could vividly
portray the characters of Catholicism and Protestantism the
comparison would resemble the countenance of the criminal compared to
the innocent and loveable features of a girl baby.

Catholicism poisons the very atmosphere that surrounds her followers,
and she is not satisfied by confining her contaminating influences to
her own followers, but she is everlastingly stretching her filthy
grasp to pull Protestantism down to her degraded level. Catholicism
lowers the standard of public opinion. She makes war on morality and
virtue, which destroys character. Catholicism countenances
wrong-doings. Catholicism tolerates evil and rewards vice, and it is
a well-known fact that "evil communications corrupt good manners,"
and if this is the case, then is it any wonder that the characters of
the followers of Catholicism cannot, nor never will, favorably
compare to the followers of Protestantism?

I am about to make an assertion that will perhaps shock those who are
not familiar with the teachings of Catholicism, but I make it without
fear of contradiction, as I know whereof I speak, as I have traveled
the Papist road for thirty years, and I declare to you with all
sincerity and honesty that Rome would not go far wrong if she counted
in her membership 95 per cent of the men and women who are on their
road to hell, and if this assertion is true, and if I have not
overdrawn my estimation, then, pray, tell me what we can expect in
the future in this country should such characters as I have just
portrayed be permitted to dominate this government.

Every Roman Catholic that is born in the world comes into the world
alienated from God and God's teachings, and is taught from infancy
not to depend upon God Almighty for guidance, but to depend upon
Romanism for their everlasting future, and with such doctrines
everlastingly funnelled into childhood, what can we expect of the
child when it has grown to maturity?

Protestant children are born into the world of parents who look above
the horizon of earthly things for their inspirations, and these
children are taught from infancy that they must look to an all-wise
God for succor and support; but Popery ignores all of this and
teaches by heathenish symbols and by paganic practices. Thus it is an
easy matter for any sane man or woman to understand why character
cannot be found in such a class.

The followers of Catholicism are taught that by the payment of a few
dimes they can have their sins remitted and pardoned; thus you will
see that crime has no terrors for such a class, as they believe that
when they have committed a crime all they have to do is to go to the
priestcraft and have their sins pardoned, in exchange for perhaps a
part of the money which they gained in their criminal transaction.

To rule such men, no religion is required. A Romanist does not look
to God Almighty for his salvation, but to the church, and the church
gives him her unbounded sanction to commit sin, provided that he
returns after he commits the crime and pays a few dollars to have his
sins pardoned.

A Roman Catholic can swear, break the Sabbath, dishonor his parents,
lie, steal, commit adultery, get drunk and commit any other crime
that he chooses, provided that he returns to the confessional box and
pays for having his sins pardoned.

Now, what can you expect of a class of men and women who believe in
this doctrine, and can you expect to find anything but the character
of a criminal or a degenerate? If you do, you are undoubtedly as
ignorant as the followers of Romanism, as it is a physical
impossibility to reasonably expect a man or woman who has been taught
these abominations to ever make men and women of character who will
adorn this or any other nation.

One of the rulers of England, Charles II, died with prostitutes about
him and died a disgrace to England and to himself, but Rome glorified
in him as one of her converts. The more of Rome a man or woman
possesses, and the less of God, the more the Roman Catholic Church
glorifies in him.

Catholicism is a coward--yea, a cringing coward--when not surrounded
by large numbers of her followers, as she has no excuse for her
existence and cannot defend herself by intelligent and godly
arguments, and the only way she can defend herself is by numbers; but
whenever she can resort to physical and brutal strength, she then
makes a fight which crimsons the earth with blood, and Protestantism
pays the penalty, and the reason why those in the country and in
sparsely settled districts do not know more of the hellishness of
Catholicism is because this creed cannot intelligently defend itself
and will not take issue with Protestantism unless she can take issue
by brutal power, but in our cities we have an exhibition of the
diabolical deeds of Catholicism, as the majority of our municipal
elections are controlled by the followers of Catholicism, as Rome's
followers congregate in our large cities, because they love darkness
better than light, and they infest the "tough" sections of our cities
and control our municipal elections by brute force, which is
sanctioned by the priestcraft.

We will take it for granted that the inhabitants of the United States
know more of Mexico than any other nation which is priest-ridden, so
we desire to dwell for a short time upon the characters of the
Mexican peon. You will find Mexico, which lays right across from
Texas on the Rio Grande River, a dividing line between ignorance and
intelligence, crime and godliness, and morality and immorality;
however, that part of Texas which lays near the Mexican border has
become contaminated to a great degree by these Mexican "dupes" who
follow the black flag of Romanism; but the difference in character,
in manhood, in womanhood, in intelligence and everything which
distinguishes right from wrong is so marked and so plain that one
does not have to look twice to see the difference, and there is no
cause nor no reason for this great difference in character, in
manhood and womanhood but the teachings of Rome.

If we expect America to retain her place among the nations of
intelligence and nations of greatness, and nations of goodness and
godliness, we must be character-builders, for without character we
can never expect to reach the zenith of godliness, and without
godliness individual greatness is an impossibility.

Catholicism paints the countenances of her followers with the brush
of ignorance and criminality.

[Illustration: "FOES TO KNOWLEDGE."
"Like a poisonous serpent Catholicism is endeavoring
to inoculate our public schools, with the virus of ignorance."]




Chapter XII.

Why Teachers in Our Public Schools Should Not Be
Selected from the Ranks of Catholicism.


The Catholic world does not hesitate in declaring that our public
schools in this country are "Sinks of Iniquity," "Schools of Vice,"
and "Nurseries of Hell;" then why should the followers of Catholicism
be permitted to teach in our public schools?

This is a question that ought to vitally interest every Protestant
father and mother in this land, and the time is not far distant until
they will become interested, for just as sure as God reigns, the time
is not far in the future when Catholicism will endeavor to close up
the public schools of this land and establish her nurseries of
darkness and superstition in their stead.

If the public schools of this country are not good enough for the
children of Catholic parents, it seems to me that the Protestant
parents of this country should see to it that their children are _too
good_ to be taught by Catholic teachers.

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