(1928) the 4th degree oath of the knights of columbus: an un-american secret society bound to the...

8/9/2019 (1928) The 4th Degree Oath of the Knights of Columbus: An Un-American Secret Society Bound to the Italian Pope

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of%5th Edition

An Un-American Secret SocietyBound to the Italian Pope, ByPledges of Treason and Murder

ByTHOS. E. WATSON

Author of "The Story of France," "Napoleon," "Life and Timesof Andrew Jackson," "Life and Times of Thomas Jeffer-

son," "The Roman Catholic Hierarchy," Etc.

Published byTHE TOM WATSON BOOK COMPANY, Inc.THOMSON, GEORGIA1928


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of%5th Edition

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

ByTHOS. E. WATSON

Author of ''The Story of France," "Napoleon" "Life and Timesof Andrew Jackson," "Life and Times of Thomas Jeffer-

son," "The Roman Catholic Hierarchy," Etc.

Published byTHE TOM WATSON BOOK COMPANY, Inc.THOMSON, GEORGIA

1928


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Copyright, 1927GEORGIA WATSON LEE BROWN

Thomson, Ga.


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The 4th Degree Oath of the Knightsof ColumbusWHAT IS THE TRUTH ABOUT THE 4TH DEGREEOATH OF THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS?

THE most convincing witnesses against popery are those whovoluntarily left it. They are the men and women whowere on the inside. They could see and hear with theirown eyes and ears.

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

They do not quit Romanism to gain a reward, or to makemoney. Oftener than not, the seceders shoulder a cross, ratherthan win a crown, when they turn their backs upon the persecutingand murderous church of the Italians.

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

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

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

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

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

When he died from an accident several years ago, he wassucceeded by Bishop Manuel Ferrando, who is also a secederfrom popery,

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

Cardinal Gibbons did not dare to deny the accusation, andno Romanist paper has dared to ask Dr. Ferrando to name thoseconvents.

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

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

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

In his magazine for December, 1912, Dr. Ferrando said:"Although it is repugnant to us, we are inclined to believe in

the authenticity of the oath as it is quoted, or of something verysimilar to it, from the internal evidence we have of the workingsof the Roman Church."

Dr. Ferrando uses the editorial "we" ; but his statementamounts to this

"From what I know myself, from having been on the insideof Romanism, I believe the Knights have just such a secret oathas has been published."

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

Why didn't the brave James A Flaherty, Supreme Knightand Supreme Traitor and Supreme Coward, and Supreme Liarwhy didn't Flaherty prosecute Bishop Manuel Ferrando?

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

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

Southern Pampbleuare Book Collection .UNC-Chapel Iftu '^


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

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

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

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

Evidently, Flaherty and Gaffney know who to kick.

HAS THE ALLEGED KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUSOATH BEEN PROVED A FAKE ? HAS ALIBEL BEEN REBUKED?From the Pacific to the Atlantic, from Maine to Florida, theKnights of Columbus have sent telegramsor caused them to be

sent and publishedadvertising the fact that tzvo obscure laborers,who probably have neither money nor "pull", pleaded guilty,when prosecuted for printing the alleged K. of C. oath.

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

First, of all, let us get the facts, as published by the Knightsthemselves. The Catholic Citicen, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, willbe a good paper to consult.

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


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8However this may be, they pleaded guilty of Libel and Con-

spiracy.What zvas the conspiracy? Nobody even claims that there

was any. Hovi^ could two ordinary laborers conspire againstthe Pope's American Army of 300,000 armed men, some ofwhom are the wealthiest and most powerful citizens of thecountry ?

Nevertheless, the two laborers pleaded guilty of "conspiracy."Little fiste, Trip, had conspired to bite the Army, for Trip

says so himself.I merely mention this absurd phase of the matter to strength-

en my theory of a "frame-up" between the defendants and theSupreme Knight Flaherty.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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Judge Wilson allowed Flaherty to say in open court, but notunder oath, the following words, vindicating the vindication:

"This alleged oath is a tissue of falsehoods from the firstword to the lastabsolutely false. This prosecution was broughtsimply to vindicate the Knights of Columbus, because of thewide circulation given to this vile and scurrilous circular. Itspurpose was to breed strife and arouse religious bigotry. Thealleged oath is absolutely baseless and of such a flagrant character,that it is indeed surprising that anyone would give it the slightestcredence."

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

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

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

I had scornfully and repeatedly defied Victor J. Dorr and hisbrother Knights to show that oath: Victor & Co. were afraidto do it.(3.) The alleged oath is not a tissue of lies. The alleged

oath is substantially the true one.The alleged oath does not vary, in any essential particular,

from the damnable Jesuit oath which Cardinal Gibbons took.


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

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

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

(5. The published oath of the Knights of Columbus is insubstantial accordance with the Canon law of Flaherty's church,in accordance with popish decrees, in accordance with the voice ofCouncils, in accordance with the dreadful and invariable practicein Roman Catholic countries WHERE THE JESUITS HAVEBEEN SUPREME.

(6.) The Jesuits are noiv supreme throughout the Catholicchurch. They control the Popethey would poison him if hedefied them, just as they poisoned Pope Clement XVI., whoabolished their whole devilisJi organisation.

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

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

Archbishop James E. Quigley of Chicago, publicly made thatthreat

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

The whole case bears a suspicious aspect.If Flaherty wanted to act the Man and tell the Truth, why

did he not at least show the Fourth Degree oath to Judge Wilsonand swear that it was the genuine oath

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


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THE OATHS OF TREASON AND MURDER. THEBISHOP'S OATH, THE CARDINAL'S OATH, THEJESUIT'S OATH, AND THE FOURTH DEGREEOATH OF THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS.CALLING THE BLUFF OF THEJACKSONVILLE KNIGHTSOF TREASON.The Knights of Columbus must be spending a large sum of

money, scattering hand-bills, and buying space in the newspapersto circulate what they are pleased to call ""the brazen confessionOF FRAUD."

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

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

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

It will be remembered that a printer named Megonigel, anda barber named Shade, were arrested in Philadelphia at theinstance of James A. Flaherty, Supreme Knight of the TreasonLeague.

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

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

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

In replying to Mr. King, The Menace told him that it did notpossess a copy of the oath, but "we believe we are in a fair


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way to get it."Unfortunately, The Menace added, "the statement in a recent

issue of The Menace which led you to believe that we had it in ourpossession, whik somewhat of a bluff on our part, was based onthe fact that we know where it can be had."

Candor compels me to say that The Menace made a bad breakin writing such a sentence. Our people do not like bluffs: theydemand SINCERITY.

So far as I can see, no effort whatever was made to defendMegonigel and Shade. Virtually, Mr. King asked The Menacefor ammunition ; and when he did not get it, he threw down hisgun.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

Only five? Why, in Augusta, Georgia, more than a dozenKnights published a signed pledge to show that oath.BUT THEY HAVE NEVER SHOWN IT.

Those Augusta Knights named the three Protestant preachersCree, Jones and DuBoseto whom they would show the 4thdegree oath. And tlieii, were afraid to keep their word

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

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

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

But I make this counter challenge.I will put up the $1,000 against their $5,000as they de-mandif they will come to Thomson, Georgia, and submit to the

arbitrament of the three Protestant ministers who live here, orof the three, who were selected by the Augusta Knights.

My proposal is to prove( 1 ) . That the oath taken by the three American Cardinals,

is an Oath of Treason and Persecution.(2.) That the oath taken by Romanist bishops /,v an oath

that logically leads to murder :(3.) That the Jesuit oath, as heretofore published in books,

pamphlets and papers, is an oath of treason, and of crimelead-ing logically to just such persecutions, massacres, burnings, andoutlawries as popery has practised for ages.


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(4.) That the oath of the 4th Degree Knight contains theelements of treason, of disloyalty to our free principles of Churchand State, of ruthless boycott and persecution, and of the samehorrible encouragement to murder, that is contained in Romanisttheology, Romanist canon lazv, Romanist secret oaths and societies,and Romanist history.

I will place a certified check for $1,000 with the Bank ofThomson, the oldest and strongest of our local banks, and notconnected with me in any way. Let those Jacksonville Knightsput up their $5,000. Then let it be agreed that the informalcourt of three clergymen shall have the same authority to send forpersons and papers, that a Congressional Investigation Committeepossesses.My references are The Georgia Railroad Bank; Ramsey &Legwen, Cotton Factors; The McDuffie Bank, The Bank ofThomson.

The challengers are P. J. D. Larmoyeux, A. N. O'Keefe,T. J. Golden, J. A. Wrigley, J. S. Keane.Now, let them show their honesty, by coming to a town wherepreachers are not slapped for preaching their own opinions in theirown churches.

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

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

Your brutal Ben Burbridge slapped the face of the Methodistpreacher. John A. Hendrycursed him and slapped him on thestreets of Jacksonville, because he had, in his own pulpit, de-nounced popery.

Your brutal mobs have beaten up such fearless Protestantsas William Loyd Clark, P. A. Seguin, Jeremiah Crowley, OtisL. Spurgeon, and Horace Bolles.Your brutal mob attacked a peaceable Baptist congregation,assembled in a Baptist church, at Carbondale, Pennsylvania, be-cause it was listening to a lecture against popery.Your brutal mob kidnapped and maltreated a peaceable citi-zen at Anoka, Minn., because he was supposed to be the anti-papal lecturer, Dancey.


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If, so, in what cases, to what extent, and upon what grounds?Answer : The Pope, as the church's chief executive, has the

right to use physical force. Who shall deny it to him? Hehas been given a mission by God, and whatsoever measure law-fully conduces to the success of that mission he can employ. Phy-sical punishment is a lawful means of promoting justice andmorality. The State uses them. The church can if she chooses.

Question: Do you approve the persecution of Protestantsin Peru and other States controlled by your church?If so, upon what grounds?Answer: Protestants are not persecuted in Peru. They

ARE SUPPRESSED. The grounds for suppressing them is : theyare a nuisance.

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

If so, upon what grounds?Answer : I do not approve of religious or immoral tolera-

tion. Blasphemy and indecency are rightly punished by fine andimprisonment.

Thus he classes Protestantism with blasphemy and indecency.

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

Toe the mark, now or hack down!Advertising The Menace as a fraud, does not prove that your

secret order is not a Treason League.And when you say that the Jesuit oath is a forgery, / know

that you lie, for that oath has been dragged into court, just as theBishop's oath was dragged from concealment when the BritishParliament got after your murderous hierarchy.


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

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

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

ALLEGED KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS OATH.(Extracts 4th Degree.)

, now in the Presence of Almighty God, theBlessed Virgin Mary, the blessed St. John the Baptist, the holyapostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, and all the Saints, sacred hostof Heaven, and to you, my Ghostly Father, the superior generalof the society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius Loyola, in thepontification of Paul the III., and continued to be present, doby the womb of the Virgin, the matrix of God, and the rod ofJesus Christ, declare and swear, that his Holiness, the Pope, isChrist's vice-regent, and is the true and only head of the Catholicor Universal Church throughout the earth; and that by virtue ofthe keys of binding and loosing given his holiness by my Savior,Jesus Christ, he hath power to depose heretical kings, princes,States, commoHwealths and governments that they may be safelydestroyed. Therefore, to the utmost of my power, I will defendthis doctrine and his Holiness' right and custom against allusurpers of the heretical or Protestant authority whatever, es-pecially the Lutheran Church of Germany, Holland, Denmark,Sweden and Norway, and the.now pretended authority and church-es of England and Scotland, and the branches of same now es-tablished in Ireland, and on the continent of America and else-where, and all adherents in regard that they may be usurped andheretical, opposing the sacred Mother Church of Rome.

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


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20/ do further declare, that I will help, assist and advise all or

any of his Holiness' agents, in any place where I should be, inSwitzerland, Germany, Holland, Ireland or America, or in anyother kingdom or territory I shall come to, and do my utmost toextirpate the heretical Protestant or Masonic Doctrines, and todestroy all their pretended powers, legal or otherwise.

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

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

That I will go to any part of the world withersoever I maybe sent, to the frozen regions of the North, to the burning sandsof the desert of Africa, or the Jungles of India, to the centers ofcivilization of Europe, or to the wild haunts of the barbaroussavages of America, without murmuring or repining, and will besubmissive in all things whatsoever is communicated to me.

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


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

In confirmation of which I hereby dedicate my life, soul andall corporeal powers, and with the dagger which I now receiveI will subscribe my name, written in my blood, in testimony there-of ; and should I prove false or weaken in my deternlination, maymy brethren and fellow soldiers of the militia of the Pope, cutoff my hands and feet and my throat from ear to ear, my bellyopened and sulphur burned therein with all the punishment thatcan be inflicted upon me on earth and my soul shall be torturedby demons in eternal hell forever.

That I zvill in voting ahvays vote for a Knight of Columbusin preference to a Protestantespecially a Mason and that I willleave my party so to do; that if tzvo Catholics are on the ticketI zvill satisfy myself zvhich is the better supporter of the MotherChurch and vote accordingly.

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

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

All of which I, : , do swear by the blessed Trinity andthe blessed Sacrament which I am now to receive, to perform andon my part to keep this my oath.

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

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


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22REASONS FOR BELIEVING THAT THE KNIGHTSOF COLUMBUS (4th DEGREE) TAKE AN OATHSIMILAR TO THE ONE PUBLISHED IN THECONGRESSIONAL RECORD OF FEB. 15, 1913.

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

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

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

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

Priest Phelan's letter was published in The Jeffersonian.In substance, he said that his Church had as much right to

put a man to death for heresy, as the State had to execute him formurder, arson, and rape.

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

In the Canon law, now of force in the Roman Catholic church,we read"(6.) If any man say that her intolerance in the condem-

nation of all sects is not divinely commandedlet him be accursed.

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

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

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

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

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


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OF WORSHIP, but also the condemnation of unrestrictedFREEDOM OF THOUGHT, FREEDOM OF SPEECH, andFREEDOM OF THE PRESS."

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

In the Syllabus which sums up the powers of the Romanchurch, we find

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

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

She has the right to uphold the laws of religious orders againstthe civil authority; the right to deprive the latter of power to aidany who, after having taken vows, should seek to escape frommonasteries or nunneries.

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

In other words, the Pope will fix the boundary line of hisown power, and the Civil Power must submit.That makes the Pope the Supreme, universal Lord of the whole

world."She has the right to deprive the civil authority of power to

sanction divorce, in any case."All persons desiring a divorce must apply to the Italian priestwho wears the triple crown at Rome. (Arthur's work already

cited, Vol. I., p. 74-5.)St. Thomas Aquinas is a favorite theologian with the Papacy.

The late Pope Leo XIII. was particularly fond of Saint Thomas,and in the Encyclical or Scholastic Philosophy he directed theteacher to "make it their task to instill the doctrine of ThomasAquinas into the minds of their scholars." ' -

One of the great doctrines of Saint Thomasa doctrinewhich the teachers were to instill into the minds of their scholarsis, that the Roman Catholic church may boycott, ostracise, andstarve the heretic"excommunication," as proclaimed and prac-


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25tised by the Popes means just that. The person excommunicatedis cut off from all human ties, intercourse and help : nothing isleft him but to submit, or die.

But, Saint Thomas, going further, teaches expressly that theRoman church may kill, as well as excommunicate."With regard to heretics," he wrote, "two elements are to be

considered; one element on their side, and the other on the partof the Church. On their side is the sin whereby they have de-served, not only to be separated from the Church by excommuni-cation, but also to be banished from the world by death.

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

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

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

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

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


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26He gloats over the massacre of Huguenots, Waldensians,

Dutch and English: he exults over Catholic intolerance in Peruand Spain : he courageously proclaims his allegiance to the Italianpope, and shouts, "To hell with the Government of the UnitedStates."

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

The alleged oath is in exact keeping with the laws of theirchurch and with the teachings of her most approved theologiansalso with other oaths not denied, and a bloody record that cannotbe obliterated.

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

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

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

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


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

THE CARDINAL'S OATH."I, , Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, do

promise and swear that, from this time to the end of my life,I will be faithful and obedient unto St. Peter, the holy apostolicRoman church and our most holy lord, the Pope of Rome andhis successors, canonically and lawfully elected ; that I will giveno advice, consent or assistance against the Pontifical Majestyand person ; that I will never knowingly and advisedly, to theirinjury or disgrace, make public the counsels entrusted to me bythemselves, or by messengers or letters ; also that I will givethem any assistance in retaining, defending and recovering theRoman Papacy and the regalia of Peter, with all my might, andendeavor, so far as the rights and privileges of my order will al-low it, and will defend them against all their honor and state;and I will direct and defend, with due form of honor the Legatesand Nuncios of the Apostolic See, in the territories, churchesmonasteries and other benefices committed to my keeping; andI will cordially co-operate with them and treat them with honorin their coming, abiding and returning, and that I will resistUNTO BLOOD, all persous whatsoever, who shall attempt anythingagainst them. That I will, by every way and by every means,strive to preserve, augment and advance the rights, honors, privi-leges, the AUTHORITY of the Holy Roman Bishop, our Lord thePope and his. before mentioned, successors; and that, at what-ever time anything shall be decided to their prejudice, which isout of my power to hinder, as soon as I shall know that any stepsor measures have been taken in the matter, I will make it knownto the same our Lord or his successors, or some other person bywhose means it may be brought to their knowledge. That I willkeep and carry out and cause others to keep and carry out therules of the Holy Father, the decrees, ordinances, dispensations,reservations, provisions, apostolic mandates and constitutions of


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

All of which, I, , do swear by the blessed Trinityand blessed Sacrament which I am about to receive, to perform,on my part to keep inviolably, and do call on all the Heavenly andGlorious Host of Heaven to witness my real intention to keepTHIS MY OATH.

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

THE JESUIT'S OATH.The oath of the Jesuit, as Jesuitism does in every thing,

transcends in intolerance and wickedness, all other. This oathcame to light in the celebrated trial of Father Lavalatte, in Paris,in the year 1761, when the "Constitutions" of the Society andother holy things (?) were dragged from the secret councilsof iniquity. The existence of such an oath, that the Jesuits takethis oath, indeed, that they take any oath, has been denied in thiscountry. But as well might the Jesuits deny that Loyola everlived, or that there was ever an Order of Jesuits. Here is theoath:

I, , now in the presence of Almighty God, the blessedVirgin Mary, the blessed Michael the Archangel, the blessedSt. John the Baptist, the holy Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul,and all the saints and sacred hosts of heaven, and to you myghostly fathers, do declare from my heart, without mental reser-


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vation, that his holiness pope , is Christ's Vice General,and is the true and only head of the Catholic or Universal Churchthroughout the earth; and that by virtue of the keys of bindingand loosing given to his holiness by my Savior Jesus Christ, hehath pomer to depose heretical kings, princes, States, common-wealths, and governments, all being illegal without his sacred con-fimation, and that they may safely be destroyed. Therefore, tothe utmost of my power, I shall and will defend this doctrine, andhis holiness' rights and customs, against all usurpers of the here-tical (Protestant) authority whatsoever; especially against thenew-pretended authority and Church of England, and all ad-herents, in regard that they and she be usurpal and heretical op-posing the sacred mother church of Rome. / do renounce anddisown any allegiance as due to any heretical king, prince or Statenamed Protestant, or obedience to any of their inferior magistratesor officers. I do further declare that the doctrine of the Churchof England, the Cavinists, the Huguenots, and others of the nameProtestants, to he damnable, and they themselves are damned andto be damned, that will not forsake the same. I do further de-clare that I will help, assist, and advise all or any of his holiness'agents in any place wherever I shall be, in England, Scotland, andIreland, or in any other territory or kingdom I shall come to,and do my utmost to extirpate the heretical Protestant's doctrine,and to destroy all their pretended powers, regal or otherwise, Ido further promise and declare, that notwithstanding, I am dis-pensed with to assume any religion heretical, for the propagatingof the mother church's interest, to keep secret and private all heragents' councils, from time to time, as they entrust me, and notto divulge, directly or indirectly, by word, writing, or in any cir-cumstance whatsoever, but to execute all that shall be proposed,given in charge, or discovered unto me, by you, my ghostly father,or any of this sacred convent. All what I. , do swearby the blessed Trinity, and blessed Sacrament which I am nowto receive, to perform, and on my part to keep inviolably; and docall all the heavenly and glorious host of heaven to witness these


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my real intention to keep this oath. In testimony whereof, Itake this most holy and blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist; andwitness the same with my hand and seal, in the face of this holyconvent, this day of AnoDomini "

THE CANON LAW OF POPERYThe Canon Law, the undisputed fundamental code of Rom-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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which a mortal sin occurs."X. Without the consent of the Pope no tax or rate of any

kind can he levied upon a clergyman, or upon any Church what-soever.

"XI. The Pope has the right to absolve from oaths, andobedience to the persons and the laws of the princes whom heexcommunicates.

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

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

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

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

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

:

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

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

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

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

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

it has not the right to the entire direction of puljlic schools."It has not the right to assist subjects who wish to abandon

the monasteries or convents."Then in the same Syllabus the rights and powers of the Church

are afifirmed thus, viz :"She has the right to require the State not to leave every man


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free to profess his own religion."She has the right to exercise her power without the per-

mission or consent of the State."She has the right to prevent the foundation of any National

Church not subject to the authority of the Roman PontilT."She has the right to deprive the civil authority of the entire

government of public schools."She has the right of perpetuating the union of Church andState."She has the right to require that the Catholic religion shall

be the only religion of the State to the exclusion of all others."She has the right to prevent the State from granting the

public exercise of their own worship to persons immigratinginto it.

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

ONE HUNDRED AND TWO REASONS WHY I LEFTTHE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.By Ex-Priest J. Donnelly.

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

2. Because she has corrupted the Holy Scriptures, deniedthem to her people for ages, and left out the second commandmentof God entirely from the decalogue, that her image worship mightnot appear so culpable and blasphemous.

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

27. Because, no matter how holy Roman Catholics may live,and no matter how many good works they may perform, theChurch gives them no assurance of heaven on their departurehence, but presents them with doubts, fears and the certainty of aburning purgatory, even for the just, before they can enterHeaven. With them there is no "This day thou shalt be with mein paradise."

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

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

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


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4038. Because the Church makes the Pope its head on earth,

whereas there is no head other than Christ Jesus. "For the hus-band is head of the wife as Christ is head of the Church."(Ephesians 4:23.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

45. Because the papacy teaches dogmas and human canonsthat contradict the teaching of Christ, and has persecuted untodeath for conscience's sake.

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

47. Because the Church has persecuted the Bible, discouragedits reading and study among the people, and recommends insteadthereof the Priest's prayer book and Bishop's catechism.

48. Because the Church has failed to bring the unconverted


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

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

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

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

62. Because long experience has taught me that the Churchgives the people no equivalent for the immense sums of moneyshe extorts from them.

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

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

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

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

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

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


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43Word from men who don't know it, and be called "a good, holyRoman Catholic."

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

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

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

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

74. Because I do not believe that "education outside theRoman Catholic Church is a damnable heresy."75. Because I cannot believe that Saints Patrick, Joseph,

Peter, Bridget, or any of them, can be in different places at thesame time to hear prayers, and, therefore, that they cannot helpus in any way.

76. Because the Church has always opposed the liberty ofthe press, the liberty of speech, and even the liberty of thought.77. Because I consider it blasphemy to call the Pope "Kingof Kings and Lord of Lords."

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

79. Because I believe that no Church has a right to makeslaves of those who desire to worship God according to theirown conscience.

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

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


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the laws of the Roman Catholic Church.82. Because, I believe that no Church has power to absolve

its members from oaths and their allegiance to the civil govern-ment.

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

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

86. Because the Church loves authority better than truth

;

and form more than spirit.87. Because through all history she has proven herself the

mother of ignorance, intolerance and superstition.88. Because she has added to and taken from the Word of

God.89. Because her teachings are calculated to encourage sin

and induce to unholy living.90. Because I never knew the Church to cut off a member

for violating any of the ten commandments, but knew of herpersecuting unto death those who persisted in worshipping Godaccording to dictates of conscience.

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

92. Because I saw more light in the common people of theProtestant Churches than I have seen in the clergy of the RomanCatholic Church.

93. Because 1 have found in the Church as much^if notmoredrunkenness, violence, deception, blasphemy, desecrationof the Sabbath, and all manner of uncleanliness, than I ever foundin any equal number of people in the world.

94. Because I have found that forbidding to marry, to eatmeat on Fridays, to abstain from honest industry on certainChurch daysto discipline the holy with whips to make it obeythe soul. etc.. are pagan inventions and should be extirminatedfrom civilized beings.

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


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

96. Because there is no Pope in the Bible.97. Because the Pope's doctrine and Saint Peter's don't agree.98. Because the Church teaches that no man has a right to

choose his religion.99. Because nearly all of the Roman doctrines are estab-

lished by men, and of recent day, as anyone may see from history.100. Because I find the Church to be a political organiza-

tion, instead of an assembly embracing the people of God.101. Because it is a secret society full of peril to the Nation.102. Because the Roman Catholic Church is today what she

always wasthe intolerant blood-thirsty tiger. On her owntestimony she cannot change "et semper eadem." That is : "Sheis always the same."

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

:

"And why is it that the Church is strong; why is it every-body is afraid of the Catholic Church? And the Americanpeople are more afraid of her than any people of the world. Whyare they afraid of the Catholic Church? They know what theCatholic Church means. It means all the Catholics of the worldnot of one country, or two countries, but all the countries of theworld.

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

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


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It is easy for me to understand the Scotchman who kneels on the isite of the home of William Wallace; easy to understand the Frenchman 1who is thrilled by the "Marseillaise;" easy to understand the Italian who itreasures a relic or a memory of Garibaldi: but it is impossible to under-stand the men who feel it an honor to kiss the hand of a crowned andsceptred fool, who inherited his kingship from another crowned andsceptred fool, and whose greatest aim in life is to hand down the royal foffice to a long line of crowned and sceptred fools. jTims. E. Watson, j

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(1928) the 4th degree oath of the knights of columbus: an un-american secret society bound to the...

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