^#^ h-^y^ A Fraud Unmasked THE CAREER OF MRS. iARGARET L. SHEPHERD **Ex-Romani5t, ** Ex-Nun," *' Ex- Penitent," And Bigamist. HER OWN CONFESSIONS ♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦# Attested By Host Reliable Witnesses ....... WOODSTOCK, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1893. ^ ■Mail I II r . , f«"£_. *t, _,-». , ■•-». A,; % A FRAUD UNflASKED. THE CAREER OF MRS. MARGARET L SHEPHERD ^*«-. " Ex-Romanist," " Ex-NUn," " ExPenitent, and Bigamist. »f - I I f l W I I » H WI|I^ »% t " HER OWN CONFESSIONS Attested by Host Reliable • . . Witnesses . . . WOODSTOCK, ONTARIO, CANADA. 1893. S^gg3ig^a^y .a j" INTRODUCTION, 9 "li^ To the Publie: T the urgent request of many friends, both Pro- testant and Catholic in this town, I have un- dertaken to publish these few pages, and as well to vindicate the religion I believe in as to expose xho. character who has assailed it. If my religion were such as Mrs. Shepherd represents it to be, or could lead her children to the depths of degradation she states it does, 1 would abandon the Catholic Church at once and forever, and vvoald join my fellow citizens in stamping out from our midst such a festery sore: But when I know and believe that she is the Church commissioned by Christ to guide men to their eternal destinies, I am bound to proclaim this truth to the- world. '''-' ■^■" ■^•'--':';:.;*if"^:\^^ , \ shall deeply regret if anything in these pages wound the feelings of any citizen of this town. They are not^written for such a purpose. - " M. J. BRADY, 17th April, 1893. COPYRIGHT IN CANA1>A AND THE UNITED STATES. Eniercfi accordinjj; to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand ei^ht hundred and nia«ty three, by Rbv. M. .1. Bradv, m the office of the Minister of Acrriculture. INFAMOUS CAREER. CHAPTER I. AN APPEAL FOR JUSTICE. . To the Citizens of Woodstock, Ontario: It is not customary for tbe Catholic clergy to trouble tham- selves concerning the false accusations which are so frequently made by itinerant lecturers against our faith, Ifnd the personal character of the clergy and religious orders of the Catholic Church, because ■we are aware that the eft'ect of such misrepresentations is but tran- sitory, and the truth will finally triumph over them. It may be, therefore, that I owe an apology to the public for departing from the usual course on the present occasion. My apology is grounded on the fact that our town of Wood- stock and other towns of Ontario, have recently been disturbed by one of those wretched characters, a malicious woman, who has suc- ceeded in duping many of our Protestant fellow-citizens into the belief that Catholics, and especially the Catholic priesthood, are en- gaged in the evil work of endf ;ivoring to demoralize the country, and also to gain such a political ascendancy as will enable us to per- secute Protestants and destroy Protestantism ; and on this plea an actual persecution against Catholics is being attempted. The disturber of the peace of our prosperous town to whom I here make reference, is Mrs. Margaret L. Shepherd, a person notorious in England, Canada, and the United States. She was the founder and organizer of an association known in tho States by the designation " The Loyal Women of American Liberty." The objects of this society were similar with those of the "American Prctective Association,'' and the one recently introduced into Canada under the name of "The Protestant Protective Association," in the or- ganization of whicTi Mrs Shepherd lias from the beginning been one of the chief workers. The Protestant Protective ^Association in Canada, indee^J, owes its existence entirely to the efforts made by Mrs. Shepherd to establish it, and she is regarded as its founder and chief promoter. I have prc^ured, and I have in my possession, evidence of the most positive charaqter that this Mrs. Shepherd has been 4 woman of tho most depraved character, and that her depr^ivity is not a mat- ter of merely ancient history. It will be seen from the extracts from her history, which are given in this little pamphlet, that so recently as 1891 she was living with a man named Riordan as his wife, after she )iad separat(>d from her supposed husband, Asa B. 8hepherd- This Kiordan, from England, w?»s engaged with Mrs. Shepherd in hfr work of lecturing against Catholics in Chic.v*:ro, and frequently assisted her at her lectures. He passed himself off as an cx-priest. Soon afi,er tliis she was the cause of getting a Methodist minister, the Rev. (> . E. Murray, pastor of Wabawsh avenue Metho- dist Church, Chicago, into trouble in consequence of improper in- timacies with him. This will be seen in the extracts given below from The Western British Ameiican of Chicago, and The Boston Herald, l»oth Protestant papers. Mrs. Shepherd is also a notorious liar. This is proved by the fact that she represented herself as having been a nun until -the dis- covery was made that she had never been a member of any religious order. She had been in several prisons in Ix)ndon, England, under \ arious aliases, and had been received as a penitent in the convent of the Good Shepherd, at Arnos Vale, Bristol, England. These facts will be found attested in several of the letters which will bo found in this pamphlet in reference to Mrs. Shepherd's career, es- pecially in those written by the Protes'ant Chaplain of Millbank, the Sister in charge of the House of the Good Shepherd at Bristol, and Floieuce E. Booth of the Salvation Army. The last named lady says • — ;i^ v "She has never been a nun. She was taken as a prostitute Into the Roman Catholic penitentiary at Bristol, from which place she ran away, and on request was returned to us by our Bristol Branch, and remained in- lodgings provided by us until she left England, as before stated." I am well aware that such falsehoods as people of Mrs. Shep- herd's class are . accustomed to promulgate are usually short-lived. Intelligent Protestants readily see that a person of her degraded character is utterly unworthy of credit, and I may here say at once that her books and her anti-Catholic lectures are a tissue of false- hoods from 1 spinning to end. Yet, 1 find that there are people who give credence to her and encourage her to continue her vile course of indecency and calumny. It is not only for the sake of Catholics, but for the good of Protestants as well, that I think it necessAry to expooe Mrs. Shepherd's vileness. Later on I will show, even from Mrs. Shepherd's own words, that our convents are institutions wherein the highest and noblest virtues are cultivated and liourish. The calumnies she makes against the doctrines of the church and her practices, have been answered iiundreds of times over and over again. Any honest mind in fcearch of truth can find answers in Catholic hooks to the malignant falsehoods uiade by Mrs. Shepherd against the rhnrcli. The confessional — the usual atoek in trade of ex nuns who are hunting for the dollars of gullible Protf^stants — is grossly niitirepresented. It is a very curious fact that only those who lec- ture for " 25c. for ladies only," have such horrible tales to unfold. I am asked why we do not vindicate the doctrines of the church and her practices. The doors of the Catholic Church are open every Sunday, lier doctrines and practices are explained there, her liLerature, edifying and pur<3, is within the reach of all. Her members are not bound by oath to any secrecy, so that the inquir- ing^ Protestant can fir.d out what she is, what she teaches, what she practices and what her members are without resorting to a worse than doubtful source for inforniatif-n. Human nature is weak, and as there are certain classes in this and every town who delight in attending indecent entertainments, so there are those who under the cloak of relisfion deli;>ht in the purient and vile. The more vile and i.nore indecent the lecture, the more welcome the lecturer. All we Calbniics ask for is fair play and equal rights. Leave aside preji aice anU judge thf. church as she is and has been from the beginning. Is it possible that the religion of over 250 millions leads to immorality ? Is it possible that the religion that could satisfy such great, pure and holy men as St. Augustine, St. Thomas of Aguinas, St. Bernard, Cardinals Manning and Newman, the Wilberforce brothers, and thousands ot others equally finious, is low and vile. Surely such men could never submit to the Catholic Church if she were what Mrs. Shepherd represents. ^ 'j ::"-;; ..r?:!£:.'.::Ws ■••-,„ "•■ V ^'.^'i^.-^'-" ./'-:. '-;^" ■■-.- Tile church has nothing to hide. She fearlessly proclaims her doctrines and courts investigation. Men who desire to know what she is and what she teaches can learn from the list of books I sub- mit at the end of th^'s little pamphlet. Surely a fair and honest mind could hardly expect to find justice done us in the over-suggestive pages of Mrs. Shepherd's book written for so much a piece. It is the old story over again of our divine Saviour and Barabbaa. The Jews who crucified Him could hardly be expected to bear witness to Hie divinity, although they had witnessed His divine power, y ; It will be seen aJBo from her history as recorded in the docu- merttH 1 have collected that Mrs. Shepherd is an adept in the art of exciting sympathy by floods of crocodile tear.s, appealing to the ten- derest .sentiments of the human heart, especially to those of her own sensitive and sympathetic sex. The description of our famous p >et Spenser, lits hf r admirably, — "Thereto when needed she could weep and pray, And when .she listed she could fawu and iiatter, Now smiling smoothly, like to summer's day, Now glooming sadly, so to cloak her matter ; Yet, were her words bnt wind, and all her tears but water," • Mrs. Shepherd also quotes Scripture for her evil purposes. We can readily picture her meditating like Shakenpeares's Gloster^ after- ward King Richard III, — . ^ "But then I «igh, and with a piece of .Scripture, Tell them tliat (iod hids us do good for evil ; A'nd thus I clothe ray naked villainy With old odd ends stol'n forth of Holy Wj it, And seem a saint, when moat I play tlie devil." Her own letters written to the Mistress of Penitents show the true character of the institutions which she now attempts to blacken. Thus : "The Sacred Heart (of Jesu.s) saw that I was so black and He kept my soul for you, and he has given you the influence you posnesa over me, because He knows it is for such a,s me you have given up your life .... I felt that 1 had no one that cared for a>e before I came here. I had neither home nor money nor character, and when I'carae here I found all. You were the first to make me feel that life was worth living, for you never treated me with contempt .... ._._ "The c-evil will not find me such a willing tool in his hands when he wi-hes to use me as a cross to you because he hates you for drawir g so many souls to God." ' It would even appear that this unfortunate woman desired to become fitted to V>e promoted' in the penitent class by the nuns whom she is now abusing, for she so expresses herself in her letters, though stating that she fears she will not be thought fit for such a happiness. Such characters as she had been are never admitted to be nuns. Here are her words : - "I want to be generous to our Lord ; T want to do penance I '. . . It is in me to be a thorough penitent. God's grace, your help and my own will make me all you wish to see me .... I should like to look forward to having the black, but I am afraid you will not think mo fitfor it." _ - -- -v. ; ■ v^ Afterwards when leaving the convent of her own will, she de- clared, • •• ■■. '. -,;.■..'.'/'■ V /■,•':';>■■■",.:.'■'; "^:*,;,-v;;Vr "I sujik de^'p in sin before coming here, and when I go out it is very probable 1 shall be deeper still . . . . I am very ungrateful to give you so much trouble. You are the only true friend i have ever had sin- fi I lost my own mother « ,^ » . I never wish to see the face of a penitent again, or to have any contact with those who are livi? .or God. Let me go my own way. The devil has me too firmly in his clutches. I am not worth a thought, and I can get on very well in my own way. I cannot keep feeling like this." Again she says, "The convent is about the ne*re-t pU- e possible to hoaven on this earth." It i».to such a woman as this that the anonymous writer in The Sentinel-Review nays w^e mu&t look for the truth regarding the ini- .quities of convents. We are to look to the words of the Father (and the Mother) of lies to ascertain the truth ! '■'".^u::^:- ■'^'■:: ,.?.: Another writer in The Sentinel-Review calls upon us to dis- prove Mrs. Shepherd's accusations. We decline to be brought to the bar for trial on the impeachment of every "Hob and Dick and Meg." It is not the first time that the ears of thf» good people of Woodstock, and other parts of Canada, have been regaled with just such stories as tliose which have been retailed Vjy MHi. Sh«*pherd ; but the fitory-tellers were of character ver^y similar to that of the present lecturer. CHAPTER III. BlUnS OP A FEATHER. It is bnt a few years since that an ex-convict from the Central prieon of Toronto was welcomed in Wot)dstock, London, and other towns of Ontario as an anti-Catholic lecturer, and he had stories to tell of the wickedness uf priestG and ccnvcnts, just like those of Mrs. Shepherd. In other respects these two impostors resembled each other. Mrs. Shepherd represented herself as an ex-nun ; Widdows, the man to whom I now refer, called himself an ex-monk ; but both tifclcs were falsely assumed. They were, however, both ex-convicts, Widdows having been in Toronto Central prison on a chargf; of a horrible and unmentionable crime which was proved ap^ainst liim — the same crime for which ho is now confined in Portland prison, having been condemned to ten years' servitude by English judges, in the very height of his no-Popery crusade, ■ % ^ ' - - - . ' -J K ■' ' -',■'■ This man was honored by the same class, and very much by the same people who have encouraged Mrs. Shepherd. In Woodstock brass bands accompanied him on the streets. In London, enthusi- astic Oranj^e Young Britons took the place of horses to draw his carriage through the streets, and ho was for more than a year acting pastor of one of the principal Methodist churches in the city — "Grace church," — wherein he regularly travestied the sacred Last Supper of our Saviour by pretending to celebrate the time-i)onored and holy Sacrifice of the Mass, -. v , . ,.•......--- This man has met his deserts. Ilir crimes were not permitted so easily in England as they were in Oanada, and he was, as we have said, condemned to atone for them in the prison where he is now lingering, and from which his Woodstock and London quondam friends may once a year be permitted to correspo.nd with him. The letters, must, however, be read and approved of by the prison officials before being transmitted either way. What is this that the correspondent of the Woodstock Sentinel- liexdew tells us ? Is it from such characters as these that we are to find out the truth about priests and convents 1 "We hear, indeed,, hat shndder while we hear The insidious falsehood and the heartless jeer : For each dark libel that thou lik'st to shape, Thou may'st from law, but nob from scoru escape ; ' The pointed finger, cold averted eye, Insulted virtue's iiLss — thou canst not fly. ' Let me indicate here another and safer means of finding out the truth. There are thousands of persons in Canada who are familiar with nuns and convents. There are many institutions for the sick, the poor, the infirm; hos})itals, lunatic asylums, orphan asylums, boarding houses for young women, schools for primary and higiier education, and other iriistitutions which are undf^' the charge of these religious ladies. These institutions may be visited any day. They have been officially visited by governors-generai, lieutenant-gover- nors, mayors of cities, municipal councils, grand juries, nearlj^ all of whom were Protestants, and in every instance the highest praises have been given to the good ladies in charge for the excellence of their work in every respect, and for ^the good results from it Would this be the case if theae ladies were not devoted to their ... ;• ■ :> , t, .. ^ . i^.^..J^....^..^......-....-^ , -J . — ....^^....^.^...^.^.^.^..MMBiiliaiiiMiiii 10 % work for God's sake 1 And if this be the case, how will it be said that the^e houses are sinks of all iniquity ? The very idea is pre- posterous, and the thousands who have been resident in these houses will ail be ready to testify to the model manner in which they are conducted, and tlie highly religious influences which surrou)ided them while they were within their precincts. We will except the few cranks of the Mrs. Shepherd class who wish to make money by playing on the credulity of those who are pleased to listen to their blood-curdling tales,, ,. _ ^ ^ ■ I) That Mrs. Shepherd's object is to make money on the credulity f the people is clear from her method** of procedure. She is well yaid for lecturmg, she charges a good price for her books, which are rapidly bought up by her dupes, and it will be seen among the ©vi- deacm which are contained in this little book that she acknowledged that her object in her work was to make -money, she having on at I'jast one occasion expressed herself before several witnesses : "I am in the cause for money," We do not doubt at all that such is her purpose. ' '^.. -I ■" ' . ' We may be told that in appealing to the testimony of the thou- sands who know intimately the charact«3r of our religious inatitu- lions, we appeal to unrelial)lo witnesses for the reason that iliey are Catholics, and therefore ready to tell falsehoods for the honor of their rHigion. It is not true that we appealed to Catholic testimo^iy alone ; yet, even if such were the case, we maintain that Catholic toBtimony is quite as good as the testimony of Protestants. The Cttthoiica of Canada are quite as honorable, as truthful and as virtu- ous as their Protestant neighbors, and certainly among the multi- tudes of witnesses who are within reach of almost every one who will read tliis pamphlet, there will bo found flome whose evidence Ib trustworthy. That is enough for our purpose. But we have already stated that many of our witnesses are Protestants. We shall here mention another class of Protestant witnesses who rank among the highest in the land from their posi- tion, their talents, and their probity. Wo mean the Protestant ladies who have been educated in convent academies, and who are scattered through the length and breadth of Ontario certainly by hundreds, almost certainly by thousands. At the convent academies of Ontario over one third— nearly one half — of the boarding pupils have always been Protestants, the chil- dren of Protestant parents of the highest respectability, and in many t'tses, even of Protestant clergymen. It is a matter of history that J'ov. Dr. Egerton liyerson, formerly chief superintendent of educa- tion for Ontario, was placed under the ban of the Methodist ponfer- or oe for years, because Le persisted in sending his daughter to con- >i 11 vent 8choola, braving the Conference, being convinced that thi it- training in virtue would be superior to that attainable in any othcir institutions. We understand he was noh restored to his position as an officiating Methodist minister, until there wore no other daughters of his to be kept at school. Hundreds of Protestant parents havo sent their girls to these academies for precisely the same reasori which influenced Dr. Ryerson. % Many of the ladies thus educated are now living in all parts of the Province, and we venture to say that they will one and all attest that they have never seen more virtuo than they witnessed within the pri^cinctw of the convent, and that they remember their pious and devoted teachers with aflfection and gratitude. Indofid one of the ladies 80 educated actually gave the lie publicly in the teeth of the psoudo monk, W^iddows, when he was lecturing against consents in the town of St. Mary's. We have said enough to refute Mrs. Shepherd's stories and to brand her an xn infamous calumniator. It is not nectjssary, there- fore, that wo should dwell at length upon her fictions in detail. Her lectures and her books are alike a mass of lies. Yet T will say u word concerning the Priesthood of the Catholic Church. I am myself a member of the priesthood, and it is proper J should be duly modest in treating of this subject. I was born and reared in the neighboring County of Elgin, and I have lived all my life in the midst of the people of thig, Oxford County, and the neighboring county already named. Even the tongue of slander has never veutured to utter a word against my good character. My testimony, therefore, ia of couHiderable value when I assert that I know that the prieata of Ontario, and of evory other locality I know of, are a hard-working body of men — talented men^ too — who havo at heart the cause of religion and virtue, and are doing all in their power to make their people virtuous. I will not deny that in very -rare cases there have been priestu who havo wanderc'l from the path of rectitude, for humanity is frail. But it must not be forgotten that Protestant ministers, whom I could mention in detail, have also fallen sadly from grace. I will not here enter into any comparison of numbers on this point, as this >von]d be very,^ invidious ; but I will say that priests would not stjiiHr by the oomparison, and it would be pharisaical for the P^f^ testant clergy as a body to say to the Catholic priesthood, " T am holier than thou." I wish to live, rs I have always done, at peace with my Protes- tant follow citizens and friends, and this pamphlet is issued by m<'< solely in self-defence, and for the purpose of asHuring my Proiostaut lii^MiMilMii^ii^riMHU^tfiMl^^^^iii^ttMtfi^HiM^^^iUaiiMii^ 12 friendB that it would be more to their credit to repudiate such cliar- acters ae Mrs. Shepherd than to onconrage them. Protestant friends : we priests have lived among you ; we havo worked with you for the welfare of our common country, and for the prosperity of the towns and cUiea in which we live, la vo fair to ask straogOFS to come to sow discord between us by propagatiog lies? :, ^-^^ . . : ... ■ ^..; , ---;:-- -^ ■,■>■, ::-:.V. .,..:, -'.■■■'^-/■' CHAPTER IV. ■' \^/,.r-:: '.,^''?y:'i^-:v V JAPHET IN SEAHCK OF A FATHER — AND HAED CASH. )- _■ , A word here on some of Mrs. Shepherd's utterances in Wood- «}tock. She declared publicly that a priest dare not encounter her, because she is the daughter of a priest, and by announcing that fact alone f!ih^ could bring shame upon any priest who would encounter her in a discussion. .. , • - /^:^ This is simply one of ber many lies. It will be seen from the letters here published that when she was in Cornwal], England, she passed under the name of Douglas, and married a iT^an named Par- kyn. To obtain respect froui the people sho pretended that Lord Archibald Douglas, is». Catholic priest, was her father ; but at this time she wan not aware that Lord Douglas was a priest. She acknowledges that she forgeti Lord Douglas' name to certain cheques to obtain money, and for this she waa arrested and tried. Lord Douglas was called to give evidence at the trial, and it was seen that Mrs. Shepherd was 'about the same y.i children's home in England. He has especially devoted himself to the work of rescuing destitute and homeless children from the daubers to which, without his help, they would be exposed. He was born in 1850, and all who have seen Mrs. Shepherd will know that she must be about the same age as her pretended father. IS The docamei^ta which a-e published here throw light on other event8 of Mrs. Shepherd's life. She has masqueraded undesr the aliaeea, Mias Dougla*?, Mrs. Parkyn, Margaret Herbert, Adelaide, Mrs. Westley, Isabella Marroc, Loui«a Egerton, Mrs. Kiordan and Mrs. Shepherd. She acknowledged that she had been guilty of bigamy in England, and it is certain that she lived with two men in Chicago in 1891, er*ch of whom she called her husband. She was in Tothill Fields prison for six months for obtaining money by fraud, and also in Bodwin gaol till she was acquitted for the for^L'^y of Lord Douglas' name. She was in the Salvation Army Rescue Houno as a penitent- after living in the House of the Good Shepherd at Bristol under the same character. Besides forging Lord Douglas* signature, she forged the names of Mr. Truetitt, solicitor, to cheques to the amount of about £50, and Sir Astley Coopor'd name to another for £30. She was addicted to most beastly vices, including those of intoxication and impurity. In 1885 she appeared at the headquarters of the SalV'ition Array in Hamilton, Got., and in L887 sho entered into the anti- < -atholic movement in Boston, and ritarted the Society of the Loyal Women of American Liberty, of whom she became first president. In 1891 the Chicago branch of this society discoverec^ Mrp. Shephcird's bad antncedentn and came to the conclusion th*\t they would be di3graced by connection with her, whereupon they seceded from the society and made an effort to induce the Boston branch to dir^conntenan' *! h^r us the Chicago branch did. The BoHtonian^, howe\vr, iLijtiined nor, though many members of the branch ceased CO attend '^he meetings on account of the shriUieful exposures made. It will be remarked that twr» of Mrs, Shepherd's so-called hus- lands are certainly livin;^, and it is believed that a third is aluo living in England. It will be remarked that one of these, the man Kiordan, is said to have been an unfrocked ptieat from England and xVuatralia. This is probably not true, as it rests solely on Mrs. 'Shepherd's statement, which is worthless. Can we doubt that Mrs. Shepherd is doing what she said in one c'f her letters to ihe Mistress of Penitents she was on the point of doing when she vyas saved by being taken into the convent ? '* I would have given myself body and soul to the devil ... .1 am as black as it is possible for any mortal soul to be, and with the exception of murder and 8ie*ling I have committed every possible crime. . . .1 am as well known in London bj detectives, swindlers 11 and forgerf, aa yon are in the convent. The only people I never cared to he mixed up with in crime was pickpockets. There was something ho mean in their bubinesa I kept clear of them." The la«t pan of this paraphV-t cooiBista chiefly of letters relatinsj to Mrs. Shephard'a life, and it wili be noticed that they were nearly all written by Protestants, in fact, afi except those of the Mistress of the Good Shepherd, and Lord Archibald Douglas. Mrs. Shepherd'a attempt to excite ill-feeiiDg again«»t; Catholics now is th'.' repetition of a Birailar attempt made in A. D. 1835, and bv^beeqnent years by another iwposter who wa8, perhaps, a little lees wicked than her ioiitator of to-day, Maria Monk. This woman whose hrc> was of the most degraded kind, told infamous lies also about oonveut-B ; but these were discovered by a cornoiittee of Pro- testant gentleme*: tc be totally untrue, though they were the prime cause of the burnin;i§ of several couvwuts in the United States by mobs. Among these were the Convents of Charleston, B. C, and Bunker Hill, Boston, Ma^c^., the inraat*^ eaoaping with difficulty with their lives. The following ib the a':;couQt of Maria Monk given in Appleton'-^ Encyclopedia of BiogrAphy, the standard work of biography on this continent ; From page 357, Vol 2, we take the following :— "MONK, Maria, impoatcr, b. about 1817; d. in New York city about. 1850. In i835 bhe atiBerted ic« Montreal that she had escaped frum the Hotel Dieu Nuunery io that city, of which she claimed to h«,ve been an iomate for years, and told a shnt king sfc^TV of the crimes that had been committed there. Her stories mot with no credenc'j in Montreal, aud sho was ahown to be a woman of bad character, whereupon she caVAfi to New York and repeated her story, which many believed. She gained an entrance into good society, and received many attentions from those who gave credit to her tale; but it wan conciasively proved to be a falHchood. She had evf>u gone 80 far as to publish a plan of the interior of the nunnery, which was ahown by cdroful examioation to ba incorrect in every pirticular, and in her second publication she described an island in St. Lawrence river that had no existence'. In the midst of the excitement that her Story caused, Col. William L. Stone, then editor of the " Com- mercial A^lvertiser," made a special journey to Montreal to investi- gate matters, with the result that he refut^jd Maria's story in "Maria Monk and the Nunnery of Hotel Dieu" (New York, 1836). This raised against him a storm of abuse from her adherents, and Langh- ton Osbome ma<^e a bitter assault en him in "The Vision of Rubeta" (Boston, 1H3S), a clover, but Hcurrilous poem. Maria's adherents be- lieved in her after she had been repeatedly exposed by meo of high reputation, and the Protestant residents of Montreal finally thought ' 16 it neceamry to deny her allegationa iu a public meeting held for the purpoue. Hor irapoature, conHiderin^ the internal improbabilities of h«r Htory, ia onu of tlie mvnt remarkable on record. The '• Know Nothiug" party used it to make political capita!, nnd the b.iruiag of Koman Catholio Ohurchea in varioaa cities were indirectly the result of ic. Her ''dincioBures" were publiahod in *'Awfal DiacIoHures by Maria Monk" (New York, 1836), and "Farther DiscloHures^ with an introduction by Rev. J J. Slocum (1836). Of the various editions of this book, it was estimated by Cardinal Manning, in 1851, that from 200,000 to 250,000 copies had appeared in England and thia country. Maria loft a daughter, who publlahed an aucobiogra- phy entitled " Maria Monk's Daughter," (New York, 1870)." CHAPTER V. , ' RELIGI0P8 CONVICTIOUS. Respecting the foroibr religion of Mrs. Shepherd, which The Sentinel-Review correnpondeut dtclarea to have been "certainly Roman Catholic," any one who knowa .-inything of the Catholic religion and v.ho has read her words munt see at a glance that she nijver was a Catholic, or else she in ignorant of Catholic doctrineH or so nialicioua au to misrepresent them. In my opinion sho has very little religion of any kind. Sho certainly proff^BBod an admiration for tho Catholic religion when she was at Briato), but she was even more enthusiastic for the Salvation Army form of Protestant iam when in Jxjudon Reecue Home and in Hauiilton. Oar information concorniog her does not go further back than 1879, nor does it concern ui what religion she profe8food,'if any, beforf^ that period. All w« know of her is that she would be a disgrace to auy religion. When in Chi- rigo ehe was repudiated by the Loyal Women of American Liberty Bhe threatened to become an Agnostic, and it appears that ehe made ome movement towards becoming a Catholic. She remained what Bue was — a no-Popery lecturer. That paid better ; but I will admit that the Catholic Church holds out a hope of forgiveness to the worst HiiiDers if they repent. I »im not at all surprised, therefore^ that Rev. Father Maguire, of Chicago, should have encouraged her to re- pent. It does not appear, however, that she ever had any serious intention of repenting, and she still clings to hor evil habits. Some of our Woodstock ministers have already become so much HHhamed of Mre. Shepherd, and of their brother ministers who en- couraged her, that they have denounced her from their pulpits. They have generally done so, with the remark that even if the stories told by her are true, they are nofc fit to be listened to. I totally repu-* diate the insinuation of these gentlemen that the stories aro trae« •%! r They are iiee, and tbesc gentlemep r-Lo pretend to fear that there is some truta in thorn kuc* that they ♦are lies. They are about as colpab! 1 wti Jirs. Shepherd for malnng Buch insinuations. I hero |7.v» an extr£.ct from a sermon delivered in St. Thomas by the Pre:-^byterian pastor of Knox church in regard to a lecturer who preached there much after Mrs. Shepherd's style. The words are just as applicable to Mrs. Shepherd as to her colleague of St. ThoLias. ' . Tho pastor, Rev. J. A. Macdonal', said, as reported in The Evening Journal of 27th March, ISya : • " What I wish to 8»y to-night finds its occaeion in a lecture de- livered in this city to a crowded audience a few evenings ago. With the lecturer I have nothing to do, he is but one of a class. First let me say that experience should long ago have taught us to regard with suspicion men who, for i.he fiake of a crowd and a collection, advertise themselves as ox-sin aers, of this or that peculiarly abomin- able sort. For uijoeif I am resolved that my pulpit will never be Ot;cupic«j by any man who announces himself in large capitals as an ex-actor, ex-fighter, ex-libertine, ex-prieat, ex-monk, and who relates with relish the disgusting details of his private hifjtory in public hearing. * * But in the name of morulity and religion, in the name of purity and righteousness, in the name of our common human nature, and in the name of the God of Holineae, I protest against any man being allowed to pour out all this fefctering mags of moral filth in the presence of a public audience in this city. The fact that that crowded audience was made up of men and boys, does not giye a nhameleaa tongue the right to utter obscene things. The fact that no one was compelled to attend that lecture does not make it le.HS a crime. And the fact that 600 men remained till the close is no ex- cuse. The lecture was admittedly obscene, and left a stain on every mind not already befouled and vile. Obscene plays are prohibited. Obscene books are forbidden. Why should obscene lectures be ex- empt % Is the obscenity legal because it is associated with churches and ministers 1 Is tho story less debasing because told bv^ a clergy- man instead of novelist 1 No ! And I call upon you v/ho love purity to help stamp out this cursed evil. If there is no law prohibiting such lectures, then let no belf-respecting citizen patronize the enter- prise. If the money fails the lectures will cease out of the land. * * * Strangers whose past history is unknown, should not be allowed to vilify respected citizens of your community of whatever creed or class or calling. Let me appeal to you men who are not yet blinded by prejudice or party zeal. \t^^t me appeal to you Orangemen, and to you mom^ jrs of the P. P. A. Let me call you to purity of thought and life. Let me remind you that unless you are pure in heart your- self your fierce enmity of impurity in others will not avail, Let.jne 'S-, ••..^- '■ 17 ask you, let me aak the hundreds who applaud the attacks on the Church of Rome, what hiiVt you done to give the light to Quebecl What have you done to as-^iat in the work of Gospel evRugelizition ? Believe me, these are vital queations to-dav. He is not a Christian whoifeone oivt»vartiIy, whose Christianity cxpendH itHelf in violent epithets "and secret atr^acks against Home. Ail this you may do in. hate And ignorance and revenge. And in all this if you are not clean of haud and pure of heart you but dis2;raco your church, nffiict your country and condemn your soul. Bat whatever creed you profess, whatever name yon bear, I charge you in the name of Him who is seen by none bub "The pare in heart,"- allow no man to make your mind the dumping ground for the moral garbage of hia diseaaed ex- perience. Allow no man to pour into your ear, or into the ear of your city, as into an open sewer, the pestilential wash of his fetid imaoiination and depraved taste." ,, ,. In one of Mrs. Shepherd's letters she admits that she has been inclined to insanity, and this is the only possible pallirition for hpr malice. She was in Hoxton lunatic asylum fof a while, btit we be- lieve she is more knave than fool. She knuws what will bring in money/ from dupes, and that is the course she adopts. We have been told that respectable and intelligent people at- tended htr joctures in Woodstock, irtcluding members of the school board. I do not believe in the fitness of such people as would en- coarHge Mre. Shepherd, to control the edu(;ation of Catholic chil- dren, and I know that since these lectures have been delivered the public schools here have bet^nme almost intolerable for the Catholic children attending them. We can have our remedy by eBtabiiMiung a Cnthoiic separate school. We shall serioudy consider the matter, ai^d io ijiav be we shall do this to withdraw our chilJrt. a from the eviliniluences and persecution to which they have been subjected. I feel it necessary to say a word on Mrs. Shepherd's awful dis- closures concerning the immorality of secret confession. The humble confession of our sins to a father, a friend, a physician, and a judge who is authorized by Christ to forgive sin, is not, as she represents, an incentive to evil. It is a remedy for sin, and for its application, contrition, or sorrow for past sivj, and the firm purpose of amend- ment. Are necessary on the part of the penitent in order to obtain forgivenesj?. It is folly to object that jthe priest is a man, and therefore should not presume to forgive. Christ's Apostles were men, never- theless to them Christ gave the power to forgive sin (sit. Matt, xvi, 19; St. Jno, xx, 23). It is not true to say that tlio exercising of this po',t'e»-, wliicli the priest derives ^y lawful succession from the Apostles, makes him equal to God. He is God's minister, for recon- ciliation of the sinner to God, and he exercises a power which God has given tor the benefit of mankind, and the salvation of souls . and it is a fact that the most pious souls are those who go frequent- ?y to confession. If Mrs. Shepherd had fulfilled this duty, we may ;afely «ay she would not have had the vile career which has been Itfrg. CHAPTER VI. : ' CORREBPONDENCB. We now come to the correspondence, which throws so much light upon Mrs. Shepherd's career. In it she appears under variouf^ names, but the reading of the papers will show that she is the same person, and it is fully established that she is so. By these letters 1 am prepared to stand, and I am ready to prove their authenticity. The letters and other documents which are here given throw light upon various stages of Mrs. Shepherd's life ; but it may be useful to indicate, for ea?o of reference, the letters by which each portion of her history is confirmed. ' ''-:^''''^-''''''^'^?y :? f ' 1 . She represents herself variously as the daughter of a British officer in India, of a soldier, of a priest, and of Solicitor Trutfitt. For proof see Noa. 1, 2, 7, 12. Prison Chaplain, the Rev. G. P. Merrick and the superioress of St. Mary's Church of England Home make her younger than the mass of evidence would indicate. Acco.'ding to these witnesses sho called herself from eight to fifteen years younger than Lord Douglas. Nos. 8, 10. 2. There is no reliance to be placed upon any of these state ments. Nos. 1, 2, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19. 3. Her life before entering the Bristol House of the Goou Shepherd was that of a common prostitute, a swindler and a forger Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10. During this period she led a loose life at Portsmouth and Ply mouth, where she no doubt used her wiles for the entrapping ct many a Rattlin the Reefer, and Peter Simple. No. 1. Sho wa. always, since she was first known, a confirmed toper.| Nob. 1, 5. r KvxiasTS-sjimfi If The police knew her bad character. Noa. 1, 2, 3, 5, 10. She was inclined to be a lunatic, and was in fact confined for a time in Hoxton asylum. Nos. 1, 2. 4. She forged cheques on Mr. Trutfitt, Sir Astley C(X>per and Lord Archibald Douglas. No. 1. 5. She spent some time in Bodwin and TothiH (MillbinV) prisons. Nos. 1, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. 6. She '97 as guilty of bigamy in England. No. 1. 7. Entering into the convent as a penitent, she found it a haven of rest, and she aspired even to promotion as a penitent. She makes great professions of penitence. Nos. 1,2. 8. She professes to be extremely sorry for having calumniated the nuns. No. 2. 9. She leaves the House oi the Good Shepherd, conscious that she will now be a servant of the devil, and she threatens to do great evil to religion. Nos. 2, .'i. 10. She has a tolerable education and may \ye considered as a clever woman. Nos. 3, 4, 19. 11. She was never a nun, though she pretended that she had been one. Nos. 3, 5. 12. She. was afterwards taken by the Salvation Anoy from a life of shame. Nos. 4, 6 > 13. Sbe was at this period and afterwards, an inveterate liar, on whose word no reliance could be placed. Nos. 4, .3, 6. 14. She falsely passed herself oti' as a responsible otlicer of the Salvation Army. Nos. 5,15,17. 15. She habitually down to the latest period borrowed money without prospect ever to repay. Nos. 5, 7, 15, 19. 16. Her many aliases are found throughout these documents. She is Miss Douglas, No. 1 ; Mrs. Parkyn or Georgina Parkyn, Nos. i, 10 ; Mrs. Westley, Nos. 1, 10 ; Mish Isabella Herbert, Nos. 4, 5, 18 ; Miss Probyn, No. 10 ; Louisa Egeicon, No. 8 ; Margaret Herbert, Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8 ; Mrs. Riordan,' Nos. 14, 16, 19 ; Mrs. Shepherd, thioughout the documents, especially in 13, 14, 15, 16, 19. 11. Her liistory being made known : the Loyal Womon of Am'^rican LiVjerty of Chicago repudiate her. but she is sustained by the .Society la Boston. Noa. 13, 14, 15, ir>, 17. 18. In her indignation against the loyal ladies of Chicago she cowes to the conclusion to repent and become a (Jatholic once more, h»jt finally resolves to remain a Protestant, and to continuo her calumnies against the Catholic Church. No. 14. 19. She is in the cause for money. Kos. 14, 15, 16. 20. She is an impostor, prostitute and liar, to the end. Nos. 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19. 21. Her connection with the Loyal Women, the A. P. A., the P. P. A., and the Orange Societies^ will be seen in Nos. 17 and fol- lowing documents. 22. She has the gift of tears, and also *' the gift of the gab very galloping." Nos. 15, 16. - . ^ j ./^ ^ ?^* :-^^^^^ 23. She has two, probably three, husbands now living Nos. 11, 14, 15, 16, 19. ,, We give first the letters which she herself wrote to the MistresB or Suf>erior of the House of the Good Shepherd at Bristol. This letter has neither signature nor date, but it is written in the samti handwriting as the other letters from her, and it is known to ba hers, Ufa the context itself indicates. NO. 1. Copy of a letter written to the Mistress of Penitents, Sister Mary of "Ven Eudes at the Convent of the Good Shepherd, Arno's Court, iJristol, by Isabella Marron, alias Adelnide, when she was an inmate of the pe/atentiary attached to the eaid Convent during htr residence there, 1883-1880 : *' Mother, I have left India, after my first husband's death, with a f;'\'' rr»;"»n, who left me and returned to India. I afterwards went to Irtiland amongst my father's people, but did not stay there long. I came over to Portsmouth and from there to London, whero I was found wandering about the 8tre»5ts atid taken to the workhouse. After being' kept there a week the doctor pronounced me insane, and I was sent to the lunatic anylum at Hoxton under Dr. Hunt. I remained there some months, and on leaving I obtained a situation with a lady who was returning from Indi?, but who, hearing that I had l>ern in the asylum, would not keep to her (jn<;»goment,.aiid I waa advised to apply to a ■olicitor to help rn^. I went to a Mr. Truefitt. This* introduction led to an intimacy between ua, and he iurnished a house for me at Brighton. 1 used to take in boarders. 1 only kept the house open for a few months. 1 did not understand the hou8»-k«eping. and w«nt too extravagantly to work ; the furni lure was acid and I Ijft Brightou, owing aeverai billB. Aftor this I obtained a situation as governtsa in h young Udi^-a' nchonl at 0am- berwell, but after having 'of.mn there for aomo time T found I ahould have to leave, aa I waa expecting my confinement, and did not wish the people to know. I went and took lodginf»8 in ('araden Town and Mr. Truelitt paid all my expenaea. The dwjtor who confined rae vf'tt^ callod Weatley, and after my recovery 1 went to live with his Aife. They had several Hons, and to make a long atory abort I h, Allied one. The parents disapproved of the match. I do not know what poaaeaaed rnc to marry him, he had no situation and with the exception of h^-Ing rathor ^ood-looking there waa nothing to recommend in him. Ifowever we muddled on aomehow, and the following year I waa confined of a boy. We wero in dreadful pov- fTty at that time and Mr. Truofitt helped me. My huaband one day suggested that I ahould go to Mr. Truefitt'a bankera and reprcaent rnyaelf as hia daughter and obtain a checkbook. I did ao and made out several chequea all of «rhich I had changed amounting to aome- thinff like fifty pounda, hnt the money aoon went. There were warrants out for ua both ; however, we were not apprehended. x\fter some time we returned to Tx^ndon. I waa again expecting my confinement. Through the infiuence of some of Dr. Westley'a friends I gained rtdu.iaaion to the Lyinj^-in-Hoapital, where 1 waa confined. On my recovery ^^nd after leaving the hospital i went to live in Brunswick Square. [ made the acquaiatance of Sir Astley Cooper, and as my huj^band had been ill-treating me and had been bmnd over to keep the peace, I thought x,hat if I sinned for him I might as well do aofor myself. T forged Sir A*?tley'a name t'' a bill of acceptance for £30. 1 wap apprehended and sent for trial, but owing to the circumatances between Sir Astley and rnyaelf the case never came off. I then went «bont getting monf;y from one and the other, and at last T waa taken up and aentenced to aix monthsat Tothill Fields Prison. On my dibmiaaal from there I went into Sir James. I stayed there a few months and l^ft in a temper. I then commenced a lifp cf dJHsip^ition. 1 obtainf'd <£5 by false pretences, vjent to Portsmonth and led a gay life theie until I found the police were hfter me. I then maunsjed to go to Plymouth. Ther:^ I saw my T>reBent hi^aband, Parkvn. Wluit bec'a«'''.e of Mr. \Veatl<^v I never iifard, neithftj- do I krow to thia day. I married Mr. Paj kyn under the name of DougUa, bur I do not feel a bit lorry for him for he treated me more aa a brutf^ not aa a woman. He made people in Oornwall think that he had married a person of high birth, -lod it jnst Euited me. I spent hie monr^r, and then when he said U would be a good tliing for the Cornish poo^I« to fancy I was some relation to Lord Archibald Donglas, I gare out that he whs my father, for I had no idea he was a priest. It was then I signed his name to those bills and thft trial took j)iace. 1 suppose the devil helped me to get free becanBe h« had some more work for me to dc, and I have be^n knocking about Cornwall ever .«*inee. I was taken up for being intoxicated Reveral ^imes, but the people always paid my fines, because J used to argue the law wifh the magiatrateg. Sometimes they used to get me tipsy purpob^ly to hear me, and tb'-n I would write letters to the papers and ridicule the magistrateH, hat at Wc I u«od to drink to drowu thought. I wa« alwajH half up;sy. All I think next of, now that 1 am beginning to amend, is whether I shall ever be abkj to go through the trial. I feel as if I could not do so, i:nd when I made a resolution something tells me that you will think I Km only acting a part. I urn coiiRtantly thinking of my little girl in India. She is 13 years old now, and I have never been happy. I suppose I ought to let Lord Douglas know that I blarae«l Mr.Parkyn wrongly. I am afraid, as his people are so bitter againat me that they might have me taken up for bigamy, as I acknowledge that niy marriage with him was void." NO. 2. Extracts from othtr letters written by Adelaide to tho Migtress of Penitents. Arub's Court Convent, Bristol, 1883-1886 : * 'Please, Mother" .... I have no ill-feeling for poor Monica, but I leel grieved and ashamed of myself for the injustice I did her .... the feeling oi utter disgust and contempt I had for myself for allowing my temper to niake me sink so low, prevented me from ac- knowledging the truth to you in your room .... now I am calmed. I can but thank our Lord th. t Ho saved ma from comraittiDg what would have been a dreadful crime /, . . I forgot all I owed to God, but I am very sorry. I will tell you. Mother, e:Jactly how I felt in reipect to Monica. You tnow in the first place that I have led a life of dreadful sin for ten years. How great those sins have been and how miserable I was is known only to our Lord and myself, and only He knows how hard my life in the future will be. Without your experience of the Uvea of penitents that have entered into this house, it would be an utter impossibility for you to realize how hard and bitter a life of reparation is for one who has sinned so deeply as I have done, ft is fhe feeling of reiDorse for a life wsbted in the service of aatan, the shame and degradation one feels for having at one time been lost to all womanly modesty, and then to compare all the scenes of shame and vice I have gone through, with thobe which I now live in ; and worse than all, I feel how each sin has caused the Buffering of our Lord .... The S. Heart saw that I was to black 3d And He kept my soul for you, and He has given you the influence you possofcs over mn, because He knows that it is for such as me yoo. have given* up your life .... I felt that T had no oae m tie world that oared for me before I came here. I bad neither home nor money nor character, and when I came here I found all. You jirere the first to make mo feel that life was worth living, for you never treated me witii contempt .... I would nob look at you that even- ing, becauso I knew if I did I should have to sjive in to you ; but I felt 80 disgusted with myselt that I thought I could not stay here amongst the children after having given way to my temper so much, and then daring the night I Icnew that if I wont away I ahould be rooro miserable than ever I had been in my life ; the very thought of going away gave me great pain. The tlome never seemed to me so dear as it did then .... The devil will not find me such a willing tool in his hands when he wishes to use mo aH a cross to you, because he hates you for drawing .so many souls to God. Oh, Mothr: , your words did pain me ; I will never forget them, 1 do Lumbly beg your pardon for my ingratitude .... I promise never again to say that I All! go out of the House. I will write to Father Douglas. Will you kindly tell Monica that she need not fear any harm from lue ? I do so wish 1 had never said anything to her. Perhaps if I try to be kind to her in the futur<* she will got over it. I can say a prayer for her. And now, Mother, 1 want to begin a new life such as you would have me lead. 1 want to do all that would be pleas- ing to the S. Heart and to you .... Pleasf, Mother, I don't know- how to b»gin telling you all 1 have on my mind. I am glad you men- tioned what yon did to me this evening, I have tried so often to remember what I did say at the hotel, but I ccr.ld not .... One tiling 1 remember, 1 uever spoke either against the Mothers or the Convent. . . .You may have had manf here, Mother, who have led bad liveK, but very few womon could lead ^he li'e I have done these ten years. You-^ may fancy that a great deal of this I tell you is imagin- ation, but you have only to refer to the detectives at the Old Jewry in London, or to the governor of the Old Bailey, aiid they would tell you pasfiagea in my life that 1 never could, because you would not believe that any woman would have brain or courage enough to do what I have done. I don't think there is any poaaib'o trick in swindling that I have bot practiced ; and if J went away from here against your will I certainly would go back to the old life .... There was something that kept me from doing very much while I was away. I had a plan laid out in my mind I should have com- inenoed acting my part the very evening I returned, but something I felt I bI tuld like to uee first, if I could come back. If you hod refuned to,, ^ke me in I should hnve never said a prayer again in my life . . . . t would have given myself, body and soul to the devil .... I am as black as it is possible for any mortal soul to be, and with the exception of murder and stealingi I have committed ever|| f 'Si. 24 possible crimp .... I am b«, well known in London by detectives, ewindlerfl any- ' March 10th, 1888. [Please address your reply to Mrs. Bramwell Booth, 259 Mart street. Hackney, London, E. Telegraph address, Reclaim, London.] Dear Mrs. Mayo, Boston, Mass,, — I am very sorry, indeed, to hear what you have to say about Margaret Herbert, alias Mrs. Shepherd. I have no doubt at alj but that this woman is ;i fraud. We understand that she was rc^ I ceived into the home at Bristol as a rescue case, and that if ter living there for Bome years she ran away because a situation was not found for her, and she wandered into the Salvation Array burracks, wa^ picked up by our people and sent on to our Rescue Homes. Shr loft the Jfomes once w^hile here in London, and we found that she was ac<{uainted with people in the very lowest part of the city. She also took drink at that time. We sent her to America, because ft seemed the only chance for her to get away from her companion.^, and old haunts, and I am sorry to say that she imposed upon and deceived our Salvation Army people in Canada, and that they were led into giving her something to do in the meetings, until they found out what a fraud she was. She has since then been doing what shf is now, going around to severel places telling all those lies and bor rowing money. I trust you will get your money back, and I an fory anxious that something should be done to prevent her decelv ,ng any more kind-hearted people. It is truly a terrible thing tc see any one so deceived, especially by one who has ability to be % great power for good. Praying that the Lord may give you grac . to act graciously and wisely in this matter for His Kingdom sak* Believe me, yours in sympathy, Florence E. Booth. [This is a copy of Mrs. Booth's letter to a lady who wm ver^ seriously victimized financially and otherwise. She is a Protestani of the most pronounced kind.] 27 NO. 5. A £fecond letter from Florence E. Booth : (Central Rescue Offices, 259 Mare Street, Hackney, London, E., May 22nd, 1891. [Telegraphic address, Keclaim, London. Dear Sir, — In answer to your letter of April 27th, I have only lieen surprised that Margaret Shepherd, or Margaret Herbert, as she was known to us, has succeeded so far in deceix^ng you nnd others. She was an inmate of our Rescue Home, and professed to give information at the time Mr. Stead was seeking such about cer- tain bad houses in the city, with which she said she was familiar. It is very much against my judgment, but hs our Homes are free wo did not prevent her, and felt that it was possijbie she might be made useful in a good cause. She was allowed to go one day to the city — I think some one was sent with her, — but, by making some excuses, she escaped out of their charge, and for some time was lost sight of, until she was found much the worse for drink. She told us that the temptation had overcome her in the presence of old bad companions, and that she would do better if she could leave the country. Mr. Stead, who is very kind-hearted, therefore paid her fare to the L^nited States, where our people would find her a situa- tion. I know nothing whatever about her childhood or about her parents. She has NEVER been a nun. She was taken (I am net sure whether brought by the police or not) as a prostitute into the Roman Catholic penitentiary at Bristol, she ran away from there and was found in the streets of Bristol, or rather wandered into our Sanation Army barracks in ^Bristol, and represented herself as homeless and anxious to come into our Rescue Homes in London. Her travelling expenses were collected by the officers of the corps, and she was sent to us, and was for a short time, under the name of Margaret Herbert, an inmate of our Rescue Home, unbil she left as I have written above. We did not receive her back :Again into the Home, as her influence was bad, but we kept her in lodgings until h/T departure for the United States. 1 do not know any further particulars about her history. She represented to us that she was wf 11 known to the police nnd used to profeJ»:i fear. Whether there was any truth in the stories she told r^ not I have no idea. The Rev, Mr. Merrick, of Millbank prisoi., London, knows IVIrs. Shep- herd well under the name of M^igaret Herbert. She was never at any time in any position of responsibility as an officer, as she ha? sine* stated. I believe she told us that she was married, but I do not knov if her hosband was living or not, I have not since known 28 anything of her acfcnally, except that occasionally I have had letters similar to your own, asking for information. On two or three occasions these letters were from people from whom she borrowed money which had not been repaid. May God bless you. % y T i« j>> Believe me, yours seeking the lost, Wm, Bjlrclit, Esq., Florenob E. Booth; Chicago. NO. 6. March l3th, 1891. 8al ration Army DivLiional Head-quarters, 77 Napier St., Hamilton, Oat. Mr. Wm. Emery, Chelsea, Mass., — Sir, — I duly received your letter and in reply would say I am not anxious to go into the details respecting this person, but will giye you an outline as to the cause of her advent to this country, which of course is a contradiction of her own statement when she says she has always lived a Christian life. She was rescued in Lon- don from a life of shame, and during the famed '• Armstrong case " in London was employed to ascertain facts concerning the cane, and meeting with some old companions fell again, and was brought back to one of our rescue homes a second time. But, having fallen, she professed to be ashamed and wished to be sent abroad. Mrs. Mor- ton, wife of Staff Captain Morton, who had then supervision of the Maritime Provinces, wrote to Mrs. Bramwell Booth for oae oppor- tunity of rescue in the province, and asked for information as to the Ji'.^K >n which such work was conducted. Mrs. Booth, thinkiag the work wd,3 just Rbartiog, thought Margaret Herbert (Shepherd) 'vould do to superintend a sewing class, and she was sent to us, bringing a note referring to herself as having been reclaimed from a terrible life and as having been such a stranger to truth that Vihe hardly knew when ihe told a lie, of which we were soon convinced after ghe came. Yours truly, \ J. F. SotJTHAL. 30 NO. 7. *' Tho Review of Reviews," edited by W. T. Stead. Telephone No. 2867. Mowbray House, Norfolk St., Telegrams, " Vatican,** Strand, LondoD. "London." May 9th, 1891. [Private] William Barclay, Esq., Wo«itern British Amorican, Pontiac building, N. SV. cor. Dearborn and Hurriaon St-s., Chicago, III, U.S.A. Denr Sir, — 1 think tbat the less you have to do with the lady you mention the' better it would be for your peace of mind, and for security of tho contents of your pocket. Of course, everything turns upon the question of idt^ntity, but from your description, I should hav'5 no doubt in my own mind in identifying her as an ex- tremely clever, but I think, alightly mad youn^ woman, who wag introduced to me as a r»^daimed prostitute five or six years ago, and who seems %o have been in jail at leaat twice for obtaining goods under false pretences. On one occasion she succeeded in securing her acquittal bjr defending herself, and making a speech which elei>> possessed with a large amount of easy but quiet a3«urancf». The photograph which you have kindly sent me represents her as having altered considerably, a fact that ten years or more at her time of life would easily account: for. Hoping that this may serve you and the cause of our common Master and faith, 1 am yours very truly, G. P. Merrick, Chaplain of Wormwood Scrubs Frison. [This was formerly Millbank Prison, I am informed.] No. 12. Letter of Rev. Lord Archibald Douglas to Canon Ruesoll Clifton Bristol. March 7th, 1893: Some years ago a detective called on me at Vincent's Home about a daughter of mine who was said to have pieifentod bills l>acked by her father. Archibald Douglas. I was sr.bpojnaed an reveal all the sourceH of th^ir infor.iHitioo, as their inability to prodiice names when asked for tended to give some color to the illusion that these charges had their origin in Roman CathoUc malice. The ladies who conducted this recent investigation enjoy the respect and implicit confidence of the community, and would spurn the very idea of be- ing mii^d up in any Vind of a conspiracy to injare one of their own ^^ I 35 Bex, and leaafc of all one who had been enjfagod in work in which they have such a profound irterest. They are all IfldiBH of uiiim- poachable vorarity, and thnir word that they aaw tho original docu- mentH of which they f)rcri*:ir of publinhing anything about Mth. b^hepberd ^hich wh know to ha truM and jjus- ce|)tiblu of proof. An r'Xtend»'d htory of thw ups and downn of Mrn. Shf^pherd'n c%rnf',r, however, woi'ld not bo tho uiost choice kind of reading matter for a family jiaper to lublish. With regard to Mrs. Shephord'H aifK^rtion that hhe defieB any- one to produce evidence reflecting on lier chnracter and conduct fince Hiie arrived in America, sutiice it tc SHy that The W«Hteru British American knows sulficient in the life c»f Marjjjaret L. Shepherd since 9hH canjti to thia country — aye, since nhe cam« to this city — to justify it in flaying that ehe is not worthy of the confidence of the patriotic people of America. Following iH the report of the meeting aa it appeared in The British American on tho same day : liOTAIi WOUEN S£€E0E. llrH* Mi. 8liepliercl Repudiated— The I'liieago Braiieli Withdraws From the National Body -Home Startling Charges. In response to a special call to consider matters of grave im» portance to the organization, the Chicacjo branch of the Ijojtd Women of American Liberty m»it at Parlor 4,' Grand Pacific Hotel, on Tues- day afternoon, May 5. Mrs. H. P. Stimson, president, occupied the chair, and th^re was a fair attendance of the ladiori. Afl^^er the transaction of some minor business Mrs. Stimcon bUted that one of the objects of this special meeting was to consider what the society must do in relation to its future work. In view of some late developments, and the fatjt that many of the member«) thought it better to do practical work rather than to take part in politics at the present time, many had thought it better to reorgan- ise. There were very important reasons for such a soarse, and it WM desirable to have a full ezpreMion of opioion from the ladias. 36 ) CHAROVS AftAINST URS. IHEPHIBS. Mrs. E. p. Murdock then, amid breathless expectancy, took the floor, and explaining that what she did was for the best interests of the organization no less than of the patriotic people of America, pro- ceeded to road a transcript of letters which reflected gravely on the pasr career of the National President of the Order, Mrs. Margaret L. Shepherd. If a bomb had exploded in the raidst of the gathering greater conbternation could not havo beea created. A few of the ladiew were prepared for ths startling revelation, but the majority were in corapieie ignorance that any such charges could be made against the National President. Mrs. Murdock explained that it was necessary that the matter should be brought up and acted upon, as she was informed that the press had in its possassion an accumul- ation of evidence reflecting upon the conduct of Mrs. Shepherd, which it was proposed to publish forthwith. The Loyal Women, had how- ever, been granted tliis opportunity of taking action in regard to their National President before any of the facts became public. She could pledge her word to the ladies that, over and above the evi- dence which she had Rubinitted to them, she was personally aware of the existence of much other evidence tending in iho same direction about which she was not at present at liberty to speak. The organ- ization was confronted with a grave crisis and it was imperative that action should be at once taken. MRS. SHEPHERD APPEARS ON THE SCENE. • *^ . Certain ladies present hinted that the whole afiiair was an off- spiing of Romish malice, and after some little discussion it was de- cided that the charges be again read in full. Just as Mrs. Murdock wa'i prejmring to begin the second reading of the charges, Mrs. Mar- garet L. Shepherd and some other ladies swept into the room. • Mrs. Shepherd had evidently expected that tho special meeting was called for soruf other purpose than an investigation, but she maintained oompleto self-poBsession as tho ugly charges were again placed before the meeting. Some of the ladies present urged that, as almost none of the Iptf-ers of which a transcript had been read had the nanios of the wi if. " 'Appended to them, tho evidence could not be entertained, while calls were made for the names of the writers and that of the party who had furnished the information. Mrs. Murdock explained that she was not at liberty to give the name.i of the writers, although she and another lady present had seen tho original documents, but yielding to tho desire of the meeting, she gavA name of the lady who had furDiBhadthe information read. .;uSEaw^^ REPLYING TO THE CHAltOBS. Mrs. Shepherd then took the floor and kept it duriog the greater part of the reniainder of the sessiou, often defying the auth- ority of the chair and dfcliniTig to take her Boat when called upon. She claimed that this was a new phase of a pnrHfcatiori to which she had been subjected wherever she went, Hod dared .he production of the naraes of the writers of the letters reflecting no her, being second- ed in this by a portion of the ladies in the room. She flatly denied many of the accusations, explained others, and in general threw her- self upon the sympathy of the Loyal Women, She did not deny, however, the charge that she had been in an English prison on con- viction for larceny, but pleaded in extenuation that she had fetolen £d to save hor baby from starration. Who th% father of her baby was she had never divulged, and never would. The name ot Mr. W. T. Stead, the former edito." of the Pall Mall Gazette, appeared in connection with the charges, and his evi- dence was of the most emphatic character. Mrs. Shepherd explain- ed that she had had some difference of opinion with Mr. ^toad as to the methods which he hfid employed to secure evidence c'uring the famous " Maiden-Tril)uto " investigation by tbe Pall Mall Gazette, and that this accounted for the stand which Mr. Stead hind taken against her. Another of the charges against Mrs. Shepherd was thtt that lady had a husband, other than Mr. Shepherd, living in England at the present time. This Mrs. Shepherd did not contradict. CLAIMS SUE CONTROLS THE PRESS. In regard to the statement that the press had in its hands k\n accumulation of evidence of a damaging character which it intended to puVdish, Mrs. Shepherd declared th»*t ther^ was not an editor m Chicago who dared publish anything about her. She would give tho ladies her word that within two hours she rnnld ro fix things that no paper in Ohioago trould publish anything rtflecting on her character or conduct. Whatever could be said of her in the past, she defied anyone to produce anything against her charact<^r since ^he arrived in this country. To this Mrs. Murdock r^'joinod that there was ample evidence in existence that Mrs. Shepherd".^ life in this country had not been in harmony with her profession of Christianity and the character of the work in which she was engaged. In this Mrs. Murdock was firmly backed by Mrs. Marie B. Shipley, who declared in the most positive manner that she knew enough about Mrs. Shepherd's life in this country to justify he*- in saying, in effect, that Mrs, Shepherd was not worthy of the confidence of the Christian and patriotic people of America. She was not at liberty then toquot^ ti^mes, but she could assure the ladies thalfall she said, and that Mr«i. Murdock had read, eoold be fully substantiated. 38 IMPOATUrx RKSOLUTIONI. The fell owing rc^Halutions were read by Mra. Garnet, chairaian of the executive buard : Whereas, It is important that this Bociety should be free from all source* of embnrrassnfiftit in its future work ; and Whereas, The chief aim of our membership is to care for the important needs of our own city, and not be hampered by any national or other outside organ i 7a tioi. ; and ' ' Whercaa, There are grave and important reasons for an entire separation from Some of our present surruamlinga ; therefore Im it Resolved, Tiiat steps be immediately taken to re-organiKC this society upon a basis suitable to the work to be done and the tastes and abilities of the ladies in the work. RcHolved, That #he president be authorized to appoint a committee of Ave to draft a suitable declaration of principles and an outline of a constitution and by-laws for our future guidance to bo presented at a future meeting. Kesol v^od, That we do now declare ourselves severed and separated from the national organization known as the Loyal Women of American Liberty, and that wo bo, and now are, an independent orjj^aniaation. The resolution gave ric© to a very fipirited diacuasion. Mre, Shepaord implored the Jadiea uot to sever their connection with the Loyal Wonnen of American Liberty, declaring that she bad sent in her reaignation as national president, to take effect on ihe 15th inst., and the Indies conseqaently did uot need to secede from the organiz- ation. As Mrs. Shepherd wert on to rocito her alleged ^ roogs she burst into tears, and quite a nurubor of the ladies, yielding to the excitement of the moment, joined her in an outburst of sobbing. In the course uf her rambling talk Mrs. Shepherd gave a durk hint that if this — the "perj^«?cution" to which she was subjected — -vas Protest- antism, 8ho might be conripolled to agua fivd eonsolati.m in the bosom of Oatholiciam. Oorrocting herself in tliia, sho said she did not mean to go back to Kome, but felt like giving up hor Christi- anity Bnd embracing AgnostioiHm. She even went the lenijth of saying that inside of two hourti there would be no Margaret Shep- herd. The document which Mrs. Murdock road said that Mrt». Shep- herd, on being confronted with the evidence against her, would break down, shod tears, and appeal to the sympathy of her investi- gators. THi? MAJOEITT SECEDES. After mtich further discussion pro and con, on motion of Mm. Elawhee, seconded by Mrs. Eastman, the resolutions were adopted by a vote of 24 to IG. The Ohioago Branch of the Loyal Women of American Liberty thus became a thing of the past. The ladies, however, will reorganize, and expect to mkke their organisation one that will yet be a power in the oommiinitjr. ■'-^ ■%. ss In accordance with a motion adopted that the chair appoint a committee to draft rules and regulations and a plan of work for a new organLeation, Mrs. Stimeon appointed the following : Mr«, Mu^<^ock, chairman ; Mrs. I^illoD, Mrs. Garnet, Mrs. Chapman, Mrs. Griiiin and Mrs. Avery. A meeting to complete the organization will be held on May U. It is hinted that the sixteen ladies who voted against the seces- sion from the national organization may reorganize by themselves and uphold Mrs. Margaret L. Shepherd. I^YMPATflT FOR MRB. SHEPHERD. It Was Voted by The Loyal Women of Ameri- can Liberty. (From the Boiton Herald, 14th May, 1891.) The convention of the Loyal Women of American Liberty at Treroont Temple yesterday was a decidedly interesting gathering. Beporters were excluded, but the news of the meeting has leaked oat. Among other things done they decided to send a letter of sym- pathy to Mrs. Margaret L. Shepherd who has lately got into trouble in Chicago. One result of this trouble was the lady's resignation as national president of the Loyal Women, and another, the entire dishandment of the Chicago branch. One of th^ disbanded members requested admittance to the meeting yeisterday, but after a grudging acquiescence at first, was finally requested to htay outBido awhile. Her mission here was to tell of Mrs. Shepherd'.^ doings, which promises to be a racy and picturefique story. This wati known by not a few of the jealous ifi>»ters, and curioHity was rrtmpant. When a motion was made to admit the Chicago woman, it was promptly ruled out of order. She waited all day and toward evening was told she might talk on history, but must keep silent on Mrs. Shepherd. She declined the offer. A letter of sympathy with Mrs. Shepherd was voted, the ballot standing 22 to 16, or very near those figures. The reports of the Beor«t*ry skewed a slight tailing off in the number of aolire members of the society in this state. 40 Monday, May 18, 1891. From the Boston JHerald. • At the church of the Keformed Oathoh'os, on Chambers street, the tissues of her character was firat rent by the ex-Romanist, P. J. Lyons, and then torn into bhred^ by the ruthless hands of one of her own s*3X, Marie h, Shipley, who recently came from Chicago, /iter Mr. Lyons had delivered hia address on "Why I left the Church of Rome," he opened the subject of the charges recently preferred against Mrs, Shepherd, lie said his reason for bringing up this subject was the atmofphore of discontent which prevailed in certain quarters, and the fear that the forces which ought to be working to- gether would be divided by the error of one who had been intrusted with a very high place in the society of the Loyal Women of Ameri- can Liberty. "As one oi a little society of converted Catholics," said Mr. Lyons, I feel bound to say she has riolated that trust . When Mrs. Shepherd went from Boston she htd the endorsement of many ministers of this city, who have since withdrawn that en dorsement. The rec3nt letter of sympathy sent to Mrs. Shepherd by the Boston society of Loyal Women of American Liberty, ia an insult to the converted Catholics. **The editorial writers of the daily papers are asking what the converted Catholics will do about it As the vice-president of this society, I wish to say we will repudiate her ; and I think the harm she has done the cause cannot be repaired in ton years. "Mrs. Shepherd is not a good woman to have at the head of our work. The charges brought against her by The Western British American are true, and can all be proved. A short time ago, when in Boston, Mrs. Shepherd introduced to a Boston audience in Music hall, a man whom she has since said is her husband, while her hus- band, Mr, Shepherd, is now livinti in this city. When a paper like The Western British American comes out bo plainly in its staitements, it is time we took some action. We should hold a meeting and ask certain Boston ministers to withdiaw their endorsement of Mrs. Shepherd. The converted Catholics cannot support her. It would be contrary to the provisions of their charter. Not long ago Mr. Leyden told me at his house, and in the presence of witnesses, that Mrs. Shepherd said to him, '1 am in the cause for money.' We can- not afford to have any hindrance in our way. It is not our cause, it is God's, and the oon verted Catholics of Boston must ehow the citiiens and the press that we have no traitors in our ranks ; that we tolerate only honorable people in our midst." When Mr. Lyons finished speaking lie introduced the small, plainly dreaded woman, who had been sitting on the platform, as Mrs. Marie B. Shipley, who had Ixren present at the meeting ot the Loyal Women in Chicago, when the charges against Mrs. Shepherd had first been presented, and who would tell those present what had been done at that meeting. Mrs. Shipley said she had tried to speak ^1 on the Bain6 auWect be£'""*« the Boston Society of Loyal Women,, but had not been allowed to. '"When Mrs. Shepherd first came to Chicago," said Mrs. Shipley, ''she inspired the groatcBt confidence for a time, for ahe came with abundant endorsement. She acted like one who enj'^yed an extreme succesp. She was evary where greeted with applause and cheers. I now know, however, that it was an undeserved success. My suspicions were first aroused by broken promises on Mrs. Shepherd's part. She made pledges to me and others, which she didn't keep. The editor of The Western Brit- ish American, a man whom I know for a man of honor, warned me not to hare much to do with Mrs. S'^epherd, and to be extremely cautious how I allowed myself to be associated with her. He further told me he was investicating her past life in England, and was cor- responding with people in Boston in regard to her life here." Final- ly the call was issued for the.mf^eting of the Loyal Women which was held a week or two ago. The editor of The British American then put into the hands of the local president the charges which had been formulated against Mrs. Shepherd, and said that he proposed to make the expoBO in the next if^Rue of his paper, but that he wi8hed to give the Loyal Women this chance to re{judiate her, before the oblo- quy of her deeds should fall upon them. These charges were read aloud by Mrs. Murdock. They seemed so very important that a sec- ond reading was called for and granted. Wheu Mrn. Murdock iiad just begun this second reading Mrs. Shepherd herself came in. She sat like a statue of stone. Not a muscle moved. At the close of the charges was the prediction that Mrs, Shepherd, if she were present, would take on hysterics ; show ?i great nervous excitement and use all her !irt8 to work upon the sympathies of those present as ph t had repeatedly done before. When the reading of the charges ended two or three ladies jumped up and said they would accept no anonymous charges, that the whole matter was a Rominh plot and part of the persecution that Mrs. Shepherd had often had to endure. A stirring and exciting time followed. Mrs. Shepherd waa given an opportun- i*:y to defend herself but did so very weakly, though with all the dramatic and sensational effect possible, making herself out a martyr and much persecuted woman. But eho confessed to some of iIih grav- est of the charges against her. A^tter a time a vote was taken and the majority stood 24 to 16 ag inst Mrs. Shepherd. The other 16 were ardent supporters of Mrs. Shepherd, who were ready to stick to her through thick and thin. Mrs. Shipley then read a letter from the editor of The Western British American, Wm. Barclay, received since Mrs. Shipley htin been in Boston and stating that though Mrs, Shf'pherd had some til m supporters in Chicago 'it was pioposed to make the climate there too sultry for hor. *' 5lr^. Shipley then went on to tell about her experience with rhe Loyal Women f*f American Liberty in Boston, when she had sought to lay the facts of this matter before them. I came on here partly to attend the Boston con- 42 ference aod partly to satisf v myself of the ^ ^^^tli of these ehargei. 1 found them true and then I wont to the ooiiiorenoe. They told lie it was against their rules to admit me until the buHiness was tran- sacted, but if I would wait till then they would be glad to admit me and listen to what I had to eay. I waited till after six o'clock at night, and then made up my mind that they didn't intend to admit me. 1 found that while I had been waiting Mrs. Birch had bee: . talking to them. She had come on irom Chicago with the determin- ation to uphold Mrs. Shepherd, right or wrong, and to hold the loyal women true to her. She knew that I had come for a very di£ferent puipoBe and she did not wiuh me to have a hearing. " Now, ae to Mrs. Shepherd's personal characteristics, I wish to further stato that she was etninently untruthful. She liever considered it incumbent upon her to keep a promise. She would make the most elaborat plans involving; a great amount of elfort and money, and leave others to do the work of carrying out the plans. She came to Chicago with a large number of jjlaring false statements about the succeps of her work, the memberHhip and financial condition of the society, eto. The c^argOH against her were so awful that it was almost impossible to listen to the reading of them," Even the Salvation Army in lebters which I have seen, state that it wati obliged to get rid of her, because she was unfit to be in its ranks and a hindrance to it in its work. With this scathing arraignment of the President of the National Association of Loyal Women of American Liberty, Mrs. Shipley closed her remarks. While she was speaking several women said to be members of the BoBton Branch of the Loyal Women, went out ; and indeed be- fore Mrs. Shipley began to speak, while Mrs. Lyons was talking several left the room. On the day before this was published in the Boston Herald, a new chapter in Mrs. Shepherd's career, had been unfolded in Chicago. Disgusted with the action of the Loyal Women of Chicago she had GOME BACK TO BOMANISM, On May 13th,1891, the Chicago Inter-Ooean in announcing tho new move of the founder of the Federation of the Loyal Women^ said : " Three weeks ago Mrs. Shepherd resigned the presidency of the Loyal Women, and still later she determined to re-enter the Catho- lic Church. This rumor was promulgated some days ago, but it was Uij*- until yesterdav, after reat and consideration, that Mrs. Shepherd decici.'d on her cuurse. She is a ii^oman who has known much sor- row and faced it with a courage rarely found. Now, as she patfi it, she is aim pi;;' looking for peace and rest. '* The saio of her books she stopped some five weeks ago, and has ordered thob^^ on hand destroyed, but she will probably later wMyMndiBiHiMfliiiiiMiMfai 43 tftko to the lecture platform with aiibjecte not of a religious chari^c- ter. ** Mrs. Shepherd consulted regarding her return to Oatholiciam with Father Hugh McGnire, of St. Jamet-' Church. The Father was seen last night al his rewdence, No. 2924 WabaHh Avenue, and on hifl being asked^ concerning the matter, said : * Yew, it is true ; Mrs. Shepherd has decided to return to the church. She was brought up a Catholic, you Know, and it was to ho expected that she would return to her faith 'eventually. She does not take this step through any solicitation of mine. If she comes back it will be entiijely through the force of her own convictions. She b>is talked to me several times during the past two or three weeks, and I have given her to understand that if she remains out of the churchy it will not injure the church,*but be to her own disadvantage, spiritually. T told her this, not to bring her back, but because Bho asked my advice.' " Mrs. Shepherd, when spoken toon this matter, fully coincided with the Father, saying she had herself voluntarily sought his advice and waa desirous there should be no misunderstanding on that point." It would seem that Mrs. Shepherd failed to tiud in the Oatholio church that peace and rest her soul so ardently craved or else she was not BO warmly received as she had expected, for on the following day this card was issued to the press : — Chicago, May 14. — In strict jnstico to myself and my friends at large I feel called upon to make this public statement. It has been stated in the daily presi? within the past few days that I had THturned to the Roman Catholic church, and had interviewed Rev. Father iMcGuire. I wi?h to say that X did make these statements, but beliuve I did so ^nder great mental strain, the coospquence of overwork and persecution aud troiible. Now, after caltn d^;Uber- ation, X wish to say that I am not a Roman Catholic, aud intend to retain the principles of Protestantism, never subjecting myself of my zeaaon to Rome. Margaret L. Shephekd. 44 This newest devtiopment of Mrs. Shepherd's career is thus alluded to Lv The Western Britbh American under date of May 23rd, 1891 ;'— SHE UAS FLOPPED AGAI^T. Margaret a Protestant Now— Mrs, M. L. KShep- herd's Recent Religious Somersaults— Is She V. M. Riordan's Wife? Margaret Leslie Shepherd has flopped again ! She informed the daily press early last week that "after rest and consideration" she had decided to go V>ack to the Church of Rome as the only place where she could find "peace and rest." Two or three days later she came out with a card announcing that she was still a Protestant, and excusing her previous utterance on the ground of "excitement" resulting from "overwork, trouble and persecution." She did not deny, however, that she had been consulting for weeks with Father McGuire, of St. James' Catholi'c Church, corner of Wabash avenue and Twenty-ninth street. The priest Iiimself in- formed the reporter of a morning paper that Mrs. Shepherd had decided to return to the Roman fold, and the reporter declares that he saw Mrs. Shopherd in the shadow of the door-way of Father Mc- Guire's house on the evening when he called on that gentleman. However, she declares that she is still a Protestant; so all Bather McGuire's ministrations must have gone for naught. The Western British American would not be surprised at any time to hear that Margaret L. Shepherd hod become a Mahommedan, or a theoso- phist, or a spiritualibt, if any of these communions would take her in. MR. 8HEPUEKD DISCARDED. The woman who could coolly telf the Loyal Women of Chicago last Tuesday week that her husband (Shepherd) had left her and taken all her money, when she knew that such a statement was utterly at variance with actual facts, would not surprise us by say- ing almost anything. Vv'hf^n Mr. Shepherd came to Chicago shortly after Mrs. Shep- herd's tttrival, he was introduced around as her husband, installed in the headquarters of the Loyal Women in the Golf building as such, collected the money, and sold the books at her lectures, saw her home from meetings, and was even called upon to lead in prayer at a meeting in a West Side Methodist church. All at once, after a few weeks, it wag given out that Mr. Shepherd's presence around his wife's house is particularly distasteful to Mrs. Shepherd, a d« ers a copy of a letter which I wrote at the dictation of Mrs. Shepherd last October to the National Board of Loyal Women, and which has served to fully open the eyes of some of those with whom, I have had occasion to talk, to the full conviction that Mrs. Shep- herd is bad. I think I told you she was away from Mrs. Cabot's on Friday evening, Oct. 3rd, until Monday afternoon, Oct. 6th, and no person knew where she had been. She told me she did not know where she had been because she had been under the influence of some drug. After leaving Mrs. Smallman, with whom she had been to Boston, she met two ladies just oppooite the Tremont Temple. Sho remembered thai she cried and that she accompanied them to the ^ Boston and Albany depot. They went aboard the train and rode a short distance. Then she remembered being in a house with priests and nuns bending over her. She did not remember anything further until she found herself in the street near the temple. She had just strength enough to go to Young's Hotel and call for a cup of coffee. She felt a little better and ordered a hack and was driven to the British American office where she fainted, and then Mr. Whitett and Mrs. Burt accompanied her home in a hack. Mr. Whittet told me she told him before she became ineensible she had beeft to the house of Archbishop Williams. He also says she had the appear- ance of having been on a regular drunken debauch. Mrs. Cabot found a crucifix and scapular on her, which she said bad been her mother's, and which she had kept. Now, I am poeitive that is a lie. A few days aft^r her return a committee of two ladies of the Board oame to see her, saying there were rumors afloat connecting her name with Biordan. She told them she had been to see me in New TorliR .-4...-M^.... --Jn-J^-.*^ ...J-- ,.• ^■. -^ %*» mm-* during thoso three days and they went away aaiisfiol A few days later Mra. 8. told me about it, and Haid if I did not writo the board a loiter, her character would bo raioed. She told me she had in- tended to come to mf, when Hhe left the houBo, but had bwpn de- ooytid away by thoae two women. 1 took a day to decide >knd wrote a letter at her dictation, calling n^)'^n the bonrd to retract th'i iiHults they had heaped upon my wife' character. Now, I corif< hh I did very wrong in writing thai letter, but I did not kn'»w th« truth about it ; I have written an apology to the Loyal Women, but they have not acknowledged it. ♦ ♦ ~ ♦. * While Riordau waa here last fall he told Mrs. Wyman, with whom I am boarding, that ho had not met Mrs. Shepherd until A[.ril, i8'J0. Mrn. S. eaya they were brought up together. When 1 fir»t became acquainted with Mrs.S. I thought she wtB perfect. She wa^i porflecuted,ftnd one of the mioiBterB of the town, togeth^T with another man connected with the aamo work, came out in her defence?. Before we were married I Raw her sit down on th« g'intlomRn'.i knee aiid kiss him, as well as the miniver. But she did it in 8u;h a wav to disarm censure. After wo were married she continued to do it, and I became uneasy and told her I did not like it. She said if I did not approve o^ it she would not do it again. From that day until Ust September T saw nothing wrong with h«r on that score, Suiallman (her advance agent) ways he knows that when lliordan went- hack to Delaware from Oolumbu", 0., Mrs. Shepherd did not ^'xpect that he would ever come back to her, and that f»iiliug to get him back, she was going 'to secure me. ■- Asa. B. Shepherd. NO. 17. . The Salvation Army National Headquarters, 111 Reade Street, N. Y., April 24, 1891. • •.•.•..<..*.. • Esq. Dear Sir, — My husband, Commissioner Booth, has handed me your letter regarding Mrs. Margaret Shepherd who is supposed to have been a Salvation Army olficer. Si far as we at this head- quart'^rs are concemed,w€ cannot say much personally in relation to her, but I advise you to write to some of those who knew her in Boston for her career in that city. Mrs. E. Trask Hill,' 24 Monu- ment Square, Oharlestown, Mass., was a very warm friend of hers. There are others, whose address I do not know, who could give you much information regarding her work in Boston. William T. Stead, editor of The Review of Reviews, Mowbray House, London, England, can give you the particulars of her career in England. I can aay here that she never was an officer in the S&lvation Army id and WM never known as Captain Herbert. She wa?? for some; little time an inmato of Mrs. JJr«tiiw«II Booth's Ucttcuij Home, and was befriended in an hour of need by the Salvation Army, fn her book called "The Little Mother," there are some Btat(?inent8 which I think Mr. Stead and othwrs in England proved to be far from cor- rect. There wa.s much in her past, ^>o far as bhe wa8 known in Kng- land and when Hhe Hrst came to this country, that waH of a very shady character. 1 have answered, when enquiries have come to me from different people, that if she is now thoroughly changed in life and ia making no more false statements, we have no wisli whatever to say anything which might hinder her or throw a shadow on her in this new start in life. Tlierefore T preffir that you find out from those who have known her during \ni' work in this country, for per- sonally we know nothing of her except what is far in the paBt. X should be glad if you only make use of this inforniation for your own guidance or to further a more complete investigation. I would not like it thought, as you will readily understand, that the Salva- tion Army is trying to follow her up and reveal her past to the public or those to whom she may go. But I can say that there has been enough in her past to justify my saving that her statements cannot be taken for gospel. 1 will also refer yoi^to my sister-in law, Mrs. Bramwell Booth, 101 Queen Victoria ytret;t, London, England. I have already referred several to her who have written to mu for information. J. wish 1 knew their narnew so that you could get facta from them, but ay 1 do not, it would be better for you to write to Mrs. Booth. Also T can say that her storien about her aristrocratic relations are without foundations. I think you will get full information from those 1 have named. Believe me, yours very truly, Maud B, Booth. ' 1 NO. 18. l^orth New York Mothodkt Episcopal Paraouage, 336 Willis Avenue, New York, April 24, 189L DSAR Sir and Brotheu, — Your favor of the 10th inat. duly received. Somebody owes n '* work of faith," unpleasant though it may be, to the Christian poople of the various communities where the lady to whom you refer " holds forth. ' As the result of my experience with her, during; her stay at my house, in New Haven, Conn., I have no confidenca in her. She is a woman of no principle. The story of the poisoning is the most ludicrous imaginabW. It is ft fabrioation got up for tlie purpose of making a sensation. Shq 60 needed medicine ; a physician treated her, but not taking the medi- cine according to directions, she became sick during the night and •we called the same physician (the one who treated myself while I resided there) and he, in a short time relieved her pain. But it is C|uite easy for her to lie, I am sorry to say, when the truth does not happen to suit. I tried to defend her when she was attacked through the press while at New Haven, but I found it impossible. W© terminated the meetings as soon as we could. It seems to me that gome one ought to put her in her true light before the public. Such a person can do only hurt to any cause. She represented herself to be the daughter of Colonel Herbert. I wrote to Lady Herbert and received a most indignant contradic- tion of all her statements along that line. * . My judgment is that she is as morally rotten as she is bright. ' >/ 1 am, dear sir, Yours faithfully, Joseph Bairo. • NO. 19. 1 Prospect St., Cambridgeport, Masu. April 20th, 1891. Mr. Dear Sir, — Yours of the 10th was d\ily received and was very glad to hear from you, aod as I believe my communications to you are kept strictly confidential, I shall write you some things that I believe to be true. I am sorry to do it. Mrs. S. is a very smart capable woman and might be both popular and respected, and also ^0 a great amount of good in the world ; but as it now appears, she is a very clever deceiver. I never saw any of the immoralities charged against her while Jiving in my house, and consequently do not believe they wore ^»*"« ; b'lt there are many things Yety different since itiordan appeared on the b-^ene. I may write some things that I co*ild not substantiate by witne65ie««, yet were I to have a talk with joa I Qoufti give you the proof that would satisfy you as it does me. Her living here so long, and she and Mrs. Cabot being very firm friends, she dropped words now and then, and also when delirious, that ]mt together give us the truth better than she would. As I think I Rnid in my other letter the character of many of her enomiea here wan Buch ft«i to nmke uh uphold Lor longer than we othorwiee would perhaps. Firat 1 want to criticise xYHhs Hachathorn'd account in the last B. A. of Father Ft u'b lecture. He is not Boston's popu'ar lecturer as stated. His lectures here (which were few) were well liked as far as I have heard ; but twice when the Loyal Women expected him to speak for them he disappointed them, and on one of the bccaeioiis he was dead drunk. This is a fact, I believe he is 61 under an assumed name. I have good reasons for it. I believe him to be a Jesuit. Two weeks befere she left on her lecture tour last Oct., she was sick for a few days, and Kiordan called here when she was better, and tbey left the house together to go to Boston. Thifi was Friday and she was to come back that night. At night I re- received a telegram saying she was with friends and would c^me home Saturday. She did not come until Monday night and was brought home in an unconscious condition, and bore plenty of evi- dence of having been in Roman Catholic hands. Kiordan was also absent from his boarding place one or two of those nights. I believe bim to be her husband, but do not believb she ever thought .him dead. She lived right along with Shepherd after she knew him to be alive anyway. She tells everybody how she wants to be rid of Shepherd, and still all winter wrote him most loving wifely letters. Why, I do not know. Whether R n has » power over her she cannot resist I do not know. I know she married Shepherd under an assumed name and ae a virgin. Mrs. Burt I always believed to be a good Christian woman, but how she can stay there in Chicago under the circumstances is more thar .1 can understand. The follow- ing I have from Mr. and Mrs. Smallman who were with her all win- ter, and I have no reason to disbelieve them. They are home now, and said that good people ought to be warned, but, of course, as he had been her agent, he felt delicate about saying anything: They did not tell me not to tell, so I will confide to you that you may know how to act and do all you can to warn others against her with- out exposing the source of your knowledge. Twice they went to New York together, and were gone over night. Mrs. S. and R. both said they were lawfully man and wife and-^lived as such in Chicago. They were separated soon after their marriage in England, and he went to Australia. I think she has a black record in Eng- land, but do not know enough to give you any information. She will borrow all the money she can evory where and uses it very reck- lessly, never expecting to pay. I thought for a long time she would, but I think she borrowed of one to pay another, and thus got along for the time, and as she had a good deal from her lectures, had a good deal to do with. Ooe more thing. She has abused Mr. S. very much. If she wants R i n, why does she continue to do so by Mr. S. She sent for him to come to Chicago. She told me so herself and he told me the same. Mr, S. is a good man, and her charges agaifjHt him are falbe. He lo^ed her to distraction, and done all he could to have her work a uuccesB, and was himself terribly deceived, but he is beginning to see things in their right light. Her charges about his dishonesty are false. Also that he used to beat her in my house until I was called in to interfere. He was aiv/ays ready to run his legs off for her every whim. I will say no more now, but trust this will help vou to learn mor& As I said before I am sorry ^ do it. I am not an enemy of Mrs. S.. although she would count '■§- 52 me ae Hiiuh. Nobody would be anymore glad to see her ability turned to good works. We thought a great deal of her while here, and it is very hard for us to havo to believe the tmih. The L. W. of A. L., IB all righf, nnd a c^rund aaaociation, but it iiiu«*t not uphold her. Mii^H Hacathorne ouj;ht not to b«,ve signed \\ers*4i as Becretary of the L. VV. A. L. in the B. A., ab ib wa8 Mrs. S.'b private lecture I think. Your:}, L. S. Cabot. NO. 20. The following letter which is used for the purpose of adver- tising Mrs. Shf^pherd's entertainments shows her connection with the socintift* nnraed In the course of this pamphlet : r- sehper fidelis. Loyal Women ol American Liberty— Margaret L. Stieplierd, Patriotic Lecturer and Aatlioress* Foundress of the National Association of Loyal Women of American J^iberty, Member of the Ladies' Loyal Orange Associa- tion of British Americtt, and Lady True Blues. Canadian address : St. Lawrence Hall. Brockville, Ont., 89. The Sec Dear Allow me to extend, through you, a cordial invitation to the ofticers and members to attend my lecture on the Aggressions of Romanism, to be delivered in your • in on The dans^er threatening; our liberties and our institutions is great, and the time has arrived for men and women to take a de- cided BTAND. The great International Catholie Congress to be held in Chi- <: *r^ on September tth. 5th and "Gth of the present year, for the purpose of declaring the restoration of the Temporal Power of the Pope of Rorao, together with the recent appointment of Mgr. SatoUi as permanent Apostolic Delegate to the United States, are matters for GRAVE CONSI DERATION in consequence of the principle underlying both, a principle which neither the press nor political parties seem to recognize, and which I intend, aided by your sympathy and presfiiice at my lecture, to place before the Can- adian public. 15 An opportnnity is now being given to the brave descendants of the followers of King William and defenders of Derry, to prove to the American continent that *the spirit which animated their forefathers at the Battle of the Boyne, and the closing of the Gates of Derry, still lives, and living cannot die, but will stand shoulder to shoulder, hand to hand, heart to heart, and when an open bible and Protestantism is menaced, they will take up the same battle cry, and as Rome advances, borne out upon the air from tens of thou- Hands of Loyal Orange hearts, she will be greeted in tones of "^thunder NO SURRENDER ! Yours in the inleresta of Protestanti m, Margaret L. Shiphebd. 04 CONCLUSION I leave these docnments to speak for themselves. I think I can safely assert that they prove that Mrs. Shepherd is utterly un- worthy of credit or encouragement, and nothing ut hatred to Catholics could induce any Protestant to endorse he, in any way. ^ At Brockville the last municipal elections were contested on the question of permitting Mrs. Shepherd to lecture in the town hall. To the credit of the people of Brockville be it said that Mrs. Shepherd's candidates were defeated in three out of five wards, and in the contest for the mayoralty. In the same town Mrs. Shepherd brought a libel suit against The Brockville Recorder for publishing some of her doings. Why has she not proceeded with the suit f Is it because she is aware that the statements made regarding her were true ? Such will be the judgment of the public ; and the people of Woodstock may thus see that the cause of bigotry and fanaticism is not always successful. I will conclude by inserting an able article which appeared in The Oatholic Register of Toronto, 13th April, 1893, in reference to the sermon of Rev. J. A. McDonald, which I have inserted above : OBSCENE LECTURES. Is there no law in Canada against obscene lectures 1 It ap- pears not — at least so we take it from a sermon delivered in Knox Presbyterian church, St. Thomas, on the evening of Sunday,the 26th nit., by the Rev. J. A. McDonald. The Rev. gentleman felt that a stain was left on the city and a blow struck at its social standing and morality by an obscene and disgustingly immoral lecture deliv- ered in the Opera House on the previous Friday. The self styled " ex-Romanist " Leyden, of Boston, Mass., had visited the city for its moral ruin ; and, under pretence of defending Protestantism, had lifted high the Standard of Turpitude and given impetus to the spread of Satan's kingdom. The lecture was of so loathsome a na- ture, that men notably indifferent and callous in matters of delicacy, expressed themselves, on leaving the hall, as utterly shocked and horrified by what they had heard. One man, who attend«='d, in the expectation of hearing something new and grossly bad, declared that never in his experience or imagination did such a tissue of immoral horrors present itself to his mind. He had paid thiifcy-five cents for admission, but he would give $5 to get out. Human respect and the fear of being held up to iridicule alone held him to his leAt. 66 Here follows an*©xtract from the sermon as already quot^ in this pamphlet. The editor continues : These are strong words to utter againet a so-called "ex-Roman- ist" "anti-Jesuit" lecturer, who, in an interview with a reporter of the St. Thomas Times, maintained that he had been a Catholic priest, that he was ordained at the age of 19 years, and that he left the church ten years later. In his lecture on Saturday even- ing he stated that he had nothins: personally against any man, but as an ex-Catholic priest, one who had been behind the scenes, he challenged any Catholic or Protestant to prove that any statement he had made was not true. ' It is nothing less than a marvellous freak in the nature of Protestantism that where religion is concerned, its votaries stand up against truth with most persistent obstiuafcy, and swallow mis- representation and evident falsehood with an eagerness amounting to avidity. Everybody knows or should know that a candidate for the priesthood must have reached the 24 th year of his age before he is called to ordination, and that Mr. Leyden must have deliberately falsified himself when he stated that he was ordained at the age of 19, Mrs. Margaret L. Shepherd, the notorious "ei-nun," who was never in a convent except as a penitent in a refuge for fallen women, but was for some time a companion and co-laborer of the infamous Leyden,declared on her oath last week in public court at Brockville that he was never a priest ; in fact that he was not an ordained clergyman of any denomination. ' What we are concerned about, however, ia not the truth or the lies Leyden told, but the obscene language which the law allows him to utter in a public hall, and the danger which the purity and peace j; of the social fabric incurs when monsters of immodesty, under false colors and in the assumed garb of an "ex-priest" or an "ex-nun," are permitted to pollute the public ear and corrupt the moral atmos- pherto with tales of lubricity and descriptions of situations that never J existed — except in their own filthy imaginations. I ^ Mrs. M, L. Shepherd has been creating religious disturbance i and propagating loose notions of Christian morality in Toronto of ^ late, as well as in Brock vilJe Brantford, Woodstock, and other cities, and there is no law to interfere with her abominable lectures and vile misrepresentations of things sacred "to ladies only." Where 4 is the zeal of the great moralist, Mr. John Charlton ? Why do not the Ladies of the White League come to the rescue of their abashed and morally abused sisters of all those towns polluted with the pres- ence of Leyden and Shepherd, the self-appointed propngandists of impure literature and moral tilth ? Will any other minister stand up with Rev. J. A. Macdonald and protest in the name of our common humanity, and in the name of the God of all holiness against "any man being allowed to pour out all this festering mass of moral filth" before a Canadian audi* ence t It is time our priests and ministers should wake up. to the danger ; it is time our legislators should heed to the salvation of morals in our young Dominion." It would be out of place for me to enter here upon any theo- logical disquisition, but L may take it upon myself to say to my Pro- testant ftil low-citizens, if you wish to know what the Catholic doc- trine and history really are,do not consult such frauds a^ Mrs. Shep- herd, Widdows, and Maria Monk,in rogard to them. You will tind them fully e^iplamed in such books as Dr. Lingard's History of England, Alzog's History of the Church, Darras' History of the Church, Dr. Miloer's End of Controversy, Dr. Milner's Letters fo a Prebendary, Challoner's Catholic Christian Instructed, Dr. Hay's Sincere Christian, Stumbling Stones made Stepping Blocks, , Archbishop Lynch's Answers to Popular Objections, Cobbett's History of the Protestant lleformatioD, (the author is a Protestant.) Waterworth's England and Borne, Lingard's Anglo-Saxon Antiquities, ' Tlte Faith of our Fathers, The Faith of Catholics, The Catechism of the Council of Trent, And many other standard Catholic books which may be obtain- ed at Thos Shanley's book store, Woodstock, or procuK^ed through him if not in stoclL.«ai^ < Our doctrines are not secrets. They are published for the world's information, and are taught by the priesthood just as they are found in authorized Catholic standard books. Tours sincerely^ M. J. BJUDY, ; Pastor of the Oatholic Church, Woodstock, Oni* 19th of April, 1893.