IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. 4f, ■ %y°. ^ , signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbols V signifie "FIN ". Lee cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmte d dee taux de rMuction diffirents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichA, il est film^ d partir de Tangle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Las diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 'Ih 'I a hy cA^l- THE FABRICA entitlbJTO *< AWFUL DISCLOSURE BY MARIA BJ,0 DETECTED AND IN AUTHENTICATED DOCUMENTS OF THE MOST BESPECTAB^. PROTESTANTS, AND OTHER SWORN TESTIMONY ; t^Sii ACCOMPANIED WITH UNPREJUDICED OF A SHORT ADDM«S '^ .^^^ AND BMt^jmN(k>i']^0^'fksTANTS\ THE UMTRp'^Ei^IRE,'^^ jm>-E^iRp, ON THir>^% >^ BVIL TENDENCY OF SUCH FALSE AND bAnDALOUS CALUMNIES. " They that render evil /or goodhq0etk^jtoled.4ru^,y^aute I foUotoet goodness."— rVn, xixvii. 21.* ,A>\ ■../ ■ ■•» .A D^^^^. '(: PRINTED BY WlLtJ^]?^ POW&I^; JUN., 68, TH0MA^4&JRJei>^ 1836. // u^ M ofP and and appe unfo is nc wilh How only yet tilled this( as tl; Irish Com a pn atroc an ir the pi sland publii of*V was I menti upon Th satisf] never » k TO THE UNPREJUDICED AND REFLECTING PROTESTANTS OF THE UNITED EMPIRE. My Friends,— It is a melancholy fact, that thousands j of Protestants, who take credit for being the most enlightened | and impartial, are yet the most shamefully imposed upon, | and more seduced than those of other denominations. There appears to be no falsehood too gross, nor calumny too unfounded for them, where « popery" is concerned. There is no tract too vile against** Romanism and Monker-" they will not circulate, provided " the good cause" is served it. How can those, who say the attainment of truth is their only object, and who are for ever talking of the holy volume, yet remorselessly aid the circulation of tracts and books filled with <* false evidence against their neighbour?" Is this Christianity ? Is it justice? Is it honesty? Is it doing as they would be done by? When we published the first Irish edition of the " Answer to R. Reed's « Su Months in a Convent,"' we did not imagine we would have so soon to notice a production of a similar nature, still more barefaced and atrocious. It would be an oifence to the ears of chastity, an insult on the judgment of the wise, and an abuse of the patience of the virtuous, to notice in detail the infamous slanders and incomparable falsehoods of a work which was published in January, 1836, in New York, under the title of *' Awful Disclosures, by Maria Monk." This production was got up to calumniate the Catholic religious establish- ments at Montreal ; but its lies were so gross as to recoil upon its abandoned author and its infamous supporters. The evidence which we subjoin to these reflections must satisfy even the most sceptical, that a greater tissue of lies never was circulated than this work contains. From the recent attacks made by the fanatics in America ipon the Catholic religions females, their intolerant support- Ts in Great Britain, wishing to imitate their example, have ..epublished the most unprincipled productions of the transat- lantic haters of ** popery," conceiving that they would be [less liable to detection than home- manufactured slanders. We call upon Protestants of all denominations, if they value truth and hate lies, to discountenance the scandalous attacks now made upon the religious female Catholic institutions. Where is the honest Protestant despising false- hood and misrepresentations, who believes the atrocious fabri- cations of such self- condemned characters as Reed and Monk ; the first denounced by the Protestant Committee, who in- quired into the state of the Ursuline Convent at Charleston ; and the other branded in a public court of justice, as un- worthy of all credit ? And what is the object of the present unholy warfare against religious institutions ? Is it to promote female virtue, or to increase the obedience or im- provement of youth ? Suppose that the enemies of Monas- teries and Convents obtained the destruction of all religious communities, would they thereby check immorality, or advance the character of our country ? Where would we then find thousands ready and willing, at all hours, to instruct the children of the poor gratuitously ; or like the good Samaritan, to pour the oil of comfort into the bosom of distress ? Have not the instructions and example of the religious in Ireland preserved the female character of our country, when the rulers of other nations, (whose " liberalizing policy" opposed those thus consecrated to God,) have destroyed that of the fairest portion of creation? If some infuriated fanatics were to follow up the anti- christian work, performed by those of a similar character in America, what would be the consequence ? Perhaps the destruction of their own oflfspring, as happened there, would be the first fruits ; the ramparts which religion has built up would be removed — licentiousness would be aided in its satanic work— the number of profligates and prostitutes would rapidly increase ; and vice, in all its terrific forms, would assail even the bosom of our peaceful dwellings 1 Could these " philosophic" and « rationalising" gentlemen ever give the poor a substitute for those lessons of piety and imerica upport- ?, have transat- )uld be lers. if they ndalous Catholic g false- is fabri- Monk; who in- rleston ; as un- present h it to i or im- Monas- religious ility, or 'ould we Durs, to like the e bosom imple of iharacter (whose rated to reation ? the anti- iracter in haps the e, would 5 built up 3d in its restitutes ic forms, ngs ! entlemen piety and I religion they now receive from the religiouSy who hav devoted themselves, in the most solemn manner, to prais God, to sanctify themselves, and to improve Society Could they ever teach the starving peasant, or his miserabl offspring, such submission to Providence, and such obedienc, to the laws, as they are now taught ? Could they ever with all their ** reason and philosophy" alone, induce ther to submit, as they are now taught to submit, to the trial and hardships of their degraded state, to avoid every specie of malice and revenge, even against their worst persecutors and to love even their worst enemies, as Christ loved hi executioners ? But why ask these questions ? Has not every reepectabl J Protestant landlord, from the Duke of Leinster to Sir jl Keane, seen by experience, that whilst those of their own! community, who have been paid for and sworn to teach poor ij schools, have neglected that duty, religious Catholic monks \ and nuns have sacrificed their property, and nearly theirf lives, to instruct, comfort, and support the poor? Nay, is it not a fact, that whilst Protestant charter schools hav( been denounced and suppressed by Parliament, as incom petent to their professed original purpose of promoting religion or morality, the Education Commissioners have found none more deserving of support, than the schools kept by the male and female religious of Ireland ? If Mr. Percival (like many other Protestants who > not! inquire, but are deceived by the infamous lies alluded to) has called upon one of the Ministry to institute a spiritual Inquisition against the female religious, perhaps with the| same intf itions of Sir Henry Mildmay, who introduced af bill into the British Parliament, in 1 800, for the suppression! of Nunneries ; let it be remembered, that the enlightened' O'Leary, in his admirable ** Address to the Lords Spiri- tual and Temporaly' so triumphantly exposed this effort, and so much shamed its authors, that the bill vi^as imme- diately cushioned ! Well did this illustrious man say : " The legislature of 91 made this distinction in the toleration | granted to the Catholics : it removed the penalties attached to those! who would enter into any ecclesiastical community of the church oil Rome, hut not to extend to monastic institutions ; that is to say, not! to endow monasteries, or incorporate their rules, such as they are in! A 3 Catholic countries, vvitli tlie laws of the state, wiiere they are never to marry, nor return to the world. What are then the lew English luns now in England, or the few Irish nuns in Ireland, for no ladies )f any other country devote themselves there to a religious life ? WhaX are they in the eyes of the \aw ? What are they in the eyes of iny man who pays the slightest attention to the subject. A few Ca- ;holic females, who, from devotion, form a resolution to die old maids. " If these ladies were ladies of pleasure, seducing youth, the gen- tlemen of Winchester would not give themselves the slightest concern about them. They are of the greatest use to the Catholic nobility ^nd gentry, who send their dauj^hters to be educated by them, on (account of the strictness of their morals, their seclusion from the dissipations of the world, which affords them the more time to su- perintend the instruction of their scholars, and the facility of observing the exercises peculiar to the Catholic religion, such as fasts, absti- nence, confessions, communions, &c., which could not be observed at other boarding schools ; and which, though they may appear ridi- culous to others, are held sacred by us. In Galway, in Ireland, there are ladies of this description, since the conversion of the kingdom to Christianity in the fourth century. The parliament., however rigorous in angry times, never molested them, on account of their utility, by their instructions, besides the policy of spending their money in the country ; for if there were not ladies of this descrip- tion in the country, the Catholics would send their daughters to be educated abroad." " In an age of profligacy, when so many wise and virtuous mem- bers of the Legislature intended to introduce a law for the security I of the marriage bed ; when divorces, ins^tead of constant affection^ are I the frequent fruits of matrimony ; amidst so many seminaries of lewdness, and cities becomp, on account of vice and corruption, so many criminal Ninivites, which would require a Jonas to induce them to repent in sackcloth and ashes ; streets infested with lewd i females, from the age of eleven to the period at which the effiects of a i crime that carries with it its own punishment, and the enormous , number of which wretches, a magistrate, who has written a book on ■ the police of London, computes at fifty thousand annually ! Amidst ' such scenes of vice, is the chastity of a few Catholic women an object ' of 80 alarming a nature, as to deserve the attention of the first senate ! on earth, especially as it is in their power to renounce their state of I celibacy when they choose ? Perhaps, not two hundred of them would bind themselves to a single life in the space of fifty years. If their number were multiplied to ten times, or to a thousand times more, what are they when compared to the great number of immoral and unchaste all over England ? About twenty or thirty atoms floating on the surface of an immense ocean. Rari nantes in gurgite vasto. *♦ Were it the custom amongst Quakers, Anabaptists, Moravians, or any other sect or description of people, to have women of a solitary cast or disposition of mind amongst them, who from fanaticism or in- clination, would choose to lead a retired life, and superintend the edu- cation of the females of their sects, Sir Henry Mildmay would rather admire than molest them. Why then harass, perplex, and expose to the insults of domiciliary visits, persons of the Catholic religion ? Why, <( I le never English 10 ladipH us life ? p eyes of few Ca- ll matd». the gen- concern nobility lem, on rom the le to su- bserving 9, absti- observed lear ridi- id, there kingdom however ; of their ing their descrip- ers to be •us mem- ! security ction^ are aaries of ption, 80 induce ni\\ lewd liecta of a snormoua book on Amidst an object rst senate ir state of em would If their les more, loral and IS floating te vasto. loraviana, a solitary ism or in- d the edu- uld rather [)0se to the 1 ? Why, amongst such a variety of sects, single tiie Catholics out a^ (.bjects o persecution ? There are now no Catholic Pretenders to the throne i when there were, not one of the Catholics of Ireland joined them although they raised the standard twice in Scotland, to assert tiiei* claim to the British empire." Let not honest and candid Protestants say, that the efforts of fanatics, when encouraged, may not produce bad effects; or that those who circulate these lying and calumnious pro- ductions, are not responsible for the consequences. It maj be seen from the following extract, that an Orange fanatic in Dublin, from what he audaciously calls bis '* chair oi truth," has called upon his wicked confederates (as he did upon a late occasion, to insult the citizens, and endano-er. their lives,) to destroy the asylums of peace, education,! and religion: " The following are a few extracts from a sermon preached on bunday evening, 6th March, by Johnny M'Crea, who is called a Protestant Minister, We are scarcely justified in calling them the ravings of a fanatic, as we do not believe the man sincere in his madness. They have been sent to us by a correspondent, who can substantiate the truth of the report by affidavit. If M'Crea had not been recognised as the chaplain of a Dublin Orange lodge, he should be as unheeded by us as ' the dog that byys the moon.' I know and foresee, my friends, ere many months, that the true 1 rotestants of this island will level every convent and Popish altar in it. Mind, I do not make it a request of you to do so • but it IS my own opinion that it will be done.' ' , " Again, in speaking of the Catholic caurch, he designated it all ' throug.u by that infamous title for female ears to listen to (of whom there were many present) ' that bloody w ! that Antichrist " ', t *u !V"^f/ ^y^, prayers, whirhhe delivered extempore, he prayed i that the Almighty might tu.;. the head of the executive in this ' country from his Popish ways ! ' "I forgot to mention, that in advising his auditory (composed of the lovyest of the Orange faction) to destroy the convents and altars, he instanced the ' good people of America;' and desired them tJ follow the example set by the ' Lynch-law' ruffians."~/Fee>t/v Free- man, nth March, 1836. '^^'^''V rree The hypocritical idea, that such satanic zeal may "promote pure protestantism" even in the estimation oi its most stern defenders, will render it the more abominable, and such efforts would only make the instigators the more culpable. Thus, when an application was made in England to show lenity to the rioters of London, in 1780, called Lord (George Gordon's mob, " because those who first S I 8 oiiijagpcl ill it did so from the conscientious motive of pro- moting protestantism," the great Edmund Burke declared, l(as Lord John Russell observed, some months since, m his 'reply to the memorial on behalf of the Dorchester labourers) " those who were the originators were more culpable than those who were seduced to follow their example for the sake of plunder." We therefore hope that you, my l^rotesrant friends, will despise the efforts of such fanatics, and whilst you hold, from conscientious moti.es, your own creed, ^yill allow us to enjoy in peace, the blessings of our religion and the advantages of our religious communities. As for those who have aided in propagating the slanders of Rebecca Reed and Maria Monk, we call their attention to the follow- ing observations of an eminent divine, on the baneful consequences of such publications : — " The authors and promulgators of immoral or slanderous works, may, it is true, repent of their crime, but can never recal the mischief, as it branches out into endless ramifications, and goes down to the latest posterity. The only reparation they can make, is for the future to do all the good they can, in order to atone, in some measure, for the evil etfects of their writings." But whilst there are prejudiced and unprincipled persons fabricating lying stories, for the purpose of reviling our religion, and blackening the character of our religious insti- tutions, it is very gratifying to our feelings to find so many of our unprejudiced and enlightened Protestant brethren coming forward promptly and generously to vindicate us, and rescue the character of the innocent of our community, when attacked by those uncharitable calumniators, who think it no crime to rob their fellow-creature of his good fame ; like the murderers of their Lord and Saviour, who took away his life becausy they considered him as an obstacle to their designs, and an exposer of their hypocrisies. ViNDEX. < I THE FABRICATION OF MARIA MONK DETECTED AND EXPOSED. in In commencing the exposure of Maria Monk's falsehoods, we cite the following from a Dublin journal : — " From the columns of a Montreal paper we learn, that the system, of which Rebecca Reed was the first agent, has found another and a fitting tool in the person of a young woman of light mind and depraved habits, named Maria Monk, a native of Montreal. From the depositions of Doctor Robinson, a justice of the peace for Montreal, it would appear that in November, 1834, a young woman was found in the neighbourhood in a destitute condition, who stated that she was the daughter of a Dr. Robinson. Upon being confronted, however, with her all ged father, she admitted that she had uttered an untruth; and ths^t in reality her father was one William Monk, of that city. She stated, that in consequence of temporary insanity, to which she was subject, her parents had kept ker chained in a cellar for four years. When it was remarked to her that her per- son bore no marks of manacles or any other mode of res- traint, she replied that her mother took care to cover the ! irons with soft cloths to prevent them injuring the skin. From this time until August last Dr. Robinson lost sight of this strange story-teller. It would seem, however, that in the interval she made her appearance in New York, in a very destitute condition, where she excited the interest of the lovers of the marvellous and the haters of Popery, by alleging all manner of crimes against the monks and nuns nf tKo r^anofol U'^<^«^*«'n1 «f A/t ^^4~ — ^1 —4. _f UJ-L -1 — «i,^ ----vtii.j;Ki. riuapisai %jl i.TXUllu uai, uut Ol vviliuu pItiCiS she asserted she had escaped. It is said the authorities at New York deputed a Mr. Hoyte (who represented himsalf r 10 as a clergyman) and two other gentlemen to accompany the wretched woman to Montreal, to make inquiry in reference to the truth of her statement. And in August last Mr. Robinsoowas waited upon by several inhabitants of Montreal, who requested that he would, as a magistrate, institute an inquiry into * some very serious charges which had been made against certain Roman Catholic priests of the place and the nuns of the General Hospital, by a female who had been a nun in that establishment for four years, and who had divulged the horrible secrets of that establishment, such as the illicit and criminal intercourse between the nuns and the priests, stating particulars of much depravity of conduct on the part of these people, in this respect, and their murder- ing the offspring of these criminal connections, as soon as they were born, to the number of from thirty to forty every year/ Dr. Robinson at once declared that he did not believe there was the slightest truth in the allegations. He consented, however, to see the wretched woman alluded to, and he then found that she was the same who had, some months previously, told such a strange story of her own parents. She repeater;, in Dr. Robinson's presence, the allegations we have mentioned above, stating that she had been four years in a convent, and had taken the black veil. * I was asked to take her deposition (says Dr. Robinson) on her oath as to the truth of what she stated. I declined doing so, giving as a reason, that, from my knowledge of her cha- racter, I considered her assertions upon oath were not en- titled to more credit than her bare declaration, and that I did not believe either ; intimating, at the same time, my willingness to take the necessary steps for a full investigation, if they could get any other person to corroborate any part of her solemn testimony, or if a direct charge were made against any particular individual of a criminal nature.' •* The widowed mother of the unfortunate creature, a Protestant, too, came forward and swore that her daughter was never in a nunnery, unless when, at the age of eight years, she went to school in such an establishment. She further swore that Hoyte was very pressing in his solicita- tions that she (Mrs. Monk) would make out that her daughter had been in a nunnery. He stated, says the writer, * that should I say so, it would be better than one hundred pounds « (. t 11 to me ; that I should be protected for life, that 1 should leave Montreal, and that 1 would be better provided for elsewhere ; I ansxvered that thousands of pounds would not induce me to perjure myself. T told hinj^ifSf^^gi^ino- I was a Protestant, and did not like the/I^^AjiegK^^li. gion, but like all other respectablt^/*%^IStants priests of the seminary and the nunpr og'^Iontraakin veierj tion, as the most pious and charitable p^rs^|WS?ir " When it was found that the mother vtas noktoi^wi upon by the golden promises of the wfeche>w^ hi her child into their toils, it seems theilfetim wi ^ away, or at least kept out of her parent's^^j5S5f''«K|^t is supposed) maternal counsel might spoil tt»«$?rof the American O'Mulligans. But w have further evidence of the character of this pretended i.un. Upon her return to Montreal sne was the mother of an infant child. If does not positively appear that Hoyte was the father of the bantling but from his conduct in regard to it and its unfortunate mo- ther, the fact IS rendered more than suspicious." Morning Register. * « We perceive that the pious publishers of Protestant Pious Frauds, are zealously placarding the revelations of Miss xMaria Monk-revelations in one sense certainly ; for the facts put forth by her had no previous earthly existence, unless m the shape of a work published some 100 years before. Still the vilification goes on ; and the Irish saint, pander to the prurient imagination of all who can digest a lie for the enjoyment of the filthy luxury ivhich is its ac- cessary. We copy the following paragraph from the Liver- poo Journal m reference to this base and maliirnant tissue ot lies : — ^ ' « i It is likely that the pious slanderers of Catholicity (who are Legion m th,s city) may send to the illiberal portion oFthe BritSh \ nnl'^'P't •'' \r^' Par^Phlet, called '■ Awful Disclosure., by MaHa Monk, h,ch they have lately published here. If notice be taken In the vTaMrn^""'."'^' '^'' ''^^''^''^ ^'^^^^ "-'^ ^'^ "^ use to you" oDene7 o J n ' ^^'' "'"' P"!'^'^^''"^ '^^"^^ "The Gates of Hell Xi' ;,oH.' o TnP^'"?"' «^f«. Secret, of Nunneries.' Mis, ^;«. "';'\' P"':iprncL IS a verbaiuu copy of that work ! the onlv difference being the change of names. Drl Bartlott, the ed tor ot S Boston Post, pledged himself, a week since, that this was the fecL and In mornms tho od.tor. of the Ho,to» P,fot state that they are read- "» .naive Hll.dav.t that the original work, printed in l/.-JI, was in tlu i" I I 12 i; '1 ■ poiaession until a few montlis ago, when it was lent to the publishef of the ^ Awful Disclosures.' Thev copy pages from both works, which are the same, word for word. *' — Ibid, We shall now lay before an impartial public, evidence sufficient to prove that no Protestant, who values truth and justice, can aid, even in the most remote way, the circulation of the tissue of lies, signed Maria Monk. The first shall be the universal testimonieF of the Protes- tant Journalists at Montreal, where the religious institutes, so grossly reviled, are established. The second shall be the sworn testimony of those who were best acquainted with the character of the said Maria Monk. " The first publication of this calumny against the priest- hood and nuns of Montreal, appeared in a New York * re- ligious' (?) paper, called the Protestant Vindicator. The number in which the infamous libel appeared, was dat^d 14th October, 1835, three months previous to the appear- ance of the book ; it reached Montreal four or five days after, and was met by immediate and unanimous contradic- tion from the whole of the Protestant press of the province. These contradictions are of the most unqualified character ; and as the parties from whom they emanated are, for the most part, politically oppo&ad to the section of the popular tion to which the priests belong, they are at once honourable to the good feelings of the witnesses, and of course the more valuable as evidence. " We shall commence with the evidence of the Montreal Herald, in favour of the unimpeachable character of the calumniated persons. After a paragraph which it is not necessaiy to quote, the Herald proceeds as follows : — • • • * The first editorial article is entitled ' Nunneries,' and is intended to be an exposure of debauchery and murder, said to have taken place in the Hdtel Dieu in this city. We will not disgrace our columns, nor disgust our readers, by copying the false, the abominably false article. Though of a different religious persuasion from the priests and the nuns, we have had too many opportunities of witnessing their unwearied assiduity and watchfulness, and Christian charity, ■•■■(■ "■»fc »»■"»• *•»_.•••■•• Sf s*.T »? ft I ^^ •.? V» t V *■ V'V 5 "Mt'f "Jl»^» tj»»;,**( ^P* ) Vl( l^f,. • *'*> ^-H*".- ■••«•»--•. — -- unimpoachcd and unimprachable rectitude of their conduct, to be in thp! slightest degree swayed in our opinion by a newspaper slAnder ; but we would respectfuHy inform the conductors of the Protettrtnt f^itidicafor, that there never existed a claaa of men who are mor«* 13 e publisher loth works, evidence truth and ;irculation je Prctes- institutes, those who aid Maria the priest- re- The dat^d fork tor. vas le appear- five days contradic- province. character ; B, for the \e popuia- tonourable J the more Montreal ter of the I it is not sries,' and is said to have disgrace our abominably n from the >f witnessing dan charity, the hitherto ict, to be in per slAnder ; e Protestant 10 are more highly respected, and ra^r? universally esteeniedt by individuals of all persuasions, than the Roman Catholic priests of Montreal. The * Sisters of Charity' are equally respected, and are the means of j effecting important services to the community. They pmcttte Christianity, by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, protecting the orphan, ana ministering to the sick, the afflicted, and the dying — * pursuing the noiseless tenor of their way,' courting no popular applause, and seeking their sole reward in ' conscience void of offence towards God and man.' We do not pretend to be defenders of the Rom-in Catholic religion, or of any of its particular institutions. We are Protestants, and glory in being so ; but we will not so far forget the precepts of our divine Master, as to connive at traducing the character of individuals, who are exemplary members of society, although they are of a different religious persuasion from ourselves!' << The Montreal Gazette, another journal of similar poli- tics, and conducted by Protestants, is equally unqualified in its testimony in favour of the calumniated, and equally in- dignant in its condemnation of the calumniators. We select the following passages : — • * • ' From our infancy we have resided in this city, and we therefore may be supposed to know the characters of the Roman Catholic clergy and the nuns, somewhat better than any itinerant preacher from the United Statew. Their constant and unremitted attention to the discharge of their parochial duties — their kind and affectionate attendance upon the sick, at all seasons, hut more parti- cularly during the severe visitations of pestilence, have excited general admiration and approval from the believers in other creeds— their numerous acts of charity and benevolence are experienced by thou- sands, whose wants and sufferings have been relieved from the funds at their disposal — their character for unblemished purity and morality has stood unimpeached, until a worthless and anonymous scribbler has dared to impugn Lheir hitherto unsullied reputations. • • • • * It is superlatively ridiculous to suppose, that while these institu- tions are open daily to the visits of our citizens, and their inmates are seen at all hours attending to their religious avocations, such events should occur as have been described, and yet be unknown to the public until ushered into notice by a New York paper. The palpable errors with which the article teems, as to the title and qualifications of some of the clergy, betray its origin, and point it out as the pro- duction of one, who has raised up the creature of his imagination, with a view to injure the Roman Catholic religion, and to support his own illiberal views.' " The other English papers of Montreal added their vo- luntary testimony to the same effect, as did also those of Quebec ; from one of which we shall content ouFKeivee ^vith a single quotation. It is from the Quebec Mercury : — ' The falsehood of this, pr t/^nded, Protestant Vindicator, is so revolting and gross, and couched in terms so coarse, that we can 14 make no quotation from it, nor even more particularly allude to it, ithan to say, in contradiction of the infamous slander to which it has given birth, that having passed the greater part of our life in this province, in which we havo an extensive acquaintance, we have never known any ladies who had been educated in either of the nun- neries of this city, and ot Montreal, who did not in after-life retain the warmest affection for the religious ladies who were their precep- [tors, and speak of them in the highest terms ; and if they become mothers, afford the strongest evidence of the confidence they reposed in the purity of the lives and conduct of the members of these institu- tions, by committing their young daughters to their care and instruc- tion. The conduct also of the Roman Catholic clergy in Canada deserves an equally strong testimony from us. We have witnessed I their courageous and unremitting attention to their duties, when an appalling pestilence twice swept over the land; we have seen them I as the preceptors of youth in the seminaries — we have known them in the discharge of their more limited, yet not less useful, duties as parish priests, and in all these characters we are bound to say, that their conduct has been such as to command the love of their own I flock?, and the sincerest respect of the Protestant inhabitants towards the Roman Catholic clergy.' " These general testimonies in favour of the Roman I Catholic clergy and religious ladies of Montreal, and in contradiction to the sweeping accusations against them con- tained in the paper already named, produced no retraction or apology on the part of the editor of the Protestant Vindi- cator. On the contrary, in a subsequent number of that paper, dated 4th of November, 1835, the calumnies were reiterated and insisted upon, in the violent and bitter lan- Iguage of ignorant fanaticism, on the single authority of the unfortunate creature whose name is attached to the book quoted at the head of this article. " In the mean time some of the Protestant inhabitants of jMontreal bad voluntarily instituted an inquiry into the origin i;of the accusations, and the result was the perfect establish- Jment of the falsehood of the statements, which have since \ been woven into the book under notice. The first piece of evidence we shall offer, is the affidavit of Dr. Robertson, a physician of long standing, and a justice of the peace. It is not the first in chronological w.der, but it is the first in importance, as it gives a connected history of Maria Monk ior a considerable time previously. This document we give entire. I' *' I u lude to it, I which it life in thia I we have f the nun- -life retain lir precep- !y become ey reposed ise institu- d in^truc- in Canada witnessed , when an seen them own them duties as 1 say, that their own ts towards Roman , and in lem con- action or t Vindi- r of that lies were tter lan- ty of the he book )itants of be origin (stablish- ive since piece of irtson, a ace. It ? first in ia Monk we give * William Robertnon, of Montreal, Doctor in i.Iedicine, beins; duly sworn on the Holy Evangelists, deposeth and saithas I'oilows: — On the 9th of November, 1834, three men came up to my house, having a young female in company with them, who, they said, was observed, that fore- noon, on the bank of the canal, near the extremity of the St. Joseph suburbs', acting in a manner which induced some people, who savy her, to think that she intended to drown herself. They took her into al house in the neighbourhood, where, after being there some hours, and interrogated an to who she was, &c., she said she was the daughter of Dr. Robertson. On receiving this information they brought her] to my house. Being from home when tliey came to the door, and learning from Mrs. Robertson that she had denied them, they conveye' her to the watch-house. Upon hearing this story, in company wit G. Auldjo, Esq., of this city, I went to the watch-house, to inquirej into the affair. We found the young female, whom I have since as-i certained to be Maria Monk, daughter of W. Monk, of this city, ini custody. She said that although she was not my daughter, she wa the child of respectable parents, in or very near Montreal, who, fior some light conduct of hers (arising from temporary insanity, to whic she was, at times, subject from her infancy), had kept her confinedj and chained in a cellar for the last four years. Upon examination, no mark or appearance indicated the wearing of manacles, or any other mode of restraint. She said, on my observing this, that hei mother always took care to cover the irons with soft cloths, to preven them injuring the skin. From the appearance of her hands, she evi dently had not been used to work. To remove her from the watch house, where she was confined with some of the most profligate women of the town, taken up for inebriety and disorderly conduc in the streets, as she could not give a satisfactory account of herself. 1, as a justice of the peace, sent her to jail as a vagrant. The follow ing morning, I went to the jail, for the purpose of ascertaining, i possible, who she was. After considerable persuasion, she promised to divulge her story to the Rev. H. Bsson, one of the clergymen of th Church of Scotland, to whose congregation she said her parents be longed. That gentleman did call at the jail, and ascertain who sh was. In the course of a few days she was released, and I did not se^ her again imtil the month of August last, when Mr. Johnson, o| Griffm-town, joiner, and Mr. Cooley, of the St. Ann suburbs, mer| chant, called upon me about ten o'clock at night, and after some pref fatory remarks, mentioned that the object of their visit was to a8l| me, as a magistrate, to institute an inquiry into some very seriou^^ charges which had been made against some of the Roman Catholi priests of the place, and the nuns of the General Hospital, by a fe male who had been a nun in that institution for four years, and wh( had divulged the horrible secrets of that establishment, such as th illicit and criminal intercourse between the nuns and the pries stating particulars of sucli depravity of conduct, on the part of the people, in this respect, and their murdering the oiJspring of thes criminal connexions as soon as they were born, to the number oi from thirty to forty eve ly year. I instantly stated, that J did no believe a word of what thev'told me. and they must have been impoaec 16 vponbyaorne evil-dispofied and designing person. Upon inquiry who this nun, their informant, was, I discovered that she answered exactly the iescription of Maria Monk, whom I had so much trouble Bbout last year, and mentioned to those individuals my suspicion, and 1 what 1 knew of that unfortunate girl. Mr. Cooley said to Mr. John- : aon, * Let ua go home, we are hoaxed.' They told me she was then at Mr. Johnson's house, and requested me to call there and hear her own story. Tue next day, or the day following, [ did call, and saw Maria Monk at Mr. Johnson's house. She repeated in my presence the substance of what was mentioned to me before, relating to her haying been in the nunnery for four years j having taken the black veil ; the crimes committed there ; and a variety of other circum- atances concerning the conduct of the priests and nuns. A Mr. Hoyte was introduced to me, and was present during the v,?hole of the time that I was in the house. He was represented as one of the persons who had come in from New York with this voung woman, for the purpose of investigating into this mysterious affair. I was asked to take her deposition, on her oath, as to the truth of what she had «tated. 1 declined doing so, giving as a reason, that from my know- ledge of her character, I considered her assertions upon oath were not entitled to more credit than her bare atsaertion, and that I did not believe either ; intimating at the same time, my willingness to take the necessary steps for a full investigation, if they could get any other person to corroborate any part of her solemn testimony, or if A direct charge were made against any particular individual of a cri- minal nature. During the first interview with Messrs. Johnson and Cooley, they mentioned that Maria Monk had been found in New York in a very destitute situation by some charitable individuals, who administered to her necessities, being very sick. She expressed a wish to see a clerg}'man, as she had a dreadful secret which she wished to divulge before she died : a clergyman visiting her, she re- lated to him the alleged crimes of the priests and nuns of the General Hospital at Montreal. After her recovery, she was visited and examined by the mayor and some lawyers at New York, after- wards at Troy, in the State of New York, on the subject ; and I un- derstood them to say, that Mr. Hoyte and two other gentlemen, one of them a lawyer, were sent to Montreal with her, for the purpose of ■examining into the truth of the accusations thus made. Although incredulous as to the truth of Maria Monk's story, J thought it in- cumbent upon me to make some inquiry concerning it, and have ascertained where she has been residing a great part of the time she atates ha.ving been an inmate of the nunnery. During the summer of 1832, she was at service at William Henry ; the winters of 1832-S, she passed in this neighbourhood, at St. Ours, and St. Denis. The accounts given of her conduct that season, corrobo- rate the opmions I had before entertained of her character. W. Robertson. iSworn before me, at Montreal, this 14th day of November, 1835. Benj. Holmes, J. P., )on inquiry e answered uch trouble ipicion, and Mr. John- le was then nd hear her 1], and saw ly presence ;ing to her 1 the black er circum- 3. A Mr. e whole of one of the woman, for [ was asked lat she had my know- oath were that I did llingness to lid get any aony, or if al of a cri- hnson and id in New ndividuals, I expressed which she sr, she re- ins of the tvas visited ork, after- and I un- emen, one purpose of Although ght it in- and have e time she le summer vinters of , and St. corrobo- ;r. rsoN. )er, 1835. J. P., m " But, although f*ach of these stories contradicts the] other, and all completely destroy the general credibility ot* the witness, we have, further, the direct testimony of Dr. Robertson, that during the four years in question, she was 1 neither chained in a cellar, nor outraged in a nunnery. In 1832, she was at William Henry — a town about forty- five ;niles below Montreal ; and in the winter of 1832-3, she was living in the same neighbourhood, namely, at St. Ours or St. Denis, two villages lying south and inland of the townj just named. '• We now come to the affidavit of the mother of Maria | Monk. It is of great length, and contains some minor details which do not materially strengthen the evidence,! though they would do so were that evidence of a less decided] character. Many of these details we shall therefore omit, givino; only the most important passages. " The affidavit was sworn to on the 24th of October,! 1835, before Dr. Robertson, whose own evidence thej reader has just perused. " Mrs. Monk declares in this affidavit, 'That wishing to guard the public against the deception which has lately been practised in Montreal by designing men, who havej taken advantage of the occasional mental derangement of her. daughter, to make scandalous accusations against ihe priests andj the nuns in Montreal, and afterwards to make her pass herself for a nun who had left the convent,' "She proceeds to state, that in August, 1835, a man named lloyte, who stated himself to be a minister of New York, culled upon her and informed her, — ' That he had lately come to Montreal, with a young woman and] child of five weeks old ; tiuitthe woman had absconded from himatS Goodenough's tavern, where they were lodging, and left him withl tlie child ; h(; gave me a description of the woman ; I unfortunately| discovered that the description answered my daughter, and thei reflection that this stranger had called upon Mr. Esson, our pastor,! and inquiring for inv brother, I suspected that this was planned; 1 asked fur the child,' and said that I would place it in a nunnery; tu that Mr. Hoyto started every objection, in abusive !a?iguagei against the nuns." *' Subsequently the child was delivered to her. Mrs.| Monk then >eiit an accuiaiutaiu.-e, a Mr?. Tarbeit, to seekl li 3 :l pi., 18 for her ilau^UttT, who was lound, but she rt'l'itsed to go to hei' mother's house. I'he only tact of importance, in thi^ portion of the affidavit, is, that Maria Monk had borrowed a bonnet and shawl * to assist hei* escape from that Mr. Hoyte, at the Hotel,' and J^^he requested Mrs. Tarbert to return them to the owner. " We now proceed to quote a further portion of Mrs*. Monk's affidavit. ' Early in the afternoon of the same day, Mr. Hoyte came to my liouse with the same old man, wishing me to make all iny efforts to find the girl, in the mean time speaking vory bitterly against the Catholics, the priests, and the nuns ; mentioned that my daughter luid been in the nunnery, where she had been ill-treated. I denied that my daughter had ever been in a nunnery ; that when she was about eight years of age she went to a day-sschool ; at that time came in two other persons, whom Mr. Hoyte introduced ; one was the Rev. Mr. Brewster. I do not recollect the other reverence's name. They all requested me, in the most pressing terms, to try to make it out my daughter had been in the nunnery ; and that she had some connexion with the priests of the seminary, of which nunnery and priests she spoke in the most outrageous terms ; said that should I make that out, myself, my daughter, and child, would be protected for life. I expected to get rid of their importunities, in relating the melancholy circumstances by which my daughter was frequently deranged in her hfad, and told them that when at the age of about seven years, she broke a slate pencil in her head ; that since that time her mental faculties were deranged, and by times much more than at other times, but that she was far from being an idiot ; that she could make tlje most ridiculous but most plausible stories ; and that as to the history that she had been in a nunnery, it was a fabrication, for she never was in a nunnery ; that at one time I wished to obtain a place in a nunnery for her; that I had employed the influence of Mrs. DeMontenach, of Dr. Nelson, and of our pastor the Rev. Mr. Esson, but without success.' • * • ' After inany more solicitations to the same effect, three of them retired, but Mr. Hoyte remained, adding to the other solicitations : he was stopped, a person having rapped at the door ; it was then candle-light. I opened the door, and I found Doctor M'Donakl, who told me that my daughter Maria was at his house in the most distressing situation ; that she wished him to come and make h^r peace with me; I went with the Doctor, to his house in M.'G I! r-tieet; she came with me to near my house, but would not .-- 1.;. i.jt '•itljsta.adJng 1 assured her thiit she would be kindly '- ■ :' ", ■'. ij. a i vv\.u!d g've her her child ; she crossed the parade p^ruuiid, and I went into the houec, and returned for her. — Mr. Hoyte followed me. She was leaning on the west railing of the p'-rade; we went to her: Mr. Hoyte told her, my dear Mary, I r-ni Forry you have treated yourself and me in this manner; I hope y^u have not expo?ed what has passed between \is nevertheless; I 19 to go to ', ill thi- )rro\ved a that Mr. ^arbert to 1 of Mr». ame to my ■ efforts to igciinst the y daughter I denied en she was tiinf came e was the ce's name. ■y to make 3 had some nunnery said that would he unities, in lighter was I at the age iiead ; that by times n being an t plausible I nunnery, lat at one ;hat I had elson, and me effect, the other t the door ; nd Doctor : his house come and s house in would not [ be kindly the parade her.— Mr. ling of the r Mary, I er ; I hope itheless; I will treat you the same as ever, and spoke to lier in the most affec- tionate terms ; took her in his anus ; she at first spoke to liim very cross, and refused to go with him, but at last consented and went away with him, absolutely refusing to come to my house. Soon after, Mr. Moyte came and demanded the child : I gave it to him. Next morning Mr. Hoyte returned, and was more pressing than in iiis former solicitations, and recjuested me to say that my daughter! had been in the nunnery ; that should I sav so it would be better! than one hundred pounds to me ; that I would be protected for life, and that I should leave Montreal, and that I would be better provided for elsewhere ; I answered that thousands of pound;* would not in-| duce me to perjure myself; then he got saucy and abusive to the! utmost ; he said he came to Montreal to detect the infamy of thej priests and the nuns.' " What follows is not important, except ihat Miv. Monl heard a few days after that her daughter was at one Mr. Johnson's, a joiner, at Griilin-town, with Mr. Hoyte ;j ' that he passed her for a nun who had escaped fioni tht Hotel Dieu Nunnery ;' and on further inquiry, she found that her daughter had subsequently gone off' with the saij Hoyto. '^ To the above ample testimony we shall only add th« most material portion of the evidence of Mrs. Tarbeit, th( female who was requested by Mrs. Motdv to seek out hej daughter : — ' I know the said Maria Monk ; last spring she told me that thm father of the child she was then carrying, was burned in Mr. Owsf ten's house. She often went away in the country, and at the requesl of her mother I accompanied her acrot-s the river. Last summel she came back to my lodgings, and told me that she had made ouij the father of the child ; and that very night left me and went awaj-lj The next morning I found that slie was in a house of bad fUnu*' where 1 went for her, and told the woman keeping that house, ths she ought not to allow that girl to remain there, for she was a girl ( good and honest family. Maria Monk then told me that she woul| not go to him, (alluding, as I understood, to the lather of the child] for that he wanted her to swear an oath that would lose her soul fol ever, but jestingly said, should make her a lady for ever. I thef told her (Maria) do not lose your soul for money.' " Here, tb.en, not only have we abundant proof of thj !,tter falsehood of Maria' Monk's ' awful disclosure?,' \)\\ the whole character of this abominable conspiracy is ur fol d ed . " — Dublin Be me w . The same writer concludes .... remarks by ''e followiii observations : — - % 20 *• Btit little now remains to be added. Touching the clmtaoter of the Catholic clergy and nuns of Canada, we might add the testimony of several persons now in liOndon, who«e opportunities of observation have been amfjle, having resided many years in Canada, during the whole of which period not even a whisper was ever uttered against these " servants of the Gospel. On the contrary, the spotless [i purity of their lives was universally acknowledged. Living I i in tlie midst of a populous city, their residences open to any 1^ visitor, constantly mixing with the inhabitants, they may be said to be perpetually under the public eye ; hence it M'ould be quite impossible that any irregularity of conduct could be practised without attracting attention and leading to ex- posure. — Most of the individuals named in Maria Monk's book, are specially known for the practice of every active virtue. With reference to education particularly, both ' ' priests and nuns have secured the enduring gratitude of the , community of Lower (^anada. The seminaries* of Montreal I and Quebec are the only public schools of any note in I Lower Canada, and there is scarcely an individual of any education in thf province who is not indebJed for his mental acquirements to on*^ or othf^r of those excellent establish^ nients. ; " The same may be said of the nunneries as places of f! education for ^irls. So deservedly popular are they, that •,!, the Protestant Isnglish are in the habit of sending their pi daughters to those institutions for elementary education ; and, ' as the Quebec Mercury very properly observes, when these , daughters in their turn become mothers, it is seldom that j jthey do not evince their confidence in the purity of the lives and conduct of the members of these establishments, by corninitting their own daughters to their care. •' It really oui>ht to excite astonishment that any persons !|sLould be found so destitute of moral feeling, as to renew in ■' England the publication of a work which had exposed its • authors in America to so disgraceful a celebrity. That the n \ * Seminary is the specific name of the male reli;^ious houses of 'QiK^bec and Montreal. They were originally schools of theology, Imt on the suppression of the'order of the .Tesnits, the priests of tlu* ^cminnrie'^ extcr.dod their plan U) jieiii'ral edutaUoii. \\ 21 by Standard f editc*l aa it is by aome of the moat reckless ot j the calumniators cf the religion of the people of Ireland, or that the Times should make use of any calumny, which could escape contradiction and exposure even for a few weeks, is easily accounted for by the habitual depravity of' the editors of those papers. But that any persons of a different station in life should be found so destitute of all sense of religion, as to republish known calumny — calumny, the falsehood of which was demonstrated, might indeed create the extreme of surprise, if anti-Catholic bigotry had not furnished multitudinous instances of the total abandon- ment of all shame— of such an utter disregard of veracity, that Charles James Fox's expression, of * a good Protestant lie,' is not so familiar as to suppress every angry emotion, | and to cause a smile of contempt to take the place of a more j legitimate resentment. - " We cannot but appeal to all that exists of good sense . and good feeling, against the continuance of this system ofi unprovoked and unjustifiable slander. Surely falsehood,— f calumny — for we must use the only appropriate word — isj not the proper weapon of religious controversy. It cannot! possibly make any converts to Protestantism. On the| contrary, it irritates and disgusts the Catholics, and tends to convince them that the cause must necessarily be a bad one, which sanctions and requires such vile instruments, i It is true that they may deter Protestants from giving that patient and candid attention to the merits of the controversy between them and the Catholics, which so important, so truly awful a subject demands. But this protection to Protestantism, which arises from the dark mist created by calumnious imputations, is one which no sincere Christian can hesitate to condemn : and there is also a reaction in the system itself. Protestants of just minds and right feelingsj when they discover how totally false are the assertions of the advocates of their religion, are thereby rendered more attentive to the arguments of the Catholics — more disposed to look upon Catholicity with a favourable eye, as not affording any grounds for true accusations, when calumnies are used to supply their place ; and thus, what was intendedi to prevent conversion, is often and often the cause of a gre increase to the ranks of our religion." H ' I, 22 ! I. lowing is ffllcpn from the Edinburgh Patriot, (a feigh Prou 'ant journal;, of the 22nd May, 1836: — " We are opponents of the Roni.m Catholic creed. Wo ihould like to have a fair field for discussion with those who maintain it. But that we should seek for in vain, while tbo«< ''ho call themselves b ^ friends of the Protestant cause, give them the advantage of being persecAited, We cannot have their superiority in this respect brought more forcibly before us, than in the review of Maria Monk's * Black Nunnery.' That such a work should have been published, and forced into circulation by Protestants, is sufficiently degrading. The clear confutation of its false- hoods, which we here find,— (alluding to the article in the Dub/in Review f from which we have given extracts) — is written with a temperance which the author of it owes, we fear, to the circumstance, that those who have entered into the base and degrading con6piracy he exposes, are not of his own creed." What will honest Protestants say aflter this ? What will they think of a Protestant minister giving extracts from such atrocious work weekly, for the edification of Protestants ? What restitution can such a man make to the violated laws of truth and justice ? r I u 23 atriot, (a >: — !ed. VV^o those who lin, while ^rotestant fed. We ight more [I Monk's ave been stants, is its false- cle in the acts) — is 3wes, we tered into , are not Vhat will from such testants ? a ted lavvs m We trust, that all lovers of tru.a and advocates of justice, who must naturall / desire to avoid a brencli of the precept, that comnmnds them not to bear lals^e witness ap^ainst their neighbour, will ponder on the (< Mowing s«/lenin declarations of the Holy Ghost, and avoid the (Times of calumny and detraction therein condemned : — " But if you have bitter zeal, and there be contentions in your hearts ; glory not, and be not liars against the truth. " For ♦his is not wisdom, descending from above: but euithly, sensual, devilish. " For where envying and contention is, there is incon stancy, and every evil work. " But the wisdom, that is from above, first indeed is chaste, then peaceable, modest, easy to be persuaded, co^ senting to the good, full of mercy and good fruits, withoi judging, without dissimulation. " And the fruit of justice is sown in peace, to them that make peace." — St. James, ch. iii., ver. 14 to 18, " TliOU hatest all the workers of iniquity : thou wilt de- stroy all that speak a lie. " The bloody and the deceitful man the Lord will abhor. U " For there is no truth in their mouth : their heart is vain. *' Their throat is an open sepulchre : they dealt deceitfully with their tongues : judge them, O God. " Let them fall from their devices : according to the multitude of their wickednesses cast them out : for they have provoked thee, O Lord." — Psalm v., ver. 7, 10, 11. *' Behold he hath been in labour with injustice : he hath conceived sorrow, and brought forth iniquity. ^' He hath opened a pit and dug it : and he is fallen into ^^ the bole he made. M " His sorrow shall be turned on his own head : and his M iniquity shall come down upon his crown." — PsALM vii., | ver. 15 to 17.