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(ENGLISH EDITION)

The p«wle to a grait j|
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tfftw eonelttilime,

VBUZ PYAT.

Translated by a gtuduate of Oxford University.

MONTREAL :

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812, Oralg Street, 812

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AU PAYS DES EUINES

Wm GLERIGALES

(ENGLISH EDITION)

Th« people is a great
logician that never foils
to draw conclusions,

Frlix Pyat.

Translated by a graduate of Oxford University.

MONTREAL :

A. FIL.IATREAUl.T', RubllsH^r
812, Graig Street, 312

1893.

Enterfd according to Act of Parliament of Canada, in thel
year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three, byl
A. FiUATRBAULT, in the office of the Minister of Agrij
culture.

EDITOR'S NOTICE

This book is not published in any spirit
of animosity towards the clergy of Canada :
it tends merely to show the abuses which
have crept into a system, good in itself, but
which has degenerated into a terrible power
for evil, and is a source of constant danger
to the country.

The French-Canadian people has been told
so often, from time immemorial, that his clergy
has done everything for the welfare of the
country that he has fully made up his mind,
long ago, that it must be true.

So long as the French clergy has worked
in the interest of the people, no one had a
word to say against it. So long as it re-
mained poor, it managed to help rather
than crush the Canadians. But now that
gold fills its coffers, it finds that, in order to
keep its boundless power, it must pressure
the people, and to what extent it does it is
onlv known to the few.

The object of this book is to show by
what means our people have been systema-
tically kept in ignorance, and penned up by

*. 1- 1

▼i

EDITORS NOTICE

themselves, instead of being allowed to work
side by side with their fellow-countrymen
and help to build a grand nation.

But no, that would not suit the purpose
of our masters, who know quite well that
when the majority of French-Canadians are
practically educated, there will be an end to
their nefarious influence in matters temporal.

We do not wish to injure the clergy, as
we have been accused of so often, but we
want to limit its action to the spiritual wel-
fare of the souls, and to let us take care of
the bodies.

The only way to do this is to educate the
people and demonstrate that the action of
the clergy, outside of spiritual matters, is
fraught with danger to the whole commu-
nity. Others who will follow in our wake
will reap the benefit of the campaign we
have undertaken a few months ago, and
finally an era of prosperity and satisfaction
will be inaugurated in our midst, and hand
in hand, the descendants of the two greatest
nations on earth will work admirably to*
gether in the common interest, and make of
this Dominion one of the greatest countries
in the world.

The Editor.

PEEFACE.

There is here no question of religion, not-
withstanding the efforts that some will make
to enlist it once more in the service of a sys-
tem, which has from time immemorial been
the bane of true religion.

If religion were what the selfi&,u traffickers
in holy things wish to make of it, it would
long since have been banished from all civi-
lized countries. It is because it is superior
to these manipulations that it lies at the
bottom of the heart of all humanity.

Keligion is as necessary to man as the air
that he breathes, or the beating of his heart ;
and those who, struck by a peculiar kind of
madness, imagine that God and the Immor-
tality of the Soul are mere inventions of
man, have arrived at that opinion only be-
cause, in the disorder of their faculties, they
have thought to find another God than that
of their fellow-creatures.

Who, then, would be mad enough to deny

vni

PREFACE

i II!

to a fellow-man the right to worship God in
his own way, since each one has God in his
heart, even when he forgets to pay to him
in public all the homage which he owes him ?
And if each one, armed with his own belief,
wishes to impose it on his neighbor by
means which do not convince his reason,
Eeligion, instead of being man's chief conso-
lation and refuge amid the bitter troubles
of the outer world, becomes the constant
originator of conflicts between man and man,
of civil wars, and cf national struggles.

The religion which passes from the action
of the heart and reason to that of a brutal
propagandism in external formalities — that
religion, instead of forming between men a
bond of love and of benevolent tolerance,
becomes the instigator to crime, without
excepting even fratricide and parricide, as all
history teaches — and is converted into the
scourge of humanity.

To this religion of hatred and proscription
we do not belong. On the contrary we
belong to that religion which has said : Pax
hominibtia honce voluntatis ; that is, " Peace to
men of good-will " : a verse which so many
people sing every Sunday without under-
standing its meaning.

PREFACE

We are of that religion of peace which
does not invoke the cWil law to oppress, but
to protect all men against oppression.

What ! because for fifteen years we have
submitted to all kinds of aggression without
repulsing the attack — because for fifteen
years, having confidence in the teachings of
that religion of peace, and in the institutions
of our country, we have scorned the extra-
vagances of traders in religion, they thought
that we had been reduced to the condition
of helots, or of lambs that hold out their
necks to be sacrificed to intolerance! A
mistake 1 We were only sleeping in the
calmness of conscious strength.

We suffered the surrounding atmosphere
to be laden with unwholesome vapors,
because they lightly touched only the outer
skin, and caused nothing but an unpleasant
buzzing near our ears. TiiC poisonous fly
of intolerancehad not yet dared to settle upon
any one of us. When it pricks us, we
awaken with a start, and we crush the fly !

Joseph Doutre.

insTDjEx:

I 111

Editor's Notice ^ 5

Preface ... »

• • 7

The Eeligious Situation ...... , n

The Jesuits .... o^

The Castor \ ^j

Undue Influence Aa

Mysticism and Chastity gj

Terrorism i«l

The Cathedral „ g^

Inexorable Cruelty . , gg

Censures and Excommunications iqq

The Education of the Priest. ....... H?

The Priest and money i.»5

Knaves and Fools jog

Priests Among Themselves I45

Clergy and "CanadarRevue" 155

if\ ••••.. . 195

THE RELIGIOTO SITUATION.

The people is a great logician
that never fails to draw conclu>

sions

F^ux Pyat.

The Catholic Church in Canada, and above all,
in the Province of Quebec, is at present passing
through a crisis of painful intensity, the causes of
which are so serious that it is necessary to probe
and investigate them, if it were only to leave, in
the evolution which is going on, some traces of the
agitated period in which we live, and some docu-
ments for the benefit of those, who. Inter on, will
have to write our nai.onal and religious history.

Eusebius, Bishop of Csesareia, be£[an his history
by declaring that " he would say all that would be
to the glory of the Church, and would keep silent
on all that would be to its shame."

It is usually in this way that religious history is
written : but ,we shall not adopt this method.

Since we have quoted an ecclesiastical authority,^
we may be permitted to go back to an earlier time,
and to seek our guide in a still more elevated
sphere.

We do not wish to strike a blow at anybody, we
have no hatred of anybody : we are only desiroua
of shewing what free men are.

It is written in the Qospel : " If ye continue in

my word Ye shall know the truth, and

the truth shall make you free." John VIII, 31, 32.

St. Athanasius has developed this thought in
noble language : " We must speak freely, because

AU PAYS DE8 RUINES

■I li

we have not received a spirit of slavery which
begets fear : it is to liberty that the spirit of God
has called us."

Ecclesiastical historians do not, perhaps, admire,
as they ought to do, this truly admirable man.
Saint Athanasius defied all-powerful emperors,
and, sooner than bend the knee, went away to live
on roots in the depth of the deserts of the Thebaid.
It was from there that he governed his diocese, to
the great rage of Julian, the Apostate, who wrote to
him : " I learn that Athanasius, with his usual
audacity, has put himself in possession of what he
calls the Episcopal Throne. The wretch ! he dares,
during my reign to confer baptism ! He, a man of
obscure origin, glories in braving death ! '*

There is no death for us to brave, and we are
aware of the fact ; but it must be confessed that, in
our country, we must, nevertheless, have a certain
amount of boldness to attempt to tell the truth.

It is a hard resolution to form, and the struggle
is very dramatic. Man has a proud and glorious
object in view — to defend his beliefs, and fight
for his convictions; but he has, also, a terrible
restrainer, a leaden shackle which fastens him to the
ground, and prevents his progress. Like the prisoner
of the Baron des Adr^ts, he advances to the edge of
the tower, questions space with his glances, and
flings himself back, murmuring : " Good heavens !
what a leap ! "

On the advice of some friends, we have decided
to speak out, and express our opinion of the situa-
tion. We have conquered the prejudices, which
restrained us, and have pushed back, as it were,
with our elbow all those who muttered in our ears
words of fear and aflright, and we are here I

In every phase of evolution, and in every move-
ment of essential modification, we mast carefully
discriminate between the ultimate and the imme-
diate causes.

RUINE8 CLERICALE8

Throughout the whole of this work we shall
study the ultimate causes ; but we have only to
enumerate the immediate causes, so well are they
known.

The Catholic clergy lived with us for twenty-five
years past in a calm existence which augured well
— which softly flattered the faithful, and called
forth from the whole world an admiration that has
been daringly turned to profit — when all of a
sudden a series of frightful scandals breaks out.

Even in the city of Montreal, a priest gives him-
self up to the most degrading saturnalia with one
of his feminine devotees.

At Sorel, an ecclesiastic is guilty of the most
indecent conduct to a respectable old man.

At Montreal again, a priest is arrested in com-
pany of a strumpet, who was helping him to
manufacture illicit whiskey.

At Black Lake, a priest had a corpse which was
still warm opened in order to baptize an infant ;
while at Chambly another priest refused to baptize
an infant unless the tithes were paid.

At M(iskinong6, a Bedemptorist demoniac, so to
speak, provokes a schism by cursing a whole parish ;
and foui'teen families become Protestant to escape
the insults of this dotard.

In open service at the church of Notre-Dame, a
woman whips with her beads her spiritual director,
with a mystical jealousy of whom she felt herself
seized.

All these scandalous events happening unexpect-
edly within about three months have caused the
burst of indignation, for which we have undertaken
to assign the real causes.

Some one used to say : " Contemporary persecu*
tions are rather chastisements than trials." These
words have a broad foundation of truth. Tes ! we
believe, and numbers of priests also believe thai

AV PATS DBS BUINES

the 'present commotion, like the great Revol/iUion, is
an expiation. We do not wish to throw any fresh
stones at the clergy, who have aUready received so
many ! Neither will we commit the folly of show-
ering on the whole clerical body the faults of one,
or of several of its members, and we know, also, in
the words of a famous infidel that " the lives of
laymen have always been more vicious than those
of priests, but the licentious conduct of the latter
has always been more noticeable on account of its
contrast with the rule of clerical life." Such is our
opinion, and we add that our conviction, like that of
Fdouard Drumont, {La demilre bataille) is, that
"of all officially constituted bodies of men, the
clerical body is the worthiest." Thus thinks, and
thus reasons every educated man.

But the crowd is not obliged to reason in the
same manner ; it res^ons about priests, as we find
the reasoning in Virgil : ah uno d%sce omnes, that is,
*' Learn the character of all from the criminality of
one."

A single act, in the eyes of the crowd, constitutes
habit, and what one priest does the others can do,
and often do. Hence the disesteem into which, on
account of the criminalitv of one of its members,
the whole clerical body falls.

It is true that people are very exacting in regard
to a priest. Father Caussette said one day : " We
should never see the priest but at the altar." This
would certainly be a wise measure to prevent his
ever being degraded in the eyes of the world.

Oh ! w€ understand perfectly the fascination
produced on the mind by these rare solemnities, in
the midst of the glitter of countless decorations,
of gold inundated with light, of waves of harmony,
and the silvery modulations of the chime of bells,
of variegated and perfumed clouds of incense
rifling in a twisted column from the steps of the

BUINES CLEBICALES

altar to rejoin one another, coiling themselves
above the tabernacle, and forming around the
pontiff a transparent nimbus : angels bending with
their burning torches: veils of velvet and silk
festooned around the sanctuary, baskets of lilies
always i>i bloom and always fragrant ; the light,
soft, many-colored, and filtered through bay-win-
dows of exquisi^iely stained glass, adorned with
saints clad in azure and purple, reflecting on their
radiant faces hope and love, — the sight of all this
would convert a temple into heaven, and a priest
into a God.

But when the priest goes out of the sanctuary,
and re-enters his every-day life, and abandons his
spiritual rdle to fill that which he has adopted, viz.,
the part of an educator, we are obliged first of all to
establish that " with a good clergy, you will have
a passably good people ; with a passably good
clergy you will have a bad people; and with a
bad clergy you will have Sodoms, Gomorras, or
Babylons. ' This is the translailjion of the thought
of Saint Vincent de Paul, a great trainer and educa-
tor of priests : " If the people are bad, it is the fault
of us, the priests. It is we who form them, and it
is by their virtue that ours must be rated."

Let us go farther back, let us make the deduction
more complete, and let us say this : " If the clergy
are bad, it is because the educators of the clergy
are inferior men." The people are tainted to the
very marrow : that is an undoubted fact. The
clergy, therefore, are bad, and if they are bad, what
are their educators ?

What have they done ? Here is what they have
done. They have heaped ruins on ruins, and these
ruins, which we are going to study, have hastened
the general breaking up that must ensue, which is
only the end of the movement brought about in the
whole world — a movement that might here have
been avoided by the exercise of a little wisdom.

AV PAYS DES RUINES

i !

■yf\

Few thinkers thoroughly appreciate the grave
causes which have led to the rapid decline and fall
of contemporary Catholicism. We see honorable
men expending immense zeal and ardor in the
bosom of a society which is profoundly unbelieving.
Writers, professors, preachers, curia, all religious
orders, everybody, in fact, is toiling and exhaust-
ing himself ; but he does so, while turning his back
to the future, and taking the wrecks of the past to
reconstruct Catholicism minutely, such as our fathers
saw it, and such as in their hours of uncontrollable
anger, they tried to overturn it for ever. It is in this
that the true antagonism consists.

That men should be mistaken is easily imagined.
It is the fate of their weakness. To bring them
slowly to the light is the work of time. An hour
comes when they are undeceived. The masses are
often mistaken in this manner. But they have not
adopted any fixed opinion, and, quite quietly, they
allow themselves to inhale the pure breezes of
reason that refresh them amid the bright rays by
which their eyes are gradually enlightened.

In Catholicism its unchangeableness is not a weak-
ness of the moment, or an aberration of some obtuse
intellects, but it is the fettering caused by caste»
and a system of safety. In religious matters, the
absolute is always the objective point of the mind.
And as the priesthood, by insensible degrees, came
to constitute themselves the visible and infallible
representatives of God. they arrived at the conclu-
sion, with an imperturbable logic from which it does
not suit them to withdraw, that the observance and
the manner of exhibiting religion and dogma, by
worship and habits of discipline — that all this, i
say, is as perfect, as divine, and incumbent on
humanity in as absolute a degree, and with the
same claims to submission, as the very faith pro-
mulgated by the divine legislator.

RUINES CLERIC ALES

From this colossal error, and this incredible pre-
tension, it follows as a necessary consequence that
the Church proclaims throughout the world its
absolute unchangeableness. If it changes, it thinks
that it admits having done ill now, or having done
less well formerly.

An individual feels no repugnance in recognizing
that he may have acted badly hitherto, and that it
is good for him to act better hereafter. It is upon
this princijple that the gr'^at idea o£ progress is
based. Our fathers desired what is good, and
effected it as well as they were able. We speak of
their humble and loyal conquests, and we set our-
selves to work vigorously to do still better. They
have bequeathed us a treasure, and we will add to
it, and, in our turn, bequeath it to posterity.
Nothing is more simple or logical than this theory.
It is the creator of civilization.

Sacerdotal castes are drawn away to reason
against the theory of that periodic amendment and
advancement, which we call progress. They have
acted on the world, and swayed the consciences of
men, only by the proclamation of a symbol, outside
of which, they declared, salvation could not exist.
On this symbol, to make it, in some degree, visible,
they organized a form of worship, a kind of out-
ward manifestation, as speech is the outward
manitestation of thought. When this symbol and
this worship were once formulated, the different
influences of places, races, and climates formed the
ordinary discipline. The whole of this combination
was a complete code of legislation.

In Eastern civilizations where everything is at
a complete stand-still, where the man of the nine-
teenth century is an exact reproduction of the man
of prehistoric times, the system of religious lack of
progress, promulgated and carried out by the priest-
hood, is very easily explained, and is, as it were,

AU PAIS DKS HCIXES

n^'l

i : r'

J ; 1

1 i :

never

justified by the social conditions which
change.

But people may well ask themselves : Is it the
same on our continent which is accomplishing its
social transformation, having known only through
tradition the civilization of the past, that history
xlescribes to us under the name of the m.iddle ages ?

The reply is not doubtful. A civilization, entirely
Tiew, conforming to the religious manners of a
period when humanity was in a state of infancy,
was an evident contradiction of law. To bring it to
pass that the men of the nineteenth century should
adore, that is to say, should surrender himself
completely to the religious instinct, and, at the
same time, to the forms of worship which suited
the men of the twelfth century, would be to satisfy
our refined literary tastes with the puerile historj^
of " The Four Sons of Aymon" or the ballad of
*' The Wandering Jew!*

v£Jlericalism is evidently hastening in a dizzy
•career to a frightful abyss. The well-known law
of the greater the mass, the greater the velocity, is
this case of forcible application. The more

powerful the mass, the more rapid the movement,
and the more grinding and crashing the last shock
produces. This will be the fault of the higher
priesthood. It persists in attempting a radical
impossibility, that is, in striving to bring back the
modern world to an administrative system under
-which the Church was dominant, and exercised
despotic authority over the sceptre-bearers of the
whole earth. If these men understood history
better, they would know that this regime can never
be re-established. Kings and people have alwaj^s
resisted it. But, for all that, the ideal of the
Ohurch has not changed, and this w^ill be its
everlasthing ideal. To cherish this dream any
longer is an ineffable absurdity. To say to the

RUINES CLERIC ALES

world, as God says to the sea : " There thou shalt
break thine impetuous billows," requires an inintel-
ligent audacity, or the frenzy of madness. Never-
theless, the priesthood of the present day are content
with this frenzy, and give themselves up to this
madness.

All this starts from a false point of view. If we
look from too great a distance at a tower which is
square, it seems to us perfectly round. The history
oi the Catholic priesthood is similar ; its religious
dogma is unchangeableness. The theological doct 'ne
is humanity shut up in an inflexible circle ; God in
heaven, the Pope on the earth ; the infallible
power everywhere in the country where Catholics are
dominant ; passive obedience among the believing
masses who must never dispute anything ; the
eternal repetition of a liturgy in a dead language,
until the day of judgment when the difierent
languages of humanity will have undergone count-
less changes ; the human family restriched to the
monotony of a Latin service ; the people, docile,
the clergy, richly endowed ; the churches glittering
with gold and marble, and ecclesiastical pomp ; not
one movement in humanity, not a new idea that
can excite doubt in the soul ; not a discovery which
can incommode the traditional teaching ; not a will
or a murmur in that well-informed Church, which,
a quarter of an hour before the final day must have
still heard the Dominus vohiscum, and the Bene-
dicat V08.

With this doctrine thoroughly accepted, as though
it came from God himself, all the rest can be easily
understood. Whoever interferes with the realization
of this ideal is an enemy, were he the highest
potentate on earth. To speak in books of the march
of civilization, or of getting out of the old rut —
to break once seriously with the middle ages,
which are politically and socially dead — this would

A U PA YS DES RUINES

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I ii

II! !i

logically be the conduct of enemies in the eyes of the
advocates of unchangeableness. As for movement —
why, that is a novelty, and a novelty, however
insignificant it may be in appearance, is contrary
to the traditional teaching. Xihil innovetur. Let
no change be made.

As for breaking with the middle ages, — why
they were the most glorious period of the Church's
existence — the " great ages, " as M. de Montalem-
bert has said. In point of fact, at that time every-
thing from the Church was accepted without dispute,
even to those terrible autodafSs (acts of faith),
which stifled beneath their flames all revolt against
the infallible word. We, who desire that the
Church should make progress, are revolutionaries
And Rome will eventually denounce as heresy
every idea of reconciliation with the movements of
liberty and science which constitute modern society,
because it would ^)e to license examination, and
examination is the refusal of passive obedience to
traditional teaching. That is what Rome has done
in the famous Syllabus.

How will all this end ?

The Church will not yield. When we speak of
the Church, we mean the oflicial Church ; that is
to say, the priesthood. Never in history has any
priesthood yielded to a movement which would have
swept away its worship, and made a ruin of its
temple. Priests, taken in isolated cases, follow
diflerent directions. In the first days of Christianity,
the Jewish priests joined the disciples of Jesus ;
Egyptian priests, and the priests of pagan temples,
also, became christians.

But whole bodies of priests never yielded, but
held out until the last moment, when the law which
had protected them suppressed them along with
their temples, or when the indifference of different
peoples left them alone in tlie depth of their sane-

R VINES i LERICALES

tuary which lacked all offerings. Under whatever
civilization we study the priesthood, we find it
always fatally riveted to the chain of unchange-
ableness. A priesthood, by the law of its constitu-
tion, logically arrives at a dread of all change which
reforms it, as an old man, towards the end of his
days, arrives at a dread of the emotion and noise
which may possibly trouble his final hours.

If the official Church is under the fatal law of
unchangeableness, from which she cannot free her-
self without thinking that she is killing herself, it
is absurd to ask her to submit contentedly to even
the slightest change which she would regard as a
signal of death. Moreover, old institutions are
always so constituted. It is in accordance with the
nature of all human affairs, and is not a special
weakness of the Church.

But what is not absurd, is to ask the educated
Church to draw herself aloof from the anti-pro-
gressiveness of her priesthood ; and the thing is pos-
sible without any rude shock.

Even to-day, when the Jesuit body has acquired
such strength, if the believing laity, assisted by some
courageous men among the clergy, seriously desired
a religious renovation, which is alone able to check
the fall of Catholicism, — if this laity, I say, had a
consciousness of its strength, it would, at no
distant day perchance, accomplish this change in the
Church. And here is the reason :

By a singular phenomenon little noticed, the men
who say non poasumua however intractable they
may be with those who wish to reform them, always
feel, more than they think, the influence of the
masses whom they believe they direct. Paganism has
weighed heavily on the Christian worship, and in how
many things has the Church taken into considera-
tion rooted beliefs, superstitions, and the habits
which we call morals.

In Canada, priests usually forbid the theatre, and

AU PAYS DES RUINE8

they aro sufficiently powerful to prevent a woman
setting her foot in a theatre during her whole life,
because her confessor would immediately refuse her
absolution. At Rome, where the Cardinal- vicar
can shut all theatres with a stroke of his pen, they
are allowed to exist.

Delegates in violet-colored stockings have had
their box in the theatres of the small towns of the
Pontifical States, just as other people have at the
Opera. The habits of the Roman people did not
allow of their dispensing with public shows.
Everywhere, where the priesthood find a powerful
and resisting will among the mass of the faithful,
they teniporize with it.

The fifteenth century introduced into the New
World the hateful system of slavery which, with
so much reason, was a cause of reproach to the Old
World. Some Popes made a noise against it, and
condemned slavery in their bulls. But not one of
them ever dared to command the clergy to refuse
the sacraments to every slave-owner. In the
country of slaves, bishops and priests owned slaves,
and Rome was not ignorant of the fact. With the
power of the Church which was then uncontested,
the matter was extremely simple. But no ! large
interests were involved, and the priesthood tolerated
the violation of a natural law !

The lay element of the believing public has, then,
i^reat power; and, if it were willing, and were
sufficiently enlightened, the result would be that
without any pamful revolt or violent separation,
like that of the sixteenth century, the priesthood
would bo induced to shake off their swaddling-
clothes, and to enthrone a new spiritual order in a
new social organization.

All men, who, by their words and their writings,
can exercise any influence on their age, should do
everything in their power to lead it on to this
healthful act of resistance.

RriXES CLERIC ALES

It wonld bo the means uf avoiding the religious
revolution which will crush Latin clericalism.
Instead of having to suffer a revolution, clericalism
would quietly obtain a transformation.

With the system of unchangeableness religious
evolution is logically connected with the future.
It is the infallible result of the struggle of the
priesthooil against all modern movement.

This evolution is predicted : and we must not
cease pointing it out to the priesthood, as threaten-
ing it constantly from one day to the other.

The work is difncult. But efforts made with the
aim indicated cannot in any case be useless. It is
always a good thing to prepare the world, in order
that the evolutions which fatal faults bring in their
train may be accomplished with less violence, and
cause less destruction.

We know what took place at the marvellous
revolution which inaugurated Christianity. I'he
Jewish priesthood, with the exception of some
individuals, persisted in the unchangeableness of
its traditions and of its worship. Two centuries
after Christ, the Synagogue slept calmly in its
ordinary life without any mistrust that the Galileaa
dissenters who had abandoned it, would rob it of it»
dogmas, its holy books, or all. that it had seriously
good in its pa^t history, in order to leave it only
the rabbinical formalism in which it was sinking.

The same causes will bring about the same
results.

. From the ordinary Catholicism, such as the
Roman Church understands it, there must logically
arise, by means of a slow but inevitable evolution,
a Christianity more than reformed, a Christianity
transformed, almost in the same manner as
Christianity caused a radical transformation in
Judaism. It will be a singular sight, but it will take
place.

F ■

/I'-li..

THE JESUITS

Peace, peace ; when there is no pence.

Jeremiah viii. II

Every one who has followed the history of our
country during the last fifty years will admit that,
since the introduction of the Jesuits into Canada,
and their underhanded incorporation under the
fictitions name of St. Mary's College in 1854, this
association has succeeded in imposing itself on the
public as the only true expression of Catholic ideas.

At that period the Parliament of Canada, ond
even the French Catholic representatives would
never have sanctioned an Act to incorporate the
order of the Jesuits. The ideas which then pre-
vailed among the intelligent class of our population
were entirely hostile to them. Popular traditions
were opposed to them, and it was thus that they
were forced to introduce themselves under a
disguised name to avoid provoking discussion. The
leading objection raised against them among men
of liberal and enlightened education was that of all
civilized Europe. They were reproached with being
dangerous, with constantly intriguing in secret
among all classes of society to obtain control over
the public mind, and assure themselves political
power, always with the aim of establishing a
despotic system for their own profit. In short, every-
body knew that they were directing an incessant
and merciless war against all liberal ideas.

Immediately after their admission, the meml^ers of
this new corporation individually applied all their
energy to the production of historical and literary
work .

RUTXES CLERIC ALES

At first, they established a modest school, and
obtained donations and grants under different pre-
texts. They exerted all their influence to secure a
resting-place and a College, where their reputation
as professors could attract to them a large
share of the patronage of the richest members of
Society.

They introduced into the country eloquent
preacl ers who belonged to their Order, and soon
they gathered around them a large number of
admirers who belonged to the wealthiest class of
the community.

Finding that educated young people were for the
most part republicans, and admirers of free speech
and free examination, they organized a debating club
under the name of the Instil ui-Canadien. The mem-
bers of the Order devoted special attention to the
young association, offered their services as lecturers
at the meetings, and shewed themselves very
active in spreading abroad ideas about science and
history.

They persuaded two members of the Order of
St. Sulpice, the reverend Messieurs de Charbonnel
and Pinsonneault, to assist them in their work.
These gentlemen shewed themselves afterwards
devoted friends of the Jesuits, and, notwithstanding
the obligations by which they were bound to their
Order, waged perpetual war against those Sulpi-
cians who refused to encourage the Jesuits by
subscriptions or other^^ ise. They succeeded in
driving from Montreal the Superior of the Sulpi-
cians, Mr. Quiblier, who was excommunicated, or at
least suspended by Bishop Bourget, and died of
grief in England. M. de Charbonnel offered his
services to the Inatitut-panadien.

All contemporaries remember that he delivered
a lecture on George Washington in St. James'
Church, St. Denis Street, and that the Church was

I i

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A U PA rs DBS RUINES

!:ii;

filled on that occasion. It was there that he declared
that in his eyes Washington was a saint, and that
he would have no hesitation in saying a mass for
the repose of his soul. This discourse was followed
by several others that Father Martin delivered at
St. Mary's College on various interesting subjects.

During the course of these works Reverend
Fathers de Charbonnel and Pinsonneault tried
several times to have one of the two accepted by
the members of the Inatitut-Canadien as spiritual
director of that society ; but the youngf people
positively refused the offer. It is from that time
that W8 may date the opposition to the Inatitut-
Canadien, and the persecution inspired by the
Jesuits, and carried on by Mr. Pinsonneault, which
resulted in its final destruction.

During this period the Order of the Jesuits had
considerably increased its wealth and influence.
They had built their college and their church, and
had availed themselves of all sorts of attractions,
such as theatres, concerts, etc., to induce the wordly
part of the population to be on their side. They
had obtained absolute control over the feminine
part of the Catholic aristocracy, and from the outset
of their installation they managed and directed
Bishop Bourget, to whom they owed their existence.

It was then that the war of the Bishop began
against alleged Galilean ideas. The dress of the
clergy wa.« changed ; the use of the Roman cloak
and hat was proscribed. In the church, the old
ornaments of the churchwardens* pew, the crucifix,
and the candelabra, were laid aside hy order of the
bishop, who characterized them as mummeries. I'he
oi d French ritual was suppressed, as well as the
ancient Galilean ceremonies. Every thing that could
recall the remembrance of the Gallican Church was
removed, to gi \'e place to Roman and ultramontane
dresses and ceremonies.

RUINES CLERIC ALES

The revolution, in external forms, was accom-
panied by a fierce war against all independent
control of the laity over the revenues of the
Church. The fabrique was a national institution,
a municipal body, as it were, electing its own officers.
No expenditure could be ordered without their
.sanction, and every disbursement of more than a
hundred franc** had to be submitted to the sanction
of all the parishioners.

Every violation of the laws entailed a penalty.
The English courts, with the French tribunals, had
always respected the administrations of the different
churches, and never thrown any doubt on their
authority in these matters.

All these old laws, institutions, and customs were
found to offer a serious obstacle to the exercise of
absolute and arbitrary power, and became the
object of perpetual attacks under the pretext of
herdfey and anti-religious principles.

The history of our jurisprudence offers the best
proof of the success of the ultramontane party
inspired and directed by the Jesuits. The legis-
lature was forced to submit to their direction, and
its statutes prove its servility. There remain only
some scraps of ancient institutions, and our courts
have no other mission than to record their death-
sentence.

The principle at present admitted is that the
Bishop has absolute power to dispose of the funds
of the Church. The election of churchwardens has
become a farce, and in many parishes it is even
entirely dispensed with.

On the arrival of the Jesuits many colleges were
entrusted to their direction, and they formed their
plans, and drew up their programme, for the edu-
cation of youth in the Province.

Absolute power was the only true principle of
government. Democratic, or constitutional ideas
were infamous heresies. The absolute supremacy

AU PAYS DES RUINES

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inii

3|i ;
IIP'

of the Church, the complete immunity of the clergy,
and their entire independence of the civil authority,
were laid down as articles of faith, and every con-
trary proposition entailed excommunication : in
that consisted the whole safety of society. All
ideas of progress and liberty, universal suffrage,
the liberty of the press, and freedom of speech, were
things to be abhorred and rooted out. The massa-
cre of St. Bartholemew, the Inquisition, the Rev^o-
cation of the Edict of Nantes, were justified as
tending to the real good of religion and civiliza-
tion. The most extravagant ideas of the French
ultramontanists were proclaimed as the only true
Catholic principles.

These new doctrines, disinterred from the middle
ages, had found able advocates in France at the
beginning of this century, when the same attacks
had been directed against the Gallican Church and
its principles. The French clergy revolted in alarm,
the great majority of the French Cardinals, Arch-
bishops and Bishops issued a manifesto, which
condemned these tactics in the most explicit terms.

After having deplored the propagation of impious
and infidel doctrines, the manifesto contained what
follows : " Why should the success which the clergy
had a right to expect be compromised by attacks,
of another nature, it is true, but which still could
not but arouse new dangers for the religion of the
State ? Principles sanctioned by the Church of
France are openly denounced as injurious to the
rlivine constitution of the Catholic Church, as the
work of schism and heresy, as a proclamation of
political atheism. But that which astonishes and
afflicts us most is the obstinacy with which it is
sought to revive an old opinion of ancient times,
conceived in the midst of the anarchy and confusion
which were prevailing in Europe, — an opinion
which has constantly been rejected by the French

RViNES CLERIC ALES

Clergy, and had fallen into complete oblivion. Tliis
opinion is that the authority of the Sovereign
remains subject to the spiritual power, even to the
point of freeing subjects from the oath of allegiance.
In consequence of this, we, the undersigned Cardi-
nals, Archbishops, and Bishops, declare that we owe
it to France, to the divine ministry, that has been
entrusted to us, and to the true interests of religion
in the different Christian centres, to proclaim that
we repu Mate the terms that have been employed to
tarnish and dishonor the principles and the memory
of our predecessors in the Episcopate, and that we
preserve inviolate the doctrines that they have trans-
mitted to us on the rights of Sovereigns, and their
complete and absolute independence, in temporal
matters, of all ecclesiastical power, direct or indirect."

Notwithstanding these protestations the ultra-
montane school continued its work — the Jesuits
assured themselves of their superior weight, and
persisted in their war against liberal ideas. In
France they had attained the summit of their power
under the pontificate of Pius IX, when Louis
Veuillot was their mouth-pieco. France, finding her-
solf in a position of legitimate defence, and obliged
to escape from despotism and ecclesiastical domina-
tion, once more expelled the Jesuits. This measure
which at the time made so much noise, and has
been impudently taken advantage of in Canada,
was perhaps wrong in being too general : but strong
action was evidently needed, for, without this, the
fate of republican and democratic institutiohs was
sealed.

Montalembert, Mgr Dupanloup,and all the enlight-
ened and liberal Catholics had* been denounced as
worse than infidels. Veuillot, the most violent,
brutal, and fanatical writer of modern times, — a
man who denounced and attacked all scientific pro-
gress — was proclaimed by the Jesuits to be the
only true propagator of Christian ideas.

;■ I

AU PAYS DES RUINES

With the aim of arriving at the diffusion of their
ideas beyond the circle of their own pupils, and of
reaching the people in general, the Jesuits formed
a pretended debating society or club, under the
name of the Catholic Union, which was intended
to enli.st all the young people who professed the
true Catholic principles. Every boy who knew
how to read and write was requested to join the
association, and for months and years, Jesuits w^' .
to be met diving into every place, offices and sb ops
alike, with the view of enlisting members for ^.his
society, which naturally soon assumed large propor-
tions. When it was incorporated, each of the mem-
bers became a devoted worker in the interests of the
association, and of the Jesuits who directed it. A
Jesuit was President, and was present at each oi
the meetings : no debate was allowed except upon
subjects which had been previously submitted for
consideration, and the arguments to be employed
on the points of discussion were communicated and
examined in advance, so that orthodoxy was always
triumphant. At last, a journal, the Nouveau- Monde,
was founded to extol the aims of the Society. This
organ, which, of course, was directed by the Jesuits,
engaged in a constant and pitiless war against
everything which bore the name of liberal or Gal-
ilean. It was a short time after the hatching of
this combination that the Institut-Canadien was
excommunicated. The Guibord trouble, of which
we speak elsewhere, accomplished the destruction of
the best library, and of the most useful French
literary institution that has ever existed in
Montreal.

Its members, consisting, almost exclusively, of
French Canadians, were ostracized, and threatened
with excommunication. They were put under the
ban of their families, and finally compelled to give
in, and to submit, at any rate in appearance, to
this tyrannical despotism.

RUINES CLERIC ALES

The clergy throughout the whole Province fol-
lowed the same line of conduct and became the
faithful followers, if not the enthusiastic advocates,
of this programme. All the members of the liberal
professions were obliged to bend their heads to the
yoke, and to enter the ranks of this new faction,
under the penalty of losing their means of subsis-
tence. The most violent and better discourses were
everywhere preached against liberal ideas, until
at last the people were convinced that religion
and liberal political principles were irreconcilable
things.

In order that some idea may be formed of the
violent struggle undertaken by the friends of the
Jesuits, who were driven wild by the ultramontane
propaganda, we think it will be a curiosity to re-
produce here an article which appeared in 1872,
when in the town of Three Rivers, the centre of
the anti-gallican, anti-modern, and anti-liberal cam-
paign, the D^silets took possession of the Journal
des Trois-RivQves to anathematize at their ease all
the opponents of ttie famous programme. This
document, which made much noise at the time,
translates under a biblical form the insolent pre-
tensions of the lay clique that undertook to reform,
at its will, and for its own benefit, the catholic reli-
gion in the Province of Quebec.

Here is the text of this article, now rarely to be
met with, which is entitled : " The first Epistle of
Aoimeluch to the Trifluvians."

The fictitious names are sufficiently transparent
for men who have followed the political history of
tlie last twenty years to recognize at once the per-
sons who are represented.

I -1!'

AU PAYS DES R VINES

First Epistle of Abimelaeii to tlie Trifluvians.

At that time the Spirit of Darkness had enveloped all
the country of Jonathan, and a great portion of the
country of Stadacona and Hochelaga ; and there
remained only a small group aroud the town of the
Trifluvians. God resolved to take vengeance on his
people ; accordingly, he caused war to burst forth, along
with plague, famine and other scourges. A great black-
ness, that lasted for three days, covered the valley of
the St. Lawrence ; many perished, but the hardened
people did not repent.. " Do penance," cried the prophet
Magloire ; " if ye repent not," repeated Masson, the magi-
cian, "ye shall all perish." But the people remained
deaf, and refused to recognize in this chastisement the
hand of God."

All sorts of errors had taken root in these hardened
hearts, and their blindness was at its climax. The great
men of the land, the ministers, the doctors of the law,
and even the people, adopted impious and destructive
doctrii^es which flattered their passions and their tastes.
The higher clergy suffered themselves to be drawn into
the vortex where everything must inevitably be swal-
lowed up. The most gross and immoral errors consti-
tuted law everywhere ; anti-programmism, Pallicanism,
progressivism, and moderantism were the order of the
day. The number of true believers had become so small,
that fear was entertained that God, repenting of having
created man, would annihilate his work. Nevertheless,
in consideration of a few faithful ones in the district of
Three- Rivers, he made a last trial.

There was then living on the banks of the St-Law-
rence, in a modest hamlet of the village of Cape Made-
leine, the holy man, Luke, a true Christian after God's
own heart, gentle in heart and mind. He had been pu-
rified by the rudest experiences, like the holy man Job'
in old times. All kinds of moral, physical and mental
maladies had, in their turn, undermined his delicate or-
ganization, without ever shaking his faith.

RUINES CLEBICALES

God sent him His angel, while he was asleep. All of
a sudden the room was filled with light, and the angel
of the Lord cried to him. " Luke ! Luke ! Luke ! where
art thou 1 " But Luke did not hear him. Then, the an-
gel, shaking Luke on the side, awakened him, and said to
him : " O Luke, thou art Luke, and by thee there shall
be (Lux) light, for God hath chosen thee to enlighten
his people." Luke said : " Lord ! thou honorest faith-
fully those who love thee : Thou givest them great
power." " Arise quickly," replied the angel, " and fol-
low me. Leave behind thy crook and thy flock, put
on thy cap and thy boots ; thy breeches and thy
hood."

Luke followed the angel, quickly crossing the moun>
tains and passing over the hills, like a roebuck or &
fawn : and when they had reached the town, the angel
showed him a door, and vanished. Luke entered, and at
the same instant the whole assembly, that was united in
prayer, bowed to him saying : " Hie est Luc, et lux erW*
There, there were gathered together, Gideon, son of
D^silets, Alfred, son of the same, Magloire of the tribe
of MacLeod, and Philip, called Masson and surnamed
the Magician. All were clothed in white robes, and held
palms in their hands. Luke lifted up his voice, and
said to them. " The Lord hath spoken to me by his an-
gel, and has entrusted to me the mission of regenera-
ting his people. Praise ye the Lord ! " The servants of
God bowed done again, and said : " We will aid your
efforts, O Luke ! Alleluia ! Alleluia ! "

Then Luke resumed : ** I have found Gideon and
Alfred my servants, and I have anointed them with
my oil. My pen shall aid them, and my unction shall
strengthen them. Leave behind legal papers and old
books ! He who does not take his pen and follow me
is not worthy of me. Every one must be at his post,
night and day on watch, for the enemies are numerous
and bold, and we must distrust their wiles. There is
nothing hidden which must not be revealed, and noth-
ing secret which must not be known. Tell in full day
that which I tell you in darkness, and preach on the

rr^

AU PAYS IJES RUINES

I;.

'i.-'i^

house-tops whatever shall have been whispered in your
ear. Fear not the wiched : the spirit which strength-
nes me shall accompany you. In place of the torch
which illumines, take the torch which burns ; oppose vi-
gorously, and by all means in your power, those impious
doctrines which are called gallicanism, anti-programmism
and progressivism.

Protect property against the usurpers, who wish to
seize upon everything in the name of the majority ; say
to the vapor, thus far thou shalt go, and no farther !
Behold on all sides those masses of smoke which whirl
in the air, and those complicated machines invented by
the spirit of evil. The worship of matter, under the
name of progress, contracts every day the ranks of the
true disciples of the Gospel. Each one wishes to have a
share of that vile metal which is called gold, and in order
•to procure it, people burrow into the very entrails of the
earth. Each one thinks that he has shining in him the
light which he calls reason. Let us cause the true light
to shine ; let us tell them that this light must be subject
to us, and that, in order not to lead them into error,
it must be kindled at the light which has been trans-
mitted to you from above. I have marked for your ven-
geance those shameless men. who are named Cauchon,
G^rin, David, Turcotte, Emile Rousseau , those minis-
ters of the Glrospel who make common cause with error;
and that Umversity of Laval, the den in which mode-
A rantism and tolerantism are born."

Thus spoke Luke ; and his face was lighted up, and
rapt in ecstasy. Then, questioning his disciples, he
asked of them : "Who say ye that I am?" Masson, called
the magician, having risen, said : " Some say that you
are not a prophet, others that you are only Luke."
Magloire, of the tribe of MacLeod, taking up his para-
ble, said : " You are Luke, son of D^silets, shepherd of
the Souls of Cape Madeleine, and the light of the Most
High is in you. The timid dove of Cape Madeleine shall
destroy the ravenous crows of Cape Diamond."

" You are happy, Magloire, to have believed in me,
and mar./ sins shall, therefore, be forgiven you. Rejoice,
let your gladness break forth, for a great reward is pre-
pared for you in the County of St. Maurice."

RUINES CLERICALES

Alfred, Son of D^silets, rose and said : *' O Luke, the
spirit of good which inspires you strengthens me, and
gives me courage to overcome the greatest dangers. I
have been tried like gold in the furnace — I have been
sacrificed like a victim in a holocaust. I expected to go
to my friends, and they have not received me. I wished
them to listen to the; counsels of wisdom, and they re-
jected me. Nevertheless, armed with strength, J will
break through all obstacles — the gates will be opened
before me — the light will appear — and justice will shine
forth, like the sparks which consume the reeds." *' And
I," said Gideon, the Son of the same man, '' will take
boldness as my breastplate ; my infallible judc^ment as
my helmet, and my brother Luke as my buckler."

Then Luke, raising his eyes, said : " As nothing
common or unclean should find place amongst us, it is
necessary that each one of us should confess his faults.
As for you, Gideon, Son of D^silets, and Alfred, Son
of the same, your past history is known to me, but I am
ignorant of that of Magloire."

At this unexpected question, Magloire, of the tribe of
MacLeod, stammered some unintelligible words : I re-
member that near a river that there was flowing by, —
the desire — the opportunity." — Then recovering himself
with firmness, he said, " O Luke ! my master, I was
purified in the waters of the Gatineau."

Luke replied : " Come, brother Magloire, recollect the
time when, after having been baptized in the waters of
the Gatineau, you encountered great conflicts amid many
deceptions, saw your subsidies carried away forcibly,
and your hopes deceived ; but do not lose confidence,
for your reward is not of this world."

Luke, turning to his disciple Philip, named Masson, and
sumamed the Magician, said : " If any one will come with
me, let him renounce himself, let him share our burden,
and let him follow us. He who would save his reward
shall lose it, and he who would lose his reward for the
love of nie, shall find it again in the kingdom of heaven.
My dearest Philip, do not abandon us ; you ask for a
reward, but do you not know that any remuneration
will cause you to lose the merit of your works ? Man

^1 U PA YS DES RUINES

♦

does not live by bread alone. Besides, the proprietorship
of the Journal des Trois- Rivieres belongs to us, and a
property is a sacred thing. Would you believe, then,
that property is theft ? My brother Alfred will not give
any salary. Gideon and myself cannot force his
will. There is nothing legal without unanimous con-
sent ; you ought to understand me better, and you appeal
to me upon these particular points."

Masson, leaning towards Magloire, said : " I am much
afraid that one day, Gideon, (I tell you it to you quite
low) will throw me clear overboard. But let us
not anticipate." " Enough has already been done," said
Magloire. "They have chiselled you, and you may
believe me."

Gideon, son of D^silets, whom his perfect experience
marked out for authority, arose and said : " Let your
loins be girded up, and your lamps lighted in your hands.
Take with you your cymbals, your lanterns, and your
old books. The hour has come." Then he prepared the
attack, and distributed the trumpets, and the torches
enclosed in large earthen vessels. The impetuous Alfred
took his old books.

At a given signal all broke their earthen vessels,
sounded their trumpets, rang their little bells, and called
out, " The sword of Gideon ! "

Then, Peter, the notary of the tribe of the D^silets,
hearing this great noise, and believing his well-beloved
Gideon to be in danger, unsheathed his valiant sword,
and ran to his aid. Near the door there came up G^rin,
the anti-programmatist, of the race of the Midianites,
and the enemy of his race. Peter, before this formidable
enemy did not hesitate, but brandished his sword close
to the ear of G^rin, who called out to him in a stento-
rian voice : " Little Peter, put up again thy sword into
its place." (Mathew : XXVI, 52.)

"Abimeluch."

The Land of the Midianites, 25th of March, 1872.

The Jesuits, with all this influence, offered their
support to the political powers of the time, and it

nUINES CLERIC ALES

^^'as naturally accepted without even any discussion
of the conditions. Besides threats, they knew how
to offer to a young man, however independent he
might be, seductions that were almost irresistible.

Every individual, however incapable he might
be, who passively submitted to their influence, and
consented to become their servant, was lauded to
the skies, and proclaimed an inborn legislator. With
the influence which the society possessed over the
whole population, it was easy to find constituencies
(|uite ready to accept their favorites, and forthwith
each cur6 became an intriguer for the Jesuits, in the
pulpit, or in the confessional. The control of the
order over many families was unlimited. Every time
tliat there was a rich heiress to be settled in life,
they had immediately among their pupils a candi-
date to ofler who would ensure the happiness of tlie
two parties. It was thus that they secured for
themselves the gratitude of the happy couple, and a
guarantee for the future of still more effective sup-
port.

The Jesuits at the same time published that
famous pamphlet entitled : La source du mal, the
object and result of which were to gain the unanim-
ous and servile vote of the representatives of the
J^rovince of Quebec for the success of their plans,
and it may easily be conceived that supported by the
solid vote of sixty-five Canadians in the Commons,
any political man whatever, of even moderate intel-
ligence, could direct the destinies and legislation of
Canada. When Sir Georges Cartier saw that it
was time for him to oppose this dictatorial power,
he opposed the wishes of Bishoo Bourget with regard
to the dismemberment of the parish of Montreal. The
Avhole system was violently shaken, but the Jesuits
took care not to yield, ana organized the struggle
to annihilate this intruder. The fact is that in an
underhand way they employed against him all the

AU PAYS DES BUINES

weapons that they could handle, even those of
liberalism ; and the electoral defeat that terminated
the political career and existence of this powerful
statesman was in a large measure due to their
management.

If we study the influence of the Jesuits on the
elementary education of the people we find the
same disastrous results. Until the time of their
arrival in the country, we had free schools and
colleges, professing doctrines that were comi^r-
atively liberal. Our parishes were under the direc-
tion of an entirely national clergy, in harmony
with the feelings of the people, and desirous of
assuring them the advantages of a good substantial
education. The priests of the parishes were well
educated, had the means of living comfortably,
were in general independent, and did not fear to
express their opinions to their Bishop. Here was a
serious difficulty to overcome, but Bishop Bourg^et,
inspired by thv^ Jesuits, suggested a very simple
system ; and the parishes were subdivided. Every
priest who showed the slightest sign of independ-
ence was immediately removed and deprived of the
means of subsistence, each subdivision of the
parishes naturally impoverishing the cur6 who
depended on their revenues for existence. The cur6
in consequence became entirely the slave of the
Bishop's will. The parishioners were called upon
to build at great expense new churches, for which
the clergy had the right to levy taxes on the
real estate of the parish. The plans had to be sub-
mitted to the Bishop, and the poorest class of the
population was compelled to pay for the most
extravagant buildings.

When the dismembered portions of the old
parishes had built these imposing churches, the
ecclesiastical authorities immediately condemned as
inadequate and unsuitable the churches which re-

liUINES CLERIC ALES

mained in the old portions of the parishes. Although
the majority of the parishioners or freeholders ha<l
nominally the power of deciding on building a new-
church, from the moment when the priest, on the
notice of the Bishop, had proclaimed the necessity
of erecting one, they received the formal order to
raise a new building. If they refused to do so, as
happened in several parishes, a general excommuni-
cation immediately followed, with a prohibition of
solemnizing the rites of baptism, marriage, or burial,
according to the custom of the Church. Every one
can readily understand that among a population
like ours the mere threat of excommunication at
once brought about obedience : and women and
children would have wept unceasingly till the day
that their husbands or fathers at last gave in their
submission.

The bishops and priests who exercise such powers
are, in virtue of our laws, subject to the courts
of justice, and can be ordered to desist from such
methods of procedure. But these laws have been
proclaimed Galilean and heretical, and as violating
the rights, privileges, and immunities of the Church.
This IS what explains the supreme efforts made
in the Guibord case, and the explosion of anger
which the judgment of the Privy Council provoked*
But in order to maintain its authority the Chui'ch
compelled the Quebec legislature to pass a law, by
virtue of which the cur6 of each parish has the
exclusive and absolute power of deciding whether
a person lias the right to Christian burial in the
cemetery, and this act was unanimously adopted by
a terrorised legislature. We now see the country
covered with churches of grand architectural pro-
portions, which point to great wealth on the part of
those who have contributed to their erection, but
which, unhappily, also, prove only too well our
poverty and our dependence. Thousnnd.' of our

lit-

p!!

|l :vti

Mr,,::!!!:;

AU PAYS DES RUINES

honest fellow-countrymen have been forced to take
refuge in the neighboring republic, in order to
escape from the enormous taxes which are the con-
sequences cf these extravagances. There is the
work that has been accomplished by the Jesuits in
the Province of Quebec, and this work has been
introduced into society by the creation of the being
whose portrait f ollo^ v s.

. ill'

|!liii:l

THE CASTOR

Si par hasard, la nuit, dans les carrefours momes,

Fouillant du croc I'ordure ou dort plus d'un secret,

Un chiffonnier trouvait cette ame au coin des

11 la d^daignerait. * [bornes,

We may look in vain in the works of even the
most recent naturalists for a description of our
Castor. This species is unknown toBuffon, to Cu' ier,
and tq Lac^p^de. And, strange as it may seem, the
Zoological Garden, though placed under intelligent
direction, rich in apes and leopards, has not a single
specimen, either living, stuffed, or fossil, of this sin-
gular product of creation.

There was, then, in science an important gap to
fill. Having become specialists by having studied this
curious biped for more than ten years, we are going
to state here the general characteristics of his nature,
and those which distinguish him from other mam-
mals of this kind that are distributed in the two
worlds. Only, we do not think that we are yielding
to a too ridiculously vain pretension in claiming
priority for this work.

The Castor is born from a father and a mother,
in the same way as all of us : and nature gives him,
when he comes into the world, as sho gives to all
men, a heart placed on the left side of the breast,
an eye that is able to gaze on high, (the os sublime
of the Roman poet) and feet turned in the same
direction. But by a deviation which cannot be ex-
plained byany known physiological law — adeviation
which is found, above all, in our young Canada —
when the Castor has passed beyond the period of
youth, his neck is seen to turn almost impercepti-

AU PAYS DES RUIXES

I f

bly upon one of his shoulders, and his face to settle
on the perpendicular line of the spine, without his
having the least desire to look and walk straight
forwards, like all bipeds. For, in proportion ae the
head turns backwards, tlie movement of the feet
operates in the same manner, and these principal
organs of locomotion take the place of a man's heel,
in such, tt way as to allow of his perpetually going
backward with a marvellous facility.

It is this physical character of incredible oddity
which constitutes the nature of Castors, viz, to look
behind themselves, and to walk backwards.

This abnonnal deviation of the body corresponds
to an intellectual deviation. The autopsy of some
individuals has revealed a singular phenomenon in
the skull. There is a lobe of the brain, in the Castor,
in which the operation of reason, like that of the
face and the feet previously mentioned, takes place
in a reverse way to that of other human brains.
Things are seen by him otherwise than we see
them., The straight line appears a curve, immobi-
lity is taken for motion, and the part constitutes
the whole. We may mention the brain of a cele-
brated individual, Joseph de Maistre, in which this
lobe was very remarkable, and we recommend to
anatomists who study similar (?ifformities, the brain
of Louis Veuillot, in which this interesting mons-
trosity may be seen by the naked eye.

Let us add this characteristic trait that all the
individuals of the species, far from experiencing any
annoyance from this exceptional condition in the
midst of our modern civilization, derive an incre-
dible satisfaction from it, and boast of it with
pride. They are never hurt when the mirror is
held up before them, and in their own estimation
they are the most perfect creatures of God. Quite
different from the slow herbivorous mammals, to
which class one would think that they ought to

whi
silvi
the;
friv

gen
the

RUINES CLERIC ALES

•r

have belonged, they display a feverish ardor in
their backward movements. They are the least
lazy of all living species. The more they retrograde
in every respect, the more they think that they are
forwarding in the world the cause of truth and
happiness. Strange in his attitude, and in his
gait, for he always keeps his head and his eyes
lowered, muttering some prayers, the Castor is not
less strange in his attire. Some Castors wear a long,
others &^<m!t robe. The leaders are food of dia-
playing gold or silver buckles on their shoes. It is
a badge which they consider to be of eminent dis-
tinction. Their robe, in addition, must ffow down
to their very heels. The assemblies in which the
Castors form the majority have condescended to
take an interest in these matters, and have hallowed
them so that no change for the future will be
made. In the last century they used to smear their
hair with pomatum, and cover it with powder. It
is only in despondency, and from a dislike of being
chased by " street arabs," that they have renounced
this harmless project of appearing respectable ; but
they have made up their minds that this shall be
their last sacrifice to civilization. A great number
of the others have a particular penchant for the life
of the cloister and it is for this reason that they are
called moines, — always with the idea of frequenting
the drawiug-rooms of the fashionable world, and
directing them at their will.

From humility, and in consequence of the poverty
which they affect, tLey do not wear either gold or
silver buckles. Some do not even wear shoes. But
they domineer over those who still hold to those
frivolities, and think themselves of a class far
superior tc^ those who wear gold buckles.

The Castor of the short robe dresses like the
generality of people. They submit from custom to
the less perfect burden of family life. They limit

i.i

II'

AU PAYS DES RUINES

themselves to multiplying the species. Formerly
the short-robed Castor was called by the spiteful,
" congr^ganiate,'* and Jesuit ; but nowadays he is
called a " cleric." In order to be perfect, he must
every day run over a very poorly managed publica-
tion which contains some silly legends that form
his delight ; it is the breviary of the laity. It is
also part of his irksome calling to fill the nave of
the G^su on those days, when, mounted on his
oratorical stilts, Father Hendrichs, or some one else,
gives lectures ; and by that he gains great indul-
gences.

In short, to snatch the Paradise which suffers
violence, he must be a faithful subscriber to La
V4rit4y and collect money among pious servant-
maids for St. Peter's pence.

Let us now sketch with rapid strokes the most
remarkable varieties of the species. Variety A.
This is the controversialist Castor. His chief aver-
sion is the freedom of the press, and, above all, the
freedom of conscience. These two wicked things in
his opinion constitute revolution. And revolution
is old in the world, for it dates from the time when
Satan dazzled Eve's eyes with the fatal apple.

It is thus that in the literature of Castors the
history of humanity is written. The Castor of this
category adores liberty, but a liberty quite peculiar
— " the liberty of doing good." He wishes, also,
for prosecutors, minions of the judiciary, to seize
by the collar those who, in speech or in writing,
desire or permit themselves " the liberty of doing
harm.'* The fixed idea of this biped who makes
books, scribbles in newspapers,or delivers lectures, is
to constrain all men by brute force to worship God.
Ood has made men free, and maintains them so.
Even when they sin against him, he does not strike
them, but refers them to their conscience. The
Castor is convinced that in so doing Qod makes a

RUIXES CLERIC ALES

mistake, and that there ought to be only one mode
of worship on earth. All the other modes, worthy
of hell after this life, should be prohibited by law,
and utterly destroyed by sword and flame.

The Jesuits of the Givitta Gattolica, who furnish
many specimens for our varieties, write in their
splendid review that " sin must be punished by the
magistrates as a misdemeanor." Their ideal is the
judge who condemns to fine and imprisonment all
transfi^ressors of the laws of the Church.

Variety B. The Castor who is a feti^^ -worshipper
forms this interesting variety. Oi opecimens are
countless. The great fetich is the venerable Pius
IX. The sanctity of our Lord the Pope, as the pious
Romans say, is the object of their adoration. One man.
Father Faber, a Passionist monk, places devotion
to the Pope " in the rank of eucharistical worship.'*
Another, Louis Veuillot, has told us that " The
Pope is the whole Church," and another that " the
Pope is the man who carries the thought of God."
This is the constant theme of the Jesuits of the
Givitta : " When the Pope thinks, it is God who
thinks in him.

That is a stiff saying ! A French Monsignpr, M.
I'abb^ de S^gur,lef t these timid assertions far behind.
He came and told us without any hesitation, with
respect to the Pope in the Church, that " it is the
party which is all. *

Here, then, we have this respected Pontiff
changed into a grand Lama ! He is nothing else
for our Castors but an incarnation of God. There
is only one Bishop for all Catholicism, viz, the
Pope. And the abb6 Courbalot, one of the fiery
spirits of the school, said in his loudest tones in the
pulpit of Saint-Sulpice in Paris : " Bishops are the
chorister boys of the Pope."

Variety C. The inquisitor Castor. The abb^
Morel, one of the grandees of the Univers, was a

AU PAYS DES RUINES

fine representative of this variety. For him the In-
<]aisition is the institution par excellence. With
grand inquisitors you can answer for perfect order
in civil and religions society. " The Inquisition is
the pearl of canon law."

It has ennobled Popes who eagerly propagated it,
and even Councils to whom this speedy method of
converting unbelievers appeared marvellous. "The
Inquisition is the work of centuries of faith."
"Unhappily we are not worthy of the Inquisition,"
and we must await the advent of better days for
humanity.

Variety D. The Castor who is an ignoramus. He
is firmly persuaded that all the miseries of this
world arise from the detestable habit that men have
acquired of reading and writing. If no book existed,
and if our scholarship were on a level with that of
the Iroquois, we should all be saints. It is (the words
are M. Veuillot's) that which leads us to atheism. " It
searches," says he, " the works of God, but it does not
see the workman."

The whole theory of this queer variety of Castors
has been comprised in the following aphorism des-
tined to convert all Academies to Catholicism.
"Scie*^ce does nothing more that give additional
strength, and furnish fresh resources to wickedness."
Truly irresistible argument for paralysing free
thought !

Variety E. The Castor who admires ugliness. For
him beauty is that which is contrary to nature,
misshapen, devoid of grace or art. To gaze at the
beautiful is culpable sensuality, and to represent it
in any way is a sinful act. The biped of this varie-
ty does not find any statues tolerable but those of
the clownish figures which adorn the portals of our
old churches of the middle ages. He regards as the
works of barbarians the wonderful Greek statues
preserved in our museums, and everything which

RUIXES CLERIC ALES

came from the chisels of the great artists of the Re-
naissance.

He thinks about literature the same as he does
about art. "The Latin of the Roman breviary," said
the anti-progressive Courbalot from the pulpit, "the
Latin of the Roman missal, the Latin of the Roman
liturgy, is far superior to that of Cicero and of
Tacitus."

We owe to the same man the precious discovery,
so agreable to the truth of history, that "the Church
created the Latin language."

Such are the principal varieties of the species that
we have attempted to describe. There remain only
a tew words to be said about their manners and
customs.

These bipeds from preference resort to the most
retired, the darkest and the least air ^ streets of cities.
Some of them pay no regard to cleanliness, either
on their persons, or in their houses. In this, they
act on principle. One of their most famous law-
givera has discovered that " the human body is
made of uncleanness," and that " that which
enervates and kills this stuped body is to wallow in
every imaginable act of cleanliness " ; moreover
that " the lovers of cleanliness are feeble."

This is how this growling anti-progressionist felt
so sweet an attraction to the dirt of Rome, and so
strong a disgust for the asphalt of Paris. He was
seen with his shaggy head of hair, and his dusty
great-coat, traversing with haughty disdain the
queen city of civilization, and burling at her his
anathema : " Thou, city of cleanliness, I despise
thee."

In short, the great hope, the aim eagerly pursued
by this strange race in the bosom of modern societies,
is to bring men to have only one king and master,
who disposes of their souls and bodies — viz, the
Pope, recognized as the incarnation of God on the

AU PAYS DE8 RUINES

earth, causing every head to bow before him, every
intelligence, every reason, and every will — the only
shepherd of the immense human flock, widely
distributing milk and wool among the guardians
whom he wishes to make use of, to lead to pasture
his docile sheep, and to bring them back to the rude
sheds in which he would keep them pent up. The
more ignorant the flock may be, the more easily it
will be governed, and the less it devotes itself to
cleanliness, the stronger and more powerful it will
become. Well watched over, and cudgelled if need
be, flung occasionally into the deep dungeons of the
Inquisition, and burnt under the cloak of the
condemned heretic, if he ever took it into his head
to think otherwise than the Pope, he would
accomplish in this manner his law of producing
perfection on earth, until the hour when he would
receive his grand reward for a life so humbly
employed, ana so well understood.

UNDUE INFLUENCE

Truth is always strange —
Stranger than fiction.

Byron.

Undue influence — electoral influence, if you pre-
fer the term, of which we have spoken in the preced-
ing chapters, is one of the most lamentable charac-
teristics of OUT Canadian politics, one of the most
brutally apparent causes of the inferiority of our
race.

The prieat who takes into his hand at the same
time the crook and the staff* of command, the Gospel
and the list of electors, is master of the destinies of
the people, to whom there remains no resource but
to re-conquer their liberty by their own efforts.

Volney relates that one day, in mutual recrimi-
nation, the doctors of divinity in the different
churches began to reveal all the outrages of their
ministry and all the hidden vices of their, pro-
fession. It was then found that among all nations
the spirit of priests, their system of conducting
themselves, their actions, and their morals were
absolutely the same : that everywhere they have
formed secret associations and corporations hostile
to the remainder of society : that everywhere thoy
had arrogated to themselves prerogatives and im-
munities, by means of which they lived under cover
from all the burdens of other classes ; that every-
where they were exposed neither to the fatigues of
the husbandman, the dangers of the soldier, or the
disasters of the merchant ; that everywhere, under
the cloak of poverty, they discovered the secret of
becoming rich, and procuring for themselves every

49 4

! I

.'30

A U PA YS DES RUIN E 8

enjoyment; that under the name of begging, they
•collected larger taxes than even princes ; that under
the title of gifts and offerings they obtained reve-
nues that were certain, and free from charges ; that
under the name of meditation and devotion, they
lived in idleness and licentiousness ; that they made
a virtue of alms-giving in order to live quietly on
the labor of others; that they had invented the
grand ceremonies of worship in order to attract to
themselves the respect of the people, by playing
the part of Gods, whose interpreters and mediators
they declared themselves to be, to attain by this
means all power ; and that, with this design, accord-
ing to the inLolligenee or ignorance of nations, they
•had become ia turn astrologers, calculators of horos-
copes, wizards, magicians, necromancers, physicians
courtiers, confessors to princes, always with the
aim of governing for their own advantage ; that, at
one time, they had raised the power of kings, and
■consecrated their persons, to draw upon themselves
their favors, or to share their authority; that,
''&t other times they had preached the assassination
'of tyrants (without defining tyranny) in order to
take vengeance on them for their contempt or their
•disobedience ; that they have always designated as
impiety anything which hurt their interests ; that
they were opposed to all public education ; that, in
.short, from time immemorial and in all places,
they have fo'md the secret of living in peace
«mid the anarchy that they caused, in safety under
the despotism which they supported, and in rest
while other men toiled ; finally, that in the midst
of general scarcity they preached in plenty, and
that, too, while carrying on the singular trade of
selling mummeries and words to credulous people
who pay for them as commodities of the highest
value.
Then different peoples, seized with fury, wanted

BUINES CLERIC ALES

to tear in pieces the men who had deceive^l them ;
but the lawgiver putting a stop to this movement
of violence, and addressing himself to the head men
and doctors, said : " What ! O teachers of the people !

Is it thus that you have deceived them ? "

And the disconcerted priests replied : " O lawgiver !
we are men, and the peoples are so superstitious '
It is they themselves that have caused our errors."

And the kings said : " O lawmvers ! the peoples
are so servile, and so ignorant ! TKey have prostrated
themselves before the yoke which we scarcely dared
to show them."

Then the lawgiver turned to the peoples, and said:
" O peoples ! remember the sayings you have just
heard : they are two profound truths. Yes I you
yourselves cause the evils of which you complain ;
it is you who encourage tyrants by cowardly flat-
tery of their power, by an imprudent fondness for
their false favors, by degradation in obedience, by
license in liberty, and by blind belief of all impos-
ture. Yes ! whom will you punish for the faults of
your own ignorance and your own coveteousness ? "

And the peoples, confounded and amazed, re-
mained in sullen silence.

Wo must study our Canadian politics to under-
stand the full import of these prophetic words.

In reading, for instance, one of these trials in-
volving undue influence which have revealed so
many scandals, we have a right to ask whether those
who have listened to this advice, and have not ST^rung
at the throats of the impostors, have not deserved
their fate, and whether we are justified in lamenting
their ruin.

Let U8 draw liberally on these official depositions,
and let us see on what dangerous rocks we are
striking.

' f

AU PAYS DBS RUINES

THE^PETITION IN BERTHTER. ELECTIONS
OF 1878. DEPOSITIONS

Joseph Mayer. (Page 24).

Question. " When did the cur^ say that the dv^vil had
c^me out of hell 1

Answer. " Whatever he said was spoken from the
pulpit ; that Lucifer had come out of hell, that he had
taken the list of electors, that he had run over the
names of all classes of voters, that he had registered the
names of his communicants, and that he had a large ma-
jority in the parish."

Furthermore, he said : " Out of thirteen or fourteen
hundred communicants only five or six hundred are
worthy of approaching the Holy Table : for if the head of
the family has voted for the Liberals, the wife and
children, like the head, are unworthy of coming to it."
The Forty Hours began on that day, and there were
very few whe observed them ; they might easily have
been counted."

Q. " You said that you counted on your fingers those
who observed their Forty Hours."

A. " I told you just now that the Liberals who were
going to communicate might have been counted on the
fingers. For this reason ; you saw the people at the door
of the church in small knots, the Bleua together, and the
Rouges together ; and when some among the Rouges
were going to confession, the Bleus said : '* Here is one
of them who is converted, and there were some converts
among them " ; and the rest of us, seeing them, said :
" Thou art converted."

GEORGE FRECHETTE. (Page 195).

Q. " Have you heard M. le cur^ speak ci Catholic
Liberalism, and of political liberalism, and what did he
say ? "

A. "I had occasion to visit him on various matters.
T found myself in trouble at the time, and had need of

RUINES CLERIC ALES

his assistance. He kept lecturing me for a pretty long
time : I had to stand it and say nothing ; I gave in in
every respect, and, in the long run, he told me that I
must make some sacrifices. There are two systems in
the cause for which he meant that he wished me to
make a sacrifice ; I had no difficulties about doing this
for one of them ; but as regards the latte/, he stated to me
that we were in election times, and that I must make a
sacrifice ; that I had always been a Liberal, and had
always been, as it were, disobedient, and that any troubles
that I might have were probably a punishment for
my conduct, that I must make a sacrifice in ordar to
obtain the healing of Providence : but I was unable to
make a sacrifice in that sense."

Q. " What sacrifice did M. le cur^ ask you to make 1 "

A. "It was to vote for the other side."

Q. " What were the afilictions that he meant, when
he said that Providence had sent them upon you ? "

A. "It was one of my sons who was a little ofl^ his
head for the time, so that I went to the cur^ to make
some inquiries as to how I should go about it to obtain
his cure."

Q. " You asked him, then, for spiritual counsel ? "

A. "Yes."

Q. " Did he tell you in punishment for what the
affliction that you mention had been sent you ? "

A. " He said that I had been desobedient to the Church
in various respects ; that he had visited me to collect
money for different matters, and that I had never been
willing to contribute ; and that one thing and another
were the reason that I was at present punished."

Q, " Did he, also, speak at the same time of your
party politics ? "

A. " Certainly, he did ; since he said that I had
always been a Liberal, and against the Church."

Q. " Did he sprak to you of making only one sacrifice,
or did he speak to you of making several ? "

A. " He mentioned two to me."

Q. " The two principal ones ? "

A. " It may be possible that they were the two prin-
cipal ones ; but I made up my mind to give as a sacrifice

A U PAYS DES RUINES

II :'

|ill

1 •■'

a little sum of money that he asked of me. I preferred
to give the small sum, because I am not well off, rather
than to make the other sacrifice."

Q. ♦* You preferred to give money sooner that sacrifice
your political opinions ? "

A. " Yes, air.

MAXIME RENAULT. (Page 205).

A. " I went to the presbytery to ask M< le ctik«; to let
me make my Easter communion."

Q. " What did he ask you first, when he said '• Good-
day " to you ? "

A. " I went in, and said ; " Good day, M. le cur^.'*
He said : " Good day, M. Henault." He asked me r
" How are the Rouges getting along ? " T answerred ::
" They are getting along pretty well, at present, but they
have some difficulties about making their Easter com-
munion, nnd I would like to make mine, as I have«
always done since my first communion." He said to me,,
then, on that occasion : '* On what side have yoa
voted ? " I said : " I have always voted for Mr. Syl-
vestre." He said to me : " Here is an election coming;
on : will you vote the same ticket ? " I said : " Yes.'"
Then he said to me : " Very well ! No communion for

you

1 "

BERNARD RIBARDY. (Page 229).

Q. " Did the cur^ speak of those who wanted to go to
hell, and what did he say on that subject f "

A. " Yes ! In speaking of the Liberal party, he
said : " If you want to go to hell, you have a fine chance.
Go, and vote on the Liberal side ! "

Q. "Do you remember if he spoke of serpents, and
who he said they were 1 "

A. " Yes — it was in the mandement which he said he
had forgotten, but which came from Monaeigneur, and
he had forgotten to read it — and in this mandement
Moiiseigneur compared us to serpents."

;■#

RUINES CLERIC ALES

Q. Did he mention v hose children, and what s(3rt of
"brained" people the Liberals were who would not lEisten
to their cur^ V*

A. " He gave his opinion several tiiises. He said
that they were " crack-brained."

Q. And whose children 1 "

A. " The children of the Devil." The two sayings-
foHowed each other : '^ The children of the Devil, and
the children of the Demon."

DAVID FRECHETTE. (Page 244).

Q. " What have you understood from the words of
your curd that a Catholic elector could, or could not do-
as regards the Liberal party ? "

A. " I remarked one day that M. le cur^ said in a.
Sunday's discourse that the Liberal party was the party
that resembled the fire of hell in color. This he said in^
a violent manner, and struck the pulpit with his fist.'^

ADOLPHE LAJOIE. (Page 277).

Q. " Did you have a conversation with the Reverend
Mr. Brien, after your confession was finished ) "

A. " When I had finished, I rose to go away, but hei
called me back, and asked me for whom I was going to»
vote ? I said : " I have voted for Mr. Sylvestre for the last
three years." He then asked : " Are you for him now ? "
I said : *' Yes " ; and he then said : " But now you
must change, and take the oiuher side. " I said : ^* I
have always been on this side ; I do not know the other
candidate, and have never seen him ; but Mr. Sylvestro
I know quite well. " He said : " My son ! if you are
for him, you cannot make your Easter communion ! " I
replied : " I cauot help it — 1 am for him."

FRANCOIS COMERTIN, (Page 315).

Q. How were Liberals regarded in a religious point
of view, as your cur^ told you 1 "

i I

; I

AU PAYS DES RUINES

II'

A. *' As desperadoes and devils ! "

Q. " After your confession was finished, that is to
say, after the absolution or the benediction, did you
have a conversation with your cur^ on the subject of the
election ? "

A. " When he had given me his blessing, he rose and
told me to go to hell with my party. That is the
blessing that he gave me ! "

EDOUARD BELAND. (Page 32i).

Q. " Have you had any opportunity of hearing your
cur^ give instructions about politics and the election ? "

A. "Yes,"

Q. " What are the words that you recollect best ? "

A. " He told us that the Liberal party was a party con-
demned by the Church, and he compared the Liberals to
eggs that were put under a hen to be hatched when the
chicks did not come out of the shell. He said that they
were like addled eggs, and had a rotten heart. In short,
he said a great many other things about them."

These are the typical answers in a case selected
almost haphazard, without considering the political
opinions that are expressed in it.

Besides, if circumstances demanded, it would be
easy to find the same denunciations of Conservatives,
when the cur6, who had undertaken to reduce the
parish to discipline, happened to be a Castor.

The spirit of domination is so innate in all the
wheelwork of the ecclesiastical machine, and the
clergy's conviction of the abject submission of the
Canadian people is so firmly anchored, that nothing
can stop the cur6 who is a political lecturer or
intriguer.

It is terrible to think that it has taken years and
years before a judge dared to say what follows,
without being not only condemned by the clergy,
but stoned by the people ! " There may be, or there
are, in sermons, or discourses so styled, temporal

RUINES CLERIC ALES

matters which necessarily fall under my jurisdic-
tion. The sermon, then, is not virtually outside of
all lay jurisdiction ; it is the k^iatter of this sermon,
and the nature of the appeul made to justice with
respect to it, which determine to what jurisdiction
it points."

And now what has been the consequence of this
mode of action fron the religious point of view which
aloxie we are examining to-day ? The destruction
of all respect for the priest.

From seeing him continuall}'^ mixed up in political
struggles, we nave reduced him to his true worth
as an election agent, and a recent case which was
lately unfolded in the Court of Appeals, shows all
the dirt with which his cassock has been bespattered.

We may judge of this from the following official
evidence :

A. " The question is this : whether the facts that are
in the document were notorious in the parish as having
been stated by the plaintiff himself ? "

Q. " That it is to say, not word for word, but in that
sense, at least."

A. *• I do not at all know what the parish recognized
as having been said by the candidate."

Q. " Take the question on the whole."

A. " There were certain things that were not known
in the parish. It was known in the parish that a sister
in the convent had been dishonored, and that the fact
had become notorious by its having been published in
the papers, and that the seigneur had been made use of
to prevent the English papers from publishing the
scandal. It was known, at the time, that it was the
cur^. As regards the seven sisters, it was known in the
parish that there had been seven girls seduced, and that
among them was one of the daughters of the plaintiff :
that he had sent her away to her aunt in Montreal, but
that he said he had sent her to the Townships, to learn
English : That was said about the seven girls, when I
was present in the church. Instead of seven sisters, it

!;i

€

,it

AU PAYS DES RUINE8

■51 ;

1 1 ;■•

I'iti
, I ' i

was seven girls of the parish who had bee a dishonored.
This is what was known in the parish.''

Q. " But it was not the plaintiff who had dishonored
the seven girls."

A. " No : the cur^ told us there were seven of the
parish who had been dishonored, and among the seven
there was a daughter of the plaintiff, as the cur^ said in
the pulpit."

Q. " I ask you, was it not known that the candidate
had said this outside."

A. " No : as far as regards the cur^s, he said that
they were all M .... s, except one."

Q. " What I ask you is this : was it known in the
parish that the plaintiff had said this ) "

A. '' The plaintiff is reported to have said that the
cur^ had told him that in a convent in France a great
number of the sisters had been seduced, and that the
Mother Superior, jealous because the chaplain amused
himself with the young girls, rather than with the other
sisters, had flung herself into a well. It was the cur^
who told him this, and the cur^ said he heard it in a
retreat here, from a French priest who had related the
fact. That is what was known in the parish with
respect to the affair that took place in the French con-
vent : and I heard the story from the plaintiff."

Who, then, will re-establish in their ancient gran-
deur the good priests of former times who refused
to meddle with our internal struggles ?

Here is a fall from which there is no recovery, and
for good reasons.

The scandal exists in too high quarters for us to
hope for reform.

The first betrayed are the heads of the clergy :
have they afterwards the right to reproach their
inferiors in rank for imitating them, or even for
seeking to outstrip them ?

Take care what the future has in store for you,
and tremble lest the people rise up in vengeance.

On that day, if the privileged ecclesiastics will

RUINES CLERICALES

have their voice heard as of old, and dream, as.
formerly, that there is always a resource — that
the people are superstitious — and that they must
be terrified by the names of God and of religion : if"
they begin to cry out : " Our dear brothers, our
children ! God has established us to be your rulers ; "
it is not improbable that the following dialogue may
ensue :

The People.
Show us your heavenly powers !

The Priests.
You must have faith ; reason leads astray^

• The People.

Do you rule us without reasoning ?

The Priests.
God desires peace ; religion imposes obedience.

The People.

Peace supposes justice, and obedience implies the con-
viction of duty.

The Priests.
We are living here below only to suffer.

The People.
Show us the example.

The Priests.
Will you live without God, and without leaders \

The People.
We want to live without oppressors.

The Priests.
You need mediators and intercessors.

AU PAYS DES RUINES

The People.

Mediators with God and kings ! courtiers, and priests,
your services are too costly ! Henceforward, we will
manage our own affairs.

And, then, the little group will cry out : " Everything
is lost : the multitude is enlightened ! "

That would be the time for the people to reply :"A.ll
'-5 saved ; for, if we are enlightened, we will not abuse
our strength. We desire nothing but our rights.
We had wrongs to complain of, but we forget them ;
we were slaves, and we can now be masters ; we
only desire to be f reC; and liberty is only justice."

MYSTICISM AND CHASTITY

'* In the shade of temples, and
behind the curtains of altars, they
made the gods act and speak ;
they delivered oracles, performed
miracles, offered 8acrifices,exacted
offerings, and commanded endow-
ments; and under the name of
religion, the different States were
tormented by the passions of the
priests."

VOLNEY.

It is only a few months since a poor girl died,
who was very devout, and a member of iiumerous
congregations, but also very poor. Her sister, who
was servant in the house of one of our most respect-
able fellow-citizens, took charge of her obsequies,
and interested her employers in the case. Not
knowing well how to manage the affair, she begged
their aid in order to secure a becoming funeral.

Dr. X at whose house she worked, went to

the Seminary, and pleading the piety and the
devotion of the dead girl, and the rights she
hadfacquired in the associations to which she had
belonged, he requested a service should be sung
at the funeral which was to take place the next
day, and naturally offered to pay a portion of the
expenses.

Forthwith, the superintendant of burials, scent-
ing a chance for a job, said in his softest tones ;
" Ah ! certainly, for so holy a girl, we will do what
you desire, but we cannot do it at Notre-Dame.
The funeral will take place at seven o'clock, and at
eight we have a grand service — a service that pays
three hundred dollars! You understand that we
must hang the funeral decorations a day ahead,

I !

I i

AU PAYS DES RUINES

m^i

and that we cannot make use of those hangings for
a service which amounts to a mere nothing. No !
But if you wish, we will have a service sung at
Saint-Cun^gonde."

It was in winter^and to offer a service extra
"iiiuros seemed a proposal so strange that it smacked
of impertinence, and the doctor let the man see that
he thought so. At last, from concession to conces-
sion, it was arranged that the service should take
place at the chapel of Notre-Dame des Angea,
Chenneville street.

The funeral was a very humble and lonely one.

The poor girl, having come from far away back
in the country, had no relations or friends in town :
and Dr X. alone followed the body.

When the coffin was carried out of the little
chapel, the bells of Notre-Dame were ringing a full
peal : the large bell resounded in the air, and a hearse,
decorated with plumes, was stationed in front of the
church.

Do you know what this grand funeral was— * this
triumphal service, of which not even the slightest
portion could be devoted to the good, honest girl
who had killed herself in gaining a livelihood for
her poor sickly father ? It was the burial of an
unclean panderer to vice, who for twenty yeafls had
depraved and infected the young men of our city —
it was the funeral of "Black Angele," the most
hideous virago that ever lived on earth.

Verily, the money that fells into the ecclesiastical
strong-box has no smell, or rather bene olet. : it
smells sweet.

When you go up St. Lawrence street, and, having
reached St. Catherine street, you turn to the left, you
soon see an enormous stone block which has been
built by the Seminary with money bequeathed to
them by an individual whom everybody knew under
the nick-name of Le Chien !

BUINES CLERIC ALES

Le Chien had made his fortune by taking advan-
tages of a row of dilapidated shanties which ex-
tended along part of St. Urbain street. The most
repulsive prostitutes of the city were there stowed
away in horrible and promiscuous crowds. Each one
of his hovels was let by the week, and paid for in
advance. Every Saturday the proprietor went his
rounds, and accumulated in his purse the tribute
money of vice and crime.

When this holy man gave back his pure soul to
the Creator, he left this purse gorged with gold to
the clergy, who greedily seized upon it, and had
solemn masses said ad nauseam, in order to deliver
from the pains of purgatory the soul of their repen- t
tant sheep !

As soon as the good man was in the ground, they
liastened to take advantage of the inheritance, and
to demolish the buildings that recalled such sad
memories, and moreover did not bring in suflBcient
revenues.

It was then that they built a large block of houses
that bears the name of the holy administrator of
the no less holy inheritance. But it is evident that
if stone has taken the place of modest woodwork,
the traffic which goes on in the neighborhood has not^
at all changed. Openly, in St. Catherine street,
under the protecting power of this pious endow-
ment, there stretches a whole row of pot-houses and
" beaneries ", with many-colored panes of glass,
suspicious-looking screens, and back-shops only
too well known.

The money which comes from this place cannot
be gained by toil which ennobles man by its honesty,
or from the chaste workwoman ; but these things
are not looked into very cbsely.

Moreover, when people have accepted the money
of " Black AngMe," they have no right to appear
scrupulous.

AU PAYS DES RUINES

All the same, what a strange effect is produced
on the young, who remain pure amid the sad exam-
ples of each day, by the sight of those paradoxical
compromises that are made by those whom they
are called upon to respect !

Can we be astonished if we see respect for the
priest decreasing, and, in cases of this kind, almost
respect for religion of which the good name is
thus used to extort money and influence.

It is absolutely necessary amid a population like
ours, where there exists a freedom of manners which
may be characterized as excessive, to encourage
among all classes a true respect for, and observance
of, personal purity.

It is not our habit to keep boys and girls under lock
and key, to immure them until their majority, and
to prevent all intercourse between the two sexes in
the ordinary course of social life. Duennas and
the women s separate apartments are things un-
known in Canada ; but the association of the voung
of both sexes entails on those who have spiritual
charge of them duties the more serious, the more
free the intercourse is.

Instead of the superintendence exercised in other
countries of stricter morals than Canada, recourse
should have been had to measures entirely spiritual,
which would have been perfectly effective,if they had
been applied in a conscientious and intelligent
manner.

It was the respect for virtue and chastity which
should have been aroused in the minds of the young
by all the means, all the acts, and all the words
possible.

It would have been necessary for our clergy to
bo chaste in thsir bodies, their acts, and their
words.

But so many examples of laxity in morals, of
scandals, and of dissolute conduct, are met with at

RUINES CLERICALES

«aeh step, that we can say : " The clergy have not
shewn themselves chaste in their bodies."

We have lately had clear proofs that they are not
chaste in their acts ; and if we are asked " Are
tiiey chaste in their words ? " We at once answer,
-No!"

Let us take up the tirst Catholic work that comes
to liand, the Catechism even, and let us consider
whether the priests who drew it up are not the
men to be censured for the terrible mysticism which
prevails among our religious devotees, and of the
moral trouble which exists in the youthful souls
tlmt are compelled to listen to the lessons of the
priesthood.

Imagine a little girl of eight years, who replies
to a good nun who is preparing her for first com-
munion.

■\\

PETIT CAT^CHISME. (Page 70. No. 4.)

Q. " What does the ninth commandment forbid ? "
A. " The ninth commandment forbids : fii-st, all
thoup;hts and desires which have reference to the husband
or to the wife of another ; and secondly, all thoughts or
desires of the ilesh."

Page 67. No. 4S2.

Q. " What does the sixth commandment forbid ? "
A. <* The sixth commandment forbids : first, all inde-
cent familiarity with the husband or wife of another :
secondly, all indecency towards one's self or others,
sliewn by looks, words, or actions ; thirdly, all indecency
in dress ; and fourthly, all which leads to impurity, such
Hs indecent pictures and shows, fast dances, immortal ,
books and Dewapapers."

Here are poor little girls will trained to fall into
the hands oi young confessors.
What happens afterwards ?

•I ,

A U PAYS DES liUIXES

H ■

iHKIIIll

One of two things : either they take refuge in
mysticism, or, with due regard to honor and virtue,
fall in love with their confessor, or things come to
the worst pass.

But mysticism is ruination — for it is the terrible
ruination of youth that is deflowered, and thus
fatal ruination.

As soon as mysticism prevails, spiritual directors
are carried away and crowds of visionaries are seen
to spring up who sooner or later circumvent them
in their good faith and honesty.

Is not this what the directors sought for ?

There will be letters that become more and more
frequent : at first, monthly, next, weekly, and at
last, daily. Each letter will need a reply, and a
long one. The questions are so numerous, so press-
ing, and so serious. Then visits will follow t!u^
letters — visits as long and as frequent as tho
letters : they will take place, it i;iay be, in the little
reception-room of the vestry, soon at the pupil's
own house, occupying whole evenings ancf even
whole days ; and a crowd of persons, whom these
constant attentions will astonish, will be offended
by them.

Did we not have a striking instance of this a
short time ago ? A young girl, very honorable,
intelligent, and catholic rather than zealous, fell
madly in love with her director. Her love was
ethereal, as it were, and ideal, but sufficiently human
to occasion a scandal, when she thought that she
detected in him a passion for another woman.

The thing is very simple. The soul that is given
up to devotion is exposed to long and terrible
temptations and to frenzied struggles. It is disturbed
and carried away by spiritual troubles. It is impos-
sible for it unaided to recover its equilibrium, and
retrace its route. Hence it feeh a pressing and
imperious want to renounce itself, and give itself up

RUINES CLERICALES

iBto the hands of another. And that other will
always be a being whom it will believe to be exempt
from its own weaknesses, troubles, and perplexities
It is in this that the danger consists, as M. Caro ha<^
pointed out.

" As regards myself, I confess," he says, " that I
there see a danger with which I am particularly
impressed. As the result of secret troubles and
tribulations, I am afraid that the soul of a devotee
will become weary of its struggles, and will resign
itself entirely into the hands of another, and seek
for rest in self-renunciation. That fear involuntarily
seizes me, when I see the distracted uneasiness of
those imaginative beings whom a mere nothing
troubles and disheartens, and who wear out
their confessor with their incessant doubts and
scruples. In this stage of the higher devotion, they
dare not, without advice, take one single step, or
allow themselves a single sigh or mental emotion."

He adds : " A certain soft enjoyment is found in.
thus abandoning one's self to the hands of anotlier..
Personal existence is an honor and a source of
fatigue at the same time. When we think of
renouncing only the honor and pride of living in
one's self, we renounce also the trouble and respon-
sibility of guiding our own course. The appearance
of humility may conceal, even in this condition of
things, thab excess of spiritual life, — and I know
not what amount of indolence and cowardice that
willingly adapts itself to a passive state, and that
causes us to like better to be the boat than the
rudder."

That is the case: all goes well — we fall asleep —
and some day the hurricane bursts forth.

But, alas ! the awakening is above all terrible,
when the being to whom the woman has trusted
lierself does nOt answer to her aspirations, as is too
often the case.

AU PAYS DES BUINES

:;,«

F^n^lon does not disgtiise these dan^rs in a letter
on Confession, in which everything is summed up
with a quick precision which is pot one of his
literary characteristics. " The best ttiings are the
most spoiled, because the abuse of them is worse
than that of things which are less good. This is
the reason whey Confession is cried down. The
world looks on it as the art of leading weak minds,
and deriving benefit from it. The spiritual director
passes for a man who makes use of religion to steal
in where he wishes, to exercise control, and thus
satisfy his ambition. It is also often suspected
that there is great deal of amusement and of misery
in the confessional. So many men without being
•either chosen, or tried, are concerned in guiding
souls that we must not be astonished if some irre-
guralities, by no means edifying, often take place."

Wha*^^ truth there is in these words, these accusa-
tions, which the experience of every day clearly
substantiates.

Do we not understand all the responsibility to
which men are exposed who forbear to denounce
the guilty ones who may become criminals? If
proof is wanted, we have it at hand, sad as it is,
since the victim has died from it.

Read this : it is a romance in real life. A poor
i!mocent*girl died in Ottawa two or three months
ago at the age of eighteen. During her last holidays
the doctor adviscl her to go to the country to re-
cover her health. Accordingly, she went away to the
house of a cur6, who was very pleasant, very
obliging, and highly recommended. By a strange
coincidence, a father of a religious Order, much in
fashion, happened to be the guest of the cur6 at
the same time. Our two pious men played their
parts, as the saying is, and rivalled each other in
the paternal attention that they paid to the young
girl who b jlonged to one of the first families of the

RUINES CLERICALES

fld

«(

town. Eggs beaten up in milk, coifee with some
eau de vie in it, wine, fruits, etc.each one brought her
his little offering, and moreover to her bedroom.
So eager, and so obliging were our sparks that the
child saw them at her bedside every morning, with
their hands filled with dainties well suited to
satisfy her greediness or petty likings. And to
preserve her own expression, (for the innocent child
said these things to the first comer) she could get
rid of them only by getting up in their presence.
Her health, however, did not come back, and she
quitted this Eden ; but before hci departure, one of
our two viveura enjoined her when she had returned
to her family, to confess all the trifles and the
petty follies that had amused them so much.

" But why should I confess ? " said the simple
child.

You must, on my word as a cur6."
But I have done nothing."

" That is true, but you must confess, all the same,
my child."

And this young woman, when she came back
from the confessional, told her mother, and after-
wards all her female friends, that she had been
refused absolution, and sent Imck for three weeks.

This same Father, the guest of the cur^, goes to
see the pupils of the convent during dinner time in
order not to be incommoded by the nuns, ^''^hen he
hears them coming, he hastily presses voluptuous
kisses on the lips or the young maidens, and takes
his leave, covered with his immortal claims as a
priest, gallant, esteemed, respected, and even loved !

In the world he is known by the number of the
little girls who are never tired of praising his
cleverness, his amiability, and his drawing-room
accomplishments. He is called witty, affaVjle, engag-
ing, polished, nnd irreproachable. 80 much the
better ; but the Church does not gain anything by

AU PATS DES R VINES

all this, and the pure imagination of the youn^ jEjirls
loses far too much for us any longer to submit to
outrages of this kind.

As regards the training of young girls, and the
conduct of grown-up women, we are of the opinion of
the worthy man who thus told his history, on the
Sorel railway.

— Oui, j'arrive du Montreal, la ous que j'ai ^t^ acheter
un raoulin k couper.

Je vous dis qu'il s'en passe des affaires de ce teraps-14
au Montreal ; des affaires comme on n'en voit pas beau-
coup chez les habitants. Des scandales que 9a en fait
f r^mir. Des femmes hunnetes, de premiere classe, qui font
parler d'elles. C'est vrai que c'est avec des pr^tres, mais
quand m^me que ce serait avec des ev^ues, c'est toujours
pas plaisant.

Je sais ben qu'il faut faire quequ'ehose pour la reli-
gion, mais, moi, je voudrais pas payer ma dime avec c'te
nionnaie*14.

Y paratt aussi qui y a un mandement d'archev^ue
qui dit que les bons catholiques doivent former les yeux
snr ces affiiires-la.

Ca, 9a peut faire I'affaire des cures, mais je reviens k
CO que j'ai pour mon dire, que 9a fait un peu moisLS
I'affaire des maris.

Enfin, nous autres, les habitants, on n'aime pas 9a ; et
puis, il me semble que y en a quelqu's-uns parmi les gens
du Montreal qui aimeraient mieux aussi que 9a fiit
comme dans I'ancien temps : cliacun sa femme.

Ceux qu'ont refus^ de prendre du ragofit, et qui se font
payer pour s'en passer, devraient pas, a c'qui m'semble,
t rem per leu pain dans I'assiette de ceux qui paient pour
en manger.

(a, 9a m'emb^te. Et c'est mon caractere.

Dans touB les cas, a c'te heure que j'ai mon moulin k
couper, je me moque de toutes ces affaires-la."

Do like him, and buy a cutting machine (for hay,
you know.)

TERRORISM

All ultramontanes are
traitors to their native land.

Prince Bismarck.

The people readily allow themselves to he led by
legends, above all, when they flatter their national
or religious feelings. But legends are very danger-
ous, for they quickly become the means of enslav-
ing humanity, and it is the more difficult to destroy
the effects produced by them, because they are not
very noticeable, and are consequently less painful
to endure.

The authority of the clergy in Canada is esta-
blished on foimdations of brass that support it to-
day, thanks to a popular legend of patriotism and
national devotion which it has spread throughout
the country, and which is handed down from gene-
ration to generation.

This clerical authority has resulted from despo-
tism, — this popular obedience is the out-growth of
serfage — and we claim to make the grand voice of
reason heard, and to bring back the clergy to the
observance of their duties, and the people to the
enjoyment of their rights.

Tlie clergy, especially foreign priests, have accus-
tomed themselves to treat Canada as a conquered
country, and Canadians as helots.

The faithful are treated with cudgel-blows, and
insulting remarks are loudly uttered by those
preachers whom the people have designated as
" terrorists."

To give a specimen of the kind of ideas in the
atmosphere of which they are living, and of the

1 1

AU PAYS DES RUINES

brutal absurdities, the silly and wicked invectives
that they can utter undercover of the Catholic faith,
it will be enough to reproduce here the words that
a " terrorist" spoke from the pulpit, in the course of
a retreat which was held five or six years ago :

" You are blasphemers, and I am astonished that the
earth has not y ope^f i half way to swallow you up.
That, however, -■: iil eo^ae at last, and I proclaim to you
in the name of Gv 'l, ^Jv. /se minister I am, that I myself
will see it."

This sam of a sermon, which was taken down
in writing, verbatim, by one who heard it, will
throw sufficient light on the Christianity of the
teaching of these intimidators.

We can conceive the effect produced on a Canadian
audience by this oratorical flood of hatred and
curses.

Recent events have iust proved to us that the
impunity enjoyed by this class of men has given
biHh to scandals still more painful and more aston-
ishing that anything that we have seen up to this
date.

In a retreat which took place close to Montreal,
another " terrorist" was guilty of unworthy flights
of speech, which demand vengeance.

We may judge of these by the two following
extracts from the sermon that was delivered on this
occasion — extracts which are genuine and authentic
and are transcribed from short-hand notes.

The case of Guyhot was in question, and this is
the way in which it was treated :

I do not say that a priest has not sinned, but I say

that the letters which have been used to convict him are

forged letters. Yes ! these letters have been forged by

mm who are corrupted, and who are vile corrupters, in

'"whose faces I would not fear to spit.

Ah 1 if the French Canadians were only like me, they

RUINES CLERICALES

would liave driven these men far away with sticks and
stones !

I repeat it — these letters are a forgery. Some monsters
have scattered amon^ the people wicked documents at
the bottom of which they have had the baseness to
subscribe the signature of a priest !

Ah ! well do I know the shameless beings who live
daily in adultery. They are men with six-and-thirty
women ! I repeat it, there are men among them who
have actually six-and-thirty women !

Let them come and find me, and I will tell them to
their face, if they wish it, the name of such and such a
lady whom they have ruined.

They are libertines, deflowerers of girls, beings wi ,>
have no longer any human feeling, and have come d( n
l)elow the level of the brute creation, lower than a Iq^.
I know them !

^Wr^

Without dwelling on the style, and the dri
hatred of this composition, or the shameless extia-
vagance of this unprincipled fellow, who talks of
forgery in connec^^^ion with letters which the priests
are actually moving heaven and earth to recover
and destroy, what must we think of all this childish
babble which is found in every line ?

Do these people mistake Canadians for idiots ?

Journalists with six-and-thirty women! Journa-
lists, poor devils, who have trouble enough to gain
a livelihood for only one woman !

Ah ! it is quite evident that they don't know how
much it costs to support a family, and the women
on whom they base their calculations cannot cost
dear, when they imagine that a man can have so
many women without having tithes or perquisites.

But let us say no more about these absurdities
which merely make us shrug our shoulders, and
sickp 1 our hearts with disgust.

Here are some other things more serious in
another di<iCourse :

!1 ■': ti

AU PAYS DES RUINES

*' The priest, like you, my brethren, is tempted by the
flemon ; I will even dare to say that he is tempted still
uiore than you, and it unfortunately happens that occa-
sionally he yields to temptation. This brings mo to speak
to you of this notorious scandal, a few weeks old, that
certain Montreal journals have exaggerated beyond the
bounds of common sense. Because one priest has fallen, —
one in a thousand — are you going to condemn the
whole body of the clergy? That is absurd. Because
there is a thief among you, does that prove that you are
all thieves ? Because a married man has ten women,
does that mean that all married men have ten women ?
Come, let us be reasonable. Men always reason : reason,
then !

One priest has fallen — one among a thousand — and
you are going to cover with mud all the Canadian clergy,
men to whom you owe so much, and who have made you.
French Canadians, what you are? When the English had
taken Canada by force of arms, and you had no lonpjer any
courageous men in your ranks, it was the priest who
valiantly came to the front, with the Cross in his hands,
-and cried out to the English :

" You shall walk over our bodies before you reach the
Prench-Canadians ! "

It is the priest who has trained you — it is he who has
preserved yourlanguage and made you a respected people !
Is this your gratitude — is it thus that you display your
thankfulness, coming forwai-d, as you are now doing, to
condemn every priest for the fault of one 1

Ah ! I know these immoral writere who have sought
.and still seek to fling dirt at your clergy !

\The monsters !

These accusers of priests, who have shrieked so loudly,
in that infamous sheet that you know, about the fall of
a priest, are heartless people, devoid of honor and
morality. They are fcuulterers who live with other men's
wives! I know them well !

Ah ! if Fi-ench-Canadians had had their hearts in the
right place, they would have stoned these ignoble wretches,
and driven them away with showers of rocks. If they

RUIXES CLEBICALES

were to bring these scribes to justice before the civil
tribunals, they would be condemned to hard labor !

I was wild with indignation, my brethren, I was wild
with indignation, when I read these things.

What 1 Every day some man is convicted of a similar
fault, and you shut your eyes, and let the matter pass
without saying a word ! But, here is a priest — one in a
thousand — who makes a slip, and forthwith you pro-
claim it on all the house-tops.

Ah ! these shameful writers who have published such
>crazy statements against the clergy ought, I repeat it, to
been have driven from Canada with showers of rocks ! "

Let us let aside these insults, and let us reason.

Thus, then, after the cession of Canada there was
not one courageous Frenchman remaining in the
•country !

It is to us, tnonsieur le terroriste, that you are
^oing to give these historical lessons.

What, pray, had become of those courageous men
^vlio fought under Montcalm and L^vis ?

Had they not gone back to the fields to wrest
from the earth thoir daily bread, and were they
less courageous on the day when they stripped off
tlie King's blue-coat and donned the wood-cutter's
woollen jacket ?

Or, were they the courageous men, those brillant
officers, those gold-laced intendants, and powdered
officials, who ignominiously escaped on the day
after the defeat, abandoning their post and their
soldiers to the conquerors who made them fly away,
like a flock of crows frightened by red-coats ?

Those men were the cowards, messieurs les ter-
ror istes : the men of courage stayed though there
was nothing to bind them to the country. They
had neither prebends, nor monasteries, nor revenues,
nor protection, but, nevertheless, they clung to this
land which had been sprinkled with the blood of so
many of their friends.

AU PAYS DES R VINES

Let us now speak of how the race was maintained,
and let no one complain of the hard truths that we
may be obliged to tell !

Let us look at the question. In the struggle
which secured us our position, did the clergy " come
bravely to the front, Cross in hand, and call out to
the English : " You will have to walk over our
bodies before you meddle with the French-Cana-
dians ? "

What did we see on the day after the signature
of the cession ? We find the Bishop of Quebec,
Mgr Briand, enjoining throughout his diocese sub-
mission to the conqueror, flooding the parishes with
circulars, proclaiming the merits of the victors and
repudiating France disgusting the poor parishioners
whose arms were still smoking in their hands.

In one parish, an honest man, who could no
longer restrain himself, and could not stand this
sycophancy, rose and exclaimed : ** monsieur le cure^
you have been long enough preaching on behalf of
the English, preach a little, now, for the sake of the
good God."

On the next day, the two parishes of St Valier,
and St Michel de Bellechasse were excommunicated
en bloc.

All Catholics were obliged to recognize English
rule before they could receive the last sacraments.
Five poor patriots were subjected to close confine-
ment for having refused to conform to this order.

After the battle of Trafalgar, and the defeat of
the French fleets, Nelson caused his victory to be
celebrated at Quebec, and what was then witnessed I
The Bishop of Quebec ordered a Te Deum to be
sung in all the churches of the colony !

That statue of Nelson which is erected on
Jacques-Cartier Square, as pitiable in its purpose
as in its execution, was raised by the money of the
Seminary.

R(/L\ES CLERICALES

From the pulpit itself we have heard nothing but
detestation of France, detestation amply endorsed
\>y the yf\idi» clique oi Seigneurs who were afraid of
being deprived of their lands.

In 1837 a rising takes place, and a large portion
of the English party join the Canadians to aid the
colony to obtain a certain amount of liberty.

It was a grand opportunity for securing the
emancipation of the people. But it was not the
business of the clergy those famous patriots.

What do they do, then ? They refuse absolution
to those who are going to die for liberty.

By the same blow the camp of Saint Eustache,
which numbered two thousand five hundred men,
is reduced to a hundred and fifty patriots who are
cut to pieces by the English troops.

Who is the first man that signed the petition
asking for a court martial, in order to have the
patriots hanged ?

It is Mgr Lartigue.

To exonerate him to-day, it is claimed that he
died of grief at the occurrence.

No ! the priests have not supported the French-
Canadians in their justifiable resistance to the con-
quest.

They have been on all-fours before the invader
and before power.

Our successive defeats as regards the law of the
New-Brunswick schools, the case of Kiel, and that
which we have lately experienced in the question of
the schools o\ Manitoba, are the result of their ser-
vility.

This is history.

When people go so far as to say that the clergy
have kept us French, truth is pervei-ted. If we are
i^iWX French, it is by force of nature and in sjpite of
tlie clergy.

Let us apeak, again, of education. When these

AU PAYS DBS RUINLS

men tell us that they have educated us, let tliem
confess that they have taken hold of education in.
order to keep it under their control.

If we demand lay schools, forthwith the whole
hierarchy rend the air with anathemas.

Colleges are opened only to make priests, and the
sole dream of these educators would be to rule a
population that should not know how to read. For
instance, what is wanted to live at ease, to be
cockered up, and pampered, is quite simple, and is
the natural result of the education that we havt>
just described.

Be whatever you please, immoral, anti-religious,.
a scoundrel, and a fraudulent bankrupt, from the
moment that you go on all-fours before the clergy,
expressing an opinion only when it has been blessed
by a Bishop, you may of course, have weak points,,
but you are worthy of all support.

But if you think in an independent manner, you
areworthyof being excommunicated and annihilated:
you are hunted down, maimed, and crushed — if the
thing can be managed.

The Canadian has too waakly accustomed himself
to say that he was nothing before the conquest but
e. being without courage — that the clergy have
made Him what he now is — and that when the
English wanted to walk over liis body, the priest
came forward with the Cross in his hand, and called
out loudly — " Stop ! no more of that ! "

Reiterated in sermon after sermon — hawked
about from pulpit to pulpit — these pompous decla-
rations made a deep impression upon French-Cana-
dian brains. They have become the current coin of
history, and have contributed largely to the estab-
lishment of a temporal slavery, of mere human
device, .which has given the clergy supreme power
over the minds, as well as over the wills and purses
of their parishioners.

hTfXES CLERIC ALES

What can be refused to men to whom, it is said,
we owe everything ?

It was thus that Jean-Baptiste — a punctual
payer — reasoned with himself ; and each new^ slice
cut off from his land — each scrap of wall detached
from his luuseon behalf of the cur6, seemed to him
an act of restitution for some very vague favors
which the clergy had done him in the mists of anti-
quity.

Immense churches and gigantic presbyteries were
built in this manner without anybody thinking- of
i^rumbling ; and, nevertheless, the debt was never
wiped out !

There were always new demands, more toutliori-
tative and more extravagant, as fast ls the origin
of the obligation grew more hazy in the brains of
tlie contributors !

There is, however, no patience so lasting as not
to weary, and the people are beginning to ask them-
Helves ii there is not a limit to giving.

Others, more advanced in their ideas, have asked
themselves the question, " after all, for what are w^e
paying ? "

Here is the whole case in a nutshell ; and it is
from this simple question that a movement must
result which will reduce to a proper le\ jI the tem-
poral relations between the clergy and the people.

We commence by declaring that we cannot,
without a feeling of pain, which would be almost
one of resentment, go fai* back in history in order
to discover what the clergy did for us before and
after the conquest.

Mr. Joseph Doutre, whose great love for Canada
has never been called in question, exclaimed one
day iii court:

The h^^tory of Canada has never yet been written in
earnest, above aJ, its beginningH. We know that our
esteemed friend, Garneau, has been overwhelmed with

AU PAYS DES R VINES

reproaches for having wished to display a few glimpses
of the truth ; and that in order to avoid these mortifying
insults, he has mutilated his work in the second edition.
At a time when literary works seem to be popular among
our young people, it is well to express the wish that
some industrious chronicler of antiquities may spring up
t'oi" our benefit.

In the histories that we have, and which are only
panegyrics, copied one from another, we find scarcely any
mention of a man who has left valuable documents which
M'ill be of use for our history. Michelet, who has earned
the name of " photographer of history," and who, though
regarded with suspicion by the Jesuits for his i udgments,
has never been suspected of not writing true history — Mi-
chelet speaks of Lahontan as a credible witness as to all
that he saw in Canada from 1683 to 1692. On his return to
Europe, Lahontan published in Holland the result of
his observations. Here are some of his remarks, and we
might believe that they were written only yesterday.
*' The priests are persecutors even in the family, and the
inside of houses. They have always their eyes watching
the behavior of women and girls .... To be well in their
books, they must receive the sacraments every month.
Every one is obliged to have at Easter a ticket from hi;*
confessor. The priests make war on books : it is only
devotional volumes which are encouraged : all others are
f(»rbidden, and condemned to the flames.

" The rulers, political, civil, ecclesisa-stical, and military,
are only, so to speak, one and the same thing in Canada,
inasmuch as the most subtle representative of the king
submitted their authority to that of the ecclesiastics.
Those who wore not willing to take this step found
themselves in so bad a position that they were recalled
in disgrace. I could quote instances of several who, for
refusing to cling to the tenets of the Bishop and the
Jesuits, have been deprived of their posts, and aftei*-
wards treated at Court as blunderers and intermeddlers.

" The Governors-General who desire to get along, or to
hoard money, hear two masses every day, and are obliged
to confess once in every twenty -four hours. They have
ecclesiastics at their heels, who accompany them every-

RVINES CLERIC ALES

lat

where, and who are, strictly speaking, their advisers.
Then the intendants, lihe lieutenant-governors, and the
Supreme Council, would not dare to carp at their con-
duct — though they might have reason enough to do so —
on account of the misdemeanors that they commit
under the protection of the ecclesiastics who shelter them
from all the accusations that might be made against
them.

•'They refer to people by name in their sermons, and
forbid, under the threat of excommunication, the reading
of romances and comedies.

" The members of the Supreme Council cannot sell, give
or bequeath their fat positions or situations to their heirs,
or to other people, without the consent of the king. They
consult the priests and Jesuits when it is a question of
delivering judgments upon delicate matters j but when
it is a question of some suit, which affects the interests of
these good fathers, their case must be so bad if they loso
it that the most cunning lawyer could not do them a good
turn. Many people have assured me that the Jesuits
did a large business in European goods and Canadian
peltry.... Noblemen and gentlemen have to be very cau-
tious in their dealings with the ecclesiastics, on account
of the good or the harm that may result.

** The Bishop and the Jesuits manage to secure good
matches for the daughters of the nobility.

" An ordinary cur^ must be carefully treated, for he
may do good or harm to the gentry in the seigneuries in
which he is only a missionary, so to say, since he has no
fixed benefice in Canada. The officers, also, keep on good
terms with them, for, otherwise, they could not maintain
themselves."

Here is a picture drawn by an eye-witness, an
historian ot* high standing, who exhibits to us fully
the rdle that the clergy played, and their strong
influence in the sixteenth and seventeenth centu-
ries, on the eve of the conquest.

Is it because they gave the people this education
that we are now obliged to strip ourselveo of every-
thinfj for them /

A U PA VS DES RUIXES

}M'

By what right do the successors of these men
tlare to challenge us by boasting in public of what
they have done for us ?

Let us now see what the clergy have done in
the cause of education ; and for that purpose, let us
consult Garneau, who explains to us the docu-
ments of that period :

" The Congregation of Notre-Dame owns to-day, in
the towns and in the country, some schools, the benefits
of which cause regret that similar institutions for boys
have not been formed. The education of the latter was
handed over to the clergy, who, with a few exceptions,
were the only teaching body under the French rule. The
government never l)usied itself with this important
question. Whether it was policy, or a desire to please
the priesthood by leaving them the care of public
instruction, it allowed the people to grow up in :*gno
ranee: for at that time, we are bound to acknowledgt,
the clergy, like the governments, considered popular
education as dangerous and fatal to the tranquillity *»f
♦States, and Canada was still less free than other counti iPH
from this unhappy prejudice, because it never had '^\\x
parish schools, and because (a thing unheard of) j.^ititii,^':
was introduced into it only in 1764, or 150 yeais aftt r
its foundation." (Page 183.)

Is it for this education Xhixt v e are asked for
payment ?

Would it not be our duty to ask for explanations,
when Garneau, in some later pages, shows in this
way the contrast with the Protestant population of
New England ?

Printing, that weapon so formidable to all abuse and
tyranny, was introduced into Cambridge, Massachusetts,
in 1638. The first work that was issued from tie Ame-
ricr.Ji press was "The Appeal of the Free Man," one
y^iir aflftv. Soon afterwards there prevailed in ll\ese
provinces that liberty of thought and r.idependonce of
*<jl»iiit, v/hich coniribiiie 1 so powerfully to give them a

high
their
took
provi
famo
E(
occui

RUINES CLERIC ALES

high opinion of themselves, and to exalt their aims and
their ambition for the future. Massachusetts, which
took the lead in the movement, was also the first American
province that produced men who, like Franklin, became
famous in litterature and science.

Education, which is so necessary for a free people,
occupied their attention from the first. It was New
England, also, that set the example, and was the first to
establish the best system of popular education. It laid
down as a principle that education must be compulsory,
and at the public expense. These views were undoubtedly
far ahead of the time. Schools were opened in all the
parishes under the management of elective committees,
who voted the necessary funds. In order, said these
lawgivers, that the intelligence of our fathers may not
remain buried with them in their graves, we enact,
under penalty of fine, that every district of fifty families
shall establish a public school where reading and writing
shall be taught, and that every town of a hundred families,
shall establish a grammar school where boys shall be
prepared for the University. This law, substantially,
still exists in Massachusetts, which is proud of it as one
of its best titles to the gratitude of the people."(Page 297.)

And now, honest Canadians, when they thunder
at you from the pulpit that the clergy have done
everything for you, you can draw your own con-
clusions.

Not less painful is that romantic imposture abr it
the resistance of the Catholic clergy to the conque >r,
and the legend of the Cross opposed to the i ivauor,
and of encouragement under defeat.

All that is false — utterly false. The Catholic
clergy became the slaves of the conquen • and
constituted the powerful means by dint of v\ hich
absolute submission was secured.

Not content with having assisted to enslave us,
every time that we desired to claim our fair rights,
they worked to discourage us, and to play into the
hands of the ruling power.

AU PAYS DBS RUINES

'1'

The English thorougly understood the weapon
that they had in their hands, and the sagacity of
their statesmen, who managed so cleverly to profit
by this influence of the clergy, does honor to their
diplomacy. It spared Canada the bloody dramas
which have tarnished the glory of other British
conquests.

That, however, is not the question : what we want
to prove distinctly is that the clergy have always
ranged themselves on the side of the oppressor, and
have, at all times, labored to secure their own
sovereignty, while subjecting our necks to the yoke
of a powerful conqueror.

The history of the clergy since the conquest is
that of triumphant selfishness.

There are plenty of instances of this to be found
ill Canadian history. Turn over, at random, the
pages of Garneau, and on every page you will find
traces ^)f tliis clerical struggle against the French
instincts of Canadians.

They hav o tried every means to stifle our filial
love for France ; and if they not have succeeded in
doing so, it is no fault of tlieirs.

Here is what takes place at the time of the
American invots^on of* 1812, when Canadians would
perhaps have hatl the chance of giving free course
to their French sympathies :

" Bj forcing public opinion and uttering threats they
alarmed the indifferent, and obliged those who might
have compromised themselves to show their colors.
They invoked, also, the aid of the priesthood. The
Bishop of Quebec, who had just received an annuity of
£200 from the Government, addressed a circular letter
to the Catholics of his diocese, exhorting them to main-
tain the cause of England, and threatening with excom-
mu^\ication all who should prove disobedient. Neither
the proclamation, nor the circular could rouse the
/<rt6i<an<« from their apathetic neutrality." (Page 430.)

RUINES CLERIC ALES

Gameau does not hesitate to assert that the
Catholic clergy then saved the English rule :

" Only the clergy and the seigneurs^ with some of the
middle class in the towns, remained sincerely attached to
England, and the clerical influence succeeded in keeping
neutral the majority of the Canadians. Thus, it may be
said that the clergy, at that crisis, were the real preservers
of British interests in the colony." (Page 433.)

WhenMgr Brianddied, Mgr Plessis, who delivered
his funeral oration, made . use of the chance, and
pronounced a eulogy of the English nation, which
was humiliating in the mouth of a conquered French-
man.

Is it this sort of thing that the " terrorists " call
lifting the Cross, and saying to the English : " You
must walk over our bodies before meddling with
the Canadians " ?

Judge for yourselves :

" Our conquerors, looked at with a suspicious and
jealous eye, inspired only horror and loathing. We
could not persuade ourselves that men strangers to our
soil, to our language, our laws, customs, and form of
religion, could ever be capable of giving back to Canada
what it lost when it changed masters. But, O generous
people ! who have given us such strong proofs that these
prejudices were unfounded; industrious people, who have
caused to spring up the riches which this land enclosed
in its bosom ; model people, who at this crisis, teach the
attentive universe in what that liberty consists, for
which all men sigh, and of which so few know the correct
limits; merciful people, who have just kindly received
with so much humanity the most faithful and the most
ill-treated subjects of that kingdom to which we formerly
belonged ; beneficent people, who each day show Canada
fresh proofs of your liberality ; no ! no ! you are not our
enemies, or hostile to our properties that your Jaws
protect, or to our holy religion that you respect. Pardon,
then, for this former distrust a people who had not yet

A U PAYS DES EUINES

'■i.

the pleasure of knowing you ; and if, after having learned
of the overthrow of the State, and the destruction of
religion in France, and after having enjoyed during five
and thirty years the mildness of your rule, there are still
found among us some men sufficiently blind, or sufficiently
ill-intentioned to entertain the same suspicions, and to
inspire the French people with a criminal desire to revert
to their former masters, do not impute to all French-
Canadians that which is the crime of only a small
section." (Page 109.)

This is how Garneau appraised the sad apology.

" It was impossible to satisfy England in more sub-
missive or devoted language. The priest, forgetting
everything else, almost thanked Providence for having
snatched away Canada from the impious nation that was
breaking its altars. He, also, preached the most absolute
obedience, saying that he who resists the ruling power
resists God himself, and by this act of resistance deserves
damnation." (Page 110.)

On all occasions, all negotiations which affected
our future lot were considered from the same point
of view

At the time when measures were being taken for
the union of the two Canadas, which was to ensure
the crushing of French-Canadians, Garneau says :

He (Lord Bathurst) decided to settle the matter at
once. The Canadian Prelate (Mgr Plessis) made no
promise to Lord Bathurst to support by clerical influence
the political measures which EngUnd might adopt with
regard to Canada, however prejudicial they might be to
the interests of his fellow-countrymen ; but it may be
presumed the Minister saw sufficiently through his
language to be convinced that in granting protection to
the Catholic religion, ecclesiastical property, and tithes,
the zealous aid of Mgr Plessis might be counted onto main-
tain English supremacy, whatever might happen, whether
it was desirable to change the laws and the constitution,

loy>
but

RUINES CLERIC ALES

led
of
five
till

or to re-unite Upper and Lower Canada. The members
of the clergy, in their individual capacity, might express
their opinions for or against, but when once the changes
were effected, the clergy would be the first to yield
their adherence."

This is the way in which our interests were
disposed of ! and now, the cause of all this is simply
as follows :

" Craig, who had a way of governing peculiar to him-
self, had sought not only to bully Parliament, but desired
above all to tread the clergy underfoot. He had persuaded
himself that he could direct everything at his will by
violence and intimidation; and as this course had succeeded
in political matters, he believed that he would also be able
to corrupt and intimidate the Catholic Bishop ; and
make the clergy dependants of the Government by caus-
ing them to give up the right (which he would forthwith
assume) of nominating the cures. The submission of
Mgr Plessis, who had gone so far as to read his procla-
mations, and deliver political addresses, in the pulpit, had
induced him to think that he could do whatever he wanted
with that prelate. But he was deceived. The Bishop
had yielded in politics, only to gain, and not to lose in
religion." (Page 158.)

That was the case.

They gave up the Canadians — they sacrificed
them — to save the clergy.

Here is the part played by the clergy — a part
clearly proved from historical documents which
cannot be disproved. Let us now no longer be
deafened at every turn by clerical protestations of
patriotism, and let our orators on St-Jean-Baptiste
day cease their sycophantic babble about the clergy,
and teach people truthful liistory.

Politically speaking, the French-Canadian is a
loyal subject, and a free man, pron<l of his liberty :
but he owes this liberty to his unconquerable love for

AU PAYS DES RUINES

his old mothef-country, ^rhich has given him the
courage to make himself respected in spite of the
Catholic clergy, who have never had any other
thought than to hand him over as a hostage to the
conqueror, in order to secure the preservation of the
immense wealth with which they crush us to-day.

THE CATHEDRAL

•• Nothing is more like
ruins than the materialb
of some vast edifice, if
they are left scattered
on the ground ; and the
eye gazes with the same
sadness on what man has
not finished, and on what
time has destroyed."

Pr^vost-Pahadol.

What profoundedly sad and humiliating thoughts
assail the christian opposite this pretentious unfin-
ished temple, which rises in the heart of our city,
like a new tower of Babel, destined to commemorate
th3 blind weakness of a whole generation.

A Parisian architect, who was staying at the
Windsor Hotel, opened his window early in the
morning, and seeing the last idea of the reign of
Mgr Bourget, cried out in despair, while lifting his
eyes to heaven :

— Quel est le maladroit qui m'a ainsi saligotd
mon Saint-Pierre de Rome ?

This cry from the heart of an artist in face of so
pitiable a copy of one of the wondere of the world —
m face of this zinc caricature of the dome which
crowns the sanctuary of the whole world, and of
this wretched counterf sit of the portico before which
all the great ones of the earth have bowed, is the just
chastisement of the haughty old man who dreamed
of copying for his personal use the work of many
generations.

Was there ever a more audacious undertaking, or
a madder freak conceived and encouraged ?

It is not, however, this poor prelate — who had

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AU PAYS DBS B VINES

this notion thrust upon him by the all-powerful
ultramontane clique — whom we ought to blame
for this eternal monument of our weakness ; the
true culprits are those who have blinded our people
"to such an extent as to make them believe that they
would obtain salvation only at the cost of this
sacrifice.

These men knew' well what they were doing.
Their scheme was a very bold one, and their calcu-
lations were exaxit.

What these men needed to establish their supreme
power was a source of income on which they could
draw freely, to maintain the struggle against the
will of the people — to keep in pay the hireling
press — and to cover the whole land with new
chapelS; and new convents, in which the vouth of
Canada would become supple under their handling.

How many millions of money this Cathedral fund
has swallowed up, nobody will ever know.

Like the holy vessel of the Danai'des, it has
received everything: from the beggar's sou to the
banker's cheque. For many years money has been
drawn from this source, and behold the result !

Go along Dorchester street on some fine June day,
when the air is soft, and the sunshine plei.sant. The
trees with their green foliage form a pretty arcade,
and shade charming villas and their fragant flower-
gardens. Y9U reach Dominion square, enamelled
with brilliant flowers, and gay with sportive groups
of children. On- the right, you admire the tine
building of the Young Men's Christian Association,
while opposite are the Windsor Hotel, and the grey
mass of the Canadian Pacific Railway station : but
on the left there is a ruin !

It is the Cathedral — the gulf that swallows the
Catholic wealth of Montreal — the inexhaustible
purveyor of secret funds for the unceasing clerical
struggle.

RUINE8 CLERICALES

Henri Rochefort was evidently not tender when
he exclaimed: "Your purse, or hell ! That is
to-day the programme of the Catholic cler^jy ! "
Canada, however, would be almost in a position to
prove him in error, for she has found the means of
mating the purse and hell.

When almost all possible human devices had
been exhausted in order to raise funds for the
Cathedral, recourse was had to immense bazaars —
those endless fairs, which on various occasions have
terribly demoralized our population, and ruined
many innocent young people.

Without being a harsh censor, I see nothing more
profoundly immoral than those vast caravansaries,
into which, night and day, there swarm bevies of
charming young girls, sent thither by matrons as.
greedy as they are pious, to rifle the visitor, and
collar the customer.

There are some things that religion cannot excuse,
and bazaars are among them.

Those who are in the habit of frequenting these
kinds of amusements know perfectly well all that
can be said about them ; but others should learn
from the very lips of their organizers what takes
place at them, and the deplorable incidents by which
each of these fitm is made notorious.

Ask the secretaries and treasurers of the Cathe-
dral bazaars how many falsified and incorrect
accounts they have seen, what proofs they have had
of misappropriation of funds, and of sums charged
to private expenses.

It is the common talk of all society.

How many young girls have been pointed at by
the finger of scorn after these assemblies, at which
they have compromised their characters for the
great benefit of the true faith !

The worst is that the system, which originated
in high quarters, has authorized and favored the

AU PAYS DE8 RUINBS

ill XT

spread of these pernicious modes of raising funds.
Here, again, the clergy are powerless to check the
torrent they have let loose : it is now a perfect
flood.

Leo XIII, at the be^nning of his Pontificate,
had very exalted ideas of reorganization, and wished
to give a general impulse to the different missions
of the Church, and to suppress purely theatrical
works of charity, upon wnich certain classes of
society had laid hold, both to make an excuse for
them, and also to gain a living.

He was afraid of the dangers that were threat-
ened by the promiscuous nature of these assemblies,
and the temptations that they offered. These dangers
we have pointed out, and the mixed nature of the
meetings can easily be established, when character,
social position, and morality are too often lost sight
of under cover of the blue cloak of charity.

But by what means can such a cause begained ?

Michelet relates that when Gregory VU inter-
posed in the question of the marriage of priests,
and recalled in the most energetic way the laws of
the Church about celibacy, a storm of fury burst
forth in some countries. The Archbishop of
Mayence read the Pope's bull with fear and trem-
bling, and when he had finished it, all the ecclesias-
tical dignitaries on the banks of the Rhine, counts
and princes as well as bishops, great huntsmen,
bold emptiers of huge goblets in which the Roemer
foamed, half mad with anger and dissipation, rushed
upon the luckless reader, and came very near killing
him.

Supported by the people. Pope Gregory held his
ground, and saved the Church, which, as Drumont
says, was disgraced by "the concubinage of the
priests, that had become, to a certain extent, a
recognized marriage." Everybody obeyed, and it
was only three hundred years afterwards that this
question brought on the Eeformation.

BUINES CLERICALE8

TIk> worldlings who busy themselved with, or live
on, works of charity woT^ld be more difficult to put
down than the Episcopal burgraves of the middle
ages.

Moreover, the clergy who originated this move-
ment have no right to complain, and in Canada they
do not complain of it.

Society has moulded itself on the image which it
has been pleased to construct bodily.

In all these groups religious feelings are real, but
they are of a quite peculiar kind.

Garlyle, who has studied his nation profoundly,
and who well knows the aristocracy of England, says
of the Anglican Church, that for English Protes-
tants it is *' an ecclesiastical light which overhangs
them, chnging to old worn-out ties, and pretending
to be a sun or a moon, although to the naked eye it
is no more than a Chinese lantern, chiefly composed
of paper, with a candle's end in it, that is dying
uncleanly in its hole. "

We will not go so far to appraise the influence of
religion on our nigher classes ; the light of Catholi-
cism still illuminates their intellects a little, but
does not warm them much.

Society people are outward observers of reli-
gion rather than really pious. The observance of
torms of worship, and respect for sacred rites, hold
the principal place in their religion. People who
apparently live beyond the pale of the laws of the
Church still continue to observe her ordinances.

In the main, they are right, up to a certain point.

It is the reasonmg of uie Italian that will tell
you : " I am wrong to commit adultery, and I groan
over my weakness ; but I do not see any necessity,
because I commit a sin in taking my neighbor's
wife, why I should commit a second by eating flesh
on Friday. "

Consequently, a Canadian assembly is worthy in

lir''

III'

^tr PAYS DES BUINES

every respect of the apostrophe that Jjeon Gozlan
addressed so dryly, but so directly, to his country-
men :

" The French public, were it composed of six
times more hypocrites than may usually be found in
the pit of the theatre on the first night of a new play ;
of six times more fraudulent bankrupts and lost
women than display themselves in the stage-boxes
or the side-box seats ; of six times more goitrous,
idiotic, mischievous, and venomous citizens than
aru found in the second and third galleries, always
at the first representation of a dramatic work, you
would none the less (and do not doubt of it) have
an assembly perfectly acquainted with the purest
literary principles, the purest religious principles,
the purest social principles, and, in short, the purest
principles imaginable. "

That is worldly education in all its strength —
the result of al? the compromises on the part of
some, and of sycophancy on the part of others —
compromises and sycophancy which in both cases
are selfish, since they secure alike to the clergy and
to the dude — the needful !

Our times are not suited for high flights and
great convictions, such as may be found in the
speech which Shakespeare puts into the mouth of
King Henry V, on the morning of the battle of
Azincourt:

" O God of V)att!e8 ! steel my soldiers* hearts :
Possess them not with fear : take from them now
The sense of reckoning, if th' opposed numbers
Pluck their hearts from them ! ISot to-day, O Lord !

! not to-day, think not upon the fault
My father made in compassing the crown.

1 Richard's body have interred anew,

And on it have bestowed more contrite tears
Than from it issued forced drops of blood.
Five hundred poor I have in yearly pay,

BUINES CLEBICALES

>ozlan
antry-

of six
)und in
vplay;
ad lost
5-boxes
jitrous,
IS than
always
ik, you
t) have
3 purest
inciples,
e purest >

sngth —
\ part of
thers —
>th cases
rgy and

hts and
in the
louth of
Mittle of

Who twice a day their withered hands hold up
Towards heaven, to pardon hlood ; and I have built
Two chantries, where tb.e sad and solemn priests
Sing still for Richard's soul. More will I do ;
Though all that I can do is nothing worth,
Since that my penitence comes after all,
Imploring pardon. "

King Henry V. Act. IV. Sc. I.

Here is something that does not recall bazaars,
and kermeases, f^es, and oriflammes : here is some-
thing that speaks the language of true manhood,
but there are no more characters of this temper
and quality to raise the Cathedral from its ruins.

now
ibers
lO Lord !

Irs

'i,,^' I

'£!■■ '

, INEXORABLE CRUELTY

'* The quality of mercy is not strained ;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath ; it is twice bless'd ;
It blesses nim that gives, and him that take::' ;
Tis mightiest in the mightiest : it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown. "
Mebchant of Venice, Act, IV. Sc. I.

The Montreal newspapers lately published two
profoundly sad items of news, that show in the
strongest light the ruins caused by the selfishness
and hardness of heart of certain members of our
clergy. ^

One is the story of a poor woman whose husband
is in prison, and who, left with three children on her
hands, knocks at the door of all the churches to find
assistance, and finds nothing.

The other is the story of a poor wretch released
ii om the penitentiary, who finds neither support
nor consolation ; who does not dare to return to his
village, for fear of being pointed at by the finger of
the very man whose mission in the parish is to par-
don and to bless. >

The case of this man is a harrowing one. Left
at an early age to all the trials of a struggle for life :
an unprotected orphan, he had gone the usual way :
bad companions, dissipation, dnnk and theft.

Sentenced to the penitentiary, he passed three
years there, left to his own thoughts, and retracing
in his memory his miserable life, which seemed to
him so odious and horrible.

The mere recollection of his old boon-companions
made the blush rise to his cheek, and he swore to
himself that when once he was free he would become
a useful member of society.

RUINES CLERIC ALES

He kept his word. When released from prison,
he worked hard for a livelihood, and obtained a
good situation in a commercial house.

Chance took him one day to his native village
which he had not seen for ten years since the wild
life of his youth, and where he was now unknown.

It was Sunday, and the church service was about
to begin. The honest farmers were ground in front
of the church, and the poor ex-convict, stirred to the
heart by the peaceful sight, which recalled to him
the once pure days of his childhood, made his way
into the sanctuary, and knelt down at the foot of
the holy water font, lost in the shade.

No one noticed him : after mass he slipped into
the presbytery to see again the priest who had
given him his first communion

To tell the truth, he did not like him much. He
was a violent, dictatorial man, who, more than any
other, had been the cause of his hating life and
society, of over-exciting his ardent temperament,
and of making him stubborn.

But he wished to carry out his good resolutions
to the very end.

Modestly and humbly he presented himself before
the priest, but he was received scornfully, and with
insults, and when he came out, his resolve was
made. He packed up his bundle, and left the vil-
lage.

On the next day a letter from the cur^ informed
the younfir man's employer of the antecedents of his
clerk, and two days later he was dismissed.

Now, he has returned to the penitentiary.

Here is one instance, and ten others might be
adduced.

Accustomed to see themselves obeyed in every-
thing, certain members of the clergy take a jealous
care to avoid everything which, among their flock,
can disturb the happiness that they enjoy, or the
authority that they abuse. 7

AU PAYS DBS BU1NE8

I'Ji >-

<. I

Every new comer is an object of suspicion ; still
more so, if the t)trangers have occasion to doubt the
opinions or the conduct of the priests.

What do they care for charity or the salvation of
a soul !

It is the cash-box that must be saved : and the
parish must be prevented from seeing matters
plainly.

In place of thinking and saying : " Crime is only
something human and there is nocrime which cannot
obtain pardon, for there is no man of whom it can
be said that he could never have been a criminal ;
you have been a thief, but, after all, you are only
a man " ; instead of this, they say : " Quick ! Away
with the reprobate ! Let him perish rather than put
in danger the profitable flock ! "

Such was not the mode of action of the old abbe
Crozes, the chaplain of la Roquette. He offered
breakfast to some convicts released from the hulks,
who came to see him when he was superannuated.

He had comforted them when they were con-
demned to the galleys, and had promised them faith-
fully, during their absence, to look after their pri-
vate affairs. If they left behind them wife, child,
mother, or any being whatever, he had promised
them to see to them, and from time to time to send
news of them. And he did so. Therefore, when
twenty years had passed, the robbers came back to
embrace the chaplain. They found him with white
hair, and he found them grown old, but, all the
' same, they recognized one another ! They chatted of
old times, and they breakfasted together.

This is the trufe inheritance of Christianitjr —
this is that charity which can love " even criQii-
nals'* -— this is the might of cleansing pardon, which
can restore peace of mind to the murderer himself.
This is that admirable and mysterious evangelical
spirit which would wish the gate of hell to be

RUINES CLERIC ALES

always closed, and the gate of heaven always open.
It is a sublime weakness in favor of all human
weakness.

The immense strength of Catholicism has con-
sisted in using this weakness of man as the basis
of its dogma. Whatever may be said, written, or
done, a tendency to err will always be the charac-
teristic of humanity, and this tendency has been
deified by Catholicism.

It required no limited genius to know how to find,,
even in crime, a reason for hope, and thus to provide
a lever to raise the fallen

To-day the lever is broken in the hands of
those pedants who boast of their immaculate virtue,
and bestow their attentions on female devotees and
pretty faces, rather than think of those " hard-
cases " who need their care and their absolution.

These lost ones whom they have pushed along
with their finger to smoothe the roaa for them are
to be found at St. Vincent-de-^Paul.

CENSUSES AND EXCOMMUNICATIONS

!.: ■? :/

" Does holiness consist in
destroying? The God who
peoples the air with birds,
the earth with animals, and
the sea with fishes ; the God
who animates all nature, is
he, I ask, a God of ruins and
tombs? Does he demand
devastation for homapre, and
fire for a sacrifice? Does
he desire lamentations for
hymns, murderers for wor-
snippers,anda ravaged world
for a temple? Nevertheless,
ye holy and faithful races!
such ure your works, and,
such are the results of your'
piety!"

Volney's Ruins.

The troubles of the more intelligent and liberal
classes during the last forty years are complicated
by a series or blows and counter-blows, by succes-
sive acts of brutality and weakness, that have
brought along the disorder amid which we are
living, and that mark the bloody halting places of
the general break-up which is to-day taking place.

It is not here a question of those simple parish
controversies to which we had to refer in preceding
chapters, and which have killed all respect for the
clergy among the tutb,! population ; but we wish to
speak of more important incidents — of the great
conflicts between the laity and the clergy.

The principal conflict, undoubtedly, took place in
the Guibord case, and for a number of years it
convulsed the religious world of Canada. Tlie
general outlines of this cause cdhhre are well known.
When speaking of the Jesaits we drew attention to

1(K)

BUINES CLERIC ALES

101

the events which iei< to the formation of the Insti-
tut'Canadien, We have spoken of the efforts made
by the Ultramontanes to keep toother this institu-
tion, which those in high position pressed close to
their heart, in order, no doubt, to stifle it the more
quickly.

In 1850 Father Chiniquy, according to the annals
of the Institut, " tried to extort a profession of
religious belief from the Jnatitut-Canadien, by
demanding the exclusion of such journals as were
opposed to the temporal power of the Pope. The
Institut replied that outeide of literature, science,
and art, the cultivation of which it encouraged,
it exercised no control or direction.

The abb^ Chiniquy was then the right arm of
the Church.

Quantum inutatus ah iUo !

From the day when Mgr Bourget lear..t that the
Institut refused to accept this advice of his confi-
dential agent, the ruin of this great school for the
culture of our youth was ex-officio decreed, and
this was the first struggle of the laity against
cleiical oppression.

Father Chiniquy, as a consolation for his defeat,
received the following letter from Mgr Bourget,
which served him as passage-money to the United
States.

Montreal, October 13, 1851.
Sir,

You ask my permission to leave the diocese in order
to offer your services to Monseigneur of Chicago. As
you belong to the diocese of Quebec, I think that it is
for Mgr the Archbishop to give you the es;eai that you
»6k for. As for myself, I can only thank you for your
labors among us, and wish you, in reward, the most
abundant blessings of Heaven. Every day, you will be
in my memory and in luy heart ; and I hope' that Divine

rllt

102

AU PAYS DES RUINES

■■\M

'iQ^y >'.

providence will enable me to testify to you later all the
gratitude that I feel. Meanwhile, Sir, I remain your
very devoted and obedient servant.

t Ig. bishop of MONTREAL.

To M. Chiniquy, Priest.

Some years later, the man whom they had pre-
ferred to the respectable citizens of the Ivstitut
abandoned the Catholic Church, which had thus
pampered him, and preparations were made to crush
the movement in favor of intellectual emancipation.

Due precautions were used. In 1868, a minority
of the members, cunningly drawn over to the cause
of the Jesuits, claimed that the library of the Inati-
tnt contained works which were considered not
only by Catholics, but by Christians of all denomi-
nations, essentially trivial, irreligious and immoral ;
and they proposed a motion to have the fact
admitted as well-founded. The majority of the
Institut rejected the motion ; notwithstanding this
decision, the Catholic Bishop of Monti*eal, without
examination or enquiry, published on April 30,
185^, a pastoral letter, in which he made an appeal
to all the members of the Institut," who," he said, we
" are confident, still hold to the Church by the sacred
" tie of faith," to the «jnd that being better educated
" in Catholic principles, the^ should at last draw
" back from the abyss that is opeT:;iDg beneath their
" feet. But that if, alas i they persist in.obstinatelv
" pursuing the course they have chosen, they will
" incur terrible penalties, which will entail most
" deplorable results. In short, it would follow that
" no Catholic could belong to this Institut ; that no
" one could read the books in its library, and that no
" one. for the future, could be present at its sittings
" or listen to its lectures. These grievous results
" would be the necessary consequence of the anti-

RUINES CLERICALES'

103

" Catholic attitude that the InsHtut would assume
•' in persisting into its revolt against the Church."

Forthwith, certain menibers brought before the
Pope the question of the refusal of the sacraments,
which had been ordered by the Bishop for the
reasons above mentioned ; and in August, 1869, the
Bishop published a pastoral letter in which he made
known a pretended decree of the Congregation de
la Sainte Inquisition, conceived in the following
terms :

'' Having submitted to examination the <]ifficulty
" which was raised a long time ago with respect to
" the Institut-Canadienf&ndevQry thing having been
" maturely and carefully examined,theCongrdgation
" desire that the Vicar-General should be notified
" that the doctrines contained in a certain annual
•' report in which the acts of the said Institut are
*' recorded, should be altogether repudiated, and
"' that these doctrines taught by the same Institnt
" should also be reprobated. They remark, in addi-
" tion, that, from fear that by such pernicious doc-
'' trines the education of young Christians may be
" exposed to danger, they have represented that the
" zeal and vigilance which you have hitherto dis-
" played are praiseworthy, and they have suggested
" that the Vicar-Oeneral himself should be recom-
" mended to come to an underp+anding with the
" clergy of our diocese, in order that Catholics and,
" above all, young people, should be kept away from
" the said Institute as long as it is known that per-
" nicious doctrines are taught there."

The Bishop took advantage of this document to
declare that anyone who continued to be a inemlier
of the Institute or continued to receive the annual
report, deprived himself of the sacraments : and in
NovemW, 1869, nn old member of the Inatituf,
named Ouibord, having died, his widow, in spite of
ecclesiastical bans, wished to have him buried in
the Catholic cemetery where he had a private lot.

\t.l

104

A U PA YS DBS R UINES

The Catholic clergy, instigated by the Jesuits, wL. >
wished to establish the Ultramontane doctrine of tiie
infallibility of the ecclesiastical power, refused to lut
the body of Guibord be buried m holy ground, imd
pronounced anew the old formulas of excommuni-
cation, in the style of Benedict VIII, when he
thundered his proclamation against William II,
count of Provence :

" May they be cursed in their bodies, and may
their souls be delivered up to destruction, perdition,
and torments. May they be damned among the
damned. May they be scourged among the ungra-
teful, and perish with the proud. May they be cur-
sed with the Jew^s who, seeing Christ in the desli,
did not believe his word, but were willing to crucify
him. May they be cuvsed with the heretics who
labored to destroy the Church. May they be cursed
with the blasphemers of God's name. • May they
be cursed with those who despair of God's mercy.
May they be cursed with those who lie condemned
in hell. May they be cursed with dinners and
impious persons, unless they change their conduct,
ana confess their faults against St. Giles. May
they be cursed in the four quarters of the world.
May they be cursed in the East, and disinhe-
rited in the West, interdicted in the North., and
excommunicated in the South. May they be
cursed in daylight, and excommunicated at night-
time. May they be cursed in their native country,
and excommunicated in a strange land : citi'^sed
standing up, and excommunicated sitting. Carsi^d
while eating, drinking or sleeping, and excommuni-
cated at the hour of rising. Cursed during their
work, and excommunicated during their leisure.
May they be cursed in spring, and excommunicated
in winter. May they bo cursed in this world, and
lie excommunicated in the next. May their posses-
sions pass into the hands of strangei*s ; may their

RUINE8 CLKHICALES

105

wives be delivered to perdition, and their children
fall beneath the point of the sword. May what they
eat be f*ursed, and what they leave be cursed, in
order that those who touch it may be cursed. Cur-
sed be the priest who may give them the body and
blood of the Lord, or who may visit them in time of
sickness. Cursed and excommunicated may he be
who shall carry them to the grave or dare to bury
them. May they be excommunicated and cursed by
all anathemas, if they omit to do public penance, or
do not make due satisfaction ! "

The only satisfaction that the Ultramontane party
received was to see themselves accused before the
legal tribunals which had to decide whether the
civil power had the right of imposing duties on the
religious authorities.

After an Homeric struggle which engaged the
attention of the whole Catholic world, and was
finally referred to England, the civil poM^er tri-
umphed and was respectea,

Messrs. Doutre and Laflamme, who were called the
advocates of Guibord, had the honor of gainingthis
great victory, and it is from the famous plea cf Mr.
Doutre that we have borrowed our preface.

Guibord was buried in the Catholic cemetery, and
the members of the Inatitut-Canadien raised their
heads again.

M. Dessaulles, one of its m6st active members,
irritated at the endless bickerings of the Ultramon-
tanes, who were all powerful with Mgr Bourget,
published a pamphlet entitled La Grande Guerre
Ecclisiastique, in which he thus enumerated the
claims of the clergy : " It is the privilege of the
clergy not to support any of the burdens of the
State 1 It is the right of the priest to be exempt
from all taxes for public improvements ! It is the
right of the clergy to obtain possession of private
fortunes, by undue influence when wills are made>

106

AU PAYS DES RUINES

without the State having any right to interpose !
It is the right of the Church to acquire, to possess, to
administer, and never to dispossess itself of anything,
however disastrous its monopoly of ownership may
be to the prosperity of a country ! It is the right of
the Church to make the priest independent of the
jurisdiction of the civil courts ! It is even its right
to forbid the civil courts to take cognizance of the
crini3s of ecclesiastics ! It is the right of the priest
to control the political action of a citizen, and it is
the right of the Pope to repeal or arbitrarily annul
the laws passed by the public authority of the
State ! It is the right of Bishops to excommunicate
the judges who condemn a clergyman to pay a debt
to a layman ! It is the ri<:^ht of the Pope to demand
from Government the creation of ecclesiastical
courts to decide all cases, of whatever nature they
are — criminal, civil, or municipal — in which a
clei'gyman is interested ! It is the right of the Pope
to prevent a nation from framing its own institu-
tions, and to declare them null and void, \i they
interfere with ecclesiastical immunities ! All the
liberal institutions which have been adopted by
nations during this century have been censured and
reprobated by the '•ourt of Rome ! "

Vengeance was not long delayed, and some time
afterwards the pamphlet was denounced, and its
author censured, as follows ; " The book of the
Honorable L. A. Dessaulles is indeed " A Great
Ecclesiastical War, " because he attacks with Sata-
nic pride the Vicar of Jesus-Christ, whom the
Catholic world rev^eres with so much reason ; because
lie affronts grossly with revolting insolence the holy
Roman Congregations, which are supremely vene-
rable tribunals, and command the respect of the
whole world ; because he drags in the inud with
amazing rashness the Sacred College, which is com-
posed of men who are eminent in every respect;

RUINES CLERICALE8

107

because, with a malice of which he alone can be
capable he blackens the characters of the Canadian
clergy, who, however, have deserved well of their
country ; because he vilifies Ultramontanism, which
he considers a monstrous mistake ; because he
claims that it invented and created the Christian
right which makes the Pope an absolute sovereign
in temporal matters ! How has the Minerve, which
has, doubtless, read all those shocking thin^, allowed
itself, by advertisement, to open for this detestable
book a road by which it can reach the bosom of our
Christian families ? "

There was added this judicial sentence : " As to
the libel entitled, La Orande GuervQ EccUsioLstique,
permission will not be given, as was said before, to
keep it for any use whatever, except to refute it,
when the Bishop's leave has been obtained. Those
who, after having been properly warned, persist in
keeping it in their houses, will come under the head
of a " reserved case," from which they can be
released only by the Bishop and his Grand- Vicars."

The same methods were always employed, and
this time they succeeded for some time in stilling
the public voice.

The men of the period oi' great struggles were
disappearing. The youth trained by the Jesuits were
becoming careless, and gave up the struggle : hypo-
crisy triumphed.

It was then that the era of silence be^an.

To Mgr Bourget succeeded Mgr Fabre, a good
priest, by no means clear-sighted, and possessing little
authority : a hater of all difficulties and trouble-
some questions.

His dream was to rule without people worrying
him in any way, and he let the episcopal galley sail
on, whatever wind was blowing.

If you would like to see a sample of his lack of
manhood, it may be found in the following letter to
a priest of his diocese, who was complainmg of the

106

AU PAYS DES RUINES

improper behavior of* one of his brother priests^
and who, in the end, mutinied/ and left the
Catholic Church :

■■■v

Montreal, April 2, 1878,

I hear some very disagreeable news about you. It
seems that you have written to one of your parishioners
of St. Roch, and have made some terrible revelations in
reference to the priests of my diocese. You have made
remarks on the cur^ of that parish, and you have advised
him to publish the matter in the parish. You have
even told him that you intended to write to several
other parishioners. It is strange that there is no means
of reforming you. You must, it appears, always find
some way of compromising the priests. Each time you
lose by it, and you don't care for it. You spoil every-
thing by speaking against them. Nobody believes you :
Everything goes against you, and notwithstanding
that, every now and then you allow yourself to be
caught.

Although I acknowledge your honesty and sincerity
in the priesthood, I must also say th^t, with all your
imprudent remarks about the priests, you alone have
given me more trouble than all the rest of the diocese.
It seems to me that it would not be very difficult for
you to keep silent. I forbid you to write to any parish-
ioner of St. Roch. I warn you positively : take care
how you behave in future, for your penance might be
long. Take advantage of the chance that you still have,
and try to make yourself agreeable to your confreres^

Your very humble,

t Edouard Chs., Bishop of Montreal.

This is all the satisfaction that can be obtained
from the authority in whose hands is the manage-
ment of the diocese.

Here we see the origin of all the compromises,
and all the changes that disorganize the parishes,
and dishearten Catholics.

RUINES CLERIC ALES

109

Cardinal Regnier, a man of undeniable worth,
put one question only to the cures, who came to see
him :

" My dear cur^," he used to say, " how many years
have you been in the parish of X. .. ? "

" Thirty years, Monseigneur."

" Ah ! my dear cur^, let roe embrace you."

Later on, in a retreat, he revealed his mode of
thinking, when he said to his priests :

" Gentlemen, when a cur6 can say to me, My
Lord, I have been in my parish for twenty, thirty
or forty years, I bless God : for that man is a priest
who has done good, and is still doing it."

How few men of this kind would we find in our
<lioceses !

When certain citizens entered upon the great
struggle against undue influence, it was impossible
to obtain a word from the Bishop,

In a pamphlet published about the election con-
test at Berthier, there is the a<30ount o£ an inter-
view with the Archbischop of Montreal. This
account clearly shows the unvarying system, or
fatalism, so to speak, that regulates all his answers.

An account of an audience of the Honorable Dr A, H.
Pdquetf senator^ and Louis Sylvestre^ eoc-M.P.P., with
his Grace Mgr Fahre, Bishop of Montreal^ at the Bishop* s
Palace^ on Monday, March SI, 1879. Duration oj the
•audience : twenty minutes.

SUBSTANCE :

Questions by M. Sylvestre : *

Q. Monseigneur, do you remember that, last June, I
addressed you a statement complaining to your Grace
of the hostility of the clergy of the county of Berthier,
who wronged me not only politically, but also personally,
to such an extent that, in addition to the loss of my
election, some of my friends, even to-day, will not bow

i;..

110

AU PAYS DES RUINES

■f \

ill

to me, and I wish to know what reply we are to expect
from your Grace 1 "

A. — I can scarcely believe that their conduct has
done you so much harm, and that you have forfeited the
esteem of your old friends. As regards their preachings,
everything depends upon the interpretation that is put
on them, and this is so much the case that the statements
of our friends are contradictory, and justify the truth of
what I assert.

Q. — Monseigneur, I am a Catholic and 1 wish to
remain so. Will you tell if political Liberalism in Canada
is condemned ?

A. — You require an answer that may be differently
understood, etc. (The rest of the answer wks equally
evasive.)

Q. — Monseigneur, cannot you do us justice in this
case ?

A. — They deny having acted in that way. Most of
them speak without notes, and say they never used any
such language. For my part, I can do nothing in the
mattsr.

The same line of conduct was maintained during
the whole interview.

Questions by the Honorable Dr P4quet :

Q. — Monseigneur, we were unwilling to take the
matter to the Civil Courts, before having recourse to
your tribunal ; but since you decline to come to our aid
we must go to law.

A. — Do what you please.

(Dr P&quet declared in addition that he was desirous
that the matter should be carried to the end, and that
he would seek elsewhere the assistance which had been
refused him by the Bishop.)

Dr Paquet : — I think that Monseigneur added, that
it gives annoyance in these cases to have recourse to law,
as it diminished the respect due to preachers and to the
confessional.

Montreal, March .31, 1879.

Dr A. H. Paquet,
Louis Svlvkstre.

RUINES CLERIC ALES

111

And that is all the answer ihit the Bishop would
make !

Another instance occurred lately when the diocese
of Montreal was in a great commotion, and when^
owing to the pressure brought to bear by certain
people, the Archbishop came to a false, illegal, and
irregular decision, with respect to the Canada-
Revue. The same apathy that he exhibited shows
clearly that Catholics have only one resource left
them, viz, that of weeping over he ruins of a Church
which was once great, and which is dying in hands
too weak to support it.

Messrs Louis Fr^hette, Arthur Globensky and
Calixte Lel)euf, friends of the Canada-Revue,
at the express request of the directors, visited the
Archbishop of Montreal to obtain from him some
explanations about his condemnation of the journal..

The Canada- Revue, had announced that it would
refrain from publishing Les Troia Mousquetaires,
and thought that this act of respect would have
the effect of removing the obstacles put in the
way of the free circulation of a paper, which, in
every other respect, was irreproachable.

On this mission these gentlemen pi*esented them-
selves before Monaeigneur Fahre, who was waitings
for them, and received them with that perfect cour-
tesy which distinguibhes him. AH preamble was
quite useless, and the discussion was at once begun
on its own ground.

These gentlemen established the fact that the
Index condemned en bloc the works of Alexandre
Dumaa, but not Lea Troia Moxiaqnetairea in parti-
cular ; that this was the most inoffensive book pos-
sible ; that it was much less dangerous than the
spicy novels of Ohnett Delpit and others, with which
pious families amuse themselves; that this book
could be left in the hands of even a child ; that in
France it was, positively, the first novel per-

112

AU PATS DES RUINES

mitted to be read, just as EngliHh girls begin with
Walter Scott, but that nevertheless the Revue had
consented not to publish this feuilleton to which
some objection seemed to have been made.

Notwithstanding this, it was impossible to obtain
any concession, or even encouragement : the Arch-
bishop remained impassible and imperturbable.
When, however, he was asked whether the act of
refraining froni publishing what he considered, or
seemed to consider, a pernicious work, would not
allow of his removing his interdiction of the Canada-
Revue, he answered evasively : "Ah ! it n*y a pas
que cela."

On this his visitors added : " We suspected it,
Monseigneur, and it is for that that we are here with
you. As faithful children of the Church we beg
of you kindly to specify anything, besides this
novel, that you have to censure in the Revue,
in order that we may discuss the matter in a friendly
way, and carry on our conference."

" Gentlemen, " said the Archbishop, " you ask me
for a reply which can only be made in writing to a
question put in writing. "

" Monseigneur, what we also wish to know is,
will your Grace be disposed to give us your answer
in writing. We would like to see clearly specified
what you thought fit to censure in the articles of the
Canada-Revue, on points of doctrine, for instance. "

" Ah ! " replied Monseigneur, " it is not only a
question of doctrine, but also of the discipline of the
Church. "

" Well, then, can you point out to us how we
have failed as regards the discipline of the Cnurch ? "

" The fact is that it is the whole tone of the
journal. "

"The tone ?"

" Well, yes ! You meddle with the conduct and
the reform of the clergy. Those are things which

i \

RUINE8 CLERICALES

lis

can be settled without newspapers. They have
nothing to do with such matters. Bad priests should
be accused before me, and I will see to the busi^
ness. "

" But do not you know, Monseigneur, that a
crowd of people are convinced that your authority
must be supported by the public in order to re-
strain abuses, and punish unworthy priests. They
merely laugh at you. One of them, whose name we
can mention, calls you vieux torchon!* (Old rag.)

" Not in the pulpit, at any rate ! **

" No, Monseigneur, but he says it to any one who
will listen to him. These priests reckon too surely
on your goodness, and on your pardon. They tell
you that " they won't do so any more, " that the
public knows nothing about them, and that there is
no scandal ; and, with the goodness of heart that
wins you so much sympathy, but perhaps consti-
tutes your weakness, you pardon them. These
priests deceive you, Monseigneur : their conduct is
well known, the scandal is wide-spread, the reputa-
tion of good priests is injured, and you are represent-
ed as being on good therms with these scoundrels.
The Canada-Revue in publishing the cases of these
betrayers of trust gives you a great power to use
severity. A priest who brought disgrace on the
city of Montreal for seventeen years has just been
driven away. By whom ? By the Canada-Revue. "

" That is to say," replied Monseigneur ; "

" By the Canada-Revue, Monseigrnete-r," answered
one of the delegates. " The criminal has confessed it
himself."

" In short, since the Canada-Revue has taken in
liand the cause of morality, and broken with the
tradition that consisted in hiding the abscess, it has
been found necessary to make important reforms
which are a relief to the honest clergy. These reforms
are not all effective ; there are many which are only

I f i.

AU PAYS DE8 RUINE8

i i

apparently so. A number of priests who have been
convicted have merely changed the theatre of their
performances ; but if, as we have no reason to doubt,
the Canada-Bevue continues its vigorous campaign,
this manner of punishment, which consists of send-
ing off into the country these cankered members,
will also cease, and the act of amputation must be
complete."

During all this time the Archbishop sat thought-
ful, and said not a word.

" Have you read the Canada- Revue, Monaei-
gneur / "

I have read only a few numbers? "

If you point out to us in the numbers that you
have read, or that have been read for you, the
articles to which you object, that would give the
directors the means of holding a conference, and of
seeing if it be not '-^ ossible to come to some under-
standing, and thus avoid a conflict. They would
ask nothing better than to give you satisf action, if ..."

" Then," said Monaeigueur, " there is a conditio-
nal if."?

" Assuredly, Monaeigneur, our present interview
is founded on this. It the directors had decided to
submit to any arbitrary judgment whatever, we
should not be here with you to make filial advances
that deserve paternal encouragdment. It is for the
children to take the first step, but it is not forbidden
for the father to meet them half-way in order to
welcome them."

*' I must have an unqualified submission before-
hand," replied the Archbishop ; " besides, you ask
things which necessitate too much work. That
would oblige me to make a special study of the
Canada-Revue."

" But you are not alone, Moriseignetbr, as you
gave us to understand a moment ago. Besides, allow

RUINES CLERICALE8

115

us to express surprise that you published your man-
dement without this preliminary study."

Silence.

" If I mistake not/' said one of the delegates," the
principal objection to the Canada-Revue would be
that it claims the right to accuse and condemn a
scandalous and dangerous priest."

" Yes," said Monseigneur, " very nearly so. No-
body has the right to accuse a priest to anyone but
myself."

" But if people accuse to you a priest of seducing
women and children, will you at once t«ll the fathers
of families that they must mistrust that priest ? "

" That would be difficult."

" Then, Monseigneur," said the delegates, " in the
name of the directors of the Canada-Revue, we
frankly declare to you, that husbands and fathers
of families will never submit to that. A husband
or a father who detects a priest plotting to seduce
his wife or corrupt his daughter, has by all laws,
human and divine, the right to chastise him bodily.
How can you forbid him to denounce the seducer ?
It is all very well to refer such matters to you,because
we recognize in you a man who is just and upright ;
but it is not a question of the greater or less confi-
dence that we may have in you personally — it is a
question of principle. There are other oishops in
the country and elswhere ; you yourself will have a
successor."

Here a number of personal charges were intro-
duced, with names, dates, and facts in support of
them, and we say, in justice to Monseigneur, that
he listened, with his usual kindness, to the long
series of crimes to which we have already referred,
and did not attempt to contradict any of the facts.
Nevertheless, after having long reflected, he said :
" I must, however, have an unconditional submis-
sion. "

116

AU PAYS DBS RUINES

•i^

M •>

(■ 1

" That is impossible, Monseigneur, " was the una-
nimous answer of the delegates. A submission, such
as you want, Monaeigneur, cannot even be discus-
sed. The directors who send us to you have no
notion of making any but worthy concessions ;
they will not retreat one step. They have decided
to oppose all arbitrary decisions : they purpose to
prosecute the case, and to carry it, if necessary, to
the Privy Council. Reflect on what would happen
if you were defeated ! "

" Ah ! yes, my poor children ! "

*' Some citizens, " continued one of the deleofates,
" are disposed to furnish all the funds necessary to
carry on tho suit. Remember that since the Gui-
bord case, the religious atmosphere in Canada has
been clear. At present, a storm is gathering, and a
terrible thunderbolt is ready to fall, which you, Mon-
seigneur, can and ought to avoid, for the good of the
Church in Canada. See, the people are excited, and
speak freely of things that they have seen, and over
which they have groaned so many years, without
daring to lift up their voices. Their eyes are on
the look-out, and everything is open to the light of
day. The hypocritical imposture«J, un ler which the
most unclean acts of sacrilege were hidden, are no
longer a mystery for anyone. All is known, and
indignation, like a rising tide, has mounted even to
the lips of those who are suffering. Take care that
it does not overflow. Nothing will stop the torrent
that you can still control and turn aside, if you con-
sent to listen to the voice of public opinion. Do not,
however, delay ; later on, it will be too late.

" For a long time the true friends of the clergy and
religion — those who talk boldly to priests and
Bishops — have been saying to them : " Be on your
guard ; you are deceived and blinded ; you do not
see the storm coming ; you are sleeping in false
security, and the awakening will be terrible. "

RUINE8 CLERIC ALES

117

" The clergy have not been willin;^ to li8ten,and we
know what the result has been. To-day, they still
shut their ears to the advice of respectable people,
only to open them to the suggestions of intriguers,
of hypocritical sycophant**, and of those who are
always afraid to see their baseness unveiled."

" Ah ! " said the Archbishop, " I am not quite
alone : que voulez-vous ? "

" We know it, Monseigneur, but let your Grace
reflect on this : We and our principals are other-
wise better disposed to the clergy, and to reli-
gion than those who recommended the mandement,
to which the Canada-Revue will not submit, con-
vinced, as it is, that it has right on its side."

During all this time, the Archbishop, thoughtful
and gloomy, true statue of distress, listened almost
contmuously without interrupting.

His eyes, wide open, seemed to behold in the dis-
tance the sad pictures that were being unrolled
before him. Nevertheless, not a muscle moved ; no
flash of will could be traced in his passive aspect ;
one would have said that the inevitable had set
Upon him the seal of its power.

The interview was over : the bell rang for supper-
time, and the delegates took leave of the venerable
prelate. They were as sad as himself, and thought
that, perhaps, in this interview the Canadian clergy
had just lost a terrible stake.

THE EDUCATION OF THE PRIEST

((

ill

ml:

In all education provision
must be made for the
delicacy of the soul, for
strength of mind, and
for energy of character."
De Sylvia.

One ol: the most untoward works of our clergy —
probably the most untoward — has been the constant
defeneration of public instruction and education.

The most deplorable thing about this is that the
priest himself is the victim of this degeneration, and
seems quite ignorant that he is so. It is the study
of this Ignorance which will suggest a remedy for it.

A distinguished professor of philosophy used to
say : " The aim of education is to prepare our intel-
ligence for truth, and our will for virtue. "

Education ought to develope the whole man : his
heart, his intelligence, his will. Tho child is born
to feel, to think, and to act. We must, then, at the
same time, provide for the delicacy of his soul, the
strength of nis mind, and the energy of his charac-
ter. To Dpeak the truth, education is only the
beginning of life, and life itself should only be the
completion of education.

If man were to attain the full extent of his facul-
ties, he would arrive at genius by his intelligence,
at heroism by his will, and at holiness by his heart.

It is moral effort which constitutes the unity of
life. The child gets ready for it by passive obe-
dience — youth maintains it by the work of study —
and man accomplishes it by practical virtue.

What an important lesson has to be taught to our
youthful clergy, and to the whole body of the clergy,

118

LlLl f. t

RUINES CLERIC ALES

who ought to be educated before becoming educa-
tors.

Time passes on rapidly, and they must follow it,
if they do not wish to be left behind.

The priests' sole mission is not to talk to the
poor peasant, who is without education or the
power of reasoning, and is only capable of driving
the pic jgh, content to look at the sky in order to
believe. The countrywoman, whose piety is super-
stitious,will tell her beads to say her Credo. The child,
happy in knowing by heart his little catechism, and
entrenched behind the veil of his timid ignorance,
will not have a shadow of doubt. A priest of mo-
derate learning will suit his wants. But to-day with
the spread of education,and the surprisingincrea.se in
the number of college degrees, there is in every
market-town, in the shadow of the church steeple,
one house, at least, in which the beautiful verses of
de Musset and other captivating poets are read.

There should, therefore, be in the pulpit of this
ehurch, a man of education and eloquence, capable
of appreciating the beauties, and refuting the
sophisms, of these seductive writers. As a matter
of course, the cur^ should be at the head of the
parish, and should be able to give advice to all his
parishioners, however well-informed and high-toned
they may be. The cur6 must wield an authority
which knows, and, can assert itself; for, his mission
and prerogatives are of an imposing nature. But
is this the case in our day ? No ! The clergy are
inferior to their sacred calling. Once again, whose
fault is this ? It is the fault of the tramers of the
clergy.

The college professors are their trainers: but,
what have they learnt of their profession — what
do they know of their duties — these little ahh4a
who, at thirty-five, have for eleven years been
lecturing on moral and dogmatic theology ?

120

AU PAYS DES RUINES

It is no use to plead that they have studied hard
for five or six years at the seminary. Their
studies have been those of scholars, but not of pro-
fessors. To be styled professor a man should have
pursued a course of ^professional studies. In order
that it may not scare any body, we will explain
the word.

To study in the schools is nothing else than to
exert one's self to grasp the meaning of an author,
or follow closely the teaching of the instructor. It
is to work for one's self ; and when we have under-
stood, we are satisfied, and that is enough. Such,
then, are the studies of the scholar and the student.
But such are not the studies of the professor. At
rfrst, these studies arc determinate and special — an
essential condition for their being thoroughly prose-
cuted. Afterwards, we study, not only to under-
stand, but to make others understand, and to make
ourselves understood. This distinction is not a
sophistical one. Who among us has not met with
men of superior intelligence, who ar^incapable of
making others understand what they themselves
understand perfectly ?

Clear thoughts can always be clearly expressed,,
and as Boileau says :

Lea mots pour le dire arrivent aisiment

That is true : but will these words which come
easily to tell ./hat you think clearly, be within
reach of the ordinary mind ? It is in vain to be all
eyes and ears at the foot of the pulpit. The man
who is holding forth may put his whole heart inta
his discourse, and the result may be zero. The
awakening of people's minds is not effected in that
way. If the angle of vision varies, so also does the
angle of intellect. To each hearer, the teacher
must send a ray of h'ght in proportion to his intelli-
gence : and, to do that, he muo^ find out each man's
difficulties, secure the exact words which will best

RUINE8 CLERICALES

121

express his own thought, and bring the known and
the unknown nearer together. Moreover, pupils —
I speak of the generality — are satisfied with their
books, for in au instruction books are necessary :
but the professor, on the contrary, is obliged to
consult not such authors as say Amen to all ques-
tions, but those whose opinions clash with one
another, in order that from this clashing he may
catch a spark of truth, which he may communicate
in all its brightness to the minds of his hearers. We
are surely right in establishing the difference bet-
ween the studies of students, and the studies of
professors.

Finally, these latter exist, and are the cause of
the establishment of the universities. In the colleges,
lyceums and lay normal schools, professors are not
made out of scholars just coming out of the rhetor-
ical course. Special courses of study must be followed
in order to train professors of literature and science.
The preparation for the degrees of licentiate and
doctor are merely a step to gain a professor's chair,
and it is only when a teacher has acquired those
diplomas that he is honored with a chair. Far be it
from me to think that a diploma endows a man with
learning, and that graduates are the only savants !
The diploma is only a guarantee — and nothing
more — of certain requisite qualifications. Every
serious examination implies, and demands, serious
preparation.

In our opinion, the priests who may have under-
gone these examinations would, undoubtedly, from
a scientific point of view, be fitted to be professors.
To infer, however, the unfitness of all others would
be to draw a conclusion wider than our premises,
and thia we will not do. The only conclusion allowed
us is a doubtful one — which is never in favor of
the persons in question — for the learning of a pro-
fessor should always be beyond doubt. If itis not,
let him resign his position.

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AU PAYS DES BUINES

If we felt obliged to raise an outcry and mordemize
-everything, would it not be time to shake off the
old dust of the seminaries, and demand at last for
•our reading a philosophy that differs from all the
antiquated twaddle ot San Severino, that of Rahier,
for instance ; to study histories different from the
plagiarisms of Rivaud, or the stories of P, Loriquet,
viz, those of Guizot, Duruy or Roetlinger ; to admire
the poetry of de Musset, V. Hugo or CoppSe ; to
write in a correct and charming style, in spite of the
PP. Lejeune,Guillot, Lenfant and Bourdaloue ; and
to hum the music of Rossini and Wagner, of Saint-
Saens or Ambroise Thomas ?

We would not say that a seminarist who should
devote himself with ardor to these studies, to the
exclusion of his own special work, would be doing
right. It is evident, in our opinion, that it would
be utterly unreasonable for a pupil to study mathe-
matics during a theological course, German in a
history class, or music instead of the Holy Scriptures.
This would be indulging in blamable license. But
may not a seminarist, indeed should he not, —
though a seminarist — keep thoroughly acquainted
with the advance of science, with new works,
literary and historical, and with the conflicting
opinions of the day ? Why should be deliberately
force his intelligence to live in a vitiated and vicious
atmosphere, and cut off from it all the healthful
currents capable of purifying i^, by driving away
the clouds and noxious vapors that hide from our
eyes the fair vision of Truth ?

At all events — though perhaps it may be an ex-
ageration on our part — it seems to us that a mind
deprived of all originality, and incapable of pro-
ducing a personal idea, is a parasitic mind, without
any mission or reason for existing. These minds
are found among the clergy, in great numbers, and
the means of lessening this number is to give a fuller

EUINES CLERICALES

123

liberty as regards education, etc., to enlarge their
views, in order that a seminarist who has in his
room Hugo's OrientaleSf or Lamartine's Jocelyn
may not be thrown on the street. Extreme measures
never produce sincere convictions, but are frequently
followed by disastrous results. Too much rigor in
this respect on the part of the master will beget a
secular spirit in his pupils, and excite an eager
desire to eat of the forbidden fruit. Let not our
meaning be misunderstood. We do not mean that
seminarist . should be allowed to handle obscene
treatises or infamous publication, such as Leo
Taxil's Corruption fin de si^le, or Zola's Terre.
No : but when an author has a certain notoriety,
why not give pupils a sketch of his writings, taking
care to do this with due discrimination ? In Zola,
as in Daudet, Mont^gut, Bourget, Guy de Maupas-
sant and Loti, all is not to be disregarded or despised.
These authors have written some admirable pages,
which deserve to be known, and of which French
literature has a right to be proud.

Jules Simon, who, in our opinion at least, is one
of the brightest intellects, and one of the best philo-
sophers of our age, Heine, Frank, Bouill6, Paul Janet
and Babier take higher flights than those puny and
petty philosophers, San Severino, Grand-Claude,
Bonat, Brin, Beynault, Dagorne and others. Well !
what comparison do they not dare to make between
the two lists ? The first mentioned are nothing, and
the second are men of genius 1 Have we not good
reason to smile and shru&r our shoulders ?

It is true that of a hundred professors in the semi-
naries scarcely twenty could be found capable of
understanding them, or twenty who have read a
single volume of these first-class authors ; and even
this would be a phenomenon !

We know what we are coming to, under this
system. The seminaries produce despicable lay

m;,

m :

124

AU PA rS DES RUINE8

scholars, while the meagre education of the priests
who are taught there is dishearteniog.

They cannot speak either French or Latin. In a
single sentence of a letter, which was made public, a
famous professor succeeded in making nine mistakes
which were publicly pointed out to him.

Our people are ignorant, and the fault lies with
the clergy — a fault, the more grave, because it is
intentional. The latter named good people have
founded a system of tyranny on the ignorance of the
former.

u;„

!; i 1 Si

THE PEIEST AND MONEY

" There are some unclean
souls, composed of mud
and filth, smitten with
the love of gain and self-
interest, as great souls
are with that of glory
and virtue."

De Labruy^re.

Nothinpf is more instructive than to trace the
origin of such maladies a8,slowly but surely, wear out,
impair,and gradually ruin the human body. "Sudden
xieath," in fact, is a meaningless expression, and we
are too ignorant of the elaborate conditions of
disease that are requisite to bring about what we call
a sudden catastrophe. The work of disorganization
goes on continuously, but gradually, and in society,
which is a collection of men, as a man is a collection
of tissues, the commencements of evil are always in
the distant past, mysterious and unknown. We
fall in the airection to which we incline — this is
the law of our nature — a mere nothing at first, a
slight desturbance almost imperceptible, a grain of
sand in the machinery, then partial disarrangement,
then broken springs, and the final disaster.

The social corpse is naturally more refractory,
and less easy to bury, than the human corpse. The
human corpse rots in the bosom of the earth : the
social corpse continues to walk, unconscious that it
is a corpse, until the day when the slightest shock
puts an end to the illusory survival of matter, and
shows mere ashes in place of blood.

The union of men creates and maintains false-
hood : society may long conceal its fatal inquiries,
may mask its agony, and make believe that it is

125

126

AU PAYS DES BUINE8

=»)

HMi

still alive, when it is already dead, and all that
remains is to inter it.

Societies, moreover, do not die in the same man-
ner. " Sometimes, " says Lacordaire, " peoples pasa
away in an insensible agony, which they welcome as
a sweet and a£;reable rest : sometimes they perish
in the midst of festivals, singing hymns of victory,
and calling themselves immortal. "

The present clericalism seems destined to die in
the midst of the money of which it has made its
only real worship, and to which it has sacrificed
everything. Nothing but money, and all for money
— that is its maxim. The most frightful instance of
the errors that this thirst of gold, auri sacra faraesy
can cause it to commit, may be found in the inter-
view reported in the Canadien relative to the
Davignon case — a refusal of baptism.

An interview, which explains itself, took place
between a journalist and one of the priests of the
Archbishop of Montreal.

Is it to your knowledge, Mr. Cousineau, asked the jour-
nalist, that on the 26th of last July, Our^ Lesage, of
Chambly Basin, refused to baptize the child of Solime
Davignon, living in that parish ?

Yes : we heard that the Reverend Mr. Lesage decided
on that step.

I even think, without being sure of it, that Mr. Davi-
gnon came here to ask some explanation of the refusal
of the cur^ in question. But we have not received any
official notice about the matter.

Do you know the reason of this refusal on the part of
the cur^ ?

The reason that the cur^ Lesage gives is that Solime
Davignon has not paid the complemental tax levied on
the parishes which are numerous and unproductive.

Is that tax legal ?

It cannot be exacted by law ; but having been imposed
by the Ordinary, Catholics are bound to submit to it.

Do you think that a priest has the right to refuse &

RUINE8 CLERIC ALES

127

child baptism on account of any omission or fault of the
father ?

Certainly not ; but if Mr. Davignon had submitted
the matter to the ecclesi^tical court, we would have set-
tled all that. It is now impossible for us to give him
satisfaction, as we would seem to be yielding to force.

Do you know that the same child was baptized by
tho cur^ of the parish of Richelieu, without any trouble %

We kno\9^ it.

Do you not think that the child might have dropped
off in the meantime %

Oh ! the child was strong and healthy.

Do you consider that ecclesiastical authority can prevail
above a father's authority, in deciding the fate of a child %

That would lead me on too far, and make me say that
in such a t^ase the priest can hinder a Catholic from
making his child a Catholic. I will not answer this ques-
tion. If it had been submitted to the ecclesiastical
authority, we would have seen ; but now, let the civil
courts decide.

Can a priest refuse to baptize a child that happens to
be bom is his parish, if the family is only on its way to
another place %

Certainly not.

In short, ^^ou think that Cur^ Lesage acted properly ?

Sa conduite n'a pas ete trea digne ; but he thought that
he had a chance of getting the tax paid to him — people
paid so badly — and he did well to try.

Is the Archbishop going to do anything in the mat-
ter?

No ; since an appeal has been made to the civil courts

But you are going to lose the suit.

Oh ! not cases like this one ; judgment was given for
a parishioner to whom the communion had been refused,
but no one has ever claimed damages for the baptism of
a child. Let the civil courts settle the matter.

This is their way, is it not ? Everything for
mone\'. The sacraments, religion, and everything
are subservient to venal interest.

The suit of the churchwardens of Montreal shows

128

AU PAYS DES RUINES

again in another light that rapacity which is the
basis of the religious character of our time.

Of how much meanness was not Cur6 Sentenne
guilty in order to keep in his possevssion the col-
lections, and not give any accounts of them to the
church wai dens ? Bead the testimony as follows :

Q. — It seems to kb that by the answer which you have
just given, you give to the third paragraph relating to
collections an unwarrantetJ meaning ? Will you, then,
read once more this paragraph, and say whether it is
not true that there is no assertion that you have ever
denied the Fahrique the right of h.>ving an account of
the collections ? What is there alleged is that the chief
churchwarden alone claimed an account of the collec-
tions, and that you refused to give it to him.

A. — This is true, that is to say that in the letter of
resignation I am not charged with having denied the
Fabrique the right of claiming an account ; but in this
application I am charged with having refused to furnish
M. Auger with an account of the collections. The oppo-
site is the truth, for I told him that I would keep account
of them.

Q. — Is it not true that at first you did not give him
any account, when he asked you for it, and that you pre-
pared a memorandum to be read at a meeting, in which
you stated your reasons ?

A. — M. Auger never asked me to give him an
account. Monsieur asked me to keep an account of the
collections, to, hand to the Fahrique^ and I told him that
I would do so.

Q. — Why did you prepare the explanatory memo-
randum that you read at the meeting ?

A. — Because it was a question of taking away from
the cur^ even those collections. Some wished that this
whole amount of the collections should go to the Fahrique.
I, however, drew up a memorandum to show how advan-
tageous it would to the Fabrique to leave the collections
in the hands of the cur^.

Q. — JTou had not yet paid in the funds arising from
the collections ?

A. — M. Auger blamed me because the collections

RUINES CLERIC ALES

129

had not gone to the* Fabrique, but he never asked me for
them. When he did ask me to give an account of them,
I said that I would do so.

Q. — When you say that you have not refused to give
him an account of them, you had not at the date of that
letter given an account of what collections you received 1

A. — No.

Q. — Have you declared that M. Auger never asked
you for an account of these collections before the letter
in question ?

A. — He asked me to keep an account of them.

Q. — Have you done it since that ?

A. — Yes.

Q. — Did he tell you why he asked you to keep an
account ? Was it not because he wished this account to
be handed in ?

A. — He wished the account to be given to the
Fabrique.

Q. — All that M. Auger asked you to do was to keep
account of the collections 1

A. — Yes. I told M. Auger : I give an account of
them by acts, and the treasury office of the Fabriq^ie
well knows the amount of the collections, and I keep a
book of them. Here is the amount of your collections.
For instance, if you have an organ, such as you want^
it is because I took care of your collections. The account
rendered is not dollar for dollar, but it is there, in the
church.

Q. — The abstract question that I ask you is, whether
the parishioners have the right to know to how much
these collections have amounted 1

A. — I do not refuse them this right.

Q. — Have M. Auger and the other churchwardens
asked you to tell them the exact amount of these collec-
tions 1

A. — He has never asked me.

Q I come back to a part of your answer aforesaid,

in which you qualify as false a statement which, from
my point of view, is merely a matter of opinion. I
would beg you to read the first paragraph of this letter,
and to tell us if you persist in accusing of falsehood all

190

AU PAYS DES RUINES

persons, who, in good faith, happened to affirm what is
alleged in the first paragraph ?

A. — He never asked me for it. As I was reading the
letter, when I came to the first paragraph that I have just
read, I said that this paragraph was erroneous, and I did
not make use of the word falsehood. If I did make use
of the word falsehood, it is not the idea that I wished to
express, because the first paragraph is a matter of
opinion, but I think that it is erroneous.

The hatred of this saintly soul against all those
who wish to snatch from him his treasure, his gold,
is such that he treats them aa liars for having even
wished to cast a single glance at his cash-box.

Have you seen the Cloches de Corneville played,
and have you seen le pere Oaspard displaying his
treasure, and perpetually jingling his sliming
dollars ?

That is the spectacle that our clergy present : that
is the education that they give our people. Gold is
Catholic, first of all : that is the fundamental maxim.
The other day we found a curious circular, which
is absolutely typical, and well represents this
fundamental maxim, which forms the basis of the
ecclesiastical treasures.

ON THE ENCOURAGEMENT DUE TO
CATHOLICS

How many times have not the workman, the manu-
facturer, and the tradesman had the humiliation of seeing
the preference given by their countrymen, and their co-
religionists to the workshops, shops and warehouses of
their fellow-members of different origins and different
beliefs 1 And how cruel is the wound when it is inflicted
by the Catholic clergy, or by a religious community ! In
this country above all, where the Protestant workman
and merchant count on the certain profit that results
from the number of joiira de fite^ during which the
Catholic is bound to do no business, is it not a kind of
injustice to pass by the door of a Catholic (who after ail
is in a position to befriend Catholic works, if he does

RUINES CLEBICALES

131

not actually do so) and to go farther on, to make the
fortune of the Protestant, whose sympathy, if he is
sincere, does not extend beyond the purse of his customer ?

Evidently, there is something wrong here. Christian
charity forbids hatred and revenge. We must love even
our enemies. Let us wait, however, till they have need
of our services. Let the gentlemen of St- Vincent-de-
Paul and the Sisters of Charity never refuse to aid an
irreligious person who is in affliction. That is all right.
But when the man is neither poor, nor sick, and has no
need of our alms, when it is simply a question of helping
him to make a fortune, who, pray, obliges us to take
him our money ?

If you mention charity, I will show you workmen
and tradesmen whom the same faith makes your brethren,
and who, also, want to succeed ; and I will remind you of
the text of St Paul which treats as renegades, worse than
infidels, those who neglect their brothers. Since charity is
what you are thinking about, there it is. You are treading
it under foot in deserting Catholic workmen and trades-
men, and you are by this means sowing in the field of
the Church the seeds of disunion and dissensicn.

Charity displays itself by acts, and it is acts that keep
it alive. But by what acts do we prove to our work-
men the esteem and affection that their faith and
their virtue deserve ? In their case, the only possible
act consists in giving them the preference. Charity,
justice, and respect for our faith so will it. For what we
are not doing, our enemies are doing. They support one
another, and put themselves forward by each other's
aid. This is what explains the energetic reproach of St
Paul. When, then, Catholic workmen and tradesmen
see us preferring to them every day people devoid of
religion, what a humiliation for them I What wounds
for their hearts and souls ! What must they think of
ua, and what can we expect from their gratitude 1 Ah !
do not doubt it at all, the disttnion of Christians heyins
hi business. It is in this that, by foolish mismanage-
ment, we inflict deep wounds upon honest hearts. They
become provoked or discouraG;ed, and in the end their
cooperation fails us, when it is needed for the triumph

«»

f our

cause.

132

AU PAYS DES RUINES

■•m\

In what elegant terms these remarks are made !
What cunning imposture, and abject hypocrisy in
that pretended sympathy with the workman, when
religion is merely consulting her own interests in
the matter !

Yes, combine. Catholics, and protect yourselves !
That is the principle which is called upon — that
is the osteubible reason assigned, but what is the real
reason ?

Money is wanted — much money, to support
Catholicism. What would this form of religion
become, if you were to make use of your free will,
and if the money passed into the hands of un-
believers ?

Always, these same methods, these menaces !
Always with the same one end in view — the ex-
tortion of money, or the enslavement of consciences.
The system is one of childish simplicity.

You are the children of God, they tell us : but
if you do not pay, and if you do not obey, God will
punish you.

What say you ? Has God the heart of a human
being with its changing passions ? Is he, like you,
moved by feelings of revenge or pity, by frenzy or
repentance ?

Oh ! what low ideas men have conceived of the
most exalted of beings ! To listen to them, it would
seem as though God, wayward and capricious, is
angered or appeased like a man: as though he
loves or hates, strikes and caresses, by turns ; as
though, weak or spiteful, he broods over his hatred ;
as though, contradictory or treacherous, he lavs
snares K>r men to fall into them ; as though ne
punishes the evil that he permits; as though he
foresees crime without hinderinff it ; as though,
being a partial judge, he is bribed with presents ;
as though, bein^ a thoughtless tyrant, he makes
laws, and forthwith revokes them ; as though, stern

RUINES CLERIC ALES

133

despot, he bestows or takes away his favors with-
out reason ! It is in this creed that we recognize
the falsehood of man, and when we see the portrait
that he has drawn of the Supreme Being, we say
to ourselves : " No, no ! it is not God who has
made man in His own image — it is man who has
misrepresented God in his likeness. He has given
Him his mind — has invested Him with his inclina-
tions — and lends Him his opinions. Then, when
in this medley he has found nimself contradicting
his own principles, he affects a false humility, he taxes
his reason with impotency, and calls the follies of
his intellect " mysteries of God."

He has said, " God is immutable," and then tries
to change Him by prayers and petitions. He has
called Him " incomprehensible," and is never tired
of explaining His nature and attributes.

And now, credulous mortals ! show the efficacy
of your customs. During the many ages that you
have followed or changed them, in what way have
the boons of nature to you changed ? Has the sun
shone any more than at the beginning ? Is the course
of the seasons different ? Is the earth more fruitful
or the people more happy ? If God is good, what
pleasure does He take in your penances : if He is
mfinite, what does your homage add to His glory ;
and if His decrees have foreseen everything, how
will your supplications change His decision ?

Answer, ye irrational and inconsistent beings !
Has God, Whom you say you serve any need of
your assistance ? If He wishes to infiict punish-
ment, has He not at hand earthquakes, volcanoes,
and thunderbolts ? Does a merciful God chastise
only by annihilating ?

The monstrous golden calf, which to-day is call-
ed " the golden buU, " is enthroned in the midst of
the hierarchy, and dazzles with the light of its
reflections. Those men are lost to all decenci or

134

AU PAYS DES RUINES

iili

discretion. They have lowered themselves to specu-
late everywhere, and in everything. The most pal-
try profits do not disgust them, and the most
crooked gains delight them. Let us give an ins-
tance of this :

One of the altars of one of our large churches is
maintained and kep^^ in order by a female penitent
who dedicates her hours of devotion to this pious
work. As this lady has numerous relations with the
business world, she receives as ijontributions to her
good works from certain Catholic firms some pretty
presents with which she ornaments her chapel.

Now what measures did the clergy of this church
take in order to make a profit out of those gifts ?
They stripped the altar in question as fast as they
could, and then, when the unfortunate benefactress
wished to reclaim her offerings : " Pshaw ! " said
the priests, "you must make your friends give you
some others. "

It is in this way that the church altars are gra-
tuitously furnished, and this is the style of petty
financial operations that are carried on, when the
big business does not pay. The people see and know
all this, and groan at it. But what can be done ?

Napoleon I, (whom his ambition, always satis-
fied but never satiated, sometimes threw into a paro-
xysm of fever) said one day to Decr^s :

Look at Alexander the Great. After having con-
quered Asia, and proclaimed himself to the people as the
son of Jupiter, the whole East believed him, — with the
exception of his mother Oiympias, who knew all about
the case, and of Aristotle, and some learned Athenians.
Well ! if to-morrow I were to announce myself as the
Son of the Eternai Father, there is not a single fi^^h-
woman that would not hiss me as I passed by. The
people are too enlightened nowadays. There is nothing
more to be doue 1

Well, we must believe that we are far behind the

,, ..,.,.^

RUIXES CLERICALES

ISS

age, for that announcement would assuredly go
down with us.

The French-Canadian is poor and complains of
being kept in check by want of capital. This is a
mistake, for the Canadian has funds. But where
are they, then ?

They are in the churches and in the convents. It
is in them that the product of our labors is piled up.

The English build banks, and the Canadians
chapels. There is mc^e gold in the ecclesiastical
treasury of the Province of Quebec than in all the
vaults of the banks in Ontario. This is why we look
like beggars, while our neighbors live in affluence.
This is why our farms are going to rack and ruin,
and our children are abandoning them. They are
escaping from the Minotaur which every year
devours the proceeds of our labors, and never
restores the prey which has come into his possession^

When, then, shall judgment be pronounced ? Who
will dare to execute it ?

4^ ■

KNAVES AND FOOLS

'• If it is desired that nations
should believe, they must never
be taught such things as their
heart and their intellect ins>
tinctively reject."

La Flandre Liberate.

The more deeply we are affected by the grand
lessons of the sacred books — the more we are struck
and inspired by the xine works of genuine Chris-
tians — the more we deplore this lowering of the
intellectual level of our clergy, which has led them
to compose by their own invention a series of
tspiritual readings, in which intelligence and good
sense are alike lacking.

What on earth is the use of inventing new
homilies, when the old canticles and psalms, which,
from the beginning of the Christian era, had made
the hearts or the faithful leap for joy, and furnished
each soul and mind with food that was always
invigorating ?

The common-places of ordinary life were excluded
from these pious souvenirs, to which a certain
perfume of antiquity imparted a charm that was
always sweet and touching.

Incapable of understanding greatness in simpli-
city, our Bossuets, Bourdaloues and Massillons have
conceived a religion of their own invention.

Those pious individuals, who cross themselves a

196

RUINES CLERIC ALES

137

number of times when materialism is mentioned,
have only one object in view, viz, to materialize
religion. We use the word " materialize " in two
senses.

First, in converting religion into vile metal. Next,
in giving a material and vulgar aspect to the teach-
ings that it permits.

The first prayers that a child in its cradle is taught
to stammer have a savor of mystery, of conviction
and of faith, which deeply impresses our feelings,
calling forth high and wholesome thoughts'.

What becomes of these feeline^, if they are en-
slaved to the common-places of daily life, and to
the vulgarities that we have to elbow each day ?

The aim of the work of the clergy is craftily
planned. It allows them to bring the mind back to
things of this world, and to the only object that
they have in view — the possession of wealth.

The method adopted is also very simple. Our
clergy have persuaded the people that the ancient
prayers, those old invocations that our fathers and
mothers have for centuries repeated, no longer
answered the wants of the present time. Accord-
ingly they have composed prayers, of their own
invention, something sufficiently habitant to be
thoroughly appreciated : and then they have placed
them on the market, and thus established sources
of revenue for themselves.

There are prayers for all the wants of life —
prayers for Paradise prayers against small-pox,
prayers even for nuccessful deliveries in child-birth.
And these are sold at all prices, from five cents up
to a hundred dollars.

We are not inventing 8 ny thing : and we have
here reproduced the fac-aimile of a prayer which is
sold everywhere for twenty-five cents. One sample
is enough :

% ■

)

^■i

»|'

■ t

t !

I. ,

1 '

I',,

1 ^•

138

AU PAYS DES RUINES

i=T='=i^

iisriDiOjPLTioisrs

POUR LES

TOTMEgiS III SE DIQIEirT TEH LE WHBII !

Depart :— A toute h^ure. Arriv<e :=Quand il plait k Dieu.

PRIX DBS PLAOBS:

Premikrb :— Innocence et aacriflce volontaire.
Deuxirme :— Penitence et conflance en Dieu.
Troibieme :— Repentir et resignation.

AVIS.

lo. n n'y a pas de billets d'aller et retour.

2o. Point de train deplaiBir. , ^ ,

8o. Les enfants qui n'ont pas l&ge de raison ne paient rien pourvu

qu'ils soient tonus sur les genoux do lour m6re rEglise.
4o On est pri6 do ne porter d'autre bagage que oolui dea bonnes

(Buyres, si Ton ne veut pas manquer le train ni eprouver de

retard k ravant-demi6re station.
5o On prend des . oyageurs sur toute la llgne.

T^3^

I
I

How much stupidity and gross vulgarity is Iiere
crowded into one small piece of paste-board 1

RUINES CLERIC ALES

130

Unfortunate people, who are educated, or rather
hoodwinked and bamboozled In this way ! What
humiliation !

In a charming book by Sunkiewiez, which has
lately been translated in France, and is entitled
Par le/er et par le/eu, one of the characters describes
the entry into Paradise of Ijon&finus, who had
died for his native country. Read this narrative
written for poor Slaves, and contrast the lessons
conveyed in these two documents :

Who is the daring fellow that knocl iius by night
at the door of Heaven 1

Open ! open ! good St. Peter; it is I, messire Longinus
Podbipieta.

But what merits or virtues have you that you boldly
dare to disturb the sleep of Heaven's doorkeeper ? Do
you claim that these doors, which by right are opened
neither to birth, however illustrious it may be, nor to
patrician rank, nor even to Royal Majesty, should yield
you free access to a place where no one arrives in a
carriage, guarded by foot-soldiers, and drawn by six
horses, but rather by a precipitous and thorny path, that
must be climbed with painful toil ?

Ah ! open, St. Peter ! open quickly ! For it is just hy
this narrow path that our comrade, messire Longinus
Podbipieta, has come to you. He has come to you like
a dove, wearied by a long flight. He has come, naked
as Lazarus : he has come like St. Sebastian, with his
body pierced through by Pagan arrows ; he has come,
poor as Job — pure as a virgin who has known no
husband — chaste as a meek and patient lamb. He has
come without being soiled by sin, with the sacrifice of
hi& blood cheerfully shed for the safety of his country.
Open to him. Saint Peter ! for if you reject him,
who is the man that will find favor in your eyes 1
Open to him I holy guardian of Heaven ! Let this lamb
pass in : let him feed in the heavenly meadow ; let him
feast upon divine herbs, for he has come to you, poor
and hungry. Let him " Here the speaker broke

liO

AU PAYS DES RUINES

off, stifled by his tears ; and with him, all who heard
him, lifted up their voices and wept.

On the one side, we have the idea of Paradise dis-
played to the people by a collection of priests ; on
the other, by a purely lay writer. Bat which of the
two versions is that which exalts the soul, and
which is that which debases it ?

The origin of our sorrows and of the necessity for
prayer is, of itself, deeply affecting : why then
should we not increase instead of lessening the holy
feeling ?

Who has not reflected amid what tribulations those
prayers to the Divine Being had their rise — prayers
from which they want to raise money nowadays ?

Was not the first prayer uttered when the anni-
hilating deluge threatened to destroy the whole
world ?

When the accidents of nature were added to the
evils that harassed them, nations, dismayed at so
many calamities, traced back the causes of them to
superior and hidden powers : and, because they had
tyrants on earth, they supposed that they existed
also in Heaven, and superstition in this way in-
creased the misfortunes of peoples.

Then fatal doctrines sprang into existence —
morbid and misanthropic religions which repre-
sented the gods as wicked and envious despots. In
order to appease them, man offered them the sacri-
fice of all his enjoyments.

He surrounded himself with privations, and sub-
verted the laws of nature. Mistaking his pleasures
for crimes, and his sufferings for expiations, he
wanted to love pain, and to abjure all love of self.
He persecuted his senses, hated life, and a self-
denying and anti-social morality plunged the
nations into a state of deadly inertia.

But because nature, in her foresight, had endowed

RUINES CLERIC ALES

and

the heart of man with inexhaustible hope, he, seeing
that happiness eluded his pursuit on earth, sought
for it in another world. By a pleasing illusion
he created for himself another country, an asylum
where, far from tyrants, he might resume the rights
of his being. Fresh confusion resulted from this
chimerical idea. Charmed with an imaginary
world, he despised the world of nature, and neglect-
ed reality for visionary hopes. Life, according to
his view, was nothing but a tiresome voyage, or a
painful dream. His body was a prison, and an
obstacle to his happiness. Earth was a place of
pilgrimage and exile. Then a solemn inaction was
established in the political world : the fields were
deserted, and overgrown with weeds — empires
became depopulated — graves were neglected —
and, on all sides, ignorance, superstitions, and fana-
ticism, uniting their efforts, increased the general
ruin and desolation.

It was necessary to leave to time the task of alle-
viating so many disasters, and re-animating man's
courage. It was to this revolution that the work
of philosophers contributed in a marked degree.

From the spirit of philosophy generations have
derived the strength of mind requisite to investigate
the cause of their evils, to mitigate and cure them,
while Christian convictions enabled them to have a
glimpse of the dim future in what was present and
real.

And now it is the clergy who are going to destroy
our work in order to coin mone %' from men's ere-
dulity. Materialism is the ruin of the religious caste
in our days.

Maxime du Camp, whom we cannot tax with
false doctrines, writes :

In a monastery, situated not far from Agr^-Dah which
is Mount Ararat, an Armenian monk related to me a
legend, which may here be not out of place. When

142

AU PAYS DES RUINES

Adam and Eve had plucked and eaten the apple, they
were suddenly endowed with knowledge of which they
had no previous experience, and which made the Lord God
anxious. We are informed in the twenty-second verse
of the third chapter of Genesis that he said : '' Behold,
the man is become as one of us, to know good and evik "
Fearing then that he might become like God, as the ser-
pent had promised. He created the vine that he might
become like the beasts of the field. The good monk,
stroking his long beard, and making his narghile bubble
up, looked at me roguishly, and added : " God, I acknow-
ledge, 1 ad a perfect right to defend himself, but I fear
that he overshot the mark : for, in spite of his foresight,
he was unable to guess that men would bottle up
frenzy and madness. " After this, he tossed ofif a glass of
rakij and smacked his lips.

This is how it is — good board and good cheer
everywhere among priests, and all at the cost of
indulgences and prayers.

We have no desire to deal here in misrepresen-
tation : that does not form part of our plan. K ever-
theless, a day is coming when caricature will be our
only weapon to wield against usurpation.

The true method of fighting clericalism consists
in satire, epigram, and caricature ; in the daily
and continued use of the weapon which kills best,
and is called " ridicule. " Good caricatures will do
far more damage than the most logical newspaper
articles.

The point of a pencil has kept a criminal in awe
mere surely than a gun-barrel levelled at his head.
Caricature represents the crowd, and is the outcry
of citizens : it was the favorite weapon of the men
of old, as it was that of revolutions. The important
matter is to mock and banter, and to do this in a
pitiless manner, without taking any notice of the
soured looks of those who protest against it. When
citizens are accused of persecuting the priests and

RUINES CLERIC ALES

143

starving the Church, the best reply is to sketch the
vast paunch of some vicar, who is sweating at every
pore, a martyr to good living, and suffering terribly
from excessive corpulence. Such pictures have a
great run m villages as well as towns, and no efforts
on the part of the clergy can prevent them from
circulating freely.

For the moment, we are crushed by the slimy
Ultramontane press, the prescription for the forma-
tion of which is well described in Figaro by Albert
Millaud :

Pour into a saucepan a bottle of black ink, two or
three glasses of wormwood, and a few drops of extra-
vasated gall. By way of vegetables put in some poison-
ous mushrooms, some basilisk, and some black radishes.
By way of stock, select some deliuate game.

Take in preference a pi imp and and oily liberal.
Choose him in a respectable position soused aux fines
JierbeSj or dressed in his magisterial robe. Take the bones
out, and the fat ofi' your liberal ; cut him in small slices
and boil him in the saucepan.

For want of liberals of the best cut, take a simple
"independent;" draw him, baste him, truss him, and,
stew him in his own gravy.

After having obtained from all this a thick soup, stir
it, thickening the sauce with castor butter, the brine of
invective, and the rinsings of great principles. Add five
or six vulgar adjectives, a bunch of abuse, two or three
cloves of dishonesty, and six grains of concentrated
malice. Stir carefully.

Scent your mixture with a little essence of pontiff, and
half a glass of boitquet of Jesuit's beard.

Cook over a slow fire : do not skim the pot, and stir
from time to time with a penholder.

Remove with care all the hairs which usually fall into
soup thus prepared ; and, when all is ready, take this
mixture and pour it all hot over some small sheets of
paper that cost two cents.

It is in this way that they usually get up those

'im.':'

mi'
[1 '

144

AU PAYS DES RVINE8

pious journals in which the people complete their
education, which was so well begun by those little
prayers composed in the same style as those before
quoted.

Can we, then, be astonished after that at the
idiocy of our finest clerical organizations ?

PRIESTS AMONG THEMSELVES

Homo Homini lupus,
Presbyter Presbytero lupior,
Monachus Monacho etiam lupior.

{Anglic^.) A man is a wolf to a mar; a priest
is more wolfish to a priest ; but a monk is still
more wolfish to a monk.

The relation that the members of the clergy bf ar
to one another, or to the religious orders, is one of
those undetermined questions, that form a basis
for predicting the great deluge which threatens the
whole institution, and for explaining all the weak-
ness of our population, who do nothing to recover
the power that they have allowed to be usurped.

There is among our people a pitiable faint-heart-
edness which favors the most terrible concessions.

The fact i'^ that we are bound to admit the
sixteen propositions that were laid down by Mr.
Dessaulles, and which affect ua no longer.

There ip not a single one of those that to day call
themselves good Catholics, who will not recognize
the almost limitless power of the Bishops.

Those who do not share this opinion are rebels
and revolters.

Let us briefly sum up the belief of these poor
people, and we shall see if the conduct of the clergy
that we witness everyday should not very soon
open the eyes of these confirmed dupes.

Here, with their origin, are the precise doctrines
which it is claimed that we are obliged to believe
in reference to our behavior with respect to our
Bishops.

• 143 10

146

AU PAYS DBS RtJlNES

m- ■

A large dose of patience is assuredly needed to
keep silent in face of this overweening presumption :

I. Bishops have the right of imposing fines on
those who publish, sell, or advertise any books which
have been put in the Index at Rome : for insvance,
Laniartine's Voyage en Orient, Sismondi, Michelet,
Descartes, Grotius, LHistoxre Eccl^iastique of the
abb6 Racine, or L'Hiatoire de VEglise de France of
the abb6 Guett^e, recommended by forty Bishops of
France, or other dreadful books of this sort.

II. Bishops have the right to fine notaries, in
certain cases, and to deprive them of their office.
This was formerly done, if there was reason for
suspecting that a notary had not done his best to
induce a dying man to leave the Church a legacy,
or if he had prevented him from leaving the Church
too much, and thus putting his family on the
street ; or even if he had made a will without a
priest being present — an act which was considered
as one of ill-will towards the Church.

III. Bishops have the right, in themselves, and if
they think proper, to change the intentions of
testators. Thus, when the Church had not received
as much as it expected, the Bishop would make the
will void, take whatever suited the Church, and the
family had to be satisfied with what was left. And
it was no use saying anything, for the Church being
the sole judge of her rights, and lef using Church
burial to all who, on their death-bed, gave her
nothing, families thought themselves lucky that
anything at all was left them. But when the eccle-
siastical judges and their clerks had been concerned
with the administration of an inheritance there was
seldom anything left. We may consult Church
writers to learn their opinion on lea ojjiciauoa !

IV. Those who bear the tonsure, even if they
are married, are exempt from all lay juris<1iction.
In the happy times of ecclesiastical omnipotence, a

RUINES CLERICALES

147

man who had committed a crime simply went to a
barber, and procured himself a tonsure ; and forth-
with the Church claimed him as subject to her
jurisdiction only. Judges were ^avely convened
to decide whether the tonsure was made previously
or subsequently to the crime, and the man got clear
for telling his beads some dozen or hundred times,
or for reciting the penitential psalms, and hearing
divine service at the church door. If he was rich
he redeemed a murder for four or five livres
towrnoia, and even the murder of his father for
seventeen livres tournoia, equivalent to about seven-
teen louia of the present day. Governments struggled
during several centuries to rid themselves and the
whole world of this magnificent " Christian right,"
which secured indemnity to a malefactor, as soon
as his head vas tonsured.

V. The Church has the unlimited right of owning
property, purchasing it, and of receiving it by will,
even to the detriment of families that may be
thrown on the street ; and a Government violates
the law of God, if it attempts, in any way, to
regulate or limit this right.

VI. The abolition of Ecclesiastical Courts has
been an outrage on the Church, and the Pope has the
right to order them to be established in Catholic,
and even in Protestant countries, since the Pope has
jurisdiction over both.

VII. Governments have no right to legislate even
about the civil part of marriage which the Church
does not recognize : nor to determine the civil effects
of marriage in certain cases , for instance, in the
case where a priest has secretly married two minors
against the will of their parents, the courts of
justice have no right to interfere.

VIII. Governments have no right to permit loans
of money even on articles of commerce, and are
canonically bound either to forbid the exaction of

148

AU PATS DES RUINE8

interest, or to establish very limited rates, without
paying any regard to the demand for, or abundance
of capital, or to the state of trade. Formerly, lend-
ing at interest was absolutely forbidden as a mortal
sin. On that point there exist more than twenty
decrees of Councils, and more than fifty decrees of
Popes. To-day, nevertheless, loans on interest are
tolerated. How is that ? Because the Church has
never understood, or wished to understand, (when
the laity have explained it,) the philosophy of lend-
ing at interest, that is to say, the reasons of all
kinds which prove the legitimate nature of the
transaction. On this question, as on many other
subjects, ecclesiastical reason has at last been com-
pelled to recognize in reality the superiority of lay
reason. Still, the right of the Church remains.

IX. On the authority of the Popes' bulls of
excommunication, and the authorized expounders of
canon law, a Catholic is not bound to pay a debt to
a heretic, and the Pope has the power of exempting
him from it, or of forbidding him to pay it.

X. The Pope has the right of absolving people
from all oaths whatsoever, political, civil or private*
and consequently of exempting citizens from obeying
the Constitution and the Law. We are not ignorant
of how often Popes have absolved from their oaths
Princes who had sworn to maintain inviolable the
Constitution and laws of a country.

XI. The PopQ has the right to establish courts of
inquiry in all Catholic States, whether the Govern-
ments are opposed to them or not ; but we question
whether nations to-day are much inclined to accept
the Inquisition, " that pearl of canon law," according
to the vivacious abbe Morel, and "that sublime
moral perfection," according to the eminent theolo-
gians of La Givitta I

XII. It is lawful to deprive the children of heretics
of their property, and, in certain cases, to abduct
them from their parenta

BUINES CLEBICALES

140

XIII. Governments are bound, and can be com-
pelled by ecclesiastical censure, to refuse to allow
heretics the public practice of their religion.

XIV. The fear of being unjustly excommunicated,
is u sufficient reason to justify a man in violating a
duty. Thus a legislator, if he was afraid of being
excommunicated, even unjustly, would be bound to
vote against the law which his conscience dictates
to him, and a judge would be bound to decide con-
trary to law. A guardian could not place at interest
the capital of the minors whose property he is
managing.

XV. Clergymen are essentially subjects of the
Pope, and are fundamentally sul>missive to him in
all things. They must keep their solemn oath to
obey passively, renouncing their rights or their
duties as citizens of their native land, or of the
countries in which they are living under the protec-
tion of the law.

XVI. As the Pope is unable to reconcile himself
to modern civilization and progress — each time that
a Pope, or a theologian who is styled eminent, shall
declare one of the conquests of civilization opposed
to the supremacy of the clergy in any temporal
matter, it becomes necessary to reject the conquest,
and to change the laws that are repugnant to the
Pope, or to the theologians, whether they be eminent
or not I

It will be admitted that we have now mentioned
a fairly good number of pretentions which we pur-
pose to ventilate, and to which we submit.

How, then, does it come to pass that our peopiC,
so far-sighted in many other matters, have never yet
discovered that there would be a means of reducing
this tyranny to fair proportions, by taking advan-
tage of all the mistakes that are made by the mem-
bers of this hierarchy.

One of the chief mistakes, of which advantage

100

AU PAYS DE8 RUINES

should be taken, is the fierce jealousy, which the
personages that surround mitres and croziers feel
of one another.

This jealousy, which turns into real hatred, is
unrelenting.

Here is an instance of it :

In a diocese near Montreal there lived an old
and infirm Bishop of whom the Vicar-General had
formed high expectations, in no way warranted by
his talents.

The above mentioned Vicar-General had thought
that he recognized in one of the priests of the dio>
cese a superior genius, really transcendant, and cal-
culated to occasion mistrust. He became uneasy,
had his man watched, and soon decided that his
fears were well founded, and that this man's talent
was dangerous.

Then with that extreme Christian charity which
characterizes our clergy, the Grand- Vicar worked ta
get rid of this troublesome rival ; but, in order to
do this, he avoided attacking him in front.

No one knows of what this man would have
been capable ! It was best to employ means that
were crooked, but not the less efiective.

The priest in question was studied, carefully
weighed, watched on the sly ; and the conviction
was gained that the " petticoat " was his weak point.

This discovery was highly gratifying to the ambi-
tious Vicar, who drew on the strong box of the dio-
cese to provide his budding rival with funds for a
little trip to the United States.

The matter succeeded according to his wish ; and»
some months afterwards, the travelling priest paid
a visit to the Mormons at Salt Lake City, where he
was thrown into p ison for having assailed the
Irirtue of three of the wives of some Mormon elder*

The Bishop being apprised of the frolic of his
" dear child, ' and not suspecting the trick that had

BUINE8 CLERICALES

161

been played by his faithful Vicar, was deeply
grie7ed, and gave orders that whe priest should be
extricated from his trouble, tX any cost. So he sum-
moned the priest's brother-in-law. a Montreal mer-
chant, and furnished him with money to go in quest
of the prisoner, and to settle the business.

The brother-in-law reached the Mormon capital,
and found his man ; but he had great trouble in
persuading him to come back, and only succeeded
by paying all the expenses which amounted to eight
hundred dollars. To this sum must be added another
eight hundred dollars, which had been given him
clandestinely for hiajourney.

This escapade, therefore, cost the diocese sixteen
hundred dollars.

Here, then, was the criminal seemingly restored
to his position, and at his ease. He sets to work
again, and displays all his high qualities ; but he
quickly regained too much influence over the Bishop,
whose jealous fellow-laborer was once mora aroused,
and tried to begin again the same game. This time,
however, the plan did not succeed so well.

The Bishop kept his eyes open, and as soon as the
news of the priest's second frolic reached him, he
sent after his heels the emissary who had proved so
useful the first time, and who was lucky enough to
catch his man at Duluth, and to bring him back,
safe and sound. He was again on nis way to
Mormonland.

Still, that did not hinder the Vicar-General from
having gained what h3 wanted. He has made that
intelligent priest an ". impossibility " in the diocese,
and allowed the nomination to the position that he
might have coveted of a pretentious nullity
thoroughly conversant with the sixteen propositions
Cannot the people of the diocese, who see and know
these things, profit by the chances which the very
authors of these criminal inconsistencies ofier, to

152

AU PAYS DES RUINES

l : ■

establish on a different basis the relations between
the clergy and the laity ?

It requires all the infatuation of the clerical Lody,
or all the confidence that it has in its own strength,
and in the servility of the population, to initiate the
struorgles and conflicts which we daily witness.

The fact is that all who are connected with the
Catholic religious world are ready to eat one another
up, and to ruin one another's reputation.

Sulpicians and Jesuits, Dominicans and lay-
brethren — all these incongruous fraternities are
gnawed by all kinds of ambition, and stimulated by
evil passions.

And all fall into the same trap, and are caught
by the same tricks, without, however, losing as
much of their prestige as might be expected.

For instance, a certain order which is very popular
and recently made its first appearance in our country,
has lately received a blow from which it will not
easily recover.

We would speak of the Dominicans, the fashion-
able preachers.

Their success may be readily imagined. The ora-
tor's head stands out in relief — half surrounded by
the black hood, while his arms display the wide
white sleeves of his robe.

This dress is the very one which suits the Domi-
nicans : it is spotlesfj and has something slightly
theatrical about it. These preaching-friars in the
present day form the most brilliant, the most libe-
ral, and also the most adventurous of 'he religious
orders. They have inherited the enthusiasri of
Lacordaire, his liberalism, and his frank daring. It
is only among the Dominicans that we find the
spirit of a Montalembert, and of a Cochin, the
happy contradiction of liberal Catholicism, and
that in spite of persecutions suffered. They persist
in dreaming of the reconciliation of science and

RUINES CLERICALES

168

faith, of religion and. modem society. These are
illusions if you will : but on what except illusions
<jan the harmony of society, the peace of souls, and
the relative happiness of which human beings are
•capable, be founded ? They are possessed of cha-
rity, and pride themselves on their tolerance. Do
not tell them that it was St. Dominic who invented
the Inquisition : they will not believe you. The
rule of their Order has nothing tyrannical, nothing
monopolizing about it : it respects their personality,
and leaves to each one an extensive freedom. Hence,
they exercise a strong spell over people's souls —
especially over those of women and the young.
Their system affords a striking contrast to that of
the Jesuits. Among the latter, individuality is, to
a large extent, wiped out, and all public display is
avoided. The Jesuits operate upon souls by private
management rather than by public preaching. They
iind their chief satisfaction in the immense collec-
tive strength in which they all share, and to which
they contribute even by their obedience, rather than
in the free exercise of their faculties in the interest
of religion. In short, since it is by the increase of
their own power that they seek the spiritual benefit
of souls, it happens that, unknown to themselves,
they pay more attention to the means than to the
«nd, and thus do not seem entirely disinterested.
Finally, they are gentle, polished, amiable, subtle
and circumspect : as strict as possible in their
teaching, but indulgent to individuals, and not too
exacting in practice. Their influence is by these
means more extended, more secret, and more sure.
But the Dominicans, that romantic Order, which
we might almost style the Chivalry of orthodoxy,
have more fascination and brilliancy. They have,
also, something about them more hearty and more
human. Almost all of them are men of powerful
imagination.

154

AU PAYS DFS RUTNES

l! Ill

For some years past, they have almost monopol-
ized the favor of female devotes, but an incident
lately took place which threw serious discredit on
their Order.

One of their most distin^ished members was
desirous of staying the rising tide of public opinioa,
jfcud of checking the frequent occurrence of religious,
scandals in our city.

Taking advantage of certain reports about him-
seli which he claimed had been circulated, and
which had been sprep-d abroad, owing to the un-
becoiA*ing attentions that he had paid to certain
persons, he repaired to a public place, and engaged
in a pugilistic encounter which had a disastrous
effect on the respect due to the r je of his Order.

But what is most remarkable about this exhibi-
tion is, that its object was not to electrify the
public, but to lower the Sulpicians, an opposing
Order.

The aim of the Dominican in acting as he did
was to depress the Sulpician, and to use as a pedestal
for his own exaltation the different mode of conduct
that they each followed.

The Parthian arrow was shot in these words :
" I do not allow myself to be insulted — I am not a
Sulpician ! "

Here are the relations that exist between these
men, and our people must assuredly have comd
down very low, and their feelings must be quite
blunted, if no good purpose is served in exposing
these relations.

We stated, when we began, the sixteen proposi-
tions to which we have practically given our adhe-
rence. They are scandalous, and yet we have only
one door of safety, one sole means of escaping from
them.

Violence- is not to be thought of — the time has
not yet come.

BUINE8 CLEBICALES

165

Let us, then, have recourse to cunning. Let us
avail ourselves of ecclesiastical, religious, clerical
and episcopal hatreds and jealousies.

This constitutes the freedom of the future.

As soon as they devour each other, they will leave
us alone : and perhaps then we shall have the
opportunity of rising superior to our ruins.

CLEEGY AND " CANADA-REVUE "

i'"':

In 1889, Mr. A. Filiatreault founded in Montreal
a monthly publication, under the name of Le
Canada Artistique. It was edited by a groupe
of well known litterateurs, and was devoted to the
diffusion of modern ideas, in all their forms.

Le Canada Artistique was led by the force of
circumstances, and by the incidents of discussion, to
handle a number of subjects connected with social,
and even with political matters.

The vigor of its articles, and the depth of the
views expressed inspired a r.ertain number of ad-
vanced minds with the desire of supporting this
work, of materially encouraging it, and of changing
the monthly journal into a weekly paper under the
name of Le Canada-Revue.

A joint stock Company with a capital of $10,000
was formed, and obtained a charter by letters-
patent under the great seal of the Province for the
publication of this journal, which made its first
appearance under the new direction on July 23,
1892, with Mr. Marc Sauvalle, formerly editor of the
Patrie and of the Canadien, as editor-in-chief, and
a whole pleiad of distinguished literary men, poli-
ticians and artists as colleagues.

The introductory number of the Canada-Revue
contained a frauk and fearless catalogue of the
questions that would be discussed in the journal,
which may be thus summarized :

The claiming of the authority of the father of a
family at the domestic hearth, the school, and the
polls.

Reform of education under all its phases.

Equal assessment of taxes on all heads.

15«

RUINES CLERIC ALES

157

The establishment of a lay University, of public
libraries, and free schools.

This liberal programme naturally attracted to the
Revue the attention of the public, and the hatred
of the clergy.

The war declared against exemptions from taxes»
which the public hailed with enthusiasm, secured
the Canada-Revue a wide circulation, and the
extent of its power was proved when the Guyhoi
scandal burst forth.

The Guyhot scandal is only a slight incident in
the general indignation that was aroused among the
Catholic population of the Province.

But we are bound to believe that the time had
come, and that the cup was full, since it immedia-
tely overflowed.

There was a loud outcry : but, after all Guyhot
was not the only guilty one. His crime, it is true,
was one of monstrous and astounding hypocrisy,
and a large number of names were mixed up in the
case. He had profaned everything — religion, mora-
lity, and the sanctity of family life — but many
others had done so before him.

His letters — all of which fell into the hands of
the outraged husband — reeked with vice and rank
licentiousness ; still, many other clerical hands have
provided the book stores of ancient, modern, and
contemporary times with litterature of the lewdest
description !

Nevertheless, the outburst was terrible — the
excited populace demanded vengeance — and the
Canada-Revue, and another journal, the Echo des
Deux-Montagnes, re-echoed this cry, and pro-
nounced sentence of judgment.

The first article that appeared was couched iu
these terms :

The degrading scandal, which is the town-talk at the

m ,::.!

158

AU PAYS DBS RUINES

present time, is a terrible lesson for the authorities of the
Church, and for the Catholics of this city.

It is a story which repeats itself, and will repeat itself,
as long as the world lasts.

Men are destroyed by our co'istantly flattering them,
by our excusing their abuses, by justifying their extra-
vagances, and by allowing them to believe that they have
full license.

By dint of telling them that they are absolute masters
of everything, and that they can take everything, they
end by taking our wives.

It is time that in the interest of our religion and of
the clergy themselves, men whose motives are above
suspicion should speak out the truth.

We must be stone blind if we do not foresee the
storm which, sooner or later, will burst forth and crush
everything, if the clergy do not do what the occasion
demands.

The more good they have done, the more extensive
and beneficent their influence has been, the more watch-
ful they ought to be, and the more attentive to the
complaints which are heard on all sides.

The abuses of authority, the accumulation of wealth,
the love of good living, the condemnation, in past years,
of the most respectable men, the failure to watch the
conduct of young priests, the imprudence with which
they are allowed to come in daily contact with women,
the frenzy with which the clergy cling to special privi-
leges, and to exemptions from taxes that every good
citizen ought to pay — all this was bound to bring about
in religious, political and social order v/hat we are now
witnessing.

Let wise heads reflect, and take heed !

This article set fire to the train of gunpowder,
and the Canada-Revue received plenty of encou-
ragement from tho public. It, therefore, considered
it its duly to continue the struggle in two or three
powerful articles, the most salient points of which
are here re-produced :

nmNES CLERIC ALES

150

"We have made of our clergy a class superior to all
other clcksses : we have raised them, even in the eyes of
the ignorant, till they are regarded as almost divine.
The priest has assisted himself to scale these heights,
from which he hovers above the heads of humble mortals,
like an Olympian God.

Our clergy have made use of, and abused, everything.

They are autocrats everywhere. They cause rain and
sunshine at their will, in the town as in the country, in
our highest and in our primary schools, among the rouges
as among the bleus. We are at their mercy. They make
and unmake our laws. We cannot be born, live or die
without their permission. And no one has the right to
impeach them. The man who does so is forthwith
denounced as a calumniator, a shameless liar, an infidel,
and an atheist !

It seems to us that this state of things has lasted too
long in this Proviijce. We are descendants of the French
people, and without the English who inhabit Canada,
and aid in moderating the outbursts of our feelings,
another 1792 or 1793 might well, one of these mornings,
wake up these petty tyrants who sleep peacefully by
the sides of our wives and daughters, whom they steal
from us by the help of religion, and, above all, of the con-
fessional.

Yes ! our clergy, accustomed to have everything, have
ended by believing themselves above all laws, divine and
human, especially human.

Not a week passes without somo scandal, still more
scandalous than the preceding one, bursting forth. When
a priest cannot obtain from his flock all the money that
he thinks he wants, he refusers to baptize their children,
or curses them, and forceps them to change their religion.
When the parishioners refuse to the drunken cur<5 the
wine that he demands for himself and his friends, he
robs the Fahrique.y and tnkes refuge in some obscure
corner of the city, where he is found in company with a
prostitute, distilling illicit whiskey. Finally, when a man
has become a proselyte to one of these gentlemen, and
has confessed to him, he finds a letter that the holy man
has written to his wife, reminding her of the fine night

160

AU PAYS DE8 RUINE8

V. ' ; ,

'I' ' 1

he pas&ed with her, after having converted " her earner
of a husband ! "

Take notice, that in all this there is not a word of
exaggeration. We pass over scandals that are even more:
terrible than those mentioned.

It is implied from the scandal of the abb^ Guyhot, a
priest honored and esteemed If ever there was one, that
the corruption in which certain of the clergy wallow ia
more rotten than that in which the heroes of Zola
welter.

Not only has this man, who had free entry into all
good families, abused the confidence that honest t 3ople
reposed in him, but he has scoffed at all religion, and
piled up sacrii^^ge on sacrilege.

The confessioxial helped him to choose his victims, and
he scoffed at it.

It is time to protect ourselves ! If the ecclesiastical
authority will not, or cannot, control and correct vice —
it is our duty to strike.

First of a 11, what do we want with these gentlemen in
our houses, while we are in our shops, our offices, or at
business ? Why don't they stay in their presbyteries or
in their confessionals I Do we laymen ever pay after-
noon visits to the wives of our friends ? If any one does
so, it is because he wants to act like these gentlemen.

A woman never falhi at first sight. There must be
pleasant conversations, and again still more pleasant ones,
then intimate private talk ; and after the gallant toil of
several weeks, the seducer may have some luck.

But why furnish priests the opportunity of having
chances ? What need have we of all these female con-
gregations ? They are presided over, and managed by
some worthy father, who invariably ends by being
detected in some dirty business.

And how is it possible that it can be otherwise ? A
man is always a man : and whether he has a black or a
red cassock on his back, he is consumed by an inward
fire, which burns like that of a layman.

And if you let him loose among pretty women, spoony
and devoted, who come with lowered eyes to reveal to
him their little bad thoughts, their strong wicked desirea

RUINE8 CLERICALES

VSL

and their weak errors, do you think that he is going to
become marble ?

Nonsense ! if you reflect an instant, you will not fling
your daughter or your wife into the arms of such and
such a gallant abb^. Go, and ask for information on the
subject from the aristocratic congregation of St James'
Church.

History is constantly repeating itself, and what is
happening to-day has happened a thousand times before.
Only, the thing has not always become known. By the
help of money and of other influences these obscenities
are often hushed up.

We have considered it our duty not to let this scandal
pass, without referring to it, and making a few remarks
on it. But let no one in any quarter think of finding
fault with us, or of writing that we have exaggerated the
Case, for, ybi de gentUhomme (certain persons will under-
stand what this /oi de gentUhomme means), if we are
forced to speak of it again, we will lay before the public
some details, that will make the hair stand on end on the
head of more than one person who believed himself bald.

We do not wish to make war on the clergy. On the
contrary, we are ready to defend them, but they must
not take advantage of the fact that at present they are
violently attacked, to demand silence from us.

" The moment is, perhaps, ill-chosen for us," some
timorous souls will say : but our reply to such persons
is that we did not choose the time. Wolves must be
hunted when they come out of the wood, and it is too
late to destroy them, when they have taken refuge in
their dens.

We wish to stay a deluge, and we should be criminal
to wait any longer. We must at once dam it, for fear
that it will carry away with it our entire nationality.
When the house is on fire, we must not wait till the
morrow to extinguish the flames. An immediate and
vigorous reform is needed.

Our wives and our daughters must be left alone. You,
priests, have wished to come out of the world ; remain
outside the world. We don't want you in our drawing-
rooms, especially when we are not there to watch you.

,i;:;|:y;.:(

■,trv

162

AU PA YS DES BUINES

iV .

You have no need to bo on intimate terms with your
penitents to give them absolution. It it, better that you
should not know with whom you have to deal, when you
are confessing a woman. You travel too much, and you
are too dandified. We meet with you everywhere, even
at watering-places. There is no positive necessity why
you should confess our daughters and our wives every
week. Once a month ought to be sufficient ; and in this
way it would become impossible to make an appointment
with a confessor every Friday under pretence ol' going
to confession. You have no right to oflfcr advice to our
wives and daughters outside of the confessional.

In one word, let the priests keep aloof from the women.
Both religion and Catholics will be better off in conse-
quence. This must be done, and at once.

This article signed £e Vengeur,and another signed
Demos, made a deep impression on the people.

From that dav till the next the circulation of the
Canada-Revue had an increase of three thousand
copies, and three special editions had to be printed.

The folloviring articles expressed the same tone of
feeling, as can be judged from this one, which was
written when a show of justice had been made by
the expulsion of Guyhot from the Sulpician Order :

M. I'abb^ Guyhot has just been expelled from the
Order of St. Sulpice — such at least is the statement of
the Minervey the organ of orthodoxy. But, inasmuch as
he was not expelled until every efibrt had been made to
save his compromised reputation, we are authorised to
believe that, one of these days, he will be found in South
America, or elsewhere, exercising his holy functions,
under the protection of some Bishop, who is as indulgent
to shameless priests as he is harsh to young [rirls who
waltz, or to people who read the Courier dea Etats-Vnia.

What am I saying? The abl)^ Guyhot is already
stationed somewhere, and is, no doubt, ready to begin his
career again upon as grand a scale as ever.

Where Jo those priests go, who are, perforce, expelled
from Cv^ileges and Communities for outra(;es on morality ?

BUINES CLEBICALES

103

They go into some parish where our Superiors commission
them to lead souls to Paradise.

Sometimes we hear of an act of apostacy. A priest
has become a Prostestant minister. All of a sudden, as
if by enchantment, the secret is revealed. He was a
libertine and a debauchee, who seduced women and cor-
rupted children.

But why then did you keep him in your bosom ? Why
did you hide him so carefully ? Why did you let him
say mass, and send him to confess women and preach
retreats ?

Do you believe that a Bishop who loceives or keeps in
his diocese a priest rotten to the core is not responsible
before God and before men, for the reputations and the
souls ruined by that priest ?

It seems to me that it is not too much to demand of
the clergy that they shall behave themselves as people
behave in any respectable society. In society, people
who don't know how to behave are not received, and are
even expelled. With how much more reason should
debauched libertines be expelled !

Why doos not the Church deal in the same way with
them?

Complain to a Bishop that such a vicar is defiling
your bed or corrupting your children? Ninety-nine
times out of a hundred, you will be treated as a calum-
niator ; or else, if the charge is too clearly proved, you
will hear as an answer, ** what do you want me to do in
the matter?" and you will be forbidden to sperk of it,
under penalty of ecclesiastical censure.

And as everyone has not the courage to proclaim his
dishonor publicly, everything is hidden and buried, and
M. Tabb^ continues to work in the Lord's field.

When the case has occasioned too much scandal, he is
transferred to another parish, and the matter is ended!

But because the newspapers have not yet spoken of
these things, do people really think that they are not
known 1 Do people think that because they have not
been exposed by the press, these smothered-up scandals
have not reached the ears of families ? Do people think
that they are not canvassed and commented on, at some

I'dvij

164

AU PA^'S DES RUINE8

PH.' ■]■

vN-

houses with broad grins, and at others , with expressions
of pain and consternation ?

But still this has been openly t/alked of for fifteen,
twenty, or thirty years ; and to such an extent, that
hateful stories are in circulation even about certain
Bishops.

The Church well knows the depth of the wound, but
it believes it to be concealed. Let it undeceive itself —
the wound has long since been laid bare — and what is
to-day said or insinuated in the newspapers has been the
small-talk of society for years.

The Church will only slightly regain the confidence of
the people when it cubstitutes in the convents some old
and tried priests for the young, jaunty, and perfumed
abb($s : when it has made public inquiries into the case
of certain communities where certain very devout ladies
are boarding ; when certain priests of high rank no
longer go to bathe at the sea-side with ladies too timid
to float on their backs by themselves ; in short, when
debauched priests shall be denounced from the pulpit —
like the liberals, at least — and, above all, shall be cut
oft* from the number of those, to whom we are bidden to
entrust our consciences, and those of our families.

There are some young abb^s who are far too popular
in our convents. They must come out of them, or we
shall put our young daughters elsewhere.

Let us not be told that there are holy priests. People
said the same thing of the abb^ Guy hot, and God only
knows the number of women and girls whose names,
hitherto respected, are to-day babbled on the streets,
thanks to that wretch t

And, nevertheless, we are told that the Archbishop
v/ns warned !

This is simply disgusting ! Thin is what stores up in
the hearts of fathers of families the elements of a storm,
which will be far more violent than the clergy suspect.
Why has not a millionth part of the anathemas that
wore lavished so charitably on liberals and republicans
bf^en reserved for bad priests? The sheepfold of the
Church would, perhaps, be clean to-day. Catholics would
be able to breathe, and good priests, holy priests, like

RUINES CLERIC ALES

166

many whom I know, would not be bespattered by the
infamy of those who surround them.

A cleansing must take place in the archbishopric, in
several communities, and in. many presbyteries. The
Church must be purified, and the priests must become
citizens like us. The wife of CsBsar must be above all
suspicion.

If this reform does not take place, the fathers of
families will seek and find the means of sheltering their
honor and that of their children from the vile attacks of
Guyhot and Co.

An indignant old man.

The Archbishop of Montreal thought fit to break
the silence which he had preserved up to that time,
and to issue a very mild fnandeynenty in which he
made everybody but the criminal himself responsible
and punishable for the crimes committed.

/Archbishopric of Montreal,
\ September 29th, 1892.

My dear Fdlow-laborerSf

We are passing through times of difiiculty, and you
may have already foreboded my profound grief, and
the depth of my anxiety. In mv last circular I
alluded to the painful trial which God has sent us. For
a purpose which was understood by all without its being
necessary to point it out precisely, public prayers were
ordered to, and acts of reparation asked of, all devout
souls.

In concise and ncn-equivocal terms the pastoral letter
of the 21st inst. recalled the duties of all good Catholics
in the presence of the evils which may afflict the Church.

To-day I wish to be explicit, so that my thoughts
may be well understood, and that none may mistake the
nature of my intentions.

An unfortunate event, which, alas ! has become too
public, has thrown the whole diocese and country into
consternation.

!■

;ii(.,in-

166

AU PAYS DES BUINES

■A

y, ■ '

'•IV

One of our own has fallen ! A disciple of Jesus-Christ
has outraged his Master ; a soldier of the Church has
deserted his post ; priest and apostle, he has violated his
oath, betrayed his mission, and soiled and dragged in the
mire the honor of the priesthood.

At the news of this fall which created a great sensa-
tion, a cry of pain and legitimate indignation arose from
all. In the s^nctuav-/, in the cloister, at the hearth of
Christian f ami. i^s, : vr many tears have been shed, and
how many act** li . '.nee been performed I Never, per-
haps, was the gt i li*vk o* solidarity better understood,
and the need of expiation:. <^\ore strongly felt.

The lesson is terrible! Let us profit by it. The
general indignation of our population in view of the dis-
orderly conduct of the priest proves the high idea they
have of his sacred character, and of tha holiness required
in the exercise of his sublime functions. The faithful
rightfully require from their pastors a virtuous example,
an unsullied reputation ; a prudence above all suspicion,
a regularity, a piety, and a zeal, which can be lessened
neither by contact with the world, nor by any worldly
consideration.

Let us read again often, my dear brethen, and put
into practice the wise advice of St. Paul to Timothy
and to Titus, and that of St. Jerome to Nepotian. Let
faith alone guide us in our relations with the world, and
let us avoid with care those things which are not re-
quired of our ministry. Time is precious, and we will
have to render a severe account of it some day. Let us
apportion it among prayer, study, and the faithful dis-
charge of our grave obligations. Let our recreations be
honorable, and let us remain strangers to the frivolous
and dangerous distractions of the age. By so doing we
will realize more and more the type of the priest who is
after God's own heart. We will do souls real and last-
ing good ; and we will preserve for the priestehood the
respect with which it is surrounded, the high reputat^ion
which it has enjoyed in the past, and the beneficial in-
fluence which it still exercises in society. \

BUINES CLERIC ALES

167

Still we are compelled to say that our regrets are not
limited to the faults of one only, be they ever so numerous
and humiliating. How many scandals have been
unearthed during the past few weeks, how many errors
committed, and sacred duties omitted I We have seen
men take advantage of the falling away of an unfortunate
priest, to circulate a number of malevolent rumors,
unjust suspicions, and odious calumnies. Men have even
dared to attack more or less openly the institutions of
the Church, and, by falsifying them, to represent them
as fruitful sources of danger to good morals.

Others, Catholics, who listen only to the voice of indi-
gnation, took upon themselves amission which was n v??
confided to them.

Losing sight of the hierarchy divinely established l;y
Jesus Christ, they have arraigned before the tribv ^l of
public opinion, tried, and condemned their spi. ibial
leaders and their chief pastors, those whom the Holy
Ghost has established to govern the Church, and to whom
alone it belongs to govern God's Church.

When the fitting time shall have come, and when
agitation shall have given way to the calm of reason
enlightened by faith, ^ will return to the subject, and
dwell upon it more fully. Without exaggeration, but
also with the grace of God, without human respect and
without weakness, I will define the duties of Catholics
on this important point of ecclesiastical discipline, duties
which have been forgotten or overlooked by certain men,
who pose as defenders of the Church and of the obser-
vance of its laws.

You are aware, my fellows-laborers, of the sad results
occasioned by this fall, which we are the first to deplore,
and of the storm of indignation to which it has given
rise. Our enemies rejoice : good men groan in secret ;
and the faint-hearted seem crushed. Everywhere there
reignp an indefinable feeling of uneasiness, and the
future presents itself to us in very sombre colors.

i '■!(

ill

1 !'i I's:

168

ir '

AU PAYS DES RUINE8
III

In face of this painful situation, a sacred duty is in-
cumbent on us — that of prayer and of reparation.
God alone, in His infinite mercy, can, indeed, put an
end to our afflictions, restore peace and confidence to our
souls, open the eyes of those who are so strangely mis-
taken, and re- establish order which, alas ! has so long
been disturbed.

For these reasons, having invoked the holy name of
God, and acting on the advice of Our Venerable Brothers
the Canons of Our Cathedral, we have ruled, decreed,
and ordered what follows :

1. Public penance, at the Benediction of the very
Holy Sacrement, will be continued all the month of
October.

2. During seven days, beginning from October 2, the
seven penitential Psalms will be sung in succession at
the service of the Rosary.

3. On October 7, the first Friday of the month, in all
the Churches where it is customary to say grand mass
on Sunday, the votive {pro re gravi) pro remisaione pec-
catorum, shall be said. This mass will be preceded by
the chanting of the litanies of the Saints, and of the
other prayers prescribed in the Ritual, pro qv4cumque
trihiUatione. It is desired that on this occasion a pro>
cession should take place in the church.

4. In the convents, where grand mass is not customary,
these same prayers shall be recited before mass.

5. After this mass, the officiating priest shall elevate
the Very Holy Sacrament, which will not be taken
down until evening service.

6. The faithful can gain a plenary indulgence, on the
usual conditions, during these seven days.

7. This same Friday, October 7, shall be an obligatory
fast-day.

May our Lady of the Holy Rosary receive, and her-
self present to her Divine Son, these prayers, and the
penance ofiered during the month which is consecrated
to her. Mav the justice of God suffer itself to be
appeased, and may His mercy pardon us.

RUINES CLERICALE8

160

The present circular will be read and published at the
sermon in the parish churches, and in others where-
public service is held, and in the Chapter oii all religious
communities, the first Sunday after it has been received.

I remain very sincerely,

Dear and devoted fellow-laborers.

Your very devoted in Our Lord,
t Edouabd-Ohs., Archbishop of Montreal.

A loud burst of laughter hailed this communica>
tion — this punishment inflicted on account of the-
wanton acts of a priest.

The Bishops of the Province, in order to restore-
gravity, were bound to meddle in the matter, and
published the following Pastoral Letter \

WE, by the grace of God and of the Apostolic See,.
Archbishops and Bishops of the ecclesiastical Provinces^
of Quebec, Montreal and Ottawa ;

To the secular and regular clergy and to all the faith-
ful of these dioceses, greeting and blessing in the nam&
of Our Lord.

Our dear brethren.

We are at the present time v/itnessing a spectacle^
which afflicts Us and moves Us deeply. The humiliating
downfall of a priest has caused unjust attacks on th&
clergy, and has been the occasion of violent speeches and
writings, of scandalous revelations, of indiscreet publica-
tions, of a lack of respect towards religious authority and
ecclesiastical discipline, such as perhaps were never
before witnessed in this country.

Already, the Bishop of the diocese where these sad
events occurred has spoken with a voice full of sorrow
and indignation, to deplore thg^faults committed, to*
soothe the faithful, to strengthen the weak, to censure
the grave errors of a certain number of Catholics, to
stigmatize, in others, a conduct equally injurious to truth
and morality, and to recall all the faithful to their dutiea
in the difficult days through which we are passing.

170

AU PAYS DBS RUINES

ill ■:

• ■!'

if '

But, Our dear brethren, thanks to the press — a
terrible power for evil and for good — scandals have been
divulged far and near, and have thrown our population,
generally so serene in their religious faith, into a state
of excitement ; an uneasy feeling has pervaded all
classes, the peace of families has been disturbed, and
■consciences are thrown into confusion.

Blinded by prejudices, passion, and calumnies, some
have raised questions which concern only those who have
the mission to govern the Church of God, and who alone
have the right to direct it.

Sorrowful and anxious, you have turned your eyes
towards your Pastors to ask them for encouragement
and light, counsel and direction. It is this word of
consolation that We bring you to-day, Our dear brethren ;
it is this teaching that We come to give you in the name
of Him who has said to the Apostles, whose successors
We are : " He that heareth you, heareth me ; and he
that despiseth you, despise th me."

A priest has fallen ; do not be over surprised, nor
alarmed in your religious belief; has not Our Lord said :
^* It is necessary that scandals should arise, but woe be
to him by whom the scandal cometh ! "

The history of the Church shows numerous instances
of the truth of these words. Among the clergy, as well
as among the laity, there have been, and there will be,
unhappy falls from grace. Priests, unworthy of their
august character, unworthy of the Church, their mother,
'which has brought them up for the sacred ministry, and
placed in their hands the sceptre of her power and the
care of the souls submitted to her direction, have been
seen in the past, and will be seen again in the future.

Human frailty, the violence of passions, the abuse of
holy things, the wiles of the demon, the seductions of a
corrupted world seen too close, have, at all times, pro-
duced traitors who have abused their exalted position,
and the confidence of the Master to betray Him, to
violate their oaths, and become traitors to their calling.

The Church has groaned over these falls, and has
suffered, but never has her existence been shaken, nor her
action been compromised. The glory of her incomparable

RUINE8 CLERIC ALES

171

.isanctity has remained the same, as well as her salutary
influence upon souls, and her power of regenerating them.
•Surrounded by the respect, the gratitude, and the love of
the nations of the earth, the Holy Spouse of Christ has
nevertheless continued, through ages, her work of salva-
tion and her astonishing conquests.

Such was the will of her divine Founder, In con-
£ding to weak and sinful men the care of His religon.
He proves Her celestial origin and Her supernatural pre-
"Servation ; he tests our faith, and shows the abuse of
liberty by which we can escape its sanctifying influ-
ence. Only at the end of time will the wheat be
^separated from the tares, ^ . d gold from all alloy ;
to the only Triumphant Church is reserved the glory of a
faultless sanctity in each of her members.

Moreover, Our dear brethem, although too frequent,
alas ! at certain times and in certain countries, falls from
.grace, thank God, have been only exceptional among
our national clergy. Therefore, it would be neither wise
nor just to include in the same condemnation a few dis-
43olute priests and the great mass of the clergy, to hold
•all of them responsible for the faults of a few, and to
argue from isolated cases in order to throw suspicion on
the whole ecclesiastical body.

What then was not Our sorrow, or rather Our legiti-
mate indignation, to see men who call themselves
Oatholics, defenders of religion and public morality, take
advantage of the downfall of a priest, however deep and
liumiliating it might have been, to throw contempt and
insult on the clergy of a whole province.

There seems to have been a sort of delight in using
terms calculated to discredit the clergy in public opinion ;
neither blame nor contempt was spared, and each mail,
«o to speak, brings us new censures and insolent sugges-
tions. A great number of the clergy are represented
as corrupters ; or as too powerful and ostentatious, too
greedy of wealth and sovereignty. The respect with
which our people has always surrounded their priests, the
zeal of these men for the increase of religion and piety
in our souls, have become the object of the most severe
criticisms, and the most unjust judgments.

■'■'!*;

172

AU PAYS DES RUINES

Assuming the demoralizing rdle of Voltaire, these bad
Catholics have given the greatest possible publicity to
the scandal We deplore so bitterly, ar.d have spoken
of it in such a manner as to cause a blush of shame to
rise in the face of all honorable persons.

Filthy writings, which the simple sentiment of honor
and virtue should have caused to be destroyed, have
been printed, sold, and circulated among the people. And
why all this noise, these re-echoed rumors so deadly to
the soul, and so contrary to the most elementary laws of
morality and Christian charity ? Why this explosion, as
sorrowful as unexpected, of assertions more than daring^
of offensive propositions, of disloyal insinuations, but to<
lower the Church, throw discredit on the priesthood, and,,
by these means Ftop or at least diminish her beneficent
influence on the world ?

Then, dear brethren, We, your spiritual chiefs, We
entrusted by Jesus-Christ with the care of the flock, and
obliged to protect it against the raging wolves, — We,
who will some day render an account of the good
We will have omitted and of the evil We will not have
prevented. We tell you : Love and respect your priests ;
in the first place, because they are worthy of love and
respect, and in the second, because your own interest, as
well as the interest of religion, demands it.

Who does not know the zeal of the Canadian clergy„
their devotedness, their piety, and their chastity ? Who
will dare deny what they have done in the past for the
salvation and prosperity of our race, either after or be-
fore the conquest ; they have gained the influence they
enjoy, and which is made a reproach to them, by their
charity, their courage, their spirit of sacrifice, and their
boundless devotion to the temporal and religious interests-
of the country.

Well, what the clergy were in the past, they are in the
present. We, who are acquainted with our priests, are
witnesses, more competent than any others, to speak of
their virtue and their disinterestedness.

That is why We protest loudly as an imperative duty
on Our part at the present time — against the attacks
which have just been made on our national clergy, and

BUINES CLERIC ALES

173

^we proclaim them, without fear of contradiction, as the
most admirable in the world on account of their mea-
sureless zeal, their burning and practical faith, and the
purity of their morals.

The exceptions which ma^ be pointed out, the faults
which a't''3 denounced, too often in exaggerating them,
<;ouId not destroy this truth, as consoling for you as it is
for Us. The whole of the Canadian people, anyhow, are
loud in praise of the clergy and avenge them of their
<;olumniators, by their respect and submission and by their
eagerness to exhibit, on the days of national rejoicings,
their attachment and gratitude.

Another motive for revering your pastors, c'ear breth-
ren, is that the respect due the cleigy is of vital import-
ance in the life of the Ch»i**'>h.

A nation which does not respect its priests is a nation
rushing to its ruin. When Voltaire desired to ruin
Prance, and shake her faith, what did he do ? He com-
menced with these treacherous words : " Your priests are
not what a vain people thinks." He sowed doubt and
distrust of them in men's minds, pursued them with his
scoffs and sarcasms, and accomplished his nefarious work.

"What else has been done here, dear brethren, for a
few weeks, at the fireside, on the street, and in the
press ? Those who have played this sad rdh will shortly
blush for the pp.rt that they have taken, but will they
€ver understand the evil they have wrought ? And here.
We cannot refrain from expressing Our deep regret at
seeing, in the Canadian press, with a few noble exceptions,
an almost total absence of all the control and careful
superintendence demanded by Christian morality. Dan-
gerous novels are often reproduced ; scandalous scenes,
romantic adventures, the lascivious stories of th< street
and of the criminal courts, are published with culpable
or at least thoughtless eagerness ; impious and pernicious
works are advertised, and thus the journalist, forgetting
his dignity and his duty, dishonors himself and betrays
his mission.

Do not be rarprised, dear brethren, at the severity of
our language. If Oar persons only, or Our acts, had
been criticized, We might have kept silent, following tihe

174

AU PAYS DES RUINES

example of our divine Master, who opposed only silence to
the outrages committed by the Jews. But the doctrine^
the sacraments, the discipline of the Church do not
belong to Us, but are a sacii'ed trust which We must keep
religiously and defend at the risk of Our lives. Has not
Jesus-Christ, so forbearing towards his calumniators^
unmasked their ignorance and their hypocrisy when the
salvation of simple souls, not yet very firm in the faith,
demanded it ?

We, His delegates and His representatives, We must
battle with apostolic vigor against the culpable machina>
tions of those who try to diminish the influence of the
Church, by misrepresenting her most august dogmas, and
the most sacred points of her discipline.

Dear brethren, that is what some guilty aggressors
have dared to do. Not satisfied with criticizing the
priest, and placing in a false light his works of piety and
charity, of calumniating our religious communities, and
putting obstacles in the way of their development, they
have dared to attack, more or less directly, the revered
sacrament of penance. Some have been, so infamous as
to reproduce on this subject one of the most revolting
pages of an infidel of our century ; others have written
in such a way that the logical conclusion of their writings
would be the negation of the "Divine origin of that
beneficent institution ; or, following the example of a
tyrant whose name History has branded, have claimed
the right to control its working, and the power to regulate
it at their will.

Wo have only to produce here the incontestable proofs
on which the dogma is based, which no Catholic can deny,
or doubt, without wrecking his faith. Let us say only,
and We feel sure We will be understood, that to eccle-
siastical authority alone is entrusted the task, as impor-
tant as it is delicate, of regulating the diverse questions
of time, place, and circumstances relative to the admi-
nistration of on*) of the must consoling aud most useful
sacraments of our holy religion.

Doubtless, abuses may creep in, in spite of the great
precautions used by the enlightened prudence of the
Church ; but it is to Us, her chiefs and her head pastors^

BUINES CLERIC ALES

175

to Us alone that it belongs to repress and punish these
lamentable and exceptional errors.

Is this all, dear brethren ? No ! the men who have
been foremost and loudest in their denunciations of the
scandal have given great scandal themselves, in refusing
to recognize in the most direct and formal manner the
Catholic hierarchy.

The Church, dear brethren, has its chiefs legitimately
appointed, the same as the family and society. What
these chiefs are, their name, their talents and their
qualities, matters little. They are, in the eyes of faith^
the depositaries of the authority of God Himself, and the
lieutenants of Jesus Christ. When Our Lord said to
His Apostles : " As my Father has sent me, I send you ;
go ye, ♦therefore, and teach all nations," He gave His
power and His mission to the episcopate ; He appointed
all the bishops, and all the priests chosen and ordained
by them, to continue for ever His work and His teach-
ings. In a word. He created in His Church different
privileges and different rights ; its members were divided
into two classes perfectly distinct : the clerics and the
laymen, a division corresponding to the two elements of
the social body, the authorities and the people, the
governors and the governed.

But in the case of the human family, are the sons
entitled to command and to censure 1 In the State, are
the simple citizens called to enact laws and render judg-
ments ? In the army, is it the soldier who dictates the
plans of campaign, and orders the charge or the retreat ?
More especially is this the case in the Church. It behooves
the bishops, whom the Holy Ghost has established, to
direct the Church ; and it does not belong to the faithful,
howerver good Catholics they may be, or pretend to be,
to trace for them a line cf conduct, mnch less to pass
judgment upon, or to censure them. In everything con-
cerning piety, morals, or discipline, they are in no way
subjected to the opinion of men, and have no lessons to
receive from those over whom God has appointed them
judges and pastors.

It is your duty, then, dear brethren, to respect in
your thoughts and your words, in your public and pri>

i'- 1

-' ^H '' '

1 ;

176

AU PAYS DES BUINES

vate life, this order established by Jesus-Christ. If you
have any cause for discontent and complaint, if you
think that in the public interest you ought to point out
disorders and abuses, do it — it is your duty — but always
apply to the tribunal of the competent authority, taking
due care not to listen to the voice of resentment, anger
or self interest. It is Our daty, afterwards, to judge,
condemn, or absolve.

You must remember, however, that if punishment has
occasionnally to be meted out, it is as imperative,
when possible, to cure and to save. The bishop, who is a
judge, is also a father ; he would be opposed to the will
and example of Jesus-Christ, if he broke the bruised reed,
or quenched the smoking flax. In such difficult circum-
stances, he is endowed with special intelligence, and
special graces. To criticize his decisions would be to
expose one's self to error, and the measures that he adopts,
though little understood and wrongly estimated, would
be in reality acts of vigor, prudence, and wisdom.

Such are, dear brethren, the serious teachings We
have thought We should give you, feeling certain that
they will constitute for you, whom We have alwav'^fou'.'
docile and obedient Christians, the expression ojfc' the
Church's doctrine itself, as well aa the expression oi
simple reason.

You will put into pin.ctice in you daily life these
salutary lessons ; you will conr^nue to love your clergy,
your priests and your bishopi*, and to respect them as
the depositaries of Divine authority, and the proxies of
Jesus Christ ; you will follow their advice and wise
directions, without regard for men's opinions, or fear of
being deceived.

You will look upon it as a duty, without forcing Us to-
day to use our supreme authority and have recourse to
censures, to reject from your homes, and above all not to
VI" oo I rage in any way, the newspapers and periodicals
¥ lich aio guilty of the faults or errors that W^e have
priot'^c^ out.

lua^ i; y, le*^ 'is hope, dear brethren, that those Catholics,

» .io»n o issioii or an indiscreet zeal at first dragged away

?i, to «o regrettable a movement, will recognize their error,

RUIXES CLERIC ALES

177

the

and work earnestly to make reparation. Then peace
and harmony will soon again reign in the midst of our
society.

The present Pastoral Letter will be read and published
in all the churches and parochial chapels of our dioceses,
on the first Sunday after its reception.

Made and signed by Us, the bishops of the Province
of Quebec, on the twenty-ninth day of September,
eighteen hundt'ed and ninety-two.

By mandement of His Eminence and our Lords the
Bishops.

B. Ph. Garneau, Priest,

Secretary of the Archbishop of Quebec.

This second letter was evidently intended to
strike more directly the Canada-Revue, whose
director thought it his duty to protest his good in-
tentions, while affirming the existence of serious
faults in the conduct of the priests of the diocese,
and more particularly showing the necessity of
making important reforms on the following subjects:

The surrrundings of the bishops which are alto-
gether too mixed ;

The want of judgment shown in the selection of
chaplains for the convents ;

The dangerous relations between the clergy and
the women ;

The contempt with which the representation' >f
laymen are received ;

The impunity granted to the guilty ;

The displacing of unworthy priests ;

The insubordination of the clergy towar'i> the
Ordinary.

It is on this ground that aia Homeric struggle
took place, in which each number of the Canada-
Revue was a new element of discussion and con-
viction.

A select laico-ecclesiastical committee, which wn-
trols all the acts of tlie religious authorities, jer-

12 '

178

AU PAIS DES RUINES

suaded the Archbishop that he could crush Canada-
Revue and I'EcHO DES Deux-Montagnes, by pro-
nouncing censure, which in fact was done on the
11th November, 1892, in the following terms :

V mi.

ARCHIEPISCOPAL PALACE,

Montreal, Nov. Uth, 1892.

My Dear Co-laborers,

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** In the pastoral letter dated 29th September las<-, the
Archbishops and Bishops of the ecclesiastical pro\ inces
of Quebec, Montreal and Ottawa, protested strongly
against certain newspapers, guilty of offences against
religion, the discipline of the Church, and her ministers.

" We had hoped that so solemn a warning would have
been sufficient to recall to their duty those who had devi-
ated from it in their writings, without it being necessary
to have recourse to censure ; unfortunately, this lesson
giveii in all charity was responded to by contempt, diso-
bedience, new insults and impious mockery of religious
authority, and by announcing the publication of a
certain novel which had already been placed in the
Index.

*** It is for this reason that to-day I am under the pain-
ful necessity of taking harsh measures, which I consider
the most efficacious to protect the flock against the per-
fidious attf«cks of those who wish to scatter and destroy
it

•' Having invoked the Holy name of God, we there-
fore condemn, by virtue of our authority, the two
publications printed in our diocese, to wit; the Canada-
Revue and the Echo des Deux-Montagnes, and we
forbid, pending further orders, all the faithful, under
penalty of refusal of the Sacraments, to print, to put
or to keep on sale, to distribute, to read, to receive or
to have in its {sic) possession these two dangerous jour-
nals, or to work for them, or encourage them in any
manner whatsoever.

RUINES CLERIC ALES

179

*• This present circular shall be read publicly in all the
"parochial churches, and all other places of public
" worship the first Sunday after its reception.

" I am sincerely,
" Yours devoted in Our Lord,

t " EDWARD-GHS.
" Archbishop of Montreal."

The intention of Canada-Revue to publish Lea
Troia Mousquetaires, was, as we see, seized upon as
a pretext. The paper, however, cut the grass under
the feet of all the episcopal law luminaries by giving
up this publication, and by loudly proclaiming, in
the following terms, its intention of forcibly resist-
ing the unjust persecutions of the Archbishop :

What are we going to oppose to the unjust and causeless
hostility shown us by the head of the diocese, and to the
persecution of which we are the victims ?

The courage and resolution which will give us the
strength to accomplish our task, and to fulfil ' our duty
without fear and without weakness. Confident in the
triumph of truth, and in the hope that justice will soon
be done to us, we will continue our work.

It is the intention to gag us.

We will shout the louder.

L'EcHO DES Deux-Montagnes was also fully as
courageou.3, but its circulation was entirely in the
country, and it was obliged to give in and change
its title.

Its last number contained a parting broadside
against the episcopal fortress, in these terms :

You ought to be satisfied, Monseigneur ; you have
strangled our journal ; you have stifled a voice which has
proclaimed many truths for a year past, and you are
silencing a clarion which has sounded many gallant
charges against the abuses, the infamies, and the iniquities
of many of your apostles. But this unjustifiable harsh-
ness, and this wielding of the right of the strongest, will

180

AU PA rS DES RUINES

before long challenge vengeance. I beg certain priests
who are the heroes of more or less honorable adventures,
and who have probably contributed to our interdiction,
to be on their guard, because a pamphlet will soon be
issued, in which hideous wounds will be laid bare, and
in which it will be proved, to the amazement of the
country, that corruption is on the eve of becoming almost
universal among the clergy.

Looking at the still warm ashes of this paper, I bow
with respect, because it is the best and most faithful of
my friends which is no more ; then I lift my head again
to protest against the intolerance and persecution of
which we are victims, to cry Shame ! on the cynical
system of gagging which exists in our Province, and to
say non serviam to those who desire to keep us for ever
in slavery.

Canada-Revue prepared for the struggle, and, to
observe all necessary formalities, sent the Arch-
bishop a delegation whose want of success we have
related.

In i&p^ of this fixed determination to refuse them
justice, :he shareholders of the Canada-Revue
decided, at a general meeting, to take judicial pro-
ceedings against the authors, and disseminators (or,
propagators) of the exclesiastical censure for the
injury they had done the company.

This action was founded on the legal opinion of
the Hon. Rodolphe Laflamme, ona of the advocates
of the Guibord case. Here follows the opinion :

The undersigned advocate is asked whether law and
jurisprudence recognize the right of prosecution before
the civil tribunals of an ecclesiastical dignitary, on
account of the following facts :

The Canada Revue is a political and literary journal,
published by a Company organized as a civil corporation,
conformably to the provisions of Article 4694, and the

II n h £ -. i

RUINES CLERICALES

181

following articles, of the Revised Statutes of this
Province.

In August and September last, certain facts involving
a hateful outrage on morality were discovered, and
charged against a member of the clergy who has the
spiritual direction of an important parish of this city.

Among the persons whom it was his duty to guide and
direct, there were women and young girls, several of whom
became his victims.

The acts of which he was guilty were so revolting that
they struck all families with consternation. The proof
of his debauchery and his criminal conduct was clear and
unquestioned.

The whole press, in the interest of the public, dis-
cussed the questions raised by this scandal, and made
such commentaries as the writers thought proper to pro-
tect public morality, and prevent the repetition of similar
abominations.

On the 19th of September last, the Archbishops and
Bishops of the Ecclesiastical Provinces of Quebec, Mon-
treal, and Ottawa, published a Pastoral Letter, in which
they blamed the newspapers, generally, for having com-
mented upon these facts, and denounced their editors as
guilty of grave wrong to religion, to the discipline of the
Church, and to her ministers. This Pastoral Letter does
not mention any particular journal, nor does it specify
the reprehensible points that it claims to indicate.

On the 11th of November last, the Archbishop of
Montreal addressed to the clergy of the diocese the
accompanying circular.

(Here follows the text of the condemnation, already
quoted.)

The object of this document is to stop all circulation
of the journal, to suspend it, and to represent those who
publish it as guilty of heresy or of public immorality, and
to expose those who shall receive it, read it, or sell it, to
ecclesiastical censure, the consequence of which will be the
refusal of the sacramentis, which would inflict upon
them, in the eyes of all Catholics, a stigma of reproach,
and would condemn them to be cut off from the com-

182

AU PAYS DES RUINES

munity, and to cease having any relations with their
fellow-citizens. Moreover, the proprietors, printers, and
vendors of this journal, under the ban of such csnsure,
would be unable to procure for themselves and their
families the means of subsistence, by the exercise of their
industry, or their trade.

In assuming this censure to be ill-grounded, and
unjustifiable in its form, kj.ve the proprietors of the
journal the right to avail themselves of the civil courts
to obtain the redress of the wrongs they are suffering ?

In all civilized countries, the citizen who is unjustly
injured in his property or reputation by ecclesiastical
authority can complain to the ordinary courts, and
claim their protection. Even the Church has admitted
this right, and in many instances has judged it necessary
to regulate the exercise of this right by agreement or
concordats arranged between herself and the civil powers.

If a person cannot be subjected to a censure of this
kind excepting so far as he has been guilty of heresy in
which he persists, or of public and scandalous immorality
in which he perseveres — it follows that in censuring him
without specifying any reason, the Church declares him
virtually guilty of one or other of these faults, or of both
at once.

No one then can deny that this censure implies the
existence and proof of the act charged. This is an
outrage if the charge is ill-founded, and it gives the right
of obtaining redress in the civil courts.

In France, this question has never raised any doubts.
Under the old regime^ the courts have even transgressed
thq limits of the civil power, and trespassed on the
spiritual domain. But the exaggerated application of
the law proves the existence of the principle.

There results from this a special right, with well
defined regulations incorporated into our laws, under
the name of Droit canoniquey the existence of which no
one can deny. It was our law at the time of the cession
of the country to England, and no legislative authority
has either abrogated or modified it.

It cannot be claimed that the Church by a change of
the ruling a ihority, that is to say by passing from the

RUIXES CLERIC ALES

isa

sovereignty of the " Very Christian " kings to that of
the Protestant authority, has acquired any more rights,
in reference to the State and piivate in<lividuals,.
than she possessed during the old regiiae. Who would
dare to say that by this change she has been enfranchised
from the civils courts, and from the obligations which
the law and jurisprudence imposed upon her as regards
her relations to the State and the individual, so as ta
nullify ail our civil law, which regulates and fixes the
conditions and limits within which she must exercise-
lier authority ?

This claim -o forward for the first time in the

case of " Bro' n versus the Churchwardens, etc. ; " but
the Privy Council virtually decided that thislaw remained
in full force, and must receive its application.

Following this decision, the question is reduced to
knowing whether the censure pronounced by the Arch-
bishop of Montreal, in his mandement of last November
11, is in conformance with canon law, or whether it
exceeds, in form and reality, the limits of the legitimate
exercise of ecclesiastical authority.

In a matter so grave, the consequences of which are
so serious that they involve exconnnunication, canon law
demands a regular law process. The accusation must be
specific and precise, the fault must be characterized and
clearly defined, the accused person must be summoned
to appear to give an account of his conduct, and the
proof of the offence must precede all warnings and.
censures.

The ruling on this point is set forth in the clearest
manner in the Jurispi'udence canonique of Rousseaud de
Lacombe. Article, Cen^u^es, p. Til :

" Censure in general is a spiritual and remedial penalty^
pronounced by whoever has the power, involving the
privation or suspension of spiritual things."

It must be observed that in the courts of the Kingdom
no true excommunications are recognized but those
which are pronounced by sentence after regular proceed-
ings.

Experts in the canon law claim that the censures which
they call lake sententioi require only a declaratory sen-

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184

A U PAYS DES RUINES

tence, and that then it is sufficient for the criminal to be
summoned to appear and account for his conduct ; but
they are forced to agree that this summons is necessary,
for, every sentence that is not preceded by citation is void,
leg. I. par. item, ex eo edict, ff qu. aentent. fine appellat.
rescind^ cap. inter qtiatuor. extra de majorit. ds obedient^
although there may have been evidence of .he fact.

What is most essential is the proof of the offence.
This proof according to the canonists and natural equity
ought to precede ail warnings and censures.

Further, every censure (and excommunication, in
particular) must be set down in writing, and specify the
reason for the censure, and a copy of it must be handed
within one month to the accused who prays for it. All
this must be observed under the penalt}' of "irregularity";
and this irregularity constitutes with the judge a fault,
the absolution of which is reserved to the Pope according
to Chap, cwm medicinalis. De sent, Excovnmun. in 60.
on which the comment, verb, judicium^ says that the
Bishops are not included in the word judges^ without
being expressly named. But, among us, there is no
doubt that there would be room for an appeal as of error,
if the Bishop or any other ecclesiastical judge failed in
any one of these formalities.

" As regards the main question, every censure which
is not based on a mortal sin is absolutely void before
God : aS'* quia non recto judicio eorum quiprceaunt Eccle-
sice, depellatur et fords mittatury ai ipse non ante exiity hoc
esty ai non ita egit ut mereretur exire^ nihil Iceditur in eo
quod non recto judicio ab hominibua videtur expulaua.

The omission of a formality essentially demanded by
natural or positive right, the want of sufficient cause, of
notorious and scandalous sin, V. Ordonnance d^OrUana^
art, 18f the omission to warn and to establish outlawry,
con neino J^l^ lly q. 3, also render these censures void
and unjust.

The appeal lodged against a sentence which carries a
merely conditional censure suspends the effect of it, cap,
prfeifirem 40, extr, de appella. But when the final sentence
is couched in absolute terms, the accused is bound by the
censure, notwithstanding the appeal, and although it may

EUINES CLERIC ALES

185

be made in legal time, provided that the judge is com-
petent, an4 that the sentence has been lawfully pro-
nounced, for good cause, and in point of reform of morals.

Repertoire de jurisprudence, — Guyot, "Vo. "Censure."
"The censures V/^hich are pronounced by ecclesiastical
superiors ought to contain the causes of them, as well as
the names of those who are the object of them."

Canonists define as latce sententioe such censures as are
incurred at the moment when an act has been committed.
The criminal is struck ipso facto.

What jurisconsults call Jerertdce sententice are the
censures that are not incurred until after judgment has
been given.

These are only comrainatory censures, and do not take
eifect until judgment has been rendered. D'H^ricourt
says that penal laws should always be restricted ; thus
excommunication is not rightfully incurred unless the
law or the canon is so precisely expressed that it cannot
be doubted that the intention of the legislator has been
to subject to excommunication by the very act those
who may contravene the law.

It is a fixed principle that censures should be employed
only in the case of grave faults. In the Journal des
Audiences^ and in the Journal du Palais there is found
a solemn decree by the Parliament of Paris on Deceml>er
30, 1669, which declared "improper" a sentence of the
Bishop of Amiens, bv which that Prelate had excommu-
nicated the Dean of the Chapter of Roye for having
refused to lay aside his stole, during the time that he
was making his. episcopal visits. The Attorney -General,
M. Talon, who was spokesman in this case, quoted the
123"> Novel of Justinian, the decree of the Fourth
Lateran Council held under Innocent III, and a host of
other authorities to establish that it was a fixed prin-
ciple that the Bishops should not pronounce excommuni-
cation excepting for grave errors, and when the canons
awarded this penaltv.

Censures can be declared only for an outward offence
which has been completed consummated ; all offences of
intention and of thought are submitted to the tribunal
of Penitence.

^^1

186

AU PAYS DES R VINES

if? ' '

J' . ■ . I

vsr

■i

The censures pronounced by the judge must be preceded
by process of law. This process consists in canonical
warnings which take place in presence of witnesses. These
warnings must ordinarily be repeated three times, and
there must be an interval of two days at least between
each of the warnings. There are circumstances which
lead to the granting of delays more or less long.

It is a fixed principle that every sentence which pro-
nounces an excommunication, a suspension, or an inter-
diction, should be committed to writing. The reasons for
the censure must be explained, and judgment can be
executed only after it has been notified to the person
who is the object of it, in the same month in which it was
given,

A censure may be attacked as unjust, or null and void.
A censure, which strikes a person who is not guilty, or
when it is merely a question of a venial fault, is unjust.
A censure is void, if the judgment which pronounces it
proceeds from a judge, who is incompetent^ or who has not
observed the formalities prescribed by the laws of the
Church and of the Kingdom. We have remarked before
that the censures must be preceded by warnings, and by
the othor formalities prescribed by the Church. These
formalities are so essential that their omission renders
the censures of no effect'and irregular. Thus when an
appeal is lodged against judgments which pronounce
censures, on the ground that the necessary formalities
have not been observed, the sovereign courts of the realm
declare these judgments improper.

When an appeal is lodged against judgments which
pronounce censures, on the ground that the necessary
formalities have not been observed, the sovereign courts
of the realm declare these judgments improper. When
the Bishops or ecclesiastical superiors employ censures
improperly in the case of venial faults, there is the right
of appeal against abuse to have the judgment annulled.
The Archbishop of Aix having excommunicated the
Superior of a convent for having admitted novices with-
out his consent, the Superior made application to the
Parliament of Aix, and by a decree of January 26,
1767, the sentence of the Archbishop of Aix was declared

RUINES CLERIC ALES

187

improper. It is a fixed principle in France that the
courts can by seizure of their revenues compel ecclesias-
tical superiors to withdraw the unjust or irregular cen-
sures that they have pronounced. This principle has
been at all times observed, and has been established by
Article 36 of the exemptions of the Gallican Church.
Joannes Qa^li relates that by a decree of 1396 the
Bishop of Mans, who had pronounced censures on a
man named Poncet, with regard to a suit which was
pending in a royal court of law, was condemned to give
this individual, who had died during the censure, absolu-
tion; and the Bishop was even ordered to have the
man disinterred in order to give absolution."

Henrion de Pansey, VAutoriU judiciaire en France^
chap. XXVIII.

'* There is room for an appeal against abuse every time
that the jurisdiction of the Church commits encroach-
ments on the rights of the temporal power, persecutes
the subjects of the King, or infringes on the canons of
Councils, or on the immunities of the Gallican Church.'^

This point of our public right is irrevocably established
by Art. 39 of the exemption? of the Gallican Church,
in these terms : Our fathers have said ; appeals against
'abuse must be granted when there are encroachments
on jurisdiction, or attacks on the holy decrees and
canons admitted in this kingdom, or on rights, franchises,
exemptions and privileges of the Gallican Church, edicts
and ordinances of the King, and decrees of his Parlia-
ment. In shorty against that which belongs not only to
common, divine, or natural rights but also to the pre-
rogatives of this realm and its Church."

P. 84. — In this text it is remarked that the infringe-
ment on the decrees of the regulation of sovereign courts
gives occasion to the appeal against abuse. F^vret in
his Treatise on Appeal against abuse, Book 1, Chap. 9,
No. 5, explains it in these terms : *' The courts being the
protectors and preservers of the holy decrees, and having
been established to maintain by their authority the rights
of superiority and of sovereignty of the king over the
temporalities of his State .... and to take cognizance of
encroachments not only prejudicial to the rights of the

188

AU PAYS DES BUINES

%\ (

crown, but to the ecclesiastical immunities, rights and
privileges, it is certain that the general decrees that they
give, either of their own accord, or on the requisition of
the Attorneys-General .... and the regulations that they
make to keep in force the external discipline of the
Church, have the authority of law so that no declaration
ca.n be made from them without committing a notorious
and manifest abuse .... in short, if, in anything whatever
the ecclesiastical judge encroaches on the provisions
made by the courts of the parliament, or if he gives
Judgment upon what they may have already decided,
there is formal abuse in that, founded on the contraven-
tion of the decrees."

P. 85. — We said above that all the subjects of the
king, ecclesiastical or laymen, have the right of attacking
by way of appeal against abuse. This principle was
asserted by the Attorney-General de Salnt-Fargeau,
speaking at the court of the Grand Chamber, on the 1 2th
of January, 1761. There is abuse, said this learned
magistrate, when the ecclesiastical judges encroach on
the secular power ; when they atfcack the liberty and the
privileges of the subjects of the king ; when they con-
travene the ordinances and laws of the State, or the
canons received in the Kingdom of which the King is
the preserver and the protector. In short, as equity is
the first of all laws, when the decision of an ecclesiastical
superior is so contrary to equity, and so manifestly
hurtful to good right, that it is rather an abuse than a
legitimate use of power, that it is less a reasonable decision
than an odious persecution, then the oppressed subjects
can have recourse to the authority of the prince to put a
stop to the persecutions of which they are victims.

This kind of recourse to the secular authorities should
have been styled an appeal against excess of power : in
fact, its object most often is to make the courts declare
that the ecclesiastical judge has transgressed the legal
limits of his jurisdiction ; but the clergy who had them-
selves fixed those which existed would have defended
them so obstinately that each contestation of this kind
would have given rise to interminable debates. To avoid
these, this title of appeal against abuse was invented.

RUINES CLERIC ALES

1S8

Thus it was said to the ecclesiastical judge : We do not
inquire if you were authorised to take cognizance of such
an affiskir ; we are willing to suppose that you have the
right : but you have abused this right, you have made an
illegal use of it ; your judgment, then, must be revised.

From such action towards the ecclesiastical power, it
may be easily understood that the institution of the
appeal against abuse dates from very remote times. In
fact, it goes back to the fourteenth century ; but the
thing is more ancient than the name. At all periods of
the monarchy, the royal authority has been exerted
against the encroachments of the clergy. Examples of
this are very frequent under the two first dynasties, and
there are several under the first kings of the third,
notably during the reign of Saint-Louis.

D'H^ricourt, Lois ecclesiastiqueSf p. 357, parag. XXI,
says :

As those only who have committed some grave crimes,
and have risen against the orders of the Church, ought
to be excommunicated, excommunication ought not to be
pronounced generally against whole towns or communi-
ties, but each of the private persons of the communities
who have incurred this penalty must be excommunicated.

Thus, in a company composed of several persons, like
a printing company which may comprise several
hundreds of people, the individual and isolated act of a
member cannot give rise to the censure or excommuni-
cation of the whole company, unless the aim of the com-
pany be criminal and acknowledged by all.

In the actual case, ther6 has been no process of law,
no direct accusation, precise and definite, and all the
members of the company are equally condemned and
censured.

Is it a crime against Church doctrine, an heretical
declaration, or something scandalous that is charged
against the accused ? There is nothing which indicates
this, or allows it to be supposed. Besides, who is the
pretended culprit ? He is not even mentioned by name.

The journal is the property of a legally established
company which does a legitimate business, by printing

190

AV PAYS DES BUINE8

if
I' <

|s )

4J '

V !

and publishing writings, of which each writer awumes
the responsibiUty, independently of the whole company.

Each number of the Canada Revue is independent,
and contains writings on distinct subjects, utterly
unconnected with one another. Now, here is the case.
Without specifying any writing, without naming the
culprit, without mentioning any cause, without giving
any reason, unless it is the intention stated by the
Canada-Revue of publishing the novel by Alexandre
Dumas, entitled Lea Trois MousquetaireSy all the faithful
are forbidden, under penalty of being refused the sacra-
ments, to print, sell, keep, distribute, read, receive, or
keep in their possession, these two dangerous and un-
wholesome sheets, to contribute to them, or to encourage
them in any way whatever.

Thus, without any opportunity for the proprietors to
justify themselves or prove their innocence, to apologize,
or to retract the doctrinal errors that they might have
committed, they are deprived of their property, even
though the present or future publication should be
irreproachable : they are deprived of the consolations of
th^ J J arch; they are ostracized from the society of ^eir
feL'i: -citizens, the practice of their profession and the use
o* their property are forbidden them, without any other
alternative th ^^. what of their absolute submission to the
direction and orders of their Bishop in the management
of their property !

In consequence, I am of opinion that such censure as
was formulated against Canada-Revue, in the mande-
ment of 11th of November last, is irregular and unjust;
that it cannot be justified by the rules of the Canon law;
that it is beyond the legitimate exercise of ecclesiastical
authority, and in violation of civil law and of the liberty
of the citizen; that it is a grave injury of such a nature
as to cause a very considerable material loss, and it gives
the right to those whom it strikes in their honor and
their property to prosecute the author of it before the
civil tribunals to recover the damages suffered.

R. Laflamme, Q. C.

Montreal, 19th December, 1892.

RUINES CLERICALES

191

The first legal proceeding was the serving of the
following protest on His Grace, the Archbishop of
Montreal :

On the thirty-first day of December, in the year
eighteen hundred and ninety-two,

AT THE REQUST OF :

" Le Canada-Revue," a body politic duly incorporated,
and having its head office in the City of Montreal, being
a Company formed for the publication, in the said City
of Montreal, of a weekly journal bearing the name of
Canada-Revue.

I, the undersigned, On^zime Marin, a notary public
for the Province of Quebec, in Canada, residing in the
City and District of Montreal, in the said Province, I
went expressly to the Archbishop's Palace, in the said
City of Montreal, it being the residence of His Grace,
Monaeigneur Edouard-Charles Fabre, Archbishop of
Montreal, where, being and speaking to himself, I, the
said notary, declared and laid before His Grace what
follows, viz :

That the said Company petitioner has published and
put in circulation in the said City of Montreal, for some
years, and still actually publishes a weekly newspaper
called " Canada-Revue ; "

That on the 11th of November last, 1892, His Grace,
Monseigneur Edouard-Charles Fabre, Archbishop of
Montreal, wrote, signed and caused to be distributed in
the diocese of Montreal, a mandement which reads as
follows :

Here follows the text of the Bishop's condemna-
tion already quoted.

That in conformity with the order contained in said
inandementy it was read publicly at the services of all the
parochial churches of the diocese of Montreal, on the
first Sunday after it was received, by the cur^s of the
said churches, and notably in all the parochial churches
of Montreal, on the 13th of November last.

192

AU PAYS LE8 RUINES

ij .■ ^

i;?

That thia inandement contained false, lying and inju>
rious imputations against Canada-Revue, of a nature to
cause considerable damage to the said company ;

That in this mandement Canaja-Revue is represented
as a sheet guilty of grave insults towards religion, the
discipline of the Church, and her ministers, and its
editors are denounced as persons desirous of scattering
and destroying the flock, that is to say, the faithful of
the Catholic Church, the whole without specifying and
pointing out any act in particular;

That the censure and condemnation of Canada-Revue
contained in the said mandement are arbitrary, unjust,
illegal, and contrary to Canon law, to the rules of the
Catholic Church in these matters, and to civil law, and
are, in consequence, absolutely null and void ;

Tha^; the same is the case with the prohibition con-
tained in the said mandement to all the faithful, under
penalty of refusal of aacramenta^ to print, keep or place
on sale, to sell, distribute, read, receive, or keep in their
possession the said Canada- Revue, to contribute to it
and to encourage it in any manner whatsoever ;

That on the 23rd of November last, Messrs Louis
Frechette, Arthur Globensky and Calixte LeBeuf. duly
authorized by the said company, paid a visit to His Grace
and begged him to kindly point out the writings published
up to the issue of the said mandem^nt^ in the said
Canada-Revue, contrary to the dogmas of the Catholic
Church, to morality and faith, which had induced His
Grace to pronounce the aforesaid censure, condemnation
and prohibition ; the said representatives declaring then
and there, that Canada-Revue was ready to repudiate
all writings which they might recognize as really contrary
to the dogmas of the Church, to morality, or to faith ;
but that His Grace refused to point out any, alleging
that to declare such a thing, it would be necessary for
him to make a thorough study of the Canvda-Revue,
and that he had not yet done it.

That, under these circumstances, the three represen-
tatives of Canada-Revue, while wholly denying that the
novel of Alex. Dumas, entitled Lea Troia Mousquetairea^
is an immoral or dangerous romance, declared to His

RUINE8 CLEBICALE8

193

Grace that Oanada-Bbvub, out of pure respect for him,
had decided not to publish the said novel, as announced,
and that a declaration to this effect had been published
in Oanaoa-Bevob ;

That they then asked His Grace to kindly remove the
aforesaid censure, condemnation and prohibition, but
that he refused to yield to this request, saying that he
would comply with it only in the case when there would
be a previous unconditional submission to whatever his
Grace should decide ; to this the representatives of the
Canada-Beyub would not consent at all ;

That this mand&menl and its publication, the censure,
the condemnation and the. prohibition which it contains,
as well as the unjust refusal of his Grace above men-
tioned haye already caused to the said Publishing Com-
pany considerable datnage, and will cause it incalculable
injury in the future ;

That the said Company, being desirous of & ttling the
present difficulty without resorting to civil Courts, and
declaring itself ready, as it always has been, to repudiate
all writings contrary to the dogmas of the Catholic .
Church, to Morality apd to Faith, which may have
appeared in said Canada- Revue up to the date of this
mandemerUy protest against the said mandement, the
censure, the condemnation and the prohibition which
it contains, as well as against the above mentioned
refusals of His Grace, as informal, illegal, unjust, arbi-
trary, contrary to Canon law, and as such being null and
void, and doth orther His Grace to remove the aforesaid
censure, condemnation and prohibition which strike the
Canada-Bevve as well as the fpithful of this diocese,
within fifteen days from the date of the servipg of the
present protest ; and, in default of His Grace doing as
above requested, the said Company doth order His
Grace to point out at or before the expiration of this
delay the writings contained in said Canada-Bevue con-
trail to the dogmas of the Catholic Church, to Morality
and to Faith, which have served as a basid for the said
censure, condemnation and prohibition, the said Com-
pany reserving to itself, in any ease, all the rights which
it has acquired up to the present time, protesting to

194

AU PATS DE8 BUINE8

ill

"> >

His Grace against all the damages sufifered and to be
suffered by the said Ck>mpan7 for the aforesaid causes
and reasons :

This is why I, the said notary, on the aforesaid request,
and speaking as aforesaid, have called upon and requested
His Grace Monseigneur Edouaid-Charles Fabre, Arch-
bishop of Montreal, to remove the aforesaid censure, cou'
dem nation and prohibition which strike the Canada-
Revue, as well as the faithful of this diocese, within
fifteen days, from the serving of the present protest, and
in default of His Grace's complying with the present
request, I have called upon him to point out, on or
before expiration of this delay, to the managing-director
of the said Oavada-Bevue, the writings contained in
this journal contrary to the dogmas of the CathoHc
Church, moralty or faith, which have served as a basis
for the said censure, condemnation and prohibition,
reserving to the said company its right to make applica-
tion to sue before the civil courts of this. Province, for
the recovery of all the damages it has suffered in the
past and those which it may suffer in the future, for the
aforesaid causes and reasons, and protesting to His
Grace against all damages, loss, law costs and interest.

And in order that His Grace may not plead or argue
ignorance, I, the said notary, hive left an authentic
copy of the present protest for intimation in his archi-
episcopal palace, speaking as aforesaid.

Made, requested and protested, in the said city of
Montreal, at the date herein above written in the first
place, under number fifteen thousand nine hundred and
forty-two of the index of acts of the undersigned notary.

In witness whereof, the said notary has signed the
presents.

(Signed) O. Marin, N. P.

This protest remained without any answer, and
judicial proceedings were instituted on April 22nd,
1893.

On the result of this suit depends the fate of the
freedom of speech and freedom of action of every
inhabitant of Canada,

•
• *

** Ci-gtt un monde mort pour cause de folie/*

AUOUSTE Barbier.

We will not give to this chapter the common-
place title of ** Cx>nclu8ion."

In face of the disastrous errors that we have
studied, the unpardonnable faults which we have
pointed out, and the horrors we have branded, we
do not feel sufficient courage either to draw a cor
elusion ourselves, or to suggest one to our readers.

So painful, so harrowing is the impression which
springs from this mass of proofs and facts, that we
may be allowed to think that the excess of the evil
must inevitably bring about a reaction, and that we
may yet hope for the return of a period of honor,
loyalty and greatness, like that which marked the
outset of the noble cause whose ill-omened perver-
sion we are now deploring.

" Weep, daughters of Jerusalem !" weep, Canadians,
over the ruins of your fair illusions, but also do not
let the tears dim your eyes to such an extent as to
hide from you the vision of an age of liberty which
is opening before you, and the dawn of grand future
days which are beginning to shine for your oppressed
race.

Great causes call for great courage.

Suraum corda I all you who are reading us :

185

196

AU PAYS DBS BUINES

r-*.

w ■

priests, mechanics, and farmers. Sha^e off the
burden of iniquity which is weighing on your
shoulders.

Reform is not gained but at the price of some
sacrifices, and the old tree does not re-blossom before
its moss-clad and rotten branches have been lopped
off.

The old house, whose blackened walls are dilapi-
dated from want of care and discretion, can still
be used to shelter the flock, if the shepherd Bets him-
self courageously to work to rebuild, stone by stone,
the ruins heaped up by his predecessors.

But, act quickly, time presses.

The future escapes from the control of men, and
W6 cannot hold it in check.

After the excesses which a century of despotism
has witnessed, let us secure an eru of peace, recovery,
and advancement.

Kobody will toil harder than we to aid our people
in tins work, which is as healthful as patriotic

Kg,.

ff the
your

some
before
opped

lilapi-
Q still
shim-
stone.

Uy and

x>tism
overy,

people