THE AMERICAN
40H C. THOMPSON. Boifoa.
W, I". KH.I.K Y. Huilor Muuer
I'l'HUMifcll WtKHLY HV Til
UEB1CA1 PUBLISHING COMPANT,
OlTKl'l 1614 HtmartMrwU,
Omaha, eliraka.
THK AMVKU'AN OI Hl'H.
Wi HcwuH lItwt. Omaha- Noli
K.Kitu tT Mnlu Mrt han 'ltj, M.
tomm i. 1.'4 KnJUli MiwU t'lil-
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MAY 24 iv5.
Cait. St iiaickf U all right.
Lt:K Fouhy was tho pot of all the
MemphU girl.
This I pretty good month in which
to pay jour suWrlptlon.
K are all proud of our soldier boy.
Hurrah for t ha Thurston Rifles!
CilARUK Ku'HAKiw broke the heart
of more than one of tho southern belle.
Tug Bet cannot escape the reonI
bllily for tho blunder lo the Douglas
addition affair.
Don't nils the June .Vnfi'mi. It la
on sale at all first-class news-stands.
Price, 10 cents,
Bakxes Ii a barnacle, lie la incom
petent and should not be In chargo of
the fire department.
V. O. STUICKLKK has done many
commendable acta while a member of
the board of Flro and l'ollce com mis
slonoi s.
Wonder what Count Crelghton
thinks of the Thurston Rifles now?
The "white caps" won every prl.o
worth winning at Memphis.
!
IF OCR public school are not good
enough for ltoman Cut hollo children to
attend, they are good enough for young
ladles of tho lioman faith to teach in,
Simeral might as woll slop advising
tho people, for they have not forgotten
that ho was the advlsur of the county
board during the time It made so many
nioniimonl.nl blunder.
WHY does not Chief Rc-dell give the
flro laddies lorralsston to buy their uni
forms where they can got them for the
leat money? Why does he force them
to buy of Drowning, King & Co.?
The movement for a dally It moving
along slowly but surely. It may take a
year to sell a hundred thousand dollars'
worth ot stock, but from the letters we
get and the promise for future Invest
ments in ml o by our friends, it is sure to
be a go.
The people do not need to have us
remind thorn that we told them He
del i's real reason for resigning; neither
do they expect us to more than call
their attention to Roaey'a untruthful
assault on the A. 1. A. In connection
with that resignation.
What has become of that Infamous
Priest Leyden, of Aurora, III., who se
duced StiB-la Cummlngs? We once
knew a scoundrel of that name who be
longed to the Lazurtst community of
which ex-Priet McNimara was a mem
b r. Can these t be tho same Ley den?
COUNT Ckeighton told the Com
mercial Club that the Tuurston Rifles
were nothing but a lot of "white caps,"
and It will now be in order for the Bet
to asseit taat the victory won by them
was brought about through "sectarian
influences aud star-chamber methods."
The Roman Catholics may as well
undtrstaml now, as later, that ud man
will be permitted to sail into the may
oralty beaut), at some time in the
past, he was branded as an A. P. A.
Every patrioile American renembers
the example of 15 nedict Arnold, and
every traitor may profit by it.
Think of Ed Simeral and Ed Rose
water running the politics of this county,
when neither one is a success in his
particular line of buslaess. Simeral is
said to borrow a quarter of his friends
to eat on at stated periods and Rosey is
In debt "head over ears." Two fine
specimens, surely, to choose the servants
of a county as wealthy as this.
Tom Okmsuy should be fired from
the police force, and would bo, were the
board not ruled by Rosewater and the
Irish Roman contingent. The idea of
allowing a sergeant of police to get
drunk, abuse a patrolman, and retain
his position could not happen In any
city in the union except Omaha, unless
a dictator like Rosewater controlled the
Acts of the police commissioners.
A good many New Yorkers are find
ing fault with Mayor Strong for issuing
an order that the stars and stripes
shall be raised over the city hall at the
hour when he reaches his office and be
lowered when he leaves. "Perhaps
these criticisms," says the Inter Ocean,
"would cease if the mayor should go
back to the Tammany rule of flying
every other flag but that of the United
States. New Yorkers have had too
little acquaintance with the American
flag as an emblem of authority In their
city hall."
SOME FIGURES.
Few of our readers real I .i just how
much the Slmeral-O'Keeffo-Rusewater-Roman
combination baa col them In
tha past; but w pr io U give them
an opportunity to know what the pant
conduct of that unholy and Ineompe
tent lot of nincompoop will coel them
In the future.
Through the blunder of that outfit in
th'S Douglas adaltlon affair, the tax
payer of Ikxigla county will bo called
upon to liquidate claims which, to
gether with taxes and intercut, will
aggregate no lens than t500,oOO, and
some of tho commissioner have estl
miu d that the deal will cost the county
fully '100,0K) bufore It Is fully settled.
Wlthou t enlarging upon the ituoldlly
and cupidity of Simeral and O'Koeffo
and their champions, R sewterand the
Romanists, we will proceed to a com
Mtrion of figures.
From July I, 13, to Jan.) 30, IH'.tl,
it cost Douglas county $55,710.91 for the
running exH;nses of tho district court,
which included all costs except salaries
of judges, and the salaries are paid by
the slate. In other words, the blunder
of the Douglai addition will cost the
tax payers as much as the running ex
penses of tho district court would cost
them for ten years to come. And what
have they to show f jr their money?
During the same period it cost Doug
las county $42 140.75 to maintain the
poor farm (rather a largo amount for
charity), but you could give an equal
sum annually for twelve years and still
expend loss than the Simeral O'Keoffe-Rosewatcr-Roman
combination will cost
because of tho Douglas addition blunder.
It cost Douglas county during the
same period, from July 1, 1 8!3, to Juno
30, 181(1, 151,031.1X1 to run the court
house. This 51, 631.90 Includes the
salaries of tho commissioners and all
oflloers not paid from fees. The money
which will be wasted through the blun
der in tho Douglas addition affair would
run tho county court-houeo, pay tho
salaries of the county commissioners
and all the other officials not paid out
of foe, for ten years. And yet, In the
face of this, Simeral and Rosewater
and Rome ask to be returned to power
through the medium of a citizens'
movement. Do you want more "Hon
est" Dick O'Keeffos?
It cost the county of Dousjlas tho
sum of $17,919.10 to conduct the jail
from July 1, 18113, to June 30, 1894.
This includes the board of all the
prisoners from the city of Omaha.
South Omaha and from the county at
large. The money fooled away in the
Douglas addition affair, and which you
and your children will have to refund
in the way of taxes during the next
twenty or thirty years, would run the
jail for thirty years. Yet Rosewater
and Simeral are hounding men for their
support of a citizens' ticket this fall
which will contain the lickspittles of
Rosewater as nominees.
The county of Douglas spent 829,820.32
for the relief of Indigent citizens be
tween the dates mentioned provided
for thousands for a year and that, too,
at a figure that would require fifteen
years to consume as much of the county
funds as the Douglas addition will con
sume during the ensuing years.
During tho Bame oerlod the county of
Douglas paid $10,584.01 for assessments;
11,011.39 for elections; $2(1,550.99 for re
pairing and improving the county
roads, and $4,759.0" for the relief of old
soldiers, yet If it were to cost a like
amount for a dozen years to carry on
these departments they would not cost
the county a much as the Douglas ad
dition affair.
In short, It cost the county $240,000
to run the district courts, the poor
farm, the court-house and salaries of
commissioners and other officers not
paid out of fees, the jail including
board of all prisoners to carry on the
elections, make the assessments, pro.
vide for the indigent poor, repair and
Improve the roads and to provide for
the soldiers' relief fund. Yet even all
this did not cost half as much as the
Douglas addition blunder will cost the
people. And this Douglas addition
olunder was made while "Honest"
Dick O'Keeffe ruled the board of county
commissioners and while Simeral was
the adviser of the board; and Simeral
and "Honest" Dick are the biggest
frogs in Rosewater'g political puddle
today. What respectable citizen wants
to associate with that gang? What
taxpayer wants to turn this county over
to the men whom Rosewater will vouch
for? Do you want the treasury to be
looted again? Then keep away from
Rosewater'g citizens' movement, which
is engineered by E. P. Roggen, Ed.
Simeral, Lee Helsley ani others of
their ilk.
A LA ROSEWATER.
That was a great meeting which
Simeral, Roggen, Rosewater et al. en
gineered in the Paxton hotel last Wed
nesday night. Rosey had all his can
didates for mayor there but two. But
what in the world was Euclid Martin
doing there? And Charlie Youngers?
We expected Lee Helsley, Shoemaker,
Tom Swobe, Billy Klrstead and Mr.
Tukey would be there, but never
thought Euclid and Constantino J.
Smyth would lie down together. The
same aggregation will hold another
meeting next Wednesday night, but
we do not know whether Mike Meaney
and "Honest" Dick O'Keeffe will act as
guards again or not. Each man at
tending last Wednesday night wai
worn to secrecy. So we now have a
K. R. C. (K. Itowwater club), which Is
a set-ret, oath-bound political organiza
tion, and as Mr. Rosewater' paper ha
a'l along contended thtt a secret, oath
bound political aoctatlon wa a men
ace to our form of government, we ex
p 'et to read, if Rosewater is consistent,
a scathing editorial denunciation of
the K. R. C.
Mr. R itewater mast reraem'Ter that
the ieopl do not believe in "tir
chamber" buxlnes, nor in "gumboot"
politics; that they are suspicious of
"dirk-Untern organizations" and "mid
night marauders," and have no faith
In K. R. C. ghott dancers. They be
lieve organizations like the K. R. C.
are un-American, bigoted, narrow, and
Inimical to the peace and perpetuity of
the nation, and that they will manlfi st
their disapproval at tho polls of any
organization which seeks to set up a
society test for office, and which would
make membership in the E. R. C. a
gauge of fitness. The American people
are eminently fair. They may not
thmk that membership in the E. R. C.
disqualifies a man, and yet they may
think there are just as competent men
who are not supported by little Eddie
Ronewater, the gifted Simeral and the
man Roggen. The business-men of
Omaha should take this matt :r lo hand
and show these "gumboot" politicians
that the best interests of the city de
mand their defeat.
"IF."
Once in a while, whilo digging down
Into the cold, hard soil for tho cultiva
tion of patriotism, the ToledoJ Amer
ican finds a diamond. During tbe past
fow weeks wo have beon sending out
statements of the accounts of delinquent
subscribers, and in response to which
wo have received a cneck from a sub
scriber at Motz, Ind., whose account
was not quite $3, for $7.50, six dollars
to apply on his own subscription and
$1.50 for a new subscriber. He not only
sent In what he owed, but pays two
years In advance for himself and adds
one new subscriber to our list. If every
patriotic paper had a few hundred such
subscribers, the patriotic orders would
make Rome howl. Toledo American.
That is very good. But what do you
think of a friend we have down at St.
Joe, Mo.? He heard wo ere needing
money, about a year and a half ago,
and he sent us in a list of t jn subscrib
ers, and paid for all but two or three of
them, for a year, out of his own pockot,
and later on, when he met us at the
Nebraska state council at Grand Island,
Neb., handed us $0 to pay his sub-scrip
tlon three years in advance. About
two months afterward he noticed a note
In our columns from a minister, who
told how he treasured The American,
but was, because of the destitution of
his purlshloners, obliged to have it dis
continued, and that, too, without being
able to pay what was due on his sub
scription. Our St. Joe friend saw it, as
we have said, and ho wrote and paid
two years' subscription for the minister
But this whole-souled American is
not tho only one who has enrolled his
name with our legion of honor. We
find them from Maine to California and
from the lakes to the gulf, and when we
get a little hard up we send out state
ments, which are certain to be an
swered. Yet, whilo we have so many men who
pay promptly and liberally, we find
some who are either deadbeats or awful
hard up. In David City, Neb., we have
nine subscribers who have bten taking
the paper for more than two years.
Two of them have paid $2 each, one
has paid 50 cents, while tho remaining
six have never pa d a cent. We have
never boon harsh with the men who
are so neglectful, and shall not be; but
we hope they will understand that we
are still able to write a receipt for any
amount, from 50 cents to a million dol
lars.
ROMt.
Look at your drunkards. If there is
one assertion calculated to make a man
tired all over, it is that "tho Roman
Catholic church is the church of good
morals." We have read this statement
about a dozen times in as many papers
within tho past few wetks. It is very
much as though a drunken man were
to stand up in public and call the atten
tion of the audience to his sobor condi
tion. The cheek necessary to make
sujh an assertion could only belong to
a politician or a priest. No , any man
who knows what morality" is when he
ee.-s it knows that it is something that
does not grow to excels in a Roman
Catholic community. There are some
Roman Catholics who are moral some,
to be sure but they deserve to be in
bettor company. Morality is not the
business sign that the Romish church
hangs over its door. This church puts
morals on its 5-cent counter, or sells
them In job lots. It makes a specialty
of religion. In the face of facts, any
pretension to superior morality on the
part of Roman Catholics is enough to
make the man in- the moon laugh.
Bishop Keane, of the Roman Catholic
University, says: "When we would
offer Catholic truth to the masses, they
reply: 'Look at your drunkards' and
that settles It."
Canon Murnane, at the Catholic
truth conference at Birmingham, Eng
land, asked this question: "How can
you expect conversion when a Catholic
prison chaplain can assert that of six
or seven thousand women brought into
prison yearly, more than 80 percent,
are Catholics?" The above assertions,
from prominent Roman ecclesiastics,
show that the boast of Romo that she
Is the church of good moral 1 an un
truth, and, as the devil 1 tbe father of
lies, he niuet be tho progenitor of that
church.
It appear the Irish Catholics, who
for centurle have remained loyal to
Rome and it Italian hierarchy, are at
last coming to a realization of their
position, if one can judge from their
action and conversation. Sunday after
noon, the 19th Inst., when it was eup
pwted they would turn out with the
Italian Catholic societies, and attend
the laying of the comer-stone for their
new church, it appears the Italians
were, for some reason, left to go it
alone, with the exception of a few
Knights of Father Malhew and Ancient
Order of Hibernian men, who partici
pated. The day is coming, and not far
distant, when the Irish Catholics will
bid defiance to Rome, Its Italian pope,
and everything pertaining to Romish
influence. For years they have b.-en
the backbone, the sinew and the main
stay of the Vatican; for years they have
filled tbe coffers of the pope, tbe
bishops and priests with whom they
have coma in contact; for years they
have submitted to a debauched clergy,
and have been robbed of their earn
ings, as no other nation on Gjd's grten
earth has been robbed. The dally cry
for more Peter's pence has resounded
from one end of the green isle to the
other, until at kst a halt has been
called. The eyes that for centuries
have been closed are now opening.
Education and Intelligence are now
taking the place of superstition and
Ignorance. The mUerabls, loathing
masters they so long and faithfully
served are dally becoming more de
testable in their sight. And why not?
When we consider tho injury and the
curse they have been to the Irish peo
ple, we see no reason for any other feel
ing. The contaminated set of villains
who go about In sheep's clothing, seek
ing whom they may devour, will soon
have to seek other fields than Ireland
for the propagation of their diabolical
creed. Such men as ex-Priests Slattery,
Chiniquy, Rudolph, O'Connor, Lambert,
McNamara, and hundreds of others,
t x numerous to mention, are doing
much towards opening the eyes of their
poor, deluded and priest-ridden breth
ren. Let the good work go on. Within
the past twenty yoars Rome has lost
millions of her subjects; within the next
twenty years she will not have a
corporal's guard.
The South Omaha Tri;mit of May
20, 1895, is authority for the statement
t lat Congressman Dave Mercer entered
into an agreement to have Mr. Rose
water reinstated as a member of the
National Repurlican Committee, in
consideration of tho support which the
lice gave to Mercer for re election.
Tola explains why fusion didn't work
in this district, much to the chagrin of
ex-Gov. Boyd, the Democratic candi
date for congress. Rosewater kept
Daaver on the track for congress, and
has now paid him off for defeating
Boyd by giving him a place on the Fire
and Police Board. Perhaos all this
explains why Dave Mercer was at Lin
coln lobbying against the reform fire
and police bill, albeit it was supported
by the Identical people who stood by
tho congressman when bo needed
friends to sustain him against tho as
saults of the editor of the Bee. It now
remains to be seen whether Congress
man Mercer will carry out his part of
the contract.
Judge Doane and Ed Simeral, two
star actors on opposite sides In the
Douglas addition affair, which prom
ises to cost the county $.500,000, were,
according to the World-Herald, among
the number who met, under Rose
water's leadership, at the Paxton Hotel,
Wednesday evening, to get up a citi
zens' ticket. The people will bear in
mind that the Douglas addition claim
ants have not received their money
yet, and that eacti of the cases must
stand upon its own merits Any com
bination of politicians who have been
instrumental in placing t le county in
Its present pitiable predicament should
and will be looked upon with suspicion.
The county government should be in
the hands of men whocannot be swerved
from their plain duty of serving its
best and highest interests; and, while
obeying the judgments and orders of
our courts, no defense should be neg
lected that can legally be made.
The Bee always jelled lustily f r
"Honest" Dick O'Keeffe; and it was
through the efforts of that paper that
that incompetent Romanist was foisted
upon the tax payers of Douglas county
as one of their commissioners. There
fore, the Bee must not be surprised if
the people hold it responsible for the
blunder in the Douglas addition affair,
particularly when that blunder is sure
to cost the tax-payers a half-million
dollars before the tangle is straight
encd out.
Ex-Romanist Sullivan, of Chi
cago, has found out that there are some
spineless Protestants. He was granu d
permission to deliver three lectures in
the Christian Church in Englewood;
but, after he had distributed his hand
bills, it is said, Father Murray took one
of them to the home of Jesse Sherwood
and asked him whether the trustees
had countenanced the lectures. Sher
wood, who U said to be a politician,
became alarmed, hunted Sullivan up,
and attempted to Induce him to cancel
hi dates. This Mr. Sullivan refustd
to do. The first lecture came off ac
cording to the schedule, but the other
two one to men only and the other to
women only were delivered in Sei
ge'.'s Hall, in Englewood, which wa
renttd by the church for the occasion,
to keep Sherwood and bis friends from
raising a disturbance in the church.
Father Ducky, he of New York,
ha started out as a labor ag tutor. He
is crying down with the trusts. He
spoke recently before the Bakers' Inter
national Union, an 1 urged all those
present to fight at ti e poll "against
every corrupt organization that pros
titutes all that ia best in tbe laboring
masses In favor of capitalists and
trusts." Ducey uld not realize that if
they took his advice they would over
t .row his chuich, the greatest trust in
existence.
We like this because it's American:
"Alex. J. Jo .neon, editor of the Svensbi
Kurireu, in his paper this week, pro
test against the Swedish Republican
State League leeently organized, and
object to the foimatlon of a National
League on the basis of nationality. He
declares that the Swedes are Ameri
cans and are going to remain so, and
that he will fight any attempt to create
any professional Swedish office-seeking
society.'
C. E. Bates, park commissioner, re
cently appointed, committed a grave
error, in tbe minds of the Rosewater
contingent, when he signed the peti
tion for the passage of the new fire and
police commission bill; and the district
judges who elected Mr. Bates have
been markei for the slaughter. Are
we living in a land whose flag embodies
the principle of free thought and free
speech, or are we under the despotic
sway of a czir?
Dr. L. A. Merkiam was married
Tuesday, May 22, 1895, to Miss Laura
E. Schamel, at the residence of Mr. and
Mrs. J. H. Schamel, 2501 Pierce street.
The doctor took his bride to Berlin,
Wis., for a short visit with his mother,
but will bo back in the city early next
week. Rev. Mr. Murray officiated. We
wish the jovial doctor and his hand
some bride a life of uninterrupted hap
piness. Do the people of Douglas county
want to return to the misgovernmentof
"Honest" Dick O'Keeffe and Ed. Sim
eral, his legal adviser? The Douglas
addition affair, the South Thirteenth
street grading contract, the retaining
wall job, and the county hospital rob
bery are monuments of O'Ketffe's stu
pidity and recklessness. But Dick
O'Keeffe and Ed. Simeral were two of
Rosewater's pets.
Father Letellier St. Just, pator
of Holy Rosary church, of Lake Linden,
Mich., has caused a sensation in Cath
olic circles by a sermon strongly up
holding public schools, denouncing
their detractors as un-American, and
urging that every boy over 14 years of
age be sent to the public rather than
to parochial schools. Hurrah 1 Good
for Father Just. May he always hold
to Just that opinion.
The success of the Thurston Rifles at
Memphis has been the greatest adver
tisement Omaha has ever received. v It
gives us pleasure to say this, for every
member of the company is a Protes
tant; and for the further rea on that
the Commercial Club, which allowed
Creighton or Gibbons to dictate its
policy, refused to help them raise funds
with which to make the trip. May
they always be as successful.
Mr. George Walker, who has been
employed on The A-merican ever since
Novembur of 1891, and who seems to be
a part of the.fi rm, leaves tomorrow for
a visit to his former home in merry old
England. He will be accompanied by
Mr. Smith Thompson, of Auburn, Neb.
They will spend several months in Eu
rope, returning to America the latter
part of October.
Important New Train Service.
The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific
railway company added an additional
train to the Chicago and Omaha ser
vice April 7. The new fast flyer leaves
Chicago at 6 p. m. daily, arriving at
Council Bluffs 9:10 a. m. and at Omaha
9:35 a. m , thus giving through service
in a night's ride. Our Big Five, Chi
cago to Des Moines, Omaha and Denver,
will continue to leave Chicago at 10 p.
m. as heretofore. Consult neiv time
card for additional service between Chi
cago and Peoria and all Texas points.
John Sebastian,
G. T. & P. A., Chicago.
Call on George F. Lee, corner Adams
and Dearborn. .
NEXT TIME YOU UO WEST
take the Burlington Route's "Black
Hills, Montana and Puget Sound Ex
press." Leaves Omaha daily at 4:35 p. m.
Fastest and best train to Hot Springs,
Deadwood, the Yellowstone National
Park, Helena, Butte, Spokane, Seattle
and Tacoma.
For rates, time-tables, folders, etc.,
apply to the local ticket agent, or write
to J. Francis, G. P. and T. A. Burling
ton Route, Omaha, Neb.
MrCOOK IMEBIt'lXS.
They Listened to a Stirring Address bj
I'ruf. nilLlnsoB.
An enthusiastic meeting was held In
the lodge room last week, at which the
wives and friends of the order attended
and manifested their appreciation of
the grand work of the otder generally,
and this council in particular, by loud
bursts of honest applause.
Patriotic speeches were made by
Prof. Valentine, Mr. J. F. Forbes, Rev.
Mr. Forman, Elder II. II. Berry and
Mr. Tom Wilkinson, which were lis
tened to with rapt attention. The ad
dress of Prof. Valentine on "Protection
to Our Public Schools" showed careful
thought, and was fully appreciated.
President J. E. Kelly also briefly ad
dressed the audience. Below we give
Mr. Wilkinson' speech:
"It gives me considerable pleasure to
make my first attempt at public speak
ing before such a pleasant looking,
good-humored audience of American
citizens. My bosom swells with pride
at the thought that I, an Englishman
bred and born, can say that I am an
American citizen, a member of the
American Protective Association, and
able to speak to you, standing before
that beautiful emblem of freedom, the
stars and stripes of America.
"I do not intend troublingyou with
personal reminiscences, couched in
flowery, high-flown language, nor yet
to make any anarchistic or irreligious
utterances, but will confine myself to
simple facts historical facts which
have been gleaned from time to time,
and which may be of interest to you.
In the first place, I will endeavor to
show you how hollow, how unstable,
how rotten to the very core is the Ro
man Catholic church. I don't mean
religiously, but politically. I would
not care to have it said that I ridiculed,
or that the members of this order
scoffed at the religion of any person.
We, as A. P. As., have nothing against
their religion. Let them have their
mysterious forms, their ancient rites,
their imposing ceremonies; let the
priest swear at his congregation In hog
Latin if he wants to. But they must
keep their fingers out of the political
pie. In connection with the Catholic
church there is a strong and powerful
political machine, manipulated by
skillful operators, which threatens the
prosperity of this country, as it has
been tho ruination of most of the
European countries. It is a vast and
formidable political organization band
ed together to obtain possession, or, as
they term it, 'regain possession of our
beloved America.' They claim that
when Christopher Columbus landed on
these shores he planted a cross in the
ground and took possession in the name
of the church of Rome. That political
organization is headed by a man named
Satolll, who, under the undefintte title
of manager, rules and dictates to the
priests and bishops; they in turn rule
and dictate to their congregations, and
that deluded outfit tries to rule and
dictate to tbe country at large, but
thanks to the A. P. A. they cannot;
they dare not do it. Toe members of
that church blindly, passively follow
the political teachings, obey the man
dates, and unhesitatingly do the bid
ding of those powerful agents of the
Pope of Rome the parish pi iests who
are bound by a solemn oath to do any
thing and everything in their power to
exterminate the heretic Protestant and
further the ends of the Roman hier
archy. "Now the Roman Catholics contend
that St. Petr, one of the twelve apos
tles of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, was the first pope or head of
the universal church. Read the New
Testament, read the works of any Bible
historian, and you will find nothing
that will lead you to believe that Peter
was ever the first pope or even that he
ever was at Rome. Peter was a Jew
and preached circumcision to the Jews,
therefore he could not have been a
Roman Catholic. Why they disgrace
the memory of such a holy man as St.
Peter is more than I can tell.
"I will cite you a few Instances taken
at random of the lives of some of the
popes. Pope Boniface III. was placed
upon the pontifical seat by Phocas, who
had murdered the Emperor Mauricius
and usurped the government of Con
stantinople. Think of that; one of tho
first popes placed upon his throne by a
man with the brand of Cain upon his
brow a murderer. Truly a remark
able beginning for a christian church.
"Boniface VII. put his predecessor to
death, stole considerable of the church'
treasure, and fled to Constantinople.
Ten years later he returned and mur
dered Pope John, who had beon elected
in his stead. A sacrilegious thief and
double-dyed murdererl A fine father
confessor he must have been!
"Pope Formosus, while he was biBhop
of Porto, meddled with politics, quar
reled with his church and fell under
the ban of excommunication; subse
quently he was elected pope. After hi
death his successor, Pope Stephen,
caused his body to be disinterred and
subjected the corpse to shameful Indig
nities, even dragging the naked body
through the streets of Rome. Why,
the little, Insignificant prairie dogs
bury their dead and allow the bodies to
remain undisturbed.
"Pope Clement departed this life
very mysteriously and suddenly after
)
V
4,