THE AMERICAN
A WEEKLY NK
VOLDMK V.
'AMERICA FOR AMERICANS." We bold that all men are Americans who Swear Allegiance to the United States without a mental reservation In favor of the Pope.
PRICK FIVE CENTS
OMAHA, NEBRASKA, TUESDAY, SE1TE.MHEII 1!0, lb05.
NtJMBKB 3$
MURDERED AN A. P. A.
Postmaster Ceorge M. Singer,
of Dunfee, Ind.. Bound,
and Gagged, and
His Head Founded Into a Shapeless and
Almost Uareconizable Mass-He
Has TO Tears Old.
Fort Wayne, Ind., Sept. 17. One
of the most brutal murders ever com
mitted in northern Indiana shocked
the residents of Dunfee, a small Tillage
ten miles west of Fort Wayce, at an
early hour this morning. The village
postmaster, George M. Singer, was
found In a pool of blood In bis room
above the office.
He was bound and gaeed and his
head was pounded into a mass. It lay
upon the pillow of the bed and pre
sented a ghastly sight In Its bloody
environment. The man was "0 years
old, and his locks and hoary beard
were streaked with blood clots. Dur
ing life he was a popular, Inoffensive
and respected pioneer citizen. He had
been the village postmaster ever since
the office was established.
At the coroner's Inquest, held this
afternoon, the post-mortem examina
tion established the fact that the blows
administered on the head caused death.
The body arrived in Fort Wayne to
night to be prepared for interment.
The victim of the tragedy was one of
the most prominent A. P. A. leaders in
northern Indiana.
ROMANISM IN HISTORIC LIUHT.
When we hear of the Church of Rome
making pretences to "philanthropic"
and "benevolent" enterprises, "the
right Interpretation of biblical truth,"
and "its love for and desire to benefit
humanity," we are led to inquire if
there Is not something wrong a mis
takesomewhere, either in history or
in the pretences of Rome.
That Rome does make some show
toward benevolent institutions and en
terprises, none will stop to question,
but the nature of those institutions
which she Is disposed to favor, are
within her own pale wholly subject to
her authority and discipline; they must
bear the "Image and superscription" of
"Romanism," and be entirely free from
governmental inspection or investiga
tion. If the institution does not bear
her "marks," Rome is not there as an
organization to assist in its maine
nance. But those institutions which she
does recognize and own, she will prac
tice self-denial almost to excess in order
that they may be supported. Intbls,
we all might do well to follow her ex
ample. It may te alleged that some of these
institutions maintained by Rome, such
as "hospitals," "homes," etc., are open
to the patronage of all alike. This we
concede to be true; but at the same
time, they are all operated with the
view and Intention to win and conserve
to the Romish church all who are un
warily seduced or thrown into them
It Is ureed by the operator of such in
stitutions that a good and kind act has
been performed upon their patients
and in return for It the patient should
compensate the church by writing with
it. and thus not a few are Induced to use
their means and influence to augment
the do er of Romanism.
Do sound reason and criticism ad
mit that in this there is any room for
the Romish organization to make any
pretences to charity, benevolence or
hospitality I think not; as well may
a man who is kind, lovincr, and charlta
ble to his family and others because of
personal interests, therefrom make pre
tensions to benevolence, charity, etc.,
while at the same time the poor, the
needy, the sick, etc., are left unprovided
for are left to suffer on, If their care
be not of personal interest to him. Is
there any charity or benevolence In this?
Let him who readeth judge; this Is an
exact illustration of Rome's benevo
lence; Romans are only charitable and
benevolent for the sake of personal ends
and self-agprandizement. Such a be
nevolent (?) institution should not be
allowed to exist in a land of civilization.
It should only be looked upon and
treated as a "relic o' the past," an in
stitution of the "dark ages," instead of
being warmed, fostered, petted and in
couraged by this enlightened Christian
nation.
It is also continually urged by the
Church of Rome -that to her is given
the inalienable right to tesch the truths
of God's word perfectly; and yet at the
same time many of her teachings and
practices are not in harmony even with
her own acknowledged version of the
Bible. This Rome does not deny, but sat
isfies the mind of the Inquirer in the fol
lowing manner (which I had from the
lips of a Romish priest lues than a week
ago: "When any of the teachings or
practices of the Catholic church
seem not to be in harmony with
the plain text, it must be remembered
that the Bible sustains the same rela
tion to the church that the Constitution
of the United States does to the general
government of the nation. As the su
preme court interprets the Constitution
of the United States, so the organized
church is the divinely instil uted su
preme court to interpret the divine law
and apply the same." And yet further
this same priest of Rome contended
that "the church had authority to set
aside any paragraph or part of the Bi
ble it saw fit to, and to enact new laws
at its discretion." Does nob this show
us why the Roman church has been
so successful in gaining memberB?
Every objectionable rail which might
keep flexible persons from coming into
the church has been thrown down, and
her communicants allowed to do as they
please, almost except to refuse to sup
port the church lechery, inebriety,
and general debauchery not excepted.
When we look at Rome's history do we
not at a glance see the manifestations
of her absurd transcendency of author
ity, has she not become "wise above
that which is written?" Does not her
view of the Interpretation of scripture
lead her Into many ridiculous posi
tions before an intelligent world? Just
notice the following: Prayers are ad
dressed to Virgin Mary; communi
cants kiss i the pope's toe; celibacy
of the priesthood; the allowance of in
dulgences; plenary indulgences in this
life and in the life to come; the
communion cup withheld from the la
ity, and the Infallibility of the pope.
When we look at these doctrines of
this hierarchical Romish institution, do
they not appear bold-faced and impu
dent, and manifest a lack of discretion
and judgment?
Can anything be any more out of
harmony with God's design than the
celibacy of the priests? Do any of
the rest of the above enactments of
Rome appear less In harmony with
God's design than this? Surely these
are they who put "darkness for light"
and "bitter for sweet." Where, even
In their own version of the Bible is the
celibacy of the clergy enjoined? Not
a scrap of evidence can be found
Never but once in their Bible, is any
mention made of a prayer being offered
to the dead, and that prayer was not
granted; yet in the Romish church
prayers offered to the dead are a fixed
practice. How persons of even aver
age Intelligence can remain faithful (?)
adherents of such an institution is
more than I am able to comprehend.
I can conceive of no reason why such
enactments are made as those above
referred to other than to keep the peo
ple In ignorance as to their real doings,
as in 1870, when the pope was declared
Infallible. It was only done that the
nations of the earth might become ex
JOHN IRELAND (Baltimore, 1884) We can have this country in ten years. Let me give you
The Indians, the Negroes and the Public Schools.
cited and agitated, and thus give the
Rom sh tools In this and in other
countries an opportunity to secure a
more sure footing; for while all eyes
were on the operations of the few in the
Vatican at Rome, it afforded a good
opportunity for that niggardly Jesuitic
secret conspiracy of Rome to secure
positions and possessions almost with
out contending for them. And the
same might with credence be affirmed
of the circumstances surrounding the
occasion of many other edicts of the
Romish church.
Does anyone question the correctness
of my position? I ask him to examine
the. annals of unwritten history, that
is, begin to investigate these matters
for himself. Look at the long train of
circumstances which led to the assassi
nation of the immortal Lincoln by
Wilkes Booth, then his trial and sen
tence to be executed, as presented In
"Fifty Years In the Church of Rome,"
by Father Chlniquy, and you will also
be convinced that in this Romanism
had become quite well paralyzed, and it
must needs do something rather out of
the ordinary line to hide and cover
their shame until they could again
paint their face and appear in another
garb, and it came forth in 1870 with
the ' infallibility of the pope." They
should hide for very shame.
Some may now ask, "Did this project
work effectually?" and "Is the Romish
church recognized in this country?"
With shame I answer "yes," and every
American citizen should revolt at the
thought of such a tyrannical foe being
recognized in this fair land of ours.
The question has been repeatedly
asked whether Rome would perpe
trate the same outrages now, if she
dare, that she has practiced In the
past. We can only judge the present
and future by the past, and the past
furnishes a record that should be util
ized as a warning, and serve as an ex
ample of what may be again, to put us
on the lookout and In the watch tower.
The Roman church now senms ready
to eulogize many whom she once
condemned, tortured or put to death.
We mention Columbus, the discoverer
of America, as one who, notwithstand
ing his wonderful adventures and dis
coveries, because he dared to take the
opposite side of a disputed question
with Romish leaders, was honored by a
death in chains at the direction of the
pope. Now by them he is canonized as
a pure saint, and to his name is at
tached the prefix "St.," and I don't
know how long it will be ere Girolamo
Savonarola, who was hanged, his body
burned and the ashes thrown into the
Arno in 1405, at the pope's orders, will
be honored with a like prefix to his
name, and even now such may be the
case for aught I know to the contrary,
for a Dominican of a few decades asro
writes his life as that of a "moral, polit
ical and religious reformer whose love
for liberty brought upon him persecu
tion and the crown of martyrdom."
The accusations brought against him
were because he cried out against the
corruptions of the papacy.
The Roman church Is guilty of having
committed some of the most atrocious
crimes that can be mentioned or that
the vilest mltd can Imagine. The hor
rible massacre which occurred on St.
Bartholomew's day, Aug. 24th, 1572,
was one of the most diabolical acts of
perfidy, injustice and cruelty which
has ever stained the character of our
race. Everything was horrible in this
unexampled assassination; religious
zeal was changed into an impious
frenzy, feelings of the most sacred na-
re were annihilated. Under the di
rection of the infamous Duke of Guise
the soldiers and populace en masse, at
the signal of a toll bell, flew to arms,
seizing every weapon that came to
hand, and then rushed In crowds to
every quarter of the city of Paris. The
mo.-t horrible sound that was heard
was the cry, "Kill the Huguenots!"
Every one suspected of being a Calvln
ist, without any distinctlcn of rank,
age or sex, was indiscriminately mur
dered. The air resounded with the
horrid cries and blasphemous impreca
tions of the murderers, the piercing
shrieks of the wounded and the groans
of the dying The gateways were
choked up with the bodies of the dead
and dying, and the streets presented a
spectacle of mangled limbs and of
human bodies dragged by their butch
ers in order to be thrown into the
Seine. Palace, hotels and public
buildings were reeking with blood.
The infuriated assassins became desper
ate in the slavghter, until one Cruse,
a jowe:er, displaying his naked and
bloody arm, vaunted aloud that he had
cut the throats of more than four hun
dred Huguenots in one day. During
this horrid period every species of the
most refined cruelty became exhausted;
the weakness of infancy proved no Im
pediment to the impulse of ferocity;
children of ten years, exercising the
first homicidal deed, were seen com
mitting the most barbarous acts, and
cutting the throats of infants in their
swaddling-clothes. About sixty thou
sand in all were slain in this inhuman
slaughter.
The news of this massacre was wel
comed at the Vatican at Rome with the
mo6t lively transports of joy; cannons
were fired, bonfires were kindled, and
a solemn mass whs celebrated at which
Pope Gregory XIII. assisted, with all
the splendor which that court is accus
tomed to display on events of the most
glorious and Important consequence.
Surely this massacre was the holiday
of the infernal world !
Where Is the old bachelor In the
Church of Rome from the pope down to
the lowest officer who will dare to dis
pute or deny that their church was
guilty of perpetrating and endorsing
such an atrocious massacre? If there
is any, let him now speak.
Now let us notice a few of those hor
rid torturiegs of the Protestants by the
Romans during the reign of Louis
XIV. of France, whose troopers, sol
diers and dragoons entered Into houses
of Protestants where they marred and
defaced their household stuff, broke
their looking-glasses, turned their
three points:
dlnlng-roomi Into stables for their
horBes, and treated the owners with
the highest Indignity and cruelty.
They bound to posts nursing mothers
and let their infants lie languishing
In their sight for several days and
nights, crying, mourning and gasping
for life. Some they bound before a
great fire, and when they were half
roasted let them go. Some they bung
up by the hair and some by the feet, In
chimneys, and smoked them with wet
hay till they were suffocated. Women
and maids were hung up by their feet
or by their arm-pits and exposed stark
naked to public view. Some they cut
and slashid with knives, and after
stripping them naked stuck their bodies
with ping and needles from head to
foot, and with red-hot pinchers took
hold of their noses and other parts of
their bodies, and dragged them about
the rooms till they made them promise
to be Catholics, or till the cries of these
persecuted creatures calling upon God
for help induced these wretches to let
them go.
On such scenes of desolation and hor
ror the papal clergy feasted their eyes
and made them only matters of laugh
ter and sport.
Such acts as the above serve to show
us the applied desire of the Roman
hierarchy to benefit man.
Again let us look. It Is said of Louis
XIII. that his greatest pleasure was his
thought of driving heretics (Protes
tants) out of the klngJom of France,
and thereby purging the d.fferent re-
iglons which corrupt the church, and
this he said after the great s'aughter of
over one hundred thousand parsons, the
destruction of nine cities, four hundred
villages, two thousand churches and ten
thousand houses. This all had the
highest sanction of the papacy. In
what litrht does this reveal Rome's de
sire to benefit humanity? Yet further:
The Duke of Alva and his bloody trlbu
nal spread universal consternation
through the provinces of the Nether
lands; and, though the blood of elgh
teen thousand persons, who In five years
bad been given up' to the executioner
for heresy, cried for vengence on this
persecutor and his adherents, yet they
gloried in their cruelty. Philip II.,
in whose reign these atrocities were
committed, hearing one day that thirty
persons at least had a little before been
burned, requested that a like execution
might bo performed in his presence,
and accordingly he beheld with joy
forty victims devoted to torments and
to death. One of them, a man of distinc
tion, requested a pardon. "No," replied
the king coldly, "were you my own son
I would give him up to the flames if he
obstinately persisted in heresy."
Again, during the reiga of Queen
Mary, many were the horrid outrages
committed upon Protestants, by the in
structions of Romish leaders. Hunter,
a young man about nineteen years of
age, was one of the unhappy victims of
those who were zealots for popish su
premacy. Young Hunter was concealed
in the house of his father, when Bon
ner, that arch -hangman of popery
threatened ruin to the father if he did
not deliver up the younir man. The
son, hearing of bisfather'sdangrr,made
his appearance, and was burned alive.
Let me present one more historic fact
before I conclude. A woman of Guernsey
was brought to the stake In the seven
teenth century, without regard to her
advanced pregnancy, and she was deliv
ered in the midst of the flames. One
of the guards snatched the Infant from
the fire, but the magistrate who at
tended the execution ordered It thrown
back, "being resolved," he. said, "that
nothing should survive which sprang
from a parent m obstinately heretical."
When we consider, on the one hand,
the purity of moral and the purity of
faith which generally distinguished
the victims of persecution; and on the
other hand, theproud.pumpored priests,
abandoned without shame to every
species of wickedness, we can scarcely
And words sufficiently strong toexpress
the indignation and horror which
arise in the mind when it views this
striking contrast, and contemplates
such scenes of Impiety and crime.
Could a religion which breathes good
will from heaven toward inen bo more
basely misrepresented? To represent
religion as consisting In certain incom
prehensible dogmas, and to atUmpt to
convert men to Christianity, and to in
spire them with benevolence, by fire,
and racks, and thumbscrews, and tor
tures, is as absurd as it la profane and
Impious, and represents the divine be
ing as delighting In the torments and
death of sinners, rather than that they
should return and live.
Has the Doing who makoth His sun
to cheer the habitations of the wicked
as well as the righteous, and whoso
tender mercies are over all his works,
commissioned such bloodthirsty mon
sters to act as his ministers of ven
geance, and to tormont and destroy the
rational creatures ho has formed? The
very thought is absurd and blasphe
mous In the highest degree. All His
beneficent operations in creation
around us, and all the gracious prom
ises and declarations of Ills word, stand
directly opposed to such hellish prac
tices, and condemn the perpetrators as
audacious rebels against the divine
government, and as nuisances in the
universe of God.
Now. in conclusion, I will say that
tho presont attitude of the Roman
church toward Protestants Is, as It ever
has been, one of relentless opposition.
With them superstition is consitUred
valuable, and i7aorace w bhs. This
may be seen in their opposition to our
Institutions of free education. Every
loyal citizen In this country who has
tho rltrht of franchise should consider
it his duty to oppose any Roman Catho
lic being elected to office.
ALGONQUIN, Ills., Sept. 10, 1895.
Preparing for War.
At first Rome was frightened at the
A. P. A.; but the reaction has set in,
and now her minions are bolder than
ever. Thoy have found so many time
serving, weak-kneed, truckling Protes
tant politicians who are willing to do
anything or betray any principle for
the sake of Catholic support, that Rome
has taken fresh courage and is prepar
ing for a grand assault on our Amer
ican Institutions all along the line. If
there was ever a time for Americans to
organize, It Is now. The A. P. A,
should be mainta ncd at all hazards.
When Romish hoodlum attack an A.
P. A. procession in Boston the Fourth
of July, simply because It Is headed by
a "little red school-house"; a mob of
crossback dagoes drive the negroes
from their homes at Spring Valley,
111., and the entire Catholic population
of Omaha resists the new law in regard
to police commissioners, simply because
It Is said to be an A. P. A. law, It is
bitrh time that every loyal Protestant
in America joined the A. P. A. We
must organize, and never forget that
eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
Vie Fair Dealer.
They Talk Down South.
We have hoard It said that a certain
merchant reviled the A. P. A. not long
since, styling them "none but a class
of low down scum." We are credllly
Informed that a week after this re
mark was made the same merchant
found his sales so decreased that ho
said be would have to close doors if
such a state of affairs continued. Those
who are acquainted with the following
of the A. P. A. In Augusta, with Its
hundreds of the noblest of American
citizens in its ranks, men in mercan
tile and mechanical pursuits, in the
arts and profession, men who are ad
mitted to be first in their lines, smilo
at the petty spite and vilification of
such people. American Eaqle Ga.)
Ah, we know you! We know the
clerical party; it is an old party. For
along time you have tried to put a gag
upon the human Intellect. Every step
which the Intelligence of Europe has
taken ha3 been In spite of you. Victor
llugo.