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Volume VI. OMAHA, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY. SE1TKMBKK 11, 1390. Numbeb 37
CAPELTUE JEStilT
Adventurer With a Check
ered Career.
After Being Suspended by Cardinal Man.
nlngfor Gross I ni moralities He
Turns up In This
Country.
Our California friends, who are at
tacked occasionally by a malodorous
chap who calls himself "Monslgnor
Capel," and who Is one of Rome's
champions on the Pacifio coast, would
do well to read the following from the
pen of Father O'Connor of New York:
Col. George Bliss is a Republican
politician and a lawyer of New York,
who was "conver'.ed to Romanism a
dozen years ago by Monslgnor Capel,
the notorious English adventurer, who
sought to Impose upon New Yorkers
after he was expelled from decent so
ciety In England. Capel's career in
this city was brief, stormy, and scan
dalous, but he "converted" Col. Bliss,
and he Is now a fighting ultramontane.
He has been Archbishop Corrigan's
counsel since bis conversion, and two
years ago he went to Rome to rehabili
tate Corrigan's reputation a standing,
which had been badly damaged by his
opposition to Satolll. The colonel was
successful in a measure, and when he
returned home last year he scored Cor
rigan's enemies Cardinal Gibbons,
Archbishop Ireland, and other "liberal
ecclesiastics" in the New York Sun.
His first wife was a Ron an Catholic
and so is his second. When the colonel
went to Rome he had his baby christ
ened by the pore In person, as we learn
from the New York Catholic Review,
July 18, 1896. This paper adds: "Be
sides baptizing the Infant, the pope
created Col. Bliss a knight of St. Greg
ory the Great, remarking at the tame
time that he was Bliss by name and
, blessed by heaven with deep religious
fervor. Mrs. Bliss, it le said, had those
wor Is ofleo XIII. printed in letters of
'C . and framed." As the colonel Is a
...8 ft lawyer and tricky politician, he
1 repay the pope by working the
publican machine in the interest of
"the church as occasion may serve,
and doubtless will overawe his associ
ates by the exhibition of the framed
letters of gold at the caucusc s.
Before Capel came to New York he
had been suspended by Cardinal Mann
ing for the grossest immorality, his
special crime being soliciting In the
confesslotal. The Jesuits who re
ceived him In this country could not be
ignorant cf his record, but Capel had
friends in Rome, who used their Influ
ence in his behalf, and it was not until
Manning went to Rome in person In
1883, that Capel was deprived of all
priestly faculties "suspended forever
by the Holy Office of Inquisition."
From Purcell's "Life of Manning"
we learn the following facts regarding
Capel: C In 1894 Archbishop Manning
opened University College at Kensing
ton, of which he appointed Mgr. rector.
It was said at the time, by way of ac
counting for the strange appointment
(1,497), that it was made in order to
pacify Capel, for by his opposition and
ostentatious rivalry for influence over
the higher classes, Mgr. Capel was al
ways a thorn in the archbishop's side.
' The college proved a financial failure,
and not only that: "the collage was
both suspected and mistrusted for reck
less irregularity and for immorality"
(Manning's own words, in Percell's
Life of M., II, '503) "Lord Petre's son
had been culpably exposed to danger.
The bishops.were informed on all sides
of these evils. "fc Mgr. Capel was forced
to resign and not loDg after was sus
pended mfrtm his priestly office alto
gether. He took his case to Rome,
and lelng a man of BuaveJ manner suc
ceeded in 'Winning over .seme of the
cardinals,r.wbo''believed him to have
been the'victlmof false,charges. There
was talk of restorirg Capel, and Man
ning himself went to Rome, threatened
to resign hisgsee if a priest suspended
for grave moral effences iwas sent back
to his dioeese.
The late JcardiraMeft a statement
concerningJLtbls affair (Purcell, II.,
682 ff), from;whlch we appetd such ex
tracts:
"The holy fatherdirected Cardinal
Billo, as-secretary; of the holy office
(the Inquisition, towhich Capel's case
had been referred) to confer with me.
He (Bilio) defendefl the treating of
Mgr. Capel as-acquitted as just. But
he said that they all believed him
guilty, and he Swas not "dlsmisso ex
capita lnluocentis" (on the head of in
nocence). TheJ acquittal had been
made possible byl certain' technicali
ties. Manning grew angry, and Cardinal
Blllo accused him of having been im
pelled by "passion." Manning said:
"When I see an (here the statement
has a dash, which manifestly stands
for "immoral ') priest In the midst of
souls purchased by the passions of our
Lord, acknowledge that I am appas
slonato (passionate)." This changed
Bilio s tone, and as Manning left, the
cardinal excused himself for having
used the word. Nevertheless, on the
following Sunday, he repeated the
same more strongly.
And thus the case dragged along,
with much bickering between the two
"princes of the church." Manning
again informed Bilio that any attempt
to send Mgr. Capel back to England
would necessitate bis (Manning's) re
moval from the see of Westminister.
In a statement he says:
"These conversations have more pro
foundly convinced me of the incapacity
of the holy office In such cases, and
the essential injustice of its producers
and Its secretary."
He turthermore states that he had
to wait for an answer from the Inquisi
tors for ten months. And he adds
these significant words:
"Their pride will not let them say
after all that the earth moves. But
there will be no correction for all this.
Therefore the Italians are in Rome,
and Divine Providence will correct it,
but so as by fire."
At last, on February 6, 1887, Mann
ing records that Capel was suspended.
The effect of the suspension pronounced
by the holy office was to dorplve Mgr.
Capel througoout the Catholic world
of the right of officiating as a priest.
The sentence, never repealed, is in
force to this day.
After leaving New York, Capel went
to California and became tutor for
Count Valensln, who owned a large
ranch in the western part of the state.
Before Capel had been in the family a
year the count obtained a divorce from
his wife on statutory grounds, and
Capel has continued to live on the
ranch with the countess.
In England the Marquis of Bute was
Capel's most famous "convert," but it
is said he has grown cold In the Ro
man faith, while George Bliss' religion,
according to the pope, Is of a deep re
ligious fervor.
Mgr. Capel made a brief stay in
Milwaukee some years ago, and was
extensively noticed and quoted by the
local pi ess. He conducted several re
vival meetings and created quite a fu
rore among the "faithful." However,
we are unable to state whether he
made any "converts." Wisconsin Pa
triot. An Enemy of the Republic.
Where a union tf church and state
subsists there you may Bee a despotic
form of government.
Look at Turkey, whose Sultau is
"father of the faithful," the recognized
head of the hosts of Islam 1 Look at
Russia, whose Czar Is the supreme pon
tiff of the Greek Catholic church! Look
at Spain, where the religion of the
state Is Roman Catnollc Spain, a na
tion which has been reduced to the
rack and condition of a third-rate
power through the operation of re
ligious bigotry and ecclesiastical tyr
anny! It was Edward Gibbons who wrote
that "The influence of the clergy in an
age of superstition might be usefully
employed to assert the rights of man
kind, but so Intimate is the connection
between the throne and the altar that
the banner of the church has very sel
dom been seen on the side of the peo
ple." Gibbons was writing on the eve of the
French Revolution that stupendous
social upheaval by which the Church
of Rome was shaken to lis very fomda
tion, and which did so much to open
the eyes of the people of the world to
the enormous offenses and cruel op
pressions of the papal hierarchy. The
species of religion that the priests of
France exploited and exemplified was
calculated to make the thinking men
the enemies of kingly government and
kingly dower, for the French monarchy
and the papal monarchy were inde
pendent the throne and the altar were
blended in one harmonious whole.
The Roman hierarchy of the United
States is striving with might and main
to bring about a union of church and
state In this country, and to make Ro
man Catholicism the sole religion of
the state. They want to extend the
power of the pope over all America,
over each and every Inhabitant of the
great republic. They are dominated
by the theory that every knee must
bow to and every tongue confess
the primacy of the holy father, who Is
the judge of all men, the ruler of all
men, the legislator of all men, the ab
stractor of nations, the mediator with
out an acknowledgment of whose inter
cessorshlp none of the sons of men may
hope to find favor in the sight of Jesus
Christ.
Per contra, we say that no man who
consents to the empire of the pope of
Rome over his intellect and conscience
is fit to be a citizen of the United
States or of any state In the union.
The selfish Interests of the papal hier
archy are inimical to the peace and
prosperity of this American republic.
Rid, White and Blue.
lngtrsoll on Romanism.
Col. Robert Ingersoll, speaking on
the abuses and terrors of the Roman
Cathollo church, says:
That church Is the only one that
keeps up constant communication with
heaven through the Instrumentality of
a large number of decayed saints.
That church is an agent of God on
earth. It has a person who stands in
the place of Oiety; and that church,
according to their doctrine, Is infalil
ble and has persecuted to the full ex
tent of her power and always will.
In Spain that church stands erect and
is arrogant In the United States that
church crawls. But the object In both
countries Is the same, and that Is the
destruction of intellectual liberty. It
teaches us that we can maka God
happy by being miserable ourselves;
that a nun is holier in the sight of
God than a loving mother with a child
In her thrilled and thrilling arms.
The church teaches you that a priest
Is better than a father; that celibacy
is better than the love that has made
everything of beauty In this world.
That church tells the girl of 18 or 18
years of age, with eyes like due and
light that girl with the red of health
in the white of her beaulful cheeks
tells that gir, "Put on the veil woven
of death and night, kneel upon stones
and you will please God."
I tell you that, by law, no girl should
be allowed to take the veil and re
nounce the beauties of the world until
she is at least 25 years of age. Wait
until she knows what she wants.
I am opposed to allowing these
spider like priests weaving webs to
catch the flies of youth; and there
ought to be a law appointing commis
sioners to visit such places twice a
year and release every person who ex
presses a desire to be released.
What It Demonstrated.
The recent examinations for the
police force; In New York have de
veloped some curious static tics, accord
ing to tho Tribune. Out of 210, forty
three could not tell in what state Chi
cago is, one of them declaring that
"Chicsgo Is a state by itself." Forty
could - not name one New England
state. One named five of them as fol
lows: "In glen, Irelan, Scotllng, Wales
and Cork;" and another gave the same
list, except that he substituted Belfast
for Cork. Ninety could not name one
of the confederate states, and one wrote
down as five of them: "New Vrk,
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Make
and Vermont. One hundred and twenty
six could not name the law-making
body of the United States, one of tbem
declaring It to be "martial law," and
forty-five did not know the name by
which a state's chief executive officer
Is called. The singular part of it is
that these men are not illiterates in the
Ellis Island and Castle Garden sense of
the term. They could read and write,
yet they had evidently never been
trained to think. Their education had
stopped with the three R's, so that so
far as intelligent citizenship went they
were not better qualified to vote or
hold office than the latest arrived im
migrant who can only make his mark.
It would be interesting to know how
many received their "education" In pa
rochial schools. It is time we realized
that a half-educated class is quite as
full of menace and peril as the actually
Illiterate. Ex.
Give Us More Like Him.
Manchester, N. II., has a patriotic
mayor in the person of Wm. C. Clark.
He is not 30 years of (ige, and had to
contend with some older heads in the
city when he took the office and en
deavored to introduce some good citi
zenship reforms in his municipal gov
ernment. One thing he did was to
place an American flag on top of the
city hall the day he was inaugurated.
Old Glory Is displayed every day, rain
or shine, and when one flag wears out
a new one is procured. That kind of a
mayor in every large city would oe an
inspiration to the people. Pittsburg
American.
Infamous.
Do the laws of California grant to
Roman Catholic bishops unlimited
ownership of real estate as churcb
property and deny to any and all other
ecclesiastical bodies or bishops the
right to own and possess more than
twenty acres? We have not had time
to look this matter up, but one who
set ma to know so informs us. If this is
true there is no justice in it, and the
first hard wort the next legislature
should do would be to repeal that In
famous law. San Francis Standard.
THE DUTY OF A CITIZEN
It Is as Important to His
Country as to His
Home.
Dr. I'arkburst's Plain Talk-Scute
Truth In 1 lie Claim of Decadence
la Patriotic Spirit.
Dr. C. H. Parkhurst, the New York
divine, has written an article on the
duty of the citizen in his relation to
home and country, of which the follow
ing Is an extract:
A citizen has no more right to be
neglectful of the interests of the civic
whole of which he 1b a member than a
parent or child has to be neglectful of
the interests of the domestic whole of
which he Is a member. There Is the
same quality of un Christian disregard
Involved in both cases, and whother a
man lets his state or city shift for it
solf, in the one instance as well as in
the other, he Is false to his corporate
duty and a despicable shirk.
The doctrine just enunciated needs
to be preached and pushed. A great
deal of our political misery Is due to
the fact that men who are fairly faith
ful In most of the relations In which
they are placed, do not hesitate, and
are not ashamed to be drones and rene
gades In their relations to the town or
nation they belong to. They would
consider themselves reprobates were
they to allow a neighbor to suffer
abuse without an attempt at Interven
tion, but would see their entire city
with all its machinery of government
go to the dogs and harries without one
definite effort at rescue, or one distinct
thought that such inaction was wicked
and inhuman. Nothing will correct
this evil but the creation of a senti
ment bo energetic and pervasive that
decent people will not have the cow
ardly audacity to neglect the primary
duties that pertain to them in their
civic capacity. Citizens will attend
the primaries, register and vote when
the pri.vk.ect sentiment, of attachment
to our institutions is so pronounoed and
compelling that failure to discharge
the functions of a citizen will be
branded as contemptible. Mr. Cleve
land said something recently about the
decadence of the patriotic spirit, and
of course his utterance was greeted
with an outburst of clamorous lndlgna
tlonby that class of mind that bases
Its estimate of any opinion, not on the
merits of what la said, but on the per
sonal favor or disfavor with which It
regards the person by whom it is naid.
The appearance is that when Mr.
Cleveland spoke in the way just men
tioned he had at least a measure of
truth on his side. Patriotism has come
rather generally to be Interpreted as a
willingness to fight and die for one's
country and Its institutions. That an
swers very well for a definition during
times of war, but Is generally defficlent
in that It allows n time for patriotism
In times of peace. We should consider
that a very cheap specimen of conjugal
fidelity which put a man upon caring
for his wife and devoting himself to
her necessities only on occasions when
she was threatened by ruffians. A hus
band's love has Its sphe e of service at
all times and in all situations. So has
patriotism. If a man loves his coun
try, and is true to her institutions and
affectionately concerned for their qual
ity and permanence, there will be
something which he will be doing at
all times in her behalf. Shooting our
national enemies is only a small and
incidental part of the matter. What
our country needs most Is men who will
love her and not die for her, but live
for her while there Is no shooting go
ing on.
In what I have just stated lies the
most Insuperable difficulty of the pres'
eat situation, and young men who have
brains enough to take the measure of
the situation and heart enough keenly
to realize it, ought to have civic virtue
equal to meeting it. What we have
the most to fear is not the depravity
and the criminality that are rampant,
but the decency that is languid and the
respectability that is indifferent, and
that will go junketing when the state
is on the edge of a crisis, or go fishing
on a day when the city Is having its
destiny determined for it at the polls.
Would that there could be some legis
lative enactment by which every rep
utable traitor of the sort could be de
naturalized, and branded with some
stigma of clvlo outlawry that should
extinguish him as an American and
cancel his kinship with Columbus,
Fourth of July, and "My country, 'tis
of thee." I speak with full assurance
when I say, for Instance, in regard to
the City of New York, that there is no
single moral issuo capable of being
raised in regard to Its administration
where tho great preponderance of
sentiment would not be found on the
side of honesty as against corruption,
provided only that sentiment wore suf
ficiently resolute and alert to come for
ward and declare Itself. The purpose
of a campaign under such clrcum
ttances is not to convince people what
is right, but to stimulate to the point
of action those who are already con
vinced. Tat was the entire scope of
the rather notable campaign in Now
York City in l!4.
Koine's Political Plot.
Romanism Is an absolute despotism,
the niopt unlimited of monarchies.
The pope is supreme In the manipu
lation of the papal hierarchy. He Is
a political prince forever unreconciled
to the loss of temporal power. Brovlus
affirms the "poo has been tho su
premo power over kings and Christian
princes." Merclnees asserted: "The
pope Is the lord of the whole world."
That these political pretensions have
been a fruitful sourse of the seditions
and wars which, like successive tor
nadoes, have swept in fearful rapidity
over Christendom, the records of his
tory furnish the most incontrovertible
proof. These papal machinations have
Interfered with the peace of Franco,
Gormany, Spain, Belgium, Portugal,
Sweden, Russia, Poland, China, Japan,
Egypt. Abyssinia and many other gov
ernments, inciting to anarchy, war and
revolutions. In addition to this politi
cal intrigue, the Roman church has
assailed all Protestants and non-Catho
lics with the most execrable persecu
tion. In her fiendish malice she coun
sels the violation of every principle of
justice, of every obligation to hut an-
lty, cf all contracts and oaths, and
urges as a duty the persecution and
extermination of all unbelievers, by
means of corporal punishment, im
prisonment, banishment, murder, fire,
sword and scaffolds. In our republic
the pope has established his political
plant, built up hia papal prisons, se
lected strategic centers and collected
his most un-American and reliable
subjects, In order that he may engulf
our cherished institutions and disrupt
our civilization. Bishop Hughes said
-Romanism was friendly to republics,
for they allowed its free development.
But our people should know that the
triumph of Romanism means the sub
version of republics and the establish
ment of political and religious despot
ism. When they say that Romanism
will one day rule America and then re
ligious liberty will be at an end, they
appeal to the Instincts of self-preserva
tion, and justify a free and independent
people in the adoption of any and
every unreasonable measure that may
be necessary to thwart their treason
and destroy their diabolical design.
Concerning the political treachery of
the Roman Catholic hierarchy there
can be no reasonable doubt. By what
means do they hope to execute their
treasonable purpose? Enough has
been reached within the past fifty years
to show that they are working accord
ing to a carefully considered plot.
They seek to ruin the republic by sub
version rather than conquest. Their
plot Involves the Influx of the low acd
dissatisfied population of Europe, until
a surplus majority of this inflammable
and un-American population can be
mobilized in the strategic centers of
our civilization. Make these men citi
zens and invest them with suffrage,
and they in turn will create dissension,
strife and anarchy among respectable
citizens and parties, while they will
stand and vote together till they come
Into possession of the cities, the army,
the navy, control the press, destroy the
schools, annul all the laws guaranteeing
liberty of thought, speech, conscience
and worship, and build upon the graves
of Protestantism and American free
dom, the most damnable despotism
that ever cursed the world. Roman'
ism refuses to become Americanized
because her hope of success depends
upon her control of these immigrants,
thus retaining their ancient principles,
custom and religion.
All know the radical change that
has occurred within the past forty
years as to the nationalities and char
acter of the immigrants who have
come to our shores. Less and less of
the desirable class and more and more
from Romish countries. They come
at papal dictation and remain subject
to priestly control. They are not con
tent with peaceful measures, but are
arming by the hundred thousand ready
for the fatal hour, when in view of the
apathy, dissension and weakness oi
non-Catholic forces, these scullions of
the pope will take the reins of govern
ment and apply the prisciple of papal
authority to the utter destruction of
American liberties. Then Protestants
and Americans will be at the mercy of
those whom we have harbored and
who declare we have no rights which
the papacy Is bound to respoct.Tb.en
by the seen t machinery of Rome, one
faction will bo Inflamed against an
other, and ono suction of the land will
be put at variance with another. Then
rapine, violence, assassination, Sodl
tlon everything that van render Ufa
and property Insecure will distract
every village, city and state in tho
Union. Then, according to IJrownson,
heresy and Infidelity will be declared
to have no right. Then, acoordlng to
Archbishop .Konrick, Protestantism
will be declared to be a crime and pun
ished as such. Then, according to
Archbishop St. Louis, religious liberty
will no longer be endured. Then, ac
cording to Heckor, the Catholic church
will bo compiled to take the country
and keep It. Then tho inquisition wl I
be Introduced and the darkness of tho
middle ages will settle over tho land.
School houses, col legos and churches
will be converted to papal purposes,
fortunes will be confiscated; ar.d tho
total resources of the government used
to subdue the world to the anti-Christ.
Liberty of speech and the press will
bono more. Papal dungeons will be
the homes and graves of American
freeman. Then will tho Inhuman
monster, the monarchical demon, the
god of slaves and aristocrats quaff
blood like water, and view with scorn
ful indlfferenoe the squalid millions
whom he has Impoverished and robbed
of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
This is an awful picture for a free poo
ple to contemplate, but evidences mul
tiply with every passing rear, that a
plot no less damnable than this is be
ing unfolded in the history of our rap
idly Horn an i zed civilization. la the
last star of human freedom to be ex
tinguished, and Is our republic itself to
Bet In a night of despotism without tho
hope of a coming morn. The answer
to this question will be glvon by tho
attitude and action of tho American
people within the next decade. If
men and ministers continue to cry
peace, peaoewhen there Is co peace;
If Christians continue to treat this
"mother of harlots" as the bride of
Christ; if aa apathetic citizenship re
fuses to break the power of political
RomaniBm by the peaceful measures of
the ballot, then a fatality no less dark
and damning certainly overhangs our
cherished mp'iblio. Thank God, tho
spirit of freedom 1b immortal. Indica
tions are not wanting In the prosent
patriotic revival that the spirit of
'70 and '61 still lives, and that tho same
heroic devotion which secured our na
tional Independence and maintained
our national Integrity, will otc3 mora
come to the front and preserve Ameri
can Institutions by forever breaking
the political power of Romanism which
has beon the assassin of human liberty
in every land and age. This is an hour
of crisis and this 1b a day of destiny.
Union or separation, freedom or slav
ery, fortune or confiscation, co-operation
or the Inquisition ; one or the other
Is Inevitable. A few years more and
the die will be cast, the decision irre
versible. In this critical year, every
citizen should certainly vote to put
none but Americans on guard. Omaha,
t hristian Advocute.
A Hopeful Sign.
It Is a hopeful sign when even aa
individual journalist has the courage
and tho honesty to boldly come out
and state facts as they are. Just such
a man is Joseph Howard, the well
known New York newspaper writer.
He uses no empty or meaningless
words In his able treatment of the pub
lic school question when he makes the
clean-cut declaration that "All sensi
ble Americans object to sectarianism of
any sort and of all kinds. They don't
believe In a Protestant school any
more than In a Catholic school. There
is no benefit to be gained by evading
this point. The public school Is an
American institution, and no power on
earth can break it up or break it down.
It is here to stay. It would bo as sen
sible to hope to blow tho cruiser Cin
cinnati out of the water by shots from
a popgun as to dislodge the common
school system from the hearts of our
people." It is to be hoped that mora
of our journalists will have the courage
ous manhood to disown priestly domi
nation and speak tho truth without
fear or favcr. Baltimore, lid., Ameri
can. Protestant Day
"Protestant Day" was observed at
Tolchester, Wednesday, August '23,
1896, by over 2,000 excursionists, who
enjoyed the sail down the bay and back
on tho steamer Louise. The visitors
gathered in the evening to listen to pa
triotic addresses by Rev. C. A. War
ner, Rev. Mr. Staib aud Charles Stang
myer. Tho national hymns were sung
during the speech-making, and on the
return of the steamer. A base ball
game Interested the crowd, and other
exercises contributed to the day's en
joyment. Baltimon Amcricrn Spirit. .