Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-04-01
PREACHERS GET EXCITED.
Chicago Methodists on the Roman
Catholic Policy.

somewhat acrimonious debate was pro-
voked at the meeting of the Methodist ministers
in Chicago yesterday by paper on 1.-THE atti-
tude of Rome to our system of education, :" read
by Rev. r. ID. Shepard, professor of political
economy in the Northwestern University. In
the course of his paper DIR. Shepard attacked
the parochial school system, and said il APP
peared to be the design of the Roman Church
to incorporate into the very system of the little
one its dogmas and beliefs by tincturing every
part of his education with Installations from
them. The theory was n good one. but the
fact showed that the doctrines and teachings
of the Roman Church repressed the very
lives OF the pupils and her systems of edu-
cation were medieval, inadequate and weak.
The only salvation of the Roman Church IN
this country was in obtaining control Of our
system of education. and this was the only
country in the world where it showed any in
terest in education at all. because in other
countries where 1t was given any liberation il
had blighted and suppressed education almost
entirely. Rome was scheming to get control
of the public schools and the fight was the
same wherever they looked. He did not be-
ieve, however, that the great body of the So
called Catholic laity were heartily In unison
with the hierarchy on this question, and. if the
truth were known, they were dragooned into
supporting this policy of the church He
show, If occasion required il. that same inde-
pendence of Rome in matters political that the
English Catholics did in the days of the Ar
mazda and the Catholics of Maryland later on.
He thought. therefore, there was no fear of
danger regards American institutions: the
real danger of the situation was 10 the Roman
church herself.
Rev. Mr. Foster did not at all acquiesce in
this view of the case. docs the gentlema
mean to say there is no danger said he.
when we see Sl2,000000 poured into the coff-
ers OF the Catholic hierarchy in the city of
New York alone to carry on the work and the
policy of that church? L tell you there is a
most determined effort to capture and control
if not to undermine and destroy. our institu-
tions by this church of Rome. Why, in front
of my church there is large school with thir-
teen rooms in il and fifteen teachers and of
these teachers thirteen are Catholics. although
the neighborhood is a Protestant one. Does
the gentleman say there is no danger IN such a
state of affairs as that? Ina Protestant neigh
bOrhood there is a school with twenty-six
teachers. twenty-one of whom are Catholics.
L think il is high time to protest"
MIR. Foster claimed that the Catholic churches
in Chicago were training up little boys as sol
diers for some mysterious purpose and arming
and dressing them in Zouave uniform. What
do they want soldiers for" asked the speaker
lis there no danger In that"
DIR. c. W. Bennett, professor in the Methodist
Institute at Evanston. replied to the previous
speakers at some length. He thought that
when brother got up TO speak in a public
meeting on subject he ought to understand
the subject he was speaking about. Now. 1
claim there IL not one of us here who under
stands the Catholic Church or its policy, and
yet We undertake to discuss it. / claim there
are not three in this meeting who can point
out the distinction between the Methodist doc
trine OF salvation by justification and the doc
trine adopted by the Council OF Trent on the
same subject. The Catholic Church has been
criticized for having a supreme head. but the
Methodist Church and every other church which
Is not bound to disintegrate must have a SUI
preme authority as well as the Catholic
Church. and il is nonsense to deny il. The
only difference between our church and the
Catholic church on that head is the Catholic
clergy keep their pledges of obedience TO this
supreme authority better than ours do. There
are some things, my brethren. from which we
might derive useful lessons in the Catholic
church. We might with profit sit at the feet
of that church and learn from her lesson on a
subject that is of more vital importance to our
government even than temperance. and that is
the preservation of the family, the sacredness
Of matrimony and the curse of divorce. ZAP
plause and cries OF no, mol In the heart of
the most Protestant of countries ilegitimacy is
greatest-in Scotland, the home of Protestant
ISM"
This provoked a regular outburst and hot
fve-minute replies were made by Rev. DIR.
Curtis. Rev. Schwartz and others, who claimed
that the records of illegitimacy were suppressed
in Catholic countries and made public in Prot
estant ones. DIR. Bennett was roasted all
around, and then the meeting adjourned.