The San Francisco call., 1896-08-25

frage.
This is prelude No. 1. Prelude No. 2,
as the story papers say, Is to be continued
in our next.
Yesterday this hall was filled to the
extent of seventy-hve seats, and the gen.
tleman from eattle-all the way-by the
name OF Fleenor, held out on the public
schools as the palladium of American
liberties. As my next lecture will be de-
voted to the little red schoolhouse, / do
not mean to take up your time by
prelude on that subject.
when a society whose head is a man
whose name is not fit to be mentioned
among decent people, whose record is to
be found in the under world, whose past
life is hideous and black shadow
when a society can stand man like
that at its head; when a meeting
which is organized for the purpose of good
citizenship can have as one of its most
prominent members man who within
two years has been in jeopardy before the
courts OF this City, man who has been
accused twice in twelve months OF swind-
ling client-when an organization with
such record as that can come before the
public, it does not deserve that the public
should note what it's orators say. And so
what Fleenor or Goodwin or Case or Ollie
or the rest of them say, would not be
answered it it were not that we have made
i
against US. No matter whence II comes,
the charge receives certain dignity
because it is made against great church.
'At my next lecture | will take great
pleasure and great satisfaction in replying
to Rev. Mr.. Fleenor, who has come all the
way from Seattle to preserve San Fran
cisco from the Jesuits and the Pope. The
subject of the lecture this evening is The
Catholic Church on Protestant Marriages.
About a month ago l happened to be go
ing north by water and met physician
of this City who began to speak about the
controversy. | must confess he did not
have good opinion of the controversy.
He said he did not believe in this contro-
versy, but added that a number of people
had spoken to him about 1T. Now among
the statements that have been given cur
rency is one that Archbishop Riordan had
declared that the lives of Protestant
wives were those of concubines. This
statement was first invented and first
made public by the late unlamented
Frank Pixlev. His cinders are now
slowed away in their own place, but the lie
which he started, like John Brown soul,
keeps still marching on. And so, from
time to time from this platform and from
other places in the newspapers and peri
odicals we find it stated as Catholic teach
ings that no Protestant can be properly
married unless he gets the priests hands
above him and the priests hands in his
POCKETS.
This calumny is one which / am afraid
is believed. The gentleman of whom L
spoke to you was a physician and a man
of education, yet when the matter was put
to him he could not deny that he believed
it. 1t is a calumny which strikes at the
heart of our Protestant feIlow-citizens. 1t
is calumny which grieves them and em-
bitters them. You remember that in the
old times the controversy between the
Catholic and the Protestant was confined
to such subjects as transubstantlatlon
validity of orders, auricular confession
and such subjects. They cannot raise
hatred and cannot raise prejudice by
confning themselves to these dry matters,
so instead of that doctrines have been
brought forth which, if true, will excite
mems minds against people of certain
denomination and embitter their hearts.
You know in this country the people, like
those of other countries, are patriotic and
proud of the land of their birth, and so
these men who would stir up hatred and
prejudice try to make it appear that the
Catholic church is opposed to that patri-
otto sentiment, is opposed to the best IN
terests of the country, and then by mis-
representing the Catholic church 1t turns
against her all the patriotism and love of
country in the human breast.
tThey take up the supremacy of the
Pope, the relations Of church and state,
and try to make It appear 10 the world
that the Catholics cannot be good citizens,
and because they are not good citizens
they should be deprived of the rights of
citizens. They try to enlist against the
Catholic church that beautiful spirit that
makes a man proud of his wife and chill
dren, that love which lifts him up to be
almost godlike, and TO makeit appear that
the Catho church comes to the door OF
his home and boots down his wife as lower
than woman of the town.
'tYou know how we felt when these
scoundrels spoke of Catholic women-you
know the feelings that were in our breasts
andIthe breasts OF all decent men. The same
feeling that is intended to affect in the
breasts of Protestant men when they re-
peat this calumny.
81 say, ladies and gentlemen, that If we
Catholics approve such a doctrine, if we
talk it behind locked doors, behind closed
windows, in secret chambers, and If we
even thought 1t, we would not be fit to be
citizens of this great republic.
''In order that you may be able not only
to deny the calumny, but to give the rea-
sons why it is not so, l intend to devote
this evening to explanations, to the law of
the church concerning marriages IN gen.
eral and Protestant marriages in particu-
lar. You will excuse me if this explana-
tlon Is dry, Tor 1t Will treat OF the legal
aspects from the canon law side, as this is
the only side wish to talk upon tonight
81 remember once asking a small boy in
the catechism class, What are the effects
of the sacrament of marriage?' and he
answered me without moving a muscle,
The effects of the sacrament of marriage
are to darken the understanding, a weak
ness of will and great inclination to
evil
81 have no doub BIT that he heard all about
it at home. so never questioned his ac-
curacY, and don't intend to question it
now. / merely intend to confne myself
to the legal question to show what the
Catholic church holds in regard to mar
riage. In the first place. the Catholic
church believes that marriage is a con-
tract.
After the speaker had explained that a
contract is an agreement between two or
more parties to do certain thing for
certain compensation, he continued SUBJ
stantially as follows:
"The Catholic church regards marriage
as q contract. Perhaps there is no con-
tract that is OF more Importance to the
community than the contract of marriage
Each nation has its form of marriage, from
the savage who courts with a cudgel and
carries his wife off on horseback, to the
modern ceremony OF courtesying before a