The San Francisco call., 1896-05-09

ct the sides of the organ ann over the
front of the lecturers stand. The organ
was decorated with flowers, and across the
front of it was suspended in red and gilt
letters the name:
AMERICAN woMEN's LIBERAL LEAGUE:
ltwas $40 o'clock before the big audience
was finally settled in the seats and about
the aisles. Then the chairs..on the platform
were taken by priests and prominent lay
men. Hearty and long-continued applause
marked the arrival of Father Yorke.
Mrs. Thomas Il. Griffin sang a contralto
solo and Miss Fannie Ryan sang the
nightingale Song"
Frank McGlynn, nephew OF Rev. DR..
McGlynn of New York, presided. He
spoke of the American Women's Liberal
League. stating that it was composed of
women of all creeds and that its object
was to fight against an evil which has be-
come deeply rooted in this City. The
league, as he stated, stands for the home.
The speaker expressed belief that in this
country there is no need of making laws
to guarantee freedom of religion, which
freedom he declared to be the very spirit
of the American Nation. He continued:
"Yet we cannot close our eyes to the
fact that there is in this country an organ
ization which is contrary TO the American
spirit. There has been brought into this
country horrible thing, formed in igDo-
rance and bigotry-a cancerous growth
which has demanded our efforts in com
batting it.
"But man always arises to every need.
We have on this coast champ pion who is
second to none." Then amid an uproar of
applause he introduced the lecturer.
Father Yorke began in humorous way
and for several minutes he kept the audi
dience in laughter. He said:
Ladies' and gentlemen: Only that
am used to this, / would think that / was
before the convention at Sacramento, a
sugar-coated delegate for st. Louis.
''In my lecture tonight have only two
preludes. One relates to the Women s
Congress, of which l speak with the deep
est reverence.
'At the congress it was stated that at
an ecclesiastical convention in the Middle
Ages it was decided that women had souls.
but that their souls were of very inferior
class.
''Eow that is an old gag. It is like the
Jesuit oath in DR.. Wendte's quotations.
We have been told that, in convention as
sembled, lot of old monks, who had some
strange aversion to their mothers, de-
clared that women could not enter the
kingdom of heaven.
al am sorry that any member of the
Women's Congress should be deceived into
repeating such silly tale. Thev should
not forget that it was the Catholic church
that lifted woman out of the darkness in
which paganism had placed her.
THE other prelude l don't care to say
much about. But at Sacramento we have
had the spectacle of one of our great DO
Itical parties in convention with a hide
Gus organization, crawling out of its cata-
combs to attempt to gain control. We
have had the spectacle of Benjamin Hud-
elson, clad in his yellow jacket and pea
cock feathers, sitting before that conven-
tion and empting to dictate its policy.
sit is not my place now to tell him a
man now a delegate went to that Hudel-
son and said that if he was not elected a
delegate he would tell all about the organ
ization. And the man was elected. But
as sure as there is truth in heaven, these
things will be known. It is a disgrace to
the Republican party that this could have
been.
They put in the platform plank re-
garding sectarian schools, when they
knew that no appropriation has been re-
ceived by sectarian school in this State
for thirty years. They put IN plank
about what could not be accomplished,
and they said nothing about religious
liberty which was N danger.
81 say it is shame that these men in
the convention should not have stood up
for the flag whose freedom they enjoy"
Father Yorke tooK up the evenings lee
ture at this point and after briefly review
ing the subjects of the previous discourses
he said:
''It is usually said, kdies and gentlemen,
particularly when it i to the interest of
preachers to pitch intothe Pope, that all
religious freedom caInewith the Reforma-
ton; that before the Reformation any man
who attempted to express an opinion OF his
own about religion wo,ld be cast into
prison or have his head CIT off.
at is familiar old aiage that Those
who live in glass house. mustn't throw
stones; and if we look thpugh the history
of Proiestantism we will fad that it has q