The San Francisco call., 1896-01-10


To the Editor Of The Cdll-DEAR SIR: l know
of nothing better calculated TO demonstrate
the real nature OF that conglOmeration OF
ignorance and ubSurditY called the A. T. 4.
than the language affected by its champions.
Paradoxical though il may seem, it would be
severe blow 20 the cause OF decency II they
should chaSten their vocabulary or deodorlze
their sentences before presenting them to the
public. The eNuberauce which now permeateS
their communications is an effective prophy-
Tactic. assure you. Mr.. Editor, my only lear
in this controversy is that in some lucid in
terval The organization may club lis corybant
into dcCorum-
In This controversy I have but two aims.
First wish put before the public clear
and correct statement Of Catholic teaching and
OF Catholic history. Secondly, 1 wish 10 an
SWer aS "a satisfactorily as | can the arguments
which are brought against Catholic loyalty.
IN order 30 do This 1t Is necessary 10 obtain
from those Who are opposed 10 Us some state
ment Of the crimes with which they charge US
aud some logica! presentation OF the reasons
which back Up the allegations. l need not say
10 the readers OF THE CALL that this method
hes not been followed.
O.. 4 Hubbell seems to be possessed with the
grim determination 10 show the public that he
can work the scissors faster than IL. ". Bow
man, aud X. W. Bowman is resolved 10 die
glorlonsiy, shears in hand, rather than
acknowledge that he cannot produce more
clippings than a. 4. Hubbeli. What bearing
these extracts have on the controversy is as
obscure as the relation ofSI. Peters mother-in-
law TO DR.. Cases Yeracity or the connection OF
"Philosophjc sin" with American institutions.
/ must CONFESS me l0dlIeT is DtSOn1 me- No
doubt the dliigcut and ungrRmmatlcRl editors
of them possess some adUmbration OF their
relevancy. But if they do they have unkindly
withheld their knowledge from the rest o. the
world.
Now, Mr. Editor, let me state my position
concerning these extracts or clippings.
quotation from Catholic author may be pro-
duced 10 back up certain argument. Until,
however, that argument is stated il is simply
useless to produce the quOtatiou-iIi is n waste
OF time 10 examine 1t. When these quotations
"a
cation in your paper is made up of detached
sentence, every author, from HermeS TriSme-
gstuS 10 Frank Bolts, il would be superlatively
1ooiSh 10 examine them all. BY the time /
would be through with one the public would
have completely forgotten what the original
controversy Was about.
However, have taken certain specified quo
tationS, ana l have shown that they were for-
gerieS, pure and simple. To do this / have
been compelled 10 use different methods. To
the JtSUltS' oath ana the priests oath l have
offered complete and comprehensive denials
sworn to before an officer OF the law: in the
case OF the alleged bull OF eXcommunicatjon
have produced the original from which II
was taken, and traced its origin not to the
church, but TO an obscene novel known. as
.'Tristram Shandy'; for Dr. Cases quotation
from curry, / submitted the works of that
author for examination, and showed that the
reverend gentleman had substituted a mo-
where the original had eyes"
None of these refuJationS have been met G.
a. Iubbell obstlnRtely fights shy OF the affids-
Wis Of rather Prendergast. of Father Imoda
ana OF rather w Nman. lie has Kept discreet
silence on IrlstTam Shanuy. and Dr.. Case has
been as uncommunicative a clam when
asked to explore the tons OF literature he has
at home for the Curry from which he took his
quotation.
In the face OF facts like these thinking people
viii naturally LOOK with suspicion on all ono
tations emanatng from these sources. False
in one thlng, la4Se III all Is q maxim OF com
mon-Sense as well as OF law. How true il is
may be learned from slight examination of
some OF the latest quotations made by q. a.
Hubbell.
This patron OF phonetic spelling no doubt re-
Erets The Unkind iaie which prevented HIM
IRON being n scnoOimaster. The eternal fitness
o. Things Is demonstrated In his attachment 10
the little red SchoolnOuSe. The "Darefooted"
Ignorance which could perpetratc s'the differ
ence between he and his kind" can only be eX-
plated by perpetual Incarceration in some such
institution OF learning as the Home Cor the
Feebie-minded. However knowledge must be
lnculcated and education defended. If the one
cannot be accomplished by battering the pu-
pills al least the other mly be attained by bat
tering the Pope.
IN his letter published this morning G. A.
HCbbell gives certain quotations TO show what
"JeSuitlsm thinks OF our most cheris he'd ins;i-
tuition, the public school" -Four OF these quo
iations are from the Catholic World. ! have
Iaken tac trouble To look The matter IN and
present sn analysis OF the first as a specimen
oi The Literary honesty OF these new defenders
OF America.
The article from which the alleged onotation
Is taken was written in reply 10 an attack on
the Catholic institutions OF New York CITY
which appeared N Putnam's Magazine. /
have not been able 70 find out the name OF the
writer, but he gives This description OF him
self:
We know well the common school system of his
and other states. We've speak pcrsonally-
received our cary education IN the public schoofs
We were Tor five years d common-school teacher
the place OF our residence school committee
man. We haze NOS word to say against them
10 seculariZe education. We make TO war on he
system for non-Catholics. II they wish The system
f,'r themselves we offer them no opposition. IN
deed, for those who hold the supremacy of the
secular order and believe that every department
OF lie should be secnlarized, better system can
be devised.
Now the literary buccaneers who must rifle
Rome 10 secure arms against the Pope come to
TINS gentiemans writings TO prove the church
IS trying 10 destroy the public schools The
process Is Instructive. The extract as printed
by you, Mr. Editor consists OF four consecu-
tive sentences. In the original the first sen
tence IS lound near the beginning of a para
graph. Between this sentence and the next
dS given by you, intervene the rest Of this para
graph, two full paragraphs and part OF another
paragraph, which deal with different subjects
altogether. That Is 10 say between the first
and second sentence as printed by G. A. Hub
bell there are twenty-one sentences making
seventy-siX lines OF text
The second sentence as given 10y You con-
slsts OF tbTcc clauses. An explanatory clauSe
when puts an entirely different construction
on the meaning, is left out OF the middle and
another IS omitted from The end.
Between the second and the third another
seutSuCe Is dropped, ana the only two
sccn;iYe sentences IN the extract are the THIRD
and fourth.
ask you, Mr. Editor, and all fair-rnindad
men, how are we to argue with such dis
honesty as This? II Catholic teachings are
reasonable why Is IL necessary TO gerry
mander Catholic books TO make out a case
against rs? have given the answer time and
time again. When men wish 10 prove what is
not true they are driven TO lalsehood, to
forgery and 10 perjured testimony
We read, Mr.. Editor, in The Scripture that
when men We're suborned TO swear against our
Lord "thelr testimonies were not agreeing -
clever liar has hard work to escape contra
diction, but clumsy liar has as many feet as
Mayor Sutro's octopus and he manages to put
cvery one OF them in the mess. II q. \. Hub
bell had stopped for an instant in his blind
fury of sclssoring to read the extracts he was
infiicting on your readers he would have seen
that one OF them exposed the other. Thus his
third quotation runs rs follows:
as there is for us Catholics only one church.
there is and can be proper education Tor us not
given by or under the direction and control OF the
Catholic church.
The obvious inference from this sentence is
that the Catholic church is trying To get all
schools dnder her control If we turn, how
ever, to his tenth quotation we find that he
gives this little extract with its context. This
tepth quotation IS built OF the same plan as
the hrst, with numerous and interesting omis-