The San Francisco call., 1896-02-22

society stood for their rights as citizens
against all opposition.
Miss Mamie Byrne sang "Hall, Column
bia," and Miss Catherine Black 'The Star
spangled Banner"
Mr.. Haskins announced that the Rev.
Father Yorke wished it understood dis
tinctly that he would not engage in any
debate Or controversy with Rev. Mr.. Ross.
At the mention of the name of Father
Yorke the audience cheered and ap-
plauded with great enthusiasm and con-
tinued the applause for an unusually long
time.
Father McKinnion was greeted with
most enthusiastic marks of respect and
welcome by the large audience. At the
conclusion OF this cordial greeting he
began his eloquent and able lecture. The
subject was Catholic Loyalty" and his
treatm ent of it called out frequent bursts
of approval. He said:
Ladies and Gentlemen: 1t seems strange in
this age OF advanced ideas and liberality of
thought and feeling that here on the ocean
washed shores OF free Republic, where equal
rights. are the heritage or all, where the flag
that floats above us is a synonym of liberty,
where every man is free to worship God agree
ably to the dictates of his conscience, any
body of men could be found so blinded by
hatred, bigotry and prejudice as to call into
question the loyalty palrlOLlC cItlZenS VINO
took such prominent part in the discovery,
liberating and building up of this glorious Re-
public and whose devotion to their country
was proved on many CORY battlefield Yet,
my friends, to our shame and humiliation we
are compelled TO acknowledge that such an or
ganzation OF men exists among us, and the
name OF this traltorous body, the com bination
OF baseness, vlleness and infamy, that seeks to
uproot the fundamental laws of the land, the
very groundwork OF our constitution, is the A.
7. 4.
m n tino-c oria
organization OF skulking consprators is to in
flict injury upon Roman Catholics and DENY
them the right to labor and live. The weapons
used are falsehood, slandar and forgery. The
men employed 10 WELD these weapons are
briehess lawyers, notoriety hunting preachers
and pinhead politicians. From this very plat
form, Sunday after Sunday, these barnacles
IN human form have poured out their filth
and obscenity on patient and long-suffering
public. But worse than this ministers OF tn Q
God oil peace, prostituting their high positions
TO their hunger for gold and notoriety, have in
the same temple and at the same time that
they adored their God hurled the concentrated
malice OF their hearts, the poisoned shafts of
calumny and detr8ction, at creatu res fashioned
by the hand of the same God out of the same
common clay and made in the same divine
image for the same glorious destiny,
Spurious documents filled with absurd and
startling intelligence, and said to emanate from
the illustrious head of the Catholic church, are
scattered broadcast throughout the land. Ap-
peals are unbiushingly made to that low ami
NAL passion, unfortunately inherent in our ma
ture, which leads to crimes that st. Paul would
not have TO be even so much as named among
Christians. Reverend blaekguards boasted
ministers OF the God Of holiness and purity
make no scruple whatever in treating with the
most disgusting detail from public platforms,
pulpits end the press, certain matters that
pure minded Christians would blush to think
about. Such apologies for men as Bowman
Ross, Henry, Case, Palmer and Others think
nothing OF giving circulation to obscene mat
tiers which would cover with disgrace the most
ordinary citizen who lays no claim to any. Pc
culiar sanetity., but simply stands forth clad in
the panoply of an honest, decent man.
Nothing can be too bad for these men pro-
vided 1t be only directed against the Catholic
church. Their morbid appetite for scandal re-
Jects no food. no matter how loathsome. The
most obscene narratives of the most obscene
and abandoned wretches like Maria Monk, or
the most driveiing apostate like Chinaquy
and Slattery, are precisely what pleases their
palate.
To give their calumnes some semblancs of
truth they take up Catholic books, pick up a
sentence here and another there, poisoning
their meaning by causing the words to pass
through the alembic of their own impure
minds; they string them together to suit the
theory OF their own foul suspicious, and thew
thus succeed IN extracting impurity out of the
things most pure, darkness out of light. Like
serpent crawling through beautiful flower
garden and injecting the fragant atmosphere
with its pestilent breath, they succeed in ex-
liest flowers
All the crimes in the catalogue have by
these methods been laid at the door of the
Catholic citizens of this Republic, and it is
indeed, sad commentary on onr boasted
enlightenment that it should be necessary for
US TO come forward to deny these charges.
Yet such is the case, for while we have with
us the most enlightened and pure-minded of
the Protestant community, there thou
sands OF ignorant haters of the Pope who,
unless taught the truth, will believe every
syllable uttered by these mountebank
preachers From answers already given and
the noble stand taken by Father Yorke we
see that this disgraceful method of warfare has
already recoiled and will still recoil with ter
ribie effect on the heads of these blatant
bleots who are now the active leaders in this
anti-Catholic crusade in this country. The
American people will not consent to be forever
duped; there is a point beyond which even