The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-18

DETROIT. March IA. eliza BURT GAMBLE.
sharp Retort by the Rev. DIR. 7. J.. shahan.
To THE EDITOR OF THE~ SuS-Sir: Your cor
respondent. "R. A. Oakes." reevishly accuses
me Of using Latin and German quotations lin u
controversy that Is ~perforce scholarly and
historical. yet he proceeds TO quote Latin
himself without my permission. He demands
more exact references from me, hut almost IN
the first paragraph Of his letter makes four
direct statements from Tertullian. Clement
what CLEMENT, thrysostom and a Council Of
Macon. without giving book. chapter or date
for them. Let this pass his punishment shall
be an application Of the Golden Rule.
The augmentation Of Mr.. Cakes Is as crooked
as the rib he falsely makes Chrysostom give to
good Mother Eve. Will your readers credit tho
following? Mr.. o. at the very outset Of his ar
tlcle, puts into the mouth Of ~. Chrysostom
the words OF another man. and brackets it all
as belonging 10 tho Saint. He has evidently
taken some words OF the latter from page 81
of the first volume Of Lecky C'History Of the
Rise and Influence Of the Spirit of Rati, nalisn
in Europe" revised edition. New York. Apple
ton. 1898 and added to them other words Of
Sprengcr. IA writer Of the fifteenth century.
cited In the same book at page 81. This mon
strosity IA shown around al q saving Of
Chrysostom. Thereby, Mr.. o. has performed
the incredible feat OF making a Chris
tian Greek OF tho fourth century
talk bad Latin more than q thousand
years after his death. take 1t, this frat little
stunt" Of your WATERFOWL correspondent IL
no shining success. But 1t IL all right. mud,
not accuracy. is needed when one attacks
Catholicism. Before we 60 farther, let Mr.. q.
dof his hat to the Christian Demosthenes and
beg his pardon for putting into his mouth a
ridiculous Latin etymolOgy OF the fifteenth
century. Otherwise. ii will appear that any
old argument Is good enough for the reader o,
THE sun.
There is more Of this. Mr.. o. cites a provin.
cial council oi Macon In the sixth century that
discussed the question whether woman had
even a soul" Pass along the proof. II you
pleasel ! have read in the great collections OF
Hariuin and Mansi. a. well us the History of
the Councils" by Hefele. all tho acts AMI de-
crees OF the three councils held at Macon be-
tween 5Sl and G27 A. D.-the only early coun-
ellis of Macon-and there is not one word In
them concerning the soul Of woman. | did
find. however. "A canon the twelfth Of the Sec
ond Council Of Macon ,5S5l which commanded
the Bishops to protect widows and orphans
against the expressions OF civil magistrates
perhaps because they were beasts. 1t may be-
that, after his known fashion. Mr.. q. has got
this soul story mixed up with a curiou de-
tail Of GailO-Roman lie that the gossipy Saint
Gregory Of Tours has handed down IN his His
tor 81 the Franks Book VIII. chap. 20. and
which counts as another argument for Mr..
.. Gregory tells there Of "a certain
Bishop" who put the question at a meet
Ing Of his brethren whether you could
Predicate the term man" thomol Of woman.
All present assure him II could be done and
gave him proof from Scripture and theology.
Whoever reads the paragraph in Gregory will
see that when this bishop asked 'utum
mrie' dtci posSthomo' he raised the question.
not u her human dignity, but OF the c%onverti-
bility Of the grammatical terms woman"
man and mankind" Il ia not even certain
that this meeting was a council. And so. tina
after-dinner 'puz2ler" Of some unknown
bishop Of the sixth century becomes a mighty
argumen to prove that Christianity Il. e. the
Catholic Church, has mentally and morally
degraded woman" II am OF my readers care
TO pass a pleasant half-hour then take up the
amusing 'skit' Of two Protestant theologIans
published at tho Hague in 1875. "Dtsputdtio
TeJucunid qua iuDpyDIuS Dr0Id's ui,,ttar
Wh''''F ~ 'tpNttitts f|t tSSf' u't
There is more OF this rare historical acumeu,
when we pass into that section Il Mr.. O's con.
trihution where he seems to remember his
severe canon about accuracy OF reference
honceforth We ought 10 have book and chapter.
Here is a specimen: Without giving any
reference he writes away. a, follows. tho
character OF a good man: when Pope Sextus
III was tried for seducing a nun he repeated
20 tho avnOt aESpnll'ui Ia try him tho g'Nrv ~
Christ. and bads the one without ain to east
the first stone" The inference Is that the
whole synod was a. guilty as himself. Every
line Of this IL both false and stupid There
never was a Poue "SeXtus Ill" There al
exist ti32.4iUl u Pope Xystus III. lSco
Duchesne. Iioer PontiAcalis. |. 232l and
though the distinction be small Il IS
enough to show that we ara dealing
with no such scholar In church history as Mr..
Gamble needs to make COOL her airy chal-
lengcs. Indeed. she could not herself have
made a worse mess OF the facts. Ny-tuS was q
worthy and enlightened Bishop. who deserved
well OF the fine arts, Of architecture and mo~a-
les IN particular, The cocG-and-bu'l story re-
lated hy Mr.. q. was first circulated some sixty
years after the death Of NyS'us. about the year
300. in a little an pnymous document. known 10
serious church historians "a the "Gcs'a de pur-
gatione Nysti," or Acts Of the Clearing Of Nys-
tus." II stands quite isolated among a lot Of
other documents Of doubtful prOyenanco. and
It's content. both rs regards Nystus aud the
Synod. Is pronounced evidently false and alb
surd" by the greatest modern authority on
early papal history. the abb DucheSne Iii
Der Ponti0cali.. Vol. l.. Iraef. =. CXXNI.J
Tho supposed letter OF Xystus concerning
the charge is marked as a forgery by JAZZ
l"Eegrsta Romanorum Pontilcum." "a el.,
No. 3J7L The curious reader may fni ono
text in Mausi tColl, Conc. V. ll5i and an
other in Hinschius lPseudp-Isidor. p jGll.
After this EXPOSE Of the incapacIiy or ignor-
auce or presumption Of Mr.. o.. may | be ex-
cuscl from wasting more time on the far
r~aginous tale o. scandal, that he has collected
e. prove that the Catholic Church has degraded
women from the beginning OF its career? SO
far the speech Of Mr.. q, Is the ver,est Jabbrr-
wock OF history.
The saying Of an old writer Ia n truism %;
history: "Ertmt rita lJGec h~Omi1e''-yicc il
coeyal with humanity. The crimes committed
in the name Of liberty do Mt disgrace her
The Constitution is not guilty responsible for
the treasons committed under It's shai Tow mud
protection, The European rroS5 prints usually
all our lynchInyS. murders and train Tohborios.
were to print one years record ~ all the
crimes and misdcmeanors that the da,lY press
attributes 20 Protestant ministers. woull it De
n true record Of the splrit and purpose % thair
ministry think not. Yet Mr. o.. Offers ma a