The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-02-17

dence to these misrepresentation. and
they are to this day paying the pen
aItv of their credulity. They loaded
the Church with chains, and 10, their
thrones began to tremble on their
foundations and were threatened with
connIete ruin. They refused TO re-
spect the divine authority of the
Church cast her in the mire, humbIei
her before the people, sought in every
way to degrade her, who had proved
herself the great bulwark of their
power: who had always preached sub
mission and obedience to legitimar-
authority: who had never ceased to- i'm
cuIcate the precepts of the Apostle.
Whosoever resisteth the power. resist
eth the ordinance of God. The people
i'm their turn refused to respect thu
rights of their rulers and held them O.
a strict accountability for the acts o-
their subordinates. When kings inn
wade the sanctuary and trample upon
the rights of the Church. God covers
them with a leprosy which renders
them hateful in the eyes of men. Per
quae peccavit homo ct per haec tor
quetur.'
Others again busy themselves i'm the
effort to unduly excite the imaginatio.
of TIE masses: they are constant
prating about the peoples rights. but
studiously avoid making any mention
Of the peoples duties; they eXaggerats
abuses. which may have crept into th
administration Of public affairs. cal
umniate the. government and its min
fsters. and inspire the masses with
an inordinate desire Of change by de
pfctirg in glowing coICrs the advant.
ages which would surely accrue to-
them. if they would only rise in their
might. overthrow monarchical institu-
tions and govern themselves by means
of their own immediate representative
The people. they say. are the source Of
/ all power. and the only true soveretgns
They who seek to reign or rule in op-
position to their will are despots. they
should be driven from power and give
way to the supremacy OF the people.
These who are instrumental i'm the
dissemination of their ideas are enc
mics alike of God and man: they are
/ infdels without conscience and with
out heart. Alas! How many even Of
the ministers of the altar are seducet
by them. not only to their own perdi-
ton, but to the ruin of numberlss'
others to whom they should have been
an object of edification and not Of
scandal.
DISTINGUISHED by the Almighty with
the most signal marks of favor, sur
rounded by the pleritude of His graces.
destined to be guides to the blind.
teachers to the ignorant, the dispensers
/ of Gods mercies on earth, they rebel
against their mother. the Church,
prove recreant to their high vocation
and aid the enemies of religion AMI
society in their work of demoraliza-
ton: constituting themselves into
clerical liberal organizations they in
solently assume to be the teachers Of
thu Sovereign Pontiff. who is the
cher of teachers. from whom none
can differ without being branded az
schismatics or heretics, and whose
heaven directed hand guides the one
only bark of safety on this tempestu-
Gus sea of life. They influence the
brutal passions of the masses. bias
phene authority and ridicule the
truths of religion, the customs and
ceremonies of the Church and all the
objects of Catholic veneration.
Under the influence of the demoraliz-
ing teachings of the secret societies,
the people are deprived of that cOnSo-
1ation. which springs from the hope OF
enjoying a blessed eternity as the re-
compense of good deeds performed in
this world and inspired ~'ith one in
tense longing for political influence;
convinced that they were born for
happiness and thaI happiness consists
in the possession of power; that this
is the last objective end of their eN-
iesence and that riches are
necessary means to the attain
ment Of that end; taught to regard
with contempt the idea that this world
is merely a place of probation and
that happiness can only be secured In
the life to come-imbued with princi-
pies such as these. they are easily
carried away by the fascinating but
deIusive prospects held out by com
mum SIN, led into the commission of the
most frightfuI excuses and induced to
attempt the destruction of society
itself. I say the delusive prospects held
cut BY communism, because. al
though the rich may be temporarily de
prived Of their possessions. communism
can never exist as a permanent insti-
tuition it is repugnant to the natura
equality of men; and if an equal dis
tribr.ion of property should actually
take place. it would necessitate the
cessation of all industry because no
one would consent to undergo the
fatigue Of toll unless assured that he
would be permitted to enjoy the fruits
Of his labor: mankind would in that
contingency be reduced to the cCndi-
ton of those fantastic beings the
creatures of Rorsseau's fertile imagi-
nation. and. like them, be forced to
urgavory acorns rs a staple article OF
food.
Moreover, communism. even though
it should succeed in actualizing its
theories and plunging society into a
state of chaotic confusion, would
speedily yield to Free Masonry. which,
assuming the reins of power. would
bend the peoples neck beneath it's
iron yoke, and realize the reign Of
antichrist, the. enemy of God par excel
lence.
Let the reader be assured that this
sketch of the workings and aims of
tbs secret societies is not the mere
picture of an overheated imagination,
but that it is on the contrary a faith