The Irish standard., 1904-11-26

of his rights in contemplation of law.
They gnash teeth of rage at proscrip-
ton in the Congo Free State. But
they do not hesitate to smirch with
foulness the 'scutcheon of the church.
They have no qualms in insulting mil
lions Of their fellow-countrymen. The
lie fantastic that Cyrano de Bergerac
was enamored of, leaps lightly from
their lips.
Bishop Burt's distressing lapse from
sanity could be readily forgiven by
the ten million Catholics Of this coun-
try, in the intervals when they were
not too busily engaged in reducing the
dividends of the electric companies by
lighting the streets with human torch
es-as the bishops distempered fancy
pictures us! We might recover, though
we would never be the same. The
marks of his displeasure would weigh
heavily upon us. They would be as
gall and NORWOOD to us. In the sill
ence of the night we would weep. No
more would the smile that won't come
OF decorously decorate our Roman pro-
files. The bishop works while we
sleep. Gloom descends visibly upon
us. Seriously, however, we believe
that while a homeopathic dose of Burt
might effectively remove undue nerves,
an allopathic dose accentuates them
strangely.
The atrabilious bishop represents a
condition which we must acknowledge
whether we accept it or not He spoke
evidently after careful consideration.
His words were applauded. He was
acclaimed with fervent calculations of
"Amen." His audience was in full
sympathy with him.
1t is no new doctrine that he
breaches. Intolerance is a plant of
noxious growth, vet it fourishes as a
hardy flower in New England. During
the past two years The Republic has
repeatedly cited facts incontrovertibly
proving that policy Of exclusion, of
prescription against Catholics is adopt
ed where liberality-an unquenchable
glory Of New England .life-should
dwell. Our statements, carefully veri-
fed, cautiously made, amply demon
strated, find confederation in many I'M
expected quarters.
Mr.. Grafton Gushing, in recent adj
dress before the Council of Women's
Clubs, confirms the charges made by
The Republic as to the existence Of
bigotry in rural New England. Mr..
Gushing has cultivated mind and q
developed power of observation. He
spoke by the card. And his assertion
that " in the country districts of Mas
sachusetts practically no Catholics can
get appointed as teachers in the public
schools" reveals a condition of relig-
ious feeling, of widowed intolerance,
which The Republic is determined to
combat until it vanishes.
The rapid growth Of the Catholic
Church in New England, it's obvious
and imposing triumphs, it's recognized
necessity as conservator of social Or
der, make it hardly to be expected
that the 3x2 New England mind,
which accepts Professionalism with
ejaculatory jubilance, would work it.
self into enthusiasm. The temper dis
played, however, is anything but ad-
mirable. President Eliot of Harvard,
clear-seeing, straight-hitting, with
mind unstained of sectarian narrow
ness, has several times in the past six
months said that New England, which
is now nearly half Catholic, would in
a quarter-century see the marked as
tendency of the Catholic church. But
the little New Englander-the last of
the Mohicans-throws down his toys,
refuses to play, and screams like a
spoiled darling of the nursery. Such
an attitude, of course, was worse than
nonsense. 1t was deplorable and de-
+, spicable Rourbonism-it remembered
nothing and forgot nothing.
Bishop Burt simply emphasized the
drift of the current. He stood as a
nymph in a fountain, and the rising
waves of his vituperation called atten-
ton to his attitude.
Such a charge as he makes carries
the implication that 100000 Catho-
lies in the United States would COM
nit, or countenance, the horrors he
enumerates-or insinuates. 1t involves
the assumption that the 1,25O,OOO Cath
olics in Massachusetts are capable Of
the crimes he imputes to them and the
scarcely less discreditable assumption
that the 100000 Methodists-of all
tints and hues-in the United States
and the 100000 Methodists in Massa-
chusetts sustain the position and COM
mend the attitude which his befouling
fancy has caused him to take!
Such assumptions amount to posi-
tive defamation Of the Catholic body
of this country-and they testify to
an illiberal bitterness, a sectarian hos
tility that would have caused the
builders Of this republic to gasp and
| stare Sl1ch a Snocta clo ia offonsivo