The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1912-11-21

49, III Cne1r various institutions.
After the secularization by law of
the religious establishments of
France, the value of the real estate
claimed from the church by the Gov
ernment was stimated to be fcs.
1,O71, 100000. Some one with an
aptitude for figures has calculated
that this sum in gold pieces would
require for its transportation forty
Hve railway cars, each with capaci-
ty of 10000 pounds.
Not only has the amassing. of the
treasure been contrary to the COM
mand Of Christ, but the methods
adopted in accommodating it have also
been ungoldly. How has all this
enormous wealth been acquired?
Monsieur Bourrier, who ought to
know, having himself been a priest,
tells us. He says
How did the congregations acquire
these great fortunes SO rapidly, for
tunes which enabled them to build
IN the finest quarters of Paris the
magnificent palaces, the proud mon
asteries, that have drained the gold
out of France?
They sold holy water; they sold
scapularies, indulgences, Sacred
Heart plasters, charms to bring
luck. They terrified old maids with
specters and demoniaca1 hallucina-
Sions. In this way gold was thrown
by handfuls into the sacred treasu-
ries. They laid their hands on the
property of aged parent; seated at
their death-bed, the priest exacted
from them will (testament) which
certainly would not find sanction in
either the New or the Old Tesla
ment. They said masses to deliver
from purgatOry souls that never
came out, and for whom the prayers
had to be said over and over again,
the services being paid for in ad-
vance with good hard cash. Holy
water, pieces of the true cross, and
feathers from the wing of the angel
Gabriel have brought fabulous sums
to religious communities. The
thousand congregations have too Of
ten been built up on lies, supersti-
tion, inveigling of wills and pro-
cesses that might be almost called
swindling. The source of all this
gold was not clean, it did not har-
monte with the divine command,
''In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou
eat bread!'
That this ill-gotten wealth should
have contributed to the corruption
of those who accumulated it is what
one who has observed Incorporation
of moral law might have expected;
but when the outraged nation took
back it's own, one naturally expected
that the people who had been des-
poiled would, in a measure, be in
Identified by lighter taxation, by
useful public institutions, by schools,
by asylums for orphans, for the
aged, by homes for the dependent
poor, etc. But, SO far, these natu-
raj expectations have not been real
lied.
AS soon as the valuable church
property came into the hands of the
State, it set to work to liquidate it,
and it would appear that some of
the ablest and, most accomplished
rascals of Christendom secured the
positions of liquidators
A too-patient public has been
waiting for five years for the bene
ficent results that were to have fol
lowed the suppression of the reli-
gious houses; but, as these results
were not Forthcoming, an enquiry
has been set on foot that shows that,
while the public has been asleep, the
thieves have been busy. The men
who have taken up this business of
IiQuidating have shown themselves
Ito be past masters in the art of pill
o.. sob,