Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1914-01-31
Right Rev. Bishop Gums Stirring Address to Holy
Name Society Rally at New Orleans.
"Is Liberty of Conscience Fact or Faction?" the
Question For All Fair Minded Americans.

Papal Nuncio-that they tarred and
feather and made insane from tor.
ture several priests-that they Gre
ated day which everyone in Louis.
Vile knows as Bloody Monday
and that they scared Sisters, burned
converts and so forced their bigotry
on the country that bills were pre-
sented to the various Legislatures
depriving Catholics of everything
that life, liberty and the pursuit OF
happiness is supposed to stand for.
Converts were to be classed as dives
and subject to police protection.
Then came the civil war, and as
usual the bigots and anti-Catholic
vilifiers dropped their agitation and
let the Stars and Stripes fight it out
with the Stars and Bars without in
terference which might mean the in
convenience of smelling gunpowder.
The invincible in peace and invisible
in war played possum when the boys
in blue and in gray lived and fought
and died to defend principle of the
American constitution. As bigots
only live to destroy principles they
we're well out of place during the
war
After this fierce struggle our
broken, mangled country was given
time to readjust changed conditions,
and a temporary respite from big
otry was given to Catholics. The
men who fought and lived respected
those who fought and died, and re-
spected each other. The country
was becoming solidly welded to-
gether. The old Soldiers at their
reunion never thought of putting
Beauregard Sherman, Sheridan,
Rosecrantz or Shields on the traitors
4 or towards LIST because they were
i Catholics. Go to the homes of the
old veterans OF North or South, and
ask them what they think of the
Catholic Sisters who nursed them in
camp, on battlefield and in hos
tpftai during those fearful years of
carnage. Let a distinguished Meth
odist minister of Cincinnati give ex-
preston to the thoughts of these old
soldiers:
"The Sister in her robes of Office
has ever commanded the respect and
admiration of Jew and Gentle.
pagan and Christian. Catholic and
Protestant. There has never been a
battlefield too red with blood to
keep away her ministering hand of
love: there has never been con-
tagion sufficiently destructive to
blanch her cheek with fear. She
loves her church and believes in 1t,
but the touch of her gentle hand,
and the smile of her Christ-like IL
Illuminated face has been for suffer-
ing humanity of all creeds and
eolors."
The next needful protection the
country had was in 1887. and again
the protectors" assumed charge.
They carefully scanned the political
horizon, and seeing no war in sight
an oracle from Ohio announced that
the country was in danger. He
called round him his men, loyal
and true" to renew the business Of
vilification. The followers of the
new movement were to be ignorant
of history, creosoted in bigotry, and
hostile to the American principle of
liberty of conscience. They were all
needed to defeat a newly discovered
Catholic conspiracy, viz: a con-
spiracy to destroy the common
schools, to destroy the civil liberty
and to destroy religious liberty. They
protected the country in the usual
methods OF flooding II with anti
Catholic literature, intimidating
mostly women and children, and do
ing everything to create distrust and
disunion. Where there was civic
peace they made war; where there
was harmony they created discord;
where there was confidence they
created distrust: they adopted the
voltarian principle of "Lie, lie al
ways, some of II will be believed"
The splendid programme failed be-
cause the history of the war was
fresher In the minds of the Ameri-
can people than the stories OF the
lnquisition, and the horrors and tor
lures inflicted upon some walled up
nun in the middle ages. The pro
tectors" of America failed to make
any impression on the country. This
failure was hastened by the war
with Spain; the very talk of wal
drives these protectors" and guard
fans OF bigotry back to their holes
cS, tney are uIiNen out oi oiBht
but the slime of the serpent has
stained the pages OF American his
tory, and the disgraceful chapters
of intolerance, intimidation, bigotry
and persecution have added TO the
work Of the American apologist OF
today, and the work OF those who
in years TO come will have to try tc
harmonize the theory and practice
of American principles in the open
ing years OF the twentieth century
We are now on the crest OF the
last big wave OF bigotry. The firsl
thing we notice about the present
burst OF intolerance Is the amount
of money which the bigots mus
control. They evidently have wei
organized business plan OF villifica
tlon and a we'll filled commissary
They have taken all that was bes
OF the old ex-priest business: thel
} get these poor outcasts. the victims