The Irish standard., 1915-01-30
HISTORY OF AM|.CA1HOuC PREJUDICE

hlnUllO IhLOUDlOL
o.,
Catholic Prejudice in the
States.
bigotry its opportunity.
In July, 1884. one of the nuns, Sis
ter Mary John Harrison, of the Ursu-
line Academy, Mount st. Benedict, at
Charlestown. was prostrated by a
nervous collapse, and in her delirium
left her bed and ran from the convent
to the house of neighbor., She re-
turned to the convent and in few
days began to recover. Her misfor-
tune was bigotry's opportunity. A re-
port was industriously circulated that
a young woman was being detained
in the convent against her will, that
she was immured in dungeon and
subjected to other cruel treatment.
Anti-Catholic prejudice was aroused
to fanaticism. On the Sunday pro-
ceeding August II. 1884, infammatory
sermons were preached in several
churches in Boston and in the neigh
boring towns. Rev. Lyman Beecher
was again the leader and assailed the
Catholic Church and Catholic institu-
tions in sermons preached in three
different churches, warning the people
of the dangers Of popery as evinced
by its, rapid growth and prosperity.
Placards denouncing the nuns were
posted in the public streets. Meetings
were held in the school house at
/ CharlestoWn to incite and organize the
malicious and depraved men of the
! community to attack and destroy the
convent of Mt. st. Benedict in which,
besides the ten nuns. there were fifty
five pupils, chiefly the daughters of
the best families of the state. With
misplaced reliance on the honor of the
people. and the good faith and power
of the commonwealth Of Massachu-
setts, Bishop Fenwick and Catholics
generally believed that defenceless
women and children would be respect
ed and that the coarse malignity of
the bigots could not succeed in incit-
ing any number Of men to mob VIC.
lence. But the mob was aroused. On
Monday night. when all in the acade-
my had retired to rest. tar barrels
and other combustibiles were hauled
near the Ursuline academy and set on
fire. This was the signal. On came
the mob, unchecked by any authority;
rot an officer, not representative of
Protestant New England attempted to
save the lives or property of their
Catholic neighbors. With blasphemous
speeches, musket shots, vile i'm.
'recations and yells of rage, the fana-
tics broke down windows and doors
md rushed into the convent to begin
heir work Of pillage and destruction.
The nuns and pupils rose hastily from
their beds and, scantily clothed. rush
I'd from the convent to take refuge
in neighboring houses. After ransack-
'ng and plundering every room, the
ruffians heaped broken furniture,
books, curtains, and other combustible
materials on the floor of the building
md as If in mockery of God as we'll as
man, the bible. the vestments used in
"eligious services, the ornaments of
he chapel, and finally the altar cross
we're cast upon the pile and all were
'.indled. In few moments the con-
rent was in flames. The incendiaries
oassed on to the library, which was in
building nearby, and, after robbing
It of valuable books and pictures, set
ere to the building. The farmhouse,
he stables, even the fences were
Nurned, and not content with all this
he mob burst open the convent buri.
u vault, wrested the plates from the
,off1ns and left the moldering remains
# the dead exposed to view. To the
Hatholic heart the greatest profana-
ion attending the awful scenes was
he desecration of the chapel and the
'acrilege of breaking open the taber-
,acle and carrying away the ciborium
containing the Blessed Sacrament
The ciborium and some of the Hosts
we're afterwards found, and one Of the
desecrators who boasted of his guilt
soon after cut his throat in a low
len in Boston.
The work of destruction was &C.
complished by sixty or seventy men,
but the magistrates. police and fire.
men who were summoned made no ef-
'ort to arrest the rioters or check the
work Of destruction.
It was, indeed, day Of triumph
'or the bigots, but a day Of shame for
Boston and the United States. The
respectable and law abiding Protes-
ants we're filled with indignation and
shame. A committee of investigation
composed of intelligent Protestants
Of Boston, examined fully into the
charges that had been published
against the nuns, and reported that
here was no foundation whatever for
my of them. But the mischief had