Chapter XV.
Nations Which Have Been Disgraced by the Toleration of Popish Rule.
There is no nation on the face of God's green earth to-day which has been enslaved by the power of Popery, and which has been burdened by an idle and worthless army of Priests, Monks and Nuns, but what would have become, not only tired, but disgusted with their burden, if they had ever been permitted to mingle and commingle with Protestant countries, and learn that Protestantism leads to individual intellectuality and collective greatness.
It is true, however, that there are many countries in South America that have been Priest-ridden for centuries, and who are as heavily burdened to-day with this ancient parasite as ever, who offer not a single protest, but the only reason for this is that Catholicism has always forbidden these priest-ridden nations to make any advancement towards Protestantism, which has been instrumental in keeping these nations under the complete control of the Vatican; thus you will see they have never been permitted to taste of the grandeur of Protestantism.
We will take France for instance, which was at one time one of the most priest-ridden countries on earth, but which is to-day endeavoring to extract herself from the meshes of this damnable creed, as the intelligent statesmen of France have learned that Catholicism is only another name for ignorance and superstition, and they have also learned that so long as the affairs of France remain under the control of papal power, just that long advancement and greatness stand aloof from the portals of their country, so in the past two years the government officials have removed tens of thousands of the Pope's hirelings from authority and have closed up hundreds of parochial schools.
Now, if Catholicism is such a glorious creed, why is it that France is so anxious to get rid of her influence? Ah! France has learned by coming in contact with Protestant countries that she need not expect to ever become a great nation if she permits popery to control her affairs.
Italy, the home of the Pope, has begun to wince under the Vatican's rule, as her national back is getting raw by the saddle of this diabolical creed. The inhabitants of Italy have been for the past few years protesting against the high-handedness of Catholicism, and the officials have begun to take notice of this vulture of humanity, and my predictions are that within a very short time Italy will do as France has done and close up the monasteries and convents, for just as long as these institutions are allowed to keep open house, and dictate to the inhabitants of Italy, just that long we may expect the immigrants who come over from Italy to bear the Vatican's mark of vice, immorality and criminality.
Go to Ellis Island and watch the immigrant ships from Catholic nations as they vomit forth their load of human carrion upon the fair shores of this country, and your heart will become sick with fear, as this class that hails from the nations of popery are a class, as a whole, that will disgrace and ruin any nation on earth, as these immigrants are men and women who have no conception of a free country, as they are men and women who have never been taught to look above the horizon of Catholicism; therefore they land upon the shores of America as criminals and not as citizens, and you cannot make pure American citizens out of them until you boil this hellish creed from their system by the fire of patriotism, and this cannot be done as long as this country permits Catholicism to run her mills of degeneracy unmolested upon our shores.
All of our large cities are infested more or less with this "scarlet-robed hag of hell," and more especially our eastern cities, as this foreign herd of the Pope's followers land in eastern ports and spread themselves out like a blanket, reeking with a moral stench over the eastern borders of this country, and they make a specialty of settling in our eastern cities.