It is because human nature has never changed; what our fathers were, we are: what Absolom and David felt, we feel.
When the brilliant, wayward Jewish boy goes astray and meets his untimely fate, we mourn with his broken father as he wails—"O Absolom my son, O my son Absolom!"
That which women have already been, women continue to be. Helen of Troy was not essentially2 different from Madame de Pompadour; Cleopatra was a more refined Catherine of Russia; Aspasia was the forerunner3 of Madame Maintenon: Sappho was another "George Sand;" Lilly Langtry was a modern Phryne; and Pauline Bonaparte had all the charm and voluptousness of Nell Gwynne.
One reason why the Old Testament4 continues to be a modern book is, that it is so full of human nature. Our first instinct, when we became violently enraged5 is, to kill. In the Old Testament, they do it. Considered as a mere6 human document, there is more raw slaughter7 in the Old Testament than any book you ever read, and the details are given with frightfully fascinating realism.
No cloak is thrown around Jacob and Abraham and Lot. Those citizens are painted with all the warts9 on. In some of them, indeed, the warts fill most of the canvass10. That affair of David and the other man's wife: how modern it is! If you will glance over the daily newspaper, you will find that some[Pg 20]where or other in this world of today, another David has seen the loveliness of Uriah's wife; and the first thing you know this modern David (in a Derby hat and tailor-made clothes) is running away with Bathsheba in an automobile11. As to Solomon and his harem—including the Ethiopian woman—the subject is too delicate for polite treatment in a high class publication. I must leave such matters to Mr. William Randolph Hearst, whose Sunday editions and monthly outputs deal in "sex" novels, Gaby Deslys, Lina Cavalieri, Evelyn Thaw12, Mrs. Keppel, and scarlet13 people generally.
The point I desired to make is that God made men and women to mate with one another, and thus reproduce and perpetuate14 the human species.
There are no bachelor eagles, no spinster swans, no monks16 among the lions, no nuns17 among the deer. When we want to make a bachelor out of a horse, we resort to surgery. Most of us know what Mooley, the cow, does in the Spring time, if she is shut up in the pasture with no other company than other Mooley cows.
Without pursuing this line of illustration farther, it is sufficient to say that all animal nature is under the same law. Of course, there are exceptions to all rules. Some men repel20 women: some women abhor21 men. Some men actually marry, believing that they are fit for it and then discover that they are not. A tragic22 instance of this was Thomas Carlyle: another was Frederick the Great. Our President James Buchanan was wise enough not to marry; and Charles Sumner was so fatuous23 as to do so.
But the great law of Nature is, Mate and reproduce! It applies to the flowers, to the plants, to the insects, to the fishes of the sea, and to the fowls24 of the air. I have often wondered why we become so accustomed to the outrageously25 informal conduct of hens and roosters, pigeons, ducks, turkeys, &c., that we see it and don't see it: we know it, and don't know it: it happens right under our eyes, and yet we never learn anything from it, or think anything about it.
* * * * * * *
Once again, let me say, men and women in their animal natures are just like other animals. They hunger, they thirst, they are hot, they are cold, they are sick, they are well, they love, they hate, they fight, they yearn26 for mates, and having found mates, they mate. Allowed liberty, this natural tendency[Pg 21] leads to wedlock28, and legitimate29 children. The husband and wife make the Home: the Home is the Gibraltar of organized civilization; and the children are Posterity30, in its beginning. Thus marriage, the home, and the children are the conservators of Society.
If a so-called "religion" forces 71,000 American marriageable men and women into hiding places, where they have physical contact with one another but cannot marry, what happens?
You know what happens. Your common sense tells you what happens. Your own natural passions tell you what happens.
Those marriageable men and women—many of them young, handsome, buxom31,—are shut off from all the world, by thick walls, barred windows, locked doors. The young buxom men can get to the young buxom women. Either in the day-time or in the night, this physical access can be had, in secret.
The men have been taught that they are gifted with supernatural powers; and that they can forgive each other's sins. The women have been taught that these men cannot sin, and that in serving these men they will be serving God. Besides, if they do sin with the priests, the priests can forgive the sins. This being so, what happens, when the lustful32 young priest slips into the cloistered34 convent, goes to the nun18's bed-room and solicits35 her to yield to him, as Mary yielded to the angel?
(See "Why Priests Should Wed27." Page 103.)
The cloistered convent is built like a huge dungeon36. The encircling walls about it, are thick and high. No one enters in unto the unmarried women excepting the bachelor priests.
The Law does not enter!
The Italian Pope draws his line around the dungeons37 of darkness and mystery, and the civil authorities dare not go in.
Everybody knows that young women are caged in those hell-holes. Everybody knows that burly, beefy, red-faced, thick-lipped young priests glide38 in and out.
Everybody knows what he would do, if he had the pick of a score of buxom girls, in a secret place, he being a bachelor and they being without access to any man but himself.
If you were young and had no wife, you know what would happen, if you were alone in a pretty girl's bed-room, and she were educated to yield to you in everything.
Yet, these impudent39 rascals40, the beefy Irish, Italian and German priests, ask you to believe that they never even think[Pg 22] of touching41 those 56,000 American girls that are caged inside those walls:
Nevertheless, you know it is against Nature for these young men not to want to mate with those women. You know that the cloistered convents would not be built like Bastilles, and the world shut out, if there were not something going on in there which they are afraid for the world to see.
You know that where cloistered convents are built and managed like jails, THEY ARE JAILS!
Yet, those impudent rascals, gliding42 into the women, and coming out from the women, tell you that although the women are taught to obey the priest in all things, the priest never does say or do what every full-sexed man would do and say, under the same circumstances.
The Turks had their harems, and they knew women—likewise, they knew men. The Turks had walls, and bars, and locked gates, and sentinels outside to watch. But the Turks knew how vain are walls, and barred windows, locked gates and vigilant43 sentinels. Therefore, the Turks always kept eunuchs in the harem itself, eunuchs whose watchful44 eyes were ever upon those ladies of the harem. And the eunuchs were powerful men, strong and fierce, but unsexed. They had the strength to guard the women, without the desire to enjoy.
But the Roman Pope builds harems in all Christian45 lands—harems for his priests to whom he denies marriage.
There are no eunuchs to guard these women. The men who go in unto them are men of like passions as ourselves; and there is no eye to watch, no tongue that will tell, after the priest has gone inside.
* * * * * * *
Our common sense condemns46 this enforced celibacy47 which pagan popes invented for their own selfish, ambitious purposes. Or rather, the Popes borrowed it from the Turkish Sultans who would not allow their chosen body-guard, the Janissaries, to marry. In course of time, the Janissaries became more powerful than the Sultan, and they had to be exterminated48. The Pope's Janissaries are now more powerful than the Pope; and the wretchedness of his position is that he can neither massacre49 them, nor rob them of their women. Of all the exalted50 slaves the world ever saw, the Pope is perhaps the most conspicuous51 example.
The Jesuits rule the priesthood; the Jesuits rule the cardi[Pg 23]nals; the Jesuits rule the Pope—and the Jesuits have the pick of the most beautiful women throughout the Christian world.
* * * * * * *
On such a system as this—a system which has denied so many millions of men and women the God-given right to live according to Nature, history ought to have much to say. What is the evidence and the verdict of impartial52 History?
Let us try the case: let us call the witnesses and hear their evidence. If the other side wants to be heard, the court is open. I will give them as much space for the defense53 as I take for the prosecution54. It shall be a perfectly55 fair investigation56. Remember, however, that the unmarried men and the unmarried women have been hiding within the walls of monasteries57 and convents, ever since Pope Gregory abolished God's ordinance58 of marriage, and declared, virtually, that the Pope's will, and not that of God Almighty59, should govern priests and nuns. Remember that there has been every effort made at concealment60: that the dungeons could not tell their awful secrets; that the light of day was jealously shut out. Remember that the nun who willingly submitted to the priest did not wish to expose their mutual61 guilt62. Remember that the nun who was forced, could seldom escape and give the alarm. Remember that the babes born in the cloistered convents were seldom seen of men, and that they could easily be thrown into the hidden vault63, where the quick-lime was ready to eat their bones. Remember that it was to the interest of popery to screen the priests, and that the rulers of States were in deadly fear of the wrath64 of Popes—wrath which sent death to Henry III. of France, William of Orange, and Henry of Navarre. Remember further, that when Popes kept acknowledged paramours and bastards65 in the Vatican, the priests had nothing to fear on account of their turning the nunneries into brothels. Those nuns whose vows66 were not broken, were the ugly ones, the old and the ailing67. The monks had such complete power over wives through the Confessional, that many women inside the cloister33 owed their immunity69 to the women outside.
There was a time, under popery, when no Italian husband was certain that his wife's children were his: hence, for a time paternal70 affection in Italy almost became extinct. There was a time, under popery, when every Italian wife had an acknowledged lover—her cicisbeo—the priests having paved the way. The husband kept a mistress; the wife, a lover; and the priest[Pg 24] enjoyed both wife and mistress, without bearing the expense of either.
(See Sismondi's Hist. des Repub. d'Ital.)
There was a time, under popery, when it was assumed that every Spanish woman had yielded to a priest. And of course a woman who takes one lover will take another; and thus Spain went to moral perdition, with the priests and the nuns in the lead.
The same thing was true of Portugal, and of all Southern Europe. Of Mexico, Central and South America and Cuba, it would be a waste of words to speak.
* * * * * * *
Pope Gregory VII. introduced the unnatural71 requirement of celibacy—the forbidding of men and women to do what God had equipped them to do, and prompted them, by sexual passions to do—the most powerful passions known to humanity—passions which if not naturally gratified lead to crimes of revolting enormity, to loss of health, to loss of mental balance, to loss of shame, of normal desires, and of reason itself.
(Consult such books as Dr. Sanger's "History of Prostitution;" Krafft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis, &c.)
Soon after enforced celibacy was introduced, an honest priest, Honorius of Antrim wrote—
"Look at the convents of the nuns, places of debauchery! These abominable73 women have not chosen the Virgin74, but Phryne and Messalina as their models. They prostrate75 themselves before the idol76 of Priapus!"
(Priapus was the male organ of generation, and was formerly77 to be seen throughout Europe, especially at public fountains.)
King Edgar of England wrote—
"What shall I say of the clergy78? We find nothing among them but debauchery, excesses, orgies, and unchastity. Their abodes79 are propitious80 for solitude81, and yet they dwell there not for pious82 meditation83, but in order to lead lives of debauchery."
Pope Benedict VIII. at the Council of Pavia deplored84 the awful vices85 of the unmarried clergy.
Nicholas Clemangis says—
"The monasteries are no longer sanctuaries87 devoted88 to the divinity, but places of abomination and debauchery—rendez[Pg 25]vous of young libertines89. Indeed, to make a girl take the veil is equivalent to forcing her into prostitution."
The monks of the Middle Ages led a life full of orgies, equalling the dissipations of Tiberius at Capri. "The concubines and prostitutes were mistresses of the wealth of the monasteries and convents."
The good Catholic, Anselm of Bisate, wrote—
"The nuns are not more virtuous90 than the monks. Widows took the veil in order to be free, and not bound to one man."
Instead of being the wife of one man, the nun could be the mistress of several.
(Dr. Angelo Rappaport, p. 36.)
Why was it that Iren?us and Epiphanius poured out such unprintable descriptions of the immorality91 of those "heretics" who refused to marry and who professed93 to be virgins94? Did these Fathers of the Christian Church grossly slander95 those celibate96 heretics? Were the men and the women who indulged in those sexual excesses, while pretending to be chaste97, any better or any worse than the human creatures of today?
Was Cyprian libelling his own brethren and sisters when he described how depraved, how licentious98, how sodom-like was the conduct of the so-called "virgins" of his time? Cyprian lived in the third century after Christ, and he was speaking of the same phase of Christianity which provoked the immortal99 passage in Gibbon. Carrying their brazen100 hypocrisy101 to unheard of lengths, the monks and the nuns occupied the same beds, and yet unblushingly vowed102 that they had passed through this fiery103 furnace without the smell of fire on their garments!
If I were to quote the Latin in which Cyprian exposes these shameless harlots and libertines, the great and good U. S. Government would perhaps again prosecute104 me for telling the truth on Roman Catholicism.
Popery is the one thing that you must not tell the truth about, unless you are prepared to withstand boycott105, abuse, persecution106 and threats against your property and life!
(The curious are cited to "Elliott on Romanism," Vol. II., p. 408, and to Cyprian to Pompanius, Book II., p. 181.)
So well understood was it that young men and young women needed each other, sexually, that both in the Latin and in the Greek there was a distinctive107 name given to these "holy virgins." The "soul marriage" of the ancient church was as much like the affinity108 doings of the present day, as Solomon's carryings on were like those of the Sultan of Turkey.[Pg 26]
To the testimony109 of Cyprian may be added that of Chrysostom, who bewailed the utter licentiousness110 of the "virgins."
Since Bishop111 Udalric in the year 606 wrote of the skulls112 of the six thousand infants found in draining off some fish ponds at the command of Gregory the Great, the slaughter of the babes has gone steadily113 on. "When Pope Gregory ascertained114 that the infants thus killed were born from the concealed115 fornications of and adulteries of the priests, he recalled his decree, extolling116 the apostolic command. It is better to marry than to burn." (Elliott II., p. 409.)
Yet, when we are told the same story by Father Chiniquy, Dr. Justin Fulton, ex-priest William Hogan, ex-priest Fresenborg, ex-priest Manuel Ferrando, ex-nun Margaret Shepherd, ex-nun Maria Monk15, ex-priest Blanco White, ex-priest Seguin, and by such submissive Catholics as Erasmus, Rabelais, Campanella and scores of other unimpeachable117 witnesses, we are more inclined to listen to the impudent denials of the lecherous118 priests than to the evidence of those who escape AND TELL!
The denial made by the unmarried priests is at variance119 with their looks, is at variance with admitted facts, is at variance with what we ourselves know of the overwhelming strength of our carnal desires: yet the impudent denial is so brazen, so persistent120, and so threatening, that we either accept it, or enter the plea of nolle contendere.
The accusation121 against the pretended virgins involves so many apparently122 good men and chaste women, that we shrink from remembering the difference between publicity123 and privacy; we forget that the treacherous124 inclination125 is not felt in the church and in the crowd, but that it creeps to the secret couch, under cover of night, when there is silence, freedom from interruption and security from detection.
We forget how this passion takes advantage of night, of undress, and of secret contact of the physical man and woman, to heat their normal blood, no matter how sanctified they may really be in their daily visible life.
"Saint" Bernard of the 10th century exhausts his wrath upon the hideous126 vices of the monks and nuns "behind the partition." "What abominable lust19!" cries this stern old anchorite. He exclaims—
"Would that those who cannot rule their sexuality would fear to give their conduct the name of celibacy. It is better to marry than to burn.... Take away from the church[Pg 27] honorable marriage and the undefiled bed, and do you not fill it with concubines, incestuous persons, onanists, male concubines, and with every kind of unclean person?"
(Bernard's Sermons V. 29, cited in Elliott, II., 410.)
Take away honorable marriage from the priests, and what do you get in place of the bed undefiled? Read again that tremendous sentence of Saint Bernard, and then ask yourself, Has human nature changed?
A typical illustration of priestly seduction is the following:
"A lady of the name of Maria Catharine Barni, of Santa Croe, declared on her death-bed, that she had been seduced127 through the confessional, and that she had during twelve years maintained a continual intercourse128 with priest Pachiani. He had assured her that by means of the supernatural light which he had received from Jesus and the holy virgin, he was perfectly certain that neither of them was guilty of sin, &c." (Secrets of Female Convents, p. 58, cited by Elliott, Vol. II., p. 448.)
Substantially, that is the way every priest seduces129 every nun who yields to him.
Almost the very formula is mentioned in Dr. Justin D. Fulton's book which was submitted to Anthony Comstock, the modern Cato, before it was published. And Dr. Fulton asserts that Pope Pius IX. authorized130 this concubinage of priests with nuns, by a formal Vatican decree of 1866.
Dr. Fulton says—page 97 of "Why Priests Should Wed"—
"In the year 1866, Pope Pius IX. sanctioned the establishment of one of the most appalling131 institutions of immorality and wickedness ever countenanced132 under the form and garb133 of religion."
Briefly134, this institution authorized priests and nuns who had been in service long enough to inspire confidence, to live in sexual relations, like man and wife. Dr. Fulton proceeds at length to describe how the priest selects his nun, how he makes his wishes known to her, how he quotes Scripture135 to overcome her scruples136, how the "love room" is adorned137 with holy emblems138 and images, how the priest sprinkles holy water over the bed, how he then kneels and prays for a blessing139 on the union about to take place, and then——!
As I have said a number of times, Dr. Fulton submitted his manuscript to Anthony Comstock. The chaste Cato of New York, advised the omission140 of many passages; but the whole of[Pg 28] this hideous chapter describing how Pope Pius IX. authorized the priests to make use of the nuns, sexually, appears in the book with sufficient clearness to lay it in parallel columns with the abominations of Sodom, Gomorrha, the White Slave Traffic, the Decameron, the Heptameron, and Balzac's Merry Tales of the Abbeys of Touraine.
Dr. Fulton's book was published in 1888. He was never prosecuted141 for that terrible charge against Pope Pius IX. He was never sued for libelling the priests and nuns. His charges were never officially denied.
Cardinal142 Gibbons wrote his mendacious143 book, "The Faith of our Fathers," for the purpose of answering all that had been said against Popery. He mentioned Maria Monk by name, and denounced her true story as false. Yet, although Gibbons published his book sixteen years after Dr. Fulton had hurled144 his awful charge against Pope Pius IX., the Baltimore priest dared not challenge the statement of Dr. Fulton!
Maria Monk—poor, outraged145, persecuted146 woman, was dead: Dr. Justin D. Fulton, a fearless, powerful man, was alive! Gibbons was brave enough to vilely148 attack the dead woman: he was too much of a contemptible149 coward to attack the living man.
The living man was ready with his evidence, and he was a fighter—and the catlike Gibbons knew it.
Says Dr. Fulton—
"At first the female may be a little timid, &c. She may object, &c. But the priest, representing God's angel in this office, gently soothes150 the mind and quiets the fears of his future spouse151 by saying to her, He who will come upon thee is not man, but is the holy one of God, and this union is pleasing to him;——."
(At this point Anthony Comstock must have blushed and raised an objection, as the nun was doing, for the remainder of the sentence is stricken out.)
But the text continues—"It will be holy and blessed; therefore I say unto thee, as the angel said unto Mary, Fear not."
After this, the woman, being convinced by the language of heaven's messenger that all is right, gives the priest complete assurance of her willingness to submit by saying, as Mary said to the angel, "Be it done unto me according to thy word."
Then Dr. Fulton so frankly152 indicates what takes place in that private room, and upon that consecrated153 bed, that I really[Pg 29] am curious to know what it was that made Comstock blush, a few lines above those which thus tell of the soliciting154 priest, the yielding nun, and the ready bed.
Now, if you will compare one case with another, from the time of the early Fathers down to the present day, you will detect a similarity that is appalling.
The testimony of Edward Gibbon, the skeptical155 historian, exactly accords with that of Saint Cyprian, Chrysostom, Jerome and Bernard.
The memorable156 investigation which Duke Leopold of Tuscany caused to be made of the cloistered convents of Italy revealed identically the same cess-pools of vice86 that came to light in England when Henry VII. uncovered the monasteries.
All the literature of the Renaissance157, after men's minds and pens freed themselves from the ignoble158 fear of popery, bear witness to the same universal everlasting159 truth—Men and women were made for each other, and no so-called religion can annul160 the laws of Nature.
* * * * * * *
When a "religion" sets up the claim that it can pardon sins, educate the children to believe it, destroys those who deny it, and fixes a scale of money-payments for the pardon of sins, what sort of fruit is that kind of tree likely to bear?
If penance161 and payment rids me of sin, my conscience, like an unused muscle, becomes enfeebled, and my proneness162 to sin is encouraged.
Pope Leo X. was the Vicar of Christ who ordered lists of sin to be drawn163 up, with the price of the pardon opposite each sin.
(See History of Auricular Confession68, by Count C. P. De Lasteyrie, Vol. II., p. 132.)
I will quote only a few of these tariff164 rates established by this Infallible Pope.
For allowing a ship to sail to convey merchandise to infidels, 100 d.
For the absolution of any one practising usury165, 7 d.
For concubinage, 7 d.
For intimacy166 with a woman in a church, 6 d.
For pardon of him who has violated a virgin, 6 d.
For one who has committed incest, 5 d.
(The d. stands for the coin known as the ducat.)
Can you imagine anything more conducive167 to immorality,[Pg 30] than a "religion," sanctified by the name of Christ, which teaches that its priests can forgive sins, and which publishes a list of market prices for such forgiveness? Do you marvel168 that Roman Catholic countries are the immoral92 countries? Do you wonder at the mania169 for vice and crime among the lower Italians, Spaniards and Portuguese170?
When a man could ravish a virgin for six ducats, what girl had any safety except in the fear that libertines might have of her father or her brother, or her sweetheart?
What sort of hell would we have in America if popery gained the upper hand, and the negro bucks171 were taught that they could buy pardons for violating white women?
God Almighty! It makes one sick to think that even now they are admitting young black men to the priesthood.
What will they do, inside the cloistered convents?
No scream from within can be heard outside. Those dead walls tell no tales. The Law dares not scrutinize172 the interiors where the negro priests can penetrate173; and we have no legal process to wring174 the dread175 Secret out of the nun's cell!
The Pope's Empire has been erected176 inside our Republic; and those who represent our State, and our Law, are afraid of the Italian Pope and the laws of the Italian church!
* * * * * * *
When the Commissioners177 sent by King Henry VII. visited the monasteries, the guilt of the inmates178 was so overwhelmingly evident that hardly any attempt at denial was made. The Confession of the Prior and Benedictines of St. Andrew's in Northampton is yet of record, and it is a fair example. They confessed that they "had lived in idleness, gluttony, and sensuality, for which the Pit of Hell was ready to swallow them up."
(Burnett, Book III., p. 227.)
Among the false "relics179" that were found and which had long been used to swindle ignorant believers out of their money, were a Wing of the Angel that had brought to England the Spear which pierced Christ's side; some of the coals that had roasted the Most Blessed Saint Anthony; numerous pieces of "the true Cross;" a small bottle filled with Christ's blood; a Crucifix which would sometimes bow its head, sometimes roll its eyes and sometimes move its lips.
(All this fraudulent rubbish was seized, taken to London, and publicly destroyed.)[Pg 31]
Bishop Burnett says—
"But for the lewdness180 of the confessors of the Nunneries, and the great corruption182 of that state, whole houses being found almost all with child."
That was in the year 1535, in England! In the year 1910, when the nunneries were suddenly broken up in Spain, exactly the same state of affairs was discovered! Some of the nuns came out leading their children: some were so far advanced in pregnancy183 that their condition was evident to all—and as to how many little bones were left in the underground vaults184, God alone knows.
Bishop Burnett continues—
"The dissoluteness of Abbots, and the other monks, and the friars, not only with whores, but married women, and their unnatural lusts185 and other brutal186 practices, these are not fit to be spoken of, much less enlarged on, in a work of this nature." ...
The full report was destroyed by the fanatical papist Bishop Bonner, at the beginning of the reign187 of Bloody188 Mary. (See "English Reformation.") But Bishop Burnett saw extracts from it "concerning 144 Houses, that contains abominations in it, equal to any that were in Sodom!"
Put this original evidence side by side with the confession already quoted: put with it the testimony gathered by Duke Leopold of Tuscany: add what Blanco White and Erasmus say; add what S. J. Mahoney and Manuel Ferrando say: buttress189 this mass of evidence with what the Fathers of the Church said, what all the escaped nuns and priests have alleged190, and compare this mountain of proof with what you know about human nature—and how can you harbor a doubt that nunneries and monasteries are today what they always have been? They are houses of hidden iniquity191, and nameless crimes—AND YOU KNOW IT!
That marvellous man of letters, Erasmus, who wrote for the Reformation, but who left Luther and others to fight for it, says this in his "Colloquies192."—
"I hold up to censure193 those who entice194 lads and girls into monasteries against their parents' wills, abusing their simplicity195 or superstition196, and persuading them that there is no chance of salvation197 but in the cloister. If the world were not full of such anglers; if countless198 minds had not been most miserably199 buried alive in such places, then I have been wrong in my conclusions. But if ever I am forced to speak out what[Pg 32] I feel upon this subject, I will paint the portrait of these kidnappers200, and so represent the magnitude of the evil, that every one shall confess I have not been wrong."
(Quoted in Day's "Monastic Institutions," p. 239.)
The infamous201 Liguori—a Roman Catholic "Saint"—calmly assumes that many inmates of the convents are captives, just as Erasmus had said they were, and he lays down the law to these helpless, kidnapped captives with all the malevolence202 of a grinning devil.
"Now that you are professed in a convent, and that it is impossible for you to leave it," &c. (Monastic Institutions, p. 294.)
Liguori threatens the captive, telling the poor creature that if she abandons herself to sadness and regret, she will be made to suffer a hell here, and another hereafter.
In other words, Smile, prisoner, smile! or we will make the convent a hell to you!
So says Saint Liguori, whose instructions to the priests, telling them what filthy203 questions they must ask the Catholic women, are so "obscene" that I was prosecuted by the Catholic Knights204 of Columbus for having quoted some of them. If I had quoted all that Liguori wrote in coaching the priests, and teaching them virtually how to disrobe women of their modesty205 as a prelude206 to their ruin, I suppose the Government would have ordered out the troops and had me shot.
Several times, Erasmus has been mentioned as one of the most terrific accusers of the papal system, its frauds, impostures, greed, ferocity, its fake miracles, its pagan adoration208 of images and relics, and its rotten immorality. Perhaps it is due to the reader that I cite him to "The Life and Letters of Erasmus," by the historian James A. Froude, published in this country by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, in 1895.
From this comparatively recent work, the student can most readily obtain a general idea of Popery, as described by one who was a devout209 Catholic, but not a blind, servile papist. Erasmus was practically an orphan210 boy, of somewhat uncertain parentage, whose life mystery and romance inspired Charles Read to write the greatest of all novels, "The Cloister and the Hearth211."
Mr. Froude tells the painful story of the forcing of Erasmus into monastic vows; and then follows him as he develops into the most learned and brilliant scholar of Europe.[Pg 33]
Never a robust212 man, always more or less an invalid213, Erasmus remained inside the Roman pale, but abhorred214 the inherent vices of the system, denounced those vices with a pen of fire, endured the terrors and agonies of persecution within his church, was bitterly abused by the vile147 priesthood whose putrid215 lives he uncovered, was menaced by the dread Inquisition, and really suffered more keenly the penalties than Luther did, for telling the truth on popery.
Luther, a bull-necked, fearless Man, broke out, and fought popery from the outside. Erasmus, like many of his predecessors216, tried to reform it from within, and he discovered at last that he might as well have been trying to reform hell.
The enraged monks and monkesses did not murder Erasmus, as they had murdered Savonarola, Huss, Jerome, &c.; but it was because the Pope had his hands full of other matters, and the time was not favorable for burning the most illustrious scholar of Christendom.
What did Erasmus say and write and publish against the vast parasitical217 growth of paganism, fraud and imposture207 that had overgrown Christianity under the pope?
Read his "Praise of Folly," which has been translated into English and can be had through any book-dealer.
When you read it, remember that Erasmus was never answered, save by abuse and threats.
In his letters to the Prothonotary of the Pope, letters written for the Pope to read, and which the Pope did read, Erasmus arraigns218 the unmarried clergy of Rome, her monks and her nuns, her monasteries and her convents, in the same terms that are used by the Preamble219 to the Act of the British Parliament which stated that reasons for the dissolution of these Romish hell-holes.
The accusations220 fathered by Erasmus and laid before the Pope, agree in every essential particular with the revelations of Blanco White, of S. J. Mahoney, William Hogan, Joseph McCabe, Bishop Manuel Ferrando, Margaret Shepherd, Maria Monk, and every other witness who has had the courage to uncover these papal dens221 of infamy222, torture, vice and crime.
I have not the space to quote at any length from the Letters of Erasmus: get the book and read it for yourself.
But weigh this passage—
"Men are threatened or tempted223 into vows of celibacy.[Pg 34] They can have license224 to go with harlots, but they must not marry wives.
They may keep concubines and remain priests. If they take wives, they are thrown to the flames.
Parents who design their children for a celibate priesthood should emasculate them in their infancy225, instead of forcing them, reluctant or ignorant, into a furnace of licentiousness."
What was this furnace of licentiousness? The cloistered convent, or the monastery226.
In his notes to the New Testament, a Greek translation of which Erasmus made, he said, after alluding227 to St. Paul's injunction about the "one wife," that the priests could commit homicide, parricide228, incest, piracy229, sodomy and sacrilege: "these can be got over, but marriage is fatal."
He adds that of all the enormous herds230 of priests, "very few of them are chaste."
In his letter to Lambert Grunnius, (in the year 1514) Erasmus gives an awful picture of monastic slavery in houses "which are worse than brothels."
But once a young man is entrapped231, there is no escape. "They may repent232, but the superiors will not let them go, lest they should betray the orgies which they have witnessed."
Then Erasmus tells of instances where men were buried alive inside the monasteries to prevent their escape. "Dead men tell no tales!"
Remember, reader! Erasmus was writing to the Pope's own Prothonotary, in order that the "Holy Fathers" might of a surety know what was going on inside the monastic houses! And in reply, the Prothonotary, Lambert Grunnius, writes to Erasmus—
"I read your letter aloud to the Pope, from end to end: several cardinals233 and other great persons were present. The Holy Father was charmed with your style!"
And the Holy Father waxes wroth at some personal grievances234 of Erasmus, and granted him relief from monkish235 diabolism; but what was done to correct the frightful8 conditions which Erasmus had brought to the Pope's personal attention?
Nothing! Absolutely nothing. It was the same way when the exposures were made in Spain, when they were made in Tuscany, when they were made in England, when they were[Pg 35] made in the Philippines! The answer of Rome is ever the same: Nothing can be done.
The Pope knows what enforced male celibacy does, when screened from the civil law behind thick walls, and given unlimited236 license among young women, who cannot resist, and who cannot tell!
And you know that the Pope does know—for he also is a male like me and you.
Again, Erasmus asks what would Saint Augustine say now, if he were to see these convents and monasteries become "public brothels."
In those standard works, "The History of Prostitution" and "Human Sexuality," you will learn the fearful fact that the utter lewdness of nuns and of wives who had been debauched by the priests, became so universal that the trade of the professional harlot was almost entirely237 taken away from her. Why should loose men pay, when there were so many places of gratuitous238 entertainment?
(Lest you heed239 the deceptive240 talk which endeavors to convince you that the old tree is now bearing different fruit, read Hogan's "Popish Nunneries," McCabe's "Ten Years in a Monastery," McCarthy's up-to-date "Priests and People in Ireland;" and the astounding241, undenied statements of Bishop Manuel Ferrando, in "The Converted Catholic" magazine of New York City.)
In Delisser's powerful book, "Pope, or President?" there is a masterly summing up against "Romanism as revealed by its own writers."
Among other witnesses, he cites the evidence of Mahoney, the priest who was examined by a Committee of the House of Commons.
"A very nefarious242 use was made of convents," testified this honest Irishman. His disclosures corroborated243 what another honest Irish priest, Hogan, said several centuries later.
"A woman ... is seduced into a convent to live in sin with the bishop and other confessors. It is not human to place a priest where he is allowed to fall, and suppose him innocent. Reader, commit your daughter to the soldier or hussar who can marry her, rather than to a Romish priest." ("Pope, or President," p. 59.)
In fact, Delisser's chapter on "Convent Exposed" is one of[Pg 36] the most frightful that I ever read—doubly frightful because the Romanist writers therein quoted assume it to be their right to mistreat women, just as they please!
It is only in such a chapter, composed of citations244 from orthodox Roman Catholics, that you can obtain anything like a true conception of the priest's point of view.
They have the right to kidnap children: they have a right to restrain prisoners; they have a right to compel obedience245: they have a right to shut out the State and its law: they have a right to punish the refractory246, to flog the unruly girl, to starve her into submission247, to degrade her with disgusting services, to use her person for their lusts!
That is the priest's point of view!
Study the horrible "theology" of Dens and Liguori: read what popes have said in denial of a layman's right to criticise248 a priest; read what Rev72. Blanco White said of the systematic249 depravity of Romanism.
Cardinal Newman had to acknowledge that Blanco White was a man or irreproachable250 character, "a man you can trust." "I have the fullest confidence in his word," &c.
And what does this ex-Catholic, for whom Cardinal Newman vouched251, have to say about convents?
"I cannot," says he, "find tints252 sufficiently253 dark to portray254 the miseries255 which I have witnessed in convents. Crime, in spite of the spiked256 walls and prison gates is there. The gates of the holy prison are forever closed upon the inmates: force and shame await them wherever they might fly."
Then the ex-priest tells the tragic story of his two sisters, virtually tortured to death in the Spanish convent, he being a witness to their misery257 and powerless to relieve it. The system held them all!
He continues—
"Of all the victims of the church of Rome, the nuns deserve the greatest sympathy."
White's book was published in 1826. Like "Pope, or President," published in 1859, it is now out of print. Only at long intervals258 may you see a copy advertised in the catalogues of Old-book stores. Some agency has been most active in destroying anti-Catholic books, and keeping them out of our Public Libraries.
Consider this sentence in Hume's "History of England," Vol. II., p. 592.[Pg 37]
"Monstrous259 disorders260 are therefore said to have been found in many of the religious houses, whole convents of women abandoned to lewdness; signs of abortions261 procured262, OF INFANTS MURDERED, of unnatural lusts between persons of the same sex."
Did poor Margaret Shepherd, or Maria Monk make any accusations that were worse than these which we find in a standard history of England?
In Aubrey's "Rise and Growth of the English People," the indictment263 against the convents and the monasteries is equally severe. See Vol. I., p. 80 and 81.
In Lecky's "History of European Morals," we have exactly the same arraignment264 of this unnatural and polluting system.
In Bower's "History of the Popes," in Hallam's "Constitutional History of England," and in every trustworthy account of the system of enforced celibacy we have the same horrible, but natural, description of the lives led by those full-sexed members of both sexes, who cannot mate legally and decently, but who are given access to each other under cover of night, behind the curtain of thick walls, and with the assurance that, so long as no scandal leaks out, no notice will be taken of what is done inside the "holy" brothel.
The very language in which the virgin girl is made to pledge herself as "the spouse of Christ," is so abominably265 obscene and suggestive that it is bound to plant impure266 curiosity in her mind—and, with a girl, impure curiosity is the lure267 to the fall. Not especially wishing to be again indicted268 for quoting the Pope's nasty language, I will forbear. Even in the Latin, it is so vile, lewd181, lascivious269, filthy, and nasty, that I marvel how any white woman, under any circumstances, can allow a beast of a man to use that language to her, and not slap his face.
The language is quoted in "Pope, or President," pages 86 and 360. The "Nun Sanctified," of "Saint" Alphonsus Liguori, and the Theology of Peter Dens will give the reader a fairly correct idea of what sort of a slave the priests make of a woman, after she has been ensnared into taking the black veil.
In the famous investigation of the convents of Tuscany, in 1775, one of the nuns gave testimony which, is singularly piquant270 and unique. Besides, it remained uncontradicted. The name of the witness was Sister Flavia Peraccini. After telling of many escapades she had witnessed inside the convents, and[Pg 38] of many merry times the priests and the nuns had with one another, Sister Flavia Peraccini deposed—
"A monk said to me that if a nun's veil were placed on one pole, and a monk's cowl on another, so great is the sympathy between the veil and the cowl they would come together, and unite." ("Unite" is the modest word: "copulate," is meant.)
"I say," continues the Sister, "I say, and repeat it, that whatever the Superiors know, they do not know the least portion of the great evils that pass between the monks and the nuns."
The foregoing is a mere trifle compared to the whole amount of the undisputed testimony taken by Duke Leopold of Tuscany in 1775. Have men and women changed? Is human nature the same?
It was for all people and all ages that the inspired writer wrote—
"Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife; and let every woman have her own husband." (I. Cor. 7:12.)
The most powerful argument and authority against the Roman papacy on this question is that of Jesus Christ.
Virtually, he said that a man must make himself a eunuch—if not born so—before he could live like a eunuch!
If the word of Christ is not conclusive271 and binding272, where shall we seek the truth?
The trouble with papists is, they are educated outside of the Bible and common sense; and they seldom free their minds from the priestly domination established in childhood.
THE END
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slay
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essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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forerunner
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| n.前身，先驱（者），预兆，祖先 | |
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testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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frightful
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warts
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| n.疣( wart的名词复数 )；肉赘；树瘤；缺点 | |
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canvass
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| v.招徕顾客，兜售；游说；详细检查，讨论 | |
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automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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thaw
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| v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和 | |
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scarlet
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perpetuate
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| v.使永存，使永记不忘 | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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nuns
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| n.（通常指基督教的）修女， （佛教的）尼姑( nun的名词复数 ) | |
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nun
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| n.修女，尼姑 | |
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lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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abhor
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| v.憎恶；痛恨 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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fatuous
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| adj.愚昧的；昏庸的 | |
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fowls
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| 鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马 | |
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outrageously
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| 凶残地； 肆无忌惮地； 令人不能容忍地； 不寻常地 | |
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yearn
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| v.想念；怀念；渴望 | |
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wed
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| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
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wedlock
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| n.婚姻，已婚状态 | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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buxom
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| adj.（妇女）丰满的，有健康美的 | |
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lustful
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| a.贪婪的；渴望的 | |
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cloister
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| n.修道院；v.隐退，使与世隔绝 | |
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cloistered
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| adj.隐居的，躲开尘世纷争的v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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solicits
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| 恳请 | |
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dungeon
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dungeons
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| n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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impudent
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| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
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rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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vigilant
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| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
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watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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condemns
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| v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的第三人称单数 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地 | |
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celibacy
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| n.独身(主义) | |
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exterminated
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| v.消灭，根绝( exterminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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impartial
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| adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的 | |
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defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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prosecution
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| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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monasteries
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| 修道院( monastery的名词复数 ) | |
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ordinance
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| n.法令；条令；条例 | |
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almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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bastards
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| 私生子( bastard的名词复数 )； 坏蛋； 讨厌的事物； 麻烦事 （认为别人走运或不幸时说）家伙 | |
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vows
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| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
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ailing
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| v.生病 | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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immunity
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| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
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paternal
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| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
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unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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abodes
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| 住所( abode的名词复数 )； 公寓； （在某地的）暂住； 逗留 | |
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propitious
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| adj.吉利的；顺利的 | |
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81
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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deplored
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| v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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sanctuaries
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| n.避难所( sanctuary的名词复数 )；庇护；圣所；庇护所 | |
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88
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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89
libertines
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| n.放荡不羁的人，淫荡的人( libertine的名词复数 ) | |
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90
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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91
immorality
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| n. 不道德, 无道义 | |
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92
immoral
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| adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的 | |
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93
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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94
virgins
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| 处女，童男( virgin的名词复数 )； 童贞玛利亚（耶稣之母） | |
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95
slander
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| n./v.诽谤，污蔑 | |
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96
celibate
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| adj.独身的，独身主义的；n.独身者 | |
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97
chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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98
licentious
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| adj.放纵的，淫乱的 | |
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99
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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100
brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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101
hypocrisy
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| n.伪善，虚伪 | |
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102
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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103
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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104
prosecute
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| vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官 | |
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105
boycott
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| n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与 | |
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106
persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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107
distinctive
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| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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108
affinity
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| n.亲和力，密切关系 | |
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109
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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110
licentiousness
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| n.放肆，无法无天 | |
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111
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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112
skulls
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| 颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜 | |
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113
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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114
ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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115
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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116
extolling
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| v.赞美( extoll的现在分词 )；赞颂，赞扬，赞美( extol的现在分词 ) | |
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117
unimpeachable
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| adj.无可指责的；adv.无可怀疑地 | |
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118
lecherous
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| adj.好色的；淫邪的 | |
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119
variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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120
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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121
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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122
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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123
publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
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124
treacherous
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|
| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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125
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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126
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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127
seduced
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| 诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷 | |
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128
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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129
seduces
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| 诱奸( seduce的第三人称单数 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷 | |
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130
authorized
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| a.委任的，许可的 | |
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131
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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132
countenanced
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| v.支持，赞同，批准( countenance的过去式 ) | |
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133
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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134
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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135
scripture
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| n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段 | |
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136
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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137
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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138
emblems
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| n.象征，标记( emblem的名词复数 ) | |
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139
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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140
omission
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| n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长 | |
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141
prosecuted
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| a.被起诉的 | |
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142
cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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143
mendacious
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|
| adj.不真的，撒谎的 | |
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144
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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145
outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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146
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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147
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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148
vilely
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| adv.讨厌地，卑劣地 | |
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149
contemptible
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|
| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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150
soothes
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| v.安慰( soothe的第三人称单数 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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151
spouse
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| n.配偶(指夫或妻) | |
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152
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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153
consecrated
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|
| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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154
soliciting
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| v.恳求( solicit的现在分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求 | |
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155
skeptical
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| adj.怀疑的，多疑的 | |
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156
memorable
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|
| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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157
renaissance
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| n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴 | |
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158
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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159
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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160
annul
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| v.宣告…无效，取消，废止 | |
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161
penance
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| n.（赎罪的）惩罪 | |
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162
proneness
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| n.俯伏，倾向 | |
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163
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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164
tariff
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| n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表 | |
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165
usury
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| n.高利贷 | |
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166
intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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167
conducive
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| adj.有益的，有助的 | |
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168
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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169
mania
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| n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好 | |
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170
Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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171
bucks
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| n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃 | |
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172
scrutinize
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| n.详细检查，细读 | |
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173
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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174
wring
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| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
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175
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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176
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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177
commissioners
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| n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官 | |
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178
inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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179
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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180
lewdness
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| n. 淫荡, 邪恶 | |
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181
lewd
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| adj.淫荡的 | |
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182
corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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183
pregnancy
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| n.怀孕，怀孕期 | |
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184
vaults
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| n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴 | |
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185
lusts
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| 贪求（lust的第三人称单数形式） | |
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186
brutal
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|
| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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187
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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188
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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189
buttress
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| n.支撑物；v.支持 | |
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190
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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191
iniquity
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| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
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192
colloquies
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| n.谈话，对话( colloquy的名词复数 ) | |
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193
censure
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| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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194
entice
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| v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿 | |
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195
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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196
superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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197
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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198
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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199
miserably
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|
| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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200
kidnappers
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| n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 ) | |
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201
infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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202
malevolence
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| n.恶意，狠毒 | |
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203
filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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204
knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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205
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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206
prelude
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| n.序言，前兆，序曲 | |
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207
imposture
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| n.冒名顶替，欺骗 | |
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208
adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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209
devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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210
orphan
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| n.孤儿；adj.无父母的 | |
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211
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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212
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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213
invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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214
abhorred
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|
| v.憎恶( abhor的过去式和过去分词 )；（厌恶地）回避；拒绝；淘汰 | |
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215
putrid
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| adj.腐臭的；有毒的；已腐烂的；卑劣的 | |
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216
predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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parasitical
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| adj. 寄生的(符加的) | |
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arraigns
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| v.告发( arraign的第三人称单数 )；控告；传讯；指责 | |
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219
preamble
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| n.前言；序文 | |
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220
accusations
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| n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名 | |
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221
dens
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| n.牙齿，齿状部分；兽窝( den的名词复数 )；窝点；休息室；书斋 | |
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222
infamy
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| n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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224
license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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225
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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226
monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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227
alluding
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| 提及，暗指( allude的现在分词 ) | |
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228
parricide
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| n.杀父母；杀亲罪 | |
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229
piracy
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| n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害 | |
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230
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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231
entrapped
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| v.使陷入圈套，使入陷阱( entrap的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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233
cardinals
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| 红衣主教( cardinal的名词复数 )； 红衣凤头鸟（见于北美，雄鸟为鲜红色）； 基数 | |
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234
grievances
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| n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚 | |
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235
monkish
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| adj.僧侣的，修道士的，禁欲的 | |
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236
unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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237
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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238
gratuitous
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| adj.无偿的，免费的；无缘无故的，不必要的 | |
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239
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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240
deceptive
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| adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的 | |
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241
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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242
nefarious
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| adj.恶毒的，极坏的 | |
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243
corroborated
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| v.证实，支持（某种说法、信仰、理论等）( corroborate的过去式 ) | |
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citations
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| n.引用( citation的名词复数 )；引证；引文；表扬 | |
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245
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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246
refractory
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| adj.倔强的，难驾驭的 | |
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247
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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248
criticise
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| v.批评，评论；非难 | |
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249
systematic
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| adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的 | |
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250
irreproachable
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| adj.不可指责的，无过失的 | |
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251
vouched
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| v.保证( vouch的过去式和过去分词 )；担保；确定；确定地说 | |
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252
tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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254
portray
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| v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等) | |
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255
miseries
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| n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人 | |
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spiked
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| adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的 | |
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257
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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258
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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259
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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260
disorders
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| n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调 | |
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261
abortions
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| n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育 | |
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262
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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263
indictment
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| n.起诉；诉状 | |
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264
arraignment
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| n.提问，传讯，责难 | |
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265
abominably
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| adv. 可恶地，可恨地，恶劣地 | |
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266
impure
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| adj.不纯净的，不洁的；不道德的，下流的 | |
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267
lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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268
indicted
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| 控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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269
lascivious
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| adj.淫荡的，好色的 | |
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270
piquant
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| adj.辛辣的，开胃的，令人兴奋的 | |
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271
conclusive
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| adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的 | |
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272
binding
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| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
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