122 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
122 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
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Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 9 Num. 80
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("Quid coniuratio est?")
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THE BIBLE AND THE PRIEST OF ROME
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(Excerpts from ch. 1 of *Fifty Years in the Church of Rome* by
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Rev. Charles Chiniquy. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1886)
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My father, Charles Chiniquy, born in Quebec, had studied in the
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Theological Seminary of that city, to prepare himself for the
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priesthood. But a few days before making his vows, having been
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the witness of a great iniquity in the high quarters of the
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church, he changed his mind, studied law and became a notary.
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Married to Reine Perrault, daughter of Mitchel Perrault, in 1808
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he settled at first in Kamoraska, where I was born on the 30th
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July, 1809.
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Before leaving the Seminary of Quebec my father had received from
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one of the Superiors a token of his esteem, a beautiful French
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and Latin Bible.
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On one of the beautiful spring days of 1818, my father was
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writing in his office, and my mother was working with her needle,
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singing one of her favorite hymns, and I was at the door, playing
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and talking to a fine robin which I had so perfectly trained that
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he followed me wherever I went. All of a sudden I saw the priest
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coming near the gate. The sight of him sent a thrill of
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uneasiness through my whole frame. It was his first visit to our
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home.
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The priest was a person below the common stature, and had an
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unpleasant appearance -- his shoulders were large and he was very
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corpulent; his hair was long and uncombed, and his double chin
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seemed to groan under the weight of his flabby cheeks.
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That priest [Rev. Courtois] was born in France, where he had a
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narrow escape, having been condemned to death under the bloody
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administration of Robespierre.
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His conversation was animated and interesting for the first
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quarter of an hour. But of a sudden his countenance changed as
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if a dark cloud had come over his mind, and he stopped talking.
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The silence which followed was exceedingly unpleasant for all
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parties. It looked like the heavy hour which precedes a storm.
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At length the priest, addressing my father, said, "Mr. Chiniquy,
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is it true that you and your child read the Bible?"
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"Yes, sir," was the quick reply, "my little boy and I read the
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Bible, and what is still better, he has learned by heart a great
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number of its most interesting chapters."
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"But do you not know that you are forbidden by the holy Council
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of Trent to read the Bible in French?"
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"It makes little difference to me whether I read the Bible in
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French, Greek or Latin," answered my father, "for I understand
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these languages equally well."
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"But are you ignorant of the fact that you cannot allow your
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child to read the Bible?" replied the priest.
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"My wife directs her own child in the reading of the Bible, and I
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cannot see that we commit any sin by continuing to do in future
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what we have done till now in that maatter."
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"Mr. Chiniquy," rejoined the priest, "you have gone through a
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whole course of theology; you know the duties of a curate; you
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know it is my painful duty to come here, get the Bible from you
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and burn it."
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I feared lest some very unfortunate and violent scene should
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occur; for my father's anger at that moment was really terrible.
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But there was another thing which affected me. I feared lest the
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priest should lay his hands on my dear Bible, which was just
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before him on the table.
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At last, after having paced the room for a considerable time, my
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father suddenly stopped before the priest, and said, "Sir, is
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that all you have to say here?"
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"Yes, sir," said the trembling priest.
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"Well, sir," added my father, "you know the door by which you
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entered the house; please take the same door and go away
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quickly."
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The priest went out immediately. I felt an inexpressible joy
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when I saw that my Bible was safe. I ran to my father's neck,
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kissed and thanked him for his victory.
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Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt.
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Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et
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pauperem. -- Liber Proverbiorum XXXI: 8-9
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