Awful Disclosures

M >> Maria Monk >> Awful Disclosures

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23

At length, after I had been in the little room, as I should judge,
nearly an hour, I was informed that the examination had been
satisfactory, and that I might go.

I then returned home; but no further step was taken by the Attorney
General, and he refused, as I understood, to return my affidavit, which
had been left in his hands to act upon.

Besides the persons I have mentioned, I had interviews with numbers of
others. I learnt from some, that Father Phelan addressed his
congregation a second time concerning me, and expressly forbade them to
speak to me if they should have an opportunity, on pain of
excommunication. It was also said, that he prayed for the family I lived
with, that they might be converted.

I repeated to several different persons my willingness to go into the
nunnery, and point out visible evidences of the truth of my statements;
and when I was told, by one man, who said he had been to the priests,
that I had better leave the city, or I would be clapped into prison, I
made up my mind that I should like to be imprisoned a little while,
because then, I thought I could not be refused a public examination.

Some Canadians were present one day, when the mistress of the house
repeated, in my presence, that I was ready to go into the nunnery if
protected, and, if I did not convince others of the truth of my
assertions, that I would consent to be burned.

"O yes, I dare say," replied one of the men--"the devil would take her
off--she knows he would. He would take care of her--we should never be
able to get her--the evil spirit!"

A woman present said--"I could light the fire to burn you, myself."

A woman of Montreal, who has a niece in the nunnery, on hearing of what
I declared about it, said that if it was true she would help tear it
down.

Among those who came to see me, numbers were at first as violent as any
I have mentioned, but after a little conversation, became mild and calm.
I have heard persons declare, that it would be no harm to kill me, as I
had an evil spirit.

One woman told me, that she had seen Father Phelan in the street,
talking with a man, to whom he said, that the people were coming to tear
down the house in which I stayed, intending afterward to set fire to it
in the cellar. This story gave me no serious alarm, for I thought I
could see through it evidence of an intention to frighten me, and make
me leave the city. [Footnote: I felt very confident, from some
circumstances, that this woman had been sent to bring such a story by
Father Phelan; and such evidence of his timidity rather emboldened me. I
was in another room when she came, and heard her talking on and abusing
me; then coming out, I said, "How dare you say I do not speak the
truth?" "God bless you," said she, "sit down and tell me all."] I was
under great apprehensions, however, one day, in consequence of an
accidental discovery of a plan laid to take me off by force. I had
stepped into the cellar to get an iron-holder, when I heard the voices
of persons in the street above, and recognised those of my mother and
the Irish woman her friend. There was another woman with them.

"You go in and lay hold of her," said one voice.

"No, you are her mother--you go in and bring her out--we will help you."

I was almost overcome with dread of falling into their hands, believing
that they would deliver me up to the Superior. Hastening into a room, I
got behind a bed, told the lady of the house the cause of my fear, and
calling to a little girl to bring me my child, I stood in a state of
violent agitation. Expecting them in the house every instant, and
fearing my infant might cry, and so lead them to the place of my
concealment, I put my hand upon its mouth to keep it quiet.

It was thought desirable to get the testimony of the mistress of the
house where I spent the night after my escape from the nunnery, as one
means of substantiating my story. I had been there the day before my
visit to the house of Mr. Grant, accompanied by a friend, and on my
first inquiring of her about my nunnery dress, she said she had carried
it to the Superior; speaking with haste, as if she apprehended I had
some object very different from what I actually had. It now being
thought best to summon her as a witness before a magistrate, and not
knowing her whole name, we set off again towards her house to make
inquiry.

On our way we had to pass behind the parade. I suddenly heard an outcry
from a little gallery in the rear of a house which fronts another way,
which drew my attention. "There's the nun!" exclaimed a female, after
twice clapping her hands smartly together, "There's the nun, there's the
nun!"

I looked up, and whom should I see but the Irishwoman, who had taken so
active a part, on several occasions in my affairs, on account of her
friendship for my mother--the same who had accompanied me to Longeuil in
a boat, when I set out for New York, after making arrangements for my
journey. She now behaved as if exasperated against me to the utmost;
having, as I had no doubt, learnt the object of my journey to Montreal
since I had last spoken with her, and having all her Catholic prejudices
excited. She screamed out: "There's the nun that's come to swear
against our dear Father Phelan. Arrah, lay hold, lay hold upon her!
Catch her, kill her, pull her to pieces."

And so saying she hurried down to the street, while a number of women,
children, and some men, came running out, and pursued after me. I
immediately took to flight, for I did not know what they might do; and
she, with the rest, pursued us, until we reached two soldiers, whom we
called upon to protect us. They showed a readiness to do so; and when
they learnt that we were merely going to a house beyond, and intended to
return peaceably, consented to accompany us. The crowd, which might
rather be called a mob, thought proper not to offer us any violence in
the presence of the soldiers, and after following us a little distance,
began to drop off, until all had disappeared. One of the soldiers,
however, soon after remarked, that he observed a man following us, whom
he had seen in the crowd, and proposed that instead of both of them
going before us, one should walk behind, to guard against any design he
might have. This was done; and we proceeded to a house near the one
where I had found a refuge, and after obtaining the information we
sought, returned, still guarded by the soldiers.

All our labour, in this, however, proved unavailing; for we were unable
to get the woman to appear in court.

At length it was found impossible to induce the magistrates to do any
thing in the case; and arrangements were made for my return to New York.
While in the ferry-boat, crossing from Montreal to Laprairie, I happened
to be standing near two little girls, when I overheard, the following
conversation.

"Why do you leave Montreal so soon?"

"I had gone to spend a week or two; but I heard that Antichrist was in
the city, and was afraid to be there. So I am going right home. I would
not be in Montreal while Antichrist is there. He has come to destroy the
Catholic religion." I felt quite happy when I found myself once more
safe in New York; and it has only been since my return from Montreal,
and the conviction I had there formed, that it was in vain for me to
attempt to get a fair investigation into the Hotel Dieu Nunnery, that I
seriously thought of publishing a book. Under some disadvantages this
volume has been prepared, and unfortunately its publication has been
delayed to a season when it will be difficult to transmit it promptly to
all parts of the country. I am sure, however, that in spite of all, no
material errors will be found in it uncorrected, though many, very many,
facts and circumstances might have been added which would have proved
interesting. Indeed I am persuaded, from the experience I have already
had, that past scenes, before forgotten, will continue to return to my
memory, the longer I dwell upon my convent life, and that many of these
will tend to confirm, explain, or illustrate some of the statements now
before the public.

But before I close this volume, I must he indulged in saying a word of
myself. The narrative through which the reader has now passed, he must
not close and lay aside as if it were a fiction; neither would I wish
him to forget the subject of it as one worthy only to excite surprise
and wonder for a moment.

CONCLUSION.

It is desired that the author of this volume may be regarded, not as a
voluntary participator in the very guilty transactions which are
described; but receive sympathy for the trials which she has endured,
and the peculiar situation in which her past experience, and escape from
the power of the Superior of the Hotel Dieu Nunnery, at Montreal, and
the snares of the Roman priests in Canada, have left her.

My feelings are frequently distressed, and agitated, by the recollection
of what I have passed through; and by night, and by day, I have little
peace of mind, and few periods of calm and pleasant reflection. Futurity
also appears uncertain. I know not what reception this little work may
meet with; and what will be the effect of its publication here, or in
Canada, among strangers, friends, or enemies. I have given the world the
truth, so far as I have gone, on subjects of which I am told they are
generally ignorant; and I feel perfect confidence, that any facts which
may yet be discovered, will confirm my words, whenever they can be
obtained. Whoever shall explore the Hotel Dieu Nunnery, at Montreal,
will find unquestionable evidence that the descriptions of the interior
of that edifice, given in this book, were furnished by one familiar with
them; for whatever alterations may be attempted, there are changes which
no mason or carpenter can make and effectually conceal; and therefore,
there must be plentiful evidence in that institution of the truth of my
description.

There are living witnesses, also, who ought to be made to speak, without
fear of penances, tortures, and death; and possibly their testimony, at
some future time, may be added to confirm my statements. There are
witnesses I should greatly rejoice to see at liberty; or rather there
_were_. Are they living now? or will they be permitted to live
after the Priests and Superior have seen this book? Perhaps the wretched
nuns in the cells have already suffered for my sake--perhaps Jane Ray
has been silenced for ever, or will be murdered, before she has an
opportunity to add her most important testimony to mine.

But speedy death, in respect only to this world, can be no great
calamity to those who lead the life of a nun. The mere recollection of
it always makes me miserable. It would distress the reader, should I
repeat the dreams with which I am often terrified at night; for I
sometimes fancy myself pursued by my worst enemies; frequently I seem as
if shut up again in the Convent; often I imagine myself present at the
repetition of the worst scenes that I have hinted at or described.
Sometimes I stand by the secret place of interment in the cellar;
sometimes I think I can hear the shrieks of helpless females in the
hands of atrocious men; and sometimes almost seem actually to look again
upon the calm and placid countenance of Saint Francis, as she appeared
when surrounded by her murderers.

I cannot banish the scenes and characters of this book from my memory.
To me it can never appear like an amusing fable, or lose its interest
and importance, the story is one which is continually before me, and
must return fresh to my mind, with painful emotions, as long as I live.
With time, and Christian instruction, and the sympathy and example of
the wise and good, I hope to learn submissively to bear whatever trials
are appointed for me, and to improve under them all.

Impressed as I continually am with the frightful reality of the painful
communications that I have made in this volume, I can only offer to all
persons who may doubt or disbelieve my statements, these two things:--

Permit me to go through the Hotel Dieu Nunnery, at Montreal, with some
impartial ladies and gentlemen, that they may compare my account with
the interior parts of that building, into which no persons but the Roman
Bishop and the priests, [Footnote: I should have added, and such persons
as they introduce.] are ever admitted; and if they do not find my
description true, then discard me as an impostor. Bring me before a
court of justice--there I am willing to meet _Lartigue, Dufresne,
Phelan, Bonin_, and _Richards_, and their wicked companions,
with the Superior, and any of the nuns, before ten thousand men.

MARIA MONK.

_New York, 11th January, 1836._

THE TRUTH

of the

"AWFUL DISCLOSURES BY MARIA MONK"

DEMONSTRATED.

1. _Early means used to discredit the took. Different of
objectors_.--It was anticipated that persons who know little or
nothing of the changeless spirit and uniform practices of the Papal
ecclesiastics, would doubt or deny the statements which Maria Monk has
given of the Hotel Dieu Nunnery at Montreal. The delineations, if true,
are so loathsome and revolting, that they exhibit the principles of the
Roman priesthood, and the corruption of the monastic system, as
combining a social curse, which must be extinguished for the welfare of
mankind.

From the period when the intimations were first published in the
Protestant Vindicator, that a Nun had escaped from one of the Convents
in Canada, and that a narrative of the secrets of that prison-house for
females was preparing for the press; attempts have occasionally been
made to prejudice the public judgment, by fulsome eulogies of the Roman
Priests and Nuns, as paragons of immaculate perfection; and also by
infuriated denunciations and calumnies of all persons, who seriously
believe that every human institution which directly violates the
constitution of nature, and the express commands of God, must
necessarily be immoral.

The system of seclusion and celibacy adopted in Convents is altogether
unnatural, and subverts all the appointments of Jehovah in reference to
the duties and usefulness of man; while the impenetrable secrecy, which
is the cement of the gloomy superstructure, not only extirpates every
incentive to active virtue, but unavoidably opens the flood-gates of
wickedness, without restraint or remorse, because it secures entire
impunity.

Since the publication of the "Awful Disclosures," much solicitude has
been felt for the result of the exhibitions which they present us: but
it is most remarkable, that the incredulity is confined almost
exclusively to Protestants, or at least, to those who pretend not to be
Papists. The Roman Priests are too crafty to engage directly in any
controversy respecting the credibility of Maria Monk's narrative. As
long as they can induce the Roman Catholics privately to deny the
statements, and to vilify Christians as the inventors of falsehoods
concerning "the Holy Church and the Holy Priests!" so long will they
laugh at the censures of the Protestants; and as long as they can
influence the Editors of political papers vociferously to deny
evangelical truth, and to decry every attempt to discover the secrets of
the Romish priestcraft as false and uncharitable, so long will the
Jesuits ridicule and despise that incredulity which is at once so
blinding, deceitful, and dangerous.

The volume entitled "Awful Disclosures by Maria Monk," has been assailed
by two classes of Objectors. Some persons affirm that they cannot, and
that they will not believe her narrative, because it is so improbable.
Who is to judge of the standard of improbabilities? Assuredly not they
who are ignorant of the whole subject to which those improbabilities
advert. Now it is certain, that persons who are acquainted with Popery,
are generally convinced, and readily agree, that Maria Monk's narrative,
is very much assimilated to the abstract view which a sound judgment,
enlightened by the Holy Scriptures, would form of that antichristian
system, as predicted by the prophet Daniel, and the apostles, Peter,
Paul, and John.

2. _The question of Probability_.--But the question of
probabilities may be tested by another fact; and that is the full,
unshaken conviction, and the serious declaration of many persons who
have lived in Canada, that Maria Monk's allegations against the Roman
Priests and Nuns in that province, are precisely the counterpart of
their ordinary character, spirit, and practice. There are many persons
now residing in the city of New York, who long dwelt in Montreal and
Quebec; and who are thoroughly acquainted with the situation of affairs
among the Canadian Papists--and such of them as are known, with scarcely
a dissenting voice, proclaim the same facts which every traveller, who
has any discernment or curiosity, learns when he makes the northern
summer tour. It is also indubitable, that intelligent persons in Canada
generally, especially residents in Montreal and Quebec, who have no
inducement either to falsify or to conceal the truth, uniformly testify,
that the nunneries in those cities are notorious places of resort for
the Roman Priests for habitual and unrestrained licentiousness; that,
upon the payment of the stipulated price to the Chaplain, other persons,
in the disguise of Priests, are regularly admitted within the Convents
for the same infamous purpose; and that many Infants and Nuns, in
proportion to the aggregate amount of the whole body of females, are
annually murdered and buried within their precincts. All this turpitude
is as assuredly believed by the vast majority of the enlightened
Protestants, as well as by multitudes of even the Papists in Montreal
and Quebec, as their own existence; and judging from their declarations,
they have no more doubt of the fact, than they have of the summer's
sunshine, and the winter's frost and snow. Of what value, therefore, is
the cavil of ignorance respecting improbabilities?

But it is also objected, that the British government would not tolerate
such a system of enormous wickedness. To which it is replied, that the
inordinate licentiousness of the Roman Priests and Nuns in Canada, is
demonstrated to be of long standing by the archives of that Province, as
may be seen in Smith's History of Canada; year 1733, Chapter 5, p. 194.

The author of that work is Secretary of the Province; and his narrative
was compiled immediately from the public documents, which are under his
official guardianship and control. He thus writes:--"The irregularities
and improper conduct of the Nuns of the General Hospital had been the
subject of much regret and anxiety. Contrary to every principle of
their institution, they frequently accepted of invitations to dinners
and suppers, and mixed in society, without considering the vows which
restricted them to their Convent. The king of France directed a letter,
Maurepas' letter of April 9, 1733, to be written to the Coadjutor of
Quebec, by the minister having the department of the Marine; importing
that the king was much displeased with the Nuns--that regularity and
order might be restored by reducing the nuns to the number of twelve,
according to their original establishment--and that, as the management
and superintendence of the community had been granted to the Governor,
Prelate, and Intendant, the Coadjutor should take the necessary measures
to prevent them from repeating conduct so indecent and improper."

The entire affair seems to have been this; that the Nuns of Quebec at
that period preferred the gallant military officers, and their
bewitching festivities, to the coarser and less diversified indulgences
of the Jesuits; upon which the latter murmured, and resolved to hinder
the soldiers from intruding into their fold, and among the cloistered
females, to visit whom they claimed as their own peculiar privilege,
inseparably attached to their priestly character and ecclesiastical
functions. It is infallibly certain that after a lapse of 100 years,
neither the Jesuits nor the Nuns in Canada, are in the smallest particle
reformed.

The British government, by the treaty made upon the surrender of that
province to them, guarantied to the Papal Ecclesiastics, both male and
female, their prior exemptions and special immunities. Many of the
officers of the Government in Canada, who have long resided there, are
anxious to see the nunneries and their adjuncts totally extirpated; and
it may be safely asserted that they know the character given of those
institutions by Maria Monk is a graphical picture of their continuous
doings.

The British government, for the purpose of retaining their supremacy
over the province, have not only connived at those irregularities, but
have always enjoined that the public sanction should be given to their
puerile shows, and their pageant, pompous processions by the attendance
of the civil and military officers upon them, and by desecrating the
Lord's day with martial music, &c. In this particular affair, the
executive officers of the Provincial Government are fully apprised of
all the substantial facts in the case; for an affidavit of the principal
circumstances was presented to Mr. Ogden, the Attorney General of
Canada, and to Mr. Grant, another of the King's counsellors: and
afterward Maria Monk did undergo an examination by those gentlemen, in
the house of Mr. Grant, at Montreal, in the presence of Mr. Comte, one
of the superior order of priests of that city; and of another Priest,
believed to be either Phelan or Dufresne, who was concealed behind the
sofa.

It is also incontrovertible, that the nominal Papists in Canada, who, in
reality, are often infidels, notwithstanding their jocose sneers, and
affected contempt, do generally believe every title of Maria Monk's
narrative. This is the style in which they talk of it. They first,
according to custom, loudly curse the authors; for to find a Papist
infidel who does not break the third commandment, is as difficult as to
point out a moral Roman Priest or a chaste Nun. They first swear at the
author, and then, with a hearty laugh, add the following illustration:--
"Everybody knows that the Priests are a jolly set of fellows, who live
well, and must have license, or they would be contrary to nature. They
have the privilege of going into the nunneries, and they would be great
fools if they did not use and enjoy it!" Such is the exact language
which is adopted among the Canadians; and such are the precise words
which have been used by Canadian gentlemen in New York, when criticising
Maria Monk's volume. It affords stronger proof than a direct
attestation.

The other class of persons who verily believe the "Awful Disclosures,"
are the religious community in Canada. We think that scarcely a well-
informed person can be discovered in Montreal or Quebec, who does not
feel assured, that the interior of the Hotel Dieu Nunnery is most
faithfully depicted by Maria Monk. Many persons are now inhabitants of
New York who formerly resided in Montreal, some of whom have been upon
terms of familiar intimacy for years with those Roman Priests, who are
specified as the principal actors in the scenes depicted in that book;
and they most solemnly declare, that they have no doubt of the truth of
Maria Monk's narrative.

Mr. _Samuel B. Smith_, who has been not only a Roman Priest, but
has had several _cages of nuns_ under his sole management,
questioned Maria Monk expressly respecting those affairs, customs and
ceremonies, which appertain only to nunneries, because they cannot be
practiced by any other females but those who are shut up in those
dungeons; and, after having minutely examined her, he plainly averred
that it was manifest she could not have known the things which she
communicated to him unless she had been a nun; not merely a scholar, or
a temporary resident, or even a novice, but a nun, who had taken the
veil, in the strictest sense of the appellative. This testimony is of
the more value, because the conclusion does not depend upon any
conflicting statements, of partial or prejudicial witnesses, but upon a
fact which is essential to the system of monachism; that no persons can
know all the secrets of nunneries, but the Chaplain, the Abbess, and
their accomplices in that "mystery of iniquity." Mr. Smith's declaration
in one other respect is absolutely decisive. He has declared not only
that Maria Monk has been a nun, but also that the descriptions which she
gives are most minutely accurate.

Mr. Smith also testifies that the account which Maria Monk gives of the
proceedings of the priests, the obscene questions which they ask young
females, and their lewd practices with them at auricular confession, are
constantly exemplified by the Roman Priests; and he also confirms her
statements, by the testimony of his own individual experience, and
actual personal acquaintance with the Canadian nunneries, as well as
with those in the United States, and especially of that at Monroe,
Michigan, which was dissolved by Mr. Fenwick, on account of scandalous
impurity, several years ago.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23