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44 THE KNOW NOTHING ALMANAC 3
dinner? you must leave the table; in bed?
you must, at least, sit up. But the most
preposterous effect of this custom is to. be
seen at the theatres. On the approach of
the host to any military guard, the drum
beats, the men are drawn out, and, as soon
as the priest can be seen, they bend. the
right knee and invert the firelocks, placing
the point of the bayonet on the ground. As
an officer’s guard is always stationed at the
door of a Spanish theatre, I have often
laughed in my sleeve at the effect of the
chumade both upon the actors and the
company. Dios, Dios (A God, A God),
resounds from all parts of the house, and
every one falls that moment upon his knees,
The actors’ ranting, or the rattling of the’
castanets in the fundango, is hushed for a
few minutes, till, the sound of the bell
grewing fainter and fainter, the amusement
is resumed, and the devout performers are
once more upon their legs, anxious to make
amends for the interruption.
t such a time as this, woe be to the man,
in any Popish country, Who refuses to bend
the knee, or at least to take off his hat in
honor of the idol. Says Professor 8S. F. B.
Morse, in a work published some few years
ago, and who witnessed the celebration of
the festival of Corpus Christi at Rome, I
was a stranger in Rome, and. recovering
from the debility of a slight fever; I was
walking for air and gentle exercise in the
Corso, on the day of the celebration of the
Corpus Domini. From the houses on each
side of the street were hung rich tapestries
and gold embroidered damasks, and toward
me slowly advanced a long procession,
decked out with all the heathenish para-
phernalia of this self-styled church. In a
part of the procegsion a lofty baldachino, or
canopy, borne by men, was held above the
idol, the host, before which, as it passed, all
heads were uncovered, and every knee bent
but mine. Ignorant of the customs of
heathenism, I turned my back to the pro-
cession, and close to the side of the houses
_ in the crowd (as I supposed unobserved), I
was noting in my tablets the order of the
assemblage. I was suddenly aroused from
my occupation, and staggered by a blow
upon the head from the gun and bayonet of
& soldier, which struck off my hat far into
the crowd. Upon recovering from the
shock, the soldier with the expression of a
demon, and his mouth pouring forth a
torrent of Italian oaths, in which @# diavolo
had a prominent place, stood with his
bayonet against my breast. I could make
no resistance; I could only ask him why he
struck me, and receive in answer his fresh
volley of unintelligible imprecations, which
having delivered, he resumed his place in
the: guard of honor, by the side of the
ofliciating Cardinal.” | Such is the manner
in which those who refuse to bow the knee
to idols are treated in'popish countries, and
such is the way, should Popery become
generally prevalent and powerful in the
pinited Status, that such would be treated
1ere,
In Cincinnati, papists have already be-
come sufliciently daring to insult American
citizens, and knock off their hats unless
they render proper homage to:the popish
processions, which are already beginning to
make the ** Queen City of the West” resem-
ble some of the popish cities of Europe. I
have before me a letter of the Honorable
Alexander Duncan, at that time a Senator
of the State of Ohio, dated January 10th,
1835, giving an account of such an insult
offered to him in the public streets of that
city, because he did not take off his hat in
reverence of a popish foreign bishop, in a
procession to consecrate a.Romish chapel.
On the arrival of the procession opposite to
where he stood, he was requested to uncover
his head immediately. ‘The Senator replied
that he was in a public strect, and however
much he might respect the forms of the
Roman Catholic religion, it ill comported
with his dignity as an American citizen to
offer such homage to any man. On saying
this, he was instantly surrounded By several
papists, his hat forcibly torn from his head,
his clothes torn, and his person abused and
beaten. Several other Americans on the
Same occasion, who had the hardihood to
stand with their hats in the presence of this
popish bishop and his idolatrous procession,
Were treated with the same insult and bar-
barity as Dr. Duncan.—[See the Letter of
Senator Duncan in the Cincinnati Journal,
January 23d, 1885].—Dowling’s History of
Romanisn,
—————<o»—__—_
DANIEL O'CONNELL.
Tu0sE persons who have read the eulo-
gium on Daniel O’Connell, by William II,
Seward, will do well to read the following.
Mr. Seward has also said that Bishop
Iiughes is his “ friend,” and that he “con.
fides in him.’”? Daniel O’Connell, the Irish
Catholic Agitator, threatened to subyert the
government of the United States, and Mr.
Seward eulogised Daniel O'Connell! Read
the following:
* You should do allin your power to carry
out the intentions of His Holiness, the Pope.
Where you have the electoral franchise, give
your votes to none but those who will assist
you in so holy a struggle.’—Daniel O’Con-
nell, 1843.—P, Intelligencer.
“Tdeclare my most unequivocal submis-
sion to the Head of the Church, and to the
hierarchy in its diferent orders. If the
Bishops make a declaration on this Bill, I
never would be heard.speaking against it;
but would submit at‘once, unequivocally, to
that decision, They have only to decide,
and they close my mouth—they have only
to determine, and I obey. I wish it to be
tholics.— Daniel 0’ Connell, 1884.
understood that such is the duty of all Ca- |
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