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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
7
WHAT OTHERS THINK OF US
Greensboro, Ga.—“About three or four years ago I
had the good or bad misfortune (as you may call it)
of having to be operated on at St. Joseph’s Infirmary,
Atlanta, Ga. I learned to love the good people of,
that faith while there, as I was never treated better
than by the Sisters and other nurses.
‘I have never joined any Church and at the age of
56 perhaps never will, to my sorrow having omitted
to join in my younger life. But I can assure you I
have a tender place in my heart for the Catholics,
which no fabricator will ever be able to change. I am,
“Yours to serve in any way.”
Cincinnati, Ohio. “Will you kindly send me one
or two copies of the pamphlet, ‘Catholicism and Poli
tics,’ published by your Association?
“During the last Presidential election the absurd
article credited to ‘The National Catholic Register’
made its appearance in this city and was spread
broadcast.
“Although not a Catholic, I know enough of the
Church to realize it would never sponsor such state
ments. I found out very easily from the Public Li
brary of Cincinnati that no newspaper bearing the
name ‘The National Catholic Register’ had ever ex
isted, but there my investigation ended. A Catholic
neighbor was able to procure one of the pamphlets
for me^—but unfortunately after a great deal of harm
had been done.
“A coward never dies, so I am anxious to be fore
armed at its next appearance.’’
Atlanta, Ga.—“I have been receiving from time
to time literature from your office, explaining the
attitude of your Church upon some vital questions in
which I have been much interested, and I want to
thank you sincerely for your courtesy.
“In so far as I am concerned, there never has been
any prejudice against your Church or that of any one
else, as I think it but proper to grant every person
the right to worship as to them seems to be con
sistent.
“My object in having your literature was to be in
a position when the Church was assailed to give some
intelligent opinions, which I have taken the opportu
nity to do.
“I am convinced that practically all of the criti
cisms arose from ignorance, intolerance, and if you
pardon the expression, most damnable outrages that
have ever been perpetrated upon an institution for
which I have the highest respect.’’
Eastman, Ga. “Although myself a Protestant, I
do not at all hold against the Catholic Church the un
kindly feeling that seems to prevail in some quarters.
I know that your Church is doing a splendid work
in many ways and that, as a whole, the people of
the Catholic Church are as charitable and as strong
in the Christian faith as those of any other creed.’’
Abbeville, Ga.—“I am a Baptist. I do not appre
ciate Roman Catholicism in Free America.’’
Albany, Ga.—“Don’t send any more of this trash.’’
We have quoted above all the unfavorable letters
received recently, but only a few of those commend
ing'our work.
THE MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW
Recently a Mississippian asked us about the St.
Bartholomew Massacre, one of the standard attacks
of the bigot. Here in Georgia we thought we had
effectually gotten rid of this bugaboo, but for fear
that the facts may not be clear in the minds of all
we reproduce below the reply of the editor to the in
quirer. It follows:
The St. Bartholomew Massacre should not give a
Catholic any difficulty. It was a shameless affair,
brutal, treacherous, inhuman, the climax of a stir
of passions that never fail to bring disaster in their
train. Conceived and directed by a woman notorious
to history for her ambition and for her cruelty, to
which she sacrificed every principle and surrendered
every natural affection, even to making her own chil
dren the victims of her unbridled lust for power, St.
Bartholomew’s Massacre is one of the crimson blots
in history. The number of its victims has been
greatly exaggerated by Protestant writers. The pre
vious treachery of the Huguenots has been ignored
by them. The assassination of the Due de Guise and
of Cardinal Lorraine at the instigation of the Protes
tant leaders are glossed over by their apologists. That
there had been actual warfare for years and that
the Protestants had twice broken faith and “scrap
ped” the formal treaties made with the Catholics, is
seldom thought of in connection. That the Huguenots
were a real danger to the entire royal family, to the
constituted government, and to the State of France,
and that the Massacre resulted in saving the nation,
are minor considerations. All this is good argument
to take the wind out of the sails of the unctious dema
gogue who waxes too hot at Catholics, but it is no
justification, and to my mind no palliation of St. Bar
tholomew s Day, the inglorious crown-piece of the
Medicean House, as famous for its brilliancy as for
its intrigue, uniting all the subtlety of the Italian
mind with the sparkling effervescence of the French
mind, and, in Catherine s case, at least, not redeem
ing it with the nobility of the one nor the humanity
of the other. Catholics can have no apology for that
day in history, as they can have none for Cromwell
in Ireland, for the British at Copenhagen, for the
Turks in Armenia, for the thing done last year by
Brigadier-General Dyer at Amritear, or a hundred
other notorious instances showing the wretchedness
of our poor human nature and the extent of “man’s
inhumanity to man. But why should Catholics espe
cially be expected to have an apology for one or
another of these things, and in particular for St. Bar
tholomew? We have been so used to allowing our
selves, to be put in an apologetic attitude by the ag
gressive tactics of those emboldened by numbers and
(Continued on Page 14.)