One of the most common charges against the book was, that it had been
written merely for the purpose of obtaining money. Of the falseness of
this there is decisive evidence. It was intended to secure to the poor
and persecuted young female, any profits which might arise from the
publication; but most of the labor and time devoted to the work were
gratuitously bestowed. Besides this they devoted much time to efforts
necessary to guard against the numerous and insidious attempts made by
friends of the priests, who by various arts endeavored to produce
dissention and delay, as well as to pervert public opinion.
The book was published, and had an almost unprecedented sale,
impressing deep convictions, wherever it went, by its simple and
consistent statements. In Canada, especially, it was extensively
received as true; but as the American newspapers were soon enlisted
against it, the country was filled with misrepresentations, which it
was impossible through those channels to follow with refutations. Her
noble sacrifices for the good of others were misunderstood, she
withdrew from her few remaining friends, and at length died in poverty
and prison, a victim of the priests of Rome. Various evidences in favor
of its truth afterwards appeared, with which the public have never been
generally made acquainted. Some of these were afforded during an
interview held in New York, August 17th, 1836, with Messrs. Jones and
Le Clerc, who had came from Montreal with a work in reply to "Awful
Disclosures," which was afterwards published. They had offered to
confront Maria Monk, and prove her an impostor, and make her confess it
in the presence of her friends. She promptly appeared; and the first
exclamation of Mr. Jones proved that she was not the person he had
supposed her to be: _"This is not Fawny Johnson!"_ said he; and he
afterwards said, "There must be two Maria Monks!" Indeed, several
persons were at different times represented to bear that name; and much
confusion was caused in the testimony by that artifice. The interview
continued about two hours, during which the Canadians made a very sorry
figure, entirely failing to gain any advantage, and exposing their own
weakness. At the close, an Episcopal clergyman from Canada, one of the
company, said: "Miss Monk, if I had had any doubts of your truth before
this interview, they would now have been entirely removed."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account