Produced by David Widger MONKS, POPES, AND THEIR POLITICAL INTRIGUES By John Alberger "Like lambs have we crept into power; like wolves have we used it; like dogs have we been driven out; like eagles shall we renew our youth."--St. Francis Borgia. "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."--Washington. In One Volume Baltimore 1871. PREFACE. The object of the present work is to show the political nature of the Catholic church, and its treasonable designs with regard to the American republic. In the course of the following pages the author has endeavored to show that the Catholic Church is intrinsically a gigantic conspiracy against the liberties of the world; ingenious in its construction, opulent in its resources, extensive in its ramifications, and formidable in its character. In proof of this assertion he submits to the consideration of the reader a mass of irrefragable authority, and indisputable historical incidents. The authorities on which he chiefly relies are papal bulls, briefs, and encyclical letters; the canons of Catholic councils; Catholic periodicals under the supervision of priests, such as the _Civita Cattolica, Bronsoris Review, the Boston Pilot, the Toilet, the Rambler, the Shepherd of the Valley, the Paris Univers_; also the works of Dens, the author of the Catholic system of Divinity; of Llorente, the secretary of the Spanish Inquisition; of Bellarmine, the celebrated Catholic controversialist; of Ferraris, the author of the Catholic Ecclesiastical Dictionary; of Fra Paola, the Catholic ecclesiastical historian; of St. Thomas Aquinas, entitled by the church "_the Angelic Doctor" "the Angel of the School," "the Fifth Doctor_" of St. Bernard, called "_the Honeyed Teacher_" and his works "_Streams from Paradise_;" of Labbeus, of St. Liquori, of Moscovius, and of a host of other oracles of Catholicism. By means of these authorities the veil of piety which conceals and decorates the papal church is partly drawn aside, and her monarchial character, political organization, despotic nature, ambitious designs and treasonable principles, are distinctly presented to view. The author pretends to no originality. The diction and logic are, of course his own, but the facts and principles upon which he bases his charges are the avowals of the church, the records of history, and the official affirmations of civilized nations.