The Complete Works of Brann, the Iconoclast — Volume 12Brann, William Cowper
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The Complete Works of Brann, the Iconoclast — Volume 12
Brann, William Cowper
Brann, William Cowper, 1855-1898; Essays; Reformers
Talk to me about the Church of Rome muzzling free
speech when the A.P.A. would mob an American citizen
for defending his character from the infamous falsehoods
of a foreign tramp! "Throw him out!" Why throw him
out? I'll tell you: The sanctified buzzards had gone there
with appetites sharpened for a mess of carrion, and they
were afraid I'd kill their cook. "Throw him out!" But I
noticed that those who were splitting their faces as wide
as Billy Kersands' were glued to their seats. They wanted
somebody else to throw him out. They were anxious to see
a gang of three or four hundred sanctified hoodlums
trample upon me, but there was not one among the self-
constituted protectors of this mighty American Nation
with sufficient "sand" to lead the mob. If there were no
better Americans than those trailing in the wake of the
Rev. Joseph Slattery, like buzzards following a bad smell,
I'd take a cornstalk, clean out the whole shooting-match
and stock the country with niggers and yaller dogs. If
such cattle were sired by Satan, damned by Sycorax and
born in hell they would dishonor their parents and disgrace
their country.
Slattery insists that Catholics believe thus-and-so, and
that no man with such a faith concealed about his person
can be a good American citizen. I don't know about that;
but I do know that if the Catholics act in strict accordance
with their religious creed they are the only people in this
country that do so. I've learned that you can't judge a
man by his catechism. Slattery assures us that he has
discarded the Pope and taken Christ for his immediate guide.
The latter commands his followers to pray for those who
despitefully use them; but if Slattery did any praying
for the "Apostle" during his sojourn in this city he
managed to keep that fact a profound secret. Christ
enjoins patience and humility. He tells his followers to turn
the other cheek to the smiter; yet Slattery assured the
ladies Wednesday night that he was "a great believer in
muscular Christianity." Then he placed his 250 pounds
of stall-fed beef in fighting attitude and declared he'd
"like to have his enemies come at him one at a time"--to
be prayed for, I presume. If Christ taught "muscular
Christianity" I have inadvertently overlooked a bet.
Christ commands us to love our enemies, but doesn't
suggest that we should manifest our affection by lying about
'em. He rebuked those who tattled about a common
courtesan, yet Slattery defamed decent women. No, you
can't judge a man by his creed. If the allegiance of the
Catholics to the Pope is of the same character as that of
Slattery to the Lord Jesus Christ, Uncle Sam need not
lie awake o' nights to worry about "Papal plots."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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