She is assailed in romances of the stamp of Maria Monk, and in pictorial papers. It is true that the falsehood of those illustrated periodicals has been fully exposed. But the antidote often comes too late to counteract the poison. I have seen a picture representing Columbus trying to demonstrate the practicability of his design to discover a new Continent before certain monks who are shaking their fists and gnashing their teeth at him. It matters not to the artist that Columbus could probably never have undertaken his voyage and discovery, as the explorer himself avows, were it not for the benevolent zeal of the monks, Antonio de Marchena and Juan Perez, and other ecclesiastics, as well as for the munificence of Queen Isabella and the Spanish Court. The Church is misrepresented in so-called Histories like Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. It is true that he has been successfully refuted by Lingard and Gairdner. But, how many have read the fictitious narratives of Foxe, who have never perused a page of Lingard or Gairdner? In a large portion of the press, and in pamphlets, and especially in the pulpit, which should be consecrated to truth and charity, she is the victim of the foulest slanders. Upon her fair and heavenly brow her enemies put a hideous mask, and in that guise they exhibit her to the insults and mockery of the public; just as Jesus, her Spouse, was treated when, clothed with a scarlet cloak and crowned with thorns, He was mocked by a thoughtless rabble. They are afraid to tell the truth of her, for “Truth has such a face and such a mien, As to be loved needs only to be seen.”(1) It is not uncommon for a dialogue like the following to take place between a Protestant Minister and a convert to the Catholic Church: MINISTER.—You cannot deny that the Roman Catholic Church teaches gross errors—the worship of images, for instance. CONVERT.—I admit no such charge, for I have been taught no such doctrines. MINISTER.—But the Priest who instructed you did not teach you all. He held back some points which he knew would be objectionable to you. CONVERT.—He withheld nothing; for I am in possession of books treating fully of all Catholic doctrines. MINISTER.—Deluded soul! Don’t you know that in Europe they are taught differently? CONVERT.—That cannot be, for the Church teaches the same creed all over the world, and most of the doctrinal books which I read, were originally published in Europe. Yet ministers who make these slanderous statements are surprised if we feel indignant, and accuse us of being too sensitive. We have been vilified so long, that they think we have no right to complain. We cannot exaggerate the offense of those who thus wilfully malign the Church. There is a commandment which says: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”