common frailties of the fallen
children of Adam.

Bravely and with a brazen face, when they are interrogated on that subject,
they say that they have special graces to remain pure and undefiled in the
midst of the greatest dangers; that the Virgin Mary, to whom they are
consecrated, is their powerful advocate to obtain from her Son that
superhuman virtue of chastity; that what would be a cause of sure perdition
to common men is without peril and danger for a true son of Mary; and, with
amazing stupidity, the people consent to be duped, blinded, and deceived by
those fooleries.

But here let the world hear the truth as it is, from one who knows
perfectly everything inside and outside the walls of that Modern Babylon;
though many, I know, will disbelieve me and say, "We hope you are mistaken.
It is impossible that the priests of Rome should turn out to be such
impostors. They may be mistaken; they may believe and repeat things which
are not true, but they are honest; they cannot be such impudent deceivers."

Yes! though I know that many will hardly believe me, I must say the truth.

Those very men who, when speaking to the people in such glowing terms of
the marvellous way they are kept pure in the midst of the dangers which
surround them, honestly blush, and often weep, when they speak to each
other (when they are sure that nobody except priests hears them). They
deplore their moral degradation with the utmost sincerity and honesty. They
ask from God and men pardon for their unspeakable depravity.

I have here in my hands, and under my eyes, one of their most remarkable
secret books, written, or at least approved, by one of their greatest and
best bishops and cardinals, the Cardinal De Bonald, Archbishop of Lyons.

The book is written for the use of the priests alone. Its title is in
French, "Examen de Conscience des Pretres." At page 34 we read:--

"Have I left certain persons to make the declarations of their sins in such
a way that the imagination, once taken and impressed by pictures and
representations, could be dragged into a long course of temptations and
grievous sins? The priests do not pay sufficient attention to the continual
temptations caused by the hearing of confessions. The soul is gradually
enfeebled in such a way that, at the end, the virtue of chastity is for
ever lost."

Here is the address of a priest to other priests when he suspects that
nobody but his co-sinner brethren hear him. Here is th