XXXIV
Robert slept late the next morning, ate a combination breakfast and luncheon and returned to his room. McCall! Friendship! The torn leaflets had been removed by the maid.
Robert removed his coat, collar and shirt and began, very deliberately, to shave. He had never distributed the Knights of Columbus oath. Freeman had assured him that whatever might be the veracity of the articles in The Beacon, the Knights of Columbus oath, at any rate, was accurate. It had been obtained by the Tribe itself.
Robert dried his face. Why must a person always defend what he has done? One may act simply on animpulse—because some one else wants him to do something, because the community in which he lives, his social set or public opinion desires it. But once a person has acted, he builds up reasons to justify himself. Take the Knights of Columbus oath. He had not troubled to investigate it. He had accepted it because it was part of the Tribe’s propaganda and because his father, his mother, Margaret, his social set, believed in the Tribe. The rational thing would be to weigh its value, to investigate itsauthenticity—and then to accept or reject it. It was the same way with other propaganda. If it was false, Freeman was always inventing excuses. Why had he not investigated their truth before circulating them! And yet, Freeman had insisted that the oath was true.
The telephone bell rang.
“Hello!” It was McCall. He was coming up. Robert took a long breath. McCall! Robert had not expected him to come back again. He wonderedwhy—and was glad, immensely glad. The door opened.
“God, I’m glad—” Robert held out his hand.
“Shut up!” McCall looked very pale and serious, his lips tight. “I want you to listen to me! I think you’re either ascoundrel or a damn fool. I’ve thought it over all night and I’ve decided to be charitable and call you a damn fool.”
Robert started to say something. McCall put up his hand.
“If you interrupt me, I’m going. And if I go, you’ll never see me again. I said I decided that you were a damn fool. I decided that you joined the Tribe because you couldn’t get out of it or because you didn’t know its real object. Most members don’t. They think they’re joining some sort of a crusade. I think Lister is a sincere man, a sincere fool, a fanatic who would have fitted in somewhere beautifully in the Middle Ages and who didn’t know any more about the meaning of Christianity than the fanatics who burned heretics and witches three hundred years ago. That includes Catholics as well as Protestants. I’m not handing myself anything.
“Griffith I think is acrook—I say Ithinkheis—because he personally gets a rake-off on every member, because he sells robes and masks at a profit that the Tribe would boycott a Jew for making, and because he sells the muddy river water used in your Tribal initiations for ten dollars a quart. I can’t conceive of any man with the broad mission he says he has, starting out by overcharging the brothers who are to carry out that mission with him. If you are an official, you know that these are facts and you also know that you get a rake-off for each new member. It is to your interest and to the interest of every Tribal officer to get as many memberships as youcan—no matter how much class and racial hatred you spread in gettingthem—because it brings you actual money. If you can make people believe that the Pope is trying to control the American government, or that Jews, who form about three per cent of the population, are trying to overthrow all government, or that Negroes, who have been persecuted and tortured all their lives and are afraid to move, are plotting with the Bolsheviki or the Hindus to overthrow civilization, it means three dollars for Mr. Griffith, four dollars for the salesman who calls himself a Bogey and one dollar for the state salesman or GrandBogey—per convert.
“But I won’t inquire into your motives for joining the Tribe. I shall assume that they were worthy and that you were simply gullible. The Tribe’s antagonism to the Catholic is evidently based on its conception of the relation between the Papacy and the United States. The Tribe evidently believes, or pretends to believe, that the Papacy means to control the government of the United States, and that spiritual allegiance to the Pope in some way interferes with secular allegiance to the government of the United States. I say that these are the reasons for the Tribe’s opposition to the Catholic, because the Tribe professes to believe in the freedom of worship. In other words, admittedly the religion of the Catholic, and similarly of the Jew, have nothing to do with the Tribe’s opposition.
“Now, Hamilton, if I can prove to you that the Catholic church is not attempting to control our government and the Catholic church in no way interferes with one’s loyalty to his country, will you promise to resign from the Tribe? If the Tribe is wrong, you will want to resign. If I am wrong, if the Catholic church does mean interference with my Americanism, I will not want to be aCatholic—and I will quit the church. Is that fair?”
“Yes—you give up the church or I give up the Tribe.”
They shook hands. It seemed fair enough. Robert had joined the Tribe because he believed it stood for certain principles. That it attacked certain institutions, not because of blind prejudice, but for definite reasons. If these reasons proved false, there was no reason for the Tribe’sexistence—no reason for Robert belonging to it. To continue to be a Tribesman under those circumstances would be dishonest. It would be lending his force, his personality, to a lie.
“Now for the proof,” said McCall. “Hell, what do you or I know about it anyway? Father Callahan does. And if he doesn’t convince you, I’ll quit the church.”
Father Callahan, of St. Gesu Church, proved to be a pleasant, ruddy-faced man of charming manners and ready knowledge. He received them in his library.
“It was quite right of you to come to me,” he smiled, “becausemany of the attacks of the Trick Track Tribe have been made against the Jesuits and, inasmuch as I, myself, am a member of the Society ofJesus—by the way, Mr. Hamilton, I observe that the Knights of the Trick Track Tribe boast of the most sublime lineage in all history, but I believe that the organization to which I belong may lay claim to a still more sublime lineage.” He smiled. “The lineage of the Catholic church can be traced back some 1850 years before the origin of the Tribe, granting even that the present Tribe is the legitimate descendant of the original Tribe formed in 1867. Inasmuch, however, as the old Tribe was abolished, both by its founders and by the federal government, one may well question how the present Tribe may justly claim to inherit its lineage, which was not too sublime to make the fathers of the order heartily regret that they had ever founded it.”
Father Callahan had a rather delightful way of imparting the mildest of sarcasms. He leaned forward and touched Robert on the knee.
“And I believe the Tribe has also called itself the most dauntless organization known to man. Whether it is really more dauntless than the secret societies of the heathen savages who also fight behind grotesquemasks—some splendid examples of which you may be able to find at the Field Museum or, at any rate, in any good book onanthropology—still the fact remains that members of the society of which I am a member have also accomplished certain dauntless deeds. There is no natural monopoly of that quality. You may remember that Father Marquette, for instance, preceded me, in the name of the church, some three hundred years ago, as did also Father Hennepin. You may remember that Joliet and La Salle also showed themselves not lacking in bravery in their explorations which opened up Canada and the entire Northwest. The first trappers and traders with the Indians, who became the first merchants of Chicago and the founders of its first industry, also belonged to the Catholic Church.
“By the way,”—the priest rose—“this discourse may strikeyou as rather dry. But national prohibition will not go into effect until January and I don’t suppose I should be offending even the keen love of law and order of a Tribesman by offering him a little wine and cake. If you excuse me for a minute?”
Robert settled back comfortably in his chair, his nervousness entirely gone.
“Well, what do you think of him?” asked McCall with a smile.
“Well, I’ll bet he makes religion attractive.”
“Certainly! Why shouldn’t it be? It ought to be the most sublime thing in the world.” They laughed at the accidental use of the word “sublime.” “I look at religion as the most beautiful symbolism in life. I couldn’t worship in an ugly church or under the guidance of a cold and narrow minister or priest.”
Father Callahan appeared in the doorway, his ruddy face smiling and his merry blue eyes sparkling. A servant followed, bearing a small tray on which were three small glasses of red wine and a plate of cake. The latter placed the tray on the table and the priest offered the glasses, invoked a blessing on the food and drink, and took a swallow.
“Ah! Now,” he said, “the really very silly notion that allegiance to the Pope interferes with the loyalty any citizen owes his country, has been exploded a long time ago and is used by no one save a few bigots who do not themselves credit the nonsense they utter. It is really remarkable how such ideas linger, yet I notice that this forms the real basis of the Tribe’s opposition to the Catholic as such. Of course, the church is Catholic and its missionaries go forth to all lands seeking converts. Every human being, we believe, has a soul, and before God all souls are equal. The Church of Christ is not ashamed that many of its members are of the eastern and southern European countries, whose immigrants at present may be regarded as undesirable by American statesmen. We rather take pride that the church has considered the soul of no man unworthy of saving. Our statesmen can probably best determine which elements are mostneeded in making up the population of the United States. But the church maintains that the desirability of no man as a citizen is ever diminished by his belonging to the Catholic church.
“A man can be a good subject either of a republic or a monarchy and, at the same time, be a devoted adherent of the Holy See. Even non-believers in Catholic doctrine have come to recognize that the better Catholic an individual is, the better citizen he therefore becomes of the country in which he lives.”
Father Callahan took a bite of cake and another swallow of wine.
“The old absurdity,” he went on, “of owing allegiance to a foreign potentate, which was the charge made against American Catholics in Know Nothing times, has been rarely heard and would have been relegated to that obscurity which it deserves except for the sudden rise of the Trick Track Tribe. Spiritual allegiance to the Pope will never interfere with the duties an honest state exacts from its citizens, but, on the contrary, will inspire each citizen to perform his duties better and more conscientiously. But you must have some more cake. That’s right.”
The priest rose, walked to a bookcase and, after studying it a minute, pulled out a volume.
“Can you prove what you have just told him, father?” asked McCall.
“That is exactly what I am about to do. Although I have some authority in the church, you, Mr. Hamilton, will want some greater authority than mine. Have you ever heard of the Baltimore Council? Shortly after Pope Leo the Thirteenth had conferred with the American prelates in Rome, a plenary council of the Catholic Church of the United States was ordered, late in 1884. The acts of this council were approved by the Pope and are enforced throughout the United States. Now, very fortunately, this very subject of church and state was discussed by the fathers of the Baltimore Council and this, by the approval of the Holy See, is the official position of the Catholic Church.”
The priest turned the leaves, found the proper page and handed the book to Robert.
“We repudiate with equal earnestness,” he read, “the assertion that we need to lay aside any of our devotedness to our church to be true Americans; the insinuation that we need to lay aside any of our love for our country’s principles and institutions to be faithful Catholics. To argue that the Catholic Church is hostile to our great republic, because she teaches that ‘there is no power but from God’; because, therefore, back of the events which led to the formation of the republic, she sees the providence of God leading to that issue and, back of our country’s laws, the authority of God as theirsanction—this is evidently so illogical and contradictory an accusation that we are astonished to hear it advanced by persons of ordinary intelligence.... To both the Almighty and to His instruments we look with grateful reverence, and to maintain the inheritance of freedom which they have left us, our Catholic citizens will be found to stand forward as one man, ready to pledge anew their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. No less illogical should be the notion that there is aught in the free spirit of our American institutions incompatible with perfect docility to the Church of Christ.”
The next sentence Robert read several times. It seemed to strike at the union of church and state,although—and this seemednatural—such union was blamed upon the selfishness of secular monarchs, seeking greater power. It was natural that the Catholic Church, if it now condemned this union, should see in it, not a usurpation of secular authority by the church, but of ecclesiastical power by the state.
“Narrow, insular, national views and jealousies concerning ecclesiastical authority and church organization may have sprung naturally enough from the selfish policy of certain rulers and nations in bygone times, but they find no sympathy in the spirit of the true American Catholic.”
“I see,” said Robert gravely, handing the book back. It seemed queer that both the Catholics and the Tribesmen should issue proclamations against what was probably thesame thing. It was like the two knights fighting each other all day because one declared the shield was red and the other that it was black and then discovering, as they lay exhausted on the ground, that the shield was black on one side and red on the other. Tribesmen and Know Nothingers feared that the church wished to control the state; the Catholic fathers that the state should try to control the church.
“Have you the real fourth degree oath of the Knights of Columbus?” asked McCall.
“I don’t think it’s necessary,” said Robert.
“Yes, it is. You must be convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt. The Knights of Columbus, Father, are supposed to be trying to seize control of the state by, well, it amounts to murder. Read this.”
He handed over the circular. The priest looked at it and frowned.
“This is a more serious charge,” he said. “I can forgive a person for being honestly mistaken in his view of the relation of the Catholic Church to the state, but this oath must have been written by one or more persons actuated by a hatred of Catholicism and who knew that it must be false. It is not a case of honest ignorance.”
He continued reading, his eyebrows drawn together in a scowl and nodding his head from time to time. Finally he looked up.
“Mr. Hamilton, that charge is not new. It is surprising that it should bob up again, inasmuch as the real oath of the Knights of Columbus was made public several years ago in the course of an investigation into the matter by the Masonic bodies. It was also made public in the course of a contested election case. The false oath, this oath I have here, had been circulated to defeat a candidate who was a fourth degree knight. Inasmuch as the real oath has already been published by our own courts and by the Masons, who are hardly pro-Catholic, I should be violating no confidence in repeating it. It runs: I swear to support the constitution of the United States. I pledge myself as a Catholic citizen and Knight of Columbus to enlighten myself fully upon myduties as a citizen and to conscientiously perform such duties entirely in the interest of my country and regardless of all personal consequences. I pledge myself to do all in my power to preserve the integrity and purity of the ballot, and to promote reverence and respect for law and order. I promise to practise my religion openly and without ostentation and to so conduct myself in public affairs and in the exercise of public virtue as to reflect nothing but credit upon our Holy Church, to the end that she may flourish and our country prosper to the greater honor and glory of God.’”
Robert’s brain whirled. He felt himself growing angry. His fists involuntarily clenched and he bit his lips. Lies, lies, lies. It had been nothing but lies ever since he had joined the Tribe. Lies against the Negro, lies against the Catholic, lies against the Jew. When anything untruthful or mistaken or illogical had been pointed out, the leaders had always disclaimed responsibility. They had always disclaimed responsibility for violence, yet wherever the Tribe flourished the strongest violence and these damnable lies were most numerous.
“Show him the official Knights of Columbus ritual,” McCall was saying, and, although Robert protested that it was not necessary, Father Callahan procured the volume, opened it at the proper page and showed it to him.
“There’s some nonsense about the prediction of Abraham Lincoln that some day there would be a clash between Rome and this country, something about seeing a cloud coming from Rome which forebode war.”
“Please don’t——” began Robert.
“You must. Let him look through your complete works of Lincoln.”
In spite of his protests the ponderous volumes were pulled out of their shelves and laid on the table.
“This is supposed to contain everything Lincoln ever wrote or said,” McCall turned to the index volume. “Now look for Catholic. Now try Rome. Now try Pope. Now try Papacy.”
Robert looked. There was nothing. There were two short letters in which Lincoln repudiated rumors that he belonged to the Know Nothing party. Nothing about Rome or the Pope or Catholicism.
“If you can find any such statement by Lincoln in any authenticated work in the Chicago Public Library, in any library, or in any original document, I’ll believe you,” said McCall.
“No, that’s unnecessary,” said Robert. “It’s a standard work. It would be of such tremendous importance, any statement like that, that it would undoubtedly appear in any standard collection of letters and addresses. It would be of such importance that it would appear in our histories. No, you’re right, Bill.” There was a lump in his throat. “Can you forgive me? I am——”
“No, you won’t resign yet,” said McCall, “there are certain lies about the Jews. Father Callahan could probably answer most of them, I could answer some, but I am going to take you to Levin’s. Levin’s father is a rabbi.”
“No,” said Robert, “it’s not necessary.”
“Yes, you’re going.”
“Of course, there is one thing,” broke in the priest with a smile, “there is no one body that represents the Jews as the Holy See represents Catholicism. There are Zionist Jews and anti-Zionist Jews, orthodox and reformed, German and Russian and Polish and Hungarian and English. There is no one conference that all the rabbis attend. In other words, the Jews are not a unit as the Catholics are. I could point out what the Baltimore council said, and that meant the official attitude of the Catholic church. There is no such official office of the Jews. There is no Jewish pope, in other words, who could state the position of all Jews about anything. Take the ridiculous charge that they plan the overthrow of all governments. Every Jew would deny it, but there is no central Jewish authority that you could consult.”
“That’s all right, father,” said McCall. “Levin’s father is one of the orthodox rabbis. He still wears a skull cap. Hestill keeps the old dietary rules. He is a Zionist. He belongs to a lodge that represents the most Jewish of the Jews of Chicago. If he can’t tell you what Jews are thinking about and what their ideas and ideals are, nobody else can.”
The priest shook hands with them, made a passing allusion to the joy that attends the recovery of one sheep that has strayed from the fold, and invited them to come again.