76 PERILS. — ROMANISM. 



Cyclopedia of Education '" ^ 1877, in its article on Illiter- 

 acy, gives a table containing the statistics of thirty coun- 

 tries. Of these, five are starred as " nearly free from il- 

 literacy," and all of them are Protestant. The highest 

 percentage of illiteracy given for any Protestant coun- 

 try in the world is thirty-three. In all those countries 

 where fifty per cent, or more are illiterate the religion is 

 Roman Catholic, Greek or heathen, viz. : Argentine Re- 

 public, eighty-three per cent.; China, fifty per cent.; 

 Greece, eighty-two per cent. ; Hungary, fifty-one ; India, 

 ninety-five; Italy, seventy-three; Mexico, ninety-three; 

 Poland, ninety-one; Russia, ninety-one; Spain, eighty. 

 Here, six Roman Catholic countries, including Italy, the 

 home of the Pope, where until recent years, the church 

 has had undisputed sway, are far more illiterate than 

 heathen China. Touching the education of the masses 

 — except in Protestant countries as explained above— 

 we are forced to infer either the indifl:erence or the in- 

 competence of the Church of Rome, 



We have made a brief comparison of some of the fun- 

 damental principles of Romanism with those of the 

 Republic. And, 



1. We have seen the supreme sovereignty of the Pope 

 opposed to the sovereignty of the people. 



2. We have seen tliat the commands of the Pope, instead 

 of the constitution and laws of the land, demand the high- 

 est allegiance of Roman Catholics in the United States. 



3. We have seen that the alien Romanist who seeks 

 citizenship swears true obedience to the Pope instead of 

 * ' renouncing forever all allegiance to any foreign prince, 

 potentate, state or sovereignty," as required by our laws. 



4. We have seen that Romanism teaches religious in- 

 tolerance instead of religious liberty. 



5. We have seen that Rome demands the censorship of 

 ideas and of the press, instead of the freedom of the 

 press and of speech. 



1 Edited by Henrj^ Kiddle and Alexander J. Schem, Superintendent and 

 Assistant Superintendent of Public Schools, New York City. 



