Ed Butler is a full-fledged Catholic and believes in Catholicism twenty-four hours each day. By the way, it may be necessary for us to refresh the readers’ mind of the fact that Ed Butler of St. Louis, Mo., is considered one of the most high-handed “boodlers” in America, and who has had a number of his “dupes” placed in the state penitentiary and kept himself out of the same institution by a “technicality.” But to go back to the point that we wanted to make, we will just say that a Catholic priest in the City of St. Louis by the name of Coffey had a falling out with Butler over some thing or another, and in order to get even with him he took sides against Butler and said many harsh but true things about him. One day a reporter of one of the St. Louis newspapers met Butler and called his attention to what Priest Coffey had said about him, and the only answer that Butler gave this reporter was: “Father Coffey is a Catholic priest and I have nothing to say, and if he should spit in my face I would not resent the action, as I was born and raised a Catholic, and do not believe that a Catholic priest can commit a sin.”
Now, if a man of Ed Butler’s intellect can be brought up in this land of intelligence to believe such abominations in regard to a Catholic priest, is it not reasonable to suppose that the female members of the Catholic Church would have a severe task in defending their virtue should a priest desire to destroy it, by telling them “that no act of his could defile them, as it was impossible for him to sin?”
Now, reader, you may not know just what kind of treatment from the Catholic Church I will receive for writing this book, but as soon as it is placed upon the market the Catholic Church will “excommunicate” me; however, it may be possible that the reader does not understand what a horrible curse this excommunication is, but in order that you may thoroughly understand what I mean I will repeat, word for word, what some Catholic official will declare against me for writing this book, which will further go to show the reader the vileness of this damnable creed, and which will also go to convince the reader what fear the followers of Catholicism have of the priestcraft, which will more fully convince you that timid, unsuspecting woman, who has been brought up to believe in the paganism of Catholicism, can be easily led to yield to the lustful desires of the priestcraft, for fear that by refusing his request that he would pronounce this terrible curse upon her, which she has been taught would forever damn her eternal soul.
The curse of excommunication which I am certain to receive at the hands of Catholicism for writing this book follows: