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The Late Liz is the true story of Gert Behanna, a rich and miserable society woman. A hopeless alcoholic with three divorces and a son who disowned her, she came to the end, but through the Gospel, found a new beginning.
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ithdraw your suit against Chiniquy; we are
lost; he knows all." That was how a lawsuit against him for slander in
Illinois ended, according to a book written by Charles Chiniquy after
he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church. Abe Lincoln had represented
him, and Charles made what seem to most to be grandiose claims about their
friendship (although there is a letter of uncertain worth from Lincoln's
son confirming a close relationship). According to his autobiography, Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, Lincoln shared religious confidences
with Chiniquy that even the future president's intimate friends never
heard. Charles also claimed that he warned the future president that the
Jesuits would revenge themselves on him. Untold numbers of Americans believed
Charles' allegations that Lincoln's assassination was a Catholic plot--all
because Lincoln had defended Chiniquy.
Few people remember the name of Charles Chiniquy today. However, at a
time when Catholic immigration was altering the balance of political power
in the United States, his writings helped fuel a furious tide of anti-Catholic
resentment. Protestants had many legitimate concerns and Chiniquy played
on them.
Born in French Canada, Charles lost his father at a young age. An uncle
took him in. The boy studied to become a priest, but his behavior was
so bad (say Catholic sources) that his uncle renounced him. There was
a sexual scandal. Catholic leaders moved Charles around in attempts to
give him fresh chances. He became a powerful and effective temperance
speaker. However, he continued to get into private trouble. Instead of
being ousted from the priesthood as he should have been, he was permitted
to transfer to Illinois.
Bishop Bourget wrote him a cautionary letter: "(1) take strict precautions
in your relations with persons of the opposite sex; (2) avoid carefully
all that might savor of ostentation, and the desire to attract attention;
simplicity is so beautiful and lovable a virtue; (3) pay to the priests
of the country the honor due to their ministry; the glory of God is the
best recompense of an apostolic man."
In Illinois, Charles defended the Catholic church in public debate. However,
he did not heed the bishop's advice. He slandered opponents and defied
his bishop. When brought to trial for slander--the case in which Lincoln
took a part in his defense--a woman who was to have testified about Charles'
unwelcome sexual advances backed out at the last moment. The case was
withdrawn. Charles painted it as a huge victory for himself.
After the Catholic church expelled him, Charles became a Presbyterian.
(His relations with Chicago Presbyterians were not trouble-free, but six
years before his death, they made him an honorary Doctor of Divinity.)
As an evangelist, he agitated against the Church of Rome. Notables such
as Dwight L. Moody corresponded with him and used him for background information
on the Roman Church. Chiniquy's autobiography presented his own behavior
in a heroic light and the behavior of all priests and bishops in disgraceful
terms. The public lapped it up.
His autobiography reads like a work of self-promotion. Many of its allegations
are doubtful to say the least. As for Lincoln's assassination, the evidence
simply is not there. When Charles died in Montreal on January 16, 1899,
he left behind him a legacy of untruth in the name of faith that lives
on, for his claims are still trotted out as ammunition against the Roman
Church. His genuine concerns were lost in the rhetoric of his overstatements.
Resources
- Chiniquy, Charles P. Fifty Years in the Church of Rome. London:
R. Banks & son, 1911.
- Communication from Richard Lougheed, who has studied Chiniquy in detail.
Lougheed says that it appears Chiniquy's conversion was real and that
his polemics were a reaction to continual attacks and slanders from
the Roman Church, including numerous threats on his life and many dangerous
riot situations that he escaped.
- Duff, John J. A. Lincoln, Prairie-Lawyer. New York: Bramhall
House, 1960; pp 329, 330.
- Eisenschmiml, Otto. In the Shadow of Lincoln's Death. New
York: Wilfred Funk, Inc., 1940; pp.25, 26.
- Lougheed, K. Richard. "Chiniquy, Charles (Pascal Télesphore)"
in The Blackwell Dictionary of Evangelical Biography : 1730-1860; edited by Donald M. Lewis. Oxford ; Cambridge, Mass. : Blackwell
Publishers, 1995.
- Seville, George Hugh. "Charles Chiniquy." [Series drawn
largely from Chiniquy's autobiography]. The Sunday School Times, October, 1953.
- "Who Was Charles Chiniquy: Facts Versus Falsehood." (http://www.geocities.com/chiniquy/)
[has a wide range of material from a Catholic point of view]
- Wolf, William J. Lincoln's Religion. Philadelphia: Pilgrim
Press, 1970 edition; p 26.
- Various other internet sites.
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