THE CAREER OF A RECKLESS AND UNHAPPY WOMAN.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIII, Issue 26, 23 October 1885, Page 19

THE CAREER OF A RECKLESS AND UNHAPPY WOMAN.

(Boston Pilot, Nov. 5, 1881.)

Wk regret to be called on once more in the Pilot to expose the sin and misery of even the God-fomken ; but the evil they may do in their headlong course compels the stern duty. We should prefer toleave the wretched woman, Edith CGorman, to her natural lnsignificance ; but we have evidence of late that, in several English cities she has caused bitter sectional animosities. ' Early in the spring of 1871, fUming show-bills announcing a, lecture by an " escaped " nun, appeared in Madison, New Jersey. This was Edith O Gorman's first performance. She made her dcWct before the scum and rabble of that city, with a story of convent horrors much more moderate, however, than her present fiery doses A highly venerated priest, named Darcy, beloved and honoured for his many virtues by the whole community, had died a few month* before her arrival. She knew that the least breath to the injury of his spotless character would arouse the violence of his numberless personal friends. With this conviction she devoted the greater part of her harangue to the aspersion of the fair fame of ibis dead priest The body of the priest had bern expos d before burial, and publicly interred in the presence of hundreds among whom be tud ministered But the " escaped nun," whom ihe Evangelical papers then called very properly " another Luther," declared he was still living, and had fled from the country on account of enm >s which seemed endless in their repetition. Tae experiment was a succ -s*. The goal at which she arrived was won : she was trai eformed into a victim of religious 1 persecution, and began to flu it on a wave of popularity. A few incidents of her career, imm diat.ly preceding her first appearance, will tend to show her character. We fiud her in a convent at Paterson, N.J., where her disedifying life nearly led to her expulsion. Through the kindness of the Superior, she was Bpared the extreme punishment ; but for her correction she was removed to the Orphan Asylum at Huboken. Here she incuired the frequent displeasure of the Superioress, and was often reprimanded Her convent life, at last, came to an end in a manner in keeping with her former course. She was detected late at night in one of the halls nnder suspicious circumstances. When discovered, she pleaded somnambulism as an excuse. But this hypocrisy was not successful, and Edith O Gorman fled to avoid expulsion. As the New Y*rk Sun remarked on her first appearance as a lecturer—" She thought a convent a good and ho y place till summoned by the « Mother' to come to Madison, m order to explain the circumstances, when she fled to Philadelphia. After leaving the convent she obtained money in the name of the Superioress, from Sadher and Co., the Catholic pub lishers of New York, under false pretences. This certainly sustains ncr character as an honest woman." she alludes to this crime in one of the letters which she wrote, after her flight, to the Superioress and which we append for tbe special pleasure of those who applauded this moral heroine. The remorse that prompted this woman to write the following letters must earn for her wretchedness a pity that will soften tht condemnation for her sin. Shb craved for re-admission to the borne of purity she had sullied ; but the guardians of that borne knew her nature well, and they knew that they could not take her back amo D e the spotless ones who peacefully followed the pathway they bad chosen. She had not fortitude nor religion enough to bear her nx> against a refusal, but, like a baffled wild auimal, she dashes her«elf agaimtthe rock of innocence that had cast her off .v S a v Ma ? 9th - 1868 - Edith O'Gorman wrote from Philadelphia to the Mother Superior as follows :—: — "Dear Mother,— l humbly requst of you to writ* to me before next Tuesday, whether I will be received or not. My money i» nearly gone, and I have no work now ; therefore, I shall be obliged

to do something. I will not stay here. I will go to my brother and sister. Sister Julianna toli me my sister Mary was to see me, and that you told her about me. As long as my friends know of my misfortune I will go to them, if you will not take me back, and I will tiy my best to make restitution. But, dear Mother, 1 will never again be happy. Oh, I hope and pray you will take me a^ain into my only home wherein I can be saved. Please write to me dear Mother, by Tueslay, and let me know my fate before my money is all gone. This I know you will do, for Christ's sake, if not for mine.

' I have well paid the penalty of my madness by all I have Buffered. I have tued to recall to my mind whether I went to Badher s, as you said. I cannot remember it, Mother. Still Imi 'ht have gone to him, for I was desperate and crazy I remember nothing until I asked the poor girl 1 picked up to show me where lurgis lived. If I remembered going there, Mother, I would certainly »el >ou, becaube I am truly sinceie, and would publicly confess all my sins be i ore ihe whole community. " I have told you, as well as I remember them, all the particulars of my terrible misfortune. I don't know why I left, for 1 never was unhappy in my holy vocation. I had no cause for going. If I was in my right mind I never would have gone in the manner I did No, Mother, this is true. I can hardly realise what I have done Sometimes 1 thmk it is a drtam. I wish it were. I will suffer any mortification and humiliation if you will take me again on trial. My whole life will be one of the greatest humility, for I shall always know and feel that I shall never again be trusted. Write to me dear, dear Mother, and relieve me of the anxiety I am in, and may God bless you always. I know you pity me. If you do not, place yourself in my position for a moment, and see what misery I am in Yours sincerely in Christ,

" Dk Chaxtal." (The name assumed by this woman in religion.) Three weeks later, Edith O'Gorman wrote the following letter : - „_ „ , kC , "Philadelphia, May 31, 1868. «. v uL /? the '>-£ fter leaving Madison, I went, as you directed, to Father McQaa.d. He sai.l, ' I will consider it, and you will bear my deciMon.' I remained all night at the asylum. I told Sister Julianna my unfoitunate aioiy. On Saturday moraine I saw t c Bibhop. He said, 'l will speak to Motte-, aud if an thm* can be done for jou I will do it.' I left Newark for Philadelphia iv the halt-past ten tiain ; I did not go to the listers in Newark •" *£"'* my , d f ar . Mot , h f ' whllst ram wri^"g this to you, I see you in the deai holy chap.jl (from wbi-h I am esclud.d in pumshment of my sins), in your charity, praying the holy Christ to direct you what to do wuh the unfortunate prodigal who, in a moment of madness and despair, abandoned your kind care, and the holy peaceful retreat of my He tvenly Father's house, out of which I have never had a peaceful, happy moment. Yet 'He that willeth not the death of a sinner, but that he be converted and live ' has in His infinite mercy, inspired me to return again, and like the prodigal, beg to be received as one of His hired servants, because I am no longer worthy to be called His child, much less His spouse. Yes, dear Mother, I am ready to undergo any humiliation or mortification that it may please Almighty God to inflict upon me, and will deem them all too light to atoue for my terrible " I resign myself to the will of God, and will cheerfully accept whatever He ordains for me, whether lam received or not If lam not received again into His household, I will str.ve to do penance in the world and will nuke every endeavour to make restitution Whereas, if it is His divine pleasure to receive me once more as His Tfi S H' m,l y r hOl l g ? Ce ' BtnVe t0 edl^ more than I have disedified Mother, lam indeed sincere in this, else I never woul 1 have Father McQuaid hUmillation of Bealn^ ?**> ™ the Bishop, aud

With fear and tremblitg, yet with resignation, I await the decision upon wh.ch, perhaps, my salvation depends. Will you Mother, please write to me the answer as soon as you have come to a conclusion? Sincerely your most humble, sinful, yet repeating child, and sister in chanty, pcunug "Da Chantal." The next letter we have from Miss O'Gorman is as follows •_ „r, „.. T,, „, " Ea9t Greenwich, June 13. 1868. Dear Mother,— l left Philadelphia on Wednesday I feu very uneasy aud worried abuut ray parents, so I thought I would see them and thus relieve their minds -f any uneasiness they mi<>ht have on my account. I am thankful I did; for their hearts were broken with doubt in regard to ray fate. I told them I was not in my ri-ht mind 1 told the lady with wbom I boarded that if any letter should come there for me to burn it. v

'Another reason why I could not remain there was, my money was nearly gone; I did not have enough to p,y another week's board. Wi 1 you please write to me, dear Motherland let me know *vhat conclusion y»u have come to in regaid to taking me back T assure you dear Mother, I can never be happy unless m rel.-W Irv, dear Mothe., and do all you cau for me, tor my salvation depends* upon it You know I was not mmy nght mind when I left m happy home I will devo'e my whole life to penance and humil.u I cannot think or going to another community, because I feel I cm only be unhappy there If you receive me, I will, dear Mother with God s holy grace, hirive to atone by an humble life, for the scandal I tuue given. ' L

•Do not blame me Mother, for coming home. 1 would never have come near my fueiMß, only bi-ter Juhauna told me my sister was theie to see me. Take me back, Mother ; if not for my soul's sake at least for God's sa^e. Pray for me, dear Mother, oh, pray ferveutlv for your wicked, uufortunate child. y "Jivcuuy „„ a tv •■ i " SISTER DED E CHANTAL. • J Pf-T^'rect your letter to Miss Edith O'Gorman, Kabt Greenwich, Rhode Island.

No comparison need be made by us between these letters and the recent tir.de. .f Edith O'Gorman in New England? We wonder

not, that in a great city she should have many hearers ; but we would wonder if after having read these epistles, any respectable person or journal could withhold decided condemnation of such a lecturer or such " lecturers."

The above letters appeared in the iV. Y. Sun in 1871, which paper summarised her whole career as follows :— " From tae »c letters it will be seen that the story of Mi«g O Gorman • wonderful escape from the nuns and the priests was a sort of • Irish retiracy '-that she was willing to submit to a .y humiliation in order to be taken back -that she even left Philadelphia after writing the first letter above quoted, and went to the Sisterhood a t Madison, then to Father McQuaid, then to the Bishop himself, humiliating herself, and supplicating to be taken back. After Deing refused a readmission into the Sisterhood, on account of what had transpired at Hoboken, Miss O'Gorman went down to Jersey City .and we next hear of her in an editor's office, where she was founl by the editorial better-half. The incensed wife of the editor hand.cd her roughly, notwubstanding the editor declared she was only helping him to 'read proof.' Mias O'Gorman, lectures in Paterson this evening, and is making money out of her vengeful campaign agaiust a bisterhood from which she has been excluded forever " It is not necessary to follow the devious career of a vulgar adventuress farther than the above ; but it is just as well, once for all, to have done with ' Miss ' O'Gorman. a ,- The J B°tt01?B ° tt01 ? poat of January 8, 1872. stated that at a lecture delivered by the " Escaped Nun," in the Boston Theatre, Madame Parepa Rosa, Mr. Sotheru, and Mr. Frank Mayo were present in one of the boxes, and that <• Madame Parepa especiilly seemed to highly enjoy the lecture, judging from the hearty applause freely given.' The fol owing statement, which speaks fur itself, was next day sent to the Pilot, by the business m mager of the Boston theatre • — ''The paragraph in the Pilot concerning the ' Escaped Nun ' at the Boston theatre was founded on an item which the versatile business manager of that deluded young woman furnished the Port. 5 ?f-*u a^/? a RR ° 9a Waß inciucid b 7b 7 curiosity to learn whether M S3 Edith O Gorman wis the same ■ Escaped tfun ' that became an object of interest in a New York hotel, by promenading the p i8 *ice. ways in her night-clot >es ; and although in a box, with her husband Madame R was not visible to any of the audience. Mr. Sothern who was also mentioned, retired in dLsgust before the lecture was half over ; and it is due him to mention thtt before the lecture be<*an he expr-ssed l his opinion very strongly against the propriety 3 of allowing such an exhibition as was aunouueed. Mr Frank Alavo speaks tor himself elsewhere. The wrong done the artists named above was for the purpose of making capital and giving piesuse to a palpable swindle. Mr. Frauk Mayo also wrote to the Pilot, declaring that the statement in the Post (furnished by E lith O'Gorman's a^ent, as seen ab-ve) was an abs ,lute falsehood. Mr. Mayo says--" t did not occupy a seat in Madame Parepa'a box, but in the rear of the theatre with two male companions, who, like myself, excued by mere curiosity, such as would attract us to listen to any sensational rubbish •o much talked of, and so far was I from applauding, that the only impiession left wuh me at us conclusion was ihdt I ha 1 been listemne Alm^ht^Gocr' m ° re Intereßt ia the alm 'g ht 7 dollar than in the (Fiom the Minneapolis (Minn.) Nen-t, republisbed in the Pilot May 4, 1872.; >o man bat a right to beat and maltreat any woman unless she is his wife. In s ,me countries this ia a proposition of the organic law. In this country, althougn the practice is observed to some extent, we beueve it is condemned by the statute in most States and the usages of Society. The little differences that arise in family life can usually be settled without the resort to arms and blows ; of course a. man reserves his right, when the statute allows it, of whipping his wile^-oruetimes, whether tnere be provocition or not. " Without entering into any argument to ascertain upon what bag s of legal or moral principles a man whipped his wife to-day we piopore to state upou th- most reliable authority the following facts •— " Miss Kditn O'Gorman is stopping at the Nicollet, room 49 although ber name does not appear on the register. The r, eister shows an entry on Tues lay last of the name of ' Prof. Auffiay and wife, which includes Miss O'Gorm m, rooming as aforesaid. " Prof. Auffiay 'is a large, middle-aged man, with a'fair complexion, beautitul black hair and moustache, and he wears a heavy cloctk and bilk hat. He has altogether a distinguished air about him and one would suppose him to be either a railroad president or a senator He rooms with Miss fidith, and ia suppled to be her husbanl. rr

" Miss B ith is not allowed to come down to her meals nor to leave the room on any pretext, except to lecture at the Academy of Mumc. On one or two occasions tenants of the Nicollet, rooming in the vicinity of ' 49,' have heard a disturbance in that room, and have been satisfied that somebody has been maltreated. " To-day about noon these noises occurred again, and mingled with them were the screams of ihe woman, and blow after blow and entreaty after entreaty for meicy. fbe ladies atiempte tan entrance but were denied, and the disturbance ceased. The brute Aufiray was evideut.y engaged in beating Mi-g O Gorman, whether upon provocation or not, makes no difference. There are various lumora afloat concerning the matter whicti we do not choose to print. The above however, are f tuts upon which Auff ray sbould be arrested. ' " We sbould think withsucn tieatm.-nt in domestic life, thit Mias O tror.nan woul I infinitely prefer a convent with alias attendant horrors as she depicts them. We have no idea that these lines will ever leach her eyes." As we have said above, we would ever avoid heaping infamy on the humiliated, or exposing the depravity of the wicked. We would gladly refrain from this course with regard to fidith O'Gorman but it is ueceasarv to prove from her own bitter words that she was humi-hated—-deeply—.is deeply as such a nature could be ; and we know also from the wild venom of her present course, that she is God-forsaken and reckless. She is advertised oa the blank walls as '• the beautiful and accomplished escaped nnn." With her remorseful letters now

before us, and with the knowledge of those flaming posters on the walls, what feeling can be entertained for the wretched woman hemmed in by her own truth and her lies, but one of the deepest commiseration f We ask those newspapers that hare been deceived by this wretched woman, to publish these facts.

(Lord Archibald Douglas in the London Universe.) " In the same number she (O'Gorman) said the writer of the article was very ignorant never to have heard of the great O'Gorman trials— that she had brought a great action and gained it. I give her own words, signed by her own hand : ' One °f l ne most celebrated lawsuits of the time was Edith O Gorman s gTeat case in the Courts of San Francisco, California in June, 1872, when she brought suit against the Jesuits for libel. Judge Jyondebar.h was the Judge of the court; her counsel, Judge Tylerewnsel for the Jesuits, Cols. Dudley and Barnes, well-known lawyers tbronghout the United States. The Jesuits, knowing Edith O'Gorman to be four thousand miles from New Jersey, where ehe Jived a nun bribed sixteen men to perjure themselves by swearing her to be a woman named Fanny Woodward, and not Edith O'Gorman at all God raised up friends for her in a straDge city, in the person of four Jadies from Providence, 8.1., who knew her and her family intimately Two of the ladies were schoolmates of hers, one of them her bosom friend before she entered the convent. The testimony of these ladies and two gentlemen from Australia who had known the woman Fanny Woodward for sixteen years before, brought confusion on the Jesuits who were fined Beven thousand dollars for libel aad fifteen thousand dollars for perjury, etc' " The following week I reproduced these words of hers, with these telegrams : From To Rev. Lord Douglas, Chief Police Harrow Road San Francisco. London. Did Edith O'Gorman ten years since bring and gain libel action against Jesuits 1 ' From To P. ( rosby, Bey. Lord Douglas Chief Police, Harrow Road, San Francisco. London. Neither action nor judgment against Jesuits. Her answei to this is lame to a degree. She says now the action was against some men who were tools of the Jesuits. Such an explanation needs no further comment.— l am, yours faithfully, Archibald Douglas." (From the Coventry Herald.) "The rabid Protestant is well known, and neither intelligence nor charity is his strong point. Nor is the rabid Protestant a favorite public entertainer. For 300 years and more the English people have been hearing about the corruptions of the Church of Rome, yet the Church of Rome continues to present a fairly respectable front to the world, nor are its priests generally reckoned immoral hypocrites Yet this is the account of the matter given b> Miss O'Gorman Miss O'Gorman is probably wrong. She has had her quarrel with Roman Catholic authorities, and her own account of herself is not the Roman Catholic account. Miss O'Gorman on the surface does not strike one as an engaging person, and it is not difficult to imagine that her ' escape ' was facilitated by all the inmates of the convent including the Superior. A woman who appeals to the prurient curiosity of her own sex by sensational lectures on tbe Confessional— holding out the prospect of ' astonishing revelations ' to all who will pay to hear— can hardly be politely characterised. There are no worse enemies of Protestantism than the vulgar slanderers of the Church of Rome."

We may add that on a visit paid by this poor unfortunate creature to Boston, the Pilot published its sketch of her miserable career quoting her letters, and promising to produce the originals if a legal action, which the editor courted, were taken. But Edith, or Biddy as she was more commonly called, held her tonsue and took noaction

The Earl of Kilmorey will move in the next session of Parliament for tbe abolition of the Lord Lieutenancy in Ireland A danger to Catholics in Scotland is feared to follow in the wake of the recently passed Scotch Secretary Bill. It i 3i 3 Ba id that a demand will be made for a Scottish Minister for Education the granting of which demand would entrust the management of scnools in Scotland to a bigoted anti-Catholic clique in Edinburgh From this party harsh treatment would, it is believed, be meted out to Catholic schools in the country, and another difficulty would be ad-^frfto the many Catholics in Scotland have already to contend against. In the Idsb Parliamentary party those concerned ia this matter would, no doubt, find good friends ; aud if advantage be not taken of this opportunity of putting their grievance before Parliament, when the time arrives for action the managers of the Catholic schools will have themselves to blame. — Nation.

New York, August 14.— The Times' Montreal special says — Father Andre states that " all Canada is proud of Midaleion's success and that of the Volunteers, but I must say, at the risk of shocking many whom I love and esteem, that the army dishonored themselves by the shameful pillage which they committed, notwithstanding the General's proclamation to the contrary. Ido nut speak from hearsay but from positive facts. I have seveial times inspected the district aroani Batouche, and I can affirm that for a distance of twenty-five miles all the houses on the south bank of the Saskatchewan were sacked and plundered, and over twenty of them burned and razed io the ground. The General w s humane and kind, but be assisted by hit impassivity all the pillaging around him, despite his proclamation Indeed, as if to encourage others, he himselt appropriated a fine horse ■ad vahicle belonging to one Manuel Champagne."