‘The Blight of Popery’

FROM The Bulwark or Reformation Journal, Edinburgh, 1851, i. 41–3. The Reformation Journal was established in Scodand in June 1851 following the national excitement over ‘Papal Aggression’. Its popularity led to simultaneous mon thly publications in London and Dublin. The editorial board was composed largely of Scottish Free-churchmen, and its editor until 1872 was Dr James Begg, author of the Handbook of Popery. The Ref ormation was typical of the anti-Catholic journalism of its day: it was filled with articles on the Inquisition, the evils of convent life, alleged Papal designs against British Protestantism, and so on. This article, ‘The Blight of Popery’ from the first number, was subtitled ‘The True interests of man and of society, especially in reference to the religious, social and political bearings of Popery’. It explored the popular thesis that Catholicism was inimical to liberal government, national prosperity, and human dignity.