Those Sneaky Jesuits!

I love this cartoon so much. It’s from 1873, by C.S. Reinhart, and shows a Jesuit telegraphing government secrets from the confessional to Rome, where they’re used to something something UNDERMINE AMERICA! “The Unseen Signal of the Jesuits”!

The Popish Octopus

Political cartoons are located somewhere between bonobo chimp vocalizations and bathroom graffiti on the spectrum of self-expression, and anti-Catholic cartoons are no exception. They tend to traffic in a few shopworn motifs to convey their contempt for Romish sorts, and the octopus makes regular appearances. This has the benefit of requiring no particular thought or…