Life, 1910-12-01 · page 41 of 108
Life — December 1, 1910 — page 41: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is part of a serialized satirical feature titled "The Memoirs of Columbia" (No. 4), where "Columbia"—the personified United States—recounts her historical experiences. The illustration depicts a colonial-era dinner scene with religious and political figures. The text references Lord Baltimore of Maryland and his Catholic chaplain, who allegedly treated the narrator with tolerance despite doctrinal differences—specifically regarding the "Creed of Athanasius" (an early Christian theological statement). The satire targets Catholic anxiety about American pluralism: the joke is that Rome might view Maryland Catholics' hospitality toward different beliefs as dangerously "Americanist"—a real theological controversy where the Vatican feared American Catholics were compromising doctrine for democratic inclusivity. The cartoon illustrates early American religious tolerance as something that would have alarmed the Vatican, contrasting American pragmatism with rigid European ecclesiastical authority.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE MEMOIRS OF COLUMBIA No. 4 “THE PAPIST GENTRY OF MARYLAND, HOWBEIT I REPRESENTED THE NEW DOCTRINES, RECEIVED ME IN A BROADER SPIRIT THAN A RIGID ADHERENCE TO THE CREED OF ATHANASIUS COULD HAVE ALLOWED; IN FACT, MY LORD BALTIMORE AND HIS CHAPLAIN HUNG OVER ME AT DINNER WITH A SOLICITUDE THAT THE VATICAN MIGHT HAVE REPREHENDED AS “LEANINGS TOWARD AMERICANISM,’ HAD THE REPORT OF IT REACHED ROME.” (To be continued)