The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1874-12-02
Romanism and Crime.

The tendency of Romanism to foster social
degradation and crime is Strikingly eVi
denced by recent parliamentary return
which has been published with reference to
criminals in Scotland, and by which it is
shown that in that country criminals be,
longing to the Romish Church are out of all
proportion to the whole number. The fol-
lowing are the facts which appear in the re-
turn: "0f the Romish population in Scot
land the criminals are over 81 per 1000;
among the whole of the rest of the popula
ton the proportion is only little over per
1,000-that is, Romanism in Scotland pro-
duces, in proportion to the number of its
adherents, more than FIVE times the amount
of crime which is produced by the same pro-
portion of all the rest of the population. If
crime among the Romanists iD Scotland were
at the same rate as among the rest of the
population, the number of their prisoners
ought to be only 1920 But it is 1910;
thus giving 1920 in excess of what it ought
to be, compared with others. Of Roman
Catholi,s in Scotland, in every 27 is a
criminal prisoner. Of the rest of the popu-
lation, it is only in every 1872"
The criminal statistics of other countries
are equally strong in the evidence which
they afford of the disproportionate prevalence
of crime among Roman Catholic populations.
Thus the criminal statistics of various coun-
tries, papal and Protestant, collected in 1852
by Rev. Hobart Seymour, relative to muir
der, show the following results: In Roman
Cstl Ole Ireland the murders are 19 in the
million; in Roman Catholic France, 81 in
the million; in Roman Catholic Belgium, Is
in the million; in Roman Catholic Austria,
sc in the million; in Roman Catholic Ba.
varia, 80 in the million; in Roman Catholic
Italy, rs in the million; in Protestant Eng
land, in the million. Mr. Seymour, writ
ing in 1869, adds in a note: The past year
gives still more horrible figure for the pa
pal States and for Italy, In the papal
States the number of murders reported by
the French police at Rome is at the rate of
1877 in the million. while in the rest of Italy
they were Ill in the million. These fig
ures," Mr.. Seymour observes, "are eloquent.
If it be said that this vast amount of crime
is to be attributed to bad governments and
defective institutions, it seems strange that
such defects should be peculiar to Roman
Catholic countries and the remark is doubly
applicable to the papal States. In these ter
ritories the whole government is in the hands
of the head of the Church of Rome; yet
these laws, these wretched institutions, which
admit of this frightful amount of murder,
are all the creation of the Popes themselves.
On the same subject letter was written,
not long before his death, by the late Dean
of Canterbury, after spending some time in
Rome, aud carefully studying the Holy
City," as it is preposterously styled by Ro
manists, which puts the whole matter in
nutshell. "Here," said the Dean, "we have
the most absolute monarch in the world, rul-
ing capital by no means large, with nu-
merous staff of military and police, and be-
sides assisted by 10000 French troops
And besides this we have here a people
whose state, physical, moral and intellectual,
is the result of accumulated centuries of