THE DOWNFALL OF BABYLON, New York, Nov. 14, 1835

• Anti-Catholic publication

A quite rare & unusual weekly (later semi-monthly) newspaper with strong anti-Catholic leanings published by: "Samuel B. Smith, Late a Popish Priest", as noted in the dateline. This newspaper published from 1834-1839 & features an engraving in the masthead showing various churches in ruin and a subtitle: "Or, the Triumph of Truth Over Popery".
The front page has: "On the Moral Corruption of the Popish Hierarchy, Monks, Nuns, and People", a continuing article.
One of the more sensational stories exploited in later issues of this newspaper was "The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk", a story of a nun which revealed that the nunnery at the Hotel Dieu in Montreal was little more than a harem for the use of the local priesthood. Maria Monk's story was filled with sensational detail of secret entrances, underground tunnels, prisons & even a mass grave for the babies born of illicit liaisons. Her eventual escape from the nunnery allowed her to tell the story.
But her story was entirely untrue, & Maria Monk had very little to do with writing it. Works of anti-Catholic literature were widely available in the first half of the 19th century. When Maria Monk's book was published it met an audience that was predisposed to accept the fantastic story she presented. Ultimately contradictions and falsehoods were discovered that proved her story to be a hoax.
Complete in four pages, 10 by 12 inches, nice condition.

Background: This issue of The Downfall of Babylon (November 14, 1835) is an exceptionally rare piece of antebellum ephemera, surviving from a short-lived publication (1834–1839) that stands among the most notorious examples of 19th-century American Nativist propaganda. Edited by self-proclaimed former priest Samuel B. Smith, its content features sensationalist features like "On the Moral Corruption of the Popish Hierarchy, Monks, Nuns, and People" alongside a dramatic masthead engraving depicting destroyed Catholic churches with the subtitle "Or, the Triumph of Truth Over Popery." Most historically notable is its role in fanning the flames of the infamous Maria Monk scandal shortly before her fabricated expose Awful Disclosures was printed as a standalone book in early 1836. Because publications of this fringe, highly volatile nature had small original press runs and were rarely preserved in public institutional archives, complete issues remaining in clean, four-page condition are extraordinarily difficult to find on the modern antiquarian market.