The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-06-19 00:00:00

TILE INQUISITION AT ROME.

A few weeks since we copied from a daily paper an ac-
count, supplied by its Roman correspondent, of some
extraordinary discoveries made in the office of the inqui-
sition at Rome. We are now put in possession by the
same journal, of the following " Memorial regarding the
Tribunal of the Holy Office at the time of its suppression
in Feb. 1849 ;" to which we invite the undivided atten-
tion of our readers :

" In consequence of a decree of the Roman Constituent
Assembly, by which the 'suppression of the tribunal of
the holy office was resolved, the government ordered, that
the Fathers of the Dominican order then inhabiting that
vast locality should remove to the convent called Della
Minerva, the chief seat of their order. They were in
number eight, exercising the functions of commissary,
chancellor, &c. The doors were then carefully sealed by
the Roman notary Caggiotti, to prevent the abstraction of
any object, and a keeper was appointed to the premises.
These precautions taken, the inventory was commenced.
The first place visited was the ground floor of the edifice,
where were the prisons, and the stables, coach-houses,
kitchen, cellars, and other conveniences for the use of the
assessor and father inquisitors. This part of the build-
ing was to be immediately prepared for the reception of
the civic artillery with the train belonging to it.
Some few doors were opened in the walls and part of a
pavement raised : in this operation human bones were,
found, and a trap door discovered, which induced a reso-
lution to make excavations in certain spots pointed cut by
persons well acquainted with the locality. Digging very
deep in one place, a great number of human skeletons
were found, some of them placed so close together, and
so amalgamated with lime, that no bone could be moved
without being broken. In the roof of another subter-
ranean chamber a large ring was found fixed. It is sup-
posed to have been used in administering the torture. It
still remains there. Along the whole length of this same
rcom some staps, rather broad, were attached to the wall
—these probably served for the prisoners to sit or recline
on. In a third underground room *as found a quantity
of very black rich earth, intermingled with human hair ;
here, also, human bones were found. In this dungeon, a
trap-door was formed in the thickness of the wall which
opened into a passage in the flat above, leading to the
room where examinations were conducted. Among the
inscriptions made with charcoal on the wall, it was ob-
served that many appeared of very recent date, expressing
in most affecting terms, the sufferings of every kind en-
dured in these chambers. The person of most note found
in the prisons of the Inquisition was a bishop- named
Krasner, who had been in confinement above 20 years.
He related that he arrived at Rome from the Holy Land,
having in his possession papers which bad belonged to an
ecclesiastic there. Passing himself for that person, lie
succeeded in surprising the Court of Rome into ordaining
and consecrating him a bishop. The fraud was afterwards
discovered, and Krasner, being then on his way to Pales-
tine, was arrested and brought to the prison of the holy
office, where he expected to have ended his days, less, as
he expressed himself, to expiate his own fraud, than the
gross blunder of the Court of Rome, which had no other
means of concealing his character of bishop, its own abso-
lute laws preventing his being deprived of it.
The inventory of the contents of the ground flat. being
finished in a few days, it was then thrown open to the
impatient curiosity of the public. The crowd that resor-
ted to the scene was very great, and the public indigna-
tion rose so high that there was a loud and general cry
for the destruction of an edifice of such detestable
memory. This feeling was so strong that on a Sunday
afternoon in March, faggots were thrown into the cellars
and other underground rooms, with the intention of set-
ting fire to the building, and this would have been accom-
plished had not a battalion of civic guards rushed to the
spot from the Piazza di S. Pietro. To the truth of all
that is here related thousands, both Italians and foreign-
ers, who visited the place can testify ; and there exists
also a detailed account of everything written and solemnly
attested with legal forms.
Passing to the upper flat, the attention of the govern-
ment was especially directed to the chancery and the
archives ; the first containing all the current affairs of the
Inquisition, the second jealously guarding its acts from
its instituton until now. Before commencing the cata-
logue of the contents of the chancery, it was resolved to
remove such papers as might disturb or compromise the
tranquillity of those persons who had had relations with
the holy office.

Attention was especially directed to the book, called
" Solecitazione" (it contains reports), and to the corres-
pondence. This was done by order of the government,
which thereby gave another proof of that moderation
which its enemies deny to it. There results from a care-
ful examination of these documents, which remain for the
inspection of such as desire proofs, that the past govern-
ment made use of this tribunal, strictly ecclesiastical in
its institution, for temporal and political objects. and that
the most culpable abuse was made of sacramental confes-
sion, especially that of women, rendering it subservient
both to political purposes and to the most abominable
licentiousness. It can be shown from documents that the
'cardinal secretary of state wrote to the commissary to the
assessor of the holy office to procure information as to
the conduct of suspected individuals, both at home and
abroad, and to obtain knowledge of state secrets by means
of confession, especially those of foreign courts and cabi-
nets. In fact there exists long correspondences, and
voluminous processes, and severe sentences, pronounced
upon La Giorine Italia, La Juine Suisse, the masonic
societies of England and Scotland, and the anti-religious
sects of America, &c. There is an innumerable quantity
of information and processes on scandalous and obscene
subjects in which the members of regular religious socie-
ties are usually implicated.
Passing from the chancery to the archives, which is in
the secon floor, it appeared on first entering as if every-
thing was in its usual place, but on further inspection it
was found, with much astonishment, that though the
labels and cases were in their places they were emptied of
the packets of papers and documents indicated by the in-
scriptions without. Some conjecture that the missing
packets have been carried to the Della Minerva, or were
hidden in the houses of private persons, while others sup-
pose that they were burnt by the Dominican fathers.

THE ENGLISH LITURGY.—I tremble to speak of your
ritual : the liturgy looks to be that which the old churches
are—the work of a fine art. A poetical sensibility, a
wakeful, just, delicate, simple taste, seems to have ruled
over the composition of each prayer, and the ordering of
the whole service. The whole composition of the service
is copious and various. Human supplication, the lifting
up of the hands of the creature, knowing his own weak-
ness, dependence, lapses, and liability to slip—man's own
part, dictated by his own experience of himself—is the
basis. Readings from the Old and New Volume of the
Written Word are ingrafted, as if God audibly spoke in
His own house ; the authoritative added to the suppli,.a-
tory. * * * * The hymns of the sweet singer
of Israel, in literal translation, adopted as a holier inspired
language of the heart. * * * * The
ritual of England breathes a divine calm. You think
of the people walking through ripening fields on a
mild day to their church door. It is the work of a na-
tion sitting in peace. possessing their land. It is the
work of a wealthy nation, that, by dedicating a part of its
wealth, consecrates the remainder—that acKnowledges the
Fountain from which all flows. The prayers are devout,
humble, and fervent. They are not impassioned. A
wonderful temperance and sobriety of discretion ; that
which, on worldly things, would be called good sense,
prevails in them ; but you must name it better in things
spiritual. The framers evidently bore in mind the con-
tinual consciousness of writing for all. That is the guid-
ing, tempering, calming spirit that keeps in the whole
one tone—that, and the hallowing chastening awe which
subdues vehemence, even in asking for the Infinite, by
those who have nothing but that which they earnestly
ask, and know unless they ask infinitely they ask nothing.
In every word the whole congregation, the whole nation
prays- not the individual minister; the officiating divine
functionary, not the man. Nor must it be forgotten that
the received version and the book of Common Prayer—
observe the word Common—expressing exactly what I
affirm—are beautiful by the words, that there is no other
such, English, simple, touching, apt, venerable—hued as
the thoughts are—musical—the most English that is
known, of a Hebraic strength and antiquity, yet lucid and
gracious as if of, and for to-day.—Christopher 11, orth.
How TO SETTLE A BREACH OF PROMISE OF MAR-
RIAGE.—A curious instance of a lady availing herself, in
1540, of the right to appear by champion in a breach of
promise of marriage case, is mentioned in the memoirs of
the Marechal de Vielville. The husband of Philippe de
Montespedon having died in Piedmont without issue, she
was left a young, rich, and beautiful widow, and was
sought in marriage by several noble suitors. Amongst
these was the Marquis do Saluces, to whose attentions she
seemed to listen favourably, and she permitted him to ac-
company her from Turin to Paris. It turned out, how-
ever, that the sly dame merely wished to have the advan-
tage of his escort on the journey.; and when she arrived at
its termination, she cavalierly dismissed him, saying—
" Adieu, sir ! your lodging is at the hotel des Urains, and
mine at the hostel Saint Denis, close to that of the Au-
gustins." The Marquis still persisted in his suit; but as
Philippe continued obdurate, he asserted that she had
made him a formal promise of marriage, and cited her to
appear before the court of parliament. She came there,
attended by a numerous company of friends, and, having
been desired by the president to hold up her hand, she
was asked whether she had ever promised marriage to the
Marquis, who was then present in court. She answered
upon her honour that she had not ; and when the court
proceeded to press her with further questions, she ex-
claimed with passionate warmth, " Gentlemen, I never
wl,s in a court of justice before ; and this makes me fear
that I may not answer properly. But to put a stop to all
captious cavilling and word-catching, I swear in the fate
of this assembly to God and the King,—to God under
pain of eternal damnation to my soul ; and to the King
under the penalty of loss of honour and life,—that I have
never given pledge or promise of marriage to the Marquis
de Saluces, and what is more, that I never thought of such
a thing in my life. And if there is any one who will assert
the contrary, here is my chevalier whom I offer to main-
tain my words, which he knows are entirely true, and ut-
tered by the lips of a lady of honour, if ever there was one.
And this I do, trusting in God and my good right, that he
will prove the plaintive to be (begging the pardon of the
court) a villainous liar." This spirited defiance caused no
little sensation in the audience; and the president told
the registrar that he might put up his papers, for Madame
la Marechale had taken another and much shorter road
towards settling the dispute. Then, addressing the Mar-
quis, he asked, " Well, sir, what say you to this challenge ?"
But the love, as well as the valour of the latter, was fast
oozing away ; and the craven knight answered by a very
decided negative. " I want not," said he, "to take a
wife by force ; and if she does not wish to have me, I do
not wish to have her." And so making a low obeisance
to the court, he prudently retired, and the fair Phillippe
heard no more of his pretensions to he hand.—Horten.
silts, by W. Forsyth, Esq.