Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1850-05-07

lore, from the first, watched {; soon they
were imprisoned ; and then they were
tortured. to obtain proof that their conver'
sion was not genuine. But it was all done
in secrecy and in darkness. From the
moment when The inquiSitiOn laid lis grasp
on the object of lis suspicious To that OF
his execution, no voice was heard to issue
/ from lis cells. The very witnesses il
summoned were punished with death or
perpetual imprisonment, if they revealed
what they had seen or heard before lis
dread tribunals and often of the victim
nothing was known, but that he had dis
appeared from his accustomed haunts in
society, never again to be seen.
THE effect was appalling. The i'm
agina,lons # men were filled with horror
al the idea of a power so vast and so noise
less; one which was constantly, but invis-
lblv, around them; whose blow was death
but whose steps could neither be heard
nor followed amidst the gloom into which
II retrealcd farther and farther, as efforts
were made to pursue it. From lis first
establishment, thcr, fore, while the great
bo!y Of the Spanish Christians rejoiced
m the purity and orthodoxy of their faith,
and not unwillingly saw its enemies called
to expatiaie their unbeliet by the most ter
rihle of mortal punishments, the intellec-
tual and cultivated portions of society felt
the sense of their personal security grad
uallv shaken, until, at last, ii became an
anxious object of their lives to avoid the
suspirions of tribunal which infused into
their minds terror deeper and more eE
lcctual in proportion as il was accOmpan-
led by a misgiving how far they might
conscientiously oppose its authority
Many Of the nobler and more enlightened,
especially on the comparatively free soil
of Aragon, struggled against an invasion
of their rights whose consequences they
partly forcsaw. Bat the powers of the
government and the Church, united in
measures which were sustained by the
passion and religion of the lower classes
of society, became irresistible. The fires
of the lnquisit!on were gradually lighted
over the whole country, and the people
everywhere throngcd 10 witness its sacri-
fees, as acts of faith and devotion.
/" From this moment, Spanish intoler
ance, which through the Moorish wars
had accompanied the contest and shared
its chivalrous spirit, took that air of SOM
hre fanatciSm which il never afterwards
lost Soon It's warfare was turned against
the opinions and thoughts of men, even
more than against their external conduct
or their crimes. The Inquisition, which
was its true exponent and appropriate in
strument, gradually enlarged lis own in,
rsdicton by means of crafty abuses, as
well as by th> regular forms Of law, until
none found himself too humble TO escape
It's notice, or too high to be reached by
It's power. The whole land bent under
lis influence and the few who cOmpre-
hcnded the mischief that must follow
bowed, like the rest, TO its authority, or
were subjected to lis punishments.
From an inquiry into the private opn:
ions of individuals to an interference with
the press and with printed books there
was but steN. 1t was a step, however,
that was not taken at once; partly because
books were still few and of little Cnmpar-
anve little importance any where, and
partly because, in Spin, they had already
been subjected TO the censorship OF the
civil authority. which, in this particular,
seemed unwilling to surrender lis jursdic-
ton. But such scruples were quickly
removed by the appearance and progress
Of the Reformation of luther; revolu-
lion which comes within the next period
of The history of Spanjsa literature, when
we shall find displayed. in iheir broad
practical results, the influence of the spirit
nf Intolerance, and the power of the
Church and the lnquisirion on the charac-
ter of the Spanish people. Vol l, PP.
This institution took It's origin in the
twelfth century. 1t was employed with
bloody effect in the wars against the AL
higcnScs. The first attempts to introduce
il into Spain we're vigorously resisted IN
some quarters; but ii harmonlzcd so well
with the popular bigntry which he'd been
developed by The Moorish wars 'hat 'n'
resistance was speedily overcome, ard the
Catholic soverelgns, Ferdinand and lsa-
bella, acrualrd partly by blinded ianati-
cism. and partly dcSirous of ho!d.ng IN
their hands so formidable al engine OF
state, favored lis introduction. Dcfr"m
rcgrs, piccnmiw .2chjri: the royal palr
sough, to enhance their own glory by de-
>,roving hcrcrirs, MoorS, and Jews ana
IN so doing. they led ino the very citadel
IN enemy that undermined the greatness
and glory of their country. lhe hrS'
grand inqui>i;or. rorquemada, whose
mamie is Consigned to inlamy with iheimosl
ferociou> monsters that have spread desc
alion over the Garth. commenced his tHhc-
i;orS Snon .Iinr his anpnlnImCnt IN 1875;