New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1853-04-14
FATHER GAvAZzrs LECTURES.
No N
The Ancient and Modern lnanisition.

course, in Metropolitan Hall, ast evening. N0twlth-
standing the ncemcncy Of the weather there quite
large an audience present on the occasion Of the
last lecture at the Tabernacle In commencing the
Padre remarked that the subject of his lecture for this
evening the Inq'ision; andhc should prove that II
AGAINST the spirit of Liberty granted by Christ in
the Gospel; that it against the spirit Of Meekness
which most forms the mission OF the Christian Clergy
and finally that ii is against tie spirit OF Charity which
most forms the true Church Of Christ He then spoke
for Few moments in Misunderstanding that it was not
necessary for him to say but few words in Italian as
his ielow-comtrymen knew by experience what the H.
QUESTION is in Italy. He then spoke in English as fol-
lows:
All the doctrines of Christ and in fact, of faith,
reduced 10 name 20 forth aud preach the Cos
pei to every creature. And whatsoever bcleveh and is
baptiscd shall be saved and whOsoever beeveth not
shall be damned And therefore, the believing or the
unbecyng left to the free choice of one and all.
Thefrs Gift Of God to mankind is not any creed of Re
ligOn. But the first gift OF God 10 man is Liberty.
Without liberty, man is nothing. Without liberty, nun
is nature without the sum- in perpetual darkness.
Applause. Therefore, wewl use our liberty in order
to chOOse Religion. Then religion becomes a benc
fit because it is no more imposed, but is free to be
chosen But this is not the with the Church of
Rome. III the rOpish system any who has had the
misfortune to be born Roman Catholic it is necessary
that he live as a Roman Catholic and die as a Roman
Catholic. Everybody knows the petulence and the i'm
perncnce of the Roman Catholic Priesthood when any
one abandons the system of Papacy and embraces
Christianity. This is one of the principles to trouble
any in order to glOrify Christ and God But when
any one IN the Church of ROme-l speak especially
where the Popish is the dominant one-if any
one III the ChuEch Of Rome entertain doubt about
some religious matter, the InqulSlOn puts her hand
upon him, imprisOns him, fortunes him. and vexeS him,
and calls these cruelties "a mercy from heaven in
der 10 restore his heart to its former faith Thanks for
such a mercy! And if any one, notwithstanding the
tOlturcs Of the InquistOD refuse to confess, and still
believe i'll the pure religion, the lnqustonS strange
him, or burn hin, and call it "a mercy of heaven
So that. the corporal punishment is for the souls
eternal salvation Thanks for such mercy! Aud,
finally ifanv one the ancient martyrs confess Christ,
and 90 to the stake and the faggot, the lnqustlon
epurns him. denies him Christian burial and curses
him. and excOnmunicates him, his wife, his children,
and his nephew to the fourth generation: and then
calls these barbarities "a mercy from heaven for
the preservation of the universal faith! Thanks,
thanks for such mercy Appausc.] Man is
reasonable being. Present to man reasonable rell-
gon, and he will embrace it. This is the secret of
the power of the Gospel Ii is religion of reason.
Therefore, the reasonable portion OF mankind willingly
embrace this religion of the Gospel And why is the
Church of Rome obliged to resort to yiOcnce-the vO
lence Of the InqusitiOnl If the Church of Rome is
reasonable Church, she don't need any violence Rea-
son, aone-free discussion, alonc-will persuade man
kind of the truth of her maxius and theories But no.
The Church of Rome is labOring by violence in the
nothing is notwithstanding is reason The authority
and supremacy of the Pope, the inalibillty of the
Pope, the TransubStantiation the ndugences, the
worship Of saints and images, and the work OF
supererogatOn-a is unreasonable, in the Church of
Rome because all is unscrptural in the Church of
Rome; and therefore the Church of Rome needs the
InWisitiOn. Applause. These poor. blind, hlgOted,
and sometimes Jesuitica people say, But our Church
is the oldest Our Church existed when many and
many ancient Churches destroyed by time Yes,
the Church of Rome does still exist and have always
said it will still exist, in measure, till the second
coming of Christ. Because, if not so generally (and
know il will not in taly) yet perhaps, 1t will IN few
parts of the Continent And why Because Christ said
that it is necessary suffer from scandal in the world:
because the Apostles prophesed its long continuance:
because Christ said that Anti-Christ should reign.
Therefore, the Church of Rome exists till the
present day, and will continue TO exist until the
second coming Of Christ But practically speaking,
why has it continued to exist till the present time ION
bv miracle" it is said by the special providence OF
Christ" And | answer, the InquiSuiOn; and the spe-
cia providence Of Christ is the executiOners without
the inquistion. All Europe, at the present day
would be Protestant. All America-the Spanish part
of America in which the lnquisiti0n has made so many
thousands and millions of victims - would be as
Protestant as this, your own land. And my ltaly-ln
which under the Reformation the rgors OF the lnqul-
sition we're inflicted to great an extent,-my Italy
would be Protestant without Pope and POpery. AND,
therefore the merit Of the existence of the Roman Cath
ole Church is TO he found in the theory and prac
the dungeons and the execuOners OF the lnqnsitlon
But Il may be said by some that this is an exaggera-
tonthat they doubt the truth OF such violence But,
alas il is all too true The ancient Pagans are called
prosecutors and the unfortunate victims who e under
the sword of the Pagan prosecutors were called martyrs
Well now ask, why were the ancient iagans PerSecu-
tors Because they prosecuted really in order to con-
vert them from Christianity to the Pagan religion; and
under this pretext they made many millions victims
What, ask is the Church of Rome now doing! | ask
the Roman Catholics! The Christian Church is
the Church of Liberty; and therefore, she don't
need any violence. She leaves every one Tree
To embrace or abandon her creed. More-the
Church OF Christ is Church without persecution;
p kind meek and benevolent Church. More-the
Church of Christ incucated spirit by the Apostles.
of meekness and humility. Therefore, the Church
of Christ-the true Church of Christ-must live
in humility and meekness and the Church
which abandons this true spirit of Christ Is no
more the true Church of Christ. But the Church OF
Rome abandOnS the spirit OF Christ and Is under the
spirit of ancient Plagiarism therefore, tht CIutcH %
Rome is no the true Church of Christ, but is
Pagan Church. [Applause] Why did the ragans XII
MARTYRS Because they refused To worship Jupiter
and Venus because they refused to recognize the an
cient gods And why does the Church OF Rome perSe-
cute So many thousands and millions of victims Be
cause the Church says they are "heretics. WHAT Is
the duty of the true Church toward heretcs To per-
shade them and endeayOr to convert them by persuasive
means This is not the feeling of the Church OF Rome
ALL They deny the right of all free discussion ana take he
sword the fagOt-hey strange and burn these heretcS
as tbey call them The Church of Rome spares itself
the trouble of discussing the matter And thus 1t Is tha
she is triumphant. The Church has no right TO Perse
cute on account of religious beesand you should bless
God nv dear Americans, because only here was there
no persecution from the beginning. What wa
the crime of those martyrs OF old VINO sui,
fered so severely IL was that they refused
No staaH Of