Smyrna times., 1870-05-11
MiSc eIIun e o as.
Printers and Popes.

., AS the war between the Roman CatboIio
Church and the Bible has been transferred Goro
Europe to America, it may be well to rocaIi
some OF the earlier incidents of the strngcIo
Tor three centuries the pOpes have been On.
uedtTT!orlng TO chaln the press, to prevent the
Puoi!ca'loh oi Dlbles. Almost at its very in
Ventlon the cank of the printing. nress bod 80
their cars an OminOus sound. Said an Enui;sL ~
vicar, IN an early period of the contest w.
must destroy the printing press OF it will des.
| troy us ~ VIII ueS
AT farlS where printing fourished with rara
excellence IN the dawn of the sixteenth contn
| ry tlo54), the pOpes and the Sorbonno Woo
perleecty successful Every printer detected in
pIoHShlhg translation of the Bible was burn
ca awe: printer was condemned to the stake
lol having prepared an edition of Luther's
MorAs BOOKSELLER, for having sold them
nehry stephens, the accomplished printer and
scholar, fled from Paris to avoid a s;n;Iar
late' Amidst the general persecution none
Sunered more severely than the printers At
ClaS'' IN 1873, the SOrbOnne obtained an ed;ct
IRON on, the King suppre>Sing printing altogether
me printers, meantime, unterrhed had Hed
70 switzerland or Germany AT Geneva Gal
va u presses ran necessarily, and poured forth
"a, a lull tile OF Blbles and Protestant works
iney were distributed over France bv band
OF devoted cOtpOrteurS, who. in tho n,idst ~
danger toll, and death, wandered ,bronGb .bo
ny,,Ways OF their native land selling thrir far
oldden wares. The printers boldly defod tbo
popeS the press Overthrrw the political nowor
oI nome. In Strasburg, Mentz. Antwern and
amsterdam the heretcal engine still kent mn
It's lncessant cIamOr OF Lurher's catncb;Srp'
one hundred thousand were sold. ami his
snlaIIeIt tracts were eagerly seized upon by the
oooASeii9rs win lie they were yet wet from the
80 FROM Antwerp, long the seat of band
~ e.i'Gu PRIMERS, immense editions of the Bi-
0le ana the New Testament were issnad n
defiance OF the commands of the none Rn, !
ureauIul punishment at last came unon tbo
PT"erIul city 1t fell before the arms Of Pbilin
-; dnu us printing presses and its printers
PeTIsneu T with It's industry and its prosperity
H.. nc pOpes now made reading or Drintino the
blOle political offense. Philip IT mad
war upon Holland chiefly to destroy it's press
IN !oo9 Paui w. issued an LadeE Erpuroo-
.G,'IS' , containing list of books prohibited bv
.nH uollan Church; 1t embraced all Bibles
printed In the modern languages and y,To 500
VIe 9 printers were express " put under the ban
All works issued from their presses were con.
uemned. Slowly however, the printers began
70 WIN series oil victories over the nonos Tbn |
whole North OF Europe insisted unon road;ng
the Bible freely. For three centuries the
press mas continued t. assail its ancient adver.
. sry' untll' at length, even Italy and Snain
- yIoiueq 10 It's assaults. and the printer |
i1IeS pn ana laoors IN Florence and Madrid. In |
.api a1niG aio9e the Bible is excluded from the |
scnooi and the family; and there. with The |
alu oI French arms, the Holy Father is still |
onapleu 10 keep up feeble warfare upon the |
aG!e printers Yet so rapid has been the rev
uion =, 6'laI IL Is not many years since the nris
oIo Vi Dologna, faenZa, and Naples were fill |
eu with political offenders, whose chief cr;mn
@ was InaC they were the advocates of a free
4 hle The attempt of the Roman Catholic Church
therefore, to exclude the Bible from rho n,Ih |
Tic schools Of New York or Cnc;nnatt; "E puiE pi,,
combination of the policy that led rho no,'cs
anu Cnelr adherents to burn printers alive ~
L drls In the sixteenth century or 70 t6no,U
theh into the dungeons of Rome or RoIoa,,
Che nineteenth. The Roman CatboI;c oa,' ~ 80
complain OF history. Whenthev nresent tbon, mU
Selves 10 tne american public as a noI;c;caI
p9ly' ASKING Tor the overthrow of a system Of
oa.ioi t'I,;o 1n@t mas become part of our insti
they mu>Sexpect to be Judged bv tbe;r "om' rn,,,
tatlon III the past. They invite crit;c;Sm ~,
demand scrutiny. But the historical charactcyy
OF the Italian faction in the Roman Cbnrcb =
SO bad that their yoke has been thrown Of 20
every Catholic country of Europe. And i -
the Italians and the Jesuits alone who are now
aSSalllng a., the public school system Of Amerca
lhey have been defeated in Spain, Italy, Ans
New York 1o 0ie0'loliS OF
10 the Italian faction in the Roman Cburob
may be traced all those cruel acts that baya
covered 1t with shame. When France was ON
the verge OF reform the pOpes and the i,oI;"n
bishops interfered and filed it with boodsbnd d,lp
" hen Italy was ready to purify its Chnrcb
Paul IL founded the Inquisition, and extern exter.
mInatgu n;I ae 9T the liberal Catholics At the Coun
luctant Germany and France the policy Of d" death
to the retormers. OF their falsehood and tbe;r
fraud history records endless examples 'Syat Vet
It Is such faction, covered with misleeds Of
which 1t has never reported, of which il stilI
coyerIiy boasts, that asks free government 70
and It In exc luding the Bible from the school
and knowledge from the people. ''''O'''
1t Is quite iikely y that many liberal Catholics
do not share in that dread of the Bible or If
Protestant writers professed by their Italian
rulers. Germany, and even France, possesses
many able thinkers who are not afraid Of n free {
ID ~ - /