The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1875-08-27
ULTRAHONTiNE CRUELTY.

j =
pulco. it spaT"s no "Is.. vino stands ia the
way Of Roman Catholic rul". San Mig
n"i j., or Wa, "a P"p'iiar and iinnriShing
Luwn nf San salvador Ind is said To- have
c,.,s'nii:ed a population o. fnrty thon
said Bat pulitiral RbinnniSiu ii',I made
IL "Iy into Ii- prosperous republic.
s.,l. offended "a fl,'. :.r.iun Of the gov
'-rH1nrif wi3-ii ,-,,..ni-.i ia have fnri,i,id,-:i
tli.. I..:tiiI... of :ah obnoxious pastoral by
lie Bishop of san Salvador in the.
clIurriI-s, the pri'--is planned "a general
revolt ia the hani- "f religion. They
s-iZ j HpOu SOME diSroutcnis among the
people 30 aid their design. All over the
republic th" uliraInontstnrs we're to rise
at the same moment; a priest named
PalaciOs preached violent sermon
against the national authorities; the
bishop supplied his adherents with pa
per insuring them, should they die, an
Immediate entrance into paradise. This
curious document was found on the
dead bodies of the rebels, and ran thus:
Peter, open the gates Of heaven to the
bearer who died for religion" signed
George, Bishop of San Salvador. and
sealed with the seal of his episcopal see.
On a Sunday evening the ultramOn-
tanes, stimulated by the priests exhor-
tations and the favor of the bishop, rose
in wild tumult at San Miguel. They
I - ,,s4 ..f
fective weapons than a priestly absolu-
tion. They seized upon the public pris-
on and set free two hundred prisoners
| They next attacked the garrison of the
town. They killed the two generals,
EspinoSa and Castro. EspinOsa body
they cut in pieces, which they threw at
each other. They split the skull of Cas-
tro, and threw him over n wall, where
he was found by his mother; he died
three days after The garrison were
nearly all assassinated. Many of the
best citizens of the place were killed.
At last, in their fierce fanaticism, the
ultramontanes covered sixteen houses
with kerosene and set them on fire. Pill
lage, murder, and disInay prevailed
throughout the unfortunate city. An
immense amount OF property was destroy
ed, estimated to he worth 81, 900, 600; and
it was chiefly due to the Interference of
an English man-of war that San Miguel
was saved from total destruction. The
government at last sent troops to the
town, who shot down the banditti with
out mercy. The country has been de-
elared in a state of siege. Martial law
has been proclaimed, and San Salvador
is safe, at least for the present, from the
rage of the uItramontanes. The priests
and bishops have been banished, or are
held in careful subjc ction, and the enc
mics of the republic must await a severe
retribution. Yet it is doubtful il these
horrible scenes at San Miguel will be the
end of the ultramontane Outrages and
disorders. In Mexico recently they
reused n whole province in revolt. All
over South America they seem to be
planning some new assault on freedom
and human rights. In Brazil only the
firm ard threatening attitude of the gov
ermuent has heretofore held the priests
and bishops in tolerahIe submission, and
the angry letters of the Pope 10 the En-
peror might seem almost plain incentives
to revolt. In Ecuador, an important and
powerful state, the Jesuits have with
out scruple seized the government, vio-
lating the republican constitution, and
forced their own President upon the
people. 1t is not yet evident how far
an ultramontane conspiracy may be act
i've in South America, or what new rev.
olutions may await its various govern
ments from the intrigues of the priests.
Yet it is certain that the ultramontane
faction is busy in all its cities, and that
its priests and its amisSaTies will be no
more Inereiful when they have the OPP
portunity than the fanatics at San Mig
uel cut men in pieces and pelted each
other with the fragments, or who sought
to burn down a llourishing city with
kerosena.
do not know if the nineteenth cen
tury has not already far outstripped the
eighteenth in priestly cruelty. The pro-
gress of humanity seems almost arrested,
| il not turned back. The worst instance
of ultramontane barbarity in the eight
zenith century was the judicial murder
| of Jean Calais and the horrible persecu-
tion of his family, but the keen satire of
VOltaire and the Indignation of Europe
avenged on its perpetrators the fearful
deed. The JeSuits were not long aft
er driven out of Portugal, France, and
even Spain. In 17G2 the order was abol-
ished by the Pope. Ultramontanism
| persisted for a time, and its spirit was
only preserved in the sanguinary revOlts
which the priests excited in republican
France. But it is impossible to discov-
er in all the annals of the century q re-
ligious fury as mad as that of the San
Miguel rioters, or an Indictment to re-
bellion so eiTeotual as the passport to
heaven signed by the Bishop of San Sal
vador. The Papal Church has plainly
declined in its moral tone, and under the
uItramontane rule is fast sinking into a
savage barbarism. If South America
and the Isthmus are endangered by its
aggressive cruelty, still more so is North
| America, and the murders at San Miguel
| may well excite the attention of Cincin-
natl and New York. What is this strange
impulse of uItramoRtGnism that seems to
| turn even educated men into merciIess
! savages? Are the emisSaries of the Pa
pal Curia among us any more tolerant
| than the Bishop of San Salvador, the
| priest Palacios, the ,Iesuits who have
| captured Ecuador, or the clergy of Aca-
| puleog 1t is at least curious though
disheartening study to watch this slow
return to barbarism. Possibly the men
who lived in the prehistoric caves tore
their enemies to pieces like those of San
Miguel, but they certainly were provided
with no passports to heaven. All over
North as we'll as South America we may
notice this tendency of the ultramon-