Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1889-03-25
4" THE INQUISITION."
The Third Lenten Lecture Delivered by
BIshOp Kain Yesterday.

have falsely attributed its origin. The
pastors OF the Church had always consid-
cred it their dnty 20 guard their
hocks sgainet any species of heresy
which, in all the Christian legislation
of the early and middle sges had teen
treated as a crime against society as well as
against religion" Sons of the earliest
codes were cited in proof of this statement,
and also English legislation up to COM
paratlyely recent date.
As an ecclesiastical tribunal, the Inqui-
sitiOn Was established in the Council of
Toulouse 1229), presided over by the
| Pspil legate. Ii was mixed court, COM
posed of both lay and clerical members;
fer it had to decide both the question
whether any given teachings were heIifcal
or not, and the question of fact, whether
the accused had been guilty of such heret-
ical teaching.
II both questions we're decided in the
affirmative, the Culprit was turned over to
the secular judges to be dealt with accord
ing TO the civil legislation then in vogue.
1t is a great mistake" said the Rt. Rev.
Bishop. ITO suppose that these courts were
actuated by sentiments Of inhumsnity aud
cruelty; thoy were on the contrary nOtO-
riously lenient, incliniug as a rule to mer
cy rather than to severity. This charac-
teristic can he abundantly proved from the
records, which, especially IN the past few
years, have been brought to light. In
deed the pTotecliOnOf of the innocent uDjuslly
accused was as much part of the workings
Of the ecclcsiastical Iaquisition, as the Coz
viction of the guilty. The increased sever
ity which marked the civil legislation of
the middle sges against heresy, and the in
creased vigilance of the Church, as eh0wn
in tbs establishment OF the IuquisitiOn,
may be traced to the dangers threatening
Church and State from the adoption Of
MGnichean principles and practices by tbs
GnOstics, the Cathari anu Albigesnses Of
that period The doctrines. as well as the
conduct Of oil those secte, tinctured With
Manicheism, were simply ehOcking-sub-
versive At once Of morality and religion,
and therefore as inimicll TO the State as
to the Church. In proof Of this stAtement
the Bishop referred to Hallam, Europe
during the middle ages, ch. *, D 504),
and 20 DE-. Dollinger (Kirche uud Kitchen,
Euglish translation, p. 81 To lincen-
iiousness OF manners, unsurpassed by
Psgsuism in the lowest lorna, these sec
taries united an hypocrisy that rendered
it very difficult to convict them; for thsy
regarded il perfectly justisble and even
praisewortby to conceal their true cbafsc-
Ter by any subtsrfuge 10 thsir reach. Il
Vas foil one hundred years before they
could no entirely suppressed, and
their suppression, due mainly TO
The workings Of ths Ioquisiti0n, esved all
Europe froul fate worse even than would
have been its sui utjsctiOn to the yoke Of
Islam. Then for some hundred and fifty
years the Iuquisition scarcely existed OK
cept in name"
The Bishop then passed 70 review of
the Spanish Inquisitiop, which he charac-
ter'zed as essentially State institution,
suffice. entirely 90 the Crown. The span
ish So7ereigns, Ferdinand end Isabella,
hsd irdced, by repeated and urgent en-
treaty, induced the Pope, SXlus ~, to
sanction ita establishment (l47S); but,
far from approving, he over and
over again condemned the sever
ity with which it wcs uLques-
tionably conduCtad. The Pope had intend
"a that it ehould be in its workings fasb-
ioned ana carried on like the ecclesiastical
tribunal had bfen, end he complained Bit
telly OF the deception which had been
practssd on him by giving to it the ma
tire Of political tribunal under the Goa
troll Of tee King. The protests. edtreaties,
remonstrancas aud threats of Sixius were
renewed by Innocent and Alexander, his
successors, bat 20 little eff ct. The Bish-
op rebearsed fOme ofthese endeavors Of the
Popes TO induce the Spanish monarchs
to AGATE the unnecessary rigor with which
they treated many OF their subjects, even
though these were false in their professions,
whether of religion or Of loyalty, and
sho gtd that nothing was left undOne by
Rome to mitigate that severity. The king
vent so far es to threaten with capital
punishment any one who should make
known in Spain Pspal DEGREES upon the
subject. "Yet," said the Bishop "in the
face of these undoubted facts, the blame Of
all that is odious is laid upon the Sovereign
Pontiff. The charge is simply preposter-
GUS
Under Charles V. and Philip III. the In
QUESTION was employed as q means TO pre-
serve the Spanish Peninsula from the hor-
rors of civil waT5 which everywhere else
followed in the wake of the Reformation.
Spaniards do not blame these kings for
saving their country from such dire calam-
itiel-a result which iD their eitimation
palliatts much seeming rigor IN the en-
lorcemeut of the laws. Those who arc IN
the habit Of dilsting on the nee Of torture
in the examination Of persons accuted,
should not FORGET that this prec'ice VA
then general and everywhere endorsed by
the legislation OF the times. M one can
be ignorant to what fearful degree tor
ture wss employed egainst tho Catholics
OF England.
"The historian Of the Spanish Irq lisiIion
most frequently quoted is one whom Hepele,
in bis admirable life of Cardinal XimsDes,
has shown to he perfectly u1relisble, name
ly Lorente. lie had resolved 20 aver sc the
Inqusitors for his expulsion from Office,
and in the prosecution Of his revenge be
proved himself base traitor 70 hi1 country
and his religion. One instance Will Illus
trste his utter untrustwor.hiness. He
states the number of Jews expelled from
Spain was eight hundred thousand, and re-
fars for proof TO Mariana whereas Mariana
only gives that number 10 brand the state
ment as an exaggeration. What became
Of the official records which he pretends TO
quote? He burned hea'
"What." asked the Rev. Lecturer, "was
an auto da fe, of which we hear 80 much
in connection with the Spanish Ipquisi.
tiong II is usually represented as huge
mass Of burning fagots, in which the un-
happy victims Of thst inhuman tribunal
we're put 10 death in the presence Of exult-
ing multitudes. As a matter OF fact"
said the Bishop, executions bat rarely
accompanied an auto dG fc. ani whsn they
did. none but the civil officer remained
TO witness them. Lorente himseli
speaks cf several autos dd fe, 10
which thousands did public penance,
but in which not one suffered capital pun
ishmsnt. Moreover many other Offences
besides bCresy, such as blaspheny. polyga-
my, sorcery, Witchcraft, usury, &c, were
tried snd punished by the IuquisitioD, and
the penalty in all these cases wGs death.
How many Of those who were put TO death
were convicted of such offences and not OF
heresy? This is a very important cream
stance to be borne in mind.
Ia conclusion the Bishop quoted sutbor-
ities to show that the Rsformers Themselves
took precisely the same view Of heresy and
OF the psualty it deserved that Catholic
nations did, and they did not fail TO pat
tbsir views ipto practical operations quite
as ere-oeticaly. Their admirers and fol-
I,uera may find as much 10 deplore a.