The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-21


to the practice Of delatiOn. In the second
OF the booka comprisedjin the volume before
US In exbounded the Organization Oh the
Spanish Hnquisition from the Inquisitor-
General and supreme Council down to the
local tribunals and h salaried m un-
salaried officials thereof. In the same boon
is an interesting chapter on the purity Of
blood enacted for inquisitOrs and the re-
sultant prescription Of the so-oalled New
Christians. including even renots descend
ants OF Jews or Moors who had become
converts to Christianity. In a third book
are explained the sources Of the lnquisi-
tons revenue. derived mainly from con-
fscations. fines and penances, but partly
from dispensations and beneioes. In the
concluding book we follow the inquisitorial
process, from arrest and seauestration to
the secret prison, and learn what kind OF
evidence was accepted and what was the
effect OF voluntary confession.
L.
In an initial chapter or 'Heresy", the
author points out thai the Spanish Inquisi-
ton was organized for the eradication OF
unorthOdox beliefs, and to the last this
remained the ostensibIe object Of its exist
ence. DR.. Lea recognizes how hard 1t is
for American readers. accustomed to uni
versal federation. to realize the importance
attached by Spanish statesmen in the past
to unity Of belief or the popular adherence
long felt in Spain for any deviation from
the standard Of dogma. Hard as IL may be
for US to understand il. there Is no doubt
that such convictions were for centuries
part VI the msl:s. and moral Abre OF the
Spanish community and were the outcome
Of the ~assiduous teachings Of the Roman
Catholic Church for ages, until It had come
TO be classed with primal truths that the
highest duty Of the sovereign was to crush
out dissidents at whatever cost. and that
hatred Of the hereto was enjoined on every
Christian by both divine and human law.
The Spaniard was taught to regard the
hereto as a venemous reptile. spreading
~contagion with his very breath. a source
Of p~estilence, whose determination was
required for the safety of the land.
Another fact, often overlooked. helps to
account for the willingness Of S~paniards to
bear foT centuries the frightful tyranny Of
the Inquisition. m the earlier periods Of
the institution. when the hierarchy was
filed with New Christians Of doubtful or
thodoxy. il was essential to know that the
sacraments necessary to salvation were not
vitiated by the apostasy Of the ministrant,
for his intention is indispensable to their
validity. No man could tell how many
priests there were like Andres Gonzalez.
parish priest of San Martin de Talavera.
who. on his trial at Toledo In 1859. confessed
that for fourteen years he had secretly
Oeen a Jew that he had no intention when
he celebrated mass, nor had he granted
dissolution to the penitents confessing to
him. There was also a widely circulated
story Of one Fray Garcia de Zspata. prior
Of the Geronimite monastery Of Toledo.
who. when elevating the Host, used to say.
"Get up. little Peter. and let the people
look at you.' and who always turned his
back on the penitents to whom he pre-
tended to grant dissolution The merci-
less zeal Of the Holy Office might gradually
relieve the Spanish people from this dan
ger. but it intensified by its methods the
unreasoning adherence Of heresy. DIR.
Lea's researches nave convinced him that
an honest cavalier. writing about the middle
Of the sixteenth century. merely phrased
the current opinion Of the lime when he said
that all possible punishments prescribed
by the canons and admitted by the laws
should be visited on the persons and prop
erty Of heretics. They eat. he said. the
bread Of the good; they render the land
infamous; by their conversation they lead
souls to perdition. and with their mar
riages and kinships they corrupt the blood
Of good houses. To a population assidu-
ously trained in such sentiments the awful
ceremonies Of the auto de z were a triumph
Of the faith Of which they felt proud. and
they were filed with pious exultation when
the flames Of the brdscro consumed the
bodies Of heretics who passed through
temporal TO eternal fire. In the eyes Of
the Unlocking Spaniards the CHASTITY spec
tacle was a vindication Of the honor Of God.
and it is needful to bear in mind thist temper
when considering the performance by the
Inquisition Of its allotted task.