The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-01-28
FATHER bE|SsEL
ON THE |NQU|s|T|Oh
(Continued.)

1
great ignorance of history or of singu
lar hardihood in calumny to represen
cruel tortures as the distinctive and
exclusive characteristic of the inquisf
ton. This is, however, what is done
every day by anti-religious books
newspapers and reviews.
In reality these fortunes were in uni
versal use. Although we all disapprov'
of them, they were thought necessary
| to intimidate the guilty. 1t would ever
be an easy task to prove that, taking
all in all, the tribunals of the inquisi.
ton proved themselves In general mucl
| more equitable and less vigorous to.
wards the accused than other civil trib.
unals of those times. Hefele, in the
work already cited, where so many in
teresting facts concerning the inquisi-
| ton Of Spain are to be found, has beer
able to give proof Of this, even as re-
CARDS that country, the most exposed
to blame, and he has been able to dc
this even while accepting the data OF
Llorente, the partial and untrust-
worthy historian of the inquisition.
1t is principally upon the testimony
of Llorente that the enemies of the In
QUESTION ground their charges. To be
convinced of the little confidence due
to the assertions Of Llorente. 1t is
enough to know that after writing his
work he was careful to destroy the
original documents relative to that
much maligned institution. BY so do
ing he hoped thereby that 1t would be
impossible to verify his assertions,
show his falsehoods and contradict his
statements. A little history concern
ing this individual will not be out of
place, as it throws considerable light
on our subject. When, on May 10, 1908,
the victorious advance of Napoleon
forced Ferdinand VII. to abdicate the
throne of Spain. Llorente repaired to
Bayonne, where he turned traitor to
his country by swearing allegiance to
the usurper of the Spanish crown,
Joseph Bonaparte, who made him
Counselor of State, and who ordered
him to write a history of the Spanish
inquisition, with a promise of a liberal
compensation for his labor. The venal
historian knew full we'll what kind Of
work would suite the palate of his
master, and he wrote it accordingly.
BOTH HIS PATRON AND THE HIR-
ED COMPILER HAD A TWOFOLD
OBJECT IN VIEW. viz: First. to
blacken the character of the royal dy-
nasty. and thus INSPIRE INTO THE
SPANISH PEOPLE HATRED AND
OF THEIR LEGITI-
NATE SOVEREIGNS. Secondly. to
fasten on the PAPAL COURT THE
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE ExCES-
SIVE RIGORS of a tribunal that,
STATE INTERFERENCE
had become MORE POLITICAL THAN
~ NJ IN a A
Can We put implicit faith in the
statements of such an historian, who
wrote with the avowed purpose Of
maligning that institution, and who, as
we noticed above, burned the docu-
ments, by which he could have been
convicted of falsehood, a degraded
priest and a venal historian, a dismiss
ed official of the inquisition, and writ
Ing for the deliberate purpose of paint
ing it in the most odious colors,-he is
justly liable to suspicion, wherever his
assertions cannot be supported by
other Independent testimony. Let me
bring here one instance in which
telling a huge lie.
The inquisition was established in
Spain in the year 1881; and this venal
writer tells US that in the very next
year the Tribunal of Seville alone burnt
not less than 1000 persons belonging
to the dioceses of Seville and Cadiz."
This is certainly a frightful statement,
+ it were only true. But unfortunate
y for the authors reputation for non
ssty the figure given is found to be
An atrocious exaggeration implying
oarefaced falsehood. In fact the origf-
nal work of the Spanish historian, the
Jesuit Father, Mariana, from whom
Llorente claims to have borrowed that
gives the TOTAL OF 1000
NOT FOR ONE YEAR and
one place, but FOR ALL PARTS OF
SPAIN, and throughout THE WHOLE
PERIOD Of Torquemada's Inquisitor-
ship, a period of fifteen years. Surely
man who could substitute for a year
y average of 1873 persons, throughout
he whole Of Spain, the round sum of
900 victims in one city, has forfeited |
LII claims to be considered a trust |
worthy writer. We should come to the |
same conclusion il We were to verify |
,ther assertions of his by comparing
notes, viz, by consulting the books and |
documents from which he quotes, but |
which it was not in his power to de- |
troy. And this shameful historical |
alsehood is repeated and fully endors- |
ID by the Encyclopedia Britannica |
vol. xiii, p. 50, ninth ed.), though its |
.ditors assured their readers and sub |
'cribers that 1t was not to be the organ |
II any sect or party in science or reli- |
zion; and that its sworn duty was to |
1--WE an account OF the facts and an |
IMPARTIAL summary of results in every |
department. Of inquiry and research. |
This fragrant violation of their fair |
promises proves once more that they |
we're more easily made than fulfilled. |
Yet it is mainly Llorente's work which |
las been the storehouse Of weapons in |
he hands OF infidels and Protestants |
against the tribunal of the inquisition. |
Prescott, certainly no friend either to |
he inquisition or the Catholic Church I
In his history of Ferdinand and Isa-
,ella), bears testimony against LILO
'ente's truthfulness in the following
words: lone might reasonably distrust
-lorente's tables from the facility with /
which he receives the most improbable
estimates in other Matters vet,
strange to say, Prescott himself fire.
luently bases his unmeasured strict
Tres on the inquisition on the authority
II Llorente, the very witness against
whose veracity he was honest enough