The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-01-30
FATHER JAS. c. BElSSEL
ON THE INQUISITION
Continuance of Articles on History of the Deal
jngs of Church and State With Heretics
MIR. Dove Comments.

i backbone, II men were 1Ouhd " OAoA y
out blasphemies against all that such
a people held to be holy, and to spread
doctrines which would seduce their
children, the rising generation, from
all that they deemed precious IN this
life and the next, What could we ex-
pect but tumultuary risihgs; terrible
effects of violence and nassacres-
lynch law with all its horrorsa The
L tribunal of Faith prevented such con-
sequences. at the outset of the six
teenth century the Spaniards saw, as
it were, the rising smoke, premonitory
of confagration in Europe. They
adopted the Inquisition as means for
preserving religious unity and pre-
venting religious wars. Hence, during
the three centuries after the reorgan-
ization of the Inquisition, Spain en-
ioyed more peace and prosperity than
any other country in Europe. We have
read with horror of the massacre of st.
Bartholomew IS. What was this mas
sacre2 The most satisfactory account
would seem to be that without lawful
process, under the impulse of popular
Indignation, lynch law was executed
on the assailants of the faith of French
men. The proceeding was unjustifia-
BILE, but it took place because France
had no Tribunal of Faith. Spain it
self, before the Tribunal of Faith was
set on its efficient footing by Sixtus
~, had it's St. Bartholomew in the
massacre of the Jews in 1891, in which
5000 Jews persisted. If then the very
zeal of a people for that which counts
more precious than life itself, is liable
to carry the multitude into excuses
greatly to be deplored, it is evidently
most desirable that tribunal should
exist which should judge cases without
prejudice, which should protect the in
nocent, carry conviction to the mis-
taken, anu punish those only who real
ly deserved punishment. -
"a reproach has been made against
the Inquisition, says Joseph de Ma
istre. that it exercised blighting in
auence upon the human mind. Now,
the brilliant century of Spanish Itera
ture was that of Philip II. As history
reached its highest pinnacle of glory
from the fifteenth to the seventeenth
century. Llorente in the second vol
ume of his work, tells us that no less
than 118 learned men were cited be-
fore the Inquisition; but he takes good
care NOT TO INFORM THE READ
Err that none of them lost even a hair
of his head It is in vain that men
will keep repeating that it is putting
letters on genius to forbid it from
attacking dogmas, held by the whole
nation; error can never be justified
simply because of it's repetition.
Letter to gentleman on the Spanish
Inquisition).
VIII. REMARK.
Let us make last remark that will
allay the ridiculous terror, which GER
tain men are pleased to excite. If,
as we have seen, the Church has an
undeniable right to punish heretics;
If she did make use of this right when
it was proper to do so, she is in no
wise obliged TO use it always; she |
must even discontinue to use 1t, when |
its exercise would become impossible
or hurtful. One thing is THE RIGHT,
and quite another thing ITS EXER-
CISE. The former rests on justice;
the latter depends on prudence, and |
may vary according to circumstances.
And as matter of fact, the Church t
has renowned the exercise of this /
right long ago, so that the Inquisition
is now nothing more than an historical
and bugbear in the ser
vice of ignorance, bigotry and impiety.
They who pretend to tremble at the
recollection of this dread tribunal can
now sleep in peace. The Catholic
sword is no longer suspended over their
heads. Would to heaven that in all |
Catholics were equally Sc
cure against the attacks of the secular
power usually little given to tolerance. I
What is then the sum and substance
of this discussion of the Inquisitiong
Father Sasha says it is briefly this:
THAT AS ESTABLISHED OR
BY THE CHURCH,
AND IN AS FAR AS IT HAS BEEN
USED IN STRICT OBEDIENCE TO
HER LAWS AND DIRECTIONS, IT
WAS AN INSTITUTION HOLY IN
IT'S OBJECT, JUST IN ITS MEAS
URES, AND BENEFICIAL IN ITS
That the popular notions,
which prevail about it among Prot
estant people in general, ARE
BASED UPON FALSEHOOD. MUIR
TURED BY PREJUDICE, FOSTER
ED BY CREDULITY AND PER-
BY THE INSTRUMENT
Of A HOSTILE PRESS. Well-poison-
ing has been committed by historians
such as Llorente and others who wrote
history with an end in view They
shaped things to meet their end Mil
lions of people have been misled We
mentioned the Encyclopedia Britain
1ica. The editors of the Appleton
Encyclopedia, when finding out three