The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1909-02-11

ropes went aS IaT as " eAcoiHAi'lHr
cate the tnquisitors; Leo X. for In
stance. excomunlcated those Of Tole-
do In 1919 and thereby brought upon
himself the Ire OF the powerful Char.
les. When Philip H., tried to estab.
llsh the same tribunal in the kingdom
Of Naples t154G) he was successful
opposed by the Napolltans who we're
encouraged in resistance by Pope
Paul III. When the same king triei
to Introduce 1t In the Duchy OF Milan
(l5GS, he had again to give up his
attempt before the strenuous opposi.
ton Of Pope Plus " and Of his neph'
| ew. Charles Borromeo, the SANITY
Archbishop Of Milan.
All the above facts, and many oth.
ers. are SO well authenticated in his
tory that the famous Llorentc himself
admits and relates them. Llorenta,
according to ]. W. Draper, is "the His.
torian of the Inquisition." Knowing
Draper as we do, We may rest ass,lr.
! ed that Llorente was not friend Of
the Catholic church. He was rene.
gade to his church and 10 his coun.
try: when he admits anything In "a.
vor Of either. we may he absolutely
/ certain that the facts are true.
In presence Of those facts. how can
, the Catholic church be held RESPONSE
, BILE for the thowever unjust or crncll
policy of the Spanish rulers? That
the Spanish Inquisition was merely n
royal policy Is well recognized by all
historians, even by nonCat!'nlics.
when they do not. like Draper, allow
their antiCatholic preju.llces to blind
them to the facts. Thus Chambers
Encyclopaedia expresses itself TART. In.
QUESTION:: Catholic writer's regarl
the Spanish TnQuisition as q State trl.
bunal. a character which Is recognize.
ell by Ranke, Gnizot, leo, and even
the great anti.papal authority. Llor.
ente." III
|. 7 do not wish to quote n single Cath
olic historian on the subject. although
I may be allowed to refer to the Life
OF Ximenes' by Karl Joseph Hefclp.
4 work acknowledged by all scholars
as Of exceptional worth. 1 could not
without trespassing too much. quote
all on-Catholic historians above nj.
luled to. Let lis single ont the first
named, viz, Leopold Won Rnnke q 49,.
1866. who devoted more than CO yesrs
Of his long life almost exclusively TO
historical studies. An English trans.
lation Of one Of Ranke's w9rks WIS
honored by Lord Macaulay with one
Of his best essays in 1870 | be- to
quote from Ranke's Spain under
Charles v. &C." At p. 254 and follow.
Ing, he says: 1T Is plain from the
facts adtluce,l by Llorente himself, that
the Inquisition was royal tribunal
;''' In the first place the Inqmsftors
were royal officers. appointed and dis
charged by the king. - In the Sec
ond place all the contlscatlons pro-
nounced by this tribunal. accrued to
the Kings treasury. 49, In the third
place. this tribunal was In the hands
Of the king the means. to establish his
absolutism. He had under his control
a, tribunal which no one could recuse.
not even a grandee or an archbishop
'..".sAs Charles v. knew OF no other
means to bring sure punishment on
the Bishops who had taken part In
the Instruction OF the Communicates,
(they had sided with the people In
their struggle for the preservation OF
their fneros or Provincial llbertles.N
he chose to have them judged by the
Inquisition. - Under Philip. the
1nqulsition interfered in matters Of
trade and Of the arts. OF custom.dues
and marine. How much further could
1t 80 when It pronounced II heresy
10 sell horses and munitions to
France? - In spirit and above all
in tendency It was political institll'
ton. The Pope had All interest In
thwartine It and he did so as often as
he could, #e
This long citation OF Ranke will slf-
flclently show how true historians
look upon the Spanish Inqufsftfon, ev.
en- though they are not without some
bias In the matter. I beg to be dis
pensed from quoting F. ,Gulzot. Hen.
Leo and not a few others: but cannot
overlook the official testimony given
us in the report OF the committee an
pointed In 1872 by the Spanish Cor:es.
The authors OF this report on the. In.
QUESTION, as Is we'll known, were more
or less the creatures OF the new
French regime established In Spain by
Napoleon. It never entered into their
minds to say anything In defense OF
49, Ila1la aluanli