.0
0
THE AMERICAN",
A WEEKLY NEv.
"AMERICA FOR AMERICANS." We hold that all men are A nerlcans who Swear Allegiance to the United Kiaht without a mental nervation in favor of the l'ojw.
PRICE FIVE CENT
VOLDMK V.
OMAHA, NEBRASKA, Fill DAY, MAY 10, 1895.
NUMBKR 19
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ROME'S INQUISITION.
It Was Not More Terrible in the
Dark kg es Than it is Today.
A Vivid Picture of it Taints by the
Masterly IVn ttf Key. Justin 1). Ful
ton, 1). D.
"Master. Muster, and kissed hliu."-Mark 14 4S.
Judas Israriot was the progenitor of
the inquisition. His betrayal of the
Son of God with a kiss was a type and
a prophesy. Koine has good names
for devilish and inhuman practices.
The ward inquisition originally meant
inquiry, but Jinked with Koine it means
indescribable barbarity. Nothing
could be more harmless than the name.
Nothing1 more terrible than the thing.
Rome and the inquisition are iuseper-
ably linked together, because they are
parts of each other. The inquisition
lives now because Koine lives. It is
now what it was in spirit, because the
spirit of Rome remains unchanged.
Rome boasts her "semper eadein,? and
practices, whenever she can, the hor
rible atrocities which distinguished
her in the past.
The inquisition in the minds of men
means the tiger spirit. Judas' kiss is
the kiss of 'the serpent before it strikes
its victim with the fang of the adder.
The holy office is the title it assumed
for its place of business. With saintly
look it poses before the public eye, as
with merciless cruelty its instigator
and master, the inquisitor, tortures
the innocent, and with delight listens
to the wail of the condemned.
For a thousand years these trained
instrumentalities of treachery have,
done their work with the persistence
of the slouth-hound and the blood
thirstiness of the savage.
"Kun with your nose to earth
Run. blood-hound, run. and sent out
The lovers of truth, the doers of righteous
ness." This was the command the pope
gave his minions in the past, where he
had supreme control. The same spirit
characterizes Rome at this hour. In
many a home this is known. There
are many that hate Koine, but dare
not tell what .they know concerning
its damning deeds lest they die. There
are men who are afraid to confess
Christ because of this inquisitorial
hate, watched and attended by inquis
itorial power."
The inquisition found its origin in
the purpose of Rome to kill or cure
heresy. The Messiah, the apostles,
and the fathers for several ages op
posed, in word and deed, all compulsion
and persecution. The Son of Man
came not to destroy but to save the
lives of men No two characters ever
displayed a more striking contrast
than the Messiah and the inquisitor.
The Messiah was clothed in mercy.
The inquisitor was drenched in blood.
The tear of compassion stained the
cheek of the divine Saviour. The
storm of vengeance infuriated the face
of the inquisitorial tormentor. The
apostles walked in the footsteps of
their divine Master. They suffered
persecution but they never persecuted.
A persecuted church is almost in
evitably a pure church, and the men
who stood for Christ, with the stake
before their eyes, have been described
by an inquisitor "as modest and well
regulated. They do not accumulate
wealth, but are content with necessar
ies. They are to be known by their
modesty and perci-sion of speech, avoid
ing scurility and detraction and light
words and lies and oaths." Roman
ists declare that scandals in the church
were the cause, if not the justification,
of heresy. "Six centuries have passed
since the Cathari broke with Rome,
and cast aside all machinery of the
church. To them the church of Rome
was the synagogue of satan, in which
salvation was impossible. Conse
quently the sacraments, the sacrifices
of the altar, the suffrages and inter
position of the virgin and saints,
purgatory, relics, images, crosses, holy
water, indulgences, and the other de
vices by which the priest procured sal
vation for the faithful were rejected,
as well as the tithes and oblations
which rendered the procuring of sal
vation so profitable." St. Bernard
says of the Cathari: "If you interro
gate them, nothing can be more
christian; as to their conversation,
nothing can be less reprehensible, and
what they speak they prove by deeds.
He cheats no one, he oppresses no one,
he strikes no one, he eats not the
bread of idleness, his hands labor for
his livelihood." Yet tens of thousands
of them are slain by pitiless Rome.
Dominic, the inventor of the inquisi
tion, was well qualified for his office.
He possessed all that impregnable
cruelty which enabled his mind to soar
above every feeling of compassion,
and to extract pleasure from scenes of I
torture and misery. The torments of
heretic were his enjoyment. The so
called saint, in satanic and Undated
malignity, enjoyed the spectacle of
his victim's bleeding veins, dislocated
joints. torn nerves and lacerated limbs,
quivering and convulsed with agony.
During the crusade against the
Albigenses, though a pretended mis
sionary, he encouraged the holy war
riors of the cross in the work of
massacre and murder." Edgar's Var
iations of Popery, p. 258. "The holy
office, as well as the holy war, showed
Dominic's cruelty. Dislocating the
joints of the Waldesian man or woman
afforded him his amusement. This
was done by suspending his victim by
a cord, affixed to his arms, that were
brought behind the back, which, being
raised by a wheel, lifted off the ground
the victim who refused to confess, till
forced by the violence ofjtorture. His
saintship, by words and miracles, con
victed 1H0 Albigenses, who were at one
time committed to the flames." I. 25').
In 119H Innocent III. sent into South
ern France Cistercian Monks Reimer
and Gui, to eonvert the Manicheans,
with which those parts swarmed; to
excommunicate the obstinate and to
command the lords to confiscate the
possessions of the excommunicated,
to banish them and punish them with
severity. Those commissioners forced
the lords to surrender to Rome or
suffer the sequestration of their
estates. They were then the called
inquisitors.
In 123.S, at the towncil of Narbonne,
and at Beziers in 124d, the power was
given to the inquisitors to go on with
their work, and a rule of ordinance
of thirty-seven articles was given them
as the basis of procedure, which have
been observed since that time, in the
tribunal of the inquisition. The in-j
quisition came at the call of ignorance,
superstition, tyranny, and covered the
people with the pall of night.
The home of the inquisition was the
convent. May it not be its home in
America at this hour, as it was In
Europe?
In 1244 Frederick II. increased UlPlr
power by declaring himself their pro
tector, and decreed That the clergy
should join in the hunt for heresy, and
that the lay judges' should proscribe
heretics after the former had heard
them. At this time th'e war was opened
against the WaldcnsV.ins ' In 1525 in
quisitors were appointed against the
Lutherans, by a bull of Pope Clement
VII. Upon any caprice these zealots
would publish crusades against the
heretics, and seize the possessions of
nnocent persons, upon the false pre
tense of being heretics. Milan and
Rome were nearly ruined by the sedi
tions raised by them, and nothing was
heard all over Italy but 'bitter com
plaints against the inquisition and in
quisitors. In 1.S45 the inquisition,
composed of twelve cardinals, presided
over by the pope, began to do business
in the Eternal City.
Venice refused to have the tribunal
established there. The innuisition
found congenial soil in Spain. In 1484
all that fair land was brought under
ts appalling yoke.
John de Torquemada, a Dominican
friar, was the confessor of Isabella,
and made her promise before she came
to the throne, that she would use all
possible means to extirpate heresy in
her dominions. She kept her vow.
She who is praised as the one who
pledged her jewels to Columbus, was
a woman that looked with approbation
upon the most terrible persecutions,
and viewed with apparent delight the
sufferings of the martyrs as they
burned at the stake Alexander VI.
was pope. As priest, as bishop, and
as cardinal, he had been the synonym
of all that was had. He lived with a
woman, and by her had two daughters.
One of them he placed in a nunnery,
and the other became his mistress or
wife, and by her had four children,
one of whom beeame the famed
Lucretia Borgia, who presided over
the council of cardinals, dressed in a
thin gauze veil not thick enough to
conceal her person, and had at one
time in Rome 50,000 houses of ill-fame,
which poured their disgraceful rev
enue, under her supervision, into the
lap of the Roman Catholic church.
Henry Charles Lea, in his history of
the inquisition, shows that, as the
twelfth century drew to its close, there
was a state of things in the church
calculated to appall the stauuehest
heart. The ancient independence of
the episcopate was no more. The pope
was master, and through bishop and
priest ruled with an iron hand. It was
felt that the destiny of all men lay in
the hands which could administer or
withhold the sacraments essential to
salvation. Not only did the humblest
priest wield a supernatural power,
which marked him as one elevated
above the common level of humanity,
but his person was inviolable, and his
possessions could not be interfered
with. No matter what crimes he
night commit, secular justice could
not take cognizance of them, and
secular officials could not arrest him '
I'age 2. "1 lie church militant was
thus an army encamped on the soil of
Christendom, with its outposts every
where, subject to the most efficient
discipline, animated with a common
purpose, every soldier panoplied with
inviolability and armed with the tre
meudous weapon which slew the
soul." Page 4.
The degradation and pollution of
the clergy outpusses belief. Hildebert
le Mails pictures them as "stone in
understanding, wood as to rendering
judgement, tire as to wrath, iron as to
forgiveness, foxes in deceit, bulls in
pride, and iiiinotaurs in consuming
everything." Page 20. "Bishops did
not blush to derive a filthy gain from
licentiousness universal among a
celibate clergy, by exacting a tribute
known as 'cullagium,' on payment of
which the priest was permitted to have
his concubine in peace." Page 21.
"Deprived as was the priesthood of
the gtatitication afforded by marriage
to the natural instincts of man, the
wife was best succeeded by a concu
bine, at worst by a succession of para
mours, for which the functions of the
priest and confessor gave peculiar op
portunity. So thoroughly was this
recognized that a man confessing an
illicit amour was forbidden to name
the partner of his guilt, for fear it
might lead the confessor into the
temptation of abusing the knowledge
of her frailty." Page 31. "The scan
dals were the cause, if not the justi
fication of heresy." Page 61.
I.
The inquisition was the ripened
flower grown on the etora of hate, which
found iu root in the loss of respect and
consequent power with the people. It
was an attempt to bring back the dis
affected into a church which was be
coming odious to all who cared for
decency and virtue. Independent of
control and organized to wreak venge
ance, stirred in the heart, by contempt
felt, for the priests whose conduct dis
graced humanity to such an extent that
to be "as bad as a priest" was the
climax of comparison, we are not sur
prised at the treatment of prisoners.
Shut into a dungeon, from which
friendship and help was excluded, with
but little choice as to what be shall eat
or drink. Only in case of sickness is
any humanity shown. No noise Is per
mitted in the cells, not even coughing.
No two prisoners is lodge in one cell
except they be husband and wife. A
day or two after a prisoner is brought
in, his hair is cut off and his head
shaved. He may pass months and
years without a trial, about which, if
it conn s, there is no fairness nor justice.
If, in hopes of escape, he confesses
guilt, his goods are confisea ed. If he
asserts his innocence, he is without an
advocate, and has no way of contradict
ing the charges in ail o against him, and
then, if condemned, he loses all, and is
sent to the unto He fe, or act of faith,
where, after much ceremony, they are
di livered over to the judge, who, with
out passing upon their trial, asks them
in what religion they wish to die. If
they reply in the church of Rome, they
are strangled and then burned, and if
in the faith of Christ, they are burned
alive.
At the place of execution stakes about
four feet high have a small board on
which the prisoner is seated, within a
half yard of the op. Two Jesuits con
duct the prisoner and advise h.m to be
reconciled to the church of Rome. If
he refuses, the Jesuit comes down and
the executioner ascends; and having
chained the body close to the stake, the
Jesuit returns to persuade him to re
cant, and if he still refuses, he declares
that the devil is at his elbow and will
carry his soul to hell. Upon this a
great shout is raised. Then they make
a beard for him by pressing lighted
fuses fastened to a long pole against
his face. This is continued until the
face is burned to a coal, and is alw;iy
accompanied with loud acclamations of
joy-
Then comes the fire, wh'ch is so
lighted that if there be a wir.d his
limbs will be roasted, while the body
is unharmed. There cannot b i a. more
terrible spectacle than is h-jro ex
hibited. In this manner did Rime
extinguish every light possible which
Christ had kindled. Time and space
forbids that we uncover the terrible
sufferings endured in the trial where
the victim was left to the merciless
cruelty of the inquisitors Should you
descend into the pit of its abominations,
you would find a church distinguished
for treachery, bribery, perjury and cor
ruption, using Its power to brutalize,
degrade and 6tupefy the children of
men. The vicars of the church were the
worst of the lot. In them the wicked
ness of the church seemed to blossom
and bring forth fruit. They persecuted
for opinions' sake; they sought to des-
troy liberty of thought, and endeavored
to make of every brain a bastilo in
which the mind should be a convict
and every tongue and lip a prironer
watched by a familiar of the Inqulsl
tlon, who threatened punishment, I in
prlsonment, and burnings here and
eternal burnings hereafter. Romanism
preferred maglo to medicine, relics to
remedies, priests to physicians,
thought more of astrologer than
of
astronomy. It hated science, and op-
possej every discovery calculated
to
improve the condition of mankind
There Is no crime that the Roman
Catholic church did not commit, no
cruelty that It did not practice, no form
of treachery that It did not reward, and
no virtue that it did not persecute,
The inquisition was a court owing no
allegiance to temporal authority, and
was superior to all earthly tribunals,
It condemned not deeds but thoughts
It arrested on suspicion, tortured till
confession and then punished with lire.
The witnesses and those to separate
facts were sufficient to confine tho vie-
Urn to a loathsome dungeon. Here he
was introduced to the rack, where the
criminal's only advocate was his forli
tude. Think of a tender maiden, loving
Christ, sflpped raked and stretched
upon the wooden bench. Water,
weights, Ores and screws, pulleys all
the apparatus by which the sinews
could be strained without cracking, the
bones crushed without breaking, and
the body racked without giving up the
ghost were now put in deration. The
executioner, enveloped in a black robe
from head to foot, with his eyes glaring
at his victim through holes cut in
the hood which concealed his face,
practiced successfully all the forms of
torture which devilish ingenuity
could invent. It is one of the proud
boasts of Protestant Englishmen that,
though an attempt was made in
the time of Bloody Mary to introduce
the Inquisition into Great Britain,
though the Lollards hud been perse
cuted aud martyr Ores had been kin
dled, yet that abode of the British lion
never sank to such a dept h -of shame as
to make a home for the inquisition.
Into Portugal it went as to the manor
born, and wherever Spain and Portugal
made e. inquests, whether in the old or
new world, they carried the inquisition
after the same methods and under the
sane regulations as at Rome.
t " . ... II. ....:. .
In Europe the fruits of the Inquisi
tion were desolate fields, commerce de
stroyed, industries paralyzed, educa
tion banished and the foundations of a
faith In Christ utterly subverted.
France and Italy are both suffering
from the blight produced by the reign
of persecution to which thise countries
were subjected by the bate of Rome.
In America the fruits of the inquisi
tion are seen In the fear that holds so
ciety In thrall, the manner in which
society tolerates the despotic methods
of Rome in convents, in churches, in
parochial schools, and In every town
where Rome has power. It is an alarm
ing fact that Rome claims to have the
middle of the road in the land conse
crated to liberty. Conduct is tolerated
in Romish priests that is a disgrace to
our civilization, and would not be en
dured were it not for fear of the in
quisitorial might of Rome.
Convents cannot bd inspected hero as
in Italy or in France. As a result,
crimes are going on undi r their shelter
ing wing which should startle the com
munity. In "Why Priests Should
Wed," pp. 178 11)!), are facts Btatcd on
authority which has never been denied,
showing that virtue is trampled on and
life is as ruthlessly tiken here In Amer
ica as was ever done in the darkest of
the dark ages in Italy. Who speaks of
i? In "How to Win Romanists" is a
chapter entitled "Nunneries, Prisons
and Worse," pp. 348 307, in which are
facts given which the American people
must very 60on look in the lace and act
as it becomes them, or we shall make
such a surrender to Itome as is utterly
unworthy of a free people. It has been
said that Rome does this without the
sanction of the United States govern
ment. II'.-re, as elsewhere, silence gives
consent. It is a shame and a disgrace
that Rome is permitted to terrorize
( o igrcss and our state legislatures to
ii;h an extent that crime goes unpun-i.-h;d.
The boycott is the fruit of this in
q lisib r ul spirit. Merchants dismiss
Protectant el v k ; ar.d employ Roman
Catholics for trie sake of gain when it
is known that Protestant trade is far
more profitable. Let Americans stand
for their own, and this can be checked.
The convents can be examined, In
accordance with laws that shall be
placed on our statute books. The
tyranny of Rome can be broken by legal
process. Rome is bent on the mastery.
Millions are taught to believe that this
country is to come into the hands of
Rome. Is there not a reason for it?
Think of $13,000,000 given to Rome by
congress since Abraham Lincoln was
assassinated by Roman Catholics. Why
these cells in convents and churches
now going up In all our cities?"
III.
The remedy is found In truth-telling
concerning the purpose and plana of
Rome. Romanists as ferocious and as
vile at ever waged war In Europe are
here determined on holding la thrall
their NH)plo, anJ by terrorizing Prot
estants, gain the mastery. Resist this
devil In Rome and he will flee from you.
Insist upon Roman Catholics conform
ing io l tie law. A priest stood across
the path of a commissioner who wont
to examine a parochial school. Behold
him arrested and fined. Another got
possession of $40,000, because a dying
Romanist believed that the priest
could deliver his soul. The wife, a
Roman Cat hollo, went to a Protest
ant church, got her eyes 'qiencd,
sued for her money and got It becauie
the priest could not prove that ho had
delivered the goods. Such facts strip
off the mask of Rome.
An undertaker recently sued a priest
who had told his eoplc not to employ
him, and recovered a handsome sum.
This is America. Make Rome behave
herself, and the inquisitorial power of
Rome will fade away, and In its stead
will come an emancipated people ready
to make America the homo of the free
and the lighthouse of the world.
Justin D. Fulton.
PRIESTS LOSE A LEUACY.
Mm tj Relative of a Lunatic Contests
Her Will ami Wins.
A decision affecting the Interests of a
number of Roman Catholic institutions
has been handed down by Justice Bar
rett, of the New York supreme court,
under the will of Mrs. Ann ElizaOwens,
who died in July, 181)0, aged 82 years.
Mrs. Owens had a life Interest In valu
able property left by her husband, and
upon her death it was to revert to her
two daughters.
They, however, both died a short
time before her, and, by the provisions
of her will, she hequi athed one-third
of her estate to St. Lawrence's Roman
Catholic Church, one-third to the sis
ters of that church, and ono-thfrd to
the Home for the Aged of the Little
Sisters of the Poor.
She had executed a deed some time
prior to her death, convejing some of
her real estate to the College of St.
Francis Xavier. Mrs Owens had been
adjudged insane in May, 1873, and im
mediately after her death a fight over
her estate was begun. It was started
n the surrogate's court with a contest
over the will, brought in the name of
her niece, Mary Lavelle, upon the
round that the old lady was insane
when she made the will, and that its
execution had been brought about by
ndue influence. The will, neverthe-
ess, was sustained.
The will has been kept in litigation
by the niece, in actions to set aside the
el conveying the property to the
College of St. Francis Xavier, to upset
the will, and also for a partition of the
estato. The lust case was tried before
ustico Barrett for a partition of the
property 58 Woes tor street and 151
Fast Eighty-first street, New York,
and indirectly to attack the validity of
the will.
The judge holds that the devise to
St. Lawrence's Roman Catholic Church
is cor.cedidly void, and that to the
Home for the Aged of the Little Sisters
of the Poor conceded ly valid. The de
bated question was as to the devise to
the sisters of charity attached to St.
Lawrence's Chur;h, and the judge de
cides that this cannot bo uphold, for
the reason that it was made to the
sisters in their individual capacity,
whereas the Intention of the Ustatrix
was that this one-third should bo given
to these sisters of charity as such; that
is, for their use and benefit, not as in
dividuals, but as sister of charity.
SHE DECORATED THE ALTAR.
And Also Tried to Destroy the Eyes of
a Heretic.
The Lowell (Mass.) Scmi-Wctkly Her
ald is a wide-awake patriotic news
paper. It possesses a young man who
peddles the paper upon the street who
is a marvel in the way of courage and
stick-to-itiveness. He has been bullied,
abused, arrested, knocked down, kicked
and assaulted upon a dozen resiiective
occasions, but still continuesdoing busi
ness at the old sUnd. Recently .Mary
A. Hodder, who decorates the altar of
the papal church of the Immaculate
Conception, conceived the holy and
Christ-like idea of ruining the eye
sight of the enterprising and plucky
news vender. Accordingly, having pro
cured a quantity of red-pepper, threw
it in the eyes of O'Xeil, whose only
offense was that he had dartd to exer
cise his right as an American citizen.
Mary was arrested and fined $25. but,
as the priest probably paid the fine
and threw in $25 worth of absolution to
bin t, no one Is Injured much except
Mr. O'Nell.
It would not bo a bad Idea to give the
papists of Lowell a conclusive lesson la
the supremacy of American law by
administering the full jMinally to a few
of these medhi'val thugs.
Fulllllid the Script ii res.
Atchison, Kan., May 8. Two little
boys attending the parochial school
failed to return homo at the usual hour
or even two hours later. The mother
went to the tchool, only to bo informed
that they had been "kept in" by Father
. At 8 p. ni. she returned, to find
them, crying bitterly, just leaving the
school. They said they had been locked
in a dark room and were hungry, cold
and frightened. The parents were not
able to And out whether they had been
whlpied or not. The alleged reason
for this outrage was that the Romish
parents had attended a Protestant fu
neral a few days before.
This Is RomeV way of fulfilling the
Scriptures that Is, "Visiting the sing
of the parents on the heads of the chil
dren." We will only add for the bene
fit of a few Protestants whoso minds
are still In a comatose state that this
did not occur in priest-ridden Mexico,
Rome-oursed Central America or In
benighted Spain, but right here among
the pagans of Kansas.
(Jood Work at Moore's Hill.
Mooue'b Him., Ind., May 1. Edi
tor Tub American: You recollect I
told you in my last letter that I had
failed to get names enough to procure
a charter under (which to organlzo a
council of tho A. P. A. Well, a short
time afterward William T. Grelncr,
an organizer from BatoBvlllo, happened
along and found where I had been at
work, r So he conferred with mo, and
we soon secured the nqulslte number
of names, and about the middle of Feb
ruary the new council of trcemen was
duly instituted. We initiated 14 can
didates at the first mooting, I the next,
2 tho next snd 4 the fourth. Tho pros
pects for patriotic work are promising.
was chosen president. I never saw a
more earnest set of men. They mean
business, every one of them.
AMERICAN.
Methodists in Rome.
The Methodist Episcopal Church and
College in Rome looks like a court
house somewhat, hut It Is undoubtedly
well arranged to do the work for which
It Is being built. The edilW will cost
$150,000, and will contain two churches,
a college, two prlntlng-ofllces and rooms
for societies. Their two pnpers have a
combined clieulatlon of 0,000. When
the new parthenon of Protestantism la
dedicated, there will be 500 Methodists
present from the United States to see
it done.
m
Father Lambert.
This Is not the editor of tho Free
man's Journal ho is doing good work
in keeping the bishops in line but it Is
a man who was one of the Redemption
1st priests-a man t'f ability and elo
quence, lie will goto the West Indies,
and will there do an important work
for the Methodists. Let sonio more of
the priests leave the Church of Rome.
They miy have as good a position, and
will not be compel ed lo serve the
Beast.
Celibacy.
According to Rev. Thomas Connel
lan, editor of the Dublin Catholic, the
pope is considering the advisability of
permitting the secular clergy to wed,
if they so elect. Cardinal Vaughan
and some others are opposed to the pro
posed innovation, but some of the bish
ops favor it. Yes, it is a good idea. It
should have reached full fruition long
years ago.
At Their 01.1 Ti ieks.
Mr. Casey "I hear that the weddin'
of Alderman Mullaney's daughter wor
nut such a pleasant affair, after all."
Mr. Noonan "How's thot?"
Mr. Casey "About twinty of his
ward heelers got to repeating at the
supper table, an', in consequence, some
av the late guests got nawthin' to ate."
Buffalo Express.
Well l"p in the Requirements.
An Irishman recently applied for en
listment in a United St.ites army re
cruiting office.
"Do you know anything about drill
ing?" asked the officer.
"I do," answered Pat. "It's 12! cents
a yard at any of the dry-goods stores."
Isnuhm Glubc.
Feed Them Properly
and carefully; reduce the painfully
large percentage of infant mortality.
Take no chances and make no experi
ment in this very important matter.
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