Part 16 (1/2)
Though I did not like the idea of choosing another popish country for my residence, yet as ion unave hier was ood protestant ives ood Hon land Our home is one of piety and peace and happiness The blessed Bible is read by us every day Morning and evening we sing God's praise, and call upon the name of the Lord Our prayer is that God may deliver beloved France and Italy fro spirit of Rome is furnished by the ”Narrative of Raffaele Ciocci, formerly a Benedictine Monk, but who now 'comes forth from Inquisitorial search and torture, and tells us what he has seen, heard and felt'” We canlittle volun Christian Union, who,--to use their own language--”send it forth as a voice of instruction and warning to the American people Let the facts be heard and read They are not to be set aside by an apology for the dark ages, nor an appeal to the refinement of the nineteenth century
Here is Roht of the world, but as she IS at the present ment--the same coercive measures--the same cruel persecution--the saious liberties of her own subjects, for which she has ever been characterized”
Ciocci, coe--forced, notwithstanding his deep disgust and earnest remonstrance, to become a monk--imprisoned--deceived--the victith becoeon; and uish inflicted upon him that he may be constrained to return to the Ro corridors till we arrived at the door of an apartment which they requestedthe door I found h for the little furniture it contained, which consisted of a small hard bed, hard as the conscience of an inquisitor, a little table cut all over, and a dirty ill-used chair The hich was shut and barred with iron resisted all an to cogitate on the destiny in store forhis rooht be opened for the adht and air Before the words were finished he exclaimed in a voice of thunder, ”Horetched youth, thou co in the clouds of error? Dost thou desire the light of heaven, while thou rejectest the light of the Catholic faith?”
Ciocci saw that remonstrance was useless, but he reminded his jailer that he had been sent there for three days, to receive instruction, not to be treated as a criThe dainty youth will not forsooth, be roughly treated; it remains to be seen whether he desires to be courteously entertained Be converted, be converted, condemned soul!
Fortunate is it for thee that thou art co with the real fruits of repentance! A these silent shades canst thou meditate at thy leisure upon the deplorable state into which thou hast fallen Woe unto thee, if thou refusest to listen to the voice of God, who conducts souls into solitude that he ,” he continues, ”he abruptly left ht of a misfortune, which was the more severe, because totally unexpected I stood, I know not how long, in the say, ht was at once abandoned There was no possibility of flight Without giving a minute account of the hts in this prison, let it suffice to say that they were spent in listening to sermons preached to me four times a day by the fathers Giuliani and Rossini, and in the loomy reflections
”In the ravated by the heat of the season, the wretchedness of the chah severity of those by whom I was occasionally visited Uncertainty as to when this imprisonment would be at an end, almost drove me wild, and the first words I addressed to those who approached me were, 'Have the kindness to tell me when I shall be permitted to leave this place?'
One replied, 'My son, think of hell' I interrogated another; the ansas, 'Think my son, how terrible is the death of the sinner!' I spoke to a third, to a fourth, and one said to ment you find yourself on the left hand of God?' the other, 'Paradise, ave me a direct answer; their object appeared to be to an to feelAccustomed to cleanliness, I found myself constrained to wear soiled apparelFor the want of a coled After the fourth day n, that they were pressing the siege, that it was their intention to adopt both assault and blockade--to conquer er I had been shut up in this wretched place for thirteen days, when, one day, about noon, the Father Mislei, the author of all ht of this man, resentment overcame every other consideration, and I advanced towards his, when he, with his usual s been the cause ofdetention in this retreat 'Never could I have supposed,' said he, 'that ht you into so much tribulation But rest assured the fault is not entirely ree, by your useless obstinacy, been the cause of your sufferings Ah, well, ill yet re any confidence in his assurance, I burst out into bitter invectives and fierce words He then renewed his protestations, and clothed them with such a semblance of honesty and truth, that when he ended with this tender conclusion, 'Be assured, ht of the Jesuit, and thought I was addressing ain the distresses of others 'Ah, well, father,' said I, 'I need some one on whom I can rely, some one towards whom I can feel kindly; I will therefore place confidence in your words'” After some further conversation, Ciocci was asked if he wished to leave that place ”If I desire it!” he replied, ”what a strange question! You ht as well ask a condemned soul whether he desires to escape frooaded ani his mission of deceiver, with, knit brows and compressed lips, he allowed his ferocious soul for one rown old in deceit, he iive this ious zeal, and exclaimed, ”What couage of the Atheist? By speaking in this way you clearly manifest how little you deserve to leave this place But since I have told you that I love you, I will give you a proof of it by thinking no otten as though they had never been spoken Well, the Cardinal proposes to you an easy way of returning to your monastery” ”What does he propose?” ”Here is the way,” said he, presentingmore will be required of you” ”I took the paper with convulsive eagerness It was a recantation ofthis, I shuddered, and, starting to my feet, in a solemn attitude and with a firm voice, exclaimed, 'Kill me, if you please; my life is in your power; but never will I subscribe to that iniquitous for in vain to persuade er I now momentarily expected to be conducted to the torture Whenever I was taken from my room to the chapel, I feared lest soreat care to tread in the footsteps of the Jesuit who preceded me No one acquainted with the Inquisition will say that ination was so filled with the horrors of this place, that even in ers and axes glittering aroundpiles and heated irons, and woke in convulsive terror, only to give loomy reflections, inspired by the reality of my situation, and the impressions left by these nocturnal visions What tears did I shed in those dreary moments! How innumerable were the bitter wounds that lacerated my heart! My prayers seemed to me unworthy to be received by a God of charity, because, notwithstanding allof resentment towards my persecutors, hatred returned with redoubled power I often repeated the words of Christ, 'Father, forgive them, they know not what they do;' but immediately a voice would answer, 'This prayer is not intended for the Jesuits; they resee of the Jehile these ; they are theof the Bible would have afforded reat consolation, but this was denied me”
The fourteenth day of his imprisonment he was taken to the council to hear his sentence, when he was again urged to sign the form of recantation But he refused The Father Rossini then spoke: ”You are decided; let it be, then, as you deserve Rebellious son of the church, in the fullness of the pohich she has received froor of her laws She cannot perood seed She cannot suffer you to re-block for the ruin ofthis place, and of returning to dwell a the faithful KNOW, ALL IS FINISHED FOR YOU!”
For the conclusion of this narrative we refer the reader to the volume itself
If any more evidence were needed to show that the spirit of Romanism is the same to-day that it has ever been, we find it in the account of a legal prosecution against ten Christians at Beldac, in France, for holding and attending a public worshi+p not licensed by the civil authority They had made repeated, respectful, and earnest applications to the prefect of the department of Hante-Vienne for the authorization required by law, and which, in their case, ought to have been given
It was flatly refused They persisted in rendering to God that worshi+p which his own comned as above stated, on the 10th of August, 1855 On the 26th of January, 1856, the case was decided by the ”tribunal,” and the three pastors and one lady, a schoolmistress, were condemned to pay a fine of one thousand francs each, and some of the others five-hundred francs each, the whole a the sum of nine thousand francs
Meantis in the woods, barns, and secret places, in order not to be surprised by the police commissioner, and to avoid new official reports
”Thus, you see,” says V De Pressense, in a letter to the 'Aht back to the religious s of the desert, when the Protestants of the Cevennes evinced such persevering fidelity The only difference is, that these Christians belonged only a short tiainst them”
DESTRUCTION OF THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN
In 1809, Col Lehmanoas attached to the part of Napoleon's army which was stationed in Madrid ”While in that city,” said Col L, ”I used to speak freely aht of the Priests and Jesuits, and of the Inquisition It had been decreed by the Emperor Napoleon that the Inquisition and the Monasteries should be suppressed, but the decree, he said, like some of the laws enacted in this country, was not executed”
Months had passed away, and the prisons of the Inquisition had not been opened One night, about ten or eleven o'clock, as he alking one of the streets of Madrid, two ar upon him from an alley, and made a furious attack He instantly drew his sword, put hi with thehts of the patrols,--French soldiers h the streets of the city at all hours of the night, to preserve order He called to them in French, and as they hastened to his assistance, the assailants took to their heels and escaped; not, however, before he saw by their dress that they belonged to the guards of the Inquisition
He went immediately to Marshal Soult, then Governor of Madrid, told him what had taken place, and reminded him of the decree to suppress this institution Marshal Soult told hio and suppress it The Colonel said that his regiment (the 9th of the Polish Lancers,) was not sufficient for such a service, but if he would give hiiments, the 117th, and another which he naiment was under the command of Col De Lile, who is now, like Col L, a elical church in Marseilles, France ”The troops required were granted, and I proceeded,” said Col L, ”to the Inquisition which was situated about five reat strength, and defended by a company of soldiers When we arrived at the walls, I addressed one of the sentinels, and summoned the holy fathers to surrender to the Iates of the Inquisition The sentinel as standing on the wall, appeared to enter into conversation with some one within, at the close of which he presented his nal of attack, and I ordered my troops to fire upon those who appeared on the walls”
It was soon obvious that it was an unequal warfare The soldiers of the holy office were partially protected by a breast-work upon the walls which were covered with soldiers, while our troops were in the open plain, and exposed to a destructive fire We had no cannon, nor could we scale the walls, and the gates successfully resisted all atte theh the walls without giving the us up
I saw that it was necessary to change the mode of attack, and directed so rams Two of these were taken up by detache, and brought to bear upon the walls with all the power they could exert, while the troops kept up a fire to protect them from the fire poured upon thean to tremble, a breach was made, and the Imperial troops rushed into the Inquisition Here webut Jesuitical effrontery is equal to The Inquisitor General, followed by the father confessors in their priestly robes, all ca our way into the interior of the Inquisition, and with long faces, and ar on their shoulders, as though they had been deaf to all the noise of the attack and defence, and had just learned as going on, they addressed thee of rebuke to their own soldiers, saying, ”WHY DO YOU FIGHT OUR FRIENDS, THE FRENCH?”
Their intention, no doubt, was to make us think that this defence holly unauthorized by the, if they could make us believe that they were friendly, they should have a better opportunity, in the confusion of the moment, to escape Their artifice was too shallow, and did not succeed I caused theuard, and all the soldiers of the Inquisition to be secured as prisoners We then proceeded to exah room after room; found all perfectly in order, richly furnished, with altars and crucifixes, and wax candles in abundance, but we could discover no evidences of iniquity being practiced there, nothing of those peculiar features which we expected to find in an Inquisition
We found splendid paintings, and a rich and extensive library Here was beauty and splendor, and the most perfect order on which my eyes had ever rested The architecture, the proportions were perfect The ceilings and floors of ere scoured and highly polished The ard to order There was everything to please the eye and gratify a cultivated taste; but where were those horrid instruments of torture, of which we had been told, and where those dungeons in which hus were said to be buried alive? We searched in vain The holy father assured us that they had been belied; that we had seen all; and I was prepared to give up the search, convinced that this Inquisition was different from others of which I had heard
But Col De Idle was not so ready as ive up the search, and said to me, ”Colonel, you are commander to-day, and as you say, so it must be; but if you will be advised by ht and poured upon it, and atch and see if there is any place through which it passes more freely than others” I replied to hiht accordingly The slabs of e and beautifully polished When the water had been poured over the floor, much to the dissatisfaction of the inquisitors, a careful examination was made of every seah
Presently Col De Lile exclaimed that he had found it By the side of one of these h there was an opening beneath All hands were noork for further discovery; the officers with their swords and the soldiers with their bayonets, seeking to clear out the seam, and pry up the slab; others with the butts of their ht to break it, while the priests re their holy and beautiful house While thus engaged, a soldier, as striking with the butt of his , and the rew pale as Belshazzar when the hand writing appeared on the wall; they trembled all over; beneath the marble slab, now partly up, there was a stair-case I stepped to the altar, and took froth, which was burning that Ithis, I was arrested by one of the inquisitors, who laid his hand gently on my arm, and with a very dehts with your bloody hands they are holy” ”Well,” said I, ”I will take a holy thing to shed light on iniquity; I will bear the responsibility” I took the candle, and proceeded down the stair-case As we reached the foot of the stairs we entered a large rooe block, and a chain fastened to it On this they were accustomed to place the accused, chained to his seat On one side of the rooment This, the Inquisitor General occupied, and on either side were seats less elevated, for the holy fathers when engaged in the solemn business of the Holy Inquisition
Froht, and obtained access to sth of the edifice; and here such sights were presented as we hoped never to see again Three cells were places of solitary confinement, where the wretched objects of inquisitorial hate were confined year after year, till death released thes, and their bodies were suffered to remain until they were entirely decayed, and the rooms had beco offensive to those who occupied the Inquisition, there were flues or tubes extending to the open air, sufficiently capacious to carry off the odor In these cells we found the remains of some who had paid the debt of nature: some of them had been dead apparently but a short ti remained but their bones, still chained to the floor of their dungeon
In others we found living sufferers of both sexes and of every age, from three score years and ten down to fourteen or fifteen years--all naked as they were born into the world! And all in chains! Here were old ed women, who had been shut up forman and the maiden of fourteen years old
The soldiers immediately went to work to release the captives from their chains, and took fro, which they gave to cover their nakedness They were exceedingly anxious to bring theht of day; but Col