18206) | 
ved (Bar the Monthy Magazine.\yo9 001: 
cidtQn the, Txevrsrrion of) Spare joc 
Fy pt a pe Lof aSpaitie was: -an: 
«i, Instivution;.of.a news species; it, 
had: nos model, in}, the, whole -history.of 
the, world,,and .is;not to, be-compared 
ith apy vther.civil.or ecclesiastical tri- 
bunal,.., Various, sorts...of, inquisitions 
haye.existed, since -+human reason dared 
to,;serutinige, opinions which were held 
sagreds, singe seeptics,,and ianoyators 
eared. in the worlds,but.not till the 
middle of the thirteenth century, when 
some instances of. heresy terrified the 
Histarehy. “Tnnocent III. erected, in 
behalf of that hierarchy, an exclusive 
tribunal, and separated, in an unnatural 
manner, the priestly government from 
the executive power, In order to make 
it the more certain, that neither human 
feeling’ nor any bribe’should soften the 
rigour ofits statutes, Innocent took the 
admivistration of the ‘sacred office from 
the bishops and: secular ‘clergy, who 
clang’ to! humanity by the ties of social 
lifeyand placed it in the hands of monks 
a degenerated *class'of the human race, 
who solemnly) renounce the sacred dic- 
tates of nature, and devote themselves 
as ithe’ servile creatures’ of the Roman 
see. Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal 
and France |successively received at sha 
Franciscan; monk, presided. at tke’ tri- 
bunal when the horrible judgment was 
pronounced onthe Templars; and only 
few 'states:have succeeded either in ex- 
eluding the ‘Inquisition entirely from 
théirdoniinions, or insubmitting it to the 
civil:mibhorities:’ The Netherlands re- 
mhained/free untilithe reign of Charles V.; 
for its)(bishops exercised the spiritual 
contronl, and only in extraordinary cases 
ied) eitherston the: holy office at 
min Germany, or to that in Paris. 
But/the Inquisition’ we are now treating 
of sprang up inthe west of Europe, dif- 
ferent invits origin; and different in its 
nature from-all the rest. The last throne 
of the! Moors was destroyed in the fAf- 
teerith‘century; and the Saracen wor- 
ship was’ obliged:to give place to the 
derating success Of the Chris- 
tians/» \\However, the Christian faith 
was, at'this period, but recently founded, 
and, »eonsequently; not: firmly ‘esta’ 
blished in that infant kingdom ; and:in: 
the! conflict of heterogeneous laws »and 
manners, the various creeds) were; not 
yet entirely separated ; and though#the, 
sword~ of persecution had» driven-many- 
thobeand families into Africa, Savefary 
ter part of thie popelation;| faseis! 
By a beloved “native” climate, eH! 
OWTHEY MEO NG 49408 
voinni Mtemarks an thendinguisition of Spavir, 
~ 2 499 
deayoured, to-trée (themselves from that 
dreadiul. necessity, by'8 dissembled-con- 
vefsions-but-continiked) to serve. either: 
Mahomet; or’: Moses; at-\the -Christian 
altar. So lonsas there wéeressomewho.-, 
turned, their, prayers \towards Mecea,,.; 
Grenada, was not: considered. as -con? 
quered ;, and.as long as.anew, Christian, |; 
continued. to be a Jew;:ora Mahometan, ~. 
in the recesses of his, housejihe was ne,., 
more a sure Subject. to, the), crown than,,, 
tothe Roman-see. ‘It was not,sufficient 
to force upon that repugnant people.the , 
outward form. of a-new ereed,.or (to 
unite them to the victorious .church.by 
the weak bands of ceremony; but ~it 
was thought necessary to, root-out, the 
old zeligion, and to.-overeome,a, stnb- 
born.-inelination, whose seat. was in 
their manners, laws,. and. language,. by... 
the habits. of .several centuries,.and 5 
which was fostered.by the remembrances; , 
of their native soil,and.sky.. If it.was,, 
the wish. of the church to gain.a com-., 
plete victory over the opposite mode of « 
worship, and. ensure. its conquest from), 
every relapse, if was necessary to under-, 
mine the very foundation on which the 
old. creed»was erected, aud to destroy 
the whole frame of moral character to 
which that belief was intimately joined : 
—to root it out from. the inmost re- 
cesses of the heart; to obliterate its 
vestiges in the circle of social life, cause 
every remembrance of it to die away, 
and, if possible, even to destroy the , 
very susceptibility for its restoration. 
Country and family, conscience and ho~ 
nour, the sacred feelings of society and 
nature, are always the first and last 
associations with which religion mingles _ 
itself—from which it receives, and to 
which it gives strength. This~ union 
was now to be dissolved, and the. old 
religion torn away from the fibres of 
nature to which it clung. The. Inquisi- 
tion was accordingly formed, which, in 
order to distinguish it from ‘the other 
tribunals known by that name, I shall 
call the “‘ Spanish Inquisition.” Tt had 
the Cardinal Ximenes for its founder. 
A dominican monk, named Torquimada, ' 
first ascended its sanguinary throne, 
established its statutes, and, ‘this 
legacy, has entailed an eternal male- 
diction on his order. The vows of the” 
Inquisition, are in, effect, to, debase 
reason, aud .to assassinate the, mind:, 
ity instruments are terror and disgrace 5, 
every. passion: is in) its pay, andats net, 
is. épread in every resort: of enjoyment, 
Of sotiety/d>even solitide)ismotrex-) 
cluded from it) and ‘the fear ofits omni, 
“aeRO 7 : Jov ,modef o presence 
