INDIRECT TAXES INDULGENCE. 



81 



vat, sifter which it is treated in a manner similar to 

 that above described. It is computed that British 

 India supplies three-fourths of all the indigo brought 

 into European markets. For an account of the 

 indigo obtained from the Isafis tinctoria, see Woad. 



INDIRECT TAXES ; those which fall in reality 

 on other persons than the immediate subjects of 

 them. They are therefore taxes upon those who 

 finally pay them, and not upon those upon whom 

 they are directly laid. Thus the state exacts cus- 

 tom and excise duties from merchants, upon mer- 

 chandise, but the consumer, in the price he pays 

 for his articles, refunds this tax to the merchant, 

 so that the last buyer is the one who really pays the 

 tax. There are taxes which appear to be direct, but 

 yet fall indirectly upon others; for instance, the poll 

 tax upon the serfs in Russia. As they are obliged 

 to give every thing, except what they need for their 

 subsistence, to their masters, the latter, of course, 

 obtain so much the less as the poll tax is greater, 

 and tlms the tax upon the peasants appears to be an 

 indirect tax upon their masters. Thus almost all 

 direct taxes upon servants are paid by their masters, 

 and therefore a direct tax upon the former is an 

 indirect tax upon the latter. Respecting the opinion 

 that every tax affects those only who derive their 

 income from the soil, see Physiocratic System. 



INDORSEMENT OF NEGOTIABLE PAPER. 

 See Bills of Exchange. 



INDOSTAN. See Hindoostan. 



INDRE ; a river in France, which rises about 

 four miles N.N.W. Boussac, in the department of 

 the Creuse ; passes by St Sever, La Chatre, Cha- 

 teauroux, Chatillon (where it becomes navigable), 

 Loches, Cormery, Azay le Rideau, &c., and joins the 

 Loire at Rigny, between Saumur and Tours. 



INDRE ; a department of France, named from 

 the river Indre. (q. v.) See Department. 



INDRE-AND-LOIRE ; a department of France, 

 so called from the rivers Indre (q. v.) and Loire (q. v.) 

 See Department. 



INDUCTION, in logic ; a conclusion from the 

 particular to the general. Strict conclusions are 

 made from the general to the particular. The 

 general premise being true, the application to the 

 particular case which is included in it follows with 

 logical certainty. Induction gives only probability. 

 If, for instance, we conclude, from the earth being 

 habitable, that the other planets are so, the con- 

 clusion is only probable. Induction rests upon the 

 belief that general laws and rules are expressed 

 in the particular case ; but a possibility always 

 remains, that these general laws and rules are not 

 perfectly known. An induction may l:e perfect or 

 imperfect. To make it perfect, the premises must 

 include all the grounds that can affect the result. If 

 this is not the case, it is imperfect. For instance, 

 every terrestrial animal lives, every aerial animal lives, 

 every aquatic animal lives, every reptile lives; 

 therefore, every animal lives. If we now allow that 

 there exists no animal not included in the four 

 enumerated classes, the induction is perfect. 



INDULGENCE, in the Roman Catholic system; 

 the remission of sin, which the church 'has power 

 to grant. (We shall first give the Protestant, and 

 then the Catholic views on this subject.) The 

 visible head of the church, the pope, distributes 

 indulgences in various ways. They are divided into 

 temporary and plenary. The principle of indul- 

 gences rests on that of good works ; for the Catholic 

 theologians prove the authority of the church to issue 

 indulgences in this way : many saints and pious men 

 have done more good works, and suffered more than 

 was required for the remission of their sins, and the 

 sum of this surplus constitutes a treasure for the 



IV. 



church, of which the pope has tlio keys, and la 

 authorized to distribute as much or little as he 

 pleases, in exchange for pious gifts. The historical 

 origin of indulgences is traced to the public penances 

 and the canonical punishments, which the old Chris- 

 tian church imposed on the community, especially on 

 those who did not remain firm unto martyrdom. 

 When ecclesiastic discipline became milder, and 

 the clergy more covetous, it was allowed to commute 

 these punishments into fines, for the benefit of the 

 church. At first, the only source of indulgences was 

 in Rome, and they could be obtained only by going 

 there. At Rome, this treasure of the church was 

 divided among many churches, of which seven 

 principal ones were gifted the most largely by the 

 popes. These churches were termed stationes indul- 

 gentiarum. One of the richest was the church in the 

 Lateran, on which were bestowed, at its renewed 

 consecration, as many days of indulgence as the drops 

 which fall in a rain continuing three days and three 

 nights. The whole treasure of indulgences of the 

 churches in Rome was accordingly inexhaustible. 

 When the popes were in want of money, and the 

 number of pilgrims who resorted to Rome to obtain 

 the remission of their sins began to decrease, indul- 

 gences were put into the hands of the foreign arch- 

 bishops and bishops ; and, finally, agents were sent 

 about, who made them an object of the meanest 

 traffic. During the period of jubilee (see Jubilee), 

 the people were taught to believe that the efficacy 

 of indulgences was doubled, and the richest harvests 

 were always reaped at this time. Leo X., famous 

 for his love of splendour, commenced his reign in 

 1513; and, as the building of St Peter's church 

 had exhausted his finances, he began the sale of 

 indulgences in Germany, without waiting for the jubi- 

 lee of 1525, in conjunction with the elector of Mentz, 

 who was to receive half the profit ; and the latter 

 found an excellent agent for the sale in Tetzel. 

 This flagrant abuse inflamed the zeal of Luther, and 

 the Protestant theologians have always found indul- 

 gences one of the most vulnerable points of the 

 Roman Catholic system ; and even the Catholic 

 states of Germany represented to the emperor, in 

 1530, that he ought to prevail upon the pope, to 

 omit sending any more letters of indulgence to Ger- 

 many, lest the whole Catholic religion should become 

 an object of scorn and mockery. Nevertheless, the 

 right to remit sins was received, in the council of 

 Trent, among the articles of faith. 



We shall now proceed to give the Catholic views, 

 as taken from the article Indulgence, written l;y a 

 Catholic, in the German Conversations Lexicon. 

 The penances of the ancient church (see Penance) 

 were never so strictly binding as to preclude the 

 presbyters from relaxing them in some degree, in 

 particular instances, where their object seemed more 

 easily attained in some other way. But this never 

 was done, except in single cases, and after the cir- 

 cumstances of the petitioners had been closely 

 examined; nor was the whole punishment ever 

 remitted, but merely a part of it, according as the 

 case of the individual required, and his repentance 

 justified it. The council of Nice, in their 12th 

 canon, require, for such a dispensation, proof of true 

 repentance. In the eleventh century, another kind 

 of indulgences was introduced, absolution. This 

 was granted to those who undertook some difficult 

 enterprise for the benefit of the church. This was 

 usually bearing arms in her cause, of which the 

 crusades are the. most famous example. In the 

 council of Clermont (101)5 1096), it was decreed 

 (canon 12), that every one, who, actuated solely 

 by devout zeal, and not by love of glory or by ava- 

 rice, went on the expedition to Jerusalem for the 



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