"was of avail. The innocent family of the accused "was deprived of its property by confiscation; half "went to the papal treasury, half to the inquisitors. "Life only, said Innocent III, was to be left to the "sons of misbelievers, and that merely as an act of "mercy. The consequence was that popes, such as "Nicolas III, enriched their families through plunder "acquired by this tribunal. Inquisitors did the same "habitually" (Ibid., p. 279).

"In the French province of Languedoc alone the "man-hunters of the Holy Inquisition spilled more "human blood than ever reddened the sand of the "Roman arena. 'But the gladiators died to admin"ister to a frivolous popular amusement,' says the "Jesuitical apologist, while the medieval heretics "were sacrificed to the interests of our revealed "faith.' A faith which would undoubtedly tempt "you to renew the butcheries of your predecessors, "if you could regain their power; but, after its "doctrines have been recognised as a mixture of "God-insulting idolatries, nature-insulting precepts, "and reason-insulting superstitions, what remains to "compensate the world for the lives of the twenty"five hundred thousand martyrs of reason and "freedom whose murder has undoubtedly debased "the mental type of the human race? Will sophistry "dare to mention the elements of natural morality "which are common to all religions, but which the "anti-natural dogmas of Christianity crowded into "the background? Has religion gained by its "association with the doctrines of a Church that "made it a synonym of all that is odious and absurd? "Has the rule of that Church furthered the moral "progress of the forty generations whose wisest, "manliest, noblest, and bravest men were syste

"matically weeded out to enforce the survival of "idiots and hypocrites? For thirteen centuries the "rack, the stake, and the cross were leagued against nature and mankind" (Felix L. Oswald, The Secret of the East, p. 58).

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"When one speaks of the 'inexhaustible fruitful"ness in all good things' of the Catholic Church, 66 we remember the horrors and atrocities of the "Inquisition-the rewards offered by the Roman "Church for the capture and murder of honest men. "We remember the Dominican Order, the members "of which, upheld by the vicar of Christ, pursued the "heretics like sleuth-hounds through many centuries.

"The Church, 'inexhaustible in fruitfulness in all "good things,' not only imprisoned and branded "and burned the living, but violated the dead. It "robbed graves, to the end that it might convict "corpses of heresy-to the end that it might take "from widows their portions, and from orphans their "patrimony.

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"We remember the millions in the darkness of dungeons, the millions who perished by the sword, "the vast multitudes destroyed in flames; those who "were flayed alive, those who were blinded; those "whose tongues were cut out, those into whose ears "were poured molten lead; those whose eyes were "deprived of their lids; those who were tortured and "tormented in every way by which pain could be "inflicted and human nature overcome" (Ingersoll's Works, Vol. VI, pp. 354–55).

WITCHCRAFT

ONE branch of the work of the Inquisitors was to seek and denounce witches-a superstition that we can hardly understand in modern times unless we have seen something of the childish beliefs and practices among such primitive peoples as the Zulus. The world was supposed to be full of legions and devils playing tricks upon men; and it was somehow believed that these devils chose to enter into the closest co-operation with aged and ugly women, and worked evil through them. In what are called the "heathen" days of our ancestors it was believed that woman was especially inspired by the gods, and the greatest respect was paid to her. Under Christianity, which is supposed to have elevated woman, this old belief was suppressed, and a contempt of woman substituted for it. In consequence, when some aged woman showed more wisdom than her ignorant neighbours, she was at once suspected of dealing with the devil, and called a witch. Vast numbers of innocent women suffered torture and lost their lives on that account.

Professor Andrew D. White has many pages on this subject in his Warfare of Science with Theology, and I will quote a few :

"Pope Eugene IV, by virtue of the teaching power "conferred on him by the Almighty, and under the "divine guarantee against any possible error in the "exercise of it, issued a bull exhorting the inquisitors "of heresy and witchcraft to use greater diligence

"against the human agents of the Prince of Darkness, "and especially against those who have the power "to produce bad weather. In 1445 Pope Eugene "returned again to the charge, and again issued "instructions and commands infallibly committing "the Church to the doctrine. But a greater than "Eugene followed, and stamped the idea yet more "deeply into the mind of the Church. On the 7th of "December, 1484, Pope Innocent VIII sent forth his "bull Summis Desiderantes. Of all documents ever "issued from Rome, imperial or papal, this has "doubtless, first and last, cost the greatest shedding "of innocent blood. Yet no document was ever "more clearly dictated by conscience. Inspired by "the scriptural command, Thou shalt not suffer a "witch to live,' Pope Innocent exhorted the clergy "of Germany to leave no means untried to detect "sorcerers, and especially those who by evil weather "destroy vineyards, gardens, meadows, and growing 'crops. These precepts were based upon various "texts of Scripture, especially upon the famous state"ment in the Book of Job; and, to carry them out, "witch-finding inquisitors were authorised by the 'Pope to scour Europe, especially Germany, and a "manual was prepared for their use-the Witch"hammer, Malleus Maleficarum. In this manual, "which was revered for centuries, both in Catholic "and Protestant countries, as almost divinely inspired, "the doctrine of Satanic agency in atmospheric pheno"mena was further developed, and various means of "detecting and punishing it were dwelt upon.

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"With the application of torture to thousands of "women, in accordance with the precepts laid down "in the Malleus, it was not difficult to extract masses "of proof for this sacred theory of meteorology. The

poor creatures, writhing on the rack, held in horror "by those who had been nearest and dearest to them, "anxious only for death to relieve their sufferings, "confessed to anything and everything that would "satisfy the inquisitors and judges. All that was "n needed was that the inquisitors should ask leading "questions and suggest satisfactory answers; the "prisoners, to shorten the torture, were sure sooner "or later to give the answer required, even though "they knew that this would send them to the stake or "scaffold. Under the doctrine of 'excepted cases' "there was no limit to torture for persons accused of "heresy or witchcraft; even the safeguards which the "old pagan world had imposed upon torture were "thus thrown down, and the prisoner must confess.

"The theological literature of the Middle Ages was "thus enriched with numberless statements regarding "modes of Satanic influence on the weather. Pathetic "indeed are the records, and none more so than the "confessions of these poor creatures, chiefly women "and children, during hundreds of years, as to their "manner of raising hailstorms and tempests. Such confessions, by tens of thousands, are still to be "found in the judicial records of Germany, and, "indeed, of all Europe. Typical among these is "one on which great stress was laid during ages, "and for which the world was first indebted to one of "these poor women. Crazed by the agony of torture, "she declared that, returning with a demon through "the air from the witches' sabbath, she was dropped "upon the earth in the confusion which resulted "among the hellish legions when they heard the "bells sounding the Ave Maria. It is sad to note "that, after a contribution so valuable to sacred "science, the poor woman was condemned to the