ticipation of sacraments, is common to Spain with all other catholic countries; therefore the accounts usually given of the proceedings of this tribunal, must be received with great caution; most, if not all of them, being founded on an entire ignorance of its constitution and character.

The tribunal of the Inquisition in the papal dominions, is upon the model of that in Spain; no charge of any improper severity is brought against it; the reason is obvious. The individuals who exercise the chief functions of the pope's government are ecclesiastics, with whom the interests and character of religion are a paramount consideration. In Spain, as well as in other countries, those who hold the reins of government often make the interests of religion subservient to human policy. This error so fatal in legislation, is an evil much to be deplored; for to it may be ascribed much of the miseries of the human race. But surely it would be the height of injustice to charge religion with any abuses that may flow from the conduct of statesmen, who often care as little for its interests as they do for its precepts.

From what has been said, it must appear evident that the institution of the inquisition had arisen from circumstances only that were interwoven with the safety of the state; nor can a desire to persecute be with propriety charged upon the goverument that exacted such caution in the examination of the witnesses against the accused, and admitting to the ecclesiastical tribunal the power of twice pardoning him. There were other crimes which were made cognizable to the Inquisition, in the correction of which, the preservation of virtue and morals depended. Will it not appear that it was the reformation, and not the punishment of the guilty, that led to the institution of a tribunal, which afforded the criminal the opportunity of repentance, and shielding him from the sentence which the laws of the state had adjudged to his offence. Will not candour, therefore, admit that the establishment of this tribunal as far as regarded ecclesiastics, was dictated rather by a spirit of mercy than of vengeance.

Writers who are hostile to the inquisition, have not had the candour to distinguish between what was purely ecclesiastical in its constitution, and that which formed the lay tribunal; for

want of this line of distinction being drawn, the acts of the latter are confounded with the former. The Catholic Church not dictating to princes or states, the laws by which their dominions are governed, ought not, (as has been already observed) to be charged with the excesses that have their origin in human passion. The Roman pontiffs have always been most attentive to the administration of strict justice in the courts where their interference was admitted. The sentence of excommunication was pronounced against all witnesses who brought false accusations, or who were actuated by, any malice against the persons they arraigned; and the accusers being examined upon oath, involved themselves in the guilt of perjury, if any mental reservation existed with them, in addition to the awful sentence which the head of the church had pronounced. The ecclesiastics who sat in judgment, incurred excommunication also, if they suffered themselves to be influenced by any human considerations in the decisions they gave. Benedict XIV. to render the acts of his predecessors still more effectual in the prevention of any evil in the courts of the holy office, issued a bull which reserved the absolution of these censures to himself and his successors only.

Whoever will consult the work of Michael Raphael de Macañaz published in Madrid, 1736, will find a correct statement of the principles by which the inquisition was governed. The emperors Theodosius and Justinian felt it necessary to enact laws against such as disturbed the tranquility of their empire, by innovations in religion, in addition to what their duty impelled them to do in the punishment of such as dared to insult the majesty of God, by whose permission they reigned. These laws, according to the author just mentioned, are adopted in the civil courts of the inquisition.

Different primitive councils of the church enacted what are called penitential canons; which must be complied with before a sinner could be absolved in virtue of the powers which Christ had left to his Church. The incestuous Corinthian complied with the conditions on which only St. Paul would restore him to the communion of the faithful. The canons of the primitive Church according to the rules laid down by St. Gregory of Nice, and Austin, are those which governed the conduct of the ecclesias

tical judges in the inquisition with regard to such as had açknowledged their offences. St. Gregory II. in a letter to Leo the Isaurian, shews the difference between the punishment of Princes and that of the Catholic Church. This great Pontiff

tells the emperor, if a person offends you, his goods are confis cated, and perhaps you take his life and cut off his head, or sentence him to degradation and corporal punishment. Ecclesiastics do not act so; if any offenders confess their crimes, we, instead of hanging them, or inflicting corporal punishment, we place the gospels and the cross about their necks, and confine them in the sacristy or other holy places, where the Catechumens were usually lodged, in order to perform a slight penance previous to their baptism. When the delinquent has satisfied in the penance enjoined him, we dismiss him and restore him to his family, free from any stigma on his character.

The celebrated Thomasin, who, it must be admitted, is not over friendly to the inquisition, has the following reflection in his treatise on Edicts, part 2, chap. 13:--"Those who entertain great aversion against the inquisition, are guided more by passion than by wisdom and discernment."

The Inquisition of Spain, however it may be traduced, is not without its claim on the gratitude of the nations of Europe. When the tremendous explosion that rent the most ancient institutions of France and brought its king to the scaffold, assumed an aspect that shook Europe to its centre, and appalled the most mighty of its potentates, by treason which lurked in their territories caused by a deluge of infidel productions; a man whose extraordinary talents made him most remarkable in a tide of uninterrupted victories, assumed sovereign authority over France, and the nations subdued by its arms. No effort was made by Frenchmen to preserve from the grasp of a Corsican adventurer, the liberty they had purchased by crimes. which had agonised Europe, and for the attainment of which, such torrents of blood had been shed and a sacrifice made of whatever was most glorious in their ancient monarchy. The pride of Napoleon inflated by an extravagance beyond all limits, prompted him to enterprizes which involved the repose of the world. The sacred rights of the Vicar of Jesus Christ violated, and his person imprisoned: kings were made, and removed from

their thrones at his nod; his will, expressed in a short sentence, "has ceased to reign," decided the fate of sovereigns. His armies were considered invincible, and the fleets of Britain covered the ocean in vain; there thunders could roar only on the shores of nations prostrated before the French Emperor, or whose interiors were consuming by devouring warfare. At a crisis so awful, the inquisition preserved from the contamination of infidel productions, a people who opposed an impenetrable front to the torrent which had burst with such impetuous violence on so many nations. With truth did the Spanish patriots proclaim, that they preferred annihilation, to witnessing the profanation of their altars, or ceasing to cherish the ardour that the love of their country inspired. We are not ignorant, they said, because our literature is free from the blasphemies that teem from the Parisian press. The surrounding nations beheld with transport and astonishment the fierce encounter of the middle and lower orders of undisciplined Spaniards, deserted by their nobility, with veteran armies, commanded by able and experienced generals. The Autocrat of all the Russias, in his address to the nations of Europe, called upon them to imitate the glorious example which Spanish valour had exhibited. The force of the appeal was every where felt. The limitted means of a people abandoned by their nobility, and their enthusiasm under such discouraging circumstances, in their struggle with superior and disciplined forces, aroused and invigorated the nations; different armies were combined, a mighty force met the oppressor, and in fierce combat terminated his career of ambition: the soaring flight of his eagle being completely arrested. Napoleon was hurled from a throne, the possession of which had rendered him the terror and scourge of mankind.

The inquisition, in its vigilance to preserve Spain from the contagion of infidelity, found it impossible to prevent the superior classes from obtaining books whose pages were sullied with impiety; these works produced in this order, an effect that absorbed the fine feelings which distinguished the humbler classes of their countrymen. The grandees and nobles of Spain, with very few exceptions, deserted the cause of their country, and bowed with tame submission to the person who had outraged their sovereign. The assembly of deputies who met in the

south of Spain, (composed chiefly of Liberales) did not second with the energy that was expected, the efforts of the English commander, in liberating their country from the despoilers of its provinces; nor did they evince the sense of justice that will for ever distinguish the true philanthropist, in yielding to the fair claims of the Spanish American colonies.

The scanty population of Spain, and the neglect observable on the face of the country, is generally made a subject of reproach to its religion and people. Causes, however, may be assigned for both, in which religion has no share, and which ought to acquit its inhabitants of the charge of being naturally indolent.

Spain, before the discovery of America, not only possessed a numerous population, but was the first nation in Europe in the attainment of whatever was within the compass of an industrious people, situated in a country abundant in natural resources, Since that period, whatever made Spain a nation of solid power in Europe, has been on the decline. The energies of its natives had trans-atlantic objects, prodigious emigrations ensued, its manufactures were neglected and suffered to decay. A consequent spirit of languor seized on a great part of the inhabitants, who had not the means nor, perhaps, the spirit to become adventurers in distant countries, abounding with whatever avarice could hope for. The evil encreased to such a degree, that Spain beheld a population that, when concentrated, rendered her so powerful, scattered over the vast extent of her enormous foreign possessions. She felt herself thus wasted at home among the second rank of European states; and strictly speaking, had become only the carrier of the manufactures of other countries, to supply the wants of her colonies.

Should Spain escape the mania of modern philosophy, a different order of things is likely to follow the termination of the contest with her colonies, when it is hoped that her people will, from necessity, return to those habits of industry for which their ancestors were always distinguished, and avail themselves of the advantages of a soil and climate as desirable as any other on the face of the globe."