Exiles of Zillerthal.

Continued persecuting policy of Rome.

Bible-burning at Champlain.

Culling Eardly Smith, a distinguished protestant gentleman, who long resided in Rome, and is therefore well qualified to judge.* Not more than two years ago a severe decree against the Jews of Ancona was issued by the Roman Inquisition, dated from the chancery of the Holy Office, June 24th, 1843.†

The persecuting policy of Rome is still carried out by her priests in the various countries where they are dispersed, just in proportion to the power and influence they possess. In thoroughly popish countries they continue openly and without disguise to act upon their ancient intolerant and persecuting principles, though the spirit of the age forbids them, as formerly, to sacrifice at once whole, hecatombs of human victims; in semi-papal lands, as in France and some other parts of continental Europe, where Protestantism is tolerated by the government, they exhibit the same spirit by a system of petty annoyance, and attempted restrictions upon the freedom of a protestant press; and in protestant lands, as America and England, in order the more effectually to accomplish their designs, they aim, as much as possible, to conceal the true character of their church, and sometimes even have the bare-faced effrontery to deny that persecution is or ever has been one of its dogmas. In the first case, the wolf appears in his own proper skin, showing his teeth, and growling hatred and defiance against all opposers; in the second, with his teeth extracted, but with all his native ferocity, showing that if his teeth are gone, he can yet bruise and mangle with his toothless jaws; and in the last, covered all over with the skin of a lamb, attempting to bleat out the assertion, I am not a wolf, and I never was," and yet by the very tones of his voice betraying the fact that though clothed in the skin of a lamb, and trying to look innocent and harmless, he is a wolf still; waiting only for a suitable opportunity to throw off his temporary disguise, and appear in all his native ferocity.

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§15.-As a recent illustration of this unchanged spirit of Romanism may be mentioned the persecutions, banishment, and exile, in the year 1837, of upwards of four hundred protestants of Zillerthal, in the Tyrol, for no other reason but because they refused to conform to the Roman Catholic church.

As another instance of the intolerance of Popery, and its determined hatred to the bible in the vulgar tongue, may be mentioned an occurrence still more recent, by which the feelings of protestant Americans were outraged, viz., the public burning of bibles, which took place no longer ago than October 27th, 1842, at Champlain, a village in the State of New York. The following account of this sacrilegious outrage is from an official statement of facts, signed by four respectable citizens appointed as a committee for that purpose:-" About the middle of October, a Mr. Telmont,

*Romanism in Italy, by Sir C. E. Smith, page 41. + Ibid., 49, 65.

An interesting account of the sufferings of these exiles for conscience sake has been written by Dr. Rheinwald, of Berlin, and translated from the German by Mr. John B. Saunders, of London.

Jesuits openly burning bibles.

Disgraceful language of a priest on the protestant bible (note).

a missionary of the Jesuits, with one or more associates, came to Corbeau in this town, where the Catholic Church is located, and as they say in their own account given of their visit, by the direction of the bishop of Montreal.' On their arrival they commenced a protracted meeting, which lasted several weeks, and great numbers of Catholics from this and the other towns of the county attended day after day. After the meeting had progressed several days, and the way was prepared for it, an order was issued requiring all who had bibles or testaments, to bring them in to the priest, or 'lay them at the feet of the missionaries.' The requirement was generally complied with, and day after day bibles and testaments were carried in; and after a sufficient number was collected, they were burned. By the confession of Telmont, as appears from the affidavit of S. Hubbell, there were several burnings, but only one in public. On the 27th of October, as given in testimony at the public meeting held there, Telmont, who was a prominent man in all the movements, brought out from the house of the resident priest, which is near the church, as many bibles as he could carry in his arms at three times, and placed them in a pile, in the open yard, and then set fire to them and burned them to ashes. This was done in open day, and in the presence of many spectators." For a pictorial illustration of this scene of popish intolerance and sacrilege, see Engraving opposite page 440.

In the affidavit of S. Hubbell, Esq., above alluded to, who is a respectable lawyer of the place, it is stated that the President of the Bible Society, in company with Mr. Hubbell, waited upon the priests, and requested that inasmuch as the bibles had been given by benevolent societies, they should be returned to the donors and not destroyed; to which the Jesuit priest, perhaps with less cunning than usually belongs to his order, coolly replied, that "they had burned all they had received, and intended to burn all they could get."*

§ 16.-A still more striking illustration of the unchangeably persecuting spirit of Popery down to the present time, remains yet to be told. In the Portuguese island of Madeira, which is almost entirely under the control of the popish priesthood, a violent persecution has been lately carried on, chiefly in consequence of the suc

* For a full account of the circumstances connected with this atrocious act, see "Defence of the Protestant Scriptures against Popish Apologists for the Champlain Bible-Burners," by the present author. The above little work was written in reply to a popish priest named Corry, of Providence, R. I., who justified the burning of the bibles upon the ground of the alleged unfaithfulness of the protestant version. Among other statements he makes use of the following disgraceful language:-"If, then, such a version of the bible should not be tolerated, the question then is, which is the best and most respectful manner to make away with it. As for myself, I would not hesitate to say, that the most respectful would be to burn it, rather than give it to grocers and dealers to wrap their wares in, or consign it to MORE DISHONORABLE PURPOSES (!!) and I hardly think, that there is a man of common sense, be he Catholic or protestant, that would not say the same."

A woman sentenced to death for heresy in 1844, by the papists of Madeira.

cess of the labors of Dr. Kalley, a pious physician from Scotland, and a British subject, resident on the island. Dr. Kalley has for some time past been in the habit of reading and explaining the scriptures in his own house for the benefit of his family and such others as chose to come in. Several of these have been convinced of the errors of Popery, and have consequently exposed themselves to the most cruel annoyances and persecutions. In a letter from Dr. Kalley, dated May 4th, 1844, and published in the London Record, he says:

"Last Sabbath two persons, when going home from my house, were taken prisoners and committed to jail, where they now lie, for not kneeling to the host (or consecrated wafer) as it passed. On Monday a third was imprisoned on the same charge. On Wednesday, several were mauled with sticks, and some taken by the hands and feet as in procession, and carried into the church, and made to kneel before the images. On the 2d of May, a girl brought me some leaves of the New Testament, telling me, with tears, that her own father had taken two, and beaten them with a great stick, and then burnt them. On the same day, Maria Joaquina, wife of Manuel Alves, who had been in prison nearly a year, was CONDEMNED TO DEATH." (!!!) Yes, condemned to death, in the year 1844, for denying the absurd dogma of transubstantiation, refusing to participate in the idolatry of worshipping the wafer idol, and (in the words of the accusation) "blaspheming against the images of Christ and mother of God;" in plain language, refusing to give that worship to senseless blocks of wood and stone which is due only to God. The same letter contains a copy of the sentence of death passed on this poor woman by Judge Negrao, of which the following is an extract:

66

In view of the answers of the jury and discussion of the cause, &c., it is proved that the accused, Maria Joaquina, perhaps forgetful of the principles of the holy religion which she received in her first years, and to which she still belongs, has maintained conversations and arguments condemned by the church, maintaining that veneration should not be given to images, denying the real existence of Christ in the sacred host (the wafer), the mystery of the most holy Trinity;* blaspheming against the most holy Virgin, Mother of God, and advancing other expressions against the doctrines received and followed by the Catholic Apostolic Roman Church, expounding these condemned doctrines to different persons, thus committing the crime of heresy and blasphemy, &c.

*

*

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*

I condemn the accused, Maria Joaquina, to suffer death, as declared in the said law,

Though the crime of the papists would not have been diminished in the slightest degree, had this accusation been true, as persecution for conscience sake is in every case unjust; yet it is due to this victim of popish persecution to say, on the testimony of Dr. Kalley and others, that she firmly believes the doctrine of the Trinity, and is "an intelligent, clear-minded, Christian woman, quite willing to die, if the Lord will."

Maria Joaquina in her dungeon. Persecution, not a mere abuse, but part of the system of Romanism.

and in the costs of the process, which she shall pay with her goods. Funchal Oriental, in public court, 2d of May, 1843. Joze Pereira Leito Pitta Ortegueira Negrao."

The papists have not yet dared to brave the indignation of the world by executing this sentence, and thus burning or hanging a heretic in the middle of the nineteenth century. Yet, the fact that a pious and respectable woman, the mother of seven children (the youngest at the breast when she was cast into prison), should receive such a sentence in the year 1844, for the crime of heresy, should arouse the whole protestant world to the unchangeably persecuting character of the apostate church of Rome. At the last accounts, the poor woman was still languishing in her dungeon; Dr. Kalley states his opinion that "it is as likely that she will be actually executed, as it was that she should be condemned to death." Of this, however, we have doubts. However glad the popish priests might have been to burn a heretic, could they have confined the knowledge of the fact to their own little island, they dare not, and they will not do it, now their cruelty has been published abroad, and the pulse of the whole protestant world is throbbing with sympathy for that suffering martyr of the nineteenth century as she pines in her lonely dungeon, the persecuted Maria Joaquina.

§17. The instances of persecution and intolerance above related are not mere abuses of the system of Romanism, or excrescences upon it; they are a part of the system itself, and that Romish bishop who does not, to the utmost of his power, "persecute and oppose" heretics and rebels against his Lord, the Pope, is false to his most solemn oath. This will be evident from the following oath, which is taken by every archbishop and bishop, and by all who receive any dignity from the Pope. Let particular notice be taken of the sentence printed in capitals.

BISHOPS' OATH OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE POPE.-"I, N., elect of the Church of N., from henceforward will be faithful and obedient to St. Peter the Apostle, and to the holy Roman Church, and to our Lord, the Lord N., pope N., and to his successors, canonically entering. I will neither advise, consent, nor do anything that they may lose life or member, or that their persons may be seized, or hands in anywise laid upon them, or any injuries offered to them, under any pretence whatsoever. The counsel with which they shall intrust me by themselves, their messengers, or letters, I will not knowingly reveal to any to their prejudice. I will help them to defend and keep the Roman papacy, and THE ROYALTIES OF ST. PETER, saving my order, against all men. The legate of the apostolic See, going and coming, I will honorably treat and help in his necessities. The rights, honors, privileges, and authority of the holy Roman Church, of our Lord the Pope, and his aforesaid successors, I will endeavor to preserve, defend, increase, and advance. I will not be in any counsel, action, or treaty, in which shall be plotted against our said Lord, and the said Roman Church, anything to the hurt or prejudice of their persons, right, honor, state or power; and if I shall know any such thing to be treated or agitated by any whatsoever, I will hinder it to my utmost, and as soon as I can, will signify it to our said Lord, or to some other, by whom it may come to his knowledge. The rules of the holy Fathers, the apostolic decrees, ordinances, or disposals, reservations, provisions, and mandates, I will observe with all my might, and cause to be observed by others.

Bishop's oath to persecute heretics.

Persecution as much an article of faith as the Mass, &c.

'Here

"HERETICS, SCHISMATICS, AND REBELS TO OUR SAID LORD, OR HIS AFORESAID SUCCESSORS, I WILL TO MY UTMOST PERSECUTE AND OPPOSE. ticos, schismaticos, et rebelles eidem domino nostro vel successoribus prædictis pro posse persequar et oppugnabo.' I will come to a council when I am called, unless I be hindered by a canonical impediment. I will by myself in person visit the threshold of the Apostles every three years; and give an account to our Lord and his foresaid successors of all my pastoral office, and of all things anywise belonging to the state of my Church, to the discipline of my clergy and people, and lastly to the salvation of souls committed to my trust; and will in like manner humbly receive and diligently execute the apostolic commands. And if I be detained by a lawful impediment, I will perform all the things aforesaid by a certain messenger hereto specially empowered, a member of my chapter, or some other in ecclesiastical dignity, or else having a parsonage; or in default of those, by a priest of the diocess; or in default of one of the clergy of the diocess, by some other secular or regular priest of approved integrity and religion, fully instructed in all things above-mentioned. And such impediment I will make out by lawful proofs to be transmitted by the foresaid messenger to the cardinal proponent of the Holy Roman Church in the congregation of the sacred council. The possessions belonging to my table I will neither sell, nor give away, nor mortgage, nor grant anew in fee, nor anywise alienate, not even with the consent of the chapter of my Church, without consulting the Roman Pontiff. And if I shall make any alienation, I will thereby incur the penalties contained in a certain constitution put forth about this matter. So help me God and these holy Gospels of God."

The original Latin of this oath may be found in the treatise of the learned Dr. Isaac Barrow, on the papal supremacy (works, folio edition, vol. i., page 553). It was copied by Barrow from "the Roman Pontificate, set out by order of pope Clement VIII.” (Antwerp, anno 1626, p. 59, &c.) After quoting the oath, Dr. Barrow remarks: "Such is the oath prescribed to bishops, the which is worth the most serious attention of all men who would understand how miserably slavish the condition of the clergy is in that church, and how inconsistent their obligation to the Pope is with their duty to their prince;" and we may add, with their fidelity and allegiance to any government under which they dwell.

Besides thus solemnly engaging to "persecute and oppose heretics," every bishop and priest, in swearing to the creed of pope Pius (see page 539), professes to receive "all things delivered, defined, and declared by the general councils," including, of course, the decrees of several of those councils for the extirpation of heretics, which have been cited in the progress of this work (see pages 302, 332, 434, 543-545). Nothing can be more evident, therefore, than that the right to persecute heretics, and the duty of exercising this right to the utmost of their power, is at the present time as much an article of faith of every Romish prelate and priest as the doctrine of the Mass, of Purgatory, or of Extreme Unction.

18. It is a remarkable fact, and one which well illustrates the unchangeably persecuting spirit of Popery, that a solemn curse, "with bell, book, and candle," against all heretics, is annually pronounced by the Pope at Rome, and by other ecclesiastics in other places, on the Thursday of passion week, the day before Good Friday, the anniversary of the Saviour's crucifixion. This is called.