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HISTORY
OF THE
INQUISITION
FROM ITS
ESTABLISHMENT TILL THE PRESENT TIME
BY WILLIAM SIME,
AUTHOR OF THE HISTORIES OF THE REFORMATION, CHRISTIANCHURCH, WALDENSES, &C.
"Instruments of cruelty are in their habitation."—Gen. xlix. 5.
PHILADELPHIA:
PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION.
PREFACE.
Among the numerousand varied methods which thePopish Church has adopted, to maintain its usurpedsway over the minds and bodies of men, none has beenmore effectual than the erection of the Inquisition.Established for the purpose of taking cognizance ofwhat it styles heresy, many are the victims which thistribunal has doomed to the rack and the flames, for endeavouringto regulate their faith and worship agreeablyto the unerring standard of revealed truth. Formany ages, its procedure was comparatively unknown,the conduct of its ministers having been wrapt up inthat mysterious secrecy by which all its transactionsare characterized. What was long concealed is, however,now unfolded, by the productions of many unexceptionablewriters, not a few of whom were themselvesconnected with the "holy office," and are consequentlywell fitted to give an impartial account of its iniquitousacts and deeds.
The design, accordingly, of this little volume, is togive a succinct and connected view of the rise, progress,and present state of that infamous tribunal, moreespecially in Spain. Such a work, the writer conceives,will not be without use, notwithstanding the many detailedaccounts that have been given of an institution,which has been, and still is, an outrage on humanity.To those whose avocations allow only of an occasionalperusal of books, the following sheets will afford informationon this subject, to obtain which otherwise, the[Pg iv]reading of many large works would be necessary; andto the young student, it is hoped, they may pave theway for future research, excite an early abhorrence oftyranny and bigotry, and nurture the spirit of Christianphilanthropy and liberality.
It has been the aim of the writer to condense as muchinformation within a small compass as possible. Nota few cases of well-attested indiv