Dealings with the Inquisition Or, Papal Rome, Her Priests, and Her Jesuits

Dealings with the Inquisition; Or, Papal Rome, Her Priests, and Her Jesuits

The first edition of the ensuing pages having been disposed of very shortly after the publication of it, the Author has availed himself of the opportunity afforded him by a second being called for, to make several important additions, which will be found in the Appendix; and to subject the whole to a minute and careful revision: nor can he send forth his work again before the Public, without expressing the heartfelt gratification it has given him to find the simple narrative, which has been written "for conscience sake," so generally appreciated in the very light in which he was most anxious for it to be viewed;vi viz. as the humble instrument of use in the cause of religious freedom and gospel truth; a cause sacred in itself, and indissolubly connected with the moral and political prosperity and happiness of the whole family of the human race. DEALINGS WITH THE INQUISITION. MY REASONS FOR GIVING THE HISTORY OF MY IMPRISONMENT TO THE WORLD. It was in the month of July, 1842, that I was released, by order of Pope Gregory, from my first imprisonment in the dungeons of the Inquisition. On this occasion, one of the Dominican monks who serve the office of Inquisitor, inquired of me, with a malicious look, whether I, also, intended, one day, to write an account of the Inquisition, as a well-known author had done before me, with respect to Spielberg, in his celebrated work, "Le mie prigioni." Perceiving at once the object of this deceitful interrogation, which was only to afford a pretext for renewing my incarceration, at the very moment when liberty was before me, I smiled at my interlocutor, and exclaimed, "How is it possible, Padre Inquisitore, you can imagine I can have any idea of vindicating myself, on account of the imprisonment I have undergone? No, be assured, whatever injustice you may have committed towards me, I shall attempt no vindication. You know full well that in this country there exists no tribunal higher than your own: even that of conscience is silent here, and prostrate before you. Should I make my complaint elsewhere, and appeal to the justice of another land, how could I hope, unknown and unfriended as I am, that my story would be listened to?2 Distrust is natural to man. One only Tribunal remains; from that neither you nor I can escape; and it is to that same Tribunal that I shall be able to summon the Pope and his Cardinals. Nay, setting aside the idea of my own appeal, they will be summoned there by the great Judge himself. I believe in the declaration of Scripture, 'We shall all appear at the judgment-seat of Christ.' And it is there, Padre Inquisitore, that our cause will be tried, and the justice of your decrees adjudicated. Moreover, I shall not, at the present time, describe my imprisonment; not because I have not sufficient materials, but because it shall not be said that I seek to avenge myself, in publishing to the world what you study to hide. This time I shall make it my business to write concerning my liberty, rather than my confinement. The latter, indeed, might gratify the merely inquisitive; but the former will be a source of satisfaction to many kind hearts. If I speak of my imprisonment alone, I merely enjoy the advantageperhaps a useless oneof engaging for awhile the ear of the public; but if I treat of the liberty I have gained, O Padre Inquisitore, the holy and the real liberty I have achieved, then indeed I may hope to see around me those generous spirits who, also escaped from their imprisonment, flock to the true standard of libertyto the word of God." ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 55628
Author: Achilli, Giacinto
Release Date: Sep 26, 2017
Format: eBook
Language: English