MR. EDITOR,
In the 13th volume of the works of Louis de
Saint-Simon, [1]
printed at Strasburg in 1791, I find some curious remarks on
the ecclesiastical discipline of Spain, and on the authority
of the Inquisition, which I flatter myself will not be
unacceptable to your readers.
“One day,” says the duke, “the Archbishop of
Toledo took me aside, and with the most lively emotions,
said to me: for Heaven’s sake, Sir, let your bishops in
France beware of the following the example of their brethren
here in Spain. For, by little and little, Rome has brought
us under her yoke, and reduced us to mere cyphers in our own
dioceses. Mere priests of the inquisition are become our
teachers and our masters, and are in possession of our
authority; and we are daily indebted to our very servants
for the information, that a decree on doctrinal points is
affixed to the doors of our cathedrals, of which we had no
previous knowledge, but to which we must submit without
reply. The correction of vice and the regulation of the
manners of the people belongs also to the inquisition. In
the concerns of the bishop’s court, whoever pleases may
disregard the proper officers and go to the tribunal of the
nuncio, where, if dissatisfied with his officers too, he has
only to appeal from their decision to that of the nuncio. So
that, deprived as we are of all authority, we have only the
powers of ordination and of confirmation left us: in truth,
we are no longer the bishops of our own dioceses. The pope
is the immediate bishop of every diocese here, and we are no
more than his vicars, consecrated indeed, and mitred, but
for the sole purpose ordaining priests, and of performing a
few other manual operations, without daring to intermeddle
with, otherwise than by blindly submitting to, the
inquisition, the nunciature, and whatever is sent us from
Rome: and should a bishop happen to displease them in the
smallest tittle, he is instantly punished, without being
allowed to offer any thing in his own defence; because
nothing less than the submission of deaf and dumb animals is
expected from him. It seldom indeed happens now, that any
one is sent to the prison of the inquisition, or to Rome,
bound and gagged, because these instances, in past times,
have been too frequent, and because they wish to run no
risk; yet we are not entirely without such punishments, and
these very recent.
“Judge then, Sir, what weight and authority
the constitution can derive from the acceptance of bishops
thus enslaved, as we in Italy, Portugal, and Spain are; and
from the universities, the doctors, and the secular,
regular, and monastic bodies of the clergy in the same
countries. But this is not all. Do you imagine that a single
individual among us would have accepted the bull, if the
pope had not, by his nuncio, commanded it? Our very
acceptance of it would itself have been a crime, which would
not long have remained unpunished. It would have been deemed
an encroachment on the infallibility of the holy father; for
to dare to accept what he decides, is to judge that he has
decided aright. Now who are we to add our judgment to that
of the Pope? When he has spoken, silence and blind obedience
are our portion: we must bow down in perfect adoration to
what he has said, and surrender, as I may say, into his
hands, our will, memory, and understanding. So that far from
daring to contradict, move any amendment, or ask for any
explication, we are not allowed to approve, accept, or do
any thing, that bespeaks an active part in what he
decrees.
“Such, Sir, is the nature of the acceptance
given by Spain, by Portugal, and by Italy, and which I find,
is so much extolled in France, and held out as the free
judgment and approbation of all the churches and schools!
But, in truth, they are no better than slaves, whose matter
has condescended to open his lips, and has prescribed the
form of words that they are to pronounce, and which, without
the change of a letter, or an iota, they have servilely
pronounced. This is the pretended judgment, that is so much
talked of in France, and which we have given indeed
unanimously, because the same form was prescribed to us
all!
“At this view of the calamitous situation of
the church, the archbishop could no longer contain himself,
but melted into tears. He intreated me, for obvious reasons,
not to mention to any one what he had said. Accordingly I
kept the secret inviolably as long as he lived, but as he is
now no more, I think myself equally bound to reveal it to
the world.” [2]
The inquisition, Mr. Editor, which generally
narrows and debases the mind of those who live within the
sphere of its activity, had little or no effect, it seems,
on this sensible primate of Spain, whoever he was – for I am
not sufficiently conversant in the history of Roman
Catholics to know his name, nor of what constitution and
bull he speaks, unless of that which is called
Unigenitus, which, as history tells us,
convulsed all France and Flanders in the beginning of the
present century [3] – yet, as his language
appears to be so very unusual in the mouths of bishops of
the Romish communion, I shall be glad to learn, from some of
your correspondents, what degree of credit is due to Louis
de Saint-Simon, and to the archbishop. Permit me also to
ask, whether the inquisition ever found its way into England
before the Reformation; or whether any such tribunal now
exists among the Roman Catholics of this kingdom. I hope,
for the credit of Englishmen, they are under no such baneful
influence. Yet as they acknowledge the Bishop of Rome to be
the head of their church, they cannot but be influenced, in
some degree, by him. What then has hitherto been the nature
of this influence? and, what change is it likely to undergo
from the present state of affairs at Rome? [4]
S. R.
February 4th, 1799.
