Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/389

THE INQUISITION. 245 CILVPTER VII. vailed in Andalusia, loudly called for the introduc- tion of the Holy Office, as the only effectual means of healing it. In this they were vigorously sup- ported by Niccolo Franco, the papal nuncio then residing at the court of Castile. Ferdinand lis- tened with complacency to a scheme, which prom- ised an ample source of revenue in the confiscations it involved. But it was not so easy to vanquish Isabella's aversion to measures so repugnant to the natural benevolence and magnanimity of her char- acter. Her scruples, indeed, were rather founded on sentiment than reason, the exercise of which was little countenanced in matters ^f faith, in that day, when the dangerous maxim, that the end justifies the means, was universally received, and learned theologians seriously disputed whether it were permitted to make peace with the infidel, and even whether promises made to them were obliga- tory on Christians. ^^ The policy of the Roman church, at that time, Bigotry of ••^ •' ^ _ ' ' the age. was not only shown in its perversion of some of the most obvious principles of morality, but in the 22 Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, fut d'abord plus politique que re- ubi supra. — Pulgar, Reyes Cato- ligieuse, et destinee a maintenir licos, part. 2, cap. 77. — Zufiiga, I'ordre plut6tqu'ad6fendre la foi." Annales de Sevilla, p. 386. — (Coursd'HistoireModerne, (Paris, Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., torn. 1828-30,) torn. v. lee. 11.) This vi. p. 44. — Llorente, torn. i. pp. statement is inaccurate in refer- 143, 145. ence to Castile, where the facts do Some writers are inclined to not warrant us in imputing any view the Spanish Inquisition, in its other motive for its adoption than origin, as little else than a political religious zeal. The general char- engine. Guizot remarks of the acter of Ferdinand, as well as the tribunal, in one of his lectures, circumstances under which it was " Elle contenait en germe ce qu' introduced into Aragon, may justi- elle est devenue ; mais elle ne fy the inference of a more worldly I'etait pas en commen^ant : elle policy in its establishment there.