Parliament of Paris
roughly closed its doors upon it; and thus by her awkwardness did Rome
lose her opportunity of establishing that Reign of Terror throughout
the North.

[70] Officer charged with the absolution of
penitents.--TRANS.

About 1484 the time seemed better chosen. The Inquisition had grown to
so dreadful a height in Spain, setting itself even above the king,
that it seemed already confirmed as a conquering institution, able to
move forward alone, to make its way everywhere, and seize upon
everything. In Germany, indeed, it was hindered by the jealous
antagonism of the spiritual princes, who, having courts of their own,
and holding inquisitions by themselves, would never agree to accept
that of Rome. But the position of these princes towards the popular
movements by which they were then so greatly disquieted, soon rendered
them more manageable. All along the Rhine, and throughout Swabia, even
on the eastern side towards Salzburg, the country seemed to be
undermined. At every moment burst forth some fresh revolt of the
peasantry. A vast underground volcano, an invisible lake of fire,
showed itself, as it were, from place to place, in continual spouts of
flame. More dreaded than that of Germany, the foreign Inquisition
appeared at a most seasonable hour for spreading terror through the
country, and crushing the rebellious spirits, by roasting, as the
wizards of to-day, those who might else have been the insurgents of
to-morrow. It was a beautiful _derivative_, an excellent popular
weapon for putting down the people. This time the storm got turned
upon the Wizards, as in 1349, and on many other occasions it had been
launched against the Jews.

Only the right man was needed. He who should be the first to set up
his judgment-seat in sight of the jealous courts of Mentz and Cologne,
in presence of the mocking mobs of Strazburg or Frankfort, must indeed
be a man of ready wit. He would need great personal cleverness to
atone for, to cause a partial forgetfulness of his hateful mission.
Rome, too, has always plumed herself on choosing the best men for her
work. Caring little for questions, and much for persons, she thought
rightly enough that the successful issue of her affairs depended on
the special character of her several agents abroad. Was Sprenger the
right man? He was a German to begin with, a Dominican enjoying
beforehand the support of that dreaded order through all its convents,
through all its