every
question, whether philosophical, political or historical is considered
from the religious point of view.

THE INQUISITION

In 1235, Pope Gregory IX, establishes the Inquisition, a cruel court of
inquiry for the suppression of those who question the authority of the
papacy to rule over them in the church. It becomes very active in Italy,
France, Spain, Portugal and Ireland. It is not suppressed in France
until 1834, after a period of six centuries.

In 1540, Ignatius Loy o la, an illiterate Spanish soldier and priest,
with papal authority, organizes the society of the Jesuits, to require
Christians to renounce whatever opinions may separate them, and,
accepting the doctrines and worship of the Roman Catholic church to
acknowledge the pope as Christ's sole vicegerent on earth.

The Inquisition had previously proved a bloody court but this order is
intended to make it more effective in suppressing freedom of thought and
action in matters relating to education and religion.

The events that occur during the period of the Inquisition are harrowing
to relate. The historians of that period have recorded, among others,
the following executions and massacres.

The duke of Alva, a Spanish general and persecutor who died in 1582,
condemned 36,000 of his countrymen to be executed.

On the night of August 24, 1572, the anniversary of St. Bartholomew,
Charles IX, of France, by offering his sister in marriage to the prince
of Navarro, a Huguenot, assembles at the nuptials in Paris five hundred
of the most prominent of the Huguenots, including Admiral Coligny, their
venerable leader, and, at a given signal an unparalleled scene of horror
ensues. Before the break of day, these noble leaders and 10,000 of their
faithful followers, in Paris that night, are ruthlessly slaughtered. The
horrid carnage, against these defenceless friends of truth and right, is
extended to Lyons, Orleans, Rouen and other cities until 50,000 are
massacred at this particular time. The total loss of France by the
Inquisition has been estimated at 100,000 persons.

It is estimated that, during a period of seven years Pope Julius II
effected the massacre of 200,000 persons. The Irish massacre at Ulster
in 1641 cost Ireland the loss of more than 100,000 of her best
citizenship. It is estimated that during a period of thirty years as
many as 900,000 persons suffered martyrdom for the truth at the hands of
the secret order of Jesuits. During the entire