A REVIEW OF SUNDAY LEGISLATION IN CENTURY NINETEEN. NO. 10.
BY PERCY T. MAGAN.
THE PAPAL CHURCH AND THE SARACENS.
I HAVE already written upon the rise and prosperity of the Jews in Spain. I have reviewed the treatment which this fragment of Israel received at the hands of Rome and the Inquisition. I have spoken of the Saracen invasion of Spain, and traced in a brief sketch their civilization and splendor. I have proved from her own lips that the motive of Rome, in the persecution of these Jews, was base, sordid, and, in a preponderant degree, mercenary. It will be the object of this paper to expose Rome's treatment of the Saracens till every believer in the Koran had been extirpated from Spain, and then to conclude that America is destined to receive similar treatment at her hand, and, consequently, like ruin.
It was late in century fifteen, that is, in 1492, that Granada, the capital of the last Moorish kingdom in Spain, after a two years' siege, fell into the hands of Ferdinand, the great Catholic sovereign of Spain, and the husband of the famous Isabella. The fall of Granada the capital was also the fall of Granada the State. In 756 the Saracens had controlled nearly the whole of Spain; Cordova was then their headquarters. But in 1031 this caliphate was broken up into several smaller governments. One by one these fell into the hands of the Catholics, the last of them to go, as already related, being Granada.
Although all the Mohammedan kingdoms were conquered by 1492, and although Rome held complete sway over them, she did not immediately endeavor to exterminate them. First she attempted to convert them to her own religious dogmas and doctrines. Exhortations and arguments were the first weapons; but when these means failed, she had recourse to other means, viz., she persecuted those whom she was unable to persuade. This methods seemed to be more successful, since we are told by good authority that after the year 1526 "there was no Mohammedan in Spain who had not been converted to Christianity." That is to say, in other language, that every Mohammedan in Spain professed to be a Papist.
Some, however, were difficult subjects for conversion. They would not willingly submit to be baptized. The water might be holy, but, holy or unholy, they wanted none of it. Nevertheless, be baptized they must, so they were forcibly seized, and the ordinance was forcibly administered. This was done in an immense number of cases. Now appears the most diabolical chapter in the whole of this atrocious proceeding. Says Buckle, quoting Circourt, whose "Histoire des Arabs d'Espagne" is everywhere recognized as standard:
Being baptized, it was held that they belonged to the church, and were amenable to her discipline.
Nothing was said about the manner in which they had been baptized. The church was not persecuting heretics. Oh, no! we must not accuse her of that in this instance. She was merely regulating church matters, looking after the welfare of her own communicants, and who could take exceptions to that? Had not the church dignitaries a right to look after the flock? She was not going outside her own domain!!! This is a sophism worthy of the genius of the arch-fiend himself. It was all right, she said, to compel her own members to obey the dictates of the hierarchy, for that was an infallible Catholic law, to the effect that—
whoever has been baptized shall be compelled to continue the observances of the church.
The "discipline" was administered by the Inquisition, "which, during the rest of the sixteenth century, subjected these new Christians, or Moriscos, as they are now called, to the most barbarous treatment." "The genuineness of their forced conversion was doubted; it therefore became the business of the church to inquire into their sincerity." They were ordered to relinquish everything that might have the remotest tendency to remind them of their former religion. They were forced, under severe penalties, to learn Spanish, and to deliver over to their persecutors all their Arabic books. They were forbidden to read Arabic, they were forbidden to write it, they were forbidden to converse in it, in the sanctuary of the home. The ceremonies and games in which their ancestors had delighted were forbidden them. They were prohibited from wearing clothes of the same pattern as those worn by their fathers. "Their women were to go unveiled; and, as bathing was a heathenish custom, all public baths were to be destroyed, and even all baths in private houses."
All of this was more than Saracen flesh and blood could stand. In 1563 they rose in rebellion, and so desperately did their arms maintain the unequal contest that it was 1571 ere the insurrection was quelled. By this rising their numbers were greatly reduced, and the remnant appeared to have lapsed back into the quiet, everyday walks of life. But Rome was not satisfied yet. The unoffending Morisco must be pursued to the grave with torture and civil disability, and even beyond that portal of darkness as far as her unrelenting hand could reach.
A favorite papal argument of pagan extraction was next waged.
The archbishop of Valentia . . . assured the king that all the disasters which had befallen the monarchy had been caused by the presence of these unbelievers [the Moriscos], whom it was now necessary to root out, even as David had done to the Philistines, and Saul to the Amalekites. He declared that the Armada, which Philip II. sent against England in 1588, had been destroyed because God would not allow even that pious enterprise to succeed while those who undertook it left heretics undisturbed at home. For the same reason the late expedition against Algiers had failed, it being evidently the will of Heaven that nothing should prosper while Spain was inhabited by apostates.
For these reasons it was urged that "the whole of them, men, women, and children, [be] at once put to the sword."
Bleda, the celebrated Dominican, one of the most influential men of his time, wished this to be done, and to be done thoroughly. He said that, for the sake of example, every Morisco in Spain should have his throat cut, because it was impossible to tell which of them were Christians at heart, and it was enough to leave the matter to God, who knew his own, and who would reward in the next world those who were really Catholics.
In the year 1609, when Philip III. was king, Lerma, his minister, at the instigation of the clergy—
announced to the king that the expulsion of the Moriscos had become necessary. "The resolution," replied Philip, "is a great one; let it be executed." And executed it was, with unflinching barbarity. About one million of the most industrious inhabitants of Spain were hunted out like wild beasts, because the sincerity of their religious opinions was doubted. Many were slain as they approached the coast; others were beaten and plundered; and the majority, in the most wretched plight, sailed for Africa. During the passage the crew, in many of the ships, rose upon them, butchered the men, ravished the women, and threw the children into the sea. Those who escaped this fate landed on the coast of Barbary, when they were attacked by the Bedouins, and many of them put to the sword. Others made their way into the desert, and perished from famine. Of the number of lives actually sacrificed we have no authentic account; but it is said on very good authority that in one expedition in which one hundred and forty thousand were carried to Africa, upwards of one hundred thousand suffered death in its most frightful forms, within a few months after their expulsion from Spain.199From what has been related in this and in previous numbers of this paper, it is clear:
That, where Rome has the power, she will confiscate all property belonging to all men, who except against her doctrines, dogmas, and practices.
That, where Rome has the power, she will confiscate in one way or another a large share, at least, of the property of those who acknowledge her as their mistress.
That, where Rome has the power, the lives of those who except against her doctrines are not safe for a moment.
That, where Rome has the power, the lives of those who profess to be proselytes to her creed, are not, by any means, always secure.
It therefore follows from these four statements of fact that the PARAMOUNT SUCCESS OF ROMAN CATHOLICISM WOULD PROVE THE MISERY AND ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION OF THE HUMAN RACE.
Moreover, it follows that, since the United States has been sold to the Papacy, or, at least, to papal principles, every man who reads this that we have written, and believes it, will do well to sell all that he has, and lay the price upon the altar of God, to aid in carrying forward the work of Christ in opposition to this, the work of antichrist; for if he keeps aught that he possesses but little longer, whether he believes in Rome or hates her, she will get it in spite of him.
In the next issue I will demonstrate the truthfulness of what I said above, from Holy Writ.