Note 196 — Chapter V · THE NINETEENTH CENTURY (continued 2)

L. Marineobb diffuses the two thousand capital executions over several years. He sums up the various severities of the Holy Office in the following gentle terms: “The church, who is the mother of mercy and the fountain of charity, content with the imposition of penances, generously accords life to many who do not deserve it; while those who persist obstinately in their errors, after being imprisoned on the testimony of trustworthy witnesses, she causes to be put to the torture, and condemned to the flames. Some miserably perish, bewailing their errors, and invoking the name of Christ, while others call upon that of Moses. Many, again, who sincerely repent, she, notwithstanding the heinousness of their transgressions, merely sentences to perpetual imprisonment.”