of placing the Bible in the hands of the masses—­of flashing the glorious flambeau of truth into the dark recesses of ignorance and superstition—­into the abysmal depths of papal iniquity.  Unscrupulously employing every method conducive to the grand end of disseminating Romish dogmas, the fagot, the wheel, and all the secret horrors of the Inquisition, were speedily brought to bear upon all who dared to assume the privilege of worshiping God according to the dictates of an unfettered conscience.  If the bloody tragedies of the Middle Ages are no longer enacted upon the theater of a more enlightened world, it is because the power so awfully abused has been wrested from the scarlet-robed tenants of the Vatican, The same fierce, intolerable tyranny is still exercised where their jurisdiction is unquestioned.  From the administration of the pontifical states of Italy to the regulation of convent discipline, we trace the workings of the same iron rule.  No barriers are too mighty to be overborne, no distinctions too delicate to to be thrust rudely aside.  Even the sweet sacredness of the home circle is not exempt from the crushing, withering influence.  Ah! how many fair young members of the household band have been decoyed from the hearthstone and immured in gloomy cells.  Ah! how many a widowed parent has mourned over the wreck of all that was beautiful in a cherished daughter, snatched by the hand of bigotry from her warm embrace, and forever incarcerated in monastic gloom.  Oh! tell me, Florry, if compulsory service is acceptable to all-seeing God?  If the warm young heart, beating behind many a convent grate, yearns to burst asunder the iron bands which enthrall her, and, mingling again upon the stage of life to perform the duties for which she was created, oh! where in holy writ is sanction found for the tyrannical decree which binds her there forever—­a living sacrifice?”

CHAPTER XXI.

“’Tis the light that tells the dawning
Of the bright millennial day,
Heralding its blessed morning,
With its peace-restoring ray.

* * * * *

“Man no more shall seek dominion
Through a sea of human gore;
War shall spread its gloomy pinion
O’er the peaceful earth no more.”

BURLEIGH.

It was a dark, tempestuous night in December, and the keen piercing blasts whistled around the corners and swept moaningly across the Plaza.  Silence reigned over the town.  No sound of life was heard—­the shout of laughter, the shriek of pain, or wail of grief was stilled.  The voices of many who had ofttimes hurried along the now silent and deserted streets were hushed in death.  The eventful day had dawned and set, the records of its deeds borne on to God by the many that had fallen.  Oh! when shall the millennium come?  When shall peace and good-will reign throughout the world?  When shall hatred, revenge, and malice die?  When shall the fierce,