The fear of its introduction froze the earlier heretics of Italy, France, and Ger many into orthodoxy.

It was a court owning allegiance to no temporal authority, superior to all other tribunals.

It was a bench of monks without appeal, having its familiars in every house, diving into the secrets of every fireside, judging, and executing its horrible decrees without responsibility.

It condemned not deeds, but thoughts.

It affected to descend into individual conscience, and to punish the crimes which it pretended to discover.