Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 2.djvu/270

 254 "^^^^ decay in spiritual enthusiasm which diminished at once the vener- ation which the Inquisition inspired and the opposition of hetero- doxy which constituted its raison d'etre. As heretics grew fewer and poorer its usefulness decreased, its means of impressmg the popular imagination disappeared, and its rewards grew less and Igss As regards the Cathari, the Inquisition had done its worli too well Unceasing and unsparing repression gradually annihilated the sect which, during the first half of the thirteenth century, seemed almost able to dispute with Eome the possession of Italy on equal terms. Yet when we see that the Waldenses, exposed to the same merciless rigor, were not extinguished, we recognize that some other factor besides mere persecution was at work to obliterate a belief which once enjoyed so potent an influence on the human mind that thousands for its sake went joyfully to a dreadful death. The secret must be looked for m the hopeless pessimism of the faith itself. There was in it nothing to encour- age and strengthen man in the battle of life. Manes had robbed the elder Mazdeism of its vitaUty when he assigned to the Evil Principle complete dominion over Nature and the visible universe and when he adopted the Sankhya philosophy, which teaches that existence is an evil, while death is an emancipation for those vvho have earned spiritual immortality, and a mere renewal of the same hated existence for all who have not risen to the height of the austerest maceration. As civilization slowly advanced, as the midnight of the Dark Ages began to yield to the approaching dawn of modern ideas, as the hopelessness of humanity grew less abiect, the Manich^ean theory grew less attractive. The world was graduaUy awakening to new aims and new possibilities ; it was outgrowing the dreary philosophy of pessimism, and was un- consciously preparing for the yet unknpwn future in which man was to regard Nature not as an enemy, but as a teacher. Catha- rism had no possibility of development, and in that lay its doom. The simple and earnest faith of the Waldenses, on the other hand, inculcated helpfulness and hopefulness, patience umler trib- ulation, and an abiding trust in the watchful care of the Heavenly Father. The arduous toil of the artisan or husbandman was blessed in the consciousness of the performance of a duty. 1 He virtues which form the basis of all Christian society-industry,