Now I think the best thing I can do is to give
you somewhat of my experience. You say that the discovery of printing has
made the destruction of anybody's books difficult. At this I am bound to
say that the Inquisition did succeed most successfully, by burning
heretical books, in destroying numerous volumes invaluable for their
wholesome contents. Indeed, I beg to state to you the amazing fact that
here in Holland exists an Ultramontane Society called `Old Paper,' which
is under the sanction of the six Catholic Bishops of the Netherlands, and
is spread over the whole kingdom. The openly-avowed object of this Society
is to buy up and to destroy as waste paper all the Protestant and Liberal
Catholic newspapers, pamphlets and books, the price of which is offered to
the Pope as `Deniers de St. Pierre.' Of course, this Society is very
little known among Protestants, and many have denied even its existence;
but I have been fortunate enough to obtain a printed circular issued by
one of the Bishops containing statistics of the astounding mass of paper
thus collected, producing in one district alone the sum of L1,200 in three
months. I need not tell you that this work is strongly promoted by the
Catholic clergy. You can have no idea of the difficulty we now have in
procuring certain books published but 30, 40, or 50 years ago of an
ephemeral character.
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