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Readers are asked to re- port all cases :Qf books marked or mutilated. writliig. Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029390964 Cornell University Library BX1711 .H67 olln 3 1924 029 390 964 VIEW THE CHAMBER OF TORTURE INaiIJ«ITION. -- - - -vVv:i f'l^::^ 1, - ^ "^■"" -§ - jS- ----- ■ft- . — iliillisiiiisliiiii' |in;l:i|,,|i..,;\. 1 ^^^^■■SB30BE09^ "1 ^ ; -; r^ -^'^^11. BM|H i ^1 ^ -^-'?y^pi|-,W _': 3^- J ^:i ]"&.~^ — /i:-^^^--S.- - -— ^ a-P X « 1 1 fW-iaB^,: r.Ti3=SE=t?«-'>«^^._- "^^^l^^bB.. " To banish, imprison, plunder, starve, hang, and bum men for religion, is not the Gospel of Christ : it is the Gospel of the Devil. Where persecution be^s, Christiaiiily ends. Chrbt never used any thing that looked like force or vio- lence, except once ; and that was to drive bad men out of the temple, and not to drive them in." — JosTiir. HISTORY or TH> HOLY CATHOLIC INQUISITION, COMPIUBD FROM VABJpUS AUTHORS. "The Inquisition, model most complete Of perfect wickedness, where deeds were done— Seeds I lot tliem ne'er be named—and set and planned eliberately, and with moat musing pains, How,-to extremest thriU of agony, The flesh, the blo6d, and souls of holy men, Her Tictlms, might be wrought j»Muid when she saw New tortures other labounng fancy bom, JBhe le^ed for Joy, and made great haste to try Their roree--^ the United States of America, and shown the deep in- terest he feels in this country, by the appointment of an ecclesiastical ambassador, a legate with ple- nary powers to manage the cause of Romanism in the new world. This high officer of the church and state of Rome, has expressed his gratitude and loyalty by appearing before the public, (alf^alti- more,) as the apologist and defender of the lliquisi- tion. The order of the Jesuits is restored, and, so far as we know, without any change in its constitution and character. The Romish missionaries to this country are mostly of the order of Jesuits ; for it is said by American citizens who have wintered at Rom^ that the Jesuits who come there for com- mission and patronage, are specially ambitious of appointments to this country. They regard our country as an open field, where they may pursue their schemes without molestation, and with entire 1* V vi PREFACE. success ; where they may profit by the toleration enjoyed under our mild and free institutions. Here, then, we have the order of the Jesuits rising and spreading over the fair face of our coun- try, encouraged by vast importations of the least desir^able classes of Roman Catholics from the old kingdoms of Europe, and supported by the joint patronage of the Society de Propaganda and the Catholic monarchs of the old world. These sworn servants of a foreign potentate have as a leader an avowed defender of the inquisition. These emissaries are true to their patrons and thei^^other church. They defend her infallibi- lity, and of course, must maintaifi her supremacy, and promote (in a prudent way,) all her doctrines and institutions. They believe that her intolerance of all modes of fdith but her own, is for the glory of God and the good of the whole world"; and, holding her infallibility, they, must, of course, de- fend the machinery by which she has, in former ages, carried out her spirit of intolerance against those who have dared to think and speak for them- selves in the interpretation of the Scriptures. This is the capital feature of the Romish church : she is bound in conscience, not only to establish her- PREFACE. Tii aeif, but aho, (according to her aJtUity and' oip- porttmitjf,)to drive every other mode of faith from the earth. This results directly from her claim of infallibility; and her infallibility is the key-stone of the arch on which she rests. The practical effects of the Catholic religion, in the hands of these agents of the pope, will be the same in our country as they are in the old world, only they must be more slowly disclosed, and de- fended with caution. The time, however, has already come, when a citizen, even a senator, may be knocked down in the street of Cincinnati as boldly as in the street of Rome, unless he takes off his hat to the bishop's procession of the host ; only it must be done by a volunteer member of the bishop's civil procession, instead of an armed soldier of the pope. It is better to begin with our citizens by a civil knocking down, and then they will the more patiently receive it when it comes, in the name of religion, from a military corps of honour. There is nothing like a gradual initiation to a new order of things. Our new legate, before he was clothed with his present office, is supposed to have commenced, at Chai-leston, the example of Catholic priests becoming honorary members viii PREFACE. of military companies. Recently, the experiment has been made of connecting military evolutions and parade, and a little use of gunpowder with the ceremonies and worship of the Catholic church; and the officiating priest supposed it to work well. It is an easy way of bringing the people to acqui- esce in the true old idea of " a church militant" We do not complain of these things : they are as they should be, if we must have the experiment of Homanism made in our country. They put the issue between these foreign priests and the Pro- testant citizens of America on the right ground. The question to be settled is this : Is the Romish intolerance, with the machinery by which it has been and must be jiropagated, a desirable gift from the old to the new world ? These foreign gentle- men think it is. What do the American people think ? In view of this question, the present is the right time for a popular history of the inquisition, one of the favourite instruments of the Romish church for the preservation of the faith by the destruction of heretics. Such a history is contained in the manuscript now before me. It will be found admirably adapted to the capacity of the youthful PREFAC^. ix readers of this country. The author, or compiler, as he modestly styles himself^ has been favourably known to the public in numerous small volumes and papers addressed to our youth, while he has uniformly refused to be known by name. Whether this concealment arises from a modest distrust of his abilities, (in which view of himself he must be alone after the publication of this volume,) or whe- ther he is preparing to give his name to the world in connexion with some larger fruit of his literary kbours, are questions in which the public are not specially interested. But to us it is well known that few men have enjoyed better opportunities for making a fair estimate of the institution described in his glowing and patriotic pages. Nurtured in the air of civil and religious freedom, and educated in the schools of his own country, he has traversed the broadest oceans, and dwelt long in Roman Ca- tholic countries, where his minute observations of the civil and moral influences of Romanism, satis- fied him that liberty and happiness could never be the portion of the people who had yielded them- selves to its influence.- Without a personal con- nexion with any one communion, he has employed his pen to shed light on the questioo^ whether the A X PREFACE. machinery of the Catholic church is adapted to bless our country, or whether it is not another Trojan horse, introduced under pious pretences, to subvert our institutions, and give to falling Rome one more triumph over civil liberty ? Whether or not the author has given a faithful narrative, may be proved by reference to the list of works published in the commencement of the volume ; and nothing is more his desire than that the publication of this little volume should lead t6 a thorough study of the history of the inquisition. The student of ecclesiastical history will, of course, ascend to the sources of knowledge on this subject; and he will find in Limbarch and other learned writers, a rich reward for the toil of laborious re- search. But a cheap, convenient manual, to which all may have access, is greatly needed in this coun- try, and if we are not much deceived, the present volume supplies that desideratum. The American field is open to the Roman Ca- tholic as well as the Protestant. Universal tolera- tion is the glory of our free country, and therefore every question in religion is to be brought before the people for their decision. So let it be. The question is to be tried whether the people can be PREFACE. Xi trusted with religious freedom. We rejoice to live while the experiment is in progress; we have great hope of the result ; and our motto is, give the people light. Let not intolerance be met by- intolerance, but let the true character and tendency of the Romish, church be made known by a faith- ful history of what, in the exercise of her infallibi- lity, she has done in past ages. Let her work in South America be compared with the work of Pro- testantism in North America ; and then if our free citizens can be brought to relish popery, it will go far to prove that they are unworthy of their fa- thers, and that civil and religious liberty cannot dwell permanently in any part of the world. C. Mason, Pastor of Cedar-atreet Church, New 7ark. March 3d, 1836. AUTHOR'S PREFACE. The following History of the Inquisition has been compiled from a variety of books upon the subject, and the author feels him- self in candour bound to state, that he has made the freest possible use of the labours of others; whose works, however, he has carefully read, adopting with perfect unre- serve, wherever it was practicable, the very words used by them ; for which he has not deemed it necessary, as this book is in- tended chiefly for youthful readers, to cite the authorities, though in almost every in- stance he could easily have done it, be- cause the readers for whom he chiefly writes would not have been benefited by such a plan ; and the work itself woul^ only have been encumbered by the additioij of, perhaps, several hundred references. A list of the principal books read and made use of by the author, is here an- nexed : — AS 5 6 PREFACE. Limborch's History of the Inquisition. Records of the Spanish Inquisition from original MSS. in 1828. Histoire de I'lnquisition de Goa, which is an abridg- ment of — Dellon's History of the Inquisition of Goa. Llorente's History of the Inquisition. Puigblanch's Inquisition Unmasked. Stockdale's History of the Inquisition. Geddes's Tracts. Pignata, Les Aventures de, Echappe des Prisions de I'lnquisition de Rome. M'Crie's History of the Reformation in Italy. Bower's Account of the Inquisitioii at Macerata. Marchand's Bloody Tribunal,' Father Paul's History of the Inquisition of Venice Persecution of Da Costa by the Inquisition. Sufferings of John Coustos in the Inquisition. Buchanan's Christian Researches in Asia. English Quarterly Review for December, 1811. Master Key to Popery, by Gavin. Van Halen's Narrative. History of the Inquisition. Edinburgh. 1828. Le Maistre's Letters on the Inquisition. And several other miscellaneous works and books of travels, which need not be enumerated. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Introduction — Curiouty and horror inspired by the subject — Praises bestowed on the Inquisition by Roman Catholic writers — Comparison of its doctrines and practice with the doctrines and practice of Jesus Christ — Its repugnancy to the doctrines and practice of the holy fathers and the pri- mitive church — Its original obscure — Emperor Constan- tine — Union of church and state — Rise of the empire of the popes — Tyranny and corruptions of the church — Here- tics — Early reformers — Arnold, of Brescia, burnt — Rise of the Albigenses and Waldenses — Their persecutions — Their character — Pope Innocent III. — St. Dominic — Raymond, earl of Thoulouse, protects the Albigenses and Waldenses. 1 3 CHAPTER n. Life and character of St Dominic, the founder of the inqui- sition — Origin and meaning of the word inquisition — First holy oflBce — Miracles related of St. Dominic — His mother's dream — Standard of the inquisition of Goa — Persecutioi^ of the Albigenses and Waldenses — Simon de Montfort — His cruelties — Crusades against heretics — The Beguins — Establishment of the inquisition at Jerusalem — Reflections. 24 CHAPTER m. Objects of Pope Innocent HI. in establishing the inquisilisn — Epoch of its estabUshment the same as that of the refordp- tion, and of , the revival of letters^Established in Germany — Cni^es of the inquisition towards the hereUcs of Bo- hemia — 1» planted in various countries — Is established ill 7 8 CONTENTS. Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella — Torqnemada — ^His life and character — His fatal influence in promoting the inquisi- tion — Bitter persecutions against the Moors and Jews — Expulsion of the Jews and Moors ftom Spain — Death of Torquemada 36 CHAPTER IV. The reformation in Italy — Aoneo Paleareo — His character and writings — Persecuted and finally burnt by the inquisi- tion — Adventures of Mr. Bower — His escape from the in- quisition of Macerata — ^Account of three modes of torture practised in that tribunal — Persecution of Gahleo 51 CHAPTER V. biquisltion in Spain — Philip II. — Effects of the inquisition in Spain — Auto da F^ in Valladolid in 1559 — Fate of Don Carlos de Seso— Execution of Doima Jane Bohorques — Extract of a sermon preached at this Auto — Charles II. furnishes a gilt fagot for an Auto — State of the inquisition under successive Spanish kings — Its decline — Abolished by Napoleon, and revived by Ferdinand VII. — Blanco White — Van Halen's account of his own sufferings — An instance of death by the pendulum as late as the year 1820. 64 CHAPTER VI. Establishment of the inquisition in Portugal — Saavedra the swindler — His achievements and punishment — Jews in Portugal — ^Their sufferings — ^The New Christians cruelly treated|^Diminutos — Anecdote — Injurious consequences to Portugal from the persecution of the New Christians — Distinction between Old and New Christians abolished. . . 79 CHAPTER vn. Geddes's account of the Portuguese inquisition — Familiars — Manner of treating prisoners — Torture — Auto da & — Sen- CONTENTS. g tenee of death — ^Inquiaidon at Goa — Pyiard — Dellon's ac- count of his sufieringa in the inquisition of Goa. ........ 81 CHAPTER Vni. Buchanan visits the inquisition at Goa — His reception — Puts Dellon'a work in the hands of one of the inquisitors — Conversations on the suhject — Inquisition of Goa aboUshed in 1812 t. 107 CHAPTER IX. Miscellaneous views of the inquisition — Its composition and proceedings — Anecdote of Father Ephraim — Officers of the inquisition — Their extraordinary power and privi- leges — Anecdote of consul Maynard— Council of the in- quisition in Spain — The Cruciata and Hermandad — Pri- sons of the inquisition described — Their horrors — Anec- dote — Flies — Anesdote- «f -€tBepar" BennavidiusV a jail- luaper of the inquisition — His monstrous cruelty— ;Arts em- ployed to make prisoners confess T. ...... ISO CHAPTER X. Extravagance and absurdities of certain inquisitorial writars — Heresy, its meaning — Abuse and perversion of the term by the inquisition — Excommunication — Punishments of heresy and heretics — Death by fire— Unlimited power of this tribunal — Forms of process — Proofs — Arts used by in- quisitors — Honest and frank confession of an inquisitor general r^. 137 CHAPTER XI. y The torture — Its different kinds — The auto da & — ^Its differ- ent kinds — Description of the dresses of those who walk in these dreadful processions — Description of an auto cele- brated at Madrid in 1680 Ifil 10 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. The inquisition always hostile to knowledge of every descrip- tioDc— Corrupting influence of the inquisition upon the people— The monks — ^Their condition and influence — Mi- . racles of St. Dominic — The Eosaiy and worship of the virgin Mary — rAnecdoteof an inquisitor who read Voltaire's works — Proscription of sciences and authors — Brutish ig- norance of inqmsitors— iRefleotions upon the cruelty of the inquisition , 176 COAT OP ARMS OF THE INQUISITION. The Coat of Arms used by the inquisition, is a green cross on a black field, with an olive branch on the right side and a naked sword on the left, and this motto, taken from Psalm Ixxiii. 22, '< Exurge Domine, judica causam tuam ;" which means literally, " Arise, 11 12 COAT OF AKMS. O Lord, judge thy cause." The original text is Deus, (0 'God,) and not Domine, (O Lord ;) the word God being superseded by the word Lord, who came not to condemn but to save the worid. Besides this mi^ake, which shows how little the inventor of the inquisito- rial motto understood or handled the Bible, other er- rors of a grammatical kind might be pointed out. It maybe observed here, that this motto was usu- ally the text selected for the blasphemous inquisitorial sermons vrhich were preached at autos da fi^. HISTORY THE HOLY CATHOLIC INQUISITION. CHAPTER I. Introduction — CurioBity tmd horror inspired by the subject — Praises bestowed on the Inquisition by Roman Catholic writers — Comparison of its doctrines and practice with the doctrines and practice of Jesus Christ — Its repugnancy to the doctrines and practice of the holy fathers and the primitive church — ^Its origi- nal obscure — Emperor Constantino— Union of church and state — Bise of the empire of the popes — ^Tyranny and corruptions of the church — Heretics — Early reformers — ^Arnold, of Brescia, burnt — ■ Rise of the Albigenses and Waldenses — Their persecutions — Their character — Pope Innocent III. — St. Dominic — Raymond, earl of Thoulouse, protects the Albigenses and Waldenses. It is proposed, in the following volume, to pre- sent to the youthful reader a compendious history of the origin, the progress, and the decline of the Inquisition, a wonderful and monstrous establish- ment, as it is called by an eminent writer, which, in the dark ages, was substituted for the religion of Christ; and which may be considered as the B 13 14 HISTORY OF THE , greatest monument of human genius, human wick« edness, and human weakness that was ever reared. It is a deep and instructive lesson, and every page of it sets in a broader and a clearer light the truth of that declaration of the sacred volume, that " the human heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." There has always existed an extraordinary cu- riosity in relation to every thing which appertains to the inquisition. The very name inspires a feel- ing of horror which it is difficult to define: and the feeling is a natural one; for there is something so dark and so terrible in its history, that while the reader passes over the shocking narratives with which its annals are replete, he finds himself ut- terly unable to realize the details which he reads with such eagerness; and he rises from the perusal with a feeling of almost absolute incredulity. But these melancholy annals have now passed into cer- tain and authentic history; and not only may the sombre outlines of this tribunal, the most execra- ble that ever encumbered the earth, be contem- plated, but the inmost recesses of its interior have been explored, and all its abominations are now set before an astonilshed world. And yet the Romish doctors exhausted the lan- guage of praise- in impious commendations of this tribunal, which they called the bulwark of the true faith — a tribunal not sprung from the wisdom of man, said they, but sent from heaven, aj^ CATHOLIC INQUISITION- 15 breathing the very spirit of holiness. Hence it is we conftantly find them repeating those titles which to us appear a species of mockery; for this sanguinary institution has always been known as the Holy Office, and even its dungeons called Holy Houses. They compare the inquisition to the sun, and a^, that as it would be ridiculous ex- cess to extol the bright orbujf day, so would it be absurd, by mere human eulogies, to attempt to glorify the inquisition. But if we compare the doctrines of the in- quisition with those inculcated by the Saviour of the world, the folly of the commendations which have been bestowed, will quickly ap- pear manifest. If we compare the practice, the same result will follow, and yet both their doc- trine and their practice they profess to base upon the mild and merciful precepts, and the divine ac- tions, of the Son of God. We shall be constantly struck with the glaring inconsistencies which offer themselves upon every side. In the gospel we read only of charity and love. Charity is called the new commandment by which the. disciples of 4he Lord may be'distinguished. What page of the history of the inquisition records a solitary act of charity ? " Learn of me," said the Saviour, " for I am meek and lowly of heart." Christ sent his disciples abroad as sheep among wolves, to show forth their divine original by patience under suf- ferings. What has been the spirit of inquisitors ? 16 HISTORY OF THE Wolves, indeed, and with very little diBguise-^ they have never ceased to rend and devour the flock. Christ reproved the zeal of James and John, who sought to call down fire from heaven to con- sume the Samaritans, because they would not re- ceive him; and to Peter he commands that the sinner be forgiven not only seven times, but geventy times seven, If then the gospel of Christ be contrary to the violence shown by this tribunal, so is it very clear, in spite of all attempts by inquisi- torial writers to prove the contrary, that it was equally repugnant to the doctrine of the holy fa- thers, and to the practice of the primitive church. One passage alone from the works of one of the most eminent, St. Chrysostom, will be sufficient to illustrate the maxims of mildness, even against heretics, inculcated in that golden age of the church. " Our war," says he, speaking on the subject of heretics who were afterwards treated with such unremitting barbarity by the inquisi- tion, " is not with men, who are the work of God, but with opinions which the devil has depraved. The physician, when he cures a patient, does not attack the body, but the disorder under which it labours. In the same manner dealing with here- tics, we ought not to injure them in person, but seek to remove the error of the understanding, and the evil of the heart. Finally, we ought always to be disposed to submit to persecution, and not to persecute : to sufier grievances, and not to cause CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 17 them. It is in this manner Jesus Christ con- quered; since he was nailed to a cross, he did not crucify others." It was a Mahometan precept to propagate their religion by fire and the sword: but the inquisition, refining upon the former, went still beyond in cruelty; and although they showed as little mercy to the bodies of their enemies, they made war against theJEvery minds; the tortures of the body, ^flkwill be 'abundantly shown in the following psges, being absolutely nothing compared to the mental agonies to which their victims were sub- jected. Can any thing be conceived more oppo- site to Christianity in every feature ? But as there is nothing on the face of the earth to which it may be compared, let it not be deemed extravagant if we go further, and liken the inquisition itself to Pan- demonium, and its ministers to malignant demons. These observations might, perhaps, have been reserved for a later period; but they will be found to be borne out in every respect by the events which it is our melancholy task to record. It has been usual with writers on the inquisition to open their histories by an account of the persecutions of the Christian church under the Roman empe- rors; but this, though a subject of vast interest, and full of important events, must be passed over in the present undertaking, it being proposed to commence at that period when persecution had become a system, conducted under the pretence b2 18 HISTORY OP THE of religion, and animated and directed by the same spirit and head, which was the^ Roman church. The ecclesiastical history of Ronie presents a wide field to be surveyed — a face too broad for our pre- sent contemplation ; our aim being, as we have al- ready declared, to select from its broad and hideous countenance the inquisitorial tribunal, which forms its most tremendous feature. In giving its history, it is difficul,t^o point out exactly its fountain heads ; and, indeeS, it is jffit necessary to show, with historical certaintyj^me sources from which they sprung. The fact is, its original is involved in obscurity, and its growth was irregular and gradual. It was an invention of too much wickedness to have been planned and matured by the depravity of any single person or age. It was developed by degrees, and first ap- peared in spots which may be compared to the blotches of a foul disease, the unerring symptom of internal corruption. Alas ! that so disgusting a disorder should have seized the body of the church, which soon became a loathsome carcass of putridi- ty and rottenness. Until the time of the emperor Constantine, the purity of the Christian faith had been preserved by the great body of Christians with very little alloy; but it is from this epoch we are to date the most disastrous changes : for the conversion of that monarch threw the civil power into the hands of Christians; and whether from the corrupting CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 19 influence of authority, or as a signal punishment of heaven, tiifiM^lgrch can hardly yet be said to be wholly fifee front the evils which were generated by the unnatural union of the Christian faith with civil empire. In the various changes which en- sued, we behold the portentous empire of the popes rising, aild with it a gradual declension of religion ^nd knowledge, until the whole world le c^teffid with a mantle of ignorance and i(^flfnt l^^^^itidR^nd the cross of Christ had become nVngnal of persecution and bloodshed. So that in those corrupt days, the apostate Julian was un- fortunately too well justified when he exclaimed, that, " in his experience, wild beasts were not so cruel to man, as the Christians of his day were to one another." It was a fatal policy which had prompted Con- stantine to remove the seat of government frpm Rome to Constantinople. Two empires were thus formed out of one, and constant struggles ensued. The hordes of barbarians which desolated the weakened empire, the new kingdoms rising and falling upon the ruins of Rome, together with other influences, operated powerfully in promoting the gradual development of the papal authority, and the final establishment of that monstrous doc- trine, the infallibility of the holy see. By a thou- sand artifices, immense wealth had become the portion of the church, and a steady system of ecclesias,tical aggrandizement had been kept in ise who em^- 20 HISTORY OF THE action for upwards of ten centuries. It was to maintain this usurped authorit^feid j^^mendous sway acquired over mankind, thaTrthe inquisition was established, the scourge of the world, and the most corrupt engine ever wielded. This unwholesome tyranny of the Romish church being once firmly established over man- kind, her sword of vengeance fell withuixt^mi- nating fury on all who dared to " " ' "^ •opposition to her decrees. The odic "heretics" was bestowed' on those tained any belief different from the settled faith ; and all Christendom was invoked with promises of salvation, or driven by menaces of punishment, to the extirpation of heretics, than whom, the Romish church taught, the earth could not pro- duce greater monsters. From the tenth century, the darkest period of what is called the dark ages of Europe, the abuses and wickedness of the church had continued to increase, till, at last, it had mounted to a height of iniquity that is scarcely conceivable. To op- pose this growing crime and desolation, numerous individuals, from time to time, had lifted up their feeble voices in vain. In the twelfth century arose Arnold of Brescia, who preached boldly and successfully the necessity of reformation. This reformer became an object of hatred to the whole church, whose power was immediately prepared to crush him; and though he had gained many fol- CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 21 lowers and protectors, he finally became a victim, and was burnt! From the blood of this martyr sprung the celebrated sects of the Albigenses and Waldenses, the former so called from the city of Albi, where the opinions of Arnold were first pro- pagated, and the latter called from the Pays de Vaud, whither^ the reformer's followers went after his, cruel martyrdom. According to many writers, it was to extirpate this remnant which had ped the sword, that the inquisition was first motion. These sects, of course, early at- trac^d the rage of Rome, and accordingly they were hunted down like wild beasts at the instiga- tion of the popes ; and their whole history is a series of the sufferings they endured at the hands of their barbarous persecutors. In proportion as the church became more corrupt, those who dif- fered from her increased; and as heretics multi- plied, persecution became a vital principle of the Catholic religion, gradually assumed a settled cha- racter, and was reduced to a sanguinary and dia- bolical system. The various religious orders be- came the guilty instruments of a remorseless hierarchy. Among these, the Franciscans and Dominicans soon rendered themselves conspicuous for their unsparing zeal against heretics. Invested by the pope with almost unlimited power over all those who wandered from the faith of the church of Rome, they exercised that power with a dread- ful rigour. St. Francis and his followers were 22 HISTORY Or THE commissioned to extirpate heresies from Italy, while St. Dominic and his disciples were sent to ravage certain parts of France, where numerous heretics, as they were called, disgusted with the corruptions of Rome, sought out an asylum, and practised a purer faith and a better worship. The creed of the Albigenses and Waldenses, as far as it is possible to ascertain it, appears to have been as harmless as their conduct was pure and peaceable. In the inoffensiveness of their n^fe ners they resembled the Quakers : mild in^jH^ principles, they were strangers to war, and lived in the constant practice of virtue and true religion. Such is the character of the people who were the earliest objects of Romish cruelty, and whose ex- termination was the infant essay and darling aim of that corrupt court. Pope Innocent III. whose reign was fatal to the happiness of mankind, as it gave birth to the two orders already mentioned, the Dominican and the Franciscan, determined to tear up this heresy by the roots, and a crusade was proclaimed against it. St. Dominic and Pierre de Chataneuf were the persons to be employed upon the errand. The fanaticism of the age was- worked upon by the gloomy eloquence of St. Dominic. He laboured and preached night and day. Every pulpit soon resounded with anathemas against the devoted Albigenses, and an immense army, which was impiously called. the militia of Christ, was soon ready to proceed to their destructipn. The CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 23 persons who engaged in the crusade had all their sins forgiven. These religious soldiers, like those who joined the crusades for the recovery of the Holy Land, had all manner of indulgences granted them: they wore the sign of the cross upon their armour, and hence it was they were also denomi- nated cross-bearers. By their means it was pro- posed to cut off with the material sword those heretics who could not be vanquished by the sword of preaching. > ^^^vmond, earl of Thoulouse, in France, in whose territory the Albigenses were chiefly found, having refused, at the mandate of the pope, to de- stroy his innocent subjects, became a principal ob- ject of rage. He was excommunicated by the pope. This most dreadful of punishments, in that age, will be explained in another part of the pre- sent work. The count, however, was so beloved by his subjects, that the anathema of the church did not fall upon him with its accustomed de- structiveness. Recourse was had to stratagem and artifice, and a handle was soon made of an unfor- tunate accident Pierre de Chataneuf, the pope's legate who pronounced the curse, was drowned, and it was at once proclaimed that he had been murdered by Raymond. The furious churclwnan was converted into a saint and martyr, and the earl was branded as an assassin. Every thing was done to inflame the people, and to hold the earl up to execration. The more effectually to secure 34 fflSTORY OP THE his ruin, the pope proiaised heaven to all who took arms, and the gift of all the estates' of the count to those who would conquer them. CHAPTER II. Life and character of St Dominic, the founder of the inquisi- tion — Origin and meaning of the word inquisition — First holy office — Miracles related of St. Dominic — His mother's dte^V- Standard of the inquisition of Goa — Persecutions of the AlBlgen- ses and Waldenses — Simon de Montfort — His cruelties — Crusades against heretics — ^The Beguins — Establishment of the inquisition at Jerusalem — ^Reflections. It is now necessary to suspend the narration for the purpose of introducing one of the most extra- ordinary personages which history can boast ; one who is usually denominated the founder of the in- quisition ; with which, at all events, his name is now completely identified. This individual was St. Dominic, whose authority to conduct the per- secutions of which we spoke in the last chapter, was derived from Innocent III. It will be neces- sary to dwell a little upon his character and life, after- which it is proposed to continue the tragical history of the persecutions of the Albigenses and Waldenses, since it was on this occasion that the bloody spirit of papal vindictiveness was first un- folded. CATHOLIC mQuiaonoN. 25 The instructions wbieh Si Dominic received \*ere, to inquire^out, or make inquisition con- (Berning, and to punish all offenders against the faith. Hence the titles of inquisitor and inqui- sition. It is also said, that, on his arriving at the theatre of his* future exploits, he took up his abode in the house or a certain nobleman of Thoulouse, whom he found s^dly infected witii heresy ; and after bringing him back to the true faith, the noble convert immediately devoted himself and his whole dwelling to St. Dominic and his order ; and this is pointed out as the first building in which the holy office was regularly lodged. The character of St Dominic and some of the incidents of his life, as they have been given by many writers, possess a strange interest, not so much on account of 4he marvellous with which fhey teem, but as illustrating the spirit of the wri- ters, and thflf depravity, the folly, and the incon- ceivable ignorance of those ages. Domingo de Gusman^ styled, in the Romish Calender, St. Do- minic, is the only saint on record, in whom no solitary speck of goodness is discoverable. To impose pain and privations was the pleasure of his unnatural heart, and cruelty was in him an appe- tite and a passion. No other human being has ever been the occasion of so much misery. The few traits of his character to be gleaned from the lying volumes of his biographers, are all of the darkest colours. He is said never to have looked C 26 HISTORY OP THE a woman in the face, nor ©poken to one. On his preaching expeditions he slept in churches or upoft graves, wore an iron chain round his body, and^ft, fastings and self-whippings were excessive. The coming into the world of this bloody man was preceded by prodigies, which, indeed, are all false, but they nevertheless show what impression his actions had made upon those who had either seen or read of them. It is related thatj before his birth, his mother dreamed that she had brought into the world a whelp, whose fierce barkings were heard every where, and that the earth was burnt by the lighted torch which the monster bore in his mouth. The Dominican writers say that the torch means, that St. Dominic enlightened the world : but others have found in the torch an emblem of the Incredible number of vfetims who were consu- med by the fire and fagot of the inquisition. There can be little doubt, however, that the whole of this dream was invented long after the birth of St. Do- mini(y and its universal reception shows, very strikingly, the general opinion that was enter- tained of the founder of the institution, both of which are figuratively described by the whelp and the |orch. This ridiculous story is the more im- portant, as it afterwards became the standard of the inquisition at Goa, in the East Indies. But to proceed with thfe marvels related of this wicked man, which are only 'worthy pf attention, as they d^onstrate the depravity* of the age, and 27 CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 29 the character of the writers, as well as of their sub- ject Earthquakes and meteors, they declare, an- nounced his nativity to the earth and the air ; and two or three suns and moons extraordinary were hung out for an illumination in the heavens. The virgin received him in her arms when he was born. ^ When a sucking babe he observed fast-days regularly. His manhood was as portentous as his infancy. He fed multitudes miraculously. He used to be red-hot with" divine love — sometimes blazing like a sun — sometimes glowing like a fur- nace. At times it blanched his garments, and im- bued them with a glory resembling that of the transfiguration. Once it sprouted out in six wings like a seraph's, and once the fervour of his piety made him sweat blood. His thousand other mira- cles, and more especially those relating to the ro- sary and the virgin Mary, are, many of them, too shocking for repetition. " It is impossible," says a very sensible writer, " to transcribe these atro- cious blasphemies without shuddering at the guilt of those who invented them ; and when it is re- membered that they are the men who have perse- cuted and martyred so many thousands for Con- science' sake, it seems as if human wickedness could not be carried farther. Blessed be the day of Martin Luther'^irth ! It should be a festival only second to that of the Nativity." — From this digression upon the character of- St. Dominic, it is time to return to the fate of the Al- C 3 30 HISTORY OF THE bigensps. Raymond, earl of Thoulouse, had vainly wished to protect his innocent subjects. He was compelled at last to yield implicit obedience to the church. This reconciliation, however, which was accompanied by circumstances of great mortifica- tion — for he was scourged, naked and in public, till his flesh was torn by the stripes — did not pro- duce the benefits which were anticipated. The numerous swarms of cross-bearers overspread the country, like another plague of locusts, devouring as they went, and leaving nothing but desolation behind. In the year 1209, the city of Biterre was captured, and all the inhabitants, without distinc- tion of age or sex, were inhumanly massacred. It is related, that some of the cross-bearers being at a loss how to act, since there were Catholics in the city, mixed with the heretics, so that they might slaughter the innocent by mistake ; and apprehend- ing at the same time that the guilty might feign themselves Catholics to save their lives, their doubts were soon resolved and quieted by one of their spiritual leaders, who exclaimed with a loud voice, " Slay them all ! Slay them all ! for the Lord knows who are his own." — ^Every soul was butchered ! Simon de Montfort was now chosen as the mili- tary leader. This commander was of a gigantic stature, and possessed a constitution hardened to iron in the crusades of the Holy Land. Born and reared in the midst of ignorance, fanaticism, and CATHOLIC USQUISmON. 31 war, he would have thought himself dishonoured by sentiments of mercy and pity. His only vir- tue was ferocity — his courage that of a robber. Such was the chosen champion of religion. In that corrupt age the doors of salvation and the path of glory were equally open to a man who, in our day, woul^ have been condemned to the scaffold. The earl, having been appointed by the cross- bearers governor of the whole country, including those portions which were not yet conquered, soon distinguished himself for his zeal and ferocity in the war,*and the most horrible punishments were inflicted upon the captive heretics. One of these victims, who was condemned to the flames, having expressed a desire to abjure his errors and be con- verted, there arose a division among the cross- bearers; but the earl quickly decided that the penitent must be burnt ; alleging, that if his con- version was genuine, the flames would expiate his sins ; and if it was pretended, he would meet the reward his perfidious conduct merited. In the mean time the younger Raymond, son of the earl, had raised an army in Provence, and was making successful war upon Montfort, and had even recovered the city of Thoulouse itself. These successes were greatly facilitated and se- cured by the death* of Montfort, who was killed by a stone while endeavouring to retake Thou- louse. About the year 1221, the earl of Thoulouse also died, and was succeeded by his son, whose 32 HISTORY OF THE valour had already recovered his father's earldom by arms. One of the first acts of the young earl was to banish the inquisition from his dominions, whereby he, at once brought upon himself the in- dignation of the pope. Once more the horrid trumpet of war was heard, and the Dominicans were again sent to preach a new crusade, "to be called the " Penance War." Letters were sent to the French king, Lewis, commanding him, " in the name of God," to smite the Albigenses with the sword, and burn their cities with fire. It was in vain now that the earl ofiered to make every atonement to God and the holy church. The legate of the pope was deaf to his submission, and re- solved to compel him to renounce his patrimony for ever. Lewis, king of France, entered upon this war with alacrity, and besieged the city of Avignon. Before it was taken, however, he fell a victim to dysentery. His death was concealed from the army by the legate, whose conduct, it will pre- sently be seen, was distinguished by the most atrocious perfidy. Finding it impossible to con- quer the city by force, he had recourse to strata- gem. He craved permission to enter the city, with his prelates and servants, for the purpose of ex- amining into the faith of the inhabitants; declaring, with an oath, that he would put ofi" the siege, and that his only motive was the salvation of their souls. The citizens, confiding in the oath of so CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 33 holy a character, and dreaming of no fraud, con- sented ; but the army, according to a private un- derstanding, rushed in at the gates, and treacher- ously captured the city, slaying many of the peo- ple, and demolishing the fortresses and towers of defence. Thoulouse, also, was soon after compel- led to surrender, and Raymond was subjected to penalties in some respects severer than those which had been imposed upon his father. A Catholic writer, in speaking of one of the penances of the earl, exclaims, " that it was a holy sight to see so great a man, who for a long time could resist so many and great nations, led in his shirt and trou- sers, and with naked feet, to the altar," which was done to absolve him from his sentence of excom- munication. The earl's neck being thus bowed down to the papal yoke, uncommon and successful efforts were made by the pope, and seconded by several mo- narchs, to enlarge and consolidate the inquisitorial power. The king of France and the emperor of Germany, about the same time promulged the severest laws and constitutions against all manner of heretics, by which the office of the inquisition was greatly promoted But it must not be sup- posed that this cruel tyranny was patiently sub- mitted to by all nations. In many places great resistance was made, and open violence employed against the inquisitors, whose cruelties were in- supportable. The power of the pontiff, however. 34 HISTORY OP THE was not to be resisted. Even the emperor Fre- derick, who had signalized his zeal in the cause of the church against heretics, was, for a slight ofFenee, at once attacked by the thunder of excommunica- tion. Pope John XXIV. went so far as to con- demn as heretics the B'eguins, monks of the order of St. Francis, who vowed never to own any pro- perty, but to live by begging, which they denomi- nated evangelical poverty. John wished to ex- empt them from this discipline, and dispense with the strict rule of' St. Francis, and authorized them to lay up storehouses of corn, wine, and bread ; which they, deeming it a violation of their purity, and derogatory to the sublime perfection of their order, opposed so strenuously, that the pontiff is- sued a bloody decree against the obstinate Beguins. Many of them were burnt to death by this pope, whom they called the Boar of the Forest, which had destroyed the enclosure of the tabernacle, and had done more harm to the church of God than air former heretics put together. One of them, who was speaking of the pope's power to dispense with the rule of St. Francis, inquired, contemptu- ously, in allusion to the text in Scripture whereby' the holy see claims earthly authority, viz. that " whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven," whether, " if the pope bound the tail of an ass on earth, the tail of the ass would be bound in heaven." But in defiance of all opposition, the inquisition CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 36 was introduced Into numerous places, and even found its way into Syria and Palestine ; for about the end of the thirteenth century, the pope sent a bull to the patriarch of Jerusalem, commanding him to establish inquisitors in the different dis- tricts of his legateship, in Judea. It cannot fail to excite singular emotions in the reader's mind, to find the inquisition exercising, in the name of Christianity, its dark and appalling o£Sce in the very spot where the Saviour of mankind had un- folded his holy and glad mission«for the redemp- tion of a sin-lost world — a melancholy change in- deed, to perceive growing on the soil where once sprung the rose of Sharon and the lily of the val- ley, the poisonous and the pestilent branches of a deadly Upas. 36 HISTORY OF THE CHAPTER III. Objects of Pope Innocent m. in establiehing the inquisition — Epoch of its establishment the same as that of the leformation, and of the revival of letters — ^Established in Germany — Cruelties of the inquisition tovrards the heretics of Bohemia — ^Is planted in various countries — ^Is established in Spain by Ferdinand and Isa- bella — ^Torquemada — His life and character — His fatal influence in promoting the inquisition — Bitter persecutions against the Moors and Jews — Expulsion of the Jews and Moors &om Spain — Death of Torquemadl^ Although the cruel wars of persecution had been triumphantly successful in the slaughter of thousands of innocent persons who had fallen vic- tims in the victories of Montfort, yet it was obvi- ous that the process of extirpating heresy, by ex- termination, could never be efiFectual in the extinc- tion of the Albigenses; for, in opposition to the rigorous measures employed for the purpose, it had penetrated to the very capital of Christendom. Innocent had too much sagacity not to perceive that the evil would only be increased by the vio- lent steps used to eradicate it. It was therefore his wicked, though great, policy to create and con- solidate a power, strong and ever-wakeful, which should watch over the papal interests, and be both willing and able, at all moments and in defiance ^f ^11 human interference, to crush heresy, when- ever and in whatever form it might raise its head. CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 37 Accordingly every spring was put in action to ac- complish this stupendous plan of human misery. As usual, the monks of St. Dominic and St. Fran- cis were the terrible functionaries made use of by the holy see. These servile minions of the in- terests and will of Rome, devoid of the ties of fa- mily and affection, which bind men in society — accustomed, in religion, to believe and not to ex- amine — were true fanatics, without mercy, without humanity ; and their hatred to heretics was ever kept alive by the fear of losing their temporal wages. It is not possible, within the narrow compass which this compendious history is intended to em- brace, to give an account of the various successes and checks, and all the vicissitudes which the in- quisition met in its gradual progress. Hitherto, however, its authority had been confined to Italy, where it was pent up within comparatively strict limits ; but it was plain that, like a torrent swol- len, it was soon to overleap its bounds, and, spread- ing beyond the Alps, to deluge Europe with a flood of horrors. It is impossible to contemplate this period of the history of the world without breath- less interest and deep emotion. If the inquisition forced its way beyond Italy, all Europe was to be darkened by its portentous shade, its energies be paralyzed, its kingdoms be cemeteries, and its whole soil become one wide Aceldama. But there is a great Pow^ which rules the destinies of our D 38 HISTORY OF THE world ; and the interposition of that Power, at thia critical moment, was providentially conspicuous. The human mind began to awaken from its torpor of ages ; the revival of learning followed with its beneficial consequences, and the glorious Reforma- tion was just streaking the horizon of that age with the first colours of the dawn. These lights soon broke from heaven upon the darkness of Eu- rope, and men were enabled to see the fearful places in which they had been groping, and the more fearful perils by which they were environed. What power, says a writer^ rescued Europe from this, apparently, inevitable degradation ? It was one of those circumstances which it is neither granted to wisdom to foresee, nor to prudence to guard against ; and the importance of which do'fes not ordinarily strike men's minds until experience, long after, has enabled them to consider its various and important results. Is there in history an epoch more worthy of the attention of a philosopher, than that in which he beholds the establishment of the inquisition coincide so nearly with the revival of letters and of arts in Europe, and sees Providence, in this respect, imitate its conduct in the natural world, where it frequently places at the side of the poisonous weed the plant which contains its anti- dote ? Providence, we may repeat; for it was not^ assuredly, the presentiment of danger, nor the ap- prehension of future evil, that gave birth to the art of printing, almost by the cradle of the inquisition. CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 39 Germany was the first country in Europe, be- yond Italy, in whichi the attempt was now made, by the popes, to plant the inquisition ; which, at etery attempt, met with opposition, and in some instances even caused general insurrections of the people. Wherever they did succeed, the inquisi- torial fires were fed, as usual, with thousands of heretics. In Bohemia, with the dawn of the re- formation, th«j fury of the revived inquisition re- turned. Throughout this empire, in consequence of the doctrines preached by John Huss and Je- rome of Prague, who-became martyrs to the cause, and were burnt to death, was experienced, in its worst forms, the rage of persecution. As the doc- trines of these men, to whom may be added Wick- liffe, another early reformer, continued to spread, the pope, at last exasperated, offered a universal pardon of sins to the most wicked person who would kill a Bohemian. The consequence wa*, that thi; fated kingdom was invaded by the empe- ror Sigispiond with a large army, and its whole extent swept by the besom of war. The inquisition had been successively intro- duced into Austria, Dalmatia, Hungary, Poland, and other places. In Venice, also, it was estab- lished, but under great restrictions, through the wisdom of the rulers of that famous republic. The celebrated order of the Templars had been crushed by its power. Every thing gave way before its wasting progress, and before the close of the thir- 40 HISTORY OF THE teenth century, it was forced, by papal authority, into Servia, Syria, and even Palestine. In France, where it had begun to decline, it was revived against the descendants of the Albigenses and Wal- denses. Valence, Flanders, and Artois became theatres of persecution. In short, the popes were continually endeavouring to promote it, and to establish it in those kingdoms and countries which were exempted from its grievous yoke, that their enemies might enjoy no place of shelter or refuge in the world from this terrible tribunal, whose tjrranny rendered miserable all who lived within its sphere, and made the monarch on his throne and the peasant in his hut equally tremble. But whatever _obstacles may have opposed the planting of the holy office in other countries, it is very certain that the kingdom of Spain presented a genial soil, wherein this pernicious institution took a deep and deadly root. In no country has the inquisition thriven with so quick and baleful a growth, or flung such a melancholy shade. It was nurtured under the fostering care of Ferdi- nand and Isabella. They established it in all their kingdoms with great pomp and magnificence, un- der a pretence of curing the corruptions which licentiousness had engendered, and the promiscu- ous intercourse of Moors, Jews, and Christians, who composed the people over whom their domi- nion extended. Force and fraud were added to authority. The most ridiculous impostures were CATHOLIC INQinsmON. 41 practised. At Guadaloupe the holy office desired a sign from the virgin Mary ; and it is related that miracles were wrought in such numbers, and with such rapidity, that the pious father who undertook the task of penning them, grew weary of the labour. It is extremely difficult to divine the real mo- tives which could have impelled such sagacious sovereigns to adopt so dangerous a policy. It could scarcely have derived its original only from a blind and bigoted zeal for popery, as has been alleged : they doubtless expected that they should possess their kingdom in greater peace and security after stifling the Mahometan and Je^|»ish religions ; or, perhaps, as the ambition of Ferdinand and Isabella is said to have aimed at the universal empire of Europe, they wished, by signal zeal in the cause of Catholicism, to enlist the good will and conni- vance of the all-powerful pontiff. But the true character of Ferdinand, the Catholic king, is well known. He was a man who scrupled at no crime which served his purpose ; and as the religion in which he was trained taught that the means were sanctified by the end, the extension of that religion by force seemed to him a compensation for all his other iniquities. The state of Isabella's mind was not dissimilar from his own : by putting herself at the head of a faction, she had obtained a king- dom to which her claim at least was doubtful, and she had obtained it at the price of the happiness and liberty of another, whose right she had her- v2 42 HISTORY OF THE self acknowledged and sworn to respect. A crown thus purchased did not sit easy on her head. She was unhappy in her husband and unfortunate in her children, and she sought in religion an ano- dyne for conscience as well as for affliction. There is reason to suppose that a morbid melancholy teipperament, thus generated, or at least thus heightened, was transmitted by her to her pos- terity — a sort of moral scrofula — which displayed itself in many members of her family. She and her husband both supposed that they could wash their hands clean in blood. In the year 1479, they obtained the privjilege from Pope Sextus IV. of creating inquisitors, and six years afterwards the work of devastation began. On the history of Spain in earlier times, and on the progress of fanaticism, it is not necessary to dwell. A new world was discovered, and it was explored and conquered by her priests and sol- diers, whose struggle seemed to be, which should create the wider and worse desolation throughout the magnificent domain. The monks and inquisitors preached loudly against the idolatries and human sacrifices of the Mexicans. What might not these unhappy beings have replied, had they witnessed the tortures and the fires which the inquisitors of Madrid, of Lisbon, and of Goa, were daily kin- dling for the tens of thousands of human victims offered up by them in the name of the God of mercy ? CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 43 It was under the malignant influences of Tor- quemada and Ximenes, whose motives and aims, though as different as possible, still called upon them to unite in a grand and equal object. Tho- mas de Torquemada, or Turrecremata, was a Do- minican and a fanatic. He aimed at the favour of the pope and spiritual rule. Ximenes was prime minister, imperious and tyrannical. Indeed it should be observed, that motives of a purely hu- man character had operated in the introduction of the inquisition in every place where it had become established ; the object even of the first projector, Pope Innocent III. having been to sway the world by means of a great religious engine of irresistible force. The inquisition had found its way into this country, however, long before the period when these individuals flourished, but the time was not ripe ; adverse circumstances had retarded its growth, and it was in a very low condition during the fifteenth century, when Torquemada made his appearance. This man may be regarded as a modern incarnation of the bloody Dominic ; and as his whole life, like that of the latter, is identi- fied with the tribunal which was renewed in Spain by his influence, it will be interesting to contem- plate his career more closely, and to enter with greater minuteness into the circumstances of his life. A small fortune enabled liim to procure a good 44 HISTORY OF THE education, and an ardent spirit drove him, at an early age, to travel through Spain, where he be- came deeply enamoured of a lady of Cordova, who rejected his suit, and became the wife of a Moor. Thus, personal revenge has been alleged as the real cause of that malignant hatred of the Moorish race, of which they were, at a future day, to reap the bitterness. Soon after his disappointment, which ever rankled in his breast, he formed a strict bond of friendship with Lopez de Cervera, superior of the order of St. Dominic ; an order which, it will be remembered, was coeval with the inquisition : and it was in the society of this individual that Torquemada, who had become a zealous Domini- can, upon examining the archives of the Domini- cans, and perceiving the unlimited power formerly enjoyed by that order, conceived the ambitious project of reviving the tribunal of the inquisition. To accomplish this mighty end, it was first ne- cessary that the different kingdoms into which Spain was broken should be united under one potent empire. The plan was so vast, that it seemed beyond the reach of one man's strength ; but Torquemada possessed prodigious force of mind ; and stimulated as he was by a thousand motives, among which the prospect of extirpating the Moors, whose power was on the decline in Spain, was not the least, his spirit rose with an object he deemed worthy of the ambition that in- flamed his bosom. To commence ^his enterprise CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 45 he adopted the plan usually resorted to in those days by ambitious monks to gain celebrity, and as a preacher he quitted Saragossa and repaired to Toledo, where his eloquence was so successful and his reputation so great, that, in the course of a short time, he was gradually elevated to a post which even he could hardly have anticipated. He was appointed confessor to Isabella, who was still a child. Over her mind Torquemada soon obtained an entire ascendency, and he planted in it the first seeds of ambition, by breathing in her ear, con- stantly, the possibility of her one day mounting the throne. He accustomed her to the idea that, as soon as this event took place, which he foresaw probable, it would be her interest, as hereditary queen of Castile, to unite herself to Ferdinand, the hereditary prince of Arragon, by which union one great object, the consolidation of the empire, was to be gained. The ingenuity and perseverance by which this monk obtained complete sway over all the thoughts of the young princess, would com- mand admiration could it be for a moment forgot- ten that all this industry and pernicious wisdom had for its aim the misery of the human race. The next step was to imbue her mind with the necessity and importance of re-establishing the in- quisition, and to prepare her for it in the event of her obtaining the crown. Torquemada had been accustomed to infuse the poison of his coun- sels at the season of confession, and the time he 46 HISTORY OF THE now selected was that of receiving the sacrament. It is not necessary to go through all the guile of this serpent, and the winding paths by which he crawled to his object. He succeeded, and Isa- bella at that solemn moment engaged herself, by an oath, to re-establish the " holy olfice" in Spain, in case she should ever be placed upon its throne ! Every expectation which had been formed was realized ; subsequent events elevated Isabella to4he throne, and Torquemada then came forward, and reminded her of the oath she had registered in lieaven. Re represented to her, that although the conquest of Grenada had driven out the Moors, yet that they swarmed throughout the land, and that it was her duty to convert them all, as well as the Jews, or to commit them to the flames, for the re- pose of the kingdom, the benefit of the faith, and the glory of God. He told her that these pagans, the enemies of the Holy Catholic religion, would pretend to embrace the faith, and that the only remedy was the erection of the inquisition, which alone was able to rule the conscience, and pene- trate the most secret corners of the human heart ; that if the faith had been preserved pure in Italy, it was to be attributed to this institution; and that it would reflect immortal honour on so great a queen to build up this bulwark of the true religion, which would be as durable as the Spanish mo- narchy. The successful result of these deadly counsels need not be repeated. Torquemada CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 47 reached the summit of his hopes. He ypm ap- pointed grand inquisitor of Spain, and very soon after tribunals were created throughout the empire. During the fourteen years that he exercised his new and congenial function, he prosecuted before his tribunal upwards of one hundred thousand in- dividuals, of whom about six thousand were con- demned to the flames, and their goods became the prey of the spoiler. The system thus began soon extended itself over Spain. The Jews who escaped death or imprison- ment were compelled to wear a peculiar dress, in order that all Christians might avoid them. Their children and their children's children to the latest generation were excluded from all offices of trust and honour, and prohibited from wearing any thing but the rudest garments. In the single dio- cese of Seville, above one hundred thousand per- sons were destroyed, converted, or driven into exile, and in the city three thousand houses were left without inhabitants. The reader must not suppose that this is an exaggerated tale : it is the boast of the inquisitors, and grave and authentic historians have confirmed what they dared not condemn, even if they felt a human horror at such execrable deeds. A third of the confiscated pro- perty went to the inquisitors j a third to the ex- traordinary expenses of the faith — that is, it went the same way ; the reijiainder was the govern- ment's share of the plunder. When these perse- 48 HISTORY OF THE cuted people found it hopeless to appeal to human- ity, justice, or even policy, they tried "to work upon the cupidity of the government, and large sums were offered for general toleration, even for the safety of individuals. They offered an im- mense sum to Ferdinand, to assist him in his wars, if he would guaranty to them peace and security from persecution. The monarch would have listened to their prayer, when the fierce and un- sparing Torquemada had the audacity to enter the presence of the king and queen with the crucifix in his hand, and exclaim, " Behold the image of our crucified Redeemer, whom Judas sold for thirty pieces of silver : you are about to do the same for thirty thousand. Behold him, take him, and hasten to sell ixim ! As for me, I lay down my office. Nothing of this shall be imputed to me. You shall render an account of your bargain to God." Then laying down the crucifix, he de- parted. The result was, the Jews were banished, and the Moors were obliged to fly the realm. These banished Jews carried away with them sf quantity of gold concealed in their garments, and saddles, and even in their intestines ; for they melted the coin, and swallowed it in small pieces. Many were seized in Africa, where the native Moors even killed the women for the purpose of procuring the gold which they expected to find in their bowels. Such were the cruelties which sprung from the insolent fanaticism of Torquemada, sus CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 49 tainet^by the avarice of Ferdinand, and the thoughtless zeal of Isabella! It is conjectured that above half a million of Jews were expatriated, and their immense riches confis- cated. If to the whole number be added that of the Moors exiled, at least two millions of valuable subjects must ha^e been lost to Spain by the tyran- nical bigotry of Ferdinand and Isabella. This is the calculation of the historian Mariana. The en- tire expulsion of the Moors- took place in 1609, to the number of a million of souls ; so that, says Llorente, in the space of one hundred and thirty- nine years the inquisition deprived the kingdom of three millions of inhabitants. The Moors of Grenada had before this period ' attracted the attention of the Romish see. Xime- nes, archbishop of Toledo, had been sent by the pope to convert them to Christianity. By violence he forced many to submit, and a vast number of Alcorans and other books touching upon the Mahometan religion were destroyed. In conse- quence of a dangerous commotion which occurred in the city of Grenada about that period, numbers of the Moorish race were condemned as guilty of high-treason. ^ When it was proposed to trans- late some portions of the service of the mass, and of the Gospel, itjto the Arabic, for the benefit of the convicts, Ximenes would not permit it, de- claring that " it was a sin to throw pearls before swine." He further said, that " the Old and New E 50 HISTORY or THE Testaments, in which there were many things that required a learned and attentive reader, and a chaste and pious mind, should be kept in those thrse lan- guages only which God, not without the greatest mystery, ordered to be placed over his most dear Son's head, when he suffered the death of the cross ;" and that then " Christianity would suffer the greatest mischief when the Bible should be translated into the vulgar tongues." Torquemada died in 1498 ; and it is a satisfac- tion to know that this wretch did not go without some punishment, even in this world. He lived in constant dread, had always a guard of fifty horse and two hundred familiars, and drank out of a uni- corn's horn, (as he believed it to be,) from'a super- stitious notion that it would secure him from poi- son. The persecution of the Jews, related in this chapter, which was conducted by this man, is re- garded by that unhappy people as a calamity scarcely less dreadful and extensive than the de- struction of Jerusalem. CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 51 CHAPTER IV. The reformation in Italy — Aoneo Paleareo^His character and writings — Persecuted and finally burnt by "the inquisition — ^Ad- ventures of Mr. Bower — His escape from the inquisition of Mace- rata — ^Account of three modes of torture practised in that tribu- nal — Persecution of Galileo. Before proceeding with the history of the in- quisition in Spain, it will be proper to turn for a little while to other matters connected with the subject in Italy, the interest of which, it is hoped, will justify the digression. The zeal of the inqui- sition against the Jews was stimulated by avarice, but against the reformers it was inflamed by fear and hatred. It is a remarkable fact, also, that the Jews had never been persecuted at Rome. But the principles of the reformation had made a greater progress in the papal dominions than is commonly supposed. In a great number @$ the cities, vast multitudes of converts to its doctrine had been won, and many eminent individuals de- voted their zeal and efforts to its propagation. Among these, Aoneo Paleareo claims a distin- guished station. He was a native of Veroli, in Italy, had, studied the Scriptures, and fead the works of the German reformers, from which he had imbibed a new and a better knowledge. He was a man very eminent for learning,; but his 82 BISTORT OF THE freedom of language and his new opimons sur- rounded him by spies, who nought his ruin. One crime he committed was to laugh at a rich priest who was seen every morning kneeling at the shrine of a saint, but who, nevertheless, refused to pay his just debts. AR enemy of Paleareo declared, that if hfe were allowed to live, there would not be a vestige of religion left in the city. Paleareo gives ihe explanation of this himself, which was, that having been asked what was the first ground on which men should rest their salvation, he replied, Christ. On "being asked what was the second, he said, Christ. And again being asked what was the third ground, he a third time said, Christ. But the greatest crime he committed was in writing a book entitled, " The benefit of the death of Christ." For this book he was condemned to be burnt, but escaped, and fled to the city of Lucca. He con' tinned, however, to be persecuted,' and was, at last, in consequence of the reformed opinions he held, condemned, after an imprisonment of three years, to be suspended on a gibbet, and his body given to the flames. Thus, in 1570, at the age of seventy years, was destroyed by those tigers of the inqui- sition, the Dominicans, the venerable Paleareo, distinguished alike for his talents, his writings, his syfiTerings, and his boldness ; a man who was both great and good, and one who »is regarded as the greatest ornament of the reformation in Italjr. It is not possible to enter into a regular account CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 53 of this institution as it existed in Italy, as a volume would easily be exhausted ; but, from the numer- ous narratives with which its history in this coun- try abound, one will be selected as sufficient to show that the same spirit of cruelty pervaded it in every region and at every period. The account which Mr. Bower, the author of the " History of the Popes," has given of his own adventures, as connected with the inquisition at Macerata, in Italy, though it has been deemed by some writers overstrained, yet what he relates of the inquisition itself in that place, of whose cruelties he was an eyewitness, is believed to be substantially correct. There is nothing in his account which appears like exaggeration, and therefore an abridgment of his story, as related by himself, is now offered to the reader. Archibald Bower was born in Scotland, and at the age of five years was sent to an uncle in Italy, where he was educated, and became so distin- guished that he was appointed professor in the col- lege of Macerata. The inquisitor general of this place had contracted a great intimacy with him, and on the death of one of the inquisitorial judges, Bower was appointed in his place, an elevation which was deemed a great honour. Ignorant of the' office he was about to undertake, he entered upon it with alacrity, took the oath of secrecy, and re- ceived a book called the " Directory," containing rules for the decisions and conduct of the inquisi- E 2 54 HISTOKY OF THE tors, which, for greater caution, was in manuscript This book is always sealed when its possessor is dangerously ill, or promoted 'to a higher office, un- der which circumstances it is death to open or retain it. The first thing he did, after returning home, was to peruse his directory, in order better to under- stand his new employment; but what was his astonishment to find the rules more barbarous than can be conceived. Within a fortnight after his admission, he had an opportunity to see that the practice of the inquisition was as inhuman as the regulations. A poor man was brought to the of- fice. He had an only daughter who had fallen sick, and for whom he prayed to the virgin Mary. His daughter, however, died, and the old man, crazed by the loss, had flung away the medal of the virgin which he used to carry about him, and for this crime he was put to the torture. It is impossible to express how much his feel- ings were constantly violated by the barbarities of which he was a witness. On one occasion it being his turn to sit by a person tortured, he was so affected by the agony of the sufierer that he fainted away, and was obliged to be carried out. When he recovered, the inquisitor general said to him, " Mr. Bower, take your place ; you do not reflect that what is done to the body is for the good of the soul." Mr. Bower replied, " it was the weakness of his nature, and he could not help CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 66 it" — " Nature !" said the inquisitor; "you must conquer nature by grace." — ^While this conversa- tion was going forward, the poor wretch expired, Mr. Bower now began to project his escape, and revolved in his own mind every possible method of effecting it ; but the difficulties were formidable in the extreme, and the consequences, in case of failure, would be fatal. At length a circum- stance occurred, in which he was called upon to act with brutal severity against a nobleman and his lady, wbo were his best and dearest friends, and who had incurred the malice of the church, which determined Mr. Bower in his resolution. The manner of it was all that required considera- tion. It occurred to him to solicit permission to make a pilgrimage to Loretto ; but conscious of his secret purpose, he feared the words would falter on his tongue, and his very confusion betray him. At last he collected sufficient resolution, and ob- tained the immediate assent of the inquisitor general. Having made his preparations, he mounted his horse determined to take all the by-roads, it be- ing upwards of four hundred miles before he could get out of the pope's jurisdiction. As soon as he reached the place where the road divided, the one part leading to Loretto, the other in the direction he wished to go, he hesitated some minutes in great perplexity. The dangers of his adventure presented themselves in such lively colours that 56 HISTORY OF THE he was almost-tempted to quit his design ; but mus- tering all his strength of mind, he pushed his horse into the contrary road. During the first seventeen days the difficult na- ture of the route he was obliged to pursue, among mountains, rocks and precipices, in paths generally no 'better than sheep tracks, prevented his ad- vancing more than one hundred miles ; and, in the mean time, as soon as the suspicion of his attempt was rumoured, express despatches were sent, and every possible method adopted to overtake and secure him ; and, indeed, the expresses in a very short time considerably outstripped him. During seventeen days he supported himself on goat's milk obtained from the shepherds, and such coarse food as he could purchase. At the expira- tion of this period, having fasted nearly three days, he was compelled to seek the first habitation, which happened to be a post-house. He requested the landlady to give him some victuals ; but looking about, he saw a paper posted up over the door which contained an exact description of his own person, and ofiered a reward of about four thousand dollars to any one who should carry him to the inquisition, and three thousand dollars for his head. To add to his terrors, he was recognised by two individuals, who, either from want of presence of mind or of courage, .permitted him, though un- der circumstances of great difficulty, to escape. He was now obliged to take refuge in the woods CATHOLIC INQtJISrriON. 87 where he must have been famished but for the pro- tecting care of Frorldeffce. In this disconsolate and wandering maniler he had once wellnigh £sillen into the hands of his enemies, having been on the point of entering'a large town which he dis- covered at a-'distance ; but was fortunately told by a person whogi he accidentally met, that it was Lucerne, the residence of the pope's nunciopio and from whom all the expresses concerning him- self had been despatched. One dismal, dark, and wet night, Mr. Bower could neither find shelter, ascertain where he was, nor what course to pursue, when he perceived a light at a great distance, which led him to a miser- able cottage. He knocked, and some one de- manded who he was, and what brought him there. Mr. Bower replied, he was a stranger, and had lost his way. " Way !" cried the man, " there is no way here to lose." — " Why v^here am I ?" — " In the canton of Berne." — " In the canton of Berne !" exclaimed he in raptures ; " thank God, then I am at last^afe." The man, exceedingly perjiiexed, came do^n and let him in, and Mr. Bower inquired if he had heard any thing of a person who had , lately escaped from the inquisi- tion. " Ay ! we have, all heard of him, after sending off so many expresses, and makipg such a noise about him : God grant that he may be safe» and keep out of their hands." Mr. Bower said, " I am the very person." The peasant, in a trans- 58 HISTORY OF THE port of joy, clasped him in his arms, and-immedi- ately called his wife, whff received him with every expression of pleasure. Mr. Bower passed the re- mainder of the night in comfSrt and security, and on the following morning the man set out wiSi •him to direct his path, but previously insisted on his returning a little way to look at the ifoad he l3te travelled the preceding night.. Mr. Bower did not much like this. The peasant, perceiving his doubtsj reproved him for distrusting that Pro- vidence which had so wonderfully preserved him, and soon convinced him that he only wanted to increase his confidence in it for the future, by showing him the danger he had escaped ; for he and his horse had- passed a precipice where the breadth of the path would scarcely admit a horse, and the very sight of which made him shudder ! It is unnecessary to pursue Mr. Bower's narra- tive any farther: It is sufficient to state, that after encountering many perils, and being on the eve of capture several times, it pleased Heaven to con- duct him through all dangers,, till he foun'd him- self at last safely landed in ;Sngland. What his feelings were, on finding himself free from the clutches of the inhuman monsters of the inquisi- tion, may be better imagined than described ; but perhaps no better method can be adopted of show- ing the reader the ruthless and ferocious character of the persons from whom he fled, than by men- tioning threie different modes of torture practised CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 6§ in the inquisition of Macemtaj which are deacnhed by Mr. Bower. €'he first lorture, called the "queen of tortures," consisted in hoisting the victim up to a ceiling Ijy a rope, and the% letting him drop to within a short distance fAm the ground, in such a manner as to break his bones.. This will be more particularly 4escribed in another part of this work ; it was a mode of torture univer- sally employed by the holy oflBce. -Jhe second torture consisted of an instrument sflrething like a smith's anvil, fixed in the middle of the floor, with a spike on the top. Ropes are attached to each corner of the room, to which the criminal's legs and arms are fastened, and he is drawn up a little, and then let down with his back bone exactly on the spike of iron,'^pon which his whole weight rests. The third torture is what they term a slight one, and applied only to women. Matches of tow and pitch are wrapped round* their hands, and then set on fire until the^esh is consumed. The inquisition was not more the irreconcilable enemy of reformation in religion, than it was to any advancement in learning and science. As the absolute bondage of the human mind was its aim, it was ever raised to arrest the march of intellect, and its foiil breath always ready to blast improve- ment in the blossom. A memorable example of this is presented in the fate of the illustrious Gali- leo, one of the greatest astronomers that ever Uved 60 HISTORY OP THE and the first who applied the telescope to any valu- able purpose in the science of the heavens. - This great man having adopted the Cbpernican system of the universe — or, as it is now called, the Newtonian, that is, that the sun is the centre of mo- tion to a number of her planets, and, among others, the earth, which rew)lve round the sun at dififerent periods — he attracted the attention of the inquisi- *tors, was arraigned before their tribunal, and in danger of ^|g put to death. Now listen to the pompous manner in which the indictment against the venerable Galileo was drawn up by these in- quisitorial dunces. " Whereas you, Galileo, of Florence, aged seventy, were informed against in the year 1615, in this holy office, for maintaining as true a cer- tain false doctrine held by many, namely, that the sun is the centre- of the world, and immovable, and that the earth moves round it with a daily motion : likewise that you have kept up a corres- pondence with certain German mathematicians concerning the same : likewise that you have pub- lished some letters concerning the solar spots, in which you have explained^ the same doctrine as true, and that you have answered the objections which in several places were raised against you from the authority of the holy Scriptures by con- struing or glossing over the said Scriptures accoijfd- ing to your own opinions: and finally, whereas CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 61 the copy of a writing under the form of a letter, reported to have been written by you to one who was formerly your scholar, has been shown to us, in which you have followed the hypothesis of Co- pernicus, which contains certain propositions con- trary to the true sense and authority of the holy Scriptures. " Now, this holy tribunal being desirous to pro- vide against the inconveniences and lingers which this statement may occasion to the detriment of the holy faith, by the command of the most emi- nent lords, &c. &c. of the supreme and universal inquisition, have caused the two following propo- sitions concerning the immovability of the sun, and the motion of the earth to be thus qualified by the divines, viz. " That the sun is the centre of the world, and immovable, with a local motion, is an absurd pro- position, false in philosophy, and absolutely hereti- cal, because it is expressly contrary to the Scrip- tures. " That the earth is neither the centre of the world, nor immovable, but that it possesses a daily motion, is likewise an absurd proposition, false in philosophy, and, theologically considered, at least erroneous in point of faith. " But as it pleased us in the first instance to pro- ceed kindly with you, it was decreed in the said congregation, held before our lord N , Febru- ary Z5, 1616, that the most eminent lord cardinal F 62 HISTORY OF THE Bellarmine should command you, that you should entirely depart from the said false doctrine ; and in case you should refuse to obey him, that you should be commanded by the commissary of the holy office to abandon the same ; and that you should neither teach it to others, defend it, nor say any thing concerning it ; and that if you should not submit to this order, you should be put in jail, &c." ^ " Thus, for rnerely entertaining and expressing an opinion with regard to the system of the uni- verse," says an eminent modern writer, " was the greatest philosopher of his age subjected to be im- prisoned in the jail of the inquisition, which im- prisonment almost necessarily inferred the for- feiture of life, by means of burning; and if the holy inquisitors, in their great mercy, were pleased not to burn him to death, the circumstance of be- ing imprisoned by them necessarily inferred the forfeiture' Soon after this he was arrested, to his utter surprise, and con- ducted to the inquisitorial prison of Damaun. A description of the melancholy abode in which he found himself, without being conscious of hav- ing committed any crime, would be frightful. It would also be superfluous, as a general picture of inquisitorial prisons will be given in another place. It is sufficient to say, that an immense quantity of worms crawled over the floor, and upon the beds on which the wretched prisoners in vain sought the blessings of repose. The friends of Del- lon constantly inculcated that the best and surest way of regaining liberty, was to make a full con- fession. Accordingly, he wrote to the grand in- quisitor at Goa a frank statement of the whole matter, and besought him to believe, that if he had .erred, it was rather from levity and imprudence, than from any ill intentions. To this letter he re- ceived no reply, but was left to languish in his noisome dungeon. ^ An order arrived, some months after, to transfer the prisoners to Goa, aiid Dellon, with the rest, i2 102 HISTORY OF THE all loaded with heavy fetters, was put on board, and after enduring many miseries on the voyage, they wereat length immured in the prison of Goa. This was more foul and horrible than any he had yet seen, and perhaps nothing could be more nau- seous and appalling. It was a sort of cavern, where the day was but just distinguishable ; and where the subtlest sunbeam scarce ever penetrated. The stench was excessive ; but %hen night approached he could not lie down, for fear of the swarms of vermin and the filth which abounded everywhere ; and he was constrained to recline against the wall. Very soon after he was summoned before the grand inquisitor of the Indies, Francisco Delgado e Mates, before whom he behaved in the same frank manner as on the former occasions : he be- sought his judge to hear his whole story, and added tears to his entreaties ; but the judge, without show- ing the least emotion, ordered him back to his prison ; telling him that there was no haste, and that he had other business more important to attend to. An inventory of Dellon's property was then made, which was all ridiculous, as nothing was ever restored. He had several audiences before his cruel judges, in which, though he manifested his penitence, he found no relief, or even hope of pardon ; till at last he abandoned himself to grief. Driven to de- spair, in a paroxysm of madness, he attempted to destroy his life, and made a variety of trials to CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 103 effect his purpose, for which he afterwards ham- bled himself before Almighty God and asked for- giveness. He had beea eighteen months in the inquisition, when he was called to a fourth audience, which dif- fered from all the former, wherein he had only been his own accuser ; but here informations were formally laid against him to the holy office, and his own confessions made a part of the depositions. He assured the court that he had no intention to controvert the doctrines of the Catholic church on baptism ; but that the passage, " except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom. of God," having struck him as very particular, he had demanded an explanation. The grand inquisitor was entirely ignorant of this passage, and on being shown the very words in the New Testament, he attempted no explanation, but abandoned the subject. Such ignorance was worthy of a man who presided over such a nefarious court ! The result of this audience was, that the prisoner's property was confiscated, and that he was himself delivered over to the secular power, to be punished according to law ; that is, to be burnt ! Nothing now remained but patiently to wait his fate, although he was compelled to remain in dreadful suspense as to what his punishment would really be ultimately. Every effort was made to force him to confess that he had spoken disrespect- fully of the pope, and that his object had been to f 04 HISTORY OF THE support heresy ; but as these were fSfse imputa- tions, the prisonier would not yield to mfeir urgent and wicked zeal to force him ta confessed lie be- fore God. In this state of uncertainty he ejected the approach of the first Sunday in Advent, mihk- ing that the auto dafe,,whifch would determine his fate, would then take place ; because in the service of that day is read a portion of the gospel which describes the day of judgment, and the inquisitors select the day on that account. Several little events occurred which led him to believe the moment of the awful ceremony was not far distant. It was impossible not to feel some sentiment of pleasure at the idea of being raised from the tomb in which he had been buried for years ; but the (Irea'fll^l d,enunciation of the. court filled him with anxiety and melanchpl'y. "T)ver- come at last by vexation and deatWi^'inia^es/^e dropped into a sleep, from which he was awakened by the noise of the guards drawing back the bolts of his cell. He was seized with such a trepidation that it was a long time before he could summon resolution to put on the garments which had .been left by his visiters. In the auto da fe which followed, Dellon marched in the ranks with the other prisoners, with his head and feet bare, through the streets of Goa, for more than an hour, the sharp flint stones which covered the streets causing his feet to stream with bloeM[^ in .object of pity to the immense crowd which had CATHOLIC INQtJISITION. 105 come from all parts of India to witness the cere> noony. Here a very natnral reflection would arise as to the folly and inconsistency of attempting to propagate the gospel? whjch breathes a spirit of gentleness, charity, and forgiveness, and of exhi- biting, with so , much pomp and parade, the mer- ciless horrors of. such an institution, before those pagans whom it was their professed object to in- struct in the truths of Christianity to bring them to salva^iofi, $i;\d who could not but detect the dreadful variance between the precepts and prac- tice of those who professed to follow and imitate Christ; and who, moreover, could not help be- holding their own rites and ceremonies outdone in cruelty by the more sanguinary doings of Christians. ^ » When they arrived at the church, a priest of the Augustine order ascended the pulpit, and preached for a long time. Among other things, he drew a compafiaon l^etween .the inquisition and Noah's ark, in^which, however, ihe; noted this distinction, that the creatures Which entered the ark,' left.- it oh the cessation of the deluge with their*Driginal nar- tures; whereas the inquisition had this singular characteristic, that those who came within its walls cruel as wdlves and fierce as lions, went forth gen- tle as>lambs. The sermon being finished^ the different victims were called up separately to receive thei^re- spective sentences. The sentence of Dellon was 106 HISTORY OF THE excommunication, forfeiture of all his goods to the king, banishmeiit from the Indies, and condemna- tion to serve in the galleys of Portugal* for five years, with such other penances as the inquisitors mi^t think proper to add. Besides all these, he was obliged to bind himself, by the most sacred oaths, to observe a profound and inviolable secrecy as to every thing which had come to his know- ledge during his long detention, a practice univer- sal in the inquisition to conceal their atrocities, and which they enforce with all the terrors of their power. In pursuance of the sentence, he was'conveyed in irons on board a vessel bound for Portugal, and after the fatigues and privations of the voyage, he arrived at Lisbon about the close of the year 1676, where he was immediately placed in 'the prison called the Galley, to which, as the Portuguese do not use galleys in their marine, those who are sen- tenced to them by the holy office are sent. He was chained by the leg to a man who had escaped the night before' from being burnt by making a confession. In this situation five long years more of sufiering still remained ; but Dellon obtained -the privilege of writing to his relations in France, and acquainting them with his deplorable" condition. Through the zeal of an individual high in the fa- vour of the queen of Portugal, the intercession offends, and the application of many persons of rank, he at length experienced the unspeakable CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 107 delight of being set at liberty upon condition of his leaving the country at once. It is unnecessary to say with how much eagerness he embraced the conditions, happy to escape, and grateful to Hea- ven for having preserved him through so many years of peril and suffering. For years afterwards he was unwilling, from conscientious scruples, to reveal what had happened to him ; till, at last, be- ing convinced in heart that it was a duty which he owed both to God and man to disregard the oath which had been extorted by duress, he pub- lished his interesting narrative to the world. CHAPTER Vm. Buchanan Tieits the inqviisition at Goa — His reception — Puts Dellon's work in the hands of one of the inquisitors — Conversa- tions on the subject — Inquisition of Goa abolished in I8I2. In continuation of the subject of the preceding chapter, -the reader will listen with interest and Satisfaction to an abridgment of the account given by the Rev. Dr. Buchanan, in his " Christian Re- searches*in Asia,", who visited, in the year 1808, the city of Goa, with the work of Dellon in his hand, for the express purpose of finding what was the actual state and present condition of the inqui- sition described by that author. 108 raSTORY OP THE There are two cities, Old Goa and New Goa. The old city, where the inquisition and the ehurohes are, is now deserted by almost every one but priests^ On his arrival at New Goa, Dr. Bu- chanan intimated his wish to the viceroy to saU up to the old city and see the inquisition, to which he politely acceded. A Portuguese officer, major Pareira, offered to accompany him, and introduce Hie doctor to the archbishop, who was the pri- mate of the orient. " I had communicated to colonel Adams and to the British resident, my purpose of inquiring into the state of the inquisition. These gentlemen in- formed me that I should not be able to accomplish my design without difiSculty, seeing every thipg relating to the inquisition was conducted in a very secret manner, the most respectable of the lay Por-» tuguese themselves being ignorant of its proceed- ings ; and that if the priests were, to discover my object^ their excessive jealousy and alarm would prevent their communicating with me, or satisfy- ing my inquiries on the subject. On receiving this intelligence, I perceived that it would be ne- cessary tOi proceed with great caution. I was, in fact,, about to visit a republic of priests, whose do- minion had existed, fqr nearly three centuries ; whose province it was to' prosecute heretics, and particularly the teachers of heresy ; and from whose authority and sentence there was no appeal inSIndia." CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 109 Lieutenant Kempthorne joined the company, and they proceeded up the river. From major Pareira he learned that there were upwards of two hundred churches and chapels in the province of Goa, and more than two thousand priests. " On our arrival at the city," continues he, " it was past twelve g'clock; all the churches were shut, and we were told they would not be opened again until two o'clock. I mentioned to major Pareira, that I intended to stay at Old Goa some days, and that I should be oblig^to him to find me some place to sleep in. He seemed surprised at this in- timation, and observed that it would be difficult for me to obtain reception in any of the churches or convents, and that there were no private houses into which I could be admitted. I said I could sleep anywhere. I had two servants with me, and a travelling bed. When he perceived that I was serious in my purpose, he gave directions to a civil officer in that place to clear out a room in a build- ing which had been lor^ uninhabited. Matters at this time presented a very gloomy appearance, and I had thoughts of returning with my com- panions from this inhospitable place. " In the mean time we sat down in the room 1 have just mentioned, to take some refreshment, while major Pareira went to call on some of his frieinds. During this interval I communicated to lieutenant Kempthorne the object of my visit I had in my pocket " Dellon's Account of the Inqui- K no HISTORY OF THE sition at Goa," and I mentioned some particulars. While we were conversing on the subject, the great bell began to toll, the same which Dellon observes always tolls before daylight on the morning of the auto da B. I did not myself ask any questions of the people concerning the inquisition, but Mr. Kempthorne made inquiries for me ; and he soon found out that the sancta casa, or holy office, was close to the house where we were then sitting. The gentlemen went to the window to view the horrid mansion, and I could see the indignation of free and enlightened men arise in the counte- nances of the two British officers, while they con- templated a place where formerly their own coun- trymen were condemned to the flames, and into which they theifeselves might now suddenly be thrown, without the possibility of rescue. " The day being now far spent, and my com- panions about to leave me,- I was considering whether I should return with them, when major Pareira said he would first introduce me to a priest high in office, and one of the most learned men in the place. We accordingly walked to the convent of the Augustinians, where I was presented to Joseph a Doloribus, a man well advanced in life, of pale visage and penetrating eyej rather.of a. re- verend appearance, and possessing great fluency of speech and urbanity of manners. After a half hour's conversation in the Latin language, during which he adverted rapidly to a variety of subjects, CATHOLIC INQUISITION. Ill he politely invited me to take up my residence with him during my stay in old Goa. I was highly gratified by this unexpected invitation ; but lieu- tenant Kempthorne did not approve of leaving me in the hands of the inquisitor; forjudge of our surprise, when we discovered that my learned host was one of the inquisitors of the holy oflBce, the second member of that tribunal in rank, but first and most active agent in the business of the de- partment. Apartments were assigned to me in the college adjoining the convent, next to the rooms of the inquisitor himself ; and here I have been four days at the very fountain head of infor- mation in regard to those subjects which I wished to investigate. I breakfast and dine with the in- quisitor almost every day, and he generally passes his evenings in my apartments. " Next day after my arrival I received an invi- tation to dine with the chief inquisitor. The se- cond inquisitor accompanied me, and we found a respectable number of priests and a sumptuous en- tertainment. In the library of the chief inquisitor I ^aw a register containing the names of the pre- sent establishment of the inquisition at Goa, and the names of all the officers. On asking the chief inquisitor whether the establishment was as exten- sive as formerly, he said it was nearly the same. I had hitherto said little to any person concerning the inquisition, but I had indirectly gleaned much information concerning it, hot only from the ia- 112 HISTORY OF THE quisitors themselves, but from certain priests whom I visited in their respective convents ; particularly from a father in the Franciscan convent, who had himself repeatedly witnessed an auto da f^. " On the second morning after my arrival, I was surprised by my host, the inquisitor, coming into my apartment clothed in black robes from head to foot, for the usual dress of his order is white. He said he was going to sit on the tribunal of the holy office. ' I presume, father, your august office does not occupy much of your time?' — 'Yes,' answered he, ' much. I sit on the tribunal three or four days every week.' "I had thought for some days of putting Del- Ion's book in the inquisitor's hand, for if I could get him to advert to the facts stated in that book, I should be able to learn, by comparison, the exact state of the inquisition at the present time. In the evening he came in, as usual, to pass an hour in my apartment. After some conversation, I took my pen in my hand to write- a few notes in my journal, and, as if to amuse him while I was writing, I took up Dellon's book, which was lying with some others on the table, and handing it across to him, asked him if he had ever seen it. It was in the French language, which he understood well. ' Re- lation de I'Inquisition de Goa,' (the title of Del- lon's booS,) pronounced he with a slow articulate ""voice. He had never seen it before, and began to read with eagerness. He had not proceeded far. CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 113 before he betrayed evident symptoms of uneasi- ness. He turned hastily to the middle of the book, and then to the end, and then ran over the table of contents at the beginning, as if to ascertain the full extent of the evil. He then composed himself to read, while I continued to write. He turned over the pages with rapidity ; and when he came to a certain place, he exclaimed, 'mendacium, menda- cium,' (which means falsehood, falsehood.) I re- quested he would mark those passages which were untrue, and we would discuss them afterwards, for that I had other books on the subject. ' Other books !' said he, and he looked with an inquiring eye on those on the table. He continued reading till it was time to retire to rest, and then begged to take the book with him. " Next morning we resumed the subject of the inquisition. The inquisitor admitted that Dellon's descriptions of the dungeons, of the torture, of the mode of trial, and of the auto da {& were in general just ; but he said the writer judged untruly of the motives of the inquisitors, and very uncharitably of the character of the holy church. He was now anxious to know to what extent Dellon's book had been circulated in Europe. I told him Picart had published to the world extracts from it in his cele- brated work, entitled 'Religious Ceremonies,' to- gether with plates of the system of torture, and burnings at the auto da f^. I added that it was now generally believed in Europe that these enor- k2 114 fflSTOBY OP THE mities no longer existed, and that the inquisition itself had been totally suppressed ; but that I was concerned to find that it was not the case. He now began a grave narration to show that the inquisi- sition had undergone a change in some respects, and that its terrors were mitigated. " I had already discovered, from written or printed documents, that the inquisition of Goa was suppressed by royal edict in 1775, and established again in 1779, subject to certain restrictions; the chief of which are the following : — That a greater number of witnesses should be required to convict criminals than were before necessary, and that the auto da f^ should not be held publicly as before, but that the sentences of the tribunal should be executed privately within the walls of the in- quisition. " In this particular, the constitution of the new inquisition is more reprehensible than that of the old one. Formerly, the friends of those unfortu- nate persons who were thrown into its prison, had the melancholy satisfaction of seeing them once a year, walking in the procession of the auto da fe ; or, if they were condemned to die, they witnessed their death, and mourned for the dead. But now they have no means of learning for years whether they be dead or alive. The policy of this new mode of concealment appears to be this, to pre- serve the power of the inquisition, and, at the same time, to lessen the public odium of its proceedr CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 115 iDgs, in the presence of British dominion and civi- lization. " I asked the father his opinion concerning the nature and frequency of the punishments within the walls. He said he possessed no certain means of giving a satisfactory answer; that every thing transacted there yvas declared to be ' sacrum and secretum.' But this he knew to be true, that there were constantly captives in the dungeons ; that some of them are liberated after long confinement, but that they never speak afterwards of what passed within the place. He added, that of all the persons he had known who had been liberated, he never knew one who did not carry about with him, what might be called, ' the mark of the inqui- sition ;' that is to say, who did not show, in the solemnity of his countenance, or in his peculiar demeanour, or his terror of the priests, that he had been in that dreadful place." The doctor listened very patiently to all the in- quisitor had to say, and replied, that if he wished, to satisfy his mind upon the subject, he must show him the inquisition. This was at first refused ; but after some reasoning, the inquisitor at length con- sented, and they set off the following morning to visit the odious tribunal. " He led me," pursues the doctor, " first to the great hall of the inquisition. We were met at the door by a number of well-dressed persons, who, I afterwards understood, were the familiars and at- 116 HISTORY OF THE tendants of the holy' office. They bowed very low to the inquisitor, and looked with surprise at me. The great hall is the place in which the prisoners are marshalled for the procession of the auto da fe. At the procession described by Dellon, in which he himself walked barefoot, clothed with the painted garment, there were upwards of one hun- dred and fifty prisoners. I traversed this hall for some time with a slow step, reflecting on its for- mer scenes, the inquisitor walking by my side in silence. I thought of the fate of the multitudes of my fellow-creatures who had passed through this place, condemned by a tribunal of their fel- low-sinners, their bodies devoted to the flames, and their souls to perdition, and I could not help saying to him — ' Would not the holy church wish, in her mercy, to have those poor souls back again, that she might allow them a little farther proba- tion ?' The inquisitor answered nothing, buf beckoned me to go with him to a door at one end of the hall. By this door he conducted me to se- veral small rooms, and thence to the spacious apartments of the chief inquisitor. Having sur- veyed these, he brought me back again to the great hall, and I thought he seemed now desirous that I should depart. " ' Now, father,' said I, * lead me to the dungeons below ; I want to see the captives.' — ' No,' said he, ' that cannot be.' I now began to suspect that it had been in the mind of the inquisitor from the CATHOLIC INQUISITION. II7 beginning to show me only a certain part of the inquisition, in the hope of satisfying inquiries in a general way. I urged him with earnestness, but he steadily resisted, and seemed to be offended, or rather agitated by my importunity. I intimated to him plainly, that the only way to do justice to his assertions and^arguments regarding the present state of the inquisition, was to show me the pri- sons and the captives. I should then describe what I saw ; but now the subject was left in awful obscurity. * Lead me down,' said I, ' to the inner building, and let me pass through the two hundred dungeons ten feet square, described by your for- mer captives. Let me count the number of your present captives, and converse with them. I want to see if there be any subjects of the British go- vernment to whom we owe protection. I want to ask how long they have been here ; how long it is since they behejd the light of the sun, and whether they ever expect to see it again. ' Show me .the chamber of torture, and declare what modes of execution or of punishment are now practised within the walls of the inquisition in lieu of the public auto da fe. If, after all that has passed, father, you resist this reasonable request, I shall be justified in believing that you are afraid of exposing the real state of the inquisition in In- dia.' To these observations the inquisitor made no reply, but seemed impatient that I should with- draw. 'My good father,' said I, ' I am about to 118 HISTORY OF THE take my leave of you, and to thank you for your hospitable attentions ; and I wish always to pre- serve on my mind a favourable sentiment of your kindness and candour. You cannot, you say, show me the captives and the dungeons ; be pleased, then, merely to answer this question, for I shall .believe your word — How many prisoners are there now below in the cells of the inquisition ? The inquisitor replied, ' That is a question which I cannot answer!' On his pronouncing these words I retired hastily towards the door, and I wished him farewell. " From the inquisition I went to the place of burning, on the river side, where the victims were brought to the stake at the auto da fe. It is close to the palace, that the viceroy and his court may witness the execution ; for it has ever been the po- licy of the inquisition to make these spiritual exe- cutions appear to be the executions of the state. An old priest accompanied me, who pointed out the place and described the scene. As I passed over this melancholy plain, I thought on the dif- ference between the pure and benign doctrine which was first preached to India in the apostolic age, and that bloody code which, after a long night of darkness, was announced to it under the same name ! And I pondered on the mysterious dis- pensation which permitted the ministers of the in- quisitiop, with their racks and flames, to visit these lands before the heralds of the gospel of peace. CATHOLIC nVQUISinON. 119 But the most painful reflection was, that this tri- bunal should yet exist, unawed by the yicinity of British humanity and dominion. I was not satisfied with what I had seen and said at the in- quisition, and I determined to go back again. The inquisitors were now sitting on the tribunal, and I had some excuse for returning, for I was to receive from the chief inquisitor a letter which he said he would give me before I left the place. " When I arrived at the inquisition, and had as- cended the outer stairs, the door-keepers surveyed me doubtingly, but suffered me to pass, supposing that I had returned by permission and appoint- ment of the inquisitor. I entered the^reat hall, and went up directly to the tribunal of the inqui- sition, described by Dellon, in which is the lofty crucifix. I sat down on, a form, and wrote some notes, and then desired one of the attendants to carry in my name to the inquisitor. As I walked up the hall, I saw a poor woman sitting by her- self on a bench by the wall, apparently in a dis- consolate state of mind. She clasped her hands as I passed, and gave me a look expressive of her dis- tress. This sight chilled my spirits. The fami- liars told me she was waiting there to be called up before the tribunal of the inquisition. While I was asking questions concerning her crime, the second inquisitor came out, in evident trepidation, and was about to complain of the intrusion, when I informed him I had come back for the letter 120 HISTOKY OP THE of the chief inquisitor. He said it should be sent after me to Goa, and he conducted me with a quick step towards the door. As we passed the poor woman I pointed to her, and said, with some emphasis, ' Behold, father, another victim of the holy inquisition!' He answered nothing. When we arrived at the head of the great stair he bowed, and I took my last leave of Joseph a Doloribus without uttering a word." The inquisition of Goa was abolished in the month of October in the year 1812. CHAPTER IX. Miscellaneous views of the inqmsidon — Its compoation and proceedings — Anecdote of Father Ephraim — Officers of the in- quisition — Their extraordinary power and privileges — Anecdote of consul Maynard — Council of the inquisition in Spain — ^The Cruciata and Hermandad — Prisons of the inquisition described — Their horrors — Anecdote — Flies — Anecdote of Graspar Bennavi- dius, a jail-keeper of the inquisition — His monstrous cruelty — Arts «inployed to make prisoners confess. It is to be observed, that although minute shades of difference occur in the structure of the inquisitorial tribunals as they have existed in va- rious countries, yet the form and manner of pro- ceeding have ever been essentially the same : so that the miscellaneous descriptions which are now about to be laid before the reader, though they par- CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 121 ticularly belong to Uie holy ofSces in Spain and Portugal, nevertheless bear a full application in all important points to the holy office in every part of the globe. The ministers or officers of the inquisition are numerous. The inquisitors, who are called apos- tolical, are judges delegated by the pope, who is the supreme judge of every thing touching the holy faith. The usual age at which one was capa- ble of exercising this office was forty years ; but by a papal decree, a person of thirty might become apostolic inquisitor ia Spain and Portugal. They are wholly the creatures of the pope ;- so that, if an inquisitor should unjustly prosecute any one for heresy, there is no appeal or redress but<|rom Rome, which is always difficult and often impos- sible. The most extravagant respect is shown to these officers, and even in cases where it has been found necessary to punish an inquisitor, they take care not to lessen men's opinion of the dignity aad authority of the holy office by his condemnation." For example, this tribunal often punished inno- cent persons, imprisoned and ustfd them barba- rously. Of this there is a memorable instance in father Ephraim, a Capuchin ; whom, out of mere hatred and revenge, they seized by craft and sub- tlety, and carried off to the inquisitorial prison at Goa. Everybody wondered at hearing that father Ephraim, a man of such holiness and probity, should be suspected of heresy ; and when the news L 122 HISTORY OF THE airriyed in Europe, it created the liveliest emotions. His Portuguese majesty sent peremptory orders to the inquisitors to liberate him. The pope also sent letters to Goa, commanding him to be set free under penalty of excommunication. And the king of Golconda, who entertained the greatest esteem and affection for him, issued his directions for the city of St. Thomas to be besieged and burnt, and the inhabitants put to the sword, unless the vene- rable father was immediately restored to liberty. The inquisitors, from necessity, not from a sense of justice, sent word to father Ephraim that the prison gates were open, and he might depart when he pleased : but he positively refused to leave the jail, till he was brought out by a solemn proces- sion of the ecclesiastics of Goa, which was accord- ingly done. Now, although this was so palpable a case of injustice and a wrong done to so eminent an individual, that even the king of Portugal and the pope himself interfered ; yet the thought of punishing the malignity of the inquisitors was never for a moment contemplated. To enter into a minute account of all the subor- dinate officers and assistants belonging to the ex- tensive and complicated institution, would prove a labour as insipid to the reader as it would be in- compatible with the limits of this work. A de- scription, therefore, will be omitted of the vicars. the assessors and counsellors, the promoters fiscal, the notaries, the judges, and receivers of confiscated CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 123 goods, the executors, the ofScials, the familiars, the cross-bearers, the visiters, and various others who are necessary to carry on the immense operations of this gigantic system of ecclesiastical tyranny; but it will be proper to dwell for a few moments on the inquisitors themselves, the chief of all, and who are, generally, like Milton's Satan, " by merit raised to that bad eminence." The power of the inquisitors has always been fearfully great, it having ever been the interest of the popes to shower privileges upon them with a munificent hand, and to these immense " wages of sin" is to be attributed their cheerful and un- wearied zeal in the persecution of heretics. Thus, by a bull it is decreed, that no inquisitor shall be liable to the penalty of excommunication, except by the special command of the apostolic see, to which tribunal alone they were amenable. The consequence of this immunity from restraint was, that the inquisitors seldom or never were punished ; for if they only had ingenuity enough to avoid Ib- fringing the temporal power of the popes, their crimes, however flagitious, were regarded with an indulgent eye by the pontiff. Again, when inquisitors wish to inflict punish- ment, and are apprehensive that too much delay will be occasioned by sending to the inquisitorial court, which has the proper authority, they are permitted to have recourse to temporal courts of justice, and to require temporal lords to assist 124 fflSTORY OF THE them, even though such lords may be und(!r sen- tence of excommunication at the time. No matter how wicked and unjust such lord may be, — no mat- ter how incompetent he may have been pronounced to perform any other duty of life, — still, if by com- mand of an inquisitor, he did any thing against heretics, the act immediately became valid. These, and a thousand other privileges and exemptions attached to inquisitors, of a nature at once iniqui- tous and tyrannical, not to say unchristian, are usually said to be bestowed and allowed' " in favour of the faith," as if Christianity stood in need of such nefarious measures for its support ; measures which of themselves are an ample demonstration of the ungodly character of the cause. But the inquisitors claimed and extended their power not only over their own fellow-subjects, but also over those of foreign states residing within their dominions. It was of little consequence to the holy office what treaties existed on the subject, expressly exempting foreigners from liability to the inquisition for matters of faith ; they always managed to evade such provisions, so that strangers were always at their mercy : nor could any safety be procured, except from the immediate frown of the government whose subject was so outraged, and that government backed too by sufficient power to make its interference respected. Of this there was a remarkable case in the time of Oliver Cromwell. CATHOLIC INQinsmON. 125 Thomas Maynard, who was the English consul at Lisbon, had been thrown into the prison of the inquisition, under pretence of having said or done something against the Romish faith. Cromwell was at once advised of it, and immediately sent an express to the English. chargd d'affaires, who, upon receiving it, went forthwith to the king of Portu- gal, and in the'name of Cromwell demanded the liberty of consul Maynard. The king replied that it was not in his power ; that the qonsul was in the hands of the inquisition, over which he had no sort of authority. As soon as Cromwell received this answer, he sent new instructions to his minister, who demanded another audience, in which he told the king, that since his majesty had no power over the inquisition, he was commanded by Crom- well to declare war against the inquisition. The monarch, as well as the inquisitors, were greatly terrified at this unexpected energy, and imme- diately opened the gates of the prison; but the consul, like father Ephraim, refused to accept a private dismission, and in order to repair the sul- lied honour of himself and the English people whom he represented, demanded to be brought forth publicly by the inquisition. Such instances, however, were exceedingly rare, and form a strik- ing contrast with the general history and irresisti- ble power of this institution, before which the greatest monarchs were made to bow with sub- mission. i2 126 HI8T0RT OF THE In Spain and Portugal the supreme council of the inquisition possessed a more tyrannic sway over the inferior tribunals of those countries than the pope, who was at the head of the holy office in Italy, did over those of that country. The supreme council consisted of a grand inquisitor (who was appointed by the king, although it is said the pope had the power of a veto upon the appointment) and five members. The inferior inquisitions, sub- ordinate and dependent on the supreme court, were established at Grenada, Seville, Cordova, Toledo, Cuenza, Valladolid, Murcia, Llerena, San Jaga, Lo- grogno, Saragossa, Valencia, Barcelona, Majorca, Sardinia, Palermo, Mexico, Carthagena, and Lima. Each of these had three inquisitorial judges. Besides the multitude of inferior officers, there were two classes of individuals in Spain, who were devoted to the service of the holy office, by which they were employed, like two powerful arms, to seize their victims everywhere. From their clutches it was next to impossible for any one to escape. These were the Hermandad and the Cru- ciata. The Hermandad was an immense body of constables or spies, who were spread, not only through the cities, but even through the towns and villages. The smallest hamlet teemed with these vermin, creatures generated by want and idleness. They carried their art to perfection. When once their eyes were fixed upon a victim, his doom was sealed. If they could not use force, they resorted CATHOUC INQUISITION. 127 to stratagem. They assumed all characters. They continued their ai-ts for months, nay years, with untiring perseverance, till at length they drew the devoted person into some imprudent step, and then they pounced upon him and delivered him to the inquisition, where he was lost for ever. No wonder the Spanish nation was changed in charac- ter ! The Crusiata consisted of different materials, though equally infamous : their influence was brought to bear more particularly upon the higher ranks of society. The Cruciata consisted of the noble and the rich, the grandees and the bishops, and they were united for the purpose of watching over the manners of Catholics, and reporting to the inquisition the least failure in the discharge of duty or profession. Nothing could be better calculated to promote national hypocrisy than such an esta- blishment, since the perpetual fear of these in- formers would necessarily become a stronger mo- tive to incite them to religious observances, than the fear of God. ' As soon as the poor victim was seized and car- ried before the inquisition, the next step was to cast him into prison. Who has not heard of the dungeons of the inquisition ? The use of jails, it has always been understood, was to keep suspected or criminal persons in custody ; but the inquisition, refining upon and perverting every institution, converted them into abodes of punishment, in which, to use the words of Simancas, an inquisito- 128 mSTOEY OP THE rial author, " they may inflict the penalty of per- petual imprisonment for more heinous offences, which is indeed very grievous, and equal to death:" an honest confession ! for who can think without horror of such a punishment, inflicted sometimes on those who merely believed in the doctrines or opinions of heretics : human beings perpetually imprisoned for freedom of thought, in dreadful re- ceptacles ; there to do what the inquisition called " wholesome penance, with the bread of grief and the water of aflliction." The inquisitorial prisons are generally noisome and pestilent dungeons, and every way worthy of the establishment of which they form a portion. To add mockery to cruelty, they are called, in Spain and Portugal, as was before remarked, santas casas, or holy houses ; and really one might almost be tempted to suppose that these names, as well as that of holy office belonging to the inquisition itself, had been imposed, not seriously, but by way of irony and derision. Though these mansions and cells of wretchedness are very much alike in all countries where the tribunal of the inquisition has gained a footing, yet in Spain and Portugal they seemed to wear a blacker gloom ; so that Constan- tino Ponce, who was called "the great philosopher, the profound theologian, and the most eloquent and celebrated preacher" of the time of Charles V., ere yet he bad been made to taste of actual tor- tures, in speaking of the barbarity of his confine- CATHOLIC INQUIsmON. 129 ment, exclaimed, "Oh, my God ! were there no Sqythians in the world, no cannibals more fierce and cruel athan Scythians, into whose hands thou couldst carry me, so that I might but escape the hands of these monsters ?" Of the miseries of the Portuguese prisons, an illustration is given by an author whose name is Reginald Gonsalvius. An English ship had put in at the port of Cadiz, and the familiars of the inquisition of that place immediately searched her, as was their custom, to see what there was on board to afifect religion, as they, pretended, before they could suflFer a soul to go on shore. They seized several English persons in whom they dis- covered symptoms of true evangelical piety, and clapped them in jail. In the ship there was a child ten or twelve years of age, the son of a very rich English merchant, to whom the ship belonged; This child was seized also, under pretence that a copy of David's Psalms in English, was found in his hands ; but the true reason was, their avarice and cursed arts, by which they hoped to extort money from the wealthy parent The ship was confiscated, and the child was carried, with the rest of the company, to the prison of the inquisi- tion, at Seville, where he lay about eight months. In consequence of the strict confinement, damp-, ness of the place, and badness of the food allowed, the child fell very ill, for he had been brought up {delicately and tenderly at home. When the in- 130 HISTORY OF THE quisitors heard this, they had the boy removed, for recorery of his health, to the hospital of the inquisition, which is almost as bad a place as the prison itself. In this place the unhappy boy, from barbarous treatment, lost the use of both his legs, nor was it ever known what became of him after- wards, though it is probable he died of the ill usage of these monsters. During his confiDement the poor boy had given striking proofs how firmly the pious instructions he had received at home were fixed in his mind. Morning and evening he was seen on his knees at prayer to that Crod who, his parents had taught him, was to be looked up to in the hour of trouble ; and his inhuman keepers always taunted him on these occasions by calling him their " little heretic." The first thing a prisoner of the inquisition is compelled to do when thrown into jail, is to give an exact account of all his wealth and possessions. The inquisitors pretend always that they do this with a view to keep faithfully their property, that it may be safely restored, if they should be found innocent ; and such confidence had the deluded people in the sanctity and sincerity of the tribunal, that they always most willingly discovered the most concealed things they had. But these people were deluded ; for when a person fell into the hands of the inquisition, he was stripped and de- spoiled of all. If the prisoner denied his crime, and was convicted by false witnesses employed for CATHOLIC INOUISmON. 133 the purpose, all his goods were confiscated. If, to escape the_ horrors of imprisonment, he confessed the crime, he became guilty by his own acknow- ledgment, and as a matter of course was robbed of every thing. Even wlfen the prisoner was dis- missed as a convert arjd penitent, he^id not dare to defend himself, under a, terror «pf befng le-im- prisoned for Ijfe or burnt to. death. When sumjifioned ^fore his judges,, the prisoner appears, conducted by his keeper, with his head, armsj. and f^et nal^d. At one end of the audiende^ room is a large crucifix, and in the middle is placed a table wfKh seats around it. At the table are ijpat- ed the notary of the inquisition and the jtidges, and at one end the wretched prisoner himself ypon a bench. On the table is the niissal. or massrbook, on which the prisoner lays his hand when he takes the oath to tell the whole truth, ^d to keep every thing a profound secret. Whe'n the audience is over, and the interrogatories done, the inquisitors ring4 bell, and the keeper re-conduct^, the prisoher . to his cell. In these jails the most profound silence is k^t. None dare mutter a word or make the least noise. If an individual in his agony bewails his fate, 0$ even if he prays to God aloud, or sings a psalm, the keeper ^immediately enters and %dmonishes him to be silent. If he does not obey he is again admonished, and if it is done a third time the keeper beats the prisoner severely. This is done M 13'4 HISTORY OP THE not only tO punish the offender, but to intitojdate the pfiier prisoners ; whoj from the nearness of their cells and the tomb-like stillness of the plac^ can easily hear the sound of the blows and the crigs.of the sufferers. It'is related, that'on one oc- casion wbeiii- a prisonpr coughed, the jailers, came to hlhi and adffiionished him to forbear. He an- swered, it was not iti his power. »They admon- ished him a second time, and because he did not cease, they stripped him naked and cruelhr heat him. This made his cough worse, and inst^d of bfeing softened, they continued beating him till the poor wretch expired. One reason Why they insist so severely upon profound silence, is to prevent the prisoners from recognizing each other by whistling, singing, or other signals. So that it often happens friends, even parents and children, are not aware that" they have been pining in the same jail, an8* perhaps in adjoining cells, until they meet at the awful cere- mony of an auto da fe. The great aim of this solitary confinement is, that its extreme irksome- ness may force the victims to make any confes- sions which may best suit the wicked purposes and ^wishes of the inquisitors'. The arts of the inqui- sitors to draw confessions are detailed by numerous jKriters. 'yhey even procure persons, who are chosen for their being agreeable to" the prisoners, and having influence, to go and converse with them, arid even to feign to belong to their sect, d'ATHOLIC INqWSITION. 135 and only to have abjured through fiear. Thej will thus insidiously persecute the prisoner by every" hypocritical wile, till at last, after a lapse of d»ys, weeks, or even months, they suaceed in drawing out some. confession. It may well excite wonder how men can be of such a devilish temper as vo- luntarily to hire themselves for sucjh t)fBces, — men who^ consent to be .shut up in dungeons with the prisoners for whole months, pretending sometimes to be friends, sometimes fellow-prisoners, in order to force out* something by which to condemn the prisoner, — who put up with every thing, stench, hunger, thirst, and what is still more strange, will goiin this way from pne cell to another, and pass_ all their time in an occupation which has no paral- lel in history, — a business foul, and nefarious, and diabolical ! These creatures are calTed flies by the inquisition. -But the prisoners are exposed to cruqjttes from a thousand other sources. Reginald Gonsalvius, before quoted, relates of one Gaspar Bennavidius, who was a keeper of a jail, and whom he describes as "a man pf monstrdus covetousniss and craeky," that he used actually to defraud the poor languish- ing prisoners af the scanty allowancfes made by the inquisitors ; and that if any of them murmured, he was accustomed to punish them by forcing them into a vile place called Mazmorra, a deep cistern without water in it, though so d^aij|l' that the very proviisions became rotten in it, and -fitter to 136 HISTORY OF THE destroy than to support life. This man, it is true, was punished as soon as his conduct became knc^^ to'the inquisitors, but not so much on account of his bsfrbarity as for violating the regulations of the establishment. To j)rove that no merciful motives had any share in his punishment, this very man had, at the time, a servant maid, who, witnessing the intolerable sufferings of her "master's victJHls, through pity used to succour and relieve them, and also to take from the wicked thief, her master, the very provisions he stole from them, to give them back to the prisoners ^y stealth. " And," says the author, " that we maj the more wonder at the providence of God, who so orders it that the worst parents shall not always have bad children, -alittle daughter of the keeper himself used to assist the maid in* these pious thefts." At length the matter was discovered, and the humanity of this good woman was visited by the Lord's inquisitors with rigorous punishment. In short, the ingenuity of cruelty employed to work upon the prisoners' minds, and extort confes- sion, is almost beyond belief; and, at last, if the accused did not confess his guilt, they had recourse to a final experiment which proved a fatal snare to many. They delivered to the prisoner an accusa- tion in writing), and in this pretended accusation they blended several crimes perfectly false, and of an enormous nature, with the charges they wanted to get at- By .this trap they succeeded : the pri- CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 137 s©ner did not fail to cry out against the horrible invputations, and thereupon the inquisitors con- demned them as guilty of thosb" other* allegations against which they remonstrated -with least vio- lence. CHAPTER X. Extravagance and absurdities of certain inquisitorial writers — Heresy, its meaning — Abuse and perversion of the term by the inquisition — Excommunication — Punishments of heresy and here- tics"— Death by fire — Unlimited power of this tribunal — Forms of process — Proofs — Arts used by inquisitors — Honest and frank confession of an inquisitor general. Inquisitorial writers have displayed prodi- gious extravagance, as well as ingenuity, in dis- torting passafges of Scripture, and discovering types in. the Old and New Testament to illustrate a^d sustain the divine original of the inquisition before a deluded and ignorant ipeople. Of this, the most impious and unblushing proofs are given by Louis de Paramo, an inquisitor, in his cele- brated Latin work on the " Origin and Progress of the Holy OflBce of the Inquisition, and of ItS Dignity and Utility." — God himself, according to this writer, was the first inquisitor, and the first auto da f& was held in the garden of Eden. God cited Adam, because the process would otherwise m2 138 HISTORY OF THE have been null ; and upon th& culprit's appearance^ he inquired, that is, made inquisition, inte Adam'sicrime. The man accused his wife, after which the Judge questioned her also. The serpent he did not examine, because of his obstinacy. Both parties were separately examined, and in se- cret, to prevent collusion ; and no witnesses weT& called,* because confession and conscience are as good as a thousand witnesses ; and then the judge had nothing to do but to pronounce sentence. Pa- ramo does not think it worth while, however, to mention another, and a more serious, reason for not calling witnesses ; which is, that there were no witnesses to call. * Abraham also was an inquisitor, and so was Sarah, which the author thus proves. She turned Ishmael out of doors for idolatry. She saw him playing with Isaac. Now what i| meant by this word playing ? In Exodus it is written, the peo- ple sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play ; that is, says St. Jerome, to commit idolatry ; and therefore i|, is plain that Ishmael was turned out for idolatry*' In this crazy manner Paramo goes through the Pentateuch, and the books "of Jo- shua and Judges. David, he tells us, was a bitter inquisitor. Solomon also, though the wisest of men, was the most severe upon idolaters and here- tics. Zimri, who slew his master, was of the holy office. So was Elijah ; so was Elisha ; so Tvas Jehu ; and, (which caps the climax of absurdity,) CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 139 so was Nebuchadnezzar ! Under the gospel dis- pensation Christ is represented as the first inquisi- tor, and the very form of punishment in use by the holy office, it is affirmed, is directed by the gospel ! — But the reader turns with indignation and contempt from so much levity and so much folly. Heresy now claims attention : heresy ! a fatal word — a word which has deluged the world with blood, and caused infinite sorrows among the sons of men ! " This word," says Dr. Buck, " signifies sect, or choice. It was not, in its earliest accepta- tion, conceived to convey any reproach, since it was indifierently used either of a party approved or of one disapproved by the writer. Afterwards it was generally used t« signify some fundamental error adhered to with obstinacy." — The practice of the early Christians on this subject was shown in the beginning of this work. The shocking per- version of the term by the Catholic inquisition ^jll now be placed in contrast. ., It ia, the observation of Lloreate, that if the pri- mitive system of the church towards heretics had been pursued faithfully, as it ought to have been after the peace of Constantine, the tribunal of the inquisition vould never have existed, and perhaps the number »nd duration of heresies would have been less. However this may be, one thing is plain, that heresies multiplied with a rapidity exactly proportioned to the violent attempts made 140 HISTORY OF THE by the civil sind ecclesiastical powers to extirpate themj until they at length formed the grand em- ployment of the church of Rome. Heresy, or hferetical prayity, (that is, wickedness,) was the grand crime cognizable by the inquisition, whose office legitimately corisisted in its extirpation. But heresy assumed a thousand shapes, and was hunted dovvn by as many different statutes of the Romish church. Some were manifest heretics, others con- cealed ; some affirmative, others negative ; some impenitent, others penitent ; some arch-heretics, others believers of heretics ; some receivers, others defendersj and others favourers of heretics ; some are hinderers of the office of the inquisition, others suspected of heresy, others defamed as heretics, and others relapsed. Againv there were some who, by committing certain other crimes, incur the sus- picion of heresy; or who, committing other crimes, are yet answerable to the tribunal of the inquisi- tion, because of some heretical word or action mixed up with those- crimes. Finally, Jews, and backsliders to Judaism, New Christians,,. Moors, witches and sorcefers, and, in more modern times, free-masofis and political heretics, complete the melancholy catalogue of human beings who were rendered answerable to the inquisition- From this enumeration alone, it must appear to {ill that heresy was thus converted into a net of infinite meshes, from which few or none could eScape, who were the natural game or prey of this horrid institution CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 141 To make a regular heretic, three things were ne- cessary. First, that the individual should have professed the Catholic faith. Secondly, that he should err in his understanding in matters relating to the faith. Matters of faith being all points de- termined by a general council or by the pope, as necessary to be believed, and such as are enjoined by an apostolic tradition. Thirdly, obstinacy of will, which was tested in two ways; when one was called before a judge of the faith, and informed that any opinion he happened to hold was contrary to the faith, and yet persisted in the error ; and again, when, after the discovery of his error, he will not abjure it, and give any satisfaction the church demanded. So far was this carried, that every thing was defined to be heresy that was contrary to_ the slightest and most trifling received opinion of the church, even on a subject merely philoso- phical, and having no foundation in the scriptures. Heiresy being regarded by the Catholic church as the most heinous of all crimes, the punishments inflicted upon heretics -were the most grievous ; and they were of two kinds, civil and ecclesiastical. The ecclesiastical were, excommunication, depriva- tion of church burial, of dignities, benefices, and all ecclesiastical offices. The civil were, depriving men of the privileges and benefits of law, pecu- niary mulcts and fines, banishment, death, and the bann. By excommunication, heretics were driven from 142 HISTORY OF THE the sacraments^ deprived of the common sufirages of the church, and expelled the company of the pious and faithful. One of the synods of the Ca- tholic church declared, in the following words, " that ye may understand the nature of this ex- communication, he (the heretic) must not enter into the church, nor eat and drink with any chris- tians. Let none receive his gifts, nor offer him a kiss, nor join with him in prayer, nor salute him." The ceremony of excommunicating a heretic is thus performed. When the bishop pronounces the , curse, twelve priests must stand around him holding lighted candles, which they threw down on the ground and tread under their feet at the conclusion of the excommunicatitig anathema. These interdicts are very numerous in the Catholic church, and are couched in a great variety of terms. Of the civil punishment of heresy, confiscation is the chief, and one of the Catholic writers deduces it impiously from the example of God himself, " who," as another author says, " not contented with the sentence of death pronounced against our first parents, drove man from the place of his delightSj stripped him of all his goods, and adjudged him to hard and continual labours ; and conimandedj for his wickedness> the very earth to bring forth briers and thorns*" To pass- over the many other punishments of heretics, death was one of the last ; and death- too,' of the most terrible kind ; which is^ to be burnt CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 143 alive ! This mode of puaishment, in the usual impious manner, is inferred from 2 Kings xxiii. where Ozias commanded the bones of the heretical priests to be burnt ; and also from the words of our Lord in John xv. 6. " If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather them and cast them into a fire, and they are burned.' ' Paramo, the Catholic author already quoted, also discovers this punishment to be justified by the New Testament, as was before asserted. "James and. John," says he, "thought that the Samaritans who would not receiv^Jtour Lord, should be destroyed by fire from heaven, according to St. Luke, chap. ix. See here now the punishment of heretics, viz. fire. For the Sama- ritans were the heretics of those times. Matt. xxi. and xxii. Mark xii. and Luke xx." Such language is not extraordinary in a man who finds, even in paradise, an inquisition ; and who endeavours, by numerous arguments, to make God himself an in- quisitor ! But Catholic writers have gone still further in their malignity against the human race, and have declared, that the burning of heretics by fire was not only reasonable, but that if any worse and more terrible mode could be discovered, it ought to be and would be made use of — a sentiment so shocking, that even a Catholic might have shud- dered at it — to which there is nothing on record to compare it, unless it be the excuse of the bloody tyrant Draco, who punished all crimes, both great 144 HISTORY OF THE and small, with death ; declaring, at the same time, that the least crime deserved death, and he did not know of any worse punishment for the greatest. Those persons who praised other modes of wor- ship were heretics ; also those who said men might be saved in all religions^ — those who dared to find fault with, or to criticise, in any way, a decision of the pope. If any one showed disrespect to an image, or read, kept in his house, or lent any book forbidden by the inquisition, or ate meat upon days of abstinence, or had a heretic for a friend, or wrote to gonsole a prisoner in the inquisition, or tyied to procure evidence to acquit him. " At one period," says a writer, " the sale of Spanish horses to the French was considered as heresy, because the French were Huguenots, and would probably use the horses against the interests of the Romish church." These are but a few of the items, from the least of which justification, unless it was the pleasure of the inquisition, was impossible. Diffi- cult as it was to escape their fangs, it was infinitely more difficult to get out of them when seized. If the inquisition wanted to arrest a person, he was seized without warning ; nothing could protect him, for no asylum was sacred. None dared to interfere — to utter a syllable in defence ; and when a person once stepped over the threshhold of the inquisition, he was dead to the world. The num- ber of beings who put an end to themselves by suicide, in their despair, is beyond all calculation ! CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 145 The two principal hinges upon which, in crimi- nal cases, the judicial examfnation of the prisoners before this tribunal turns, are — First, an impossi- bility, almost absolute, on the part of the culprits to substantiate the justice of their cause ; and a facility almost boundless, on the part of the inqui- sition, to aggrieve them. With a code in which illegality is reduced .to a system, and a tribunal that contemns all man holds sacred, a tribunal that rests the issue of its important affairs on the im- penetrable secrecy of its proceedings ; that fears no one on earth, for to no one is it responsible, not even to public opinion, it cannot be a matter of surprise that such a multitude of enormous crimes should have rendered it so odious ; crimes the more revolting, because perpetrated under the mask of the gospel. The judges presiding over a tribunal wielding such power, should at least have been well instruct- ed in the principles of justice and equity ; and yet it is a fact, that the dulness and ignorance of inqui- sitors has passed into a proverb. Hence, " the Portuguese noblemen," says Puigblanch, " when they wish to joke about the backwardness of their children at college, threaten to make inquisitors of them." Of late, the following saying was to be met, says the same author, in the mouths of all — « Question : What constitutes an inquisition ? — Answer: Why, one crucifix, two candles, and *hree blockheads." N 146 HISTORY OF THE The two forms of process were, by inquisition and denunciation : the latter, however, finally su- perseded the other, as by several edicts a general injunction was laid on all to denounce, within six days, any one who had sinned in any way. These edicts rendered society a horde of panic-struck and abject wretches, where the mutual hatred, and the mutual prejudices of citizens became the common property of this tribunal, and where the foulest passions of our fallen nature were quickened into the worst activity. Indeed, denunciation, and se- cret impeachment were found to answer the pur- pose much more effectually ; and what was the re- sult ? " Taking from the simple denunciation," says Puigblanch, " whatever is favourable to the informer, and from the rigorous accusation what is contrary to the culprit, the inquisition has created a new judicial process which it is impossible to class or define. In it, the rancour and vengeance of those who traced it seem emulously to shine, and it is difficult to discern whether the blows are most levelled against the rights of justice or of hu- manity ; for who can defend himself against calumny when stimulated by the law, ai^ accom- panied by almost a certain hope of impunity ? This bane of society, by means of secrecy, is con- verted into an arm that wounds i at an immense distance." Proofs were of three kinds i: — First, by instru- ments or writings. — Second, by witnesses, two CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 149 of which, in addition to the denunciator, are, in theory, requisite. The prisoner, however, as has been said, never knows who is his accuser nor the witnesses, as infinite pains are taken to keep him in the dark. It is only when any doubt has arisen respecting the identity of his person, that the wit- nesses view him from a secret place where they cannot be seen, or else are brought before him with masks on their faces, and covered with cloaks tttfta head to foot. — And, third, by voluntary con- fession, which, though called spontaneous, always ffartook of coercion. The fact, which daily occurred, that the -inno- cent were murdered, with the guilty, was regarded with great indifference ; for it was a cherished maxim, " «hat it is better one hundred pious Ca- tholics should perish, than one heretic escape :" for, said they, by putting to death an innocent person, we hasten and secure his entrance into paradise ; while a liberated heretic may infect a multitude. " Let no person complain," says Ni- cholas Eymeric, in his celebrated book, the * Di- rectory of the Inquisitors,' " if he be unjustly condemned ; let him console himself with the re- flection that he has suffered for righteousness' sake." This famous book of Eymeric was written about the middle of the fourteenth century. The author was a Dominican, and chief inquisitor to the crown of Arragon, and his work has served as a N 2 150 HISTORY OF THE model for all the regulations which have been in force in Spain, Italy, and Portugal, and as author- ity for all who have written on the subject From this work a single passage, being a stratagem or precaution which he recommends to inquisitors when sitting in judgment, will be amply sufB- cient. — " When the prisoner has been impeached of the crime of heresy, but not convicted,* and he obstinately persists in his denial, let the inquisitor take the proceedings into his hands, or any other Jilt of papers, and looking them over in his pre- sence, let him feign to have discovered the offence fully established therein, and that he is "desirous-he should at once make his confession. The inquisi- tor shall then say to the prisoner, as if in astonish- ment, * And is it possible you should «till deny what I have here before my own eyes ?' He shall then seem as if he read, and to the end that the prisoner may know no better, he shall fold down the leaf, and after reading some moments longer, he shall say to him, ' It is just as I have said : why therefore do you deny it, when you see I know the whole matter ?' " — In all this the author di- rects the judge not to enter too minutely into the particulars of the fact, for fear of his erring in any of the circumstances, and lest the prisoner should discover the falsehood. This chapter will now close with a confession from an eminent inquisitor, at which one's blood runs cold. Don Manuel Abad y Lasierra, one CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 151 of the latest inquisitors general, a person by no means prejudiced, and for that reason not liked by any of his cloth, speaking of the ease with which an innocent person may be entrapped in the snares of this tribunal, used to say, " that he had never feared the^inquisition till he had been made in- quisitor general." With such a confession from such an individual, and at so recent a period, the reflection naturally arises. What must this tribunal have been in the high and palmy period of its greatest power ? CHAPTER XI. The torture — Its different kinds — The auto da f£ — Its different kinds — Description of the dresses of those nho walk in these dreadful processions — Description of an auto celebrated at Ma- drid in 1680. The inquisition has uniformly adopted the vices of all other tribunals, and even added to them ; but in "the torture" it astonishingly surpassed them. In the first place, it originally invented a multitude of new methods of infliction ; and in the second, riot content to force the culprit to confess his crime and reveal his accomplices, it also obliged him to confess his very intention : so that, after admitting all that any other court coulcf wish to know, he was again subjected to the pangs of tor- 152 HISTORY OF THE ture, and compelled to declare himself to be as criminal before men, as his judges supposed he was before God. There was another practice still more inhuman. When the culprit, from repent- ance, at once confessed his intention and revealed his accomplices, the torture was again inflicted if any of the accomplices denied being such, for the purpose of seeing if he persisted in the decla- ration. Sentence of torture always began by in- voking the name of Christ ! Three kinds of torture, says Puigblanch, who will be followed in this part of the subject, have been generally used by the inquisition, namely, the pulley, the rack, and iire. As sad and loud lamentations accompanied the sharpness of pain, the victim was conducted to a retired apartment, called the " Hall of Torture," and usually situated under ground, in order that his cries might not in- terrupt the silence which reigned throughout the other parts of the building. Here the court assem- bled, and the judges being seated, together with their secretary, again questioned the prisoner ; and if he still persisted, they proceeded to the execu- tion of the sentence. The first torture, which was alluded to in the account given in a former chapter of Bower's ad- ventures, was performed by fixing a pulley to the roof of the hall, with a strong hempen or grass rope passed through it. The executioners then seized the culprit, and leaving him naked to bis (D O) CO CL (Ji CQ Tl (Q CD (D O) CO CL (Ji CQ Tl (Q CD CATHOLIC INQUISITION, 167 drawers, put shackles on his feet, and suspended weights of one hundred pounds to his ancles. His hands were then bound behind his back, and the rope from the pully strongly fastened to his wrists. In this situation he was raised about the height of a man from the ground, and, in the meantime, the judges coldly admonished him to reveal the truth. In this positjpn twelve stripes were som^imes in- flicted on him. He was then suffered to fall sud- denly, but in such a manner that neither his feet nor the weights reached the ground, in order to render the shock of the body greater. The torture of the rack, also called that of water and ropes, and the one most commonly used, was inflicted by stretching the victim on his back along a wooden horse, or hollow bench, with sticks across like a ladder, and prepared for the purpose. To this his feet, hands, and head were strongly bound, in such manner as to leave no room to move. In this attitu(4e he experienced eight strong contor- tions in his limbs, namely, two on the fleshy parts of the arms above the elbows, and two below ; one on each thigh, and^lso on the legs. He was, be- sides, obliged to swallow seven- pints of water, slowly dropped into his mouth on a piece of silk QT ribbon, which, by the pressure of the water, glided down his throat, so as to produce all the horrid sensations of drowning. At other times his face was covered with a thin piece of linen, 168 HISTORY (SF THE through which the water ran into his mouth and nostrils, and prevented Tiim from breathing. In the torture by fire, the prisoner was placed upon his legs, naked, in the stocks ; the soles of his feet were then well greased with lard, and a blaz- ing chafing-dish applied to them, by the heat of which they became perfectly fried. When his complaints of the pain were loudest, a board was placed between his feet and the fire, and he was again commanded to confess; but it was taken away if he was obstinate. This species of torture was deemed the most cruel of all ; but this, as well as the others, were, without distinction, applied to persons of both sexes, at the will of the judges, according to the circumstances of the crime and the strength of the delinquent. Lesser tortures were used with persons unable to withstand those already described. Such were, that of the dice, of the canes, and of the rods. For the first, the prisoner was extended on'the ground, and two pieces of iron, shaped like a die, but con- cave on one side, were placed on the heel of his right foot, then bound fast on with a rope which was pulled tight with a screw. That of thei,canes was performed by a hard piece being put betwfeen each finger, bound, and then screwed as above. That of the rods was inflicted on boys under nine years of age, by binding them to a post and then flogging them with rods. (D O) CO CL (Ji CQ Tl (Q CD CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 161 The time allowed for torture, by a bull of Paul III., could not exceed an hour ; but in Spain, where the race of cruelty was always won, it was ex- tended to an hour fnd a quarter, and an hour and a half.- The sufferer often became senseless, in which case a physician was ever in attendance, to inform the cojirt whether the paroxysm was real or feigned, and to declare how much human nature could endure. When the victim remained firm, or refused to ratify a confession within twenty- four hours afterwards, he has been forced to un- dergo as far as three tortures, with only one day's interval between each. Thus, while his imagina- tion was still filled with the dreadful idea of his past sufferings, his limbs stiff and sore, and his strength debilitated, he was called upon to give fresh proofs of his constancy, and again endure the horrid spectacle and the excruciating pangs, tend- ing to rend his whole frame to pieces. The persons charged to inflict these cruel opera- tions were generally the servants of the jailer : as the institution, however, was formerly under the charge of the Dominicans, and of late years also in Italy, it is probable that the lay brethren were se- lected to inflict the torture ; particularly as the inquisition was usually contiguous to their con- vents, with which they communicated by a se- cret door and passage ; and by these services, the brethren, far from being dishonoured, considered they were doing acts acceptable to God. o2 162 HISTORY OF THE When neither persuasions, threats, nor artifices forced the culprit truly or falsely to confess, the inquisitors then recurred to the torture, mixing even -this deception with severity; for besides threatening the prisoner to make his pangs last for an indefinite period of time, they made him be- lieve, after he had borne them for the stated time, that they only suspended their continuation be- cause it was late, or for some other similar reason ; they protesting, at the same time, that he was not sufficiently tortured. By this protest they avoided giving a second sentence when they returned to inflict the torture afresh, considering it as a con- tinuation of the preceding one ; by which means they were able to torment the victim as often as they thought proper, without formally coming to the second torture. Whilst the unfortunate victim, melted in tears at the sight of the horrors by which he is sur- rounded, bewails his miserable fate, or, frenzied with the force of fury, in vain calls all nature to his aid, and invokes the name of God ; whilst his passions are alternately irritated and then depressed into a desponding calm, at one time protesting his innocence, and next calling down curses on his tormentors' heads ; in short, whilst his body is shaken by the most violent convulsions, and his soul racked, his inexorable judges, unmoved ^.by such a scene, with the coldest cruelty mix their orders with his cries and lamentations ; at one time CATHOLIC INQUISITION. 163 addressing themselves to him to exhort him to re- veal, and next to their ofScers to remind them of their duty. In the mean time, with the same se- renity, the secretary pens down every sigh, groan, and execration which the force of the torment obliges the wretched and frantic victim to utter. The legislators who originally authorized this mode of trial, a^ least had the equity to pronounce all inferences of guilt as thereby wiped away, and dismissed the sufferer who persevered in his de- nial ; but the inquisition condemned him to per- petual imprisonment, or sent him to the galleys. Consequently, the unfortunate culprit, perhaps wholly innocent, often entirely disabled by the writhings of his muscles and the dislocation of his bones, caused by the shocks of the pulley, crippled by the compression of the rack, or maimed by the contraction of his nerves through the operation of fire, was, after all this, obliged to endure the in- famy of being mixed and confounded with the vilest wretches. But the last and most appalling scene, which closes the awful drama of the inquisition, was the auto da {6, to which allusion has often been made in the course of this little volume, and of which a very brief and imperfect description is all which can now be promised to the reader. The auto da fe jvas a spectacle as august and splendid as it was cruel and terrible, uniting in its sublime concep- tion, as it is affirmed, two of the grandest ideas 164 mSTOHY OF THE that the human mind can entertain, namely, a Ro- man triumph, and the day of judgment. There were two kinds of autos da fe, the parti- cular and the general. The f^mer were called autillos, or little autos, and were celebrated in some small church or hall with closed doors, and before only select persons. The general autos were solemnized in the principal square of the city, or some spacious church. In the first, the culprits were few, in the second, numerous. In the grander exhibition great care is taken to include persons who have committed difierent crimes, so as to give an imposing variety to the spectacle ; and, at the same time, some relapsed persons, whom even repentance cannot save from the flames ; for if all could be pardoned by abjuring their errors, the exhibition might be spoiled at the last moment ! The victims who walk in the procession, wear certain insignia ; these are, the san benito, the co- roza, the rope round the neck, and the yellow wax candle. The san benito is a penitential garment or tunic of yellow cloth reaching down to the knees, and on it is painted the picture of the person who wears it, burning in the flames, with figures of dragons and devils in the act of fanning the flames. This costume indicates that the wearer is to be de- stroyed as an impenitent. If the person is only to do penance, then the san benito has on it a cross, and no paintings or flames. If an impenitent is CATHOLIC INQCKinON. \Q^ converted just before being led out, then the san benito is painted with the flamea downward ; this is called " fuego repolto," and it indicates ffiit. the wearer has escaped the terrible element. For- merly these garments were hung up in the churches as etetnal monuments of drsgrace