• and then told him to guess who gave the blow, than the con⚫dition of an innocent man standing before the tribunal of the • Inquisition?'

When the primitive martyrs had trial of cruel mocking and scourging, and breathed out their souls into the hands of God amid agonies and flames, they felt the pains inflicted by persecutors who were filled with rage and malice against the Christian faith, and who sought by these means its utter extirpation. The only relation which Christians can sustain in respect of persecution, is, to be the suffering party. Christians can neither pray for fire from heaven to consume their adversaries, nor take the sword to smite them. The Inquisition is a perfect contrast to all that is Christian. What a document is the following sentence of the torture' to which the signatures of persons described as Christian bishops must be affixed!

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« Christi nomine invocalo. We hereby ordain, after due exami nation made of the proceedings of said trial, as well as of the inferences and suspicions which thence result against the said N., that we ought and hercby do condemn him to be interrogated under the torture," (some judges here expressed the kind it was to be) on which we command that he be placed, and thereon remain for such time as to us may appear fit, in order that he may declare the truth of what is attested and alleged against him, under the protest we now make against him; that if during the said torture he should die, should be maimed, or any effusion of blood or mutilation of members should thence ensue, the blame and charge thereof shall rest on himself, and not on us, for having refused to confess the truth. And by this our sentence we decree and command the same to be done, by virtue of, and in conformity to, the tenor of these pre

sents.'

What impiety, what blasphemy is here-the invocation of Christ's name prefixed to a deed sanctioning torture and palliating murder!

Three kinds of torture have been generally used by the Inquisition, viz. the pulley, rack, and fire. 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 interrupt the silence which reigned throughout the other parts of the building. Here the court assembled, and the judges being seated, together with their secretary, again questioned the prisoner respecting his crime, which if he still persisted to deny, they proceeded to the execution of

the sentence.

This first torture 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 his drawers, put shackles on his feet, and suspended weights of 100 pounds to his ancles. His hands were then bound behind his back, and the rope from the pulley strongly fastened to his wrists. In this

situation he was raised about the height of a man from the ground, and in the mean time the judges coldly admonished him to tell the truth In this position as far as twelve stripes were sometimes inflicted on him according to the inferences and weight of the offence. He was then suffered to fall suddenly, but in such manner that neither his feet nor the weights reached the ground, in order to render the shock of his body the 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, naked as before, 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 him no room to move. In this attitude he experienced eight strong contortions in his limbs, viz two on the fleshy parts of the arm above the elbow, and two below, one on each thigh, and also on the legs. He was besides obliged to swallow seven pints of water, slowly dropped into his mouth on a piece of silk or ribbon which, by the pressure of the water, glided down his throat, so as to produce all the horrid sensations of a person who is drowning. At other times his face was covered with a thin piece of linen, through which the water ran into his mouth and nostrils, and prevented him from breathing. Of such a form did the Inquisition of Valladolid make use, in 1528, towards Licentiate Juan Salas, physician of that city.

For the torture by fire the prisoner was placed with his legs naked in the stocks, the soles of his feet were then well greased with lard, and a blazing 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 this was taken away if he persisted in his obstinacy. This species of torture was deemed the most cruel of all; but this as well as the others, were indifferently 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.' Vol. I. pp. 250-254.

Over these processes of refined and overwhelming cruelty, preside men who assume to be the servants of Christ, and the ministers of the God of peace and love! The gratifications of their minds in discharging the business of an office instituted for the declared purpose of aiding the Christian faith, are found in surveying the writhing members and the convulsed frames of their fellow-creatures, fastened to engines of torment, and hearing the piercing and horrid cries of the unhappy wretches in the paroxysms of their distracted agonies! By what strange descents and awful prostitution the profession of the Christian ministry, originally intended to establish peace on earth, good will to men,' should be found connected with the office of Vexing and destroying mankind by excruciating tortures and violent death, is an inquiry which merits the most serious con

sideration; the causes of this metamorphosis may, we apprehend, be detected.

A very particular account is given of the memorable auto de fe celebrated at Madrid, in the year 1680, in the presence of Charles II., the Queen, and the mother of the king. Of this auto, a painting is preserved in the palace of the BuenRetiro, and serves, says the Author, as a monument of shame to those kings who made so had a use of their power. Orders were sent to the various tribunals to expedite the causes before them, that as great a number of sufferers as possible might be procured. Sunday, the 30th of June, was appointed for this great triumph of the Catholic faith,' and proclamations were solemnly made a month before the time, inviting the people to attend, who were assured of receiving on the occasion, those graces and indulgences' which the Popes were accustomed to dispense to the members of the church aiding and accompanying such ceremonies. Almost every circumstance in the hands of D. Puigblanch affords the reader of his work an instance of appropriate remark.

Let us pay particular attention to this custom of performing these autos on Sundays, a circumstance which alone would argue the great contrariety of ideas so remarkable in this tribunal. Among all nations the day destined to return thanks to the Sovereign Maker of all things, as a remembrance of his omnipotence, is held as a day of rejoicing, on which it behoves us to abstain from every thing that may tend to disturb it, and indeed all servile occupations ought to be avoided. It is on this account that all kinds of work are suspended, and for much greater reason ought the execution of public punishments to be withheld. Thus the Hebrews, at the same time that they were forbidden to practise all manual labour, were ordered to remove the dead bodies from the church porches before the sabbath commenced; and even among us the civil courts never proceed to give sentence in any cases of trial, and much less to execute capital punishments on days consecrated by religion. The Inquisition alone is an exception to this general rule; by order of this arrogant tribunal the civil magistrate putting on that obduracy to which on similar days he had been a stranger, imbues his hands in human blood, and profanes the solemn period of religious joy. It may perhaps be answered that these executions are performed in the service and behalf of religion; if so, bloody punishments are the offerings the Inquisition makes in honour of a meek and divine system of faith and worship.' pp. 311-12.

After the numerous preparations for this auto (one of the most direful tragedies ever performed) had been completed, the prisoners, some in person, and others in effigy, amounting to the number of one hundred and twenty, seventy-two of whom were women, were marched in a grand procession to a magnificent theatre constructed for the occasion. Here mass was celebrated. and a sermon preached by a Dominican friar, in a style of bom

bastic declamation and extravagant rant, of which the following. specimen may be quite sufficient to satisfy the reader.

To have killed these horrid wild-beasts and enemies of God whom we now behold on this theatre, some by taking life from their errors, reconciling them to our holy faith, and inspiring them with contrition for their faults; others by condemning them through their obduracy to the flames where, losing their corporeal lives, their ob stinate souls will immediately go to burn in hell; by this means God. will be avenged of his greatest enemies, dread will follow these examples, the Holy Tribunal will remain triumphant, and we ourselves more strongly confirmed and rooted in the faith; which, accompanied by grace and good works, will be the surest pledge of glory.' Vol. I. p. 330.

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Animated by this spirit, and whetted to madness by the ravings of this fanatic, the actors in the bloody tragedy proceeded to perform their respective parts, and this triumph' of the catholic faith was concluded by the deaths of six persons who were burnt alive, the rest of the prisoners having been converted, or consigned to other punishments; at the same time the bodies of thirteen who had been previously hanged were committed to the flames, together with the bones and effigies of those who had died in prison. When shall the mystery of God, which presents to the pious so many objects for the exercise of their faith and patience, be finished, and the long expected call be given"Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judge"ment is come?"

The author of Don Quixote, it would seem, has employed his satire in ridiculing the Inquisition. In support of this opinion there is a series of quotations and remarks included in a noté (Vol. I. p. 339, &c.) which is extended through twelve pages. They are we believe, quite original, and no less satisfactory than

curious.

Though it is not within the purpose of D. Puigblanch to give a complete detail of the various autos de fe celebrated by the Inquisition, he has taken notice of several of the most remarkable. At an auto which was attended by the princess Doña Juana, May 21st, 1559, fourteen persons were burnt, and sixteen more did public penance. On the 18th of October an auto was celebrated at which Philip II. was present, when 28 persons were burnt, and twelve more had penance imposed upon them. In Seville eighty individuals were punished, most of them by fire in groups of fifteen or twenty. So many were the victims offered in one year! In the year 1560 another auto was celebrated; among the sufferers was professor Blanco, who having abjured through the dread of punishment, and preached against the reform of the Church, again declared himself for it, and died with astonishing serenity after upbraiding his judges to their faces

with their incapacity in matters of faith. In the auto of Toledo in Feb. 1501, sixty-seven women were delivered over to the flames for Jewish practices. The same punishment was inflicted on 900 females for being witches in the duchy of Lorrain by one Inquisitor alone. Under this accusation upwards of thirty thousand women have perished by the hands of the Inquisition!. In 1691 four Autos were celebrated in Majorca; in the third of these thirty-four persons were thrown into the flames, having been previously strangled, and three more were burnt alive, charged with being impenitent Jews whose names were Raphael Valls, Raphael Terongi, and Catherine Terongi.

On seeing the flames near them, they began to shew the greatest fury, struggling to free themselves from the ring to which they were bound, which Terongi at length effected, although he could no longer hold himself upright, and he fell side-long on the fire. Catherine, as soon as the flames hegan to encircle her, screamed out repeatedly for them to withdraw her from thence, although uniformly persisting. not to invoke the name of Jesus. On the flames touching Valls, he covered himself, resisted, and struggled as long as he was able. Being fat he took fire in his inside, in such manner, that before the flames had entwined around him, his flesh burnt like a coal, and bursting in the middle his entrails fell out.'

To these instances of horrible cruelty, many others could be cited from the work before us, and were the task of transcribing the revolting details necessary for the purpose of exciting the surprise and detestation of our readers at the proceedings of a tribunal which has been recently revived in the most fertile soil of superstition, after its destruction had been decreed by a legis.. lative body, we should force our minds to the painful work, from the feeling that an imperious duty was demanding its discharge at our hands. Our extracts however are already copious, and, we apprebend sufficient for the accomplishment of our wishes,. whether they respect the inducement offered for the perusal of the Book, or the necessary effects on those to whom it may be inaccessible. We shall only add the following lines:

Ah! if every thing that has happened in the Inquisition on this subject were only known! How often has the beauty of a female culprit been the only plea for subjecting her to the torture, and to the nakedness with which this was administered.-In Seville about the middle of the 15th Century (and this is a different case to the one mentioned by foreign writers) an inquisitor commanded a beautiful young female, accused of practising Jewish rites, to be scourged in his own presence; and, after committing lewdness with her, he de-livered her over to the flames. "Oh! inquisitors," exclaims the historian who has transmitted this anecdote down to us, "Oh! inqui sitors, savage beasts, how long will God endure your tyrannic and cruel acts!" Vol. 2. P. 381.

We are truly sorry to report that the means which the Author