The manner in which the originals of the following work came into the
hands of the translator may be described in a few words. These papers
are a part of the Records of the Inquisition of Barcelona, and were
obtained during the revolution which broke out at Cadiz in 1819.
The province of Catalonia, of which Barcelona is the capital, was one of
the most forward and zealous to embrace the cause of freedom. Its
inhabitants have, in all times, been distinguished for their daring and
determined spirit, and their ardent love of liberty. The revolution
moved with rapid strides from the Isle of Leon to the Ebro. On the
twentyeighth of February, 1820, the governor of Tarragona received a
summons to repair immediately to Madrid, and in a few days the
insurrection burst out in the former place. On the fourteenth of March,
two days after this, it exploded at Barcelona.
The first movement of the revolutionary party was to depose the Captain
General of the province. This office was then held by Castañas, a
royalist. His predecessor was General Villacampa, an officer of some
distinction, who had been deprived of the captain-generalship, and
banished to Mataró, a small town on the coast, for his attachment to
liberal principles. Castañas was forced to resign, and Villacampa was
conducted in triumph from his place of banishment to Barcelona, and
reinstated in his dignity by the populace.
The government of the city being revolutionized, their next thoughts
were directed to the Inquisition, the great engine of priestly
oppression, and the object of dread and detestation to the friends of
liberty, both political and religious. The vast and gloomy piles of
this tribunal, which covered a spot of more than ten times the extent of
the Massachusetts State Prison, had been too long the terror of the
oppressed and restless Catalonians to escape distinguished notice on
this occasion. The populace demanded, with loud cries, of the Captain
General, that the Inquisitorial Palace should be thrown open. What
answer was given by Villacampa to this demand, does not appear. A body
of twenty thousand persons rushed to the Inquisition, stormed at the
gates, and demanded admittance. Those within told them to wait a few
minutes and the gates should be opened. This interval they improved to
make their escape, and in a short time the populace, growing impatient,
burst the gates and rushed in.
Every part of the premises was immediately filled. The dungeons were
broken open; the prisoners released, and the papers cast out at the
windows. For several days these were thrown in great numbers about the
streets of the city, and a small portion of them, after passing through
various hands, came into the possession of a gentleman of this city, who
at that period was travelling in Spain. These papers were forwarded to
Boston in 1820.
It was thought that a publication of these documents would be received
with much interest and satisfaction by the community, as nothing of the
kind has ever before seen the light. There are indeed some authentic and
well written compilations relating to this subject, as well as a few
narratives given by persons who have been imprisoned in the dungeons of
the Holy Office; but a copious and minute detail of the forms and
proceedings observed in the trials and investigations of the
Inquisitorial Tribunal, such as is afforded in the following pages, has
never, till this moment, existed in print. Should the Holy Office again
rear its head in Spain, perhaps the Fiscal and Calificadores might do
the publisher and Translator of this work the honor to take some notice
of their labors. It is to be hoped, however, that these most illustrious
and apostolical Señores may not very soon have occasion to obtain for
either of us any such notoriety.
Boston, June, 1828.