Examination of the accused by torture—its different degrees—it is
sometimes inflicted on those who are condemned to death—innocence
no protection against Inquisitorial cruelty—different
punishments inflicted by the Inquisition—description of an
auto-da-fé—hypocritical manner in which the Inquisitors deliver
over their victims to the civil power.
After undergoing the usual number of examinations before the
Inquisitors, if the prisoner still persists in protesting his
innocence, he is condemned to the torture.[14] Attempts are first
made, however, to frighten him by a variety of Inquisitorial methods.
The instruments of torture are shown him at a distance. Having been
conducted into a large room, feebly lighted, the executioner is pointed
out to him, dressed in a black gown which reaches down to his feet, and
having a long cowl drawn over his head and face. This revolting figure
has in his hand an iron collar, or some other instrument of torture,
and stares in solemn silence at the prisoner, through two holes which
are cut for this purpose in his cowl. "All this," says Gonsalvius, "is
intended to strike the miserable wretch with greater terror, when he
sees himself about to be tortured by the hands of one who thus looks
like the very devil."
The majority of the historians who have been consulted, agree in
stating that the different degrees of torture formerly in use were
five in number. First, The threatening of the torture. Secondly,
The steps taken when conducting the prisoner to the place where the
torture is inflicted. Thirdly, Stripping and binding the prisoner.
Fourthly, Elevation on the pulley. And lastly, Squassation, or the
sudden precipitation and suspension of the body. To these we may add,
the wooden horse, the thumb screws, the iron slipper, &c. The measure
of severity with which the prisoner is to be tortured, is pointed out
by the Inquisitor in the terms in which he is pleased to pronounce
sentence. If he says, "Let the prisoner be interrogated by torture," he
is merely hoisted up on the rope, but does not undergo the squassation.
If he says, "Let him be tortured," he must undergo the squassation
once, being first interrogated while hanging in the air. If he orders
him "to be well tortured," he must suffer two squassations. If he
adds the expression, "severely tortured," he is subjected to undergo
within an hour three different squassations. If "very severely," it
is done with twistings and additional weights suspended to his feet.
And if "very severely, even unto death," the prisoner is in imminent
danger of his life. "Should the prisoner, in consequence of the agony
which he suffers, be forced to make any confession, that confession
is immediately taken down by the notary; and if he adheres to it at
his next examination, which commonly takes place in twenty-four hours
after the infliction of the torture, and at the same time acknowledges
his guilt, he is condemned, it is true, as a heretic upon his own
confession, but is represented as penitent, and is restored to the
bosom of the Church; though not without undergoing certain punishments,
more or less severe, and certain painful varieties of penance.[15] But,
should he either retract his confession, or persist in his heresy, he
is delivered over to the secular power, and is burnt alive at the next
_auto-da-fé_."
However unwilling we are to shock the feelings of the reader by any
further description of the various kinds of torture inflicted by the
Inquisition, it is necessary, in a history like the present, to give
some more particular account of this part of the procedure of that
infamous court. The following particulars relative to the torture,
which are given by Puigblanch, are stated in a manner as unrevolting
as possible, although, on such a subject, no words which describe this
barbarous mode of Inquisitorial punishment can be used, without giving
pain to every mind not altogether destitute of humanity.
"Three kinds of torture have been generally used by the Inquisition,
viz. the pulley, the rack, and fire. As sad and loud lamentations
accompanied the sharpness of the 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.
"The 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 one
hundred pounds to his ankles. 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 meantime the judges coolly admonished him to reveal
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 the
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, was indiscriminately applied to
persons of both sexes, at the will of the judges, according to the
circumstances of the crime, and the strength of the delinquents.
[Illustration: Tortures.—The Pulley and Fire.]
"The torture by fire, however, does not appear to have been much in use
except in Italy, and this when the culprit was lame, or through any
other impediment prevented from being suspended by the pulley. In the
latter country also, other minor 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 concave 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 the canes
was performed by a hard piece being put between each finger, bound, and
then screwed as above. That of the rods was inflicted on boys who had
passed their ninth year, but had not yet reached the age of puberty, by
binding them to a post, and then flogging them with rods.
"The duration of the torture, by a bull of Paul III. could not exceed
an hour; and if in the Inquisition of Italy, it was not usual for it to
last so long, in that of Spain, which has always boasted of surpassing
all others in zeal for the faith, it was prolonged to an hour and a
quarter. The sufferer, through the intensity of pain, was sometimes
left senseless, for which case a physician was always in attendance,
to inform the court whether the paroxysm was real or feigned; and
according to his opinion, the torture was continued or suspended.
When the victim remained firm in his denial, and overcame the pangs
inflicted on him—or when, after confessing under them, he refused
to ratify his confession within twenty-four hours afterwards—he has
been forced to undergo as far as three tortures, with only one day's
interval between each. Thus whilst his imagination was still filled
with the dreadful idea of his past sufferings, which the 'Compilation
of Instructions' itself calls agony, 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, as well as the
repetition of excruciating pangs, tending to rend his whole frame to
pieces."
But enough, and more than enough has been brought forward, on this
inhuman and revolting practice of men, who nevertheless style
themselves priests of the compassionate Redeemer!! Rather may we
not call them and does not their horrid conduct entitle them to the
appellation of ministers of darkness, and monsters of cruelty? "My soul
come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be
not thou united."
Such is a specimen of the tortures of the Inquisition, when there is
not sufficient proof of the crimes of which their unhappy victims are
accused. Instances, however, are on record, where the torture has been
inflicted on persons who are condemned to death, as an additional
punishment! One of these may be mentioned here. William Lithgow a
British subject, informs us in his travels, that, in 1620, he was
apprehended at Malaga, in Spain, as a spy, and exposed to the most
cruel torments on what is called the wooden horse. But nothing having
been extorted from him, he was delivered over to the Inquisition,
as a heretic, under pretence that his journal contained blasphemies
against the Pope and the Virgin Mary. Having acknowledged, in presence
of the Inquisitor, that he was a Protestant, he was admonished to
return to the Popish faith, and allowed eight days in a dungeon to
deliberate on his conversion. In the mean time the Inquisitor and his
minions often visited him, in order to persuade him to renounce his
opinions—sometimes promising, sometimes threatening, and sometimes
disputing with him on the heretical nature of his tenets. All their
efforts being in vain, Lithgow was condemned, first to suffer eleven
of the cruelest tortures, and then to be carried privately to Grenada,
and burnt at midnight. He was accordingly carried to the hall of
torture, where the inhuman process of filling him with water till he
was ready to burst, was first resorted to. They next tied a cord round
his neck, and rolled him seven times along the floor, till he was
nearly strangled, after which they hung him up by the feet till all
the water in his bowels had disgorged itself at his mouth. These and
other cruelties having been finished, during which, notwithstanding
the agonies he endured, he made no confession, he was remanded to his
dungeon, till the last part of his sentence could be executed. But,
by a remarkable interposition of Divine Providence, he was shortly
afterwards delivered out of their hands, and arrived safely in England.
Should the prisoner, as already stated make confession while enduring
the torture, that confession is immediately taken down by the notary;
after which he is carried to another place, where his confession
is read over to him, and he is required to subscribe it. But here
Gonsalvius observes, "that when the prisoner is carried to audience,
they make him pass by the door of the room where the torture was
inflicted, where the executioner shows himself, in that shape of a
devil described before, that, as he passes by, he may, by seeing him,
be forced to feel, as it were, over again, his past torments."
If there be very strong evidence against the accused—if new proofs
of his guilt be brought forward—or, if it be considered that he was
not sufficiently tortured formerly, he may be subjected to this cruel
ordeal again, "when his body and mind are able to endure it."
Ever ready to inflict punishment, the Inquisitors not unfrequently
condemn the innocent to endure the most excruciating tortures; and,
after subjecting them to agony or death, in solemn mockery pronounce
them to be innocent. The following example, illustrative of such
unheard of barbarity, occurred at Seville, in 1559. Maria de Bohorques,
the natural daughter of a Spanish grandee of the first class, avowed
her faith before the Inquisitors, defended it as the ancient truth
of God, and was tortured to induce her to implicate her friends.
First, two Jesuits, and then two Dominicans, were sent to debate
with or ensnare her; but she continued steadfast—her convictions
acquired strength, and her views grew clearer during the discussions;
and nothing remained for Maria, but to form her part in the bloody
pageant of an auto-da-fé. She there tried to comfort her companions in
tribulation, but was gagged. Her sentence was read, the gag removed,
and she was asked to recant. "I neither can nor will," was the resolute
reply; and she proceeded to the place of execution. After she was bound
to the stake, the lighting of the pile was delayed for a little, that
another attempt might be made to reclaim her. She was, by the grace
of God, immovable still—was strangled, and burned, one of her last
employments being to comment on the creed in the Protestant sense. In
1560, no fewer than eight females, of irreproachable character, and
some of them distinguished by rank and learning, perished in a similar
manner in another Auto at Seville. Maria Gomez, her three sisters,
and her daughter, were of the number. After being sentenced to the
flames, the young woman thanked one of her aunts, who had taught her
the truth; and then, amid many affectionate expressions, accompanied
with confidence in Him for whose truth they were dying, they prepared
for their fiery doom. After describing the touching scene, Dr. M'Crie
informs us, that "so completely had superstition and habit subdued the
strongest emotions of the human breast, that not a single expression
of sympathy escaped from the multitude at witnessing a scene which,
in other circumstances, would have harrowed up the feelings of the
spectators, and driven them into mutiny."
We know that these details must lacerate the feelings of our readers;
but it is needful fully to elucidate the spirit of Popery, wherever
it appears full-grown. To complete our abstract, therefore, we must
further narrate, that, at the same Auto, an event took place which
gives the Inquisitors a full title to the epithet of Cannibals, which
it caused to be applied to them. Dona Juana de Xeres y Borhorques
had been apprehended, in consequence of a confession extorted from
her sister Maria by the rack. Being six months gone in pregnancy,
Dona Juana was imprisoned in the public jail till her delivery. Eight
days thereafter her child was taken from her, and she was placed in
a cell in the Inquisition. A young woman was imprisoned beside her,
who exerted herself to the utmost to promote the afflicted lady's
recovery; but the attendant was soon subjected to the torture herself,
and remitted to her cell mangled by the process. As soon as Dona Juana
could rise from her bed of rushes, she was in her turn tortured by the
Inquisitors. She would not confess. She was placed on one of their
instruments of cruelty. The cords penetrated through the delicate
flesh to the bone of her arms and legs. Some of the internal vessels
burst. The blood flowed in streams from her mouth and nostrils. She
was conveyed to her cell in a state of insensibility, and died in the
course of a few days. The Inquisitors, for once, pronounced the lady
whom they had murdered, innocent, on the day of the Auto. They feared
the recoil which their atrocity might have occasioned; so that in this
fiendish proceeding we see Popery in its twofold character—shedding the
blood of God's saints, and then like a dastard or a sycophant, fawning
upon those whom it has injured, when there is danger of retaliation.
"The punishments inflicted by the Inquisition," says a modern writer,
"may be regarded as of two sorts,—punishments not issuing in death,
and punishments which have that issue. Under the first of these heads
are comprehended the ecclesiastical punishments, such as penances,
excommunication, interdict, and the deprivation of clerical offices
and dignities; and under this head too, are included the confiscation
of goods, the disinheriting of children, for no child, though he be a
Catholic, can inherit the property of a father dying in heresy; the
loss of all right to obedience, on the part of kings and other feudal
superiors, and a corresponding loss of right to the fulfilment of oaths
and obligations on the part of subjects; imprisonment in monasteries
or in jails, whipping, the galleys, and the ban of the empire. Under
the second head, or that of punishments issuing in death, there are
only two instances, viz: strangling at the stake, and death by fire.
These instances may easily be comprehended in a short account of the
auto-da-fé."
"In the procession of the auto-da-fé," says Dr. Geddes, "the monks
of the order of St. Dominic walk first. These carry the standard of
the Inquisition, bearing on the one side the picture of St. Dominic
himself, curiously wrought in needle-work, and on the other, the
figure of the cross between those of an olive branch and a naked
sword, with the motto '_justitia et misericordia_.' Immediately after
the Dominicans, come the penitents, dressed in black coats without
sleeves, barefooted, and with wax candles in their hands. Among them,
the principal offenders wear the infamous habit called the sanbenito.
Next come the penitents, who have narrowly escaped the punishment of
death; and these have flames painted upon their garments or benitoes,
but with the points of the flames turned downwards, importing that they
have been saved, 'yet so as by fire.' Next come the negative and the
relapsed, the wretches who are doomed to the stake; these also have
flames upon their habits, but pointing upwards. After the negative
and the relapsed, come the guilty and the impenitent, or those who
have been convicted of heresy, and who persist in it; and these,
besides the flames pointing upwards, have their picture (drawn for that
purpose a few days before,) upon their breasts, with dogs, serpents,
and devils, all with open mouths, painted about it. This part of the
procession is closed by a number of individuals carrying the figures
of those who have died in heresy, or large chests, painted black, and
marked with serpents and devils, containing their bones dug out of
their graves, in order that they may be reduced to ashes. A troop of
familiars on horseback follow the prisoners; and after these come the
subordinate Inquisitors, and other functionaries of the Holy Office,
upon mules; and last of all comes the Inquisitor-general himself, in
a rich dress, mounted upon a white horse, and attended by all the
nobility who are not employed as familiars in the procession. The train
moves slowly along, the great bell of the cathedral tolling at proper
intervals.
"At the place of execution, stakes are set up according to the number
of the sufferers. They are usually about twelve feet in height, and
at the bottom of each there is placed a considerable quantity of
dry furze. The negative and the relapsed are first strangled at the
stake, and afterwards burnt. The convicted and the impenitent, or
the professed, as they are otherwise called, are burnt alive. To
these, certain Jesuits who are appointed to attend them, address many
exhortations, imploring them to be reconciled to the Church of Rome,
but commonly without effect. The executioner therefore ascends, and
turns the prisoners off from the ladder, upon a small board fastened
to the stake, within half a yard of the top; and the Jesuits having
declared, 'that they leave them to the devil who is standing at their
elbow,' to receive their souls as soon as they have quitted their
bodies, a great shout is raised, and the whole multitude unite in
crying, 'let the dogs' beards be trimmed, let the dogs' beards be
trimmed.' This is done by thrusting flaming furze, tied to the end of
a long pole, against their faces; and the process is often continued
till the features of the prisoners are all wasted away, and they can be
no longer known by their looks. The furze at the bottom of the stake
is then set on fire, but as the sufferers are raised to the height of
ten feet above the ground, the flames seldom reach beyond their knees,
so that they really are roasted, and not burnt to death.—Yet though,
out of hell," as Dr. Geddes adds, "there cannot be a more lamentable
spectacle than this, it is beheld by people of both sexes, and of all
ages, with the utmost demonstrations of joy—a bull feast, or a farce,
being dull entertainments compared with an auto-da-fé."
In order, however, to give the reader a still more distinct account
of the parade and ceremony attending an auto-da-fé, we shall select
the celebrated one which took place at Madrid in 1680, in presence of
Charles II. and the royal family. On the day appointed, the procession
began to move from the Inquisition, in the following order, at seven
o'clock in the morning.
"The soldiers of the faith came first, and cleared the way; next
followed the cross of the parish of St. Martin, covered with black, and
accompanied by twelve priests clothed in surplices, and a clergyman
with a pluvial cope; then came the prisoners to the amount of one
hundred and twenty, seventy-two of whom were women, and forty-eight
men; some came forth in effigy, and the remainder in person. First in
the order of procession were the effigies of those condemned persons
who had died or made their escape, and amounting in all to thirty-four;
their names were inscribed in large letters on the breast of their
effigies; and those who had been condemned to be burned, besides
the coroza or cap on their heads, had flames represented on their
dress; and some bore boxes in their hands, containing the bones of
their corresponding originals. Next came the fifty-four who had been
reconciled, the most guilty wearing a sanbenito with only one branch,
and carrying in their hands, as did also the above, a yellow candle
unlighted. Lastly came twenty-one prisoners condemned to death, each
with his coroza and sanbenito corresponding to the nature of his
crime, and the most of them with gags on their mouths: they were
accompanied by numerous familiars of the Inquisition in the character
of patrons, and were besides each attended by two friars, who comforted
the penitent, and exhorted the obdurate. The whole of this part of the
ceremony was closed by the high bailiff of Toledo and his attendants.
Behind the effigy of each culprit were also conveyed boxes containing
their books, when any had been seized with them, for the purpose of
also being cast into the flames. The courts of the Inquisition followed
immediately after, preceded by the secretaries of those of Toledo
and Madrid, with a great number of commissaries and familiars; among
whom walked the two stewards of the congregation of St. Peter Martyr,
carrying the sentences of the criminals inclosed in two precious
caskets. So far the procession on foot.
"Next, on horseback, paraded the sheriffs and other ministers of the
city, together with the chief bailiffs of the Madrid Inquisition.
Then came a long string of familiars on horses, richly and variously
caparisoned, wearing the habit of the Inquisition over their own dress,
the proper insignia on their breasts, and staffs raised in their hands.
In succession followed a great number of ecclesiastical ministers; such
as notaries, commissaries, and qualificators, all bearing the same
insignia, and mounted on mules with black trappings. Behind them went
the corporation of Madrid, preceded by the mayor, and followed by the
fiscal-proctor of the tribunal of Toledo, who carried the standard of
the faith, of red damask, with the arms of the Inquisition and of the
king, accompanied by the royal council and board of Castile. Lastly
came the Inquisitor-general, placed on the right hand of the president
of the council, an office at that time filled by the Bishop of Avila.
He was accompanied by an escort of fifty halberdiers, dressed in
satin. He was clothed in a suit of black silk, embroidered in silver,
with diamond buttons, &c. and attended by eighteen livery servants.
The whole of the procession was closed with the state sedan chair
and coach, belonging to the Inquisitor-general, together with other
coaches, in which were his chaplains and pages.
"On the arrival of the procession at the theatre, which had been
fitted up for the occasion, the prisoners ascended by the stair-case
nearest their destined seats; but, before occupying them, they were
all paraded round the stage, in order that their majesties, who were
already seated in their balcony, might have the satisfaction of
viewing them near. The tribunals, and persons invited, then proceeded
to take their respective seats, and the Inquisitor-general ascended
his throne. Mass being commenced, and the gospel ended, the oldest
secretary of the tribunal of Toledo, read from the pulpit the form of
the oath taken by the mayor of the city of Madrid, as well as by all
the people. A bombastic sermon was then preached by a Dominican friar,
qualificator of the supreme council of the Inquisition, and preacher
to the king. After sermon they proceeded to the reading of the trials
and sentences, beginning with those who had been condemned to die. This
part of the ceremony lasted till four in the afternoon, when those who
were condemned to death were delivered over to the civil magistrates,
and whilst the latter proceeded on to the place of execution, and met
their final end, the reading of the proceedings continued, as well as
the abjurations of those who had been reconciled, which lasted till
half-past nine at night, when those who had been absolved returned to
the prisons of the Inquisition.
"The prisoners personally condemned to death, amounted to nineteen;
thirteen men, and six women, principally of the Jewish persuasion.
They were conducted to the gate of Fuencarrel, mounted on mules with
pack-saddles, preceded by the effigies of those who had died or made
their escape. Of those personally condemned for execution, eleven were
impenitents; viz. eight obdurates, and three convicted, but refusing
to confess. The burning place was sixty feet square, and seven high,
and consequently sufficiently capacious, when twenty stakes with
their corresponding rings were fastened thereon. Some were previously
strangled, and the others at once thrown into the fire. The ministers
having cast the bodies of those who were strangled into the flames,
together with the effigies and bones of the deceased, more fuel was
added, till all was converted into ashes, which was not till nine in
the morning. Two days afterwards, six of those who had been condemned
to do penance were flogged, among whom were two women. Such was the
form and solemnity of this auto-da-fé, the largest and most splendid
ever known."
The penitential habits with which the Inquisitors array the culprits at
an auto-da-fé, are truly ludicrous. A garment or tunic of yellow linen
or cloth, reaching down to the knees, which is called the _sanbenito_,
and a conical cap called the _coroza_, are the dress of the victims
of the Holy Office. When the person is to be executed as impenitent,
both the sanbenito and coroza are embellished with flames and pictures
of devils, and a rude likeness of the individual who wears them, is
also painted on the sanbenito, burning in flames, with several figures
of dragons and devils in the act of fanning them. When the individual
has repented after sentence has been pronounced, he wears the same
dress, but the flames are reversed, to show that the culprit is not to
be burnt until he has been strangled. Those who only do penance, wear
the tunic either with or without a cross, according to the different
degrees of crime of which they have been convicted.
It only remains to mention here, the hypocritical manner in which the
Inquisitors deliver over those who are sentenced to death, into the
hands of the secular power. Having declared the condemned individual
"an apostate heretic, a defaulter, and an abettor of heretics,
and that he has thereby fallen into and incurred the sentence of
grievous excommunication," &c. they, adding insult to cruelty, add,
"Nevertheless we earnestly beseech and enjoin the said secular arm,
to deal so tenderly and compassionately with him, as to prevent the
effusion of blood, or danger of death!!" No words can do justice
to such a masterpiece of hypocrisy; for let it be remembered that
the Inquisition positively commands the civil magistrate to put
the condemned to death. The gross falsehood of its professions,
therefore—the aspect of meekness which it thus displays, while it
thirsts for the blood of, and dooms to the flames, its wretched
victim—literally prove that "there is no faithfulness in their
mouth—that their inward part is very wickedness—and that their throat
is an open sepulchre." "Is there in all history," says Dr. Geddes,
"an instance of so gross and confident a mockery of God, and the
world, as this of the Inquisition, beseeching the civil magistrate
not to put the heretics they have condemned and delivered to them to
death? For were they in earnest when they made this solemn petition
to the secular magistrates, why do they bring their prisoners out of
the Inquisition, and deliver them to those magistrates with coats
painted over with flames? Why do they teach that heretics, above all
other malefactors, ought to be punished with death? And why do they
never resent the secular magistrates having so little regard to their
earnest and joint petition, as never to fail to burn all the heretics
that are delivered to them by the Inquisition, within an hour or two
after they have them in their hands? And why, in Rome, where the
supreme, civil, and ecclesiastical authority are lodged in the same
person, is this petition of the Inquisition, which is made there as
well as in other places, never granted?" The truth is, as already
noticed, the Inquisitors are commanded by the bulls of various Popes,
to compel the civil magistrate, under penalty of excommunication, and
other ecclesiastical censures, within six days, readily to execute the
sentences pronounced by the Inquisitors against heretics, that is, to
commit them to the flames!
FOOTNOTES:
[14] Not only are persons against whom something has been proved
subjected to this monstrous engine of Inquisitorial cruelty, for the
purpose of drawing from them some additional confessions; those also
who cannot make their innocence plainly appear to the Inquisitor,
(and who can in a court so iniquitous?) who in the smallest degree
contradict themselves, who faulter, tremble, or even turn pale, are
considered guilty, and as such are condemned to the rack!
[15] This does not, however, hold good in every case; individuals, as
we have already seen, and shall afterwards have occasion to notice,
who have been subjected to the torture, and made confession, having
subsequently been condemned to the flames. No doubt the Inquisitors
pretended to have had good grounds for thus acting; but where was
there ever a deed of blood perpetrated, (and innumerable have been
the number which have been committed by these demons in human form),
that they could not colour over, in a manner sufficient to satisfy the
_consciences_ of at least _Romish ecclesiastics_?