FOXE'S BOOK OF MARTYRS
Edited by William Byron Forbush
CHAPTER V
An Account of the Inquisition
When the reformed religion began to diffuse the Gospel light throughout Europe, Pope
Innocent III entertained great fear for the Romish Church. He accordingly instituted a
number of inquisitors, or persons who were to make inquiry after, apprehend, and punish,
heretics, as the reformed were called by the papists.
At the head of these inquisitors was one Dominic, who had been canonized by the pope,
in order to render his authority the more respectable. Dominic, and the other inquisitors,
spread themselves into various Roman Catholic countries, and treated the Protestants with
the utmost severity. In process of time, the pope, not finding these roving inquisitors so
useful as he had imagined, resolved upon the establishment of fixed and regular courts of
Inquisition. After the order for these regular courts, the first office of Inquisition was
established in the city of Toulouse, and Dominic became the first regular inquisitor, as
he had before been the first roving inquisitor.
Courts of Inquisition were now erected in several countries; but the Spanish
Inquisition became the most powerful, and the most dreaded of any. Even the kings of Spain
themselves, though arbitrary in all other respects, were taught to dread the power of the
lords of the Inquisition; and the horrid cruelties they exercised compelled multitudes,
who differed in opinion from the Roman Catholics, carefully to conceal their sentiments.
The most zealous of all the popish monks, and those who most implicitly obeyed the
Church of Rome, were the Dominicans and Franciscans: these, therefore, the pope thought
proper to invest with an exclusive right of presiding over the different courts of
Inquisition, and gave them the most unlimited powers, as judges delegated by him, and
immediately representing his person: they were permitted to excommunicate, or sentence to
death whom they thought proper, upon the most slight information of heresy. They were
allowed to publish crusades against all whom they deemed heretics, and enter into leagues
with sovereign princes, to join their crusades with their forces.
In 1244, their power was further increased by the emperor Frederic II, who declared
himself the protector and friend of all the inquisitors, and published the cruel edicts,
viz., 1. That all heretics who continue obstinate, should be burnt. 2. That all heretics
who repented, should be imprisoned for life.
This zeal in the emperor, for the inquisitors of the Roman Catholic persuasion, arose
from a report which had been propagated throughout Europe, that he intended to renounce
Christianity, and turn Mahometan; the emperor therefore, attempted, by the height of
bigotry, to contradict the report, and to show his attachment to popery by cruelty.
The officers of the Inquisition are three inquisitors, or judges, a fiscal proctor, two
secretaries, a magistrate, a messenger, a receiver, a jailer, an agent of confiscated
possessions; several assessors, counsellors, executioners, physicians, surgeons,
doorkeepers, familiars, and visitors, who are sworn to secrecy.
The principal accusation against those who are subject to this tribunal is heresy,
which comprises all that is spoken, or written, against any of the articles of the creed,
or the traditions of the Roman Church. The inquisition likewise takes cognizance of such
as are accused of being magicians, and of such who read the Bible in the common language,
the Talmud of the Jews, or the Alcoran of the Mahometans.
Upon all occasions the inquisitors carry on their processes with the utmost severity,
and punish those who offend them with the most unparalleled cruelty. A Protestant has
seldom any mercy shown him, and a Jew, who turns Christian, is far from being secure.
A defence in the Inquisition is of little use to the prisoner, for a suspicion only is
deemed sufficient cause of condemnation, and the greater his wealth the greater his
danger. The principal part of the inquisitors' cruelties is owing to their rapacity: they
destroy the life to possess the property; and, under the pretense of zeal, plunder each
obnoxious individual.
A prisoner in the Inquisition is never allowed to see the face of his accuser, or of
the witnesses against him, but every method is taken by threats and tortures, to oblige
him to accuse himself, and by that means corroborate their evidence. If the jurisdiction
of the Inquisition is not fully allowed, vengeance is denounced against such as call it in
question for if any of its officers are opposed, those who oppose them are almost certain
to be sufferers for the temerity; the maxim of the Inquisition being to strike terror, and
awe those who are the objects of its power into obedience. High birth, distinguished rank,
great dignity, or eminent employments, are no protection from its severities; and the
lowest officers of the Inquisition can make the highest characters tremble.
When the person impeached is condemned, he is either severely whipped, violently
tortured, sent to the galleys, or sentenced to death; and in either case the effects are
confiscated. After judgment, a procession is performed to the place of execution, which
ceremony is called an auto da fe, or act of faith.
The following is an account of an auto da fe, performed at Madrid in the year 1682.
The officers of the Inquisition, preceded by trumpets, kettledrums, and their banner,
marched on the thirtieth of May, in cavalcade, to the palace of the great square, where
they declared by proclamation, that, on the thirtieth of June, the sentence of the
prisoners would be put in execution.
Of these prisoners, twenty men and women, with one renegade Mahometan, were ordered to
be burned; fifty Jews and Jewesses, having never before been imprisoned, and repenting of
their crimes, were sentenced to a long confinement, and to wear a yellow cap. The whole
court of Spain was present on this occasion. The grand inquisitor's chair was placed in a
sort of tribunal far above that of the king.
Among those who were to suffer, was a young Jewess of exquisite beauty, and but
seventeen years of age. Being on the same side of the scaffold where the queen was seated,
she addressed her, in hopes of obtaining a pardon, in the following pathetic speech:
"Great queen, will not your royal presence be of some service to me in my miserable
condition? Have regard to my youth; and, oh! consider, that I am about to die for
professing a religion imbibed from my earliest infancy!" Her majesty seemed greatly
to pity her distress, but turned away her eyes, as she did not dare to speak a word in
behalf of a person who had been declared a heretic.
Now Mass began, in the midst of which the priest came from the altar, placed himself
near the scaffold, and seated himself in a chair prepared for that purpose.
The chief inquisitor then descended from the amphitheater, dressed in his cope, and
having a miter on his head. After having bowed to the altar, he advanced towards the
king's balcony, and went up to it, attended by some of his officers, carrying a cross and
the Gospels, with a book containing the oath by which the kings of Spain oblige themselves
to protect the Catholic faith, to extirpate heretics, and to support with all their power
and force the prosecutions and decrees of the Inquisition: a like oath was administered to
the counselors and whole assembly. The Mass was begun about twelve at noon, and did not
end until nine in the evening, being protracted by a proclamation of the sentence of the
several criminals, which were already separately rehearsed aloud one after the other.
After this followed the burnings of the twenty-one men and women, whose intrepidity in
suffering that horrid death was truly astonishing. The king's near situation to the
criminals rendered their dying groans very audible to him; he could not, however, be
absent from this dreadful scene, as it is esteemed a religious one; and his coronation
oath obliged him to give a sanction by his presence to all the acts of the tribunal.
What we have already said may be applied to inquisitions in general, as well as to that
of Spain in particular. The Inquisition belonging to Portugal is exactly upon a similar
plan to that of Spain, having been instituted much about the same time, and put under the
same regulations. The inquisitors allow the torture to be used only three times, but
during those times it is so severely inflicted, that the prisoner either dies under it, or
continues always after a cripple, and suffers the severest pains upon every change of
weather. We shall give an ample description of the severe torments occasioned by the
torture, from the account of one who suffered it the three respective times, but happily
survived the cruelties he underwent.
At the first time of torturing, six executioners entered, stripped him naked to his
drawers, and laid him upon his back on a kind of stand, elevated a few feet from the
floor. The operation commenced by putting an iron collar round his neck, and a ring to
each foot, which fastened him to the stand. His limbs being thus stretched out, they wound
two ropes round each thigh; which ropes being passed under the scaffold, through holes
made for that purpose, were all drawn tight at the same instant of time, by four of the
men, on a given signal.
It is easy to conceive that the pains which immediately succeeded were intolerable; the
ropes, which were of a small size, cut through the prisoner's flesh to the bone, making
the blood to gush out at eight different places thus bound at a time. As the prisoner
persisted in not making any confession of what the inquisitors required, the ropes were
drawn in this manner four times successively.
The manner of inflicting the second torture was as follows: they forced his arms
backwards so that the palms of his hands were turned outward behind him; when, by means of
a rope that fastened them together at the wrists, and which was turned by an engine, they
drew them by degrees nearer each other, in such a manner that the back of each hand
touched, and stood exactly parallel to each other. In consequence of this violent
contortion, both his shoulders became dislocated, and a considerable quantity of blood
issued from his mouth. This torture was repeated thrice; after which he was again taken to
the dungeon, and the surgeon set the dislocated bones.
Two months after the second torture, the prisoner being a little recovered, was again
ordered to the torture room, and there, for the last time, made to undergo another kind of
punishment, which was inflicted twice without any intermission. The executioners fastened
a thick iron chain round his body, which crossing at the breast, terminated at the wrists.
They then placed him with his back against a thick board, at each extremity whereof was a
pulley, through which there ran a rope that caught the end of the chain at his wrists. The
executioner then, stretching the end of his rope by means of a roller, placed at a
distance behind him, pressed or bruised his stomach in proportion as the ends of the
chains were drawn tighter. They tortured him in this manner to such a degree, that his
wrists, as well as his shoulders, were quite dislocated. They were, however, soon set by
the surgeons; but the barbarians, not yet satisfied with this species of cruelty, made him
immediately undergo the like torture a second time, which he sustained (though, if
possible, attended with keener pains,) with equal constancy and resolution. After this, he
was again remanded to the dungeon, attended by the surgeon to dress his bruises and adjust
the part dislocated, and here he continued until their auto da fe, or jail delivery, when
he was discharged, crippled and diseased for life.
An Account of the Cruel Handling and Burning of Nicholas Burton, an
English Merchant, in Spain
The fifth day of November, about the year of our Lord 1560, Mr. Nicholas
Burton, citizen sometime of London, and merchant, dwelling in the parish of Little St.
Bartholomew, peaceably and quietly, following his traffic in the trade of merchandise, and
being in the city of Cadiz, in the party of Andalusia, in Spain, there came into his
lodging a Judas, or, as they term them, a familiar of the fathers of Inquisition; who
asking for the said Nicholas Burton, feigned that he had a letter to deliver into his own
hands; by which means he spake with him immediately. And having no letter to deliver to
him, then the said promoter, or familiar, at the motion of the devil his master, whose
messenger he was, invented another lie, and said he would take lading for London in such
ships as the said Nicholas Burton had freighted to lade, if he would let any; which was
partly to know where he loaded his goods, that they might attach them, and chiefly to
protract the time until the sergeant of the Inquisition might come and apprehend the body
of the said Nicholas Burton; which they did incontinently.
He then well perceiving that they were not able to burden or charge him that he had
written, spoken, or done any thing there in that country against the ecclesiastical or
temporal laws of the same realm, boldly asked them what they had to lay to his charge that
they did so arrest him, and bade them to declare the cause, and he would answer them.
Notwithstanding they answered nothing, but commanded him with threatening words to hold
his peace, and not speak one word to them.
And so they carried him to the filthy common prison of the town of Cadiz where he
remained in irons fourteen days amongst thieves.
All which time he so instructed the poor prisoners in the Word of God, according to the
good talent which God had given him in that behalf, and also in the Spanish tongue to
utter the same, that in that short space he had well reclaimed several of those
superstitious and ignorant Spaniards to embrace the Word of God, and to reject their
popish traditions.
Which being known unto the officers of the Inquisition, they conveyed him laden with
irons from thence to a city called Seville, into a more cruel and straiter prison called
Triana, where the said fathers of the Inquisition proceeded against him secretly according
to their accustomable cruel tyranny, that never after he could be suffered to write or
speak to any of his nation: so that to this day it is unknown who was his accuser.
Afterward, the twentieth of December, they brought the said Nicholas Burton, with a
great number of other prisoners, for professing the true Christian religion, into the city
of Seville, to a place where the said inquisitors sat in judgment which they called auto,
with a canvas coat, whereupon in divers parts was painted the figure of a huge devil,
tormenting a soul in a flame of fire, and on his head a copping tank of the same work.
His tongue was forced out of his mouth with a cloven stick fastened upon it, that he
should not utter his conscience and faith to the people, and so he was set with another
Englishman of Southampton, and divers other condemned men for religion, as well Frenchmen
as Spaniards, upon a scaffold over against the said Inquisition, where their sentences and
judgments were read and pronounced against them.
And immediately after the said sentences given, they were carried from there to the
place of execution without the city, where they most cruelly burned them, for whose
constant faith, God is praised.
This Nicholas Burton by the way, and in the flames of fire, had so cheerful a
countenance, embracing death with all patience and gladness, that the tormentors and
enemies which stood by, said, that the devil had his soul before he came to the fire; and
therefore they said his senses of feeling were past him.
It happened that after the arrest of Nicholas Burton aforesaid, immediately all the
goods and merchandise which he brought with him into Spain by the way of traffic, were
(according to their common usage) seized, and taken into the sequester; among which they
also rolled up much that appertained to another English merchant, wherewith he was
credited as factor. Whereof as soon as news was brought to the merchant as well of the
imprisonment of his factor, as of the arrest made upon his goods, he sent his attorney
into Spain, with authority from him to make claim to his goods, and to demand them; whose
name was John Fronton, citizen of Bristol.
When his attorney was landed at Seville, and had shown all his letters and writings to
the holy house, requiring them that such goods might be delivered into his possession,
answer was made to him that he must sue by bill, and retain an advocate (but all was
doubtless to delay him,) and they forsooth of courtesy assigned him one to frame his
supplication for him, and other such bills of petition, as he had to exhibit into their
holy court, demanding for each bill eight reals, albeit they stood him in no more stead
than if he had put up none at all. And for the space of three or four months this fellow
missed not twice a day attending every morning and afternoon at the inquisitors' palace,
suing unto them upon his knees for his despatch, but especially to the bishop of Tarracon,
who was at that very time chief of the Inquisition at Seville, that he of his absolute
authority would command restitution to be made thereof; but the booty was so good and
great that it was very hard to come by it again.
At length, after he had spent four whole months in suits and requests, and also to no
purpose, he received this answer from them, that he must show better evidence, and bring
more sufficient certificates out of England for proof of this matter, than those which he
had already presented to the court. Whereupon the party forthwith posted to London, and
with all speed returned to Seville again with more ample and large letters testimonial,
and certificates, according to their requests, and exhibited them to the court.
Notwithstanding, the inquisitors still shifted him off, excusing themselves by lack of
leisure, and for that they were occupied in more weighty affairs, and with such answers
put him off, four months after.
At last, when the party had well nigh spent all his money, and therefore sued the more
earnestly for his despatch, they referred the matter wholly to the bishop, of whom, when
he repaired unto him, he made answer, 'That for himself, he knew what he had to do,
howbeit he was but one man, and the determination appertained to the other commissioners
as well as unto him;' and thus by posting and passing it from one to another, the party
could obtain no end of his suit. Yet for his importunity's sake, they were resolved to
despatch him: it was on this sort: one of the inquisitors, called Gasco, a man very well
experienced in these practices, willed the party to resort unto him after dinner.
The fellow being glad to hear this news, and supposing that his goods should be
restored unto him, and that he was called in for that purpose to talk with the other that
was in prison to confer with him about their accounts, rather through a little
misunderstanding, hearing the inquisitors cast out a word, that it should be needful for
him to talk with the prisoner, and being thereupon more than half persuaded, that at
length they meant good faith, did so, and repaired thither about the evening. Immediately
upon his coming, the jailer was forthwith charged with him, to shut him up close in such a
prison where they appointed him.
The party, hoping at the first that he had been called for about some other matter, and
seeing himself, contrary to his expectation, cast into a dark dungeon, perceived at length
that the world went with him far otherwise than he supposed it would have done.
But within two or three days after, he was brought into the court, where he began to
demand his goods: and because it was a device that well served their turn without any more
circumstance, they bid him say his Ave Maria: Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum,
benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesus Amen.
The same was written word by word as he spake it, and without any more talk of claiming
his goods, because it was needless, they commanded him to prison again, and entered an
action against him as a heretic, forasmuch as he did not say his Ave Maria after the
Romish fashion, but ended it very suspiciously, for he should have added moreover; Sancta
Maria mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus: by abbreviating whereof, it was evident
enough (said they) that he did not allow the mediation of saints.
Thus they picked a quarrel to detain him in prison a longer season, and afterward
brought him forth upon their stage disguised after their manner; where sentence was given,
that he should lose all the goods which he sued for, though they were not his own, and
besides this, suffer a year's imprisonment.
Mark Brughes, an Englishman, master of an English ship called the Minion, was burned in
a city in Portugal.
William Hoker, a young man about the age of sixteen years, being an Englishman, was
stoned to death by certain young men in the city of Seville, for the same righteous cause.
Some Private Enormities of the Inquisition Laid Open, by a Very Singular Occurrence
When the crown of Spain was contested for in the beginning of the present century, by
two princes, who equally pretended to the sovereignty, France espoused the cause of one
competitor, and England of the other.
The duke of Berwick, a natural son of James II who abdicated England, commanded the
Spanish and French forces, and defeated the English at the celebrated battle of Almanza.
The army was then divided into two parts; the one consisting of Spaniards and French,
headed by the duke of Berwick, advanced towards Catalonia; the other body, consisting of
French troops only, commanded by the duke of Orleans, proceeded to the conquest of
Arragon.
As the troops drew near to the city of Arragon, the magistrates came to offer the keys
to the duke of Orleans; but he told them haughtily that they were rebels, and that he
would not accept the keys, for he had orders to enter the city through a breach.
He accordingly made a breach in the walls with his cannon, and then entered the city
through it, together with his whole army. When he had made every necessary regulation
here, he departed to subdue other places, leaving a strong garrison at once to overawe and
defend, under the command of his lieutenant-general M. de Legal. This gentleman, though
brought up a Roman Catholic, was totally free from superstition; he united great talents
with great bravery; and was the skilful officer, and accomplished gentleman.
The duke, before his departure, had ordered that heavy contributions should be levied
upon the city in the following manner:
1. That the magistrates and principal inhabitants should pay a thousand crowns per
month for the duke's table.
2. That every house should pay one pistole, which would monthly amount to 18,000 pistoles.
3. That every convent and monastery should pay a donative, proportionable to its riches
and rents.
The two last contributions to be appropriated to the maintenance of the army.
The money levied upon the magistrates and principal inhabitants, and upon every house,
was paid as soon as demanded; but when the persons applied to the heads of convents and
monasteries, they found that the ecclesiastics were not so willing, as other people, to
part with their cash.
Of the donatives to be raised by the clergy:
The College of Jesuits to pay - 2000 pistoles.
Carmelites, - 1000
Augustins, - 1000
Dominicans, - 1000
M. de Legal sent to the Jesuits a peremptory order to pay the money immediately. The
superior of the Jesuits returned for answer that for the clergy to pay money for the army
was against all ecclesiastical immunities; and that he knew of no argument which could
authorize such a procedure. M. de Legal then sent four companies of dragoons to quarter
themselves in the college, with this sarcastic message. "To convince you of the
necessity of paying the money, I have sent four substantial arguments to your college,
drawn from the system of military logic; and, therefore, hope you will not need any
further admonition to direct your conduct."
These proceedings greatly perplexed the Jesuits, who despatched an express to court to
the king's confessor, who was of their order; but the dragoons were much more expeditious
in plundering and doing mischief, than the courier in his journey: so that the Jesuits,
seeing everything going to wreck and ruin, thought proper to adjust the matter amicably,
and paid the money before the return of their messenger. The Augustins and Carmelites,
taking warning by what had happened to the Jesuits, prudently went and paid the money, and
by that means escaped the study of military arguments, and of being taught logic by
dragoons.
But the Dominicans, who were all familiars of, or agents dependent on, the Inquisition,
imagined that that very circumstance would be their protection; but they were mistaken,
for M. de Legal neither feared nor respected the Inquisition. The chief of the Dominicans
sent word to the military commander that his order was poor, and had not any money
whatever to pay the donative; for, says he, "The whole wealth of the Dominicans
consists only in the silver images of the apostles and saints, as large as life, which are
placed in our church, and which it would be sacrilege to remove."
This insinuation was meant to terrify the French commander, whom the inquisitors
imagined would not dare to be so profane as to wish for the possession of the precious
idols.
He, however, sent word that the silver images would make admirable substitutes for
money, and would be more in character in his possession, than in that of the Dominicans
themselves, "For [said he] while you possess them in the manner you do at present,
they stand up in niches, useless and motionless, without being of the least benefit to
mankind in general, or even to yourselves; but, when they come into my possession, they
shall be useful; I will put them in motion; for I intend to have them coined, when they
may travel like the apostles, be beneficial in various places, and circulate for the
universal service of mankind."
The inquisitors were astonished at this treatment, which they never expected to
receive, even from crowned heads; they therefore determined to deliver their precious
images in a solemn procession, that they might excite the people to an insurrection. The
Dominican friars were accordingly ordered to march to de Legal's house, with the silver
apostles and saints, in a mournful manner, having lighted tapers with them and bitterly
crying all the way, "heresy, heresy."
M. de Legal, hearing these proceedings, ordered four companies of grenadiers to line
the street which led to his house; each grenadier was ordered to have his loaded fuzee in
one hand, and a lighted taper in the other; so that the troops might either repel force
with force, or do honor to the farcical solemnity.
The friars did all they could to raise the tumult, but the common people were too much
afraid of the troops under arms to obey them; the silver images were, therefore, of
necessity delivered up to M. de Legal, who sent them to the mint, and ordered them to be
coined immediately.
The project of raising an insurrection having failed, the inquisitors determined to
excommunicate M. de Legal, unless he would release their precious silver saints from
imprisonment in the mint, before they were melted down, or otherwise mutilated. The French
commander absolutely refused to release the images, but said they should certainly travel
and do good; upon which the inquisitors drew up the form of excommunication, and ordered
their secretary to go and read it to M. de Legal.
The secretary punctually performed his commission, and read the excommunication
deliberately and distinctly. The French commander heard it with great patience, and
politely told the secretary that he would answer it the next day.
When the secretary of the Inquisition was gone, M. de Legal ordered his own secretary
to prepare a form of excommunication, exactly like that sent by the Inquisition; but to
make this alteration, instead of his name to put in those of the inquisitors.
The next morning he ordered four regiments under arms, and commanded them to accompany
his secretary, and act as he directed.
The secretary went to the Inquisition, and insisted upon admittance, which, after a
great deal of altercation, was granted. As soon as he entered, he read, in an audible
voice, the excommunication sent by M. de Legal against the inquisitors. The inquisitors
were all present, and heard it with astonishment, never having before met with any
individual who dared to behave so boldly. They loudly cried out against de Legal, as a
heretic; and said, "This was a most daring insult against the Catholic faith."
But to surprise them still more, the French secretary told them that they must remove from
their present lodgings; for the French commander wanted to quarter the troops in the
Inquisition, as it was the most commodious place in the whole city.
The inquisitors exclaimed loudly upon this occasion, when the secretary put them under
a strong guard, and sent them to a place appointed by M. de Legal to receive them. The
inquisitors, finding how things went, begged that they might be permitted to take their
private property, which was granted; and they immediately set out for Madrid, where they
made the most bitter complaints to the king; but the monarch told them that he could not
grant them any redress, as the injuries they had received were from his grandfather, the
king of France's troops, by whose assistance alone he could be firmly established in his
kingdom. "Had it been my own troops, [said he] I would have punished them; but as it
is, I cannot pretend to exert any authority."
In the mean time, M. de Legal's secretary set open all the doors of the Inquisition,
and released the prisoners, who amounted in the whole to four hundred; and among these
were sixty beautiful young women, who appeared to form a seraglio for the three principal
inquisitors.
This discovery, which laid the enormity of the inquisitors so open, greatly alarmed the
archbishop, who desired M. de Legal to send the women to his palace, and he would take
proper care of them; and at the same time he published an ecclesiastical censure against
all such as should ridicule, or blame, the holy office of the Inquisition.
The French commander sent word to the archbishop, that the prisoners had either run
away, or were so securely concealed by their friends, or even by his own officers, that it
was impossible for him to send them back again; and, therefore, the Inquisition having
committed such atrocious actions, must now put up with their exposure.
Some may suggest, that it is strange crowned heads and eminent nobles did not attempt
to crush the power of the Inquisition, and reduce the authority of those ecclesiastical
tyrants, from whose merciless fangs neither their families nor themselves were secure.
But astonishing as it is, superstition hath, in this case, always overcome common
sense, and custom operated against reason. One prince, indeed, intended to abolish the
Inquisition, but he lost his life before he became king, and consequently before he had
the power so to do; for the very intimation of his design procured his destruction.
This was that amiable prince Don Carlos, son of Philip the Second, king of Spain, and
grandson of the celebrated emperor Charles V. Don Carlos possessed all the good qualities
of his grandfather, without any of the bad ones of his father; and was a prince of great
vivacity, admirable learning, and the most amiable disposition. He had sense enough to see
into the errors of popery, and abhorred the very name of the Inquisition. He inveighed
publicly against the institution, ridiculed the affected piety of the inquisitors, did all
he could to expose their atrocious deeds, and even declared, that if he ever came to the
crown, he would abolish the Inquisition, and exterminate its agents.
These things were sufficient to irritate the inquisitors against the prince: they,
accordingly, bent their minds to vengeance, and determined on his destruction.
The inquisitors now employed all their agents and emissaries to spread abroad the most
artful insinuations against the prince; and, at length raised such a spirit of discontent
among the people that the king was under the necessity of removing Don Carlos from court.
Not content with this, they pursued even his friends, and obliged the king likewise to
banish Don John, duke of Austria, his own brother, and consequently uncle to the prince;
together with the prince of Parma, nephew to the king, and cousin to the prince, because
they well knew that both the duke of Austria, and the prince of Parma, had a most sincere
and inviolable attachment to Don Carlos.
Some few years after, the prince having shown great lenity and favor to the Protestants
in the Netherlands, the Inquisition loudly exclaimed against him, declaring, that as the
persons in question were heretics, the prince himself must necessarily be one, since he
gave them countenance. In short, they gained so great an ascendency over the mind of the
king, who was absolutely a slave to superstition, that, shocking to relate, he sacrificed
the feelings of nature to the force of bigotry, and, for fear of incurring the anger of
the Inquisition, gave up his only son, passing the sentence of death on him himself.
The prince, indeed, had what was termed an indulgence; that is, he was permitted to
choose the manner of his death. Roman-like, the unfortunate young hero chose bleeding and
the hot bath; when the veins of his arms and legs were opened, he expired gradually,
falling a martyr to the malice of the inquisitors, and the stupid bigotry of his father.
The Persecution of Dr. Aegidio
Dr. Aegidio was educated at the university of Alcala, where he took his several
degrees, and particularly applied himself to the study of the sacred Scriptures and school
divinity. When the professor of theology died, he was elected into his place, and acted so
much to the satisfaction of every one that his reputation for learning and piety was
circulated throughout Europe.
Aegidio, however, had his enemies, and these laid a complaint against him to the
inquisitors, who sent him a citation, and when he appeared to it, cast him into a dungeon.
As the greatest part of those who belonged to the cathedral church at Seville, and many
persons belonging to the bishopric of Dortois highly approved of the doctrines of Aegidio,
which they thought perfectly consonant with true religion, they petitioned the emperor in
his behalf. Though the monarch had been educated a Roman Catholic, he had too much sense
to be a bigot, and therefore sent an immediate order for his enlargement.
He soon after visited the church of Valladolid, and did every thing he could to promote
the cause of religion. Returning home he soon after fell sick, and died in an extreme old
age.
The inquisitors having been disappointed of gratifying their malice against him while
living, determined (as the emperor's whole thoughts were engrossed by a military
expedition) to wreak their vengeance on him when dead. Therefore, soon after he was
buried, they ordered his remains to be dug out of the grave; and a legal process being
carried on, they were condemned to be burnt, which was executed accordingly.
The Persecution of Dr. Constantine
Dr. Constantine, an intimate acquaintance of the already mentioned Dr. Aegidio,
was a man of uncommon natural abilities and profound learning; exclusive of several modern
tongues, he was acquainted with the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages, and perfectly well
knew not only the sciences called abstruse, but those arts which come under the
denomination of polite literature.
His eloquence rendered him pleasing, and the soundness of his doctrines a profitable
preacher; and he was so popular that he never preached but to a crowded audience. He had
many opportunities of rising in the Church, but never would take advantage of them; for if
a living of greater value than his own was offered him, he would refuse it, saying,
"I am content with what I have"; and he frequently preached so forcibly against
simony, that many of his superiors, who were not so delicate upon the subject, took
umbrage at his doctrines upon that head.
Having been fully confirmed in Protestantism by Dr. Aegidio, he preached boldly such
doctrines only as were agreeable to Gospel purity, and uncontaminated by the errors which
had at various times crept into the Romish Church. For these reasons he had many enemies
among the Roman Catholics, and some of them were fully determined on his destruction.
A worthy gentleman named Scobaria, having erected a school for divinity lectures,
appointed Dr. Constantine to be reader therein. He immediately undertook the task, and
read lectures, by portions, on the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Canticles; and was
beginning to expound the Book of Job, when he was seized by the inquisitors.
Being brought to examination, he answered with such precaution that they could not find
any explicit charge against him, but remained doubtful in what manner to proceed, when the
following circumstances occurred to determine them.
Dr. Constantine had deposited with a woman named Isabella Martin, several books, which
to him were very valuable, but which he knew, in the eyes of the Inquisition, were
exceptionable.
This woman having been informed against as a Protestant, was apprehended, and, after a
small process, her goods were ordered to be confiscated. Previous, however, to the
officers coming to her house, the woman's son had removed away several chests full of the
most valuable articles; among these were Dr. Constantine's books.
A treacherous servant gave intelligence of this to the inquisitors, and an officer was
despatched to the son to demand the chests. The son, supposing the officer only came for
Constantine's books, said, "I know what you come for, and I will fetch them to you
immediately." He then fetched Dr. Constantine's books and papers, when the officer
was greatly surprised to find what he did not look for. He, however, told the young man
that he was glad these books and papers were produced, but nevertheless he must fulfill
the end of his commission, which was to carry him and the goods he had embezzled before
the inquisitors, which he did accordingly; for the young man knew it would be in vain to
expostulate, or resist, and therefore quietly submitted to his fate.
The inquisitors being thus possessed of Constantine's books and writings, now found
matter sufficient to form charges against him. When he was brought to a re-examination,
they presented one of his papers, and asked him if he knew the handwriting? Perceiving it
was his own, he guessed the whole matter, confessed the writing, and justified the
doctrine it contained: saying, "In that, and all my other writings, I have never
departed from the truth of the Gospel, but have always kept in view the pure precepts of
Christ, as He delivered them to mankind."
After being detained upwards of two years in prison, Dr. Constantine was seized with a
bloody flux, which put an end to his miseries in this world. The process, however, was
carried on against his body, which, at the ensuing auto da fe, was publicly burnt.
The Life of William Gardiner
William Gardiner was born at Bristol, received a tolerable education, and was,
at a proper age, placed under the care of a merchant, named Paget.
At the age of twenty-six years, he was, by his master, sent to Lisbon to act as factor.
Here he applied himself to the study of the Portuguese language, executed his business
with assiduity and despatch, and behaved with the most engaging affability to all persons
with whom he had the least concern. He conversed privately with a few, whom he knew to be
zealous Protestants; and, at the same time cautiously avoided giving the least offence to
any who were Roman Catholics; he had not, however, hitherto gone into any of the popish
churches.
A marriage being concluded between the king of Portugal's son, and the Infanta of
Spain, upon the wedding-day the bridegroom, bride, and the whole court went to the
cathedral church, attended by multitudes of all ranks of people, and among the rest
William Gardiner, who stayed during the whole ceremony, and was greatly shocked at the
superstitions he saw.
The erroneous worship which he had seen ran strongly in his mind; he was miserable to
see a whole country sunk into such idolatry, when the truth of the Gospel might be so
easily obtained. He, therefore, took the inconsiderate, though laudable design, into his
head, of making a reform in Portugal, or perishing in the attempt; and determined to
sacrifice his prudence to his zeal, though he became a martyr upon the occasion.
To this end, he settled all his worldly affairs, paid his debts, closed his books, and
consigned over his merchandise. On the ensuing Sunday he went again to the cathedral
church, with a New Testament in his hand, and placed himself near the altar.
The king and the court soon appeared, and a cardinal began Mass, at that part of the
ceremony in which the people adore the wafer. Gardiner could hold out no longer, but
springing towards the cardinal, he snatched the host from him, and trampled it under his
feet.
This action amazed the whole congregation, and one person, drawing a dagger, wounded
Gardiner in the shoulder, and would, by repeating the blow, have finished him, had not the
king called to him to desist.
Gardiner, being carried before the king, the monarch asked him what countryman he was:
to which he replied, "I am an Englishman by birth, a Protestant by religion, and a
merchant by occupation. What I have done is not out of contempt to your royal person, God
forbid it should, but out of an honest indignation, to see the ridiculous superstitious
and gross idolatries practiced here."
The king, thinking that he had been stimulated by some other person to act as he had
done, demanded who was his abetter, to which he replied, "My own conscience alone. I
would not hazard what I have done for any man living, but I owe that and all other
services to God."
Gardiner was sent to prison, and a general order issued to apprehend all Englishmen in
Lisbon. This order was in a great measure put into execution, (some few escaping) and many
innocent persons were tortured to make them confess if they knew any thing of the matter;
in particular, a person who resided in the same house with Gardiner was treated with
unparalleled barbarity to make him confess something which might throw a light upon the
affair.
Gardiner himself was then tormented in the most excruciating manner; but in the midst
of all his torments he gloried in the deed. Being ordered for death, a large fire was
kindled near a gibbet, Gardiner was drawn up to the gibbet by pulleys, and then let down
near the fire, but not so close as to touch it; for they burnt or rather roasted him by
slow degrees. Yet he bore his sufferings patiently and resigned his soul to the Lord
cheerfully.
It is observable that some of the sparks that were blown from the fire, (which consumed
Gardiner) towards the haven, burnt one of the king's ships of war, and did other
considerable damage. The Englishmen who were taken up on this occasion were, soon after
Gardiner's death, all discharged, except the person who resided in the same house with
him, who was detained two years before he could procure his liberty.
An Account of the Life and Sufferings of Mr. William Lithgow, a
Native of Scotland
This gentleman was descended from a good family, and having a natural
propensity for travelling, he rambled, when very young, over the northern and western
islands; after which he visited France, Germany, Switzerland, and Spain. He set out on his
travels in the month of March, 1609, and the first place he went to was Paris, where he
stayed for some time. He then prosecuted his travels through Germany and other parts, and
at length arrived at Malaga, in Spain, the seat of all his misfortunes.
During his residence here, he contracted with the master of a French ship for his
passage to Alexandria, but was prevented from going by the following circumstances. In the
evening of the seventeenth of October, 1620, the English fleet, at that time on a cruise
against the Algerine rovers, came to anchor before Malaga, which threw the people of the
town into the greatest consternation, as they imagined them to be Turks. The morning,
however, discovered the mistake, and the governor of Malaga, perceiving the cross of
England in their colors, went on board Sir Robert Mansel's ship, who commanded on that
expedition, and after staying some time returned, and silenced the fears of the people.
The next day many persons from on board the fleet came ashore. Among these were several
well known by Mr. Lithgow, who, after reciprocal compliments, spent some days together in
festivity and the amusements of the town. They then invited Mr. Lithgow to go on board,
and pay his respects to the admiral. He accordingly accepted the invitation, was kindly
received by him, and detained till the next day when the fleet sailed. The admiral would
willingly have taken Mr. Lithgow with him to Algiers; but having contracted for his
passage to Alexandria, and his baggage, etc., being in the town, he could not accept the
offer.
As soon as Mr. Lithgow got on shore, he proceeded towards his lodgings by a private
way, (being to embark the same night for Alexandria) when, in passing through a narrow
uninhabited street, he found himself suddenly surrounded by nine sergeants, or officers,
who threw a black cloak over him, and forcibly conducted him to the governor's house.
After some little time the governor appeared when Mr. Lithgow earnestly begged he might be
informed of the cause of such violent treatment. The governor only answered by shaking his
head, and gave orders that the prisoner should be strictly watched until he (the governor)
returned from his devotions; directing, at the same time, that the captain of the town,
the alcade major, and town notary, should be summoned to appear at his examination, and
that all this should be done with the greatest secrecy, to prevent the knowledge reaching
the ears of the English merchants then residing in the town.
These orders were strictly discharged, and on the governor's return, he, with the
officers, having seated themselves, Mr. Lithgow was brought before them for examination.
The governor began by asking several questions, namely, of what country he was, whither
bound, and how long he had been in Spain. The prisoner, after answering these and other
questions, was conducted to a closet, where, in a short space of time, he was visited by
the town captain, who inquired whether he had ever been at Seville, or was lately come
from thence; and patting his cheeks with an air of friendship, conjured him to tell the
truth, "For (said he) your very countenance shows there is some hidden matter in your
mind, which prudence should direct you to disclose." Finding himself, however, unable
to extort any thing from the prisoner, he left him, and reported the same to the governor
and the other officers; on which Mr. Lithgow was again brought before them, a general
accusation was laid against him, and he was compelled to swear that he would give true
answers to such questions as should be asked him.
The governor proceeded to inquire the quality of the English commander, and the
prisoner's opinion what were the motives that prevented his accepting an invitation from
him to come on shore. He demanded, likewise, the names of the English captains in the
squadron, and what knowledge he had of the embarkation, or preparation for it before his
departure from England. The answers given to the several questions asked were set down in
writing by the notary; but the junto seemed surprised at his denying any knowledge of the
fitting out of the fleet, particularly the governor, who said he lied; that he was a
traitor and a spy, and came directly from England to favor and assist the designs that
were projected against Spain, and that he had been for that purpose nine months in
Seville, in order to procure intelligence of the time the Spanish navy was expected from
the Indies. They exclaimed against his familiarity with the officers of the fleet, and
many other English gentlemen, between whom, they said, unusual civilities had passed, but
all these transactions had been carefully noticed.
Besides to sum up the whole, and put the truth past all doubt, they said he came from a
council of war, held that morning on board the admiral's ship, in order to put in
execution the orders assigned him. They upbraided him with being accessory to the burning
of the island of St. Thomas, in the West Indies. "Wherefore (said they) these
Lutherans, and sons of the devil, ought to have no credit given to what they say or
swear."
In vain did Mr. Lithgow endeavor to obviate every accusation laid against him, and to
obtain belief from his prejudiced judges. He begged permission to send for his cloak bag
which contained his papers, and might serve to show his innocence. This request they
complied with, thinking it would discover some things of which they were ignorant. The
cloak bag was accordingly brought, and being opened, among other things, was found a
license from King James the First, under the sign manual, setting forth the bearer's
intention to travel into Egypt; which was treated by the haughty Spaniards with great
contempt. The other papers consisted of passports, testimonials, etc., of persons of
quality. All these credentials, however, seemed rather to confirm than abate the
suspicions of these prejudiced judges, who, after seizing all the prisoner's papers,
ordered him again to withdraw.
In the meantime a consultation was held to fix the place where the prisoner should be
confined. The alcade, or chief judge, was for putting him into the town prison; but this
was objected to, particularly by the corregidor, who said, in Spanish, "In order to
prevent the knowledge of his confinement from reaching his countrymen, I will take the
matter on myself, and be answerable for the consequences"; upon which it was agreed
that he should be confined in the governor's house with the greatest secrecy.
This matter being determined, one of the sergeants went to Mr. Lithgow, and begged his
money, with liberty to search him. As it was needless to make any resistance, the prisoner
quietly complied, when the sergeant (after rifling his pockets of eleven ducatoons)
stripped him to his shirt; and searching his breeches he found, inclosed in the waistland,
two canvass bags, containing one hundred and thirty-seven pieces of gold. The sergeant
immediately took the money to the corregidor, who, after having told it over, ordered him
to clothe the prisoner, and shut him up close until after supper.
About midnight, the sergeant and two Turkish slaves released Mr. Lithgow from his then
confinement, but it was to introduce him to one much more horrible. They conducted him
through several passages, to a chamber in a remote part of the palace, towards the garden,
where they loaded him with irons, and extended his legs by means of an iron bar above a
yard long, the weight of which was so great that he could neither stand nor sit, but was
obliged to lie continually on his back. They left him in this condition for some time,
when they returned with a refreshment of food, consisting of a pound of boiled mutton and
a loaf, together with a small quantity of wine; which was not only the first, but the best
and last of the kind, during his confinement in this place. After delivering these
articles, the sergeant locked the door, and left Mr. Lithgow to his own private
contemplations.
The next day he received a visit from the governor, who promised him his liberty, with
many other advantages, if he would confess being a spy; but on his protesting that he was
entirely innocent, the governor left him in a rage, saying, 'He should see him no more
until further torments constrained him to confess'; commanding the keeper, to whose care
he was committed, that he should permit no person whatever to have access to, or commune
with him; that his sustenance should not exceed three ounces of musty bread, and a pint of
water every second day; that he shall be allowed neither bed, pillow, nor coverlid.
"Close up (said he) this window in his room with lime and stone, stop up the holes of
the door with double mats: let him have nothing that bears any likeness to comfort."
These, and several orders of the like severity, were given to render it impossible for his
condition to be known to those of the English nation.
In this wretched and melancholy state did poor Lithgow continue without seeing any
person for several days, in which time the governor received an answer to a letter he had
written, relative to the prisoner, from Madrid; and, pursuant to the instructions given
him, began to put in practice the cruelties devised, which were hastened, because
Christmas holy-days approached, it being then the forty-seventh day since his
imprisonment.
About two o'clock in the morning, he heard the noise of a coach in the street, and
sometime after heard the opening of the prison doors, not having had any sleep for two
nights; hunger, pain, and melancholy reflections having prevented him from taking any
repose.
Soon after the prison doors were opened, the nine sergeants, who had first seized him,
entered the place where he lay, and without uttering a word, conducted him in his irons
through the house into the street, where a coach waited, and into which they laid him at
the bottom on his back, not being able to sit. Two of the sergeants rode with him, and the
rest walked by the coach side, but all observed the most profound silence. They drove him
to a vinepress house, about a league from the town, to which place a rack had been
privately conveyed before; and here they shut him up for that night.
At daybreak the next morning, arrived the governor and the alcade, into whose presence
Mr. Lithgow was immediately brought to undergo another examination. The prisoner desired
he might have an interpreter, which was allowed to strangers by the laws of that country,
but this was refused, nor would they permit him to appeal to Madrid, the superior court of
judicature. After a long examination, which lasted from morning until night, there
appeared in all his answers so exact a conformity with what he had before said, that they
declared he had learned them by heart, there not being the least prevarication. They,
however, pressed him again to make a full discovery; that is, to accuse himself of crimes
never committed, the governor adding, "You are still in my power; I can set you free
if you comply, if not, I must deliver you to the alcade." Mr. Lithgow still
persisting in his innocence, the governor ordered the notary to draw up a warrant for
delivering him to the alcade to be tortured.
In consequence of this he was conducted by the sergeants to the end of a stone gallery,
where the rack was placed. The encarouador, or executioner, immediately struck off his
irons, which put him to very great pains, the bolts being so closely riveted that the
sledge hammer tore away half an inch of his heel, in forcing off the bolt; the anguish of
which, together with his weak condition, (not having the least sustenance for three days)
occasioned him to groan bitterly; upon which the merciless alcade said, "Villain,
traitor, this is but the earnest of what you shall endure."
When his irons were off, he fell on his knees, uttering a short prayer, that God would
be pleased to enable him to be steadfast, and undergo courageously the grievous trial he
had to encounter. The alcade and notary having placed themselves in chairs, he was
stripped naked, and fixed upon the rack, the office of these gentlemen being to be witness
of, and set down the confessions and tortures endured by the delinquent.
It is impossible to describe all the various tortures inflicted upon him. Suffice it to
say that he lay on the rack for above five hours, during which time he received above
sixty different tortures of the most hellish nature; and had they continued them a few
minutes longer, he must have inevitably perished.
These cruel persecutors being satisfied for the present, the prisoner was taken from
the rack, and his irons being again put on, he was conducted to his former dungeon, having
received no other nourishment than a little warm wine, which was given him rather to
prevent his dying, and reserve him for future punishments, than from any principle of
charity or compassion.
As a confirmation of this, orders were given for a coach to pass every morning before
day by the prison, that the noise made by it might give fresh terrors and alarms to the
unhappy prisoner, and deprive him of all possibility of obtaining the least repose.
He continued in this horrid situation, almost starved for want of the common
necessaries to preserve his wretched existence, until Christmas day, when he received some
relief from Mariane, waiting-woman to the governor's lady. This woman having obtained
leave to visit him, carried with her some refreshments, consisting of honey, sugar,
raisins, and other articles; and so affected was she at beholding his situation that she
wept bitterly, and at her departure expressed the greatest concern at not being able to
give him further assistance.
In this loathsome prison was poor Mr. Lithgow kept until he was almost devoured by
vermin. They crawled about his beard, lips, eyebrows, etc., so that he could scarce open
his eyes; and his mortification was increased by not having the use of his hands or legs
to defend himself, from his being so miserably maimed by the tortures. So cruel was the
governor, that he even ordered the vermin to be swept on him twice in every eight days.
He, however, obtained some little mitigation of this part of his punishment, from the
humanity of a Turkish slave that attended him, who, when he could do it with safety,
destroyed the vermin, and contributed every refreshment to him that laid in his power.
From this slave Mr. Lithgow at length received information which gave him little hopes
of ever being released, but, on the contrary, that he should finish his life under new
tortures. The substance of this information was that an English seminary priest, and a
Scotch cooper, had been for some time employed by the governor to translate from the
English into the Spanish language, all his books and observations; and that it was
commonly said in the governor's house, that he was an arch-heretic.
This information greatly alarmed him, and he began, not without reason, to fear that
they would soon finish him, more especially as they could neither by torture or any other
means, bring him to vary from what he had all along said at his different examinations.
Two days after he had received the above information, the governor, an inquisitor, and
a canonical priest, accompanied by two Jesuits, entered his dungeon, and being seated,
after several idle questions, the inquisitor asked Mr. Lithgow if he was a Roman Catholic,
and acknowledged the pope's supremacy? He answered that he neither was the one nor did the
other, adding that he was surprised at being asked such questions, since it was expressly
stipulated by the articles of peace between England and Spain that none of the English
subjects should be liable to the Inquisition, or any way molested by them on account of
diversity in religion, etc. In the bitterness of his soul he made use of some warm
expressions not suited to his circumstances: "As you have almost murdered me (said
he) for pretended treason, so now you intend to make a martyr of me for my religion."
He also expostulated with the governor on the ill return he made to the king of England,
(whose subject he was) for the princely humanity exercised towards the Spaniards in 1588,
when their armada was shipwrecked on the Scotch coast, and thousands of the Spaniards
found relief, who must otherwise have miserably perished.
The governor admitted the truth of what Mr. Lithgow said, but replied with a haughty
air that the king, who then only ruled Scotland, was actuated more by fear than love, and
therefore did not deserve any thanks. One of the Jesuits said there was no faith to be
kept with heretics. The inquisitor then rising, addressed himself to Mr. Lithgow in the
following words: "You have been taken up as a spy, accused of treachery, and
tortured, as we acknowledge, innocently: (which appears by the account lately received
from Madrid of the intentions of the English) yet it was the divine power that brought
those judgments upon you, for presumptuously treating the blessed miracle of Loretto with
ridicule, and expressing yourself in your writings irreverently of his holiness, the great
agent and Christ's vicar upon earth; therefore you are justly fallen into our hands by
their special appointment: thy books and papers are miraculously translated by the
assistance of Providence influencing thy own countrymen."
This trumpery being ended, they gave the prisoner eight days to consider and resolve
whether he would become a convert to their religion; during which time the inquisitor told
him he, with other religious orders, would attend, to give him such assistance thereto as
he might want. One of the Jesuits said, (first making the sign of the cross upon his
breast), "My son, behold, you deserve to be burnt alive; but by the grace of our lady
of Loretto, whom you have blasphemed we will both save your soul and body."
In the morning the inquisitor, with three other ecclesiastics, returned, when the
former asked the prisoner what difficulties he had on his conscience that retarded his
conversion; to which he answered, 'he had not any doubts in his mind, being confident in
the promises of Christ, and assuredly believing his revealed will signified in the
Gospels, as professed in the reformed Catholic Church, being confirmed by grace, and
having infallible assurance thereby of the Christian faith.' To these words the inquisitor
replied, "Thou art no Christian, but an absurd heretic, and without conversion a
member of perdition." The prisoner then told him that it was not consistent with the
nature and essence of religion and charity to convince by opprobrious speeches, racks, and
torments, but by arguments deduced from the Scriptures; and that all other methods would
with him be totally ineffectual.
The inquisitor was so enraged at the replies made by the prisoner, that he struck him
on the face, used many abusive speeches, and attempted to stab him, which he had certainly
done had he not been prevented by the Jesuits; and from this time he never again visited
the prisoner.
The next day the two Jesuits returned, and putting on a very grave, supercilious air,
the superior asked him what resolution he had taken. To which Mr. Lithgow replied that he
was already resolved, unless he could show substantial reasons to make him alter his
opinion. The superior, after a pedantic display of their seven sacraments, the
intercession of saints, transubstantiation, etc., boasted greatly of their Church, her
antiquity, universality, and uniformity; all of which Mr. Lithgow denied: "For (said
he) the profession of the faith I hold hath been ever since the first days of the
apostles, and Christ had ever his own Church (however obscure) in the greatest time of
your darkness."
The Jesuits, finding their arguments had not the desired effect, that torments could
not shake his constancy, nor even the fear of the cruel sentence he had reason to expect
would be pronounced and executed on him, after severe menaces, left him. On the eighth day
after, being the last of their Inquisition, when sentence is pronounced, they returned
again, but quite altered both in their words and behavior after repeating much of the same
kind of arguments as before, they with seeming tears in their eyes, pretended they were
sorry from their heart he must be obliged to undergo a terrible death, but above all, for
the loss of his most precious soul; and falling on their knees, cried out, "Convert,
convert, O dear brother, for our blessed Lady's sake convert!" To which he answered,
"I fear neither death nor fire, being prepared for both."
The first effects Mr. Lithgow felt of the determination of this bloody tribunal was, a
sentence to receive that night eleven different tortures, and if he did not die in the
execution of them, (which might be reasonably expected from the maimed and disjointed
condition he was in) he was, after Easter holy- days, to be carried to Grenada, and there
burnt to ashes. The first part of this sentence was executed with great barbarity that
night; and it pleased God to give him strength both of body and mind, to stand fast to the
truth, and to survive the horrid punishments inflicted on him.
After these barbarians had glutted themselves for the present, with exercising on the
unhappy prisoner the most distinguished cruelties, they again put irons on, and conveyed
him to his former dungeon. The next morning he received some little comfort from the
Turkish slave before mentioned, who secretly brought him, in his shirt sleeve, some
raisins and figs, which he licked up in the best manner his strength would permit with his
tongue. It was to this slave Mr. Lithgow attributed his surviving so long in such a
wretched situation; for he found means to convey some of these fruits to him twice every
week. It is very extraordinary, and worthy of note, that this poor slave, bred up from his
infancy, according to the maxims of his prophet and parents, in the greatest detestation
of Christians, should be so affected at the miserable situation of Mr. Lithgow that he
fell ill, and continued so for upwards of forty days. During this period Mr. Lithgow was
attended by a negro woman, a slave, who found means to furnish him with refreshments still
more amply than the Turk, being conversant in the house and family. She brought him every
day some victuals, and with it some wine in a bottle.
The time was now so far elapsed, and the horrid situation so truly loathsome, that Mr.
Lithgow waited with anxious expectation for the day, which, by putting an end to his life,
would also end his torments. But his melancholy expectations were, by the interposition of
Providence, happily rendered abortive, and his deliverance obtained from the following
circumstances.
It happened that a Spanish gentleman of quality came from Grenada to Malaga, who being
invited to an entertainment by the governor, informed him of what had befallen Mr. Lithgow
from the time of his being apprehended as a spy, and described the various sufferings he
had endured. He likewise told him that after it was known the prisoner was innocent, it
gave him great concern. That on this account he would gladly have released him, restored
his money and papers, and made some atonement for the injuries he had received, but that,
upon an inspection into his writings, several were found of a very blasphemous nature,
highly reflecting on their religion, that on his refusing to abjure these heretical
opinions, he was turned over to the Inquisition, by whom he was finally condemned.
While the governor was relating this tragical tale, a Flemish youth (servant to the
Spanish gentleman) who waited at the table, was struck with amazement and pity at the
sufferings of the stranger described. On his return to his master's lodgings he began to
revolve in his mind what he had heard, which made such an impression on him that he could
not rest in his bed. In the short slumbers he had, his imagination pointed to him the
person described, on the rack, and burning in the fire. In this anxiety he passed the
night; and when the morning came, without disclosing his intentions to any person
whatever, he went into the town, and inquired for an English factor. He was directed to
the house of a Mr. Wild, to whom he related the whole of what he had heard pass the
preceding evening, between his master and the governor, but could not tell Mr. Lithgow's
name. Mr. Wild, however, conjectured it was he, by the servant's remembering the
circumstance of his being a traveller, and his having had some acquaintance with him.
On the departure of the Flemish servant, Mr. Wild immeidately sent for the other
English factors, to whom he related all the paritculars relative to their unfortunate
countryman. After a short consultation it was agreed that an information of the whole
affair should be sent, by express, to Sir Walter Aston, the English ambassador to the king
of Spain, then at Madrid. This was accordingly done, and the ambassador having presented a
memorial to the king and council of Spain, obtained an order for Mr. Lithgow's
enlargement, and his delivery to the English factor. This order was directed to the
governor of Malaga; and was received with great dislike and surprise by the whole assembly
of the bloody Inquisition.
Mr. Lithgow was released from his confinement on the eve of Easter Sunday, when he was
carried from his dungeon on the back of the slave who had attended him, to the house of
one Mr. Bosbich, where all proper comforts were given him. It fortunately happened that
there was at this time a squadron of English ships in the road, commanded by Sir Richard
Hawkins, who being informed of the past sufferings and present situation of Mr. Lithgow,
came the next day ashore, with a proper guard, and received him from the merchants. He was
instantly carried in blankets on board the Vanguard, and three days after was removed to
another ship, by direction of the general Sir Robert Mansel, who ordered that he should
have proper care taken of him. The factor presented him with clothes, and all necessary
provisions, besides which they gave him two hundred reals in silver; and Sir Richard
Hawkins sent him two double pistoles.
Before his departure from the Spanish coast, Sir Richard Hawkins demanded the delivery
of his papers, money, books, etc., but could not obtain any satisfactory answer on that
head.
We cannot help making a pause here to reflect how manifestly Providence interfered in
behalf of this poor man, when he was just on the brink of destruction; for by his
sentence, from which there was no appeal, he would have been taken, in a few days, to
Grenada, and burnt to ashes; and that a poor ordinary servant, who had not the least
knowledge of him, nor was any ways interested in his preservation, should risk the
displeasure of his master, and hazard his own life, to disclose a thing of so momentous
and perilous a nature, to a strange gentleman, on whose secrecy depended his own
existence. By such secondary means does Providence frequently interfere in behalf of the
virtuous and oppressed; of which this is a most distinguished example.
After lying twelve days in the road, the ship weighed anchor, and in about two months
arrived safe at Deptford. The next morning, Mr. Lithgow was carried on a feather bed to
Theobalds, in Hertfordshire, where at that time was the king and royal family. His majesty
happened to be that day engaged in hunting, but on his return in the evening, Mr. Lithgow
was presented to him, and related the particulars of his sufferings, and his happy
delivery. The king was so affected at the narrative, that he expressed the deepest
concern, and gave orders that he should be sent to Bath, and his wants properly supplied
from his royal munificence. By these means, under God, after some time, Mr. Lithgow was
restored from the most wretched spectacle, to a great share of health and strength; but he
lost the use of his left arm and several of the smaller bones were so crushed and broken,
as to be ever after rendered useless.
Notwithstanding that every effort was used, Mr. Lithgow could never obtain any part of
his money or effects, although his majesty and the ministers of state interested
themselves in his behalf. Gondamore, the Spanish ambassador, indeed, promised that all his
effects should be restored, with the addition of 1000 Pounds English money, as some
atonement for the tortures he had undergone, which last was to be paid him by the governor
of Malaga. These engagements, however, were but mere promises; and although the king was a
kind of guarantee for the well performance of them, the cunning Spaniard found means to
elude the same. He had, indeed, too great a share of influence in the English council
during the time of that pacific reign, when England suffered herself to be bullied into
slavish compliance by most of the states and kings in Europe.
The Story of Galileo
The most eminent men of science and philosophy of the day did not escape the
watchful eye of this cruel despotism. Galileo, the chief astronomer and mathematician of
his age, was the first who used the telescope successfully in solving the movements of the
heavenly bodies. He discovered that the sun is the center of motion around which the earth
and various planets revolve. For making this great discovery Galileo was brought before
the Inquisition, and for a while was in great danger of being put to death.
After a long and bitter review of Galileo's writings, in which many of his most
important discoveries were condemned as errors, the charge of the inquisitors went on to
declare, "That you, Galileo, have upon account of those things which you have written
and confessed, subjected yourself to a strong suspicion of heresy in this Holy Office, by
believing, and holding to be true, a doctrine which is false, and contrary to the sacred
and divine Scripture-- viz., that the sun is the center of the orb of the earth, and does
not move from the east to the west; and that the earth moves, and is not the center of the
world."
In order to save his life. Galileo admitted that he was wrong in thinking that the
earth revolved around the sun, and swore that--"For the future, I will never more
say, or assert, either by word or writing, anything that shall give occasion for a like
suspicion." But immediately after taking this forced oath he is said to have
whispered to a friend standing near, "The earth moves, for all that."
Summary of the Inquisition
Of the multitudes who perished by the Inquisition throughout the world, no
authentic record is now discoverable. But wherever popery had power, there was the
tribunal. It had been planted even in the east, and the Portuguese Inquisition of Goa was,
until within these few years, fed with many an agony. South America was partitioned into
provinces of the Inquisition; and with a ghastly mimickry of the crimes of the mother
state, the arrivals of viceroys, and the other popular celebrations were thought imperfect
without an auto da fe. The Netherlands were one scene of slaughter from the time of the
decree which planted the Inquisition among them. In Spain the calculation is more
attainable. Each of the seventeen tribunals during a long period burned annually, on an
average, ten miserable beings! We are to recollect that this number was in a country where
persecution had for ages abolished all religious differences, and where the difficulty was
not to find the stake, but the offering. Yet, even in Spain, thus gleaned of all heresy,
the Inquisition could still swell its lists of murders to thirty-two thousand! The numbers
burned in effigy, or condemned to penance, punishments generally equivalent to exile,
confiscation, and taint of blood, to all ruin but the mere loss of worthless life,
amounted to three hundred and nine thousand. But the crowds who perished in dungeons of
torture, of confinement, and of broken hearts, the millions of dependent lives made
utterly helpless, or hurried to the grave by the death of the victims, are beyond all
register; or recorded only before HIM, who has sworn that "He that leadeth into
captivity, shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the
sword."
Such was the Inquisition, declared by the Spirit of God to be at once the offspring and
the image of the popedom. To feel the force of the parentage, we must look to the time. In
the thirteenth century, the popedom was at the summit of mortal dominion; it was
independent of all kingdoms; it ruled with a rank of influence never before or since
possessed by a human scepter; it was the acknowledged sovereign of body and soul; to all
earthly intents its power was immeasurable for good or evil. It might have spread
literature, peace, freedom, and Christianity to the ends of Europe, or the world. But its
nature was hostile; its fuller triumph only disclosed its fuller evil; and, to the shame
of human reason, and the terror and suffering of human virtue, Rome, in the hour of its
consummate grandeur, teemed with the monstrous and horrid birth of the INQUISITION!
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