William Sime

“ Having thus given a sketch of the Inquisition, the reader must have perceived in every circumstance connected with this singular tribunal, its injustice, tyranny, hypocrisy, and cruelty. Its dungeons, torments, and executions are not only opposed to the spirit of Christianity, but outdo the most ferocious deeds recorded in history, of the greatest tyrant among heathen nations. It has carried terror throughout every land in which it has been established, robbed both the wealthy and the poor of their property, and what is infinitely worse, glutted its vengeance with the blood of the innocent. ”

“ They do not love me better than I love myself; and I have certainly declared against myself both truth and falsehood." "What motive had you for declaring things injurious to yourself, if they were false?" said the Inquisitors. "I did not think it would be injurious to me," replied Melchior; "on the contrary, I expected to derive great advantages from it; because I saw that if I did not confess any thing, I should be considered as impenitent, and the truth would lead me to the scaffold. I thought that falsehood would be most useful to me, as I found it to be so in two autos-da-fé." ”

“ 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? ”

“ Possessing in the most eminent degree the passions of despots, pride has constituted its very soul, and falsehood the air it has constantly breathed. It was adopted by kings, in order to enslave nations, after it had been founded by the popes, for the very purpose of making kings their vassals; and thus aiming at sovereignty, and spurning at mankind at large, the ambition and impunity of the clergy have alone prospered under its shade. It not only trampled on the property, honour, and lives of the citizens, but also on their shame. ”

“ 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? ”

“ Where you find the greatest inhumanity, and most of the devil's malice, there is nothing divine, or of God; their holiness is condemned, and the holy are burnt; though sometimes they condemn a vile offender, yet they never absolve a known saint, a lover of Christ and truth; and were it holy, it would resemble the holiness of him in his created state under the law of nature. But here is nothing of that where all the laws of natural equity and compassion are violated, by forgery against the innocent, by forcing them to shorten their present torments by owning faults they never committed ”

“ 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." ”

“ Thus does this odious tribunal, called by an abuse of language the Holy Office, in the very first step of its judicial procedure, afford to the most infamous the pleasure of gratification with the certainty of concealment, and provide an opportunity for indulging [Pg 64] the worst feelings and passions of our nature—personal malice, envy, and revenge."
Nay, not only are informers and witnesses sworn to secrecy; every individual connected with the Inquisition, from the highest rank to the keeper of the jail, must take a similar oath; and strict watch is kept on all their movements. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The chief argument of the Inquisitor to prove the melioration of the Inquisition, was the superior humanity of the Inquisitors. I remarked that I did not doubt the humanity of the existing officers; but what availed humanity in an Inquisitor? He must pronounce sentence according to the laws of the tribunal, which are notorious enough; and a relapsed heretic must be burned in the flames, or confined for life in a dungeon, whether the Inquisitor be humane or not. ”

“ When the tribunal judges that the words or actions which are denounced, are sufficient to warrant an inquiry, witnesses are cited, none of whom are informed of the subject on which they are to make depositions. They are only asked in general terms, "If they have ever heard or seen any thing which was, or appeared contrary to the Catholic faith, or the right of the Inquisition?" The consequence is, that sometimes circumstances foreign to the case in hand are recollected, and deposed to by the witnesses, which tend to criminate others, against whom new processes are immediately commenced! ”

“ The prisoners are not confronted with the accuser or informer. Nor is there any informer or witness who is not listened to. A public convict, a notorious malefactor, an infamous person, a common prostitute, a child, are in the holy office, though nowhere else, credible accusers and witnesses. Even the son may depose against his father, the wife against her husband. This procedure, unheard of till the institution of this court, makes the whole kingdom tremble. Suspicion reigns in every breast. Friendship and quietness are at an end. ”

“ PREFACE. Among the numerous and varied methods which the Popish Church has adopted, to maintain its usurped sway over the minds and bodies of men, none has been more effectual than the erection of the Inquisition. Established for the purpose of taking cognizance of what it styles heresy, many are the victims which this tribunal has doomed to the rack and the flames, for endeavouring to regulate their faith and worship agreeably to the unerring standard of revealed truth. ”

“ CHAPTER II. Rise and progress of the Inquisition in Spain—sketch of the government of the ancient Spanish Inquisition—dreadful persecution of the Jews and Moors—Torquemada appointed Inquisitor-general—proceedings of his successors Deza and Ximenes—zeal of the Emperor Charles V. in behalf of the Inquisition—his son Philip II. is still more superstitious and intolerant—ludicrous trial of the famous Galileo before the "Holy Tribunal."
In no place in the world have the dreadful effects of the Inquisition been more severely felt than in Spain. ”

“ If he says he cannot imagine what it is, he is desired to recollect himself, to run over in his mind the events of his past life, and to search out and ascertain whether he may not, on some occasion, have said or done something contrary to the purity of the Catholic faith, and the authority of the Inquisition. If he still persists in maintaining his ignorance, he is informed that every degree of mercy is shown towards those who confess, while the obstinate are treated with the utmost severity. ”

“ Even in the way of artists of any pre-eminence, this tribunal has placed obstacles. A navigator, who, by discovering a new route, had performed a voyage in less than the customary time—a master of the first rudiments, who, by his genius and constancy, had brought forward and improved his scholars quicker than his competitors—and even the handicraftsman who has enjoyed more credit than others of his own class—have incurred the displeasure of the Inquisition, and been entangled in its toils. ”

“ Formerly the friends of those unfortunate persons who were thrown into its prison, had the melancholy satisfaction of seeing them once a year walking in the procession of the auto-da-fé; or, if they were condemned to die, they witnessed their death, and mourned for the dead. But now they have no means of learning for years whether they be dead or alive. The policy of this new mode of concealment appears to be this, to preserve the power of the Inquisition, and, at the same time, to lessen the public odium of its proceedings, [Pg 202] in the presence of British dominion and civilization. ”

“ Even the viceroy of Goa himself has no authority over the Inquisition, nay, is liable to its censures. Were the British government, for instance, to prefer a complaint against the Inquisition to the Portuguese government at Goa, it could obtain no redress. By the very constitution of the Inquisition, there is no power in India which can invade its jurisdiction, or even put a question to it on any subject. ”

“ Venerable matrons and timid damsels have been hurried from their homes, and, ignorant of the cause of their misfortune, have awakened from the frenzy of the brain, and found themselves here alone, and helpless in a solitary cell. Here the manly youth, torn from his bewailing kindred, and often wrested from ties still more endearing, pines amidst damp seclusion and chill despair, and vainly invokes the names of objects which so lately thrilled him with pleasure. ”

“ And again, "I ardently desire, and with the greatest possible earnestness beseech him, and command him by his regards to me, his most affectionate father, that in this matter, in which the welfare of all Spain is concerned, he be most zealously careful to punish all infected with heresy, with the severity due to their crimes, and that, to this intent, he confer the greatest honours on the office of the holy Inquisition, by the care of which the Catholic faith will be increased in his kingdoms, and the Christian religion preserved." ”

“ It does not appear that a single public auto-da-fé has been celebrated since that period, [20] and it is to be hoped that a scene so barbarous will never again be exhibited in Spain; yet, [Pg 120] while that odious tribunal exists, who can be safe in that oppressed and degraded country? Its secret prisons, and its various modes of torture and other punishments, still remain. Spain, therefore, can never be happy, or its inhabitants one moment secure, while the falsely denominated "Holy Office" continues to enjoy the smallest footing in that kingdom. ”

“ 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. ”