Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1845-11-13
Destruction of the InquiSition in Spain

which was stationed i'll Madrid. And
while in that city, said Col. H., / used to
speak freely among the people what
thought Of the Priests and Jesuits and of
The lnqui>i ion. II had bet decreed by the
emperor Napoleon that the Ioqul> ton
and Monasteries should be suppressed,
but the decree, he said, like some of the
laws enacted IN this country, was not exc
cu,ed. Months had passed away, and
The prisons Of The lnquisiuon had no. been
opened. One night, about lUor IL
o clock, as he was walking one Of the
streets of Madrid two armed men sprang
upon him from an alley, and made fu-
rlous attack. He instantly drew his
sword. put himself in a posture of defence,
and while struggling with them he saw
a, distance, the lights of the pa,roles,-
Frent b soldiers mounted, who carried Ian
terms and who rode through the s,ree's
OF the city at all hours of the night. 10
preserve order. He called to them in
French, and, as they FASTENED to his as
sistance, the assallanls took to iheirsheels
and escaped. not however before he saw
by their dress that they belonged TO the
guards of the lnquisi,ion.
lie went Immediately to Marshal Soul,,
then Governor of Madrid. told him what
had taken place, and reminded him OF the
decree TO suppress this institution. Mar
shall Soult replied tina, he nigh, 90 and
and destroy il Col. l.. told him that his
regiment (the 9th Of the Polish Eancers)
was not not sufficient for such a service.
bu' If he would give HIM two additional
regiments, the ll7th. and another.
which he named, he would undertake
the work. The ll7ih regiment was un-
der the command Of Col. De Lille, who is
now, like Col. L., minister Of the Cos
pei, aud pastor Of an evangelical church
in Marseiles, France. The troops re.
| quired were granted, and | proceeded
| (said Col L.. to the Inqustion, which
was situated about five miles from the
| city. Ii was surrounded with wall of
| grea, strength, and defended by compa-
ny Of soldiers. When we arrived at the
walls | addressed one of the seninels,
and summouedsthe holy fathers TO sur
render 10 The imperial army, and npen the
gates Of the lnqulsltion. The sentinel,
who was standing on the wall. appeared
to enter into conversation for moment
with some one within at the close of
which he presented his muske, and shot
| one of my men. This was the signal of
attack, and | ordered my troops to fire
upon those who appeared on the walls.
| 1t was soon obvious that il was an une-
| quail warfare. The walls Of the inquisi
ton were covered with the soldiers of the
| holy Office; there was also breast work
upon the wall. behind which they partial
| ly exposed themselves as they discharg-
ed their muskets. Our troops were in
the open pain and exposed 10 des,ruc
/ tive fire. We had no cannon, nor could
we scale the walls, aud The gates success.
fully resisted all attemp. AT forcing them
could not retire and send far cannon ID
break through the walls without giving
them time to lay a,rain for BLOWN US up.
| saw that il was necessary 10 change the
mode of attack, aud directed some trees
10 be cut down aud trimmed, 10 be used
as bauering rams. Two of these we're
taken up by delachments OF men, as nu-
merous as could work to advantage, and
| brought 10 bear upon the walls with all
the power which they could exert, while
the troops keptup Are TO protect Them
from the fire poured upon them from the
walls. Presently The walls began 10
nemble. breach was made, and The I'M.
perial troops rushed into tie lnqnlsi,ion
Here we met with an incident, which
nothing bat JesuitiraI effronierv is equal
10. The inquistor general followed bv
the father conlessnrs IN their prlestly
robes, all came out of their rooms as we
were making our way into the interior Of
the lnquisi,ion, and with long faces, and
| their arms crossed over their breasts, their
| fingers resting on their shoulders. as
though they had been deaf to all the
| noise of the attack and defence, and had
I just learned what was going on, they ad
dressed themselves in the language of
rehuke to lheir@own soldiers, SAYING,
'Why do you fight our friends, the
| French?'
Their intention. no doubt, was to make
| us think that this defence was wholly un.
authorised by them. hoping, if they could
make us believe tina, they were friendly,
| they should have a better opportunity, in
! the confusion Of the moment, TO escape
| Their arlifice was too shallow, and did
not succeed. caused them to be
placed under guard, and all the soldiers of
Inquis,ion to be secured as prisoners.
We then proceeded to examine all the
rooms of the stately edlfre. We passed
! through room after room; found all perfect
ly in order, richly furnished with affairs
and cruc6xes. and wax candies in abnn.
/ dance, bui could discover no evidences of
| Of inquiry being practlsed there. nothing
of those peculiar features which We ex.
! pected to find in an lnquis,ion. We
found splendid paintings, and rich and
extensive library. Here was beauty and
| splendor. and the most perfect order on
which my eyes had ever rested. The
| architecture, the proportions were per
feet. The ceiling and floors of wood
were secured and highly polished The
marble floors were arranged with
slrIc. regard TO order. There was every
thing to please the eve and CRAFTY cuI.
uvated taste; but where were those horrid
L