Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1851-08-08

The INQUIsITIoN.-A correspondent of the
New York Journal of Commerce, writing from
Italy, gives the following thrilling description of
few of the horrors of the Inqusition
''ln Turin, met with the American Consul at
Rome, who had passed through the entire reyolu-
ton In the Eternal City, and who was present when
the doors and dungeons of the Inquisition were
opened by the decree of the Triumvirs, its prison.
ers released and the building converted into an
asylum for the poor. 1t interesting to hear from
the lips of an intelligent eyewitness the most ample
confirmation of the published statements relative to
the condition and appearance of this Ubiquitous es-
Enlistment. The holy lnquisition of Rome is sit
uaed near the Pora Cavalligeri, and under the very
shadow Of the sublime dome of Saint Peters Ca
thedral, and capable, in of emergency, of ac-
commodating three thousand prisoners. The Con-
sui was particularly struck with the imposing d.
mansions of the Chambers Of Archives, filled
with voumlnous documents, records and papers.
Here were piled all the proceedings and decisions
OF the holy office from the very birth of the Inqui-
sltion, including the correspondence with lis coilat-
eral branches in both hemspheres Upon ,ae third
no9[' over certain door, a 10
excommuncation They might s ssse@sPt on pam 81
over that door the well-remembered inscription OF
Dante over the gates of Tartarus-sAbandon hope,
all ye who enter here. That chamber was the SOL
emn Hall of Judgment, or Door-room, where the
fates of thousands have been sealed in death.
Over door directly opposite, another inscription
read, Speak to the second lnquisitor. Upon OPEN
ing the door of that department., trap door was ex
posed, from which, the condemned, after they left
the Hall of Judgment, stepped from time into eter
nifty.
The well or pit beneath had been built in the or
binary cylindrical form, and was at least so feet
deep, and so ingeniously provided with projecting
knives and so ngenously provided with projecting
knives and cutlasses that the bodies of the victims
must have been dreadlully mangled in the descent.
At the bottom of this abyss, quantities of hair and
beds of Wondering bones remained. Not only at
the bottom of the pitt but also in several of the low
er chambers of the building were found human
bones. In some places, they appear to have been
mortared into the walls. The usual instruments of
torture in such establishments were likewise mani
fest. The Consul presented me with bone which
he brought with him as a memorial of his visit.
The Pope fled from Rome on the oath of Novem-
ber lS4S The Roman Republic proclaimed
on the 1lth of February, lS49 and, Immediately
after its installation, the Assembly soemny declared
the adjustment of the Holy Inquiston, and, by a
special decree, charged the Triumvirate with the
duty Of erecting lofty column to commemorate
the overthrow of Of the greatest evils that ever
darkened the face Of the earth. But the scenes of
this world change On the first of July, l849, the
Roman Republic, after a brief existence of FIVE
months, capituated to the French; and, in May,
1850, Plus TX, after an exile of one year and six
months, returned to his capita prescribed the Tri
umvirate, and re-estabshed the Inqusition in all
It's former power"