Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1855-08-18
NUMBER 235.
Destruction Of the Inquisi,ion at Madrid. !.

| SNes the inHoWihS fWu khetcn OF scene, ~
which he was an eyewitness:
In the year 1909, being ut Madrid my attention
was directed to a Roman Catholic Inqulsifion II,
the neghborhood of that city. Napoleon had
previously issued decree for the suppression OF
this institution wherever his victorious troops
| should extend their arms. | reminded Marshal
Soult then Governor of Madrid, of this decree.
who directed me to proceed TO its execution OH
this f,r-amed establishment. With my regiment,
the 9th of the Polish lancers, he gave me two
others, one Of which, the nth, was under the
command Of Col De Lille, who IL now like myselr,
| a minister of the Gospel.
With these troops proceeded to the Inquis,-
ton, which was about FIVE miles from the CITY. Ii
was surrounded by wall Of great strength, and
| defended by about -four hundred soldiers When
we arrived at the walls, | addressed one Of tho
sentines, and summoned the holy fathers 10 sur
render to the imperial army, and open the gates Of
4 the Inquisitio, The sentinel, who was standing
on the WALL appeared TO enter into conversation
for a few moments with some one within, at tha
close of which he presented his musket and shot
one OF my men. This was signal for attack, and
ordered my troops to fire upon those who ar.
| peared on the wall.
I Ii was soon obvious that IL was an UNEQUAL war,
fare. Our troops were in the open plain, and ex-
| posed to destructive fire. We had no cannon
nor could we scale the walls, and the gates sue
cessfully resisted all attempts at forcing them.
saw that II was necessary to change the mode oil
attack, and directed some trees to be cut down
and trimmed and brought on the ground to be
used rs battering-rams. Presently the walls be-
gan to tremble, and, under the weldirected and
| persevering application Of the ram, breach was
made, and the imperial troops rushed into the In
qnistion.
/ Here we met with an incident which nothing
but Jesutical efrontery il equal to- The Inquisi-
tor General followed by the father confsssors in
their priestly robes, all of their rooms as
we were making Our way into the interior Of tho
| ln1usition, and with long faces and their arms
crossed ovr their breasts, az though they lad
been deaf to all the noise of the attack and de-
fence, and bad just learned what was going on,
| addressed themselves in the language Of rebuke
to their own soldiers, saving, Why DO you fight
! our fiends, the FrenchT
Their intention, apparently, was to mako us
| think that this defence wholly unauthorized
! by them, hoping they should thus have q better
opportunity in the confusion and plumber of tho
lnqusiiion to escape. Their artifce was too shall
low. caused them to be placed under guard,
and all the soldiers Of the Inqustion to be secured
| as prisoners.
We then proceeded through room after room
found altars and crucifxes and wax-cnndles in
abundance-the proportions OF the architecture
were petfect--the ceiling and floors were secured
and highly polshed-there was everything to
S
where were those horrid instruments of torture
of which we had been told, a d where those dun.
geona in which human beings ere said to be bu.
red alive We searched in vain. The holy fa-
theirs assured us that they had been beled--
itat zoe had seen all and was prepared to be
lieve IL,
But Col De Lille was not 40 ready 10 give up the
search. AT his instance, water was brought In and
poured over the marble fgbr, the slabs .yf which
were large aud beautifully polished. nysently M
opening was discovered, and as all hands we're al
work for further discovery, a soldier with the butt
Of his musket struck spring, when the marble
slab flew up. Then the faces of the inquisitors
grew pale, and, Belshnzzar, when the hand
writing appeared on the wall, so did these men Of
Belial shake and quake in every bone, joint, and
sinew We saw staircase. stepped TO table
and took one of the candles, four feet In length,
which was burning, that might explore what was
before Va; as was doing this was arrested by one
Of the inausitnrs who laid his hand gently on my
arm, and with very demure and holy look, said,
My son, you must not take that with your pro
| fame and bloody hand; ii ia holy swell, well"
said, 81 want something that is holy, TO iii
will not shed light on iniquity: will bear the
! responsibility"
| ] took tho candle, aud proceeded down the
staircase, when We entered large room, called the
| Hall Of Judgment In the centre Of II was large
block, and chain fastened to 1t. On this they
had been accustomed TO place the accused, chain,
cd TO his scat. On one side Of the loom was All
elevated scat, called the Throne of Judgment.
This the inquisitor.general occupied, and on either
side were seats lees elevated for Ihe holy fathers
when engaged in the solemn business OF tho Holy
! lnGuistion. From this room we proceeded TO the
right and obtained access TO small cells extending
! tlr entire length of the edihcc and here whGt
| sight met our eyes How has the ben, violent re.
| ligion OF Jesus been abused and slandered by it.
/ profsased fiienda!
These cells were places Of solitary confinement,
where the wretched objects OF inqui.itoFial hatr
| were confined year after year, till death relcaaed
them from their suiterings, and there their bodies
| were suffered 10 remain until they were entirely
] decayed, and the rooms had become ft for othefs
| to occupy. To prevent this practice being often.
sive to those who occupied the Inquistion, Their.
we're aues tubes extending TO the open mir,
sufficiently oapacous TO carry of the odor from
those decaying bodies. In these cells foam!
! the remains Of some who had paid the debt Of
nature some OF them had been dead apparently
but short time, while Of Others nothing remain
ed but their bones, still chained 10 thu floor oil
their dungeon. In others we found the living aui.
ierer Of every age and Of both sexes, from tie
| young man and maiden TO those Of three score and
ten years, all naked az when they were born in.
| 10 the world. Our soldiers immedi,tely applied
! themselves 10 releasing these captives from theE
chsins, st. pped themselves In part af their owil
clothing to cover these wretched beings, and wero
exceedingly anxious to bring them up 10 the light
Of day. Dat, aware OF the danger, insigtcd ou
their wants being supplied, and that they should
be brought gradually TO rhe light, az they could
| bear IL.
When we had explored these cells aud opened
the prison doors of those who yet survived, wo
proceeded to explore another room on the left
Here We found the instruments Of torture, cfevery
kind which the ingenuity Of men or deyils could in
vent. At the sight Of them the fury Of oar sol.
diers f.sed any longer 10 be restrained. They
declared that every inquisitor monk and soldier Of
the establishment deserved to be put TO the tor.
ture. We did not attempt any longer to restrain
| theDL They commenced at once the work Of tor.
ture with the holy fathers. remained till saw
four different kinds Of torture applied aud then re.
tired from the awful scene, which terminated not
while one individual remained Of the fortncr guilty
inmates Of this ante-chamber of he'll, on whom
they could wreak revenge. As soon as the poor
sufferers from the cells Of the lnquistion could
with safety he brought out Of their prison TO the
lipht of day new9 having been apread far and near