The American. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1857, 1857-12-16
9Th E A AMERICAN, /"

grace each great galaday. The auto -da-fe was
q solemn festival, The monach, the high func-
tionaries Of the law, the reverend clergy, the
populace, regarded it as an inspiring and de-
lightfnl recreation. When the eappointed morn
Ing arrived, the victim was taken from his
dungeon. He was then attired ia yellow
robe without sleeves, like a herald's coat, en-
broidered all over with black figures Of devils.
a. coDical paper mitrc was placed upon his
head, upon which was represented human
being in the midst Of the flames, surrounded
hy imps His tongue was then painfully
gagged, 50 that he could neither open nor shut
his mouth After he was thus accoutred. and
just as he was leaving his cell, breakfast, con-
taining every delicacy, was placed before him,
and he was urged with jronical politeness to
satisfy his hunger. He was then led forth into
the public square The processi a was formed
with great pomp. 1t was headed by the little
school children, who were immediatelysAllowe
by the band of prisoners, each attired in the
horrible, yet ludicrous manner described Then
came the magistrates and nobility, the prelates
and other dignitaries Of the church: the holy
inqnisitors with their officials and families fol-
lowed, all on horseback, with the blood-red flag
OF the sacred Office waving above them, en-
Dlazoned on either side with portraits of Alex
ander and OF Ferdinand, the pair of brothers
who had established the institution After the
procession came the rabble. When all had
reached the neighborhood Of the scafiold, and
had been arranged in order, sermon was
preached to the assembled multitude. 1t was
filled with laudations OF the inquist on, and
with blasphemous rcvi|ings against the con-
demned prisoners. Then the sentence. was
read to the individual victims. Then the clergy
chantcd the ffty-frst Psalm, the whole vast
throng uniting in one tremendous miserere.
If priest happened to be among the culprits,
he was now stripped Of the canonicals which
he had hitherto worn, while his hands, lips,
and shaven crown were scraped with bit of
glass by which process the oil Of his consecra-
ton was supposed to be removed He was
then thrown into the commonest herd. Those
OF the prisoners who were reconciled, and those
whose execution was not yet appointed, were
now separated from the others. The rest were
compelled to mount the scafold, where the
executoner stood ready to conduct them to
the fire The inquisitors then delivered them
into his hands, with an ironical request that
he would deal with them tenderly, and without
blood letting or injury. Those who remained
steadfast to the last were then burned at the
stake; they who in the last extremity re-
nounccd their faith were strangled before being
thrown into the flames. Such was the Span
ish nquisition-technicalIy so allied 1t was
according to the biographer Of Philip the
Second a heavenly remedy, guardian angel
of Paradise, a lions den, in which Daniel and
other just men could sustain no injury, but in
which perverse SINNERS were torn to pieces"
1t was a tribunal superior TO all human law,
without appeal, and certainly owing no ale.
glance to the powers of earth or heaven. No
rank, high or humble, was safe from its juri
diciiou. The royal family were not sacred,
nor the pauper's hovel. Even death afforded
no protection. The holy Office invaded the
prince in his palace, and the beggar in his
shroud. The corpses Of dead hcretics were
mutilated and burned. The inqusitors preyed
upon carcasscs and ihcd graves. A gorgeous
festival Of the holy Office bad, as we have seen,
welcomed Philip to his native land The news
OF these tremendous autos-da-fe, in which so
many illustrious victims had been sacrificed
before their sovercign's eyes, had reached the
Netherlands almost simultaneously with the
bulls, creating the new .bisoprics in the pro-
vinces.. 1t was not likely that the measure
would be rendered more palatable by this in
telligence of the royal arnusements. |