The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-08-12
@iseeilauy.
THE AUTO DA FIX OF 1775.

DfOke lllr anu DTiSul osSi ehO o"nJ
land of Portugal. The sun rose up
from behind the Sierra In unclouded
brilliancy, and shed Hood OF golden
light over the vine-clad hills, and the
siIvery waters of the Tagus danced and
sparkled as they rolled lazily on to the
broad bosom of the bay. The churches
and palaces of Lisbon seemed rooted
with gold, and soon the novels and
courts of the poor and wretched gave
back smile of JOY as the bright sum
shine, the common property of high
and low, found its cheering way to
their squalid retreats. Though the
hour was early, the streets were
thronged with the populace, dressed in
holiday attire, and evidently in high
state of excitement. Lab0rers and
serfs seemed to forget, on this occasion,
their usual reverence and servility, for
they iostled and shouldered the titled
mobiles who were scattered here and
there among the crowd. The. mitred
bishop and hiAiest functiOnaries of the
Romish Church forced their way with
difficulty through the excited throng.
This was the appointed day for the
auto da fe, and streets, balconies, and
windows We're already alive with eager
faces to witness the procession of con-
demned heretics. The execution. was
to take place at high noon, and as the
fatal hour drew near the excitement
became intense. The populace gave
vent to their Impotence by loud shouts,
while all eyes were turned to the gloO-
my prison of the inquisitiOn, whence
the procession was to emerge. Though
the proceedings of the dread tribunal,
then at the height of its power in the
kingdom of Portugal, were generally
shrouded i'm secrecy, which none dared
pry into or scrutinize, yet it had some
how transpired that an unusually large
number of victims were this day to seal
their fidelity to conscience by the bap-
tism of fire.
At last the long-expectcl signal was
given and, as the deep-toned bells
toIled the hour of noon, u hoarse MUIR
mur' of satisfaction broke from the anX-
ious inhuman crowd. The frowning
portals of the prison were thrown open,
and strong guard of halberdiers open
ed a Ia ne through the dense thrOng,
and forI ued in close order on the right
and left. Then procession of rObed
priests, bearing crucifiX and chanting
a Tc Dc,a1, issued from the doorway,
followed by the victims who were DOOM
ed to be burned Mt stake for daring to
worship Go,1 according to His revealed
will. Last of all came group of nuns
with wells over their faces and mutter-
ing Aucs, and some of them, perhaps,
prayers for the wretched beings in
their front. There were a dozen or
more of these unfOrtunatcs, of both
sexes, and of various ranks. They
were all dressed alike in the fantastic
and hideous garb prescribed for such
occasions. l-,. +. .f
There was a quiet conlposure about
most of the prisoners and some wore
even q cheerful and triumphat express
sion of countenace. One of the party,
however seemed to attract most of the
attention, and all the sympathy of the
spectators. She was young girl,
scarcely sixteen years of age, whose
wondrOus beauty even the rude garb in
which she was clad could not disguise.
Her large dark eyes were raised implo-
ringly toward heaven, and at times,
low sob of agony would burst from her
lips. She looked anXiously, now and
then, into the surging crowd that i'll
closed the procession, as If searching
for some loved and familiar form; but
her gaze only encountered the strange
faces of those who had come to gloat
over her suflerings- And in this dark
and dreadful hour had she, SO young
and so lovely, no friend on whom her
fearful eyes might rest ere they were
closed i'm death?
Far from the scene which We have
Just depicted, i'm the aristocratic quarter
of the city, fond hearts were breaking
| for her sake, and crushed spirits were
pouring themselves forth in prayer to
| the Holy Virgin that she might escape
| her terrible doom. Father and mother,
fond brothers and sisters, had shut out
| the sunlight from their palatial man.
sion, and in darkness and despair were
bewailing their utter inability to rescue
their beloved LeOnOra. They knew,
too, they would be courting like fate
were they to show even sympaty fol
her sufferings, and hence they had not
dared to visit her since she had been
condemned by the court of inquisitiOn.
AS the procession moves OH to the
place of execution, just beyond the
city limits, we will briefly acqnaint the
reader with the story of Leonora De
Castro. She was the eldest daughter
of Albert De Castro, one of the most
accomplished noblemen of the king,
dom, being a younger scion of the du'
cal house of YavOra. His house ad.
joined that occupied by LOr 4 Effing.
ham, the British Minister at the cour
of Libson, and though the father O
| I,eonora was a Romanist, and LOrt
Effingham q jealous Protestant, they
entertained high regard for eaci
other, and there was q frequent inter
change of civilities between them
The children of the two families be
came very intimate, and LeOnora, IL
particular, spent much of her time q
the house of the Minister. She eveI
obtained her fathers consent to stud.
the English language with the childreI
of that nObleman. Now, the tutor O
} Lord Eflingham's children was retire,
curate of the Church of England, witt
fully as much zeal for his faith as an,
. Jesuit.
Being much pleased with the intelli
yence and capacity of his new pupil
, the worthy curate, little dreaming Q
the dreadful consequences that wOul
: result from his interference, lost n
time i'm pointing out to poor LeonOr
| the errors of her faith. So assiduOu
I, was he i'm his efforts to Snatch
brand from the burning, that in yer
n short time she became as anxious t
+ investigate the real truth of the GOspt
, rs he could wish. He supplied he
a with q copy of the Scripture, in Epe
lish, and babe her consult its sacre
pages to learn the way, the truth, an
y the life.
Leonora soon became satisfied thf
the faith of her fathers was not the tru
: faith, and being of an ardent temper;
ment, she determined no longer
! yield obedience to the absurd reqtIir'
ments and idolatrous practices of til
Church of Rome. AS soon as her p:
o rents became aware of the change
s her religious sentiments they rcsort(
d to every means in their power to L
&c claim her, but in vain. The fami
2 eqniessor, becoming appriSedsoon aft
OF her apoStasy, tried by reason ar
J: argument to convince her that she h;
1T been misled but, finding all his effor
4. to bring her again into the bosom
il the Church Intellectual, he advised h
4. father to send her at once to the Urs
:, line convent at st. Ubes. He did
- hoping that the society of the holy s.
:, .terhood would he able to eradicate Il
10 seeds of heresy implanted by the "ar'
m heretic' to whose charge he had
u tho,iyhtlessly committed his daughtt
In vain did the lady superior OF Z
:, convent exhaust all the ingenuity
ui which she was capable to bring ba'
a0 o<,,,ra fo tho faith Of her fatlel