San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-09-15
The Daily Eight.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER Is, 1898.
Elisabeth and the InquIsitlon

!. A. Froude in Longman's.
In the summerSf 1868 eight Eng
dish merchantmen anchored in the
roads at Gibraltar. England and
France were then at war. A French
brig came in after them and
brought up near. At sea, If they
could take her she would have
been a lawful prize. Spaniards,
under similar circumstances, mad
not respected the neutrality OF
English harbOrs. The EGglishmen
were, perhaps, in doubt what to do,
when the officers of the Holy office
came off the French ship. The
sight of the black familiars drove
the English wild. Three of them
made a dash at the French ship,
intending to sink her. The In
ouisitors sprang into their boat
and rowed for their lives. The
castle guns opened, and the harbOr
police put ont to interfere. The
French ship, however, would nave
been taken, when, unluckily,
Alvarez de Bacan, with
Spanish squadron, came round
into the straits. Resistance was
impossible. The eight English
ships were captured and carried of
to Cadiz. The English flag was
trailed under DeBacan's stern. The
crews. $40 men in all, were prompt
ly condemned to the galleys- In
defense they could but say that
the Frenchman was an enemy, and
a moderate punishment would
have sufficed for violation of the
harbor rules, which the Spaniards
themselves so little regarded. But
the Inuuisition was ineXOra bic, and
the men were treated with such pc
culiar brutality that after nine
months 80 only of the 24O were
alive.
Ferocity was answered by feroc-'
ity. Listen to this. The CObhams
of Cowling Castle were Protestants
by descent. Lord Gotham was ia
nous in the LOllard martyrolOgy.
Thomas Gotham, one of the fam
ily, had taken to the sea, like many
of his friends. While cruising in
the channel he caught sight of a
Spaniard on the way from Ant
werp to Cadiz with forty prisoners
on board, consigned, it might be
supposed, to the Iuquisition. They
were, of course, inquisitiOn prison
ers, for other offenders would have
been dealt with on the spot. Cob
ham chased her down into the Bay
of Biscay, took her, scuttled her,
and rescued the captives. But that
was not enough. The captain and
crew he sewed up in their own
mainsail and flung them over
board. They were washed ashore
dead, wrapped in their eXtraOrdi-
nary winding-sheet. Gotham
was called to account for this eX-
plot, but he does not seem to have
been actually punished. In very
short time he was out and away
again, at the old work. There were
plenty with him. After the bust
ness at Gibralter, Philips subjects
We're not safe in English harbOrs.
Jacques lie ClerC, noted priVateer,
leg, chased a Spaniard into Fal-
mouth and was allowed to take
her, under the guns of Pendennis.
The governor of the castle said
that he could not interfere, because
lie Clerc had a, commission from
the Prince of Condo. 1t was proved
that in the summer of 1868 there
were 400 English and HuguenOt
roVers in and about the channel
and that they had taken 700 prizes
between them. The Queens own
ships followed suit. Captain Cot
ton, in the Phoenix, captured al
Antwerp merchantmen in Flush
ing. The harbOr-master protested
Cotton laughed and sailed away
with his prize.
The Regent Margaret wrote il
Indignation to Elizabeth. Sucl
insolence, she said, was not to b,
endured. She would have Capt
Cotton chastised as an example t
all others. Elizabeth measured
the situation more correctly thai
the Regent; she preferred to SHOW
Philip that she was not afraid o
him. She preferred to let her sub
jects discover for themselves tina
the terrible Spaniard be fore whom
the world trembled was but
colossus stuffed with clouts. Tn
til Philip consented to tie tn
hands of the Holy Office she di,
not mean to prevent them iron
taking the law into their Ow
hands.