The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-21

except In the remote mountainous districts
OF the north and east. could feel secure
That investigation might not reveal some
unfortunate mesdlidNce OF a distant an
cestor. In fact, only those could feel nafe
whose obscurity precluded n prolonged
research into their ancestry. II was OBJ
served In 1899 that hut for the requirement
Of hnrpiesd the Inquisition could select
the best mon for familiars, instead Of being
obliged TO appoint the low born. whose
ignorance enabled them to pass the exam
nations successfully.
v.
The effects Of the prescription OF all
those Spaniards whose blood was even
remotely tainted were manifold and grew
Gus. As early as 1875 a Venetian envoy
describes the descendants of the conVersos
as living like other good Christians and
being among the richest and noblest OF
the land, yet ~perpetually incapacitated
from the honors and employments which
were the ambition OF every ~Spaniard.
In 1898 another Venetian envoy repeats
the assertion that the descendants Of all
who had at any time been punished by
the lnquisition lived in a state Of despair.
for TO the third and fourth generations
they were regarded as infamous and in
capable Of holding any Office in Church
or State. This state Of things was one OF
the causes OF ~depopulation, for women
entered nunneries and men remained
oelibates rather than infict infamy on
descendants, while large numbers emf
grated. In a word, the statutes Of limpiesd
L .rAaNA1 q @aAX. - aA-.h .hA tpfnnfnI
all with whom they might form alliances.
but the caste was not recognizable by ex-
terror signs and no one could tell what
corruption Of blood he might entail upon
his family by marriage. As nobody enter
ing into wedlock could make the minute
investigation required by the colleges and
the military orders the infection was con-
stsntly spreading and every man stood
upon a mine which might explode at any
moment when some distant kinsman of
his own OF Of his wife might provoke an
investigation during which a faint might
be discovered in the common line OF an
cestry.
Another result Of the rigorous e~xaction
OF purity Of blood was greatly to increase
the authority Of the Inquisition and the
terror which it shed around it. At a wordit
could infiCt undying infamy upon a whole
lineage. To be arrested and cast into the
secret prison, even without cause, was
sufficient to blast an extensive family. In
1901 Philip I'LL, when instrIcting the In
QUESTION to furnish the Council Of Military
Orders with full Information as TO any one
when called upon, required the report to
include not only the imprisonment OF an
ancestor subsequently acquitted, but even
the fact of an accusation never acted upon.
Under the circumstances, it can readily
be understood that even a summons to APP
pear before the Inquisition in a matter
not affecting faith could be felt acutely
through the whole kindred. All this, as
our author reminds us, is OF supreme i'm
portance in estimating the benignity and
mercy Of which the Inquisition was con-
stantly boasting. To us the sentences
rendered may frequently appear trivial,
but the penanoe was the smallest part OF
the penalty. Thus, in the case OF V~illanuevs.
~recounted in this volume, the accused
was condemned merely to abjure for light
suspicion Of heresy and to be absent for
a few years from Madrid. The punish
ment, however, cast disgrace upon his
whole kindred. He and his descendants
| fell into the caste OF pariahs and could
| form no alliance outside OF hat caste.
Through generations they we're branded
with an inedfaoeable stigma. To the
Spanish pundoHOr conception OF honor
the scafold was merciful in comparison.
The mercy Of the Inquisition was in truth
more dreaded than h severity Of other
tribunals, and men might well beware Of in
curing the enmity OF those who could, at
discretion, consign them and their posterity
TO infamy. The dema nd for limpieEd sur
vived the Revolution and the Inquisition
itself. though with the closure Of that in
stitution it is not easy to see where any
serious proofs Of purity Of blood could be
found. Upto 1859 Lnpiezd was still requisite
for entrance int the corps Of cadets, but in
the following year the Cortes unanimously
abolished this survival Of prejudice and in
tolerence. There is still a corner Of Spain,
however, where the prejudice has proved
superior to law. We refer to the Island Of
Maiorca, where the New Christians are still
excluded from the society of their fellow
Christians, and are compelled TO live apart
from the rest Of the population. From
them are withheld all public offices and ad-
mission to guilds and brotherhoods, so
that they are confined to trading; they are
compelled to marry among themselves,
for no Old Christian would contract alliances
with them, nor would the ecclesiastical
authorities grant licenses for mixed mar
riaRee. As late as 1877 the clergy in Majorca
was said to be still obstinately impervious
to all idea Of extending fellowship to their
fellow believers, and busily engaged in fan
ming the embers Of class hatred, based o n
events centuries old.
vi.
It was not only by terror and proscrip-
ton and the stimulation OF class hatred
that the Inquisition ruined Spain, but also
= o.oIa oonAaoation When the In