Then these human tigers began to ask questions, suggesting satisfactory answers, and if these answers were not equal to a confession of guilt, the prisoner was subjected to tortures which sooner or later surely brought out such answers and in such language as was suggested to her by the inquisitors. And these answers were given though the poor creature knew that they would send her to the stake or scaffold.
To indicate the horrible sufferings, that hundreds of thousands of delicate and aged women had to go through, a few of the many implements of torture may be described. Robert G. Ingersoll in his great lecture “The Liberty of Man, Woman and Child” has said about them:
“I used to read in books how our fathers persecuted mankind. But I never appreciated it. I read it, but it did not burn itself into my soul. I did not really appreciate the infamies that have been committed in the name of religion, until I saw the iron arguments that Christians used. I saw the Thumb-screw—two little pieces of iron, armed on the inner surface with protuberances, to prevent their slipping; through each end a screw uniting the two pieces. And when some person denied the efficacy of baptism or her guilt of witchcraft, then they put his thumb between these pieces of iron and in the name of love and forgiveness, began to screw these pieces together. When this was done most men said “I will confess!” Probably I should have done the same and I would have said: “Stop! I will admit that there is one god or a million, one hell or a billion; suit yourselves; but stop!”—
“But there was now and then a person who would not swerve the breadth of a hair. Heroism did not excite the respect of our fathers. The person who would not confess or recant was not forgiven. They screwed the thumb-screws down to the last pang, and then threw their victim into some dungeon, where, in the throbbing silence and darkness, he might suffer the agonies of the fabled damned. This was done in the name of love—in the name of mercy—in the name of the compassionate Christ!
“I saw, too, what they called the Collar of Torture. Imagine a circle of iron, and on the inside a hundred points almost as sharp as needles. This argument was fastened about the throat of the sufferer. Then he could not walk, nor sit down, nor stir without the neck being punctured by these points. In a little while the throat would begin to swell, and suffocation would end the agonies.
“I saw another instrument, called the Scavenger’s Daughter. Think of a pair of shears with handles, not only where they now are, but at the points as well, and just above the pivot that unites the blades, a circle of iron. In the upper handles the hands would be placed; in the lower the feet; and through the iron ring, at the center, the head of the victim would be forced. In this condition, he would be thrown prone upon the earth, and the strain on the muscles produced such agony that insanity would in pity end his pain.”
“I saw the Rack. This was a box like the bed of a wagon, with a windlass at each end, with levers, and ratchets to prevent slipping; over each windlass went chains; some were fastened to the ankles of the sufferer; others to his wrists. And then priests, clergymen, divines, saints, began turning these windlasses, and kept turning until the ankles, the knees, the hips, the shoulders, the elbows, the wrists of the victim were all dislocated, and the sufferer was wet with the sweat of agony. And they had standing by a physician to feel his pulse. What for? To save his life? Yes. In mercy? No; simply that they might rack him once again.
“This was done, remember, in the name of civilization; in the name of law and order; in the name of mercy; in the name of religion; in the name of the most merciful Christ.”
Christian people in England had invented a machine called the “Witches’ Bridle.” It was so constructed that by means of a loop which passed over the victim’s head, a piece of iron having four points or prongs was forcibly thrust into the mouth. Two of these prongs pressed against the tongue and palate, the other outward to the cheeks. This infernal instrument was secured by a padlock. At the back of the collar was fixed a ring, by which to attach the witch to a staple in the wall of her cell. Thus “bridled,” and day and night watched over by some person appointed by her inquisitors, the unhappy creature, after a few days of such torture, maddened by misery and pain, would be brought to the point of confessing anything in order to be rid of her wretched life.
But thumb-screws, the collar, the scavenger’s daughter, the rack and the bridle were not the only means of inflicting pain devised by the ingenuity of cruelty. There was also the “Spider,” a diabolic implement with curved claws, for tearing out a woman’s breast. There were the iron Spanish Boots, the inner sides of which were set with points. After these machines had been placed around the lower legs of the victim they were screwed so tightly that often the shin-bones were crushed. To increase the horrible pain the torturer from time to time knocked with a hammer on the screws, so that sharp shocks like strokes of lightning shot through the victim’s body.