The horrid procedure of the Inquisition is never calculated to make converts—the punishments inflicted by it encourage hypocrisy—it frequently condemns the innocent—the Inquisitors proved to be actuated by avarice in their condemnation of prisoners—other offences besides heresy taken cognizance of by the Holy Office—its flagrant injustice—its barbarous proceedings against the dead.
Having given a historical sketch of the "Holy Office," falsely so called, more particularly as it exists in Spain, we shall now select several instances, in addition to those which have been already noticed, of the sufferings of individuals, who have unhappily fallen into the hands of the Inquisitors, those declared enemies of humanity.
Notwithstanding all the efforts of the Inquisitors to force their prisoners to accuse themselves, in order to escape a cruel and ignominious death, multitudes have continued steadfast in the truth, and submitted to be "tortured, not accepting deliverance," nay "gave their bodies to be burned," rather than, by a cowardly confession, to accuse themselves unjustly, and wound their own consciences. In proof of this we select the following interesting cases.
In the auto-da-fé which was celebrated at Valladolid in 1559, Don Carlos de Sessa, a nobleman of Verona, was among the number of those who were burnt for having espoused the doctrines of the Reformation. He was arrested at Logrogna, and confined in the secret prisons of the Inquisition at Valladolid. After undergoing the usual examinations, his sentence was read to him on the 7th of October, by which he was informed that he was to suffer death on the following day. Unmoved by the tidings, De Sessa requested pen and ink, and wrote his confession, which was not a recantation of his faith, but a firm adherence to the reformed principles. In these principles,—the very reverse of those which are taught by the apostate Church of Rome,—he declared that he was determined, to die, and would give himself to God through the merits of his Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. His persecutors vehemently exhorted him during the night, and on the following morning, to retract; but without success. He was accordingly gagged, that he might be prevented from stating his principles to the people. When he was fastened to the stake, the gag was taken from his mouth, and he was again exhorted to return to the Romish faith, in which case the Inquisitors would have extended their mercy so far, as to have strangled him first before he was burnt. But with a loud voice, and great firmness, De Sessa replied, "If I had sufficient time, I would convince you, that you are lost, by not following my example. Hasten to light the wood, which is to consume me." Fire was then set to the pile, and, after great suffering, his body was consumed to ashes.
Dr. Juan Gonzalez, who suffered at Seville in 1559, was descended of Moorish ancestors, and at twelve years of age had been imprisoned on suspicion of Mahometanism. He afterwards became one of the most celebrated preachers in Andalusia, and a protestant. In the midst of the torture, which he bore with unshrinking fortitude, he told the Inquisitors, that his sentiments, though opposite to those of the Church of Rome, rested on plain and express declarations of the word of God, and that nothing would induce him to inform against his brethren. When brought out on the morning of the auto, he appeared with a cheerful and undaunted air, though he had left his mother and two brothers behind him in prison, and was accompanied by two sisters, who, like himself, were doomed to the flames. At the door of the Triana he began to sing the 109th Psalm, and on the scaffold he addressed a few words of consolation to one of his sisters, who seemed to him to wear a look of dejection, upon which the gag was instantly thrust into his mouth.—With unaltered mien he listened to the sentence adjudging him to the flames, and submitted to the humiliating ceremonies by which he was degraded from the priesthood. When they were brought to the place of execution, the friars urged the females, in repeating the creed, to insert the word Roman in the clause relating to the Catholic Church. Wishing to procure liberty to him to bear his dying testimony, they said they would do as their brother did. The gag being removed, Juan Gonzalez exhorted them to add nothing to the good confession which they had already made. Instantly the executioners were ordered to strangle them, and one of the friars turning to the crowd exclaimed, that they had died in the Roman faith,—a falsehood which the Inquisitors did not choose to repeat in their narrative of the proceedings.
The case of Isaac Orobio, who was accused of Judaism before the Inquisition at Seville, gives another striking example of firmness amidst tortures the most excruciating. It would be exceedingly painful to recur to this diabolical practice—the anguish which Orobio endured during the torture by the rack, the pulley, and several other engines of cruelty equally horrid, being such as is sufficient to freeze the very blood in the veins. It is enough to state, that one torment after another, all of them the most agonizing, were inflicted on him, with a view to make him confess: but all to no purpose. He was accordingly carried back to his dungeon, where he was attended by the physician of the Inquisition, and nearly three months elapsed before he was able to walk about his cell. Having made no confession while undergoing the torture, he was condemned, not as being convicted, but as being suspected of Judaism, to wear the infamous sanbenito for two years, and afterwards to perpetual banishment.
On the other hand, many examples might be produced in order to prove, that even although the terrors of torture and of death may lead a prisoner to confess—the Inquisition, far from effecting any change of sentiment, is suited only to encourage hypocrisy. One of these was exhibited in the case of Benanat, a clergyman, in Catalonia, about the year 1334. Having been condemned to the flames for holding sentiments different from those of the Romish creed, he was placed on the pile, and the faggots kindled. But when one of his sides was scorched, and the pain had become so great that he could not endure it, he cried out to be removed, for he was ready to abjure. He was accordingly taken down, and on abjuring, was reconciled to the Church; but fourteen years afterwards it was discovered that he had continued to adhere to his former opinions. Imprisoned a second time, and placed on the burning pile, he died persisting in his heresy, as most probably he would have done at his former condemnation, if the first sentence, like the second, had been irrevocable.
The author of the History of the Inquisition at Goa, the Sieur Dellon, gives us two other examples which occurred about the middle of the seventeenth century; the first in the case of a very rich new Christian, that is, a converted Jew, named Lewis Pezoa, who, with his whole family, had, by some of his enemies, been accused of secret Judaism. Himself, his wife, two sons, and one daughter, together with several other relatives who resided with him, were accordingly apprehended and confined in the secret prisons of the Inquisition at Coimbra. Pezoa, however, not only denied, but completely refuted the crime of which he was accused; and demanded that the names of his accusers might be given him, that he might convict them of falsehood. Yet all this availed him nothing. He was condemned to be delivered over to the secular power; and intimation of this sentence was delivered to him fifteen days before it was pronounced. The Duke de Cadoval, who was very intimate with the Inquisitor-general, having ascertained the situation in which Pezoa was placed, and understanding that, unless he confessed previous to his appearing at the auto-da-fé, he could not escape the fire—remonstrated in so urgent a manner with the Inquisitor, that he at length obtained the promise that the sentence of death passed upon Pezoa should be commuted, provided he confessed either before or at the place of execution. The Duke in vain exerted all his ingenuity to prevail on Pezoa to confess. On the day appointed for the auto-da-fé, accordingly, Pezoa came forth, wearing the sanbenito and coroza, and proceeded with the other individuals who were condemned to the place of execution. His friends, now more anxious for his deliverance than ever, besought him with tears, in the name of the Duke de Cadoval, and by all that was dear to him, to preserve his life; intimating, that if he would confess, the Duke had obtained his pardon from the Inquisitor-general, and would make up for him the property which had been confiscated. All, however, still proved fruitless. Pezoa continued to protest his innocence, and constantly affirmed that the crime laid to his charge was a falsehood, invented by his enemies, who were anxious for his destruction. At the conclusion of the procession, the sentences of those who were condemned to perform certain penances were first read; but previous to the ceremony of delivering the relapsed to the secular power, the friends of Pezoa again entreated him with so much importunity and earnestness, that his constancy was at length overcome; when, rising up, he exclaimed, "Come then, let us go and confess the crimes I am falsely accused of, and thereby gratify the desires of my friends." His confession having been received, he was remanded to prison. After two years further confinement, he was compelled again to appear at a public auto-da-fé, and sentenced to five years additional imprisonment, to banishment to the galleys for another five years, and confiscation of his property. While at the galleys, he learned for the first time that his wife and daughter had died in prison shortly after their confinement; and that his two sons, less firm than himself, had made a timely confession, and were sentenced to banishment for ten years.
The other case noticed by the same writer, is that of the major of a regiment, who was accused of Judaism, by persons who seemed to have no other means of saving their own lives than that of confessing themselves to be guilty of the same crime, and naming many innocent persons as their accomplices, in order to discover the witnesses who had deposed against them. On his apprehension, the poor officer was thrown into the secret prisons of the holy office, and often examined for the purpose of drawing from his own lips an avowal of the cause of his imprisonment. Not being able, however, to declare what he was ignorant of, he was informed, at the end of two years, that he was accused and convicted in due form of being an apostate Jew. This he positively declared to be false, solemnly protesting that he had never deviated from the Christian faith. Every effort was now made by the Inquisitors to lead him to confess. Not only his life, but the restoration of his property, was promised; but all to no purpose. It was then attempted to intimidate him, by threatening him with a cruel death. Nothing, however, could shake his resolution; and he boldly told the judges that he would rather die innocent, than save his life by a meanness which would bring on him everlasting infamy. The Duke d'Aveira, who was then Inquisitor-general, was very desirous of saving the major's life. He accordingly one day privately paid him a visit, and urgently entreated him to seize the opportunity which he enjoyed of avoiding punishment, by making confession. The major, however, displayed a determined resolution not to wound his conscience, or injure his reputation, by acknowledging crimes which he never committed. Irritated at his constancy, the Inquisitor-general passionately addressed him in language to the following import:—"We will rather cause you to be burnt as guilty, than allow it to be supposed that we have imprisoned you without cause!" At the approach of the auto-da-fé, the major was apprised of his sentence, which was to be burnt alive, and a confessor was sent to his dungeon in order to prepare him for his execution. Overcome by the fear of a death so horrid, the major at length resolved to play the hypocrite; and, on the evening previous to the bloody ceremony, he acknowledged every thing, however false, that had been laid to his charge. He was accordingly led out in the procession with a robe on which the flames were reversed, to intimate that by his confession, though late, he had escaped death, to which he had been condemned by the holy tribunal. All the other promises of the Inquisitor-general were forgotten. His property was confiscated, and himself sentenced to the galleys for five years.
It has been clearly shown, that the Inquisitors not unfrequently condemn the innocent to the flames, under the pretence of Judaism or heresy, while the chief motive of these unjust judges evidently is, to obtain possession of their property. This will still further appear from the proceedings which were instituted against Melchior Hernandez, a rich merchant of Murcia, who was imprisoned in the Inquisition of that place in 1564. At his first audience, he was accused of having frequented a clandestine synagogue in Murcia, and of having acted and discoursed in a manner that proved his apostasy from the Christian faith. [22] There were nine witnesses produced against him; but Melchior not only denied all their averments, but showed that their evidence was contradictory, and that several of them were his avowed enemies.