Part 13 (1/2)

As this unhappy young gentle with another, heto his companion, when they had passed, ”what fools,” said he, ”are these, to think they shall gain heaven by wearing sackcloth and going barefoot! Fools indeed, if they think so, or that there is any ht as well live as we do, and they would get to heaven quite as soon” Who inforainst him, whether the friars, his companion, or somebody else, I know not; for the inquisitors never tell the names of informers to the Counsellors, nor the naainst them It is to be observed, that all who hear any proposition that appears to thenant to, or inconsistent with the doctrines of holy mother church, are bound to reveal it to the Inquisitor, and also to discover the person by whoard is to be had to any ties, however sacred The brother being bound to accuse the brother, the father the son, the son the father, the wife her husband, and the husband his wife; and all bound on pain of eternal da treated as accomplices if they do not denounce in a certain time; and no confessor can absolve a person who has heard anything said in jest or in earnest, against the belief or practice of the church, till that person has inforence he can concerning the person by whoainst my unhappy friend, whether the friars, his coht have overheard hiht, (for to be less observed, they coht) that the above ravely, at the sight of two poor Capuchins; that the evidence was unexceptionable; and that they were therefore met to deterainst the delinquent

There are in each Inquisition twelve Counsellors, viz: four Divines, four Canonists, and four Civilians It is chiefly the province of the divines to determine the quality of the proposition, whether it is heretical, or only savors of heresy; whether it is blasphemous and injurious to God and His saints or only erroneous, rash, schismatical, or offensive to pious ears The part of the proposition, ”Fools! if they think there is any ed and declared heretical, as openly contradicting the doctrine and practice of holy hly meritorious The Inquisitor observed, on this occasion, that by the proposition, ”Fools indeed” &c, were taxing with folly, not only the holy fathers, who had all to a reat austerities, but St Paul hi that the practice of whipping one's self, so ious orders, was borrowed of the great apostle of the gentiles

The proposition being declared heretical, it was unanireed by the board that the person who had uttered it should be apprehended, and proceeded against agreeably to the laws of the Inquisition And now the person was named; for, till it is determined whether the accused person should or should not be apprehended, his name is kept concealed from the counsellors, lest they should be biased, says the directory, in his favor, or against him For, in many instances, they keep up an appearance of justice and equity, at the same time that, in truth, they act in direct opposition to all the knos of justice and equity

No words can express the concern and astonishave me to hear, on such an occasion, the naard The Inquisitor was apprised of it; and to givewhat he had so often reco nature with the assistance of grace, he appointed e hiht, in the prison of the holy inquisition I offered to excusein any way concerned in the execution of that order; an order, I said, which I entirely approved of, but only wished it ht be put in execution by some other person; for your lordshi+p knows, I said, the connection But the Inquisitor shocked at the word, said with a stern look and angry tone of voice, ”What! talk of connections where the faith is concerned?

There is your guard,” (pointing to the Sbirri or bailiffs in waiting) ”let the criminal be secured in St Luke's cell,” (one of the worst,) ”before three in the ” He then withdrew, and as he passed me said, ”Thus, nature is conquered” I had betrayed so ahile I attended the torture of one as racked with the utmost barbarity, and I had on that occasion been repriet the better of grace; it being an inexcusable weakness, as he observed, to be in any degree affected with the suffering of the body, however great, when afflicted, as they ever are in the Holy Inquisition, for the good of the soul And it was, I presume, to make trial of the effect of that reprimand, that the execution of this cruel order was committed to me As I could by no possible means decline it, I su an hour by onies of death, and set out a little after two in thefor my unhappy friend's house, attended by a notary of the Inquisition, and six armed Sbirri We arrived at the house by different ways and knocking at the door, a maid-servant looked out of the , and asked who knocked ”The Holy Inquisition,” was the answer, and at the same time she was ordered to awake nobody, but to come down directly and open the door, on pain of excommunication At these words, the servant hastened down, half naked as she was, and having with ht, opened the door, she conducted us as she was ordered to her master's chamber She often looked very earnestly at reat desire to speak with me; but of her I durst take no kind of notice I entered the bed-chamber with the notary, followed by the Sbirri, when the lady awakening at the noise, and seeing the bed surrounded by ar as out of her senses, till one of the Sbirri, provoked at the noise gave her a blow on the forehead that made the blood flow, and she swooned away I rebuked the fellow severely, and ordered him to be whipped as soon as I returned to the Inquisition

In theme with my attendants, cried out, in the utmost surprise, ”MR BOWER!” He said no le word; and it ith rief as to be able to let my unfortunate friend know that he was a prisoner of the Holy Inquisition ”Of the Holy Inquisition!” he replied ”Alas I what have I done? My dear friend, be s; but as I kneas not in e to look hi my back to hiive vent to rief The notary stood by, quite unaffected Indeed, to be void of all hu under thein the least affected with their sufferings, is one of the chief qualifications of an inquisitor, and what all who belong to the Inquisition must strive to attain to It often happens, at that infernal tribunal, that while the unhappy, and probably innocent, person is crying out in their presence on the rack, and begging by all that is sacred for one moment's relief, in a manner one would think no human heart could withstand, it often happens, I say, that the inquisitor and the rest of his infamous crew, quite unaffected with his coroans, to his tears and entreaties, are entertaining one another with the news of the town; nay, sometimes they even insult, with unheard of barbarity, the unhappy wretches in the height of their torment

To return to my unhappy prisoner He was no sooner dressed than I ordered the Bargello, or head of the Sbirri, to tie his hands with a cord behind his back, as is practised on such occasions without distinction of persons; no ed with heresy, than to the meanest offender Heresy dissolves all friendshi+p; so that I durst no longer look upon the reatest friendshi+p and intiard or indulgence

As we left the chamber, the countess, who had been conveyed out of the roo out in theher husband with his hands tied behind his back like a thief or robber, flew to eed, with a flood of tears, ould be so ht have the satisfaction--the only satisfaction she wished for in this world, of dying in the bosom of the man from whorief, did not utter a single word I could not find it in my heart, nor was I in a condition to interpose; and indeed a scene of greater distress was never beheld by hunal to the notary to part thely, quite unconcerned; but the countess fell into a swoon, and the count was meantime carried down stairs, and out of the house, ahs of his servants, on all sides, for he was a man remarkable for the sweetness of his te arrived at the Inquisition, I consigned aoler, a lay brother of St Doeon above-ht at the palace of the Inquisition, where every counsellor has a roo the key to the inquisitor, telling him that his order had been punctually complied with The inquisitor had been already informed ofthe key to him, he said, ”You have acted like one who is at least desirous to overcorace, the inclinations of nature;” that is, like one who is desirous, by the assistance of grace, to metamorphose himself from a human creature into a brute or a devil

In the Inquisition, every prisoner is kept the first week of his ieon, so low that he cannot stand upright in it, without seeing anybody but the gaoler, who brings him, EVERY OTHER DAY, his portion of bread and water, the only food allowed him This is done, they say, to tame him, and render him, thus weakened, more sensible of the torture, and less able to endure it At the end of the week, he is brought in the night before the board to be examined; and on that occasion my poor friend appeared so altered, in a week's time, that, had it not been for his dress, I should not have known hie of condition so sudden and unexpected; the unworthy and barbarous treatht and probably should suffer; and perhaps,else, the distressed and forlorn condition of his once happy wife, whom he tenderly loved, whose company he had enjoyed only sixasked, according to custom, whether he had any enemies, and desired to name them, he answered, that he bore enmity to no man, and he hoped no man bore enmity to him For, as in the Inquisition the person accused is not told of the charge brought against hiht, the inquisitor asks him if he has any enemies, and desires him to nas are stopped until the informer is examined anew; and if the information is found to proceed from ill-will and no collateral proof can be produced, the prisoner is discharged Of this piece of justice they frequently boast, at the same time that they admit, both as informers and witnesses, persons of the most infamous characters, and such as are excluded by all other courts In the next place, the prisoner is ordered to swear that he will declare the truth, and conceal nothing fro himself or others, that he knows and the holy tribunal desires to know He is then interrogated for what crime he has been apprehended and imprisoned by the Holy Court of the Inquisition, of all courts the most equitable, the atory the count answered, with a faint and tre voice, that he was not conscious to hinizable by the Holy Court, nor indeed by any other; that he believed and ever had believed whatever holy mother church believed or required hiotten what he had unthinkingly said at the sight of the two friars The inquisitor, therefore, finding that he did not remeatories, and promises which he never intended to fulfil, ordered hi him another week, as is customary in such cases, to recollect himself, told him that if he could not in that tireeably to his oath,it from him; and he must expect no ain before the infernal tribunal; and being asked the sa, that if he had done or said anything anorantly, he was ready to own it, provided the least hint of it were given him by any there present, which he entreated them most earnestly to do He often looked at ave me such concern as no words can express--that I should say so in his favor But I was not allowed to speak on this occasion, nor were any of the counsellors; and had I been allowed to speak, I durst not have said anything in his favor; the advocate appointed by the Inquisition, and co the only person that is suffered to speak for the prisoner The advocate belongs to the Inquisition, receives a salary from the Inquisition, and is bound by an oath to abandon the defence of the prisoner, if he undertakes it, or not to undertake it, if he finds it cannot be defended agreeably to the laws of the Holy Inquisition; go that the whole is mere sham and imposition

I have heard this advocate, on other occasions, allege so in favor of the person accused; but on this occasion he declared that he had nothing to offer in defence of the criminal

In the Inquisition, the person accused is always supposed guilty, unless he has na his eneuilty, and own the cri so much as told what it is; whereas, in all other courts, where tortures are used, the charge is declared to the party accused before he is tortured; nor are they ever inflicted without a credible evidence of his guilt But in the Inquisition, a man is frequently tortured upon the deposition of a person whose evidence would be ad the charge As my unfortunate friend continued towhat he had said, he was, agreeably to the laws of the Inquisition, put to the torture He had scarcely borne it twentyout the whole time, ”Jesus Maria!” when his voice failed him at once, and he fainted away He was then supported, as he hung by his are the torture, till he returned to himself He still continued to declare that he could not recollect his having said or done anything contrary to the Catholic faith, and earnestly begged they would let hi ready to own it if it was true

The Inquisitor was then so gracious as to put hi the two Capuchins The reason why they so long conceal froed with, is, that if he should be conscious to hi contrary to the faith, which he is not charged with, heit to be the very crientle to that purpose; but, as he had said it with no evil intention, he had never ht of it, from that time to the present He added, but with a voice so faint, as scarce could be heard, that for his rashness he illing to undergo what punishment soever the holy tribunal should, think fit to i eased for a while of his torated by the promoter fiscal (whose business it is to accuse and to prosecute, as neither the infor his intention For in the Inquisition, it is not enough for the party accused to confess the fact, he must declare whether his intention was heretical or not; and er endure, own their intention was heretical, though it really was not My poor friend often told us, he was ready to say whatever he pleased, but as he never directly acknowledged his intention to have been heretical, as is required by the rules of the court, he was kept on the torture still, quite overcouish, he was ready to expire Being taken down, he was carried quite senseless, back to his dungeon, and there, on the third day, death put an end to his sufferings The Inquisitor wrote a note to his , to desire her to pray for the soul of her late husband, and warn her not to complain of the holy Inquisition, as capable of any injustice or cruelty The estate was confiscated to the Inquisition, and a small jointure allowed out of it to theAs they had only been married six months, and some part of the fortune was not yet paid, the inquisitor sent an order to the Constantini family, at Ferno, to pay the holy office, and without delay, what they owed to the late Count Della Torre The effects of heretics are all ipso facto confiscated to the Inquisition from the very day, not of their conviction, but of their crime, so that all donations iven, is claimed by the Inquisition, into whatsoever hands it iven to their daughters into, and are claimed by the Inquisition; nor can it be doubted, that the desire of those confiscations is one great cause of the injustice and cruelty of that court

The death of the unhappy Count Della Torre was soon publicly known; but no man cared to speak of it, not even his nearest relations, nor soshould inadvertently escape theht be construed into a disapprobation of the proceedings of the reat is the awe all men live in of that jealous and merciless court

The deep impression that the death of my unhappy friend, the barbarous and inhued to act in so affecting a tragedy, ot at once the better of ers I had till then so much apprehended, I resolved, without further delay to put in execution the design I had for forever adieu to Italy To execute that design with soin of Loretto, but thirteen miles distant, and to pass a week there; but in the mean time, to make the best of , therefore, after hboring sanctuary, and obtained it, I set out on horseback the very next , as I proposed to keep the horse, his full value with the owner I took the road to Loretto, but turned out of it a short distance frole withto me at that juncture, quite desperate and impracticable; and the dreadful doom reserved for me should I ht But the reflection that I had it intaken alive, and a persuasion that a ht lawfully avoid it, when every other ered resolution; and allLoretto behind me, to Rocca Contrada, to Fosobone, to Calvi in the dukedonese, keeping the by-roads, and at a good distance froh road passed

Thus I advanced very slowly, travelling in very bad roads, and often in places where there was no road at all, to avoid, not only the cities, and towns, but also the villages In the mean time I seldom had any other support but some coarse provisions, and a very small quantity even, of them, that the poor shepherds, the countrymen or wood cleavers I met in those unfrequented by-places, could spare me My horse fared not -place I consulted his convenience as ht where I found rass for hies, the country people all living together in villages; and I thought it far safer to lie where I could be in any way sheltered, than to venture into any of theot out of the ecclesiastical state; and I very narrowly escaped being taken or murdered, on the very borders of that state; it happened thus

I had passed thole days without any kind of subsistence whatever,with no one in the by-roads that could supplyto come near any house, as I was not far froht I should be able to hold out till I got into the Modanese, where I believed I should be in less danger than while I re myself, about noon of the third day, extreh road that leads frona to Florence, a few hted at a post house, that stood quite by itself Having asked the wo told that she had, I went to open the door of the only rooentlereat surprise, a placard pasted on it, with a minute description of my whole person, sad a prolisha fugitive from that holy tribunal, and of 600 crowns for my head By the sareater excommunication, to receive or harbor, entertain, conceal, or screenreatly alarine; but I was stillthe roo their eyes onatout of the , to prevent their having a full view of entleman see to the fellow, said boldly, ”What do you mean you rascal? Look at ain steadfastly athis head, went out, and his co them, with two or threewhether they should apprehend me or not, I walked that moment into the stable, mounted my horse unobserved by the in an orchard behind the house, rode off at full speed, and in a few hours got into the Modanese, where I refreshed both with food and rest, as I was there in no ier, my horse and myself I was indeed surprised to find that those fellows did not pursue me, nor can I in any other way account for it, but by supposing, what is not iers as well as myself, and had all the appearance of banditti or ruffians flying out of the dominions of the Pope, the woman of the house did not care to trust them with her horses Froh the Parmesan, the Milanese, and part of the Venetian territory, to Chiavenna, subject to the Grisons, who abhor the very name of the Inquisition, and are ever ready to receive and protect all who, flying froe, as many Italians do, in their dominions Still I carefully concealed who I was, and whence I ca the Swiss, yet the Pope's nuncio who resides at Lucerne, (a popish canton through which I was to pass,) istrate to stoprested a few days at Chiavenna, I resuh the country of the Grisons, and the two small cantons of Ury and Underwald, to the canton of Lucerne There I missed my way, as I was quite unacquainted with the country, and discovering a city at a distance, was advancing to it, but slowly, as I knew not where I hen a countryman whom I met, inforence, I turned out of the road as soon as the countryood natured shepherd in his cottage, who supplied rass I set out early nextmy ard, as I knew that Berne lay west of Lucerne But, after a fewtravelled the whole day over ht As I was looking out for a place where I ainst the snow and rain, (for it both snowed and rained,) I perceived a light at a distance, and ot into a kind of foot-path, but so narrow and rugged that I was obliged to lead ht to direct me,) before I durst move the other Thus, with ht was, a poor little cottage, and knocking at the door, was asked by a man within who I was, and what I wanted? I answered that I was a stranger and had lost my way

”Lost your way!” exclaimed the man, ”There is no way here to lose” I then asked hi that I was in the canton of Berne, I cried out transported with joy, ”I thank God that I aood man answered, ”And so do I” I then told hi to Berne but had quite lostinto the hands of those who sought my destruction He thereupon opened the door, received and entertained aled s, the only provision he had, and clean straith a kind of rug for a bed, he having no other for hiood nature as her husband, and said e, which her husband interpreted to e he well understood, having learned it in his youth, while servant in a public hoes are spoken I never passed a in to stir in the ood man and his wife both ca they had been able to accos, which providence, they said, had sent them for that purpose I took leave of the wife, who seeood journey As for the husband, he would by allto Berne; which road he said was but two oing back with hiht before; the only way, he said, I could have possibly co canton of Lucerne I saw it, and shuddered at the danger I had escaped; for I found I had walked and leda very narrow path on the brink of a very dangerous precipice The man made so many pertinent and pious remarks on the occasion, as both charmed and surprised me I no less admired his disinterestedness than his piety; for, upon our parting, after he had attendedmy way, I could by no means prevail upon him to accept of any reward for his trouble He had the satisfaction, he said, of having relieved reatest distress, which was in itself a sufficient reward, and he wished for no other

Having at length got safe into French Flanders, I there repaired to the college of the Scotch Jesuits at Douay, and discovering myself to the rector, I acquainted hied hiive notice of elo Taeneral of the order, and my very particular friend

The rector wrote as I desired hiht, in his answer, (for he could not disapprove, and did not think it safe to approve of it,) ordered me to continue where I was till further notice I arrived at Douay early in May, and continued there till the beginning of July, when the rector received a second letter fro hiation of the Inquisition, to order me, wherever I was, back into Italy; to proiveness if I obeyed, but if I did not obey, to treat me as an apostate He added, that the saht, to the nuncios at the different Roman Catholic courts; and he, therefore, advised me to consult my own safety without further delay

Upon the receipt of the general's kind letter, the rector was of opinion that I should repair by all land, not only as the safest asylum I could fly to, in my present situation, but as a place where I should soon recover e, and be usefully ereed on, and it being at the same time settled between the rector and , I solemnly promised, at his request and desire, to take no kind of notice, afterbeen in any way privy to eneral's letter to him This promise I have faithfully and honorably observed; and should have thought ratitude if I had not observed it, being sensible that, had it been known at Roeneral had been accessary to ht, THE INQUISITION WOULD HAVE RESENTED IT SEVERELY IN BOTH For although a Jesuit in France, in Flanders, or in Gereneral is not; and the high tribunal not only have it in their power to punish the general hie him to inflict what punishment they please on any of the order obnoxious to theht out of town, and in his absence, but not without his privity, I took one of the horses of the college, early nextso a different course, I reached Aire that night and Calais the next day I was there in no danger of being stopped and seized at the prosecution of the Inquisition, a tribunal no less abhorred in France than in England

But being informed that the nuncios at the different courts had been ordered, soon after ht, to cause h which I must pass, as an apostate and deserter fro discovered and apprehended as such even at Calais No sooner, therefore, did I alight at the Inn, than I went down to the quay, and there as I was very little acquainted with the sea, and thought the passage e soht, in one of their suards of the harbor, and I should have been certainly apprehended as a person guilty, or suspected of so froood luck tomy condition, attended me that moment, with all his company, to the port, and conveyed ht, leaving every thing I had but the clothes on my back, in the Inn; and the next day his Lordshi+p set e to London

In the year 1706, the Inquisition at Arragon was broken up by the French troops, under the command of the Duke of Orleans The Holy Inquisitors were driven fronant re wanted the house to quarter his troops in, and they were therefore compelled to leave it immediately