quisitors had obtained from him all they wanted, they left him to his sufferings, without allowing a physician to assist him. After this confession the prisoner was considered penitent, yet recantation was still demanded of him de levi ; if heresy or Judaism was his crime, de ve- hementi ; and when he became reconciled to the Church, in forma, which latter included a free assent to all fur- ther pimishments the Inquisition might yet see fit to inflict on the penitent. After that he was generally condemned to imprisonment for life, or sent to the gal- leys, his possessions sequestered, and his family dishon- ored. Those who confessed and recanted at once were punished only by having to wear for a certain time the sanbenito (q. v.), a frock without sleeves, with a red cross of St. Andrew before and behind, over a black under- frock (comp. Encyclojy. Britan. xii, 390). The penitent (sanbenitado) who laid it aside before the appointed time was considered as nnrepenting; when he had ac- complished his penance, the sanbenito was hung up in the church with a card bearing his name, and a state- ment of his offence. A relapse was punished by death. When the three degrees of torture failed to elicit a con- fession, the accused was put into a worse prison : if this did not succeed, the inquisitors tried the opposite plan : they made the accused comfortable, allowed his family and friends to have access to him, and led him to think that a confession of his fault and profession of repent- ance would procure his pardon. When one suspected of heresy died, or when such suspicion arose after his death, the trial was carried on notwithstanding. If forty years had elapsed between the death of the party and his accusation, his descendants were permitted to remain in their possessions, but were dishonored, and in- capable of holding office. If the remains of the accused coidd be found, they were burnt ; if not, then he was burnt in effigy. When a number of trials were con- cluded, an auto da fe took place, i. e. the condemned were, with great pomp and parade, publicly burnt. See Alto da Fk. A very able article in the Galaxt/ (May, 1870, p. Gil sq.), entitled Ten Yeais in Borne, the reader would do well to examine. It is written by one who has held high office under the present Roman pontiff, and who has enjoyed peculiar advantages for an ex- tended examination of the authentic sources on the sub- ject of the Inquisition. The position of subordinate member of the Inquisition (familiare), whose duties consisted in arresting the accused and taking them to prison, was much sought after, even by members of the highest families, on account of the privileges and indul- gences attached to it. The tribunal of Madrid had branches in the provinces and colonies, each composed of three inquisitors, three secretaries, an alguazil, three receivers and assessors, familiars and jailers. Every one connected with the Inquisition had to submit to the Cusa limpia, i. e. to prove his descent from honorable and orthodox parents, who had never been summoned before the Inquisition, and to take the oath of secrecy. From the details of the proceedings of the inquisito- rial tribunal which we have just enumerated, it clearly follows that " the Inquisition possessed powers which en- abled it effectually to arrest the progress of knowledge, and to crush every attempt which might be made for the reformation of religion and the Church." The ter- rors which Torquemada's tribunal spread by imprison- ment, tortures, etc., not only called forth complaints from the Cortes, but even provoked rebellions, followed by assassinations of the inquisitors (Llorente, i, 187 sq., "ill sq.) ; but it still prosecuted its bloody work. The suspicion of belonging to Judaism or Islamism, of pro- tecting Jews or IVIoors, of practising soothsaying, mag- ic, and blasphemy, caused an endless number of trials. Upon the inquisitor general's advice, all Jews who would not become Christians were compelled (1492) to emi- grate ; a similar fate befell the IMoors (1501). The num- ber of victims, as stated by Llorente, the popular histo- rian of the Inq.iisition, is positively appalling. He af- firms that during the sixteen years of Torquemada's
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tenure of office (1483-1498) nearly 9000 were condemned to the riames, G500 were burned in effigy, and more than 90,000 were subjected to various penalties, besides a still larger number who were reconciled ; " a term which must not be misunderstood by the reader to signify any- thing like a jiardon or amnesty, but only the commuta- tion of a cajiital sentence for inferior penalties, as fines, civil incapacity, very generally total confiscation of prop- erty, and not unfrequently imprisonment for life" (Pres- cott, FercL and Isab. i, 2bS ; comp. also p. 2G7). His suc- cessor, Diego Deza, in eight years (1-199-1506), accord- ing to the same writer, put above 1600 to a similar death. Under the third general inquisitor, Francis Xi- menes de Cisneros (1507-17), 2536 persons were killed, 1368 were burned in effigy, and 47,263 were punished in other ways (Llorente, iv, 252). Not much better are the records of the proceedings of the other successive inquisitors general. M'Crie (Reform, in iSpain, p. 1 09) very rightly asserts that cardinal Ximenes, more than any other inquisitor general, contributed towards riv- eting the chains of political and spiritual despotism of Spain. " Possessed of talents that enabled him to foresee the dire effects which the Inquisition would in- evitably produce, lie was called to take part in public affairs at a time when these effects had decidedly ap- peared. It was in his power to abolish that execrable tribunal altogether as an insufferable nuisance, or at least to impose such checks upon its procedure as would have rendered it comparatively harmless. Vet he not only allowed himself to be placed at its head, but em- ployed all his influence and adilress in defeating every attempt to reform its worst ami most glaring abuses. . . , Ximenes had obtained the title of a great man from foreigners as well as natives of Spain. But in spite of the eidogiums passed upon him, I cannot help being of opinion, with a modern writer, that Ximenes bore a striking resemblance to Philip II, with this difference, that the cardinal was possessed of higher talents, and that his proceedings were characterized by a certain openness and impartiality, the residt of the unlimited confidence which he placed in his own powers. His character was essentially that of a monk, in whom the severity of his order was combined with the impetuos- ity of blood which belongs to the natives of the .'-'o.ith" (p. 110-112). Roman Catholics, of course, loudly pro- test against the credibility of these fearful allegations, assert that Llorente was a violent partisan, and allege that in his worli on the Basque Provinces he had al- ready proved himself a venal and unscrupulous fabrica- tor; but they find it impossible to disprove his acciu-a- cy, and all that can possibly be done we see clearly in the efforts of one of the Catholic critics — Hefele, in his Life of Cardinal Ximenes — who produces many exam- ples of Llorentc's statements which he alleges arc of a contradictory and exaggerated nature. Some Protes- tant historians, of course, fear that Llorente may have been too severe, as is apt to be the case with all apos- tates, anil thus Prescott, in his Ferdinand and Isabella (iii, 467-470), has pointed out many instances similar to those which Hefele produces, and Ranke does not hesi- tate {Fiirsten und Volker des Siidl.Europa.\ i,242) to im- peach his honesty ; Prescott even pronounces his " com- putations greatly exaggerated," and his " estimates most improbable" (iii, 468). Still, with all the deductions which it is possible to make, even Roman Catholics must acknowledge that the working of the Inquisition in Spain, and in its dependencies in the New World too, involves an amount of cruelty which it is impossible to contemplate without horror.