Bluquiere’s Spain and Spanish Revalution 
of heaven, was the pretext for tampering 
with the soldiery, some of whom were 
even bribed to aid in the projected trea- 
son. 
The decree for convoking the Cortes, 
published on the day of Ferdinand’s ad- 
hesion, was followed. by. preparations for 
the election, of representatives, who were 
chosen soon,after.. Most uf the Members 
had reached,this by the end of June, and 
when [ arrived here, were anxiously wait- 
ing for the august ceremony already 
described, yh 
| THE INQUISITION. 
The principles on which the newly 
modelled: tribunal was to be conducted 
were laid down in the edict of denun- 
ciation, which. required. the faithful, on 
pain. of excommunication, and other 
punishments,,to give immediate infor- 
mation against their very parents, near- 
est relatives and friends, of any deviation 
from the puerile and absurd prohibitions, 
contained. in this monument of human 
ignorance and depravity. The Manual of 
Eymeric had. previously regulated thz 
mode. of trial and punishment; so that 
the inquisitors had little more to do than 
give a loose to their thirst for blood : how 
well they fulfilled the wishes of his holi- 
hess, Pius [V., twenty thousand victims, 
who either perished in the flames, or were 
given up to other penalties, during the 
first two or three years of the establish- 
ment, is the best proof.” 
_ After describing the. terror spread 
throughout Andalusia, when the inqui- 
sitors began their operations at Seville, 
by enjoining the instant return of all 
those who had fled at their approach; 
and alluding to the place of execution, at 
the gates of that city,t Llorente asks, 
‘« who will dare assert that such. punish- 
ments for mere alleged errors of the un- 
derstanding were conformable to the 
spirit of the. gospel?’?.. Amongst the 
important services rendered by the his- 
torian of the Holy Office, he. has. most 
effectually exonerated the people of Spain 
* The victims condemned at Seville were 
independent of those’ who suffered in Ara- 
gon, where the| proceedings of the Holy 
Olfice had not experienced any inter- 
Taption. t 
+ This spot, was called El Quemadero, 
or burning-place. It was ornamented with 
four statues, representing prophets :. ac- 
cording to some writers, the. victims. were 
bound to these figures ; while others assert 
them to have been merely enclosed in the 
arena, and guards placed round it, to pre- 
vent their escape. 
599 
and their representatives, from having, in 
the smallest degree, contributed to, or 
countenanced its establishment. His 
statements relative to the tumults which 
occurred in Aragon and Castile, soon 
after the nomination of Torquemada,t as 
well as the formal remonstrances of the 
Cortes of Valladolid and Zaragoza, in 
1518 and 1523, are conclusive on this 
subject. It is also evident, that Isabella 
was led into sanctioning the measures 
proposed, by the emissaries of Pius IV., 
in the first instance through fear. 
That neither the opposition of the 
people and Cortes, the scruples of the 
Queen, or the letter addressed to the 
inquisitors by Charles V. in 1521, pro- 
duced any effect, appears from their sub- 
sequent proceedings; in the course of 
which not less than 340,000 human 
beings were either consumed at the stake, 
or consigned to perpetual imprisonment, 
and other severe penalties, 
To form a judgment on the undeviating 
constancy with which the inquisitors pur- 
sued their course, it is only necessary to 
glance at the pages of the * Critical His- 
tory,” in which the author has stated all 
that is necessary to be known of the Holy 
Office. A few examples selected from his 
interesting volumes, and from those other 
writers whose testimonies have been con- 
firmed by the living historian, may not be 
without some share of interest, and will 
have the effect of confirming my previous 
conclusions. 
In order that the converts to Luther's 
doctrines might be terrified into an ad- 
herence to the catholic faith, two, grand 
Auto-de-Fes were celebrated at Valladolid 
in 1559. Don Carlos, the presumptive 
heir to the throne, and the Princess Juana, 
his aunt, who was left as Regent during 
the absence of Philip, were present at 
that held on the 2lst of May: it was 
t It has been long thought in Spain, that 
Torquemada was the first inquisitor-gene- 
ral; Llorente has rectified this error, by 
giving the names of the two inquisitors of 
Castile: two monks, named San Martin, 
and Morillo: It was not till February, 
1482, that Tomas de Torquemada received 
his appointment: so that this. minister of 
vengeance found the Holy Office organized, 
and all the prisons full of victims, on his 
assuming its direction. ‘Torquemada ‘was 
prior of a Dominican convent, and con- 
fessor to Ferdinand. The number of those 
who suffered from persecution, during the 
first eighteen years of the inquisition, 
while he filled his station in it, amounted 
to 105,291; of whont 8800 were burnt in 
person, and 6500 in effigy. ~ 
also 
