602 
mtended, itshould be transferred to the ca- 
pital. The ministers of religion, monks, 
and their attendants, within many leagues 
of Madrid, being summoned, a solemn 
procession took place on the 30th May, 
for the purpose of proclaiming the ap- 
proaching ceremony, calling on the faith- 
ful to attend, and promising those indul- 
gences which the sovereign pontiffs had 
ordained in their various decrees. The 
following is a literal translation of the 
proclamation which was repeated eight 
times, in different parts, of the city, and 
before the royal family, who were seated 
in a baleony of the alcazar er palace, as 
the procession passed: “ Be it known to 
all the inhabitants of Madrid, and those 
of the neighbouring districis, that the 
Holy Office of the kingdom of Toledo, 
will celebrate a public Auto-de-Fé in the 
Great Square of this city, on the 30th 
June, when all the graces and indul- 
gences granted by the sovereign pontitls, 
will be conceded to those who accom- 
pany and assist at the said Auto: which 
is thus proclaimed that it may come to 
the knowledge of all the faithful.’’ 
While several thousand workmen were 
employed under the direction of an ar- 
chitect especially appointed to prepare 
the amphitheatre, a company of soldiers 
of the Faith were organized, and nearly 
all the Grandees solicited permission to 
act as fumiliars; a privilege allowed 
only. to the purest blood in Spain. 
“Many of the highest nobility,” says 
our author, “ immortalized their names 
by this memorable act of piety; and in 
order that future generations may enjoy 
the consolation of. seeing our age en- 
nobled, that. the present may admire 
‘what those who come after will, without 
doubt, imitate; as also that the ministers 
of the holy tribunal may enjoy the plea- 
sure of witnessing the estimation . in 
-which its rank and dignity is held by the 
most illustrious names ju the universe, 
the names ‘of those who asked the favour 
of being allowed to act as familiars, and 
~ assumed the habit of the Holy Inquisition, 
on this oceasion, are inserted.” Of the 
eighty-five names which follow, a fourth 
were grandeesof the first class, forty counts 
‘and ‘marquesses, and the remainder either 
their immediate heirs or nearest relatives. 
Passing befote the palace, to thesound 
of instruments, and chaunting the Mise- 
rere, the procession moved on to. the 
Brasero, or place of execution, where 
one of the symbols of christianity was 
planted and consecrated on a pedestal 
prepared for its reception. As -to the 
standard and green cross, they were des- 
Blaquiere’s Spain and Spanish Revolution. 
tined to omament the arena of the am- 
phitheatre, to.which the procession went, 
afier quitting the Brasero. 
The procession of the criminals fol- 
lowed that of the crosses and standard : 
they were conducted to the amphitheatre 
to have their respective sentences read: 
this part of the rehearsal, for so it may 
be called,.is compared by the author to 
that which will be seen in the “ tremen- 
dous day of the universal judgment; be- 
cause, if the ignominy of the guilty 
creates horror there, the glory of the just, 
and sovereign majesty of Christ and his 
apestles, who, following the standard and 
cross, assisted by choirs of angels, will 
bend their way to the valley of Jehosa- 
phat, where the Supreme Judge will 
occupy his throne,’ &e. 
_. Although the preparations commenced 
as early as three in the morning of the 
30th, the victims, living and dead, were 
not led forth before seven o'clock; at 
which hour the procession commenced. 
Of the number who graced. this horrible 
triumph, twenty-one were condemned to 
the flames, and thirty-four to be burnt in 
effigy.. There were eleven penitents who 
had abjured the Jewish faith, and fifty- 
four reconciled Israelites, wearing sanbe- 
nitos, and carrying wax tapers. Judging 
from the author's description, the pro- 
cession must have been, at once, one of 
the most magnificent and terrific ever wit- 
nessed in Spain. i 
That part of the amphitheatre appro- 
priated to the royal family and the court, 
was resplendent with gold and silver or- 
naments, displayed on damask, silk and 
velvet draperies of all hues; after having 
exhausted his power of description in 
detailing the other portions of the edi- 
fice, Don Jose del Olmo concludes by 
observing, that it might justly be regarded 
as one of the wonders of the world. 
The sermon being ended, a secretary 
began to read the sentences of those con- 
demned tothe flames: this ceremony 
occupied. the attention of the auditory 
till four. o'clock, when the victims were 
conducted. to the Brasero, under an es- 
cort, and accompanied by the Corregidor 
and Alealdes, appointed to see the sen- 
tences put into execution.. Don Fernan- 
dez Alvarez Valdes, an officer high in the 
sacred. tribunal, followed, to bear testi- 
mony to the.event, When those victims, 
who are described in another account, as 
pale, languid, and woe-begone, the very 
emblems of despair, had been led off, 
the secretaries proceeded with the trials 
and sentences of those convicted of su- 
perstition, sorcery, bigamy, and as impos- 
tors 
