THE SPANISH INQUISITION AS AN ALIENIST. 293 



In the proceedings of the Inquisition torture was so universal 

 a resource in cases of doubt, that its use for the diagnosis of insan- 

 ity need not be a matter of surprise. On October 13th it was duly 

 applied. Benito was brought in and told that if he would not con- 

 fess the truth he would be tortured, to which he replied quietly 

 and earnestly that he had told the truth and was not mad ; he had 

 acted only as a faithful Christian and at the command of the 

 Eternal Father. In the administration of torture the nerve of the 

 patient was tested at every step with adjurations to tell the truth 

 and with promises of mercy — lying promises, for confession would 

 only secure the boon of being garroted before burning. So in 

 this case, at the making out of the sentence of torture, its formal 

 signing, the adjournment to the torture chamber, the stripping of 

 the prisoner, the tying him to the banquillo or trestle, the adjust- 

 ing of the cordeles or sharp cords around each thigh and each 

 upper arm — at every stage he was entreated affectionately (con 

 mucho amor) to tell the truth and save his soul. Benito's resolu- 

 tion was immovable ; to every adjuration his reply was the same 

 — he had told the truth, and the inquisitors were demons. Then 

 the torture began, scientifically graduated, and at every interval 

 came the adjuration and the response. First a single cord around 

 each member, successively tightened and twisted into the flesh, 

 then another and another, until there were six on each limb and 

 the blood was dripping from them all — in spite of the universal 

 rule that torture was never to be carried so far as to cause effusion 

 of blood. The official report of the examination minutely records 

 his shrieks and groans and writhings, his fruitless prayer for 

 water, his despairing appeals to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, his cries 

 that he is dying, and through it all his unvarying response that 

 he had told the truth and that the inquisitors were demons — an 

 assertion which he once offered to prove if they would give him a 

 Bible. When the capacity of the cordeles to inflict increased tor- 

 ment was exhausted he was threatened with the rack, but to no 

 purpose. It was made ready and he was stretched on it, but this 

 augmentation of agony was fruitless. His resolution was uncon- 

 querable, and at last his wearied judges ordered him to be untied, 

 still threatening him with a continuation of the infliction if he 

 would not tell the truth. Exhausted nature could do no more ; 

 with a final ejaculation that he had told the truth, for they were 

 demons, he sank motionless and remained silent. 



For three unbroken hours the torture had lasted, and the in- 

 quisitors said that it was too late for more that day, so they sus- 

 pended it, warning him that they were not satisfied, and that it 

 would be resumed if he did not tell the truth. He was carried 

 back to his cell, and two days later was brought before the tribu- 

 nal again. Even in the pitiless secular criminal legislation of the 



