[20] "I myself," says the Rev. Joseph Blanco White, "saw the pile on which the last victim was sacrificed to Roman infallibility. It was an unhappy woman whom the Inquisition of Seville committed to the flames, under the charge of heresy, about forty years ago, (this was written in 1825.) She perished on a spot where thousands had met the same fate. I lament from my heart, that the structure which supported their melting limbs, was destroyed during the late convulsions. It should have been preserved, with the infallible and immutable canon of the Council of Trent over it, for the detestation of future ages."
[21] A copy of this work is to be found in the Franklin Library in Philadelphia.
The horrid procedure of the Inquisition is never calculated to make converts—the punishments inflicted by it encourage hypocrisy—it frequently condemns the innocent—the Inquisitors proved to be actuated by avarice in their condemnation of prisoners—other offences besides heresy taken cognizance of by the Holy Office—its flagrant injustice—its barbarous proceedings against the dead.
Having given a historical sketch of the "Holy Office," falsely so called, more particularly as it exists in Spain, we shall now select several instances, in addition to those which have been already noticed, of the sufferings of individuals, who have unhappily fallen into the hands of the Inquisitors, those declared enemies of humanity.
Notwithstanding all the efforts of the Inquisitors to force their prisoners to accuse themselves, in order to escape a cruel and ignominious death, multitudes have continued steadfast in the truth, and submitted to be "tortured, not accepting deliverance," nay "gave their bodies to be burned," rather than, by a cowardly confession, to accuse themselves unjustly, and wound their own consciences. In proof of this we select the following interesting cases.
In the auto-da-fé which was celebrated at Valladolid in 1559, Don Carlos de Sessa, a nobleman of Verona, was among the number of those who were burnt for having espoused the doctrines of the Reformation. He was arrested at Logrogna, and confined in the secret prisons of the Inquisition at Valladolid. After undergoing the usual examinations, his sentence was read to him on the 7th of October, by which he was informed that he was to suffer death on the following day. Unmoved by the tidings, De Sessa requested pen and ink, and wrote his confession, which was not a recantation of his faith, but a firm adherence to the reformed principles. In these principles,—the very reverse of those which are taught by the apostate Church of Rome,—he declared that he was determined, to die, and would give himself to God through the merits of his Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. His persecutors vehemently exhorted him during the night, and on the following morning, to retract; but without success. He was accordingly gagged, that he might be prevented from stating his principles to the people. When he was fastened to the stake, the gag was taken from his mouth, and he was again exhorted to return to the Romish faith, in which case the Inquisitors would have extended their mercy so far, as to have strangled him first before he was burnt. But with a loud voice, and great firmness, De Sessa replied, "If I had sufficient time, I would convince you, that you are lost, by not following my example. Hasten to light the wood, which is to consume me." Fire was then set to the pile, and, after great suffering, his body was consumed to ashes.