I was so surprised, that I was unable to answer their compliments: which one of the ladies perceiving, said, "Madam, the solitude of this place will affect you in the beginning, but whenever you begin to feel the pleasures and amus.e.m.e.nts you may enjoy, you will quit those pensive thoughts. We, at present, beg the honour of you to dine with us to-day, and henceforward three days in a week." I returned them suitable thanks in general terms, and so went to dinner, in which the most exquisite and savoury dishes, of various kinds, were served up with the most delicate and pleasant fruits and sweetmeats. The room was long, with two tables on each side, and a third in the front. I reckoned fifty-two young ladies, the eldest not exceeding twenty-four years of age. There were five maid-servants besides Mary, to wait upon us; but Mary confined her attention to me alone. After dinner we retired to a capacious gallery, where they played on musical instruments, a few diverted themselves with cards, and the rest amused themselves with walking about. Mary, at length, entered the gallery, and said, ladies, this is a day of recreation, and so you may go into whatever rooms you please till eight o"clock in the evening.
They unanimously agreed to adjourn to my apartment. Here we found a most elegant cold collation, of which all the ladies partook, and pa.s.sed the time in innocent conversation and harmless mirth; but none mentioned a word concerning the inquisition, or the holy fathers, or gave the least distant hint concerning the cause of their confinement.
At eight o"clock Mary rang a bell, which was a signal for all to retire to their respective apartments, and I was conducted to the chamber of Don Francisco, where I slept. The next morning Mary brought me a richer dress than any I had yet had; and as soon as I retired to my apartment, all the ladies came to wish me good-morning, dressed much richer than the preceding day. We pa.s.sed the time till eight o"clock in the evening, in much the same manner as we had done the day before. At that time the bell rang, the separation took place, and I was conducted to Don Francisco"s chamber. The next morning I had a garment richer than the last, and they accosted me in apparel still more sumptuous than before.
The transactions of the two former days were repeated on the third, and the evening concluded in a similar manner.
On the fourth morning Mary came into Don Francisco"s chamber and told me I must immediately rise, for a lady wanted me in her own chamber. She spoke with a kind of authority which surprised me; but as Don Francisco did not speak a syllable, I got up and obeyed. Mary then conveyed me into a dismal dungeon, not eight feet in length; and said sternly to me, This is your room, and this lady your bed-fellow and companion. At which words she bounced out of the room, and left me in the utmost consternation.
After remaining a considerable time in the most dreadful agonies tears came to my relief, and I exclaimed, "What is this place, dear lady! Is it a scene of enchantment, or is it a h.e.l.l upon earth! Alas! I have lost my honour and my soul forever!"
The lady took me by the hand, and said in a sympathizing tone of voice, "Dear sister, (for this is the name I shall henceforth give you) forbear to cry and grieve, for you can do nothing by such an extravagant behaviour, but draw upon yourself a cruel death. Your misfortunes, and those of all the ladies you have seen, are exactly of a piece, you suffer nothing but what we have suffered before you; but we dare not show our grief, for fear of greater evils. Pray take courage, and hope in G.o.d, for he will surely deliver us from this h.e.l.lish place; but be sure you discover no uneasiness before Mary, who is the only instrument either of our torments or comfort. Have patience until we go to bed, and then I will venture to tell you more of the matter."
My perplexity and vexation were inexpressible: but my new companion, whose name was Leonora, prevailed on me to disguise my uneasiness from Mary. I dissembled tolerably well when she came to bring our dinners, but could not help remarking, in my own mind, the difference between this repast, and those I had before partook of. This consisted only of plain, common food, and of that a scanty allowance, with one plate, and one knife and fork for us both, which she took away as soon as we had dined.
When we were in bed, Leonora was as good as her word; and upon my solemn promise of secrecy thus began to open her mind to me.
"My dear sister, you think your case very hard, but I a.s.sure you all the ladies in the house have gone through the same. In time, you will know all their stories, as they hope to know yours. I suppose Mary has been the chief instrument of your fright, as she has been of ours; and I warrant she has shown you some horrible places, though not all; and that, at the very thought of them you were so terrified, that you chose the same way we have done to redeem yourself from death. By what hath happened to us, we know that Don Francisco hath been your Nero, your tyrant; for the three colours of our clothes are the distinguishing tokens of the three holy fathers. The red silk belongs to Don Francisco, the blue to Don Guerrero, and the green to Don Aliga; and they always give those colours (after the farce of changing garments and the short-lived recreations are over) to those ladies whom they bring here for their respective uses.
"We are strictly commanded to express all the demonstrations of joy, and to be very merry for three days, when a young lady first comes amongst us, as we did with you, and as you must now do with others. But afterward we live like the most wretched prisoners, without seeing any body but Mary, and the other maid-servants, over whom Mary hath a kind of superiority, for she acts as housekeeper. We all dine in the great hall three days in a week; and when any one of the inquisitors hath a mind for one of his slaves, Mary comes about nine o"clock, and leads her to his apartment.
"Some nights Mary leaves the doors of our chambers open, and that is a token that one of the inquisitors hath a mind to come that night; but he comes so silent that we are ignorant whether he is our patron or not. If one of us happens to be with child, she is removed into a better chamber till she is delivered; but during the whole of her pregnancy, she never sees any body but the person appointed to attend her.
"As soon as the child is born it is taken away, and carried we know not whither; for we never hear a syllable mentioned about it afterward. I have been in this house six years, was not fourteen when the officers took me from my father"s house, and have had one child. There are, at this present time, fifty-two young ladies in the house; but we annually lose six or eight, though we know not what becomes of them, or whither they are sent. This, however, does not diminish our number, for new ones are always brought in to supply the place of those who are removed from hence; and I remember, at one time, to have seen seventy-three ladies here together. Our continual torment is to reflect that when they are tired of any of the ladies, they certainly put to death those they pretend to send away; for it is natural to think, that they have too much policy to suffer their atrocious and infernal villanies to be discovered, by enlarging them. Hence our situation is miserable indeed, and we have only to pray that the Almighty will pardon those crimes which we are compelled to commit. Therefore, my dear sister, arm yourself with patience, for that is the only palliative to give you comfort, and put a firm confidence in the providence of Almighty G.o.d."
This discourse of Leonora greatly affected me; but I found everything to be as she told me, in the course of time, and I took care to appear as cheerful as possible before Mary. In this manner I continued eighteen months, during which time eleven ladies were taken from the house; but in lieu of them we got nineteen new ones, which made our number just sixty, at the time we were so happily relieved by the French officers, and providentially restored to the joys of society, and to the arms of our parents and friends. On that happy day, the door of my dungeon was opened by the gentleman who is now my husband, and who with the utmost expedition, sent both Leonora and me to his father"s; and (soon after the campaign was over) when he returned home, he thought proper to make me his wife, in which situation I enjoy a recompense for all the miseries I before suffered.
From the foregoing narrative it is evident, that the inquisitors are a set of libidinous villains, lost to every just idea of religion, and totally dest.i.tute of humanity. Those who possess wealth, beauty, or liberal sentiments, are sure to find enemies in them. Avarice, l.u.s.t, and prejudice, are their ruling pa.s.sions; and they sacrifice every law, human and divine, to gratify their predominant desire. Their supposed piety is affectation; their pretended compa.s.sion hypocrisy; their justice depends on their will: and their equitable punishments are founded on their prejudices. None are secure from them, all ranks fall equally victims to their pride, their power, their avarice, or their aversion.
Some may suggest, that it is strange crowned heads and eminent n.o.bles, have not attempted to crush the power of the inquisition, and reduce the authority of those ecclesiastical tyrants, from whose merciless fangs neither their families nor themselves are secure.
But astonishing as it is, superst.i.tion hath, in this case, always overcome common sense, and custom operated against reason. One prince, indeed, intended to abolish the inquisition, but he lost his life before he became king, and consequently before he had the power so to do; for the very intimation of his design procured his destruction.
This was that amiable prince Don Carlos, son of Philip the Second, king of Spain, and grandson of the celebrated emperor Charles V. Don Carlos, possessed all the good qualities of his grandfather without any of the bad ones of his father; and was a prince of great vivacity, admirable learning, and the most amiable disposition.--He had sense enough to see into the errors of popery, and abhorred the very name of the inquisition. He inveighed publicly against the inst.i.tution, ridiculed the affected piety of the inquisitors, did all he could to expose their atrocious deeds, end even declared, that if he ever came to the crown, he would abolish the inquisition, and exterminate its agents.
These things were sufficient to irritate the inquisitors against the prince: they, accordingly, bent their minds to vengeance, and determined on his destruction.
The inquisitors now employed all their agents and emissaries to spread abroad the most artful insinuations against the prince; and, at length, raised such a spirit of discontent among the people, that the king was under the necessity of removing Don Carlos from court. Not content with this, they pursued even his friends, and obliged the king likewise to banish Don John, duke of Austria, his own brother, and consequently uncle to the prince; together with the prince of Parma, nephew to the king, and cousin to the prince, because they well knew that both the duke of Austria, and the prince of Parma, had a most sincere and inviolable attachment to Don Carlos.
Some few years after, the prince having shown great lenity and favour to the protestants in the Netherlands, the inquisition loudly exclaimed against him, declaring, that as the persons in question were heretics, the prince himself must necessarily be one, since he gave them countenance. In short, they gained so great an ascendency over the mind of the king, who was absolutely a slave to superst.i.tion, that, shocking to relate, he sacrificed the feelings of nature to the force of bigotry, and, for fear of incurring the anger of the inquisition, gave up his only son, pa.s.sing the sentence of death on him himself.
The prince, indeed, had what was termed an indulgence; that is, he was permitted to choose the manner of his death. Roman like, the unfortunate young hero chose bleeding and the hot bath; when the veins of his arms and legs being opened, he expired gradually, falling a martyr to the malice of the inquisitors, and the stupid bigotry of his father.
_The Persecution of Dr. aegidio._
Dr. aegidio was educated at the university of Alcala, where he took his several degrees, and particularly applied himself to the study of the sacred scriptures and school divinity. The professor of theology dying, he was elected into his place, and acted so much to the satisfaction of every one, that his reputation for learning and piety was circulated throughout Europe.
aegidio, however, had his enemies, and these laid a complaint against him to the inquisitors, who sent him a citation, and when he appeared to it, cast him into a dungeon.
As the greatest part of those who belonged to the cathedral church at Seville, and many persons belonging to the bishopric of Dortois highly approved of the doctrines of aegidio, which they thought perfectly consonant with true religion, they pet.i.tioned the emperor in his behalf.
Though the monarch had been educated a Roman catholic, he had too much sense to be a bigot, and therefore sent an immediate order for his enlargement.
He soon after visited the church of Valladolid, did every thing he could to promote the cause of religion, and returning home he soon after fell sick, and died in an extreme old age.
The inquisitors having been disappointed of gratifying their malice against him while living, determined (as the emperor"s whole thoughts were engrossed by a military expedition) to wreak their vengeance on him when dead. Therefore, soon after he was buried, they ordered his remains to be dug out of the grave; and a legal process being carried on, they were condemned to be burnt, which was executed accordingly.
_The Persecution of Dr. Constantine._
Dr. Constantine, an intimate acquaintance of the already mentioned Dr.
aegidio, was a man of uncommon natural abilities and profound learning; exclusive of several modern tongues, he was acquainted with the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages, and perfectly well knew not only the sciences called abstruse, but those arts which come under the denomination of polite literature.
His eloquence rendered him pleasing, and the soundness of his doctrines a profitable preacher; and he was so popular, that he never preached but to a crowded audience. He had many opportunities of rising in the church, but never would take advantage of them; for if a living of greater value than his own was offered him, he would refuse it, saying, I am content with what I have; and he frequently preached so forcibly against simony, that many of his superiors, who were not so delicate upon the subject, took umbrage at his doctrines upon that head.
Having been fully confirmed in protestantism by Dr. aegidio, he preached boldly such doctrines only as were agreeable to gospel purity, and uncontaminated by the errors which had at various times crept into the Romish church. For these reasons he had many enemies among the Roman catholics, and some of them were fully determined on his destruction.
A worthy gentleman named Scobaria, having erected a school for divinity lectures, appointed Dr. Constantine to be reader therein. He immediately undertook the task, and read lectures, by portions, on the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Canticles; and was beginning to expound the book of Job, when he was seized by the inquisitors.
Being brought to examination, he answered with such precaution that they could not find any explicit charge against him, but remained doubtful in what manner to proceed, when the following circ.u.mstances occurred to determine them.
Dr. Constantine had deposited with a woman named Isabella Martin several books, which to him were very valuable, but which he knew, in the eyes of the inquisition, were exceptionable.
This woman having been informed against as a protestant, was apprehended, and, after a small process, her goods were ordered to be confiscated. Previous, however, to the officers coming to her house, the woman"s son had removed away several chests full of the most valuable articles; and among these were Dr. Constantine"s books.
A treacherous servant giving intelligence of this to the inquisitors, an officer was despatched to the son to demand the chests. The son, supposing the officer only came for Constantine"s books, said, I know what you come for, and I will fetch them to you immediately. He then fetched Dr. Constantine"s books and papers, when the officer was greatly surprised to find what he did not look for. He, however, told the young man, that he was glad these books and papers were produced, but nevertheless he must fulfil the end of his commission, which was, to carry him and the goods he had embezzled before the inquisitors, which he did accordingly; for the young man knew it would be in vain to expostulate, or resist, and therefore quietly submitted to his fate.
The inquisitors being thus possessed of Constantine"s books and writings, now found matter sufficient to form charges against him. When he was brought to a re-examination, they presented one of his papers, and asked him if he knew the hand writing! Perceiving it was his own, he guessed the whole matter, confessed the writing, and justified the doctrine it contained: saying, "In that, and all my other writings, I have never departed from the truth of the gospel, but have always kept in view the pure precepts of Christ, as he delivered them to mankind."
After being detained upwards of two years in prison, Dr. Constantine was seized with a b.l.o.o.d.y flux, which put an end to his miseries in this world. The process, however, was carried on against his body, which, at the ensuing auto de fe, was publicly burnt.
_The Life of William Gardiner._
William Gardiner was born at Bristol, received a tolerable education, and was, at a proper age, placed under the care of a merchant, named Paget.
At the age of twenty-six years, he was, by his master, sent to Lisbon, to act as factor. Here he applied himself to the study of the Portuguese language, executed his business with a.s.siduity and despatch, and behaved with the most engaging affability to all persons with whom he had the least concern. He conversed privately with a few, whom he knew to be zealous protestants; and, at the same time cautiously avoided giving the least offence to any who were Roman catholics; he had not, however, hitherto gone into any of the popish churches.
A marriage being concluded between the king of Portugal"s son, and the Infanta of Spain, upon the wedding-day the bride-groom, bride, and the whole court went to the cathedral church, attended by mult.i.tudes of all ranks of people, and among the rest William Gardiner who stayed during the whole ceremony, and was greatly shocked at the superst.i.tions he saw.
The erroneous worship which he had seen ran strongly in his mind, he was miserable to see a whole country sunk into such idolatry, when the truth of the gospel might be so easily obtained. He, therefore, took the inconsiderate, though laudable design, into his head, of making a reform in Portugal, or perishing in the attempt; and determined to sacrifice his prudence to his zeal, though he became a martyr upon the occasion.
To this end, he settled all his worldly affairs, paid his debts, closed his books, and consigned over his merchandize. On the ensuing Sunday he went again to the cathedral church, with a New Testament in his hand, and placed himself near the altar.
The king and the court soon appeared, and a cardinal began ma.s.s at that part of the ceremony in which the people adore the wafer, Gardiner could hold out no longer, but springing towards the cardinal, he s.n.a.t.c.hed the host from him, and trampled it under his feet.
This action amazed the whole congregation, and one person drawing a dagger, wounded Gardiner in the shoulder, and would, by repeating the blow, have finished him, had not the king called to him to desist.
Gardiner, being carried before the king, the monarch asked him what countryman he was: to which he replied, I am an Englishman by birth, a protestant by religion, and a merchant by occupation. What I have done is not out of contempt to your royal person, G.o.d forbid it should, but out of an honest indignation, to see the ridiculous superst.i.tions and gross idolatries practised here.