ble of contents at the beginning, as if to ascertain the full extent of the evil. He then composed himself to read, while I continued to write. He turned over the pages with rapidity, and when he came to a certain place, he exclaimed in the broad Italian accent, Mendacium, Mendacium.' I requested he would mark those passages which were untrue, and we should discuss them afterwards, for that I had other books on the subject. "Other books,' said he, and he looked with an inquiring eye to those on the table. He continued reading till it was time to retire to rest, and then begged to take the book with him.

"It was on this night that a circumstance happened which caused my first alarm at Goa. My servants slept every night at my chamber door, in the long gallery which is common to all the apartments, and not far distant from the servants of the convent. About midnight I was waked by loud shrieks and expressions of terror, from some person in the gallery. In the first moment of surprise I concluded it must be the Alguazils of the holy office, seizing my servants to carry them to the inquisition. But, on going out, I saw my own servants standing at the door, and the person who had caused the alarm (a boy of about fourteen) at a little distance, surrounded by some of the priests, who had come out of their cells on hearing the noise. The boy said he had seen a spectre, and it was a considerable time before the agitations of his body and voice subsided. Next morning at breakfast the inquisitor apologized for the disturbance, and said the boy's alarm proceeded from a 'phantasma animi,' a phantasm of the imagination.

"After breakfast we resumed the subject of the inquisition. The inquisitor admitted that Dellon's descriptions of the dungeons, of the torture, of the mode of trial, and of the Auto da Fe were, in general, just; but he said the writer judged untruly of

the motives of the inquisitors, and very uncharitably of the character of the holy church; and I admitted that, under the pressure of his peculiar suffering, this might possibly be the case. The inquisitor was now anxious to know to what extent Dellon's book. had been circulated in Europe. I told him that Picart had published to the world extracts from it, in his celebrated work called "Religious Ceremonies;" together with plates of the system of torture and burnings at the Auto da Fe. I added that it was now generally believed in Europe that these enormities no longer existed, and that the inquisition itself had been totally suppressed; but that I was concerned to find that this was not the case. He now began a grave narration to shew that the inquisition had undergone a change in some respects, and that its terrors were mitigated."*

The following were the passages in Mr. Dellon's narrative, to which I wished particularly to draw the attention of the inquisitor. Mr D. had been thrown into the inquisition at Goa and confined in a dungeon, ten feet square, where he remained upwards of two years, without seeing any person but the gaoler who brought him his victuals, except when he was brought to his trial,expecting" daily to he brought to the stake. His alledged crime was, charging the inquisition with cruelty, in a conversation he had with a priest at Daman, another part of India.

During the months of November and December, I heard, every morning, the shrieks of the unfortunate victims, who were undergoing the Question. I remembered to have heard, before I was cast into prison, that the Auto da Fe was generally celebrated on the first Sunday in Advent, because on that day is read in the churches that part of the gospel in which mention is made of the last judgment; and the inquisitors pretend by this ceremony to exhibit a lively em blem of that awful event. I was likewise convinced that there were a great number of prisoners, besides myself; the profound silence, which reigned within the walls of the building, having enabled me to count the number of doors which were opened at the hours of meals. However, the first and second Sundays of Advent passed by, without my hearing of any thing, and I prepared to undergo another year of melancholy captivity, when I was aroused from my despair on the 11th of January, by the noise of the guards removing the bars from the door of my prison. The Alcaide presented me with a habit, which he ordered me to put on, and to make myself ready to attend him, when he should come again. Thus saying, he left a lighted lamp in my dungeon. The guards returned about two o'clock in the morning, and led me out into a long gallery, where I found a number of the companions of my fate, drawn up in a rank against a wall: I placed myself among the rest, and several more soon joined the melancholy band. The profound silence and stillness caused them to resemble statues more than the animated bodies of human creatures. The women, who were clothed in a similar manner, were placed in a neighboring gallery, where we could not see them; but I remarked that a number of persons stood by themselves at some distance, attended by others who wore long black dresses, and who walked backwards and forwards occasionally. I did not then know who these were: but I was afterwards informed that the former were the victims who were condemned to be burned, and the others were their confes

sors.

"After we were all ranged against the wall of this gallery, we received each a large wax taper. They then brought us a number of dresses made of yellow

"I had already discovered, from written or printed documents, that the inquisition at Goa was suppressed by royal edict in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, and established again in one thousand seven hundred and seventy-nine. The Franciscan father before mentioned witnessed the annual Auto da Fe, from one thousand seven hundred and seventy, to one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five. "It was the humanity, and

cloth, with the cross of St. Andrew painted before and behind. This is called the San Benito. The relapsed heretics wear another species of robe, called the Sainarra. the ground of which is grey. The portrait of the sufferer is painted upon it, placed upon burning torches with flames and demons all round. Caps were then produced called Carrochas; made of pasteboard, pointed like sugar-loaves, all covered over with devils and flames of fire.

"The great bell of the cathedral began to ring a little before sun-rise, which served as a signal to warn the people of Goa to come and behold the august ceremony of the Auto da Fe: and then they made us proceed from the gallery one by one. I remarked as we passed into the great hall, that the inquisitor was sitting at the door with his secretary by him, and that he delivered every prisoner into the hands of a particular person, who is to be his guard to the place of burning. These persons are called Parrains, or Godfathers. My godfather was the commander of a ship. I went forth with him, and as soon as we were in the street, I saw that the procession was commenced by the Dominican friars; who have this honor, because St. Dominic founded the inquisition. These are followed by the prisoners who walk one after the other, each having his god father by his side, and a lighted taper in his hand. The least guilty go foremost; and as I did not pass for one of them, there were many who took precedence of me. The women were mixed promiscuously with the men. We as walked barefoot, and the sharp stones of the streets of Goa wounded my ten derfeet, and caused the blood to stream; for they made us march through the chief streets of the city: and we were regarded every where by an innumerable crowd of people, who had assembled from all parts of India to behold this spectacle; for the inquisition takes care to announce it long before, in the most remote parishes At length we arrived at the church of St. Francis, which was, for this time, destined for the celebration of the act of faith. On one side of the altar, was the grand inquisitor and his counsellors; and on the other, the vice-roy of Goa and his court. All the prisoners are seated to hear a sermon. I observed that those prisoners who wore the horrible Carrochas came in last in the procession. One of the Augustin monks ascended the pulpit, and preached for a quarter of an hour. The sermon being concluded, two readers went up to the pulpit, one after the other, and read the sentences of the priMy joy was extreme, when I heard that my sentence was not to be burnt, but to be a galley-slave for five years. After the sentences were read, they summoned forth those miserable victims who were destined to be immolated by the holy inquisition. The images of the heretics who had died in prison were brought up at the same time, their bones being contained in small chests, covered with flames and demons. An officer of the secular tribunal now came forward, and seized these unhappy people, after they had each received a slight blow upon the breast from the Alcaide, to intimate that they were abandoned. They were then led away to the bank of the river, where the vice-roy and his court were assembled, and where the faggots had been prepared the preceding day. As soon as they arrive at this place, the condemned persons are asked in what religion they choose to die; and the moment they have replied to the question, the executioner seizes them, and binds them to a stake in the mist of the faggots. The day after the execution, the portraits of the dead are carried to the church of the Dominicans. The heads only are represented, f(which are generally very accurately drawn: for the inquisition keeps excellent limners for the purpose,) surrounded by flames and demons; and underneath is the name and crime of the person who has been burned”Relation de l'Inquisition de Goa, chap. xxiv.

soners.

tender mercy of a good king," said the old father, "which abolished the inquisition." But immediately on his death, the power of the priests acquired the ascendant, under the queen Dowager, and the tribunal was re-established, after a bloodlees interval of five years. It has continued in operation ever since. It was restored in one thousand seven hundred and seventy-nine, subject to certain restric tions, the chief of which are the two following, "That a greater number of witnesses should be required to convict a criminal than were before necessary;" and, "That the Auto da Fe should not be held publicly as before; but that the sentences of the tribunal should be executed privately, within the walls of the inquisition."

In this particular, the constitution of the new inquisition is more reprehensible than that of the old one; for, as the old father expressed it, 'Nunc sigillum non revelat inquisitio.' Formerly the friends of those unfortunate persons who were thrown into its prison, had the melancholy satisfaction of seeing them once a year walking in the procession of the Auto da Fe; or if they were condemned to die, they witnessed their death, and mourned for the dead. But now they have no means of learning for years whether they be dead or alive. The policy of this new code of concealment appears to be this, to preserve the power of the inquisition, and at the same time to lessen the public odium of its proceedings, in the presence of British dominion and civilization. I asked the father his opinion concerning the nature and frequency of the punishments within the walls.. He said he possessed no certain means of giving a satisfactory answer; that every thing transacted there was declared to be 'sacrum et secretum.' But this he knew to be true, that there were constantly captives in the dungeons; that some of them are liberated after long confinement, but that they never speak afterwards of what passed within the place..

He added that, of all the persons he had known, who had been liberated, he never knew one who did not carry about with him what might be called, 'the mark of the inquisition;' that is to say, who did not shew in the solemnity of his countenance, or in his peculiar demeanor, or his terror of the priests, that he had been in that dreadful place.

"The chief argument of the inquisitor to prove the melioration of the inquisition was the superior humanity of the inquisitors. I remarked that I did not doubt the humanity of the existing officers; but what availed humanity in an inquisitor? he must pronounce sentence according to the laws of the tribunal, which are notorious enough; and a relapsed heretic must be burned in the flames, or confined for life in a dungeon, whether the inquisitor be humane or not. But if, said I, you would satisfy my mind completely on this subject, 'shew me the inquisition.' He said it was not permitted to any person to see the inquisition. I observed that mine might be considered as a peculiar case; that the character of the inquisition, and the expediency of its longer continuance had been called in question; that I had myself written on the civilization of India, and might possibly publish something more upon that subject, and that it could not be expected that I should pass over the inquisition without notice, knowing what I did of its proceedings; at the same time I should not wish to state a single fact without his authority, or at least his admission of its truth. I added that he himself had been pleased to communicate with me very fully on the subject, and that in all our discussions we had both been actuated, I hoped, by a good purpose. The countenance of the inquisitor evidently altered on receiving this intimation, nor did it ever after wholly regain its wonted frankness and placidity. After some hesitation, however, he said he would take me with him to the inquisition the next day. I was a good deal surprised at this ac