Chapter D: Castillon (2)

She was then shown a letter beginning with ‘Barcelona, March 20th, 1802,’ and ending with ‘Don Pedro Halegg, Captain in the Regiment of Rutiman,’ that she might examine and identify it, and declare it to have been written by her, or by her direction in her name, and containing the truth.

Answered, that it was the identical one which she had caused to be written by her Father Confessor, and that she attested it for the truth; that she had nothing to add or alter in relation to it, and that she had not made her declarations out of malice or enmity against the abovementioned person, nor from any counsel or instigation on the part of any other person.

Questioned, why she had delayed to denounce these offences to the Holy Office, thereby failing in her obligation to give notice of all such matters immediately upon having knowledge of the same.

Answered, that she wished previously to consult her Father Confessor, and that she obeyed upon receiving his orders.

Questioned, at what time and in what place he made the abovementioned assertions; what persons were present; if he said them more than once, and how many times; whether he spoke in his own language, or quoted others who made the assertions referred to; whether he spoke in jest, in dispute, or in a passion; whether he was accustomed to utter such words; whether he was rebuked by any persons present, and by whom; whether, after being rebuked, he persisted in his assertions, and whether at the time of speaking he was in his right mind, or was insane or drunk.

Answered, that she had already specified the time, and that it happened at her house; that there were present occasionally her husband abovementioned; her brother-in-law, Don Martin Halegg, who resided there, a servant named Francisca Garriga, living in the Callejon de Santa Anna, and who went to be married at Tarragona, but her present place of residence the deponent does not know, and another servant named Antonia, who lives in a lane near La Trinidad Calzada, and is the daughter of a schoolmaster in that lane; that he repeated the above assertions many times, so often that she could not recollect the number; that he spoke affirmatively, and seriously; that she did not think he was accustomed to such talk, as he had not repeated it for more than two months; that he was rebuked several times by the abovementioned persons and the deponent, but took no heed; and that on most of these occasions he was in his right mind, although a few times he was intoxicated.

Questioned, if she knew that any other person had said or done anything which came within the cognizance of the Holy Office.

Answered, No.

Questioned, what was or appeared to be the age of the abovementioned Juan Picar, also his personal appearance and condition.

Answered, that he was about fortyfour years of age, tall, thin, with a light complexion, blue eyes, and red hair; and that he was a soldier in the aforesaid regiment.

The above being read to her, she affirmed it to be recorded conformably to her declaration; that she had nothing to add or alter respecting it, as it was the truth; and that she did not utter it out of malice or ill will against the said Juan Picar, but solely to discharge her conscience. Secrecy was enjoined upon her, which she promised to observe, and added her signature, which I certify.

After the declaration had been read, and before it was signed, the deponent recollected that the abovementioned Juan Picar observed to her husband, that a person, on dying, passed to the other world without suffering any punishment. Also she had been informed by her sister-in-law, Dona Rafaela Reymer, wife of a captain out of service, named Don Joseph Reymer, who lives in the Calle de San Pablo, No. 14, third story, that two officers of the said regiment, the one named Martin Estinause, and the other unknown, uttered blasphemies respecting a figure of Christ.

All which she denounces to the Holy Office in discharge of her conscience, and under the oath of secrecy sworn by her. She added her signature, which I certify.

MARIA BERNARDA HALLEGG. DR ANDRES FERNANDEZ DE LA CUESTA, _Presbyter and Commissary_, CAYETANO TUCO, _Presbyter, Commissary, and Notary_.

* * * * *

MOST ILLUSTRIOUS SIR,

Francisco Prat, Subdeacon, native of Esponella, and a resident in the Seminario del Señor, in the bishopric of Gerona, by counsel and order of the Reverend Juan Salgueda his Confessor, gives information with due respect to your Excellency, of the following matter.

About six months since, in this city, he heard Narcisa Catala y Pinsach, the wife of a Frenchman, and reputed a woman of truth, and a native of Gerona, dwelling in the Mercadal Parish of that city--declare that a Frenchman who was a stocking weaver in the Hospicio of the same city, whose name was Blaqueire, and whose age was about thirty years, had been baptized since he was in Spain, but had prevaricated and embraced some heresy.

Also that a certain Frenchman, named Avi Brich, aged about sixty years, residing in the said city of Gerona, and likewise a stocking weaver in the Hospicio, was a Jew, and the writer of this letter observing that they ought to commune annually, otherwise they would be severely punished, she replied that in order to deceive the spies, he took the sacrament not merely once, but two or three times every year.

Which information I transmit to your Excellency for the necessary end.

Gerona, April 28th, 1791.

FRANCISCO PRAT, _Subdeacon_.

We herewith transmit to the Reverend Juan Salgueda, Presbyter Vicar of the church of the Mercadal of Gerona, the extrajudicial denunciation of Francisco Prat, Subdeacon, a resident in the Episcopal Seminario of that city, and we grant a commission for examining him before another Ecclesiastic as Notary, according to the formula adjoined, No. 1, in order that the denunciation may be attested, and he may affirm, under oath, that it is his, written and signed by him, and its contents true, as also whether he has anything to add or alter respecting it, and from what motive the said Narcisa Catala y Pinsach made the charges in question against the two Frenchmen.

Having taken the deposition of Francisco Prat, you will take the occasion and methods the most cautious and opportune to examine before the same Notary, and according to the formula No. 2, the said Narcisa Catala y Pinsach, respecting the matters referred to by Francisco Prat, taking care not to mention to her the name of this person, nor the names of the Frenchmen accused, inasmuch as she will state them herself should her testimony corroborate the charge, in which case she will specify the name, occupation, country, residence, age, and personal appearance of each individual. Also if she knows whether one of them has been baptized in Spain, when, in what Parish, and what heresy he embraced afterwards. Also what reason she has for saying that one of them is a Jew, and in order to deceive the spies, takes the communion not merely once, but two or three times a year. You will also question her whether she has heard or understood anything from these two Frenchmen or others, which is, or appears to be, contrary to our Holy Catholic Faith, or within the cognisance of the Holy Office, in which case she must declare whatever she knows, with the utmost clearness and perspicuity.

These investigations being completed, you will forward the proceedings to us, returning also all the papers. Our Lord preserve you.

Royal Palace of the Inquisition of Barcelona, June 11th, 1791.

The Licentiate, DON MANUEL DE MERRA Y PANIAGUA. DR DON PEDRO DIAZ DE VALDES. JUAN ANTONIO ALMONACID, _Secretary_.

* * * * *

In the city of Gerona, Principality of Catalonia on the thirtieth day of June, one thousand seven hundred and ninetyone, before us, Juan Salgueda, Presbyter Vicar of the Mercadal and Commissary of the Holy Office for this investigation, and Dr Marcial Llistorella, Presbyter Notary, sworn to preserve secrecy, and perform faithfully our duties, appeared according to summons, and made oath to declare the truth and preserve secrecy, a person calling himself Francisco Prat, Subdeacon of the village of Esponella in the bishopric of Gerona, aged twentyeight years.

Questioned, if he knew or conjectured the cause of his being summoned to appear.

Answered, that he supposed it to be on account of a denunciation he had made, respecting something he had heard from Narcisa Catala y Pinsach.

He was then informed that a letter had been received in this Holy Office, which appeared to be from him, which letter began with ‘Francisco Prat, Subdeacon,’ and ended with ‘for the necessary ends.’ This letter was then produced, when he recognised it, and declared it to be the one which he wrote to the Tribunal, and that its contents were true.

Questioned, if he had anything to add thereto.

Answered, that in the conversation referred to, the abovementioned Narcisa Catala y Pinsach stated that some other Frenchmen abused the said Francisco Blaqueire on account of his prevarication respecting our religion, and that this happened in her house. Also, (but of this he is not certain) he believed she declared that the father and brother of the said Blaqueire who reside in Montagut or Tortella, in the bishopric of Gerona, refused to live with him by reason of his baptism, and that they had not been baptized; at any rate she said something respecting this.

Furthermore he had been told by Maria, the sister of the aforesaid Narcisa Pinsach, that Francisco Brich was a Jew. This she told the deponent in his own house; the like assertion he had heard from some of the common people, but did not recollect whom.

Questioned, what gave rise to the aforesaid conversation; why the charges were made; and seeing that it was his duty to oppose and denounce such matters, why he waited six months before he gave information.

Answered, that he chanced to remark, while waiting for the husband of the said Narcisa Pinsach, that the abovenamed Brich appeared to be an honest man, to which she replied that he was not, when the rest of the assertions followed; that the charges were made in compliance with the dictates of his conscience; and that he had spoken of the matter before, but had been told that it was women’s tattle.

Questioned, what was the appearance of the persons in question.

Answered, that he had no knowledge of Francisco Blaqueire; and that the said Brich is a man of middling stature, corpulent, somewhat florid, and of a pacific temper; and that he knew nothing of his birthplace, except that he was a Frenchman.

The above is the truth according to the oath of the deponent, who has not made this declaration out of malice or ill will, but solely in discharge of his conscience; he declared that it was correctly recorded, and signed it in the city of Gerona, on the first day of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninetyone.

FRANCISCO PRAT, _Subdeacon_.

Before me--

DR MARCIAL LLISTORELLA, _Presbyter Notary_.

In the city of Gerona, on the second day of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninetyone, before us, Juan Salgueda, Presbyter, Vicar of the Mercadal of Gerona, and Commissary of the Holy Office, and Dr Marcial Llistorella, Presbyter Notary, sworn to preserve secrecy and perform faithfully our duties, appeared, according to summons, and made oath to declare the truth and preserve secrecy, Narcisa Catala y Pinsach, wife of Joseph Fabrega, commonly called Catala, stocking weaver, a native and inhabitant of Gerona, of age, as she stated, twentyeight years.

Questioned, if she knew the cause of her being summoned to appear.

Answered, No.

Questioned, if she knew that any person had said or done anything which was, or appeared to be contrary to our Holy Catholic Faith, and Evangelical Law.

Answered, that she had been told that Francisco Brich, _alias_ Lo Avi Brich, and Francisco Blaqueire, stocking weavers, in the Hospicio of this city, were Protestants; and that the said Blaqueire had been baptized since his residence in Spain, but she knew not in what Parish. Also, that he could not live with his parents because they were Protestants. His parents live in France.

Questioned, if she knew whether the said Blaqueire had embraced any heresy.

Answered, that she only knew he was a Protestant, according as she was informed by her mother, now dead, who asserted that she was unwilling to let her other daughter marry the said Blaqueire because he was a Protestant. The same assertion she has heard from many other persons; she could not remember whom, but believed they were people of the vulgar sort.

Questioned, if she had told this to any other person.

Answered, that what had been told her, she had told to others, but to whom she could not say.

Here closed the deposition of the second of July, and on the fourth of the same month, the said Narcisa Fabra Catala y Pinsach appeared again.

Questioned, if she had anything to add to the declaration which she had made against Francisco Blaqueire.

Answered, No.

Questioned, what was the personal appearance of this man.

Answered, that he was about thirty years of age, of a moderate stature, and corpulent; that she did not know his birthplace, only that he was a Frenchman; that he was desirous of marrying, and that he was a stocking weaver, but in what factory he worked she did not know.

Questioned, why she supposed the abovenamed Brich to be a Protestant.

Answered, that she did not know it for certain, but had heard of it in the same manner in which she learned the history of Francisco Blaqueire, and that perhaps she had told it to others.

She was then informed that information had been received and sworn to in the Holy Office, that in a certain conversation a certain person observed that Avi Brich appeared to be an honest man, to which she replied, ‘He is not an honest man, but a Jew.’ And it being remarked that in Spain they must confess and partake of the communion once in each year, she replied, that in order to deceive the spies, they did this not merely once, but two or three times a year.

Therefore, in the name of God Our Lord and his Glorious and Blessed Mother Our Lady the Virgin, she was exhorted to bethink herself and declare the whole truth.

Answered, that she did not remember to have said so, but had heard say that if he had died in the Hospital, where he lay very sick about two years, he would not have been buried in consecrated grounds. At present she could not recollect who made this assertion, but she believed they were Frenchmen.

Questioned, what was his age and personal appearance.

Answered, she had known him about six years; that he was of a middling stature, corpulent, of a pacific temper, and above fifty years old; that she knew not his birthplace, but only that he was a Frenchman, and resided in the parish of the Mercadal of Gerona.

Questioned, if she knew anything of any other person which was contrary to our Faith.

Answered, that she had been told by Dona Manuela de Rodil, that Monsieur Daniel, a Frenchman, living in the parish of the Mercadal, possessed a mirror, which, on looking into it, exhibited the figures of devils. Also, she had heard, from the vulgar, that he and his wife were not Christians. Furthermore, she had been told by a certain Mallensa, a French woman, that a certain Luis in her house was a Protestant, but she believed this was said from hatred, and in order to get him out of the house. Finally, she remembered to have heard that one of the sons, Francisco Brich, now in France, was a Protestant. Who made this assertion she could not tell.

The above is the truth according to the oath of the deponent, who has not uttered it out of malice or ill will, but solely to discharge her conscience; and having been read, she declared that it was correctly recorded.

Done at Gerona on the fourth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninetytwo.

The said Narcisa Catala Fabre y Pinsach not being able to write, I sign the above.

JUAN SALGUEDA, _Presbyter, &c._

Before me--

DR MARCIAL LLISTORELLA, _Presbyter, Notary in this Investigation_.

* * * * *

MOST ILLUSTRIOUS SIR,

Being in company with Juan Bautista Viada, mason, on the twelfth day of the present month, and discoursing of sermons upon the state of the soul, I am very confident that he made this remark; that he had heard sundry persons declare they believed nothing about hell or purgatory, but as for himself, he believed. Which information I give your Excellency in obedience to the dictates of my conscience.

Mataro, November 17th, 1819.

Your most humble servant, FRANCH. PLANA, Carpenter.

On the road beyond the gate of Batlleix.[21]

* * * * *

Let a commission be expedited for the examination of the above letter.

* * * * *

To the Reverend Father Pedro Martir de S. Vicente, Capuchin and Ex Lecturer of his order.

We hereby grant you a commission to summon before you, and another ecclesiastic to act as Notary, first swearing secrecy, Francisco de Asis Plana, carpenter, residing opposite the gate of Batlleix of this city. You will subject him to a regular examination respecting a letter of his which is herewith enclosed, and exact an oath from him that the letter is his, written by himself and its contents true. You will ascertain whether he has anything to add or alter respecting it, and after four days you will ratify the same _ad perpetuam_, in the presence of two other ecclesiastics sworn to secrecy. In the same manner you will proceed to take separately the depositions of Juan Bautista Viada, mason, and of the other persons whom he states were present when the speeches in question were uttered; these depositions to be also ratified. You will not omit to question him who these persons were, according to the regular form. You will note in the margin of the paper which shall contain the depositions, the degree of credit which they deserve; and you will also transmit, separately, an account of the lives, character, and behaviour of the persons denounced. With these you will return this commission and the other papers. God preserve you many years.

Royal Palace of the Inquisition of Barcelona, December 18th, 1819.

DR DON JOSE LLOZER.

The Licentiate,

DON SANTO DE BASARRATE. D. D. JUAN DE CALVA Y MARTI, _Sec’y._

* * * * *

In the city of Mataro, bishopric of Barcelona, on the twentyeighth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, before Father Pedro Martir de San Vicente, Presbyter and Commissary, specially appointed in virtue of a commission to this effect, and before me, P. Bernardino de Barcelona, Presbyter Notary, having sworn to preserve secrecy and perform faithfully our duties, appeared voluntarily and made oath in the name of God our Lord, with the sign of the cross, to declare the truth and preserve secrecy, with respect to everything demanded of him which he knew, a person calling himself Francisco de Asis Plana, carpenter, aged fiftyseven years.

Questioned, if he knew or conjectured the cause of his being summoned to appear by the Holy Office.

Answered, Yes.

Questioned, if he had written, or caused to be written at any time, a letter to the Tribunal of the Inquisition, giving an account of some crime within his knowledge, and who was the person to whom he referred.

Answered, that he had written a letter against Juan Bautista Viada, mason. The letter was then exhibited and the first clause of it read, when the deponent declared it to be his, and that its contents were true.

Questioned, if he had anything to add or alter in the said letter.

Answered, that if it were not for the apprehension of falling into an error, he should alter, ‘I am confident,’ to ‘I am certain.’

Questioned, if there were other persons present when Juan Bautista Viada made the assertions in question.

Answered, No.

Questioned, if he knew that any other person had said or done anything which came under the cognizance of the Holy Office.

Answered, No.

Questioned, what was the age, appearance, and habitation of the person denounced.

Answered, that he was about fiftysix years old, and lived in the Calle de Argentona, in Mataro.

The above having been read to the deponent was declared by him to be correctly recorded. He stated further that he had nothing to add or alter respecting it; and that he did not make the declarations therein contained, out of malice, but solely from conscientious motives. Secrecy was enjoined upon him, which he promised, and added his signature.

FRANCISCO DE ASIS PLANA.

FR. PEDRO MARTIR DE SAN VICENTE, _Presbyter Capuchin_.

Before me--

P. BERNARDINO DE BARCELONA, _Presbyter, Notary, and Commissary, appointed for this Purpose_.

* * * * *

In the city of Mataro, bishopric of Barcelona, on the sixteenth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and twenty, before Father Pedro Martir de San Vicente, Presbyter Capuchin, and Commissary, by a special commission for this purpose, and me, Father Bernardino de Barcelona, Notary, having sworn to preserve secrecy, and perform faithfully our offices, appeared and made oath in the name of God our Lord, with the sign of the cross, to declare the truth, and observe secrecy, a person calling himself Juan Bautista Viada, a native of Mataro, in the bishopric of Barcelona, by occupation a mason, aged fiftyfour years.

Questioned, if he knew or conjectured the cause of his being summoned to appear.

Answered, No.

Questioned, if he knew that any person or persons had said there was no Hell nor Purgatory, or made any other assertion which came under the cognisance of the Holy Office.

Answered, that he had heard the above assertion uttered by Magin Casanovas, or Barcelo, a person who died two years since.

Questioned, what persons were present when these words were spoken; and if the said Magin Casanovas was in his right mind; also, whether the assertion was made in a positive manner, or by referring to some other person, and whether it was made in jest, or dispute, or passion.

Answered, that he did not recollect whether it was said in the presence of others or not, but that it appeared to be said in a positive manner, and not in the heat of passion; that the abovementioned Magin Casanovas was a Marine Alguacil of this city, of which he was also a native, and that his age was about seventy years.

Questioned, if he remembered how many times the assertion had been made, and if he received any rebuke for it.

Answered, that he did not remember.

Questioned, why he had not denounced the speaker to the Holy Tribunal.

Answered, that the thought of this never occurred to him.

Questioned, if he knew that any other person had said or done anything which belonged to the cognizance of the Holy Tribunal.

Answered, No.

The above having been read to the deponent, was declared by him to be correctly recorded; and he further stated that he had nothing to add or alter respecting it, and that he did not make the declaration through malice, but solely in obedience to his conscience. Secrecy was enjoined upon him, which he promised, and added his signature.

JUAN BAUTISTA VIADA. FRAY PEDRO MARTIR DE SAN VICENTE, _Presbyter Capuchin Commissary_.

Before me--

F. BERNARDO DE BARCELONA, _Notary_.

* * * * *

[_The following is written in the margin of the above deposition._]

I know the deponent Juan Bautista Viada to be a person worthy of credit. He supports his family by his labor; follows the precepts of the church, confesses, and partakes of the sacrament; nor have I ever heard of anything which can impeach his testimony. This is my opinion, salvo meliori.

Mataro, January 28th, 1820.

FR. PEDRO MARTIR DE SAN VICENTE, _Presbyter Capuchin Commissary_.

* * * * *

THE END.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Fleury, Hist. Ecclesiast.

[2] Sismondi, Litterature du Midi de l’Europe.

[3] Sismondi, Hist. des Français.

[4] Fleury, Hist. Ecclesiast.

[5] Daru, Hist. de Venise.

[6] Giannone, Storia di Napoli.

[7] Llorente, Hist. de la Inquisicion de Espana.

[8] Mariana, Hist. de Espana. Llorente.

[9] Schiller, Abfall der Niederlande.

[10] Llorente.

[11] Lafitau, Conquestes des Portugais.

[12] As soon as the crime of suspicion of heresy was established in the preliminary accusation, the Inquisitors ordered the arrest of the delinquent. From that moment there were neither privileges nor shelter for him. Whatever might be his rank, he was seized in the midst of his family and friends, and no one dared to offer the least resistance. From the instant he was in the hands of the Inquisition not an individual was allowed any communication with him, he was abandoned by all the world and deprived of every species of consolation. Wo to the compassionate mind that dared to show any sympathy for a victim of the Inquisition. The accused was plunged into a frightful dungeon till the Inquisitors saw fit to interrogate him.

In the mean time the officers of the Inquisition proceeded to the dwelling of the accused, and drew up an inventory of all his goods, which were immediately seized. His creditors lost their debts; his wife and children were left in the most pitiable desertion; wives and daughters the most virtuous and accomplished, have many times been seen reduced to the horrible necessity of gaining a wretched existence by prostitution, occasioned by their destitute state and the contempt attached to them from being connected with a person apprehended by the Holy Office. After he had passed many days and even months in prison, the Inquisitors caused him to insinuate, by means of the jailor, that he demanded audience; for it was a constant practice of this Tribunal to contrive that the accused should be the person to demand. The prisoner, appearing before his judges for the first time, they questioned him as if they did not know him, and engaged him by the most crafty methods, to acknowledge his crime. _Llorente Hist. de la Inquisicion._

[13] ‘The least mixture of African, Indian, Moorish, or Jewish blood taints a whole generation. Nor does the knowledge of such a fact die away in the course of years, or become unnoticed from the obscurity and humbleness of the parties. Not a child in this populous city (Seville) is ignorant that a family, who, beyond the memory of man, have kept a confectioner’s shop in a central part of the town, had one of their ancestors punished by the Inquisition for a relapse into Judaism. I well recollect how, when a boy, I often passed that way, scarcely venturing to cast a side glance on a pretty young woman, who constantly attended the shop, for fear, as I said to myself, of shaming her. A person free from tainted blood is defined by law, _‘Christiano viejo, limpio de toda mala raza.’ An old Christian, free from all bad race and stain._ The severity of this law, or rather of the public opinion enforcing it, shuts out its victims from every employment in church or state, and excludes them even from _fraternities_, or religious associations, which are otherwise open to persons of the lowest ranks. I verily believe that were St Peter a Spaniard, he would either deny admittance into heaven to a people of tainted blood, or send them to a retired corner, where they might not offend the eyes of the _old Christians_.’

_Doblado’s Letters from Spain._

[14] Attorney General.

[15] Calificacion or _qualification_, a judgment pronounced upon the character and tendency of any actions or speeches denounced before the Inquisition. This was done by officers holding a special commission for that purpose called _Calificadores_.

[16] There were three sorts of persons distinguished by the Tribunal as suspected of heresy; those who were _lightly_ suspected, those who were _seriously_ suspected, and those who were _violently_ suspected. The lightly suspected were designated by the term _de levi_, and the seriously and violently suspected, by the term _de vehementi_.

_Llorente Hist. de la Inquisicion._

[17] _Du bist ein narr das du dies glaubst._

[18] There were three methods of torture; the cord, fire, and water.

In the first method, they tied the hands behind the back of the patient by means of a cord which passed through a pulley attached to the roof, and the executioners drew him up as high as possible. After suspending him for some time, the cord was loosened, and he fell within six inches of the ground. This terrible shock dislocated all the joints and cut the flesh even to the sinews. The process was renewed every hour and left the patient without strength or motion. It was not until after the physician had declared that the sufferer could no longer endure the torture without dying, that the Inquisitors sent him back to prison.

The second was performed by means of water. The executioners stretched the victim over a wooden instrument like a spout, fitted to receive the body of a man, without any bottom but a stick passing across it. The body falling backwards, came to such a position that the feet were higher than the head. In this state the respiration became very painful, and the patient suffered the most dreadful agonies in all his limbs from the pressure of the cords, the knots of which cut into the flesh. In this cruel position the executioners passed into the throat a piece of fine linen, wet, a part of which covered the nostrils. They then turned water into the mouth and nose and left it to filter so slowly that one hour at least was consumed before the sufferer had swallowed a drop, although it trickled without interruption. Thus the patient found no interval for respiration. At every moment he made an effort to swallow, hoping to give passage to a little air; but the wet linen prevented this, and caused the water to enter by the nostrils. Thus it often happened that when the torture was finished, they drew the linen from the throat all stained with the blood of the vessels which had been burst by the struggles of the unfortunate victim. It should be added, that every instant, a powerful arm turned the fatal lever, and at each turn the cords which bound the arms and legs penetrated to the very bones.

If by this second torment they could obtain no confession, the Inquisitors resorted to fire. For this purpose the executioners tied the hands and feet in such a manner that the sufferer could not change his position. They then rubbed the feet with oil and lard, and other penetrating matter, and placed them before the fire, until the flesh was so roasted that the bones and sinews appeared in every part.--_Llorente, Hist. de la Inquisicion._

[19] When the crime imputed to the accused was not certain, and he had not entangled himself in the interrogatories, he was acquitted, on the condition that he should make a formal abjuration of his heresies and be purged, after the canonical fashion, of the suspicion attached to him. After this, he was absolved _ad cautelam_, or, in other words, as having been suspected of heresy.--_Llorente, Hist. de la Inquisicion._

[20] One who makes a voluntary confession, and takes his trial on the strength of the evidence which he gives against himself, rather than the testimony of other witnesses.

[21] As a specimen of the modern Catalan dialect, the original of the above letter is subjoined.

Mol Ille Sor

Estan en la Campana ab Juan Baptista Viada All, de Casas lo Dia 12 del corren, parlan de Sermons de Animas: meapar mol, que el digué de esta Manera; de que ell abia oyit á differens, que no creyan ab lo Infern, ó ab lo Purgatori, peró que ell si, que hi creya.

lo que delate á V. S. per descarrch de la mia Consiencia.
Mataró y Nbre 17 de 1819.
S. M. hl--S.
Franch. Plana Juster.
al Carrer de fora de lo Portal de Batlleix.

Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:

the the cause=> the cause {pg 13}

he was dimissed=> he was dismissed {pg 40}

make arrangments=> make arrangements {pg 71}

dawn up his defence=> drawn up his defence {pg 74}

excuting them=> executing them {pg 96}

conception of of the said Juan Antonio=> conception of the said Juan Antonio {pg 136}

The excutioners=> The executioners {pg 150}

of of property=> of property {pg 175}

on the the thirtieth day=> on the thirtieth day {pg 196}

before the Revered Joseph=> before the Reverend Joseph {pg 184}

la Riera alta=> la Riera Alta {pg 217}

superstious acts=> superstitious acts {pg 236}