"He led me first to the great hall of the Inquisition. We were met at the door by a number of well-dressed persons, who, I afterwards understood, were the famiars, an attenda's of the Holy Office: They bowed very low to the inquus tor, and looked with surprise at me. The great hall is the place in which the prisoners are marshalled for the procession of the Auto da Fe. At the procession described by Dellon, in which he himself walked barefoot, clothed with the painted rment, there were upwards of one hundred and fifty prison ers. I traversed this hall for sometime, with a slow step, re flecting on its former scenes; the inquisitor walked by my side, in silence. I thought of the fate of the multitude of my fellow-creatures who had passed through this place, condemned by a tribunal of their fellow-sinners, their bodies devoted to the flames, and their souls to perdition. And I could not help saying to him, 'Would not the holy church wish, in her mercy, to have those souls back again, that she might allow them a little further probation? The inquisitor answered nothing, but beckoned me to go with him to a door at one end of the hall. By this door he conducted me to some small rooms, and thence to the spacious apartments of the chief inquisitor. Having surveyed these, he brought me back again to the great hall; and I thought he seemed now desirous that I should depart. Now, Father,' said I, 'lead me to the dungeons below, I want to see the captives.' 'No,' said he, 'that cannot be.' I now began to suspect that it had been in the mind of the inquisitor, from the beginning, to show me only a certain part of the inquisition, in the hope of satisfying my inquiries in a general way. I urged him with earnestness, but he steadily resisted, and seemed to be offended, or rather agitated, by my importunity. I intimated to him plainly, that the only way to do justice to his own assertions and arguments, regarding the present state of the Inquisition, was to shew me the prisons and captives. I should then describe only what I saw; but now the subject was left in awful obscurity. Lead me down,' said I, 'to the inner building, and let me pass through the two hundred dungeons, ten feet square, described by your former captives. Let me count the number of your present captives, and converse with them. I want to see if there are any subjects of the British government, to whom we owe protection. want to ask how long they have been here, how long it is since they beheld the light of the sun, and whether they ever expect to see it again. Show me the chamber of Torture; and declare what modes of execution or of pur ishment, are now

practised within the walls of the Inquisition, in lieu of the public Auto da Fe. If, after all that has passed, Father, you resist th reasonable request, I shall be justitied in believing that you are afraid of exposing the real state of the Inquisicron in India.' To these observations the inquisitor made no reply; but seemed impatient that I should withdraw. 'My good Father,' said I, 'I am about to take my leave of you, and thank you for your hospitable attentions, (it had been before understood that I should take my final leave at the door of the Inquisition, after having seen the interior,) and I wish always to preserve on my mind a favorable sentiment of your kindness and candor. You cannot, you say, show me the captives and the dungeons; be pleased then merely to answer this question, for I shall believe your word: How many prisoners are there now below, in the cells of the Inquisition?" The inquisitor replied, "That is a question which I cannot answer.' On his pronouncing these words, I retired hastily towards the door, and wished him farewell.' We shook hands with as much cordiality as we could at the moment assume; and both of us, I believe, were sorry that our parting took place with a clouded countenance.

"From the Inquisition I went to the place of burning in the Campo Santo Lazaro, on the river side, where the victims were brought to the stake at the Auto da Fe. It is close to the palace, that the Viceroy and his court may witness the execution; for it has ever been the policy of the inquisition to make. these spiritual executions appear to be the executions of the state. An old priest accompanied me, who pointed out the place, and described the scene. As I passed over this melancholy plain, I thought of the difference between the pure and benign doctrine, which was first preached to India in the Apos toic age, and that bloody code, which after a long night of darkness, was announced to it under the same name! And I pondered on the mysterious dispensation, which permitted the ministers of the inquisition, with their racks and flames, to visit these lands, before the heralds of the Gospel of Peace. But the most painful reflection was, that this tribunal should yet exist, unawed by the vicinity of British humanity and dominion. I was not satisfied with what I had seen or said at the Inquisition, and I determined to go back again. The inquisitors were now sitting on the tribunal, and I had some extuse for returning; for I was to receive from the chief inquisior a letter which he said he would give me, before I left the

U

place, for the British Resident in Travancore, being an answer to a letter from that officer.

"When I arrived at the Inquisition, and had ended the outer stairs. the door-keepers surveyed me doubtingly, but suffered me to pass, supposing that I had returned by permiss sion and appointment of the inquisitor. I entered the great hall, and went up directly towards the tribunal of the Inquisition, described by Dellon, in which is the lofty crucifix. I sat down on a form and wrote some notes; and then desired one of the attendants to carry in my name to the inquisitor. As I walked up the hall, I saw a poor woman sitting by herself, on a bench by the wall, apparently in a disconsonte state of mind. She clasped her hands as I passed, and gave me a look expressive of her distress. This sight chilled my spirits. The familiars told me she was waiting there to be called up before the tribunal of the Inquisition. While I was asking questions concerning her crime, the second inquisitor came out in evident trepidation, and was about to complain of the intrusion, when I informed him that I had come back for the letter from the chief inquisitor. He said it should be sent after me to Goa; and he conducted me with a quick step towards the door. As we passed the poor woman, I pointed to her, and said, with some emphasis, 'Behold, Father, another victim of the holy Inquisition! He answered nothing When we arrived at the head of the great stair, he bowed, and I took my last leave of Josephus à Doloribus, without uttering a word.

NOTE.-The Inquisition of Goa was abolished in the month

of October, 1812.

THE

INQUISITION AT MACERATA,

IN ITALY.

Narrative of Mr. Bower, who gives an account of this Court of Inquisition, and of secrets hitherto unknoun, relative to their proceedings against heretics.

[Meth. Mag. 3d Vol.]

"I never (says Mr. Bower,) pretended that it was for the sake of religion alone, that I left Italy; but on the contrary, have often declared, as all my friends can attest, that, had I never belonged to the Inquisition, I should have gone on, as most Roman Catholics do, without ever questioning the truth of the religion I was brought up in, or thinking of any other. But the unheard of cruelties of that hellish tribunal shocked me beyond all expression, and rendered me, as I was obliged, by my office of Counsellor, to be accessary to them, one of the most unhappy men upon earth. I therefore began to think of resigning my office; but as I had on several occasions, betrayed some weakness, as they termed it, that is, some compassion and humanity, and had upon that account been reprimanded by the Inquisitor, I was well apprized, that my resig nation would be ascribed by him to my disapproving the proceedings of the holy tribunal. And indeed, to nothing else could he have ascribed it, as a place at that board was a sure way to preferment, and attended with great privileges, and a considerable salary. Being, therefore, sensible how dangerous a thing it would be to give the least ground to any suspicion of that nature, and no longer able to bear the sight of the many barbarities practised almost daily within those walls, nor the reproaches of my conscience in being accessary to them, I determined, after many restless nights, and much deliberation with myself, to withdraw at the same time from the Inquisitor, and from Italy. In this mind, and in the most unhappy and tormenting situation that can possibly be imagined, I continued near a twelvemonth, not able to prevai upon myself to execute the resolution 1 had taken, on account of the

many dangers which I foresaw would inevitably attend it, and the dreadful consequences of my failing in the attempt. But, being in the mean time, ordered by the Inquisitor to apprehend a person, with whom I lived in the greatest intimacy and friendship, the part I was obliged to act on that occasion, left so deep an impression in my mind as soon prevailed over all my fears, and made me determine to put into execution, at all events, and without further delay, the design I had formed. Of that remarkable transaction, therefore, I shall give here a particular account, the rather as it will shew in a very strong light, the nature of the proceedings in that horrid court.

The person whom the inquisitor appointed me to apprehend, was Count Vicenzo della Torre, descended from an illustrious family in Germany, and possessed of a very considerable estate in the territory of Macerata. He was one of my very particular friends, and had lately married the daughter of Signior Constantini, of Fermo, a lady no less famous for her good sense than her beauty. With her family too, I had contracted an intimate acquaintance, while Professor of Rhetoric in Fermo, and had often attended the Count during his courtship, from Macerata to Fermo, but fifteen miles distant. I therefore lived with both in the greatest friendship and intimacy; and the count was the only person that lived with me, after I was made Counsellor of the Inquisition, upon the same free footing as he had done till that time: my other friends being grown shy of me, and giving me plainly to understand, that they no longer cared for my company.

As this unhappy young gentleman was one day walking with another, he met two Capuchin friars; and turning to his companion, when they were passed, 'What fools,' said he, 'are these, to think they shall gain heaven by wearing sackcloth and going bare-foot! Fools indeed, if they think so, or that there is any merit in tormenting one's self: they might as well live as we do, and they would get to heaven quite as soon.' Who informed against him, whether the friars, his companion, or somebody else, I knew not; for the Inquisitors never tell the names of the informers to the Counsellors, nor the names of the witnesses, lest they should except against them. It is to be observed, that all who hear any proposition, that appears to them repugnant to, or inconsistent with the doctrine of the holy mother church, is bound to reveal it to the Inquisitor, and likewise to discover the person by whom it was uttered; and, in this affair, no regard is to be had to any ties, however sacred; the brother being bound to accuse tle broth