The inquisition arrested on suspicion, tortured for confession, and then punished with fire.  One witness brought the victim to the rack, two to the flames.  The prisoner was not confronted with his accuser, nor were their names ever made known to him.  The court was held in a gloomy dungeon at midnight, a dim light gleamed from smoking torches, and the grand inquisitor, enveloped in a black robe, glared at his victim through holes cut in the hood.  Before the examination, the accused, whether man, maid or matron, was stripped and stretched upon the rack, where tendons could be strained without cracking, bones crushed without breaking and the body tortured without dying.

When the prisoner was found guilty, his tongue was cut out, so that he could neither speak nor swallow.  On the morning of the execution a breakfast of rare delicacies was placed before the sufferer, and with ironical invitation he was urged to enjoy his last repast.  Then the prisoner was led to the funeral pyre, where an address was given, lauding the inquisition, condemning heresy, and commanding obedience to the Pope and the Emperor.  Then, while hymns were sung, blazing fagots were piled about the victim, until his body was reduced to a heap of ashes.

Some conception of the appalling cruelty of the inquisition under Torquemada may be formed from the statement that during the sixteen years of his tenure of office nearly 10,000 persons were condemned to the flames, and the property of 97,000 others was confiscated.

Spanish rule in Holland.

Horrible as the atrocities of the inquisition were in the mother country, it is doubtful if they ever reached the acme of savage cruelty that they attained during the period when Spain was seeking to strengthen the fetters with which she nominally held Holland in her grasp.  The Spanish government, from the time when it first acquired a place among nations, has never been satisfied with a reasonable tribute from its dependencies.  Its plan ever has been to exact all, and leave nothing to supply more than a miserable existence.  So it was in the middle of the sixteenth century, when Philip II., greedy of the treasures of Holland, determined to spoil them of their wealth, and planned to establish the inquisition among them by the sword.

The duke of Alva, already famous for his harshness and bigotry, was named commander of the forces, with almost unlimited powers.  He entered the Netherlands with about 20,000 tried troops, ready for cruelties, and all hopes of peace or mercy fled before them.  There was a great and desperate exodus of the inhabitants; thousands took refuge in England, Denmark and Germany, and despair and helplessness alone remained to greet the cold Spaniard and his train of orthodox executioners.  The Council of Troubles—­the “Blood-tribunal”—­was immediately established, and the land was filled with blood.  In a short time he totally annihilated every privilege of the people, and with unrelenting cruelty put multitudes of them to death.