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torture, of every kind which the ingenuity of men or devils could invent. Col. L. here described four of these horrid instruments. The first was a machine by which the victim was confined, and then, beginning with the fingers, every joint in the hands, arms, and body, were broken or drawn one after another, until the victim died. The second was a box, in which the head and neck of the victim were so closely confined by a screw that he could not move in any way. Over the box was a vessel, from which one drop of water a second fell upon the head of the victim-every successive drop falling upon precisely the same place on the head, suspended the circulation in a few moments, and put the sufferer in the most excruciating agony. The third was an infernal machine, laid horizontally, to which the victim was bound; the machine then being placed between two beams, in which were scores of knives so fixed that, by turning the machine with a crank, the flesh of the sufferer was torn from his limbs all in small pieces. The fourth surpassed the others in fiendish ingenuity. Its exterior was a beautiful woman, or large doll, richly dressed, with arms extended, ready to embrace its victim. Around her feet a semicircle was drawn. The victim who passed over this fatal mark, touched a spring, which caused the diabolical engine to open; its arms clasped him, and a thousand knives cut him into as many pieces in the deadly embrace.

Col. L. said that the sight of these engines of infernal cruelty kindled the rage of the soldiers to fury. They declared that every inquisitor and soldier of the inquisition should be put to the torture. Their rage was ungovernable. Col. L. did not oppose them; they might have turned their arms against him, if he had attempted to arrest their work. They began with the holy fathers. The first they put to death in the machine for breaking joints. The torture of the inquisitor put to death by the dropping of water on his head was most excruciating. The poor man cried out in agony to be

taken from the fatal machine. The inquisitor general was brought before the infernal engine called "The Virgin." He begs to be excused. "No," said they ; "you have caused others to kiss her, and now you must do it." They interlocked their bayonets so as to form large forks, and with these pushed him over the deadly circle. The beautiful image instantly prepared for the embrace, clasped him in its arms, and he was cut into innumerable pieces. Col. L. said, that he witnessed the torture of four of them-his heart sickened at the awful scene-and he left the soldiers to wreak their vengeance on the last guilty inmate of that prisonhouse of hell.

In the mean time it was reported through Madrid that the prisons of the Inquisition were broken open, and multitudes hastened to the fatal spot. And oh, what a meeting was there! It was like a resurrection! About a hundred who had been buried for many years were now restored to life. There were fathers who found their long lost daughters; wives were restored to their husbands, sisters to their brothers, and parents to their children; and there were some who could recognise no friend among the multitude. The scene was such as no tongue can describe.

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When the multitude had retired, Col. L. caused the library, paintings, furniture, &c., to be removed, and having sent to the city for a waggon load of powder, he deposited a large quantity in the vaults beneath the building, and placed a slow match in connection with it. All had withdrawn at a distance, and in a few moments there was a most joyful sight to thousands. The walls and turrets of the massive structure rose majestically towards the heavens, impelled by the tremendous explosion, and fell back to the earth an immense heap of ruins. The inquisition was no more!-Phil. Christ. Obs.

APPENDIX BY THE EDITOR.

CORRESPONDENCE OF THE JESUITS.

WHEN we read, in the rules of the order of the Jesuits, under the title De formula Scribendi, (Institut. 2, 11, p. 125, 129), the developement of the 8th part of the constitutions, we are affrighted at the number of letters, narratives, registers, and writings of all kinds, preserved in the archives of the Society.

It is a police infinitely more exact and better informed than has ever been that of any state. Even the government of Venice found itself surpassed by the Jesuits-when it drove them out in 1606, it seized all their papers, and reproached them with their great and laborious curiosity. This police, this secret inquisi tion, carried to such a degree of perfection, may give some idea of the strength of a government, so well in formed, so persevering in its projects, so powerful by its unity, and, as the constitutions have it, by the union of its members. It is not hard to understand what immense force must belong to the heads of this Society, and how the General of the Jesuits could say to the Duke of Brissac : "From this room, sir, I govern not anly Paris, but China-not only China, but the whole world—and without any one knowing how it is done.” [CONSTITUTIONS OF THE JESUITS, edited by PAULIN, Paris, 1843.]

The correspondence of the Jesuits, so active, so various, and organized in so wonderful a manner, has, for its object, to supply the heads with all the informa

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tion they can require. Every day the General receives a host of reports, which serve to check one another. In the central house, at Rome, are immense registers, in which are inscribed the names of all the Jesuits, of their adherents, and of all the considerable persons, whether friends or enemies, with whom they have any connexion. In these registers are reported, without alteration, without hatred, without passion, the facts relating to the life of each individual. It is the most gigantic biographical collection that has ever been formed. The frailties of a woman, the secret errors of a statesman, are chronicled in this book with the same cold impartiality. Drawn up for the purpose of being useful, these biographies are necessarily exact. When the Jesuits wish to influence an individual, they have but to return to this book, and they know immediately his life, his character, his qualities, his faults, his projects, his family, his friends, his most secret ties. Conceive, sir, what a superior facility of action this immense book of police, which includes the whole world, must give to any one society? It is not lightly that I speak of these registers: I have my facts from a person who has seen this collection, and who is perfectly well acquainted with the Jesuits. Here there is matter to reflect on for all those families who admit freely into their houses the members of a community that carries its biographical researches to such a point. [LIBRI, Member of the Institute: Letters on the Clergy.]

BURNING THE BIBLE.

The priests educated in Maynooth College, Ireland, are taught to regard the Protestant Bible as a book emanating from the devil, and that should be burned. wherever it is to be discovered. In an encyclical letter from the Pope, it is called "The gospel of the devil."

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