supplying remarks on the alleged connection between his mental derangement and religious impressions; and to these are added, observations on suicide, and on the futility of those reasons by which its vindication has sometimes been attempted.

ART. IX.-The History of the Inquisition, as it has subsisted in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Venice, Sicily, Sardinia, Milan, Poland, Flanders, &c. &c. with a particular Description of its secret Prisons, Modes of Torture, Style of Accusation, Trial, &c. &c. Abridged from the elaborate Work of Philip Limborch, Professor of Divinity at Amsterdam. Introduced by an Historical Survey of the Christian Church, and illustrated by Extracts from various Writers and original Manuscripts: interesting Particulars of Persons who have suffered the Terrors of that dark and sanguinary Tribunal, and Political Reflections on its revival in Spain by the Decree of Ferdinand VII. London. Simpkin and Marshall, 1816. Pp. 542.

THIS work is professedly an abridgment from another of which Philip Limborch, a clergyman in Holland, was the author, and who died at the beginning of the last century, at an advanced age. Soon after that production appeared, it became extremely popular, and attracted the notice of the Cardinals Inquisitors at Rome, by whom it was condemned and prohibited, and who forbad the reading of it under the severest penalties. It was, however, recommended by our countryman John Locke, who wrote a complimentary letter to the author on the occasion.

In forming this abridgment, the Editor says he has used his best judgment in preserving the most interesting particulars, and that the edicts, which in the original are printed at length, are usually omitted; but under all the variation which the compression of the subject rendered necessary, he has endeavoured carefully to preserve the references, to give the proper character of authenticity to the translation.

This historical survey is divided into four parts: the first treats of the origin and progress of the Inquisition; the second, of its Ministers; the third, of the crimes of which it takes cognizance; and the fourth, of the manner of proceeding in this tribunal. Under the first division, we have the introduction of the Inquisition into Italy, Spain, and other

situations, and its re-establishment in Germany and France at the time of the Reformation. The following account is given of the forms of examination of the party accused, and of the room into which he is received :—

"When the prisoner is brought before his judge, he appears with his head and arms and feet naked. In this condition he is brought out of jail by the warder. When he comes to the room of audience, the warder goes a little forward, and makes a profound reverence, then withdraws, and the prisoner enters by himself. At the farther end of the audience-room there is placed a crucifix, that reaches almost to the cieling. In the middle of the hall is a table about five feet long and four broad, with seats all placed round it. At one end of the table, that which is next to the crucifix, sits the notary of the Inquisition, at the other end the Inquisitor, and at his left hand the prisoner sitting upon a bench. Upon the table is a missale, upon which the prisoner is commanded to lay his hand, and to swear that he will speak the truth, and keep every thing secret. After they have sufficiently interrogated him, the inquisitors ring a bell for the warder, who is commanded to carry back his prisoner to jail."

On the taciturnity required in the dungeons of this establishment it is said,

"They insist so severely on keeping this silence, that they may cut off every degree of comfort from the afflicted, and especially for this reason, that the prisoners may not know one another, either by singing, or any loud voice. For it oftentimes happens, that after two or three years confinement in the jail of the Inquisition, a man doth not know that his friend, nor a father that his children and wife, are in the same prison, till they all see each other in the act of faith. And finally, that the prisoners in the several cells may not talk with one another, which, if ever found out, their cells are immediately changed.

"And in order that the jail of heretics may be kept secret, no one of the officials, no not the judge himself, as we shall afterwards see, can enter it alone, or speak with the prisoners but before another of the officials, nor without the previous order of the inquisitors. All are obliged to swear that they will observe this, that no one may see or speak to the prisoners besides the person who gives them their necessaries, who must be a faithful honest person, and is obliged to swear, that he will not discover the secrets, and must be searched to prevent his carrying any orders or letters to the prisoners."

In the conclusion we have a distinct chapter on the reestablishment of the Inquisition in Spain by the decree of the present King; and as we happened to be there at

the time when some circumstances of considerable importance regarding this tribunal took place, we will notice them, as they will serve to expose the true character of Ferdinand, and the more lenient principles of his prede

cessors.

Prior to the year 1784, the Inquisitors had exercised an authority that boldly encroached upon the prerogatives of the Sovereign; and in order to get rid of this interference, Charles the Third, in that year, issued his celebrated decree, which subjected the proceedings of the holy office to the cognizance of the Monarch. From this period, no nobleman or minister, and even no person holding any civil or military office, was to be liable to be brought before that court, if the royal sanction were not previously obtained. In the following reign, notwithstanding the misconduct of Godoy, Prince of Peace, there were many particulars of his government that deserve commendation, and among these must be classed the controul he exercised in regard to the Inquisition. The consequence was, that at the time of the invasion of Spain by Bonaparte, this ambitious establishment had dwindled almost into a mere office of police, to arrest the progress of political instead of religious liberty. But Godoy did no more than pursue the path the Count de Florida Blanca had taken, whom Charles the Third, on his death bed, recommended to the Prince of Asturias as the faithful counsellor who would maintain the best interests of Spain, and of the family on the throne.

Maxims diametrically opposite with regard to the holy office, as it is impiously denominated, have guided the measures of Ferdinand the Seventh.

"Upon this subject," said the new king on his return to Spain, "learned and virtuous prelates, many respectable corporations and grave personages, ecclesiastics and seculars, have represented to me, that Spain is indebted to this tribunal for the good fortune of not having fallen, in the 16th century, into errors which have caused so many misfortunes among other nations; and that on the contrary, at that period, the sciences were here cultivated with distinction, and Spain produced a multitude of great men, distinguished by their knowledge and their piety. It has further been represented to me, that the oppressor of Europe has not neglected to employ, as an efficacious method of introducing the corruption and discord which supported so well his projects, the suppression of this tribunal, under the vain pretext, that it could exist no longer, in consequence of the enlightened state of the present age; and that the pretended Cortes, general and extraordinary, under the same pretext, and

under the favour of the constitution, which they tumultuously decreed, abolished also the holy office, to the regret of the whole nation.

"For these causes I have been earnestly supplicated to re-establish it in the exercise of its functions; and yielding to considerations so just, and to the wish manifested by my people, whose zeal for the religion of our ancestors has anticipated my orders, by hastening to recal spontaneously the subaltern inquisitors of some provinces."

"I have, therefore, resolved, that for the moment, the supreme council of the Inquisition, and the other tribunals of the holy office, shall resume their authorities conformable to the concessions which have been made to them by the sovereign pontiffs, at the instance of my august predecessors."

We trust this publication will tend to promote just views as to the boundaries of civil and ecclesiastical authority; to expose the mischievous consequences of bigotry and intolerance, and to contribute to that affection and brotherhood throughout the Christian world, which is the most acceptable form in which the maxims of the great Christian Instructor can be illustrated.

BIBLIOTHECA ANTIQUA.

ART. X.-Coryat's Crudities hastily gobled up in five Moneths Travels in France, Sauoy, Italy, Rhetia, comonly called the Grisons Country, Heluetia alias Switzerland, some Parts of High Germany, and the Netherlands; newly digested in the hungry aire of Odcombe, in the county of Somerset, and now dispersed to the nourishment of the travelling Members of this Kingdome. London. Printed by W. S. 1611. Pp. 665.

PERHAPS there never was a book of travels that in its time excited more attention than that before us, and a review of, and some extracts from it, will not be uninteresting while the present expatriating mania reigns. The town has been saturated with minute details of recent expeditions to various parts of the Continent, and it will now have an opportunity of learning something, from a writer at least as curious in his researches, of the appearance and condition of the same places, and of the manners and customs of the same people, more than two hundred years ago.

The author, the book, and the manner in which it was ushered into the world, are all singular. Thomas Coryat, or Coryate, was born at Odcombe, in Somersetshire, in 1577, and after having been at Winchester School until he was

19 years old, he was entered a commoner of Glocester Hall, Oxford, where it is said he became a proficient in Greek and Latin, having a great facility in learning languages. He however does not appear to have taken any degree, for in about three years he came to London, and was received into the household of the liberal and amiable Prince Henry, who allowed him a pension: some writers assert that he was in a menial capacity, and others that he filled the office of Fool, then a usual appendage to the establishments of the nobility. Fuller (Worthies: Somersetshire, p. 31) says, that "he was the courtiers anvil to try their wits upon, and sometimes this anvil returned the hammers as hard knocks as it received, his bluntness repaying their abusiness;" and Wood follows this authority, calling him the whetstone of the wits of the day. He seems to have been exceedingly fond of making speeches, and before he commenced his travels in 1608, we find him pronouncing several orations at Odcombe, his native place, once having collected above two thousand auditors. In 1608 he set out upon his expedition, and having passed through the countries named in the title, including 45 cities, and traversed, according to a computation inserted on the last page of his work, 1,975 miles, he returned to England in five months. In 1611 he published his Crudities, having previously had some difficulty, in consequence of the sudden death of the Abp. of Canterbury, in procuring a licence, as we find by a MS. letter, printed for the first time in the Biographia Britannica, and afterwards in the Censura Literaria: here he solicits Sir Michael Hixes, Knt. to use his influence for the purpose, observing, " by his incessant industry and Herculean toil, he wrote so many observations in the foresaid countries as filled very near four quires of paper;" and adding, that Sir M. Hixes would have no hesitation, did he "but know what intolerable pains he took with his travels both by day and night, scarce affording himself two hours rest sometimes of the twentyfour." This book, by permission was dedicated to Prince Henry, before whom and "a great assembly of courtiers" he delivered an oration-doubtless a panegyric upon himself

and his work.

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In the year 1611 was also published "Croyat's Crambe, &c. as the second course to the Crudities ;" and in 1612, having made a long harangue at Odcombe, he again went abroad, not intending to return till ten years had elapsed, His stay in foreign parts, however, was protracted (no doubt much against his will) by death; for having journied over