Strangling in the Inquisition.
By Gavazzi
It was a torture which lasted thirty minutes. On one side stood the inquisitors; on the other was the executioner. Above the poor victim was suspended, at a considerable hight, a tunnel filled with water. He was then bound upon a table on his back. A linen cloth was then drawn tightly over his face. He could breathe; but now the water commences falling drop by drop!—the perspiration starts from the face—the cloth becomes damp—the small hole through which he breathes closes—suffocation commences! Then comes the question of the inquisitor, "Are you guilty?" He struggles for breath to speak, and faintly answers, "No!" Drop by drop falls the water for ten minutes; then comes another question from the inquisitor, "Are you guilty?" With great difficulty he answers, "No!" Ten minutes more, and the question is repeated, and answered in the same manner. At the expiration of the next ten minutes comes the last question, "Are you guilty?" when, with a last effort, he barely whispers, "No!" and in another instant he is no more—he is dead! Was this the church of Christ? How could we call those inquisitors the priests of Christ? They were not the priests of Christ, but the priests of the Devil.—They were murderers and assassins!—Gavazzi.