Note 11 — Chapter II

To give the reader some idea of the sermons, or rather blasphemous rhapsodies, which the friars deliver at an auto-da-fé, the following extracts are given from one which was preached on this occasion before Philip at Valladolid. "And thou, oh! most holy tribunal of the faith, for boundless ages mayest thou be preserved, so as to keep us firm and pure in the same faith, and promote the punishment of the enemies of God. Of thee can I say what the Holy Spirit said of the Church, 'Thou art fair, my love, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon!' But what parallels, similes, or comparisons are these? What praise, or what heightened contrast can that be which compares a delicate female, an unequalled beauty, to the tents of Kedar, and the spotted skins of Solomon? Saint Jerome discovered the mystery, and says, that the people of Kedar being fond of the chase, therein took great delight; and, for this purpose, had always their tents pitched in the field; on which, in order to prove the valour of their arms, they spread the skins of the animals killed in chase, and hung up the heads of the wild beasts they had slain. This was the greatest beauty of their tents; to this the Holy Spirit compares the beauty of the Church, and this is also to-day the glory of the holy tribunal of the faith. To have killed these horrid wild beasts and enemies of God, whom we now behold on this theatre, some by taking life from their errors, reconciling them to our holy faith, and inspiring them with contrition for their faults; others by condemning them through their obduracy to the flames, where losing their corporeal lives, their obstinate souls will immediately burn in hell; by this means God will be avenged of his greatest enemies, dread will follow these examples, and the holy tribunal will remain triumphant," &c.