He is then asked if he knows where he is, whether he is aware that he is within the walls of the Inquisition, and why it is that men are usually detained in the custody of the holy office. If he says that he cannot guess at the cause of his imprisonment, but knows that he is a prisoner in the holy office, where heretics or persons suspected of heresy are confined, he is informed, that seeing he knows that persons are confined there for their profanation of religion, he ought to conclude that he is confined for the same reason; and must therefore declare what he believes to be the cause of his apprehension and confinement in the prisons of the holy office. If he says he cannot imagine what it is, he is desired to recollect himself, to run over in his mind the events of his past life, and to search out and ascertain whether he may not, on some occasion, have said or done something contrary to the purity of the Catholic faith, and the authority of the Inquisition. If he still persists in maintaining his ignorance, he is informed that every degree of mercy is shown towards those who confess, while the obstinate are treated with the utmost severity. The prisoner is next obliged to declare his whole genealogy and descent, and to make known whether any of his ancestors, or himself, his brothers, wife, or children, had at any time previous been arraigned before the tribunal. These questions are put for the purpose of implicating the accused in a stronger manner, and to obtain possession of the property he may have inherited, by declaring the right of succession null and void, to the destruction, perhaps, of many families. Numerous other questions are asked, varied in every possible way, and every art of unrighteous investigation is tried; and if, after all, he still persists in declaring himself ignorant of any word or action that can be construed into heresy, he is informed, that he must be carried back to his dungeon, to aid his memory by reflection. This ceremony is performed three times, with some interval between each.