"For the torture by fire, the prisoner was placed with his legs naked in the stocks; the soles of his feet were then well greased with lard, and a blazing chafing-dish applied to them, by the heat of which they became perfectly fried. When his complaints of the pain were loudest, a board was placed between his feet and the fire, and he was again commanded to confess, but this was taken away if he persisted in his obstinacy. This species of torture was deemed the most cruel of all; but this, as well as the others, was indiscriminately applied to persons of both sexes, at the will of the judges, according to the circumstances of the crime, and the strength of the delinquents. [Illustration: Tortures.—The Pulley and Fire.] "The torture by fire, however, does not appear to have been much in use except in Italy, and this when the culprit was lame, or through any other impediment prevented from being suspended by the pulley. In the latter country also, other minor tortures were used with persons unable to withstand those already described. Such were that of the dice, of the canes, and of the rods. For the first, the prisoner was extended on the ground, and two pieces of iron shaped like a die, but concave on one side, were placed on the heel of his right foot, then bound fast on with a rope, which was pulled tight with a screw. That of the canes was performed by a hard piece being put between each finger, bound, and then screwed as above. That of the rods was inflicted on boys who had passed their ninth year, but had not yet reached the age of puberty, by binding them to a post, and then flogging them with rods. "The duration of the torture, by a bull of Paul III. could not exceed an hour; and if in the Inquisition of Italy, it was not usual for it to last so long, in that of Spain, which has always boasted of surpassing all others in zeal for the faith, it was prolonged to an hour and a quarter. The sufferer, through the intensity of pain, was sometimes left senseless, for which case a physician was always in attendance, to inform the court whether the paroxysm was real or feigned; and according to his opinion, the torture was continued or suspended. When the victim remained firm in his denial, and overcame the pangs inflicted on him—or when, after confessing under them, he refused to ratify his confession within twenty-four hours afterwards—he has been forced to undergo as far as three tortures, with only one day's interval between each. Thus whilst his imagination was still filled with the dreadful idea of his past sufferings, which the 'Compilation of Instructions' itself calls agony, his limbs stiff and sore, and his strength debilitated, he was called upon to give fresh proofs of his constancy, and again endure the horrid spectacle, as well as the repetition of excruciating pangs, tending to rend his whole frame to pieces."