Some of the sentences were ridiculous--mere travesties. For instance, that celebrated in Santo Domingo on December 7, 1664, and in which conjugal infelicities between the viceroy, Mancera, and his lady secretly had their influence. Guido says: “There were ten condemned and among them one who, according to his sentence, was taken to the patio of the convent and stripped; two Indians smeared him with honey and covered him with feathers; there he was left exposed four hours.” Such spectacles must have caused at first indignation, then contempt. No less insulting than such punishments were the penitential garments of those condemned by the Holy Office, called _san-benitos_. These were a kind of scapulary of linen or other cloth, yellow or flesh-red in color. There were three kinds, known respectively by the names _samarra_, _fuego revolto_ and _san-benito_--the latter being also a name common to all. The _samarra_ was worn by the _relajados_, or those handed over to the secular arm to be garroted or burned alive. It bore, painted upon it, dragons, devils, and flames, amid which the criminal was represented as burning. The garment known as _fuego revolto_ was that of those who had abjured, and for this reason the flames were painted upside down, as if to signify that the wearers had escaped from death in the fiery embrace. Finally, the _san-benito_, which ordinary prisoners wore, was a flesh-colored sack bearing a Saint Andrew’s cross. The kind of mitre which the condemned wore upon the head was called _coroza_, and was a cap of paper, more than a _vara_ high, ending in a point like a fool’s-cap, with flames, snakes or demons painted on it, according to the category of the criminal. The condemned carried also rosaries, and yellow or green candles; those of the “reconciled” were lighted, those of the impenitent extinguished; when they were “blasphemers” they were gagged. In time these insulting insignia were looked upon with indifference as any other dress, and gave occasion, in Mexico, to a curious story. It chanced that once a “reconciled” was walking through the streets wearing his _san-benito_; some Indians seeing him noticed that the dress was new and one thought it was the Spanish devotional dress for Lent; returning to his house he made some excellent _san-benitos_, well painted; he brought them to the city and offered them for sale to Spaniards, saying, in the Indian language, _Sic cohuas nequi a san-benito?_ which means, Do you wish to buy a _san-benito_? The thing so amused everyone that the story even went to Spain, and in Mexico there is still a saying, “_ti que quis benito_.” The common people ended by losing all fear of such scarecrows, and defied the Inquisition in this way: Un Santo Cristo dos Candeleros Y tres majaderos.[16] A merited jest for that which knew not how to respect worthy and valiant heroes, such as Hidalgo and Morelos. FRANCISCO SOSA. [Illustration]