Gaspard de Benavides was an alcalde of the prison of the Inquisition, and appeared in the _auto-da-fé_ with a flambeau; he was banished for life from Seville, and lost his place, for _having failed in zeal and attention in his employment_. Let this qualification and the sentence be compared with the crime of which he was accused. He purloined part of the small rations of the prisoners, the food which he gave them was of a bad quality, and he made them pay for it, as if it was superior; he did not take care to prepare it properly, it was badly cooked and seasoned; he deceived them in the price of wood, and made false bills of expenditure. If any of the prisoners complained, he removed them to a dark and humid dungeon, where he left them for a fortnight or even longer, to punish them for murmuring; he did not fail to tell them that he did this by the order of the inquisitors, and that they were released at his intercession. When any prisoner demanded an audience, Gaspard (fearing that they would denounce him) did not inform the inquisitors of the request, and told the prisoner the next day that the inquisitors were so much occupied that they could not grant audiences. In short, there was no sort of injustice which he did not commit, until the moment when his conduct was discovered by chance. Maria Gonzalez, a servant of this man, was condemned to receive two hundred stripes, and to be banished for ten years. Her crime was, having received money from some prisoners, and having permitted them to see and converse with each other.