“During this interval, vexations, impatience, and weariness took possession of my soul, and made me weary of life. At length, the Inquisition, reading their brethren’s letter, perceived themselves under the necessity of releasing their prey. One of them came to inform me that, in consideration of my youth, and of my being a native of France, the Holy Office had come to the determination to set me free; but that they required me for the future to have more respect for La Madonna, the mother of Jesus Christ. ‘Most reverend father,’ replied I, ‘the French have always the highest respect for the ladies.’ Uttering these words, I rushed towards the door, and when I got into the street, I felt as if I were raised from the tomb once more to life!” Charles IV. abdicated the throne of Spain, and was succeeded by his son, Ferdinand VII., in 1808; but Napoleon Buonaparte soon compelled him to resign his throne, appointing his own brother Joseph to the throne, while he marched to the capital, and took Madrid on the 4th of December. Knowing the horrid character of the Holy Office, the same day he decreed the suppression of the Inquisition, that its revenues might be applied to the purposes of the government. Pursuant to this decree, the palace of the Inquisition was demolished, some months after, in revenge for an outrage upon Colonel Lehmanowsky, an officer of the French army. His report of it confirms many of the foregoing details of that dreadful place. He states,-- “In the year 1809, I was attached to that part of Napoleon’s army which was stationed at Madrid. Soult was commander-in-chief and governor of the city. My regiment was the 9th Polish Lancers. “One night, about ten or eleven o’clock, as I was walking alone in one of the streets of Madrid, two armed men sprang upon me from a doorway; I instantly drew my sword, and defended myself as best I could from their furious attack. While struggling with them, I saw at a distance, crossing the top of the street, the lights of the mounted patrols. French soldiers on guard, with lanterns, rode through the streets of the city at all hours of the night to preserve order. I called to them in French, and as they hastened to my help, my assailants took to their heels; not, however, before I saw by their dress that they belonged to the guards of the Inquisition. Having been in the habit of speaking freely among the people what I thought of the priests and Jesuits, and the Inquisition, I have no doubt that these men were set to watch for me, and to assassinate me. It had been decreed by Napoleon that the Inquisition and the monasteries should be suppressed. Months, however, had passed away, without the decree being executed.