16. TERRORS OF THE INQUISITION.--No words can express the dread of the people regarding the tribunal of the inquisitors. They regard the prisoners as lost. So little hope have they of the release of those arrested, that as soon as they are imprisoned, their friends put on mourning, and speak of them as dead, not daring to petition for their pardon, lest they also should be brought in as accomplices, and become themselves victims of the Inquisition! CHAPTER XII. TRIAL IN THE INQUISITION. Edict of Faith--Process at Tribunal--Arrest--Examination--Bill of accusation--Prisoner’s counsel--Escaped persons--Process terminated--Abjuration of a penitent--Penance. Ecclesiastical processes are entered upon with remarkable solemnity, particularly in the court of the inquisition. The court having been set up under the authority of the sovereign, and with full protection to its officers, a commissary is appointed, for the purpose of receiving information or accusations from any persons against others, under the authority of the chief inquisitor. Public preparations are made, therefore, for the commencement of proceedings against them on account of alleged crimes. 1. THE EDICT OF FAITH.--Some Sunday is appointed by the chief inquisitor, for a sermon on the solemn publication of the object of the court, and this is called the “Edict of Faith.” After the sermon by the inquisitor, on the duty of extirpating heresy, a monitory letter is read, requiring all persons, on pain of excommunication, to discover to the inquisitor, within six or twelve days, any heretics known to them, or persons suspected of heresy. Magistrates are made to promise the same upon oath. This edict of faith is repeated every year in the chief city; and from its obligations no one is freed: so that Joan, the daughter of the Emperor Charles V., was counselled by her father to make the required deposition, even if it were against himself, and she immediately deposed against a certain person before the inquisitor-general, the archbishop of Seville. 2. PROCESS BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL.--There are three ways of proceeding--_first_, by _accusation_; _secondly_, by _denunciation_; _thirdly_, by _inquisition_, or _seeking_ out heretics. Witnesses are summoned, and the testimony of a wife, of sons, of daughters, and of domestics, is received against, but not in favour of, persons accused of heresy. The testimony of persons guilty of perjury, and of women known to public infamy, and even of outlaws, is allowed. Their depositions are taken in writing concerning the characters and opinions of prisoners.