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influence on literature is perhaps greater than ever ; for though Spain possesses at the present moment a great number of admirable writers , the press was never so inactive . The despotism exercised overauthors * and publishers is so intolerable , that few
have courage voluntarily to submit to it . Ofteu after authorizing the publication of a work , they order it to be suppressed ^ and every copy to be burnt , and never think of reparation to those who are so cruelly injured .
Their presumption iu condemning whatever they cannot understand , f their domiciliary visits , their arbitrary decrees , against which there is no security and no appeal , make them fearful enemies and faithless friends .
With the difficulty , delay , expense and frequent impossibility of obtaining a licence for the publication of any valuable work , may be well contrasted the ridiculous trash which daily for many years . However , that monster in the form of man , Elio , the
captain-general of Valencia , has dared to employ it ; and when I was in that capital I was informed , ( and the fact has had abundant confirmation , ) that it had been applied a few days before to no less than 147
individuals , whose cries and shrieks were heard by all the inhabitants of Murviedro , where they were confined . This tiger might allege , indeed , the example of his royal master , who caused numbers to be tortured in Madrid after the last conspiracy there . ? Don Gonzalez Carbajal , a poet of no common merit , whose verses have been well compared with those of Fr . Luis de JLeoriy is now publishing' a metrical version of the Psalms . The MS . was sent to the
inquisitorial censors , who replied , that , though they saw nothing absolutely objectionable in the work , they deemed it very extraordinary and very suspicions that no allusion was made in it to the Sumo Poniifice '
• f I will mention one of a thousand instances of ignorance which I have individually witnessed . As I did not choose to expose myself to be annoyed by inquisitors , I travelled without any English books , excent a small collection of hymns . They
pounced upon it at Miranda del Ebro , where there is a rigid examination : there was some , dispute whether or not it should be condemned , when some word like the name of a Spanish town , caught their eye : " O , 'tis a book of roads , " said our learned acnutineer , and he returned it to roe .
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issues from the Spanish press . Accounts of miracles wrought by the different virgins , ** lives of holy friars and sainted nuns , romances of marvellous con versions , libels again t Jews +
* Of the " different virgins" who divide tlje adoration of the devout in Spain , ( each individual choosing" bis favourite , ) it would be difficult to say which has the pre-eminence in general estimation . I believe " our Lady of Montserrat , " in Catalonia , and u our Lady of the Pillar , ' * of Zarngoza , have amassed for tbeir guardian friars the largest piles of wealth .
f As an instance of the fraud , the falsehood and the folly oi those who sway the minds of the lower classes , I would quote , from among many examples , the u Ceutinela contra Judios , " a book of great popularity , introduced by several pages of inquisitorial praises . It gives the following account of the crimes and punishments of the twelve tribes :
*^ TTVifk triha f \ £ . Tm « 1 i % li ii ' fkftnTiATrmcIvr r 1 ^» _ u The tribe of Judah treacherously d « - lirered up our Lord , and thirty of ' them die by treason every year . u The tribe of Reuben seized our Lord in the garden , and therefore the curse of barrenness is on all they sow or plant , and no green thing can flourish over their graves . iC
The tribe of Gad put on the crown of thorns , and on every 25 th of March , their bodies are covered with blood from deep and painful wounds .
" Those of A slier buffeted Jesus , and their right hand is always nearly a palm shorter than the left .
" Those of Naphthali jested with Christ about a herd of swine , since when they are all born with tusks , like wild hoars . " The tribe of Manasseh cried out , His blood be on us and on our children , and at every new moon they are tormented by bloody sores .
" The tribe of Simeon nailed our Lord to the cross , and on the 25 th of March , four deep and dreadful wounds are inflicted on tbeir hands and feet . u Those of I . evi spat on the Saviour , and the wind always blows back their saliva in their faces , so that they are habitually covered with filth .
" The tribe of Issachar scourged Christ , and on the 25 th of March blood streams forth from their shoulders . " The tribe of Zebulon cast lots for the garments , and on the same day the roof of their mouth is tortured by deep wounds . u The tribe of Joseph made the nails for
crucifying Jesus , and blunted them to increase his sufferings ; and therefore their hands and feet are covered with gashes and blood . " Those of Benjamin gave vinegar to
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SfH State of Religion in Spain .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1819, page 594, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1777/page/6/
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