nobody should keep any thing but a short sword; and besides, four regiments were under arms, to prevent all sorts of tumults and disturbances, so his secretary went and performed the governor's orders. The inquisitors were indeed never more surprised, than to see themselves excommunicated by a man that had no authority for it, and resent-ing it they began to cry out, War against the heretic de Legal, this is a public insult against our catholic faith. To which the secretary answered, Holy inquisitors, the king wants this house to quarter his troops in, so walk out immediately. And as they continued in their exclamations, he took the inquisitors with a strong guard, and carried them to a private house destined for them; but when they saw the laws of military discipline, they begged leave to take their goods along with them, which was immediately granted, and the next day they set out for Madrid to complain to the king,

who gave them this slight answer, I am very sorry for it, but I cannot help it, my crown is in danger, and my grandfather defends it, and this is done by his troops; if it had been done by my troops, I should apply a speedy remedy, but you must have patience till things take another turn. So the inquisitors were obliged to have patience for eight months.

The secretary of monsieur de Legal, according to his orders, opened the doors of all the prisons, and then the wickedness of the inquisitors were detected, for 400 prisoners got liberty that day, and, among them 60 young women were found very well dressed, who were, in all human appearance, the number of the three inquisitors' Seraglio, as some of them did afterwards own. But this discovery, so dangerous to the holy tribunal, was in some measure prevented by the archbishop, who went to monsieur de Legal to send the women to his palace, and that his grace would take

care of them; and that in the meantime, he ordered an ecclesiastical censure to be published against those that should defame, by groundless reports, the holy office of the Inquisition. The governor answered to his grace, he would give him all the assistance he could; but as to the young women, it was not in his power, the officers having hurried them away: and indeed it was not; for as it is not to be supposed that the inquisitors, having the absolute power to confine in their Seraglio whoever they had a fancy for, would choose ordinary girls, but the best and handsomest of the city; so the French officers were all so glad of getting such fine mistresses, that they immediately took them away, knowing very well they would follow them to the end of the world for fear of being confined again.

In my travels in France afterwards, I met with one of those women at Rochefort, in the same inn I went to lodge in

that night, who had been brought there by the son of the master of the inn, formerly lieutenant in the French service in Spain, whe had married her for her extraordinary beauty and good parts. She was the daughter of counsellor Balabriga, and I knew her before she was taken up by the inquisitors' orders; but we thought she was stolen by some officer, for this was given out by her father who died of grief and vexation, without the comfort of opening his trouble; nay, even to his confessor: so great is the fear of the inquisitors there.

T

I was very glad to meet one of my country women in my travels; and as she did not remember me especially in my then disguise, I was taken for nothing but an officer. I resolved to stay there the next day, to have the satisfaction of conversing with her, and have a plain account of what we could not know in Saragoza, for fear of incurring the ecclesiastical censure published by

the archbishop. Now, my conversation with her being apropos, and necessary

to discover the roguishness of the inquisitors, it seems proper to lay our conversation before the reader.

Mr. Falcaut, my country woman's husband was then in Paris upon some pretentions, and, though her father and mother in law were continually at home, they did not mistrust me, I being a country man of their daughter in law, who freely came to my room at any time, and, as I was desiring her not to expose herself to any uneasiness on my account, she answered me, captain, we are now in France not in Saragoza, and we enjoy here all manner of freedom, without going beyond the limits of sobriety; so you may ease yourself on that point, for my father and mother in law have ordered me to be obliging to you, nay, and to beg the favor of you to take your repose here this. week, if your bu siness permit it, and be pleased to