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Article THE LIFE OF DON BALTHASAR OROBIO, ← Page 2 of 2
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The Life Of Don Balthasar Orobio,
peared twice or thrice before the Inquisitors , he was used as follows ; At the bottom of a subterraneous vault , lighted by two or three small torches , he appeared before two persons , one of whom was the judge of the Inquisition , and the other secretary ; who asking him whether he would confess the truth ? protested , that in case of denial , the holy office would not be deemed the cause of his death if he should expire under the torments , but that it must be imputed solely to his
own obstinacy . Then the executioner stripped off his clothes , tied his feet and hands with a strong cord , and set him upon a little stool , while he passed the cord through some iron buckles which were fixed in the wall ; then drawing away the stool , he remained hanging by the cord , which the executioner drew harder and harder , to make him confess , till a surgeon assured the court that he could not possibly bear more without expiring . These cords put him to exquisite tortures , by cutting into the flesh , and making the blood burstfrom under
Ins nails . As there certainly was danger that the cords would tear off his flesh , to prevent the worst , care was taken to gird him with some bands about the breast , which , however , w ere drawn so very tight , that he would not have been able to breathe , had he not held in his breath while the executioner put the bands found him , by which means his lungs had room enough to perform their functions . In the severest extremity of his sufferingshe was told that this was
, but the beginning of his torments , and that he had better confess , before they went to greater lengths : and the executioner being on a small ladder , frequently let it fall against his shins , so that the staves being sharp , put him to exquisite pain . At last , after three years confinement , finding themselves baffled by his perseverance , they ordered his wounds to be cured , and discharged him . As soon as he
gained his liberty , he left Spain , and went to France , where he was made professor of physic atThoulouse . The theses which he made as candidate for this place were upon putrefaction ; and he maintained them with so much subtlety as embarrassed all his competitors . He . continued in this city for some time , still outwardly professing popery : but at last , weary of dissembling , he went to Amsterdam , where he was circumcised , took the name of Isaac , and professed Judaism : still continuing , however , to practise physic , in which he was much " ssteemed . On the publication of Spinoza ' s book , he despised a system ,
the falseness of which he quickly discovered ; and when Bredenbourg ' s answer to it came to his hands , Orobio , being persuaded that he had also admitted atheistical principles , took up his pen against both , and published a piece , entitled Certamen Philosophicum adversus J . B . Principia . But the dispute which he held with the celebrated Philip Limborch against the Christian Religion made the greatest noise . Here he exerted the utmost force of his metaphysical
genius , and conducted himself with great temper . The three papers which he wrote on that occasion were afterwards printed by his antagonist , in an account which he published of the controversy under the title of Arnica Collatio cum Judceo . This extraordinary man , who suffered with so much fortitude the cruelties of the Inquisition , ' ended his days in the year 1687 ;
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Life Of Don Balthasar Orobio,
peared twice or thrice before the Inquisitors , he was used as follows ; At the bottom of a subterraneous vault , lighted by two or three small torches , he appeared before two persons , one of whom was the judge of the Inquisition , and the other secretary ; who asking him whether he would confess the truth ? protested , that in case of denial , the holy office would not be deemed the cause of his death if he should expire under the torments , but that it must be imputed solely to his
own obstinacy . Then the executioner stripped off his clothes , tied his feet and hands with a strong cord , and set him upon a little stool , while he passed the cord through some iron buckles which were fixed in the wall ; then drawing away the stool , he remained hanging by the cord , which the executioner drew harder and harder , to make him confess , till a surgeon assured the court that he could not possibly bear more without expiring . These cords put him to exquisite tortures , by cutting into the flesh , and making the blood burstfrom under
Ins nails . As there certainly was danger that the cords would tear off his flesh , to prevent the worst , care was taken to gird him with some bands about the breast , which , however , w ere drawn so very tight , that he would not have been able to breathe , had he not held in his breath while the executioner put the bands found him , by which means his lungs had room enough to perform their functions . In the severest extremity of his sufferingshe was told that this was
, but the beginning of his torments , and that he had better confess , before they went to greater lengths : and the executioner being on a small ladder , frequently let it fall against his shins , so that the staves being sharp , put him to exquisite pain . At last , after three years confinement , finding themselves baffled by his perseverance , they ordered his wounds to be cured , and discharged him . As soon as he
gained his liberty , he left Spain , and went to France , where he was made professor of physic atThoulouse . The theses which he made as candidate for this place were upon putrefaction ; and he maintained them with so much subtlety as embarrassed all his competitors . He . continued in this city for some time , still outwardly professing popery : but at last , weary of dissembling , he went to Amsterdam , where he was circumcised , took the name of Isaac , and professed Judaism : still continuing , however , to practise physic , in which he was much " ssteemed . On the publication of Spinoza ' s book , he despised a system ,
the falseness of which he quickly discovered ; and when Bredenbourg ' s answer to it came to his hands , Orobio , being persuaded that he had also admitted atheistical principles , took up his pen against both , and published a piece , entitled Certamen Philosophicum adversus J . B . Principia . But the dispute which he held with the celebrated Philip Limborch against the Christian Religion made the greatest noise . Here he exerted the utmost force of his metaphysical
genius , and conducted himself with great temper . The three papers which he wrote on that occasion were afterwards printed by his antagonist , in an account which he published of the controversy under the title of Arnica Collatio cum Judceo . This extraordinary man , who suffered with so much fortitude the cruelties of the Inquisition , ' ended his days in the year 1687 ;