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Article JOHN COUSTOS, FOR FREEMASONRY, ← Page 3 of 6 →
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John Coustos, For Freemasonry,
attended by the surgeons who drest my bruises , and here I continued till their auto dafe , or gaol delivery . ' The Reader may judge , from this faint description , of the dreadful anguish I must have laboured under , the nine different times they put me to the torture . Most of my limbs were put out of joint , and bruised in such a manner , that I was unable during some weeks to lift hand to
my my mouth , my body being greatly swelled by the inflammations caused b y the frequent dislocations . I have but too much reason to fear , that I shall feel the sad effects of this cruelty as long as I live ; being feized from' time to time with acuteipains , with which I never was afflicted , till I had the misfortune of falling into the merciless and blood y hands of the Inquisitors .
The day of the auto dafe , I was made to walk in the procession with the other victims of this tribunal . Being arrived at St . Dominic ' s Church , my sentence was read , by which 1 was condemned to the galley ( as it is termed ) during four years . Three . days after this procession I was conveyed to the galley , and joined next morning in the painful occupations of fellow slaves
my . However , the liberty I had of fpeaking to my friends , ' after having been ' so long deprived of seeing them during my tedious and ' wretched abode in the prison of the Inquisition ; the open air I now breathed , with the satisfaction I felt in being freed from the dreadful apprehensions which always overspread my mind , whenever I reflected on the uncertainty of my fate ; these circumstances united , made me find the hard labour of
the galley much more supportable . As I had suffered greatly in my body , by the tortures inflicted on me , of which the Reader has seen a faithful narrative in the foreo-oing sheets ; I was quite unfit to go about the painful labour that was at first allotted me , viz . the carrying water ( an hundred pounds weight ) to the prisons of the city—but the fears I was under of being expofed to the inhumanity of the guards or overseerswho accompany
, the galley slaves , caused me to exert myself so far beyond my strength , that twelve days after I fell grievously ill . . I was then sent to the Infirmary , where I continued two months . During my abode in this place , I was often visited by the Irish friars belonging to the ¦ Convent of . Corpo Santo , who offered to procure my release , provided I would turn Roman Catholic . I assured them , their endeavours to that purpofe
would be fruitless ; I expecting my enlargementfrom the hand of God alone , who , if he in his profound wisdom thought proper , would point out other expedients for my obtaining it ,, than by becoming an apostate . Being unable after this to go through the toils to which I had been sentenced , I was excused by my amply rewarding the overseers . ' 'Twas now that'I had full leisure to reflect seriously on the means of
obtaining my liberty ; and for this purpose desired a friend to write to my brother-in-law , Mr . Barbu , to'inform him of my' deplorable state ; and to intreat him humbl y to ' address the Earl of Harrington in my favour ; he having the honour to live in his Lordshi p ' s family . This nobleman , ' whose humanity and generosity have been the theme of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
John Coustos, For Freemasonry,
attended by the surgeons who drest my bruises , and here I continued till their auto dafe , or gaol delivery . ' The Reader may judge , from this faint description , of the dreadful anguish I must have laboured under , the nine different times they put me to the torture . Most of my limbs were put out of joint , and bruised in such a manner , that I was unable during some weeks to lift hand to
my my mouth , my body being greatly swelled by the inflammations caused b y the frequent dislocations . I have but too much reason to fear , that I shall feel the sad effects of this cruelty as long as I live ; being feized from' time to time with acuteipains , with which I never was afflicted , till I had the misfortune of falling into the merciless and blood y hands of the Inquisitors .
The day of the auto dafe , I was made to walk in the procession with the other victims of this tribunal . Being arrived at St . Dominic ' s Church , my sentence was read , by which 1 was condemned to the galley ( as it is termed ) during four years . Three . days after this procession I was conveyed to the galley , and joined next morning in the painful occupations of fellow slaves
my . However , the liberty I had of fpeaking to my friends , ' after having been ' so long deprived of seeing them during my tedious and ' wretched abode in the prison of the Inquisition ; the open air I now breathed , with the satisfaction I felt in being freed from the dreadful apprehensions which always overspread my mind , whenever I reflected on the uncertainty of my fate ; these circumstances united , made me find the hard labour of
the galley much more supportable . As I had suffered greatly in my body , by the tortures inflicted on me , of which the Reader has seen a faithful narrative in the foreo-oing sheets ; I was quite unfit to go about the painful labour that was at first allotted me , viz . the carrying water ( an hundred pounds weight ) to the prisons of the city—but the fears I was under of being expofed to the inhumanity of the guards or overseerswho accompany
, the galley slaves , caused me to exert myself so far beyond my strength , that twelve days after I fell grievously ill . . I was then sent to the Infirmary , where I continued two months . During my abode in this place , I was often visited by the Irish friars belonging to the ¦ Convent of . Corpo Santo , who offered to procure my release , provided I would turn Roman Catholic . I assured them , their endeavours to that purpofe
would be fruitless ; I expecting my enlargementfrom the hand of God alone , who , if he in his profound wisdom thought proper , would point out other expedients for my obtaining it ,, than by becoming an apostate . Being unable after this to go through the toils to which I had been sentenced , I was excused by my amply rewarding the overseers . ' 'Twas now that'I had full leisure to reflect seriously on the means of
obtaining my liberty ; and for this purpose desired a friend to write to my brother-in-law , Mr . Barbu , to'inform him of my' deplorable state ; and to intreat him humbl y to ' address the Earl of Harrington in my favour ; he having the honour to live in his Lordshi p ' s family . This nobleman , ' whose humanity and generosity have been the theme of