AN ACCOUNT OF THE CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS, &c. My name 1s Pasto: Lorsz ; I was born in the year 1771, in Malaga, a beautiful Town of Andalusia, in Show moreAN ACCOUNT OF THE CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS, &c. My name 1s Pasto: Lorsz ; I was born in the year 1771, in Malaga, a beautiful Town of Andalusia, in Spain, where my father had from his youth creditably followed the business of a Carpenter and Cabinet Maker ; my mother was a woman wholly devoted to domestic cares, and whose chief pleasure consisted in the scrupulous performance of her duty both towards God and man. I had scarcely attained the age of ten months when I met with a fall, the results of which, were the dislocation of my thigh and a confirmed lame- ness, which has caused me to be known and distin- guished as the Lame ivian of Malaga. My education was similar to that usually bestowed on youth in my station of life, at that time in Spain; I learnt to read and write, was also taught the first rudiments of Arith- metic and the Catechisms ; but above all, to take off my hat, kneel dowa, and respectfully kiss the hand of every Priest or F:iar I happened to meet, even if he were the last lay brother. _Ata proper.age! was. apprenticed to a Taylor, my physical defect noi allowirg me. to apply myself to'a more active einploymert. At.the age of sixteen, I' got married, and soon became burdened with the cares and anxieties ef. providing fer a numerous: family, with which im 2 few years I was surrounded. The few mo- ments I could devote to relaxation I employed in read- ing history, by which means I became acquainted. with that of my own, and of some foreign countries. To this mode of ‘life, and uninterrupted train of employ- ment, I was indebted for my preservation from the vices � Show less
— SS ean Fae a siitetentemmndaitdnatittl — tins + - : . a 3 eS ee = RP oe No ee Ragas atone = Se eee SS a Oe ee Tarart qementrepepere oh aes SERS ee Show more— SS ean Fae a siitetentemmndaitdnatittl — tins + - : . a 3 eS ee = RP oe No ee Ragas atone = Se eee SS a Oe ee Tarart qementrepepere oh aes SERS ee ee ee 18 various threats and insults, the'former of which I. de- spised, and the latter I did not suffer to pass unpunished. Meanwhile, the Clergy, seeing they had lost the’chief resource upon which they at all times relied, to avenge themselves by means of dark and horrid dungeons, and the cruel and secret tortures of those who presumed’ to question the legality of their ill-acquired rights, and mad with fury on beholding those who endeavoured to enlighten the public mind, freed from their bloody claws, began to make war on the Constitutionalists, and the signal being given by the pope’s nuncio, they threw aside all decency, and even their wonted hypocrisy, and made every corner of the peninsula resound with their abominable cry of Impiety! Heresy! Irreligion! and Atheism! whereby frightening the weak, and fanaticis- ing the bold, they drew numberless forces to the field of battle, and procured immense resources, Sixty thou- sand friars made the pulpits resound daily with the same identical topics; the lamentations of insulted reli- ion, the decrees of Heaven to avenge it, and the sacred pe of exterminating all those who were infected with liberal principles. The Confessional was another and still more efficient instrument, to alarm the consciences, to propagate fanatical principles, to increase division, and to create sedition; thus the unwary began to waver, the indifferent to be moved, the ignorant to give assent, and only men of information and firmness of mind kept to their principles. Unhappily I imitated the latter, for I thereby brought upon myself griefs and vexations which put my firmness to’a severe test, but which, at the same time, shewed that it was not caprice but convic- tion that: had impressed liberal ideas on. my mind. In the beginning of the year 1814, the national Con- gress of the Cortes, and the executive Government, re- moved to Madrid, and [ not wishing to miss my attend- ance on the sittings, went thither also. They were every where received with marks of enthusiastic joy, notwith- .Standing the exertions of the fanatical party, and Madrid -Surpassed all other towns in demonstrations of satisfac- tion, and even went beyond what it had itself exhibited in former instances. ois � Show less
