a-fe_[1] of the tribunal of Pamiers, condemning sixty-four
persons, only five heretics were abandoned to the secular arm.

[1] The _Sermo generalis_ after which the sentences were solemnly
pronounced by the Inquisitors was called in Spain _auto-da-fe_.

Bernard Gui presided over eighteen _autos-da-fe_, and condemned nine
hundred and thirty heretics; and yet he abandoned only forty-two to
the secular arm.[1] These Inquisitors were far more lenient than
Robert the Bougre. Taking all in all, the Inquisition in its
operation denoted a real progress in the treatment of criminals; for
it not only put an end to the summary vengeance of the mob, but it
diminished considerably the number of those sentenced to death.[2]

[1] Cf. the sentences of Bernard Gui in Douais, _Documents_, vol. i,
p. ccv, and Appendix B.

[2] Even while the Inquisition was in full operation, the heretics
who managed to escape the ecclesiastical tribunals had no reason to
congratulate themselves. For we read that Raymond VII, Count of
Toulouse in 1248, caused eighty heretics to be burned at Berlaiges,
near Agen, after they had confessed in his presence, without giving
them the opportunity of recanting.

We notice at Pamiers that only one out of thirteen, while at Toulouse
but one in twenty-two, was sentenced to death. Although terrible
enough, these figures are far different from the exaggerated
statistics imagined by the fertile brains of ignorant controversialists.[1]

[1] Of course we do not here refer to honest historians like Langlois
who estimates that one heretic out of every ten was abandoned to the
secular arm (op. cit., p. 106). Dom Brial erroneously states in his
preface to vol. xix of the _Recueil des Historiens des Gautes_ (p.
xxiii) that Bernard Gui burned 637 heretics. This figure represented
the number of heretics then known to be _condemned_, but only 40 of
these were abandoned to the secular arm. The exact number is 42 out
of 930. Cf. Douais, _Documents_, vol. i, p. ccv, and Appendix B.

It is true that many writers are haunted by the cruelty of the
Spanish or German tribunals which sent to the stake a great number of
victims, i.e., _conversos_ and witches.

From the very beginning, the Spanish Inquisition acted with the
utmost severity. "Twelve hundred _conversos_, penitents, obdurate and
relapsed heretics were present at the _auto-da-fe_ in Toledo, March,
1487; and, according to the most conservative estimate, Torquemada
sent t