That was the part assigned him by Fate in the mysterious scheme
of human things. And that part being played, the rest mattered
little. In the nature of him and of his position it was
impossible that his imposture should be other than ephemeral.
III. THE HERMOSA FEMBRA
An Eposode of the Inquisition in Seville
Apprehension hung like a thundercloud over the city of Seville in
those early days of the year 1481. It had been growing since the
previous October, when the Cardinal of Spain and Frey Tomas de
Torquemada, acting jointly on behalf of the Sovereigns--Ferdinand
and Isabella--had appointed the first inquisitors for Castile,
ordering them to set up a Tribunal of the Faith in Seville, to
deal with the apostatizing said to be rampant among the New-
Christians, or baptized Jews, who made up so large a proportion
of the population.
Among the many oppressive Spanish enactments against the Children
of Israel, it was prescribed that all should wear the distinguishing
circlet of red cloth on the shoulder of their gabardines; that
they should reside within the walled confines of their ghettos
and never be found beyond them after nightfall, and that they
should not practice as doctors, surgeons, apothecaries, or
innkeepers.
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