The life, trial, and death of Francisco Ferrer
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| Francisco Ferrer |
When, at the request of the Editor of McClure's Magazine, I undertook the investigation of which the following pages are the result, I had barely heard the name of Francisco Ferrer. In other words, I approached the subject with the impartiality of ignorance.
The circumstances were these: Mr Perceval Gibbon had contributed to McClure's Magazine an article on Ferrer, which, though excellent so far as it went, was written at a time when complete information was not yet accessible. American Roman Catholics violently assailed the article and opposed to it the ecclesiastical legend of Ferrer's character, career and crimes
Among the insults they hurled at Mr Gibbon was one which probably left him "more than usual calm" — the suggestion, to wit, that he must be lineally descended from the infamous author of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Always willing to hear both sides of a question, McClure's Magazine printed an article by one of the Catholic champions, which displayed an astounding ignorance of even the admitted facts of the case, as set forth in the official documents; meanwhile, the Editor commissioned me to go to Spain and undertake an independent enquiry into the whole matter
My mind, as before stated, was a blank as regards Ferrer, and I had no predispositions to contend against. Certainly, I was not a Roman Catholic; but I was in no way committed to hostility to Catholicism. As a matter of fact, had I convinced myself that Ferrer was guilty, or even that he had had a fair trial, it would have been very easy, and by no means disagreeable, for me to have said so.
My impartiality would have shone conspicuous; and, as for McClure's Magazine, it could only have gained by confessing itself in error, and thus effecting a reconciliation with a large and important section of the American public.
But I very soon saw that I could not in conscience recommend recantation on any point of the smallest importance. For a week or two after I began to look into the case, my judgment remained in suspense; but I had no sooner procured and read the official version of the trial, the Juicio Ordinario seguido . . . contra Francisco Ferrer Guardia, than all doubt was at an end. I knew that Ferrer had been the victim, if not of a judicial crime, at any rate of enormous judicial stupidity.
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