Page:The Martyrdom of Ferrer.djvu/12

6 has been hypocritically tried and executed by persons whose corrupt interests were endangered by his educational work, then a foul and repellent murder has been perpetrated. Such murders do stain the chronicles of nearly every country in Europe, but they belong to a barbaric past. If Spain has stooped to such a murder in the twentieth century, the tattered mantle of its pride must be stripped from its shoulders; the corrupt system which finds room or need for such a crime must be laid bare to the eyes of the world.

A sympathetic student of Spanish life and letters, I have endeavoured to ascertain the true story of Ferrer's life, work, and death. I have conscientiously considered the statements on both sides. I have scanned the columns of Spanish, French, Italian, Belgian, German, and English journals, and listened to the special pleadings of Roman Catholics, Conservative Spaniards, Freethinkers, Socialists, and Anarchists. I have, in a special visit to the Continent, closely examined men who had taught in Ferrer's schools—men who were in the midst of the tumult at Barcelona from July 26 to 29. I have plied Ferrer's intimate friends, some of whom are friends of my own, searched diligently for authoritative documents, submitted legal points to lawyers, listened to the pleas of opponents—in a word, made every conceivable effort to learn the truth. And that truth I now place before English readers in a plain narrative, with an enormous accumulation of proof.

The brief and astounding summary which I give here will be fully substantiated in the following chapters. I must ask the incredulous, shuddering reader to examine carefully the evidence I have gathered, and the counter-evidence which I analyse, before he allows his feelings to submerge his judgment. The number of English readers who understand