The Sun.
London, England, 1850-12-26 00:00:00

THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 26, 1850.

side of the room was another seat more elevated
for the Inquisitor-General, called the Throne
of Judgment ; and there were lower seats for
the fathers. From this chamber we passed to
the right and found small cells extending the wholc
length of the edifice. But what a spectacle pre-
sented itself to our oyes ! How the beneficent
religion of the Saviour had been outraged by its pro-
fessors ! These cells served as dungeons, where the
victims of the Inquisition were immured, until death
relieved them from their sufferings. Their bodies
were left there to decompose, and that the pestilential
smell might not incommode the inquisitors, ven-
tilators were made to carry
,it off. In the cells
we found the remains of some who had died re-
cently, whilst in others we only found skeletons
chained to the floor. In others we found living
vi, tims of all ages and all sexes. Young men and
young women, and old ixen up to the age of seventy,
but all as naked as the day they were born. Our
soldiers first busied themselves to free these cap-
tives from their chains, and then took off part of
their clothes to cover them. After having visited
all the cell=, and opened the prison doors of those
who yet lived, we went to visit another chamber on
the left. There we found all the instruments of
torture that the genius of man or demons could in-
vent. At this sight the fury of our soldiers could
no longer be contained—they cried out that every
one of these inquisitors, monks, and soldiers, should
undergo the torture. We did not attempt to prevent
them, and they immediately commenced the work
upon the persons of the fathers. I saw them employ
four kinds of torture, and then withdrew from the
frightful scene, which lasted as long as there was a
single individual in that antechamber of hell upon
whom the soldiers could wreak their vengeance.
When the victims of the Inquisition could be
brought without danger from their prison into the
light of day, the news of their delivery spread abroad,
and those from whom the Holy Office had torn their
relations or friends came to see if there was any hope
to find them alive. About one hundred persons were
rescued from their living tombs and restored to their
families. Many found a son or a daughter, a brother
or a sister. Some found no one. A large quantity
of powder was placed in the subterraneous passages
of the building—the massive walls and towers were
blown up into the air, and the Inquisition of Madrid
ceased to exist.

CURIOUS CONTRIBUTION TO THE IN-
DUSTRIAL EXHIBITION OF 1851.
In the New York Tribune of the 10th inst. we find
the following intimation:—
" Musson TO ENGLAND.—We understand that an
extensive operator' in lottery tickets and policies,
well known among the ' sporting men' of this city,
sailed yesterday for London. He goes out for the
purpose of establishing in Great Britain the lottery
business, and bears letters of introduction to the
habitues of Crockford's, by means of which he will
get the ear of the most distinguished gamblers ; then,
by a secret plan of operations, it is supposed that he
will introduce the sale of the lottery tickets of Dela-
ware, Maryland, and Virginia Companies—the deci-
sion to be subject to the drawings made in those
states. It is unnecessary to say that all this will be
done sub rosa. Parliament put an end to legal lottery
gambling many years ago. In this country, 28 of
the 31 states have outlawed the business, and it is
probable that in the course of the winter one or more
of the three benighted Legislatures will do the same
thing. If they could be brought to appreciate the
immense injury that their lotteries inflict upon men
in this city alone, they would wind them up forth-
with. We commend the new missionary to London
to the attention of the authorities."
As the English public may be curious to know
something more about the class of New York " in-
dustrials' who are sending their " missionary" to the
World's Fair of 1851, we extract from the same
paper the following account of them—the first of a
series of descriptive essays in the course of publica-
tion respecting them :
" The public attention has recently been directed
to the prevalence of this degrading and destructive
vice in our city. The accounts given of its horrible,
heart-rending effects—of the extent to which it is
carried—of the number and the previous respectabi-
lity of many of its victims—of the arts used to entrap
the unwary—and of the regular, business-like system
to which it is reduced in several magnificent estab-
lishments that rival the worst hells of London and
Paris though drawn from perfectly authentic
sources, and in many cases from personal observa-
tion, have been of such a startling character as
scarcely to be deemed credible by those of our good
easy citizens who do not look beyond the smoke of
their own chimneys.
" But the half has not been teld. The strongest
language would not be strong enough to describe the
whole in its full extent of terrible depravity. Scenes
are daily and nightly passing within a short distance
of our most fashionable thoroughfares, which would
harrow up the soul of any one on whom the curtain
of the infernal orgies was raised. We have seen
enough with our own eyes to chill the blood and turn
the heart into stone.
" Our experience shall be made known. In this
case secrecy would be a crime. What we shall tell
we know, and if any one demands the proof, the proof
shall be forthcoming. In a few short articles in the
Tribune we shall lay open some of the heights and
depths of this mystery of iniquity. Would that our
words might pierce the (lull, cold ear of selfish apathy,
and arouse the public mind to the gulf of pollution
which yawns in the midst of our shining city.
" Let us begin with the beginning. The germ of
gambling in New York is to be found in the streets.
The first novitiates in the dreadful trade are the boys,
who may be seen at every hour of the day, in certain
parts of the city, swarming the pavements like flies,
intent on juvenile games which contain the seeds of
gambling in its most loathsome forms. With the
song of earliest birds these unkempt, unwashed, un-
cared-for urchins emerge from the dens and rookeries
of the Five Points, and other similar localities. Many
of them destitute of parents or friends, entirely with-
out a home, have passed the night—Heaven knows
where—sleeping in coal boxes, under stairways, awn-
ings, cellar doors, or crouching in the nearest vacant
spot, which can give them a miserable shelter for the
night. The first thing in the morning is to get pos-
session of a few coppers. These they gain by beg-
giog, pilfering, or doing any little job that may turn
up. With this stock in trade they are ready to
commence operations. The excitement of precccious
gambling has already poisoned their blood. They
are more eager to get a chance at a game than to get
their breakfasts. They have soon drawn around
them other boys, not of their own set. If they can
get hold of pupils on their way to school, they are
sure not to let them go till they have effectually
cleaned out their pockets of what stray coppers may
be found in them. The favourite game is pitching
and spanning cents., tbough betting on marbles also
runs high. In these games they have the expertness
of old stagers. It is a study to watch the pluck and
science with which they enter into the spirit of the
game. Coppers change hands rapidly, and on a
small scale you can see developed all the passions of
the veteran gambler. The lucky boy who has won a
few coppers is usually apt to invest his capital in the
purchase of a horse, 'saddle,' or gig,' so called, at
the policy office. To make good this outlay, which is
pretty certain to prove a total loss, he goes to the
pavement and plays with fresh zeal, for the purpose
of getting what he calls hunk.'
" This is the first stage. But young ambition soon
takes a higher flight. The aspiring gambler next ex -
pands his wings at the ten-pin alley or bowling
saloon. Here he goes through a new course of
sprouts ; he is getting his eye teeth cut rapidly. The
next move is to the billiard-table, where his profici-
ency is marvellous; and, diversified with the new
wrinkles he obtains at the raffling rooms, he is ready
for the faro table, at which he takes the first degree
in the higher branches of the desperate career which
has now become his destiny. The street boy thus
launched, often sails before the wind at an astonish-
ing rate. Many of the most notorious gamblers
have risen from these small beginnings to their pre-
sent eminence in their detestable trade. We might
name three of the most celebrated faro tables in New
York that are now owned by two full-feathered
gamblers, who pride themselves on being regulars '
in the profession, and who have come up through all
the degrees from spanning coppers in the street to
their present disgraceful pre-eminence.—R. L. E."