Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1854-10-11

mander tosday. and. as You say. SO. il
mustsbe but if you will be advised by me
let this marble floor be examined. Let
water be brought aud poured upon it, aud
we will watch and see II there is any
place through which it passes more freely
than another. ! replied to him. Do as
you please. Colonel. - and ordered water
TO be brought accordingly. The slabs Of
marble were large and beautiful pc he'd.
When the water had been poured over
the floor, much % the Dissatisfaction of
the 'iuquisitors, q careful examination
was made of every. seam in the floor. to
seeif the water passed through. Present
~ Col. De Lille exclaimed that he had
found it. By the side of one Of these
marble slabs the water passed through
fast. llhands were now at work for
further discovery the officers with their
swords, and soldiers with their bayo.
nets, seeking to clear out the seam and
pry mp the slab, others with the butts of
their muskets striking the slab with oil.
their might to break it, while the priests
demonstrated against our desecrating
their holy and beautiful house. While thus
engaged, soldier, who was striking with
the butt of his musket, struck spring and
the marble slab few up. Then uthe faces
Of the inquisitors grew pale as Belshazzar,
when the hand writing appeared on the
wall they trembled all over. Beneath
the marble slab, now partly up, there
was stair case. I stepped to the altar,
and took from the candle stick one Of the
candles, four feet in length, which was
burning that might explore the room
below. AS was doing this, was ar
rested by one of the inquisitions, who laid
his hand gentle upon my arm. and with d
very demure, and sanctimonious look
said. My son. you must not take those
lights with your bloody hands, they are
holy" "WclI," said. 81 will take a
holy thing to shed light on iniquity l
we'll bear the responsibility ?" l took the
candle and proceeded down the stair
case. AS we reached the foot OF the stairs
we entered large square room. which
was called the Hall Of Judgement. In
the centre of it was huge block, and n
chain fastened to it: On this they had
been accustomed to place the accused,
chained to his scat. On one side of the
room was an elevated seat. called the
Throne ofJudgement. This the lnquisitor
General occupied, and on either side wcre
seats less elevated, for the priestly fathers,
while engaged in the solemn business OF
the Holy Inquistiou.
From this room we proceeded to the
right and obtained access to small cells,
extending the entire length Of the edifce;
and here such sights were presented as
we hope never to see again.
"These cells were places of solitary
confinement. where the wrctchcd objects
of inquisitorial hate were confined year
after year, till death released them from
their sufferings, and their bodies we're suf-
fered 10 remain until they were entire.
" decaycd, and the rooms had become tit
for others to occupy. To prevent this
being offensive to those who occupied the
inquisition, there were fues or tubes ex.
tending to the open air, sufficiently capa-
cious to carry off the odor. In these cells
We found the remains Of those who had
paid the debt Of nature some of them bad
been dead apparently but short time,
while of others nothing remained but the
bones, still chained to the hoor Of their
dungeon.
g In other cells, we found living suffer.
ers Of both sexes and of every age, from
three score years-all naked as when born
into the world and all in chains ! Here
were old men and aged women, who had
been shut up for many years. Here, too,
were the maiden Of fourteen years old.
The soldiers Immediately went to work to
release their captives from the chains, and
took from their knapsacks their over
coats and other clothing, which they gave
them to cover their nakednGss. They
were exceedingly anxious TO bring them
out to the light Of day; bu. being aware
of the danger. had food gived to them &.
and then brought them gradually to the
light, rs they we're able to bearit.
Wo then proceeded to explore another
room on the left. Here we found in-
struments of torture of every kind, which
the ingenuity Of men or devils could in
vent" Col. L. thus describes four Of
these horrid instruments: "T The first
was machine by which the victim was Sc
cured, and then, beginning with the FIN
gers, every joint in the hands. arms, and
body was broken, or drawn, one after
another, until the sufferer died. The Sc.
cond was box, in which the head and
neck of the accursed were SO closely screw
ed that he could not move in any way,
Over the box was a vessel, from which
one drop Of water second, fell.uPon the
head Of the victim-eVery successive
drop falling upon precisely the same PI ace
which suspended the circulation in q few
moments. aud put the sufferer to the most
excrutiating agony. The third was an
internal machine, laid horizontally. to
which the victim was bound this instru-
ment was then placed betB cen two beams
in which we're scores of knives SO 61ed
that, by turning the machine with crank
the flesh of the sufferer was torn from his
limbs in small pieces. The forth surPass.