Washington sentinel., 1856-03-18

down 10 the feet, BY rope or cloth passed
round the neck and under the toes The tor
ture, however, is varied at the caprice Of the
executoner. Sometimes the poor wretch is
made 10 stand on one leg, the other being for
chilly tied up to hi. neck. Sometimes The arms
and legs are curiously uterlaeed, and the
frame, thus violently distorted, is kept bound
up for hours, in condition little short ot dis
location, Sometimes heavy stone is laid up
ON the back, while thus bent and it often hap
pens that the poems amuse themselves by sitting
astride upon the unhappy sufferer who is un-
dergoing anunda More than one of the wit
nesses depose to the inhiction Of this torture
under the fierce India sun upon number Of
deiaalters placed together in rows for two
three, four, and even six hours; aud this in the
immediate vicinity Of the cutcherry, or revenue
Office, and III the presence of the tahsildar. or
native collector, and OF the assembled villagers.
Occasionally a man is held aloft from the
ground by the ears, by the hair, and ven by
| the mustachio and the latter torture in some
| instances, is applied 20 savagey as to tear away
| the mustachio by the roots Sornestimes a
| sort of bastnado is inflicted, sometimes violent
blows on the shin, the ankles, the elbows, or
other highly sensitive points Prolonged emer-
sion III the watertanks or the river; forcible
compression OF the arms, the thighs. and even
| the iody, by tying Il coil of COR rope round
them. and then applying cold water so rs TO
cause IL To contract and sink into the flesh !;
buining It with hot iron; hanging heavy stones
round the neck; the stocks; tying two or more
individuals together by the hair So that every
moye ment is attended viii pain placing a
necklace Of bones or other disgusting or de-
grading materials round the neck; these are a
Il & a. -.
masters of the oriental school of torture. Ii we
add to these few practices like those used at
home by amateurs Of the turf or tie ring, for
the purpose OF " reducing flesh !" such as star
vation, prolonged deprivation Of sleep, com
pulsory driving mp and down under broiling
sun; forcing the unhappy wretches to run long
| distances, their hands being tied to the axle Of
bauby, or country carriage--we think the
catalogue of torture will be admitted 10 be tol.
erably complete.
Will il be credited, for example, that it is
not uncommon to apply to the most sensitive
parts Of the body ienclosed in cloth or CO.
coanut shell, or other similar receptacle) a bi-
thy inset Of reptile, such as the poullah, or
carpenter beetle and to leave it to gnaw the
flesh of the miserable sufferer? That BY a
further refinement of cruelty, meant to COM
bine both pain and humiliation. the defaulters
are sometimes tied by the hair to the all of a
donkey or buffalo? That they are occasion
ally hung up with the head downwards? And
that It is an ordinary practice to put pepper or
powdered chillies into the eyes or the nostris,
and to apply these and similar irritating drugs
in other ways too revolving to be even limited
at?
We claim that the crueties imputed to the
slave owners in our Southern States are base
calumlies gotten up by fanatics, hypocrites,
and enemies. We deny that any system of
cruelty either social or legal i exercised 10
wards slaves or course me do not deny that
there are such monsters as bad masters any
more than we deny that there are such mon
sters as bad husbands, bad fathers and bad
neighbors.
But the English people cannot deny the
truth Of the above frightlnl disclosures. They
have not been made either BY enemies At home
or abroad. They have been brought TO light
by most respectable English commiss on, ap-
pointed BY the English Government.
England has long seen the mote in our eye,
butts Acknowledgements Of the beam in her own
eye She has oticiously meddled with fancied
expressions in this country, while she has ne.
elected TO reform abuses in her own She has
shed crocodile tears over the imagined miseres
Of southern slaves, while she has been insen-
sible to the real miseries Of the great bulk Of
her home population, aud the untold cruelties
practiced by her officials and under the au-
thority Of her laws in her numerous colonial ap-
pendages.
II is humiliating 10 think, that in this en-.
lightened age, that Government which AFRO.
gantly claims to be the best and the freest on
earth, should be convicted before the world of
crimes that would disgrace felon, and cruel
ties that would disgrace savage