Squatter sovereign., 1856-04-22

tire Territory, slavery legally existed in
every part of it, and this was in law, if
not IN fact, an act of abolition. Southern
men, however, from an extreme anxiety
to procure the admission of the new State,
unwisely and weakly consented to support
the measure, and were willing TO purchase
for Missouri what she could claim as
right under the constitution. The restric-
ton was supposed by Southern men, how
ever, to have entitled her to come into the
Union; but at the succeeding session of
Congress, when she applied with her re-
publican constitution, the body of the
Northern representatives still resisted and
rejected her, in accordance with the in
structions of most of the Northern States.
Hence it became necessary for new con-
cessions to be made, and an additional
price paid 10 the North; and Mr.. Clay
came forward with his compromise, re-
quiring Missouri to do certain other hui
initiating things before she could get into
the Union. In this way, with the aid of
six or seven Northern votes only she was
accepted in the midst of a general storm
Of opposition from the North. Since the
prohibition of slavery North Of So deg.
80 min, was originally offered as a con-
sideration for her admission, and as such
was not accepted by the free States, but a
new price required. it would have been
right for the South to have likewise repu-
dated the act of prohibition. Neverthe-
less, impelled by strong desire to have
peace and harmony, the exclusion was ac-
quiesced in by her, while the North COM
planned and denounced the act. The an
ti-slavery feeling gradually subsided there,
and the country remained quiet until a
new influence was brought to bear on it.
Great Britain had acquired by the force
Eef her arms and skill in diplomacy, I'M
mense possessions in Asia. Her East
Indian provinces alone, contained more
than one hundred millions of people, held
in state of most abject slavery, and op-
PRESSED by much greater hardships than
the negroes of any part @of the United
States.
To make this appear-and because
British writer's are constantly denouncing
the shareholders of the South for their I'M
morality. barbarity, and cruelty-and be-
cause the abolitionists in this country are
in the daily habit of praising everything
in England, and holding up her conduct
for us to imitate--it will not be amiss for
me to present some facts. Eighteen
months since, the British Parliament was
forced, by the pressure Of public opinion,
to send out to India q commission to in
quire into the manner in which the people
were treated there. That commission,
after. examining hundreds of Witnesses,
has recently made its repeTt; and | find
the substance of it given In the January
number of the Edinburgh Review for the
present year. 1t must be borne In mind !,
that in that country the government owns
the land and compels The people to work
it. exacting as much as one half, and it IS
said, even two-thirds Of the entire product
of the farms. 1t is difficult-almost i'm
possible, indeed-to collect such enormous
rents. AS a means, however, Of exaeting
it, torture is habitualiy applied. present
a few extracts from the article of this Pc
riodicai-a publication as reliable as any
in Great Britain
:" The tortures which the commissioners
find to have been employed. are of various
kinds and of different degrees of severity.
Some of them are so light as to amount to
little more than a menace. Some are SO
severe as to cause not only extreme pres
ent pam, but permanent injuries, mutila-
tons, and even, not unfrequently, death.
Some of them exhibit an amount of dia-
bolical ingenuity on the part of the tortu-
Hrer, and degree OF moral abasement and
degradation In the victim, of which our
Western minds can hardly form concep-
ton; some, in fine, are so loathsome and
indecent. at the same time SO excruciating,
that although they are set down nakedly
in the report, we must abstain from any
specific allusion to their nature.
e The two most common forms Of tor
ture, appear to be the kiftee Tin Teioogoo.
called cheerata, and the anundal, which,
in the same language, is called giageri.
The kiftes corresponds with the thumb
screw of the European torturer. Il is a
wooden instrument. somewhat like a lemon
.queeser, between The platesof which the
hands. the thighs, lin women also the
breasts, } the ears, and other more sensi-
tive parts of the body. are squeezed 10 the
slass point Of endurance, often 70 fainiing,