Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1858-05-04

are not accented. Tire nosiI,on Of France GId England
10 slso unsatisfactory, for not ouy Inc ai''hncels - H., H..
sams weakened condition. but the occupation VI ue
Island Of Perrin by England. is looked upon "a Vio'a'
ton Of existing treaties, which the interests OF Francs
and Russia require them 10 resist with energy. MsE'
shal P-ii5-ier leaves this week for Loudon, ana Inc
papers say 1.-THE alliance depends upon tho reception
H.. and the propositions h. carries, meet
There ia Il runor ai,oat that all the generate, espe'
cial!v those OF The engineering corps, who served N
th- Crimes, "wiIl avail themselves Of the opportuni
~" 10 present their homage 70 the Queen. II they
do 90 10 England, il il merely to make q military re-
connoisapce with tina; perfdy habitual TO this race,
under the puiss Of a friendly visit. Marshal Peiissie!
ia MOI only accompanied by the usual legation, but he
il attended with hi. stall. ordinance officers, AND
aides. de camp. All this looks oisagreeaole.
THE ATROCITIES OF GOVERNOR YEH.
The detailed advices received from China do not
contain any additional news relative 10 Inc progress
OF the military or diplomatic operauone' u .ney
throw II strong flood of light on the character VI lhe
Chinese rule-at least under Governor zen. a MoIe
atrocious system of rule, or n more oru'hl f"'e' ,'u ~
scarcely be found in any country or any age ol me
world. II seems that in the space OF t"o ye"'s "'
savage mandarin caused no fewer than seventy '''o"'
sand peraons (rebels, or supposed rebels. TO De eAecu
ted i'm the Accldama of Canton, and that The tnoue ID
execution rivals in b~arbsrity that o! the most de-
graded ssvages. The prisons OF Canton, 100: seem
to bs infinitely worse than even the worst OF Sap'e7'
and the treatment of the prisoners indescrlpaoiy nor
rible.
JArLs OF CASroS.-Lord Elgin and the commits.
sioners have made a tour OF inspection to the Jaiis
of Canton, and the results of their experience nave
been set forth in the China "Mail' a. follows:
Each of these establishments contains several oil
ferent prisons, and the description of one OF these
will serve for the whole. Ii was entered by an open
court yard about fifteen yards long by sH broad
This court yard IL paved with granite slabs, aud tole.
rably clean and airy. thanks to the rain, wind and
aun To which itis exposed; on each SIDE 81 the yhrh
49, tb-an n.p ~ dana .asb ahOut Nj % wards
long by four broad. and separated from each other
and from the court yard by double rows or posts.
similar 10 those which are used in barricsdlng the
door. of the common Chinese houses in Hong Kong,
the posts of one row fitting between the posts OF the
other row, leaving space barely for a man to pass
hs hand through, The doors of i've Of these rooms
were open, the whole of the prisoners in the live den'
thus having access TO the open yard. Inside are
boards and tressels, on which the prisoners lie, the
floor being. as far as could be Judged from the NTH
with which it was covered, as nature formed it-ol
earth; the height of the rooms is ample enough, and
on the whole, the prisoners were far better than was
expected, and, if properly kept, would leave nc
cause for complaint.
drove the poor wretches into their dens, but a tap
on the head snon s!enced this othci0us parsonage
and The friendly voice OF Il foreigner telling them
in Chinese 10 come out, soon brought about seven
~ living creatures on their knees before such mes
srngers o: humanity ~ had never before stood in
that hOrrid place. The sight Of these poor crea
lures was dreadful; their forms diseased and
emariated-thcir eyes gazing in establishment
with the vacant stare of lunatics-their filthy rags
dropping from then-their hair unsh0rn and un
combed, long and horribly stiif, black, and abnn
danf. in awful contrast with their pale and ghastly
features; there they knelt, trembling with cold
weakened by starvation, and in some Cases appa
rently Gallons even to the event-sO strange and
wonderful AZ it must have been 70 them-whict
was taking place, of an enquiry into their condition
BY foreign occupants of the city. All the horrors OF
an English prison, p~norhouss and lunatic asylum
were here accumulated. without q single one Of the
redeeming features which mark those establishment;
in our own more civilized country. The prisoner;
were ordered To stand up, and then questioned, while
some of The visitors Wen. into tie cells TO examine
them. Many of thu poor wre;ches were actually loo
weak to come out of their d.ns 70 thank their drlive
rers foreigners. officers and soldiers in the court
yard Of the pri-on. Heightened suffering incarce
ration, and starvation. has produced that cnliousnes'
which, with excessive weakness. prevented then
from coming to see a sight they had never before
witnessed. They were told 10 20 outside. and managed
to rai-e their scarecrow figures, aud stagger along
in front of their foreign visitora.
One poor child, H boy of thirteen years of age, was
also a prisoner in this horrible place. He was told
to get up; but, with all empty idiotic smile on hir
face, he merely raised hi. eyes and shufle ID a few
inches along the board on which he was ritting; he
was a prisoner for rebellion! The poor creature had
not strength enough 10 stand; h1 limbs were fright
full TO look at--litcraily he wac 4 living skeleton. and
| w VI u hhItT DEl-bnfT- lfI III vi ~ W
dens were empii-d. and while Mr.. Parks wns talking
with their late inmates, the other foreigners looked
into the sixth den, linz door of which WAS closed. il
is difficult to rrnli.e the horrible nature Of the con
tens of that room. Az the door opened, II riianus
lamentable cry arose from about twenty human be
inga, moi one of whom could stand. Deaths grlT
wa. hard on many of them; there was one pool
fellow lying crouched on the ground in the corner
hs ribs actually protruding-ie was dead! Yes, the
living. the dying. the bleeding, the starving, the sick
tho iiaapaal md ,h. iEpI u,ara nil PpnUrepttsi II
this one hold. These poor creatures, who were howl
ing from pain and hunger, might. aud were II not tol
this visit, would soon have followed their dead com
raJe. who still rhhre,! iheir Wreiched charncI house
to where alone they could look fnr release from then
ruif-ringa-the grave. One of their number cuul,
speak English pretty husnfiy. and from him il Wa
asceriaintd that The whole 0( them had that day beer
beaten. Not one ri them could walk, and il wal
dreadful TO zee the agony they sufr-red in trying II
drag their bleeding forms into the opsn mir some
had been beaten on the thighs. others on the feet ant
ankles; and they were MI ironed, Notwithstanding
that they were not able 10 stand even, much less t'
escape.
THE FEED or BLOOD oF CASToS-Threading
our way under the guidance o; some experienced
friend, We came 10 q carpenters shop, fronting The
entrance to a email potter's field. II is not H rood il
area, Of an irregular shape, resembling most an OBJ
long. A row of cottages open into il on one side; there
ia q wall on the other. The ground ia covered with
half baked pottery there are two wooden crosses
formed of Embarked wood standing in an angle, will
4 shred of rOtting rnps hanging from one OF them
There is nothing to fix the attention in this email en-
closure, except that you stumble against a human
skull now and the1I ~ you walk along i. This IL the
Ac-ldsma. the field Of blood, the execution ground al
Canton. The upper part III that carpenters shop II
the place where nearly oil the European residents
have. at the price of r dollar each, witnessed tht
wholesale massacrs of which Europe has heard with
a hes;tai ny akepricisin. Ii il within this yard tha'
monster Yeh has within two years destroyed the lie
Of 70,0OD Ielloz beings. These crosses ARE the lnstru
ments to which those victims we're tied wh" wrre
condemned to the special torture nf being sliced tr
death. Upon one Of these the wife OF Il rebel Gene
raj was placed, and by Yeh's order her flesh was cut
from her body.
The fragment Of rope which now hangs to one o
the crossts was used to bind a woman, who was cul
up for numbering her husband. The sickening de
tails of the massacre perpetrated on this spot have
been related TO me by those who have seen them, and
who take shame to Themselves while they confess thai
after witnessing one execution by cutting on the
cross. the rapidIty md dexteri:y with which the mere
beheading was done, deprived the execution Of II
hundred men of half its horror. The criminals were
brought down in gangs, If they could walk, OF
brought down in chairs md shot ont int" 'he yard,
The eSscuiioners then arranged them IN rows, giving
them n blow behind which forced out the heed and
nec..., and laid them convenient tor tho blow.
Then came tie warrant of death. Ii IL q banner
As soon a. il waved in sight. without verbal order
given, the work began. There was "a succession 81
dull crunching s0unds-chop, chop, chop, chop. No
second blow wss ever dealt, for the deaterous man
slayers are educated to their work. Until they can
with their heavy swords sice a great buibus vegeta.
BILE as thin as We slice a cucumber, they are not eligi'
BILE for their office. Three seconds a head suffice. In
one minute FIVE execuiioner. clear of one hundred
lives. 1t takes rather longer for the assistants TO
cram the bodies into rough collins, especially as you
might 500 them examining tvo into one shell, that
they might embezzle the spare wooden boz. The
heads were carried of in boxes: tho saturated earth
was of value H. manure.
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From The L.Ouisvilc Courier
ACQUITTAL FOR KILLING A SkDUCER IN