The Opelousas patriot. [volume] (Opelousas, Parish of St. Landry, La.) 1855-1863, 1858-08-07
faces # solitary col.fine-
led objects IF linguistic
4 aar after year, till death

ssstY decaYeu, and tie ROOMS had be-
GENE fl for Others 10 occnpy, TO prevent this
being offensive TO those who occupied The in
qtiisitinn, there were aaes or Tubes extending
to The open air, sufficiently capaciaus 70 carry
of the odor. Ii these cells we found the re-
mains of these who had paid the debts Of
nature some Of them Ind been dead apparent
Il but a short time, while Of others nothing
femaited but the bones, Still chained to the
floor Of their Dungeon. sss
" IN other cells. we found living sufferers If
both sexes. and of every age, from three score
years and ten down TO fourteen or fifteen years.
all naked as when born into The world, and all
10 chains! Here were old men and aged wo-
men, who had been shut up for many years.
Here, too. were the middle are and the young
man. and the maiden Of fourteen years cd.
The soldiers Immediately went to work to re-
leas these caplives from their chains, aud took
from their knapsacks their overcoats and other
clothing, which they gave them to cover their
nakedress. They were exceedingl " anxious to
bring them out to the light of day but being
aware of the danger. | had foeal given them,
aud hen brought them gradually to The light,
as they were able to bear il.
"Ne then proceeded to explore another oo1n
on the left. Here we found the Instruments Of
torture. af every kind which the ingenuity Of
laen OF devils could invent" Col. l.. describes
four of these horrid instruments .'Ihe first
was d machine BY which the victim was secured
aud then. beginning with the fingers, every Joint
10 the hands, arms and body. was broken, Or
drawn, one after another until. the sufferer died.
The second was a box. III which the head and
heck Of The accused was 50 Closely screwed that
bp f.ptiiH mt u,npa IL, d Y,ru. 'fh,ow4Is -
was q vessel, from which one drop of water a
second EEL .npon The head Of The victim, every
successive drop falling precisely upon the sd ne
place, which suspended the circulation in a few
moments, and put the sufferer tothe most ex-
crnciatlng agony. The third was All internal
machine, laid horizontally, to which The victim
bound this instrument was then placed
bet ween two beams, in which were scores Of
knives, 50. fixed that, by turning the machine
with q crank, the flesh Of the sufferer was torn
from his limbs IN small pieces, The fonrih
surpassed the Others in 6eldish Ingenuity. Its
exterior was a beautiful woman, or large doll,
richly dressed, with arms extended, ready to
embrace ls victim. Around her. feet u semi
circle was drawn. The victim who passed over
this fatal mark touched a spring, which caused
the dlaholical engine to open, its arms clasped
hun, aud q thousand knives cut him into as
many pieces, in their deadly embrace
Col, [, said that the sight Of these engines
Of Internal cruelty kiAdled the rage Of the sol
dlers to fury. They declared that every in
QUESTION and soldier Of the inqnisiiion should
be put TO the torture. Their rage was unpoy.
ernable. Col. H. did not Oppose them they
might have turned their arms against him. If
he had attempted to arrest their work, They
began with the holy fathers. The first they
Pm TO death IN the machine for breaking Joints.
! he torture Of the inqulsiter put to death by
me dropping OF water on his head was most
eHcfAclaliiig. The poor man cried ont in ag.
ony TO he taken from the fatal machine. The
lhaaisitof.t ieneral was brought before the in
feF1ai engine called "1he Nirg ~ He beg
ged to be excused. NO" said they .you
caused others to kiss her, aud now YOU
must do It.. They inlerlockcd their b%ayone,s
50 as to form large forks, aud with these pushed
HIM over The deadly circle. The beautiful i'm
age instantly prepared for the embrace, clasnea
hlm In lis arms, and he was cut into iunnmerN.
bic pieces. Col. l.. said that he witnessed the
OF four Of them; hi heart sickened Mt
awful scene and he left The soldiers 10 wreak
Iheir vengeance on the last guilty inmate Of
that prison-house Of he'll
In the meantime it was reported tbrouoh
that the prisons Of the lnquisition were
broken open, ard mnltitndes FASTENED to the
atal spot And on! what a meeting was
berel 1t was like a resurrection Abonf q
nfthose who had been buried for many
years we're now restored to life. There were
a.thers who f"nnd their long fong daughters :
wives were restored To their husbands, ~sistersl
(" Their brothers, aud parents 10 their children.
md there were some that could recognize No
among the multitude. The scene was
uctl as no tongue can describe.
When the multitude had retired, Col. I'll
'ansed the library, paintings, furniture, etc.
o be removed and having sent to the city for
wagon load of powder, he deposited a large
IN the vaults beneat the bnjldjng
md placed a slow match in connection with +
All withdrew to q distance, and in a few mo-
nents tile assembled multitude behela a mos,
oytnl sight. The walls and tnrrets of he
massive structure rose maiesticallv toward the
leaVens, impelled by the tremendous explosion