Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-05-31
DESTRUCTION or THR SPANISH
HK0UEaVTEOF.

a resemblance, although far exceeding in horro
those described by Mr.. Perry, in his visit 10 tn,
inquisitOTial rooms in Mexico:
When We arrived az the wall and summoned
them to surrender and open the gates, says Col
l. in has report they presented a mUsket ant
shot cue Of my men. This was the signal o.
attack. Il was soon obvious that it was an un
equal warfare The walls were covered witt
soldiers Of the holy office. After a hard strug
gle, a breach was made. On rushing in, we met
the inqui8ItCT- general, followed by the father
eonis5sors in their pTiestly robes. All came GU
OF their rooms with long faces, and their arms
crossed over then breasts as if they had been
deaf TO OIL the noise Of the stack and defense
and rebuked their own soldiers. saying, why
10 Jon tight our iiruds, the French ?" IheiI
attention was 20 make as believe this defense
was wholly unauthorized by them, and thatthey
were friendly Their 9rtihce Was too shallow
and did not succeed / ordered them to be Sc.
cured 81 prisoners We then proceeded 20 ex.
anime all tho r"oms-we passed through room
amer room, found all perfectly in order, richly
furnished and wax candles. affairs and crucif1es
ia abundance. bat could discover no evidence
OF loiqUity being P~rzeticsd there. The marble
dOof was arranged With q strict regard to order
but where were those Instruments of torture OF
which Nc had been told, and where those dun
geons IA which human beings were said to be
buried alive We searched in vain and the
holy father assured us that they mad been be-
hed-thst We had seen all and l was prepared
to give uP the search, but Col DsLile was not
SO ready, and he SAID 10 me:
Lst THIS marble floor be examined; let wa
tor be poured ~ N it and see # there be any
place where II passes through moEa freely than
others
Do as you please. Irsplisd.
Water was poured on the floor and every seam
carefully examined, to see if The water passed
through. Presently Col. DeLile exclaimed he
had found it by the side OF one Of these marble
slabs the water passed through fast, and all
hands were at work foT further discoveries-ofi-
GERS with their swords, soldiers with their bayo-
nets, seeking to clear out the seam and pry up
the slab, and others with the butts of their mus
Ests striking the slab with al their might, trying
to break it.
One OF the soldiers struck on the slab with
the butt Of his gun, snd hit a spring, and the
marble slab few up. Then the faces of the In
quisitors grew pale as Belshazzar's when the
hand writing appeared on the wall. Beneath the
slab there was a staircase. l stepped to the al
tsr and took from one of the candle sticks a can
die four feet in length, that might explore the
room below-doing this, l was arrested by one
of the InqUisitoTs, who had laid his hand upon my
ann WIN . hIA1 AoululC dhu uUly AUuhr
said
My soo, vou must not take those lights with
your bloody hInts, they are holy"
Well / said, " will take a holy thing to
shed light on ihiquity. and proceeded dow II the
staircase.
As We reached the bottom Of the stairs, we en-
tered a large room which was called the hall of
judgment Ia the center was a huge block, with
a chain fastened TO It, and small cells extending
the entire length of the edIice and here such
sights were presented as we hope never again 10
sec. These cells were places where the wretched
objects Of inquisitorial hate were confined. till
death released them from their 5uferings. In
these cells we found the remains Of some who
had paid the debt of nature some had been dead
but q short time, while OF Others nothing re-
NAMED but their bones, still chained to the floor
of their dungeon In other cells were found liv-
ing sufferers Of both sexes, from three score years
and ten down to fourteen5 all naked as when
born in the world, and all in chains, Here were
the old man and woman that had been shut up
for years here, too, were the middle aged, the
young men and msidens of fourteen years. The
soldiers went to work releasing them, and took
their OvercCats and other clothing and gave them
to cover their nakedness. We then proceeded
to explore another r0oG on the left. Here we
found instruments Of torture o. every kind which
the ingenuity of man or devil could invent.
Col. L. here describes four Of the horrid IN
struments:
The first was a machine BY which the victim
was confined then beginning with the fingers,
every Joint in the hands, arms, and body was
drawn out; the second was a box in which the
head Of the victim was confined by a screw +;
over the box was g vessel from which one drop
of water fell every second on the head, in the
same place, which put the sufferer in the most
.excrucisting agony, till death the third was an
machine. laid horizontally, to which the
victim was bound, the machine was then placed
between two beams, in which were scores of
knives so fixed that by turning the machine by
a crank, the flesh was torn from his limbs all In
small pieces. The fourth surpassed the other il
iendish ingenuity. Its exterior was a beautiful
or doll, richly dressed, with arms extend
ed, and around her feet a semicircle was drawn;
the victim who passed over this fa:sl mark,
a spring, which caused the diabOlical
to pen its arms, clasp him, and a thou
sand knives cut him into IS many pieces in the
deadly embrace. This was called the virgin.
sight OF these engines Of torture kindled the
rage OF the soldiers to fury they declared that
every InqUisitor and soldier of the Inquisition
should be put to the torture. The generals did
oppose them When the Inquisitor general
brought before the virgin, be begged to be
excused.
No said they, you have made others kiss
her and now yoU must do it,, aud pushed him
over the fatal circle. The beautiful image in
5tsutly clssped hin in its arms, and he was cut
innumersble pieces.
After witnessing the fortunes of four, the col
ouel left the soldiers to wreak their vengeance on
he guilty inmates Of that pTison-house of hell.
In the meantime it was reported through Madrid
the iuquisition was opened, and m~ultitudes
to the fatal spot. What a meeting was
here 1t was like a resurrection. About one
hundred who had been buried for years, were
restored to life. Fathers found their long
ost daughters wives were restored to their hus-
bands, sisters TO their brothers, and parents to
heir children The scene was such as no tongue
could describe.
Having sent to the city for a wagon load Of
he deposited a large quantity in the
FAULTS and placed a slow match in connection
With it, and withdrew TO a distance. In a few
there was a joyful sight The walls
nd turTets Of the massive structure rose maJes-
i,ally toward the heavens, impelled by the ire
neutous explosion, and fell back to the earth a
81 ruins
yau-,Eou 7pfvPeu Banks and mcDoyyeIE's