Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-09-19
From the \. Y. World Sept. r.
The Provost Marshal and Cell NO. 4.

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The Provost Marshal and Cell NO. 4.
We rather tire of Secretary Stanton and Fort
Lafayette; will our readers excuse Us ii put
them off this morning with Provost Marshal Ken
nedv and cell No 4. A glimpse OF these re
markable objects Is afforded IN another column.
They not agreeable picture, we admit.
And vet there can be no understanding OF the
full depths Of the niamy TO which good
Cause has been sunk by the oicirl folly ano
wickedness. il we leave the Provost Marshal and
his methods out of view.
Now il is generally imagined that torture
done away with among the English speakng race
good many hundred years ago, even in the case
of convicted offenders. The common law dis
couraged il; positive statutes prohibited il. The
tenth article of the bill of rights under the resto
ration provided against "cruel or unusual pun
ishment." The coronation oath imposes il as an
everlasting obligation upon English soveregns
to execute justice with mercy. Inqui,itorial tor
lures inflicted before the guilt is established has
been even more opposed TO the Anglo Saxon
spirit. liz has been treated almost from time I'm
memorial utterly barbarouS and unconscion
able resort Even the old Roman pa cans had
enough oil the same spirit to cUniiue the criminal
question. as it emphatically styled, to slaves;
and, as long the fainte>t remembrance of the
national dignity was kept alive they would never
consent to violate the sacred person of a citizen
till they possessed the cIearest evidence of his
guilt. But American citizenship, in these davs
has no immunites. There is no gnominy To
which, IN these parts at least. it Is not exposed.
We are simply indebted to fhe sovereign grace of
the Provost Marshal II we breathe this upper air
at all. In the palace lives man who can cut
my head off" said Quesnay, describing the guar
antees of Louis Fifteenth's monarchy At the
corner of Elm and Broome streets sits man
wlo can put us in No. 4, sums up our own con
dition.
Provost Marshal Kennedy, some fine summer
morning, sends his detective commanding you 70
repair 10 his presence Useless TO question.
lour business Is TO go You accompany the
officer. Ushered in you find yourself called to
account for some thoughtleSs word act that
may or NAV not have come from YOU. BE care
full how YOU bear Yourself. Answer promptly
and humbly. Don't let any of Your fathers
blood IN your veins ruiiie YOU. Though you
not won't TO be catechiSej in this curt, imYerious
style, YOU must forget all that This Is Pro
vost Marshal remember. Try to be meek
Study to please Help him to magnify his office
Perhaps lie will be good to you, and when he has
finished, graciously bow you off 10 a room that
Christian man can manage To live in for a few
days and nights. Ii, the other hand. you
chaie under his questonings, or in any wise tail
IN Difference, or if you do not confess up to his
expected mark. he will probably make short
work of YOU You are booked for Number Four.
You need not expOstulate. That's all sir" A
wave OF the hand; word 20 the officer and
there you are, a subterranean.
We'll, the iron door closes upon YOU. Now
grope. You CANT go foul Three feet 10y six is
all the measure Don't trouble yourself about
the furniture. p,ank shelf fora pallet. pine
block for a pillow, dpper and water waste
that is the sum total. Are YOU aloneI You
in luck. You should know that there have been
as many rs three men of your Size-and YOU know
YOU eral sizes larger than the Prov
accommodated here at once and the same time,
two sitting On the plank and the third face down
ward on the floor. Now YOU have chance 70
reflect upon the glorious blessings OF consttu.
toual Government and the inscrutab9e dispense
tons of Provost Marshals. No. YOU haven't.
On. horrors The swaruS are uv0n YOU. Your
flesh quvers. Your blood burns With poison.
You are driven half mad with agony You faint
with heat You gasp for air. All. you begin to
understand now what meant that last vindctiye
look. You are getting Il slinmer of what 1t
Gusts To cross the humor OF a Provost Marshal.
No danger now but that YOU Will please him To
60 from that den YOU would creep 10 his very
feet. But be hot impatient Endure As YOU can.
/ There will be no hurry To- re,e tse YOU You have
not only TO learn your lesson, but YOU have
little penalty 10 pay for YOUR contumacy Men
10 worse than YOU have been kept heie for
hours. nav DAYS. Provost Marshals are not -
easily proDlt'altu
We may talk a. we please of the thumb screws,
jack, boots wheels, racks, pinche-s, and all the
other psuphern..lia OF medieval persecution
they we're all Infinitely more respectable means
81 prUpo-ating the true faith than this unutter-
able Accumulation which il used against political
heretics, those suspected be SUCH in this so
called land of freedom Torquemaaa tortured.
but he did il in clear Sentiemanlr WAY. He
Wa content with ingenious applications OF wood,
and iron. and fire, and water. Fanatic as he was
he never degraded his cause by making lOath-
some vermin the ministers OF its vengeance IL
has been reserved for Provost Marshal Kennedy
t. bring into requi>itiOn the sort OF Beise
forte st daTe-;he Old aug uisli made all the more
iut1lerahle hy ovefrowering disgust
IL The name OF American civiliz ,tion pro-
te>t against IL calls FOR the execration,
VIII not say ct every decent man il i bad
enough that should be sutjecte, TO the arb-
trar, will uf au officer unknown to the laRs,
however discreetly thtt will might be exercised;
bad though. at best that are hourly exposed
10 Summary arrests. com miiments, anu imprison
ments. without bail, without, trial. and even With
out oftense; bu; when il comes to this American
manhood Is made prey TO the West creeping
things, deliberately and expressly for inoui>tO
rial purposes, ii i aiding TO the lowest deep of
igEom.ny yet lower deep, which we are worse
than slaves II we endure Consent 10 such
treatment foTfet> not Only our claims Is free
men, bat cur titles as men,