The Mysteries of the Court of London Vol. 7 — page 394: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. bly shaped, as if i¢ were of statuary marble, was this young female’s bust; and to each bosom was the kittes applied. The sticks, fastened two and two at each extremity, and formed of a wood just sufficiently supple to inflict the torture without breaking, were made to encircle and tighten round anch breast as if securmg those glowing orbs in a vice. The agony was terrific—and all the more so inasmuch as there wds no vent for it through the portals of the lipsy—the suffocating cloth hushing the shrieks and screams that tnust have arisen as it were up into the very throat. The compressure of the bosom between the accursed eticks was con- tinued with unrelenting ferocity, until the tor- turers fancied that the victim bad fainted: but life itself was extinct. "She was a corpse! There however the wretches let ber lie. Several other species of tortyre were next ad- ministered to other victims. One was fastened to the wall, with a q@ail driven through his ear, in such a manner that he was compelled to keep standing upon the pointe of his tugs. <A donkey was led into the room; and the hair of another victim was tied to the animal’s tail. The brute was then lashed with a whip; anf@i it dragged the man rapidly through the open door [nto the streets,—his cries and yells of agony reverberating through the place. »At length every ode of the captives had undergone some species of horrible chastisement, with the exception of the Burker. For nearly three hours had the procéedings now lasted ; and the wretch had been compelled ¢o sit gazing upon the sufferings of his fellow-prisoners. Every instant he had shudderingly wondered when his turn would come, and which special torture would be allotted to himself. It seemed however as if there were an intention either to reserve him to the last, or to pass him over altogether: and the man earnestly hoped that this latter alterna- tive would prove to be the case. The officer of the Peona now approached him, saying *in tolerably good English, “You are an European ?—perbaps an Englishman ?” The Burker rephed in the affirmative, and be- sought mercy. “Take yourself off, then |” responded the officer ; ‘and beware how you are again found in the com- pany of any of those lazy vagabond impostors who prowl about the country and imposeeupon the charitable. Depart!” . The Burker did not require to be again bidden *to quit that scene of horrors; and he hastened away. ° We must here pause to assure the reader that we have dealt not in the elightest exaggeration while endeavouring to describe the process of dia- bolioal tortures to which the natives of India are not merely liable, but to which they are often sub- jected. Perhaps it may be Supposed that acenes of this description occur only in the domains of in- dependent Princes: but the very reverse is the fact, —for they ocour ely in that part of India which groans beneath the tyranny of British rule. The ob- ject is to enforce the payment uf théloppressive taxes which the Anglo-Indian Government levies upon the native population,—chiefly upon the land- owners. India swarms with the collectors: and these harpies possess power to punish defaulters. | The collectors themselves are for the most part of | wnprincipled character; and they conceal thf »’? § $81 own peculations, or administer to their extrava- gances, by compelling the natives to pay the same tax two or three times over. I? a landowner should oppose their tyranny, he is seized upon and tortured: or if he hide himeelf, or undertake a journey in order to escape the importunity of she collector when visiting his’ district, his wife or his daughter may be readered a victim in his place,— as was the dpse with those females whose suffer- ings we havétjust described. Moreover, in many towns of Anglo-Indis, mandicants and vagrante are subjected ¢o the torture; and the license to use it being accorded to the local authorities, is frightfully abused. If a tax-collector or an officer of Peofis should chance to cast his eyes upon handsome female, woe to her unless she surrender herself into the miscreant’s arms! I¢ is no vain threat which he holds forth to take her to the torture-chamber; and he will ruthlessly stand by to contemplate the maiming or mutilation, the crushing or the laceration of the charms which io the first instance fired his passion. Yes — reader, torture exists in India under British rule! — torture is inflicted by the officials of the Anglo-Indian Government! Countless sums are subscribed annually at Exeter Hall and elsewhere to furnish the ureans for missionaries to carry the Golpel amongst the “ benighted heathens and pagans” ofthat Oriental clime: but who of those missionaries has ever returned to England to raise an indignant voice against the infliction of the torture upon the poor HindoosP A pretty opinion must those unfortunates have of the nation to which belong the missionaries who would con- vert them; and a fine notion must they entertain of that religion which seeks to proselytise them. Of the full amount of horrors committed by Bri- tish rule in Hindostan, the masses of our people have but a faint idea: but we solemnly assure them that no single detail of the above given de- scription of the to -chamber in India is in any way exaggerated. We now resume fhe thread of our narrative. The Burker, on emerging from thé ‘midst of that scene of horrors, sped>through the streets, anxious to escape as oon as possible from a town where vagrancy was so frightfully punished. He beheld not the @®ssoon—nor did he indeed take any troyble to luok for him: he was glad to have got rid of such a dangerous companiunship. Issuing from the town in the contrary direction from (fit by which he had entered it, the Burker proceeded at random across the open country, until the sul- triness of the sun at length compelled him to seek the refreshing shade of some trees: for since quit- ting the jungle he experienced no apprehension on reposing hiniself beneath such umbrageous cano- pies. He soon fell fast asleep: his slumber lasted for several hours; and when he awoke, it was with @ gnawing sensation of hunger in his stomach. But, Ah! who was this that was seated on the graes near him? It was his Jate companion, the squint-eyed Gossoon, who a ed to have been patiently waiting until Burker should arouse bimeelf. For a moment an expression of anney- ance passed over‘the Englishman’s features: but his looks as well as his mood speedily changed when the Gossoon emptied upon the prone he sontents of his wallet. The fare thus ed was good; and the Gossoon grinned with a mali- a ee ECOMRniclacae SS (CO)