-
Articles/Ads
Article JOHN COUSTOS, FOR FREEMASONRY, ← Page 2 of 6 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
John Coustos, For Freemasonry,
The Reader will believe that my torments must be intolerable , when I solemnly declare , that these ropes , which were of the size of one ' s little finger , pierced through my flesh quite to the- bone ; jnaking the blood gush out at the eig ht different places that were fo bound . As I persisted in refusing to discover any more than what has been seen in the interrogations above ; , the ropes were thus drawn together four
different times . At my side stood a physician and surgeon , who often felt my temples , to judge of the danger I might be in ; by which means my tortures were suspended at intervals , that I mi g ht have an opportunity of recovering myself a little . Whilst I was thus suffering , they were so barbarously unjust as to declarethatWere I to die under the tortureI should be guilty by
, , , my testimony of self-murder . In fine , the last time the ropes were drawn tight , I grew so exceeding weak , occasioned by the circulation of the blood being stopped , and the pains I endured , that I fainted quite away ; insomuch , that I was carried back to my dungeon without
my perceiving it . _ These barbarians finding that the tortures above described could not extort any farther discovery from me , but that the more they made me suffer , the more fervently I addressed my supplications for patience to Heaven ; they were so inhuman , six weeks after , to expose me to another kind of torture more grievous , if possible , than the former . They made me stretch my arms in such a manner , that the palms of my hands
were turned outward ; when , by the help of a . rope that fastened them together at the wrist , and which they turned by an engine , they drew them gently nearer to one another behind , in such a manner , that the back of each hand touched , and stood exactly parallel one to the other ; whereby both my shoulders were dislocated , and a considerable , quantity of blood issued from my mouth . This torture was repeated thrice ; after which I was again taken to my dungeon , and put into the hands of physicians and surgeons , who , in setting my bones put me tc .
exquisite pain . Two months after , being a little recovered , I was again conveyed to the torture-room : and there made to undergo another kind of punishment twice . The Reader may judge of its horror , from the following description . The torturers turned twice-round my body a thick iron chain , which crossing my stomachterminated afterwards at my wrists . — ¦ .
upon , They next set my back against a thick board , at each extremity whereof was a pulley , through which there run a rope , that catched the ends , of the chains at my wrists . The tormentors then stretching these ropes , by means of a roller , pressed or bruised my stomach , in proportion as the ropes were drawn tig hter . On this occasion they tortured me to such a degreethat my wrists and shoulders were put out of joint .
, The surgeons , however , set them presently after ; but the barbarians not having yet satisfied their cruelty , made me undergo this torture a second time , which I did with more pain , though with equal constancy and resolution . I ivas then remanded back t ; o my dungeon ^ VOL . II . : 3 I :
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
John Coustos, For Freemasonry,
The Reader will believe that my torments must be intolerable , when I solemnly declare , that these ropes , which were of the size of one ' s little finger , pierced through my flesh quite to the- bone ; jnaking the blood gush out at the eig ht different places that were fo bound . As I persisted in refusing to discover any more than what has been seen in the interrogations above ; , the ropes were thus drawn together four
different times . At my side stood a physician and surgeon , who often felt my temples , to judge of the danger I might be in ; by which means my tortures were suspended at intervals , that I mi g ht have an opportunity of recovering myself a little . Whilst I was thus suffering , they were so barbarously unjust as to declarethatWere I to die under the tortureI should be guilty by
, , , my testimony of self-murder . In fine , the last time the ropes were drawn tight , I grew so exceeding weak , occasioned by the circulation of the blood being stopped , and the pains I endured , that I fainted quite away ; insomuch , that I was carried back to my dungeon without
my perceiving it . _ These barbarians finding that the tortures above described could not extort any farther discovery from me , but that the more they made me suffer , the more fervently I addressed my supplications for patience to Heaven ; they were so inhuman , six weeks after , to expose me to another kind of torture more grievous , if possible , than the former . They made me stretch my arms in such a manner , that the palms of my hands
were turned outward ; when , by the help of a . rope that fastened them together at the wrist , and which they turned by an engine , they drew them gently nearer to one another behind , in such a manner , that the back of each hand touched , and stood exactly parallel one to the other ; whereby both my shoulders were dislocated , and a considerable , quantity of blood issued from my mouth . This torture was repeated thrice ; after which I was again taken to my dungeon , and put into the hands of physicians and surgeons , who , in setting my bones put me tc .
exquisite pain . Two months after , being a little recovered , I was again conveyed to the torture-room : and there made to undergo another kind of punishment twice . The Reader may judge of its horror , from the following description . The torturers turned twice-round my body a thick iron chain , which crossing my stomachterminated afterwards at my wrists . — ¦ .
upon , They next set my back against a thick board , at each extremity whereof was a pulley , through which there run a rope , that catched the ends , of the chains at my wrists . The tormentors then stretching these ropes , by means of a roller , pressed or bruised my stomach , in proportion as the ropes were drawn tig hter . On this occasion they tortured me to such a degreethat my wrists and shoulders were put out of joint .
, The surgeons , however , set them presently after ; but the barbarians not having yet satisfied their cruelty , made me undergo this torture a second time , which I did with more pain , though with equal constancy and resolution . I ivas then remanded back t ; o my dungeon ^ VOL . II . : 3 I :