Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1854-01-19
THE KNoUT.

| Of all puniShments, the knOut is tn,
most severe and sanguinary! but it is sci
dom inflicted, except for crimes of tn,
deepest dye. Although it may appear tc
the casual observer little worse than our
punishment of whipping petty offenders
yet its effects are greatly increased, and
death frequently ensues in consequence
of the pains taken by the judicial author.
tiles in Russia to perfect the executioners
in their horrid occupation.
The knout is very heavy thong, as
thick as a mans wrist, and weighing
from two to three pounds; the lash is
of leather, about the breadth of broad
tape, and narrowing at the end and the
handle is about two feet long.
The place usually chosen at St. Peters
burgh for the public infiction of the knout,
is an open muddy plain, near the river
Neva, and the executioner is always at
tended with military guard of Cossacks
and other troops. AS soon as the culprit
arrives at the platform, paper is read
aloud, which contains description ofhis
crime, and the sentence of the court before
which he has been tried.
In ordinary cases, the criminals, each
in their turn, are fastened to an inclined
post, having ring at the top, to which
the head is SO tightly fixed by means Of
rope as to prevent the patient from cry
ing out. The hands are then closely tied
on either side, and at the bottom the feet
are secured by means of two rings. the
back is then barred to the waist, and the
executioner commences his duty.
The able Chfppe d'Anteroche relates
an execution of a female in the reign of
Elizabeth. He states that Madame La
pookin, who Vas one Of the most beau
tiful women belonging to the court of
that empress, had been indiscreet enough
to mention some Of the endless amours
of her imperial mistress, and was there
fore condemned to undergo the knout.
The beautiful eulprit mounted the
scaffold in an elegant undress. She was
surrounded by the executioners, on which
she gaZed with astonishment, and seemed
to doubt that she was the object of such
preparations. One of the executioners
pulled off a cloak which covered her
bosom, at which hssA Acsaesf took alarm:
she started back, turned pale, and burst
into tears. Her clothes We're soon
stripped off, and she was naked to the
waist before the eager eyes of an immense
concourse of people profoundly silent.
Two of the executioners then took her
by the hands, and turning her half round,
raised her on their backs, inclining for
wards, and raising her little from the
ground; upon which another executioner
adjusted her on the backs of his coadju-
tors, and placed her in the most proper
posture for receiving the punishment.
He then retreated few steps, measuring
the proper distance with q steady eye,
and leaping backwards, gave a stroke
with the kRout so as to carry q piece of
the skin from the neck TO the bottom of
the back; striking his feet against the
ground, he made second blow, parallel
to the former, and in d few minutes all
the skin of the back was cut away in
small slips, most of which remained
hanging down; her tdugne was cut out
Immediately after, and She was banished
to Siberia.
In the time of the early czars, the per-
formers of this horrid task were regarded
with so much respect, that they were
admitted into the best society. Nay, it
is even said, that in those days, merchants
thinking it honorable thus to pass into
ranks above them, paid large sums of
money to be allowed to fulfil the murder
Gus duty. When their ambition was
satisfied, they re-seld the.yocation at an
enormous profit.
So expert are the executioners Of the
present day, that they can handle the
knout with much more readiness than our
coachmen their whips. As proof of
their dexterity, wagF was laid by two
Russian noblemen, relative 10 the pro-
essional talents Of two Of them,' and an