Litchfield enquirer., 1860-04-05
From Chambers Journal. CURIOSITIES OF JUSTICE
A CHEERFUL RETRosPEc.
In the good old times, when

et dure-''anrly, pressing to death" fu
 refusing to plead. This system continue
 Tn vogue till 1772, when an net was ,,assr ny which any one refusing to plead sloul
 be deemed guilty, the same as though b
 verdict of jury. The "press yard" q Newgatc, and perhaps at other prisons, yet we believe, retains its name, albeit it is III
 longer used for its original purpose. W
 have before us curious print r,prcsentin, d criminal ill the act of being pressed |, death. He is extended fiat Oil his back, hi
 arms and feet drawn apart at full strctcl, and secured to staples in the floor a piec, of plank is on his body, aud ou that a nun,
 ber Of heavy weights.
 There seem to have been two kinds 0 criminals who formerly refused to plead tt their indictments the one men of property who, by suffering death by pressure insteaC of by hanging, preserved their landed cs tates to their children or heirs, which would not have been the cHse had they pleaded and been found guilty by the jury. The other class We're ignorant, determined men, who foolishly imagined that by obstnately refusing to llcad they should eventually es- cape the punishment due to their offences. 1 When no argument could indnce a man to plead. the judgment of the law was read over to him as he stood at the bar. It was thus wordcd: {: "TIlat the prisoner shaII he sent 10 the prison whence he came aud put into mean room, stopped from the light, and shall there be laid on the bare ground without any litter, straw, or other covering -. He shall lie upon lis back, his head >l,o II ho rcrnrnI ,,l b;. ,I. l. l. One Of his ur,is shall be drawn with cord 10 one side of the room. and the other arm to the other side ; and his legs shall be served ill the like 'aunlcr Then there shall be laid upon his body as much iron or stone ns I.c can bear, and more! Aud the first day after, he shall have three ,norsels of 1 barley bread, without any drink and the next day he sl.ull be allowed to drink AK much na he can nt three times of the Water that is next the piisol'-door, except running water, without any bread and this shall be his diet till he dcs and he against whom this judgment shall be given, 'orfc.ts his goods to tl, king"
 Tine last time that this punishment vas inflicted was, we believe, upon shipulaster, charged with piracy, who, to save his land cd property to his family, remained mute when called upon to plcud.
 h January l72O, two highwaymen named Spiggot and Phillips, refused to plead, uu- less tle effects taken from their persons when they were apprehended were restored to them This was refused, and thry on their part, adhered to their resolution. ThcrcuuOn they Were scntcnc~.i .-l- 1---n to death but when taken into the press room at Nrwgnte, Phillips was terrified, and begged to be taken back to plead, which, AS a mercy, he was permitted to do, although in strict law ic could have been denied the request. His companion, how cvcr was pressed, and bore the anaz;ng weight of three hundred and fifty pounds for the space of half an hour, but when all additional fifty pounds was added his fort;- tude gave Way. aud he also begged to te allowed to peud. The evidence on the trial was perfectly conclusive, and t!e two men--- both of whom were very hardened robbers-- were duly hnnged at Tyburn.
 The following year another highwayman, named flames, likewise refused to plead to his indictment, alleging as q reason, that "tbe people who apprchended me seized a suit of fine clothes. which / intended to hare scme 10 tie galloms in; unless they arc re- turned, l will not plead, for no one shall suy that was hanged in dirty shirt and ragged coat" In vain was the dreadful sl- t,rnntive explained to him; he continued Stubbcrniy mute, and was taken to the prcss-room, and bore Wei ght of two hund- red and fifty pounds for seven minutes, when he cried out to be taken back to the court He there pleaded Not guilty" but was con victed aud hanged.
 A far more remarkable and more cruel case than the preceding occurred at Not tingham asSizes in the year l735. A poor creature, commonly rtputed to have been deaf and dumb from infancy, was arraignrd on all accusation of murder Two witnesses who We're subsequently, known to have borne him ill-will-swore positively that they l,ad heard him speak; he was therefore call ed upun to plead guilty or not guilty. "A lawyer r, presented his case most feeIingly to the judge, but the law on the subject heing supposed to be imperative, he Was take" in- to an adjoining room, and actually pressed to death; continuing, says register of the times, obstinu,tly dumb to the last" The latter fact, we think, most incontestahly proves that the wretclled being was natural
 y dumb.
 In another instance--and it is the last wt shall cite on the suhjcct--a man was press Id to death, who assuredly was all inposte' so far as his pretended dumbness was con ccrned. His name Was Matthew Ryan ant he was tried. or should have been tried fol highway robbery. ut the Kilkenny assizrs, il TAO. When in prison, he affected to be [ lunatic; and in court, countrrfr!ted dumb
 ness. The judges imlaunclled jury to try whether he was mute aud lunatic by ;h'
 hand of God, or wilfu'ly so. The jury re
 turned in Il short time, and brought in
 'efaiet of "Wllful and affected dumbues
 a"u 'uhacy" The judges on this desired :. '"e prisoner to plead; but he still pretenlet ,a' ao o1 '''Sehs'ole to all that was said to him :. The law now called for the peine forte ct durt h but the judges compassionately fsrr,
 awarding it until future day, in the hon ' tllut he might n the meantime acquire . ;n. ' ter sense of his situation" But this dyl.
 had not the intended effect He refused f
 plead when next brought up, aud was pres
 ed to death two days subsequently in Ri
 kenny market-pluce. "As the weights wer
 heaping on the wretched man, he earnest
 suppiicated to be hanged; but it being b g yond tire power of the sheriff to deyia
 from the mode of punishment prescribed
 the sentence, even this was an indulgen,