, 1861-03-07
Cruel and Unusual PunfAh1aents.

-: From the N. 7. observer.1
The clause IN the Constitution of the United
States which forbids the intliction Of crcel and
unusual puniEhments, Ike many other pro
Visions of that noble Instrument, Is held in
very light esteem. Many who read 1t regard
itas almost superAnity- But 1t guards the
citizen against IN evil which WIS once ofgreat
magnitude In England, and still is such In
come Of the European countries. General his
tory gives an account Of some Of the cruel
pnniahments TO which onr English ancestors
were subjected, but the full horrors Of the case
ars only to be known by resortipg to less ac-
cessible sources Of information.
Boiling to death Was once the usual mode
Of pun{ah1ng crimtna a1s-who had committed
murder by poisoning. The Parliament Of
year 1851 The act recites that :" that one
Richard Coke, Of his moste wyked' and damp
uable dyeposicyon, did caste certyn yenym
or pyson into q vessel replenysehed with
yeste or barme, stondyng in the kechyn Of the
Reverende Father in God John, Bysshopp Of
wyth whych yeste Or barme md other tngnges
convenient, porragge OF gruell was forthwith
made for his famylye there bey1ng, whereby
not only the nombre Of xvii persons Of his
famylye, which dyd cate Of that porrage
were mortally enfeeted and poysoned, and one
man, thereof is deceased, but also certyne
pore people whych resorted to the said
Bysshopps place and were there charytably
feded wyth the remayne Of the said porrage
and other yytayles. yer. in lyke Wyse entected.
and one pore woman Of them, that is to say,
Alyce Trypptt, wydowe, is also thereof now
deceased, and proceeds to declare that the
crime shell be deeemea high treason, and that
the said Richard Coke s'fhaI be therefore
bylcd to dethe, without hayyuge any adyuan-
that all future Poisoners should be punished
in the same HaY.
, This horrible punishment. was nctual]y il
lcted upon Coke, with the additional cruelty,
as we learn from the " Chronicle Of the Gray
Fria1s Of London" that he was PIT to death
pul1yd up and downe with gybbyt at dyyers
tymes tyn he was dcde." The same "Chron-
iclen records another case where the same
punishment was inflicted in 1522, probably BY
authority Of special statute. "And this
.yere: was man soddyne In cauthcrne Ill
ty,aes tyn he was dede, for because he void a
poysoned dyvers persons" A third instance
occurred in 1542, when there ts was q mayde
boyllyd in smythfelde for poysonyng Of DIVERS
persons"
Pressing to death was another cruel punish.
ment sanctioned By English law; O punish
ment, moreover, inflicted not for the commits
sion Of crime, but for refusing to plead when
put on trial. The Judgment III such cases was
9'that the prisoner shall be sent to the prison
!Iom HAebct He came, anu put WLo mean
room, stopped from the light, and shall be
laid on the bare ground, without any litter,
straw, OF other covering. He shall lie upon
his back, his head sba1i be covered, but his
feet shall be bare. One Of his arms shall be
drawn to one side OF the room, and the other
arm to the other side, and his legs shall be
served in like manner. Then there Ehall be
laid upon his body as much iron or stones rs
he can bear, and more. And the first day after
he shall have three morGels of barley bread,
without any drink; and the second day he
shall be allowed to drink as much as he can at
three times Of the water that is next the prison
door, except running water, without any bread;
uud this shall be his diet till he dies" This
ha1barou6 punishment was actually inflicted in
England as recently as 1741. When this puns
ishment WIS abolished in 1742, and it was pro-
yided, instead, that refusal to plead should be
great advance in the direction Of mercy.
Among other cruel pnnishments once sane
toned by law, were burning, drowning, be-
heading, starving, throwing from precipIces,
throwing into dungeons with wild animals or
venemous serpents, aud tearing limb from
limb By horses. When we read OF such null.
tiplicity Of capital punishments, and connect
with it the fnet that death was formerly the
penalty for very many Of the minor crimes,
we can almost believe the statement made by
Macaulay in one of his essays, that " 600 per
sous suffered death in England By the hands
Of the executioncr during The reign Of Henry
With. Some Of the cruel punisbments before
mentioned haze been inflicted in this country.
While the Salem witchcratt excitement was
raging, per=on was prcsscd to death fer re-
fusing to plead; and during the early part Of
The last century, woman was burned to
death in or near Boston for having committed
murder By poisoning. There is occasion Tor
gratitude that 'scruel and unusuaT' punish
ments can no longer be inflicted, and that the
death penalty is only inflicted upon those