The Shasta courier., 1865-09-16
NUMBER 20.
TOrtures and Executions.

The Rev. w. Carstairs was the last
British subject who endured the thumbscrew,
under James the Second. He was tortured
before the Prvv Council, to force from him
secrets which be firmly resolved not to
divulge. After the Revolution of 1889, the
identical instrument was given to him as a
memorial. King William expressed de-
sire to see it, and tried it on, telling Car
stairs to move the screw; but at the third
turn he cried out, Hold hold doctor;
another turn would make me confess any
thing"
The common form of decapitation exposed
the sufferer to be maneled by clumsy or
nervous executiener Queen Mary of Seot.
land received three blows before life vas
extinct; the Duke lof Monnossn Ave; and
under Richeieu and Mazarn, several po-
litical criminals of high rank were literally
hacked to death by instalments. The Span.
ish system of garroting by an iron collar is
instantaneous and infallible One vigorous
turn of the screw settles the business The
exposed face is Objectionable. 1t produces
horror instead Of awe, and passes the legiti
mate bounds of tragedy. The guillotine,
originally used for expedition, when heads
fell like leaves in Autumn, was, in fact.
more humane as well as a more rapid and
the rope. The rushing descent of the rope
is a terrible moment bet it is only moment,
and all is over.
The subloined incident we had from a
friend. whose father was high sheriff of
Tyrone, about forty years ago. A country
lad was hung at Omagh; for sheep stealing;
penalty and offence frequently associated
at thai epoch After the prescribed time,
tbo nd oil oro1 fo
his friends for ifiterment They made the
usual attempt at reviving him, and in this
instance succeeded The man recovered,
retaining no outward marks of what had
happened, beyond slight distortion of the
neck. 1t was thought by many that he had
no right to be amongst the living, and that
uuhoIv agencies had helped him. He was
Stunned by his former companions, could
obtain no work, and wandered about aims
begging. Necessity drove him to the house
of a gentleman who, in his official duty, had
superntended the execution. He recog
nized, relieved and dismissed him, not
being disposed to pursue the matter further;
but first as physical inquiry, asked him to
describe his sensations on being turned off.
He replied that he felt the jerk. but not so
scutely as to produce insensibility, or even
confusion. He appeared to have the power
of looking above, below and around. All
was bright vermlion color. An agreeable
sensation then crept through his frame until
he became insensible. But" he added,
g l can find no words to express the agony
of gradually returning consciousness!"-
Necessity, or natural bent, or what modern
cant would call :" his mission" drove him
to his old trade, which drove him again to
the gallows, but this time without the ben
eft of resusctation. .st
On the subject of pain under torture or
execution, we find the following passage in
Sir Walter Seott's Diary. as recorded in
Lockharts Life of his Father. in law: II
remember hearing that Mandrn testified
some horror when he found himself bound
alive upon the wheel, and saw the execu-
toner approach with bar of iron to break
his limbs. After the second or third blow
he fell laughing, and being asked the
reason BY his confessor, said he laughed at
his own folly, which had anticipated in
creased agony at every blow, when it was
obvious that the first must have Jared and
confounded the system of nerves so much as
to render the succeeding ones of little conse-
quence."
In novel by Balzac, or Jules Janin. we
forget exactly which, party of rd,uiens,
throned kings, in Candide,' met at
cabaret and discourse of their adventures
how they have undergone and miraculously
survived hanging, drowning, shooting,
strangling. etc., with their sensations under
each process. A grave looking Turk, hither-
to silent. at length removes the pipe from
his mouth, aud asks, Has any gentleman
present ever been impaled p After the
negative shudder has subsided, he describes
his own case under that penalty. He was
carried to the top of a public building in
Constantinople. according TO sentence but
the executioner thrust the stake through his
drapery. by mistake, and left his body un.
touched. After being exposed the whole
day, he was taken down at night, when he
pretended to be dead. They left him for a
time alone, stretched out in sort of Morgue,
or dead house, previous to sepulture He
took advantage of the opportunity, and con-
trived TO recover and escape. The author
pretends that all these stories are true, not
invented ; and we know that reality is often
more marvellous than ia5le-D Dublin Unirer-
stty Magazine.