The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-01-31

late years, owing, as we presume, to the quail |
hcatlons of the chief performer. Ho is not !
only man of colossal strength, and clad in
black garments of elaborate neatness; but he !
is an inventor, and has conferred many ad- |
vantages on the condemned by ameliorations
IN his instrument. He is sensitive that he
is generally i'll for days after an execution;
and M. Du Camp complains that, considering
his qualifications, he is miseraby paid. lie
receives only 1000 francs year, besides an al
lowance of 5000 francsfor supplying the neces-
sary materials. He has the charge, it seems
of seven departments but, considering that
there have only been 81 executions in Paris
in the last 40 years, we do not see that the
salary is so bad. 1t is, however, rather diff
cult to discover any satisfactory mode of de-
termining the value of such services Adam
Smith has passage on this subject which is
not altogether without some grim fun in it,
''The most detestable of all employments,
that of public executioner, is, in proportion
to the quantity of work done, better paid than
any common trade whatever"
We must now return to the or iminal. The
authorities enter his room in the arly morn
ing, taking infinite precautions not to disturb
his sleep by turning the key abruptly. They
then rouse him to tell him that the hour Is
come. From the time Of waking him to the
moment of his execution takes half an hour.
This includes his interview with the priest, O
putting on his -waistcoat, cutting his
hair, and conducting him through various
passages and M. Du Camp suggests that
by certain easy simplifeations, it might be
reduced to half the time; SO that a man
might be asleep as the hour struck and he
without his head at the quarter That part
of the proceedings, however, which takes
place within the view of the public is expedi-
tious enough. The trying moment is that at
tbo xn-hio &c a1 q nj
red color, first becomes visible, and
it is then that the criminal tries, often in
vain, to brace himself with view to dying
game and leaving creditable name among
| his companions. Characteristically, too, it is
in these moments that they try to recall the
| mot, carefully prepared beforehand, with
| which they are to take leave of the world.
''Adieu, enfants de la France, was the excla-
| nation of one Avinain, ''navoueZ jamaiS;
| c'est ce qui IN perdu" Another man at this
moment asked the name of an assistant who
had been kind to him, in order that he might
| preserve it in his memory. But the scatfold
| is close to the prison; and according to an
accurate observation in one instance, only
! fourteen seconds elapsed between the time at
which the prisoner put his foot on the scatfold
and that at which his head fell into the bas-
| ket. The scene may be hideous enough, but
| it is commercially short.
The logical neatness of the French organi-
! zation seems rather to fail in this instance.
The execution is public, but the greatest care
is taken that as few people as possible shall
see it. The time is not known, except to the
few enthusiasts who watch till they see the
scaffold erected on the night before the event.
Great care is taken to treat the criminal
kindly, especially in the rather doubtful
matter of getting the business over as soon
as he is out of bed; yet he has all the misery
Of suspense, and, moreover, of suspense in 8
strait -waistcoat. So few criminals manage
to kill themselves under our system, and il
is so very little loss to the world when they
do, that one might have thought that
this regulation might be relaxed for it GER
tainly seems to be an unnecessary aggravatior
OF torture. If the execution were in private
as is now the case in England as well in thu
greater part of America and Germany til,
prisoner might have the melancholy satisfac
tion of knowing beforehand how long he wa
to live The interests, however, of the pri
soner are of comparatively little Importance
Nobody can look forward to the guillotin
without considerable reluctance, and whethe
the days are little more or little less un
pleasant is not of very material consequence
But it is a more curious question whethe
this growing disgust at the publicity O
executions does not foreshadow the entir
abolition of capital punishment. Traupmanl
J has probably done O good deal to preserv
the vitality of the guillotine, but the numbe
of persons guillotined steadily declines; il
the five years ending in 1860 there were twic
as many as in the five years ending in 1866
and it is almost necessary to murder Who'll
family in cold blood to get rid of 'extenus
7 ting circumstances. We cannot bear to hav
, a deed performed in public which few gene
rations ago was considered to be highl
moral and entertaining spectacle. May W
: not become SO sensitive in generation c
9 two more as not to bear it's being done i
private? The French are so tender to tn
: criminal that they only give him ha
: an hour of certain anticipation
o death, and M. Du Camp tries to show tht
@ the time might be reduced to half. The ne1
@ step would be to cut off his head before
o is awake; and when that consummation
II reached, perhaps it may be thought improp'
d to put an end to him at all 1t is not muo
!, over q hundred years since Damiens wi
q slowly tortured to death by the most revol
e ing process at the Greve, and highly -polishe
l, English gentleman went over to Paris O.
: pressly to see it done. We now take pair
"a to reduce every extra minute of expectatiC
y for far more execrable villain, and try
n cheat anybody brutal enough to desire to 81
's his death of the anticipated treat. Shall v
10 become too tender-hearted to kill anybod
'r or will punishment be inflicted in so inoffe
20 sive manner that we shall gradually becon
D. reconciled to it pa question too intricate
be discussed at the present moment.