The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1875-03-05

get any man to play the executioner's
| part, though the King had given them,
| by act of Parliament, to use martial law.
A Friar there lived In these days that
was very ingenious; he invented an En-
gin which, by the pulling out of pin,
would fall and SO cut off the neck. This
device kept them in awe great while, till
at the last this Friar had committed a mo-
torious deed, and for the same was the
first that hanseled the new engin, his
own invention" From other sources it
appears that this instrument was used at
Halifax as early as the time of Edward
III. 1t was an instrument peculiar to
that town, and even there restricted
solely to the punishment of felonies COM
mitted In the neighboring forest of
Hardwick. The Right Hon. J. Wilson
Croker states that the pedestal or stone
during the present century under a long
accumulation of rubbish and soil. The
knife is still in the possession of the Lord
of the Manor of Wakefield.
DIR. Guillotin revived the interest in
these machines by bringing the subject
OF an expeditions means of death before
the French Assembly, His speech to
the effect that the instrument whose en-
ployment he advocated, would . strike
O1A your n6SA1 III btlG OF an eve.
and You never feel it, caused great
amusement
The superiority of the guillotine over
other inventions OF its kind was in the
peculiar shape of its knife, which has a
sIGntisag edge instead of horizonta
one, producing far more effectual cut
MIR. Carlyle puts down the victims of
the guiliotine during the Reign of Ter
ror at four thousand Some have
1r6,r
| the late accomplished Sir John Bowring.
writing to Notes and Queries, N 1870,
supports this view. Some forty Years
ago, he says, had an opportunity of ex-
a1nining the records kept by M. Samson
at his private house, of all the executions
by the guillotine which had taken place
at Paris during and since the French
revolution. There is process Uer6dt
of each kept In admirable order and duly
signed by the officials who assisted at the
executions. We were much struck with
| the current exagerations as to the num-
Der of victims, and have little doubt
| that Mr.. Carlyle is right in asserting that
the whole number was under four thou
| sand.
Of all those who suffered by the gull
lotine, the interest centers most In Marie
Antoinette. Samson, the hereditary exc
| cutioner before alluded to, writes of her:
luton, the cart stopped exactly opposite
the Grand Alley of the Tuileries. For
| some minutes the Queen remained buried
| in profound reverie. She became more
deadly pale, and murmured. In low
| voice, my daughter, my children. My
grandfather and father supported her ass
she mounted the ecahold. Charles Henry
Samson said 30 her, in subdued tone~
Courage, madame. The Queen turned
frrTTaTx1u c%r o1, 10
with aught like sympathy, and said.s
| Thank YOU, sir thank you Her
accent was unchanged, her tone was firm ),
her steps, as she mounted the scaffold,.
as majestic as though she was ascending,
in the height of her grandeur, the grand
staircase of Versailles. 'Adieu, my
children, go to JOIN your father, were'
her last words -
! The Office of executioner In Paris
seems to be regarded as far more reputa-
Bile than elsewhere. The Sansons, who
certainly had many claims to high
respect, here succeeded NJ. Heindrich, >,
| who died about eighteen months ago..
having discharged the duties of his Office
for no less than ffty-four years. During
| this period 139' criminals had passed
through his hands. He was once asked
| by o visitor whether he thought the
separated head continued to live after it
had rolled into the basket He pondered
q few minutes, as If to collect his memo
ry, and then related instances which
went to support an affirmative answer.
Among them he said that on one occasion
woman's head made a faint effort to
spit at him; and he spoke of violent
contortlons occurring in the muscles of
Orsini's face. Similar contractions were
observed to occur in Queen Mary's face
after decapitation. But, surely, none of
these rn0vnT1anyafS H,o o11xz
} other light than as of the nature of reflex
J actions. The stimulus Is, no doubt, the
sudden loss of blood, which here, as
elsewhere, induces commissions, and we
: altogether Tepudiate the idea that con-
: saousness is preserved even for moment
; in the deeapitated head. The mere blow
must stun, and before recovery occurs
: the flow of blood from SO many large
vessels must be sufficient to occasion
> perfect unconsciousness. M. HeindricA
: appears 10 have been q man of some
cultivation, or, at least, to have had some
) interest In his calling, as he attended
Veipeau's lectures in order to acquire O
5 knowledge of the exact position of the
: 3aOeld vital. He also made various
: improvements in the construction of the
instrument with which he operated
a remarkable story was told some time
ago In the Indian papers, of case OF
: u
: had deserted and taken to brfgandage
was captured and condemned to death.
Being taken to the place of execution a
; firing party of five performed their pain
: full duty, and the Sergeant commanding
them, perceiving that the man was not
quite dead, gave him point blank the
coup de grace. In the belief that this
was really finishing stroke, the body
, was handed over to the grave-digger ;
: but, as night was approaching, the latter
postponed the task until morning. The
unfortunate man was not dead, and the
cold night air served to revive him He
contrived to drag himself to the wall oi
? the inclosme, against which he placed q
ladder which happened to be there, got
over, though bleeding all the time, and
with his axm broken by bullets, and de
hvered himself up as prisoner at tht
nearest guard house. The Minister oi
War and justice each claimed him, but i
was expected that he would be parloned
What the result actually was we cannot
, / say.
l An attempt was made to recover the
celebrated Rev. Dr. Dodd after he was