The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1878-08-30
Why Criminals are so SelfPossessed on the
Scaffold

1t is common subject of marvel that
criminals IN presence of immediate execu-
tion are usually selfpossessed, and often ex-
hibt singular composure. The doomed
| creature sleeps through the night before his
| violent death, and rises composed to pass
| through the ordeal. The exceptions to this
rule are few, and there Is no reason to sup
pose that the individuals who display great
er emotion, or who are prostrated by the ag-
onizing prospect of DEATH feel their position
more acutely than those who preserve con-
troll of their demeanor. 1t is prevalent but
groundless error to suppose that the state of
mind in which most capital offenders meet
their doom is one of scare or paralyzing
amazement They retain every faculty taste,
consideration, and even fancy. They FREE
quently give tokens of especial thoughtful-
ness, and are punctiious in the observance
of rules and the adoption Of measures to d-
minish their own pain and the trouble and
sympathetic suffering of those by whom they
are surrounded, or who will be left burdeued
with their memories. Mentally and physi-
cally the criminal, during the last few hours
of his life, in the immediate presence of
cruel death, is self. possessed and tranquil.
His pulse is even less disturbed than those
of the officials who are compelled to take
, part in his execution. Why is this The
=, answer will be obvious on reflection. The
, mind has reached what may be designated
"a dead point in its tension. The excitement
o is over, the agony of anticipation, the trem-
q bling doubt between hope and fear of escape,
=. has exhausted the irritabilty of mind, and
# there is, as it were, pause, an interval of
4 passive endurance between the end of the
r struggle for life and the bitterness of remorse
" and agony OF disappointment which may be-
ia gin at death. In this interval the mind is
!. released from the tension of its effort for
elf-preservation, and almost rebounds with
90 the sense of relief that comes with certainty,
~ even though the assurance be that of i'm
"a pending death, In the pause there is time
as and opportunity for the recognition of sur
ii rounding circumstances, which have been
"A as it were, overlooked in the yearning for
>. life The clearness Of mental vision, the
Il cognizance Of details displayed at such a
"a moment are remarkable, not only on account
N of the strange circumstances under which
a they occur, but in degree Men and women
no who have for some time previously exhibited
=. no trace of delicacy or refinement, exhibit
q characteristic traits of tboughtfulness. They
no are, so to say, lifted out of themselves and
of placed in new conditions calculated to waken
10 feelings Of courtesy, which seldom fail to re-
at spond, The mental state of a criminal dur
- ing the hours preceding execution presents
> features of intense interest to the psycholo-
is gst, and, rightly comprehended, it is to be
n. feared they would throw new light on the
,w supposed preparation these unfortunate per-
sons eyiuce for fate which, being ineyita-
.re ble, they at the tiual moment ere able to
&C. meet with a composurs in which hypocrisy
ds or self-deoeptiou finds the amplest scope
| TnnIa1 lancet