Morning journal and courier., 1883-08-18
Death by Cruclf1xion.

Death by Crucifxion. | The Azost PainfuI Mode of ExseutfOn-Its l History.
 l Doctor Cooper In the New Yerk Medical Journal1
 sMan's inhumanity to man. has been pre- eminent in all ages. h ancient times it mat 1 tered little whether it was the lawyto be sat 1 isfied or personal vengeance to be gratifed !; l the punishment which would cause the ut
 most physical pain seems to have been in the greatest demand. But with the advent of l Christianity the modes of inficting capital punishment have become modified and inf nitely more merciful. Nero and his caldron | of boiling oil have passed away The cry of s'Christianos dd 1eoneslR ia no longer heard. The Caesars and Domitians, with their horrid cruelties the Venetian Council of Three, and the Bridge of Signs the Spanish Guto | dG te and it's ghastly processions the fiery ] stakes at Smithfield and Oxford-have in their turn disappeared, the gsrrote, the gull | lotine, the knout, the axe, and the rope talk | ing their place. By gradations the mals,ty 1 of the law has been vindicated in all lands without the terrofs of ancient barbarisms, until in this nineteenth century of grace, all civilized communities demand that a life to 1 be sacrificed shall be sacrificed swiftly and without needless pain. True, various nations have different opinions to how this may best be accomplished; but the American and English governments have decided that hang ing is the most mercifnl. As compared with the Spanish instrument of death-the gar rote-it is questionable whether or not hang ing is the most merciful. bunglfng execu- tioner may, in either case, cause unnecessary .ertures. With these subjects, however, this paper has nothing to do. The writer desires cifxion as adopted by the ancients, and to show what terrible sufferings the wretchsd malefactor had to undergo before death came to his relief Hours and days of unmitigated. torture thirst which was unquenchable prolonged suffocation horrible gaspine for breath, intensified only by 8 moments respite; the bites of tue vultures of the air and the stings and borrowings of insects the burning by the rays of the monday sun, and the cold, clammy dows at midnight-tell us, in awful language, of that 6ies ir9. from repetition of which the present day is hap oily delivered. In comparison, our present capital punishmcnts are most merciful and the vindication of justice most humane,
 In the Orient, that considered an art whereby the greatest and most prolonged tortures could be inflicted on the culprits It was in the East where the victim was smeared with @ sweetened syrup and tied to tree, there to be left prey to the myriad of ants which were speedily attracted.
 The term s'crucifxion' was general one All modes of execution were termed crucifx ions by the ancients. Thus, when the Per sian Haman was hanged the custom was bor-
  cruciixion. But the earliest example of cru cifxion on record is that of Pharaoh's chief baker, said, in the earliest English vsFsion of the Bible, to have been hanged Genesis xl 16-22), but by Josephus to have been cruel fled (Whiston's tJosephus, vol i. pp. 65, 66)
 Herodotus states that Darius ''crucifed" three thousand Babylonisns, thou sh it is by no means probable that very many of them were actually placed upon cross. So, also, when the robber Sinnis bent two pine trees to the ground. and to the ipteriacing spor tions bound his victim. the trees wcye then unbound, and, springing back, the sictinai was dizmembered this also was termed 2. cruci6xion, also the ppnishmAnt in ficted upon Prometheus on Caucasus and Andromeda.
 The Greeks seldom resorted to orucifxion the Carthaeinians neVer But the Romans were most artistic in carrying out this form of punishment. PIiny writes that Tarquinius Priscus invented 1t, and that it came into general use between 260 years and 16O years B. 0. The cuiprit was entirely at the mercy of the executioRer; the judge, having pro nounced judgment, was never present when the sentence was carried into effect
 In Rome, all culprits who were slaves were crucifed as were also traitors and insurgents The specific charge which made Pilate order Jesus Christ to be crucified was the accusa tion of insurrection made against him, and Pilate hoped that, by killing the Jewish Mes 
 would thereby obliterate the most dangerous Jewish doctrine
 The most primitive form seems to have been an upright tree, to which the victim was either bound or nailed. In Ezra, vi. Il, it is ordered that "whosoever shall alter this word let timber be pulled down from his house, and, being set up, let him be hanged thereon, and let his house be made dunghill for this.' Titus had no time to add q hori- zontal beam when cruoifying 500 Jews day f,- Ea oiu ovN<,Tn %kr1& &ks.o ground, to which the victim was lashed ard he was left to die.
 Slaves were generally punished bS hating ''furca" (fork) slipped over their necks. to which their arms were tied, and this was hoisted to the top of pole, and secured there by rope fitting into groove This device evidently suggested the more recent cross, to save time, and as being more art1s- tic.
 It was usual to nail the hands, but to bind the feet. It is erroneous to suppose that single spike secured both feet to the cross one foot in front of the other. spike was driven through each foot, sometimes to a support fixed on the cross just beneath the plantar surface of the feet. Additional cru city was sometimes practised by the victim being seated on spike or Thorn" (Justin Martyr), though at times a piece of wood was so placed that he might rest on it.
 The nails, aided by intense heat, soon pro- duced gangrene. Although the culprit writhed in agony for some time, it is doubt full whether any long-contiRued activity of the body could be maintained. The weight of the intestines, gravitating downward, pro- duced intussusception. The circulation was impeded, the viscera pressing on the veins The lungs could not be emptied. Insects got into the eyes, nose, ears and wounds At nightfaI the bones of the legs of those still living were broken, ostensibly to hasten death, but in reality to gratify the specta- tors, who were becoming sated.
 Death generally resulted from eangrens of wounds, displacement of viscera, regurgita- ton of blood through the valves of the heart, pericarditis and paralysis of the heart and lungs. ''In many cases death was accslera- ted by hunger and thirst, the vicissitudes of heat and cold, or the attacks of ravenous birds and beasts, and in others designedly accelerated by burning. stoniag, sufocation. breaking the bones, or piercing the vital or gans't (Adam Clarke, "Oommentary on Mat thew chapter xvii. v. 35).
 According to Origen, Timotheus and Mau- ra, married pair who suffered about the year 286, under Diocletian, remained for nine days and nights on the cross, exhorting each other, and expired on the tenth day. By erder of the Emperor Maximian, in the year 297, seven Christians st Semoseta were subjected to long and varied tortures; three of them were taken down from the cross while yet alive, and the Emperor, hearing of this. ordered huge nails to be driven into their heads.
 "
 A nfinnssOta Tornado.
 From the Madison (Tis.) Journal, Aug. Il
 The popular Norwegian poet, novelist, preacher and philosopher. Kristofer Janson, lost heavily in a recent tornado which passed over the little Minnesota parish in which he is stationed. It is the purpose of the. Unita- rian society here, together with other friends and admirers of Lis in Madison, to personally tender the afflicted literateur 8 purse of money as an assistance toward financial re- cuperation. For the purpose of starting the fund Miss Woodward has arranged concert to be given at the Unitarian church Thursday evening of this week. It is to be sincerely