Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1884-08-28
Bags and Beast. Before the Law.

On the 10th of January, 1857. a SOW
was convicted of murier. committed on
the person of al infant named Jehan
Martin Of Savigny, and senten ed to bc
hanged Her sick sp~Slings were also
included in the ind cimcns As accom-
plices; but in default of any positive
PROOF that they had assisted in mangiing
the deceased. they were restored 10
their owner, on condition that he should
give bail for their appearance should
further evidence be forthcoming TO
prove their completely in their mother $
crime About a month later ssOn the
Friday after the feast Of the Puriica-
ton q the Virgin. thessuckiings were
again brought before the court: and a
their owner. Jehan Baillv. declined 10
be answerable for flseir future good
conduct. they were declared forfeited
10 the noble damsel. katherine de Bar
nauli. Lady of saFigny. Sometimes a
fine was imposed upon the owner Of the
Offending beast. rs was the case wit.
Jehan Dclalande and his wife. con
demne on the 18th of April. 1899. by
the Abbey of JOsaphaf, near ChartreS.
10 pay eighteen francs Ion account of
the murder OF a child named GiIlon,
aged i've years ard hall. or there
abOuts. committed bT n porker. AGED
three months, or thereabouts." The
porker was hanged and executed bv
Justice"
The records of MEDIEVAL courts and
the chronicles OF medieval cloisters are
full Of examples That such cases usually
came under the jurisdiction of mOnas.
teries viii no. seem strange, when we
remember that these religions estai-
hshments were great landholders. aud
n one time owned nearly one-third OF
all real estate in France. The fre-
quency with which pigs were ad'udgcd
10 death was owing in great measure to
the freedom with which they were per
mitted 70 run about the houses rs well
as TO their immense number. They be-
came \ serious nuisance. not only rs en-
dangering the lives Of children. but
also as generating and disseminating
diseases; 50 that many cities. Ike
GrenOble in the sixteenth century. al
thOrizcd the carnifex to sieze and slaT
them whenever found at large.
But although pigs appear TO have
been the principal cnlprits, other quad
rupeds were frequently called 10 answer
for their crimes. The judiciary
o. the Cistercian Abbey of Beaupre. in
1923, sent bull 10 the gallows for hav-
ing killed with furiOsity 4 Lad of four
teen or fifteen years of age:" and in
1889 the Carthssians at Dion caused a
horse TO be condemned 10 death for
homicide The magistrates of Bale. in
l47i. sent need a cock to be burn d N
the stake for the heinous and
unnatural crime of LAYING an
egg The Guf cOquatTi was sup
posed TO be the product of a very
old cock and 10 furnish the most active
ald effective ingredient Of witch ONT
menf. When batched By serpent Or
by the sun, il brought forth a cock
atrice. which would hide in the root of
a house. ana, with its b7neful breath
and ''death-darting eve destroy ali
the inmates Naiuraiists believed in
this fab.e rs late rs the eighteenth
century; and in lTl6 the French savaat /
Lapeyronie read Taper before the |
Academic dcs Sciences to p7Ove THAI /
the egg attributed 10 cocks owe her /
peculiar form 10 n disease of the hen
Animals. also. bore their full part of /
persecution during the witchcraft de- I
lusion- Pigs suffered most in this re-
spect. and were assumed 70 be pc /
euiiariy attractive to devils. and. there |
fore. particularly liable to diab0lical /
possession. as Is evident from the legion /
that went out of the tOmb-haunting /
man and were permitted. At their own 4
request. % enter into the Gadzrene herd !
of swine Indeed. the greatest theO-
logical authority Of the Middle ACES.
Thomas Aquinas. maintained that /
beasts are but embOdiments OF evil 1
spirits ChaSsenee quotes this opinion,
and adds that in accommodating ami /
mais the anathema ''is aimed inferen-
tally At the devil, who uses irrational /
creatures 10 orr ietriment1 Sdll /
more recently, n French Jesuit, Pere
BOugesnE. set forth the same view in a
treatise. atlantic Month
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