Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-01-30
Historical.

1t is only about one hundred years
since the brutal punishment OF pressing
10 death was abolished by law in Great
Britain. It was supposed TO be the
the penalty for felony, but any criminal
who refused to plead either guilty CT
not guilty was condemned 10 IL;
The criminal condemned to be pressed
was laid naked upon his back, and had
iron laid upon him as much as he
could bear and more and more, Delng
meantime fed upon bad bread anu
stagnant water until he either died OF
pleadeds In 1726 a man accused OF
murder in a small English town refused
to plead and was pressed for an hour
and three quarters with nearly 4OO
weight of iron. after which he pleaded
not guilty, but was convicted and nang-
ed.
The first treaty ever made by the
United States was with France and was
signed February g, 117S, two months
after the news of Burgoyne's surrender
had reached Paris. 1t was negotiated
mainly by Franklin and Vergennes.
The acquisition of so great a nation as
an ally, was triumph of American dl-
plomacy, but it was not without It's
drawbacks. A large party IN England,
led by Lord Chatham, had been applaud
ing the determined resistance OF the
colonists, and were continually STRIVING
to bring about a piece honorable TO Doth
countries, but the moment the French
ioined in the family quarrel the old un-
reasoning British hatred to the forelg-
ners broke out and the party became
the most determined in the efforts TO
conQuer those rebels because they felt
that in giving independence TO the new
world, they would not be bowling to the
superior strength of their own offspring
but TO their old hereditary foes the
French. and Lord Chatham, as every
body knows, was struck with appoleXy
while protesting against the dlsmem-
berment of the empire.
The Orkneys and Shetland came into
the hands of James III. OF Scotland, in
l46S, as pledge for the dover of the
Norwegian Princess whom he espous-
ed, and as that pledge they have re-
manned connected with the British En-
pire up to the present time. Before
that date they had enjoyed three centu-
ries of the rule of the Morse Jaris, who
figure in the Sagas, of whom the daring
Thorfinn and the pious Magnus, who,
having been asSasSinated by his cousin,
became patron saint of cathedral OF
kirkwall, seems TO have been the most
remarkable. The JaTis had overthrown
Celtic Christianity, as is proved by
ria lTcrnH~arinc a If
recent date. Ii may be doubted If the
OrcadianS, and still more the Shetland
eTs, benefited, at all events at first, by
becoming subjects of the Scotch Mon
aIchy. The Orcadians took more quick
ly and kindly TO Scotch ways, customs,
and laws than the Shetlanders, who,
remained till nearly the end of the six
teenth century, 10 AL intents and pur-
poses, as Scandinavian, not only III their
customs but also IN their language, as
If they had been still subjects of the
Norwegian Crown" The Shetlanders
are indeed, essentially Scandnavians
still. There isalmost as great difference
in character and pursuits between the in
habitantS of Shetland and of the Ork-
neys as there is between the grOteSque
and rugged grandeur of the scenery of
the one group of islands, and the some
what fiat monotony which characteriSes
the other. There Is a world of truth in
the shrewd saying, quoted by Mr.. Tu-
dor in work entitled The Orkneys
and Shetland: Their Past and Present
State" The Shetlander is a fisherman
who has farm; the Orcadian farmer
who has boat
Ivan the Terrible became Car of
Russia, in 1853. His youth was spent
III barbarous profligacy, from which he
Was reclaimed by his wife AnaStasia
and her associates For thirteen years
his rule Was distinguished by plety and
patriotism. Then dark cloud over
shadowed his intellect, and the remain
der of his reign was a strange medley of
gross vices, feryent devotion, loathsOme
cruelty, noble schemes of civilization
and unrivaled wickedness. He intro
duced the printing press into his native
land, and was the first Russian prince
TO come into direct communication with
Western powers. He correspondent with
Queen Elizabeth and was a suitOr for
her hand. a madman Ivan undoub;-
edly was. His progress through his
empire was marked by death and de-
struction. Courtiers, mobiles, people,
persisted at his approach. Whole towns
were blotted out from the face of the
country. To look on at monks being
torn 10 pieces by wild beasts was with
HIM d fayoTite amusement. And vet,
ever and anon, he would retire for
weeks together TO Convent near Mos
COW where he would rise to ring the
matin bell at three in the morning, then
read, chant, pray continuously during
the long seven hours service, and read
religious books at dinner. AT intervals
he would retire to the dungeons below
TO see prisoners tortured, and return
with joyful glow on his countenance
to resume his devotions. In the last
year of his reign he killed his Oldest son
in fit of auger by striking him with a
piked staff. But in spite of all this,
Russian people looked uDon their mao
Car with infatuated reverence, and the
epithet attached to his name should be
translated Awful rather than Terrible.
He died in 1854, after IA long and pros
porous reigu.