The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1885-08-29
Secondary Punishments.
,om the Gett1sburo ComDiIer

All forms of punishment that do not aim
at the life of the criminal, and are intended
only to cause bodily suffering aud shame,
are called secondary punishments, in dis
tinction from those that are capital
Scourging or whipping is a very ancient
form of punishment 1t was practiced by
all nations By the Jewish law it was
prescribed in the case of betrothed bond
woman guilty of unchastity, and was in
common use among that people as pun
ishment for other offences It was inflicted
with thongs or whips made of ropes or
straps of leather, or with rods, twigs, or
branches of a tree The offender was
strapped from his shoulders to his middle,
and tied by his arms to low pillar, that
his back might be more fully exposed to
the person whose Office it was to infict the
punishment By the Romans the cul prit
was stripped, stretched with cords or thongs
on a frame, and beaten with rods. In
ancient Egypt, and in modern times also
in the east, the customary instrument of
punishment was stick applied to the soles
of the feet. This was called the bastinado
The knout was formerly the favorite in
strument in Russia, for all classes and de-
grees of criminals 1t was scourge COM
posed of many thongs of skin, plated, and
interviewer with wire The offender was
tied to two stakes, stripped, and received on
his back the specified number of lashes.
One hundred, or one hundred and twenty
were equivalent to sentence of death but
In many cases the victim died under the
operation long before this number was COM
pleted The whipping post, both in Europe
and America, was once in general use.
Flogging was until quite lately prevalent
in the navies of the world.
Branding was a mode of punishment for
various offences. 1t was effected by the
application of hot iron to different parts
of the body. On the heated end of the
iron there was device which it was de-
sired should be left upon the skin. Some
times the hand was branded, or the arm,
or some part of the face. An old English
law provided that certain offenders should
be branded in the most visible part of the
left cheek nearest the nose.
In ancient times a red-hot iron was en-
ployed in another form of punishment
The heated metal was repeatedly drawn to
and fro before the eyes of the condemned
until his sight was destroyed. Sometimes
the eyes were entirely destroyed with the
point of dagger Samson, the strong
man of the Jews, had his eyes put out by
the Philistines Other, and equally cruel
modes of punishment were practiced in
earlier ages. The tongue was cut off or
torn out by the roots the nose was slit
the ears were cut off; the hands and the
feet were amputated. The Assyrian and
Babylonian conquerors were wont to punish
in such cruel ways those who had the mis-
fortune to be taken captive by them.
The pillory was an apparatus for the
public punishment of offenders. 1t was
in use in ancient times The Jewish
prophet jeremiah was so punished 1t
was commonly employedin Britain, France,
Germany, &c. 1t consisted of an elevated
wooden platform on which was erected a
machine whose chief parts were two stout
planks, arranged horizontally, the upper
plank being united to the lower by hinges
Circular holes, one for the neck and two
for the wrists, were cut with their centres
at the junction of the two planks. The
culprit's neck and wrists were inserted in
the proper circular holes, and so fastened
he remained exposed to the public gaze un-
til the expiration of his sentence. For
popular favorites this could hardly be called
punishment, for they received careful at
tention at the hands of their friends. For
those who were objects of public dislike it
was otherwise They were pelted with
rotten eggs garbage, mud and with more
dangerous missiles. Often they were i'll
used to such an extent as to perish miser-
ably
The stocks was machine somewhat SIM
liar to the pillory, and was in use both in
earlier and later times. The machine con-
sisted of frame of timber with holes in
which the feet, or the hands and feet, of
criminals were put. In eastern lands the
unhappy victim had to lie on his back on
the ground, having his feet fast in one
pair of stocks and his hands in another.
All the movement he could make was to
writhe his body. His arms and legs were
so fast that he could not possibly move
them In other countries the victim occu-
pied sitting position. In England each
parish had its stocks, usually close to the
churchyard, but sometimes in a more re-
tired spot In some country places in
England they are still to be seen, and they
are not altogether in disuse.
The ducking-stool was an apparatus at
one time in use in Britain for the punish
ment of scolding wives 1t consisted
usually of a strong chair attached to one
end of long beam which worked on a
pivot on post imbedded at the edge of
stream or dam. The woman was securely
fastened in the chair, and was repeatedly
ducked on the see-saw principle 1t is not
reported whether the complaining husbands
were Obliged to witness the spectacle. The
ducking-stool grew out of the cucking
stool, which was chair in which the often
der was placed, usually before her own
door, to be pelted and insulted by the mob
that was sure to gather there, In Eng
land the ducking-stool was in use as late
as the year 1909. Another contrivance
for the punishment of offenders belonging
to the weaker sex was the Guilty stool. 1t
was in use in the Scottish church for the
exposure of offenders against chastity. The
sinner was required to sit on the stool be-
fore the whole congregation, and endure
lecture from the minister.