The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-08-03
USE OF The SCOURGE
Ancient Romans Piled the Lash Freely
Upon Their Criminals.
How the Great Empress Catherine
OF Russia Praoticed FlaRsIla-
ton Upon the Ladies' OF
Her Court.
-HE first mention Of a whipping as a


chapter Of Exodus. where we find that
Pharaoh whipped the officers Of the Israeli
ties when they did not furnish ther required
number Of bricks which they were CON-
PEELED 10 make every day.
In ancient times the Romans carried
whipping as a punishment farther than
n other nation, and their judges were
surrounded with an array Of divers kinds
whips well calculated 10 alright the Of
fender who might be brought before them.
The mildest form of whip was q flat
leather strap called the ferula, and one Of
the most severe was the fiagellum, which
was made Of plated ox-hide and almost
as hard as iron.
Not only was fiagellation In various
forms used as n judicial punishment, but
II was also u common practice to punish
slaves by the same The Roman
ladies were greater offenders and even
more given To the practice of whipping
their slaves h the men, for in the reign
OF the Emperor Hadrian a Roman lady
was banished for five years for undue
cruelty TO her slaves. The practice OF
whipping was in fac so prevalent that il
furnished Plautus in several cases with
incidents for his plots. Thus in his Epic
idus, n slave, who is the principal charac-
ttE III tut Dldls tofltltlttS tult III Ilti1ltT
has discovered all his schemes since he
saw him in the morning purchasing a
scourge at the shop where they were sold.
From ancient times the use OF whipping
can be traced through the middle ages
down to. comparatively speaking, modern
times, when II is easier to find records of
the use of the rod.
In Queen Elizabeth's time the whipping
post was an established institution la al
most every village i'm England. the mu-
nicipal record OF the time informing us
thatthe usual fee to the executioner for
administering the punishment was
"4-pence q head" In addition to whip
ping being ~thoughtan excellent corrective
Tor crime, the authorities of a certain town
i'm Huntingdonshire must have considered
h Use of the lash as "A sort of universal
specific as well, for the corporation
records OF this town mention that they
paid 8 pence 'to Thomas Hawkins for
whipping W people that had the small
pox.n
In Franc and Holland whipping does
not seem TO ave been so generally prac-
ticed. The last woman who was pub
licly whipped in France by judicial decree
was Jeanne ~. Remi de Valois, comtesse
de la Motto, for her share In thea bstrac-
ton of that diamond necklace which has
given point To so many stories.
In connection with the history of fiagel-
lation in France may be mentioned the
custom which prevailed there land also in
ltalylin olden times of aides visiting
their acquaintance while still i'm bed on
the morning of the "Festival of the limo
cents" and whipping them for any in
juries, either real or fancied, which the
victims may have done to the fair fiagel-
lants during the past year.. One Of the
explanations given for the rise OF this
practice is as follows: On that day il was
the custom to whip up children in the
morning, that the memory of Herod's
murder of the innocents might stick the
closer, n In a moderate proportion tu
act the c~rueltIe again in kinde." There
is a story based upon this practice I'm the
tales OF the Queen of Navarro.
Among the eastern nations the rod I'm
various forms played a prominent part,
and from what we read China might be
said TO be almost governed by IL. Japan
is s~ingularly free from the practice of
whipping, but makes up for il by having
a remarkably s~angninary criminal code,
Russia Is. however. par excellence q
home of the whip and rod, the Russian.
having been governed from time imme'
mortal by the use of the lash.
Many of the Russian monarchs were
adopts in the use OF the whip, and were
also particularly ingenious IN making
things unpleasant for those around them
Catharine III. was so particularly fond Of
this variety of punishment (which she
often administered ia person., that Il
amounted almost To IA passion with her
Ii is also related that she carried this
craze so far u time that tn,
aides of the court had 10 come TO th.
winter palace with their dresses so adj
justed that the IMPRESS could whip them
at once IL she should feel so inclined.
While the nstrumen Of torture usee
i'm Russia were of great variety. the mos
formidable "punisher'' was the knout, al
instrument OF Tartar origin and OF whicl
/ J.aarsrft.s. .ttHa. H.. "a. xl.... -.
1t appears To he IA heavy leather thong
about eight feet in length, attached to
handle 2 feet long. the lash being con
cave, thus making two sharp edges alonI
its entire length. and when II fell on tn
criminals back IL would cut him like
flexible double-edged sword. "RunninI
h gauntlet" was also employed, bi
principally in the army. In this the OF
fender had to pass through "a long lane q
soldiers, each OF whom gave the oifende
a stroke with a plant switch. Peter tn
Great limited the number Of blows 10 b
given TO l2.ooo, but unless IL was intends
10 kill the victim they seldom gave NOR
than 1900 at a time. When the offende
was sentenced to "a greater number q
strokes than this, the punishment was e,
tended over several days for the reaso
above stated.
Whipping, after dropping out Of sigh
for "A time ia England, was reintroducc
ia England in 1867. in order to put a chec
on crimes Of violence. The law was $
framed that the judges might add flo,
ging AT discretion TO the inn risonment |
which the offenders were also sentence,
The first instance OF this punishment b,
ing used was at Leeds, where two men r,
ceived % lashes each before entering the
five and ten years penal scrvitude II
garoting. The whip used in this instan.
was the cat-o'-niue tails.
The w~bipping-post IL also still used
some parts Of tins country. notably {
Newcastle, Del, where the ''cat', is sti
administered for minor offenses. Jud,
ing from "a whipping that the writer one
witnessed. IL appears To be a very mil
fern OF punishment.