Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1893-05-13

SdXOuS. Nearly lUU yedTs dtlST the
death OF Columbus Henry ". and his
veterans assailed ii in vain, its thick
walls and lofty battlements defying
every attack. In Columbus boyhood
it was known only as a castle, not hav-
ing then been put to the vile uses Of
tyranny that afterward made it infa-
nous in the eyes of the French ma
ton and brought about its demolition
at the hands OF the Infatuated
rabble. But Columbus did not need to
travel TO Paris to see a model prison,
for in his native city there was an es-
Establishment of this kind which, in his
day, rivaled the later reputation of the
Bastile. The men Of the fifteenth CEN
fury haO little of comfort in their daily
lives, and, not knowing what it was,
never missed it. Even the palaces Of
those times were built without the
slightest care. for what the moderns
consider comfort; and in the royal resi-
dence less regard was shown for the
convenience of its occupants than is
now displayed in the cottage OF the la
borer. Even in the Tuileries, begun
over 100 years after the birth of Column
bus, no systems Of sewerage or drain
age was provided, and The Stops OF every
description we're thrown into the court
yard, through which the palace attend
ants constantly passed and repassed.
When royal dwellings were OF this de-
scription little regard would naturally
be shown for the comfort of prisoners,
and no more cheerless place of abode
can be imagined than the huge State
Prison of enoa Its forbidding ex-
farinv xuo ind &c kn int 1
rangements. No provision was made
either for heat, light or ventilation, and
many Of the cells were so far UNDER
ground that no ray of daylight ever il
Illuminated their interior.
But those were merciless days, and
the prisoner was fortunate if he escaped
with only a term of Imprisonment, for
in the lower tiers were torture cham
bers where evidence was extracted from
luckless wretches by savage torture.
Executions were then public, and one of
the worst features were the insults
heaped on the condemned by the rabble
that always attended an execution.
These outrages were not only not dis
couraged by the authorities, but on oc-
casions when it was anticipated that
public sympathy would be extended to
the condemned, bands of ruffians were
hired to attend the execution and curse
and maltreat the unfortunate victim
Hanging. burning, drawing and quar-
terlng were then accepted modes of eX
ecution, and on more than one occasion
the young Christopher no doubt saw in
the street before the great Genoa
prison the carts containing the mangled
remains of state prisoners, while before
the CHASTITY tokens walked the masked
executioner,, bearing on poles the heads
OF the condemned.
The days OF Columbus youth were
days when the highest ladies of the land
rode in rude carts drawn by two horses,
as shown in the illustration, convey
ance then considered the height of re-
spectability; indeed, so select was it
that ere his boyhood ended royal edicts
in France and Spain forbade the use of
such vehicles to any but members of the
royal family and of the highest ranks
OF nobility. They were days when la
dies who from fatigue or overexertion
tainted were bled at once until they
tainted again, and were then sent home
on a cot placed on big horse and a
little horse side by side, so that the i'm
provised bed was in reclining position.
They were days when kings wore their
crowns all day long and every day, when
the most gorgeous costumes, made in
the most extravagant styles, and of the
most glazing colors were worn. They
were days when the entrails Of serpents
were considered an infallible cure for
alimentary diseases, and when the hair
and hide of fox, burnt under the nose
of patient was regarded as an excel
lent specific for rheumatism, because
the ioX was fleet. and burning his hair
in the presence of the slow paced rheu-
matte was coniectured to quicken his
steps. They were days when feuds
were settled by private battle, and
when the adjudication of a lawsuit
was determined by single COM
bat, under the idea that provi-
dence would surely fight for
rope was ruled by horde of petty des-
pots, each in his own little castle OPP
pressing the poor and robbing the
stranger They were days when no
property was secure il either the noble
or the king wanted 1t for his service
when the king owned the property of
the nation and disposed of it as though
it were his own. They were days
when science was not yet born and
when ecclesiastics solemnly confuted
the statement that the earth was round
with the assertion that it must be
square. for the Bible spoke of the four
corners Of the earth With the story
how the boy outgrew the ideas and
preiudices OF his youth-ideas and pref
udices which we're the common prop
erty of his time-and by the sheer
force of reason solved the problem of a
new route to the east by the way of the
west, the pages of history are filled.
But the old narrative gives us little idea
of the struggle that he must have
undergone before he finally succeeded
in bringing others to belief in his own
sentiments, nor does 1t picture for US
the curious evolut on of the man from
the unfavorable circumstances which
surrounded his boyhood.