The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-03-14
TORTURE OF BEASTS.
CRUEL AND CURIOUS MEDIEVAL t.
GAL PENALTIES.

Animals Were Condsmned to Ne
Burned Alive or Hanged and Were
Even Put to Torture In anrAttenpt
to Extort = Confession.
Beasts were often condemned to be
burned alive, and, strangely enough, 1t
was in the latter half Of tho seventeenth
century, an age Of comparative enlighten-
ment, that this cruel penalty was most
frequently inflicted Occasionally mer-
ciful Judge adhered to the letter Of the law
by sentencing the culprit to be slightly
singed and then to be stranglcd before be.
ing burned Sometimes they were con-
deinned to be buried aliyeN Animals were
even put to the rack In order to extOrt
confession. 1t Is not to DO supposed that
the Judge had the slightest expectation
that any confession would be made. He
wished simply to observe all forms pre-.
scribcd by the law and to set In motion the
whole machinery Of justice before pro-
nouncing Judgment 1.-THE question:"
which in such cases would seem to be- only
wanton and superfluous act of cruelty,
was nevertheless an important element In
UNDERMINING tHJ uhNI uCCi5Aouf pAuOO Uu0
death sentence could be conmuted into
banishmont provided the criminal had not
confessed under torture The use Of the
rack was therefore means Of escaping
the gallows. Appeals were sometimes
made to higher tribunals and tho iudg-
mcnts Of the lower courts annulled or mod
flied. In one instance SOW anda she ass
were condemned to be hanged. Onappeal
and after new trial they were sentenced
to be simply knocked on the head.
In 1865, at Fontenay aux Roses, near
Paris, pig convicted Of having eaton
child was publicly burned. In 1886 the
tribunal Of Falaise sentenced a SOW to be
mangled and MANNED in tho head and log
and then to be hanged for having torn the
face and arm Of child and caused its
death Here we have strict application
of the lex talionis. The SOW was dressed
in mans clothes and executed in the pub
lio square, near the city hall, at the ex-
pense to the state Of 10 sous and 10 deniers,
besides pair of gloves to the hangnan.
The executioner was provided with new
gloves in order that he might como from
the discharge Of his duty with clean hands,
thus indicating that rs minister Of JUS
ticc he incurred no guilt in shedding blood.
He was not common butcher of swine,
but public functionary, master Of
high works" (maitre dcs hautes Guvres),
MS he was officially styled In 1894 a pig
was found guilty Of "having killed and
murdered child IN the parish of Rou-
maygne, in the county Of Mortaing for
which deed the said pig was condemned to
be drawn and hanged by Jchan Petit,
Lieutenant of the bailiff."
Brute and human criminals were con-
fined In tho same prison and subjected to
the same treatment Thus "Toustain
Pinchcon. keeper of the prisons Of our lord
the king in the town of Pont do Larche,"
acknowledges tho receipt Of $50 sous 6
dcniers tournois for having found the
kings bread for the prisoners detained by
reason Of crime in the said prison" Tho
jailcr gives tho names Of the persons in
custody and concludes tho list with the
"itcm" of Zone pig, kept from the Gath of
June, 140S, inclusive, til! tho 18th Of
July" when it was executed for "the
crime of having murdered and killed lit
tie child" For the pig board he charges
9 deniers tournois a day, the same as for
boarding man.
A peculiar custom Is referred to in the
process verbal Of the prosecution of an In
fanticidal porker, dated May 20, 1872.
The murder was committed within the
jurisdiction Of the monastery of Moyen-
Monitor, where the case was tried, and the
accused was sentenced to be hanged and
strangled on gibbet." The prisoner was
then bound with q cord and conducted to
q cross near the cemetery, whore it was
formally given over to an executioner from
Nancy. From time immcmorial," we
arc told, 1.-THE justiciary of the lord abbot
Of Moyen Monitor has been accustomed to
COnsign to the provost of St. Diez, near
this cross, condemned criminals, wholly
naked, that they may be executed, but
inasmuch as this pig Is brute beast, he
has delivered tho same bound with cord
without prejudicing or in any wise i'm
pairing the right of the lord abbot to de-
liver condemned criminals wholly naked"
The pig must not wear q rope, unless the
right to do without 1t be expressly reserv-
ed, lest some human culprit under similar
circumstances might claim to be entitled
TO raiment.
In the case of mule condemned to BIO
burned alive at Montpelier in 1866, as the
animal was vicious and kicky, the exccu-
toner cut off it's feet before consigning it
to the flames. This mutilation was an
arbitrary and extra judicial act, dictated
solely by considerations of personal con-
venienco. Hangmon were often guilty of
supererecatory cruelty in the exercise of
their bloody functions. Indeed these hard
cned wrctohcs sometimes took the law into
their own hands. Thus, on the 9th of