Year: 1878

The marked increase of brutality of all
sorts in this country in the last ten years is
a matter of frequent mention. The same
thing has been observed in England, and be-
came so serious matter that q desperate
remedy was necessary to repress it. Eminent
philanthropists, among them Baroness Bur-
dett-Coutts herself, finally advised return
to the whipping post. The merciful way of
dealing with crime had no effect on down.
right brutality, except to increase it. The
only way to reach it seemed to be to make it
feel, even through its thick-skinned de-
graduation, the kind of pain it was SO fond
Of making others suffer. At length, after
proper discussion and consultation, the
whipping post was actually revived for gar
roting, wife-beating, and kicking, and some
other brutal offenses. History really does re-
peat itself at intervals.


The new punishment seems to have most
salutary effect, so far as it has been tried. It
cannot be said to be brutalizing in its nature
to those who seem already 80 brutalized that
no other punishment has any effect on them.
Those on whom it has been tried invariably
manifest a wholesome horror of it the second
time. Some weeks ago five convicts from
16 to 20 years of age received the tiogglng to
which they had been sentenced, all the same
OttSS AG OAO u tuo 1OANcAA t<oAASo ostSoASAA1s
Flogeing is said to be a punishment which
the most hardened nerves cannot endure
without flinching. However much bravado
the convict displays at the beginning, few
stroks of the cat '-nine-tails invariably take
the starch out of him, SO to speak, and leave
him limp and bowling. 1t is certainly des-
perate remedy, but desperate cases of bru~
tality are occurring every day.


Two of the convictB who received the pun
ishment in London were boys of 16 and IL.
They had robbed a woman, knocked her
down, and then kicked her, and were to- re-
ceive fogging as part of their sentence, the
younger boy twenty strokes with birch rod,
the other the same number of blows with q
CATO nine tails, on the bare back. The
prisoners legs were fastened in sort OF
black box, while their arms were pilloried at
the wrist. The governor of the prison, tho
sheriff, and tho Jail physician were present,
while the attendance of number of other
officials added impressiveness to the scene.
The punishment was inflicted by two robust
prison wardens, who relieved each other in
regular turn. The 16-year-old boy was
whipped first. He began to whimper at
sight of the rods, and each stroke was at
tended with howl and an entreaty of f'Oh,
don't, sir!'' The second convict was an
overgrown bully, who looked bold enough to
endure anything, but he, too, began to
whimper before he had been struck. Tho
third had evidently made up his mind to
bear it gamely, and utter no cry, but at the
fourth blow of the cat he broke down and
beloved like cat. Yells and cries for
mercy rent the air during the whipping of
the whole five, and at the end of the punish
ment each was led away trembling, pale, and
breathless. It was not an agreeable scene,
but then neither was gsrroting gentleman,
robbing him, knocking him down. and kick
ing him in the head till be was nearly killed
the crime for which the last three of the
five were Aogged-an agreeable scene.