American literature -- History and criticism; Authors; English literature -- History and criticism
We find particulars of one Philip Ratclif for making "hard speeches
against Salem Church, as well as the Government," sentenced to pay "forty
pounds, to be whipped, to have his ears cropped, and to be banished." The
date of this case is 1631. In the _Annals of Salem_, under date for May
3rd, 1669, it is recorded that "Thomas Maule is ordered to be whipped for
saying that Mr. Higgenson preached lies, and that his instruction was 'the
doctrine of devils.'"
The Quakers were very severely dealt with. At Salem, for making
disturbances in the meeting-house, etc., Josiah Southwick, Mrs. Wilson,
Mrs. Buffum, and other Quakers, were whipped at the cart's tail through
the town. After being banished, Southwick returned to Salem, and for this
offence was whipped through the towns of Boxton, Roxbury, and Dedham.
In bygone times, hanging the remains of persons executed was general in
England; in America it was an uncommon practice. Mr. Brooks, however,
gives particulars of a few instances. At Newport, Rhode Island, on March
12th, 1715, a man named Mecum, was executed for murder; and his body hung
in chains on Miantonomy Hill, where the bodies of some Indians executed
three years previously were then hanging. A negro hanged at Newport in
1769 was gibbetted on the same hill.
A few lighter passages than those we have studied brighten up the records
of American punishments, which were very severe. A prisoner in February,
1789, escaped through the jail chimney at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and
wrote on the wall as follows: "The reason of my going is because I have no
fire to comfort myself with, and very little provision. So I am sure if I
was to stay any longer I should perish to death. Look at that bed there!
Do you think it fit for any person to lie on?
"If you are well, I am well;
Mend the chimney, and all's well!"
To the gentlemen and officers of Portsmouth, from your humble servant,
WILLIAM FALL.
"N.B.--I am very sorry that I did not think of this before, for if I had,
your people should not have had the pleasure of seeing me take the
lashes."
_Curiosities of the Lottery_ is the title of another volume of Mr.
Brooks's "Olden Time Series." Selling lottery tickets was regarded as a
respectable calling. "The better the man," says Mr. Brooks, "the better
the agent. Indeed, it was generally thought to be just as respectable to
sell lottery tickets as to sell Bibles; and we have them classed together
in the same advertisement." In England, we must not forget the fact that
the business was conducted on the same lines in bygone times. The first
lottery in this country was drawn day and night at the west door of St.
Paul's Cathedral, London, from the 11th of January to May 6th, 1569. The
profit, which was considerable, was devoted to the repair of harbours. The
prizes consisted of pieces of plate.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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