Part 2

In the "Boston Courier," September, 1825, is an account of the conviction of a common drunkard at the age of 103! It seems hardly possible that such a case could have occurred, and in New England, too. This item is copied from the "Salem Observer." If it is true, it can hardly be said that the man shortened his days by the use of liquor. They had, however, good, pure rum in those days.

POLICE COURT. Donald McDonald, a Scotchman reported to be _one hundred and three years of age_, was brought before the court yesterday charged with being a common drunkard, of which he had been convicted once before. Donald stated that he had been in various battles of the Revolution, had sailed with Paul Jones, and was at the taking of Quebec. He was found guilty and sentenced to the House of Correction for three months.

Donald M'Donald, the Scotchman, who has numbered upwards of 110 years, was sent to the House of Industry on Saturday of last week, in a state of intoxication. He had been suffered to go at large but four days previous, and during two of them was seen about our streets a drunken brawler.--_Boston Patriot_, 1829.

NEW ENGLAND IN 1686.

John Dunton, writing from Boston in 1686 to his friends in England, quotes some of the Province laws then in force. He says:--

For being drunk they either Whip or impose a Fine of Five shillings; And yet, notwithstanding this Law, there are several of them so addicted to it that they begin to doubt whether it be a Sin or no, and seldom go to Bed without Muddy Brains.

For Cursing and Swearing they bore through the Tongue with a hot Iron.

For kissing a woman in the Street, though but in way of Civil Salute, Whipping or a Fine (Their way of Whipping Criminals is by Tying them to a Gun at the Town House, and when so Ty'd whipping them at the pleasure of the Magistrate and according to the Nature of the Offence).

For Adultery they are put to Death, and so for Witchcraft, For that, there are a great many Witches in this Country &c.

Scolds they gag and set them at their own Doors, for certain hours together for all comers and goers to gaze at. Were this a Law in England and well Executed it wou'd in a little Time prove an Effectual Remedy to cure the Noise that is in many Women's heads.

Stealing is punished with Restoring four-fold if able; if not, they are sold for some years, and so are poor Debtors. I have not heard of many Criminals of this sort. But for Lying and Cheating they out-vye Judas and all the false other cheats in Hell. Nay, they make a Sport of it: Looking upon Cheating as a commendable Piece of Ingenuity, commending him that has the most skill to commit a piece of Roguery; which in their Dialect (like those of our Yea-and-Nay-Friends in England) they call by the genteel Name of Out-Witting a Man and won't own it to be cheating.

After mentioning the case of a man in Boston who bought a horse of a countryman who could not read and gave him a note payable at the "Day of the Resurrection," etc. Dunton goes on to say: "In short, These Bostonians enrich themselves by the ruine of Strangers, etc.... But all these things pass under the Notion of Self-Preservation and Christian Policy."

It would hardly be fair to quote all this from Dunton's letters unless we added what he says of Boston in another place; namely, "And though the Generality are what I have described them, yet is there as sincere a Pious and truly Religious People among them as is any where in the Whole World to be found."

It seems to have been quite common at one time to sell prisoners. At the Supreme Judicial Court in Salem, in November, 1787, "Elizabeth Leathe of Lynn, for harbouring thieves and receiving stolen goods, was convicted and sentenced to be whipped twenty stripes and to be sold for six months." Also at a session of the same Court, held in Boston in September, 1791, six persons were convicted of theft and sentenced to be whipped and pay costs, or to be sold for periods of from six months to four years. At this same Court one Seth Johnson appears to have received what seems to us a rather severe sentence, although of course we do not know all the circumstances of the case. He was convicted of theft on three indictments and was sentenced to be "whipt 65 stripes and confined to hard labor for nine years." The Court at Salem, before referred to, passed on one Catharine Derby a very heavy sentence for stealing from Captain Hathorne's shop. It was, "To sit upon the gallows one hour with a rope about her neck, to be whipped 20 stripes, pay £14 to Capt. Hathorne, and costs of prosecution." This is almost as bad as the old saying, "being hung and paying forty shillings."

This practice of selling convicts was nothing more or less than making slaves of them,--for a limited period, of course; but perhaps it was in many instances a punishment more to be desired by the victims than being confined in prison, especially if they were well treated. The prisons in those days had not "modern conveniences," and probably in some cases were hardly decent. The condition of the jail in Portsmouth, N.H., in February, 1789, is thus described by a prisoner who made his escape from there by digging through the chimney. His account is interesting in this connection. The paper from which we take it says: "But for fear his quitting his lodgings in so abrupt a manner might lay him open to censure, he wrote the following on the wall:--

"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."

The whipping-post and stocks were discontinued in Massachusetts early in the present century. On the 15th of January, 1801, one Hawkins stood an hour in the pillory in Court Street (now Washington Street), Salem, and had his ear cropped for the crime of forgery, pursuant to the sentence of the Supreme Court.

It would be easy to multiply cases showing the old methods of dealing with criminals; but we think we have cited enough for our readers to be able to form some judgment as to the desirability of reviving the old and degrading systems, even if it could be done. It does seem sometimes that there are brutes in the shape of men whose cruelty, especially in the case of crimes against women, makes them deserving of the worst punishment that could be inflicted for the protection of society; but for the general run of such comparatively light offences as petty larceny, etc., beating and branding with hot irons must be considered barbarous in the extreme, and more after the manner of savages than Christians. We always thought that the beating of scholars--a practice once very common in schools--for such trifling offences as whispering and looking off the book, was a gross outrage, and the parent knowing and allowing it was in our opinion as guilty as the schoolmaster. Of course we will not deny that teachers did, then as now, have a great deal to put up with from saucy, "good-for-nothing" boys, to whom the rod could not well be spared; but we do not allude to such cases. We knew a master whose delight, apparently, was pounding and beating _little_ boys,--he did not touch the large ones. And yet he was generally considered a first-rate teacher. Parents upheld him in anything he chose to do with the boys, and if they complained at home, they were told that it must have been their fault to be punished at all. This man every morning took the Bible in one hand and his rattan in the other and walked backward and forward on the floor in front of the desks while the boys read aloud, each boy reading two or three verses; and woe be to any boy who made a mistake, such as mispronouncing a word! Although he might never have been instructed as to its pronunciation, he was at once pounded on the head or rapped over the knuckles. Of course he never forgot that particular word. And this teacher was called only "strict"! If ever a man deserved the pillory, it was that teacher.

Possibly some of our readers may think that there is another side to this story; for the benefit of such we give some lines from the "Salem Gazette," Feb. 6, 1824.

_From the Connecticut Centinel._

THE SCHOOLMASTER'S SOLILOQUY.

To whip, or not to whip?--that is the question. Whether 'tis easier in the mind to suffer The deaf'ning clamor of some fifty urchins, Or take birch and ferule 'gainst the rebels, And by opposing end it? To whip--to flog-- Each day, and by a whip to say we end The whispering, shuffling, and ceaseless buzzing Which a school is heir to--'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished. To whip, to flog, To whip, and not reform--aye, there's the rub. For by severity what ills may come, When we've dismissed and to our lodging gone, Must give us pain. There's the respect That makes the patience of a teacher's life. For who would bear the thousand plagues of a school,-- The girlish giggle, the tyro's awkwardness, The pigmy pedant's vanity, the mischief, The sneer, the laugh, the pouting insolence, With all the hum-drum clatter of a school, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare hickory? Who would willing bear To groan and sweat under a noisy life, But that the dread of something after school (That hour of rumor, from whose slanderous tongue Few Tutors e'er are free) puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear _these_ lesser ills, Than fly to _those_ of greater magnitude. Thus error does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied over with undue clemency, And pedagogues of great pith and spirit, With this regard their _firmness_ turn away, And lose the name of _government_.

We here record a curious affair which took place in the State of Georgia in the year 1811. At the Superior Court at Milledgeville a Mrs. Palmer, who, the account states, "seems to have been rather glib of the tongue, was indicted, tried, convicted, and, in pursuance of the sentence of the Court, was punished by being publicly ducked in the Oconee River for--_scolding_." This, we are told, was the first instance of the kind that had ever occurred in that State, and "numerous spectators attended the execution of the sentence." A paper copying this account says that the "crime is old, but the punishment is new," and that "in the good old days of our Ancestors, when an unfortunate woman was accused of Witchcraft she was tied neck and heels and thrown into a pond of Water: if she drowned, it was agreed that she was no witch; if she swam, she was immediately tied to a stake and burnt alive. But who ever heard that our _pious_ ancestors _ducked_ women for scolding?" This writer is much mistaken; for it is well known that in England (and perhaps in this country in early times) the "ducking-stool" was resorted to for punishing "scolds." This was before the days of "women's rights," for there is no record of any man having been punished in this way.

It is said that the ducking-stool was used in Virginia at one time. Thomas Hartley writes from there to Governor Endicott of Massachusetts in 1634, giving an account of the punishing a woman "who by the violence of her tongue had made her house and neighborhood uncomfortable." She was ducked five times before she repented; "then cried piteously, 'Let me go! let me go! by God's help I'll sin so no more.' They then drew back y^e Machine, untied y^e Ropes, and let her walk home in her wetted Clothes a hopefully penitent woman." In the "American Historical Record," vol. i., will be found a very interesting account of this singular affair, with an engraving of the "ducking-stool." Bishop Meade, in his "Old Churches," etc., says there was a law in Virginia against scolds and slanderers, and gives an instance of a woman ordered to be ducked three times from a vessel lying in James River. There must have been very severe practices in Virginia in the early days, according to Bishop Meade. We refer persons especially interested in this subject to Hone's "Day Book and Table Book," or Chambers's "Book of Days," both English publications, for a full account of the ducking-stool and scold's bridle, formerly used in England for the punishment of scolding women. It is not pleasant to think that such a shameful practice was ever resorted to, but it appears to be well authenticated. We cannot, however, read English history, or any other history, without finding a vast number of disagreeable facts which we are obliged to believe. Some things, too, have occurred in our own country that we should like to forget.

All over the country we are nowadays troubled with "strikes." Such "irregularities" must have been treated in a different spirit half a century ago from what they are now. In these days the "strikers" attempt to dictate terms, and in some cases succeed; although as a general thing they get the worst of the struggle. The method of dealing with such matters fifty years ago is briefly set forth in the "Salem Observer," March 29, 1829. It says: "_Turn-out in New York._ There has been a turn-out for higher wages among the laborers in the city of New York. _Several of the ring-leaders have been arrested and ordered to give heavy bonds for their appearance at Court._" In September, 1827, some sailors struck in Boston for higher wages, formed a procession, and marched through the city, making considerable noise with their cheers, etc. They issued the following proclamation, which was read by the leader now and then, and responded to with loud cheers: "Attention! We, the blue Jackets now in the city of Boston, agree that we will not ship for less than $15 a month, and that we will punish any one who shall ship for less in such way as we think proper, and strip the vessel [which he ships in]. What say you?" At the Common they were met by a militia company, who charged upon them; some men of both sides were knocked down, but no lives were lost or blood shed. In the afternoon the sailors were out again with drum and fife. The paper from which we obtain this information says that they probably would not get any advance, as it is assured by a shipper that he found no difficulty in procuring crews at the customary wages. Probably it was not intended that the military should do more than endeavor to keep order.

It is rather surprising that there should have been no conviction for felony in the County of Essex from 1692, when the witches were tried, until 1771,--a period of seventy-nine years. It would so appear, however, from the following extract from the "Essex Gazette," Nov. 12, 1771:--

Last Wednesday Morning the Trial of Bryan Sheehen for committing a Rape on the Body of Mrs. Abial Hollowell, Wife of Mr. Benjamin Hollowell, of Marblehead, in September last, came on before the Superior Court of Judicature, at the Court-House in this Town. The Trial lasted from between nine and ten o'Clock A.M. till three in the Afternoon, when the Jury withdrew, and in about one Hour brought in their Verdict, GUILTY. Mrs. Hollowell's Testimony against the Prisoner was fully corroborated by the Physician who attended her, and by the People who were in the House, at and after the Perpetration of the Crime; by which the Guilt and Barbarity of the Prisoner was so fully demonstrated, that the Verdict of the Jury has given universal Satisfaction.

This Bryan Sheehen (who has not yet received his Sentence) is the first Person, as far as we can learn, that has been convicted of Felony, in this large County, since the memorable Year 1692, commonly called _Witch-Time_.

From the "Boston Post-Boy," February, 1763.

BOSTON, JANUARY 31.

At the Superiour Court held at Charlestown last Week, Samuel Bacon of Bedford, and Meriam Fitch, Wife of Benjamin Fitch of said Bedford, were convicted of being notorious Cheats, and of having by Fraud, Craft and Deceit, possess'd themselves of Fifteen Hundred Johannes, the property of a third Person; were Sentenced to be each of them set in the Pillory one Hour, with a Paper on each of their Breasts with the Words a CHEAT wrote in Capitals thereon, to suffer three Months Imprisonment, and to be bound to their good Behaviour for one Year, and to pay Costs.

From the "Massachusetts Gazette," May 1, 1786.

On Saturday evening the 22d ult. eight of the prisoners, confined at the Castle, broke from their confinement, and made their escape to the main. The day following five of them were taken in a barn at Dorchester, and immediately re-conducted to the Castle. The ensuing night the three others were apprehended at Sharon, near Stoughton, and were also sent back to their place of confinement.

Richard Squire and John Matthews, the pirates, and Stephen Burroughs, a _noted_ clerical character, were among the prisoners who made their escape from the Castle, as mentioned above. And on Saturday last, we are informed, the eight culprits shared among them the benefit of a distribution of 700 lashes.

On Monday evening last, a person, in passing from the Long-Wharf to Dock-Square, was assaulted and knocked down, by a single villain, who robbed him of a box, containing a coat, two waistcoats, a pair of corduroy breeches, a piece of calico, in which was wrapped up three watches, and a letter containing money.

On Thursday last, at noon, seven fellows received the discipline of the post, in this town.

Curious list of punishments in the early days of New England. From "Salem Gazette," May 4, 1784.

_The following (taken from a Boston paper of last week) is a collection of a few of the many curious punishments, inflicted for a variety of offences, among the old records of this Commonwealth._

Between 1630 and 1650.

Sir _Richard Saltonstale_ fined four bushels of malt for his absence from court.

_William Almy_ fined for taking away Mr. Glover's canoe without leave.

_Josias Plastoree_ shall (for stealing four baskets of corn from the Indians) return them eight baskets again, be fined 5l. and hereafter to be called by the name of _Josias_, and not _Mr._ as formerly he used to be.

_Joyce Bradwick_ shall give unto Alexander Beeks, 20s. for promising him marriage without her friends' consent, and now refusing to perform the same.

_William James_, for incontinency, was sentenced to be set in the bilboes at Boston and Salem, and bound in 20l.

_Thomas Petet, for suspicion_ of slander, idleness and stubbornness, is to be severely whipt and kept in hold.

_John Smith_, of Medford, for swearing, _being penitent_, was set in bilboes.

_Richard Turner_, for being notoriously drunk, was fined 2l.

_John Hoggs_, for swearing _God's foot_, cursing his servant, wishing "a pox of God take you," was fined 5l.

_Richard Ibrook_, for tempting two or more maids to uncleanness, was fined 5l. to the country, and 20s. a piece to the two maids.

_Thomas Makepeace_, because of his novel disposition, was informed we were weary of him, unless he reformed.

_Edward Palmer_, for his extortion, taking 33s. 7d. for the plank and woodwork of Boston stocks, is fined 5l. and censured to be set an hour in the stocks.

_John White_ is bound in 10l. to be of good behaviour, and not to come into the company of Bull's wife alone.

_Thomas Lechford_ acknowledging he had _overset_ himself and is sorry for it, promising to attend his calling, and not to meddle with controversies, was dismissed.

_Sarah Hales_ was censured _for her miscarriage_ to be carried to the gallows with a rope about her neck, and to sit upon the ladder, the rope end flung over the gallows, and after to be banished.

Wholesale sentences of death in London, in 1820.

At the October session of the Old Bailey, London, sentence of death was passed on thirty-seven persons, four of whom were females. Four were condemned for passing counterfeit notes, eleven for highway robberies, two for burglary, 11 for stealing in dwelling houses, 1 for horse-stealing, 2 for sacrilege, &c.

From the "Salem Mercury," July 28, 1788.

_The following_ EXTRAORDINARY OCCURRENCE _is extracted from the_ EUROPEAN MAGAZINE _for_ 1787.

SAMUEL BURT, convicted of forgery a few sessions since, was put to the bar, and informed that his Majesty, in his royal clemency, had been graciously pleased to extend his mercy to him on condition that he should be transported during his natural life. The prisoner bowed respectfully to the Court, and immediately addressed the Recorder with his "most humble and unfeigned thanks, for the kindness and humanity of the Recorder, the Sheriffs, and other gentlemen who had interested themselves in his favour, and who had so effectually represented his unhappy case to the throne, that his Majesty, whose humanity could only be equalled by his love of virtue, had extended his mercy; but however flattering the prospect of preserving life might be to a man in a different situation; yet that he, now he was sunk and degraded in society, was totally insensible of the blessing. Life was no longer an object with him, as it was utterly impossible that he could be joined in union with the person who was dearer to him than life itself. Under such circumstances, although he was truly sensible of his Majesty's goodness and clemency, yet he must positively decline the terms offered him; preferring death to the prolongation of a life which could not be otherwise than truly miserable." The whole Court was astonished at his address; and after consultation, Mr. Recorder remanded the prisoner back to the jail, to be brought up again the first day of next session.

The pillory appears to have been in use in Boston as lately as 1803; for we find in the "Chronicle" of that city that in March of that year Robert Pierpont, owner, and H.R. Story, master, of the brigantine "Hannah," for the crime of sinking the vessel at sea, and thus defrauding the underwriters (among whom were Joseph Taylor, Peter C. Brooks, Thomas Amory, David Greene, and Benjamin Bussey), were convicted before the Supreme Judicial Court, and the following sentence imposed: "That they should stand one hour in the Pillory in State Street on two several days, be confined in Prison for the term of two years, and pay Costs of Prosecution." Considering the magnitude of the crime, this was a light sentence. An underwriter in the "Chronicle" says: "It is a transaction exceeding in infamy all that has hitherto appeared in the commerce of our country."

Wholesale execution of pirates in Newport, R.I., in July, 1723.

CAPTURE OF PIRATES.