Branding And Maiming
There is nothing more abhorrent to the general sentiment of humanity to-day than the universal custom of all civilized nations, until the present century, of branding and maiming criminals. In these barbarous methods of degrading criminals the col... Branks And Gags
The brank or scold's bridle was unknown in America in its English shape: though from colonial records we learn that scolding women were far too plentiful, and were gagged for that annoying and irritating habit. The brank, sometimes called the goss... Military Punishments
An English writer of the seventeenth century, one Gittins, says with a burst of noble and eloquent sentiment: "A soldier should fear only God and Dishonour." Writing with candor he might have added, "but the English soldier fears only his officers... Public Penance
The custom of performing penance in public by humiliation in church either through significant action, position or confession has often been held to be peculiar to the Presbyterian and Puritan churches. It is, in fact, as old as the Church of Rome... Punishments Of Authors And Books
The punishments of authors deserve a separate chapter; for since the days of Greece and Rome their woes have been many. The burning of condemned books begun in those ancient states. In the days of Augustus no less than twenty thousand volumes were... The Bilboes
There is no doubt that our far-away grandfathers, whether of English, French, Dutch, Scotch or Irish blood, were much more afraid of ridicule than they were even of sinning, and far more than we are of extreme derision or mockery to-day. This fear... The Ducking Stool
The ducking stool seems to have been placed on the lowest and most contempt-bearing stage among English instruments of punishment. The pillory and stocks, the gibbet, and even the whipping-post, have seen many a noble victim, many a martyr. But I ... The Pillory
Hawthorne says in his immortal Scarlet Letter: "This scaffold constituted a portion of a penal machine which now, for two or three generations past, has been merely historical or traditionary among us, but was held in the old time to be as effec... The Scarlet Letter
The rare genius of Hawthorne has immortalized in his Scarlet Letter one mode of stigmatizing punishment common in New England. So faithful is the presentment of colonial life shown in that book, so unerring the power and touch which drew the pictu... The Stocks
One of the earliest institutions in every New England community was a pair of stocks. The first public building was a meeting-house, but often before any house of God was builded, the devil got his restraining engine. It was a true English punishm... The Whipping-post
John Taylour, the "Water-Poet," wrote in 1630: "In London, and within a mile, I ween There are jails or prisons full fifteen And sixty whipping-posts and stocks and cages." Church and city records throughout England show how constantly ...

The Whipping-post Branding And Maiming The Ducking Stool The Pillory Military Punishments Branks And Gags The Stocks The Bilboes

The Scarlet Letter Punishments Of Authors And Books Public Penance The Bilboes The Stocks Branks And Gags Military Punishments The Pillory