This punishment continued to exist in England as late as in the reign of George III., and even then Sir Samuel Romilly, the great agitator against its continuance, brought upon himself the odium of the law officers of the Crown, who declared that he was “breaking down the bulwarks of the Constitution.”150 Such cruelties were not peculiar to the English. On the contrary, as Sir James Stephen observes, though English people, as a rule, have been singularly reckless about taking life, they have usually been averse to the infliction of death by torture.151 In various parts of the Continent we find such punishments as breaking on the wheel, quartering alive, and tearing with red-hot pincers, in use down to the end of the eighteenth century.
139 Pollock and Maitland, op. cit. ii. 511.
140 May, Constitutional History of England, ii. 595. Mackenzie, Studies in Roman Law, p. 424 sq.
141 Pike, History of Crime in England, ii. 450.
142 Ibid. ii. 451. Stephen, History of the Criminal Law of England, i. 474.
143 Pike, op. cit. ii. 451. Stephen, op. cit. i. 474.
144 Stephen, op. cit. i. 475.
145 Ibid. i. 475.
146 For the manner in which this torture was inflicted, see Andrews, Old-Time Punishments, p. 203 sq.
147 Ibid. p. 198. Stephen, op. cit. i. 477.
148 Andrews, op. cit. p. 192.
149 Holinshed, Chronicles of England, &c. i. 310. Thomas Smith, Commonwealth of England, p. 198.
150 Andrews, op. cit. p. 203. An earlier method of punishing traitors was boiling to death, which was adopted by Henry VIII. as a punishment for poisoners as well (Holinshed, op. cit. i. 311).
151 Stephen, op. cit. i. 478. Cf. Thomas Smith, op. cit. p. 193 sq.
It is interesting to compare these punishments with those practised among savages. Wanton cruelty is not a general characteristic of their public justice.
Among several uncivilised peoples capital punishment is said to be unknown or almost so.152 Among others it is restricted to a few particularly atrocious offences. Among the Greenlanders “none are put to death but murderers, and such witches as are thought to have killed some one by their art.”153 The Aleuts punished with death murderers and betrayers of community secrets.154 In Samoa and New Guinea murder and adultery are punished capitally;155 among the Bataks, open robbery and murder, provided that the offender is unable to redeem his life by a sum of money;156 among the Kukis, only treason or an attempt at violence on the person of the King.157 Among the Mishmis, adultery committed against the consent of the husband is punished with death, but all other crimes, including murder, are punished by fines; however if the amount is not forthcoming the offender is cut up by the company assembled.158 In Kar Nicobar the only cause for a “death penalty” that Mr. Distant could discover was madness.159 Among the Soolimas “murder is the only crime punishable with death.”160 Among the Congo natives “the only capital crimes are stated to be those of poisoning and adultery.”161 Of the kingdom of Fida Bosman writes, “Here are very few capital crimes, which are only murthers, and committing adultery with the King’s or his great men’s wives.”;162 Among the Wanika two crimes are visited with capital punishment—murder and an improper use of sorcery;163 among the Wagogo164 and Washambala,165 witchcraft only. Among the Basutos every murderer is by law liable to death, but the sentence is generally commuted into confiscation; an incorrigible thief sometimes pays with his head, but is generally fined, whereas treason and rebellion against authority are treated with more severity.166 Among the Kafirs, cases of assault on the persons of wives of the chiefs, and what are deemed aggravated cases of witchcraft, are the only crimes which usually involve the punishment of death, very summarily inflicted; whereas this punishment seldom follows even murder, when committed without the supposed aid of supernatural powers.167
152 von Siebold, Ethnol. Studien über die Aino auf Yesso, p. 35; Batchelor, Ainu and their Folk-Lore, p. 284. Dalton, op. cit. p. 115 (Kakhyens). Marsden, op. cit. p. 248 (Rejangs of Sumatra). Riedel, De sluik- en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua, p. 103 (Serangese). Worcester, op. cit. pp. 413, 492 (Mangyans and Tagbanuas). Kubary, ‘Die Palau-Inseln,’ in Journal des Museum Godeffroy, iv. 42 (Pelew Islanders). de Abreu, op. cit. p. 152 (Canary Islanders). Frisch, Die Eingeborenen Süd-Afrika’s, p. 322 (Hottentots).
153 Cranz, op. cit. i. 177.
154 Petroff, loc. cit. p. 152.
155 Turner, Samoa, p. 178. Chalmers, Pioneering in New Guinea, p. 179.
156 Marsden, op. cit. p. 389.
157 Dalton, op. cit. p. 45. Stewart, in Jour. As. Soc. Bengal, xxiv. p. 627.
158 Griffith, ibid. vi. 332.
159 Distant, in Jour. Anthr. Inst.