his office according to the exact terms of the Sentence.
So, the moment he knelt to receive the Fatal Stroke, he rolled his Head
in every direction so violently and rapidly, that the Headsman could not
hit him with any chance of severing his Neck at once; and after many
fruitless aims, was obliged to renounce the Task. The Officers who were
to see the Sentence executed were now in a Great Dilemma. In vain did
they try by argument to persuade the Fellow to remain still, and have
his Head quietly taken off. At last he was remanded back to Prison, and
after an hour's deliberation the presiding Magistrate, upon his own
Responsibility, ordered the Gallows to be brought out, and the Fellow to
be straightway Hanged thereupon; which was done, to the contentment of
the Populace, who were howling with Rage at the fear of being deprived
of their Sport. But the strait-laced Dutch Judges and Lawyers all took
alarm, and declared that the Fellow had been murdered; and nothing but
the high rank and character of the Magistrate preserved him from
grievous consequences.

They observe, however, degrees in their Punishments, and are, even in
extreme cases, averse from Bloodshed, and willing to try all ways with a
criminal before Hanging or Beheading him. Thus have they their famous
Rasphuys for the Confinement and Correction of those whose Crimes are
not capital. Over the Gate are some insignificant painted wooden
figures, representing Rogues sawing Log-wood, and Justice holding a Rod
over them; and the like of these, with figures of scourging and
branding, they stick up in their Public Walks and Gardens, to show what
is Done to those who pluck the Flowers or carve Names upon the Trunks of
the Trees, and it has a most wholesome effect in frightening Evil-doers.
So in the Yard of the Rasphuys is a Whipping-post in Terrorem, with
another little figure of Justice flagrant with Execution. Here the
Rogues saw Campeachy-wood, which seems to be most toilsome work; and
yet by practice they can saw Two Hundred Pounds' weight every week with
ease, and also make many little Articles in Straw, Wood, Bone, and
Copper, to sell to Visitors. They are all clad in White Woollen, which,
when they are stained with the Red Sawdust, gives them a Hobgoblin kind
of appearance. Here too, in a corner of the Yard, they show the Cell in
which if the person who was confined in it did not incessantly Pump out
the Water let into it, he must inevitably be Drowned; but this