d 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 L14 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 sho