witnessed in Hamburg in 1616. The judgment
pronounced against a coiner of false money was that he should 'BE BOILED
TO DEATH IN OIL; not thrown into the vessel at once, but with a pulley or
rope to be hanged under the armpits, and then let down into the oil BY
DEGREES; first the feet, and next the legs, and so to boil his flesh from
his bones alive.'--Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull's Blue Laws, True and False,
p. 13.
The Famous Stocking Case.
A woman and her daughter, NINE YEARS OLD, were hanged in Huntingdon for
selling their souls to the devil, and raising a storm by pulling off
their stockings!--Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull's Blue Laws, True and False, p.
20.
NOTE 10, Chapter XVII. Enslaving.
So young a King and so ignorant a peasant were likely to make mistakes;
and this is an instance in point. This peasant was suffering from this
law BY ANTICIPATION; the King was venting his indignation against a law
which was not yet in existence; for this hideous statute was to have
birth in this little King's OWN REIGN. However, we know, from the
humanity of his character, that it could never have been suggested by
him.
NOTES to Chapter XXIII. Death for Trifling Larcenies.
When Connecticut and New Haven were framing their first codes, larceny
above the value of twelve pence was a capital crime in England--as it had
been since the time of Henry I.--Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull's Blue Laws,
True and False, p. 17.
The curious old book called The English Rogue makes the limit thirteen
pence ha'penny: death being the portion of any who steal a thing 'above
the value of thirteen pence ha'penny.'
NOTES to Chapter XXVII.
From many descriptions of larceny the law expressly took away the benefit
of clergy: to steal a horse, or a HAWK, or woollen cloth from the
weaver, was a hanging matter. So it was to kill a deer from the King's
forest, or to export sheep from the kingdom.--Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull's
Blue Laws, True and False, p.13.
William Prynne, a learned barrister, was sentenced (long after Edward
VI.'s time) to lose both his ears in the pillory, to degradation from the
bar, a fine of 3,000 pounds, and imprisonment for life. Three years
afterwards he gave new offence to Laud by publishing a pamphlet against
the hierarchy. He was again prosecuted, and was sentenced to lose WHAT
REMAINED OF HIS EARS, to pay a fine of 5,000 pounds, to be BRANDED ON
BOTH HIS CHEEKS with the letters S. L. (for Seditious Libel
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