I, however, privately ordered a physician to be present so as to see
that no unnecessary severity was practiced. In accordance with this
sentence, the fellow was immediately taken out and flogged; and that
was the last seen of him in that region. He went off and never came
back. The latter part of the sentence, however, was supererogatory;
for there was something so degrading in a public whipping, that I have
never known a man thus whipped who would stay longer than he could
help, or ever desire to return. However this may have been, the sense
of justice of the community was satisfied. No blood had been shed;
there had been no hanging; yet a severe public example had been given.
On another occasion a complaint was made that a man had stolen
fifteen hundred dollars from a woman. He was arrested, brought before
me, indicted, tried, and convicted. I had the same compunctions about
punishment as before, but, as there was no other course, I ordered
him to receive fifty lashes on his back on two successive days,
unless he gave up the money, in which case he was to receive only
fifty lashes. As soon as the sentence was written down the marshal
marched the prisoner out to a tree, made him hug the tree, and in the
presence of the crowd that followed, began inflicting the lashes. The
man stood it for awhile without flinching, but when he had received
the twenty-second lash he cried out, "Stop, for God's sake, and I
will tell you where the money is.
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