man mounts the stage, the bailiff descends from it, and the populace cry out bravo. The hangman then makes the halter fast to the gallows, adjusts the halter round the criminal's neck, and makes a signal with his hand, or handkerchief; a number of people at that instant, drag the stage from under the hangman and criminal; and the former jumps up on the shoulders of the latter, and they both continue swinging in the air for some time; during which the hangman exercises himself with pounding the criminal in the stomach, and under the ribs, with first one knee and then the other, with all his might, till he is well assured that he is dead. He then lets go his hold and drops down upon his feet, goes to the high bailiff, who pays him the price agreed upon. The criminal, after hanging a couple of hours, is cut down and delivered to his friends. But I was told that the practice of delivering the body of a criminal, after he has been executed, to surgeons for dissection, so common in England, is never done in France; and the people of this country look upon the practice with the greatest abhorrence. The manner of hanging or executing criminals in A large post, planted in the ground, of about ten feet in height; at the foot of which, and upon the east side, two and sometimes three stone steps are placed for this purpose, which I saw near almost every town or city which I passed through in my travels in this country. The sheriff, the criminal, and the hangman (for here it appears the hangman is engaged before hand) arrive at the post. The criminal then, with the assistance of Jack Ketch, walks up the steps, and the latter turns him round with his back against the post,* to which the criminal is secured with lines, so that he can In the post are scooped out hollow places for the back part of the head to fit into; these are of different heights from the upper step. not move his body, or stir his hands or feet. The hangman now appears with his instruments of death in his hands; in one hand he holds a rope with the two ends spliced together, just long enough to reach, when doubled together, around both the post and the criminal's neck, so that the two bites of the rope will meet upon the back part of the post. In the other hand he holds a toggle or short piece of wood, about as large, but not so long, as a common ax helve. Thus prepared, he waits for the signal to be given by the officer of justice. At the back of the post there is upon these occasions, a temporary stage erected, for the hangman to stand upon, in order to execute the criminal, and where he stands when the signal is given; and when this is given by the officer of justice, by waving a white handkerchief in the air, the hangman instantly puts the rope around the criminal's neck and post, as before observed; and through the bites of the rope he puts the toggle of wood, and then lays hold with one hand at one end of it, and the other hand hold of the other end, and twirls or twists it about with the rapidity almost of a whirl-a-gig. In this manner, the poor criminal is not long a dying; after which the body (a few minutes after execution) is cut away from the post, and delivered to the friends of the deceased; and in some instances, the bodies of criminals, as in England, are delivered to surgeons for dissection. I never saw but one criminal hung in this way, and he was a Jew, who was executed near Ostend, for forgery; and when travelling in Germany, I was informed by the Germans themselves, that this mode of executing criminals, was generally practised throughout the emperor of Germany's dominions. In Dunkirk, as well as in all other towns in France, sales at auction are common, and in the king's name. Previous to which a sergeant, drummer, and two soldiers, with their arms, go through the streets, and make the tour of every square in the town or city where the articles are to be sold. The sergeant carries in one hand a printed list of said articles, and at the corner of every square, the drummer beats his drum, while the soldiers stand with their muskets and bayonets fixed for the space of a minute, when the sergeant flourishes his cane in the air, and proclaims aloud with an audible voice, 'Par le Roy,' and at the same instant pulls off his hat,* and reads over the articles which are to be sold, and names the time and place; after this he puts on his hat, and the drummer beats again for about the same space of time, when the sergeant makes another flourish with his cane; the drumming then ceases, and they march off to the next corner or street, and repeat the same manoeuvres, and so on, till they have gone through as above. On the 26th of July, I left Dunkirk for Paris, and went as far as the city of Lislet by water in one of those flat bottomed boats, which I have already described, and on board of which I was well accommodated for victuals, drink (the best of claret, and other wines) and lodging, as any one could be served with at a public inn. I arrived at Lisle in the evening, and put up at a celebrated hotel, which I found full of people, mostly foreigners. This city is very large and populous, and situate in lat. 50 deg. N. and in about the same long. as Dunkirk. Abundance of English people resort here in peaceable times; and where the English language is prevalent among the citizens of quality. There are a great many of the former who are inhabitants, and who had resided here for a number of years, and who are said to be very rich. This city is celebrated on account of its manufactories of rich laces of all kinds, and the best of any that are to be had in the kingdom. The citizens are kind and hospitable to strangers; their dwelling houses are neat and com * Woe be to the man who is near the sergeant, who does not pull off his hat, on the sergeant's pronouncing the words 'Par le Roy.' He would have a bayonet plunged into his body, for a neglect of lifting his hat when the king's name was pronounced. †Lille.-[ED.] modious, not very high, and no great shew of grandeur appears attached to them. The next day I proceeded on my journey towards the city of Paris; and travelled very rapidly in the public stages, with six horses to each, at the rate of twelve, and sometimes fifteen miles per hour; the public roads being excellent. They are very wide upon one side, and often in the middle they are paved with round stones, and travellers may have their choice, either to go up the pavement, or upon one side, where the road is not paved. Those in the stage or other carriages, have only to direct the coachman to drive along which of these they please, and the coachman will always comply; as they are, for the most part, very obliging and condescending to their passengers; and who generally pay him ten or a dozen sous each, at the end of each stage (being from ten to twelve miles distance from each other) where the stage, horses and coachman are shifted or relieved; at the entrance of the stage (which he is driving) to the next town or village, where the stage and horses are to be shifted; and until he arrives at the very stop where this is to take place, he keeps up a particular kind of cracking and snapping of his whip to denote that he has got a generous set of passengers; but if they should not be of this description, the coachman makes no cracking as above, with his whip. There are two different ways for persons to travel on horseback in this country; one is the King's Post, so called; and the other is called Les Postes de Matelots (or the sailors' post). The first furnishes the traveller with an excellent horse, a pair of large boots, which one can draw over his own with ease, a pair of spurs, and a servant or guide, who is mounted upon another horse of equal goodness; and thus equipped, one may go at the rate of eighteen miles per hour, or as much slower as he pleases. The Poste de Matelots furnishes miserable horses, no servant or guide. For the first of these posts, it costs one six sous per mile, for horse hire; and for the last four sous. The internal regulation of the police in France deserves to be noticed. The grand superintendent of this institution resides in Paris, who has a great number of subordinate officers under him, scattered over the face of the kingdom. Besides these, there are several thousand of what the French call Marachausses,* and who are under the control, and receive their orders from the lieutenant of the police, or his subordinate officers. The greater part of these Marachausses are the younger sons of noblemen; they wear an uniform of blue with red facings, red cuffs, red waistcoat and pantaloons; and upon the left sleeve of their coats just above the cuff, they wear a piece of gold lace, which extends round the arm of the coat about an inch broad. These Marachausses are mounted upon excellent horses, armed with a pair of large pistols, a long broad sword, and sometimes a short light horseman's musket slung to their backs; and thus accoutred, their duty is to scour the public roads continually, to apprehend and secure highway robbers, to take up deserters and criminals who flee from justice, or who make their escape from gaols, &c. These Marachausses are sometimes called officers of justice; they are paid for their services by the king, which I am told is very considerable, enough to support them to live in the characters of gentlemen. They travel upon the public roads, two, four, six, and sometimes ten together; and in travelling which, you will scarcely ever be out of sight of some of them, as they ride night and day. And in consequence of this regulation, they disguise themselves in such a manner, as not to be known by those whom they are in pursuit of; and this kind of police extends itself throughout the whole kingdom of France; insomuch that it is a rare thing to hear of a highway robbery being committed in this country; nor even the crimes of house-breaking or shop-lifting, * Maréchaussée-the force known as the Provost-Marshal's guard, in the American and English armies. |