- The Manner of Beheading
This sort of punishment, being deemed in the highest degree ignominious , is only inflicted for crimes, which are regarded by the Chinese government, as the most prejudicial to society ; such as conspiracy,assassination , committing any offence against the person of the Emperor, or attempting the life of any of the imperial family ; revolting, insurrection , striking a parent, or any other unnatural sort of crime. The malefactor, who is condemned to be beheaded, is made to kneel upon the ground, the board of infamy is taken from his back, and the executioner, by a single blow of a two - handed sword, strikes off his head with great dexterity. These headsmen , and indeed, the generality of inferior officers of justice in China, are selected from the soldiery, according to the custom of primitive barbarians ; neither is this employment considered more ignominious, than the post of principal officer of executive justice in other countries . Decapitation is held, by the Chinese, as the most disgraceful kind of death ; because the head, which is the principal part of a man , is separated from the body, and that body is not consigned to the grave as entire as he received it from his parents .. If a great mandarin be convicted of any atrocious offence, he is executed in this manner like the meanest person . After the head is severed , it is frequently suspended from a tree, by the side of a public road ; the body is thrown into a ditch , the law having deemed it unworthy the respect of regular funereal rites . When a sentence is submitted to the Emperor for his approbation, if the crime be of the first degree of atrocity , he orders the malefactor to be executed without delay ; when it is only of an ordinary nature, he directs, that the criminal shall be imprisoned until the autumn, and then executed ; a particular day of that season being allotted for such ceremonies. The Emperor of China seldom orders a subject to be executed , until he has consulted with his first law officers, whether he can avoid it, with out infringing on the constitution of his realm . He fasts for a certain period, previous to signing an order for an execution ; and his imperial majesty esteems those years of his reign the most illustrious and most fortunate , in which he has had the least occasion to let fall upon his subjects the rigorous sword of justice. - The capital Punishment of the Cord
The usual capital punishments in China are strangling, and beheading. The former is the most common , and is decreed against those, who are found guilty of crimes, which , however capital, are only held in the second `rank` of atrocity. For instance, all acts of homicide, whether intentional or accidental; every species of fraud, committed upon government : the seduction of a woman, whether married or single; giving abusive language to a parent, plundering or defacing a burying place ; robbing with destructive weapons : and for wearing pearls. It would not, perhaps, be possible to form any probable conjecture of the motive, which has induced the Chinese legislators to attach the pain of death to the wearing of a precious gem . The fact is, therefore, only stated from the information of various writers, and remains to be explained by some future commentator. Criminals are sometimes strangled with a bow -string, but on general occasions, a cord is made use of, which fastens the person to a cross, and one turn being taken round his neck , it is drawn tight by an athletic executioner. Men of distinction ,are usually strangled, as the more honourable death ; and where the Emperor is inclined to shew an extraordinary mark of attention towards a mandarin , condemned to die, he sends him a silken cord, with permission to be his own executioner . - Visit to the grave of a Relation
Filial piety in China extends beyond the grave. Every year at certain periods dutiful children assemble at the tomb of their parents or ancestors, to make oblations of flowers, or fruit, or pieces of gilt paper, or whatever else they consider as likely to be acceptable to the manes of the departed. Their mourning dress consists of a garment of Nanquin cotton, or canvas, of the coarsest kind. Some of the monuments erected over the dead are by no means inelegant; like their bridges and triumphal arches, they are very much varied, and made apparently without any fixed design or proportion. The semicircular or the horse-shoe form, like that in the print before which the mourner is kneeling, appeared to be the most common. - A Chinese Tomb
The number of Chinese going in the same direction as ourselves was very great, as the worshipping of the tombs had just begun. Most of these people were on foot, but some went along in chairs. They carried with them long strings of paper ingots, to burn at the tombs. These ingots, or mock-money, are done up like little sugar-loaves, and are strung on cord. I saw men carrying five or six such long strings of ingots from the end of their bamboos. They also had offerings of cake in red painted boxes, fire-crackers, and bright-coloured and white paper, the latter of which they stick in strips on the graves. I also saw some men carrying roasted pigs cooked whole, for offerings. The Chinese are too thrifty to leave these at the tombs ; they merely offer them, then bring them home and feast on them with their relations. All male members of a family must worship their ancestors' tombs yearly, and we met fathers taking their sons of all ages with them to the graves. The tombs were soon on all sides of us ; they are in the form of a horse-shoe, and are built on the sides of the mountain in stone or asphalte. These belong to the rich ; the graves of the poorer class are simply marked by an upright stone or a conical mound of earth. - Death of Sainte-Geneviève
Sainte-Geneviève, the patron saint of the Parisians, also perpetuated with her legend on the walls of the Panthéon, originally her church but now dedicated to the Grands Hommes of the nation, was born at Nanterre, near Paris, in 422, and guarded in the fields the flocks of her parents, Sévère and Gérontia. - John of Eltham
Illustration the sepulchral effigy in Westminster Abbey of John of Eltham, the second son of King Edward II., who died in 1334. Here we see first and lowest the hacqueton; then the hauberk of chain mail, slightly pointed in front, which was one of the fashions of the time - The Assault
Seizing that moment, a party of camp followers run forward with a couple of planks, which they throw over the moat to make a temporary bridge. They are across in an instant, and place scaling-ladders against the walls. The knights, following close at their heels, mount rapidly, each man carrying his shield over his head, so that the bare ladder is converted into a covered stair, from whose shield-roof arrows glint and stones roll off innocuous. It is easy to see that a body of the enemy might thus, in a few minutes, effect a lodgment on the castle-wall, and open a way for the whole party of assailants into the interior. - Remains Lying in state at Chicago
Remains Lying in state at Chicago - The Last Hours of Lincoln
The Last Hours of Lincoln 1 Pres. LINCOLN. 2 Mrs. LINCOLN. 3 Vice Pres. JOHNSON. 4 Maj. RATHBONE. 5 Mr. ARNOLD. M.C. 6 P.M. Gen. DENNISON. 7 Sec. WELLES. 8 Atty Gen. SPEED. 9 Dr. HALL. 10 Dr. LEIBERMANN. 11 Secy. USHER. 12 Secy. McCOLLOCH. 13 Gov. OGLESBY. 14 Speaker COLFAX. 15 Dr. STONE. 16 Surg. Gen. BARNES. 17 Mrs. Sen. DIXON. 18 Dr. TODD. 19 Asst. Surg. LEALE. 20 Asst. Surg. TAFT. 21 Asst. Secy OTTO. 22 Gen. FARNSWORTH. M. C. 23 Sen. SUMNER. 24 Surg. CRANE. 25 Gen. TODD. 26 ROBT. LINCOLN. 27 Rev. Dr. GURLEY. 28 Asst. Secy FIELD. 29 Adjt Gen. HAYNIE. 30 Maj. FRENCH. 31 Gen. AUGER. 32 Col. VINCENT. 33 Gen. HALLECK. 34 Secy. STANTON. 35 Col. RUTHERFORD. 36 Asst. Secy. ECKERT. 37 Col. PELOUSE. 38 Maj. HAY. 39 Gen. MEIGS. 40 Maj. ROCKWELL. 41 Ex Gov. FARWELL. 42 Judge CARTTER. 43 Mr. ROLLINS, M. C. 44 Gen. MARSTON. M. C. 45 Mrs. KINNEY. 46 Miss KINNEY. 47 Miss HARRIS. - Horus, the son of Isis, leading the scribe Ani into the presence of Osiris, the god and judge of the dead
Horus, the son of Isis, leading the scribe Ani into the presence of Osiris, the god and judge of the dead; before the shrine of the god Am kneels in adoration and presents offerings. - Funeral Service of a Hermit
Funeral Service of a Hermit - Tomb of Edward III. in Westminster Abbey
- Death of General Johnston
Death of General Johnston - When a man mourned he cut off his hair, painted his body with white clay
In those days, when a man mourned he cut off his hair, painted his body with white clay, and threw away his moccasins. He also cut his flesh with a knife or some sharp weapon. Now when a man sought a vision from the gods, he wept and mourned, that the gods might have pity on him; and for this he went away from the village, alone, into the hills. So it happened, that Snake Head-Ornament, on his way to the hills, went mourning and crying past a field where sat a woman, his clan cousin, on her watch-stage. Seeing him, she began a song to tease him: He said, “I am a young bird!” If a young bird, he should be in his nest; But he comes here looking gray, And wanders about outside the village! He said, “I am a young snake!” If a young snake, he should be in the hills among the red buttes; But he comes here looking gray and crying, And wanders aimlessly about! - Hidatsas burial scaffolds
- Ford’s Theatre, where President Lincoln was assassinated
Ford’s Theatre, where President Lincoln was assassinated - Australian Natives Burning their Dead
Australian Natives Burning their Dead - House where the President died
House where the President died - Punishment by Fire
Punishment by Fire When a criminal had been condemned to be burnt, a stake was erected on the spot specially designed for the execution, and round it a pile was prepared, composed of alternate layers of straw and wood, and rising to about the height of a man. Care was taken to leave a free space round the stake for the victim, and also a passage by which to lead him to it. Having been stripped of his clothes, and dressed in a shirt smeared with sulphur, he had to walk to the centre of the pile through a narrow opening, and was then tightly bound to the stake with ropes and chains. After this, faggots and straw were thrown into the empty space through which he had passed to the stake, until he was entirely covered by them; the pile was then fired on all sides at once - The weighing of the heart of the scribe Ani in the Balance in the presence of the gods
The weighing of the heart of the scribe Ani in the Balance in the presence of the gods. - The Elysian Fields of the Egyptians according to the Papyrus of Nebseni (XVIIIth dynasty)
The Elysian Fields of the Egyptians according to the Papyrus of Nebseni (XVIIIth dynasty) - The soul of Rā
The soul of Rā (1) meeting the soul of Osiris (2) in Tattu, The cat (i.e., Rā) by the Persea tree (3) cutting off the head of the serpent which typified night. - Burning the Dead - Etruscan Ceremony
Etruscan painting of a Ceremonial Burning of the Dead - Jews burnt alive
The Jews of Cologne burnt alive From a Woodcut in the "Liber Chronicarum Mundi:" large folio, Nuremberg, 1493. In 1370, the people of Brussels were startled in consequence of the statements of a Jewess, who accused her co-religionists of having made her carry a pyx full of stolen hosts to the Jews of Cologne, for the purpose of submitting them to the most horrible profanations. The woman added, that the Jews having pierced these hosts with sticks and knives, such a quantity of blood poured from them that the culprits were struck with terror, and concealed themselves in their quarter. The Jews were all imprisoned, tortured, and burnt alive. In order to perpetuate the memory of the miracle of the bleeding hosts, an annual procession took place, which was the origin of the great kermesse, or annual fair. - Pope Joan
From Joh. Wolfii Lect. Memorab. (Lavingæ, 1600.) It will be seen by the curious woodcut from Baptista Mantuanus, that he consigned Pope Joan to the jaws of hell, notwithstanding her choice. The verses accompanying this picture are:— “Hic pendebat adhuc sexum mentita virile Fœmina, cui triplici Phrygiam diademate mitram Extollebat apex: et pontificalis adulter.” It need hardly be stated that the whole story of Pope Joan is fabulous, and rests on not the slightest historical foundation. It was probably a Greek invention to throw discredit on the papal hierarchy, first circulated more than two hundred years after the date of the supposed Pope. Even Martin Polonus (A. D. 1282), who is the first to give the details, does so merely on popular report. - The Elysian Fields of the Egyptians according to the Papyrus of Ani (XVIIIth dynasty)
The Elysian Fields of the Egyptians according to the Papyrus of Ani (XVIIIth dynasty) - Anhai bowing before her father and mother. The Elysian Fields. From the Papyrus of Anhai (XXIInd dynasty)
Anhai bowing before her father and mother. The Elysian Fields. From the Papyrus of Anhai (XXIInd dynasty) - Martyrdom of St. Edmund by the Danes
(From a drawing belonging to the Society of Antiquaries.) - Monumental Brass of Alderman Field and his Son, a.d. 1474
Monumental Brass of Alderman Field and his Son, a.d. 1474 - An Execution in Paris
The woodcut represents the execution, in Paris, of a famous captain of robbers, Aymerigol Macel. The scaffold is enclosed by a hoarding; at the nearer corners are two friars, one in brown and one in black, probably a Franciscan and a Dominican; the official, who stands with his hands resting on his staff superintending the executioner, has a gown of red with sleeves lined with white fur, his bonnet is black turned up also with white fur. In the background are the timber houses on one side of the place, with the people looking out of their windows; a signboard will be seen standing forth from one of the houses. The groups of people in the distance and those in the foreground give the costumes of the ordinary dwellers in a fourteenth-century city. - John Fortey
John Fortey - One of many old stones on Burial Hill
The oldest stones in order of dates on the hill are those of: Edward Grey 1681 William Crowe 1683-4 Hannah Clark 1687 Thomas Cushman 1691 Thomas Clark 1697 The children of John and Josiah Cotton 1699 The stone of Nathaniel Thomas 1697 - The Plague in London
Cart collecting dead bodies during the plague - Jesus on cross
- Public Execution
Originally, decapitation was indiscriminately inflicted on all criminals condemned to death; at a later period, however, it became the particular privilege of the nobility, who submitted to it without any feeling of degradation. The victim--unless the sentence prescribed that he should be blindfolded as an ignominious aggravation of the penalty--was allowed to choose whether he would have his eyes covered or not. He knelt down on the scaffold, placed his head on the block, and gave himself up to the executioner. The skill of the executioner was generally such that the head was almost invariably severed from the body at the first blow. Nevertheless, skill and practice at times failed, for cases are on record where as many as eleven blows were dealt, and at times it happened that the sword broke. Public Executions.--Fac-simile of a Woodcut in the Latin Work of J. Millaeus, "Praxis Criminis Persequendi:" small folio, Parisis, Simon de Colines, 1541. - Member of Brotherhood of death
Member of the Brotherhood of Death, whose duty it was to accompany those sentenced to death - Indian Burial Ground
Among some of our western tribes of Indians the bodies of the dead are placed on scaffoldings of poles several feet high, and there left to the action of the elements. This practice had its origin in the absence of all tools suitable for digging in the earth, and possibly from a vague theory that the body of the deceased should be raised towards the home of the Great Spirit beyond the skies. - Wool Merchants from Northleach Church
Wool Merchants from Northleach Church - The Ashtabula Disaster
The Ashtabula Disaster - The Old Bridge
The Old Bridge - Robert Braunche,of Lynn
Robert Braunche,of Lynn - The flood strikes the Cambria iron works
A despatch states that the Cambria Iron Company's plant on the north side of the Conemaugh River at Johnstown is a complete wreck. Until this despatch was received it was not thought that this portion of the plant had been seriously injured. It was known that the portion of the plant located on the south bank of the river was washed away, and this was thought to be the extent of the damage to the property of that immense corporation. The plant is said to be valued at $5,000,000. - Frightful struggles for life
The losses, however, are as nothing compared to the frightful sacrifices of precious human lives. During Sunday Johnstown has been drenched with the tears of stricken mortals, and the air is filled with sobs that come from breaking hearts. There are scenes enacted here every hour and every minute that affect all beholders profoundly. When brave men die in battle, for country or for principle, their loss can be reconciled to the stern destinies of life. When homes are torn asunder in an instant, and the loved ones hurled from the arms of loving and devoted mothers, there is an element of sadness connected with the tragedy that touches every heart. - Brass to Sir John D’Abernon
For the happily increasing class of tourists who are interested in archæology, let it be noted here that the chancel of this church contains the earliest monumental brass in the kingdom, the mail-clad effigy of Sir John D’Abernon, dated 1277. Many of his race, before and after his time, lie here. The life-sized engraved figure of this Sir John, besides being the earliest, is also one of the most beautiful. Clad from head to foot in a complete suit of chain mail,his hands clasped in prayer, heraldic shield on one arm, his pennoned lance under the other, and his great two-handed sword hanging from a broad belt outside the surcoat, this is a majestic figure. His feet rest on a writhing lion, playfully represented by the engraver of the brass as biting the lance-shaft. - Decapitation of Guillaume de Pommiers.
And his Confessor, at Bordeaux in 1377, by order of the King of England's Lieutenant. Froissart's Chronicles. No. 2644, Bibl. nat'le de Paris. - The new bridge, with temporary underpinning
The new bridge, with temporary underpinning - Kestrel
- A Morai at Kayakakoua
A Morai [sacred place ] at Kayakakoua - Last Rites
- Brass to a merchant
- Elegant Sledge-Hearse
A very showy affair is found in the next illustra-tion, rivaling the mourning equipages of modern times. Among other figures appear emblems of stability and security on the side panels. In this instance the undertaker removed a portion of the paneling so as to expose the head of the mummy-case. It would seem from this, that the modern practice of showing a coffin through a glass side is of great antiquity. Indeed, we seldom find anything new that has not an antiquarian origin, thus verifying the words of the wise man, "There is no new thing under the sun." - An Egyptian Funeral Cortege
It need not be inferred from what we have written that all bodies were hidden away in the tomb. On the contrary, many were consumed on the funeral pile, some were buried in the earth, while others again, after they had come from the embalmer's shop, were kept in the house for years, until finally they were deposited in the catacombs. The mourning for a good king lasted the space of seventy days, during which the people sang hymns commemorating his virtues, reading their garments, and covering their heads with mud and dust, some three hundred persons of both sexes coming together twice each day to publicly sing a funeral dirge, the entire nation abstaining from meat and other dainties during the whole time. On the last day of mourning, or in some instances many months afterward, the time for sepulture arrived. Supposing that an embalmed king is to be laid away, perhaps in a tomb on which a lifetime of preparation has been bestowed, the body is now brought out from the closet, where it has been carefully stored since the funeral ceremonies were performed, and given to the undertaker, who comes with a sledge-hearse, as shown in the engraving. The several figures are thus arranged: in the center appear the sacred cows, decked with elegant blankets and ornamental head and neck gear, which last (of a peculiar pattern) is found attached to the heads of all female animals, in Egyptian bass-reliefs, drag-ropes in this case being fastened to the horns, evidently " more for ornament than use," two attendants furnishing the motive-power, while the third acts as conductor. In the foreground are four more representatives of the genus homo. First, we notice the priest, as indicated by the peculiarity of his dress. He appears in the act of anointing the dead body with sacred oil, or some other liquid, from a vessel of peculiar shape. Just in front of the priest, squatting near the earth, we find a mercenary mourner, her hair disheveled, her breasts exposed, and her hands fixed in the position most expressive of grief, no doubt crying as sincerely as in hired mourning it has ever been done. Around the third figure centers the greatest interest, since it represents the dead dressed in cerements for the tomb, to which the body is now about to be carried. The fourth, supporting the corpse in a leaning position, represents an attendant, who, in all probability, officiates both as priest and undertaker. - Egyptian Sledge-Hearse
In one instance, as in the figure, taken from a tomb in Thebes, — an attendant is shown, pouring some kind of a liquid from a jar upon the ground, over which the sledge is drawn, to facilitate its progress. Examples of this nature are frequently seen in Egyptian bass-reliefs, depicting the removal of heavy loads. On this sledge-hearse the mummy-case, enclosing the corpse, is distinctly observed. With characteristic tenderness, two females steady the mummy as it moves along over the rough surface of the ground; the priest, meanwhile, mounted in front, scroll in hand, recites a panegyric, or perhaps delivers a funeral oration in honor of the dead. - Urn burial
There is considerable evidence of "pottery hunting" by amateurs in the mounds of Oldtown, and it is said that several highly decorated food bowls adorned with zoic figures have been taken from the rooms. It appears that the ancient inhabitants here, as elsewhere, practised house burial and that they deposited their dead in the contracted position, placing bowls over the crania. - Recovering the bodies of victims
The work of clearing up the wreck and recovering the bodies is now being done most systematically. Over six thousand men are at work in the various portions of the valley, and each little gang of twenty men is directed by a foreman, who is under orders from the general headquarters. As the rubbish is gone over and the bodies and scattered articles of value are recovered, the débris is piled up in one high mass and the torch applied. In this way the valley is assuming a less devastated condition. In twenty-four hours more every mass of rubbish will probably have been searched, and the investigations will be confined to the smoking wreck above Johnstown bridge. - Wagon and Boat, from a mummy bandage
A singular instance of the wagon and funeral-boat in combination has been found on the bandage of a mummy, now preserved in the collection of S. d'Athanasi. It is supposed by some modern authors that Herodotus, in speaking of the religious ceremonies in honor of Mars, as performed in the city of Pampremis, refers to this vehicle. Among other things, he tells us that the priests placed an image in a wooden temple, gilded all over, which they carried to a sacred dwelling; "then the few who were left about the image draw a four-wheeled carriage containing the temple and the image." - Funeral Procession
- Babylonish Coffin and Lid of Green Glazed Pottery
Stone is very rare in Chaldea, and could be brought only at great expense from a distance. Hence all the buildings of earlier ages were built of bricks. o we read of the Tower of Babel, that "they had bricks for stone." The outsides of the buildings were covered with burnt or kiln-dried bricks to keep out the rain. More elaborate specimens of their pottery appear in articles for domestic uses, and especially in their coffins. - Indian gravestone showing the totem of the Turtle
Socially, the Indian had less liberty than the white man. He was bound by customs handed down from his forefathers. He could not marry outside his tribe. He could not sit in whatever seat he chose at a council. He could not even paint his face any color he fancied; for a young who had won no honors in battle would no mor ehave dared to decorate himself like a veteran warrior than a private soldier in the United States army would venture to appear at parade in the uniform of a major-general. Each tribe had a "totem", ot badge to designate it. The "totem" was usually the picture of some animal. The totem was also used as a mark on gravestones, and as a seal. - New Environs of Ekaterinburg
New Environs of Ekaterinburg, Showing Road By Which the Bodies of the Members of the Imperial Family were Carried, and the Pit Where the Ashes Were Buried