From time to time when the antics of the good Senators and Representatives from New England become too much to bear, it?s good to remember that this is their birthright. Burning witches and other unique social activities seems to be ingrained into their character. Samuel Butler had Ralpho (Hudibras, Part II, Canto II) give recognition to those who came before Senators Kennedy, Jefford, ad nauseum.
407 Justice gives sentence, many times,
On one man for another's crimes.
Our brethren of New England use
410 Choice malefactors to excuse
And hang the guiltless in their stead;
Of whom the churches have less need.
As lately 't happen'd: In a town
There liv'd a cobler, and but one,
415 That out of doctrine could cut use,
And mend men's lives as well as shoes.
This precious brother having slain,
In times of peace, an Indian,
Not out of malice, but mere zeal,
420 Because he was an infidel,
The mighty Tottipottimoy
Sent to our elders an envoy,
Complaining sorely of the breach
Of league, held forth by brother Patch,
425 Against the articles in force
Between both churches, his and ours;
For which he crav'd the saints to render
Into his hands, or hang th' offender;
But they maturely having weigh'd
425 They had no more but him o' th' trade,
A man that serv'd them in a double
Capacity, to teach and cobble,
Resolv'd to spare him; yet to do
The Indian Hoghan Moghan too
430 Impartial justice, in his stead did
Hang an old weaver that was bed-rid;
Then wherefore may not you be skipp'd,
And in your room another whipp'd?
For all philosophers, but the sceptic,
435 Hold whipping may be sympathetic
Line 414 -- There liv'd a Cobler, and but one.
This story is asserted to be true, in the notes subjoined by Mr. Butler to the early editions. A similar one is related by Dr. Grey, from Morton's English Canaan, printed 1637. A lusty young fellow was condemned to be hanged for stealing corn; but it was proposed in council to execute a bed-rid old man in the offender's clothes, which would satisfy appearances, and preserve a useful member to society. Dr. Grey mentions likewise a letter from the committee of Stafford to speaker Lenthall, dated Aug. 5, 1645, desiring a respite for Henry Steward, a soldier under the governor of Hartlebury castle, and offering two Irishmen to be executed in his stead. Ralpho calls them his brethren of New England, because the inhabitants there were generally independents. In the ecclesiastical constitution of that province, modeled according to Robinson's platform, there was a co-ordination of churches, not a subordination of one to another. John de Laet says, primos colonos, uti et illos qui postea accesserunt, pototssimum aut omnino fuisse ex eorum hominum secta, quos in Anglia Brownistas et puritanos vocant.]
[Tottipottimoy - I don't know whether this was a real name, or an imitation only of North American phraseology: the appellation of an individual , or a title of office.]
[Sceptic - The sceptics held that there was no certainty of sense; and consequently, that men did not always know when they felt any thing.]
The history of the Cobler has been attested by persons of good credit, who were upon the place when it was done. Butler, pp 404 Annotation to the Second Part., Hudibras, pp 298-300, Canto II, Second part. John Martyn and Henry Herringman, London, 1674.
Line 411-- And hang the guiltless in their stead. (Libanii Sophistae Declamat. Xi. Ulyssis, tom. I. Op. p.210) This was as bad as the Abingdon law exercised by Major-General Browne: which was first to hang a man, and then to try him; (Heraclitus Ridens, No. 3. Vol. I. P. 17.) Or the Lidford law, mentioned by Mr. Ray, Proverbs, p. 305. 2d edit.
"That hand and draw,
Then hear the cause of Lidford law."
It is observed by Mr. Walker, History of Independency, part I. P. 55. ?That they had the most summary way of hanging one another that ever he saw. And elsewhere, part iii. p. 32. If a person submit to the jurisdiction of the courts, and plead, his plea will have but the operation of a psalm of mercy, prolonging his life but for a short time: in the mean time Kebble and his court play with him as a cat with a mouse, and then devour him; for no man is sent to this court to be tried, but to be condemned.
Line 419 - Not out of malice, but mere zeal because he was an infidel. [Upon this principle probably Ap Evens acted, who murdered his mother and brother, for kneeling at the sacrament, alleging that it was idolatry. See Dr. Eastwick's Litany, p. 4. Burtons tow sermons, entitled God and the King, p. 16. History of the English and Scotch Presbytery, p. 204. Dr. South's Sevons, vol. Iii. p. 225.
Line 435, 436. Impartial Justice, in his stead, did hang an old weaver that was bed-rid. Whether this story of the cobler and weaver is fact, as the author of the printed notes asserts, I cannot tell; but I meet with a parallel instance at Messaguscas. See Mr. Morton's English Canaan, 1637, part iii, chap. Iv. p. 108, 109. Penes me. An Englishman having stolen a small parcel of corn from the salvage [savage, or Indian] owner; upon complaint, the chief commander of the company called a parliament of his people, where it was determined, That, by the laws of England, it was felony, and for an example the person ought to be executed, to appease the salvage: when straight-ways one arose, moved as it were with some compassion, and said, he could not well gainsay the former sentence, yet he had conceived, within the compass of his brain, an embrion, that was of special consequence to be delivered and cherished: He said, it would most aptly serve to pacify the salvage's complaint, and save the life of one that might (if need should be) stand them in good stead, being young and strong, fit for resistance against an enemy, which might come unexpected for any thing they knew. That oration made, was liked of every one, and he entreated to proceed, to show the means how this may be performed. Says he, you all agree that one must die; and one shall die: This young man's clothes we will take off, and put upon one that is old and impotent, a sickly person, that cannot escape death, such is the disease on him confirmed, that die he must; put the young man's clothes on this man, and let the sick person be hanged in the other's stead. Amen, says one, and so say no more. And the sentence had in this manner been executed, had it not been dissented from, by one person who exclaimed against it; so they hanged up the real offender. This kind of justice was attempted sometimes by our English fanatics. I find one instance in the MS. Collections of my worthy friend Dr. Philip Williams, vol. Iv. No. 15. In a letter from Mr Edward Lee, Mr Philip Jackson, and Mr Edward Broughton, &c. of the committee of Stafford, to William Lenthall, Esq; the Speaker, August 5, 1645, desiring, "That Mr Henry Steward, a soldier under the Governor of Hartleburgh castle, might be respited from execution, with an offer of two Irishmen to be executed in his stead." Sir Roger L'Eistrange's case had like to have been of this kind; for he observes (in his Apology, p. iii.) That when he was imprisoned for his unsuccessful attempt upon Lynn-regis, in Norfolk, in the year 1644, the Lords commanded Mills, the Judge-advocate, to bring his charge upon Wednesday; he appeared accordingly, but with an excuse, that he wanted time to prepare it, however upon Friday it should be ready. It was then providentially demanded, whether they meant to hang me first, and then charge me; and if they intended to execute me in the interim? He told them, yes: for the Commons had passed an order, that no reprieve should stand good, without the consent of both houses. And nothing was so common at that time, as a charge without an accuser, a sentence without a judge, and condemnation without hearing. See Mr James Howel's Sober Inspections; or Philanglus, p. 156.
Line 439, 440 For all philosophers, but the sceptic, Hold whipping may be sympathetic. The Sceptics (says Dr Middleton, Life of Cicero, 4to edit. Vol. Ii. P. 540.)observed a perfect neutrality towards all opinions; maintained all of them to be equally uncertain, and that we could not affirm of any thing, that it was this or that, since there was as much reason to take it for one as for the other, or neither of them: Thus they lived without engaging themselves on any side of the question.
Part II, Canto II, line 407. pp233-234 Hudibras, Samuel Butler, Notes and Literary Memoir by the Rev. Treadway Russel Nash, D. D., New York, D. Appleton & Company, 1854.
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