| 633 by the vengeance of war! We should like to ascertain what the great crowned heads of the kingdoms of the world think of universal war; universal extermination; universal priestcraft, and universal power of the lesser priesthood! America is waking up in wonders, and we sincerely hope the people will follow one of the old prophet's advice: Consider your ways!
EXECUTIONS-THE GUILLOTINE.
The London Quarterly Review contains an elaborate but interesting article upon the systemized [systematized] murders of the Guillotine, the origin of the barbarous instrument, and other matters connected with this most terrible feature in the history of the French Revolution. The Guillotine, it appears, was not originally designed with any view to what turned out be its most important characteristic-the great number of victims it could execute in a short space of time-but this bloody instrument was at first proposed on a combined principle of justice and mercy, the inventor contending, that hanging was a lingering and cruel punishment, while death by decapitation must be immediate.
After giving much information in relation to this sanguinary machine, the writer of the article, speaking of the position it occupies in France, says, that the Guillotine remained in June 8th 1794, when the inhabitants of the streets through which the sufferers had to pass, being weary of the heart-rending [heart-rendering] sight, resolved that the cruel instrument should be removed to the Place St. Antoine, in front of the ruins of the Bastile [Bastille]. It stood in this new position, however, but five days, the shop keepers not liking their new neighbor, and having in those brief five days, executed ninety-six persons, it was removed to the Barriere du Trone, where it stood from the ninth of June, to the fall of Robespierre, 27th of July, 1794.
In the forty-nine days, in which it is said to have stood at the Barriere du Trone, it despatched 1270 persons of both sexes, and of all ages and ranks, and it became necessary to build a kind of sanguiduct to carry off the stream of blood; and on the very day when Robespierre fell-even when the slightest interruption would have sufficed to have stopped the fatal procession-forty-nine persons passed to the place of execution! On the 27th of July, at about half past three in the afternoon, just as this last batch of victims were about to leave the Conciergerie, a considerable commotion in the town took place, caused by the revolt against Robespierre.
Here an event occurred which reflected great credit upon Sanson, the chief executioner. He was conducting the prisoners, but observing the disturbance, and seeing Fauquier, the Aecusateur Public, passing the court where prisoners were ascending the fatal carts, on his way to dinner, he ventured to stop Fauquier, and represented to him that there were rumors of a commotion, suggesting whether it would not be prudent to postpone the execution, at least until the morning; Fauquier roughly replied that the law must take its course. He went to dinner, and the forty-nine victims went to the scaffold-whither, in due time he followed them.
The next day the Guillotine was removed back to the scene of its longest triumphs-the Place de la Revolution-where on the 28th of July, it avenged humanity on Robespierre and twenty-one of his followers; the next day sixty-nine; and the day after, thirty more of his associates. The writer in the Quarterly justly adds that, though France is naturally anxious to forget the revolutionary horrors, it behooves the rest of Europe to remember and meditate upon them.
REFLECTIONS.
The above extract is taken from an exchange paper as a matter of historical vengeance. In fact, such specimens of the cruelty and corruptions of men serve as monuments, raised over the degeneracy, ambition and folly of past generations, for the reflection, contemplation and solemn warning of virtuous people.
In good cooking various articles are used to prepare a palatable repast for the appetite of man. Salt, pepper, spice, vinegar, catsup, cassia, and many other seasonables, make up the dish to please the taste: and thus have we brought in the Guillotine as a variation of death to please the vanity and wrath of man.
There is a consequence and a power attached to death, that man, poor weak man, has never fathomed. He, to-be-sure, has sought out many inventions; circumnavigated the globe; brought down the lightening from the clouds, and soared above them in baloons [balloons]-but he cannot cope with death. From the morning that Cain, in his ambitious thirst for power, without prudence, and humility, shed the innocent blood of his brother Abel, the spirit of the evil one has rambled forth among mankind to destroy life. The opposition to life has marched even handed with the anxiety to perpetuate it. Yea, more so; for when all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth, the Lord himself sent in the floods and made a wholosale [wholesale]
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