Poor old women, falsely accused of witchcraft, were burned alive
and ducked in this country, while clergymen and magistrates
looked on and applauded.
All over Europe innocent witnesses could be tortured to make them
give testimony at a trial.
Men accused of no crime whatever were tortured to make them give
testimony against others--often when they had no testimony to
give. They were hung up by the thumbs, the bones of their legs
were crushed in a boot of steel, the soles of the feet were
roasted over a brazier of red-hot coals--to make them help
convict another.
The noble leaders of the French Revolution abolished such torture
of witnesses in France, and they were criticised for doing so by
the respectabilities.
"How are you going to convict criminals if you do not torture
witnesses?" the respectable element asked. We have got beyond
that state of affairs. We hear of murders based on jealousy--
perverted affection. We hear of crimes based on envy--perverted
ambition. All of the best elements in man, when perverted and
thwarted, lead to crime.
And these perverted passions will continue to breed crime until
men shall have learned to regulate society on a basis that will
give full and natural play to the forces within us. But
organized murder on a really vast scale is practically done away
with.
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