are round
perforations, into which, when the instrument was in requisition, an
upright bar, probably of iron, was introduced, so as to allow the
pillory, with its unfortunate tenant, to be turned bodily round at
pleasure."

[Illustration: PILLORY AT RYE.]

The famous Lord Thurlow was eloquent for the preservation of the
pillory, which he called "the restraint against licentiousness, provided
by the wisdom of past ages." This was in a case against the Rev. Horne
Tooke, who, escaped with a fine of L200. Of others, who have spoken for
and against it, may be mentioned Lord Macclesfield, who, in 1719,
condemned it as a punishment for State criminals. In 1791, Pitt claimed
to have dissuaded the Government from its too frequent use, as had
Burke. Lord Ellenborough, in 1812, sentenced a blasphemer to the pillory
for two hours once a month, for eighteen months. Again, in 1814, he
ordered Lord Cochrane, the famous sea-fighter of Brasque Roads fame, to
be pilloried for conspiring with others to spread false news. But his
colleague, Sir Francis Burdett, declared that he would stand by his side
in the pillory regardless of consequences. In the then state of public
opinion, the Government declined to undertake the responsibility, and
this punishment was waived.

It was no uncommon circumstance for the offenders to be killed on the
pillory, by the pelting to which they were subjected by the fury of the
crowd. In 1731, a professional witness, _i.e._, one who, for the reward
offered for the conviction of criminals, would swear falsely against
them, was sentenced to the pillory of Seven Dials, where so bitter were
the populace against him that they pelted him to death. The coroner's
jury returned a verdict of "wilful murder by persons unknown." In 1756,
the drovers of Smithfield pelted two perjured thief-catchers so
violently that one died; in 1763, a man died from a like cause, at
Southwark; in 1780, a coachman died from injuries before his time had
expired.

An amusing anecdote is related, bearing upon a pillory accident. "A man
being condemned to the pillory in or about Elizabeth's time, the
foot-board on which he was placed proved to be rotten, and down it fell,
leaving him hanging by the neck, in danger of his life. On being
liberated, he brought an action against the town for the insufficiency
of its pillory, and recovered damages."[34]

In the year 1816, the pillory ceased to be employed for punishing
persons, except in ca