Henry M. Brooks

I like the structure of this work. It reads like a scrapbook filled with newspaper clippings, which is apt, considering that much of the material s taken from old newspapers, featuring comments and links from the author.

Some of the reports in this collection are astonishing. It’s hard to believe that events like prosecuting rats and caterpillars could ever be taken seriously.

Narrow mindedness was one of the biggest problems, such as prosecuting men for growing their hair longer than was socially acceptable:

“Prynne, who wrote in 1632, considers men who nourish their hair like women, as an abomination to the Lord”.

Utter mindlessness and lack of common sense brought about the likes of this:

“two Men were hanged together last Month in Kent, one of whom had committed a barbarous Murder on his Wife, and the other had stolen three Shillings and Sixpence. In the same Paper there followed immediately another Paragraph, that a Woman had been only whipped for stealing little Children and burning their Eyes out.”

And this quote comes across as childish:

“Josias Plastoree shall (for stealing four baskets of corn from the Indians) return them eight baskets again, be fined 5l. and hereafter to be called by the name of Josias, and not Mr. as formerly he used to be.”

All these accounts collectively make an interesting, amusing, fascinating, and horrifying read.… (més)