MAIDEN. 
lady, the virgin Mary, his mother, to be bless- 
ed of God, holy, who brought him forth, and 
conceived him miraculously by tlie almighty 
power of God.’’ ^ 
The Mahometans are a superstitious peo- 
ple, and hence in their religion we find a 
prodigious number of rites, ceremonies, and 
observances; the principal of which are: 
circumcision, ablutions, fastings, pilgrimage, 
polygamy, marriage rites, mourning for the 
dead, funeral rites, and the observance of 
Friday as a Sabbath. In all these obser- 
vances, &c. there is a mixture of Heathen- 
ism, Judaism, and Christianity. After the 
death of their prophet, the Mahometans 
were divided, like the Christians, into an 
incredible number of sects and parties, all 
of them, however, professing to adhere to 
tlie Horan as the rule and guide of their 
faith and practice ; yet differing widely from 
each other in particular points of belief, re- 
lative to doctrine, practice, and ecclesiasti- 
cal discipline. Those who wish to see the 
history and character of this extensive sect 
more particularly detailed, will do well to 
consult the following authors : Fabricius’s 
Delectus et Sylldbus argument, pro ve- 
ritate relig. Christianae Boulainvillier’s, 
Gagnier’s, and Prideaux’s Lives of Maho- 
met j Sale’s English Translation of the Ko- 
ran ; to which may be added. Professor 
White’s Sermons at the Bampton Lectures, 
and Millar’s account of Mahomet in his 
“ Propagation of Christianity,” vol. i. c. 1. 
MAIDEN, in ancient English customs, 
an instrument for beheading criminals. Of 
the use and form of this instrument Mr. 
Pennant gives the following account : “ It 
seems to have been confined to the limits of 
the forest of Hardwick, or the eighteen 
towns and hamlets within its precincts. 
The time wlien this custom took place is 
unknown; whether Earl Warren, lord of 
this forest, might have established it among 
the sanguinary laws then in use against the 
invaders of the hunting rights, or whether it 
might not take place after the woollen ma- 
nufacturers at Halifax began to gain 
strength, is uncertain. The last is very 
probable ; for the wild country around the 
town was inhabited by a lawless set, whose 
depredations on the cloth-tenters might 
soon stifle the efforts of infant industry. 
For tlie protection of trade, and for the 
greater terror of offenders by speedy exe- 
cution, this custom seems to have been es- 
tablished, so as at last to receive the force 
of law, which was, ‘ That if a felon be taken 
within the liberty of the forest of Hard- 
wick, with goods stolen out, or within the 
said precincts, either hand-habend, back- 
berand, or confession’d, to the value of 
thirteen pence halfpenny, he sliall, after 
three market days, or meeting days, within 
the town of Halifax, next after such his 
apprehension, and being condemned, be 
taken to the gibbet, and there have his 
head cut from liis body.’ The offender had 
always a fair trial : for as soon as he was 
taken, he was brought to the lord’s bailiff 
at Halifax: he was then exposed on the 
three markets (which here were held thrice 
in a week), placed in the stocks, with the 
■goods stolen on his back, or, if the theft was 
of the cattle kind, they were placed by him; 
and this was done both to strike terror into 
others, and to produce new informations 
against him. The bailiff then summoned 
four freeholders of each town within the 
forest to form a jury. The felon and pro- 
secutors were brought face to face; and the 
goods, the cow or horse, or whatsoever was 
stolen produced. If he was found guilty 
he was remanded to prison, had a week’s 
time allowed fpr preparation, and then was 
conveyed to this spot, where his head was 
struck off’ by this machine. I should have 
premised, that if the criminal, either after 
apprehension, or in the way to execution, 
. should escape out of the limits of the forest 
(part being close to the town), the bailiff 
had no further power over him; but if he 
should be caught within the precincts at any 
time after, he was immediately executed on 
his former sentence. 
“ This privilege was very freely used 
during the reign of Elizabeth : the records 
before that time were lost. Twenty-five 
suffered in her reign, and at least twelve 
from 1623 to 1650; after which, I believe, 
the privilege was no more exerted. 
“ This machine of death is now destroyed ; 
but I saw one of the same kind in a room 
under the parliament house at Edinburgh, 
where it was introduced by the regent 
Morton, who took a model of it as he pas- 
sed through Halifax, and at length suffered 
by it himself. It is in form of a painter’s 
easel, and about ten feet high ; at four feet 
from the bottom is a cross bar, on which 
the felon lays his head, which is kept down 
by another placed above. In the inner 
edges of the frame are grooves ; in these is 
placed a sharp axe, with a vast weight of 
lead, supported at the very summit with a 
peg : to that peg is fastened a cord, which 
the executioner cutting, the axe falls, and 
does the affair effectually, without suffering 
