498 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
for a given number of hours, in the hottest part 
of the day, with a weight on his breast, more 
or less heavy according to the nature of the 
offence, or rather according to the King’s opi¬ 
nion of it. It was at first thought that the 
sentence, on the part of the King, was a mere 
threat. Not so ; the most faithful and zealous 
of his Ministers underwent the punishment this 
afternoon, from one to three o’clock, and not as 
is customary, on such occasions, with culprits of 
distinction, within the Palace enclosure, but in 
the public road between the eastern gate of the 
Palace and the Town-hall, and in the view of a 
multitude of spectators. The old malefactor, 
whom I once or twice before mentioned as 
being at the head of the band of executioners, 
superintended the infliction. This person and 
others of the same class are themselves not in- 
titled to a trial; but may, by the law of the 
country, be put to death by any of the Minis¬ 
ters, at pleasure, and no questions asked. Here 
was the first Minister, then, delivered over into 
the hands of this ruffian, in whose power it was 
to make the punishment more or less severe. 
Such are the anomalies of this truly rude and 
barbarous Government. The stretching and 
sunning process, I ought to have mentioned, is 
the punishment of mere peccadillos, and is a 
