The above article, with certain modifications, reproduces the account given in the 9th edition of this work by Oliver Johnson (reprinted from his Garrison: an Outline of his Life, New York, 1879). The writer (1809-1889) was a prominent Abolitionist, editor, and an intimate friend of Garrison; he edited the Liberator during Garrison’s absence in England in 1833, and later was an editor or an associate editor of various journals, including, after the Civil War, the New York Tribune and the New York Evening Post. He also published an excellent brief biography in William Lloyd Garrison and his Times (Boston, 1880).
The great authority on the life of Garrison is the thorough and candid work of his sons, W.P. and F.J. Garrison, William Lloyd Garrison 1805-1879: The Story of his Life told by his Children (4 vols., New York, 1885-1889), which is indispensable for the student of the anti-slavery struggle in America. Goldwin Smith’s The Moral Crusader: a Biographical Essay on William Lloyd Garrison (New York, 1892) is a brilliant sketch.
GARRISON, originally a term for stores or supplies, also a defence or protection, now confined in meaning to a body of troops stationed in a town or fortress for the purpose of defence. In form the word is derived from O. Fr. garison, modern guérison, from guérir, to furnish with stores, to preserve, but in its later meaning it has been confused with the Fr. garnison, the regular word for troops stationed for purposes of defence. In English “garnison” was used till the 16th century, when “garrison” took its place. In the British army “garrison troops,” especially “garrison artillery,” are troops trained and employed for garrison work as distinct from field operations.
GARROTE (Spanish for “cudgel”), an appliance used in Spain and Portugal for the execution of criminals condemned to death. The criminal is conducted to the place of execution (which is public) on horseback or in a cart, wearing a black tunic, and is attended by a procession of priests, &c. He is seated on a scaffold fastened to an upright post by an iron collar (the garrote), and a knob worked by a screw or lever dislocates his spinal column, or a small blade severs the spinal column at the base of the brain. (See [Capital Punishment].) Originally a stout cord or bandage was tied round the neck of the criminal, who was seated in a chair fixed to a post. Between the cord and the neck a stick was inserted (hence the name) and twisted till strangulation ensued.
“Garrotting” is the name given in England to a form of robbery with violence which became rather common in the winter of 1862-1863. The thief came up behind his victim, threw a cord over his head, and tightened it nearly to strangulation point, while robbing him. An act of 1863, imposing the penalty of flogging in addition to penal servitude for this offence, had the effect of stopping garrotting almost entirely. At any rate, the practice was checked; and, though the opponents of any sort of flogging refuse to admit that this was due to the penalty, that view has always been taken by the English judges who had experience of such cases.
GARRUCHA, a seaport of south-eastern Spain, in the province of Almeria; on the Mediterranean Sea and on the right bank of the river Antas. Pop. (1900) 4461. The harbour of Garrucha, which is defended by an ancient castle, affords shelter to large ships, and is the natural outlet for the commerce of a thriving agricultural and mining district. Despite its small size and the want of railway communication, Garrucha has thus a considerable trade in lead, silver, copper, iron, esparto grass, fruit, &c. Besides sea-going ships, many small coasters enter in ballast, and clear with valuable cargoes. In 1902, 135 vessels of 390,000 tons entered the harbour, the majority being British or Spanish; and in the same year the value of the exports reached £478,000, and that of the imports £128,000. Both imports and exports trebled their value in the ten years 1892-1902.