Amende honorable

AMENDE HONORABLE, English law. A penalty imposed upon a person by way of disgrace or infamy, as a punishment for any offence, or for the purpose of making reparation for any injury done to another, as the walking into church in a white sheet, with a rope about the neck, and a torch in the hand, and begging the pardon of God, or the king, or any private individual, for some delinquency.
     2. A punishment somewhat similar to this, and which bore the same name, was common in France; it was abolished by the law of the 25th of September, 1791. Merlin Rep. de Jur. h.'t.
     3. For the form of a sentence of amende horrorable, see D'Agaesseau, Oeuvres, 43 Plaidoyer, tom. 4, p. 246.