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Thurtell immediately placed himself under the fatal beam, and at that
moment the chimes of a neighbouring clock began to strike twelve. The
executioner then came forward with the rope, which he threw across
it. Thurtell first lifted his eyes up to the drop, gazed at it for a
few moments, and then took a calm but hurried survey of the multitude
around him. He next fixed his eyes on a young gentleman in the crowd,
whom he had frequently seen as a spectator at the commencement of the
proceedings against him. Seeing that the individual was affected by
the circumstance, he removed them to another quarter, and in so doing
recognised an individual well known in the sporting circles, to whom he
made a slight bow.
The prisoner was attired in a dark brown great coat, with a black
velvet collar, white corduroy breeches, drab gaiters and shoes. His
hands were confined with handcuffs, instead of being tied with cord,
as is usually the case on such occasions, and, at his own request, his
arms were not pinioned. He wore a pair of black kid gloves, and the
wrists of his shirt were visible below the cuffs of his coat. As on the
last day of his trial, he wore a white cravat. The irons, which were
very heavy, and consisted of a succession of chain links, were still on
his legs, and were held up in the middle by a Belcher handkerchief tied
round his waist.
The executioner commenced his mournful duties by taking from the
unhappy prisoner his cravat and collar. To obviate all difficulty in
this stage of the proceedings, Thurtell flung back his head and neck,
and so gave the executioner an opportunity of immediately divesting him
of that part of his dress. After tying the rope round Thurtell’s neck,
the executioner drew a white cotton cap over his countenance, which did
not, however, conceal the contour of his face, or deprive him entirely
of the view of surrounding objects.
At that moment the clock sounded the last stroke of twelve. During
the whole of this appalling ceremony, there was not the slightest
symptom of emotion discernible in his features; his demeanour was
perfectly calm and tranquil, and he behaved like a man acquainted
with the dreadful ordeal he was about to pass, but not unprepared to
meet it. Though his fortitude was thus conspicuous, it was evident
from his appearance that in the interval between his conviction and
his execution he must have suffered much. He looked careworn; his
countenance had assumed a cadaverous hue, and there was a haggardness
and lankness about his cheeks and mouth, which could not fail to
attract the notice of every spectator.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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