A case somewhat similar to the Winchester one was told me by an old and respectable inhabitant of Worcester, who was himself cognisant of the circumstance, and had frequently seen the convict. It occurred in the gaolership of the father of the present governor of the city gaol. A boy of only thirteen or fourteen had been convicted of some capital offence, but on account of his youth was respited indefinitely. He remained in the gaol, was found to be a docile lad, and much liberty was accorded to him; the authorities expecting that he would receive a pardon. Time flew on, many months--I think my informant said nearly two years elapsed, and his case seemed forgotten. If he was not actually sent on errands out of the gaol, so loose was his captivity, that he might easily have slipt away at any time, and been scarcely missed. In fact, he had the full run of the prison, and was a great favourite with the debtors, whose sports and amusements he joined in, for discipline was very lax in those days. He was playing at ball one day in the yard with some debtors, full of life and glee, when suddenly, to the utter astonishment of the gaoler, and the awe of his associates, there came an order from London for his execution. Why he had remained so long forgotten, or why such extreme severity fell on him so unexpectedly at last, none could tell; but his case was considered a very hard one, and was commiserated by the whole city. My informant saw the poor boy conducted to execution. The old citizen who gave me this account is dead, or I could have recovered the date of its occurrence. AMBROSE FLORENCE. Worcester. I observe that the substance of M. W. B.'s Note has been reprinted in a mutilated form in several newspapers; his preliminary remark, and concluding Query, being omitted! The effect of this is to circulate as a _fact_ what your correspondent himself questions. My object however in this communication, is not so much to draw attention to the injurious effects of partial quotation, as to point out what, in my opinion, renders the occurrence of an execution under the circumstances detailed a manifest impossibility. I believe I am correct in stating that there never was, nor is there now (out of London), such a thing as a _warrant_ for the _execution of a criminal_. At the close of each Assize, a fair copy of the _Calendar_, with the sentences in the margin, is signed by the Judges, and left with the sheriff; this is the _only authority_ he has given him; and in the event of a sentence of death, he has no alternative but carrying it into effect; unless he receives from the Crown a pardon, a reprieve, or a warrant commuting the sentence. _Blackstone_ observes upon this: