The Chronicles of Crime or The New Newgate Calendar. v. 2/2: being a series of memoirs and anecdotes of notorious characters who have outraged the laws of Great Britain from the earliest period to 1841Pelham, Camden
History
The Chronicles of Crime or The New Newgate Calendar. v. 2/2: being a series of memoirs and anecdotes of notorious characters who have outraged the laws of Great Britain from the earliest period to 1841
Pelham, Camden
Crime -- Great Britain; Criminals -- Great Britain; Newgate (Prison : London, England)
At a few minutes before twelve o'clock he was removed from the dungeon
in which he had been confined, and conveyed to the press-room, where he
was pinioned by the hangman, who had been carried down from London for
the purpose of superintending the execution. He was resigned, but was so
weak as to be unable to stand without support. On his cravat being
removed he groaned heavily, and appeared to be labouring under great
mental agony. When his wrists and arms were made fast, he was led round
towards the scaffold; and as he passed the different yards in which the
prisoners were confined, he shook hands with them, and speaking to two
of them by name, he said, "Good bye, God bless you!" They were
considerably affected at the wretched appearance which he made; and "God
bless you!" "May God receive your soul!" were frequently uttered as he
passed along. The chaplain preceded the prisoner, reading the usual
Burial Service, and the governor and officers walked immediately after
him. The prisoner was supported up the steps which led to the scaffold;
he looked somewhat wildly around, and a constable was obliged to support
him while the hangman was adjusting the fatal cord. A few moments before
the drop fell he groaned heavily, and would have fallen, had not a
second constable caught hold of him. Everything having been made ready,
the signal was given, the fatal drop fell, and the unfortunate man was
launched into eternity. He did not struggle; but he raised his hands
once or twice, as if in prayer; the hangman pulled his legs, and he was
in a moment motionless. In about nine minutes, however, his shoulders
appeared to rise in a convulsive movement; but life, it seemed, had left
him without any great pain. Just before he was turned off, he said, in a
feeble tone, "I am justly sentenced, and may God forgive me." Mr.
Orridge then informed the crowd that the prisoner acknowledged the
justice of his sentence, and died in peace with all men. Thus did this
unhappy man terminate, by an ignominious death, a life which, judging
from his age and healthy appearance, might have been prolonged to an
advanced period in comfort and independence.
The mob collected on this occasion was computed to amount to upwards of
seven thousand persons, and occupied every spot of ground from which a
glimpse of the final scene of the wretched man's life could be obtained.
A considerable portion of the persons collected were women; and as soon
as the execution was over, they dispersed from before the drop, and
proceeded to the Shire Hall, where a large number of persons had
assembled in order to obtain a view of the body.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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