The declaration and confession of Robert Watt : $b Written, subscribed, & delivered by himself, the evening before his execution, for high treason, at Edinburgh, October 15, 1794 — John Shaqi
The declaration and confession of Robert Watt : $b Written, subscribed, & delivered by himself, the evening before his execution, for high treason, at Edinburgh, October 15, 1794Watt, Robert
Religion
The declaration and confession of Robert Watt : $b Written, subscribed, & delivered by himself, the evening before his execution, for high treason, at Edinburgh, October 15, 1794
This is truth, and the whole truth, as far as I recollect, I declare as
a dying man.
(Signed) ROBᵗ WATT
Tuesday Evening, _Oct. 14th_,
about 8 o’clock at night, 1794.
In regard of sending Pikes to Perth, to the best of my recollection, I
talked with Craig about them, and that he told me they should be sent
secretly; but I cannot say to what number, nor to whom.
_Note._--Although WATT, soon after his condemnation, promised the
Clergymen who visited him, to write a Confession of his crimes, he
delayed the commencement of it till within eight or nine days of his
death. On the Wednesday before that event, he had written one sheet;
this, it is supposed, he destroyed, as it was not among the papers he
left behind him: Hitherto he appeared easy in his mind; but on the
Friday, Saturday and Lord’s day, much agitated. On this last day he
again began to write, but advanced no further than the account he has
given of his childhood, _&c._ By what he said afterwards, it is plain,
his hesitation arose from the vain hope of a reprieve. On Monday
morning he again appeared calm, and in good spirits; and said he had
at last determined to declare all he knew, and employed the morning of
that day in writing what is now given to the public--In the evening,
the order for his execution was officially intimated to him--On
Tuesday he continued writing; and in the evening, between seven and
eight o’clock, finished and subscribed the paper now published, and
put it under a cover to the Sheriff--On Wednesday, 15th October, he
was executed--The paper was sealed up in Watt’s presence, together
with another parcel, containing the letters he received whilst in
prison, and other papers of no importance. Both parcels were by Watt
himself addressed to the Sheriff, and delivered to the Commanding
Officer of the Castle, who sent them to the Sheriff on the Tuesday
evening, agreeable to Watt’s own particular request.
FINIS.
LATELY PUBLISHED,
BY _BELL & BRADFUTE_,
Reports of the Committee of Secrecy, of the House of Commons, on the
Papers belonging to the Society for Constitutional Information, and
the London Corresponding Society, seized by order of Government, and
presented to the House by Mr Secretary Dundas--Price 4s. 6d. _boards_.
Extracts from the Report of the Committee of Secrecy, appointed by the
House of Commons, on the 13th of May, 1794, _being an Abridgment of
the above_--Price 3d. _stitched_.
ALSO,
Mr Young’s Essays on Government, and other interesting subjects, a new
edition, _being the fourth_--Price 1s. _sewed_.
Transcriber’s Notes
Minor punctuation errors have been fixed.
Page 21: “without any amunition” changed to “without any ammunition”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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