The National Register. — London, England, 1813-08-22 00:00:00

VIE NATIONAL REGISTER. Pctiehin. 'Folds, thy lauticlo -maid, detailed the circumstances above stated, of finding, Mr and Mrs. 13unar murdertd, and the conduct of the prisoner respecting the bloody sheets. 'The sr( mu and COHCIIIII4II p eyed his going to London, &c. The prisoner's conlessicii was here read— DECLARATION OF NICHOLSON. I. Philip Nicholson, to clear the innocence of others, and tell the 'truth of myself, I committed the minder. Question by Mr. B.—Had you accomplices? No, Sir, I wonid tell you if I had —I do not mean accomplices in he room, but others? No, Sir, I did not know it myself five minutes betot . e.— Xxplain how it happened.—l was sleeping upon the foim, waked about three o'clock ; I put the sheet around me, and. took the poker from the Lull-grate, ;full a lighted candle in my hand filan tl.e hall. I enured the room, I looked about when I entered, anti rave Noy mistress two blows; she never moved. I left her, and went round to ma , ter, and gave Lim two or three blows ; and he said, " Come to bed my love,' and then he sprung from the bed and seized hold of mc. I hit bins in the struggle about the arms and legs • we struggled 15 minutes or better, he was very nett'. getting the legs; of me; i got him clown by force, and left him groaning. 1 went down to wash my hands in the sink of the butler's pantry, and then opened the house door, and drawing-room windows.— 'What motive had you ? I had no bad intention : I not know what provoked me to do it, more than you do.—Yon were heard to com plain of going so much behind the carriage? Yes; but I never thought of doing it from that.—Did you ever feel resentment for going so much behind the carriage? No, Sir ; I Dever thought much about it.—Had you thought or talked of this murder when you were drinking with the Groom the ni before in the hall ?No : I never thought of it myself, or had any idea of it myself.—How long was it after yon waked that you went up stairs? I jumped up : I was halt' undressed when sleeping upon the form : I undressed, and put the sheet about me.—Why did you put the sheet about you? That they might not know tire.— When did you drop the sheet? In the struggle : 1 had it on when 1 gave the first blow. By Mr. A. C.—Did Dale the butler know any thing about it? No, Sir.—Did any of the maid servants know any thitig about it ? Not a word—Why did you go to Dale in London? Nothing parti enlar.—Was it your intention to take any thing away? No, Sir. What wait your intention? Nothing particular : but when l went into the room I saw my matter and mistress asleep, and 1 gave her two blows.--Were you drunk when you sent to bed? No, Sir: I had drank nothing 1.”. t beer. I had not had a drop of spirits aii tiny. —Had yuu at any former tll4e thought of the murder ? No, Sir, I never thought of such a thing in ray life.--Witat did you do with your bloody things ? 'Aly Shirt, neckcloth, and stockings 1 put opposite the hall door in the shrubbery, under snore leaves, near the little gate. 'flee breeches 1 kept on all day. When I waked from the torm, I only t o ok off my waistcoat.—What did you wipe your hands with ? With. the sponge in the sick, which I left there.—What did you de with your shoes ? Did you, put them into the wood closet ? I might ; but I do not remember.— -What did you do with the rush light ? threw it into the coal closet.--Why did you take the rush light ? It Mats dark in tile house.--Why did you think it was three o'clock ? - By the break of day.--Why did yon open the shutters of your ror,nr ? To 'hew it 01 sce your clothes ? No, I had seen them by the rush light its coming down stairs.--Di'l yotego to sleep of er cow- Inittittg thi, act? I went to bed, but could not sieep. I was awake when King er.terred the room.--In the pretence of Almighty God, thinkirg I ant on my death bed, I hereby declare this to be toy voluntary c nlession, to prevent innocent petple being acensed of this eitcumstance. (Signed) PHILIP NICHOLSON. Lavender, after the confession, searched and found the clothes 'leafy in the I:l3ee described (the shits was mach torn and bloody, and also the stockings) ; they were produced. The prisoner being asked for his defence, called Mr. Frederick Tyrrell it. a witness to his character, wl o slid he was the son of the Reme,nbrancer : the prisoner had lived three potrs ‘‘i:h his father, and his conduct du, in.• that tinge was most humane and gentle : he appeared to be a mau of kind disposition. Mr. Justice Ilv:Ant then bti ;fled up the evidence : he said be 'laver kuew a ca.e more clearly proved: even of circumstances there was so well connected a series as most carry convictien, in tie pently of the confession : the bloody frot.teps: the conduct and Ildmeationr of the prisoner; his taking off the sheets ; his oigi l teap stainvd with blood, which could not have happened in the way lie said, bccAuse %shell he brom4hl down the sheets in the morning he vi as dress.ed, and had no nightcap ; and the bloody shoes, which ex actly corresponded with the footmark. All these things seen ed to rtguu%e all doubt :tad then ; the confession eonfiruied all these sir. cunistances. If, however, the Jury bad any . 2 they ould acquit the prisoner. • • The Jur.) immediately returned a verdict of—Guilty. The prison( r was then addressed hi *the usual form, and asked what he bad to say why sentence of death should not he passed upon him. He said "he had nothing to offer." Mr. Justice HEAT!! then VI °Mk& to pass sentence nearly in the• followim: terms : " Prisoner, after a minute trial, you have hens convicted by a Jury of your country of traitorously mordwring .our master ; whom, instead of attacking, it was your duty to pro• test at the peril of your life. What was your motive for so atro. riot's a crime does not appear : it does not seem to have been re. vrnge; you were not intoxicated, nor otikded at your master, ngainst minim it was impossible to fuel rt sentment, fur his whole life was a series of kindness and bet efieences, for which he is now gone to receive his reward. You, Nicholson, must soon appear -tictore a tribunal more auditl than this : and I solemnly recommend you to employ the short interval which remains to you, in making your peace with Heaven. Nothing that 1 can say can agaliVate the sense of your guilt in the minds of this assem•iy. 1 shall, therefore, proceed to the discharge my duty in passing twill rat the scuteuce of the law, which is, that you be taken henre to the place Irm which you came, and on Mouday next be drawn on a sledge to the place of execution, and there 11..nged till you are dead, and then your body shall be given to be dissected and ana tomized?" After the Judge bad concluded, the prisoner delivered in a pa per, of which the following is a copy :-- " I acknowledge wills the deepest contrition the justice of the sentence unto death that has just now been passed upon me. My crimes are indeed most heavy—l feel their weight, but Ido not despair--nay, I humbly hope for mercy through the infinite mercy of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, wins bled and died for nie. " In order to have a well-grounded hope in him, my all mereififf Redeemer, I know that it is my bounden duty not only to grieve from my heart for my due offences, but also to do my utmost to make satisfaction for them. Yet, ails! what satisfaction can I make to the afflicted family of my master and mistress, whom with out any provocation Iso barbarously murdered ? I can make none beyond the declaration of my guilt and horror of soul, that I could perpetrate deeds so shocking to human natnre, and so agonizing to the feelings of that worthy family—l implore their forgiveness for God's sake, and fully sensible of their great goodness, I do hope that they will forgive me. I freely give up my lite as a just forfeit to my country, whose laws I have most scandalously outraged. Departing from this tribunal, soon shall I appear betine Another tribunal where an eternal sentence will be passed upon me. With this dread sentence full in my view, I do most solemnly declare, and I desire this declaration to he.taken as my dying wmd., th a t I atone was the base - and cruel murderer of my master and mistress— that I had no accomplice—that no one knew, or could possibly ens pect, that I intended to perpetrate those barbarities--that I my self* had no intention of comaottiw , r those horrid deeds, save for a short time, so short as scarcely to be computed, before I actually committed them--that booty was not the motive of my fatal cruel ties. I am sure the idea of plunder never, presented itself to my mind. I can attribute those unnatural murders to no other cause thrn, at the time of their commission, to a temporary frenzy from excessive drinking and before that tiny: to the habitual forg, tt'ulness for sooty years of the great God and his judgments ; and the too natural consequence of such forgetfulness, the habit ual yielding to the worst passions of corrupted stature. So that the evil that I was tempted to do, that I itl. The Lord in his mercy has neverthe less spared my life until stow--that life which 1, in an agony of hor ror and despair. once most wickedly attempted to destroy. He had most graciously allowed me tin:e for repentance. An humble and contrite heart most be Isis gift. That gift I hope he has grant ed to ley usost ardent supplicationS. In that hope, and bearing in mind his promise, that an humble and contrite heart he will not despise, I, freely offering up to him my sufferings and my life it self. look forwerd, thronzh his nsost precious blood, to the pardon of all my crimes, and most humbly trust, that the same mercy which he slowed to the peniicA tint I whit was crucified with nitro, he will slim to Ilse. Thus meekly confiding in thee, 0 Jesus! into thy hands I commit toy spirit. Anon. This '2oth August, - " PHILIP NICHOLSON." The prisoner o:lnv.:hunt the tt ial manifested a settled melancholy. This melancholy has, we untler,tand, habituatly marked his conduct since his recovery from the wonud in his throat, combined witlr the most pious resiginition to his fate. In Court he very seldom raised his eyes, but seemed quite bowed down by depression ant conscious guilt. On the delivery of the evidence of Mary Clark and Penelope Fold* he wit.* partiodanly affected; inn on the pre' A MUST fe, uuy dollbt, they would