The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-05-30 00:00:00

lIIIi

THE EXECUTION OF BARRETT.

At leogth, after a fortnight's respite' which must
have seelinsl an age to the dal/Med Man, the condemned
convict, Michael Barrett, has suffered the last penalty
of the law, for the atrocious 'minters caused by the
.ittempt to blow down the walls of the Clerkeuwell
House of Deten bun. It will be fresh in the minds ,
lif our readers, that since his condemnation, strict
tuiries have been made by the Government into the
troth of the atibi set up by the counsel for the defence,
Mr. Poland (the solicitor to the Treasury) having
made two journeys to Glasgow for the purpose of
examining witnesses, etc. The atilti having completely
bloke!, down, a communication was cent, by special
messenger, from the Home Office, to Mr. Jonas, the
40vernor of Newgate, about five o'clock on Sunday
evening, stating that the law must take its course.
Mr. Jallaa at (once proceeded to the condemned cell, ,
and informed the unhappy man of his fate,
who received the dreadful news with perfect composure,
and who, although hopeful to the last, had never been
unduly bonyed up by the efforts made on his behalf
to reverse the sentence, and therefore the ultimate
decision disl not appear to occasion him surprise.
Since his condemnation, Barrett has been attended
:Uniost daily by a priest of his own religions persuasion,
, the her. James flussay. attached hi the Roman
Catholic Chapel in Moortields, who had a long inter-
view with him on Sunday.
With reference to the iddj, set up, it ought to be
stated Unit the Government took very great pains to
iscertain the truth, tind that there is not the slightest
hittibt that the evidence given at the trial to show that
the prisoner was in Glasgow on the day of the ex-
plosion did not apply to Mtn at all events, although it
ought possildy have referred to another individual. It
may also be stated that the result of further informa-
• ill that has been obtained by the authorities since
the trial leaves no doubt that the man Burke was the
prime mover in the Clerkenwell affair, and that it was
he who projeeted in tla( first instance the diabolical
yroject ot blowing up the wall of the prison, regard-
less of the conse(piences ;but, as too frequently happens
in these eases, the principals escape with comparatively
tight punishment, while their unhappy dupes are con-
signed, to the scaffold.
On Monday the scene round the gaol of Newgate
was a most exciting one. Workmen were busily en-
;aged all along the Old Bailey and Giltspur-
street hi erecting barricades, to keep off the pres-
sure of the crowd, a clear space being reserved
Sr the seatf.(l.L The autle trities had wisely
taken every necessary precaution to prevent any
,wcidents, large stakes being driven into the ground,
Mai the cross-beams being securely bound to them
with iron. The cr,mll on .Ilonday was considerable ;
lad a clear spaee WaS reserved on the pavement for
,rdinary passers-by, armed police patrolling round the
pO5 1111 and compelling the crowd to Pass along the
road. _ _ _

During the whole of Monday afternoon groups of
people were apparently taking up the positions com-
manding a goorl view of the scaffold; but towards
evening the majority seenwd P• lie workmen returning
to their homes, but who were allured by curiosity to
- ••aze at the door of the fortress-like prison from which
the unhappy culprit was so early on the morrow to

merge to meet his awful doom.
It •esmed 11m Monday nhrht that the crowd assembled

..... .....
to witness the hanging .4 Michael Barrett would have
been very large, f. u. at eleven o'clock there were from
1;00 ti I. SOO persons present, and the public-houses in
the neiAbourhood were crowded, some of their cus-
tomers certainly not bearing in their countenances the
indication that their "highest aim is goodness." There
were very few women among them ; but of these an
unusually large proporthm were youni and bonnetless
;Hs, who were obviously from the Emerald Isle, or
one generation removed at the most. But even the
uninteresting assemblage in the Ohl Bailey be-
came still less numerous after the close oi the

',alone-houses, Imotead Of the throng within the
bafflers, which, as usual, intersected the space
in front of the gaol, increasing when the gin-
palaces closed, they seemed rather to. diminish.
The lights in sonic windows opposite the prison showed
that the rosins were temporarily tenanted by carol
parties, bent on seeing a murderer he;i lint there was
no sound of revelry by night - there was only instead
an incredible omantity of dulness, while the new moon
sank on the western horizon, and the pale stars
twinkled no.t lustrously in the diffuseol light 14 as
lovely a summer night as ever enwrapped London.
The appearance of the scaffold platform at a fete
imitates after two &chock on Tuesday morning, gave
a momentary fillip to the interest of the crowd, which
pt it, eyes on the thecumbro on, structure which was, as
01-ooliv nis ltllllolTid lolni ihn!tooits place] 5 P. couple
'

,1 lre.. The cavr•ut, rs at once set to Wills.aiiil in
less than an hour they had put together the ready-
fitted pieces if the covered way, and so connected the
scaffold with the "Debtors' door," through which so
many felons have passed to their doom, and through
which this morning the last publicly-executed felon
went b 1 pay the last ill it of nature and of justice. As
dawn broke Iv :r the f rid Bailey the small crowd,
numbering' at the newt no more than 2,000, seemed to
satle I town permanently into their places, and from
this time on there wa.s remarkably little to note, either
in the movements or the demeanour of the mob, until
half-poet six o'clock, at which time the numbem had
perceptibly inertia-4A, though there was still emy
passage under most of the barriers.
••• • •

- -
Al ,t this hour there seemed a prevailing impression
that all this quiet of the night boded an outbreak of
s. hie kind in the on. ; and this was strengthened
by the rum. sir that some of those who were tried with
Barrett were hovering about the neighbourhood.
Truly enough, sonic, if not all, of them were present ;
awl a little before six (.'clock one of them, said to be
one .4.tlie Desmonds, made his way to the front of the
sea% hl, ainl there kneeling down and taking off his
hat, with, it may merely an affectation .f the
bouching piety that may frequ ,utly be observed at
Irish executions, but also with apparent eaniest-
ness awl sincerity-- offered up a silent prayer for
the soul of his friend. This was almost the only
incident until the arrival 1 4 the Sheriffs of London and

.......
Middlesex, who appeared on the scene just before
half-past seven, and entered the gaol through the
resiilentiary boas., opening into - Amen-corner,
l'aternoster.row. They found that the prisoner
had, on the whole, passed a quiet night, and that
lie seemed prepared to meet his punishment with
firmness. The culprit W:44 called before six o'clock,
and SOOll after the Sheriffs arrived he was brought from

......
his cell to the pinioning-room, where the usual dread-
fid preliminary operations were gone through in the
.orlinary manner, being borne by the convict with con-
siderable firinnef,s,

Contrary to the !tonal practice, the pininning,of the

prisoner took place only m the presence of the Sherds
and the (lovernor If the prison, and the representatives
of the press bad no opportunity of knowing whether
the culprit made any statement.
At fi Ve IlliffilteS to eight the solemn death hell began

to toll, find as its dull notes fell on the ears I,f the
crowd, that now extended, though in somewhat open
order, from Ludgate-hill to the middle of Giltspur-
street. from lmtlf of which points good views of the
scaffold could be obtained, the throng settled down to
gaze, and mot tik listen to the solitary street preacher
who lout arrived, and was holding forthat the N ewgate-
street corner. N' ,r hail they long to wait. The pro-
cession moved on to the gallows. precisely at the ap-
pointed hour it few horrible preparation's were made
Oalcraft; the ,lrop fell, and with a few struggles,
Barrett paid the penalty of his monstrous crime, and,
save the sospn esion of the body for an hour, London s
last public execution was over.
Ilarrett's body, on being taken down. was placed in a
shell and removed to an adjoining ',Miffing' in the Ire-
sense of the Sheriffs and. Under-Sheriffs, the Governor,
the mis, on surgeon, and the Ordinary. There the
rope having been removed from the neck, and the
leathern straps by which the legs and arms had been
pinioned, the surgeon certified that life was extinct.
'linen of the face was marvellously serene
and placid, and the features composed to a ffiegree
irreconcilable at first sight with the notion of a violent
death, though the lips and parts of the forehead were
unusually nowards evening the hotly was
I lauded in the acmstomed place within the precincts ,-f
the prison, in a grave upwards of five feet deep, in tie
ioresetive of the 1,; overnor and other officers of the
gaol.
Barrett W. an Irishman by birth, about 27 years of
age, of a thick-set muscular figure. rather below the
average height, and with a, preisissessing of-Mann/nee,
lie was nunn,ded, and by trade a stevedore. Neither
it,-f. ore ism after his conviction did any relative call
at the gtod to se, hint, and after sentence he Was Indy,
or chiefly, visited by the Rev. Mr. Hussey, who was
with him a considerable time daily. and by his counsel,
ciii , occasionally lv one or other of the Sheriffs. His
behaviour in forimn was oniformly becoming, and he
, bore himself ti dm last with greet fort:tufle, submit-
ting himself at the same time With affectionate docility
to Om exhortations of his priest, and gratefully reedy-
! j,ig the et,,,,,,,,afi0ns of religion. lie was never Untbily
, buoy, d up by the efforts made out off doors to reverse
his sentence, lint lather welc, omed the repeated respites
as sift ording him -further time to prepare himself for

the worst. should it 'come to that.
arrett died without making any confession of the
crime f which he was convieteb so far a., any of the
sothorities are informed. What he fluty have said to
his priest, if anything, in reference to the munlers
1.-ay never be divulged. All that is known is
that he gave him " immense satisfaction," to use that
gentleman's own expression. by his humble and peni-
tent demeanour, his extre.nlinary fortitude, and by
the earnestnes, with which he strove to prepare him-
self for his end. Vet there was this peculiarity about
hits, as tdicer eli noire than once by one of the autho-
rities in his sisits to lout after sentence—that he never
a s.lutely denied his guilt. On those occasions, when-
ever he referred to the crime, he always said he had
been tionvicted on insufficient evidence, and that lie
was it guilty of murder.

In the House ch ...o.moons, on Monday eveni )) g, Mr.
Bright rose for the purpose of putting a question, one
which he Faili he put with extreme pain, and with a
sense of great responsibility, and with no less an ap-
preciation of the resl.nsildlity of the Minister to
when he was about to address it —VIZ., the Home
Secretary. Ile then continued :--

lA ith reference ton paragraph that has appeared in
the newspaper, announcing the deOsion of the Home Office in
the ease 1,1 the convict Barrett. I know that many toembera
if I it, 110 u, will Itlame me for the course! ant taking At
the same time, I be they will believe me when I say that

I never rose to say anything in this !louse under a stronger
sense that it was my duty to say it, or with a greater feeling
of pain than I experience in intruding a subject of this
nature On their attention. lam not at Al about to make a
speech ; but the House will know that on two occasimis the
execution of this convict has lwen postponed, first fora week
and afterwards for another week; that an inquiry has been
made, conducted on the part of the convict by friends of
his, and by his counsel and solicitors, and on the part of the
llome-offlce by seine gentlemen sent down to Glasgow from
that department. One of the investigations was hold in
public ; the other, 1 believe, was not. But I ant not about to
challenge either the one or the other. 1 merely state this to
allow the amount of care that has been taken ; for the right
hon, gentleman has taken great pains. I believe, with the
view of ascertaining the truth In this matter. No doubt he
holds, with a very old writer, that—
When the life of man is in debate
• No time can be too long, no pains too great"
But the statement before me is this : that the eael has been
referred to the Lord Chid Justice before whom it was fried,
and Mint the opinion of the Lord thief Justice, which,ot
coarse flout have great weigh!, is unfavourable to the
koner. But it is stated that the points on which the
I -1 d Chief Justice has come to his decision are points whiih
I, out of the evidence that was in the possession of the
crown lawyers at the trial, but which at the trial was lad
producol. Anil it is argued with mane force, I think, that it
is very unfortunate for a prisoner who htss been convicted
that a dould should arise as to the propriety Id the convic-
tion, and that then the conviction shoulil be confirined upon
evidence which was in possession of the Crown lawyers at
the trial, but was not then prodmed. Now. lam able posi-
tively to say that persons who are as much interested
in this natter as the right hon. gentleman. and much Isere
so than I have any right to be, are of opinion that the
conviction is not sustained by the evidence; and more,
that it is affirmed that it ionithin the power of the right
hon. gentleman to have the ease re-tried on another charge
of murder arising out of the sante unhappy outrage.
and that if that second trial occurred before a jury, when
the whole of the former evidence, and also the whole of the
suloequent evidence would be sulmiitteil to them, the resnit,
whatever it might be, wouM be felt to lit much more fair to
the prisoner and much more satisfactory to the public. I
am empowered to say Sit behalf of those most Interested.
and on behalf of the prisoner himself, that there would be
no plea of a former acquittal if that second trial could
occur, and that, therefore, if the right hon, gentleman
has the power, there are many cases of course,
in which it could not be done, but the peculiarity of
this case is such as I believe to admit of it—l say if Ile has
the power, even at this late hour, I w mild suggest that such
a course as that should be followed. The Home will per-
, mit nie to observe that in all iny experience of ltome Sec-
retaries - and it lias now extended over 25 years--I can
I say of the right hon. gentleman, as of all his predecessors,
I that he has taken great pains, with, I believe, as great
an anxiety an I could have felt, to come to a right decision
oil the case. I have never known a Home Secretary-1
believe there has not been one in our time, and I hope
there never Will lIC one—who would not bestow all the
care that is possible on the ascertainment of the truth
anti the doing of justice in cases of this nature. Therefore
in what I say I am not even insinuating a charge of any
kind agaimt the right lion. gentleman. I can only say of
him, as of his predecessors, that in cases of this description
I think all men ought to show towards the Home sem-
tary the greatest pmisible forbearance should give
him credit for the most careful exercise of his Bola-
ment, and should remove out it his way anything whatso-
ever that could give him pain in the discharge of the tre-
mendous, and, I will any, the appalling duty which the law
lays UllOn him in cases of this character.
Mr. Ilartly.—Sir, in rising again I have to ask the per-
mission of the House, because I have already spoken in this
discussion. I have nothing to complain of ill the manner,
the tone, or the language in which the hon. gentleman ad-
dressed site in calling my attention to this momentous sub-
But nor, I think, can he exagerate the inumrtance
which belongs to the office which the Home Secretary has ,
to discharge in cases in which appeals are made to hiin to !
recommend an exercise of the prerogative if mercy, and :
more especially in a case such as this, which involves a
question of life and death. I will just explain to the !louse
very briefly, the position in which this case stands. Upon the
trial of the man who 110 W lies under sentence of death evi-
dence was called for the defence. setting up an alibi on the
part IA the prisoner. That alibi was tried by a jury, and was
negatived. Subsequently memorials were sent in, not very
early, but so short a time before the day fixed for the exe-
cation, that it became my duty, in order that those memorials
might be fairly weighed, to respite the execution in the first
instance, and having examined them myself, to do what is
done in all these cases,—namely, transmit them for the
examination of the Judge, or rather, in this instimee, of the
Judges, who tried the case, for the trial was held before the
Lord Chief Justice and Mr. Baron Bramwell. Therefore
on the documents coming up, called declarations on
affidavits, but which were not affidavits of such a character
as is 1161131 in courts of jmtice—for I doubt whether perjury
could have been assigned upon them--on those documents
being sent up setting up the same alibi as had been pre-
viously raised. and other evidence unto the pi isoner having
been at Glasgow at the time Ire was said to have been in
London, an oflieer belonging to the office of the Solicitor
of the Treasury was sent down to Glasgow to make all
inquiries, and iiscertain the truth as to the affidavits that
were made. 1 here were persons who came forward and
gave evidence of what they knew on the subject, and those
affidavits were also trnmniitted to London and laid before
the judges. In addition to that there were likewise certain
documents in the tit,SSOSSiOn, I will net say 44 the CrOWII
lawyers, but of the authorities, at the time if the trial. But
CRTC 551 IV questions raised at the triad which were DOE
foreseen, and which were raised more strongly in connection
with the second case of the alibi than before, and especially
as to the convict having game by a particular name. Those
doeuments aim were placed before the Judges. Ido mat in
all my life remember may instance in Width a lore
careful investigation was given than that which was
given by the Lord Chief Justice in this case. Satisfied
tv the Lord Chief Justice was in the first instance that
the verdict was caarrect, anal antiratiel, abs,. as sir. Baron
Bramwell was in the first instance if its justice, lie
went into the investigation almost as if there had been no
trial at all, in order to O.IIIC to a conclusion upon it. 'laving
completed that inquiry, and investigated the case with the
i.treatest minuteness, both thme learned judges anise,' at
the conclusion tlmt there was no ground for suspecting the
accuracy of the verdict. They 11h1 not recommend that
there shoold be any further trial such as the hon. gentleman
suggests—for that matter was also before them—but they
came to the conclusion—and in that coneusion I have felt
myself Imolai almost entirely to concur—that the circum-
stances of the case are such as to leave ca doubt in the ROW'S
of those who have investigated them that the man is guilty
if the charge.

The T;inea, in remarking upon the alibi and the
oliservations nimie in the House of I 'ominous, ;says
I t appears that there Was sir!. eVidenee is Web the i'rewth
lawyers in their discretion kept back. It is perhaps to be
re,retted that this was done ; but they thought the case
complete without it. The main defence, however, was the
abb, set up by the three shoemakers. Now, of Mists/46i we
must say that one more weak Was never 'maimed in a court
of justice. Bar tet t, according to the theory of the defence, was
an inhabitant of Glasgow, whirr e Ire worked for his living.
harl been in Glasgow at the thmi of the explosion and
dui ing the whole period when NI rillany alleged him to
have been in London. tie lived by- his labour ;he must
therefore have had a master and fellow. workmen ; he
must have bad a Wein, and therefore a landlord or
a landlady ; he must have had vollipanieltS, and trades-
Men with whom he dealt ;It is indeed absurd to believe
that a rather clever young Irislun ea could be liviirg iii site
if the largest cities of the tingdoin without any One being
eftgnigart d his existence. Vet, after several is eeks of pre-
paration for his defence, in a matter of life and death, he
can only procure three strangers, with whinn he alleges
himself to have been brought Into contact on a single and
accidental occasion, to prove that he had been living in
Glasgow, and not in London. The jury could not allow such
unsatisfactory testimony to overbalance the direct evidence
offered by the prosecution, and they found the prisoner
guilty.
We know not the nature and weight of the evidence with
which the prisoner's friends have supplemented his ease.
We can, therefore, only take it for gran: eil that, having
minutely examined everything that has I men presented for
ettntalleration, the Ifimm Secretary has found no gromids for
believing that the verdict was mistaken. It is satisfactory
to know that in this lie has the full concurrence of the
Lord thief Justice of England and Mr. Baron Bramwell.
Mr. Hardy says emphatically, •• I do led in my life remember
any instance in which so careful an investigation was given
as that which was given by the Lord thief Jo-lice in this
case. Satisfied as the Lord thief Justice was in the first
instance that the et !AWL Was correct, and sidbfied, also.
as Mr. Baron Bramwell was in the first instance of
its justice, he went into the investigation almost as if
there ball liven no trial at all, in order to collie te a Mein-
sion upon it. Having completed that inquiry and investi-
gated the ease with the greatest Minigeness, Imth those
learned judges arrived at the rionchision that there Wu no
ground for suspecting the accuracy of the verdict." This
solemn decision will satisfy the nation that justice has lneon
done. It inns most painful duty to declare that Antall must die:
but en Snell an 00emsdon as this a MilaSter Might aat Ia
shrink from such a duty. There will always be men whom
no evidence will convillee ; there are those who douht
the guilt of Palmer and Muller In order that such nien
may not introduce a misgiving in the public mind that a
judicial error has been committed in this case it is proper
that those who think the jury have come to a right decision
should say no. We are glad, therefore, that Mr. Bright has
elicited ft om Mr. Hardy such strong opinions that the pri-
soner Barrett has well rightly convicted.

A correspondent of the Express gives the following
graphic account of the scene at the execution :--

Barrett's demeanour was unaltered to the last, and those
who heard his speech from the dock saw another striking
illustration of the c4mlness. resolution. awl fortitude he then
displayed. Those most conversant with executions, declared
that no convict ever met his doom with more signal
courage than Itie unhappy man who suffered on Toes-
day morning : and the ••haul I.ye, Barrett 7" °Cod
bless you, Barrett 1" yelled from all portions of the
crowd, showed that the popular sympathies were roused.
Nor was there ought of bravado in Barrett's manner.
Dressed in the worn clarct-coloured short coat and the
shabby iromgrey trousers be wore dewing the trial. from
the time he appearol on the drop—preceded by the old
hangman ralcraft, and accompanied by a Roman catholic
m lest—to the finid moment, he seas self-cindaine.l, calm,
and. if the phraFe nmy lie applied to a condemned murderer,
dignified. The composed command of feature for which he
was remarkable. at the Old Bailey never deserted him, and
after a hasty glance towards I:W4am-street, where, from
the position id the converging thoroughfares the largest
mass of people was assembled, he deliberately turned his back
as if to shut out the sea of 1 gry, eager faces before him.
lie finite tin other sign.
The proceedings on the drop were unusually brief, and
while Caleraft fastened the strap round Barrett's feet, itesty
the white cap over his head and face, and adjusted the
holier round his neck and to the inm hook-chains in the
beam above. the pinioned inan stood firm and erect, moving
obediently to instructions so as to stand in the centre of the
false tioi, I once Fah:raft, with stranzely repulsive solid-
Ode, trlrisiereil in his ear, nail asking if the halter hurt hinh
awl immediately afterwards loosened it somewhat and the
capped head and I,lll,illitnil face moved dumbly to and fro as
if to aid in, readjustment.

Meinw Idle he on'y nntinerpernnn on the drop was the Romish
priest, who seemed to press the crucifix upon the bound
hands and the yet living lips, while exhorting and praying to
the very last. Barrett appeared to listen with grave
courtesy, tut neither bowed nor moved. Mr. J 1,11410, the
governor of Newgate ; Mr. Humphries, the under-governor ;
two dark visaged, determined, stalwart warders, and a
few well-dressed, cleawshirted, privilegent citizens re-
mained inn the doorway leading to the drop ; slot
while dose to it, and closely watching the proceed-
ings. remained invisible to the crowd. ealeraft, mulling dis-
agreeably, and looking, in black skull cap, and good blank
broad-cloth surtout and suit, more repulsive than if he haul
wu wit the insignia of his dreadful vltlce, molt knit and fawned
nix these 118 he passed liOWll the stairs and Mu niched by then,
to pull the fatal !mit. Ile had beCli greeted I iy a terrific
atom of hisses and yells while In view of the people, and seemed
nervously anxious to hurry out of theirsight Though ~.ouoving
old, and with bleached hicks and a snow-white beard, he inn
nwerfully muscular man: whine call. inns matter-of-1 act
hanuling of the ropes, stratus, and paraphernalia of Vi,.1.•11t
Itenth cannot lie seen without a shudder. The moment after
his disappearance underneath the false flusir Inc pulls the
built, the Itemp falls, and the bound and blindfolded figure
(WillgS to and fro in the bright moiling ales en 'nee. Barrett's
powerful will mud enormous self-control seemed prominent
even in the death agony. The ordinary death twitchings
and spasmodically C,en tilsive strUggli9 nit halitiS and
feet were none of them to le, seen. and as he hung
stilt and rigid, and with protruding tongue and swol-
len, unstinted features discernible under their thin
white cotton covering, Pm if they were part of some
hideous tnasquerading, his broad shoulders and tlnick.,,t
nitoendar frame seemed to part with life without a single
tune or heave. Cali:raft remained below, placing lea
hands on the dying man's feet as if to steady the swinging
icily ; lout without employing the pull no jerk with which he
I' and to occasionally supplement the dreadful fall Inn death
the legs were drawn partly up, and turned outwardly
at the knees as if in involuntary ald of determina-
tion : and with the bow.shape Sir Walter Scott cave
Rob Roy's in token of Ids vast personal strength. 'The
criminal either had his neck broken inn the first fall or kept
unmoved in pursuance of a set purpose, but it is certain
that his proud spirit departed without betraying the usual
symniathies of an unnatural and violent death. 'rho rand,
esw but few of the details we have described. The short
black cloth curtain within has of late years been plaCed roam'
the shabby old gallows, partially hides that» standieg unit,

and ntakes only head and shoulders visible after the drop
has fallen and the criminal is hanged.
But Calcraft and Barrett each had a horribly no my recep-
tion directly they appeared. The pet sistent burst of groaning
which greeted the detachment of metropolitan police joining
the City constables in the inclosed si.ace before the gallows be-
came appalling when tbe hangman was recognised. .Let's
put hint there instead !" "Shame !" •• Down with hint !"
" Butt, bah. nmrderer, bah !" are lad a few of the articulate
'annuls heard from the windows of the Old Bailey, anti ring-
ing In the doomed titan's ears at the supreme moment.
But even these were lost in the excited and congratulatory
cheers for Barrett. The murderous outrage for which he I
died seemed b. be forgotten. The maimed women, the nip-
pled children, the countless agonies inflicted uptat the aged. 1
the helpless. and the weak the honest bread-winners re- 1
duced to wide of cheerless painful pauperism, all faded out I
of sight ; and hand-clapping -Barrett !' °Good-bye, !
Barret !" . Never mind em, d---45 theist !" were mimed up .
veith cheers as he vas ever follywed hers te the battle-
field: But the In accent was nolably absent, though these !
thanolustnttions seemed tel come both from the regular Old
Bailey frequenters anti the more respectable people with
which they were plentifully interspersed.
Nor Mccc more touching evidences of sympathy wanting.
Hanging over the barrier immediately opposite the gallttws,
and summated 1,11 either side by a female friend, stood the
half-fainting figure of a young womaa of some foug or the
and twenty. Her decent demeanour and modest air is on
even upon the most brutal natures multi her, anti a
couple of genuine IA anion roughs kept back their
comrades by entreaties, and W hen necessary by
blow, Whatever her relationship, or knowledge
of Barrett may have been. there could be no doubt of the
genuineness of her emotion this morning. Deadly white,
with clenched lips, and hands which clung to the wooden
barrier before her with the tenacity of A drowning man, she
succeeded in controlling herself until the drop actually fell.
When Barrett appeared on the scaffold the women support-
ing her re-doubled their mnsolutory efforts -.01111 her
blenched face and wistful air beciune intensified iti their ex-
pression. But when his face was covered, she gave way,
and at the fatal moment fell prostrate, and lay in a passion
of hysterical grief deaf to the lioiieB and blind to the sights
nearer him, and conscious only of the gallows and its doubt-
ful mission.
••

m.
Conoirrently with this painful scene is a stir among the
policemen guarding the enclosure in front. One of their
number, a tall. poweitul, good-looking young man, has
given way, and Barrett': death is the signal for Ids falling
down in a fit. Ins clenched teeth, white face, till-tin null
eyeballs, and cataleptic figure, as his head falls
back (over the arms raised to succonr him, lend
additional horror to proceedings. But his brother
officers tinsel; his neckcloth, and pale, beggared, and with
some ugly marks as if of blood about the mouth he is led
away by a couple of colleagues with stronger nerves than his
own, who half guide and half help Min to Newgate Moor,
taking him as they 40 so close by the gallows tree, and the
rigid figure 110 W 'moving idly, but with a sort of pendulum
motion from north to south.