The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-09-12 00:00:00

EXECUTION IN LONDON.

klexander Arthur Mackay, a lad only nineteen year
old, was executed on Tuesolay morning within the walls
of the gaol of Newgate for the murder of his mistress,
mma Grosamith.
The execution took place in accordance with the
aaeeno hal state of the law Upon the subject, in one of
fle• yards of the prison, the out drop and ,caffohl I wing
ma,f, use of for the purpose. The gallows WaS erected
iii MO corner of the yard, and harriers were erected, in
front oif which were placed about a dozen policemen.
th• ally other persons present were Mr. Sheriff
Di'Arthur, Under-Sheriff Davidson, and Under-Sheriff
B—•he, the ordinary the ReV. Mr. Jones), the
g.•,ernor of the prison (Mr. .1 onas), and the surgeon
r. d I ibson. The-e were the oily officials Who were
and the olily strangers present were the repro-
s! -, of the and a son of Mr. Justice Lush,
whom, it will be remembered, the prisoner was
1.
. . . .

-•
.i• offence of which the prisoner was conticteil was
a • re aggravated one. He had evidently ut atriAmi a
dag of anger against his mistress, anil upon the day
t ii• unhappy occurrence took place she rebuked him
f-r tsimetbing or other, and he attacked her with a
I..sy rolling-pin, used by her in her business of an
e ...lig-house keeper, and inflicted a number of
e • p•Tate wminds upon her head, which caused her
• II very shortly afterwards. The prisoner made
e:iicape at tee time, and would, probably, have
e ...led justice altogether, but that it seems he was
c mitted to Maidstone gaol for some trivial offence,
t • I while in cnetody in that prison, he unguardedly
I , a comnumication to a fellow prisoner that he was
of murder, and this led to his being taken into
•-dy. After his conviction it appears that he sent a
• .tuon for mercy to the Home Secretary, but the case
2 isms to have been considered one of so serious a
racter, that it was impossible to extend the
.'mency of the Crown to the prisoner, and the law
left to take its course. According to the state-
' ...1 of the Rev. Mr. ;fonts, the ordinary of the gaol,
I culprit was undoubtedly sincerely penitent for his
t dine. Ile repeatedly expressed his sorrow at having
tleprived the
,hushand of the deceased of a wife and his
c Id•-ell of a‘ soother, and said that he considered the
•-e was more inhuman because be had himself been
• rived of a mother when very young, and knew the
• sent of the loss. He frequently alluded to the
I otter spontaneomily, and there are good grounds for
eiieving that he deeplk and sincerely regretted the
crime he had committed. Ile paid great attention to
the religious exhortations if the worthy ordinary, and
tippeared to be very much impressed with the text
•• %nowt cometh to me I will in no wise cast oult."
Ai. his earliest request and after deliberation, the
: Ir. Jones administered the Holy Sacrament to the
r•dprit on Sunday afternoon, and his roniluct WWI
•st becoming on the occasion.
lie Was visited on Saturday afternoon by his father
rit,il two sisters. and they remained with him for nearly
t•n hour. The interview was, of course, if a moat dis-
tressing and painful character. In the course of the
conversation the prisoner acknowledged the justice of
Ids sentence, and expreased himself quite prepared
to die.
Although the prisoner has never attempted to deny
lii it his was the hand that caused the death of his
toistress, the account he gave tif the matter was that
elle was always "nagging' at him, and that she also
I retomnily pushed him and struck hint. On the
iorning in miestion he stated that she kept on com-
p silting of into, as he said, without ally just cause,
mill that she at length gave him a vii lent push, and at
t Ile same nounent " flicked " him with a cloth elle had
I n her hand, And hurt him a gm”l deal, and in the ex-
tlternent occashined by what had taken place, he seized
rolling pin and struck her on the head with it, and
Li- was unable to cootrol himself afterward-e, and ion-
tinned beating her until she bemime senseless, and he
then made Ids escape not expecting for a moment that
1 ..• death would have been the consequence of his
, • lence. This statement of the prisoner is believed to
1 • •trietly consistent with the truth.
The only pecans upon the scaffold were the culprit,
ordinary, and the executioner Calcraft. The un-
-1 iiiny youth prayed in a most fervent manner during
toe whole ef the period of the preparations for the

execution, and his last words, uttered in a most im-
pressive manner, were, "Oh, Lord God, have mercy
upon me!" and the sentence was hardly out of his
mouth before the dr p fell, and after a few convulsive
struggles he ceased to exist.
. . .

Notwithstanding the fact thatit was fully known that
the execution would be conducted within the walls of
tine prison, and that nothing connected with the pro-
ceedings would be visible outside, at the hour appointed
for the carrying out of the sentence a number of per-
sons, principally men and boys, numbering altogether
perhaps, a couple nt hundred, aesembleff outside the
prison and gazed with apparent interest at the exterior
n 4 the gaol. At the moment the drop fell a black
this was hi dsted in front of the gaol, and this was the
only indication to the persons assembled outside that
tin- awful ceremony seas concluded.
The laxly was cut down after hanging an hour, and at
two o'clock a jury conqnosed of 21 inhabitants of the
City assembled in the New Court of the Old HaileY,
for the purpose of inquiring whether the deceased had
teen legally hanged. The deputy coroner, Mr. W. H.
Payne presided. The jury, accompanied by the coroner
and Mr. Jonas, the governor of the gaol, passed through
several narrow whitewashed paved corridors until they
reached a large cell. In the cell there was a Rack
coffin on a stand. It was near "the block" used for
the flogging of prisoners. All present when they
entered the cell, removed their hats. They then
walked over tin the coffin ins which lay the body of
Mackay. He had a calm expression of countenance,
and a warder said in a whisper, "that is not usual with
a hanged prisoner." The jurors gathered round the
coffin, and stood looking at him for about three
minutes. They then walked slowly away, and were
taken into the yard where the execution took place.
The workun'en then bad removed the whole of tine
scaffolding, and they were piling the black beams up
in corners of the yard. The jury having returned to
court, the first witness called was
Mr. Jonas. the governor, who deposed that the deceased
was a prisimer ill the gaol. Ws name was Alexander A rtluir
Mackay. lie WM Is years of age, and was a waiter. Ile
wav tried at the Central Criminal Court for the murder of
Emma Grossmith, and convicted. The judge was Mr.
J native Lush.
Coroner k 1 as he sentenced I—Witness Yes, to death ;
and at the termination of the session I had this warrant
producing it far the exemalun of the sentence.
Coroner That warrant says, "The body of Alexander
Arthur Mackay is to be hanged by the seek, and afterwards
buried inn the precincts of the gaol." Was he hanged this
morning ?—Witness : Yea; the person so hanged was the one
sentenced to death.
. .

Dr Gibson, surgeon of the gaol, deposed that the cause of
the deceased's death was hanging.

. _
The Coroner said that the jury could now, after
hearing that evidence, answer the questions put to
them by the act of parliament.
The jury then signed a verdict " that the aeceased
was legally and properly executed."

!MURPHY RIOTS AT MANCHESTER.
Mr. Murphy, the lecturer against Roman Catholicism, sue-
ceeded in defeating the precautions taken by the Manchester
magistrates for the preservation. of the peace. On Saturday
afternoon one of the most serioto riots occurred in the south-
western suburbs of the city which have been known for
years, arising out of causes having a religious or political
character, and led to the arrest of over thirty of the com-
batants.

Early in the week Mr. Murphy was arrested, on arriving in
the town to lecture, upon a warrant granted on informmion
mini at before the magistrates that, if lie was allowed to
lecture, a serious breach nt the peace was apprehended. Ile
was taken before the magistrates atilt held to hail, two clergy-
Men becoming sureties for his good behaviour. Upon these,
and his own tecogitizanees for 4200, he W. liberated from
Pelle Vile the city gaol toll TilllrSd:ly. tie wits 111180011, at
liberty than ho took steps to defeat the intenth an of the
magiArates. Know ing how sensitive the publie mind is to
any attempt at fettering the liberty of speech during an elec-
tion, be i-suet an address to the etcetera of Manche.ter,
offering himself aS 1 c•indiilate at the next election am
testant principle.. After this Inc i 5411.1 another placard,
calling an oiwieitir meeting in Choirlton-road of electors on
Saturday afternoon. As the present Parliament has not yet
been dissolved, how far the magistrates nmy Ito disposed In/
Instil thisass only a colourable pretext for disturbing the
peace 11•1113i118 is Inc seen. 'they ii Ist not attempt to prevent
the inecting, but they did tal.e such steps as were deoned
neceisary to arrest Imola should any arise.

et tile meeting ground 011 SalltrutATlldielllooll there was
a dense crowd of people assembled by about four o'clock,
1101 soon afterwards a wafrnon containing a number of Mr.
hi at phy's friends was drawn into the midst of them. These
permits were received a ith great cheeriog by a large TWO-
hu ortholl of the crow ii. A Mr. heathent was voted to tile elndr,
and addressed the meeting. Mr. 1 rare then moved a
reselution to the effect that the coeelnet of the magistrates
in arresting Murphy was tuna nstitutional, and calling
upon the Home Secretary to institute /Al illuttliry into
their conduct. While this speaker was addressing the
ineeting, there came up Choriton-road a formidable
phalanx of Iridunen, who jellied the meeting and proceeded
to distril lute themselves around the outer edge of the gather-
ing. Almost immediately after their arrival a cellision
corned. Both polies appeared to be provided for suit is
te int ingency, and sticks and still/L-4 were freely used. The tom-
b:it:lots fought with fierce determination for a consider-
able time. A number Id detective policemen ii, plain
clothes had mingled in the meetieg ; but as there were 5,0,0
or 0,000 persons present, they cull do little to stop the
ri t, thouldi wlmt they did attempt wern vigorously done.
Before this scene of lawless violence and tumult had lasted
berg, however, a large body of city police, which had been
held in reserve, was marched upon [lief-Tomei anti Proveoled
to make A number of arrests. By that time the commotion
had spueaii along Chorlton-road and St retierd New-road, and
a tolerably free fight was extending itself into the rather
populous outskirts of the city, and fears began to lie enter-
tained of a more serious issue than had been contemplated
even by the nutgistrates. 'rho police, however, acted
vigorously, and with good effect.
to this time Murphy had fed arrived, but soon after
five o'clock he made his appearance on the waggon, and was
vociferously cheered by the meeting, attiring attest were
great number of orangenten. He addressed the assembly,
and Ids address was of a character to helm produced great
exasperation, had it not been fur the presence of vu, It ft largo
arirl re-t I aillilig body of p, dice. The I ri,lt were still Arai rlly
the outer I simile,-, of the urni tiug, and frequently sheok their
lists when Niurphy made any allusion t their religion thet
was particularly objectionable, manifesting it disposition to
renew the eienbat that had been arrested pertly by the police
and partly out of 0 feeling excited by his artival On the
greund. Mlles Murphy lied concluded, a vote of VOlllidelture
ill hint and ad eding hhil Ai alit flint proper person to repre-
sent the eretestant interest itt Barnett:cut was pas,,l.
drs,e, sc,re thou givef f fir, the 1:1,All ott,l 1111120 Cheat, for
%Vilna., Prince of Orauge, followed by three groans fure
l'iilin IV.
.1 he Nathinal AI/then] WAS sling at the close, and Murphy
was then carriet shoulder high tint of the reach of .lalleer.
At tile eerier of Moos-issue he was put into Utah and driven
off rapidly.
A great number of broken heads were the result of the
fight, dhui a guard .1001 ,5 blood flowed, Alla several policemen
were leiughly used and received contusimis. Thirty-one per-
sons were taken into custody.
A A an 110100.1 Sweeney and another named Nolan, two of
the ring ceders of the Irish. stern aitlnrng tilluFg arrested, flll4l
ttiso a Mall 5' Ire lived a pistol at a body of polite while they
were inarehing 110W11 Chester-road. The shots had happily
missed taking elfect. The pistol is said to have been aimed
debberately, and the man was arrested immediately after
tiring ae he WAS attempting to escape by running.

NIAMIIESTER, Sunday night.
This afternoon a party of Irishmen made an attempt to re-
new the violence of yesterday, by attacking groups of people
in Choi.lttni-road. The police prevented any renewal of
fighting, and took eleven persons into custody.
On Monday twelve of the 41 prisoners arrested on
Saturday afternoon and Sunday for participation in the
riots in (110rib/11-Wad were brought up at the City Police
Court anti chivent with a breach of the peace and assault,
and after the evidence hall been taken Mr. Fowler
.stipen-
diary magistrate said the Renal were glad to infer from the
evidence belt Te them that the ease was not neat Ipso serious
as they at first supposed form the reports which reached
them the wanes: ale, had gives the evidence of the moid
notion, character Was not lkorne jilt by the others. M 'Donald
was apparently the ringleader, and was committed for two
liontilS' hard labour. Nolan and Higgins must find sureties
in 1:50, and be bound themselves in LIOn to keep the pcaoe
tor four months ; five others mu,t anti sureties of £.20, awl
lie bound themselves in £4O, except Sweeney, who, having a
pistol, must be remanded for inquiry, while Robinson, Mack,
anti Tool= were discharged.

The prosecution of the rioters was continued on Tuesdly.
when several, against whom the evidence was slight, were
discharged, anti One man, who tired a pistol daring the dis-
turbances, was fared £5, with the alternative of two months'
imprisonment.