The Express.
London, England, 1864-01-13 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13.

Ir any one, without previous knowledge of the
events of the last few weeks, had suddenly de-
scended yesterday morning amongst the crowd
which stood watching &turn WRIGHT ascend the
scaffold, he would have found it difficult to believe
that the man about to die was not a political
martyr, but a murderer found guilty on his own
confession. Instead of the ordinary scene of street
windows let at enormous prices and brimfull of
excited eyes, he would have seen the blinds drawn
down as at the funeral of some Field-Marshal, and
the sesta erected for curious spectators untenanted.
Instead of cries of execration over the murderer,
be would have found the people—ruffianly as
they were for the most part--sullenly silent or
giving vent to their feelings by exulting
cries of " Bravo, WRIGHT " COD bless
" you, my lad," and by clapping of hands ; whilst
WRIGHT himself, like some favourite actor or
popular statesman on the hustings, was bowing
his acknowledgments, at the very moment when
the ghastly white cap was being drawn over his
face, and even until the drop fell and stopped his
ill-timed politeness. Meantime there wee the
surging mob hooting and yelling. Some prayed,
some cried " Shame," " Judicial murder," "No
" more hanging," " Where's TOWNLEY ?" As the
body fell, it is said that one strong man fainted,
and the prostrate figure was carried over the heads
of the people ; whilst a placard borne amidst the
crowd disclosed these words:—" A solemn protest
" against the execution of WHIGHT.—Men and
" women of London, abstain from witnessing this
" sad spectacle of injust:•!e. Let CALcsirr
" and Co. do their work this time with DODO but
" the eye of Heaven to look upon the crime. Let
" all window shutters be shut, and window blinds
" be down for an hour on Tuesday morning in
" Southwark. Englishmen, shall Wesoar be
" hung I If so, there is our late fur the rich and
" another fur the poor."
It was indeed a strange spectacle ,the cul-
minating point of several days' excitement. The
working classes of London warmly espoused
Witionr's cause. On Monday no fewer than four
public meetings were held on the subject, and de-
putation after deputation conjured Sir Gisonoe
GREY to stay the law, whilst it is said that strenuous
efforts were used to induce her MaJearr, and even
the Prince of Warms, to interfere on Waronis
behalf. These efforts were unavailing, and it is
only just to admit that if they had prevailed
capital punishment was practically abolished. If
the man who cuts the throat of his mistress in cold
blood and in his sober senses, and who himself
confesses his guilt, is not worthy of death, every
criminal who has died upon the scaffold has been
judicially murdered. Nor let it be supposed that
the working men of Southwark or the constituents

of Mr. DortroN deny this conclusion. As a body
they have expressed no opinion upon capital
punishment, but they insist, and most justly in-
sist, that the law shall be impartially adminis-
tered, or, if necessary, so altered as to render this
possible. They know that about the same time
when SAMUEL WRIGHT, a poor workman, cut the
throat of his paramour, Grozor Views TOWNLEY,
a young gentleman of good connexions and of
superior education, deliberately cut the threat of
an innocent young lady, simply and solely from
jealousy and revenge. They know that in the
caws of SAMUEL WRIGHT all the efforts made to
save his life have proved abortive, whilst in the
case of TOWNLEY, by the ingenuity of his solicitor
and the unprecedented interference of magistrates
and medical men, means have been discovered of
withdrawing this convicted criminal from the
hands of the executioner. It may be per-
fectly true, as Sir Grown GREY declares,
that in transferring Townixv to a lunatic
asylum he had no option, and that what he
did he did in obedience to an imperative
Act of P►rliament. This may be a sufficient justi-
fication for Sir GEORGE GREY as the administrator
of the law, but it is no justification of the law
itself. The working men of Southwark probably
feel that after the verdict of the jury was deli-
vered in WRIGHT'S case his fate was pistLically
sealed ; whereas after the verdict of the jury was
delivered in TOWNLEY'S case, it was set asHe and
overridden by the certificate of four men who
should never have been allowed to interfere in the
matter. Sir Groans GREY, indeed, refers to
the case, in 1862, of a man named Ctssx—
a poor man, without frieuls—who was
convicted of wilful murder and sentenced to death,
but was afterwards transferred toa lunatic asylum.
It appears, however,tbat the certificate of insanity
in CLARK'S case was not, as in TOWNLEY'S ease,
signed by four magistrates and medical men who
had appointed themselves to conduct the
inquiry, but that the inquiry into the pri-
soner's state of mind was directed by the
HOME SECRETARY, and the certificate was signed
by persons selected by that responsible Minister.
It follows, therefore, that Groans Vicroa
TOWNLEY is the first condemned criminal