The Express.
London, England, 1862-11-03 00:00:00

THE PRISONERS UNDER RELATE ICE OP DEATH
IN NEWGATE.

On Friday afternoon the sheriffs, Mr. Alderman
IJ. C. Lawrence and Mr. Hugh Jones, accompanied by Messrs.
Farrar and Mackrell, the under-sheriffs, and the Rev.
Mr. Davis, and Mr. Jones, the governor of Nirwpte,
proceeded to the cell in which the prisoner Robert Cooper
was con Sued, and the chaplain announced to him in bsoom-
, ing terms that the sheriffs had fixed Monday' the 17th inst.,
' se the day for carrying out the sentence of the law, and he
exhorted him to make the beet use of the short time that
remained to him in this world, and by • sincere repentance
to endeavour to obtain pardon for the great sin he had cora-
-1 mitted. This wretched man appears to be quite pro-
strated by his position, and he appears to feel an excel-
,sive terror at the thought of losing his life upon
the scaffold. He has never, it appears, attempted to cast
any doubt upon the propriety of the verdict of the jury, but
still he seems to think that there was • sort of justification
of the act he committed by the conduct of the deceased. He
has repeatedly stated that no one could tell what his feel-
ings were at discovering that his wife, as he always called
the deceased, was unfaithful to him. On his being re-
minded that she was cot his wife and that he had a wife
living, he stated that on account of his being in the army
be could not live with the woman whom be
formerly married, and that they mutually agreed to
separate, and he had not seen her for many years,
and thought she was dead at the time he contracted the
second marriage with the deceased girl. This prisoner
evidently entertains so idea that mercy will be extended to
him, and he has expressed an intention of sending his own
statement of his case to the Home Secretary, and making an
appeal to the crown for mercy, but it is not probable, from
the character of the crime, that this will be likely to have
any effect. The prisoner has repeatedly stated, since his
conviction, that on the day the fatal affair happened he
west to Isleworth quite by chance, and be declares that be
entertained no intention to do mischief to the deceased, but
alleges that the object for which he carried the pistol about
with him was to destroybis own life. The other condemned
culprit, Samuel Gardner, the sweep, who was oon-
victed on Friday, of the murder of his wife, appears to
exhibit much more fortitude than his wretclued com-
panion, and it seems that be has all along persisted in de-
claring his innocence of the crime of which he was accused.
It will be remembered that the circumstances of the case
were of a very peculiar character, but although the jury
were in deliberation more than an hour and a half before
they returned their verdict, it appearsithat eleven of them
had made up their minds in a veq short time that the evi-
dence bad established the guilt of the prisoner, and ally one
of them entertained any doubt upon the point. The Lord
Chief Baron, who tried the prisoner, is understood to have
expressed himself perfectly satisfied with the verdict sod
the prisoner's attempt, if he is really jruilty, to 6x
the crime upon an innocent person, • similar proceeding
to which, it will be remembered, was adopted by the
man Mullins, who was convicted of the murder of Mrs.
Emslie, is evidently • great aggravation of his offence. A
similar announcement to that which had been made on the
previous day to Cooper was made to this prisoner by the
officials on Saturday afternoon, and he head it with perfect
calmness, end merely observedthat he was prepared to die,
and it appears that he did not utter any of those protestations
of innocence that were made use of by him after his trial.
On Friday evening, after the jury had delivered their verdict,
the girl Elizabeth Humbler was liberated from custody, and
she was taken away from New/gate in the charge of her
mother.