The Express.
London, England, 1848-01-10 00:00:00

WALES.

•- - -
A MORMONITIL—At the Cardiganshire sessions,
on Tuesday, Thomas Harries, an itinerant preacher, belong-
ing to the • ect called " The Latter-day Saints," or " Moe-
monites," pleaded not guilty to the charge of stealing an
Eoglish and Welsh dictionary, the property of David Davies
of the Crown public-house, LlanddewysAhemrth, on the
15th of Dec. last. The prisoner preached. at the prosecutor's
house, and lodged there that night. On the following day
he requited the prosecutor's hospitality by walking away
with his book. The next day the prosecutor went alter the
prithner, to • place called Ittlielastach, and asked him if h•
had taken away his dictionary by mistake. The prisoner de-
nied it in the most solemn manner, calling God to witnen
that he knew nothing at all about the book in question. On
being informed by the prosecutor that his daughter had
seen the book in his hard on the morning he left the pri-
soner offered to come and confront his daughter, and accord-
ingly called at the prosecutor's on the following day, where
he again denied what the daughter said, but subsequently
confessed that he had taken the book, intending to return it,
and that it was then at a house is the neighbourhood, when
he had left it. It, however, appeared from the prisoner's
statement, which, after due caution, he made and signed be-
fore the committing magistrate, that the hook was in his
pocket, both at the time he made the solemn denial to the
prosecutor, at Ithywlasfach, and also when he subsequently
called at the prosecutor's to confront the daughter. The
prisoner said that he was in the habit of carrying a Bible
in his pocket ; that he put the dictionary in that pocket
by mistake, and thought it was the Bib'. e ; that when
the prosecutor asked him if he hail seen the dictionary,
he became confused, and denied it ; that as roan as the pro- ,
eecutor left him, the " Evil One " persuaded him to tear off
the title-page, containing the prom tutor's name, and to hid*
the book in a hole in the ground; but that whilst digging th
hole, " God " suggested to him to keep the book and return
it. When the prisoner was taken into custody he was at
the house of a blacksmith, where he was engaged to preach
that evening. Several witnesses to character were called, all
of whom acknowledged themselves to be " Latter-day
Saints."—The learned Chairman summed up very favourably
for the prisoner; but the jury returned a verdict of Guilty,
and the prisoner was sentenced to two months' imprison-
ment without hard labour.

\

PROVINCIAL.
YORKSHIRE.
THE EXECUTION OF REID THE MIRPIELD MUM-
DIMER, took place at York Castle on Saturday. A third
edition of the For/rehire Gazette says:—" Since his condem-
nation Reid has frequently been visited by his friends. He
leaves a father—a mother—a brother—and a wife and infant
child, and for the latter he has expressed much concern.
His contrition has come upon him too late. It is a painful
fact to reflect upon that, in passing sentence upon the guilty,
punishment is necessarily inflicted upon the innocent.
At the same time, as was recently remarked by a high au-
thority, the justice of the country would always be defeated,
if persons were allowed to put forward at the last hour, after
the commission of their oftences and after conviction, thou
pleas for mercy which they ought to have considered before
they gave way toythe temptation of committing the crime.
Therefore, the husband and the father should consider the wife
and the child in the hour of temptation, for it Is too late to
put them forward when the period of retribution has arrived.
Being an Irishmen and a Roman catholic, Reid woe regularly
attended, after his conviction, by the ministers of his church,
and bia contrition and repentance were, we understand, com-
plete. Under these circumstance' the chaplain of the caetle,
the Rev. Thomas Sutton, was of course as participator in
the religious services which have been performed, and no
"condemned sermon " was preached on the day previous to
the execution, as is the case when the culprit 14a member of
the protestant church. On Friday afternoon Reid was
visited by his wife, father, mother, and brother; the inter-
view was one of a painfully affecting character. Long before
day-break on Saturday morning the carpenters were busily
engaged in erecting the scaffold, and goon after their work
was completed' the criminal was removed sale customary from
the condemned cell, and conducted to a room set apart forths
purpose,close upon the spot where he was to expiate his offence.
Durit g the forenoon he was attended by his epritual *risers,
who administered tJi him the peculiar rites of that church of
which he was a member. So intense was the intertst which
the conviction and execution of this man had excited
throughout the West;Biding that many thousands of per-
sons, particularly from the more immediate locality where.
the murders were committed, arrived in the city—some by
the early trains and others by various conveyances and on
foot, to witness the sentence of the law being. carried into
, effect. At'an early hour, there were to be seen en:the streets
signs of *mid, table bustle sod excitement, and long before
twelve o'clock, the hour of execution, crowds of persons were
wending their way to the fatal spot, in order to secure the
best positions for seeing the proceedings at the drop. Up to
the latest moment parties continued to arrive in front of the
castle. At all the stations on the different railways, especi-
ally in the West Riding, every available teat was eagerly
engaged, extra carriages being brought into request; and
the streets of the city from the railway station towards the
castle presented one continuous mass of people. We should
not over-state the numbers present on this occasion at
thirty to forty thousand individuals, Leeds, Halifax,
Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Mirfield, and Wakefield, had
all contributed largely to this dense assemblage. Be-
tween eleven and twelve o'clock, the operation of pinion-
ing was commenced, and shortly before the fatal hour the
under-sheriff, Nt . Gray, lierj . anived at the castle, and in
the usual form demanded the body for execution. The cul-
prit being brought forth the procession was formed, and
moved forward to the scaffold. The prisoner was attended
by the Rev. J. Render, and followed by the under-sheriff,
the governor of the castle, and the other officials. Reid
knelt down on the platform, engaged in prayer with the mi-
nister of religion by whom he was attended. At the con-
clusion of the service he rose, and crossed himself on the
breast He *en turned round and said, ' I wish to say
that I alone am the guilty person ; that Id•Cabe is entirely
innocent; and that no human being in the world had any-
thing to do with it but myself.' He then resigned himself
into the hands of the county executioner, Nathaniel Howard,
who adjusted the fatal noose, and the cap being drawn over
his eyes, after a momentary interval the bolt was drawn.
The culprit, who was a light made man, appeared to suffer
much for a few seconds. The body remained suspended for
an hour, when it was cut down, and placed in a 0101, to be
interred in the precincts of the prison. The immense crowd
behaved with decorum—_passive spectators of the ,eerie."
IRISH CRIME IN YORKSRTRE.—A barrister, at-
tending the last winter gaol delivery for the county of York,
writes that he was induced, in consequence of the general
conversation at the bar on the subject, to endeavour to ascer-
tain the amount of Irish crime committed in this English
county ; and the following statistical facts are obtained from
Mr. Noble, the governor of York Castle, and from the calen-
uar of the prisoners. Numbers of prisoners :—ln the calen-
dar, 119 ; out on bail, 7 ; total, 126. Of these 27 were Irish,
or abort 25 per cent. of all the crime committed in Yorkshire
and tried at the last winter assizes was committed by Irish-
men. Of these crimes, 29 were crimes of violenoe,—mor-
ders, manslaughter!, robberies, and assaults ; and of these
crimes 19 were committed by Irishmen ; or about 66 per
cent. of the crimes of violence in Yorkshire tried at York
assizes were committed by Irishmen. Of these crimes of
violence eight resulted in death—ia murder or manslaughter;
and of these eight crimes, six were committed by Irishmen ;
or 75 per cent. of the murders and ccanslaughters in York-
shire tried last assizes were committed by Irishmen.
NEW WEST RIDING 111AGI8TRATE8.—At the quar-
ter sessions, which have been held during the past week at
Kaaresborough sad Wakefield. several gettlemen, when
----)
names bars been recently added to the commission of the
peace, qualified as magistrates, namely : W. J. Ya . -*_i, v
BK., Haslewood-hall, Tadeaster ;G. J. Jarrett, Esq 2 ,r-„---.9./.
field-house, Doncaster • E. Parker, Esq., AlkincoataLCotit, ,•,.-4„, gie
T. Adana, E6q., Bahia-lodge. Clithero i T. st. A1r,W,.,. •"":-
. ...:,... te _i. „...),. --.
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