The Express.
London, England, 1866-08-27 00:00:00

THE ZIECUTION AT MANCEITATER.

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On Saturday we gave an account, which was
necessarily very brief, of the execution of Bureau' at
Manchester. We now furnish a more detailed state-
ment :—The numbers in front of the scaffold began
visibly to increase so early as 4 o'clock. By 5 o'clock
there were fully 6,000 people assembled, with a slight
sprinkling of women amongst them, and the itam•
ultimately could not be less than 30,000. It was
sad to witness the light and frivolous conduct of mob
an assemblage in presence of such an awful spectacle as
they had come to winter. For hours the great majority
of them behaved much as they would at a wake or fair.
The laughter from time to time was of the most boisterous
character, and their way of showing humour and droller 7
often took the form of practical jokes. Sometimes men s
hats were rudely seised and thrown backwards sad for
over the heads of others, till battered and rendered
worthless. At each times the contagion for this kind of
amusement would spread so rapidly that everyone was led
to take off his owti covering in seltdefenee mad
multitudes remained for a time bareheaded. At iatervais
some one or two men with switches would common
.

beating people back sa if to form a ring for prize-fighters,
or for some exhibition, and these men would then go
round, cap in hand, Io solicit halfpence. Oomionally
these frolics nearly resulted in pugilistic encounters, bat
such rough pleasantries to relieve the dull monotony of
the hour were continually reca • , and the ham and
noise of voices would rise at times almost to a roar. About
six o'clock the first real relief to the impatience of the
people wan afforded by the deer in the prison wall being
opened, and the appearance of Calcraft and some work-
men on the scaffold to make preparation for the drama
so many had come to see. The workmen had come,
among
other things, to enclose the scaffold and drop in a draper
black Cloth, and as they commenced operations one man
shouted that be wished every one of them might be struck
dead " before th' mon was brought out." As the draping
progressed„it soon became evident that the cloth would be
-carried so high as to afford only a very limited view of
what was to take place, and then wild cries of indignation
burst forth, which again gave place to shouts of laughter at
some slight mischance occurring through the nervousness
or clumsiness of the workmen, Then followed an attempt
to sing a chorus :
....

Glory, glory, Hallelujah !
Zealand is a happy land ;
We see all for unity,
Old Beelzebub defy
And we'll Join the hallelujah band !
This was followed by shouts and laughter because one of
the crowd bad successfully bonnetted a policeman. As the
time neared eight o'clock great impatience was mani-
fested, and cries of "hate off," and "time, time,"
followed. Precisely at eight o'clock the prison door opened
and thexnurdarcr,the hangman, and severaloilicialsstepped
upon the platform. The murderer was a pitiful object to
look at ashe tremblingly stood with his hands raised, and
hie eyes directed upwards. By those who stood within •
hundred yards of the scaffold little more than his head
could be seen above the drapery. All being in readiness,
the white cap was drawn over his face, and, one end of the
halter being already round his neck, Cslcraft had but to
lift the other to a hook on the drop. Then the bolt was
withdrawn, and the guilty criminal disappeared behind
the drapery. Only the top of his head could then be seen
even by people on a level with the scaffold. The whole
ceremony in public barely lasted 30 seconds. And this
was what people had waited to see through long and
weary hours. The people appeared wholly unpre-
pared for its suddenness, and • shock appeared
almost visibly to pass through the whole amens-
bled mass of people present. A slight scream
burst from some of the women, and several people fainted.
A man on the leads of the warehouse opposite the gaol
sunk down in a fit, and blankets bad to be passed up to
make abed for him till means could be adopted for his safe
removal.
The magistrates of the Manchester division of the county
have tried unsuccessfully to induce the legislature to allow
executions to take place privately, but practically they
have nearly accomplished their object by the aid of drapery.
Inside the gaol there was • procession, headed by the
governor, after the unhappy man had been pinioned, and
all the usual forms were adopted. The murderer left the
following statement in the hands of the chaplain for pub-
lication :
"I, James Burrows, do acknowledge that I have, by
suddenly cutting off the life of John Brennan, made his
wife • widow and his children fatherless. May God help
them. My sin is ever before me now ; and, rather than
linger a miserable life on earth, I would wish to cut my-
self on the mercy of God. I acknowledge the righteousness
of his law, and the law of this country. As Ido not wish
to make a speech on the drop, I beg, through this paper,
which I have asked the chaplain to write out for me to
sign, to warn'all young people of both sexes to be obedient
to their parents, not to neglect the Sabbath, the school,
and the Bible, and against all profaneness, and debau-
chery, and especially against evil company, my ruin. M
last word is, may God be ineroiful to me • sinner, through
Jesus Christ sake. Amen. (Signed) JAMIA Buntows.
From thecondemnedoell,August2s,lo66. Jam:lol=lms,
awarder."