The Express.
London, England, 1858-01-15 00:00:00

azscurroN ez PAIIILIY.

PAISLEY, TJECIISDAY.
To-day the execution of John Thomson. lately
convicted of the murder,t, by poisoning with prussic acid,
of • girl, named Agnes Montgomery, • millworker, in
Eagleeltam (a village about ten miles south of Glasgow),
took place in Paisley. From the heartless manner in
which the murder was committed, there was not the
slishtest attempt in any quarter to petition for • ramie-
don of his sentence, and the criminal aooordingly at the
outset was induced to confess his guilt in general terms. The
*Reeser& devoted himself with great earnestness to reli-
gions exerolies, in which he was assisted by Messrs. Wilson
and Altkin, ministers of the established church of England
in Paisley, and Mr. Smith, the chaplain of the prison.
He appeared at • loss to assign any definite reason for
administering the prussic add, and made contradictory
statements on thir point. Till within • day or two of his
execution, he preserved the same firmness with which he
had conducad himself during the trial ; but, in the comae
of Tuesday, he became restlessand unsettled. On Wednes-
day, several of his relations visited the prison, but he mimed
to see them. _ . .

few Minutes before eight o'clock, Thomson was con-
ducted from the condemned cell into the court hail,
when he was pinioned. The prison garb bad previously
been removed, and he now appeared in a neat suit of
black, which had been presented to him by the
magistrates. lie was deathly pale, and seemed to have
nerved himself with great effort, making no reply to the
clergyman who accompanied him, and dually
through the vestibule of the mart, and emending r=
with his eyes closed. Cala-raft, two town officers, the
clergymen, the magistrates, &c., took their places behind,
and he was immediately placed on the drop, and the cep
drawn over his face. Here an unfortunate delay took place,
Calcraft discovering that he could not affix his rope to the
beam properly without the aid of a pair of steps, which,
after much unseemly bustle, were obtained, and puled from
hand to hand to the drop. The Rev. Mr. Wilson, who wen
standing close beside the drop, then offered up a dint but
fervent prayer, the prisoner standing motionless es a statue.
The drop t fell, and in about three minutes life appeared
to be extinct.
Considerable dissatisfaction was expressed with regard to
the manner in which Caleraft performed his functions, the
bolt being withdrawn so suddenly, without signed of any
kind, that the clergyman and several others had a narrow
escape from being precipitated into the opening in which
the dying wretch was struggling. After hanging half IR
hour the body was cut down, and was subsequently buried
withinTlte crowd, which hada the prison.
with great decorum, ex-
cept at the close, when Calcraft was hooted, then began to
disperse, and in a short time the streets had resumed their
oseel
Ice =to Thmamm's confession of guilt in connexion
with the &gleam murder, we learn that since Lis trial he
stated that when only nine years of age he drowned a boy in
a quarry hole at Tsrbmt, into which he intentionally ited
hiza.—Manchate Gwortiiam.

A PABY•HOUSE DESTROYED BY FIRE.-THREE