The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-12-22 00:00:00

EXECUIION OF JACKSO' AT CHESTER

The execution of J ickson, for the murder of his t chit_
dren, in Aug. last-, at Chester, took place on Saturday morn.
ing at eight o'clock, in front of the city gaol. The attend
ante was not so numerous as was expected, but still there
was a great number of spec ators present. The preparations
for the execuion commenced on Friday afternoon, and by
six o'clock all the preliminaries for carrying out the
dreadful sentence of the law had been completed.
The final interview between the unhappy culprit and his
wife and children, which commenced at half-past two
o'clock, did not terminate till five on Friday afternoon.
The chaplain and the R v. Mr- Dicken, who were present,
represented to our reporter that the separation was inex-
pressibly distressing on the part of the wise, but that the
culprit maintained a cal-a composure.
After the interview, the prisoner prayed with the Rev.
Dicken for some time, along with the chaplain, ard
until eleven o'clock he was left alone., with the excep-
tioa of occasional visits fr ,in the turnkeys. The chapl ,in
returned at eleven o'clock, and remained with the culprit
from that hour up to the time of his execution.

At half past t ielve o'clOclion Friday night, the city sheriff,
Mr. J. Janes% who was repre4ental by Mr. P. B)rdesss,
went to the Castle, and, presenting the warrant for the
prisoner's ex' cation, which had been thread to him,
demanded the body of the culprit. The w irrants given to
the county and city gaolers having been exchaeged, Mr.
Dunstan, the governor of the county gaol, g Lve up the
prisoner, and he then left the Castle in a cab, in charge of
Mr. Steele, the governor of the city gaol, and .Ir. 3ardes3a,
accompanied by the Rev. Mr. Kilter, th© chaplain of th e
county prison. More leaving the county prison, the
culprit was formally asked if he had hid proper spiritual
assistance, when he replied, " I hive had all the assistance
that I could have expected."' On arriving at the city gaol,
and being shown-to his r tom, he was suppled with some
port wine, and afterwards smoked for a time. The chaplain
then waited upon him, and prayed with him for some time.
and subs?quently he bad a scceud short sleep.
At five o'clock the chaplain again visited him, and
remained with him up to seven o'clock, when, in company
with the governor and other officers of the gaol, he attended
service in the chapel. About five minutes to eight o'clock
the city sheriff announced that the hour for the execution
was approaching, and a procession from the chapel was then
formed, headed by the It?v. Mr. Kellner, the chaplain of the
county gaol, and the Rev. Mr. Hewson, chaplain of the city
gaol, and followed by the culprit in charge of two of the
gaolers. On arriving at the pinioning room the services of
Calcraft were called, and in a few moments this process was
completed, and with a firm step the wretched man ascended
the steps leading to the drop.
On appearing on the platform, the audience manifested
rather a feeiing of compassion than indignation towards the
unhappy criminal. There were evidently many who sym•
piAthised with the domestin miseries which are believed to
have led him into the commission of the horrible crime, of
which he had so justly been found guilty.
Immediately before the execution, the chaplain asked
him if he admitted the justice of his sentence, when he
replied, " I do ; the Lord Jesus receive my spina. Lord
have mercy on me. Lord have mercy on me." As he was
repeating this ejaculation, the bolt was drawn, and without
even a momentary struggle he died, and the lifeless body of
William Jackson was dangling in the air.
We have omitted to state that, from the time of his
condemnation, his appetite never failed him, and the
mornieg he partook of a hearty breakfast.

According to a computation in the impartial of Smyrna,
the dreadful earthquake at Canea, in the Island of Candia,
which was described a month ago, destroyed mere than ten
thousand houses, shops, and public edifices, and the number
of persons killed and wounded was 1,122. Oily 161 head
of cattle was destroyed.
A most extraordinary system of espoinage has just been
es!ab iched over the young students of Naples. The mind
of the rising generation Ills bien put under the care of an
" ecclesiastical inspector," named Mr. Goodheart ( signor
Baonocore), and a Secretary General of the Prefec,we of
Police.
THE RUSSIAN INFERNAL MACHINES.—The Cactus,Tcse,
of South Shields, after leaving Wyburg recently, struck on
one of the infernal machines which were deposited last
year, during the war, on the coast of Russia, and received
a serious sh ,ek. She hid to be taken into port V. repair
the extensive damage she hid susta;nel.
According to usages established between allied nations
(says the Semaphore of Marseilles), when a sovereign traces
and does not assume an ineognito, the countries adjoining
send a high functionary to offer congratulations. The
Empress Dowager of Russia having fixed her nsileuce
at Nice for the winter, General de Rostolan, who com-
mands the 9 h miiitary division, has been charged to
pay a vi-it to her Imperial M'jesty. He has just left
narseilles for Nice, with the colonel of the staff and an
aide-de-camp. _ _

Mr. Edwin James, Q.C., will, we are pleased to learn,
pay a visit to Southampton in the course of a few days, to
meet his friends. and explain to them the reason of his
absence from them fur nearly a week prior to the Mayor
being put in nomination as a candidate. It is with no view
to interfere with, or alter the decision at which the friends
of Mr. Andrews have arrived, that Mr. James comes down,
but simply to put himseq right with those who supported
him in his 'late candidature for the representation of the
- borough.— Ifampshirs Independent
Captain Hartsteiu, the commander of the Arctic ship
Resolute, has accepted the invitation to the officers of that
vessel, to a public banquet, given by the corporation for
Wednesday next. It is expected to be a very interesting
affair; and the whole of the officers who were in her when
she was abandoned, including Capt. Kellett, the master,
&c., besides others, are to be present on the occasion. A
very large number of persons have visited the Resolute
to-day, especially about the b ur her Majesty passed by in
the Fairy. The richt ran close alongside the colours of
the Resolute, the union jack and the stars and stripes, flying
side by side together, being dipped as the yacht passed..
TIIE LATE GALES.—Last summer the Elder Brethren
of the Trinity-house erected on the Rundle Stone at con-
siderable expense, an iron beacon and mast, surmounted
by a ball fixed about 30 feet from the base. During the
recent severe gales, probably about the 7th inst., the whole
fabric, disappeared. The Mopus buoy in Mount's Bay has
also been drifted out of its place, and instructions were in
consequence sent to Mr. Ditchen, the Trinity agent in
Plymouth, to visit the locality in the Diligence cutter.
The Mopus buoy has been replaced, and as a temporary
measure a buoy has been moored 50 or 60 fathoms south-
west of the Rundle Stone. The depth is from 18 to 20
fathoms, and a boat in charge of Mr. Hoppen, the mate,
was first placed here as a mark. When he attempted to
pull up the boat's grapnel it fouled, as if a ship's mast and
rigging were in the way, and this continued so within five
or six fathoms of the surface. It is conjectured that some
ill-fated ship ran against the rock, knocked down the
beacon, and then ran off and foundered. The Rundle or
Runnel Stone, a small rock about four yards long and two
broad, lies only a mile so:ith of the western point of
Cornwall, near the Land's End, where the immense power
of the tides and the heavy ground swell of the Atlantic,
make it a most dangerous obstacle to navigation. In the,
winter of 1854, during a fog, a French brig and two Eng-
lish schooners were lost on it; their crews were saved.
The only beacon at that time was a cone shaped buoy.
Colonel Sleigh writes to the Times relatite to the Green-
wich election Every name attached to, the requisition
calling upon me to permit my name to be put ill nomination
is that of a voter.- It is all nonsense about ,sevc ntern of
thirty names not being upon the register.' I deny that
in tote. Such an assertion is untrue. It is further perfectly
incorrect, up to the present hour, that a single elector whose
name is attached to my requisition has, either directly or
indirectly, by word of mouth or by letter, signified to me,
or any member of my committee, a desire to withdraw his
name from the requisition.' On the contrary, all the gen-
tlemen whom I have since seen who s'gned that document,
express themselves more sanguine than ever of my success."
ASSAULT.—John Hardyman Bent, a compositor, for-
merly employed at the office of the Star of Gwent, Newport,
was charged on Thursday last, betere the magistrates,
with assaulting Mr. W. Coley, compositor in the same
establishment. Mrs. Bent appeared, and said that her
husband had gone to Cardiff, and wished the case to be
adjourned till Monday. Complainant resisted the applica-
tion on two grounds ; first, that his witness would leave
Newport early on Monday morning, and secondly, because
he believed defendant was merely keeping out of the way.
The bench then determined to hear the case ex-parte after
Sergeant Harlow had proved the service of the summons.
Complainant stated the natu e of the assault. He was
walking up Commercial-street, on Saturday evening, with
Mr. Alsop, when they saw the defendant and his wife.
Defendant gave 'a shout, but complainant and his com-
panion walked on, and were followed immediately by the
defendant, who, on getting before them, began using very
abusive language towards complainant, put his fists in
his face, and threatened to knock him through a door.
They attempted to walk on, and defendant followed them ,
for a considerable distance, and collected a crowd round
them. This annoyance arose in consequence of Bent
having been discharged from his employment for beating
his wife, for which offence he was brought before the
county magistrates, a few weeks ago, and bound over to
keep the peace. After receiving his discharge, Bent
endeavoured to set up that he was discharged for trade
matters, and applied to the Provincial Typographical
Association for a sum of money as compensation. He
succeeded—through false representations, and having
persuaded the local secretary to sign his ex-parte state-
ment—so far as to get a sum of money voted in his favour,
and it has since transpired that he is a defaulter to the
Manchester Society previous to coming to Newport. The
complainant and the other men in the office resisted that
attempt, and hence the ennoyance which arose on Satur-
day evening. The complainant's statement was corrobo-
rated by Mr. Alsop, and the bench inflicted a penalty of
10s, or fourteen days' imprisonment.—Star of Gwent.—
[Since the above expose the Manchester fine has been paid,
and he has left the town, "on his way rejoicing." ;