The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-04 00:00:00

MISCELLANEOUS.

The several useful and popular works now issuing by
Messrs. Cassell are continued with unabated spirit. Ihe
Illustrated Bunyan is a really beautiful work. The Popular
Educator will be a useful friend to many a poor, student,
while The Illustrated History of England and The Popular
Natural History afford information in the shape of animated
and agreeable reading. The Socsal Science _Review contains
a variety of useful papers, the most prominent of which are
those on the diseases of overworked men and violent deaths
and suicides in France. The Gardeners' Weekly Magazine
is, as usual, overflowing with information, and the Post
Magazine Almanack will be found of great service by the
commercial community.

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, Jan. 2.
The Lord Mayor's procession yesterday was a
splendid success. It attracted immense crowds to
the streets, and excited universal admiration. The
weather was anything but favourable. The old
year had departed in the midst of a tempest, blow-
ing a gale, and raining torrents. The storm had
ceased, however, when the New Year dawned, but
the atmosphere was still heavy with clouds and fogs.
The sun refused to show himself daring the whole
day, and all nature seemed to be in a sulky mood.
It would have been a pity if the show were spoilt
after all the efforts made to render it an epoch in our
civic history. But it really only wanted sunshine
to make it perfect in its way, to nrighten the ban-
ners with their golden mottoes, to improve the
glitter of the liveries, and to enable the great gilt
coach, spears, battle-axes, and armour to reflect their
splendours to the best advantage, and to answer
Nay all the purposes, national, educational, and
festive, for which they were designed. In this living
panorama the rising generation saw the ancient
nationality of Ireland fitly represented. They had
a picture of the age when "gallowglasses main-
tained and upheld the fame of Irish bravery; the
chivalrous days of the armour-clad knights, the
troubled feudal times, when the Mayor, with sword
in hand, led the resolute as well as the eloquent
corporators, the battleaxe guard, and the citizens,
to repel the raid of some predatory feudal lard, or
law-despising ehietain." The Freeman adds that
the show also represented the march of civilisation,
the progress of the useful arts, and the municipal
adoption of the best means of promoting the health
and welfare of the citizens, and protecting their
lives and property. Judging from this pleasant de-
scription of the symbolic nature of the procession,
the revival of the primitive Irish or feudal times
would be no improvement on the present. It would
fare ill with the " Monster houses," stored with
piles of the costliest goods, if the O'Byrne, the
O'Toole, the Donoghue, the O'Connor, the O'Reilly,
or the M'Swiney could come into Dublin periodi-
cally at the head of their gallowglasses and kerns,
and make a clean sweep of their contents, galloping
off to their mountain fastnesses before the valourous
Lord Mayor and his eloquent corporation had time
to buckle on their armour or marshal their battle-
axes. It is said that the M'Swiney, ancestor of the
present Lord Mayor, was captain of the gallow-
glasses in the army of the O'Neil, King of Ulster ;
but even the present worthy representative race can
scarcely wish for the revival of a system which
would have rendered for ever impossible the rise of
such mercantile houses as the one of which he is
himself the head and in which Dublin now abounds
--a system under which life and property were
utterly insecure. The exhibition, however, will be
useful if it lead the people to prize more the bless-
hags which they owe to the powers represented by
the modern parts of the procession—the mounted
police, the Hussars, and the fire brigade. The last
body, under its commander, Captain Ingram, made
an imposing appearance, and constituted the most
striking aryl picturesque part of the procession. It
was arranged thus :—First appeared the City
Marshal, then the Hussar videttes, followed by the
splendid band of the 10th Hussars. After a select
body of mountain police—magnificent men, under
Inspector Boyle—then came the fire brigade, 80 or
100 in number, a body whose physique and outfit
excited universal admiration. They had four fire-
engines, each drawn by two horses, and seven
fire-escapes, whose lofty forms reared " like a herd
of giraffes pursued by a host of salamaaders." The
firemen wore red coals, loosely fitting white trou-
sers, and helmets, bearing their axes and other
tools for extinguishing fires and cutting off the ad-
vance of a conflagration. They and their horses
were decorated with ribonds and rosettes, while flags
waved from the tops of the fire-escapes. After the
brigade came the officers of the corporation in their
carriages ; the Waterworks Committee, with its
chairman, Sir John G.ray. Several ex-Lord Mayors
in their carriages, with state liveries, the carriages
of the high sheriff of the city, Mr, Wm. Dargan,
the recorder, the outgoing Lord Mayor, the incom-
ing Load Mayor ; then came the incoming Lord
Mayor, in the' gold coach," drawn by six white
horses. At intervals in the procession appeared
banners, macebearers, knights in armour, men-at-
arms, javelin men, &c. A number of private car-
riages followed the procession. The novelty of the
arrangement, and the unwonted splendour of the
pageant, made the Ist of January quite a gala day
for the people, and won loud and general applause
for the publicspirit and tasteof the new Lord Mayor
who has the good sense to see that such displays
are ridulous, unless they are got up, not as ceremo-
nials that custom requires, and that must be got
through somehow, but by a man who fully enters
into their spirit and design, and is determined to
secure all the conditions of success " regardless of
expense." It should be mentioned that, as a branch
of the ancient house of " Mr. Swiney of the Battle
Axes," of Donegal, the Lord Mayor bears in his
arms the battle axes.
The scene iu the Council Chamber was very ani-
mated, when the procession, which started from the
Mansion-house in Dawson-street, reached the city
hall, the old Royal Exchange—a handsome build-
ing adjoining Dablin Castle. Among the ladle s
present were the Lady Mayoress and her daughter.
The Town Clerk having read the minutes of the
last meeting, they were signed by the Lord Mayor.
The Town Clerk announced that the next business
was to inaugurate the Lord Mayor for 1804. Mr.
Peter Paul APS winey then made and signed the
usual declaration. The Hoe. J. P. Vereker next

John Green, who was convicted at the Cambridge
assizes of murdering Elizabeth Brown, at Whittle-
sea, on the 4th of lest March, was executed in front
of the County Gaol at Cambridge, on Saturday
morning, at nine o'clock. After his condemnation
the prisoner was frequently visited by his mother
and other relatives. Their last interview with him
took place on Friday, when he was seen by his
father and mother, and wife and three children,
together with his three sisters. Tee scene in the
convict's cell was of a very distressing character.
After bidding him farewell, and leaving the gaol,
his wife returned and asked to ba allowed to Eee him
again, which wes granted. His conduct, to her,
however, had not been the kindest. While in pri-
son he was quiet, and appeared ind;fferent to his
fate, nor did he manifest any great remorse for the
crime he had committed. Although he conversed
upon other topics, he only alluded to the murder
once, when he confessed to its commission. He
frequently stated that he was resigned to his fate,
and did not indulge in hopes of a reprieve ; for a day
or two after his sentence he inquired when the exe-
cution would take place, and subsequently upon
which part of the prison the gallows would be
erected. According to the rules of the gaol he had
the privilege of exercising in the yard, but he did
not avail himself of it to any great extent, as he pre.
ferred to remain in the cell. He also both ate and
slept well up to the last.
Shortly before nine o'clock on Saturday morning
the under sheriff, governor, and other prison offi-
cials, proceeded to the condemaed.cell, where Cal-
craft pinioned the prisoner, who submitted to
the process with considerable courage. As the
prison bell tolled nine o'clock the procession
left for the Scaffold, upon which Green mani-
fested much firmness. He was a remarkably
fine young man, being six feet in height, and was
dressed in the familiar white smock, red necker-
chief, and corduroy trousers so cften described at
the trial. He walked with a firm, unfaltering
step, but without any appearance of bravado. At
the foot of the scaffold he halted till Calcraft told
him to "go first," and he then ascended the ladder
without hesitation, and placed himself under the
beam. He was led away to the left-hand corner
of the scaffold, where a couple of hassocks had been
placed. Upon these Green and the chaplain kneit
in the presence of the crowd whilst the chaplain
read with much emotion the two prayers set apart
for such occasions. Green's lips quivered during
this ordeal, and he raised his eyes to Heaven,
apparently in earnest supplication. A deathlike
stillness meanwhile pervaded the crowd, broken
only by the hum of the responsive " Amen." When
Green rose he at once placed himself over the drop.
Calcraft pulled the cap over his face, Green's legs
were tied, in an instant the drop fell, and all that
was mortal of the culprit hung dangling in the air.
After hanging an hour the body was cut down and
interred within the precincts of the gaol. As execu-
tions at the Cambridge County Gaol usually take
place at twelve o'clock, there was not so large a
concourse of spectators as is generally the case.
Later in the morning some Ihouoands of persons
arrived by train from neighbouring places, in the
expectation that the execution would have taken
place at the ordinary time.
During his incarceration Green made the fellow-
log confession of his crime, the purport of which
has already been published Smedley and I
locked up the malting on the night of
the 4th of March, about eight o'clock, and
went together to the George and Star pub-
lic- house, and I went to the store -room
with Samuel Boyce, to remove some forms
into the dancing room. At the time Boyce wes
taking thee forals out of the store room, I drew a
bucketful of gin from c puncheon in the same store
room. I then hid the pall of gin in a cor-
ner behind some wood in the George and Star yard.
I then went into the taproom, where I saw Smedley,
and told him what I had got. Smedley and I then
went together, and took it to the malting. I carried
it, and he proceeded to unlock the door of the yard
leading to the malting and the malting door. When
we got into the furnace room Smedley kept watch
while I poured the gin into a stone jug covered
with wicker work. We then sat down and drank
a little, and then returned to the George and Star.
Smedley said, We won't lock door (meaning the
kiln door), as we may return again, but we will
lock the big gate.' Smedley and I returned to the
dancing room at the George and Star, and remained
there until 12 o'clock, and I did not see Smedley
afterwards. I then went downstairs into the tap-