The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-21 00:00:00

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Yet this grace was all that President &Ina S
allowed them. They were finally_ condemned on
Thursday, and they were hanged on Friday—a
quick despatch indeed, and a most cruel one. This,
however, was martial law, and it overrode the civil
authorities. On the morning of the fatal day a
brave attempt was made to stay the execution of the
unhappy Mrs. Surratt. A certain Judge Wylie—to
his honour be it said—granted a writ of habeas
corpus upon representations made by Mrs. Sur- -
raft's counsel, and the writ was actually served
upon the general who had charge of the executions.
But in America there is a higher power than the
law, and that power appears to be the President
of the Republic. He put his veto upon delay, and
flung mercy to the winds. " I do hereby
especially suspend this writ," he wrote to Gene-
ral Hancock, " and direct that you proceed to
execute the order heretofore given you." From
this there was no appeal. Less formal attempts
to obtain a respite for Mrs. Surratt failed as
signally, for the President, who was deaf to a writ
of habeas corpus, would scarcely listen to the prayers
of an almost frantic daughter. Poor Miss Surratt, a
young lady of 22 years of age, left her mother's cell
in the early dawn of the day of execution, and went
tearfully to the White House. But Andrew John-
son was well guarded against entreaties. The
wretched girl ran the gamut of all his family, but
no one connected with the President could be seen
on that day. Backwards and forwards from the
Penitentiary to the White House went this tearful
appellant, till the fatal hour arrived, when, kissing
her pinioned mother, the hysterical farewell was
accomplished. " Good-bye, take care of Annie,"
said Mrs. Surratt to a gentleman who visited her in
her cell, and the last care the mother left her daugh-
ter was in the cold care of prison stones. But even
this was to be outdone by the scene in the court-
yard. The prison and the enclosure were guarded
wbyas cordonsanticipated o f ;
and, in
h
troops, ast though an
midst
attemptt o this
at
militaryrescue
display stood the gallows, a horizontal beam 20ft.
in length, supported by three props. From the beam
four ropes dangled, and the -whole machine was
guarded on three aides by a body of soldiers. In
the hollow square thus formed were the reporters, a
photographer, and six artists sent by the illustrated
papers. Marching from the Penitentiary door to
this champ des worts, came the condemned; Mrs.
Suratt between two Catholic priests first, and the
three male culprits following. On a rudely con-
structed stair they walked to the platform or drop,
where, seated in chairs, and with the noose dangling
before their eyes, they listened to the sentence of
the court-martial, read to them by General Hart-
raupt from beneath the shelter of an umbrella.
The demeanour of the unhappy creatures was in
three instances sad enough. Mrs. Surratt moaned
occasionaly, but checked outward signs of emotion
whenever the crucifix was placed before her.
Her face was pale and her lips trembled
nervously. Harrold wept without intermis-
sion ; Adzerodt " groaned and whined as con-
tinually ;" but Powell was firm and unyielding
to the last. This was their bearing as they listened
to the finding and sentence of the court-martial,
somewhat unnecessarily read to them while they sat
in their awful position behind the dangling ropes.
The reading over, the pinioning commenced. It
was a necessary operation, no doubt, but brutality
might, in the case of Mrs. Surratt, at least, have
been avoided. The reverse of this happened. " A
Federal officer grasped Mrs. Surratt's dress, and
twisted a rope tightly about her limbs, so tightly
indeed that she was unable to stand, and sank back-
wards." This Federal officer had surely graduated
in the shambles, so well did he " throw" the un-
happy lady. But she did not complain. She merely
murmured a request that she might be " supported,"
and thus with her three fellow sufferers she went to
her account. This is the first batch of victims claimed
by the Northern Nemesis ; and against the justice
done upon three of them we have nothing to say,
except that it was done with shameful and indecent
haste. But as to Mrs. Surratt there is much more
to say. Her sex should have secured her some con-
sideration, and the fact that grave doubts exist as
to her being guilty of anything more than indiscre-
tion should have saved her from the gallows. She
gave shelter to Wilkes Booth, and she may in some
indirect way have assisted his plans. But surely the
manes of Abraham Lincoln would have been satis-
fied without the hanging of a widow woman in a
court-yard full of soldiers, and by the side of three
admitted culprits. A little more time at least for
this poor creature might have been allowed. She
asked for " four days' time to prepare for death"—
that was all; and it was denied her. " You shall
die, and you shall die within 24 hours !" That was
the immutable sentence passed upon a woman by
Andrew Johnson, and carried out roughly by his
subordinates. To Englishmen this looks like bru-
tality, not justice; fiendishness, not magisterial so-
lanity tind-ffaibefatioii-: It is the red, t.,..,b,r hant.
of a new " terror," grasping at life with the sa-
vageness of brutal instincts. America should be
ashamed of such bloodthirsty rage—such indecent
precipitancy ; and if America is not ashamed, Eng-
land, tliat protested honestly against the crime of
assassination when Booth struck down Abraham
Lincoln in Ford's theatre, is both ashamed and dis-
gusted. Our sense of wholesome justice is as strong
as any "sympathies" we possess. But this taking
of life by express speed is not justice, and cannot be
received as such. It is merely vengeance in the
case of Mrs. Surratt—Lynch-law rudely performed
by the agency of supposed civilisation. " Give me
four days' time in which to prepare for death," was
the prayer of a woman who, even in Washington,
is not held to be proven guilty. " Away with her !"
is the reply of Andrew Jonson ; and so the unhappy
creature is hobbled and thrown like a sheep, and
strangled like a proved murderer, at twenty-four
hours notice !Itis a disgusting story—a black page
in the American annals ; and it helps to turn from
the men who have made it the sympathy of all
Christian communities.

Further Confession of Pritchard, the
Glasgow Murderer.

--- ~

• GLASGOW, Thursday.
Subjoined is the full confession made by the con-
demned criminal Pritchard, now lying in Glasgow
Gaol for execution on the 28th inst. It will be re-
membered that he made another confession on the
11th inst., but that is withdrawn, and a truthful
confession made. Here it is in full :•-•-
‘‘ Confession by Edward William Pritchard, and
made in the presence of an all-seeing God, and of
the Rev. T. Watson Reid, my present spiritual
adviser, on the 13th day of July, 1865, at Glas-
gow prison, for communication to the proper
authorities :
" I, Edward William Pritchard, in the full pos-
session of all my senses, and understanding the
awful position in which 1 am placed, do make free
and open confession that the sentence pronounced
upon me is just ; that I am guilty of the death of
my mother-in-law, Mrs. Taylor, and of my wife,
Mary Jane Pritchard ; that I can assign no motive
for the conduct which actuated me beyond a species
of terrible madness and the use of ardent spirits. I
hereby freely and fully state that the confession
made to the Rev. R. S. Oldham, on the 11th day of
this month, was not true, and hereby confess that I
alone, and not Mary M'Leod, poisoned my wife in
the way brought out in evidence at my trial. That
Mrs. Taylor's death was caused according to the
wording of the indictment I further state to be true,
and the main facts brought out at my trial I hereby
fully acknowledge. I plead wholly and solely guilty'
thereto, and may God have mercy on my soul. I
pray earnestly for repentance not to be repented of,
and for forgiveness idrom Almighty God, through
the intercession of our blessed Redeemer, mediator,
and advocate, Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour.
Fellow-creatures pray for me, and let me add I am
in charity with all men. I have now to record
my humble thanks to all who have taken part
in any way for my interest. First, to their
lordships the judges for their great patience,
forbearance, and careful consideration of my case,
and to the gentlemen of the jury. To all the
offi-
cials : I cannot help mentioning the clerk of .t Smith,
High Court of Justiciary ; the governor, ME:
of the Edinburgh gaol ; the chaplain, Rev.
Mr.
Rus-
; head warder Nelson ; warders Jo_ nGlavgin„
stone and Macintosh ;
heado warder
prison, Mr. Stirling ; Mr. Apiour,_ r ;
llogg
the governor f
chaplain, Mr. Doran ; his assistants,.
Dewar,l‘lut rie , Thompson, &c. ; to
andpre TroupLesh
n; surgeons to Glasgow
prison ; and Dr. Simpson, of Edinburgh gaol. To
laNnvardanedrs
the non-officials my heartfelt thanks are specially
due. To the Rev. Dr. Miller, of Free St. Matthew's,
Glasgow ; and to other ministers who have written
me, not adding their names ; to Dr. Norman
M'Leod, may God bless him; and to my own
im-
mediate faith professors, the Rev. R. S. Oldham and
Rev. Watson Reid ; to the police authorities, Super-
intendent M'Call and police at the Central Office,
Glasgow ; to Sergeant Stuart, Edinburgh police
force ; to the sheriffs' officers, Wilson, of Glasgow,
and Ferguson, of Edinburgh, and to many others,
whose kindness and courtesy I cannot forget; above
all, to Sir Archibald Alison, Bart., sheriff, &c., for
his humane, gentle treatment while performing his
legal auties ; may each and all accept the thanks of
a truly penitent sinner, and may Heaven be their
• reward.

" WILLIAM PRITCHARD.
" JOHN STIRLING, Governor (Witness).
" EDWARD GEARY, Warder (Witness).
" JOHN MUTRIE, Warder (Witness)."