The Sun.
London, England, 1824-01-09 00:00:00

THE PRAYER.

Oh ! thou great and glorious Lord God, Thou high and
eiy One, who inhabl-test eternity, and despisest not the meanest
of thy works, we humbly beseech thee to looklown in compas-
sion upon us, thy poor vile and sinful creatures, who now pre-
sent our prayers and supplications unto thee. Have mercy upon
us—O Lord, have mercy upon us ! According to the multitude
of thy tender mercies, blot out all our transgressions, and re-
member our sins and iniquities no more. And do thou, in
pity to our infirmities, dispose our hearts, and strengthen our
resolutions, to serve and fear thee, the only God, all the days
of our lives.

" Grant us the grace of thy holy spirit, that v..e may every
• . day become better, And wiser into salvation ; that we may be
. enabled to reform And amend all that is amiss in the frame and
temper of our minds, and in the course and action of our lives ;
• that we may minify our lusts, govern our passions, and direct
•our whole conversation aright. Assist us mercifully, 0 God,
• to do all that is good-; to avoid all that is evil ; and finally, to
be Partakers of thy heavenly kingdom.
"We humbly beseech thee, 0 Lord, to bless and preserve
us, thine-unWorthy 'servants, we are at this time assembled in
' thy name, to be present in the midst of us, and to assist us in
the holy service of devotion in which we are engaged-; and
grant, that those truths which shall be delivered, oat of thy
revealed word, may have their due effect, and lasting infhence
upon the hearts and consciences, upon the-lives and conduct of
Us all.

"tfhe prayers, 0 Heavenly Father, we humbly offer up
unto:the throne of mercy, in the name and through the merits
and mediation of oar Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in
whose 12103 t comprehensive form of words we sum up ail our
petitions."

The prayer being concluded, after a short and solemn pause,
the 11.everend Gentleman remarked, that this season of advent
was appointed by the Church, not only the advent, or coming,
or appearance of Jesus Christ in human shape on earth, but
alo to put us annually in mind of his se.:ond coming, that
we may prepare our hearts and minds, our thoughts and
actions, to meet him At his second coming to judge the world
in righteousness. No subject could be more appropriate to
this solemn and affecting season of the year, than the general ,
judgment by Jesus Christ.
lie then, in a manner which is described to us by a gentle-
man present to have been the most impressive he ever witness-
ed on any occasion, proceeded to the delivery of the sermon.

CONDEMNED SERMON.
Text-2d Co:. v. 10.

" We must all appetr before the judgment_ eat of Christ,
" that every one may receive the things done in his body, accord..
ineto that he bath dyne, whether it be good or bad."
The Rev. Chaplain said, that in the beginning of the chapter,
St. Paul expressed an earnest desire to quit this earthly tabernacle
tai t house not made with hands, and to be present with the
Lut that, however the Almighty should dispose of him, he
ah id malo, it his constant labour and study so to conduct

himself, that both in this world and at his presentation into the
neat, he might hoe to be approved and accepted by his God,
• and that to this cod his action; were daily governed arid direct-
. cat. He then enforced upon the prisoners the simple and ex-
pressive rule of St. Paul, and emphaticr...kiy pointed out the
' force7aod value of attention to it. He implored the prisoners to '
consider the certainty of a future judgment. Not to dwell on
the persuasion and belief of all heathens and Pagans in every
age and country, in this respect, on the dictates of every man's
natural conscience, his self-approbation of secret virtue, his
self-condemnation of secret vice, the hopes and the fears that
agitate every man's•breast on account of his most private ac-
tions; and the inmost thoughts of his heart, were all, he said
so man: proofs of his belief in a future judgment.
• La the second place, be said, that neitln;r was it necessary to
take an extensive view of the unequal distribution of happiness
and misery in this life : how virtuous and holy men were often
afflicted in this world, and that,. too, even for righteousness'
sake, and that profligate, dating, and impious men, often
flourish and prosper—they came pot into trouble, neither were
they plagued like other men ; hence the justice of God seemed
to require that at the final consummation of all things, this

seeming injustice should be rectified, and that God would
one day fully vindicate the rizbteousum of NI government,
. .

acquit the honour of his justice, and that there would be held
a general anise of all nten that ever breathed on the face of
the whole earth, when they would all have a fair and open
trig, and God would render to each according to his
wOrks. The Chaplain then -enforced the truth of the divine
jedgment, and after maliing poiverfal impresaion upon his
auditory by the eloqudralee of hi‘ argument, he exclaimed—
" Hear the words Of 'Our- Rededniei--, The day is coming in
which all who at to thir grwitalhall hear the voice of their

r Judge, and shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto
the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation.' " He remarked upon the asto-
nishing indifference of some persons to the divine declaration,
and the impossibility of theirconductingthemselves in the manner
some did, were they impressed with its truth. He was parti-
cularly solemn and impressive in dwelling upon the profligacy
and profaneness of' some were not deterred by a sense of
religion from the commission of sin, just as if eternal justice
were asleep—just as if all their wicked actions would be buried
with their dead bodies, and should never rise again in judgment
against their immortal souls. He cantrasted with such impious
indifference, the calmness, the consolation, and hope of a
true Christian who built his hope on the fundamental belief of
happiness hereafter, and illustrated the value of such a hope j
by the practice of St. Paul and the serenity and piety of his life.
The Chaplain then said, that it would be easy to draw a ter-
rific picture of the great and terrible day of judgment, but he
I preferred the arguments which cool reason suggested, to those
which terror and amazement inspired. He invoked the attention
of the prisoners to the plain and powerful expression of the Holy
Scriptures. Suppose then, said he, that " you saw the heavens
opened, and the son of man coming in great power and glory,
and all his holy angels with him. Suppose that you heard the
mighty cherubim, in burning rows, sounding the loud trumpet
of archangels, and a mighty voice piercing the heavens and the
earth-4 Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment!'—Suppose you
saw the throne set, and the great Judge sitting upon the throne
of his glory ; and all nations gathered before him ; and all the
dead, both small and great, standing before God ; the books
opened, and the dead judged out of the things written in those
books; suppose you heard the respective sentences upon all
mankind pronounced by the mouth of Christ himself-4 Come,
ye blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you,
-from the foundation of the world !' and, Depart from me, ye '
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels.' " Would not this," continued the Reverend Gentle-
man, " be an appalling scene, and did not the Gospel posi-
tively declare that it should come to pass ?" He asked; then,
why was not that dreadful fact operative upon human conduct ?
Why, then, such insensibility to human interests—why stifle
the voice of conscience--why labour to drown its cries, by the
din and riot of worldly cares and pleasures ?
After dwelling forcibly on this topic, the Rev, Gentleman
exclaimed Let this present season of Advent constrain us
all to look carefully and steadily to our last great account; and
seeing now, with our own eyes, the awful spectacle before us,
where human justice is about to vindicate the violation of her
laws, let us lift up our hearts to higher views, and raise our
thoughts from earthly to heavenly subjects. Let us argue
thus :—lf the day of God's judgment be so dreadful, at a
distance, that I can hardly now hear the very thought' of it,
from the recollection of my sins, how insupportable will the
thought itself be, when it eternally does come!" He, in conclu-
sion, contrasted the times of ignorance of the Heathen arid the
Christian world, and, as St. Paul said, " the ignorance of the for-
mer God winked at, but now all men were commanded to repent,
because he hate appointed a day in which he will judge the
world." " Oh, then, at once," said the Chaplain, with great
fervour and earnestness, " repent ! Let the wicked forsake his
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts ; and let him turn
unto the Lord, who will have mercy upon him, and unto our
God, who will abundantly pardon, through the merits and me-
diation of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour."
Repeatedly, during the delivery of the sermon, of which the
above only furnishes a brief and imperfect abstract, the Chap-
lain was affected to tears. Thurtell at times evinced uncoils-
men emotion—his manner was extremely penitent, but his for-
titude was still maintained, and he awaits with composure his
impending fate. He hopes, he says, to meet it with the firm-
ness of a man, and the resignation of a Christian.
In the course of the service, the Chaplain read the Litany,
though out of order, very Properly judging there were parts in
it more applicable to the case of the prisoners than occurred in
the rest or the service.

When the following prayer was read, Hunt seemed dread-
fully aineted, and his head dropped upon the front of the
pew

" That it may please Thee to defend and provide for the
fatherless children and widows, and all that are desolate and
oppressed."

Thursday Evening, five P.M.
prisoners in irons ; but
It was originally proposed to try.
ner
ci. fofnttse.
iMllerg.aTliatyyloofr,suticilei baaprrrioseteere,dirieigpr,esaennatteitidieletPo.:Tiiitql:ine
tilionigwhaSs
iquence abandoned.
A meeting of the Magistrates was held this morning, at which
the place where, and the time when, sentence shall be executed
upon Thurtell, was taken into consideration. It was finally
resolved that the culprit should be executed at 12 o'clock to.
morrow, in front of the centre door (which is called the "Mill,"
or Tread:min door") of the jail, and not in the field or gravel-
pit, opposite the prison, where malefactors-are usually executed.
The workmen have been employed since half-past 2 o'clock
in making the necessary preparations for the
erection of a
new gallows and drop. The materials, which are now lying
at the prison-door, shew that it is intended to erect a strut!_
Lure of considerable height and extent. The country in• the
neighbourhood being, however, very level, the view of the
execution will be necessarilyrestricted to those who may have
strength and hardihood sufficient to force their way near the
scaffold. The whole poser comitatus have been tsummoned
to attend on this occasion ; it is the only legal disposable
force which the Magistrates can command; and every body
must approve of the abandonment of an intention which, it is
rumoured, was once entertained—that of calling on the Yeo-
manry for their assistance. The Magistrates have
propriety directed Bishop, Ruthven, and Upton, of' with great
the 130w-
street establishment, to remain until the behests of the law
have been complied with.
Thomas Thurtell has just taken his last farewell of his un-
fortunate brother. This scene was singularly solemn and
affecting. John Thurtell appeared to feel, with strongsensibility
the awfulness of his situation. lie grasped his brother by the
hands, and pressed them with gres9 force and fervency. His
expression was, " God bless you, Thomas. There are now
nine of us ; by this time to-morrow there will be but eight !"
The latter part of the sentence was delivered in a tone in which
the firm and pathetic were equally mingled.
Thurtell's father, mother, and indeed the whole of his family,
are plunged in the most profound grief.
Runt's execution has been fixed for this day fortnight, if the
application to the Crown, in behalf of the prisoner, should not
prove successful. Fourteen days are, as we stated yesterday,
allowed by law, to accessaries in cases of murder ; and there-
fore the High Sheriff has named the day which we have men-
tioned. Hunt is not aware of this circumstance. Lie believes
that his fate is to be sealed in the morning, and he is preparing
for death, but in a state of great agony and exhaustion. The
contrast between him and Thurtell is extreme. The latter is
cool, manly, and firm, without any intermixture of thought-
lessness or levity ; the former is timid, whining, and pusil-
lanimous.
All admission to the prison for the purpose of witnessing the
proceedings to-morrow morning, has been most positively and
peremptorily interdicted, except to those who are immediately
connected with those proceedings. Applications from persons
of rank and consideration have been negatived in the most de-
cided and unequivocal manner.
It will be recollected that Mr. Justice Park, on Tuesday
morning, censured the conduct of Mr. Fenton, Thurtell's at-
torney, for not having been in Court at seven o'clock. The re-
proof was given on the supposition that Mr. Fenton had
tleglected his duty, which was not. the case. Mr. Fenton was,
at six o'clock in the morning, attendingat the door appropriated
to tile admittance of Barristers and Attornies. He endeavoured,
over and over again, and in those endeavours he was assisted
by a Barrister, to gain admittance, but the door-keepers
effectually prevented his entrance.
Half-past 7.—The workmen are still employed in erecting
the gallows. The work is now half perfected. It will not be
compleated until four o'clOck in the morning. Thurtell is in a
part of the prison where the " dreadful note of preparation" is
not likely to mar his meditations.
Mr. Clutterbuck, the Magistrate, was in close conference
with Thurtell for a considerable length of time to-day, at
Thurtell's own particular desire. The subject of the confe
recce, it is said, related to matters of a private nature.
In the course of the evening, two gentlemen arrived from
Cambridge, to inquire respecting any information which l'hur-
tell could give on the subject of the disappearance of the Rev.
Mr. Colton. The object of their inquiry was to ascertain, for
the purposes of' the College, whether Thurtell could furnish
any information which might possibly prevent the lapse of
the living from devolving upon the diocess. Thurtell's answer
last night to this application was, that he knew nothing of Mr.
Colton.

At ten o'clock this warning; Probert, having been informed
that he was at liberty depart, left Hartford gaol, in which he
slept on the proceeding night. As he was about to quit the
gaol, one of the turnkeys, of whom he had borrowed two or
three shillings, stopped him and insisted on being paid ; but it
was not without some hesitation that he discharged the debt.
Before Probert had proceeded far from the gaol, he met his
wife, Miss Noyes, and Thomas Noyes. Their recognition of
each other was cold; and after conversing for a few minutes,
Probert left the party, and proceeded in an opposite direction to
that which they took. He was afterwards seen walking round
the town with a man of respectable appearance. He himself
was well dressed, and walked with a swaggering air. He was
not, as far as we could perceive, recognized by the inhabitants.
The High Sheriffhas issued directions that no person what-