The Sun.
London, England, 1824-12-21 00:00:00

EXECUTION AT MAIDSTONE.

eaenden Heath, the awful sentence of the law
v: ,lity,f at at the acutistutiiedi place
of execution on P
was carried into circa on the body of Thomas Coombs, who,
i
at the late Kant ssizes, was found guilty of the murder of
Beckenham. From the first moment the pri-
sonerTh s . M
enteredorga
county gaol, the magnitude of the offence im.
puted to him, and the pmbability of his suffering the heaviest
thed
penalty the law knows of; pointed him out as an object of the more
peculiar notice of the worthy chaplain, the Rev. Mr. WINTER,
who throu ghou t has paid the utmost attention to him. These have
be ni but badly received; the prisoner for the most part displayed
a spirit of sullen indifference, and when questioned as to hts par.
tieMation in the murder of which he had been convicted, he
on most occasions became violent, declaring that he had con-
fessed the extent of his sins to Amighty God in secret, and that
he was not disposed to repeat his confessions in public. Since
his conviction he has slept but little, and on the last night of
his eiestence, he dozed only for an hour. Early on the morn-
ing of yester!lay he was visited by the Rev. Chaplain, who en-
deavoured to bring him to a suitable state of mind for the re-
ception of the Holy Sacrament, and particularly pointed out
to him the necessity of snaking a candid avowal of -his guilt or
innocence in respect to the offence of which he had been found
guilty. He promptly answered that he was innocent; and
he was then asked, if that were the case, why he did not at.
tempt to establish it at the trial. He replied, " What would
be the wt, when it was predetermined that 1 should be found
guilty ? It was the reward of 1004. that did for me." The strong
circumstantial evidence obtained from the dove-tailing of the
tobacco paper was then pointed out to him, and he answered,
" What of that ? It was easy to tear a tobacco-paper, and put
part of it into the gun, and then swear that they found it so. A
hundred pounds will temp;: wen to many dirty acts." Several
other parts of the testimony were pointed out to him, and his re.
ply to each was, " The 1001. reward did for me." He was
asked why he did:not account ror the possession of the fruit he
had sold. To this inquiry he made no answer; and a little
Fetbre eleven o'clock he was conducted into the chapel, where
di.: solemn caemony of the administration of the sacra-
ment wa; performed, in the course of which he was asked
by the Reverend Chaplain, whether he was innocent of' the
charge alleged against him. To this inquiry he returned
no answer, and it was repeated, but lie still remained silent.
He was thm asked whether lie was guilty of the offence im.
putcd to him. To which he answered, " Don't disturb my
mind by inquiries ; I wish to have nothing to say to the ques-
tion altogether. Do you think I would tell a lie on the sub-
ject ? What ! Tell a lie under the circumstances of my pre-
sent case ? No, never." Under all the peculiarities of the
case, the sacrament was at last administered to him, and was
received without an avowal of guilt or innocence; but the
manner of the convict left an impression that he was in his own
mind assured of the justice of his sentence, and that he was only
withheld from acknowledging his guilt by a fear of what might
be said of him after his death. The culprit was a Bristol man,
and served his time to a tallow-chandler. About ten years ago
he was married, but had not seen his wife for several years.

Park, to the Rectory of Dogmerifield Hampshire,
PIZEFERMENTS.—The Rev. Francis Dyson, A.M. has been
variant by
presented by Dame Jane St. John 11fildmay, of Dogmerstield
after-
noon, this
the death of Thomas Peter Dodd Salmon.
ESQ.--At half-past oM'cIAONI:I7vBK-utEldaSyEl'L°N
gentleman, who officiated as Magis-
trate at the llatton.Garden Police Office, for a
great number of yearn, died at his apartments in
the Office, in the 65th year of his age. His com-
plaint was an asthma, originating from a cold ; he
hail been confined to his room about a fortnight,
and appeared aware of his approaching dissolu-
tion.sons
He retained his faculties to the last. lle
was surrounded at his death by his wife, ,
daughters, and his brother, Mr. Sergeant Sellon,
also a Magistrate of this office. Mr. Sellon was
a County Magistrate, and Chairman of the Corn.
mittee of the House of Correction, and filled
many situations in the County of Middlesex. He
was a matt of a mild and gentle disposition, a
subscriber to many charitable institutions, and
will be deeply lamented by all who had the plea-
sure of his acquaintance.

WEST INDIA DO

STOCK ACCOUNT for the ‘Veek endin,
of December, 184.

CKS.

ig Saturday, the 18th

Stock on
Hand.

41,645
3,161
518
1,052
7,501
4,828
1,137
25,759
1,393
396

40
27
206
213

1,479
1,083
9,852
1,587
23,634
1,530
2,591
19
4,162

3,699

2251
11,132
2,894

660
.1,752

3,11-I
12,510

790
5,490
601
25

304
23#
6,290
1,994
453

105
0,416
6,683
34,598