The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-05 00:00:00

MORN ING EDITION

EXECU

ISTER.

(From the Shrewsbury Chronicle.)
During the is hole of Frid ty Mister continued at-
tentive to his religious duties, and was riot left by the
Citasdain till tsii at night. Shortly afterwertis he wen!
to sleep, but the short snatches he obtained were not
refreshing, and were at very distant intervals.
This morning, at six o'clock, the Chaplain was again
at his bedside, and found him firm and composed and
still affirming his entire innocence. He received the
sacrament with much composure and appearance of
resignation.
At ten the Rev. James Colley entered the prison, to
assist the Chaplain in his melancholy duties. By this
time crowds of persons from Birmingham and the Col-
lieries in the neighbourhood of' Ludlow and Wellington,
were assembled in front of the prison. The gallows,
which on the previous night had been erected, all ex-
cept the cross-beam from which the rope is hung, was
now completely finished, all lingering hopes of reprieve
being lost when the morning mail brought no letter
either to the Sheriff or Governor of the prison.
At eleven o'clock the Under-Sheriff came to the
prison, and about that time the prisoner was brought
from the condemned cell to have his arms pinioned.
'When he entered the chaplain's room, he was received
by the Rev. J. Richards, the Rev. B. Maddy, and the
chaplain, and he immediately betook himself to prayer.
At a quarter to twelve the Under. Sheriff went to the
door of the room, and demanded the body of Josiah
Mister, for execution. On the door being opened,
the prisoner was discovered seated, with a handker-
chief in his hand, with which he was wiping from his
face the large drops of sweat that were bursting from
'every pore. His appearance was deplorable, his mental
sufferings and terror appearing most severe ; and the
paleness of his visage, gastliness, and wasted appear-
ance, showed these sufferings to have continued from
the period of his condemnation.
Tne executioner immediately entered, and tied the
prisoner's arms. The rope was then fixed round his
neck, and the cap placed on his head. He appeared
fully aware of the nature of these dread preparations,
and his lips continued muttering in prayer.
The Chaplain then put on his robes. and the prison
bell began to toll. The prisoner was then placed be-
tween two turnkeys who supported him ; and the dis-
mal procession from the prison to the gallows was
formed.
On entering the door of the front lodge, he ex-
claimed, " If any of the Jury are here who condemned
me, I fret ly forg:ve them."
He then went onwards to the small room under the
scaffold, and the last prayers were offered up. Two
minutes had scarcely elapsed, before he appeared on the
drop, and was assisted by two turnkeys to take his
place under the gallows. The executioner fixed the
rope to the beam, the prisoner meanwhile shaking hands
with the turnkeys, and exclaiming " God bless you for
the assistance you have given me, and then faintly ut-
tered 1 AM INNOCENT," and scarcely had the
words escaped, ere the bolt was withdrawn, and after
two minutes' violent struggling, he died.
After hanging an hour, the body was taken down ;
and after an examination by medical gentlemen, it seas
placed in a good elm coffin, with a plate bearing the in-
scription :—" JOSIAH MISTER, aged 25, 1841."
The following letter was written by the prisoner, last
night, in the condemned cell, and contains the only
explanation he has ever offered, with reference to the
charge for which he has forfeited his life :
Salop County Gaol, April 2, 1841.
" Reader,—Although this frail body, in a very few
hours, will tall a sacrifice to persecution, yet this paper
will bear testimony of my innocence, although in the
eye of the public I am guilty ; but those thoughts do
not make me guilty ; for I now state, in the presence
of an Almighty God, that I am not guilty ; and his
all-seeing eye cannot be deceived. It is God alone that
knows I am innocent, and shall suffer for the crime of
another. But, thanks to his holy name, he has not
left it in man's power to destroy the never-dying soul.
I wish, and it is my last request, that publicity should
be given to this, my only declaration, as it may likely
meet the et3e of the guilty individual. Let me ask
those persons that were connected with the guilty
design, if' their consciences do not tell them that they
have taken away the life of an innocent man ? I ask
again, can that person rest upon his (or her) bed, that
put the blood on No. 20 bed-curtains, and likewise
prepared those stockings for the treacherous design ?
I wish all of you that have had any participation in
getting me convicted, to know, that I have sincerely
forgiven you each, and my prayer to Almighty God is,
that he will also forgive you. lam very shortly about
to be launched into eternity, where I hope to meet my
Maker and my dear friends—for even now I can address
you by no other name. May you each die as happy as
the culprit Josiah Mister, and feel as satisfied in your
mind of happiness i❑ the next world as I do, who is thus
addressing you each. It is a duty I owe to society to
state, that I ern an innocent man. lam actuated
by a most pure conscience to state it. lam parti-
ticularly grateful to all those individuals who have tried
to obtain a commutation of the sentence ; and I fully
forgive both Judge and Jury. I hope they will consider
that this epistle is a sufficient document of forgiveness. I
cannot lay any charge on any one—the Judge and Jury
were justified in returning such a verdict, as the evi-
dence was of such a formidable character that they
could not come to another decision. I had no stock-
ings when I went to the Angel, and I did not intend
to pay my bill at that time, as I was going to visit
Leominster and Birmingham. I had almost forgot to
state that I never saw the boy who said I had a lucifor
match in my possession. I never was at Cooke's farm ;
the first time I was in the neighbourhood of Ludlow
was Wednesday afternoon, and saw Hughes and Bos-
worth fishing. 1 never had any intention of robbing
Mr. Ludlow, and I never saw Mr. Mackreth in my
life before I went to the Angel Inn. I again thank
Mr. Mackreth, Mr. Ludlow, and all who have tried to

get a commutation ; and sincerely do I forgive all per-
sons who have injured me. I desired this letter to be
kept and not opened till I was no more. I have been
kindly treated in the prison by the Governor and at-
tendants, and feel thankful for the visits of clergymen
who have attended to direct me to the way of everlast-
ing life. My last desire and prayer is that God will
reward them for the services they have rendered me ;
and I am, my readers, an innocent man.
" JOSIAH MISTER."
Thus, with a lie in his mouth, has perished in his
youth, the perpetrator of a coolly conceived and deli-
berately pursued attempt at murder, not exceeded in atro-
city by any case of modern crime. The collected and de.
terrnined character of Mister, led none who conversed
witu him to the remotest hope he would confess his
gunt ; but no one believed he would drink tne blessed
cup of his Saviour's blood, on which he said he relied to
be rescued from his sins, without hinting that the crime
for which he was then to die, was a grievous one, and
that those who had convicted him were not in error.
He perished as he had lived ; forgiving the jury with
his lips, but in the sullen hope that such forgiveness
would be received as the last legacy of a murderer, to
annoy the minds of those who had found him guilty.

It is already known that Mehemet Ali pro-
t,sted against those parts of the firman from the Sultan
a hick declared that tho Porte should hhve the selection of
his successors (from his family) to the Government of
Egypt. There was also an objection raised to the right
which the Porte reserved to itself of appointing all the
Egyptian military officers above a certain rank. The Four
Great Powers have already expresied their desire that the
Porte should not insist upon those parts of the firman
which were inconsistent with their previous advice to the
Sultan. But we understand that Mehemet Ali has since
gone further, and that he has addressed a letter to the
Vizier, protesting against some arrangements which had
obtained the deliberate sanction of the Four Great PowerF.
Of course no man of common sense can suppose that any
lasting or serious difficulty can result from this prociieding,
but, doubtless, some of our sagacious Contemporaries
would have forged a grave article on the subject, if we had
not thus told that all their conjectures would go for
nought. —Observer.

• CONIMISSION OF LUNACY.—On Frtday morn-
' ing, at twolse o'clock, a commission of lunacy was opened
before Commissioners Blount, Murray, and West, and a
special jury of freeholders, at the Gray's Inn Coffeehouse,
Holborn, to inquire into the state of mind of William
Cowley Clark, Esq., the son of a clergyman recently de-
ceased, who was about 36 years of age, and sea i placed in
the Royal Navy by his father about eighteen years since.
In a short time he became so imbecile as to be wholly in-
capable of performing the required duties, and conse-
quently compelled to quit the service. In July, 1836, his
father had deemed it necessary to place him under the
care_ of Dr. Oxley, who kept an establishment for lunatics.
From the evidence of Dr. Oxley and his servant, who had
aatntdensdpedurgoinn, tihtewalsur,r.vaitdic(.,ntantrillaftrcrir thcaitirokf
IDabrso.ureMduur,nro
der delusions, and will drink ink, or. any liquid he can
proeur,',*for the purpose, as he alleges, of expelling spirits.
The Chief Commissioner, at the. conclusion of etch wit-
ness 's statement, asked the lunatic if he would ask any
questions, but, though with greato hesitation, he invariably
trheepirioedomin,
htehewnaesgat
questionedye .
hise LY
' but from his answers the state of
0 retiredm m
.li si .
nf from
usdtle,:snp,,tp,uenaddn
the
ei
15
edl
xr;aamnCdi
ni
haa
traikdo
obi,: aeavtnii
dt
sr go
foleftu
sincend roomt
June,
theeg u iw: quite
Jury
stopped
SOUTH-EASTERN RAILWAY The os of
this Railway are proccedoinitewnic%aecitiitiveofprNoigre.,sion. It
is expected that by the e
May thei works
belongFg to the Shakspeare Tunnel farthestL
therom the
sea will be finis led ; after which it i 3 exi,eetdworks
at Abbot's Cliff Tunnel will be pursued 'With a
The Sea-wall between the two tunnels is a splendid piece
Some fresh work (including' a tunnel
of work, and does infinite credit to Mr. Balcomb, who,
un-
der the contractor, Mr. Lambert, cf Brighton' superin-
tendsreason to believe that every
in -as been set out at,
length) I,
Nw ee wbi
believe,
iaesG,
ewr,
co
erhknasi;f.
energy consistent with the interests of the shareholders
will be in operation, under the direction of the Board of
Directors, and its talented and gentlemanly engineer at
aandmwilee have
this port, John Wright, Esq. Some hundreds of men are
employed between Dover and Folkestone on the works
who, together with brickmakers and others, must be thei;
means of supplying the necessities of very many families,
as well as of giving an impetus to trade in this dittric;.—
Dover Cisronicle.