The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-11 00:00:00

MAURITIUS.

MILITARY EXECUTION.—The environs of Port Louis
were
of tl e must solemn and heart-rending spectacles which
we conceive it possible for a by-stander to witness, and
which (God be praised !) arc of rare occurrence in this
colony; we allude to a military execution.
Upon the present occasion the culprit was a private sol.
slier of the 87th regiment, named John Tolmie, who was
i:iraigncd for having on the Bth of last month, shot at,
*situ intent to kill, Corporal John Maher, of the same re-
ginient, whom he seriously wounded, and who still lies at
tile hoipital in a very dangerous staw The act PM
ni comitted about mid-day, when Cori al Maher was
occupied in the distribution of the men's dinner; sad
no motive whatever, appears to have existed for it, beyond
the declaration, subsequently made by the prisoner, that
he was tired of his life, and sought that method of getting
rid of it, as he knew that its forfeiture would be the COll.
sequence of the murder he had attempted.
The culprit was immediately seized, placed under close
arrest, and subsequently tried by a general Court-martial,
by whom he was found guilty, and condemned to be shot
to death.

From the moment that his sentence was pronotnced and
communicated to him, the prisoner was unceasing attended
by the Rev. Mr. Perring, the military chaplain of the
colony, who spared no pains to prepare his mind for the
awful doom ho was to undergo. The unhappy man enter-
tained, in the first instance, some hopes that he would ob-
tain a reprieve, but these were, a few days before his death.
finally dissipated; and he was at last impressed with the
conviction that nothing was left for him but to die.
The respite having expired, the prisoner was marched
yesterday morning, before day.light, from the condemned
cell to the main guard, in which he tad buuta uundned, to
the barracks, escorted by the officer and soldiers of the
guard that had been relieved, preceded by the band of his
regiment, and having the coffin, which was to contain his
remains carried immediately before him. Contrary to the
usual practice he was not arrayed in the death-vestment
which is commonly the garb of those who suffer military
execution, but wore his ordinary costume. Scarcely,_ bow.
be b a
des,hwi.
bh faintness.
t ehdi harp
ipy e °e
: ee
knelt:
ever, had the first strokes of the muffled dsreurlvmcseestedd,,anopft
part
that
th the firstiioa
few cotes of the Dead March in Saul played by the bandi
been sounded, bekre five or six
ayaodunwgbroecfrour_imt
cently come cut to the colony,
guardeuti
on
,f ewhichl l
b aecskcotrot etdb
ethe
rear, prisonero v
elmrcno toems
overcome
the
nmi
tphall:cenua.eipsnf
etaigh
The prisoner himself, onrc contrary,an 0
,Irisiid
I‘al progressked thev t
h most
amoreper fe ct
uprightc carriage and a snore
perhaps any
however, observed, the
1 cone fdthi
It_sti.hswerceoLlitsi gravev,c
ydiwoeupasoslsyaiterdea, dhyisdueogu,
net?.
steady
approachedstcp :blies ns
p(4
accompanied him.
sauce became deadly pale. But be speedily rallied, re-
-s,buiy,":,:nheidehtislsji edce,7ffio; ffi; coffin,lne-ni-j] sufferedalnid hhies coffin
ed
yes toares nesaogluetdi,onandichsuict
witted to his fate with a firmness and r
n •
bbyel this melancholy
were worths of a better cause,
beploannethhoel yg
spectacle,ro und a single
however
that was not".Bs movednot, vi
e
just might be the retribution the prisoner had entailed upon
himself. In proof of Ibis we may state that when the firing
party, which as usual consisted of twelve men, commanded
b;• a Se'w
jeans, as called out, and the signal given to fire, one
of the men was so overcome by his feelings as to be unable
to obey, and fell down in a fainting fit. Our readers are net
perhaps aware, that upon these sad occasions, in order to
avoid the feel:l)gs of compunction which might either at
the tnoment or af'erwerds arise in the breasts of any of the
firing party, the men to whose lot it falls to form it, are Licit
allowed to load their own muskets; but that these aiir
handed to them indiscriminately, some being loaded with
ball, and others with blank cartridge. At the execution
of 3 ester day, seven balls out of the eight muskets
charged with ball cartridge struck the criminal, who was
killed instantaneously, although to prevent the passibility
of his suff, rings being prolonged by any breath of life re.
maining in him, A last shot was, according to custom, fired
close to bin head by the sergeant specially appointed for
that purpose. The two regiments then formed into close
column and marched past the body, the men being com-
manded to keep eyes left, in order that each might regard
the corpse, and retain. the recollection of an act of retri.
tredve justice destined to inspire horror at the punishment
reserved by military law for crimes of a similar order:—
Mauritius Paper..
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