The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-18 00:00:00

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EXECUTION FOR MURDER IN
FRANCE.
A striking defect in the French criminal law is the
regulation by which criminals sentenced to death are
not informed of the day on which they are to die until
about an hour before the time fixed on the day itself.
The criminal, lulled by a false hope of his appeal to the
- superior court being successful, or of his petition to the
King for mercy being listened to, refuses to attend to the
pious exhortations of the chaplain, thinking that he will
have no necessity for repentance, and passes his time in
a state of brute carelessness, in which he is encouraged
• by his fellow-prisoners, who flatter him with the idea
i that at most he will get off with travaux forces, hard
labour for life. This continues till some morning he is
suddenly informed that in an hour (sometimes even less)
he is to ascend the steps of the guillotine. At first,
stunned by this information, he shows no exterior signs
of emotion ; the chaplain attempts to pour consolation
into ears yet deafened by the sounds of death, and ere
the miserable man can be made to understand that that
is his last opportunity for making his peace with an
offended Deity, he is given up to the executioner, the
axe falls, and his soul is in the presence of its Judge.
Even the English system, bad as it is, is better than
this. A lamentable instance of the effect produced
by this regulation lately occurred at Mezieres (Ar-
dennes). Jacques Loney had been condemned in
January last to death for assassination, against which
sentence he had appealed, and confidently expected
that it would be mitigated to hard labour for life. On
the sth of March his appeal was rejected, a fact of which
he was left in ignorance until the 9th instant, the day
fixed for his execution, which was to take place in the
Place St. Julian, at nine o'clock. At half-past seven,'
Lonay, who had been present at mass with the other
prisoners, was detained by the chaplain, the Abbe Garot,
for the purpose of communicating to him the fatal news;
the Abbe, however, overcome with emotion at the
thought that the man then standing before him, full of
life and vigour, would in a few minutes be a lifeless
corpse, he had not courage to announce to him the sad
truth. The clerk then read to him the decree of the
Court of Cessation rejecting his appeal; and, as he
seemed not to comprehend the purport of the decree, it
was at last explained to him that he must no longer
!ncount on the mercy of man. Lonay then protested his
nocence,,walked up and down the oratory, clasping his
hands and groaning piteously. He was then left to the
exhortations of the priest, to which he may replied by
groans and protestations of innocence. This scene lasted
till the arrival of the executioners. On their atternptng
to bind his arms, he stiffened them against his side, say-
ing he could walk well enough without being pinioned.
He refused to drink a glass of wine offered him by the
turnkey, and walked without assistance to the exterior
door of the prison, where, on be_holding the crowd, he
uttered a plaintive cry and turned to the priest, who
was by his side. After he had ascended the scaffold he
confessed his guilt, and in a few minutes all was over_

THE LATE COLLIERY ACCIDENT.
BILSTON, FAIDAY.—Last evening an inquest was held on
the bodies of the five men who lost their lives in consequence
of the accident which took place on Wednesday.
The first witness was a man named Morgan, who stated
that he was standing at the top of the pit when the men who
have lost their lives were being let down the shaft ; that
they were all cautioned not to go into the works until the
" doggie " came down : that the skip had just been lowered
down the shaft with a second party, but before they had pro-
ceeded many yards the explosion took place, by which they
were all blown many yards into the air. Four were picked
up dead immediately afterwards, and William Jones was also
found dead at the bottom of the mine, his death having been
caused from suffocation. The remainder of the men and boys
in the mine were got up, having sustained injuries more or
less extensive. Cox, the " doggie," is suffering from severe
contusion of the brain. The witness further stated that the
mine was well ventilated completely through its workings,
the that it was not usual for the men to go into the pit until
" doggie" had tried it by means of the safety-lamp ;
that this trial not unfrequently takes place three or four
times a day, when there is any apprehension of a collection
of sulphur.
The remainder of the evidence was corroborative of the
statements which have already appeared in The Sun, and
showed the reckless manner in which Jones had rushed upon
death; one fact, however, was elicited in the course of the
inquiry, which is worthy of especial notice; it was, that the
"doggie" did not always go down the mine in the morning
in the first skip.
The CORONER remarked on this circumstance, and observed
that it ought to be imperative for him to do so. Had such
been the case (he said) on this occasion, the lives of five
human beings would, ie all probability, have been saved.
The jury returned a verdict to the effect that Win. Jones
died of suffocation, occasioned by an explosion of sulphuric
acid gas, and that Abraham Atkiss, John Evans, Enoch Bet,
tray, and Thomas Vinsome, died from wounds and bruises
accidentally received in consequence of the explosion.
The remain der of those who are injured are going on
favourably.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS.
A very large meeting of the members of 'this Association
was held last night at the Hanover-square Rooms; Mr. R.
R. Pennington presiding on the occasion.
A very lengthened report having been read by the Secre-
taries, setting forth the past operations and future plans of
the association, several resolutions were carried, embodying
the suggestions it contained, and of which the following are
copies:—
" 1. That the indefinite postponement of the settlement
of the medical question in Parliament, and the consequent
unsuccessful issue of the exertions of the committee to obtain
a charter of incorporation for the general practitioners, is
chiefly to be attributed to the existing colleges having un-
duly exercised their influence, and thrown unwarrantable
obstacles in the way of the Secretary of State for the Home
thertigullkiatteilUffifttatm-Ymettfilitelreet-,---iir-titz-r.epbri.
which has just been read, that the National Association
should be established on a more permanent basis, be forth-
with adopted, and that the members of the association, and
of the profession generally, be canvassed as to their willing.
ness to co-operate in the formation of a National Institute of
Medicine, Surgery, and Midwifery, on the plan recommended
in the report.
"2. That it is expedient in the meantime that the
National Association should maintain its present position,
that it may be prepared to act in any emergency that may
arise, and be ready to avail itself of every suitable occasion to
urge upon the Legislature the pressing necessity, on public
grounds, of a revision of the laws affecting the medical pro-
fession, and also, as a numerous and important collective
body, that it may exercise all the means at its disposal to
produce a satisfactory settlement of the complicated question
of medical reform.

" 3. That the committee of the National Association be
requested to continue their functions as a provisional com-
mittee, and with power to add to their numbers, for the pur-
pose of carrying out the two last resolutions; and that future
public meetings be called as soon as the committee may be
prepared to receive a report from the committee of their pro-
ceedings, and of the opinions of the profession on the forma-
tion of a National Institute cf Medicine, Surgery, and Mid-
wifery." _ _ _

A vote of thanks was carried to the Apothecaries' Society,
for their enlightened policy in raising the qualifications of the
general practitioners, and in the part which they had taken
in the late questions affecting the medical profession.
A great number of speakers addressed the meeting, amongst
whom were Mr. Bird, Mr. Purcel, Dr. Cooper, Mr. Bedding..
field, Mr. F. A. Bonney, Mr. G. Daniel, Mr. Rogerson, M..
J. Woolridge, and Mr. M. Beale. Great indignation was ex-
pressed durlhg the evening at the terms in which the Hun-
terian oration had spoken of the general practitioners, and
generally at the conduct of the council of the College of Sur-
geons. Hopes were also expressed by Mr. Sparkes, Mr.
Cooper, and members of the committee, that the differences
which had hitherto existed among the body of general prac-
titioners might yet be adjusted.
After a vote of thanks to the chairman and secretaries the
meeting broke up.

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