The Sun.
London, England, 1848-03-27 00:00:00

EXECUTION AT DURHAM.

On Saturday at noon, Wm . Thompson suffL red the
penalty of death for the crime of murder, in front of the
County Court, in this city, in the presence of an immense
concourse of people.
Many of our readers will remember that Thompson
and a man named William Dowson and Joseph Oldfield,
were indicted at the last Durham Assizes, for the murder
of John Shirley, a game watcher, in the employ of the
Duke of Cleveland, at Raby.
Since their condemnation, petitions numerously signed,
both at Staindrop and Durham, and also ono from a
public meeting in Newcastle, were forwarded to the
Home Secretary, for a mitigation of their punishment,
in consequence of which a communication was, on Thurs-
day last, received from the Home-office, containing a
respite for the culprit Dowson during her Majesty's
pleasure. The reasons which induced Sir George Grey
to adopt this resolution are the doubts which exist in
the mind of the judge as to the validity of the indict-
ment as regards Dowson. No objection, however, was
raised by the counsel at the trial.
Thompson was left to his unhappy fate. On the night
previous to the execution, a scaffold was erected in front
of the County Court; it was considerably elevated, and
boarded in, a huge beam being erected above. The
same gallows has been used for many years, the last
occasion being when the Prussian mate was executed fur
the murder of his captain in Sunderland harbour. Whilst
the scaffold was in course of construction, a large group
was collected, many of whom remained until the follow-
ing morning. The early trains poured immense crowds
into the city, and by twelve o'clock there were probably
from eight to ten thousand individuals assembled in front
of the gaol and in the immediate neighbourhood. The
great majority of those consisted of pitmen, many of
whom had come with the cheap market-trains, and there
was also a sprinkling of women and children, but by no
means so many as were formerly often present at similar
scenes. A troop of the sth Dragoon Guards, with
drawn swords, was stationed near the railings, and the
county police also mustered in considerable numbers;
but happily their services were not required; and the
opinion of those with whom we conversed was, that the
calling out of the dragoons was altogether unnecessary,
and calculated to create a bad feeling on the part of the
people. Reporters were strictly excluded from the
prison, by a recent order from the Home-office, and the
chaplain, governor, and other officers of the gaol, pro-
hibited from giving the slightest information to any party.
We understand that the wretched man made a state-
ment acknowledging his guilt, and that he diligently
spent the last few days of his life in preparing for
another state.

The unhappy man died almost without a struggle. In
scantly the execution was over there was a rush from
the centre of the mass, and an alarm being given that
" the soldiers were coming," the people were scattered
in all directions, and many left " the great moral lesson"
which was read to them by the public hangman with
feelings of horror and indignation. His body remained
suspended the usual time, and was then buried within
the precincts of the prison.
Thompson was the natural son of a gentleman ; he
soma time ago worked on the railway, but has lately
followed agricultural employments. Dowson is of re-
spectable parentage, and is also a farm labourer. Great
interest is felt as to the fate of the latter, which is still
doubtful.

The tragic scene of to-day cannot fail to exercise an
important influence in leading to the alteration of the
game-laws, one of the most prolific sources of misery
and crime ; for experience has shown that the sport of
the gentry leads indirectly to the death, in the nocturnal
affray and on the scaffold, of many of the poor peasantry.
—Newcastle Guardian.

Mr. Higham, Secretary and Comptroller-General to
the Commissioners for the reduction of the National
Debt, had an interview with the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer on Friday.