The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-02 00:00:00

EXECUTION OF RICKS.

STARTLING CONFESSION.
On Friday last, Hicks alias Johnson, was exe-
cuted on Bedloe's Island, near New York, for the
murder of the Captain of the Oyster Sloop E. A.
Johnson, and two of the sailor boys. The greatest
excitement seems to have attended this execution.

All sorts of boats and barges were laden with persons
anxious to see a human being suffer on the scaffold
the last penalty of the law. The matter was treated
as a curiosity, and steamboat owners posted around
the walls with unblushing heartless bills with such
headings as "Ho for the execution ! " And they
did not calculate amiss : they received no small
share of patronage.
When Hicks was conducted to the fatal drop, the
first view which presented itself before him was the
identical sloop, the E. A. Johnson, in which he had
committed the murders, which was moored directly
in front of the gallows. Thus his last look on this
earth was upon the scene of his bloody deed. The
E. A. Johnson had a large flag, bearing her name
flying, and en the masthead was perched a sailor
who waved his cap and hurrahed as the murderer
ascended the tree. Her deck was erowded, and a
slight :murmur could be distinctly heard on shore,
when Hicks was placed under the drop.
Deputy Marshal De Angelis took a position on
his left and adjusted the fatal noose. Sheriff Kelly
came in front and moved Hicks to the centre. The
U. S. Marshal with drawn sword stood in front, and
before the black eap was drawn over the culprit's
eyes, Marshal Rynders advanced and addressed
Hicks as follows :

" Hicks, if you desire to say anything before your
execution you can address the people.
Hicks replied in a faint tone, " I don't wish to say
anything to any one except my confessor. I wish
you to hang me quick." The black cap was then
pulled over the unfortunate man's eyes and amidst
yells in two seconds after he had expressed his wish,
the signal was given and Hicks was launched into
eternity. At 15 minutes past 11, the rope was cut.
Hicks trembled violently for some two minutes,
and then remained quiet. In four minutes a slight
plunge of the legs and a violent twitching of the
arms was perceptible.
After hanging 13 minutes he was lowered and the
doctors examined his pulse. He was allowed to hang
30 minutes before he was cut down, although life
was extinct in less than 15 minutes.
Hicks has made what purports to be a full confes-
sion of his many crimes. By his own account, Hicks
has been a sort of "Red Avenger on the Spanish
Main," having perpetrated a majority of his crimes
on the Pacific coast, among the Spaniards and Mexi-
cans. We make some extracts from the proof sheets
of the "confession." The amanuensis having taken
his seat in the cell, Hicks is represented as saying :
" 1: have long felt as though I were the Devil's own,
and that though he had served me so many years, I
must at last be his ; yet I imagined he would not claim
me yet, but allow me to do his work for a time longer.
He had stood by me all my life, on ship and on shore,
amid the howling storms of the ocean, where every
moment the waves threatened to ingulf me ; he has
snatched me from their deadly embrace on the battle-
field, in many a hand to hand fight ; he has seemed
to stand by my side protecting me from danger ; and
when I have been in the hands of my enemies
and escape has appeared impossible, he has, until'
now, invariably opened the way for my release.
But at last he has deserted me ; in vain I call upon
him, he will not answer me ; and I dare not call
on God, for what pity should he show a guilty
wretch like me ?
" For years conscience has slumbered ; I have
not heard her voice at all. No deed of des-
peration has seemed to me too desperate; no crime
has seemed too dark or bloody. My soul seemed
dead to all remorse or dread, and fear has been a
feeling which, until now, I have never known.
But in this lonely cell, away from all the ex-
citements which have always been the support of
my restless nature—within these solemn walls,
where I see none but those who guard me, or those
who come to look at me, as upon some -wild beast ;
here, where no sounds fall upon my ear but the
footsteps of the keeper, as he paces with measured
tread the long corridor outside, or harsh, discordant
clink of heavy doors slamming, or the grating of
bolts and the creaking of hinges—conscience, so
long dead, has at last awakened and now stings me
with anguish, and fills my soul with dread and
horror.
" I look upon my way of life, and see the path
marked with blood and crime, and in the still mid-
night, if I sleep, I act the dreadful scenes anew.
Again I imbrue my hands in the red blood of my
victims ; again I rob the unsuspecting traveller, or
violate the most sacred sanctities of life, to satisfy
my greed of gold, or headstrong, unchecked pas-
sions ; and if I wake I seem to see my victims glar-
ing at me through the gloom of my cell, or hear
them shriek aloud for vengeance on my guilty head.
" The past is one great horror The future one
dread fear. A heavy, unsupportable fear is on
my heart, and I feel as it, did I not reveal its fear-
ful secrets, I should go mad.
" But I have resisted the impulse until now, and
would die and tell no tales, but that the history of
my life may serve as a warning to mankind, and may
benefit my wife, perhaps, though it will make her
bow her head in deep shame over the crimes of him
who is the father of her child.
" I feel that after I have unburdened myself of
the secrets of my life, I can die easier, and meet my
fate like a man, and though I may go to the gallows
without hope, without repentance, 'without any evi-
dence of ought but misery hereafter, the thought
that the sale of this my confession,wili perhaps keep
the mother of my child from dependence on such
cold charity as the world will show to a murderer's
wife, will make me stronger to bear the inevitable
doom, which is now awaiting me.
" For my own sake I would not have done this ;
but for the sake of her whose fate I have linked in
life to mine, and for the sake of the poor little child,
who I trust will never know who was its father, I
give to the world the wretched history of my life."
He then proceeded to state that he was born at
Foster, R. 1., in 1820, and gives some details regard-
ing his family, and his occupation, until he was 15
years of age. Then he ran away from home, and
commenced his career of crime by stealing a pack-
age of goods from the railroad depot at Norwich,
Conn. Having been arrested and committed to jail,
he escaped and shipped on board a whaler, and fin-
ally reached the Pacific coast. He arrived at San
Francisco after many adventures, and became quite
noted there for several daring robberies. He was
also in the mining districts, and speaks of having
robbed miners' camps, and trains of emigrants, and
of having as much stolen gold at one time as he
could lift. The police evidently got on his traok,
and he sailed for Rio on board a schooner. He
says :
" Nothing of particular interest occurred on our
voyage to Rio, but after stayi-ag, there six or seven
weeks, and spending nearly all our money in gamb-
ling and debauchery, we took the road between Rio
and Montevido, where we robbed all worth robbing,
and murdered all who resisted us.
" There is many a whitened skeleton bleaching by
that roadside now, on the same spot where it fell by
my murderous hand; and the traveller, as he rides