The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-02 00:00:00

EXECUTION AT YORK.

YORK, SATURDAY EVENING.
Charles Noimington, who was convicted at the
recent Winter Gaol Delivery for Yorkshire, to-day
forfeited his life for murdering Mr. Broughton, at
Roundhay, in August last. The execution of the ill-
fated youth took place at noon, upon the scaffold
behind York Castle.

Immediately after the jury pronounced Nor-
mington guilty, and the learned judge had passed
sentence of death upon him, the culprit became very
much exhausted, and was unable without assist-
ance to walk from the dock across the Castle-yard,
and to the condemned cell. On arriving in this
apartment, IN ormington was greatly depressed, and
burst into tears, but said nothing at that moment.
Mr. Green, the deputy-governor, who was present,
impressed upon him the importance and necessity
of making good use of the short time allotted to
him in this world, and net to utter another lie.
Normington then said—" I will not. It was me
that did' it, and the other man stood by. It was
me that got his watch. I gave it to him (meaning
the other man), and he kept it while we got to
Leeds. I went to pawn it. I had not been in his
company before that day. We went that morning
near to Marsh-lane Railway Station, and he told
me his name was --, and that he lived near
—." Normington did not just then recollect the
name of the place, and said that " a fair is held
there, but I cannot tell the name just now. It was
about four miles from —. He was years of
age, and -- in height. We went to two or three
pawn shops, and after we had pawned it (the
watch) I gave him 3s. of the money, and kept the
other myself, and then we parted. I have not seen
him since. He pulled his (deceased's) waistcoat
open, but it was me who took his watch."
We do not mention either the name of the man
alluded to or his place of residence, lest such pub-
licity should defeat the ends of justice. With this
explanation our readers will know the reason why
the blanks are not filled up.
The morning following his conviction, Norming-
ton was visited by his mother, who during the
painful interview begged in affectionate terms of
her son to tell the whole truth. The culprit
replied, "I have—l have told Mr. Green all about
it." Mr. Green then inquired of Normington,
" Is it -- where the other man lives ?" and he
replied, " Yes, that's the place ; it is about four
miles from —." On Monday last the culprit
was visited by his father and his cousin, and
of course the interview was of a heartrending
description. Nothing, however, transpired at this
visit which requires special remark. The mother
of the culprit again saw her son on Wednesday last.
She was in great distress, and she earnestly im-
plored him to pray for the forgiveness of his sins.
He replied, " I have already done so," and then
went on to state his belief that he should obtain
pardon from God.

The culprit has more recently acknowledged that
ho was the man who murdered Mr. Broughton, in
similar terms to those he had used previously. He
partook of his meals with an appetite as good as
the rest of the prisoners, slept well at nights, and
seemed quite resigned to suffer the death that
awaited him at noon to-day.
It is worthy of observation that the culprit was
entirely devoid of education, he could neither read
nor write, and he lamentably proved in his case., at
least the truth of the remark that " Ignorance is
the parent of vise." Being desirous of addressing
his parents and other relatives, but not being able
to use the pen, several letters to them. 'were written
for him, the communications containing the senti-
ments which he wished to convey, and some parts
of the letter are couched in his own language. We
subjoin copies of two letters sent to his parents,
which were handed to our correspondent after the
execution to-day :
" My DEAR MOTIIER,—I send you these few
lines, and I sincerely hope they will find you in
good health. lam glad to tell you that lam quite
well, and my mind is quite easy ; and I assure you
that I do not fear my fate, for I put all my trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ. In him I hope to find
rest and pardon for all my sins. I hope, dear
mother, that you will not fret, but pray for me,
and believe me I have quite resigned myself, and
do not dread the hour so fast approaching. I pray
the Lord to give me strength here and pewee here-
after. I believe in His promise to pardon the
greatest sinners ; and I believe he will forgive me
and grant me the rest I pray for. T..herefore, dear
mother, do not fret for me. I can 'assure you I feel
very happy in my mind. I hope
and believe that I
shall soon be in everlasting happiness and nest; for
believe me, I fear nothing, trusting entirely in the
Lord. I hope • you will
y
-pray unto Him, and that
aP-a enjoy eternal happiness.
ou will be saved
This, dear mother, i
and it is hopeds my sincere prayer for you,
shall meet again in the kingdom
we
of heaven, where we shall be far happier than hers,
in the wo-z-ld of trouble. I think of all my friends,
and pray for you all, and hope you will do the same
for me.

" I remain, dear mother, your affectionate son,
" CIIARLES NORMINGTON."
York Castle, Dec. 28, 1839.

"Dear Father, ---I have had my mother here to
and have taken my last fare-
wgtor .very part
world. It is hard to
wellsee moef thishe r
dear parents, but it is the Providence
with you, my
will be beneficial
to you and
of God, which I hope
inm otrhnLn
all my friends,
God
o and I pray to that my fate may
be a warning to everybody, and be the means of
bringing saving knowledge of the truth as
it is Christ Jesus. Dear father, if it be God's will
that we should not meet again on earth, I hope
that we shall meet in heaven. I have one wish
to express to you, which I hope you will grant me.
I am perhaps going a little too far in dictating to
you, but I itope you will consider my last, and, I
may say, my dying wish, that is, I hope you will be
again reconciled to my mother, and I hope you will
live together again and be happy, I don't want
to hurt your feelings, nor yet to upbraid you
with anything, but I wish to say that
things might have been different if you and mother
had lived in the fear of God, but I pray that you
will begin now, when I shall have a hope of meet-
ing you again in heaven. Unless you do there will
be no hope for you. Dear father, I hope you will
take these things into consideration. You know
what a great sin you have committed by leaving
in mother and your family to the wide World in
the way you do. Dear father, I could die now con-
tent if I thought you and my mother would live
together again. I pray for you and I forgive you,
and I hope God will forgive you. I now must con-
clude, with kind love to all ; hoping to meet you all
in heaven. I must now bid you an eternal fare-
well, and may God bless you and all my friends.
"I remain your affectionate son,
" CHARLES NORMINGTON."
The culprit caused to be written two other let-
ters, one to his mother, and another to his uncle
and aunt. Norrnington exhorted his mother to pray
for him and for herself, and stated that ho was at
peace with the world, In the communication to
his uncle and aunt, he stated that " I do not despair
but the Lord will pardon me. I own Ido not de-
serve pardon, but I hope and trust in Him, and in
His mercy, ' for. He delighteth not in the death of
a sinner, but that he should turn from his wicked-
ness and live.' "
This juvenile malefactor, only 18 years of age,
since his condemnation uniformly manifested a pro-
per demeanour, and showed tokens of a religious
spirit, the whole tenor of his conduct being quite
beosining of any person placed in his awful posi-
tion. The Rev. J. C. Thompson, the chaplain of
the Castle, was unremitting in his attendance ul ou
the murderer.

This morning the culprit rose early, and WEN soon