The Sun.
London, England, 1866-08-08 00:00:00

course the prisoner with it. unhappily, hovie
ever, through some bungling of the executioner, the
halter had not been properly secured to the bean.'''
and the wretched man consequently did not reirtapa
suspended in mid air, but fell to the ground, aullf
thrill of horror from the spectators. He was taken
up again, the work of fastening the rope was P;,
formed a second time, and he was thus compel",
twice to taste the bitterness of death—the crov.a_
meanwhile hooting and crying shame at the clum
ness of the official. The opponents of eaPt`..
punishment will doubtless endeavour to create a
little capital in support of their favourite crotchet
.
out of this untoward and unfortunate occurrencf;
We must, however, protest against any attemyt,ul
this kind to make the abrogation of a partial
punishment dependent upon an occasional
fad „
incaution or inexpertness on the part of the
tionary by whose hands it is inflicted. Sincerely
as
we should deprecate the repetition of such scenes 't
that which took place at Stafford, we regard it, llo„
as an argument for abolishing capital pucislnew:
altogether, but for taking care that some more
petent person than the Dudley cattle dealer, viu_v
officiated yesterday,shall be employed to inflict them'
We must not allow our sympathy for Collier.s
advertently augmented sufferings to warp our Plle
ment as to the great and peculiar atrocity of t 25
crime which he committed. Ile had been for, d
years a neighbour of his victim's father, and,
known the unfortunate deceased from his inl3,ll.'aid
upwards. His poaching propensities had brought "A 0
under suspicion, and on the 4th of July last
young squire" went out to watch his father's coverj's
While thus engaged he met his death at Collier
hands, under circumstances which show the crime
,
to have been of the deepest dye. Hot 1031.1 T,
hasty blows, aye, even sudden shots, may be e'e,
changed between watchers who have been unexPe 3
tedly successful in attaining the object of nianliie
i
weary vigil, and poachers suddenly detected n.tR
pursuit of their dishonest and lawless occupane,;ll,
No one, not even the most rabid game-abc'e
tionist, can justify their resort to violence, but so°,
slight extenuation may perhaps be allowed on acco.un'
of excited feeling and anxiety to escape, if possill
from apprehended punishment. But the crime Whle
Collier committed was far more deliberate and das:
tardly. An examination of young Mr. Smith's Wu.:
showed that he must have been brought down by,"
couple of shots which pierced his hat, and gruel
without piercing, the bone at the back of his heath
An ordinary poacher would have been content win
this, and would have hurried away from the spot'
quickly as guilt and fear could have carried hl e
But Collier's purpose was more fell and his reveog
more deadly. While his victim lay before him'
stunned, bleeding, and helpless, he appears to
attacked him mercilessly with the butt end of his gll/1
battering the head like an anvil until his weapon was
shattered to pieces, and the victim's skull was COnold
pletely beaten in. The prisoner had borne a g°„ied
character, and the jury on that account recommend
him to mercy ; but the judge very properly deli° 3
to give effect to the recommendation on behalf of a
man against whom an act of such atrocious. a).,
almost incredible savagery had been so conclusive-,v.,
established. The bungling at the execution is, ho fer
ever, calculated to make us regret that among°l,
delays and disappointments, the late Ministrys 40
advised conduct of their reforming campaign 'he
involved the postponement of an alteration of t
law by which capital punishments are regulated•
Policemen, as we have had abundant evidence cll.,
mg the last fortnight, are never popular with
mob; gaolers, we are assured, are still more thoroug" 1,
disliked; while, by the mass of spectators at an e3%eb
cution, the person of the executioner is regarded r„,,
undisguised hostility. The knowledge that this is
must of necessity have its influence upon the hardese
nerves. Calcraft himself has been known on `l.lllOl
occasions to tremble and become agitated at the critic t
moment; and if the masterin the art of hangingisne i 0
proof against such feelings his provincial disciple t
not very likely to es-mpe them. Hence —happill, „a 0
distant intervals—we have to chronicle scenes 01,1
unusually distressing character when the noose is bal
constructed, when the rope breaks, or, as it hapPelit
yesterday, it was insecurely fastened to the beam•
if executions took place within prison walls ted
element of disturbance would not be present. The„r,
would be no howlings and hootings to distract atte"„
tion, no nervous anxiety to hurry over the rieFe.;
sary preliminaries, no shock to public sensibility
from misadventures which no one has so much reas°,
to regret as those whose deliberate convictions 0n,1P.,
pel them to believe that society cannot entirely nl'„
pease with the death penalty consistent with its oWt;
safety.. The objections urged against private esec.o
tons would not apply to punishments inflicted Is
the same building and before the same officers al,
are. charged with the carrying out of severe thou:co
minor
.sentences ; nor would the suspicion of possl,b,3
impunity attach when proper precautions were tai‘',o
for satisfying the public mind that the prisoner 3
doom was not a whit the less certain because it 10,
performed within prison walls, and not in the co„nllid
try market-place or the area in front of the v„,O
Bailey. The dangerous classes would of coat
lose a spectacle on which they are wont to look wily
an amount of gratification which it is hard to undo
stand or excuse, and the pickpockets would haul
one the less opportunity for exercising their sitto
and ingenuity. But the decency and dignity wI,,A
which every process of law should be conducted
would be greatly increased, while the exhibition oil
a black flag and the tolling of the passing bet,.
would give a solemn notification to the world ono
side the walls of the dread duty which the reserver
of peace were discharging within. We trust, thq-,
fore, that early next session the bill for effectual,
this much desired alteration may be again into
duced, and that the discussions of the last few Wrto
and the occurrence of yesterday may alike ton'li,
Boothits passage through Parliament, and to fat
tate its progress towards a permanent place aul°—
our statutes.