The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-27 00:00:00

E SU N, L,ON D p 1-;,* ON DAY MOR IC NG; JANDAWY. 27, 1845.

time kin, 'arrived it Liverpool, in his Teasel, from
Calcutta
Mayner, the captain's steward, deposed,
Robert.
that on the previous night, about twelve o'clock, he
got into the prisoner's cab, at the Spread Eagle,
Gracechurch-street, and was driven to the terminus
of the London and Birmingham Railway, Euston-
square, where he alighted, and soon afterwards missed
a bundle, containing a great number of silver spoons,
forks, ladles, fish slices, &c., all of which he was about
to take down with him to Liverpool by the first train
in the morning, in order to deliver it to Capt. Cullen,
the owner, Soon after daybreak; he met the prisoner,
and asked him if he knew anything respecting the
bundle, to which he replied that he did not. He was
then given in charge.
Henry Pierard stated that he saw the cab draw up
to the railway gate, and on prosecutor alighting wit-
ness asked him if he was looking for a lodging, and
witness walked with him to Lamb's Hotel, Drum-
mond-street, taking with hiri a box, which had been
handed to him from the top of the vehicle to carry.
There was a dispute respecting the fare, and prisoner
followed the prosecutor to the hotel, leaving the cab
door open. He (prisoner) had previously put his
head into the cab to see if there was any more lug-
gage, and said there was not, to which prosecutor
made no observation whatever.
The prisoner denied the robbery, and said that if
any parcel had been left inside the cab, which he did
.not believe, it must have been taken away by some
one during the time he was absent while endeavour-
ing to get from the prosecutor his proper fare.
The prisoner was given to understand that he
would not be committed to prison if he could procure
good bail for his being forthcoming on Thursday next.
LAMBETH.
Samuel Orde, a youth of fourteen -years of age,
was finally examined upon three distinct charges of
felony, the first for stealing a sword from the Surrey
Theatre, the property of Mr. Hicks ; the second
with stealing a dress sword from the same theatre,
belonging to Mr. Saville; and the third with stealing
two swords and a silver mounted riding-whip from
the dressing-room of Mr. Roaby, of the Olympic
Theatre.
• The first and last charges were clearly substan-
tiatiated, and the prisoner, who has been before tried
and convicted of stealing a watch from the shop of
Mr. Arnold, of the Strand, was sent to Newgate for
trial.
Thos. Coote and Edward Neicbery, two fine lads, were
charged before the 'ion. Mr. Norton, by police-constable
P 151, with gambling in Surrey-square. It appeared in
evidence before the Magistrate that the poor lads had
been locked up at the station-house all night, and the
only offence of which they bad been guilty was that of
playing at " pitch and toss" with buttons.
Mr. Noterox said that really the police must be more
cautious the prisoners ought never to have been taken
into custody at all. Redirected the boys to be instantly
discharged. •

and this having been done, he stood up and cried
aloud, " Gracious God, be merciful unto me
0 Lord, into thy hands I commit my spirit
0 Saviour, blessed Jesus, receive my soul!' He
took no notice of those who surrounded him,
but ascended the ladder unassisted, and with a
firm step. Calcraft having adjusted the fatal noose,
and drawing a cap over his face, he continued to move
his hand, and pray aloud. Immediately before the
drop fell, he said, with great emphasis, to the mob,
"My dear friends, I die innocent of the crime laid to
me, that is all I wish to say to you." The drop then
fell, and the wretched man was launched into eternity
without making scarcely a perceptible struggle. The
body having been suspended an hour, it was cut down,
and was to be buried at night within the precincts of
the gaol. It was calculated that there were above
12,000 spectators ;present, a majority of whom were
females and boys.
THE CHAPLAIN'S STATEMENT.
After the last penalty of the law lead been enforced,
the chaplain was so deeply affected that he was com-
pelled to retire to his private reorn in the gaol ; but
as soon as he had recovered from tke shock his nerves
had sustained, he favoured the reporter with the fol-
lowing statement :--
"From the first moment that he (Howell) came
here, five months ago, thCre has always been a spirit
of devotion about him ; and although some points
were reserved for the judges, he prepared to meet his
fate immediately after his trial. When I informed
him, on Sunday morning last, that the judges had
decided against him, he gave himself up from that
time to constant prayer, and placed himself entirely
in the hands of his spiritual instructors, exhibiting the
most extreme penitence. This morning he took the
sacrament with the two prisoners who have been re-
spited. I do not generally administer the sacrament
—I did not to the last poor woman—but I believe
their minds were in a fit state to receive it. He ap-
peared to find great comfort in the prayers of the
Communion Service, the meaning of which I had
fully explained to him on Friday night.
" When he heard from me that Niralter's life was
to be spared, but his own doom remained unchanged,
he said, ' Thank God, for sparing my poor brother
Walter's life ;' he made no complaint of his own
sentence being carried out ; not a word of any kind
escaped his lips. On Thursday, when he parted with
his mother, he sent word to his wife and child—he
told his mother, Oh, tell my dear wife to turn
from sin and serve God, and bring up my child in
the fear of God.' Up to the time the younger Howell
received the message of mercy, he was young and
thoughtless, and I could not fix his mind upon the
awful fact that he was about to die. From the mo-
ment, however, that he was told his sentence was
respited, he has been deeply. overcome. After they
had left the chapel this morning, they came into my
reom and he threw his arms round his brother's neck
at parting, and several times kissed him ; his brother
enjoined him to repent, but his exact words I do not
know. Shipley also bade the criminal good-bye, and
shook hands with him, on which Howell emphatically
said, Oh, Shipley, turn from sin.' The Rev. Ed-
ward Harstson, the Rector of St. Stephens, and the
Rev. Mr. Reeve, of Trinity, assisted me in affording
them spiritual consolation before the respite arrived,
and we are all agreed that William Howell died in a
repentant and believing state of mind and heart. We
received a letter from the Secretary of State this
morning, ordering Shipley and Walter Howell to be
transported for life. We made very important com-
munications, the nature of which I cannot tell you,
to the Secretary of State, and I believe they led to
the commutation of their sentences. I doubt if Sir J.
Graham was influenced by the petition from the town."

THE HALMENEND MURDER.
EXECUTION OF DOWNING AND POWYS.
STAFFORD, SATURDAY AFTERNOON.—A com•
munication having been received this morning by. the
authorities, that the decision of the judges had been
against the prisoners, the Sheriffs fixed twelve o'clock
to-day for their execution. At an early hour the Rev.
Chaplain visited the unhappy men, and continued with
them up to the period when the fatal bolt was drawn.
At eleven o'clock "the wretched men received the
Holy Sacrament, and paid the most marked attention
to every part of that impressive service, making the
responses with apparently much fervour. In the
course of the morning Downing said, in reply to a
question put by the Rev. Gentleman, " I have spoke
the truth—it is a hard thing to suffer for other folks'
deeds ; and the lad and me is as free as the Bible of
this." He afterwards said, in the course of conversa-
tion, " If we suffer, we shall suffer wrongful ; we
could na' help *hat "folks said ageri us, or the jury
bringing us guilty ; but we are as innocent as a child
unborn ; ' and Powys, in reply to the Rev. Gentleman,
said, " I am innocent of it,"
After the unhappy men were pinioned, the chaplain
asked them whether either of them had any request
to make with. respect to their relatives? They both
desired him to inform their friends that they hoped
they would prepare to meet them in Heaven, and
that they would lead a good life ; that they were
going out of the world 'innocent, and were not afraid
to die. Precisely at twelve o'clock the tolling of the
prison bell announced that the melancholy procession
was moiing towards. the place of execution.
The culprits, who had undergone no apparent alte-
ratio since their trial, walked with a firm and un-
faltering step. On reaching the lodge, Powys who
saw Mr. Superintendent Bergen, requested him to
shake hands with hith, and said, emphatically, " God
bless you! It's hard to die innocent ; but I can for-
give. you." Downing ascended the drop with a hasty
step, and placed himself immediately under the fatal
beam, and whilst the executioner was adjusting the
rope, he said—" Gentlemen, here is two chaps going
to be murdered. We are going to die as innocent as
It child unborn. We are free from it." Powys then
ascended the scaffold, and whilst the executioner was
putting the rope round his neck, he said to him, " I
want to say something; don't put the rope so tight—l
can't breathe." The chaplain then shook hands with
Downing, and exhorted him, in the most solemn
manner, to tell the whole truth, as he was about to
leave the world ; to which Downing replied, " I am
not guilty ; lam as innocent as a child unborn. The
Lord in Heaven knows we are, and we shall be with
him in a very short time." The chaplain having also
shaken hands with Powys, and repeated the ex-
hortation, Powys said, " We are going to die
for a thing we know nothing about, and I hope the
Lord in Heaven will protect us." He added, "We
are going to suffer for that which we are innocent of ;"
to which Downing rejoined, " Yes, and it will be
known before twelve months who is the guilty person,
and they will be no better off than we are." Powys
said, " We have had our lives sworn away ; but I can
forgive." Downing further said, "I hope it will come
out, and that the country will know that we are in-
nocent, and our friends will be cleared of it. The
Lord knows that we are going to suffer fer a thing
that we never did." He also said he was going to die
for injuring a man he never injured in his life, and
the man never injured him. After the caps had been
drawn over their faces, and whilst the chaplain was
proceeding with the burial service, both the criminals
praying aloud, apparently with great fervour, that
their souls mi}.,ht be saved. Whilst they were engaged
in prayer the drop fell, and the world closed upon
them for ever. Downing ceased at once to live, but
Powys was greatly convulsed, and struggled for
several minutes.

•
CHARGE OF MURDER.
On Friday evening, a few minutes before five, and
when Mr. Norton was about, to leave the bench,
Thomas Jones, a middle-aged man, and a jobbing
carpenter, was brought before him at Lambeth Police-
court, in custody of Mr. Brooke, beadle and assistant
relieving officer of St. Mary, Newington, and two
constables of the P division of police.
Brooke, the beadle, said that being informed by the
medical gentleman who attended Margaret, the wife
of the prisoner, that she had died from the effects of
injuries which had been inflicted on her, he felt it to
be. his duty to give him into custody.
The first witness called was Mary Daily, who deposed
that she resided for some time past in the same house
with the prisoner and his wife, in Pott's•court, New
Kent•road. They were both much addicted to drink,
and used frequently to quarrel. On Saturday night
last they both returned home much the worse for
liquor. After she (witness) was gone to bed she
heard them abuse each other very much, and both
made use of the most dreadful and filthy language.
Soon after she heard deceased fling something at the
prisoner, when the latter exclaimed, " Oh, that's what
you are after, is it ?" and then struck her a violent
blow. The deceased cried out murder s:iveral times,
and left the room. Witness got up, and finding the
wife sitting in the passage, she persuaded her to go
back to her room. On the following morning she
saw the deceased again, and she then complained of
being violently struck in the eye, and one of her eyes
was frightfully swollen and black. Her husband sent
for two leeches, and applied them to his wife's eye,
and nothing particular occurred on the Sunday be-
tween the parties, but the wife lost a considerable
quantity of blood by the application of the leeches.
She (witness) saw the prisoner's wife in bed on
Monday, about eleven o'clock, when she complained
of the ill-usage of her husband, but said she hoped
she would be able to go to her work on the following
day. On Monday night she (witness) went again to
see Mrs. Jones, and the prisoner on seeing her said
his wife was in a very bad state. On approaching the
bed, she saw Mrs. Jones huddled up like a heap of
rags, and upon asking her how she was, she faintly
replied that she was very bid. She was subsequently
attended by Mr. Budy, the parish surgeon, and a
gentleman belonging to the dispensary, and died on
that morning, about five o'clock. In reply to the
questions of the Magistrate, the witness said she had
heard that the prisoner and the deceased had some dif-
ference on the Monday afternoon, hut she was not
aware of the fact of her own knowledge. The de-
ceased used to work with her (witness) at a laun-
dress's, and was the principal support of the prisoner,
who was seldom in work, and who was always getting
drunk on his wife's hard earnings.
Two other witnesses fully corroborated the evidence
of Mrs. Daly, and one of them added, that the pri-
soner on one occasion stood over his wife, who was in
bed at the time, with an open razor in his hand, and

threatened to cut her throat.
Brooke, the beadle, in reply to Mr. Norton, said
that he had apprised the Coroner of the district of the
death of the deceased, but he did not think the inquest
could be holden before Monday, before which time a
post mortem examination of the body would be made.
Mr. Norton, addressing the prisoner, told him that
the charge against him was one of a serious character,
and that he, therefore, felt it to be his duty to caution
him, that any thing he might say would be taken
down, and might be used against him at another
place ; but if he had anything to say to the charge now
was the time.
The prisoner said he was not all aware of what
took place on Saturday night until Sunday morning,
when he found her eye very black, and he sent for
leeches to relieve it, and could only say he was sorry
for what had happened.
He was remanded for a week, to girt, time for the
Coroner's inquest.

EXECUTION :,OF WM. HOWELL.
IrswiuN, SATURDAY AFTERNOON.—This wretched
man expiated his offence on the scaffold in front of
Ipswich gaol at twelve o'clock. His two companions
in crime—Walter Howell, his brother, and Israel
Shipley—were respited on Friday.
The Rev. Mr. Page has been most unremitting in
his attention to the condemned criminali, all of whom
have conducted themselves in an exemplary man-
ner. When the elder Howell (William) entered the
gaol, about five months since,.he was not able to read
or write, nor did he know a syllable of the Lord's
Prayer ; but, by the excellent regulations, of the prison,
he had made himself a tolerable
,plain scholar by a
Close application to the books that were fiirnished him
by. the visiting justices and the chaplain.
On Friday he saw his mother ,and sister, in the
presence of the Governor and another officer, and the
scene was a very distressing one. The prisoner
throughout his confinement has protested his inno-
cence, and on' Thursday night he slapped Turner,
one of the turnkeys, on the shoulder, and remarked,
" I know I deserve to die for the many offences I
'have committed, but I declare to God I, never steeped
my hands in human blood." Soon after he observed,
" There is a man in this prison who. could save my
life if he liked." This was in reference to a smuggler
lately apprehended, and to whom all the condemned
criminals addressed'a letter, which they entrusted to
the Rev. Chaplain to deliver. On another occasion
he observed, " That man ought to pray to his God to-
morrow at twelve, when I am on the scaffold."
On Friday night, after the chaplain left the prison,
the culprit offered up a sincere prayer, and then sank
down from exhaustion in his bed.
From an early hour thousands began to assemble
in the vicinity of the prison, 'and the all-absorbing
topic was whether all the culprits were to die,-for it
was not generally known in the town that any re-
spites had arrived.
At nine o'clock the Rev. F. rage entered the gaol,
and directly proceeded to the prisoner's cells • 'laving
remained about an hour with the culprit, he next
proceeded to the chapel' to prayers. The prisoner
joined in the devotional service, with great earnest-
ness, and at the conclusion partook of the sacrament.
His brother, 'Walter Howell, and Shipley, likewise
partook of the sacrament, and betrayed great emotion
and penitence.
The prayers having been ended, the two Howells
and Shipley, accompanied by ;the Rev. Mr, Page,
went into the Rev. Gentleman s room, which is ad-
joining the Governer's house, at the western end of
the convicts' yard. Here it was that they took their
final leave, and a most distressing scene ensued.
From eleven• o'clock the bell of. St. Margaret's
Church tolled at intervals, up to twelve o'clock, a
solemn death-knell for the criminal. Aout the
latter hour the awful proceesion was discovered
emerging out of the door• way of the governor's
house, and wending its slow progress to the gate-
keeper's lodge, in front of which the gallows was
erected.
On entering the lodge the prisoner knelt down in
the centre, before a stool, and the chaplain continued
reading prayers. The culprit three times ejaculated,
with his hands upraised and clasped together, in a
firm but agoriised tone, " Gracious Lord, look down
upon me • Lord help me ; Lord have mercy upon me !"
Calcrah pinioned his arms while he was kneeling,

THE FATAL ACCIDENT AT ASTLET'S AMPIII-
TBEATBE.--:On Friday Mr. Carter held an inquest at the
Windmill, High-street, Lambeth, on the body of Wil-
liam Blake, aged fifty-eight, a pensioner, and supernu-
merary at the above theatre. Particulars of this case
appeared in The Sun of Thursday. Mr. Barry, the
Clown at Astley's, and the alleged cause of the accident,
was present. Three witnesses, named Doigt, Haling,
and Brown, supernumeraries at Astley's, gave evidence
which completely exculpated Mr. Barry. They all
stated that or. Monday night they were engaged in the
pantomime of Johnny Gilpin, and in the first comic
scene they had to fall over a cord, extending at the
height of about a foot across the stage. One end of the
cord or rope was fastened to a back scene, and Mr.
Barry held the other end. The witnesses and deceased
fell over the cord at the same time, and they stated posi-
tively that Mr. Barry did not elevate it higher than
usual. Charlotte Blake, deceased's widow, said lie was
brought home from the theatre, about midnight on Mon-
day, looking like a corpse, and in great agony of pain.
He said he had received a severe fall. He told her Mr.
Barry had done for him; this was said soon after he was
brought home. Aftenvards he said, " Mr. Barry pulled
the rope suddenly. and pulled my legs from under me."
He told me, on Friday morning last, that he had re-
ceived an injury across the legs, and that Mr. Barry also
did it. I looked at one of his legs, and saw that the skin
was stripped off. My husband had a double rupture for
the last five years. Mr. Jeffrer, a surgeon, of Paradise-
street, who attended deceased, said that the latter told
him he had received a fall, which was caused " spitefully"
by Mr. Barry. Deceased died on Wednesday, but wit-
ness could not tell the cause of death unless he examined
the body internally. Inquiry adjourned to three o'clock
this day, for the purpose of making a post mortem
examination.
EXPEDITIOUS BRIDGE BUILDING.—Mr. Dredge
has just erected a bridge over the Blackwater river,
county Tyrone, Ireland. This bridge has been in con-
templation nearly 40 years, the only obstacle being the
immense expense of any structure on the old system, and
probably for 40 or 100 years more the county would
have been deprived of the advantage now conferred, but
for Mr. Dredge's estimates, and his highly approved
plan. Mr. Dredge has not added much to the long
delay, by any dilatory process of construction ; when
the iron was on the ground he astonished the public
with the rapidity of the work, the bridge being extended
and completed in one week. The bridge is 74 feet span,
and for the heaviest traffic. It was erected at the cost of
the Earl of Caledon.— Wiltshire Ledependent.
STABBING ON Tin Ilicu SEits.--Captain Lance-
lot Reed, who, it will be recollected, was stabbed by
Samuel Brown, on the high seas, a few months ago, is
-now recovered, and, together with the witnesses, will
remain in this town until the trial—Liverpool Mercury.