The Sun.
London, England, 1810-09-06 00:00:00

iREL;iYD.

EXECUTION.
'On Friday the 24 lb ult. the dreadful sentelice oft' e
the law'was- Pot in execution upon fohn'Cherry and
Charles Under pock fur the murder of John M'clure.
The prisoners ivre escoi ted by a strong guard of se-
'vend corps of yeernatiry; and a detachment of the
Derry militia, &gilt Carricfergus, which they lcit

'al five o'clock A. M. to :the townlaild of Pru-cliss,

in the
.parish of Drumatil,i the scene of the hoirld
crime, which is hithekto unparalleled in the annals
of this country..
• On' arriving at' Antrim, Underwood was per-
mittedito haVe an interview with his vrife, which
was extremely greeting. This young man, who had
scarcely attained hiS ist year, .was married oily
One week previous to his apprehension, and not a

month before the termination 'of his lite.

Johii

Cherry was attended .by' three of hii sons: Upon
reaching Randalstown, the party halted for above
half an hour, when the prisoners being brought into
the Coart-house, and Underwood introduced into
inner apartment, he there, in', the pirisence of Mr.
Aiken, the Magistrate, De. Henry, and one or two
others, made- a full and ample conf:ssion of his gull!:

•
'While Underwood was in one apartment, the old
man. was in another; Where he was exhorted in the

most earnest maniler by the Rev. Mr. Pratt, Vicar
of the parish; and by Mr. Fulton, 'ttie•Sub-Sheriff;
t'o aCknOwledge the justice of. his sentience, aud to
F9Otes his guilt ;, but sheltering -himself uncle: .the

,
Casuistry, that' " not baying struck a blow, be was
not criminal," be
,persisted. in continuing deaf to

every argument, siding wish his legs. across-, 'arid
taking snuff in gnantitis, ti ith the most' hardened

composure:

On the arrival at the fat 1 tr:e, the Rev. Dr.
Fleury off2rcd, up an energt'lle.praier, to,;:chich the
youth paid ihe utniost 'attention,• but the aged cll-
.

. , .
urinal' seemed stupidly dOrate. iintnediately.af-
ttrWardi, Lrinfer‘u,;cl stood upright in the ear, .a:id

with Cal n iii.,nness addressed ti,e multitude m neJrly

these words :

" You.see me here, my friends, brought to this
shameful end in the fiower of my youth. I beg of
you, for the, love of God, and if you would wish to
e,cape my fate, to avoid badcornpany of all sorts,
,part
cularly shun cock-fighting, drinking, and swearing ;,
and.above all things, pay, attention to the Sabbath-s
day, and never omit attending meeting, and hearing,
the word of God :-L-Torthe love of God, mind what
I say. I deserve to die, for I guilty; but it is a
consolation to' me that I did. not rise my hand ; buy
I
might have saved the man. I take it upon my death,
that it was my uncle, John Underwood, who struc4
MiClure on the head, and -Robert Courtnay who
stabbed him with a bayonet : it was this unfortunate
old man who closed 'it all=—Galway was as bad ;
what he swore was partly true, and partly false--he
did not offer his daughter in marriage."
Then turning to Cherry, he adddressed him in
the most earnest and pathetic manner, nearly as
follows :

"And now, John Cherry, for the love of God
and your own soul, confess your guilt !" Here the
hardened old man looked up most impudently, in,
terrupting him, as if offended, and muttering, "What
wOuld•xou have me to say'?"--7" You have been a
very W it:lied old man, apd. have been the means Of
bringing me here. My God when so young a crea-•
ture as.l, am•so cast, down with the weight of my
*sins, what must be your case, and you so old ; for
you know yoU always bore a bad charaCter.—Vor
my part I am now light, and am rejoiced I am go-
ing to die ; for having begun so young, my sins
would have been. increased, if I had not been cut
offr The devil had got hold of me:;—Come ! begin,
for God's sake, and state all your sins from the first.
May God foraive you ! I do and every one.
A shroud, etc. being produced, Underwood, with
the.greateit fortitude and deliberation divested bin
sell of Lis clothes,. even including his shirt ; and hav-
ing put on the shroud, distributed his clothes amongst'
his triends,..and then said, he sloped what he had
said before, was heard by every one.—" I spoke as
loud as I could," said he, " and I hope j..ou re-
member it ;"n and whilst the dreadful preparation

was: making, he continued his address, 4eating
and enforcing nearly the same sentiments. At length,
on the car being driven away, the unfortunate men
came to the ground, every thing having been incl.-
fedually done by the miserable executioner..
Above twenty minutes elapsed iri.re-adjusting the
ropes, during which time Underwood stood_ steady,
and being told that he had a feW moments- longer,
he replied, " God is still 'good to me, and I have
always been ungrateful," and then employed his
time in exhorting the crowd but Cherry only mut--
tered as before: and while every heart throbbed for
Underwood, not a feeling of pity was excited for
the hoary 'villain, neither did lut seen' to-feel for
himself. The scene at last closed.
Underwood was a fine ereEt youth of about six
feet high, light hair and complexion, hing visagf:,
and had a very sensible, and rather a gond cour.i'ke-
nance. Cherry was a set old man;abont five I ,4et
seven incheS high, with a weather-beaten cour
nance, expressive of low cunntag and assurance— -he.
could neither reAl nor write.

While .Underwood was dictating what WaS r vrit-
ten &WU ar Randiestown, he exclaimed with grcat.
feeling, "Oh ! that Almighty • God would st )fire
the 4eai t of that old man. He has had conch e xpe-
perience,. and lam but a young man, and have
been led away." . .
It was noticed, that:when Underwood was e 3 abort-
ing Cherry to confess his crimes, though bit ; 'sons
were near him at the time, none of thenijoh Jed in.
that request, but preserved an expressive oce.—
It is asserted that glem has left seven freel4 Id 'pro-
perties worth-from eight to ten thousand you nds.
When. at the •place of execution, Und. !I-wood
asked for several of his acquaintances, al id they
Were called for among the crowd' and told that the
orphan wanted thesis. Many. went forward
• He shook band's with, them, and bade tbent‘ 'farewell.
Previously_ to being tied up the second tin , tie held
up his fight hand, and declared that Ise ;ley erstruck
M'Clu e. •
The bodies were suspended about tbirk) --five mi-

.)? Wit tit-1M
AK) AIGiAt SCRIPPS , South Moltou.street, Grosvenor xi:IIIAM.
for the Paper, Letters For the Edgar postlaia), must be addressed.