The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-08 00:00:00

- THE VST,F, .00A-Cll—Roisp,E-Ry, - ..XECITTION of JOHN LAwrir.iNcE
,
OXFORD, -APRIL:6.-s--- RiChard Elliott,. Who' -de, .;.: ,' FOR •MURDErS, 'AT HORSHAM. '
scribed himself aS.a cigar.reerchent, residing in Bell- ' , The setitenCe•Of execution passed upon Lawrence..
street, Paddingtone and, who
.has. been in custody, at the late Lewes Assizes for the murder of Mr.
eince the night of Monday, the:lBth of last tnontlion Solomon, the chief officer of Brighton, was on &tuts
a airge•of being Concerned, with two others, not yet , day morning carried into
_effect, at the usual place of
in custody, in robbing the Defiance Oxford: eoaeh- of-I execution on the top of the county gaol. From the
T;500 sovereigns, was, for the-first
. time, publicly exa-, .4 character: of the Offence, and the circumstances under
mined in. the houSe of the Governor of -the prison, by 1 which it. Was committed, therewas not the slightest •
~, ~
Dr..lllariham and Captein Shepperd. - ' --- • chance of any remission of the sentence, and from the.
The prieoner, who is a:sharp-visaged Man, oro-i-
-,athtime of his conviction the wretched culprit evidently
fair complexion, and'about thirty years, of age, .as prepared for the fate which awaited hiM; and ste-
smartly. dreseed, . and is evidently a sharp and active i peered anxious to make all the atonement in his power
fellow. . ~ by a sincere repetstance.
Previous to the examination being entered on, Mr. Although the prisoner admitted' the justice of his
Ballantine, who appeared for the prisoner, applied to esentence, yet, up to the very last moment, he persisted
the Magistrate, and requested that some friends • of I in declaring,that he was not actuated by any tnalk
the accused, who had come from London, and who ciorts feeling towards the unfortunate deceased, but
1
were very anxious to hear the nature of the eharge he says that, at the moment, a sudden and uncontrol-
against the prisoner, as they had: been kept in the table impulse impel!ed him to seize the poker and give
dark about it, should Isepreaent. - It was also but fair the deadly blow, and he said that, if he had eonsi-
to inform the Magistrates that he, Mr. Ballantine; dered but one moment, lie should not have committed
also intended calling some of those as, witnesses to :the a•ct.• He has all along declared that be could hot
speak to the character of the prisoner, to show who tell -what possessed him at the moment, but the
and what he was. - thought to kill the deceased suddenly came across his
- Dr. MARSUAM replied, that at present he did not mind, and he- could not resist it. The Rev. Mr.
'see the necessity of calling witnesses as to character, C Allen, the chaplain of the gaol, who has been con-
es the question before the court was one of fact. He stantly with the prisoner since he has been at Hors-- ---
refused the application : but said he had no :Ob.** hams:repeatedly:asked him whether he was actuated
tion to the depositions taken at the former examine- •by any feeling of malice toward the deceased, and
tionatif the prisoner being read over, and it would be the culprit in the most solemn mattoer always mad©
then-open to him, Mr. Ballantine,: to make such oh- the same statement relative to the melancholy trans-
servations on 'the case as he might think proper. action, and also said that at the time he struck the
The deposition of Mr. Robert Hair; 'clerk in the blow, he could hardly tell whether, it was aimed et
banking-house of 'Messrs. COutts and 'Coe Strend Solomon or any other person. •
(who_ was .not present), was the first read. It was to The pri-•oner, although only 24 years old, appears
the effect that the witness, from instructions he had, to have passed his life in one long career of vice and
received, on Monday, the 18th of last month, counted crime.' Although or respectable connections at Tun-
out 1,00 sovereigns; and, after weighing them, put bridge Wells, at.an early age he was in the habit of
them intoo-a bag and delivered them to Robert Quint, frequenting beer-shops, where he became acquainted
a porter employed in' thebanks • ' * with the mast depraved characters. lie then went to
'rhe deposition of Quint, the person alltided work upon the Brighton Railway, and the scenes of
to by the lasi witness, was to the effect, that after re vice and profligacy _which he there witnessed cons •
ceiving the sovereigns from' Mr. Hair, he, put them pleted his ruin. After this he went home to his
intes a small box, which he deposited in a blue bag, parents ; and being intrusted with a cheque for 25/.
secured at the mouth with astring.: He then got. into he appropriated the proceeds to his own use, and set
a cab, and drove to the GloucestereCoffee-house, Ox- off to Brighton, accompanied by a young women, with
ford-street, to deliver it to Hobson, the driver of the whom he had cohabited ; and the money being.soon
Defiance Oxford coach. When he arrived •at the spent he was reduced to distress, and then coin-
Gloucester Coffee-house, the coach had not got up, but mitted the offence of stealing the carpet, which evens
after remaining -a few minutes in the passage, it ar- tually led-to the murder of the unfortunate deceased,
rived, when 'he delivered the bag to,Hobson, and saw. - end the forfeiture of his on n life. The wretched man -
him put it into_ the front boot. - The time he had to stated that for three days before he stole the carpet he
wait for the coach was about five minutes, and all this. had been continually drunk, and that when he .com•
time the bag lay
.by his side in the passage. ' mitted that offence lie did not know what he was
Joseph Hobson, who was in attendance, was here about. .. .
called, and being sworn, his deposition eaken on the The prisoner's mother, it appears, is married to a
29th of Mareh was read over to him. He deposed second husband. He has written to her, and received
that.-he was coachman of. the Defiance Oxford coach, answers several times since.his condemnation, but she
which travels' between that. place and London. On was in such a state of mind as to render her quite
Monday, the 18th of last month, at about-ten o'clock unable .to support the trial of parting with her
in the morning, be 'called at the banking-house of wretched son. .The prisoner's uncle and a younger
Messrs. Coutts and Co., Strand, and signed a receipt brother went to the gaol on Friday evening; but, at •
for 1,5001. sovereigns. He subsequently returned to the request of-the prisoner, the parting with them was
the Belle Sauvage, on Ludgate-hill, and left there deferred until the following morning. The conduct
with his coach at twelve o'clock, when he had one of this brother during the time he has been in the
lady on the front seat. He then proceeded to the town has created an universal feeling of disgust.
Bell and Crown, Holborn, where he took up. Ever since he has been in the town he has been
another lady, who also got upon the - front almost continually drunk, and on the Thursday
seat. He next drove to the Regent-circus, where night before the execution of' his wretched relative he
he took up a lad and a man, both of whom sat on vest the evening at a beer-shop, where fiddling and
the front with the two ladies. He then proceeded to dancing was going on. In answer to an observation
the Gloucester Coffee-house, where he saw Quint, the made by Mr. Loader, the governor of the gaol, as to
porter at Messrs. Coutts's, who gave him a blue bag, , whether he intended to see his brother executed, he
and this he placed in the off side of the front seat , replied that he certainly should do so.
amongst other things, but put it near the bottom. Very shortly after the culprit's condemnation hit
He then took up a man (who took the box seat), fortitulle returned ts him, and he expressed en
who saw him 'place the bag in the boot. This ' anxious and apparently sincere desire to atone fcr his
man was stout, about 5 feet 9 in. in. height, and wore past crimes by a full and *sincere repentance, awl on
an old-fashioned blue. great coat, and had no luggage. Friday he expressed a strong wish to receive the Holy
Before reaching .Knightsbridge the man on the box - Sacrament.- The chaplain at first rather dissuaded
told him a Person - wanted to go with him, when him from so doing, but at length, believing him to be
Elliott, the prisoner, came out •of a gin-shop, got sincere and truly penitent., he acceded to the pri-
up on the dickey, and said he- was going to Benson. soner's desire. It was after this that the prisoner `a -
At Hemmersmith he took up another man, who got uncle and brother called, but the culprit not being •
on the back part of
,the coach, and a woman, and at l then in a state. of mind to receive them, requested,
Cranford-bridge he:took up another gentleman. At through the governor, that they.should not disturb
Cranford-bridge he' saw - the big- in the boot safe, him at that moment, but come to him in the morn-
end he did: not think that anything was taken out of ing. The brother at first said he should not come
the boot till he reached Benson. He changed horses, any more'to see him, and it was only at the earnest
first at Hounslow, next at Longford, then at Salt-hill, request of Mr. Loader that he at length consented to
when a lady got down; next at Ealy Bottom, then at accompany his uncle in the morning.
Henley Bottom, and next at Benson. Here Mr. When not engaged with the chaplain, the culprit
Shrub, whom he had taken up at Cranford-bridge, has almost incessantly occupied himself in writing,
and the prisoner 'Elliott, got off. The former had a and he has sent letters to nearly all his old abandoned
carpet bag, which, was given to his boy, and witness associates earnestly entreating them to avoid their
went into the Crown Inn, where he stopped to receive present course of life, and to refrain from the conduct
the prisoner's fare. He gave him change for a sovereign, that lead to his destruction. The culprit had his sup-
and he pressed witness to have a glass of ale, which he , per at the usual hour on Friday night, and went to
(witness) took. Before this a lady got out at Salt- I bed about ten o'clock, and slept soundly until the next
hill, and a passenger at Henley Bottom. When he morning at seven o'clock, soon after which hour the
reached the Crown Inn, Benson, it was a quarter to chaplain was in attendance upon him. Mr. France,
seven o'clock, and he on that occasion, as well as other the under-sheriff of the county of Sussex, had arrived
Places at which he had changed horses, left, the box. on Friday evening, and, as a great crowd was ex-
On arriving at the Old Bank. at Oxford, he looked, pected, by his directione'barriers were erezted, in order •
for the bag delivered to him by the porter of Messrs. to prevent accidents from the .pressure of the people.
Coutts and Co., but could not find it. He then drove Saturday morning the prisoner's uncle and his
to the Vine Inn, in the High-street, where the coach brother .came to take their last leave of him in this
finally- stopped, and then again looked for, it, . but world. The culprit here the scene with great firm-
found it was gone. -He then, asked the passenger ness, and he appeared more concerned- on account of
who sat on the box with him and the others, if they his brother than for himself, and he entreated him in
saw any person take it, and they all said they did not. the most solemn manner to alter his course of life,
In his cross-examination by Mr. Ballantine, the and avoid the miserable condition to %bids he had re-
witness . laid that the man whom he described as duced himself by his misconduct. The brother ap-
riding with him on the box, and who had observed peered very much affected, and he promised to retina
him 'receive the box and put it in the boot, was en- his evil way of life and go home with Lis uncle, who,
tered as a " gent." on the way-bill. He did not at the dying request of the culprit, promised to provide
know what -became of him, nor had he seen him for him. From this time the culprit prepared himself
since. ' He knew. all the females that were with him for the fatal moment, and he repeatedly expressed his
as passengers but one, and he believed they were all desire that 'it had arrived, as he said he was quite-
respectable persons. At Benson he was ,away from i ready to die, and he trusted he should be forgiven his
his coach about five minutes, and was also off his box girlie
at the five, other places he had previously changed The officers of the sheriff arrived at the gaol soon
horses at; as well as at Knightsbridge, when he took the I after eleven o'clock, -and about a quarter to twelve
prisoner up. He did not see the prisoner take any- time culprit was pinioned, and he was shortly after-
thing away, from the coach at Benson. - wards led along the 'passage of the gaol to the drop
Mr. Ballantine here remarked on the extreme which was erected upen the temporary platform made
singularity of the witness giving a receipt for the for that purpose. He walked with a firm step, and
1,500 Sovereigns at the-banking: house of the Messrs. mounted the ladder leading to the scaffold without
Coutts' two hours before he received them. any assistance, and-then gaged calmly round among
The other witnesses examined were 11 Bikini Chap- the crowd. The Rev. Mr. Allen asked the miserable
man, a servant in , the -emloy of Mr.. Shrub, R. man whether he had anything he wished to say, and
Carr, horsekeeper at the (.sown Inn, Benson, Mi• he replied that lie had not, and at the same time again
Carter, landlord of the same inn, and a female ser- declared that; although he suffered justly for killing a
vant, named Pierce. • fe!low-creature, he had no enmity -against the
The prisoner was then remanded 'till a future day. deceased, and that- he was not conscious of what he
was doing when he struck him with the poker. He
then shook hands with the reverend gentleman, and
expressed, in the wannest terms, his gratitude for the
kindness he had received from him, and also from Mr.
Loader, the governor of the gaol. All the arranges
ments were now completed, and at a given signal the
drop fell, and in less than a minute the miserable
culprit had ceased to exist.
Although the crime of which LaWrence was eon-
-1 vieted created a good deal of excitement in the neighs'
bourhood, and, indeed, throughout the whole county,
where the unfortunate deceased was generally re-
-1 spected as an active and excellent officer, very few
persons; -comparatively, were present at the execution,
notwithstanding there was a great cattle fair in the
town, which, • of course, attracted a number of
strangers. Preparations had, however, been made to
, prevent accident in the event of there being so great a
concourse of people as was expected ; and Inspector
Hughes and seven men of the A division of Metro-
politan Police were engaged to superintend e
i arrangements. It is now nine years since there has
' been an execution_ in this county; and it is rather re-
markable, that the last man who was executed, for
four daring burglaries,
was brought to j stic
through the exertions of SolSolomon,the unfortunatye
ue mainl
deceased, who, no doubt, at the time, little anticipated
that the next execution would be that of his murderer.
The body, after hanging an hour, was cut down
and placed in a shell, and at ten o'clock on Saturday
night, according to the terms of the sentenee, it was
interred within the gaol.

TORT CALUNINIES.THR HAMPER= ADVERTI•
SER AND THE REPORTER.—WO were at some pains last
week to correct certain calumnies of the Tory
paper of this town, and, amongst other matters, we
were enabled from undoubted authority to expose
the mis-statements respecting Prince Albert's treat-
ment of the: reporter who had . intruded on his
privacy, which the Editor of the. Advertiser had cir-
culated on the authority of his Cowes Correspondent,
with the addition of some characteristic flourishes of
his own. In spite of our expoeure, and of our state-
ment of what really 'took place, and in spite of the
disclairder *of the reporter himself---the Advertiser--
instead: of acknowledging- that he wil misled, and of
apologising for his own share in the calumnies—
endeavours to wriggle out of the disgraceful affair ;
and pretends even now, that his own account of the
matter is the correct one and avers that it is known
to be so to every one in Cowes and Portsmouth. Now
this same every one is a most convenient personage to
erect into's, general voucher on such occasions, and one
very difficult to discover or contradict- ibut in the teeth
of such high authority, we boldly assert that if every one
says that the Advertiser's account is correct, every one
knows nothing at all about it. It is not true that
the reporter was treated with " cruel severity " by order
of the Prince, "as Princes do in Germany.' It is not.
true that "he was towed through the surf in a. small
boat at the stern of the steamer against a biting
north-east wind:" It is not true that "he was landed
by our brave tars in a delightful frolicsome spirit, four
or five miles up the harbour of Portsmouth in -the
mud, to find his way as well as he was able." He was,
on the contrary, treated with kindness by the Prince's
order, and brought to Portsmouth in the steamer, and
to London. in the special train which conveyed the SOTERND.—Cousiderable progress has been made
royal party. This we repeat from authority on which in extending the pier at this fpleeseut watering place to
the lighthouse. When completed it will afford a noble
we can rely, 'against which the Hampshire Advertiser
enlists that common report, which is proverbially promenade for visitors.—Esees Standard.
called a common liar, and his own unblushing
f Ins
th.e Dom', APRIL s.—The depot of the 95th, now
pudence of. assertion. Now these calumnies
stationed at the Heights Barracks here, will be inspected
Advertiser' are not only untrue, but they arc malicio_us
on Thursday next, the 11th inst., by his lloyol Highness
and mischievous, and by no means calculated to make
Prince Albert enamoured of the district, through I..'ridec:As.lb.ejrt and the Adjutant-General of her Majesty's
which they are so industriously circulated. His Royal tore ohn Macdonald, K.C.B. Orders have been
Highness, however, knows enough of the gentlemen received at this garrison for the depots of the 77th and
connected with the public press not to take this reporter 25th regiments to be held in readiness to march to
as a fair specimen of his class—and we sholild be very Gravesend, early in the ensuing month, for embarkation
sorry indeed were he to judge of other members of the for Ireland—the former depot for Cork, and the latter
FOurth Estate from the specimen exhibited by the for Kinsale. The 52d de lot is ordered from Ireland to
Hampshire Advertiser.-;--Hampshire Independent. i Dover, to relieve the 77th and 95th.
GREAT BRITAIN STEAK-SHIP.--The flow of the Tun WHEAT.—We are happy to hear a very
tide on- Thursday night and Friday morning, at the favourable report of the appearance of the wheat on the
Cumberland basin gates, was to the height of from 35 to ground. Though we have had a good deal of wet during
36 feet, probably higher than any we shall have before the last month, it does not seem to have hurt it at all ;
the autumnal equinox. It was by the tide of and ne have it from an agriculturist of long experience
Thursday that the . Directors of the Great Western that it never looked better, through the whole of the
Steam-ship Company had hoped to have passed Weald, than it does at present, an appearance he 'Atli-
the Great Britain down the river. At a meet- i, butes to the improved drainage of almost all the laud in
ing of the board of Directors of the Dock Company, the country that requires it.- The oat-sowing, has been
on Monday last, a resolution was passed that a copy 4 doue, almost everywhere, better than usual, and many
of.the correspondence which had taken place between pieces of peas are up, and looking well. The lambing
that Board and - the Directors of the Great Western on the Downs has comdrenced, with different SUCCCSI its
Steam-ship :Company, respecting the removal of the i different localities ;iu Sonic places there has been a
Great Britain, be transmitted to the. Board of Trade, great loss of ewes—more than usual by far. The grass
with such explanatiOns as may be deemed necessary to is backward, but there is an abundance of hay every -
elucidate the position of all parties. By this it will be where.—Brighion Paper.
seen that nothing has yet been done to relieve the Great THE IRON TRADE.— We are ver to learn
seen happy
Britain from her embarrassing situation. The Brisk,/ that the iron trade is greatly improved, and is likely to
Mercury states that the- 'William Milnes, in ; passing be so for a long period. The public may rely upon thita
through the ,smaller lock 'of Cumberland-basin, hung as it comes front one having iron and coal works, and
upon the walls, and, the tide ebbing, her bottom was extensively conuected with the business.—Biendrigharn
forced out, and the greater part of her valuable cargo Advertiser.
FA cede r THE PeNDialms.—Rich.
was lost. This occurred in the
,autumn of 1813. She MELANCHOLY
remained, for..some weeks, wedged in, the spring tides Herbert Penderill, ag t lineal descendant of the
successively Bowing over, and it. was: tliought she would Penderills, whose loyalty to Clerics 11. is a matter of
have to be broken up; at.length, however, she wag ex- history', perished in a miserable way on Wednesday.
tricated, underwent very costly repairs, and was re- The deceased Was a waterman on the -Thames, end was
moved to another port. • subject to fits ; and. finding one approaching, held out
}UV. Martin Wright, curate of Redniarahall. has been his arras as a signal to his associates, but fell into the
appointed by the rector of Sunderland cene*f the curates river before. they could at-sist hire, and perithea,
j„ulopx§i . _ .„ Arewskrp 141racs. .
_ . .• .