The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-29 00:00:00

EXECUTION

OF

JOHN TA WELL.

AYLESBURY, FRIDAY MORNING

It having become known in London, and in the
districts around Aylesbury, that this morning the
wretched criminal Tawell was to expiate on the
gallows hia dreadful crime, a large number of persons
flowed into the town the evening before. The
London down-trains were more crowded than usual,
and besides a considerable number of representatives
from the metropolitan press, he who was to perform
the last office for the prisoner—the executioner Cal-
craft, came down also. There was nothing in the
appearance of the town yesterday evening to indicate
that an execution—and one, too, which has
raised so much excitement in the public mind—was
about to take place, save that it was somewhat
more crowded than ordinary.
The reporters for the London press, immediately
on arriving at Aylesbury, called upon Mr. Sherriff,
the Governor of the County Hall, who handed them
the letter of Mr. Sub-Sheriff Tindal, nephew of the
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, informing them
that none but those officially concerned would be
admitted into the Hall. A letter was forthwith
addressed to Mr. Tindal, remonstrating on so un-
usual a course, but the reply was, "No answer."
After a lapse, however of some three hours, Mr. Tindal
wrote, stating that the reporters seemed to misappre-
hend the scope of his letter to the governor ; that it
was not intended to exclude the reporters " per'
sonally," but that all persons not officially concerned
were to be excluded. Another communication was
forwarded to Mr. Tindal, in reply to which he stated,
" I have no other answer to give than that addressed
to you and your colleagues, and you must consider
that as conclusive against all persons not officially
concerned I am acting simply in the
performance of my duty, and of the direc-
tions given by my superior, which I intend
strictly to di: charge, irrespective of all consequences."
With this answer a verbal message had been sent,
" that Mr. Acton Tindall had locked up his house for
the night." Thus the reporters, and consequently
the public, are excluded from that which to them
personally would be but a painful and distressing
duty—namely, witnessing the conduct and behaviour
of the unfortunate criminal at his last moments. But
the public will expect and ought to know all those
things, and on public grounds the execution of a
great criminal should not be left to a few officials.

Mr. Ewing, an artist from Nottingham, who came
to town for the purpose of taking a cast of Tawell's
head, was refused a similar request. It seems to
be the opinion that Mr. Sub-Sheriff Tindal is de-
sirous of sparing as much as possible the feelings of
the culprit, but though one can appreciate such feel-
ings, it is not easy to find any reason for making an
exception in this case. The prisoner also has been
allowed several privileges in the prison, which have
been refused to others under similar circumstances,
on account of his excellent conduct since his con-
viction.

At an early hour this morning, about five o'clock,
the drop, from which the prisoner was to be sus-
pended, was arranged ; and even at that early
hour there were persons anxiously looking on. Every
moment the crowd was augmenting. Numbers of
persons had come in from the country about seven
o'clock, and they were not at all confined to the
lower orders. Several most respectable persons were
trooping in at all points of the town, and notwith-
standing the badness of the morning several hundreds
of persons were congregated before the County Hall,
in front of which the drop was placed, shortly after
seven o'clock.

The County Hall is rather a low structure, built
in a low situation, in front of which the ground rises
gradually, and as there is a large open space before it,
in which the market is held, it was calculated to afford
a most excellent view to the spectators, who, as
the fatal hour approached, manifested intense expecta-
tion and anxiety. There could not have been less
than between 4,000 and 5,000 persons, present at the
time of the execution, and amongst them were several
respectable-looking females. The large space in front
of the gaol was well nigh filled. Before the large
window in front of the gaol was a balcony, within
which the drop was erected, the lower part of which
was curtained. There were placards carried about
in several parts of the crowd, announcing, in large
letters, "A Full Account of the Last Moments of
John Tawell," which could not fail to be seen by the
miserable man.

THE EXECUTION.

The hour announced for execution was eight
o'clock, but about a quarter of an hour before
eight a sudden motion of the crowd showed that
the moment had come—the last fatal moment when
the prisoner was to be launched into eternity, to meet
his Creator. It was an awful movement, that move-
ment of the crowd. The most intense silence pre-
vailed—not a word escaped after the crowd had said
"He is coming." The wretched man was greatly
moved when he saw the crowd ; he trembled ex-
ceedingly, and was scarcely able to stand as
he stepped on the platform under the drop.
Calcraft, the executioner, and one of the turnkeys led
him out of the goal, and Mr. Sheriff, the Governor,
stood immediately behind him. The nightcap
having been immediately drawn over him, he knelt
down to pray, which he did with the most apparent
fervour. After he had been praying for about a
minute or a minute and a half he was assisted to rise
by Calcraft, who proceeded to place the rope round
his neck. Here, however, there seemed to be an un-
necessary delay, which might have been avoided
by a little forethought. There being no chain
from the cross beam from which to fix
the other end of the rope, a considerable
time clasped between the rope being placed round his
neck and the tying it to the cross beam, at which
considerable dissatisfaction was manifested by the
spectators. Calcraft made taco or three turns of the
rope before it was properly and firmly fixed to the
beam. This performed, the drop fell, and the
wretched man became at once violently convulsed
and his whole frame quivered—his arms and legs
contracted—they fell again—were again contracted
—fell again, again contracted—and he hung a mo-
tionless corpse, save that he oscillated to the motion
of the wind, which was blowing strongly at the time.
Probably five minutes elapsed between the appear-
ance of the criminal and his death. Some say more,
some less ; but five minutes was about the time.
From the first his hands were tightly bound to-
gether, and he kept his fingers locked in each other
as if he still prayed, and had his mind directed to-
wards heaven in spite of his bodily suffering. II
was expected that the wretched man would be re-
ceived with groans and execrations by the crowd, but
we are pleased to be able to say that no such dis-
graceful proceeding took place. On the contrary,
a most decorous and becoming silence was observed,
and not a word escaped to distract him in his last
moments. This conduct of the people is highly
creditable to them, and contrasts most favourably
with the behaviour of the crowds who assemble at
Newgate on similar occasions.

The body was allowed to hang for an hour, and
was then taken, but not cut, down. He was executed
in the Quaker's dress. The body was immediately
interred in the precincts of the gaol, though up to last
night his friends had hopes, from the strong applica-
tions that were made on the subject, that his body
would be delivered up to them—the grave, however,
was dug two days ago.
TAWELL'S CONFESSION.
In consequence of the exclusion of the reporters
we entirely depend on the liberty allowed to Mr.