The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-24 00:00:00

THE CONDEMNED SERMON.

Yesterday, tie unfortunate man James Tapping, who
stands condemned for the murder of Emma Whiter, at
Bethnal-green, heard the condemned sermon in the
chapel of Newgate. The Rev. Mr. Davis, chaplain to
the gaol, officiated.
At a quarter past ten o'clock, at which time those who
were favoured with cards by the Sheriffs were admitted,
a number of applicants, not having the necessary order,
wore refused ; and among these, the unfortunate man's
brother was one of the most pertinacious. He met with
an indignant remonstrance from the worthy governor,
Mr. Cope, on the indelicacy of his request to sit a mere
spectator of his wretched relation's demeanour.
A considerable number of those who did pass the
gateway were females ; and certainly the taste must be
a very morbid one, indeed, which could have induced
them to lay aside the delicacy of their sex in the gratifi-
cation of an unfeminine curiosity.
The Sheriff and one or two of the Aldermen were
present at the service.
Shortly before eleven the prisoner Tapping was intro-
duced. He was shortly followed by Thomas Henry 'locker,
and they were accommodated with chairs placed apart
from the rest of the audience, and on opposite sides of
the room. They were, however, facing the clergyman.
Tapping seemed stouter than when last seen at the Old
Bailey. His manner was grave and resigned, and he
evidently paid the deepest attention to the different parts
of the beautiful Church service. Occasionally, where
the subject of the lesson seemed applicable to his own
painful situation, he covered his face with his hands.
Hocker exhibited the same callous indifference which
has marked his manner all along. Ile sometimes stole
a furtive glance at the other prisoner, as if wishing to
observe with what spirit he bore his peculiar position,
and until the service commenced his eyes wandered over
the general body of the prisoners who were permitted to
be present.
Tapping made the responses in an under tone, while
'locker made them in a voice firm and audible, and
during the service of the communion, when the clergy-
man rehearsed the Commandments, at the sixth,
" thou shalt do no murder," while Tapping made no
response, Hocker, in a voice easily heard over the
chapel, replied, " Lord have mercy upon us, and incline
our hearts to keep this law !"
After the morning service had been read, the chap-
lain preached from tho 4th verso of the 130th Psalm :
"For there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest
be found."

The preacher, after adverting to the fallen nature
of man, and instancing the cases of several of the most
wise and holy of the Scripture worthies, to show that
they and all had need of pardon and indulgence, pro-
ceeded to state, that though earthly judges were prone to
error, and often capricious in their decisions, yet that
One Judge above, supreme over all, the infinite, and the
immutable, would deal mercifully with the very chief
of sinners, if he but came before his throne with a con-
trite and a humbled spirit. There had been already of-
fered an all-atoning sacrifice, the blood of his own be-
loved Son, and through him there was forgiveness to be
found for the meanest of his creatures. But the sinner,
hardened in his iniquity, might not hope to escape.
There was no hope that at that bar there could be an
escape, from any informality or irregularity in its
His guilt would be clear as noonday, and his pu-
nishment would be certain and eternal. The preacher
then referred to the spirit of the English law as opposed
to gratuitous concession on the part of the criminal.
Clergymen were liable to be called into open Court,
there to reveal what might have been told to them under
the seal of confidence. They were, therefore, almost
obliged to address prisoners in the first instance thus,
" The less you say to us the better for yourself,
and, therefore, keep us in ignorance." Was not this sys •
tem quite opposed to the principle of the Scriptures?
Oh, that men of judgment, that the legislators of
their country would think of these things. He had de-
voted much time, and care, and attention, to the eluci-
dation of every fact connected with the painful history of
the unfortunate young man more immediately interested
in the proceedings of that day, and it appeared that he
had been most kind and gentle to his younger brothers
—that his labour had been given to support them—that,
in fact, he had been as a father to them ; was it not
singular, then, that be should stand there—he, so
kind and so gentle, charged with a crime of this
enormous magnitude? The problem was easily
solved. Unfortunately, neither he nor his unfor-
tunate victim had had any religious impressions.
She had been in the habit of using certain jocular ex-
pressions calculated to raise in a jealous imagination
doubts of her constancy ; and other parties had inflamed
those differences more, by penning the most libellous
insinuations under the cowardly and the unmanly se-
curity of an anonymous signature. What had been the
result ? Oh !at that dread judgment, before which all
must appear, that sin, if unrepented, must be a heavy
one to answer for. He found that the morals of the un-
fortunate young man had been contaminated from the
operation of two causes ; first, the beer-shops, and other
places of nightly resort, dens of infamy which he and
the young female used to visit ; and, secondly, from the
society of the prison inmates with whom the offended
laws of his country had before cast his lot. He had
been three times before the judges of his country, once
acquitted, the second time committed for three months,
and the third time sentenced to die. The preacher con.
c'uded by a powerful exhortation to those present so to
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re-
conducted to their cells, the remaining part of the per-
sons present were dismissed.

EXECUTION AT READING.
The wretched man, Thomas Jennings, suffered the ex-
treme penalty of the law on Saturday, in front of the
new gaol, Reading.
It will be remembered that the criminal was tried be-
fore Mr. Baron Platt, at the Berkshire assizes, held at
the above place, on the 3d inst., for the wilful murder of
his daughter, at the village of Thatcham.
At an early hour the Rev. Chaplain visited the
wretched man, and remained with him until the last mo-
ment of his earthly career. Precisely at four minutes
past twelve o'clock the prison bell commenced to toll. At
that time the whole of. the vacant ground from the gaol
to
ia ternon waiting
ay, nearly two hundred yards,
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studded
with human beings, many of whom
na railway,
to witness the awful scene.
•
of the Reading station, with
Mr. Collard, chief inspector, and several of the Com-
pany's officers, were required to keep the crowd from
getting upon the line Owing to the admirable prepara-
cltedlitts the Forbury, we did not hear
, the Mayor, who had a num-
berdent occurred, although the pressure
About five minutes past twelve o'clock the mournful
procession reached the. top of the gallows, led by the
t
chaplain, who read in a most impressive manner•the
wasl oant osvafenirb:s.aidgnrergri
great.
yr
ts.aAeci.rcri
burial service, the wretched man, Jennings, followed,
with his eyes turned heavenwards, but we were unable
to hear whether or not he responded to the prayers.
In the course of a few minutes all the preliminaries
being finisbed, the fatal bolt was drawn asunder, and the
wretched man was sent hence into eternity. The body
having hung the usual time was cut down, and taken in-
side the gaol.

ALARMING AND DESTRUCTIVE
FIRE AT TIIE APOTHECARIES' HALL,
LIVERPOOL.
Liverpool has again been the scene of a dreadful
if
conflagration, which, less disastrous in its results
than some of the extensive fires that occurred about
two years ago, was certainly more threatening in its
aspect during the short time it raged. It commenced
yesterday afternoon, between three and four o'clock,
in the manufactory or laboratory connected with
the Apothecaries' Hall, situated in Back Colquitt-
street. The Apothecaries' Hall itself, which
is one of the largest and most handsome
edifices in the town, is situate in Colquitt-strut.
The building in which the fire originated is
four stories high, at the corner of Wood-street, im-
mediately in the rear of the main structure, but
separated from it by Back Colquitt-street, which is
about eight yards wide. The fire was first observed
by a labouring man, filmed Dilston, about half-past
three o'clock. He was at work in the third story
when he observed a dense smoke in the room. A fire-
engine being kept upon the premises, he immediately
took steps to
get it into play, with a view of putting
a stop to the flames, but, just at this time, police-offi-
cer, No. 11, Anderson, who was leaving Seel-street
Station, observed, as he was passing along Colquitt-
street, the flames bursting from one or two of the
stories. He instantly gave the alarm, and proceeded
to the fire-station, where he found the horses had
scarcely a moment before been unharnessed after their
return from the fire in Lodge-lane. Of course no
time was lost by Mr. Hewitt in again attaching the
horses, and in a few minutes the engines were at the
scene of conflagration. Short as was the interval be-
tween the alarm being given and the arrival of the
engines, yet it was found utterly useless to attempt
to save the laboratory. In fact, it was completely en-
veloped in flames, which were bursting forth with
great intensity and fury across the street, threaten-
ing the destruction of the splendid building opposite
and the property surrounding it. The exertions of
the firemen were therefore judiciously directed in pro-
tecting the premises adjoining. Two hose from the
engines were passed into the interior of the Hall, and
water from these was poured upon the doors and
windows outside, and in front of the laboratory.
At the same time from both sides engines were
throwing water upon the large doors of the gateway,
and, although the woodwork was partially consumed,
and the cornice stones cracked by the intense heat,
the building sustained no further injury, if we except
that consequent upon the introduction of the water
pipe and the flooding of the whole premises. Next to
the laboratory, in IVood-street, is a low building,
the public-house of Mr. George Cato. To the roof
of this 4 branch was passed, and a continual stream of
water dashed upon the walls, in orris r to prevent the
flames from proceeding further in that direction,
Whilst these arrangements were being made and
carried out for the preservation of the property th
premises adjoining the fire itself were burning with
unexampled fury. The story in which it broke out
was filled with an immense quantity
.of castor oil,
all highly
almond oil, and balsam of capivi, inflara.