The Sun.
London, England, 1829-03-25 00:00:00

THE EXECUTION.

LIMERICK, MARCU 21.—At three o'clock yes-
terday the sentence of the law was executed upon
this unhappy man, who was convicted of one of the
most foul and atrocious murders which the annals
of crime record. Having married against the con-
sent of his friends, and particularly his mother,
from whom he occasionally received pecuniary ass
sistance, to please them, and influenced by the mere
hopes of some paltry gain, he wrought. up his mind
to that state of heartless atrocity, in which he re-
solved upon and perpetrated the death of his wife, a
young and beautiful creature, as represented by all
the witnesses, to whom he had been united but five
weeks, and whom he bad wooed for five years.—
The deed, horrible as it is in itself, was accompa-
nied by every circumstance of aggravation which
could heighten it into demoniac wickedness. It is
now ascertained that before they set out on their jour-
ney he made her furnish herself with a pair of scissors,
which was to be the instrument of her own destruc-
tion. After he had knocked her down on the road
with a blow of a stone, he -seized the scissors, and
with it tore open the throat, almost from ear to ear.
While in this state, the blood gushing out, it is sup-
posed,ln order to account for the quantity of blood
with which his clothes were steeped, that he took
her up in his arms and carried her from the road
into the fields, and laid her down between the two
rocks where she was found. Not believing the
work of destruction fully done, here again he inflicted
innumerable wounds on her head with stones, and
knocked out her teeth with the heel of his shoe.
The guilt of even one human being in such a crime
is almost too much for humanity to credit; but it is
not the less true that the monster who first insi-
nuated the commission of this revolting deed was the
mother of this man. This has been admitted by her
friends, and hinted at by the unfortunate man him-
self ; and the only cause was a deadly hatred, pro-
duced by his not having received a fortune with
her. Up to the moment he ceased to exist, he re-
mained the same hardened criminal which he ap-
peared during the progress of the trial. A Catholic
Clergyman has been incessantly with him, without
being able to impress upon him the necessity of turn-
ing his attention to another world, and endeavouring
to obtain forgiveness by sincere contrition. He re-
mained impenetrable to the consolation of religion, and
refused to make any disclosure, lest it should impli-
i• ate home,would suffer
he
to said,ascend
o
enabledn him
I he Scaffold with firmness, in front of which several
thousand persons were assembled, the majority of
whom were women. Not the least sympathy was
manifested by the crowd, all being sensible of the
jus;ic.- with which he suffered. The Priest haying
asc,nded the scaffold with him, after some resist-
ow, got him upon his knees by force; but he
leaped tip, and refused spiritual comfort, even at that
awf .1 moment. In an instant after he was no more.
Life left him without a struggle. His body was im-
mediately delivered over to the surgeons.
This scene was followed by one not creditable to
the country, and disgraceful to the police officers of
the district. After the execution, the hangman, a
miserable and ghastly wretch, was placed on a car,
and, guarded by a body of police, was carried from
the county to the city gaol, being from one extremity
of the town to the other. Such an exhibition was
indecent and disrespectful to the inhabitants, as well
as imprudent, as it might possibly lead to outrage,
such a person being an object of great hatred
amongst the lower classes. Night would have an-
swered the purpose much better.