Star.
London, England, 1830-08-03 00:00:00

EXECUTION OF CAPTAIN MOIR.

We have received from our own reporter a long account of the
execution of this unfortunate culprit, whose case, however, had no
circumstances in it that would have warranted a pardon. May his
fate operate as an useful example to those hare not learned to set
any value on the lives of their humbler fellow.ereatu►es. There are
many individuals who have the tyrannical impatience of poor Moir,
without his redeeming qualities of general kindness of nature.
We give some particulars from our own report, and the rest from
the EMU' leftury.

Cazil.msroin AVG. 2.
_ .

This morning the awful sentence of the law was carried into
effect upon the above ill-fated gentleman. Whatever might have
buoyed up the expectation of the relations of the convict, Captain
Moir never had seriously considered, since his conviction, that his
life would be spared, yet he drew a distinction betwixt his case and
that of those where life had been taken away in consequence of an
old grudge. When he arrived at the gaol, after conviction, he
threw aside the new suit in which he was tried, and put on his
blue surtout and trousers of the same colour, with a black waist-
coat, and those he wore on the morning of execution. He employed
the morning in arranging some mundane affairs, and wrote several
letters to his friends and acquaintance. During the interval be.
tween his conviction and the period to which we allude, he evinced
no extraordinary emotion, but, on the contrary, the greatest for-
titude. _ _ _

----The chapel service of Sunday was quite private, by order of the
Sheriff; but we understand from those in authority that a most ex-
cellent discourse was delivered by the Rev. Chaplain, to whom
Captain Moir appeared to be very much attached. After he had
dined, his wife, mother, and sister, were admitted to an interview,
which lasted until six o clock, and was most affecting.
The time at length arrived when it was intimated that these dear
relatives of the unfortunate gentleman must separate for ever. Al.
though his awful moments had been long expected, it produced an
electric shock, which appeared to affect Moir most grievously;
he turned aside to weep, and during the paroxysm of grief
the unfortunate female relations bid their gad adieu, and were
then removed from the room in a state of insensibility. Early
In the evening the unhappy man sought repose by reclining
upon his couch. He was attended by Mr. Pearson and some
other of the principal turnkeys, and for several hours slept soundly.
—The prisoner rose wily in the morning, and washed himself
and portook of a slight repast. About seven o'clock he was visited
by the Rev. Mr. Lewis, the chaplain of the gaol, and another clergy.
man, who entered into religious conversation with him. The pri-
soner received them with his accustomed politeness, and expressed
himself perfectly resigned to his fate. It had been previously ar-
ranged that the Sacramental service should take place in the day-
room instead of the chapel, which being at the top of the Governor's
house, commands a view of the scaffold. This deviation from re-
gular practice was an consequence of a request from the prisoner.
By his particular request also no person was allowed to be present
on this occasion excepting those who were in some way connected
with the prison.
At the early hour of two o'clock in the morning two officers of the
14th regiment of Foot, who had served with Captain Moir in dif-
ferent parts of the world during various campaigns and expeditions,
arrived with a letter from Lord Petre, addressed to Mr. Jepp, the
Under Sheriff, soliciting that the execution might be stayed until
the arrival of some gentlemen who were expected from a distant part
of the kingdom with a despatch. The application, however, was
not acceded to.

About nine o'clock, Captain Moir expressed a wish to see the
officers alluded to before he went out for execution ; and a gentle.
man went in quest of them. The object of the desired interview
was to solicit the it to induce the officers of the regiments in which
he had served to notice his children, and moreover to implore them
to obtain a certificate of his services and merits as an officer.

The gentlemen did not attend, but sent their assurance that the
request of the Captain should be attended to. The Captain re.
ceived their communication with gratitude, and felt satisfied that
he should not be forgotten. In consequence of the delay occa-
sioned by the above message the execution was delayed for a short
time, but at a quarter past nine Captain Moir made his appearance
in the court-yard ; he looked around, and shook hands with several
gentlemen, whose utterance was prevented by sorrow.
Having arrived at the turnkey's lodge, upon :the summit of
which the fatal scaffold was erected, the prisoner was received by
the executioner, who pinioned his arms and bound his wrists, du-
ring which awful preliminary the Captain flinched not, but con.
tinued to maintain a self.posstssion which was most extraordinary.
When he cast his eyes upon the fatal rope, which was so soon to
terminate his existence, he heaved a sigh, and looking upwards,
ejaculated something which, however, was inarticulate. He was
then led into one of the reception cells, when the Rev. Alr. Lewis,
the chaplain, read several portions of cripture, and engaged for the
last time in other devotional exercises with the unhappy culprit.
At halfpast nine o'clock it was announced that the awful moment
I had arrived when the prisoner must ascend the fatal platform, and
he readily obeyed the mandate.
Inured lately that he ascended the roof he took the hand of seve-
ral persons, indeed of almost every oue within his reach, and shook
them cordially. When standing at the foot of the steps attached to
the platform, he said, " Gentlemen, I declare in the presence of
GOD and you,: aspcettain .is I am about to mount this scar.
fold, I had no animosity against the unfortunate man (Malcolm)."
He than walked up the ladder with a steady step, and immediately
bowed to the populace, and then with composure surveyed the
beam to which he was to be suspended. He asked Mr. Neale, the
Governor whether he should:give any signal ? Mn Neale told him
that he might use his own pleasure in that respect. Captain Moir
replied, " I am quite satisfied.— do as you please, but allow the
cap not to be drawn until necessary.
The rope having been put round his neck, he said, in a firm tone
of voice, " I for the last time declare that 1 have not the least ani.
malty against any man on earth. I die in peace with all mankind.
I hope the LoaD will have mercy on my soul, and that he will
bless my poor wife and dear children, and also my sister, and that
they may have strength afforded them to sustain this dreadful
shock." Then addressing the few persons who were admitted upon
the lodge, he said, " Gentlemen, my dying prayer is, GOD bless
you all; to which was responded a hearty "Amen."
The executioner having adjusted the rope, the Captain took his
hand, and said, " God bless you," repaired to the winch which
withdrew the bolt upon which the platform rested, and the unfortu-
nate victim to a criminal impetuosity was launched into eternity.
Being a stout heavy man, it appeared that sensation became imme-
diately extinct ; he scarcely moved, with the exception of a mo-
mentary attempt at respiration ; indeed, it may almost be said, that
he died without a struggle.
After the body had been suspended an hour, it was cut down and
placed in a shell, in order to its delivery to the surgeons for the put.
pose of dissection. pursuant to the sentence.
It is understood that the body will, after incision, and a sufficient
anatomical process to fulfil the sentence, be delivered up to the dis-
consolate widow for interment.
A report is in circulation that the unhappy gentleman has, upon
certain conditions, bequeathed, before trial, the sum of 11. a-week to
the widow Malcomb • but although the report is credited by many,
we cannot vouch for its veracity.
Frew the Eases Mercury.
CHELMSFORD, Sunday Night, 12 o'Clock.
A letter bas just been received by Mr. Burton, who conducted
the defet ce of Captain Moir, from Mr. Phillips, the Under &ere-
tary of State, informing him that Lord Tenterden had refused to
interfere in favour of the petition to the King, so that the law is
lett to take its course. Mrs. Moir, with the sister and brother of
the unhappy man, have left the town for Ingatestone, where they
will remain till after the attention.

3londay Noon.
The ill-fated Wm. Moir is no more. The hour appointed for
the execution was nine o'clock ; the tpacious area in front was then
thinly mitered with spectators, and a considerable number of the
inhabitants of Chelmsford were admitted within the wall•. The
Rev. Mr. Lewis, the chaplain of the gaol, visited 3loir in his cell ;
and when be spoke to him respecting his religious duties, Moir re-
plied " Sir, my religion k honour, but I 'lupe that I am not un.
mindful of my situation."
Moir repeatedly exclaimed, " Let it be understood that I had
no animosity to the unfortunate man ; it is that feeling which now
sustains me."

Captain Moir was a native of Forfarshire. North Britain, and
highly respectable by birth and connexions. He was brothmin.law
to Sir James Gardner Baird. Bart. a near relative to the veteran Sir
David BsIn!, the predecessor of the Duke of Wellington in the
command of the peninsular army ; and he was also first cousin to
Sit Wiiliam Rite, the present Lord Advocate for Scotland. He was
descended by his grandmother's side from the heroic Bruce, and
was also connected with the distinguished families of Blair of Blair,
the Stewart., and the Butts.
Tall and commanding in person. possessing a fire and manly
countenance, his inclination led him early in hfe to enter into the
army, the hereditary ptofession of his anon ors For seventeen
years 1w served successively in the 14th, 37th, and 40‘h regimutsi
of Foot, and in the course of such service he •• • el France, Spain,
India, and America. In the latter place he married the daughter'
of an officer in the Artillery, by whom he hail three tine boys.'
In the year 1813, accompanied by his wife, he repaired with
his regiment to Gibraltar, and while there the yellow fever made
its destructive appearance. Moir was attacked by it, and suffered
so severely that his life was long despaired of. His brain was eon.
siderahly affected. and he never had been perfectly free from Its el:
(nth.. In one of the paroxysms caused by this malady during his
residence in Canada. he took an opportunity, when alone, of indict.
lag several severe wounds with a hatchet upon' his forehead, the
wars of which were very prominent to the last hour of his life.
This fever ptodueed the most disastrous influence upon his character
and conduct : his disposition, warm and irascible before, but withal
merges and hatnane, became tbrostgh it so susceptible, that, if

I insulted, or excited by liquor, his passions were uncontrollable,
and his actions and language appeared to be those of a madman.
It is a particular characteristic of this unhappy frame of mind,
that in the very highest point of excitement, Captain Moir
Imagined himself the moat calm and colketed ; and while those
who knew him were but too sensible of the difference between his
professions and his conduct, lie laboured to convince them of the
perfect sobriety of his intellect. All this was increased perhaps by
suffering in India from a coup de •oleil, and upon his return to
England from an attack of pure inflammation of the brain while at
Canterbury. In the year 1828, Captain Moir retired from the
army, and his active but unsteady mind turning um attention to Agri_
cultutal pursuits, he took upon lease the farm at Shellhaven Creek,
where he was residing when the unhappy event °centred which has
been the means of terminating his life on a scaffold.

BIANSIOW.HOU sr.—William Edwards, policeman No. I al,
brought before the Lord Mayo: by John Forrester and Thomas
lierdsfield, the City officers, charged on suspicion of having stoleti.
70 pounds weight of sheet brass.
The city officers were looking about in the neighbourhood of the
Mansion-house in the afternoon, and they saw the prisoner on the
opposite side of the street, carrying something very heavy indeed,
wrapped up in his police coat. Although he was a new policeman,
they suspected that he was a thief, and immediately questioned him
about what he was carrying. He appeared confused. and said that
he had been employed by the Inspector of the Kingaland district to
take the load to the Stationery Office in Scotland-yard. One of the
witnesses went to Mr. Johnson, the Inspector of Kingsland, but
that person, although he knew the prisoner, knew nothing what.
ever about the brass.

IThe brass was found to be the property of a house in WA-
brook, and it had been left near the door, from which it required
some ingenuity to take it unperceived.
The prisoner was committed for trial.
William Williams, alias Phil. Owens, who was a few days ago
charged with having stolen Mr. Barnwell's snuff-box, in the street,
opposite the Auction Mart, and not in the Auction Mart Coffee.
House, as was erroneously stated in some of the papers, was brought
up for final examination, and committed for trial.
Maastow-House.2CHARGE or Foarmair.--A young man,
named James Hunt, of very respectable connections, was brought
before the Loan MAYOR. upon a charge of forging a check upon
the banking-house of Jones, Lloyd, and Co. of Lothbury, for SOL
Mr. GATZB, the Solicitor to the Committee of Bankers for Pr,#.
teetion against Frauds and Forgeries, attended to prosecute. Mr.
HARMER attended for the defence.

Mr. James Tewaby, clerk at the house of Messrs. Jones, Lloyd,
and Co. deposed, that in the afternoon of Monday, the 26th of July,
a man, named John Gardner, appeared at the counter and presenttd
an order for the payment of 901. It purported to be the draft of
Moms. Shoolbred and Cooke, of Tortenham-court.road, and was
made payable to Mr. J. Smith, or hearer. The writing resembled
that of one of the firm of Shoolbred and Co. but witness suspected
that it was forgery and no payment was given for it. Messrs. Shool.
bred and Co. kept cash at the house. Measures were adopted to
apprehend the prisoner, who was said to be the fabricator of the in.
strument.

George Gardner, a porter, stated that on Monday last as he was
standing at the door of the Elephant public-house in Fenchurch-
street, at twenty minutes after four the prisoner walked up and me-
costed him. The prisoner told him to take a paper, which was an
order to receive money, to the house of Messrs. Jones, Lloyd, and
Cu. and get ten five pound notes and forty sovereigns., and bring
them to him at 31r. Watkins's counting-house, in Mark-lane, or in
the Corn Exchange. IVitnese stopped in Ball-alley and looked at
the order, and that which was now in the Justice-room was the same.
Mr. Shoolbred stated that the prisoner was employed in his house
as a servant. It was the practice of the house for the clerks to fill
up the drafts on bankers, and witness believed the writing in the
body of the check to be the prisoner's. The order was a forgery.
The prisoner was committed for
GUlLDHALL.—Yesterday, Mary Fiyginr, an elderly woman.
forty-five years of age, was charged Lefore Mr. Alderman Copeland
with stealing two silver tablespoons, the property of Sir George
Naylor, Garter King et Arms.
henry &fridge, constable, stated that he was sent for on Saturday
evening last to the Heralds* Office, in Doctors' Commons, when he
I was informed that two tablespoons had disappeared, and suspicion
having fallen upon two servants, (the prisoner, and another,) Le was
requested to trace the robbery if possible. In consequence of this
information, the officer made inquiries among a gteat numbei t
pawnbrokers, and at length discovered at Mr. Franklin's, in Neu.
Elm.
a spoon corresponding with the pattern one received i‘i
Ishii. In pursuing his inquiries further, he found the second spots
pledged at Mr. Fleming's, in the same street. Both spoons were
pledged by a female, and one of them in the name of one of the ser-
vants of Sir George. (nut the prisoner.) A description of the per.
son who pledged them finally led to the apprehension of the
prisoner, and on her person were found the two duplicates of the
spoons.
Robert Cuffin, shopman to Mr Franklin, produced one of the
spoons, which bore the crest of Sir George, and identified the pri-
soner as being the person who pledged it,
John Badman, shopman to Mr. Fleming, produced the other
spoon, but as it had been taken in by a boy, he was not able
to identify the prisoner as having pledged it, but the duplicate
bore the name Ly which she had been known for some time at
the shop.
Mr. W. Wood, from the Heralds' Office, identified the spoons
as the property of Sir George Naylor.
Mr. Alderman COPELAND expressed his surprise that the pawn-
brokers would take in pledge a spoon bearing a crest, as those pro.
duced did.

Mr. Fleming's shopman assured hint that if himself, or the per.
son who usually takes in pledges, had received the spoon, they
would instantly refu►e it ; but on the day it was pawned, being
particularly busy, a boy attended to the prisoner.
Mr. Alderman COPELAND considered that the prisoner's con.
duct was very seriously aggravated, by stealing property and
pledging it in the name of an old and faithful servant, who, having
it in her power to get at the property, suspicion would naturally fall
upon her.
She was then fully committed for trial.
HATTOW-liANDEN.—Yesterday, Anilsony Duncan was charged
with assaulting a policeman while in the execution of his duty. On
the previous evening, the policeman was sent with other constables
to drive the men who were bathing in the New River out of the
water. The prisoner was in the fields, and witness desired him to
quit the field instantly, which the defendant refused to do. Upon
this witness gently pushed him, when the defendant struck him on
the head with his fist. The defendant was convicted in the penalty
of 40s. and in default of payment, he was committed to the House
of Correction for one month.

QttEEN-SQUAIIE. Yesterday Charles Norton, Esq. was brought
up on a warrant, before D.W. GREGONIE, Esq. under the follow-
ing circumstances. Last week, John Williams was committed fter
picking Mr. Norton's pocket of a silk handkerchief, at his Majesty':
Levee. On Saturday he delivered a letter to Woodberry, the officer,
to be given to the Magistrates, telling the officer he should not t'
able to attend at the trial, as he should be absent in Yorkshire.-
Mr. &trout= 'mut d a warrant for his apprehension. Mr.
ordered Mr. Norton to enttr into his own recognisance in the sut
of 3001. and to find two sureties in the sum of 1501. each, to it:
answerable for his appearance against John Williams for felony.—
Mr. Norton gave bail in the course of the day.
THAIIIIIMPOLICT.—Yesterday, John Burrell was charged witk
horsewhipping Mr. Robert Feather, shipping butcher, of No, 187.
High-street, Wapping. Mr. Feather had just alighted front his
chaise, when the defendant, who was driving a horse in a earl, was
requested to stop for a minute. The defendant refused, drove on.
and the chaise was injured and nearly overturned. On 31r. Fea-
ther remonstrating, the defendant cut hint dreadfully over the bask
and sheulders. The defendants was fined 40s. and costs.

WORSHITOSTIMET.—CMARGE OF Anson.--Illiss Ann Bale.
a respectable.looking person, about 23 years of age, and Maria
Bell!, her servant, were charged with setting fire to the house No.
231, Shoreditch, where Miss Bate carried on business as a baker.
The facts which came out in the evidence are these :—About a
quarter before one o'clock on .Sunday morning, smoke was oh.
served issuing from Visa Bate's house. An entrance was forcer:.
as an person was found on the premises. The back yard
was filled with a suffocating smoke, which poured in torrents
from the stairs and windows, and was found to proceed from
the cellar. The bottom step of a flight of stairs ascending from
the cellar to the parlour was on fire. Burning pines of wood
and shavings were tattered about the cellar and stairs, and
a beam above the latter, and about sit feet from them, was also
on fire, with pieces of carpet or sacking nailed to and hanging
front it in a burning state. The fire was not blazing. but smoulder.
ing,and was extinguished by two buckets of water thrown upon it.
Some time afterwards the two prisoners came home ; they did cot
appear much alantxd et spitired. and the servant-girl said of e).
had been to market. No money war found in the till. and the
setvant said her mistress took all the halt.pente from it who.:
went to market and bought half a peek of peas. The prisoners were
secured. In a basket which Miss Batt carried, was found a bag
containing 00 sovereigns; mother with 17 sovereigns, and a thine
Irma containing 41. 12s. lid. in silver ; some comehan necainets.
bracelets, and trinkets, wearing apparel, and some pens. In het
bosom was found an elegant Reid watch, with gold neck-chain at.
tacked. She had previously denied having any valuable Properly
about bey. Is the prisoner's house was found a policy of inourance
erected in the Peeler" Of flee for 7001. The toreman to the In.
surance (Moe said, that in his opinion the value of the stock aril
furniture did not exceed 501.--v The prisoners were emended for a
few days.

lorry : Printed sod Pobilthed by Joao )lavou, at the Siam.
Urine, No.l. Plobett plact.Temple Br.