Star.
London, England, 1821-11-23 00:00:00

THE LATE EXECUTIONS.

Five of the unfortunate persons who suffered on Wednesday
last, were under twenty-six years of age. Considerable ezet.
lions were used to save the lives of two of those young men,
but without avail. Several of the most respectable B_nkers
in London signed a Petition in favour of Ellis. One &cuts-
stance attending the case of this youth is peculiar. It appears that
his father, observing the irregularity of his conduct, and suspect
ing that he was concerned in the circulation of forged notes, was
induced, in order to stop his career, to give the information to
the Bank which led to his apprehension. He made, however, no
stipulation that "-his son should be secured from the penalty
death; and the Bank refused to allow him to plead guilty to the
minor offence. Ellis was educated at St. Paul's school, and his
literary attainments were respectable. So affected was be on
hearing the Condemned Sermon, that be fainted.--Anothee e
the sufferers, Cadman, sustained until lately an excellent thane.
•er. His talents were considerable. He had served and been
severely wounded in the service of his country, and was seduced
to the commission of crime by the pressure of distress, arising
from the want of employment. When he committed the crime
for which he has suffered, his wife lay dangerously ill, and he had
not the means of procuring tin her the common necessaries of life.
Ile conducted himself, after the order for execution bad arrived,
with becoming firmness • and he would have been pettedly re•
signed, had not his reflections been embittered by the recollection
that he was about to suffer the severest sentence of the law, while
many notorious offenders, after a long career of guilt, had been
permitted to escape. But for this consideration, he said he could
have borne his doom with tranquillity. Is it not strange that
the lenity which has hitherto been extended to the titterers of
forged Bank-notes should now be withheld, and especially in the
present instance, from one so young, previously so respectable,
urged and seduced by circumstances so peculiar, and so Impress.
tised in transactions of this nature, and after a Learned Judge
had declared that the recommendation of his case for mercy by
the Jury should receive consideration ? But these are a few only
of the anomalies arising from penalties of excessive severity. It
is, indeed, unaccountable that enactments so sanguinary in their
character should continue to be rigorously enforced, when they
have been found to fail in their intended effect, when it is evi-
dent that crime is increasing under them, and when their execu-
tion is revolting to the best feelings and interests of the commu-
nity. The public opinion on the inhumanity, inefficacy, and ins•
policy of capital punishments, has been decidedly expressed during
the last Session of Parliament, by the numerous Petitions which
were sent up from all parts of the kingdom for the amelioration
of the Criminal Laws. These Petitions were signed by persons
of the highest respectability, and of various professions. Bankers,
who are the most interested in the suppression of forgeries, joined
in the protest; and the House of Commons itself assented, by
three distinct majorities, to the principle urged by the petitioners.
These remarks have arisen from the awful scene which was ex-
hibited on Wednesday morning, and from the affecting consi-
deration that five snore persons are sentenced to suffer on Toss.
day next : one of these, Joseph South, aged 16, is for uttering
a forged Bank of England note, and he was recommended to
mercy. Thus, unless the intercessions of humanity prevail,
will one scaffold witness the dying convulsions of thirteen human
beings in the short space of one week ! It is earnestly hoped,
however, that compassion will be extended on behalf of those
whose remaining days have been numbered.' It is the duty
of every one to exert himself to the utmost to save the life
of a fellow-creature. Timidity, in such cases, is a criminal

.
4reliction of duty ; for no man, however private his sta-
tion, can foresee the extent of the benefits which his individual
exertions may produce. Let no one delude himself with the im-
pression that others are engaged in that course which his own
feelings dictate to be his duty, lest he should find, too late, that
human life has been sacrificed through his supineness and in-
difference.

The young man Car tan, who was hung with the
seven other unfortunate creatures on .Wednesday
morning, was occupied for a length of time the night
prior to his being hanged, in writing a letter to his
wife, who is now a pri,oner in Netvgate. She is a fine
looking woman, aboat 21 years of age. Ever since
the shocking hour that demived her of her hu,band,
she has been in a most pitiable state, bordering on
frenzy.--Mr. BAKER, at the request of Cadman, de-
livered the letter to the poor woman, soon after the
execution—it was couched in the most affezti(mate
terms, and the style and language of the comi.ositiori
reflected credit on the talents of the writer. During
the time she was reading it, she 'appeared in the most
agonizing state of grief.

At the County Court of Middlesex for the Hundred
of Ossulston, holden on Thursday se'nnight, a Gentle-
man appeared on the summons of the father of a girl
who bad recently been in the service of the defendant,
on account of non-payment of the girl's wages. The
defendant hired the girl as nursemaid, at six guineas
a-year wages; the girl entered on her place on the
29th September, and on the 28th October following,
without giving any previous warning, or assigning
any cause of complaint, left her situation. The true
reason of her quitting it was, that her father bad pro-
cured her a situation as Lady's-maid, which she pre-
ferred to that of nurse-maid. The defendant, in con-
sequence, refused paying her any wages for the month.
she had been in his service; first, on the ground of her
misconduct in so •leaving her place; and, secondly,
that the hiring being a yearly hiring, she was enti-
tled to no wages if she chose to leave her place be.
fore the expiration of the year: but even if it should
be considered that she would be entitled to wages for
the period she might serve, that a general hiring at
annual wages did imply the right of a month', warn-
ing on the part of the servant as well as the master,
betore the one could quit her place, or the other could'
discharge her from it. The Court; howeve.., made
an order for the payment of the servant's wages.—
Wednesday, it was urged to the same Court, for the
purpose of obtaining a revision of the case and the
judgment, that the decision, independently of the
inconvenience that may arisefromit both to masters
and mistresses, as well as servants, did not accord
with the cases of Robinson v. Hindman, 3 Esp. N. P.C.
and Spain v. Arnott, 2 Stark. N. P.C. or with the
opinion of Chief Justice Abbott, in the case of Wil-
liams v. Rice, tried before him at the Sittings after last
Easier Term. But the Gentleman acting in the ca-
pacity of Judge, was of opinion that the cases above
referred to only related to servants in husbandry,
and, consequently, that the judgment must stand.
It is scat cep credible that one salesman in Leaden.
hall-market, at the present time, sells, on an average,
14,000 rabbits weekly. He contracts with the coach-
masters for the carriage, and pals them eleven pounds
per thousand, amounting weekly to £1.54. The way
he disposes of them is by employing 150 travelling
pole-men and women; in the morning they are started
upon credit; and the next day they return, brining
back the skins, settle the accounts, ancl then take a
fresh cargo.

. AMERICA,

P ILADELPHIN, OCTOBER 25.
t disamiutmlut, on applying last
evening at the tage-office for our usual packets from
New York, we found that no mail-bag had been re-
ceived by the steam-boat. The &appointment was
:treater, as it was known that the Hercules (sailed 17th
September from Liverpool) was below at New York,
and that no less than six expresses had arrived here
from that city in the course of Tuesday night; the first
of which immediately started for the Brandy Mills
and Baltimore. The demand for flour in this city
was so great at an early hour, that suspicion was im-
mediately excited, and but few sales were made; that
commodity is sow held at about ten dollars.
Our information is, that owing to the failure of the
crops in England, in consequence of the bad weather,
bread stuffs had risen from twenty to thirty per cent.
The New York market was drained, by a passenger
who WI the Hercules about sixty miles from the land,
and was in New York the whole day :ncog.
Between two and three hundred persons left this
thy yesterday, for the purpose of buying up all the
flour in the neighbouring counties.
Accounts from New Orleans, to the 26:11 of Sep-
tember, by the mail, state that information from every
part of the State, but particularly the interior, con-
firmed the statement that not more than half a crop
of cotton would be made this season.
PROM THE BOSTON COLUMN/AN SENTINEL, OCT. 27.
In a Court held in Pensacola. Governor Jackson
nude the following remark:—" I am clothed with
powers that no one under a Republic ought to pos-
sess, and which, I trust, will never a..!ain be given to
any man—nothing will afford me more happiness
than to learn that Congress, in its wisdom, shall have
distributed them properly, and in such a manner as
is consonant to our earliest and dearest impressions.
Yet, as I hold those powers by the authority of an
Act of Congress, and Commission, from the Presi-
dent of the United States, it therefore becomes my
imperious duty to discharge the sicred trust reposed
in me, actording to my best abilities; even though
the proper exercise of the powers given, might involve
me in heavy personal responsibilitie.. It has been
my fortune to be thus circumstanced on other occa-
sions, in my various relationships as a public servant,
yet I never have, and never will, shrink from the dis-
charge of my public duties, from any apprehension of
personal responsibility."