The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-04-18 00:00:00

IRELAND

THE MURDERERS OF MR. BAT- f- the three,
The following account of the •executiou ° of til"
Ribandmen convicted at the last Monaghan sssia ed
murder of Mr. Thomas Douglas Bateson, is abnug
the Northern Whig of Tuesday:—Yesterday
the mortal career of Bryan Grant, Neal Quin, and I's
Coomey, convicted at the late Monaghan spring assit" ,40,
being concerned in the murder of Mr. Thomas P?„104
Bateson, on the 4th of December, 1851, on the pub'', the
leading to • Castleblaney—the two former as be'°"beil4
actual perpetrators of the crime, and the latter as ibree
an accessory before the- fact. In the prison, the Cc
appeared to be in the best of spirits ; and Quill 511; fdi,
mey expressed, in the strongest terms, that they weji,
prepared for the fate which awaited them—that, thee
to the attention which; had been paid to them 1));0 tbe
clergymen, they were- ready to meet their God. ";,
in e
course of conversation, Coomey particularly.entere.Ao
religious topies, remarking that he never in the Fit
course of his life felt so happy as he did at that I°_,„eceto4,
with the confidence before him of in a brief time, meet
his Saviour. Quin said that, if a reprieve should c" for"
woutd not accept it, as he never should be better el,. o 0
to to die than he was at that time. Grant spoke littw,tioor
did he seem to have a wish to share in their eoucersto sec
The-sub-sheriff, in the morning, said he was SOrrif the";
three men in their position. " Sorry !" said one be,
,e,sir,
Heathen asked them it they had any
in a tone of surprise, " Why, it is glad you shoul" pa ht,
sv:
" No," said Coomey, " our Saviour said nothing ss. b
was executed !" The last rites of the Romish Chnrieb.s. ts'ej
administered to them in the chapel of the g3°'
priests, named Hughes and Smith. When they sror,
in,the press-room, Quin said, " Hell cannot nOW SZ4
ries
(When the hangman pinioned his arms.) "
best job ever was done for us." (To the
statement w
Re
pts./
not-
return you many thanks, gentlemen, Will Y°°
us your blessing before you go?" Both then
them. Mn Smith said : " Remember the Pelliteu, ,fft
on the cross.. In one moment you'll be in he3;Ce "
have -eternal, happiness within your reach." Cru.„ll:fornye
mother of God, receive us ! Prepare heaved ,wes
Grant did not say anything audible, but aPPOIO sere
repeating prayers in an undertone. The roPcoef
adjusted round their necks, and in a short Utile' oleo
dead. Wre',9l3o
The Aforning Post, in commenting on tniossg',o to
scene, says :—The scene of the execution t„,.
seems to us so full of mischief in the chars_ an so
it, and in the feeling allowed to be exhibited to seerk-be*
ble and ignorant people ; and it is, morcover,tbat"g is
frequently repeated in a greater or less degreec' tly tiublic
comes a grave question whether, so long tie; PP; of PLiitg
not better directed and regulated, the spectac'" °Pro
executions is not in danger of working. the very css:oo
of the example for which it is meant. This o't grie' io
which the crime had been of the worst die---inos lotion It
in its effect—most horrible—and without eltell-gily
the cold-blooded and deliberate manner of its ertibe
was the assassination, from motives which are los° '-oar
and opprobrium of a whole country,. of a inan boo, 0
heart and honest conduct would have secured ,"%,
the die
and length of days bun, in almost any eommunitY 01 0,01
which it was his misfortune to live under a and repro
by cowardly murder. For the sake of justice. ‘a
government, nothing is more needed than that in,fr. v-ot
where the spring and source of such deeds us.Sa he of
sou's murder still exist, the fullest truth sk?,"^inforOJ, of
forth in the punishment as to the horror an )30;4:
paid assassination in the sight of God and ralioaag;et;
Monaghan—and, we are sorry to say, not itt r°
only—we find the worst of criminals eichibiteo_eo hsof
of martgriom. That passage, which the best of
arati° fit
made with fear and trembling, after the pre the 23
w
earnest and deep repentance for sins from ukc tbr°7oo
are not free, was made by these wretched creaturee'.olo„iley
the sequel of the most repulsive crime, with ao_A"as
and confidence which, blasphemous and absur'',o Olt to
may seem to educated readers at a distance, ka,vei
had an immense influence in neutralising sv"°,o is'
have been the effect of the punishment sul°°4l,ltus"`lll3°
sionable and thoroughly ignorant people, 115—rks,
dined to side against the law and all its vi°_,;4,
murderers of Mr. Bateson are described as b,;`,,t te0;08
period after their apprehension, shown the small been. of
or compunction. Their conduct throughout
loptiow
of defiance of the verdict of truth, and of ass°,eot, iuS
their own righteousness. At the last awful mc''''as t •
l og,
of them is reported to have justified his silenq /otlltbe
crime by the example of his Saviour, who io loved
when he was executed." Wretches thus stroTci buo&i.
hypocrisy of crime are allowed to leave the orof eoros
up by a fanaticism which gives them .a ki° eyes
nasia almost an odour of sanctity—irk thhe 0pium.,,1;6
ignorant people, of whom we cannot roue- x.• i to
they conclude that the deed was not in itself nelinsitil
of
bolts wo
liable which could lead, by so immediate pertainolo4
such a happy frame of mind and to such a ii
bliss. Where religious zeal on the paraded,
and people is so very blind and ill-grt is o°oo',
should surely be very carefully watched. -L„.„,. oi
are sorry to say, in Ireland alone, or only ar 70t1
ists, that we have had to lament the fonYto saloil
making the gallows a short and eaSY W3Yeinberi
Even in England, and on the part
0f
ranstaneesf ste.
church, we have had to report similar elratioa °.tita
shame and regret. But in Ireland the °P
the Inejl
a mischievous agency is multiplied both by
_t
which it works and by the materials alwa3stles 104.1
instances as this at Monaghan, where u:r.,e„ reliCbitit
given no sign of repentance are supportVinlbe eSta"Jotfi
antit,:e peoPle' sees
in the contempt of justice to the last,
of themselves as innocent sufferers to , can mindless
harm. th
by the Government than seems to be g tea f taxa
harm. Unless more judicious clerical aIU to'. C 1431.11.0 leP
St tin" d
too many cases at presont, we mu _f min scs° it
that is seen by the public of the satuadte;cifinestroowilliedieccoo:
derer before execution the better ;
and blasphemy as that at MonagluT_Zeratioultoe!:4,l
will become a matter for serious e?.11; inbtst or;o,
solemn official privacy, such as is .11, _jog; theeoltli
may not be a better mode of adminisorliatie
.rciero
remedy of justice, than the publicitY the_ 'bestil;
irapemtence and presumptuousness, s",,ch
ibit, thr°
of Mr. Bateson were allowed to ntiotioy:
them scathless in mind, and Q
their ordeal.