The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-01-20 00:00:00

!it presented me with a lette

s it will be it:nos&

to carry the prison

d States

We ihin.

r our lives

honour to the flag entrusted to our charge requires that
the prisoners be put to death, as the course best cal-
culated to make a salutary impression upon the rest of
the crew." In the necessity of my position I found
my law. I judged of the characters whom I could trust,
and determined to arm them. I ordered preparations
also to be made for the execution of the three.
.illl

and the petty officers were directed to cut down every one
who should let go his whip or fail to haul when ordered. I
put on my full uniform, came on deck, and proceeded to
ex-
ecute the most painful duty that ever devolved upon an
~.ne officer in the American navy—the F,'"
I one prisoners of the fate that awaited

Spencer and said to

Mr, Spencer

You were about to t

night, while I was buried in sleep, with

gle moment to send one wo
prayer to God for her welfare

ion to my wi

and the necessity of the c

now forfeited,
I do

not intend, how

Is me to take it

. pitate you in the mode c
in your breast one feeli

the sacrifice. It there ,
nature, you will be grateful for the premmm.
your horrible designs. You surely ought to be thankful t..
yott have been prevented from the terrible deeds you medi-
tated. If you have any word to send to your father, any
satisfaction to express to him that you were not allowed to
become a pirate, as you ought to do, you will have ten mi-
nutes granted in which to write it." Spencer seemed over-
come with emotion. He burst into a flood of tears, sank on
his knees, and said he was not fit to die. I repeated to him
the catechism, and begged him to offer sincere prayers for
the Divine forgiveness. I recommended to him the English
Prayerbook, assuring him that he would find in it something
suited to all his necessities. Cromwell fell upon his knees,
protesting his innocence, and invoking the name of his wife.
Spencer declared that Cromwell was innocent, and begged
that this might be believed. This, I confess, staggered me;
but the evidence of his guilt was conclusive. 1 told Spelt•
cer, Cromwell had said of him and another person, that
there was a " fool on one side, and a knave on
the other," and told him that Cromwell would have allowed
him live only so long as he could have made him useful to
himself. This roused him, and from that time he said no
more of Cromwell's innocence. Subsequently circum-
stances induced me to believe that Spencer wished
to save him, probably from the hope that he would yet
get possession of the vessel, carry out his original design, and
effect his rescue. He wished, at the same time, to persuade me
that Small was only an alias for some one else on his list—
though this was proved to be false. Small alone was the one
we bad set down as the poltroon of the three ; yet he re-
ceived the announcement of his fate with great composure.
He was asked who. wished to make!

Itber sbe should not I
dto Spencer. He

•ould have b

]ded, I

ae him

home and be

s woul

he Potoma,

of exaggerate

in board the John A
successful. He aske

Ittempts to core
hat I knew of t

now how c

the danger? I
A the crew had 6

ver, but do
I cal]
that Gc

led to his mint
od's mercies w(

that he

1 down

) w idel

but did not
a Bible and

t I wO

t my repentance will t

.om the F

s repentanc
-t. I told

, ~...... __
ye him. I told. him I did most sin-