The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-01-23 00:00:00

EXECUTION OF J. ROBERTS.

another Kirk dale dal e
execution. Gaol was,
The
on
h e mob
was Saturday l
not
saos last,
great, t he scenethe
roads o
leading to the fatal spot were less crowded, and there was
by no means so great a proportion of female gazers as 0
have seen.
The unhappy man, John Roberts, who suffered the
treme penalty of the law for the murder of Lord Derby
gamekeeper, under circumstances with which our readers
are familiar, gave, in his personal appearance, no indio"
tion of that ferocity of disposition which the world poPti:
larly associates with a deliberate murderer. His face, fa'
and chubby, with a heavy cast of features, was rather,
pleasing in its expression than otherwise. He was drew
in an old black body coat, dark waistcoat, barragon
sera, and shoes. His hair was dark, his height about five
feet six inches, and he was a young man—only twenty-0
years of age.
The culprit, since his condemnation, and more espe
cially since the reprieve of his companions in guilt, has
been imbued with strong religious feeling. At the coo'
demned sermon, preached on Sunday week by the Rev.
Mr. Appleton in the gaol chapel, he was most attentive to
the worthy clergyman's exhortations to prepare for another
world. On Friday night he prayed, read the Bible and tell'
gious tracts, and sung detached pieces of hymns incessant'''.
He did not sleep at all. About five on Saturday morning be
partook of some refreshment—a cup of tea and bread and
butter.
He told the officer who sat up with him that the approver
Shaw, on whose evidence the prisoners were convicted,
had told the truth—that he attributed his present position
to his " good nature"—that when he went out on the fatal
morning with his gun, he had no intention of shooting
any one—and that had he not been in liquor at the time,
the criminal act would not have occurred. He made fre-
quent mention of Richard Kenyon (the murdered game',
keeper) in his solicitations to the throne of grace, and
wished it to be known that he prayed frequently for the
happiness of his widow and children. In short, his con-
duct has been in every respect becoming a repentant gin-
ner.

About half-past eleven, the prisoner, accompanied bi
the Rev. Mr. Appleton, Mr. Amos, the late, and Mr.
Gibbs, the present governor of the gaol, entered the
chapel, where he partook of the sacrament. On leaving
it he embraced, in the moat affectionate terms, his con?'
panion Jim Hunt. to whom, it will be seen, he alluded In,
his speech at the scaffold. He placed his arms round
Hunt's neck, and pressed him most warmly. At this
leave-taking, his firmness, which was so marked during
his subsequent movements, appeared for a moment to de-
sert him—but it was only for a moment, for when the
chaplain on the one side, and one of the officers of the
prison on the other, moved forward, he took his place be-
tween them, and walked with as much apparent ntrye as
those about him. During the procession Mr. Appleton
read the burial service. Arrived at the press-room, the
prisoner was seated in a chair, when his hands were
pi-
nioned, the handkerchief removed from his neck, and the
other preliminaries for the execution gone through. Mt.
Appleton still continued reading, and the prisoner's lips
moved in prayer. He ejaculated at intervals, " Lord have
mercy on me! Christ have mercy on me? &c." The exe-
cutioner, who appeared au fail at his duties, (he arrived
from London on Friday night, the scene of his labour:if
being the Old Bailey,) then led the culprit forward to the
scaffold. When the crowd caught a view of the unhappl
man, a buzz ran through it, during which he bowed verf
respectfully three times—to the southern, the centre, and
the northern parts of the vast assemblage opposite the
scaffold. This concluded, he prepared to speak, and in
very firm and audible voice gave expression to the follow-
ing address, which, from the cool, deliberate, and empha-
tic manner in which it was uttered, must have been heard
by every one—even the most remote in the crowd :
" Good people all !" (Great uproar in front of the
scaffold, mingled with hisses, during which the culprit
waited patiently. When it had subsided he continued)--
" Good people all ! I have made my peace with the Al-
mighty, and I hope that some of you will tell my poor old
father that I die happy. Good people, I have prayed verl
hard for my sins to be forgiven night and day, and ml
poor companion, Jim Hunt, has been praying for me. I
hope, good people, you will all turn from your sins and
wickedness. I owe no man any animosity. and I expect
that no man owes me any. (Cries of " No, no !" from the
crowd.) Good people, take this as a warning from me,
and never let yourselves be entangled with the devil sod
bad company. May God bless you all ! May the Lord
have mercy on your souls ! for the Lord Jesus Christ S
sake, who suffered on the cross for our sins, and who shed
his blood for us—Amen. Farewell! Farewell !"
The bolt was then withdrawn, and the prisoner fell, the
crowd setting up a hideous yell, the expression, appa-
rently, of their feelings of horror at the shock, rather than
of bad feeling towards the dying man. He struggled vio-
lently for a few seconds, and then ceased to move. The
crowd then dispersed, and after the body had been sus-
pended the usual time it was cut down, and buried within
the precincts of the gaol.

MESMERISM.—Dr. Collyer, on Tuesday and Wednes-
day evenings last, delivered lectures on this subject, at the
Town-hall, Birkenhead, to very respectable audiences.
The doctor was not successful in his experiments, but in
Chester was exceedingly fortunate in this respect.
SERIOUS ROBBERY BY A SHOP BOY.—On Tuesday
last, William Woods, shop boy to Mr. Pearson, Times-
office, Lord-street, who was left in charge of the shop
during the absence of Mr. Broadfoot, the manager,
abstracted £lO 10s. in gold, a watch-guard, and other
articles, Trani a pox wawa was locked up in a cupboard.
He was apprehended on Wednesday morning at Ormskirk,
brought down to Liverpool, and committed for trial.
PUBLICANS' CASES.—On Friday there were eight
publicans and beer-sellers summoned before Mr. Rushton,
at the Police-court, for infractions of the new act. We
subjoin a summary :—John Chambers, beer-seller, was
acquitted ; Thomas Glascoe, beer-seller, was fined 60s.
and costs ; John Williams, beer-seller, was fined 20s. and
costs ; ThomasWoi mald. publican, was acquitted ; Williaul
Moss, publican, was fined 40s. and costs; John Griffiths,
beer-seller, was fined 50s. and costs ; Richard Jones, beer-
seller, was fined 20s. and costs ; and John Ryan, publican,
was fined —s. and costs.
FORGERY IN GLASGOW.—We have been requested to
state that the party apprehended in Liverpool was Robert
Potter, late builder in Glasgow, and a partner of the firth
of Potter and Houston, some time builders there ; that
the charge is not that of forgery, but of theft, or reset of
theft, in having taken a sum of about £lOOO too much
from a teller in the Glasgow Union Banking Company,
Glasgow, in July, 1839, on getting discount for a bill. We
are further requested to state that Mr. James Potter,
Seel- street, Liverpool, was never in the remotest degree
Implicated in, or connected with, the offence with which
Robert Potter now stands charged.—Glasgow paper.
ROBBERY BY A SERVANT.—A respectably-dressed fe-
male, named Amelia Rowlands, was brought before Mr.
Rushton, on Saturday, on a charge of having robbed her
mistress, a widow lady, of 17, Hotham-street, of a variety
of articles of wearing apparel. It appeared that the pri-
soner lived as servant with the complainant, in Paradise-
street, for about six weeks, and that she left the service,
on the 18th of November last, without notice. Soon
after she had been missed it was ascertained that she had
taken with her a silk cloak and a number of dresses, veils,
shawls, scarfs, aprons, towels, table-cloths, tuscan bon-
nets, and blankets, of the value of about £l5. She suc-
ceeded in eluding the hands of justice until Friday last.
She was committed for trial.

THE WALLASEY DOCKS.—It is rumoured that two of
the most eminent contractors for the execution of public
works in the kingdom, have offered to execute the whole
of the works requisite for the conversion of Wallasey Pool
into a dock, for the sum specified in Mr. Rendel's esti-
mates ; and that such is their confidence in the success
of the scheme, that they have also offered to accept Wal-
lasey Dock bonds in payment. With the view of showing
how greatly land on the Cheshire side has risen in volt?e
since the Wallasey Dock project was started, it is said
that, on Saturday week, a Liverpool gentleman sold, for
the sum of £75,000, a piece of land on the Seacombe side
of Wallasey Pool, which he bought two years ago for
£B,OOO. The land has a good and extensive frontage ;
and, when the pool shall have been converted into a dock,
it will be one of the moat valuable estates on its banks.
DOCK COMMITTEE, THURSDAY.—Letters were read
from Messrs. Ashbridge, Reay, Purnell, and Guinise,
masters of the Victoria, Waterloo, King's, and Queen'!
Docks, denying the allegation, contained in an anonl'
mous letter to the Chairman, that the dock-masters were
in the habit of taking bribes. Some conversation took
place as to the propriety of having export and import
docks, but it was considered better to defer the matter
until the Albert Dock was ready for use. Mr. Bold
. men'
said he expected the special sub-committee on the doe.ti.
plans would be able to report on Wednesday next, and
tioftL.4ed
tdhiretyn
esrtabtoeuro.fintahsetedrosFkeso, and the sumbj:.cisTt Wicao;
was agreed that a reporter should be engaged to take fel
notes of the discussion, in order that they might be printed
and distributed amongst the members,
the members of the council. anti also amongst
THE AMERICAN TRADE.--The American packet°
which have recently left this port afford evidence of the
improving state of business with the United States. The Hottinguer, on Monday week, took out freight amount.
ing to upwards of £l5OO, and eleven cabin passengers;
the Montezuma, which sailed the same day, upwards
of
£l2OO, and ten cabin passengers. By the way, these tWO
fine vessels, both remarkably fast sailers, are pitted
against each other, and bets to some amount are depen-
dent upon which gets home first. The fine transient shit)
Cohota, also sailed in company ; she is known to be a veil
fast ship, and is pitted, as regards speed, against the ves-
sels we have named. In future, there will be a packet
every five days. The Europe is the first ship under the
new regulation. The Roccius, which is about to sail,
takes out freight amounting to £l4OO. Indeed the Ameri-
can packets have received better freights lately than for 0
length of time previously.
RESCUE AT BURY'S FOUNDRY.—On Tuesday, an able
bodied fellow, named James Askew, was brought before
Mr. Rushton, at the Police-court, on a charge of having
rescued a person of the name of Isaac Edwards, fro%
Greaves, one of the Bridewell keepers, and soother office'
It appeared that on Friday week a warrant had been re-
ceived here from Ni ales for the apprehension of Edwards:
on a charge of having destroyed property and threatened
further violence in that country. The warrant, after
having been backed by Mr. Rushton, was delivered into
the hands of Greaves and Mr. Christopher Carnes, the
officer from Mold, for the purpose of putting it into exe'
cution. They accordingly went to Bury's foundry, where
Edwards had been working, and took him into costal;
which they had no sooner done than they were attacked.
by upwards of one hundred of the workmen employed at
the foundry, one of the most active a their assailant°,
being the prisoner, and the result was that -Edwards wee
rescued, rod effected his escape through the yard. Mr.
Rushton ordered the prisoner to pay the sum of £5, or
be imprisoned one month.

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