The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-01-11 00:00:00

EXECUTIONS,

WILLIAM 'JOHNSON, THE ENFIELD MURDERER.-011M011-
day morning the awful sentence of the law was carried into
effect on William Johnson, who was convicted on _Friday of the
recent murder at Enfield, the particulars of which 'have already
been fully detailed to -the public. As early. as seven_ o'clock a
vast crowd assembled to witness the execution. shortly before
eight the culprit was led into the press-room by Mr. Wontner
and Mr. Sheriff Humphery, preceded by 'the Rev—Ordinary, and
followed by the Sheriffs' yeomen. His countenance was deadly
pale, and he appeared fully sensible of his' awful situation. The
Rev. Ordinary exhorted him to repentance, and asked him if he
had made his peace with God, to which he replied in an under
tone, " I have, I have." When the Sheriff's yeomen began to
pinion him, all confidence forsook him, and he was then asked,
by Mr. Sheriff Humphery. whether he still persisted as to the
truth of the confession wmch he had made, to which he an-
stvered in words scarcely audible, "I do, 1.d0." .The sad cere-
mony.having been finished, he was led from the press-room,
through the narrow passages leading to the scaffold, along
which he was obligedto be supported bj, the Sheriff's attendants.,
Upon his arrival at the foot of the scaffold he was led up the
steps, and placed under the fatal beam; and no sooner had he
made his appearance, than the execrations of the multitude
burst from of directions. The executioner proceeded to place
the rope round his neck, and the tap ovenhis -eyes, whilst the
Rev. Ordinary, continued to read the burial service.. During.
this time his hands trembled violently. On the signal .being
given by Mr. Cotton, the drop fell, and he was cut off from the
number of the living. His sufferings did not appear to be of
long•duration. After hanging the usual time, his body was cut
down.

lIORSEMONGER-LANE.—On Monday morning John Hallahan,
convicted at the last Surrey assiLes of robbing and maltreating
David Green, an old man, i years of age, was executed at
Horsemonger-lane gaol. The ()hence for which Hallahan suf-
feied was committed in the month of November last, near Ad-
dington, in Surrey, and upon the testimony of the prosecuter,
who identified the prisoner shortly after the commis-ion of the
offence, it appeared that after the old man was robbed his assail-
ant dragged him towards a ditch, and heat him unmercifully
over the head and body with a black thorn stick, until he ren-
dered his victim insensible. Since the' condemnation of Halla-
han lie has tinifortaly denied that he was the party who had at-•
tacked the prosecutor, and declared that' be was innocent of the
crime with which he was charged. Halfahan, who was born it-1
ilt:land, was a most powerful man, and some idea maj be form-
ed of his strength whhn it was found difficult to procure irons
sufficiently large to 'fit his -legs and wrists. He was attended
by the Rev. ,Mr. Doyle, the,priest of the London-road chapel,
and up to thynomeut the drop fell the unhappy man reiterated
his innocence of the ,crime, although he! admitted that he had
been guilty of many heinous offences. His struggles in death
were very great, andcontinued some time after the drop fell.

- -
EXECUTION OF AN INCENDIARY.-The unhappy young man,
Wren, who waslolind guilty, at the lateliewes assizes, of set-
ting fire to a rick at lick:held,: was executed on Saturday at
Horsham. In the condemned cell he behaved in a becoming
manner, _but,persisted in -declaring his. innocence of the crime.
He, however, thought little of a future state, notwithstanding
the- pieus_exhortations of the Rev. Mr. Wetherby, the chaplain,
who was indefatigable in his endeavours to bring him to a sense
of his dreadful situation. He slept soundly on the night pre-
vious to the execution, and When the. jailer awoke him from his
last sleep in this world, he said, " If you had not awoke me I
should have slept for two hours longer." About an hour before
the execution he attended the chapel, and the impressive man-
ner in which, the chaplain performed the service ,seemed to work
oc
some change in him, and he read aloud after the minister in a
firm and audible voice. At twelve he' as conducted into the
e c h ceremony
a nlt'r' sui cgh
countenance
nte underwentnanee
o rwoi
pt
to be pinioned; a
h
'searing the least agitated. His whole demeanour, however,
agsatteorstii
once
was very respectful. He ascended the platform with a firm
Step; and just before he was turned oft, he advanced to the
front and addressed the spectators, beseeching them to lead
gooti lives, but still persisting in his innocence. His last words
Were, " I am a murdered man: I die innocent, so help sue
God'!" which declaration he accompanied. by stamping his foot.
The hangman. having drawn the cap over his eyes, the minister
continued reading until the signal was given, when the unfor-
tunate vonth was launched into eternity. His struggles were
of short duration. The hotly having hung the usual time was
cut down and delivered to his friends, who conveyed it from the
place- of execution with a horse and cart. We under Stand that
Wren, ,though young, had been several times imprisoned,. and
that on one occasion he received a pistol-shot iu his neck, in an
attempt to rob a baggage-waggou.