The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-06-24 00:00:00

THE CONVICTS UNDER SENTENCE OF DEATH

It has been already stated that Francis, after his convic-
tion, appeared completely unnerved, and it was nearly two
days before he recovered anything like composure. He is
now, however, much restored, and exhibits much the same
appearance he did previous to the trial. He has been re-
moved to the cell he occupied before his conviction, and turn-
keys are with him day and night, as is customary in the case
of persons under sentence of death. The Rev. Mr. Carver,
ordinary of the prison, visits him several times in the course
of every day, and the prisoner has frequently expressed his
gratitude to him for the kindness and attention he has paid
to him during his imprisonment in Newgate; and although,
of course, the rev. gentleman has refrained from questioning
the wretched young man in relation to the charge of which
he has been convicted, yet it is said that Francis has fre-
quently voluntarily brought up the subject, and has all along
persisted in declaring that there was not only no bullet in the
pistol, but that it contained in reality nothing but a small
charge of gunpowder and some paper, and that he never had
any intention to hurt the Queen. He abstains, however, al-
together from mentioning what was his motive for discharg-
ing the pistol at all, although it would seem that he hoped it
would be a means for securing him from the state of misery
and almost destitution in which he was at the time he com-
mitted the act, and it is evident that he never contemplated
that the proceeding would lead to such an awful re-
sult. He appears now, however, to be fully alive to. the
consequences that might have resulted from his crime,
and his conduct and demeanour while in the prison have
gained the good opinion of all the officers and the other
I authorities with whom he has been brought in contact.
The conduct of Cooper, it is painful to. state, has formed
a striking contrast ,to that of Francis.. His
of violence
on several occasions has been extreme, and inlieu i?pa-
ring for the dreadful fate which awaits him, his only feeling
appears to be that of regret that he was not able to inflict
some mischief upon the police and the other witnesses, and
as yet the exhortations of the reverend ordinary have be
enunavailing with him, and have entirely failed in bringing nim
to a proper sense of his condition. He has been visited
since his conviction by his mother, and although the latter
was of course very much affected, the wretched culprit him-
self exhibited very little emotion. It has been rumoured
that the execution of one or both of the culprits would take
place next Monday, but it can be confidently stated that no
definite arrangement has yet been come to on this subject.
With regard to Cooper there can be very little doubt that
will
the extreme penalty of the law ultimately be inflicted ;
but very great doubts are entertained whether Her Majesty's
clemency may not be extended to the prisoner Francis. It
is probably known that, by an act of Parliament which pas-
sed shortly after the accession of her present Majesty, the
ceremony of the recorders report to the crown and Privy
Council of the prisoners under sentence of death in Newgate,
with a view to ascertain the pleasure of the crown regarding
them, as also the limitation of the period for the execution
of persons convicted of murder, after conviction has been
abolished ; and now all the few remaining capital offences
are placed in the same position, and a period of 21 days may
elapse between the periods of conviction and execution ; and
the sheriffs are empowered to fix any day they please within
those periods. Indeed upon conviction the sentence may be
carried into effect without any communication whatever
being made either to the Home-office or any other portion
of the government. The usual course, however, has been
for the sheriffs to settle the day on which the execution shall
take place, and then to notify the fact to the Home Secre-
tary. Her Majesty of course, has the power of extending
her pardon or granting a commutation of punishment to any
criminal ; but it will be seen that the Crown is now entirely
relieved from the painful task which was formerly cast upon
the Sovereign, of directly ordering the execution of a fellow
creature.

The dress ball which took place at her Majesty's theatre
on the 26th of May, for the benefit of the silk trade in
'Spitalfields, realised a profit of about £lOOO.
- - -

M. Mainzer, the celebrated popular instructor in singing,
hag been invited by Father Mathew to visit Ireland, under a
belief that the innocent and salutary recreation of music will
powerfully aid in weaning the people from a pernicious in-
dulgence.

On Tuesday morning the following distressing case of hy-
drophobia occurred to a youth 14 years of age, the son of
Mr. Guildford, a cabinet-maker, residing in East-street,
Manchester-square, London. It appears that he was sitting
with his parents, at breakfast, when he was suddenly seized
with shivering fits, at the moment he was attempting to
drink some tea. After recovery, he complained of a violent
pain in his throat and head. Medical assistance was called
in, when it was found that the unfortunate youth was at-
tacked by hydrophobia. Abont ten weeks since he was
slightly bitten in the thick part of the thumb of the left hand
by a strange dog, but the wound healing shortly afterwards,
no notice was taken of the circumstance. Every possible
surgical skill has been used to allay his sufferings, but it is
feared there is no hope of his recovery.
The Augsburg Gazette states that on the 9th inst. dis-
turbances of a serious nature broke out in the city of Pesth,
in Hungary, occasioned by the discontent of the journeymen
tailors respecting some differences with the masters of the
corporation in the matter of a savings bank. Sixteen hun-
dred of these men refused to work, and marched in a body
out of the town. Some cavalry were sent against them, and
forty were brought in as prisoners. Immediately an attempt
at rescue was made by the journeymen and the populace.
The town-house, which contains the prison, was attacked,
its windows demolished, and the lights in the streets de-
stroyed. The military were obliged to act, and many were
wounded on both sides. The next day 3000 shoemakers had
threatened to join the tailors, and much apprehension was
entertained for the tranquillity of the town.
THE WAR IN THE CAUCASUS.—'It is now no secret that
Prince Czernitcheff himself takes the command in chief of
the army in the Caucasus, to make an effort to overcome,
with a very great superiority of force, the insurgents of Cir-
cassia and Abschasia. The contest, as it has hitherto been
carried on, was evidently too much protracted, and cost the
Russians too much blood, without indemnifying them by a
corresponding advantage. They have, indeed, always been
victorious in the summer in this sanguinary warfare, but re-
gularly lost every winter, by the surprise of several of the
forts erected in the extreme line of operations, and at the
opening of every new campaign they have had to employ
much time and labour to recover what they already possessed
the year before. The Russians have undoubtedly confined
the mountaineers within narrow limits, yet competent judges
are of opinion that if the same system of operations were con-
tinued, the war might last years more. Two circumstances
are supposed to have led to the resolution to endeavour to
end the war at once, by the employment of great masses of
troops—the state of affairs in South Asia, and the death of
Guz Bey, the most dangerous of the Circassian chiefs. Rus-
sia certainly cannot be an indifferent spectator of the events
that are preparing in Central Asia, ands et all its enterprises
in that quarter are paralysed as long ait has an enemy al-
ways ready for action in the Caucasus. Guz Bey, who is
dead, was the most enterprising of all the princes of the
mountains, and the present chiefs, Mansor and Tschanna-
zare, are said to be at variance, so that there seems to be a
favourable opportunity to subdue them, to which the religi-
ous animosity of the Christian and Mahomedan tribes may
contribute. Travellers from South Russia say that there is
a great movement of troops, and all are confident of success,
because Czernitscheff, the Russian Blucher, is at the head,
and Grabbe, who is thoroughly acquainted with the grand
community, under him : nevertheless, the issue is problema-
tical, for in such contests all calculations may be defeated by
the slightest unforeseen accident, as happened in Perowsky's
ominous expedition. Meantime, to prevent the mountaineers
from receiving any supplies of arms and ammunition, Rus-
sian ships strictly blockade the whole coast from Sinops (the
seat of the English agents) to Anapa, Ickaterinodar, Kaw-
kaskaja, and Stawropol, on the right bank of the Kuban.
The Leghrans, on the right bank of the Terek, are no longer
dreaded, but the Abchasians are said to have collected in the
neighbourhood of Sochunkule. Perhaps the Russians may
succeed, by skilfully taking advantage of the ground, in iso-
lating some of the tribes, and then they will have the game
I in their hands.--Polith Paper, June 2.