The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-11-26 00:00:00

EXECUTION.

Thii morning, John Smith, for pagsing forged note/.
John Criv, fur harilary, anti Janet Scott and El:oar I
llogan. for cutting and maiming, were rxecated, pnesnAnt
to their sentence, at the usual place of execotiop to the (WI

_
Long before the fatal hour of eielit had arrived, the Old
Bailey. from Ludgate Hill to St. Sepulchre.* Churn', pre-
sented one immense and almost impenetrabie mass of sp
taturs. So great teas the desire to witness the appathng
spectacle, that the toes of the houses, and every wind,' e
commanding a view of the platform, were also crowded to
excess. Yesterday the unhappy men took their last
farewell of their friends, and expressed thentaelves perfeethe
resigned to their fate. The greater part of the night ems
soent in prayer, in which they were assisted by the Rev.
Ordinary, the Rev. Yilr.Smith, of Penzance, the Rev. Mr.
Keeling, and Mr. Baker. Hogan who was a Catholic,
was attended by Mr. Devereox. the Catholic Ordinary of
the gaol. The conduct of the unfortunate men this
morning, when brought into the press room, was becoming
their lamentable siteation, and they appeared to listen with
devout attention to the Reverend Gentlemen who attendel
them. After partaking of the communion, they seemed to
feel relieved ; and the scene was then one of the mo.t
impressive ever witnessed in the -gaol. Kocitt sal 1
he felt greatly comforted, and aho•alI quilt chi.,
world with a full reliance on the divine mercy for' his plat
transgressions. fie said he looked back at his past Ma
with sincere contrition, and considered this as the happiest
moment he bad ever experienced; his mind dwelt upon
toe promises of his Saviour, anti he should hope that this
indeed was " the appointed time" and this .` the day of
Salvation." Smith apppeared to pray with great earnea'•
near, and said be hoped to find that mercy from an offended
God, which the laws of his country could not extend to
him here. Crisp, although apparently very penitent did
nt,t possess that composure watch was evinced by his
fellow culprits ; and when the officer was about to
pinion his hands, his whole frame was violently agi-
tated, his bosom heaved in agony, and his eyes
, turned involuntarily upon the surrounding objects.
Hogan was an Irishman, of most forbidding aspect. The
sighs and prayers of his unfortunate companions appeared
to make no impression on hint, nor rouse Ilion from an in-
sensibility which appeared to be halittualt He scarcely
attended to the Reverend tientlematt.s exhortations: and
preserved a sullen taciturnity to the last. After the meta
preparations had been completed, the mournful proeess:on
proceeded to the scaffold. Hogan went np firet, with
a firm step, anti turned his eyes towards the immenn
body of spectators with a look of indifference. hlco:t
followed,and was supported to the platform by the officers.
He appeared much agitated and prayed with tenth Weeny..
during the time the Executioner was a ijeusting the Imre,
Crisp was attended by Mr. Riker, while the net easery pre-
parations were being carried into effect upon the others ;
and alien asked if he was ready, he replied, " 1 sin, Christ
have mercy upon me." Ile shook hands all ctionately
with Mr. Maker, and thanked him for his unremitting
attention whim : then turned his eyes towards every person
present—and ascended the fatal drop with a steady step.—
Smith continued in silent prayer till the last. Hr appeared
very weak, and was obliged to be supported u?
the steps by the officers ; when after a short
time spent in imploring the forgiveness of their.Creatoro
the fatal signal was given, the drop fell and consigned the
unfortunate men to eternity. Smith appeared for a few
minutes convulsed, the others died almost without a sung>
gle. Great email ion, we believe, was felt by the
usnititude for Smith and Scott ; for the first of whom it
was expected that a respite would have been obi tined ; but
we find that previous to the offence for which he suffered,
his character was bad. He was by trade a jeweller, tboagtt
of late he had not worked at his business. Some time ago
he entered the service of a gentleman at lalington, where be
had remained but a short time, before be abstracted
a quantity of plate and decamped. lie was shortly
after taken into custody, but his master, from
motives of humanity declined to prosecute. lie then
became connected with some bad characters in his master's
neighbourlieoi, and took up his abode with them in
Picke Egg Alley, where he committed some offence which
sent him for some time to the Peniten'iary. On his
liberation from Prison he commenced his traffic in forged
notes, and was very successful in circulating them among
his moster's connexions. Fearing, however, that this
wdold not last bug here, he quitted England and
resided for some time on the produce of his villainy in
France. His hinds being exhausted he returned to this
Country. and again commenced the dangerous traffic which
eventually led him to the scaffold.

RETAIL lithawisa.—Saturday last, the Albion Retail
Brewery•, in Alfred Street, Beading, was opened and ds-4
with grtat encouragement, upwards of 12 barrels of strong
beer having been retailed to the public on that day at 41.
per quart ; being a reduction of one penny in the price
before charge., in that town for strong beer. •

tarts.—This ruorn;ng atfiee o'clock afire brokeoat iti ts.e
work shop of Mr. Rumble. cabinet m tker,St. John's Street
Road, nearly oyposite Northamroo Squtre, which *as
entirely consumed, together with much valuable furniture ;
but by the prompt attendance of the ermines, and the
exertions of the firemen, time dames were prevented epreai•
inc. The cause of the accident is not ascertained.

Yesterday afternoon, at four o'clock, an instance of veil
sodden death ;occurred in Calton. While Mr. Jof t
Falconer, hair dresser, Kirk Street, was in the act of shav-
ing a man, he at .ggered, and was just falling, wLen be was
placed on a chair, and expired In five minutes. At will
long be remembered by hundreds who were his customer's,
his shop was the arena of all local discussion : 4 was. i?,
fact denominated theCaltoo coffee room, and was fhe mew"
of all the borough politicians. Ills father and be have
been in the trade for upwards of belle century. Hie fait.. r
was the first who reduced the price of shaving to a lialfpen•
ny ; and when his brethren in the toter. wished Irina aga: 3
to rise it, old Strap replied, " Charge a penny ! Jock an-t
me are just considering about lowering it to a farthing."—
He would never take more than a bslfpenny, though it
was offered him, and being very skilful at his bulicessi
and of a frank jocular turn, lie bad a large bliare u:
public favour, and nes enabled even at this hit' rata to
gather money and build houses. About 16 years ago
lie died, and his son carried an the busieesti ; but l:e often
said others wrought fur need, but be did it for pleasure or
recreation, and never was so happy as when he was im-
proving the countenances of the lieges, He was generally
allowed to be at the top of his profession ; and there are
loin cold men whom lie & taste:ler have shaved for 50 years,
and whose boast it wesathat they never were touched by
another—one very old cast.nner regulsr/y eeme for nisay a
year to his shop every Saturday eight from the western ex-
tremity of the town. 11i: shop was furnished with two
dozen of antique chairs, as many pictures, and a musical
clock, and for a loug time be had a good library of
books, bat they at length nearly disappeared, and he took
up to his house the few thet remained agbis own share. At
two different times, when trade wit dull, be (gave his
tena,ts a jubilee on the term day, and presented Cirri;
discharges withodt receiving a fertbine. He has left
behind him property worth between 2,01101. and 3.1;0411—'
—(lThrsgoto chronicle.)
Jess lbw, a well known character et Perth, died on
Monday morning after a few hours illness, supposed in
consequence of having used too mach freedom with the
cheap whiskey.—A woman of Dankeld died on Monday
morning, in consequence of dunking cheap whiskey to
excess.