Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1819-02-26


reverend pastor addresses the throne Of
grace for their pardon and peace.
"No-your sense ofprupriety will ensure
the one, and your best feelings wiz be Ell
gagged in the other.
When the curtain drops which separates
the convicts from terrestrial Objects. may
every aspiration be prayer to the Throne
of Grace for mercy on the sufferers.
After this address, the marshal read the
death warrant, and concluded with the fol-
lowing remarks !:
81 have now read TO you, fellow citizens,
the precept, which, while il authorizes, re-
quires I should deprive these four unforu-
nate men of their earthly existence, and
transport their immortal spirits into the
Eternal world. 1t confdes 10 lie solemn
authority and imposes an awful duty. And,
fellow citizens, if their crimes, since their
fatal commission, or their sentence, may
have made their beds, beds ofthons, the de-
legation of this high authority, aud the re.
quirement of discharge OF this painful du-
ty, has not placed me on pillow Of roses.
"But amid the multitude of thoughts
which have encompassed me, have deri-
we'd consolation from a reflection, that the
command Of society is in exact accordance
with that high order of heaven, which di-
reefs that 'whosoever sheddeth mans blood
by man shall his blood be she'd
whatever may be the motives which
have brought many of you to witness this
sad scene of death, sure am. that il cam
not but awaken in every breast, those pi-
GUS and solemn feelings SO justly due to the
occasion; and that, while, as citizens, you
rally round the officers intrusted with the
execution of the laws, you will not hesitate
to look, with piety and reverence to Him
who is above all, and to join with fervency
and true devotion, the minister of our Holy
Religion, in impIoring the God of all grace
and supplicatiun, in behalfof these unlor-
tunate men, now about to he ushered into
the eternal world, and the immediate pre-
sence of their God, and to enter OH the NOR
ming OF eternity.
''They are indeed, strangers among US,
far from kindred friends or atfectionate re-
latives, and in fcfeign land ; but it must
be gratifying TO you to know, that though
the stern hand Of justice hath overtaken
them, its corrections have been administer
ed with mildness and sympathy as it is a
consolation also to believe that from every
region there is pathway to immortality,
and that the spirit which religion has puri-
fed and refined, will, when freed from the
body, find its native country )" for chris
tianity has assured us, that God is no re-
specter Of persons-but Of every nation,
sect and people, they who fear him and Pc
nitently confess and repent Of their sins, land
rely on his mercy shall find grace 10 help
them in time of need"
At The termination Of this address, the
Rev. Father Larrassey addressed the
Throne Of Grace in fervent and holy
prayer, and the scene was closed. :
About ten minutes after they were exc
cuted, the Marshal read that part Of the
warrant which ordert their bodies to lie
delivered to the surgeons, il they were call
ed for.-Several surgeons appeared to take
tkem.
Public executions are not frequent a
mong US, and when they do occur conside.
rable excitement is visible. Our people
are taught, from their earliest childhood,
10 commsserate The wretch who has com.
mitted crime. while they abhor his deed.
Such is the sensibilitJ generally shewn
towards those whose lives are forfeited by
the laws, that ifthere are any ameliorating
circumstances in the case, the power whose
preTogative it is TO pardon, is assailed
from every quarter with humble petitions
and entreaties for mercy. Many think
this feeling has been TOO much INDUCED in
our community, and that clemency has too
often been shewn to criminals, but we are
not of this opinion. This pity TO the
wretcbed and guilty, these strong feelings
of adherence at the frequency OF public
executions, are proofs of public virtue, for
much Of patriotism and parity Of morals
grow out of the affections. Strike dead the
sympathies Of the heart, and the head is
but miserable guide. Generous senti-
ments, often, in the abandoned, counteract
erroneous reasoning and prevent bad deeds.