The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1853-06-21

Tho Execut,on OF A,thur spriug

HT n sup from tHo UHCc d tho Ihlia-
delphia ledger, contains full re-
I, port of the events whi.h transpircd
during the last hours of Arthur
Spring,
sS' His manner seems to have heen
unchanged, aud ne maintained up to
The period Of his death, general in
difference TO his fate. His cnnrcr.
sasion i'll his cell with his SPIRITUAL
advisers, according to the published
reports, consist Of il series Of dc"la,n-
tons and cjacu,at;ons, with little 60.
herency, ana nothing to induce the
!, slightest confidenrc in h,s sincerity
wfth regar'! to any th;ny he sail.--
The only alterations sccn e. have
been, from raviug ar; irr"vcrent ~
CARNATIONS, in the name Of jesus, to
auncoush and revolving i>sts, respect
ing his condition aud q; ;'roachiny
fate.
The statcmrn, Of events i'r,r near
midnight of Thursday, up to the
hour of execution are main,y includ
ed in the following sketch:
ri.isoNER's CELL, NEAR MIDNIGHT.
Thursday Night, June o. After
religious services. by the Rev.
Messrs. Street and kensil. Srrny
was asked how he fe!tl lie answer
ad-I never iclt better in my life.
L never murdered any person, and
expect to die Christian. ! believe
I'm the Lord Jesus Christ-and that
he alone can forgive my sins aud
wash my soul in his blood, and that
she alooc can save me: and I ncv.r
did believe IN anything else. l also
believe in the resurrection Of ':.e DO.
gdy, aud in Judgment to c,:,e, ari
life everlasting after death; and that
every man must give an account Of
every action ofhis life. whether it be
good u t1ii, an,iz;Aya place 81 3'or7i risa--
ry for the Wicked
10 question put to him. (wit:
The open Diblo in his hano)-Do you
fee! tnat God, for Christ's sake,
accepts you and ioryiyes y,u2 lie
answered, Il trust he doe, and death
does not troublc me- TO q Question
put to him do you, il. the Tear Of
Gni, before whom yon will appear
in few hours, ir, give every one
vino has in any wav or na,.ner iri"r
ed your He anawcrcd-.'i d., a,l
| trust tIe will forgive H.: as I for.
give tucm.'
T lis les: statement *o. Although
III. boy brought homc the money, he
never ted me that he murdered the
women; neither do | b"l,cve lie knew
anything abont the murder, ,ioy if he
hal he yo,t:A hare told .ne. lei.
ther do | believe he h.,' any hand in
it. These are to ie considered as
ny dying words.
He had previously goue into :.
long dctai' (so often t.ld) about his
sons visit to Mrs. Shaw aad Mrs.
Lynch after midnight. and bringing
home the money. Hc then. i'll posi-.
tive terms. declared he was in bed
on the night Of the mrrdcr; and
though the son brought home the
money and put it IN his pocket book,
yet he declared that he believed his
son had no hand in the murder of tie
women, and that he is entirely clear.
II After having got through his
statement, l., commenced to IKE
aud laugh, although rcmipicl 0: the
necessity cf beng solemn. JIc SAID
1 have got long journey to take in
tho morning. but | don't think they
will got NE off until af,tr diner, as
| want to lay in g good stock Of pro-
visions. And then lie went on to
relate an anecdote in relation to two
men swimming a race. That one Of
them took weeks provisions on his
back, and when the other saw this
he gave up the bet.
The prisoner then laughed hc"rti-
ay until reminded of lis condition.
10 this he remarked that he could
not help pis, as he was SO glad 70 get
of. In answer to a remark that
every person in tho community be.
lieved him guilty, and that we, his
spiritual advisers, believed it also, he
said, you must think ain a Greek
aud thus he went on until We left
him, about midnight, to take his last
sleep previous to awakening in cterni
ty.
After the departure Of the Rev.
Messrs. Street and Kcnsil, the chap.
lin of the prison, the Rev. Mr.. Al.
eyander, took their place, and the
prisoner, after some conversation
with him, slept for several hours
lie awoke about 4 o'clock, and join.
oil in prayer with the Rev. Mr.. AL.
exaader. The prisoner then prayed
. &