Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1860-01-19
Execution of Patrick Maude.
SINGULAR SPEECH AT THE scAFFoLD

LOT the murQer OF MS sister. mary luOet,
on the 28th Of May last. We subjoin a
brief biographical sketch of the life Of
the culprit, and an account of the execu.
ton.
Maude was born in Ireland on the 18th
Of March, 1916, and was consequently in
the 95th. year of bis age. He came to
this country in 1847, and from that time
to the present has been almost constantly
in the clutches of the law for various
misdemeanors. He was man of consid
cradle intelligence, but of so violent a
temper, connected with extraordinary
yindictiveness, that it seemed natural for
him to be running into difficulties. His
last act, the murder Of his sister, was
but the climax to his former crimes
During his last confinement he utterly
refused to receive any consolation from
ministerial services, though several cler
gymen called upon him to sympathise
with his misfortunes. He cursed them
bitterly, telling them to leave him at
once.
THE CULPRIT.
At ten minutes past II o'clock. Sheriff
Miller entered the cell Of the condemned
man, accompanied by Mr.. J. FL Landell,
to pinion him, preparatory to execution.
To this process Maude quietly submitted,
but continued his usual incoherent ex.
pressions. He said he had read all of
Cooper's tales, and descriptions of Indian
massacres, but he had never heard of
anything equal to this (referring to the
execution in enormity. He told the
Sheriff he wanted to make few remarks
at tho scaffold.
After he was pinioned, he prayed to
God to grant him mercy, and vengeance
10 his murderers; declaring that one
eighth of the population died from muir
der at the hands Of the doctors by means
of witchcraft.
At 20 minutes past II the prisoner
came out of his cell, accompanied by the
Sheriff, and took a position directly
under the galows. He appeared demcn-
ted and worn out by his long confinement.
He had on a white muslin cap. His
clothing consisted of black frock c3at,
gray sa;tinet vest, black pants, check
shirt, and shoes, and had evidently been
worn for considerable time. He wore
heavy whiskers and moustache. A new
suit of clothing had been offered to him
by his frierds, but he declined to receive
them.
The Sheriff read the warrant from the
Governor, Ito which the prisoner listened
with attention,) and afterwards PROCLAIM
ed that 1T having been properly certified
to me that Patrick Maude has been sen
fenced to death by requisite authority, l
now execute the sentence upon his body"
He commanded silence, and then told the
prisoner to proceed with what he had to
say.
Maude then commenced in loud tone
of voice and distinct ennnciation, by say
ing that they (the spectators) had assem-,
bled TO witness an American cruciHxion
He declared he was prescribed man
and the victim of witchcraft, practiced
by his id family" He traced what
he called the history of witchcraft and
rand necromancy attributing its nvcn-
ton to the Popish Church, and then went
on to show that there had been ten diff.
ferent versions of the Bible. He was
particularly emphatic in his denuncia-
tions of every one connected with his
execution, but his remarks were incohe
rent. He concluded by imploring God
for mercy, and that he would send down
His vengeance upon his murderers. He
spoke for about forty minutes.
At the close of his speech. the Sheriff
adjusted the moose and pulled the white
cap down over his face. In q moment
the spring was touched and the body
was jerked up to the cross beam, coming
down with force terrifying to many
The slack was three feet, and the victims
neck must have been Immediately broken.
For moment perceptible tremor wen.
over Maudes frame, the fingers came con-
vulsively together, the hands blackened,
and death seemed to have done its work.
The natural beat of the pulse was 81
per minute. The physicians in attend
ance gave the following report of the
action of the pulse. At 3 minutes it
beat 40, minutes 1872, 5 minutes 166.
6 minutes 40, 7 minutes 124. minutes
SO, minutes 80. The pulse of the left
arm stopE e at 9 minutes, and that Of the
right, in few seconds afterwards. In
ten minutes, life was entirely extinct.
In half an hour. the body was taken
down, and handed over to the relatives,
who will see it properly inferred.
The gallows was the same one used for
the execution Of Lowe, Erpenstion, and
Mcmahon. 1t was composed of cross
beam supported on two uprights. A
rope, to the end of which was attached
a hook. passed over a pulley in the cen
ire and thence down the east post thro
the floor to the cellar. Five Sc pound
weights were attached to the end, which
were held up by small catch. This
was arranged so that the Sheriff might
spring it with treadle, allowing the
weights to fall a distance of six feet
three of which were with slack rope,
there being space left at the gallows> toI
elevate the unfortunate man by the re
naming three. The weight of the prs-
oner was about ITO pounds.
POST MoRTEM EXAMINATION OF MAUDE.
A medical examination Of the brain of
Patrick Maude was made Eve hours after
the execution. Drs. Dougherty, Coles,
Mills and Richmond, of Newark, being
present. The examination revealed the
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