The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-03-15


HERE IN THIS HEART, that weeps thy loss;
Though hidden, thou art still q sphere,
Serene, refined from earthly dross,
Eternal and intensely clear!
RALEIGH, April 6, 1850.
Strange Narrative of u Resuscitated
Felon.
\ \ Wait till you hear
it. Ten years ago, 7 was elected
sheriff of this County. This was nv
first election, and I have been re-
turned regularly ever since. My first
attempt to open court was made dur
ing an important trial. The crimi-
nal was depraved, desperate wretch,
who had been indicted for an afro
cious and brutal murder. The fellow
= was greatly hardened, and seemed to
care but little how the trial went.
The evidence was strong against him,
and when the case was submitted to
the jury, they returned verdict of
guilty without leaving their seats
The execution was fixed for day
two weeks after the trial Of course,
it was my duty to put the rope around
his neck and launch him into eterni-
ty. 1t was a distasteful duty, as
sure you; for, although I knew full
well the man deserved his death,
did not relish the idea of hanging
him. I got through with it, however,
and set him to dancing in the air.
He did not struggle much, and I
thought had an easy death. After
hanging the usual time, he was cut
down, and his body given to his
friends for interment. I thought I
had seen the last of the man, as the
wagon containing the body drove out
Of the jail yard, but I was mistaken.
About four months after the exc
cution, [ happened to be passing my
barn, when [ saw man sitting in the
doorway, with his head resting on
his hands. I did not Like his looks,
so I approached him, and asked him
what he wanted there He raised his
head and looked at me in silence. I
am not given to superstition, and I
don't think I'm very timid, but I felt
my blood grow icy cold as 1 recog-
nized in the man before me the man
whose execution I had conducted.
His face showed no traces of his vio-
lent end; and the only indication of
it now visible, was Slight disfgure-
ment OF the neck. [ scarcely knew
what to say or think, for / had seen
him hung, and heard him pronounced
dead, and delivered his body to his
friends for burial, and yet, after a
lapse Of four months, there he sat,
looking at me with face as white as
a sheet. The terror that was exhi-
blted in his countenance convinced
me that he was no ghost, so asked
him, with as much coolness as I could
command:
"Jack Larkins, do you know me?"
"You're the man that hung me, ;"
he replied, doggedly, at the same time
moving away.
"Before you go, Larkins," said 7,
Il would like to hear how you cheat
ed the gallows."
.'You won't peach on any of them
folks as helped me, will you?" he
asked.
'No," I replied, 81 will not get
them into any trouble. I simply
wish to know how you felt while you
were hanging, and how you were re-
SuSc1CaueQ.
He hesitated for some time. but,
upon q renewal of my assurance that
none of his friends should be mo-
Tested, he told me the following story:
When | put the rope around his
neck, and left him on the gallows. he
1eita faintness about the heart, caused
by his realizing his fearful situation
1or the first time; but before he had
time to think, the trap was sprung.
and an he fell through the openins'
The shock of the fal) was rather more
startling than painful, and did not
produce either insensibilitv OR con.
fusion: His thoughts were remark
ably clear, and he seemed to have the
power of seeing far above, below and
all around him. Everything assumed
bright vermillion hue, and a soft
dreamy languor gradually stole over
him, until he became insensible.
There was nothing painful or unplea-
SAINT in anything he had undergone.
He seemed to be sinking gently into
delicious sleep, and all his thoughts
were pleasant. The next he remem-
bered was being wrung by the most