, 1866-09-18
An ENGLISH EXECUTION.

convention upon the matter! -.
An ENGLISH EXECUTION.
Disgusting Scenes Among q british
Mob-Thirty Thousand People Pres.
cnt-Terr1blo Crush OF tho Crowd.
(F1om the London Gews. August 2T.1
The execution Of tho youth 9arllcF Bur
roMs, aged eighteen, co1vlctad at tho recent
AssHaa Of the murder Of John Brennan, lfish
eqn iaeqsfg At nePwosa toes Rlacq , on Saturday May
chcster. 4 vast number. Of people assem-
bfc1 to. witness the awful ceremony which
TOOK place on the northeastezn side Of tho
prison IN New Bailey streat. 4 portion Of
MT MT doo @ opepss ope iss upoa ss - .d
projecting about ~ fieet from fhe vsn. On ,
this scatfola stood tue Eallows. Many 1ittn-
dreds o. ths people prcsent had taken their
stand In l9at .s,t o. ahS drop on Friday
sssas sfeas major,ty s n'iss t. - people. ess
Nofe than : million q people ,n and saT.
rounding Manchester have for tho Hrst tlmc
seeing the law yindleatea In this, Ito most
terrible form. No wonder that n1apy should
@hasc been attracted by no better znots~etss2
curiosity, and that among thcutw wcrc eycn~
some Of he more decent Of tue working
fold began v!sibly to increase 30 carly as four
o'clock. By Ave o'clock there was fally 10D
people assembled. with slight sprlnklfng Of
women among them. Many wrctched sptct-
night before, but had probably not had tho
physique necessary to standing 10 long on q
hard pebbly pavement through tho long and
dreary hours OF the night, As tho pfeasurc
bcrs even 90 carly as six O'clock, many
became so worn and fatlgued is to
cry out With brutal impattence to
those In the windows on the northeast
side OF the street to know tho t5tnc-
Every foot Of space from which the merest
glimpse ofthe gallows could b. got appeared
to be occupied before the time liked Tor tho
execution. There could not be many under
thirty Thousand people assembled, alter
grsat numbers had turned backward, de-
TERED by the impossibility Of dudins stand- .
ing room. Among the crowd before and on
each side of the drop there were apparently
. good many mill hands, lahorcrs from tho
fonndries, and other workshops where uu-
skilled labor Is employed, and country peo-
| pic, besides the comm0nest dsecs Of the id!o
md dissolute, to whom such scenes are al
ways great attraction. Seyernl men tainted
from the heat and pressure. Some apparent
y were seized with epiieptic fits, and water
had to be passed down from windows to those
| wiling to assist In restoring them. It was
sad to witness the light and frivolous conduct
Of such an assemblage in presence Of such an
/ awtnl spectacle IS they had come to witness.
For hours the great majority of them belhsed
much as they would at wake or . Gsir,
! The laughter from time to time WAS Of the
most bofsterous character, nrd their. way Of
showing hurnor and lrolleEy ofteu took the
form Of practical jokes. Sometimes men's
hats were rudely seized and thrown back
ward and forward over the heads Of others,
till battered and rendered worthless. At
such shines the contagfon for this kind Of
amusement would spread so rapidly that
j..Ij@ at-1.~ t.
lug in self defence, aud multitudes rcmaiued
for time barcheaded. At intervals sono
one or two men with switches would COM
mcuce beating people back as If to form Il
ring for prfze-fghtcrs. or for some exhibition,
and these men would then 60 round. cap in
hand, to solicit halEpence. Occasionally
these fro1ics nearly resulted in pugilistic en-
: counters, but such rough p1easantries to re-
lieye the dull monotoLy Of the hour were
sna no!e cf yase and Wand fhs a hum
SIX o'clock tic first real relief 10 the impa-
tience Of the people vas afforded By tho
door in the prison wall betn: opened, prd
men on the scatfold to make preparations
for the drama SO many had come to Sec
The workmeu had come, among other things.
to enclose the scallold and drop in drapery
Of black cloth, and as they Commenced ope-
ratjons. one man shouted that he wished
ever, one Of them might be struck dead
tbefore the man would be brought ou:&
: As the draEins progressed It soon became
evident that the cloth wou1d be CARRIED SO
| high rs to afford only very limited view of
wild cries Of Indignation burst forth, which
, I again gave place to shouts Of laughter ut
! some slight mischancc occurring through tho
I nervousness or clnnlsiness Of the wdrkmen-
Then followed an attempt TO sing chorus !:
Glory, glory, Haneujah! !
II England I. bappy land;
Old Beelzebnb defy.
And we'll Join the hallelutah b2Fdi
This was followed by shonts and laughter,
because one Of the crowd had successfully
:. bonnetted policeman. As tic time neared
! ! s O'Clock great inpatience was manifested,
. end cries Of that's off," and "tfmc, time II
followed. Precisely at 8 o'clock the prison
= and several officials stepped upon the plat
= form. The murderer was a pl.lfal object to
= = look ut as. he tremblinSly stood with bis
= arms raised and his eyes directed upward,
: BY those who stood within q hundred yards
Of The scaffold, little more than his head
could be seen above the drapery. ALI being
= In readiness the white cap WIS drawn ovci
= ! his face, and one end Of the halter being
; already round his neck, Ca9crast had but ts
i III. The other to a hook On the drop Then th.
4 disappeared behind the drnpc.y- Only thu
= top Of his head could then b
seen by people on 1eycl will
: the scadola. The whole ccgeMon,
= in public barely lasted thirty seconds. AND
- - this was what people had waited to SCI
\ through long and weary hours: The pcopl
:. appeared wholly unprepared for its sudden
- neEs, md shock appcared almost rfsibly Il
- pass through the whole assembled mass o
. people present, A slight scream burst frau
!. ZONE Of the women, and severa! people faint
4 4 ed, A man on the leads Of the wnFetc,c
~ opposite the jail sunk down in 1T, III:
~ y. blankets had to be passed up to make I be-
+ for him til means could be adopted for ii
ID The magistrates of the Manchester divssio
s,, ~ Of the county have tried unsucccssfully
- T., induce the Legislature to allow executions t
~ ~ take place privately, bnt practically tho
~ ~ hare nearly accomplished their object BY til
- aid OF drapery. Inside the Jail there was
~, - the unhappy man had been pinloned, and q
le the usual forms were adopted. The nul
=. ~ !deter left the following statement IN th
y hands Of the chaplain for publication:
p ~, James Burrows, do Acknowledge. that
~ have. by suddenly emitting Of shs lis e Job
Bteunan, made big vic widow and hts childre
bcftrc me, and, rather than 1Inscr miserable III
.ir on earth, j would wish to cast myself on 1t
he mercy Of God. acknowledge tho rishteousncs
oS of Hts law. and the Law of this country. A. d
r. through this psper, vh}eh h.1e saksd lie chsi
hin to write ont for 10 sign 70 warn all Eoun
= people, Of both sexte. to be 0hedtant to their p
ch Icnts, not to neglect The Sabbath, Tic school az
t. he Bible, and aesfnst all pEo1ansasss snd d
- ny ruin.s Ny }ast word 10, may God be mercf
ve anrn. JANIS BURROWS.
Id .'From the condemned cell, August q, 1870