Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1868-06-26
05eneral Sntrlli9rnfr.
EXECUTION OF MICHAEL BARRETT
Scene I'm Front OF Newgate.
81 rx-Dr, The london Times MAY OH

from the London Times, MAY Za-J
Yesterday morning, in the presence of
a vast concourse of citizens, Michael Bar
rett. the author of the Clerkenwen Explo-
sion, was hanged IN front OF Newgate. In
its circumstances there was little to dlstln-
guish this from ordinary executions. Inc
crowd was greater, perhaps and better be-
haved: still. from the peculiar atrocity of
the crime for which Barrett suffered, and
from the fact of its being probably the last
public execution IN England, 1t deserves
more than usual notice.
The execution differed little from other
similar exhibitions. On Monday the BAR
Tiers were put up, and on Monday night
fringe OF eager sight-seers assembled,
mostly sitting beneath the BEAMS but
ready at a moments notice to rise and
cling TO the front places they had so long
waited for. There were the usual cat-calls,
comic choruses, dances, and even mock
hyms- till towards o'clock, when the
gaietv faded away as the public houses
closed and popular excitement was not re-
vived till the blackened dead frame which
forms the base of the scaffold was drawn
out in the dawn, and placed IN front of the
door at which Barrett was TO issue Its ar
rival was accompanied with great cheer,
which at once woke up those who had been
huddled in dOOrsteps, and under barn.
cades, and who joined IN the general accla-
nation. The arrival of the scaffold did
much to increase the interest, and through
the dawn people began TO flock in, the
greater portion of the newcomers being
Young women and little children. Never
were these more numerous than on this
occasion, and blue velvet hats and huge
white feathers lined the great beams which
kept the mass from crushing each other IN
their eagerness to see man put to death
The crowd was most unusually orderly, but
1t was not a crowd in which one would like
10 trust. 1t is said that one sees on the
road to the Derby such animals as are new
er seen elsewhere; so on execution morn
ing one sees faces that are never seen
save round the gallows or near
great fire. Some laughed, some fought,
some preached, some gave tracts and some
sang HYMNS: but what NAV be called the
general good-humored disorder of the
crowd remained the same, and there was
laughter at the preacher or silence when an
open robbery was going on. None could
look on the scene with all its exceptional
quietness, without a thankful feeling that
this was to be the last public execution in
England. Towards o'clock the mass of
people was immense. A very wide open
space was kept around the gallows by the
police, but beyond this the concourse was
dense, stretching up beyond st. Sepul
chre's Church, and far back almost into
Smithield-a great surging mass of people
which, in spite of the barriers, kept sway
ing to and fro like waving corn.
Now and then there was great
laughter, as a girl tainted and was passed
out hand over hand above the heads of the
mob, and then there came a scuffie and a
fight, and then a hymn, and then a sermon
and then comic song, and so on from
hon.. - fhTaIyov,iY1ur bo
day frightened and the sun shone out
with such glare as TO extinguish the very
feeble light which showed itself family
through the glass roof above where the
culprit Law. 1t was wild, rough crowd,
not so numerous nor nearly so violent as
that which thronged to see Muller or the
pirates die. In one way they showed their
feeling by loudly hooting a magnifcently-
attired woman, who, accompanied by two
gentlemen, swept down the avenue kept
open by the police, and occupied window
afterwards right IN front of the gallows.-
This temporary exhibition of feeling was,
however, soon allayed by coppers being
thrown from the windows for the roughs to
scramble for
The convict Barrett had retired to rest
about 10 on the previous evening, and,
having spent somewhat restless night,
rose at yesterday morning, dressed him.
self, and engaged IN prayer. Shortly
afterwards he was joined IN his cell by the
Rev. James Hussey, attached to the Ro
man Catholic chapel In Moorfelds, who
had attended him regularly since his con- |
viction. and who remained with linn till |
the last. 1t is understood that he received |
the Sacrament one day last week, and |
again yesterday morning. Towards 8 |
o'clock the sherifs paid him visit, accom- |
panied by the Governor, and then retired |
to part of the prison leading to the scat
fold, where the rest of the authorities and
the public representatives had already as
sembled- By a pre-deternin I'd arrange
ment, and contrary to the usual
practice, the convict was not pinioned In
the press-room, as 1t is called, but in his
own CELL and, this process over, he was
conducted to the drop by private way,
accompanied by his priest and attended by
the executioner and three or four wardens,
the prison bell and that of ST. SepulchTe's
Church, hard by, tollng the while. The
sheriffs and under sheriffs, who, with 9TH
ers, stood in a group In gloomy corridor
behind the scaffold, Just caught a glimpse
of the doomed man as he emerged with his
ttendants from a dark and narrow passage,
and turned a corner leading 20 the gallows.
He was dressed In the short claret-colored
coat and the gray striped trousers, both
Wen WOfl- DN NC udU DCOOA4c
lar TO all who were present during his pro-
tracted trial His face had lost the ford
hue it then wore, and In other respects he
was an altered man.
With the first sound of the bells came
a great hungry roar from the crowd outside,
and a loud, continued shout of chats of,
till the whole dense mass stood white and
CHASTITY looking In the morning sun, and
the pressure on the barriers increased so
that the girls and women in the front ranks |
began to scream and struggle to get free. |
Amid such a scene as this Barrett was exc
cuted. His clergyman came first. Barrett |
mounted the steps with the most perfect |
composure. This may seem stereotyped |
phrase, but il really means more than is |
generally imagined. To ascend ladder /
with ones arms and hands closely pinioned /
would be at all times difficult, but to climb |
a ladder to 90 to certain death might try /
the nerves of the boldest. Barrett walked /
up coolly and boldly. His face was as /
white as marble, but still he bore himself |
with frmness, and his demeanor was as far |
removed from bravado as from fear. We |
would not dwell on these details, but |
from the singular reception which he |
met as he came out option which he
There was partial burst of cheers, which |
was instantly accompanied by loud misses, |
and so it remained for some seconds, till
as the last moment approached the roars
dwindled down to a dead silence. To
neither cheers nor Misses did the culpnt |
make the slightest recognition. He seemed