Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-06-15

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till the blackened deal frame which form
the base of the scaffold was drawn out il
the dawn and placed in front of the door
from which Barrett was to issue. Its ar
rival was accompanied with a grea
cheer, which at once woke up those VIII
had been huddled in door-steps and un
der barricades, and who joined in th
general acclamation., The arrival of tn
scaftold did much to increase the inter
est, and through the dawn people begar
to flock 10, the greater portion ofthe new
comers being young women and littl'
children. Never were these more nu'
merous 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 theil
eagerness to see q man put to death
The crowd was most unusually orderly
but it was not crowd in which one
would like TO trust. 1t is said that one
sees on the road to the Derby such ami
mails as are never seen elsewhere so on
an execution morning one sees faces
that are never seen save around the gal
lows Or near great fire. Some laughed,
some fought, some preached, some gave
tracts, and some sang hymns. but what
may be called the general good.humored
disorder of the crowd remained the
same, and there was laughter at the
preacher or silence when any open rob
berry was going on. None could look on
the scene, with all its exceptional quiet
ness, without thankful feeling that this
was to be the last public execution in
England. osr ia - Epwyae z.
Toward seven o clock the mass of peo-
pile was immense. A very wide open
space was kept round 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
Smithfeld--a great, surging mass OF
people, which, in spite of the barriers,
kept .swaying to aud fro like waving
corn. Now and then there was great
laughter as girl tainted, and was passed
out hand over hand above the heads OF
the mob, and there came scuffie and a
fight, and then hymn, and then ser
mon, and thena comic song, and so on
from hour to hour, the crowd thckening
as the 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 lay. 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 hoot-
ing magni6cently attired woman who,
accompanied by two gentlemen, swept
down the avenue kept open bylthe police,
and occupied window afterward right
in front of the gallows. This temporary
exhibition of feeling was, however, soon
allsysd by coppers being thrown from
the windows for the roughs to scramble
for. 1t is not right, perhaps, that mur.
derer's death should be surrounded by
all the pious and tender accessories which
accompany the departure of good
man to better world, but most assu-
redly the sight of public executions TO
those who have witnessed them is as dis
gusting sit must be demoralizing even
to all the hordes of thieves and prosti-
tutes it draws together. Yesterday the
was Of its kind an orderly one,
yet il was such as we feel grateful to
think will, under the new law, never be
drawn together again 10 England.
Within the prison the attendant pro-
peedings we're diyested of whatever pub.
ec interest they might otherwise have
hd by an unusual arrangement to which
te authorities, in the exercise of their
dcretion, had recourse, aud with the
viw, IL would almost seem, to bafae pub
liety while appearing to court it One
hat better, however, nsrrate the circum-'
stsices as they occurred, in the order a
timt promising that for years the GUS
ton, ,Ias been for the sheriffs and under
sherfs, with the rest of the authorities
aud few OF the recognized representa-
tives of the press, to be present at the
procdf Of pinioniug convict about to
} be exsuted. At that supreme moment
q dooaed man has occasionally volun-
teered katements Of more or less pulio
inferred or has been led TO. make them
in replJto question from some Of the
authorizes as to whether be had any
thing mNe to say. Sometimes, but the
ocessiOntare rare, he has availed him
self Of thsopportuniiy TO cast reflections
upon othrs, who had no means Of
answerineim, and 10 whom q certain
amonnt ofdium might attach IN cOnse-
quence; b upon the whole, The bal
ance Of ad9ntages has inclined in favor
Of the cuslm, and Il has obtained at
Nevgste au in most other prisons for
years
The sheriff (Mr. Alderman Stone and
Mr.. Macartht With the under sherifs
Mr. sepsimu Davidson and Mr.. Roche1 /
arrived a. thelrison shortly after seven
o'clock, and tcordiug 20 custom, spent
The interval u eight in their efhcial
department espected With the oOurt