The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-05-01

ther appeal was maue 10 tne Governor. 1nlS
for tn reason that James II. Nance, son of the
Sheriff. was in dying condition. Because OF
the a1fliction, which the Sherin's family was
then undergoing, the execution was further
postponed. This time to the 10Th Of April,
when the sentence OF the law was carried out
The executed man was about thirtyTve
years OF age, and possessed some exceitenL
qualities. AS laborer he Is said to have
been faithful and honest lie had been lying
for many years with Mr.. David w. 9Dowtsn, in
the Southern. portion of this county,s8nd rode
one Of his horses to the village ogSshe day OF
the commission OF his cIipH Wien arrested
he manifested anxiety aAz eha saftey of Mr..
one OF the many bi.a saces in town.
toward his tenant;by gblng TO Columbia to
see the Governor IN his behalf, doing all thai
The family Of slean Hurst are said to be ex
cellent negroes./
Sloan's greR fault was in drinking liquor.
to leaGhlm into trouble. When not drinking
he WAS quiet and peaceable, but when drink
i1GSwas disposed to be quarrelsome or turou-
tsnt, but never before the killing OF Lemmie
Rapley, had he committed any serious breach
of the peace.
During the Intervening time between his
sentence and the execution his spiritual wei.
fare was not neglected. Many, II not all, oi
the colored preachers in this vicinity called
frequently TO minister spiritual consolation:
Many others, white and black, were mindful
of him, and they too sought TO give spiritual
comfort. The murderer professed u change OF
heart, and gave assurances which were most
gratifying to his spiritual advisers. He had
long since given up the hope for comma
taliop of the death sentence and de.
voted his time to preparing his mind
for the end. For hours before his ex.
ecution he talked almost incessa tly and. we
might say, at times, in manner bordering
on incoherency. While we believe the testimo'
nv Of nearly all would be that he was calm
and brave. while in his cell, yet he seemed to
others to be greatly affected, and evinced ner.
vousness 10 such degree that he was not
still for a minute. He asserted most positive
ly his confidence In the forgiveneness OF his
sins, and said that he was ready to die. While
still in his cell, among other things he spoke
somewhat as follows while looking through
the CRATE at those standing before him: o.o
but my soul will soon be with God. You
may punish me here now, but you can, hurt
my spirit. Jesus Is my friend, and He Will
take care that no harm comes 10 my soul:
God has forgiven my sins, and / hope that
you will pray to him 10 forgive your sins as he
mas forgiven mine. | have no fears of the
hereafter. Light from above has come TO me
in this dark cell, and II Will abide and remain
with me to the end. and then lead me to the
better world. / thank the jailer for his uni
form kindness 10 me since l have been In his
charge. He has been good to me. / thank
the preachers and good women who have
been kind to me.
(Here he named quite number.)
There is one white lady to whom feel par
ticular!y thankful, (here he named her) and
wish the editor would put her name In his
paper. ] am all right in my mind. and would
not have the conditions otherwise. My spirit
will be wi tn God before dinner. When am
out yonder and my time has come, don't
want any of you 10 question me about any
thing. am fixed now. II this one and that
one, and rybody, should ask me questions.
may be mixed up and confused, and might
make conflicting statements. l can now talk
trht 70
me- but don't want to be bothered "out yon-
der" (meaning when he was on the scaffold. }
There is TOO much wlckednesS In this world,
and there ought to be more praying. Every
liquor. ] am ready whenever the Sheriff says
for me TO go. 1 have no fears. will soon be
with God. / nm ready to 60 to him now.
hope that all Of you may be as ready to go as
am, when you are called. You needn't have
any doubt about me being ready"
AT 1885 the prisoner was marched out OF his
cell, and up the steps to the third story where
the scaffod had been prepared. He assembled
the steps of the scattold wlthoutapparent ner-
vousness and went on the platform without
hesitation. The rope hung within few inch
es OF his face but he seemed not to see 1t. He
certainly never faltered or tlinched at the ap.
proach of death. One of the preachers said /:
"How Is it now with you, my brother 2 Are
you ready?" ooh, yes; am all right You
nssanS ,sfs wS1e aGsHt !1S' rsauk Si Sod II
Sheriff F,W. r. Napse said "sloan Hurst,
l wantito ~ 81 reaa see death Warrant I" "a Ii
right, NJ. Sheri9jus as you like"
Whenstne Shksrfiff had finished, he said to
hls aep9lles Prepare the prisoner" The
tie sunlfght forever. The constables shook
hands with him. saying good bye and two
colored men went up the steps and did the
same.
cy on your soul, at the same time pulling
the bar, when the platform fell, and Sloan
Hurst dropped about seven feet. HIS neck
was broken. and death was instantaneous
He never knew what hurt him. His heart
continued to beat, however, for fifteen Mill
utes, when the physicians pronounced him
dead.
cltal OF the same would make sad story.
And In the whole there is Il text for a whole
some sermon. If anybody would preach 1t.
This thing OF the repentance of men who
must suffer under the law is u story as Old as
the Christian religion itself. With only u
little change Of verbiage and circumstances,
the story is ever the same. Those who
have lived In sin and wickedness all thei +
lives. and who, to crown 1t all, have slain
in few short weeks after their conviction,
suddenly become favorite chill of our
Heavenly Father and can. in their minds eye,
see the starry diadem which is to crown their
piOus heads in the better land.
Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall
be as white as snow: though they be red like
crimson, they snail DC as WOOL.
II has occurred TO US that If men like Sloan
Hurst are pardoned. and given crown OF
eternal life, that it would be well to hang the
majority of mankind. There are great
many very good and pious men-nen who
have obeyed the moral law all their lives and
TO all outward appearances, have lived good
liyes-who die with less assurance of accept
ance with the Maker and Ruler of the
universe than did Sloan Hurst. Instead
of wasting money In preaching TO sinners,
they could be more cheaply and more certain
ly brought TO a knowledge of the saving grace
by sentencing them 10 hang on Il day fixed
The sentence OF death seldom fails TO prepare
q man for the better world, and as q few years
in this world of SIN and sorrow iS not To be
counted against the ages OF eternal bliss 1t
would be better to hang the whole human
family.
This newspaper thinks, however, that, as II
rule men die as they live. Their professions
of repentance on the death-bed. or on the seat
fold. are like the little boys tears because OF
misdeeds for which his father is about TO pun
ish him. He cries and is sorry. Nobody
doubts that But for what Is he sorry: Isn't
it because he is caught, and Is about to suffer
caught, does anybody suppose there would
have been any extra weeping and wuiling
and gpashing of teeth? He is sorry, but he Is
sorry because OF the Impending punishment.
That sort of sorrow doesn't count. But that
is exactly the kind of sorrow that guilty sin.
pers profess when they are about TO die, and
when they think the devil Will proceed 10
punish them AS soon as the breath Is out oi
their bodies. They are not sorry for the com
mission of crime, but they repent, or profess
to repent in order to avert the consequence.
If all the stories of executed murderers Is
true they have already assembled In Such
multitudes around our heavenly fataer as
will crowd modest Christians away from the
throne. PLAIN, every day, honest Christians,
who served the Lord all their lives will have
IN toGe hack gputS while murQprerS Will get