Arizona republican., 1914-02-23
TRIAL OF EARL TERRIERS

Ferrers was the name of a great Norman English feudal house, which dated from the time of William the Conqueror. The Earls of Ferrers seem to have been bloodthrsty let. and were distinguished for their ungovernable temper which brought several of them to an untimely end One of the most despicable of these earls was Laurence Shirley, the fourth earl. who was born in 172O
 Because there was insanity in the Ferrers family may have been re- sponsible for the actions of Earl Ferrers, for from an early age his behavior seems to have been eccen- tric and his temper violent His wife was compelled to secure a sep aration from him for cruelty in 175S.
 From his youth there was em- ployed in the earl's family man by the name of Johnson. The man had always faithfully performed his duty and was apparently satisfactory to the earl. On Sunday. January 13. 176O, his Iordship called on MT. John sen at his house and requested him to come to his country seat at Stan ton on the Friday following, be- tween three and four in the after noon.
 In the interval the earl took care that the time Mir. Johnson was ex- pected the house should be as empty as possible. MT. Johnson was pune tual in his arrival and was let in by enc of the maids. After waiting for some time his lordship called him into his apartment. immediately locked the door. and after some busi- ness conversation shot him with d pistol, of which wound he afterward 1 died.
 As soon as his lordship had com mitted this cruel deed he called the maid servants and ordered them tc lead Mr. Johnson upstairs and put him to bed. He also sent a servan
 for a surgeon and another for Mir Johnsons children. When the sur. geon arrived the early desired hin
 to take all possible care of him, bu
 would not consent to his being re
 moved to his own house.
 The surgeon found that the wcun' was mortal, and Johnson died tn following morning at nine o'clock The earl was seized, after which h
 was conveyed to Leicester jail am
 from thence to the Tower of Lon i.1I I,n fa1 1r-h
 found guilty of murder and ordere
 to be executed on May ,.
 Ferrers conducted his own defens
 with great ability. The plea was in
 sanity and it was supported by
 great deal of evidence After h had been condemned he stated tha he had pleaded insanity to oblige hi family and that he had himself al ways been ashamed of such defens' With respect to the death of MI Johnson his lordship said he wa under peculiar circumstances, an had met with so many crosses an vexatiOns that he scarcely kne, what he did. and solmenly proteste that he had not the least malic against him.
 During the time his lordship wa in the tower he was, for the mos part. calm. but would sometime start, and hastily unbrace his waist coat. and indicate by other gesture that his mind was disturbed
 A feW days before the time SC
 for his execution the call sent fC
 his wardrobe. and chose out of it
 white suit richly laced and embroid cred with silver. saying this is tn
 suit in which I was married, an in which l wish to die"
 On the 5th of May, 1760. the da fixed for his execution at nine i the morning the two sheriffs of Lon don, attended by their officers, ap
 peared at the tower gates. The cal , desired to go to his death in hi
 own landau, which was waiting fo him and which he chose rather tha
 a mourning coach.
 |. This was granted Ferrers and tn procession then began and proceede
 through a numerous crowd of spec tators on the way to Tyburn.
 their passage his lordship asked tn sheriff if he had ever seen so gres
 a concourse of people, and upon hi answering in the negative, he re
 joined, T suppose it is because the never saw a lord hanged before"
 The passage from the Tower Tyburn took up almost three hour
 and the earl frequently expressed h . desire that the journey was ende, His lordship walked up the stairs \ the scaffold with great composul and fortitude, with his hat in h
 hand.
 It has been said that as a conces
 sion to his order the rope wit which he was hung was made
 silk. The spectators, struck with u } novelty of seeing a peer of Grei
 Britain in such a situation, doomt k to death for the dreadful crime
 murder, and suffering like a con \ mon malefactor for taking the life one of their own rank, beheld hi k with a respectful silence mixed vii