New Britain herald., 1916-08-03
BASEMENT BRAVELY
 GOES ID HIS DEATH
Continued from First Page. )

the last few weeks. On June 29 he was registered as a member of the Roman Catholic church and since that time Fathers McCarrell and Carey of Eden Grove church. near the prison, have been ministering to him He re- .ceived his first holy communion at 2 o'clock this morning. when he as- sisted at mass in his cell One of his attendants said that his overpowering love of God and Ireland was most striking. According to this attendant the last words of the condemned man, apart from his prayers, were: 'I die for my country.'
 Father James McCarreIl, who at tended Easement during the hanging, t6ld a representative of The Asso- clated Press that the condemned man met his death courag geously.
 "Casement went to his death like a brave and bold man, said Father Me Carrel. Just before the black cap was adjusted he stood forward boldly erect and said in a clear, distinct, slow voice: Into thy hands, oh Lord, commend my spirit Then, still standing at his full height, he added Jesus receive my soul The trap was sprung one minute after nine o'clock
 Father McCarrell said that he found Easement to be a beautiful character and that he never instructed any one in his religion who showed himself a ouicker or more promising learner.
 All hopes of an eleventh hour re- prieve were dashed to earth yesterday with the statement of Lord Robert Cecil, parliamentary under-secretary of foreign affairs, that no government doing it's duty could interfere with the sentence. Supplementing this were the dramatic disclosures by Lord New ton in the house of lords that the Germans recently shot two Irish prisoners who refused to join Case ment's Irish legion.
 Government Criticised,
 The morning papers mostly deal in She briefest and most matter of fact way with the execution of Easement. The only editorial reference is in the Daily News which says: "We cannot but reaffirm our conviction that the government exhibited grave unwisdom in exacting the death penalty. No evil results could have followed a examination Of the sentence. The hanging gives the disaffected section ] in Ireland another martyr, embitters i, feeling throughout the island, alien | ates large and important body of ] American opinion and enables Ger | many to play off the death of Case 1 ment against the death of Fryatt."
 Easement rose about half past five this morning. From then until o'clock, when Father McCarrell ar rived, he spent the time reading the instructions of the church for assist ing at mass and the taking of the first communion After mass heate @ little bread and butter and drank a glass of water.
 He had very little to say to the priest. only making a few remarks about the immortality of the soul. He appeared, said Father McCarren, like man who had slept soundly- his nerves were completely calm.
 A coroner's jury found that the sen- tence had been carried out in ac- cordance with law and in a humane manner. Gavin Duffy, Easements solicitor, who appeared in behalf of relatives, identified the body.
 ;, Relatives Refused Body.
 Replying to a question by the | coroner, Solicitor Duffy said that Easements health at times was very bad. He made plea that the body be ! handed over to relatives, which the authorities he said, had refused. The coroner declared he had no power to interfere, whereupon Duffy protested, | saying it was a "monstrous act of in Iecency that the authorities should | refuse the request"
 Hoped for Reprieve.
 According to one news agency Case ment had high hopes of being re- prieved until the eve of his execution 1 He did not hide the fact that he ex- pected his many powerful friends would obtain for him a free pardon, l because many of them exercised no little influence in political as well as literary circles.
 "As there was no sign or repreve last night" this account says, "the condemned man became very morose and hardly spoke at all. He did, how ever, inquire about the Zeppelin raids and asked if any German airships Tffd reached London. Soon after wards he became resigned to his fate, and after he had done considerable amount of writing he retired to rest and slept soundly.
 When aroused this morning Case ment showed considerable nervous ness, but he was quite collected and thanked the warders for the many little kindnesses they have shown him while he occupied the death cell" .w~ At the inquest the governor of the rIison and the chief warden testified that death was instantaneous. Dr. Mander was asked by Solicitor Duffy whether there was any truth in the statem ent published that Easement had been insane. He replied:
 "I saw no evidence of insanity. He eated in a sane manner to the end'
 Britain Stands Sto1id.
 Virtually to the very hour of Roger Easements execution strenuous efforts