The Sun. — 1822-12-25 (London, England)

EXECUTION.  MAIDSTONE, DEC. 4.—Yesterday morning, pursuant to his sentence, John Smith, a Greenwich Pensioner, paid the just forfeit of his life, at Penenden Heath, for the murder of Catherine Smith, at Greenwich, on the 4th October last. This wretched man had attained the great age of seventy-eight, when jealousy, that baneful passion of the human breast, prompted him to embrue his hands in the blood of a defenceless woman, with whom he had for some months cohabited.— From the time of condemnation to his death, the unhappy prisoner behaved in the most penitent manner, he spewed the greatest contrition for the heinousness of his crime, and assiduously employed the few short hours alloted him in preparing for his approaching dissolution. In this pious duty he was attended by the Reverend Mr. WINTER, the Chaplain of the Prison, who was unceasing in his endeavours to impress upon him the awfulness of his situation. Shortly. after eleven o'clock, the aged culprit left the prison in a waggon for the place of execution, attended by the Under Sheriff, the Governor of the Prisons, and the usual escort of officers and javelin men. When he came forth from the portal gate, he looked about him with seeming indifference, but on his way to the heath, we could perceive, by the moving . of his lips, and the raising of his eyes towards heaven, that he was engaged in inward prayer. When, from the brow of the hill at the entrance of the heath, he obtained a view of the scaffold on which he was to suffer, the tear was observed to trickle down the furrows of his aged cheek, and by the heaving of the bosom, and the lifting of his hands, his feelings at the time appeared most acute. When arrived at the fatal spot, he joined fervently in prayer with the worthy chaplain, and with uplifted eyes he prayed to theGop of mercy to forgive his sins -rid receive his wicked soul. At the conclusion of their devotions, t, eChaplain took hisleave, and th e Under Sheriffhaving ascended tl e waggon, told the prisoner if he had any thing to connnunic., to to the spectators to do it then; lie replied "he had nothi: gto say, any further than that women had been his downfall; they. had all through life been his ruin, and they had at last brought him to that untimely end." He implored the surrounding spectators to pray for him, and he trusted GOD would forgive his transgressionF. He ascended the scaffold with a firm step, considering his advanced age, and while the executioner was adjusting the rope, he ejaculated " Lord have mercy upon me, Christ have mercy upon me," which he continued to repeat, till the platform fell, and launched him into eternity. His sufferings were but of few moments' duration. After the body had hung the usual time, it was, by order of the High Sheriff, given over to Dr. Vance, of Greenwich Hospital, to which place it was conveyed, where, according to the sentence, it is to be dissected and anatomized, and it will be then placed for exhibition in the Hall of that Institution. The unhappy criminal was a native of Wicklow, in Ireland, he had served many years on the American station, and as a reward for those services, he was admitted into Greenwich Hospital, where he had been a pensioner nearly twenty years. We hope the fate of this wretched man made a suitable impression on the assembled multitude who witnessed his execution, and that it will be a warning to the young and old to beware of indulging in ungovernable passions, for this aged criminal fell a victim to the pangs of jealousy, which corroded his mind, and caused him to commit an act the most abhorrent to all the feelings of humanity.—( Maidstone Journal.)  There was yesterday evening a general rehearsal of the new Christmas pantomimes at Drury-lane and Covent-garden, and both are of high promise.—" When Greeks meet Greeks, then is the tug of war."