The Express. — 1848-01-10 (London, England)

PROVINCIAL. YORKSHIRE. THE EXECUTION OF REID THE MIRPIELD MUMDIMER, took place at York Castle on Saturday. A third edition of the For/rehire Gazette says:—" Since his condemnation Reid has frequently been visited by his friends. He leaves a father—a mother—a brother—and a wife and infant child, and for the latter he has expressed much concern. His contrition has come upon him too late. It is a painful fact to reflect upon that, in passing sentence upon the guilty, punishment is necessarily inflicted upon the innocent. At the same time, as was recently remarked by a high authority, the justice of the country would always be defeated, if persons were allowed to put forward at the last hour, after the commission of their oftences and after conviction, thou pleas for mercy which they ought to have considered before they gave way toythe temptation of committing the crime. Therefore, the husband and the father should consider the wife and the child in the hour of temptation, for it Is too late to put them forward when the period of retribution has arrived. Being an Irishmen and a Roman catholic, Reid woe regularly attended, after his conviction, by the ministers of his church, and bia contrition and repentance were, we understand, complete. Under these circumstance' the chaplain of the caetle, the Rev. Thomas Sutton, was of course as participator in the religious services which have been performed, and no "condemned sermon " was preached on the day previous to the execution, as is the case when the culprit 14a member of the protestant church. On Friday afternoon Reid was visited by his wife, father, mother, and brother; the interview was one of a painfully affecting character. Long before day-break on Saturday morning the carpenters were busily engaged in erecting the scaffold, and goon after their work was completed' the criminal was removed sale customary from the condemned cell, and conducted to a room set apart forths purpose,close upon the spot where he was to expiate his offence. Durit g the forenoon he was attended by his epritual *risers, who administered tJi him the peculiar rites of that church of which he was a member. So intense was the intertst which the conviction and execution of this man had excited throughout the West;Biding that many thousands of persons, particularly from the more immediate locality where. the murders were committed, arrived in the city—some by the early trains and others by various conveyances and on foot, to witness the sentence of the law being. carried into , effect. At'an early hour, there were to be seen en:the streets signs of *mid, table bustle sod excitement, and long before twelve o'clock, the hour of execution, crowds of persons were wending their way to the fatal spot, in order to secure the best positions for seeing the proceedings at the drop. Up to the latest moment parties continued to arrive in front of the castle. At all the stations on the different railways, especially in the West Riding, every available teat was eagerly engaged, extra carriages being brought into request; and the streets of the city from the railway station towards the castle presented one continuous mass of people. We should not over-state the numbers present on this occasion at thirty to forty thousand individuals, Leeds, Halifax, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Mirfield, and Wakefield, had all contributed largely to this dense assemblage. Between eleven and twelve o'clock, the operation of pinioning was commenced, and shortly before the fatal hour the under-sheriff, Nt . Gray, lierj . anived at the castle, and in the usual form demanded the body for execution. The culprit being brought forth the procession was formed, and moved forward to the scaffold. The prisoner was attended by the Rev. J. Render, and followed by the under-sheriff, the governor of the castle, and the other officials. Reid knelt down on the platform, engaged in prayer with the minister of religion by whom he was attended. At the conclusion of the service he rose, and crossed himself on the breast He *en turned round and said, ' I wish to say that I alone am the guilty person ; that Id•Cabe is entirely innocent; and that no human being in the world had anything to do with it but myself.' He then resigned himself into the hands of the county executioner, Nathaniel Howard, who adjusted the fatal noose, and the cap being drawn over his eyes, after a momentary interval the bolt was drawn. The culprit, who was a light made man, appeared to suffer much for a few seconds. The body remained suspended for an hour, when it was cut down, and placed in a 0101, to be interred in the precincts of the prison. The immense crowd behaved with decorum—_passive spectators of the ,eerie."