The Sun. — 1848-03-27 (London, England)

EXECUTION AT DURHAM.  On Saturday at noon, Wm . Thompson suffL red the penalty of death for the crime of murder, in front of the County Court, in this city, in the presence of an immense concourse of people. Many of our readers will remember that Thompson and a man named William Dowson and Joseph Oldfield, were indicted at the last Durham Assizes, for the murder of John Shirley, a game watcher, in the employ of the Duke of Cleveland, at Raby. Since their condemnation, petitions numerously signed, both at Staindrop and Durham, and also ono from a public meeting in Newcastle, were forwarded to the Home Secretary, for a mitigation of their punishment, in consequence of which a communication was, on Thursday last, received from the Home-office, containing a respite for the culprit Dowson during her Majesty's pleasure. The reasons which induced Sir George Grey to adopt this resolution are the doubts which exist in the mind of the judge as to the validity of the indictment as regards Dowson. No objection, however, was raised by the counsel at the trial. Thompson was left to his unhappy fate. On the night previous to the execution, a scaffold was erected in front of the County Court; it was considerably elevated, and boarded in, a huge beam being erected above. The same gallows has been used for many years, the last occasion being when the Prussian mate was executed fur the murder of his captain in Sunderland harbour. Whilst the scaffold was in course of construction, a large group was collected, many of whom remained until the following morning. The early trains poured immense crowds into the city, and by twelve o'clock there were probably from eight to ten thousand individuals assembled in front of the gaol and in the immediate neighbourhood. The great majority of those consisted of pitmen, many of whom had come with the cheap market-trains, and there was also a sprinkling of women and children, but by no means so many as were formerly often present at similar scenes. A troop of the sth Dragoon Guards, with drawn swords, was stationed near the railings, and the county police also mustered in considerable numbers; but happily their services were not required; and the opinion of those with whom we conversed was, that the calling out of the dragoons was altogether unnecessary, and calculated to create a bad feeling on the part of the people. Reporters were strictly excluded from the prison, by a recent order from the Home-office, and the chaplain, governor, and other officers of the gaol, prohibited from giving the slightest information to any party. We understand that the wretched man made a statement acknowledging his guilt, and that he diligently spent the last few days of his life in preparing for another state.  The unhappy man died almost without a struggle. In scantly the execution was over there was a rush from the centre of the mass, and an alarm being given that " the soldiers were coming," the people were scattered in all directions, and many left " the great moral lesson" which was read to them by the public hangman with feelings of horror and indignation. His body remained suspended the usual time, and was then buried within the precincts of the prison. Thompson was the natural son of a gentleman ; he soma time ago worked on the railway, but has lately followed agricultural employments. Dowson is of respectable parentage, and is also a farm labourer. Great interest is felt as to the fate of the latter, which is still doubtful.  The tragic scene of to-day cannot fail to exercise an important influence in leading to the alteration of the game-laws, one of the most prolific sources of misery and crime ; for experience has shown that the sport of the gentry leads indirectly to the death, in the nocturnal affray and on the scaffold, of many of the poor peasantry. —Newcastle Guardian.  Mr. Higham, Secretary and Comptroller-General to the Commissioners for the reduction of the National Debt, had an interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Friday.