The Sun. — 1829-01-02 (London, England)

CONDUCT OF BURKE AFTER CONDEMNATION. After the trial, Burke and M'Dougal were removed to the leek-up-house ; Hare and his wife followed, and were lodged in a different apartment. Burke had hardly been seated, when looking round, he said to the officers who had him in charge, "this is a cold place you hare brought me till." oiticert had been long inured to morel turpitude, to bacchetedian frensy, anti wickedness of every deecrietion, but lying§ as he then wee, under :sentence of an ignominious death for a crime of ttnparalleled atrocity, his unseemly ievite struck them with horror, and one of them rebuked him sharply for his conduct. Burke stated, that from the moment he he and that Hare had been admitted an eel, dense, he was aware that escape was impossible, and he was prepared for the worst. It was stated to him, that as he had for some time lived a life of unexampled wickedness, a fair confession of his crimes, a:A an accurate account of his life, might be read with interest, arid be of service to mankind ; and he replied that he would make no confession whatever till he had consulted his priest on the subject. He stated that ho considered was the most guilty of the two, for, said he, " he murdered the first woman, he persuaded me to join him, and now he has marshored me, and I will regret to the last hour of nay existence that he did not share the same fate." One of the officers stated, in Burke's hearing, " I think 1 could never wish to see that man forgiven who could murder that poor harmless good-natured idiot, Daft Jamie." Here the wretched man stared ise. tenth on the officer, and replied with peculiar emphasis, "My days are numbered—l am soon to die by the hands of man--I have no more to fear, and can now have no interest its telling a lie, and I declare that I am as innocent of Daft Jamie's blood as you are. He was taken into. 's house, and murdered by,him and his wife; to be sure I was guilty in so far, for I assisted to carry the body to —, and got a share of the money." He stated, in answer to direct eeeetious of course, that it was the general plan to took after poor and wretched strangers, who were not likely to be inquired after by any person of consequence; but promptly refused to state whether or not ho had been concerned in any other murders than those with which he was charged in the indictment, or whether he was in the practice of going to the country for the purpose of enticing poor wanderers to his house, till he had accocnosittilt:dorh i the m•ieos. dto in which gave rather v,,hichhepu a put the different poorv,.o. man Campbell to death, from that given by his accomplice Hare. He stated, that after the sham fight was over, she was thrown down on her back, that Hare seized her by the legs, that be forced the mouth of a bottle into her throat, and poured down whiskey till sluewits chocked or nearly so, and that he himself then sat down on her face, *topping up her nose and mouth so completely that she died in a few minutes. About three o'clock he inquired if he might be permitted to offer up e sheet prayer : his request was instantly granted, and a:!'• unhappy man prayed with great fervour for a few militeAle-In the course of his prayer, ho implored forgirenew for the wicked life he had led, and more especially for the great crime for which he was about to suffer on the gibbet. Ile also entreated that his wretched partner iu guilt might be brought to a full sense of the crimes of which she had been guilty,—that who might repent, and atone as far as it was in her. power to do so in this world, by a life of quietness, piety, and honest industry. At his request, the officer read about half a dozen chapters of the scriptures, to which he paid great attention, occasionally saying, " That passage touches keenly on my crimes." When preparations Isere making for his removal . to the jail on the Calton-hill, he requested the officers to visit him in the prison. On being informed that there would be no admittance to him, he said, " well, well, though I should never see you again, you will see me on the 28th January, at the head of Libberton's Wynd. I have now only Three weeks to live, and I wilPenot weary greatly for that day." While in the lock-np-house, he expressed the greatest dread of the heavy irons in the eondemned cell. On reaching the jail, however, he was secured in the usual way, and every possible precaution will bo used lest he should in some degree defeat the ends of justice by suicide, and add selfdestruction to the appalling list of murders to which he has been asses ears. No person has since beets permitted to hold any conversation with him, except his spiritual instructors. Though he has been brought up irk the Roman Catholic faith, and has intimated his resolution to die a member of the church, in a belief of whose principles he has been educated, he receivers the visits of the Rev. Messrs Porteous and Marshal, with the same pleasure he does those of the Rev. Gentlemen of his own persuasion. He pays due attention to their exhortations—reads the Bible, .or some religious book, constantly in their absence, and is making every preparation for the great and awful change which he must soon undergo. After making a good deal of inquiry on this paittful subject, tve are inclined to conclude that the gumber of murders perpetrated by Burke and Hare, have been greatly over-rated in most of the acconnts that have lately been current in this city. It will afford some satisfaction to the public to know, that Hare and his wife are kept in close eon. finement, is separate cells, in the Calton jail. No person is admitted to see either of them; and there can be no doubt that if the Lord Advocate can procure evidence to convince a Jury that they have been guilty of any other murders than those charged in the iedictrocnt on which Burke was tried, they will yet be rieited:with the punishment they deserve. Such has been the public anxiety to be minutely acquainted with details of these murders, that after the trial had been published by four separate papers, and notwithstanding the simultaneous publication of two papers on the same day—on Saturday last our extra sale amounted to nearly six hundred, A:cotstnrot.