The Express. — 1851-04-24 (London, England)

TAUNTON, APRIL 23. 'lho two 'wretched criminals, John Wiles and John I Smith, who were COli‘ ieted at the last Somerset assizes of the wilful murder of William Wilkins, this day underwent the last punishment which the law can award, at the County Gaol at Wilton, near this town. It will he remembered that the murder was marked by circumstances of great ferocity. The deceased man (Wilkins) was nearly 80 years old, and with his wife, who was almost as fur advanczil in ay as himself, kept a little shop fur the sale of groceries at sempnett, a small village, which hangs, RI It were, upon the hillside, in the valley of the Meath''. The prisoners, one of whom (Wiles) had worked for a short thaw at a smith's shop near the residence of the aged couple, wont on the morning of the murder and asked for some bread, and as the old man was quietly eating his breakfast, nod without his having offered them the slightest provocation or attempted any resistance, they fell upon him, and Was, with a stick heavily loaded with iron, and with ■ spade, which be found in the house, beat the poor fellow in a very savage manner, inflicted numerous wounds on his head and occasioned his death. They at the same time greatly maltreated the old woman, and left her fur dead, but furtunately for the ends of justice, she was preserved, and gave evidence which led to the conviction of the murderer. The time of execution hail been fixed originally for II o'clock, but it was subsequently changed to 9 o'clock, which prevented so large an assemblage as has generally congregated on such occasions. Still there was a numerous concourse. Many of those present belonged to the middle walks of life, and their demeanour was becoming the occasion ; but there were not wanting those who in the very gaze of death indulged in expressions of levity, rib:dd jest, and profane oaths. Within the gaol, too, there were . metlitors beyond the mere uncials, as all ie convicted felons were paraded to see the execution. The indifferent and callous behaviour of the prisoners pending the trial will be in the memory of your readers. Subsequently to their conviction and sentence, however, their demeanour underwent a change. Upon their removal from the Assize Court they were placed in different cells, and were watched day and night, so as to prevent any defeat of the sentence by suicide. 'lhe chaplain of the prison, the lies. Joseph Gamy, visited them both the same evening, and remained with each for a considerable length of time, and they both seemed impressed by his conversation. His visits after this time were frequent, and they were always gratefully received by both prisoners. Indeed, no men could conduct themselves better than they did. They confessed their guilt, acknowledging that they both participated in the murder, but denying that when they went to Wilkins's cottage they bud any intention to commit any crime greater than robbery. At daybreak this morning the preparations for the execution were commenced by the erection of the drop—a work which occupied but little inure than an hour. Caleruft, the executioner, had arrived the previous night. At nine u'elock, the under-sheriff and other functionaries having arrived. the two prisoners walked with firm steps to the under word of the hospital, and thence to the drop. The signal being given, the Jolt was drawn, and the men died apparently without a struggle. After hanging the required time, their bodies were taken down arid buried within the precincts of the gaol. The prisoner Smith asserted, during his confinement, that lie hail given his wrong name, and he refused to the last to dieclose his right one, saying that he was respectably connected, and did not wish to expose his family to the reprisal& which must follow a knowledge of their being the r relatives of a murderer. Wiles has long been known as a 'r bad character, having abandoned his wife and family to indulge iu a loose life, and having been before convicted of Mon,.  ment. Professor AYTOtJN, in proposing the next toast, said that down to the present moment the constituencies of the empire have never pronounced their verdict or have had an opportunity of doing so upon this all-important question. "In 1846 the deed was done. Right or wrong, free trade, as they still persist in calling their one-sided and iniquitous measure, was made the law of the land; and I put it to every one who hears me, whether it would have been right to expect —whether it would have been possible to expect an immediate reversal of that policy ? The deed was done. With those who assented to it, contrary to their own distinct recorded opinions, lies the responsibility. They did it. They changed, with one violent wrench, the whole internal relations of the different classes of the community; and, having dune so, they asked—what, indeed, could hardly be denied them—that their so-called experiment should at least have fair play. This has been an experimental parliament. It has experimented upon labour, it has exprimented on trade, and also, under the able direction of Sir C. Wood, it has experimented largely upon budgets. (A laugh) Time enough has been given to enable even the slowest intellect to form a judgment upon the succees of the free-trading measures, tool facts enough have emerged to enable us to test the acenrrey of the free-trade oracles. Is it true, or is it not, that Sir R. Peel, previous to the repeal of the corn laws, estimated the remunerative price of of the quarter of wheat to the British grower at Ws. ? Well, then, we find the prices is England dwindled to 375., and those in Scotland even lower. (Cheers.) Was Mr. Tooke right when he estimated the utmost amount of foreign wheat that could possibly be imorted into this country at 2,000,000 of quarters? Was Mr. Wilson, of Westbury, right when he calculated the coat of freights from Dantsie at 204. 9d. ? What has become of that monstrous economical dogma, that free importations could only equalise prices without permanently lowering them ? What has become of the assertion, more monstrous still, which we owe to the sage of the Economist, that, under the operation of face trade in corn, the price of labour in this country would rather be increased than diminished?" (Cheers.) The learned professor concluded by proposing The House of Commons and the Health of Mr. Disraeli." (Loud cheers.) Mr.