Year: 1860

carried death and desolation into their very midst
Another severe task remains, to give words to
those keen reproaches for having crushed and
broken the heart Of my poor wife, who affection
ately has clung to through all the vlcissitudes
Of my misspent life, and who is doomed TO drain
the cup of aftlicton to the very dregs Her pray
er5 have sustained, her consultations have sup
ported me to the very last therefore my gratitude
for her invariabe kindness falls short Of express
sion. May God strengthen and solace her while
from the bottom Of my heart ask her forgiveness
for the misery | have caused, the unhappy fate
have linked her to. Irecommend her in this, my
last hour, to those noble friends who have pro-
tected her during our separation, who will kindly
continue to guide and guard and keep her reputa-
ton unsued Of crime which her husband is
about to eXpiate with his life.
Those few friends who have not deserted me in
the hour of need beg to forgive the trouble and
anxiety have caused, thanking them for their kind
offices during my long imprisonment. Amongst
these permit me to partcularze the officers of the
Parish Prison, who, under the superintendence of
Captain Ffemanx, so well known for his gentle
| manly department, and generous disposition, merit
my grateful acknowledgment for their kind atten-
ton. Messrs. Louis Woolfero and Gabriel Douyil-
lier, with whom. through their daily attendance.
became more intimately acquainted will pardon
the liberty take with their names, as the only
mode to testify my deep sense of gratitude for their
numerous acts of kindness and devotion displayed
towards me, blending their stern duties with SYM
pathy and delicacy rarely met with in positions
like theirs. May Heaven bless and prosper them
and all those who have kindly lent their aid by in
structions and prayers to make my peace with Cod
and to reconcile me to my inevitable doom.


also tender my most sincere thanks to all those
persons who have kindly visited me during my So
iourn in prison since the time Of my sentence: and
| return thanks particularly to the two really
benevolent and charitable ladies Madames F--s
aud Be, for their great kindness to me, and
the vast amount of spiritual consolation they have
afforded me by their advice and instructions; and
/ beg that they will still continue to pray for my
soul after ! am dead, and promise to do the same
for them in that other and better world, in which,
through the merits of Jesus Christ, hope to live
for ever.
To him, before whose judgment seat shall have
soon to appear, now direct my last thoughts and
prayers, and implore of the Fathers unbounded
| Mercy that Forgiveness which His Son has pro-
missed to repentant man! In this faith die, COM
mending my spirit into the hands Of my God
Amen. MATHEW HUGHES.
| The officer whom Hughes alluded to without
naming, in his letter to the Chief of Police, as
having induced him to take another drink and
loaned him his pistol. was officer Gaiennie.


| Yesterday morning, of the doomed cells
being fitted up into sort Of rude chapel, with an
altar decorated with flowers and candles, Hughes
| spent some time at his last deyotions with Father
Dufau. At about 10 o'clock he appeared on the
gallery, (Which is in the third story, and enclosed
with an iron grating) smoking cigar and looking
down at the assembling crowd in the yard, pleas
antly exchanging recognitions with all he knew.
Some two hundred persons were admitted to the
yard, whilst, as usual, great and miscellaneous
crowd of people collected in front Of the prison,
scorching and sweating in the hot sunshine, with
out hope of gaining admission or seeug any
thing connected with the execution.


| At about IL O'Clock, the doomed man, attended
by his conessor and the officers, his hands pinioned
| behind, and dressed neatly in white, the white
death.cap on his head and cruciix suspended to
| his neck walked down to the second story gallery
| and out upon the fatal trap. He was as firm and
cool it possible for any man 70 be, his move
Inents being firm and his face calm and placid, il
not pleasant-looking. The death warrant was
read by deputy sheriff; the rope was put ovel
his head and drawn around his neck by the masked
executoner, who, however, bungled, and did no
get the moose properly placed until Hughes haG
given him repeated instructions, which he did in
manner and voice of perfect nnconcern. Then the
unhappy man made a brefaddress to the spectators
He acknowledged his guilt; expressed his readiness
for death; claimed that he had kind heart, and
did not murder Hyams Intentionally; stated that
he had prayed many times for the soul of Hyams
and hoped that those present would forgive hin
his sins, and pray for him when he was gone. His
voice was firm and clear and only once was there
any sign OF emotion in his face.


Father Dufau prayed for him, blessed him, ant
held up the cross for him to kiss; after that, witt
his eyes raised to the blue sky and the bright sun
shine above, he feryently rected the Lords prayer


and bowed his head in token of conclusion. The


grim ogre behind drew the cap over his face ant
retired taking the stepping board off the trap. Ht
| disappeared in the cell behind; moment o
| breathless suspense followed sharp chop wa.


heard and the convict danged in the air. 1t was
| sixteen minutes before the physicians pronounced


life extinct, and gave the order to lower the body


into the coffin beneath.


/ All the prisoners were, as is the custom on sucl


days, confined in their cells during the execution


and deprived Of the view of it. Eugene Pepe
4 Antoine Cambre and the sailor Powell, the thre,


remaining occupants of the doomed cells, obtained


partial view of the execution, by means Of {


small mirror, which they thrust out between thu


bars and held in such position as to see thu


awful spectacle in the glass.


Hughes wife visited hi on Thursday, and theil


final and most touching separation took place


Yesterday, about an hour before the execution


she again visited the prison. and weepingly begget


the favor of seeing her husband once more befor


his death. The request was kindly but firmly de


MED, as being made too late. The unhappy wo


man remained in an inner room until after the e.l


ecution. As we subsequently learned, the fact o


his wifes visit vas withheld from Hughes; bu


about half an hour before his death, he said tina


he knew his wife was there in the prison, and hi


wished to see her once more before dying. Fathe


Dufau, by the advice of the officers in authority


represented the request as being made too late


and that such an interview was calculated to un


nerve him and unfit him for the solemn scene s.


soon to take place. Hughes represented that


would not unnerve him, and begged to see hi


wife once more. The favor being denied with al


the kindness compatible with the case, he re


signed himself, and went to his last prayers in til


cell.


After the execution, the body was neatly ad


iusted in the coffin, and all the marks Of hangin
removed or concealed as far as possible, the fac


being left bare; and then the coffin was laid in tn


lower hall of the prison. After the crowd had bee


turned out, the widow was escorted in by the Chic


of Police. She bent over the coffin; all Others re
tired and for q long time her means of agon
echoed through the corridors. The body wa
given to her.


SAKE was poetizing in public, at Trenton, tn
i other evening, when the gas went out, wherea
SAKE told the audience that if they wouldn't fin
~, nj