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09 - My Experiences as an Executioner by James Berry · My Experiences as an Executioner

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Speaker 1: Chapter eight of My Experiences as an Executioner by James Berry.
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Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by
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Speaker 1: Ashley Jane, Chapter eight, How Murderers Die. As One of
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Speaker 1: my objects in writing this book is to give the
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Speaker 1: public a solid basis for the formation of a sound
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Speaker 1: public opinion upon the subject of capital punishment. It is
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Speaker 1: necessary that the present chapter should be a long one,
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Speaker 1: and that many of its details should be painful, because
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Speaker 1: they are true. If I glossed over the facts, I
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Speaker 1: should signally fail in my duty to my readers. But
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Speaker 1: I have endeavored so far as possible to avoid revolting details.
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Speaker 1: To the ordinary Englishman, a murderer is a murderer and
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Speaker 1: nothing else. He is a vile creature who has taken life,
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Speaker 1: and who, by law, divine and national, must die because
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Speaker 1: of his deed. He is a creature different from the
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Speaker 1: rest of humanity, a fiend, a monster who has outraged
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Speaker 1: justice and must die like a dog. To me, a
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Speaker 1: murderer is a study. He is a man who has
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Speaker 1: done an ill deed, who may or may not be
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Speaker 1: naturally vicious, who may or may not be really responsible
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Speaker 1: for his actions, who may or may not be devoutly penitent.
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Speaker 1: My own ideas on capital punishment are given in another chapter.
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Speaker 1: I believe, honestly, and from long study of the subject,
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Speaker 1: with unique opportunities of judging, that with a certain low
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Speaker 1: class of the human brute, the fear of death is
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Speaker 1: the only check that can in any way curb their
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Speaker 1: lusts and passions. But I have sometimes thought that amongst
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Speaker 1: those whom I have executed for crimes which they have
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Speaker 1: undoubtedly committed, there were men to whom their crime was
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Speaker 1: a trouble more terrible than death, Men who had not
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Speaker 1: premeditated murder, who had taken no pleasure in it and
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Speaker 1: expected no profit from it, and who, if they could
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Speaker 1: by any means have been set at liberty, had within
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Speaker 1: them to make model citizens. Logically, and as a matter
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Speaker 1: of conviction, I feel that if one sheddeth man's blood
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Speaker 1: by man, should his blood be shed. But as a
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Speaker 1: matter of sentiment I sometimes feel sorry that certain murderers
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Speaker 1: cannot go free. The power of reprievious, of course, often exercised,
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Speaker 1: and very rightly so. And yet it sometimes seems as
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Speaker 1: if the murderers who have been wilful, deliberate, and thoroughly
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Speaker 1: vicious in their acts, and characters are reprieved because they
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Speaker 1: possess interesting personalities or influential friends, while others are executed
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Speaker 1: who have a better plea for mercy, but no one
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Speaker 1: to present it. The whole subject is a very difficult one.
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Speaker 1: I must lay the facts before my readers and let
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Speaker 1: them draw their own conclusions. But I may say that
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Speaker 1: the executions which have given me the most trouble have
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Speaker 1: not been those in which the convicts were violent or hysterical,
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Speaker 1: not those in which they struggled and fought and cursed,
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Speaker 1: or doggedly and stubbornly resisted, but the few cases in
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Speaker 1: which they have been devoutly penitent, and almost seem to
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Speaker 1: welcome death as a release from a burden too heavy
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Speaker 1: to be borne, and an expiation for the sin which
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Speaker 1: they deplored. In such cases, the executioner's task is indeed
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Speaker 1: a painful one. The conduct of the condemned in the
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Speaker 1: cell and of the scaffold throws much light upon the
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Speaker 1: various phases of human character, and to me it has
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Speaker 1: always been an interesting study. Robert F. Vickers and William Inns,
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Speaker 1: the first two men whom I executed, those strong chums
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Speaker 1: and partners in crime were totally different from each other
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Speaker 1: in their conduct. They both showed deep emotion, although they
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Speaker 1: belonged to a low type of humanity, and they both
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Speaker 1: attentively listened to the chaplain as often as he was
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Speaker 1: willing to visit them, and to such outside ministers as
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Speaker 1: talk any interest in their fate. But I believe they
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Speaker 1: did this with the view of making the best of
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Speaker 1: a bad job, if any best were possible, rather than
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Speaker 1: from any deep conviction of the sinfulness of their offense.
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Speaker 1: Beyond this, their demeanor was totally different. Vickers was buoyed
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Speaker 1: up with hope throughout and continually asked if the reprieve
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Speaker 1: had come. Even when I was introduced to him on
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Speaker 1: the morning of the execution, he had not despaired, and
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Speaker 1: his hope rendered him almost cheerful. Even when we were
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Speaker 1: on the scaffold, he was convinced that he was not
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Speaker 1: to die and seemed to listen as people on the
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Speaker 1: scaffold did in olden times. For the horseman wildly dashing
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Speaker 1: across the courtyard and crying Reprieve Reprieve at the very
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Speaker 1: last moment. It was not until the news touched his
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Speaker 1: neck that he realized that his execution was to be
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Speaker 1: an actual, solemn fact, and when the dread reality burst
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Speaker 1: upon him, he fainted. His companion in crime and death
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Speaker 1: stood unmoved upon the scaffold, resigned and calm, without either
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Speaker 1: hope or fear. The white cap was over his face
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Speaker 1: when Vickers fainted, and no sounds from the bystanders gave
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Speaker 1: him any hint that Vickers was overcome. The fainting man
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Speaker 1: was supported for a moment, then a touch on the lever,
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Speaker 1: and it was necessary to support him no longer. The
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Speaker 1: Gorbridge murder for which these men were executed caused a
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Speaker 1: great sensation at the time. Mary Lefley, My next execution,
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Speaker 1: in which the condemned person was a woman, was a
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Speaker 1: very different experience. Mary Lefley, the corporate was, before her marriage,
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Speaker 1: a companion to Priscilla Bigger, who was executed at Lincoln
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Speaker 1: for poisoning her husband. Mary Lefley committed the same crime,
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Speaker 1: poisoning her husband by inserting arsenic in a rice pudding.
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Speaker 1: After the sentence of death, even up to the time
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Speaker 1: of the execution, she expected a reprieve, and to the
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Speaker 1: last she protested her innocence, though on the night before
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Speaker 1: she was very restless, and constantly exclaimed Lord, thou knowest all,
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Speaker 1: and prayed fervently. She would have no breakfast, and when
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Speaker 1: I approached her, she was in a nervous, agitated state,
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Speaker 1: praying to God for salvation, not as a murderess, but
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Speaker 1: as an innocent woman. On my approach, she threw up
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Speaker 1: her hands and shrieked murder, murder, and she had to
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Speaker 1: be led to the scaffold by two female warders, shrieking
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Speaker 1: wildly all the time. She died as she had lived,
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Speaker 1: impenitent and untruthful, denying her guilt to the last. Joseph Lawson,
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Speaker 1: the principal actor in the Buttonhold tragedy when Sergeant Smith
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Speaker 1: was murdered, was a terrible combination of craven fear and
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Speaker 1: reckless bravado. During the last few days of his life,
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Speaker 1: he was dull and despondent, and during the night before
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Speaker 1: his execution his sleep was frequently broken by fits of
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Speaker 1: terror and nervous exhaution, when he shivered like one in
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Speaker 1: an agoo. On the morning of the last day, he
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Speaker 1: arose at six o'clock and tried to appear cheerful or
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Speaker 1: even jovial in the pinioning room. He saluted the warders
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Speaker 1: with a cheerful good morning, and on his way to
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Speaker 1: the scaffold, laughed hilariously at a stumble of his own.
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Speaker 1: Then he commenced, using foul, blasphemous language, and not ceasing
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Speaker 1: even when the white cap was drawn over his face.
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Speaker 1: His oath drowned the voice of the chaplain who was
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Speaker 1: reading the usual burial service, and with awful words on
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Speaker 1: his lips, he was launched into a dark eternity. Peter Cassady,
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Speaker 1: My very next case was a strong contrast to the foregoing.
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Speaker 1: The condemned man was Peter Cassidy, his offense wife murder.
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Speaker 1: It was one of those cases in which it is
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Speaker 1: difficult to know whether the man should be most pitted
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Speaker 1: or blamed, Whether he was not more sinned against than sinning.
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Speaker 1: That he committed the murder in a fit of drunken
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Speaker 1: frenzy was undoubted, he did not deny it, but that
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Speaker 1: he had received great and frequent provocation is certain. Both
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Speaker 1: he and his wife were addicted to drink, which was
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Speaker 1: most to blame for it. I do not know, but
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Speaker 1: on the day of the murder his wife was away
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Speaker 1: from home for some time without his consent or knowledge
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Speaker 1: of her whereabouts. When she returned, she was drunk, so
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Speaker 1: was he, and in the quarrel that ensued he slew her.
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Speaker 1: But when he was sober again, his remorse was as
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Speaker 1: deep as his drunken passion had been. Violent. He realized
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Speaker 1: the gravity of his offense and the justice of his death.
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Speaker 1: Sentence to the ministrations of the Reverend Father Bonte, the
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Speaker 1: Roman Catholic chaplain, he paid great attention, and on his
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Speaker 1: last day on earth he seemed peaceful and resigned. He
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Speaker 1: walked to the scaffold with a free, firm stride. The
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Speaker 1: morning was dark and gloomy, but just as we passed
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Speaker 1: across the prison yard, a thin, bright gleam of sunlight
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Speaker 1: pierced the leaden clouds and rested for a moment upon
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Speaker 1: the little procession. In that moment of sunshine, Cassidy breathed convulsively,
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Speaker 1: but the sky clouded over almost instantly, and he regained
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Speaker 1: his composure. On the scaffold. He entered into the Roman
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Speaker 1: Catholic service, which Father Bonte was reading, repeating the responses
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Speaker 1: firmly and fervently. In fact, he was so engrossed in
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Speaker 1: the service that I do not think he knew that
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Speaker 1: I pinioned his legs. He continued his prayers as I
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Speaker 1: adjusted the white cap over his eyes. But when the
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Speaker 1: rope touched his neck, he blushed crimson to the very
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Speaker 1: roots of his hair, and his lips twitched. Intense shame
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Speaker 1: and sorrow were never more plainly expressed by any man.
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Speaker 1: A very large proportion of murders are directly traceable to drink,
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Speaker 1: and in almost every case where a murderer has said
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Speaker 1: anything about the motive for his crime, he has blamed
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Speaker 1: the drinking habit Moses Shrimpton. As a rule, it is
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Speaker 1: the first offender. There are many murderers whose great crime
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Speaker 1: is their first offense, who is at most affected by
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Speaker 1: the terrible nature of his position when condemned to death.
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Speaker 1: The old and practiced criminal, though he has a great
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Speaker 1: dread of the scaffold and the rope so long as
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Speaker 1: he is at large, and though he usually takes more
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Speaker 1: interest in his trial and uses greater efforts for his
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Speaker 1: acquittal than the novice in crime, is usually resigned and
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Speaker 1: indifferent as soon as the sentence is passed. As a rule,
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Speaker 1: he pays but little heed to the ministrations of the
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Speaker 1: chaplain or the condolences of his friends. He is neither
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Speaker 1: piously inclined, nor hysterically fearful, nor abusively rebellious. He simply
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Speaker 1: waits his fate. A kind of hard stoicism seems to
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Speaker 1: keep him quiet. He has played a desperate game with
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Speaker 1: his eyes open, has played for high stakes and lost.
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Speaker 1: I say that this is generally the case with the
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Speaker 1: jail bird, and yet there are exceptions, And amongst such exceptions,
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Speaker 1: in my own experience, Moses Shrimpton was notable. His life,
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Speaker 1: almost from the cradle to the grave, was one long
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Speaker 1: career of crime and punishment. He was a man of
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Speaker 1: strong character and much determination of purpose, a leader amongst
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Speaker 1: the ruffians of his district. He was sentenced to one
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Speaker 1: month's imprisonment for poaching in February eighteen forty eight, and
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Speaker 1: from that time until his execution in May eighteen eighty five,
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Speaker 1: he was seldom out of prison. For many months together,
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Speaker 1: he gloried in his success as a poacher, and told
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Speaker 1: the tales of his desperate adventures in a most interesting
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Speaker 1: manner to the warders in Worcester Jail, where he was
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Speaker 1: a well known and frequent inmate. He was sentenced to
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Speaker 1: death for the violent and brutal murder of a policeman
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Speaker 1: who arrested him red handed when foul stealing. He expressed
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Speaker 1: no surprise or sentiment of any kind when he found
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Speaker 1: that he was condemned to death, but to the astonishment
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Speaker 1: of all who knew him, he appeared to be entirely
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Speaker 1: changed in character by the thought of death. Those who
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Speaker 1: administered spiritual consolation to him during his last three weeks
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Speaker 1: of life were persuaded that his repentance and amendment were real,
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Speaker 1: and certainly his actions appeared like those of man who
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Speaker 1: was really convinced. He paid great attention to the chaplain
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Speaker 1: who visited him, and he read the Bible hour after hour.
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Speaker 1: Certain passages that puzzled him he carefully noted down and
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Speaker 1: asked for an explanation at the chaplain's next visit. When
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Speaker 1: the time for his execution came, he was confident, almost defiant,
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Speaker 1: and walked to the scaffold, erect and firm. As he
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Speaker 1: stepped onto the drop, he glanced downwards and drew his
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Speaker 1: feet together to assist me in fixing the strap that
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Speaker 1: pinioned his legs. Before I pulled down the white cap,
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Speaker 1: he looked around as if to see the last of
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Speaker 1: the world, and then nodding to signify that he was
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Speaker 1: ready awaited the adjusting of the noose. Rudge, Martin and Baker.
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Speaker 1: Some more ordinary examples of the deaths of hardened criminals
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Speaker 1: were presented In the cases of Rudge, Martin and Baker.
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Speaker 1: It will be remembered that these men committed a jaw
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Speaker 1: robbery at Netherby in Cumberland, and afterwards murdered police Constable
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Speaker 1: Burns and made a murderous attack on other policemen while
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Speaker 1: endeavoring to escape arrest. These men, once their sentence was passed,
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Speaker 1: had no further interest in life, and I believe that
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Speaker 1: if the choice could have been offered to them, they
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Speaker 1: would have preferred to walk straight from the dock to
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Speaker 1: the scaffold, rather than to have had the three weeks
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Speaker 1: grace which is given to condemned men. In the case
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Speaker 1: of almost all habitual criminals. I believe this is so
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Speaker 1: they do not fear death, and they do not repent
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Speaker 1: of their crime. So long as there is a ghost
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Speaker 1: of a chance of acquittal or reprieve, they cling to life.
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Speaker 1: But as soon as the death sentences passed, they become
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Speaker 1: indifferent and would like to get it over as soon
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Speaker 1: as possible, mainly because the prison life bores them. Of
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Speaker 1: the three men I have instanced, Rudge was the only
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Speaker 1: one who seemed to care to take any interest in life.
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Speaker 1: He spent a good deal of his time in writing
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Speaker 1: a statement of his views upon the present system of
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Speaker 1: penal servitude for the information of the Home Office. As
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Speaker 1: he had undergone two long sentences, he knew his subject
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Speaker 1: thoroughly from the inside. With his attendance, he talked freely,
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Speaker 1: both about himself and about other matters of interest. He
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Speaker 1: insisted that there was something wrong with his head, which
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Speaker 1: had caused him trouble several times in his life. He
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Speaker 1: did not ask for any reprieve on this account, but
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Speaker 1: he begged the prison chaplain to examine his brain after death,
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Speaker 1: and repeated the request almost the last thing before the
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Speaker 1: time for the execution. Martin and Baker spent most of
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Speaker 1: the three weeks in bed. They would neither talk nor
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Speaker 1: do anything else. Roger and Martin were baptized Roman Catholics,
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Speaker 1: whilst Baker had received some Protestant education. But none of
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Speaker 1: them seemed to care for the ministrations of the priest
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Speaker 1: or the jail chaplain to them it seemed cowardly and
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Speaker 1: unreasonable to ask God for mercy simply because they were
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Speaker 1: condemned to death, when they knew very well that they
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Speaker 1: would have been living in defiance of God and Man
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Speaker 1: if they had remained free. After some time, they yielded
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Speaker 1: to the counsel and entreaties of their spiritual advisers, so
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Speaker 1: far as to listen to all they had to say.
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Speaker 1: Baker appeared to attend carefully to the chaplain's administration and
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Speaker 1: partook of holy communion an hour before the execution. Baker
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Speaker 1: was troubled about the welfare of his sweetheart Nelly, and
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Speaker 1: spent part of the night before his execution in writing
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Speaker 1: a long letter to her. In this letter, he assured
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Speaker 1: her of his love and constancy and begged her to
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Speaker 1: keep in the path of right. All the three men
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Speaker 1: walked firmly to the scaffold, where they shook hands all round,
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Speaker 1: saying goodbye, old Pow, goodbye nothing more. The drop was
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Speaker 1: already chalked with their names. Martin in the center, with
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Speaker 1: Rudge on the right and Baker on the left. The
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Speaker 1: men stepped at once to their places and gave all
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Speaker 1: the assistance they called in the final opinioning and in
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Speaker 1: adjustment of the nooses. Just before the drop fell, Baker cried,
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Speaker 1: keep straight, Nellie, and then the three men died together,
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Speaker 1: without a word of fear or even a quiver or
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Speaker 1: a pallid cheek amongst them. The youth and manly bearing
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Speaker 1: of Baker, and the strong affection of which he was capable,
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Speaker 1: as shown by the way in which his Nellie was
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Speaker 1: always uppermost on his thoughts, affected me very much. His
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Speaker 1: execution was one of the saddest of my many experiences.
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Speaker 1: Missus Brittland, Mary and Britland. I have said that the
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Speaker 1: people who were most cruel and callous in their murderous
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Speaker 1: deeds are often most cowardly after conviction. The class of
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Speaker 1: cruel and callous murderers is not quite distinct from that
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Speaker 1: of the violent murderers like Rudge, Martin and Baker. These
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Speaker 1: men fighting against the law fight fairly according to their lights.
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Speaker 1: They take risks and meet the consequences in a straightforward manner.
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Speaker 1: But the cruel and callous class show a cowardice and
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Speaker 1: selfishness of which Rudge, Martin and Baker were incapable. An
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Speaker 1: instance of this occurs to me in the case of
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Speaker 1: Mary Anne Britland, whom I executed at Strange Ways Jail, Manchester.
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Speaker 1: She was an example of the class of persons to
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Speaker 1: whom the three weeks respite before death is the greatest
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Speaker 1: possible cruelty. She was condemned for the murder of a
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Speaker 1: woman who had befriended her and in whose house she
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Speaker 1: was living as a guest at the time of the murder.
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Speaker 1: She was also proved to have murdered her own husband
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Speaker 1: and daughter by the same means, namely poison. It seems
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Speaker 1: hard to conceive of any adequate motive for such a
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Speaker 1: series of crimes extending over a considerable time, but a
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Speaker 1: theory was advanced and supported by her confession to the
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Speaker 1: effect that she desired to marry the husband of her
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Speaker 1: latest victim. To accomplish this object, she first killed her
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Speaker 1: daughter for what exact reason is not clear, unless she
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Speaker 1: feared that the girl had some suspicion of her design
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Speaker 1: upon the others, then her husband, and finally her friend,
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Speaker 1: who had pitied her lonely and widowed circumstances and given
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Speaker 1: her food and shelter. The husband of the third victim
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Speaker 1: was tried with a view to bringing him in as
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Speaker 1: an accomplice, but the investigation showed that he had never
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Speaker 1: shown any friendliness for Missus Britland, and that it was
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Speaker 1: clearly impossible that he could have had any connection with
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Speaker 1: the murders. At her trial, she was completely unnerved, not
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Speaker 1: by remorse but by fear. When the verdict was announced
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Speaker 1: and she was asked if she had anything to say
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Speaker 1: why sentence should not be passed, she burst into tears.
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Speaker 1: During the passing of the sentence, she incessantly interrupted the
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Speaker 1: judge with cries for mercy, but finding such appeals of
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Speaker 1: no avail, she screamed to Heaven in tones of the
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Speaker 1: greatest agony. Even after she had been removed to the cells,
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Speaker 1: her screams could heard for a long time by people outside.
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Speaker 1: During the time that elapsed before her execution, she was
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Speaker 1: partly buoyed up by the hope of a reprieve and
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Speaker 1: protested her innocence almost to the very last. In spite
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Speaker 1: of her hope, she could not shut out the terrible
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Speaker 1: fear that the reprieve might not come, and the dread
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Speaker 1: of death was so heavy upon her as to reduce
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Speaker 1: her in three weeks to a haggard wreck of her
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Speaker 1: former self. She prayed long and apparently earnestly for God's help,
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Speaker 1: but did not acknowledge her guilt until almost the last moment,
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Speaker 1: when she saw that there was no hope of reprieve.
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Speaker 1: When the morning of the execution came, she was so
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Speaker 1: weakened as to be utterly unable to support herself, and
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Speaker 1: she had to be practically carried to the scaffold by
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Speaker 1: two female warders. For an hour before the time of
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Speaker 1: the execution, she had been moaning and crying most dismally,
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Speaker 1: and when I entered her cell, she commenced to shriek
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Speaker 1: and call aloud all the way to the scaffold. Her
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Speaker 1: cries were heart rending, though her voice was weak through suffering,
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Speaker 1: and as the white cap was placed over her head,
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Speaker 1: she uttered cries which one of the reporters described as
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Speaker 1: such as one might expect that the actual separation of
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Speaker 1: body and spirits through mortal terror. The female warders held
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Speaker 1: her on the drop until the news was fixed. Then
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Speaker 1: their places were taken by two male warders, who stepped
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Speaker 1: back at a signal which I gave them, And before
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Speaker 1: she had time to sway sideways or to collapse, the
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Speaker 1: drop fell, and the wretched woman was dead James Murphy.
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Speaker 1: Some condemned persons are unconsciously humorous, whilst others that I
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Speaker 1: have met with have shown an unconcerned and designedly humorous disposition,
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Speaker 1: which is surprising when one considers the grave nature of
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Speaker 1: my business with them. James Murphy, whom I executed at
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Speaker 1: York in November of eighteen eighty six for the murder
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Speaker 1: of Police Constable Eustwick of Barnsley, seemed to look upon
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Speaker 1: his sentence and rather as a joke than otherwise, and
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Speaker 1: perhaps partly as a matter of pride. He never seemed
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Speaker 1: to think that it was a very serious matter, and
22:09
Speaker 1: the principal reference that he made to the subject was
22:11
Speaker 1: a frequent assurance to his attendants that he would die
22:15
Speaker 1: firmly and show no fear on the scaffold. I was
22:19
Speaker 1: introduced to him by the Governor of York Castle the
22:22
Speaker 1: day before execution. While he was at dinner, he was
22:26
Speaker 1: told that a gentleman from Bradford had come to see him,
22:29
Speaker 1: but he had feigned not to understand my identity, and
22:33
Speaker 1: muttered Bradford, Bradford, I have no friends at Bradford. Then
22:38
Speaker 1: it was explained that the gentleman in question was his executioner,
22:41
Speaker 1: and he smilingly replied, oh, of course, but continued picking
22:46
Speaker 1: the mutton bone on which he had been engaged when
22:49
Speaker 1: we entered. In the last letter that he wrote, speaking
22:53
Speaker 1: of this incident, he said, I am in good spirits.
22:56
Speaker 1: The governor brought your letter to me at dinner time,
22:59
Speaker 1: and that hangsman with him. I shaked hands with the hangsman,
23:04
Speaker 1: and he asked me to forgive him, and I did so.
23:07
Speaker 1: But I eat my dinner none the worse for that.
23:10
Speaker 1: The same statement might also apply to his supper and
23:13
Speaker 1: his breakfast next morning, For during the whole of his imprisonment,
23:18
Speaker 1: his good humor and resolution never deserted him for a moment.
23:22
Speaker 1: He was perfectly contented with the arrangements made for him
23:25
Speaker 1: by the prison authorities, but the Roman Catholic priests in
23:29
Speaker 1: attendance could get no satisfaction out of him. Whatever he
23:33
Speaker 1: parted from his brother, wife, and daughter, without any sign
23:36
Speaker 1: of emotion, in the light hearted manner of a working
23:39
Speaker 1: man who was starting for his day's labor. He did
23:42
Speaker 1: justice to his last meal, and when it was finished,
23:45
Speaker 1: asked for a pipe of backer, the only request that
23:48
Speaker 1: he made with which the governor was unable to comply.
23:52
Speaker 1: He seemed to take great interest in the opinioning process
23:55
Speaker 1: and helped me as well as he could. He requested
23:58
Speaker 1: that I would execute him quickly and painlessly, and this
24:02
Speaker 1: favor I was able to grant. Edward Prichard was hanged
24:06
Speaker 1: in Gloucester Prison on February seventeenth, eighteen eighty seven, for
24:11
Speaker 1: the murder of a boy at Stroud. The object was robbery,
24:14
Speaker 1: for the boy was carrying money to pay wages from
24:17
Speaker 1: the bank. Prichard practically pleaded guilty and appeared to be
24:21
Speaker 1: sincerely sorry for his deed. He was not anxious to
24:24
Speaker 1: escape death, but took great pains to secure the forgiveness
24:28
Speaker 1: of the firm whose money he had taken and of
24:30
Speaker 1: the parents of the boy whom he had murdered, and
24:33
Speaker 1: ordered to get it to the father of the lad
24:36
Speaker 1: He wrote a letter earnestly begging for his forgiveness, and
24:39
Speaker 1: mister Allan, who was a good, kind hearted man, journeyed
24:43
Speaker 1: to Gloucester to convey an assurance of that forgiveness in
24:46
Speaker 1: person and to pray with the murderer. Owing to a
24:50
Speaker 1: prison regulation, Prichard was unable to receive mister Allen's visit,
24:55
Speaker 1: but the fact that the visit was made seemed a
24:57
Speaker 1: great consolation to the prisoner waiting for execution. Prichard frequently
25:02
Speaker 1: showed much emotion, and it was feared that there might
25:05
Speaker 1: be a scene at the last moment. But when the
25:08
Speaker 1: time came he was composed, there was no reckless bravado,
25:12
Speaker 1: but a quiet submission. He walked up brightly to the
25:15
Speaker 1: scaffold and stood motionless upon the drop for a second.
25:20
Speaker 1: His glance wandered round the prison yard, and in that
25:23
Speaker 1: second he seemed to comprehend everything. He saw his grave
25:27
Speaker 1: ready dug in a corner, and heaved a sob. But
25:30
Speaker 1: this was his only demonstration of feeling whilst in my hands.
25:34
Speaker 1: Walter Ward. Another man who was apparently truly penitent was
25:38
Speaker 1: Walter Ward, executed a strangeways, Manchester on June thirtieth, eighteen
25:44
Speaker 1: eighty seven, for the murder of his wife. When the
25:47
Speaker 1: sentence of death was pronounced, he was calm, and so
25:50
Speaker 1: remained up to the time of execution. He did not fought,
25:54
Speaker 1: even when visited by his mother and two sons. He
25:57
Speaker 1: neglected no means of showing his contrition and making his peace.
26:01
Speaker 1: With God, and on the day before his execution, he
26:04
Speaker 1: attended the prison chapel, occupying a screened pew, where he
26:09
Speaker 1: paid careful attention to the surface, and appeared much solaced
26:13
Speaker 1: by a portion of the sermon which was introduced for
26:16
Speaker 1: his special benefit. On the morning of his last day,
26:19
Speaker 1: he was awake early and spent the time with the
26:22
Speaker 1: good chaplain of the jail. As I entered the cell,
26:25
Speaker 1: the poor fellow was slowly repeating the responses to the
26:28
Speaker 1: prayers read by the chaplain, and he continued to do
26:32
Speaker 1: so during the pinioning. The chaplain was assiduous in his
26:35
Speaker 1: attentions and did not wary of his good work even
26:38
Speaker 1: when on the scaffold, but continued to comfort and solace
26:42
Speaker 1: the doomed man with an earnestness that indicated the depth
26:45
Speaker 1: of his sympathy. At the last moment, the calm but
26:48
Speaker 1: wretched culprit raised his head, drew a deep breath, and said,
26:52
Speaker 1: in a deep, solemn, unshaken tone, Lord have mercy upon me,
26:58
Speaker 1: Lord receive me, And so he died. This execution affected
27:02
Speaker 1: me deeply. The man was fully conscious of the hideousness
27:07
Speaker 1: of his crime, and sincerely repented. He assured the chaplain
27:12
Speaker 1: that he beheld the world and all things in a
27:14
Speaker 1: totally new light, and that the consciousness of his crime
27:17
Speaker 1: had changed his whole character. What would have been the
27:20
Speaker 1: faith of such a man if he could have been
27:23
Speaker 1: allowed to go free? Alfred Salery One of the worst
27:27
Speaker 1: cases I ever had to deal with was that of
27:30
Speaker 1: Alfred Salery, hanged at Lancaster Castle on August first, eighteen
27:35
Speaker 1: eighty seven for shooting the girl to whom he was
27:38
Speaker 1: engaged to be married at Preston. He was impenitent, violent,
27:43
Speaker 1: and half dead with fear by the day of execution.
27:47
Speaker 1: At the time of his trial, he glared about in
27:49
Speaker 1: such a mad way that those who stood near the
27:52
Speaker 1: dock feared for their personal safety. During the time between
27:55
Speaker 1: sentence and execution, he became seriously ill through sheer terror,
28:00
Speaker 1: and it was thought that he could not possibly live
28:02
Speaker 1: to the day appointed for his execution. The efforts of
28:05
Speaker 1: the jailed chaplain to bring Salery to a calmer and
28:08
Speaker 1: more reasonable state of mind seemed utterly unavailing. The prisoner
28:13
Speaker 1: was too terrified to take much notice of anything that
28:16
Speaker 1: was said to him. On the morning of the execution,
28:18
Speaker 1: he took his breakfast as usual, but rejected the chaplain's ministrations.
28:24
Speaker 1: From the cell to the scaffold, he had to be
28:26
Speaker 1: partly pushed and partly carried by two warders, in whose
28:29
Speaker 1: strong arms he struggled violently. His groans and cries could
28:33
Speaker 1: be heard all over the prison, His teeth chattered, and
28:36
Speaker 1: his face was alternately livid and deathly white. Every inch
28:41
Speaker 1: of ground over which the procession passed was violently contested
28:44
Speaker 1: by the criminal, who had to be bodily carried up
28:47
Speaker 1: the steps and placed on the drop. As he saw
28:50
Speaker 1: the beam above him, a wilder paroxysm of fear seemed
28:54
Speaker 1: to seize the miserable youth, and four warders were required
28:57
Speaker 1: to hold him in position. Even with this assistance, I
29:01
Speaker 1: had the greatest possible difficulty in pinioning his legs, and
29:04
Speaker 1: while doing so I received a nasty kick which took
29:07
Speaker 1: a piece of bone out of my shin and has
29:10
Speaker 1: left the mark visible even to today. After the completion
29:14
Speaker 1: of the pinioning process, he still resisted the placing of
29:18
Speaker 1: the noose, dowing his head violently from side to side,
29:22
Speaker 1: and he continued his struggles until the drop fell. During
29:25
Speaker 1: the whole of this terrible scene. The chaplain, who had
29:29
Speaker 1: taken much interest in his ungrateful charge, and who had
29:32
Speaker 1: done everything he could for Sowrey continued reading the beautiful
29:36
Speaker 1: prayers for the dying, but Swry paid no heed. Dodor
29:41
Speaker 1: Cross Doctor Philip Henry Eustace Cross. My first execution in
29:46
Speaker 1: eighteen eighty eight was that of doctor Philip Henry Eustace Cross,
29:51
Speaker 1: who poisoned his wife by slow degrees, administering doses almost
29:55
Speaker 1: daily for a long time. Doctor Cross was a retired
29:59
Speaker 1: army sir of good family. His medical experience gave him
30:03
Speaker 1: a great advantage in the commission of his crime, and
30:06
Speaker 1: he was evidently convinced that there was not the slightest
30:09
Speaker 1: fear of recovery. After conviction, he protested his innocence until
30:14
Speaker 1: he received the message to the effect that there would
30:17
Speaker 1: be no reprieve, but that the law must take its course.
30:21
Speaker 1: He then relapsed into a mournful condition and turned his
30:24
Speaker 1: attention entirely to the Bible. The last few days before
30:28
Speaker 1: his execution, he was greatly prostrated, and on his last
30:32
Speaker 1: night of life he did not retire to bed until
30:35
Speaker 1: twelve o'clock. His sleep was restless and fitful, in the morning. However,
30:40
Speaker 1: he was resolute. He told his attendants that he did
30:43
Speaker 1: not fear death, for he had met it face to
30:45
Speaker 1: face more than once on the battlefield. He died unmoved,
30:49
Speaker 1: without a word. Joseph Walker. A sorrow stricken face that
30:53
Speaker 1: haunts me is that of Joseph Walker, executed at Oxford
30:58
Speaker 1: in November eighteen eight. He had murdered his second wife
31:02
Speaker 1: after great provocation. Her reckless drinking habits and jealous disposition
31:08
Speaker 1: developed soon after the marriage had made the home absolutely miserable.
31:12
Speaker 1: On several occasions, she threatened her husband with a knife,
31:16
Speaker 1: and the only way in which he could defend himself
31:18
Speaker 1: without injuring her was by seizing her wrists and holding
31:22
Speaker 1: her down on the floor until her fury abated. The
31:26
Speaker 1: climax was reached when one of Walker's sons by his
31:29
Speaker 1: first wife, who had been driven from home by his stepmother,
31:33
Speaker 1: committed suicide. The father attributed this to the stepmother's cruelty.
31:38
Speaker 1: She went to Croydon, where the suicide was committed, to
31:40
Speaker 1: attend the inquest, and instead of returning home, remained in
31:44
Speaker 1: London until her husband went to fetch her. Up to
31:47
Speaker 1: this time, he had been steady, but after the return
31:50
Speaker 1: from London he gave way to excessive drinking and neglected
31:54
Speaker 1: his work. On the day of the murder, there was
31:56
Speaker 1: a violent quarrel between the man and his wife, and
31:59
Speaker 1: when he fell into a drunken sleep, she rifled his
32:02
Speaker 1: pockets of a considerable sum of money. At night, Walker
32:06
Speaker 1: cut his wife's throat, killing her with one terrible blow,
32:09
Speaker 1: and then, sobered by his act, called a neighbor to
32:12
Speaker 1: witness what he had done, and surrendered to the police,
32:15
Speaker 1: who had fetched to the house. The verdict of guilty
32:19
Speaker 1: was brought in by the jewry, but a strong recommendation
32:22
Speaker 1: to mercy was at the same time handed to the judge.
32:26
Speaker 1: In consequence of the great provocation which had been received
32:29
Speaker 1: by Walker. Strenuous efforts were made to induce the Home
32:33
Speaker 1: Secretary to commute the death sentence to one of penal servitude,
32:37
Speaker 1: but without avail. The condemned man was perfectly willing to die,
32:41
Speaker 1: and his earnest repentance greatly touched the chaplain, who labored
32:45
Speaker 1: early and late to comfort him. Walker spent much of
32:48
Speaker 1: his time in fervent prayer, not for himself but for
32:51
Speaker 1: his children. He prayed continuously that his sin might not
32:55
Speaker 1: be visited on them, For he knew how hour a
32:57
Speaker 1: Christian country usually treats them who have the burden of
33:01
Speaker 1: a dishonored name to bear. He besought both God and
33:04
Speaker 1: Man to treat his children kindly and to lead them
33:07
Speaker 1: in the way of sobriety and honesty. For himself, while
33:11
Speaker 1: confessing the murder, he denied any premeditation of the matter.
33:15
Speaker 1: At the time of execution, he was perfectly composed and
33:18
Speaker 1: walked calmly to the scaffold, but he seemed to see nothing.
33:22
Speaker 1: His thoughts were far away, and even after death his
33:26
Speaker 1: face wore the same expression of sad composure. Walker was
33:30
Speaker 1: a heavy man, weighing over sixteen stones, and received a
33:34
Speaker 1: drop of two feet ten inches, the shortest I have
33:37
Speaker 1: ever given. John Jackson, whose daring murder of Warder Webb
33:42
Speaker 1: and escape from Strangeways jail, as well as his success
33:45
Speaker 1: in hiding from the police, caused immense interest to be
33:48
Speaker 1: taken in his case, was executed by me in the
33:52
Speaker 1: same jail in which his crime occurred. Although he was
33:55
Speaker 1: commonly supposed to be incapable of feeling his emotion at
33:58
Speaker 1: the prospect of his own and fate was so touching
34:02
Speaker 1: that the official who had to tell him that reprieve
34:04
Speaker 1: was refused was very loath to break the news. On
34:08
Speaker 1: hearing it, he bowed his head and burst into tears.
34:11
Speaker 1: For strange as it may seem, he had hoped that
34:14
Speaker 1: the death sentence would not be carried out. His grief
34:17
Speaker 1: continued to the last, and to the last he maintained
34:20
Speaker 1: that he had only intended to stun and not kill
34:23
Speaker 1: the warder. On the night before his death, he did
34:26
Speaker 1: not sleep two hours, and when I entered his cell
34:29
Speaker 1: in the morning, he was engaged in fervent prayer. He
34:32
Speaker 1: shook hands with me in a manner that was most affecting,
34:35
Speaker 1: and submitted quietly to the opinioning He walked resignedly to
34:39
Speaker 1: the scaffold and died without uttering a sound. John Jackson,
34:44
Speaker 1: Charles Joseph Dobell, and William Gower. One naturally expects a
34:49
Speaker 1: hard indifference from an old criminal, but it saddens me
34:52
Speaker 1: to see it in the young. And yet two of
34:55
Speaker 1: the youngest men, or rather boys, that I have ever executed,
35:00
Speaker 1: were callous to the last degree. They were Charles Joseph Dobell,
35:04
Speaker 1: aged seventeen, and William Gower eighteen executed in Maidstone Jail
35:10
Speaker 1: for the murder of a timekeeper at a sawmill in
35:13
Speaker 1: Tunbridge Wells some six months before. So carefully was the
35:17
Speaker 1: crime committed that the police could obtain no clue, and
35:21
Speaker 1: it was only found out by the confession of the
35:23
Speaker 1: lads to a Salvation Army officer. There is reason to
35:27
Speaker 1: believe that the lad's natural taste for adventure had been
35:31
Speaker 1: morbidly stimulated by the reading of highly sensational literature Penny
35:36
Speaker 1: Dreadfuls and the like. They seemed to have conducted themselves
35:40
Speaker 1: with a sort of bravado or courage, which, if genuine,
35:44
Speaker 1: would have done credit to a patriot or martyr sacrificing
35:47
Speaker 1: himself for country or for faith, or to one of
35:50
Speaker 1: their backwoods heroes fighting against a horde of painted savages,
35:56
Speaker 1: but which was distressing in two lads, almost children, sentenced
36:00
Speaker 1: to death for their crime. After they were sentenced, they
36:04
Speaker 1: paid careful attention to the chaplain's words, but they showed
36:07
Speaker 1: no sign of emotion, and it was said that it
36:10
Speaker 1: is doubtful whether at any time they fully realized the
36:14
Speaker 1: serious nature of their position. They walked to the scaffold
36:18
Speaker 1: in defiant manner, more upright than was their wont and
36:22
Speaker 1: neither of them looked at or spoke to the other.
36:25
Speaker 1: There was no farewell, no word of repentance or regret,
36:29
Speaker 1: merely a brief supplication to God to receive them. Samuel
36:33
Speaker 1: and Joseph Boswell. It is a terrible trial to have
36:37
Speaker 1: to execute men who firmly believe and apparently unreasonable, even
36:42
Speaker 1: if not correct, grounds that they are suffering an injustice.
36:46
Speaker 1: The worst instance that I remember of this kind was
36:49
Speaker 1: in the case of Samuel and Joseph Boswell, executed in
36:53
Speaker 1: Worcester jail for the murder of a gamekeeper on the
36:56
Speaker 1: estate of the Dukedomial at Evesham. Three men, the Boswells
37:02
Speaker 1: and Alfred Hill, were found guilty of the murder, and
37:05
Speaker 1: the only difference which the jury could find in their
37:08
Speaker 1: guilt was that Hill was, if anything, the worst of
37:11
Speaker 1: the three. An application for a reprieve was made, apparently
37:16
Speaker 1: on the ground that though the men were guilty of poaching,
37:19
Speaker 1: they had not intended to commit murder. The Home Secretaries
37:24
Speaker 1: responded to this application by reducing the penalty in Hill's
37:28
Speaker 1: case to penal servitude for life. This action fairly astounded
37:33
Speaker 1: the people of Evesham, who thought that there was no
37:35
Speaker 1: possible reason for making any difference in the fate of
37:38
Speaker 1: the three corporates. The Vicar telegraph to the Home Secretary
37:43
Speaker 1: that his decision was absolutely incomprehensible. The Mayor, on behalf
37:48
Speaker 1: of the borough telegraphed to the effect that universal indignation
37:53
Speaker 1: was expressed by the whole community in Evesham and by
37:56
Speaker 1: county gentlemen. Several other similar messages sent from other bodies,
38:01
Speaker 1: and the Vicar of Evesham was dispatched to London to
38:04
Speaker 1: interview the Home Secretary. The news was communicated to Hill,
38:08
Speaker 1: but not to the Boswells, and as the feeling amongst
38:11
Speaker 1: outsiders was so strong, it can be imagined that the
38:14
Speaker 1: two men who had to suffer the punishment were shocked
38:17
Speaker 1: with a sense of injustice when they met on the
38:20
Speaker 1: morning of the execution and found that Hill had been reprieved.
38:24
Speaker 1: When they met on that fateful morning, the brothers kissed
38:27
Speaker 1: each other, and looking round, they inquired simultaneously where's Hill.
38:32
Speaker 1: On being answered, they seemed utterly broken down with the
38:35
Speaker 1: feeling of the injustice of the arrangement. They asserted that
38:39
Speaker 1: Hill was the real murderer, whilst they were only accomplices.
38:43
Speaker 1: The men had been much troubled during their imprisonment by
38:46
Speaker 1: the thought of what would happen to their wives and children,
38:49
Speaker 1: and were in a terribly harassed and nervous condition. I
38:53
Speaker 1: put the white caps on their heads before leaving the cells,
38:56
Speaker 1: and a few steps from the door of the house
38:59
Speaker 1: in which the scaffold stored, I poured the caps over
39:02
Speaker 1: their eyes. This I always do when men are not
39:05
Speaker 1: quite firm and determined before they see the scaffold. In
39:09
Speaker 1: the case of Samuel Boswell, the simple act caused him
39:13
Speaker 1: to fall back into the arms of one of the
39:15
Speaker 1: warders in a state of collapse, and he had to
39:17
Speaker 1: be almost carried to the scaffold. He moaned several times
39:21
Speaker 1: until he heard his brother's voice give the response, Lord,
39:25
Speaker 1: have mercy upon us. When he again drew himself together
39:29
Speaker 1: and answered, Christ, have mercy upon us. Then Joseph piteously cried, oh,
39:34
Speaker 1: my poor dear wife. Yes, answered Samuel, and my dear
39:39
Speaker 1: wife and my poor children. Joseph turned his head a
39:42
Speaker 1: little and said goodbye, sam to which his brother answered, goodbye, God,
39:48
Speaker 1: bless you job boy, Oh dear dear Joseph continued, I
39:53
Speaker 1: hope everybody will do well, and as he finished speaking,
39:57
Speaker 1: the drop fell, and together the brothers cated their crime
40:01
Speaker 1: Richard Davis. Another in which the one was taken and
40:05
Speaker 1: the other left was the Crew murder case, in which
40:08
Speaker 1: Richard and George Davis were found guilty of the murder
40:12
Speaker 1: of their father, with a strong recommendation to mercy on
40:17
Speaker 1: account of their youth. So far as could be made out,
40:20
Speaker 1: there was absolutely no difference in the degrees of their guilt,
40:23
Speaker 1: but the sentence of George was commuted to penal servitude,
40:27
Speaker 1: simply because he was the younger. At this there was
40:30
Speaker 1: great excitement throughout the country, and thousands of telegrams and
40:34
Speaker 1: petitions were poured into the Home Office, begging that the
40:37
Speaker 1: leniency might be equally extended to both, since the guilt
40:41
Speaker 1: of both was equal, but all to no purpose. The
40:44
Speaker 1: condemned lad protested to his last moments that although he
40:48
Speaker 1: took part in the murder, he never struck his father
40:51
Speaker 1: nor handled the hatchet with which the deed was done.
40:55
Speaker 1: He wrote most affectionate letters to his mother, brothers, and sisters,
40:59
Speaker 1: who seemed to fully believe the truth of his statements.
41:01
Speaker 1: With regard to his share in the crime. Ten minutes
41:04
Speaker 1: before his death, he wrote out the same declaration and
41:07
Speaker 1: handed it to the chaplain. He stated that he had
41:10
Speaker 1: no wish to live, but that he hoped and expected
41:13
Speaker 1: to meet his relations in heaven. When I entered his cell,
41:16
Speaker 1: he was pale but calm. After pinioning him, his face
41:20
Speaker 1: seemed still paler, and his mouth worked convulsively as he
41:24
Speaker 1: strove to keep back his emotion. Along the corridor, he
41:28
Speaker 1: walked firmly with bent head, But when we reached the yard,
41:32
Speaker 1: where a fresh breeze was blowing and the blue sky
41:35
Speaker 1: was visible, he raised his head and eyes for a
41:39
Speaker 1: last look at the world and the sky. He died firmly,
41:43
Speaker 1: with a brief prayer on his lips. In both the
41:46
Speaker 1: cases last described, the action of the Home Secretary was
41:50
Speaker 1: very severely commented upon by press and public, and it
41:54
Speaker 1: seems to me that such occurrences are the strongest possible
41:57
Speaker 1: arguments in favor of the rear arrangement of the law
42:01
Speaker 1: which I suggest in the chapter on capital punishment. It
42:04
Speaker 1: is decidedly injurious for the public to have the idea
42:09
Speaker 1: that the life or death of a man depends upon
42:11
Speaker 1: the urgency of the petitions in his favor and the
42:14
Speaker 1: amount of sympathy expressed for him, and rather than upon
42:18
Speaker 1: the justice of the case. Moreover, it seems to me
42:21
Speaker 1: that by singling out special cases and attacking the decision
42:25
Speaker 1: of the Home Office, the press and the public place
42:28
Speaker 1: themselves in a thoroughly illogical position. If they object to
42:32
Speaker 1: the system of leaving the matter in the hands of
42:34
Speaker 1: the Home Secretary, surely it is the system and not
42:37
Speaker 1: the man, that should be attacked. On the other hand,
42:40
Speaker 1: if they are satisfied that the Home Secretary is the
42:43
Speaker 1: proper tribunal they ought surely to rest content with his ruling,
42:47
Speaker 1: remembering that he has far better opportunities of judging the
42:50
Speaker 1: merits of the case and the whole of the evidence
42:53
Speaker 1: than any outsider can possibly have, and that his responsibility
42:57
Speaker 1: on the matter makes him more careful in his ears
43:00
Speaker 1: inquiry than any outsider possibly can be. The melancholy interest
43:05
Speaker 1: of the subject allows me to continue. Yet the details
43:08
Speaker 1: of murderer's deaths at the best are ghastly and grim,
43:12
Speaker 1: and I fear that my readers will shudderingly wish me
43:15
Speaker 1: to stop. Two more experiences, and I will close the
43:19
Speaker 1: sad record. Mary Eleanor Wheeler, better known as missus Pearcy,
43:24
Speaker 1: was a woman of decidedly strong character. Her crime is
43:28
Speaker 1: so recent and aroused so much interest that I need
43:32
Speaker 1: not go over the circumstances. The night before her execution
43:37
Speaker 1: was spent in the condemned cell, watched by three female warders,
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Speaker 1: who stated that her fortitude was remarkable. When introduced to her,
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Speaker 1: I said good morning, madam, and she shook my proffered
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Speaker 1: hand without any trace of emotion. She was certainly the
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Speaker 1: most composed person in the whole party. Sir James Whitehead,
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Speaker 1: the Sheriff of the County of London, asked her if
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Speaker 1: she wished to make any statement, as her last opportunity
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Speaker 1: for doing so was fast approaching, and after a moment's pause,
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Speaker 1: she said, my sentence is just a one, but a
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Speaker 1: good deal of the evidence against me was false. As
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Speaker 1: the procession was formed and one of the female warders
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Speaker 1: stepped to each side of the prisoner, she turned to
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Speaker 1: them and with considerate desire to save them the pain
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Speaker 1: of the death scene, and said, you have no need
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Speaker 1: to assist me. I can walk by myself. One of
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Speaker 1: the women said that she did not mind but was
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Speaker 1: ready and willing to accompany missus Pearcy, who answered, oh, well,
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Speaker 1: if you don't mind going with me, I am pleased.
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Speaker 1: She then kissed them all and quietly proceeded to her
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Speaker 1: painless death. John Conway, who murdered a boy of ten
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Speaker 1: years old at Liverpool, was a case that was most
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Speaker 1: difficult to understand. His previous record did not indicate any
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Speaker 1: quarrelsome or murderous tendency, though he was known to get
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Speaker 1: drunk occasionally, and there seemed to be absolutely no motive
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Speaker 1: that could be assigned for the crime. His confession was
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Speaker 1: made privately to the priest the day before his execution,
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Speaker 1: with instructions that it should be read as soon as
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Speaker 1: he was dead, but it left the matter of motive
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Speaker 1: as mysterious as ever. It was as follows, in confessing
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Speaker 1: my guilt, I protest that my motive was not outrage
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Speaker 1: such a thought I never, in all my life entertained.
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Speaker 1: Drink has been my ruin, not lust. I was impelled
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Speaker 1: to the crime while under the influence of drink, by
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Speaker 1: a fit of murderous mania and a morbid curiosity to
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Speaker 1: observe the process of dying. A moment after the commission
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Speaker 1: of the crime. I experienced the deepest sorrow of it,
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Speaker 1: and would have done anything in the world to undo it.
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Speaker 1: Conway was a very superstitious man, a believer in omens, witchcraft,
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Speaker 1: and all sorts of supernatural powers, and he had a
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Speaker 1: firm idea that if one good man could be induced
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Speaker 1: to pray for him, he would be saved from execution.
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Speaker 1: He was sure that his own prayers would avail nothing,
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Speaker 1: and he thought that he was not fit to receive
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Speaker 1: the sacrament of his church. But he attended the service
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Speaker 1: at which the sacrament was administered and begged that one
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Speaker 1: of his fellow prisoners, who partook of the right, should
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Speaker 1: pray for him. As he reached the scaffold, Conway stared
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Speaker 1: wildly around and cried out that he wanted to say something.
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Speaker 1: The priest interfered to induce me to stop the execution
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Speaker 1: for a few seconds, and I did so. But the
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Speaker 1: convict merely thanked the jail officers and his father confessor
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Speaker 1: for their kindness, and so he died. Does the reader
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Speaker 1: think that I have spun out this chapter too much?
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Speaker 1: Does he think that I have unnecessarily harrowed his feelings?
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Speaker 1: If so, let me assure him that I would not
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Speaker 1: have given this chapter. I would not have written this
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Speaker 1: book if I had not had what I believed to
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Speaker 1: be good purposes in view. I have tried to have sensationalism,
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Speaker 1: but I want to make every reader think. I want
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Speaker 1: to make him think that murderers are, after all, men
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Speaker 1: and women with human sympathism passions. I want to make
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Speaker 1: him think that there are degrees of murder, that justice,
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Speaker 1: and not spasmodic leniency, should be the aim of our laws.
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Speaker 1: And a few other thoughts that will occur to the
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Speaker 1: reader without any suggestion of mine. End of Chapter eight
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Speaker 1: recording by Ashley Jane