to establish any fact, collusion was generally impossible, and if the slightest dissonance were discovered in any material respect, the whole was destroyed, and the prisoner was acquitted. His Lordship then entered into the testimony of each individual witness, commenting on the different items in his progress. He observed, at great length, on the matters of account, and concluded, from the tenor of the testimony, that the prisoner had adopted a regular system of fraud, the object of which was to be finally attained by the assassination of the deceased. Whether he had successfully attained these ultimate means was the question for the determination of the Jury, in which they would exercise their judgment, and decide in a way honourable to themselves, and satisfactory to their country, The Learned Judge having concluded his charge, the Jury retired for about twenty minutes, and returned, at half past nine, their verdict of Guilty. Mr. Knapp, clerk of the arraigns, then addressed the prisoner with solemnity, recapitulated his crime, the verdict of his Jury; and put the usual question, what he had to say why judgment of death, and execution thereon, should not be awarded against him. The prisoner bowed, but made no answer. The learned Judge then shortly addressed the prisoner, told him he had been tried by a humane, upright, and patient jury, who, after attending to the whole of the case, had pronounced him guilty of a crime the most atrocious ever known to the laws of this country-a crime commencing in ingratitude, continued in fraud, and terminating in the foul assassination of his friend and benefactor. After what had already been said upon the subject, nothing now remained to him but to pronounce the awful sentence of the law, which was-That the prisoner be taken back from whence he came, and from thence that he be taken on Monday morning next to the place of execution, there to be hanged by the neck until dead, and then to be delivered to the surgeons to be dissected and anatomized ; and may the Lord have mercy on your soul. The prisoner maintained his firmness to the last, and received his destiny without the slightest change of countenance. EXECUTION OF PATCH-on Tuesday the 8th of April. The circumstances attending the murder of the unfortunate Mr. Blight excited such a powerful interest in the public mind, that the execution of his murderer, attracted a prodigious concourse of people to witness the expiation of his crime. The number of applications for admission within the walls of the prison, to witness the awful ceremony, was also great beyond example. From the time he took his fast farewell of his friends and relations on Monday, he gave himself up to devotional occupations. The Rev. Dr. Mann, the Rector of Bermondsey, together with three Dissenting Ministers, attended him in his cell, when he invariably continued to assert his innocence. He sat up during Monday night, and nearly the whole of the time prayed most fervently. Towards the morning, he refreshed himself with two cups of tea, and then laid down and slept for a short period; when he awoke, he asked for a little wine, and drank about a glass. About six o'clock in the morning, Mr. Mann, and an assistant of Mr. Rowland Hill, came to the prison, and again entreated him to make a confession of his guilt, which they represented as a duty which he owed both to God and the public; but he contented himself with saying, "I am, indeed, a heavy sinner ; but having confessed my transgressions to God, who alone can forgive me, it is of no use to reveal myself to man, who cannot assist me ; as it is, I feel my→ self happy." The clergyman now attended him, together with Herring and his wife, who were to be executed for coining, to the chapel. Patch and Herring both ap→ plied themselves devoutly to prayer. At eight o'clock Patch and Herring received the sacrament, when Mr. Mann again importuned Patch to make a confession, but he desired he might not be pressed any more on the subject. A few minutes past eight o'clock, Patch was brought out of the Chapel into the court yard, for the purpose of having his irons taken off; while this was doing, he seemed quite absorbed in thought, with his right hand placed on his heart; he muttered some inarticulate expressions, as it appeared, and directed his eyes upwards. His fellow sufferer, Herring, was a man apparently of about 50 years of age, of a placid countenance. The wife seemed upwards of 40, and was remarkably corpulent. They both conducted themselves with the greatest decorum, and met their fate with firmness and resignation. Patch was dressed in a full black suit, and had on clean linen; his complexion exhibited the same florid appearance it did at the trial; nor was there, to the last moment, any visible variation in his countenance. The malefactors were now reconducted to the chapel, and resumed their devotions. At nine they were led to the place of execution. Herring and his wife were the first led on to the scaffold, and tied up; during the process, they spoke but little; the husband seemed much more at ease than the wife. Before the cap was placed over his eyes, he called down a blessing on his wife, and kissed her twice, While the executioner was in the act of fastening the ropes, Mr. Mana attended Mr. Patch, and, for the last time, attempted to draw from him a confession, but with no better success. The sheriff then went to him, entreating him to confess, but he steadily refused. At this time the cap was drawn down upon his face, and every thing was prepared to launch him into eternity. Apparently displeased at being pressed so much upon the subject, he threw himself considerably back with impatience. From the violent motion of his body, some of the spectators supposed that he meant to break his neck, as Abershaw did, on Kennington Common. Others apprehended that he was fainting away. Neither, however, appeared to be the case, and it was evidently the result of a wish to avoid all farther entreaty. Mr. Ives, the keeper of the prison, observing Patch throw himself back, ran to him, and exclaimed, "My good friend, what are you about?" Patch took him by the hand and conversed with him for about a minute and a half; and, when he was leaving him, parted his hand apparently with much reluctance. A great anxiety was, at this moment, expressed by the bye-standers, to know whether Patch had confessed his guilt to Mr. Ives, in this conversation. Mr. Ives answered, with great politeness to all enquirers, that he could not at present divulge what Patch had communicated to him, and he very honourably persevered in this determination, notwithstanding the pressing solicitation of one of the magistrates. He said, however, "I believe him to be the man," meaning the man who murdered Mr. Blight.. The sufferers stood in the following order: first, Patch, next to him, on his right, the woman; and next to her, her husband, Herring, At five minutes past nine o'clock, the sentence of the law was carried into execution, by the falling of the drop, which took place in a very regular manner. Patch's body was convulsed from head to foot, but not violently, and he appeared quite dead in about four minutes. After the bodies had hung an hour, they were taken down, and the body of Patch was conveyed to St. Thomas's Hospital for dissection, pursuant to his sentence. All the public avenues from the Haymarket at Stones End, Newington Turnpike, and the bleaching grounds near the Kent Road, were filled with spectators. They had begun to assemble soon after five o'clock, and took possession of every place public or private, that afforded any chance of a view of the gaol, FURTHER PARTICULARS OF PATCH.-On Wednesday morning the High Sheriff waited upon the Secretary of State with a copy of a letter written by Patch, which was found on the person of one of his relatives by Cave, the principal turnkey of the prison. The letter occupies nearly a whole sheet of post paper, and is addressed to a person or persons said to be implicated in this horrid transaction. The original letter remains in Mr. Ives's possession until he is called upon by the Privy Council to produce it. We have reason to believe that Mr. Ives apprised Patch, on Monday evening, of his having detained the letter above alluded to. Patch betrayed great emotions when this declaration was made to him. He then, in fact, acknowledged his guilt, by candidly answering two questions put to him by Mr. Ives." Were the stockings your's that were found soiled in your chamber?" Answer." They were!" "Did the report of the pistol, and the flamming of the privy door happen at the same moment? Answer,-" No!" Patch wrote other letters besides the one found on his sister. These letters escaped the search of the turnkeys. This fact Patch admitted in a discourse with Mr. Ives. The letter, it is said, is couched in terms rather mysterious, but it nevertheless contains ample demonstration of Patch's guilt, and, indeed, amounts to a full disclosure as relates to himself. The purport of the letter which Patch wrote and delivered to his sister-in-law, to be conveyed to Mrs. Blight, contained, we understand, a description of the dreadful situation in which he felt himself; asserting, at the same time, that it was from his anxiety to serve Mrs. Blight and her family that he had been brought into it, and recalling to her recollection, that her husband, in his last moments, had impressed upon him the charge of taking care of his wife and children. Patch then reminds Mrs. Blight that his orphan children must be left behind him, without any friend to protect them, and recommends them in the strongest manner to her care and protection. He then states, in a postscript, that this letter was not the only one he had written on the subject, but that there was another in the possession of a confidential friend, which might be brought forward hereafter, if she neglected her duty to his children: and again reminding her of what he had to suffer, and calling upon her to repent in time for any offence she might have committed. Such, we are assured, was the purport of the letter. After the trial was over, and when Mr. Ives led Patch from the bar, he said, "I am innocent." Mr. Ives replied, " As you hope to enter the kingdom of Heaven, do not go out of the world with a lie in your mouth. If you are not inclined to answer the questions that may be put to you, do not, for God's sake, tell an untruth." Patch then said, "I will not." That he steadily adhered to this advice has since fully appeared. On the morning of his execution, when the prison clock struck six, he was walking with Mr. Ives in the subterraneous passage near his cell. He then said, " My mind never was in a more tranquil and happy state than it is at this moment!" Mr. Ives then put this question to him, Was that part of your defence true, wherein you stated yourself to have had a bowel complaint?" Answer, " It was not!" He acknowledged, at the same time, that he only slammed to the privy door, when the servant, Kitchener heard it shut, he himself remaining on the outside. The last words Patch uttered before he was turned off, were in answer to a question put by Mr. Ives, who asked him how he found himself. "May you always feel as happy as I do at this moment!" An occurrence is said to have taken place in a small village in Staffordshire, which may occasion some enquiry:-A man who lived some years upon a comfortable annuity, has declared, upon his death-bed, that he was hired to set fire to his Majesty's ship the Boyue, of 98 guns, which ship the public may remember to have been burnt at Spithead, upon her return from the West Indies, where she had borne the flag of Sir John Jervis (now Lord St. Vincent) who, in consequence of this misfortune, lost all his baggage and papers. The man, however, has left some documents which may perhaps throw some light upon this mysterious affair. BIRTHS, The Lady of Mr. Serjeant Best, M. P. of a son. In Grafton street, Lady Charlotte Duncombe, of a son. In Upper Bedford-place, Lady Townsend, of a daughter. MARRIED. Captain Bates, of the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards to Miss H. Smith. J. Newberry, Esq. Lieutenant Colonel of the Sussex Militia, to Miss Cleaver, of Malton, Yorkshire. The Rev. E. D. Clarke, Rector of Harleston, to Miss Angelica Rush. DIED. At Devonshire House, aged 49, Georgina, Duchess of Devonshire. At Bath, Sir John Honeywood, Bart. M. P. At Bunny Park, Sir Thomas Parkyns, Bart. At his house in Curzon-street, the Earl of Macartney, in the 69th year of his age. His Lordship married in 1768, Jane daughter of the late Earl of Bute, but has no issue. The title is therefore extinct. In Saville-row, Dr. W. Rowley. Madame Banti, at Bologna, on the 18th ult. She caught cold upon her return from the Carnival at Venice, which brought on a fever, of which she died after a few days illness. In Dublin, Charles Tottenham Loftus, Marquis of Ely. At Packington Lady Catherine Finch. At Brunswick, the Stadtholder. Dr. Turton. Viscount Neville. Sir T. T. Slingsby, Bart. MONTHLY MIRROR, FOR MAY, 1806. Embellished with A PORTRAIT OF PROFESSOR RICHARDSON, ENGRAVED BY RIDLEY, FROM AN ORIGINAL PICTURE. PRINTED, FOR THE PROPRIETORS, By J. Wright, No. 38, St. John's Square, Clerkenwell. the United Kingdom. |