EXECUTION OF WILLIAM BOWDEN.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 4, Issue 88, 6 May 1852, Page 3

EXECUTION OF WILLIAM BOWDEN.

Shortly after the return of his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor to Auckland, the Executive Council was convened to take into consideration the merciful recommendation of the jury who tried this wretched man. That recommendation, however, having pointed nut not even the slightest reason for the exercise of clemency, mid Bowden having hcen clearly convicted of a foul and deliberate murder, it was in our opinion, very properly determined that the law .should lake its course. From the hour of his conviction almost up to that in which he ceased to exist, Bowden maintained a sultan and dogged ' resolution'; resisting the untiling and anxious efforts of the Rev. Mr. Churton to prepare his soul for its great immortal change- Throughout the night, preceding the morning of doom, the Keverend Gc»tlemnti continued within the walls of the gaol, zealous in his desire to arouse the criminal to n sense of his awful condition. Bowden did indeed receive Air. Chmton into the- condemned cell; but, alas! instead of listening meekly and attentively to his pious instructions, he persisted in pacing his chamber, his irons clanking and disturbing every effort of Hie worthy

clergyman to inilucc'liini to direct his regards to his eternal salvation- Thus passed the last night of the miserable cul- I prit's existence, his constancy unmoved by the near approach of death, and tits nerves unshaken l>y the continued clink of the hammers in the erection *T the scaffold on which he was to sutler. Between 7 and 8 o'clock on Tuesday morning, the 27th ultimo, liowden, having partikcn of a cup of coffee and a glass of porter, was summoned to prepare for his fate. Ilia irons having been struck off, the Resident Magistrate, Mr. Beckham, implored him, before he went hence for ever, to try to make his peace with God. The earnestness of Mr. FieckhnnVs appeal was not wholly disregarded, for the wretched man, with the tear in his oye,replied that he would endeavour to do so, as well as he could ; and haung procured a I I'rnyer-l-ook, ho selected the 51st psalm, singing the three first, following, verses | with a I'nin, unwavering voice: I Have mercy, Lord, on hip. As Thou wert ever kind ; Let me, oppressed wiililor.d3 of guilt. Thy wonted mere/ find. Wash olf my foul ofijuce, And clennso mo from my .sin ; Vor I confer my crime, «nd sro Hon* gre.it my guilt Ins been. Against Tlieo, Lord, nlone, And only in 'i'liy sight, I Live 1 transgress'd, mid, though condemuVi, Must own 'l'hj judgment right. Having performed this act of devotion, the procession to the scaffold (which had been erected in front of the main entrance to the gaol in Queen-street) took place. The fortitu:lo of the unhappy man never fur a moment deserted him; and he declined assistance in ascending the ladder, saying lie was quite . able to d > so himself. The rope having been adjusted round his neck, the door was thrown open, and he stepped out upon the drop. There he stood firmly for a minute or two, having intimated to Mr. Mclilwninc, the Governor of the Gaol, na intention of addressing ilie people. However, at the last iiiomciir, lie turned to Mr. Mclilwaine and declared his inability to speak. The cap was therefore pulled over his face—the bo't was uithdrawn—the drop fell —and the miserable felon was launched into ctcrniiv.

In front of tlie scall'old n guard, consisting of 1110 men of the sHth Hegimcnt, under the oontntnmt of Captain Parratt, waj drawn up ; tlicy remained during tlie hour in which the hotly continued to be suspended, and until it was lowered down and removed into the gaol yard, where it whs immediately intened les'ulc that of Joseph Burns, the murderer of the unfoitunat c Lieutenant and Mrs. Snow. The concourse attracted by this humiliating exhibition was wo rejoice to say, but small; there being but few natives, anil barely 300 spectators present, the military included. According to his own statement, Bowden was n runaway convict, Inning succeeded in ellectiug his- escape by bribing the sailors to conceal him on board a vessel sailing from Lauuceston lo Melbourne or Geelong. From theiuc lie proceeded to Sydney ; and from Sydney he came to Auckland, where ho had resided for aiiout fourteen months previous to the commission of the cri'i'o which cost him his life. Dixon's was the only b'ood, lie said, he had ever shed. He had frequently been punished whilst in Van Diomen's Land, lint only for trivial oilonces. lie was a man a of fir.ions uucoirrollablo temper, and it is therefore a matter of thankfulness that with such a disposition he should not have had a heavier avrear of crime lo answer for.