EXECUTION OF A REGICIDE.

Thames Star, Volume IX, Issue 3028, 29 October 1878, Page 1

EXECUTION OF A REGICIDE.

! ; On August 17, at sixVclock in the , morning, Hoedel, the regicide who made an attempt.on the life of the Emperor of Germany, was led. to the scaffold temporarily, erected in the prison yard. N,o one was present but the president and' members of the State Court of Berlin, who conducted the trial, the Public Prosecutor, delegates of the municipal, and police authorities, and the customary twelve witnesses empannelled for the occasion. Hoedel,' follpwed by the warders, was dressed in the costume worn by him on the day of the attempted assassination. At the urgent request of the clergyman ' who was walking by his side Hoedel on leaving his cell threw away the stump of a cigar which he had intended to smoke to the Tery last. With rapid steps he ascended the scaffold, and with some curiosity scanned .the' executioner, a very handsome man, dressed in black, with the Iron Cross, the highest military distinction in the Prussian army, attached to his breast. Once more the verdict was read to the doomed man, as well as the-Crown Prince's order confirming the sentence. On the termination of these formalities, during which he demonstratively spat around him Jo show his utter disdain, he cried aloud, " Bravo I Vive la Commune 2" The judge stepped . forward, showed the documents to the headsman in order that he might convince himself of the correctness of the respective signatures and then jaid," Executioner, I hand over to thee the culprit for final justice;" At> this moment the bell tolled out its dire tone*. In pursuance of a command Hoedel hastily bared the upper part of his body. His shirt buttons refusing to loosen, one of the headsman's I assistants tore it off. He was thereupon i seized and fastened to the block, after a bandage had been placed over his eyes. : He offered no resistano whatever; 1 The executioner, who had been quietly standing holding the axe behind'him, then advanced, and with one powerful stroke: that cut the air like lightning severed the head from the. body. Death must have been instantaneous, for no convulsons were noticeable. The remains were'immediately laid in a coffin and covered with his coat. Hoedel found his resting-place in the small churchyard in the prison where those . put to death jure buried. The whole ; tragic ceremoney - Listed scarcely; ten minutes. A deep sigh of relief was heard to issue >''' from ■ the spectators; whose breach's had been held in terrible suspense. ; The judge .

shook Lands with the executioner, and thanked him for "his performance of the terrible task. Accounts from those present agree in ascribing to Hbedel unprecedented boldness and destitution of all human susceptibilities. Some assert, however, that the. precipitation with' which he hurried the final moments of the execution was merely an effect 6f dread lest his physical powers might not' endure the strain on his nerves.- . During the whole time he was standing upon the scaffold he hada forced smile on his lips, that most strangely, contrasted with the ashy pale hue of his features.