| THE LAST PUBLIC EXECUTION*.

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 29, 29 August 1868, Page 3

| THE LAST PUBLIC EXECUTION*.

(Twin iho- " London Weekly Times.") On. Tuesday morning ihe gallows lit M iia last pnbiiy lev'-e in this* ovritry. Michael Barrett, the autb r|of ?h«fc horriblo crim?, the Clerkenwi'li oqilosion, suiiyrc-1 doiith by hanjing i-i front of Newgats, in the prcsenco <;f v- cmsidrrable crowd, though not of fcr.ythiug likv the magnitude of tho asjoiiiblr..;'.' i v.-Liu have often witnessed tho end of notorious ! criminals. Michael Barrett \v w mit a •ensation ruffian, and the crinio far which ; ha suffered happened a good while ago in ! h i chronology of murder, t-to::yh but a ; brief space since if measured by calendar time. Since that deplor&llo day when Barrett's powder-barrel hurled doath and destruction amidst a score of happy families, we have had a host of eacyumary Assaults on life, made by criminals of a ! diiforeut sorb, who have effectually competed with tha fanatical Fenia'i in making- themselves notorious for guilt. The incidents of Br.rrctt'j execution make ni all feel thankful that a change in the law will not allow a repetition of such a disgusting scene. The assembled mass of people were composed of the usual element?. Roughs, practical j.»':cr3, screaming women, and young children. Here w.is a van distributing tracts, there was another blowing a cat-call. 1 iymns were sung in this direction, ribald songs being their accompaniment;. When the criminal appeared upon the scaffold, some cheered, and more hissed. The man himself manifested the greatest stolidity. He was pale, bub firm, and, to appearance, fearless. lia does not seem to have made any acknowledgment of guilt, unlB3S it was in confession to his priest. Little if any remorse for the suf- j fering his criraa occasioned appears to j have troubled him, and he faced the unknown world as he had faced society in this, cool — hardened, and self-composed mannes For some reason, tha authorities did not admit reporters to the pinioning scene. Probably they did not want to give tho wretched criminal an opportunity of making an untruthful, sensational speech. There was nothing in the incidents of Barrett'3 career since the commission of the offence for which he has been blotted out of existence that could win sympathy or respect, if he had told the truth, instead of trying,' up to the last moment, to save his life by alibi evidence that broke down upon exa- j mination, more ragret would have been felt for his ignominious fate. Under happier circumstances, he might have been a useful member of society, though his moral deficiencies must have been of -a serioua kind. Once put wrong by his own perverted sentiments or passions, he was a peculiarly dangerous criinij.nl, from his courage and self-satisfaction. There was nothing of the hero in the deed for which he was punished, though what he may have fancied to be patriotism may have prompted him to it. His mode of ! meeting death was not calculated to ex- i cite respeot, though it raised him above ! contempt. To go out of the world acting, if not speaking, the lio of pretended j innocence indicated- a low moral chai racter. It is deplorable that criminals of this class should exist, and sad that society should find itself obliged to wipe them out of being : but it may be some comfort to reflect that in Barrett's case, at least, our sympathies are not harassed by any conflict of fine feelings with coarse passions. The*man was by no means one of tho worst specimens of human defect or frailty, but a long way off from an interesting criminal specimen of guilt. Very wisely and humanely did the Home Secretary and the legal authorities investigate all the allegations upon which the accuracy of the verdict of guilty was disputed. No reasonable man can believe that any mistake has been made, and if the public execution of the last malefactor destined to suffer in this way should not have a beneficial effect in deterring others from crime, we must ascribe this result to the fact that the gallows is a bad teacher, and 4hat strangling a human being in the presence of a ribald crowd makes no useful appeal to the moral sense.