EXECUTION OF O'FARRELL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume V, Issue 1400, 13 May 1868, Page 4

EXECUTION OF O'FARRELL.

The terrible oenalty of the law for the crime committed by the" assassin, O'Farrell, upon the person of his Royal Highness the Duke of £dinburgh, at Clontarf. on the 12th of March, was exacted at Darlinghurst gaol on Tuesday morning, 21ac -April. O'Farrell rose at about six o'clock m the morning, ■and as the hour for his execution appronched he shook hands with the officers of the gaol who had been in attendance upon him, and thanked them for the kindness and consideration with which they had treated him. Between six and seven o'clock he was ■visited by the Sisters of Mercy, and shortly after they left the hev. J. Dwyer, Roman Catholic chaplain of the gaol, arrived, and remained some time in conTersa'.ion with the prisoner. As the sound of the bell striking nine o'clock died away, the two executioners, Mliott and Bull, entered the wing in which the prisoner was confined, and commenced to pinion At the termination of this, a procession was formed, an t the solemn cortege to move towards the scaffold, which was erected in the usual place, in the corner of the yard near the workshop and kitchen. The prisoner, who walked by the side •of the Rev. Mr. Dwyer. was preceded by two of the officers of the gaol, and followed by the Sheriff (Mr. Maclean), the Governor of the gaol (Mr. Read), the Under-Sheriff, the Visiting Magistrate, and other officials. The spectators looked in vain upon the fice of the culprit for any indication of emotion ; but it was observed that his lips moved in response to the prayers which were being offered by his rev. attendant. Un arrival at the foot of the drop the prisoner and attendant priest knelt a few moments in prayer, and then O'Farrell rose and mounted with a quick movement—which might almost be called a run—the steps to the scaffold. One of the executioners took hold of his arm with a view to assist him up, but ihe latter spurned the proffered help, and appeared to regard the touch of the grim functionary as an insult. On reaching the platform the minioter of religion offered another short prayer, which was iuaudible to the spectators, and then finally shaking hands with the condemned culprit, left him to his fate. It wa3 confidently expected by many persons that the prisoner would make a statement on the scaffold, but no word did he . utter after he had shaken hands with the clergyman. The adjustment of the rope, and drawing the white Cap ever the unhappy man's head, were but the work of a few seconds, and barely had these preparations been made by one of the executioners than the other withdrew the bolt, and O'Forrell dropped dead, hia neck evidently being broken by the sudden jerk. The only motion observable in the body was a slight drawing up of the feet immediately after the drop fell, but this was simply the action of the muscles without conscious pain. It will be seen from the foregoing that while there wai an absence of anything like bravado in the demeanour of the prisoner in the last hour of hia life, he met his richly-merited doom in the moat calm, cool, and collected manner. Ic was evident that he was entirely self-possessed to the last moment.

The following letter was read in the Legislative Assembly by Mr. Macleay on Wednesday, April 22, whifch is believed to be an exact counterpart of the one forwarded to the Government by O' Farrell: — " Being now about to appear b' fore my I'reator, I feel it my duty to give expression to my heartfelt Borrow for the grievous crime I have committed. From the very bottom of my heart do I grieve for what I have done. I have h.therto said that I ■was one of many who were prepared to do the deed bad I not done it. - I bad not the slightest foundation for such a statement. I wsi never connected with any man, or any body of men, who had for their object the taking of the life of the Sale of Edinburgh. Neither was I in any other than in an indirect manner connected with t'-iat organisation in Ireland and elsewhere which is lrnown by the name o' Fenian organisation. X wish, moreover, distinctly to assert that th.'re was not a human being in existence who had the slightest idea of the object I had in view when I meditated on — and, thiough the merciful Providence of God, failed in carrying into effect—the death of the Duke of .Edinburgh. I have written to the printers of two Irish periodicals an address to the people of Ireland. So certain was I of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, that I stated therein that which I believed would be the fact; and I think that I have more than implied that I was but one of an organisation to carry the same into effect. " 1 need but say that the truth of the latter portion rests upon a slighter foundation than the former ; in fact, that unless from mere hearsay, I had no foundaation for i-tnting that there was a Fenian organisation in Kew south Wales. " From .'Oi,Linuully thinking and talking of what I may still be allowed to call 'the wrongs of Ireland,' I became excited and filled with enthusiasm on the subject, and it was when under the influence of those feelings that I attempted to perpetrate the deed for which I am now justly called upon to suffer. — " H. J. O'Fabbei/L."

After hanging >• half an hour, the body wag cut down, nndi it ■- understood, handed over to his sister for inierineii'..: It is so far salisfii |, -or.v to know that within the last few, days he >«»•««! times expressed gladness that the shot fire-i by him at the Prince did not inflict ft-Imortal wound ; and- he stated, moreover, that if be were liberated he would Dot attempt it •gain, but should consider the .life of bi« iioyal Highness sacred. We also trave expression to a feeling ofisa'isfaclion that the. I)uke;did not gd to Hew Zealand, .-as ho feared that. another attempt upon his life would have been made there.—Sydney Herald.