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God grant. that your example may afford a solemn warning to all,
especially to the young! May it impress deeply upon every mind the
salutary lesson it is intended to teach, to guard against the indulgence
of every unhallowed and vindictive passion ; to resist temptation to
any and every selfish, sordid, and wicked purpose ; to listen to the
war sings of conscience, and yield to the plan dictates of duty; and,
whilst they instinctively shrink with abhorrence from the first thought
of assailing the life of another, may they learn to reverence the laws
of God, and of society, designed to secure protection to their own !
We forbear, for obvious considerations, from adding such words of
advice as may be sometimes thought appropriate, on occasions like
this. It has commonly been our province, on occasions like the
present, to address the illiterate, the degraded, the outcast, whose
erly life has been cast among the vicious, the neglected, the aban-
doned; who have been blessed with no means of moral and religious
culture ; who have never received the benefits of cultivated society,
nor enjoyed the sweet and ennobling influences of home. To such
an one, a word of advice, upon an occasion so impressive, may be a
word fitly spoken, and tend to good. But in a case like this, where
these circumstances are all reversed, no word of ours could be more
efficacious than the suggestions of your own better thoughts, to which
we commend you.
But, as we approach this last sad duty of pronouncing sentence,
which is indeed the voice of the law, and not our own, yet, in giving
it utterance, we cannot do it with feelings of indifference, as a mere
formal and official act. God forbid that we should be prevented from
indulging and expressing those irrepressible feelings of interest, sym-
pathy, and compassion, which arise spontaneously m our hearts; and
we do most sincerely and cordially deplore the distressing condition
into which crime has brought you! And though we have no word of
present consolation, or of earthly hope, to offer you, in this hour of
your affliction, yet we devoutly commend you to the mercy of our
Heavenly Father, with whom is abundance of mercy, and from whom
we may all hope for pardon and peace!
And now nothing remains but the solemn duty of pronouncing the
sentence which the law affixes to the crime of murder, of which you
stand convicted, which sentence is, [the Court and spectators rising,]
That you, John' W. Webster, be removed from this place, and
detained in close custody in the prison of this county, and thence
taken, at -such time as the executive government of this Common-
wealth may, by their warrant, appoint, to the place of execution, and
there be hung by the neck until you are dead.
And may God, of his infinite goodness, have mercy on your soul!
At the conclusion of the sentence, the prisoner sank back into
his chair, and wept. He took a handkerchief, and, after wiping
his face, placed his forehead upon the bar, as if to conceal the current
of his tears from the thousand eyes that were turned upon him. In
this position he remained until disturbed by the officers who had him
in charge.
About five minutes were now passed in solemn silence, which was
suddenly broken by the Chief Justice, who said-'° Mr. Sheriff, the
prisoner is in your custody-Mr. Crier, adjourn the Court until to-
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