The one point of relief in an ugly picture in this, where we find justice done to the innocent by the detection of the guilty.
On the other hard, the vindication suggests grave reflections respecting the adequacy of trial by jury, and the security of our criminal procedure to place the guilt where it is charged on the guilty head, and save the innocent from destruction, by circumstantial evidence.
VISIT TO THE CONDEMNED CELL AFTER THE EXECUTION.
The Central News reporter telegraphed:—The prison chaplain was deeply affected on returning from the execution of Peace on Tuesday morning. Dr. Price, the gaol physician, escorted him to his official residence.
Under-sheriff Gray, his clerk, Mr. Waite, and the governor, together with the representatives of the press, in leaving the fatal spot passed into the wing of the gaol from which Peace had so recently emerged. The cell which the condemned man had occupied was also passed.
The gas was still burning in it, and the door was open. On the bed was a closed bible and a prayer-book, whilst the convict’s shoes, slippers, wide-awake hat, and other articles of apparel were placed on the benches in the inner cell.
On the little table were a number of books and several sheets of paper, on which the convict had apparently been scribbling. A tin quart measure, nearly full of milk, also stood on the table.
SCENES OUTSIDE THE GAOL.
It was a fearful morning. The air was raw, and a searching wind pierced through one almost to the bone, yet the fields dividing the gaol from the houses near seemed to be covered with people almost immediately.
They ran eagerly to get the best places that could be obtained. Everybody ran and everybody was anxious to get the best places. The peculiar coign of vantage, known only to the experienced, was said to be behind the prison, near the hospital.