My Friends and Countrymen,
You are not Strangers to the Cause of my Sufferings with these my Companions; I hope the Anguish you must feel at the Sight of this shocking Scene, will be the last of your Punishment; for I am convinced you must think it a Punishment to see us bleed: But my Blood, I hope, will contribute to your Liberty; That Thought affords me as much Satisfaction as a Soul prepared to take a Flight to Eternity can receive from any Earthly Concerns.—Take Example from our unfortunate Ends, and endeavour to conduct yourselves so, both before God and Man, as your Lives may be long, and your Deaths natural. Next to your Duty to God, discharge what you owe your King and Country; wipe off this Reproach by a steady Loyalty to his Sacred Majesty, and a respectful and obedient Conduct towards your Officers.
Having uttered this Speech, he, with his Cousin M‘Pherson and Shaw, kneeled down, whilst the Reverend Mr Paterson and myself joined in Prayer, kneeling before them on a Plank: When Prayers were over, their Faces were cover’d; when Eighteen Soldiers, in three Ranks, (Twelve of whom were appointed to do the Execution, and the other Six for a Reserve, had been kept out of Sight for fear of shocking the Prisoners) advanced on their Tiptoes, and with the least Noise possible, their Pieces ready cock’d for fear of the Click disturbing the Prisoners, Serjeant-Major Ellisson, (who deserv’d the greatest Commendation for this Precaution) waved a Handkerchief as a Signal to present; and, after a very short Pause, waved it a second time as a Signal to fire; when they all three fell instantly backwards as dead; but Shaw being observed to move his Hand, one of the Six in Reserve advanc’d, and shot him thro’ the Head, as another did Samuel M‘Pherson. After the Execution, an Officer order’d three of the Prisoners, Name-sakes of the Deceased, to advance and bury them; whom they presently stripp’d to their Shrouds, put them in their Coffins, and buried them in one Grave, near the Place they were shot, with great Decency. The Officers on Duty appeared greatly affected, and three Hundred of the Third Regiment of Scotch Guards, who were drawn up in three Lines in the Shape of a half Moon, attended the Execution, many of whom, of the harden’d Sort, were observed to shed Tears.
Thus ended this melancholy Scene, which raised Compassion from all, and drew Tears from many of the Spectators. They had by their courteous Behaviour, gained so much upon the Affections of their Warders, the Inhabitants of the Tower, and others that conversed with them, that none were so hard-hearted as to deny them their Pity, nay, nor hardly had any Resolution to see them executed.
What made this Spectacle still more moving was, that Mixture of Devotion, Agony, and Despair that was seen in the Faces and Actions of the remaining Highland Prisoners, who were ranged within side the Guards. When Prayers began, they all fell on their Knees and Elbows, hanging their Heads and covering their Faces with their Bonnets, and might easily be observed that they could not refrain from the loudest Lamentations. Such a number of young Men, in so suppliant a Posture, offering their Prayers so fervently to Heaven, with such Marks of Sorrow for the Fate of the unhappy Criminals, had a prodigious effect upon the Spectators, and I am hopeful will influence the Practice and Conversation of all that saw them; and to the Praise of these poor Men, (take from them the Account (sic) their heinous transgression of Mutiny and Desertion) I believe their courteous and modest Behaviour, their virtuous and pious Principles, and religious Disposition, would be no bad Pattern for Men above the Rank of private Centinels, and ought to be a severer Reproof to many who live here, and have all the Advantages of a liberal Education, and the Example of a polite Court; that Men they esteem barbarous, inhabiting a distant and barren Country, should outdo them in real politeness, that is, in the Knowledge and Practice of the Doctrines of Christianity.
From hence we may remark, that those who published or propagated so many scandalous Reports of these unhappy young Men, must either have taken little Pains to inform themselves of the Truth, or must be possessed of little Charity, when they load their Memory with so many Assertions no way connected with their Crime. But, as this Relation is published from the Prisoners’ own Mouths, and attested by a Person whose Profession and Character ought to screen him from the Imputations of Partiality or Falsehood, it is hoped these Impressions will wear off of the minds of the Public, and give place to sentiments of Charity for their Crimes, and Compassion for their Sufferings.
Magna est Veritas, et prævalebit.
FINIS
APPENDIX III
Dates of Restorations carried on by H.M. Office of Works at the Tower of London to the present time. For Details see Appendices IV.–V.
Under whose | ||
|---|---|---|
Salvin. | Beauchamp Tower, restored | 1852 |
Do. | Salt Tower „ | 1856 |
Taylor. | Chapel Royal „ | 1876 |
Do. | Restoration of wall on River Front together with the Cradle and Well Towers | 1878 |
Do. | Broad Arrow Tower | 1881–2 |
Do. | Restoration of Lanthorn Tower | 1882–3 |
Do. | Do. Ballium Wall | 1886 |
Do. | Well Tower | 1887 |
Do. | Restoration of Ballium wall between Wakefield and Lanthorn Tower | 1888 |
Do. | Restoration of S.W. Turret of White Tower | 1895 |
Do. | Restoration of S.E. Turret and base of White Tower, S. and E.; also Stone Stairs on the S. | 1896 |
J. R. Westcott. | North Wing of King’s Tower lifted 15 in. on E. front; restored | 1898–9 |
Do. | Bloody Tower | 1899–1900 |