daylight approached, a thick mist or fog crept like a pallid pall over
the waking city.

The condemned were roused from sound and tranquil slumbers about a
quarter to five o'clock. Having dressed, they attended Mass, Rev.
Canon Cantwell, Rev. Mr. Gadd, and Rev. Mr. Quick officiating. They
heard this, their last Mass, with a fervour and solemnity which no
words could describe. The Holy Sacrifice having been offered, the
condemned and the three priests remained in prayer and spiritual
exercises until seven o'clock, when the prisoners partook of
breakfast. "The last preparations," says an English eye-witness,
"were then begun. At twelve minutes to eight o'clock the executioner,
Calcraft, and his assistant, were introduced into the cell in which
the prisoners were placed, and the process of pinioning their arms
was gone through. The priests stood by the side of the unhappy men,
administering the consolations of religion, and exhorting them to
firmness to meet the last dreadful ordeal. The convicts, at this
time," continues the English reporter, "manifested a remarkable
fortitude. Not one of them flinched in the least."

The same eye-witness describes as follows the last act of the tragedy,
with a brief general sketch of which we commenced this narrative:--

"At a quarter to eight o'clock the interior court of the gaol
presented a strange and striking spectacle. Behind the wall in New
Bailey-street was erected the long staircase leading to the scaffold,
and by its side were platforms for the use of the military. The fog
was so dense, that objects could be but faintly distinguished at a
distance of thirty yards. Suddenly the words of military command
were heard, and a company of the 72nd Highlanders marched round