Review And Telegraph

Execution of Williams—History of
the Cause which led to it, &c.

Williams, the murderer of Francis Carney
was hung in the jail yard, at Philadelphia, last
week. He was stubborn to the last moment, and
would make no confession of his guilt. At 12 o'
clock he was asked by the Sheriff if he was ready
to die, when he begged him to let him live till one
o'clock. This was granted him, and at one o'clock
he swung into eternity!

There was something peculiarly aggravating a
bout the murder for which he was hung, which
may not be uninteresting to our readers, and as we
happened to be an eye witness of his victim's
death, and the murderer's arrest, we will relate
them. One evening, about a year since, in Phila-
delphia, while passing from the house of a rela-
tive in the south part of the city to our lodgings
which were in the north west part, our attention
was arrested by a cry of "Oh! Oh! I'm killed;
he's killed me," and a heavy fall immediately suc-
ceeding the voice. Curiosity led us to the course
from whence the sound proceeded, where we as-
certrained that Carney, the young man murdered,
had been standing at the door talking to his sister,
and that while in the act of leaving, Williams, a
stout, athletic negro, rushed round the corner, and,
without giving a moment's warning, thrust a huge
butcher or bowie knife into his abdomen on the
left side, ripping open his bowels and laying them
bare for six inches in length. Carney turned and
fell at his sister's feet. He was conveyed to the
Hospital where he died in about ten hours.—
Williams fled up a court and secreted himself
in a building occupied by some thirty families of
blacks. The officers were for a long time baffled
in their attempts to find him, and the populace be-
gan to gather round in thousands. It was just af-
ter the riot and burning of Pennsylvania Hall.—
This was the second murder which had been com-
mitted by blacks within the brief space of two
days, and the popular voice began to be loud. At
night, thousands assembled in the neighborhood,
and the streets for several squares around present-
ed a dense mass of infuriate beings. The blood of
the murdered Carney cried from the ground.—
The life of any black was threatened who should
present himself on the ground, and if one had by
misfortune directed his steps that way, however
innocently, he would have been torn into a hun-
dred pieces by the avengers of Carney's death.
This state of excitement prevailed in spite of all
the efforts of the Mayor and Police until it was as-
certained that the murderer was taken! Then
their shouts rent the air, and the multitude retired
peaceably to their homes.