y of
soldiers. The time of execution of the whole five did not exceed five
minutes. Of all situations in the world, I can conceive of none half so
terrible as that of the last Prisoner. He saw his companions ascend one
after another, heard each fatal blow, and saw each Body thrown aside to
make room for him. I shall never forget his countenance when he
stretched out his neck on the fatal board. He shut his eyes on looking
down where the heads of his companions had fallen, and instantly his
face turned from ghastly paleness to a deep red, and the wire was
touched and he was no more. Of all Deaths it is far the most easy; not a
convulsive struggle could be perceived after the blow. The sight is
horrid in the extreme, though not awful, as no ceremony is used to make
it so. Those who have daily seen 200 suffer without the least ceremony
or trial get hardened to the sight.

The mode of Execution in England is not so speedy certainly nor so
horrid, but it is conducted with a degree of Solemnity that must impress
the mind most forcibly. I did not see the two who suffered in the
evening, the morning's business was quite enough to satisfy my
curiosity.

The next Morning I saw a punishment a degree less shocking, though I
think the Prisoner's fate was little better than those of the day
before. He was seated on a Scaffold in the same place for Public View,
there to remain for six hours and then to be imprisoned in irons for 18
years, a Term (as he is 41) I think he will not survive.

What with the immediate effects of the Siege and events that followed,
the Town has suffered so much in its Buildings and inhabitants, that I
think it will never recover. The Manufactories of silk are just
beginning to shoot up by slow degrees. Formerly they afforded employment
to 40,000 men, now not above half that number can be found, and they
cannot earn so much. Were I a Lyonese I should wish to plant the plains
of Buttereaux with cypress-trees and close them in with rails. The Place
had been a scene of too much horror to remain open for Public amusement.
The fine Hopital de la Charite, against which the besiegers directed
their heaviest cannon in spite of the Black ensign, which it is
customary to hoist over buildings of that nature during a Siege, is much
damaged, though scarcely so much as I should have expected. The Romantic
Castle of the Pierre Suisse is no longer to be found, it was destroyed
early in the troubles together with most of t