The writer wishes to speak in particular of two of these men, both
of whom perished on the scaffold--their names were Thistlewood and
Ings. Thistlewood, the best known of them, was a brave soldier,
and had served with distinction as an officer in the French
service; he was one of the excellent swordsmen of Europe; had
fought several duels in France, where it is no child's play to
fight a duel; but had never unsheathed his sword for single combat,
but in defence of the feeble and insulted--he was kind and open-
hearted, but of too great simplicity; he had once ten thousand
pounds left him, all of which he lent to a friend, who disappeared
and never returned a penny. Ings was an uneducated man, of very
low stature, but amazing strength and resolution; he was a kind
husband and father, and though a humble butcher, the name he bore
was one of the royal names of the heathen Anglo-Saxons. These two
men, along with five others, were executed, and their heads hacked
off, for levying war against George the Fourth; the whole seven
dying in a manner which extorted cheers from the populace; the most
of then uttering philosophical or patriotic sayings. Thistlewood,
who was, perhaps, the most calm and collected of all, just before
he was turned off, said, "We are now going to discover the great
secret.
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