repentance, that my determination against my own life was formal
and complete, I protest, with that regard which becomes my situation, that
the will to destroy her who was ever dearer to me than life, was never
mine till a momentary frenzy overpowered me, and induced me to commit the
deed I deplore. Before this dreadful act, I trust, nothing will be found
in the tenor of my life which the common charity of mankind will not
excuse. I have no wish to avoid the punishment which the laws of my
country appoint for my crime; but being already too unhappy to feel a
punishment in death, or a satisfaction in life, I submit myself with
penitence and patience to the disposal and judgment of Almighty God, and
to the consequences of this enquiry into my conduct and intentions."

After a few minutes' consultation, the jury returned a verdict of guilty,
and he was executed two days after. It is surprising how strong an
interest was felt on this subject by persons of every condition; by the
populace, who loved excitement from whatever quarter it may come; by the
middle order, to whom the romance of the early part of the transaction and
the melancholy catastrophe were subjects of natural impression; and by the
nobility, to whom the character of Miss Ray and the habits of Lord
Sandwich were equally known.

The Earl of Carlisle thus writes to Selwyn, beginning with a sort of
customary allusion to Selwyn's extraordinary fondness for those displays:--

"Hackman, Miss Ray's murderer, is hanged. I attended his execution in
order to give _you_ an account of his behaviour, and from no curiosity of
my own. I am this moment returned from it. Every one enquired after you.
_You have friends_ every where. The poor man behaved with great fortitude;
no appearances of fear were to be perceived, but very evident signs of
contrition and repentance."

A novel, of some pathos and considerable popularity, was founded on this
unhappy transaction, and "The Letters of Mr Hackman and Miss Ray" long
flourished in the circulating libraries. But the groundwork was vulgar,
mean, and vicious, after all; and, divested of that colouring which
imagination may throw on any event, was degrading and criminal in all its
circumstances. The shame of the wretched woman herself, living in a state
of open criminality from year to year; the grossness of Hackman in his
proposal to make this abandoned woman his wife; the strong probability
that his object might have been the no