He offered nothing- to extenuate his crime, he supplicated at this hour that God would give him a little strength for the few moments he had to stay on earth. The 1st Lieutenant soon returned. The prisoner had risen, and though a few moments had passed, this scene with the solemnity of an eternity had occurred, and whoever this man may be, his spirit at this moment was absorbed in its petition lor it salvation. As the Lieutenant approached the prisoner, and was about to advance to the forecastle with him, " Jackson, two men," mentioning their names, " wish to speak to you; will you allow them to do so V" He assented, and near the forecastle they met him.
The first said, as the tears stood in his eyes, for he was intimate with the prisoner, " Will you tell me if I have ever done anything to urge vou on to any wrong course, that I should be selected as your executioner?" " No, George, I don*t remember anything; but I believe you have rather urged me to suppress my passions. And, George, _Z" charge you, that if you meet any of my friends, that you never tell them a word of my end; never lisp it." The second came forward and said, " Have I ever urged you on to any acts of insubordination whatever?" Xo tears were in the eyes of this man; he was older and of a different class of face.
The prisoner paused, and then said, " I cannot conscientiously say that you have not 1 do not accuse you, but if you think that you have in any way injured me by your advice, I forgive you as I hope in Heaven to be forgiven! " Here I interposed, and said that I could not consent that the prisoner should be tormented by any further questions at such an hour. " He forgives all and bids you good-by." The Lieutenant repeated my objection and sustained it. The prisoner immediately ascended to the forecastle deck. As he approached the larboard side, his quick eye took in the scene, and he said to the 1st Lieutenant, "Mr. EL, I think this line should be overhauled a little more; there will not be drop enough to it." " Yes there will be, Jackson," said the Lieutenant, "and besides, the gun mil Mil you, Jaclcson /" As he moved across the forecastle, and his eye ranged witli a hurried glance down the larboard side of the ship, he said, as if catching the eyes of some, "Good-by, lads," and to the master-at-arms beside him, " Good-by, master-at-arms." He now stepped upon the platform.
I stood a moment beside him, though myself on the deck of the forecastle. The rope was placed over his head and fastened to his neck. Was there any hope? Could the scene have gone so far, and be ended without taking this man's life? No, I thought not. It was too late. He must, he will go into eternity in a moment more. I cast my eye to the flag ship. The fatal signal to execute the sentence of the Court was that instant run up. I turned away my face, and two or three times paced across the forecastle deck. The cap was now drawn over the face of the prisoner. As I drew near him, the words came from his lips in the earnestness of entreaty, " Oh, God, have mercy on my soul!
Oh, Jesus, into thine hands I commit my spirit!" It was while one of the last two sentences were dwelling on the lips of this unfortunate man that the officer, leaning; over the forecastle deck, said in rather a suppressed voice, " Fire!" At the same moment, the platform on which the prisoner stood, rose, the prisoner himself bounded a few feet in the air, as the loud report of the gun echoed over the waters, and as if no space had intervened, the now senseless, but one moment before praying man was hanging at the foreyard-arm of the St. Mary's. No muscle moved, no limb contracted, the concussion of the gun had indeed killed him; and there he hung, a spectacle for the fleet to look upon, as evidence that a broken law will have its penalty, and to what an end a man may be suddenly brought by the indulgence of one ebullition of passion.
I hope the reader will pardon this digression from my narrative, and also allow me a few remarks upon the discipline of the navy; not of the U. S. Navy alone, but of all the navies in the world. While there may be those who, entirely unacquainted with a ship of war, may condemn the severity of a law that consigns to death a man for merely striking an officer, when the same offense by the civil law would be only assault and battery, or an assault alone, what would be the condition of a man-of-war, if striking; an officer was not made a capital crime. Subordination would be out of the question, and it would not be an uncommon thing to see officers walking the quarter-deck with black eyes and broken heads.
We have gone over the scene of Jackson's last hours, and of his execution. He knew the penalty was death; he had heard the articles of war read probably once a week when practicable. The clause applicable to this crime reads: " Whoever shall draw, or offer to draw upon a superior officer, sludl suffer death, or such other punishmmt as a court-martial shall adjudge.'''' Every man knows the penalty of striking an officer.