weight did not strangle him; and, after a
quarter of an hour, they got over, cut the
rope, and dropped the body, head foremost,
down.  They then listened, and could still
hear him groan.  At this they went to a man
who was a gardener, and woke him up, and
asked him to lend them a ladder and a rope,
which he did; but they could not move the
ladder, and returned without it to the well,
where they could still hear the unfortunate
Cliater feebly moaning.  At this, they
procured two old gate-posts that were lying on
the ground within the park, which they cast
down together with some heavy stones;
when, listening again, they could hear
nothing, and were satisfied that he was dead.
After this they killed the horse that they
had stolen, took his hide off, and cut it into
small pieces, and made away with them to
prevent any discovery.  Galley's body was
not found till long after.  Chater, when
discovered in the well, presented a piteous
spectacle, with the rope about his neck.  His
eyes appeared to be cut or picked out; his
boots and spurs were on, but one of his
legs "came short off" when they lifted the
body.

At least fifteen persons were actively
engaged in these horrible proceedings.  Many
others had been openly spectators of much
that had been done, and had rendered assistance
to the murderers, while, for three days,
they had gone about the country; but the
Government could obtain no tidings whatever
of the missing men.  Galley's coat being
found all blood-stained by the roadside, as
we have stated, it was imagined that they
had been either murdered or carried abroad
by the smugglers, but how no one appeared
to know.  A proclamation was issued, with a
large reward; but, for seven months, no
information was received as to who were the
murderers.  At length, however, in the usual
course of such histories, a magistrate received
a letter from one who had witnessed some
part of their proceedings; and, shortly after,
one of the murderers coming in, and voluntarily
surrendering himself, probably from
fear of the rest, he became king's evidence,
and the greater number were tried and
sentenced to be hanged—some of them in
chains.

While awaiting their execution, being all
ironed and stapled down and well guarded,
most of them behaved with extreme levity,
eating and drinking regularly without any
seeming concern, and talking freely to the
people who, according to the custom of the
time, were allowed to come in and see them.
One of the prisoners, an old man of sixty,
asked the clergyman, gaily, when he thought
they should be hanged?  Being reproved,
he answered that, "According to the common
course of nature, he could not have
lived above a year or two longer; that, as to
the murder, it gave him little trouble, as
he had but small hand in it.  As to the
charge of smuggling, he owned he had been
concerned in that trade for a great many
years, and did not think there was any harm
in it."  His son said, "He was not present
when the murders were done; though, if he
had, he should not have thought it any great
crime."  One said, he "had had many
engagements with the revenue officers, and
been wounded three times."  Another, when
told they must go up to receive judgment,
"What a-devil do they mean by that?  Could
not they do our whole business last night,
without obliging us to come again, and wear
out our shoes?  "But there were some less
hardened; and Jackson, one of the cruelest
of the number, was no sooner measured for
the chains in which he was to be hung, than
he was struck with such terror that he died
in two hours after.  The old man Mills,
however, was unchanged to the last.  He cursed
the executioner for making him stand on
tiptoe, and bade him "not hang him by
inches."

We live in a better age; but many foolish
customs are still entered on our revenue
commissioners' book, violating great
principles, and needlessly perpetuating the
smuggler's trade—duties upon articles of two or
three times greater amount than the value of
the goods themselves—most of these articles
comprising, like tea and brandy, a large
value in a small bulk.  The risk of carrying
such things, like all other risks, may be
exactly estimated and insured against, at a
certain price.  When this price is less than
the duty, smuggling, in spite of custom-
houses ad coast-guards, will go on, the
revenue will be cheated, and the bold
smuggler retain some shadow of his old
popularity.

Early in December will be published, price Threepence,
stamped Fourpence,
A HOUSE TO LET,
FORMING
THE CHRISTMAS NUMBER
Of HOUSEHOLD WORDS; and containing Thirty-six
Pages, or the amount of One regular Number and a Half.

Nearly ready, neatly bound in cloth, price Five Shillings
and Sixpence,
THE EIGHTEENTH VOLUME
OF
HOUSEHOLD WORDS.
Containing from No. 48O, for June the Nineteenth,
to No. 453, for November the Twenty-seventh,
Eighteen Hundred and Fifty-eiglit (both inclusive);
together with the Extra Christmas Number, and an
Index.