An opinion now prevails amongst the officials at Horsemonger Lane
Gaol that the execution of Dr. Smethurst will not take place at the time appointed —next Monday week. It is expected that a communication will be re- ceived postponing the execution, at all events, for seine days, in order to give time for further inquiry. A vast number of communications have been addressed to the Home Office on the subject of a commutation of the sen- tence, but nothing upon the subject is known officially.
The Home Secretary has felt himselfjustified in advising the extension of the royal prerogative to the convict Ellen Rutter, convicted at the late Gloucester Assizes of the murder of her husband. Her sentence will be commuted to penal servitude for life. This result is )witig to numerous ap- plications on the prisoner's behalf, based principally on the ground of the gross ill-treatment she suffered from the deceased. It may be remembered that the Jury accompanied their verdict with a recommendation to a similar effect.
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