Later, however, somewhat longer time was given. From acase in Kingston-on-Thames in 1850 we can see how the time could be used. A man, protesting his innocence, was sentenced to death for the murder of his child. The chaplain pressed for a confession, convinced of the guilt of the condemned. The even initially, weak case and some additional evidence eventually resulted in a full pardon.293 Against that, in 1726 pirates in Massachusetts were given a shorter time than usual for preparation. The motivation of the authorities for such an action was the risk of escape with subsequent revenge and the wish to make an example of them.294 The preparation continued with services in the gaol and before reaching the site of execution, for example with Mass in a nearby parish church. The actions were primarily aimed at the delinquent but increasingly they were also aimed at others participating in the events. Eventually other services and sermons only aimed at others than the then already executed came to occur. The Christian responsibility of governments for the soul and eternal salvation of the condemned was very clearly pronounced by the cathedral chapter of Uppsala when it in 1651 in a letter to one of the appellate courts of Sweden voiced the opinion that the unbaptised could not be executed. Such an execution would defy Christian love as the unbaptised does not know God.295 The eternal destiny of the condemned is thus arguably the most important motive in any clerical involvement in or near executions. The condemned could thus be seen not only as a vehicle for the wrath of the law to be demonstrated upon. She was an individual, a Christian sister, to be helped.296 Therefore an eighteenth–century GerThe delivery of messages by the church the execution and its message 293 Dymond 1865 p 22 sq. 294 Williams 1987 p 248. 295 Lindberg 1992 p 116 sq. 296 See e g Magazin für christliche Prediger 1822 p 275: ”Heidnische Richter mögen sich um die Seele eines armen Sünders wenig bekümmern; christliche Obrigkeiten hingegen ehren 95
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