Southwell was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. The crowd, usually bloodthirsty, was so moved by his calm, aristocratic bearing and his final speech—in which he prayed for the Queen—that they actually interfered with the execution. When the executioner tried to cut the rope while Southwell was still alive (as was the custom for disembowelment), the onlookers grabbed the executioner's legs and pulled down on Southwell’s body to ensure he finally strangled to death before the