MURDER OF MR MALCOLM READE.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 275, 29 April 1875, Page 3

MURDER OF MR MALCOLM READE.

(Times of India.') On Friday evening (sth) Mr Reade's camp was pitched at Govurdhun, about 12 miles from Muttra, in the course of his official business as assistant in the Settlement Department, the work of which is now going on in the district. He was accompanied by his native ministerial staff and by the usual domestic servants, one among whom was a Mahomedan " bearer" or body servant named Khadim Hosen, one of the degenerate Sayads of Furrukabad. This man, who had been three years in Mr Reade's service, was his closest and most trusted follower, in charge of his arms and personal property, introducing new servants, and the like. He was in the receipt of high pay and was treated with great kindness and liberality. But recently his master had discovered that the man was given over to dissipated and licentious courses, and bad reason to believe that he was committing breaches of trust in order that he might have money to squander on a woman to whom he had become attached. Mr Reade had mentioned his intention of getting rid of him among his European friends, and some inkling of this had probably come to the man's ears. Some of onr readers may possibly call to mind that a similar motive was assigned for the murder of Lord William Russell by his Swiss servant, Courvoisier, some thirty-five years ago. The prisoner in the present case did not, we believe, assign such a motive himself, but alleged that he had been struck overnight for some slight fault, which may or may not be true. Before sunrise next morning the camp was disturbed by the. report of a rifle. The bearer soon after made his appearance in the camp kitchen as if to fetch hot water for his master's toilet; and on being asked about the noise, declared that it had been caused by an accidental discharge. He then went to the head Persian writer and gave himself up, stating what he had done. Thence he returned to the cook-room, and gave the same account to his fellow-servants. The truth was at once ascertained, and the police sent for. The criminal made no attempt to escape. The body of the unfortunate gentleman was found lying in bed; a heavy conical bullet had passed through the top of the skull, shattering the face, and spreading a dreadful mass of brains and blood over the body. The ball was among the bedclothes. A more cruel and unprovoked piece of treachery has seldom occurred. The deceased gentleman was of quiet, scholarly habits ; and uniformly and notoriously just and generous. Like too many Europeans in this country, he was perhaps sometimes liable to be carried away by a high spirit into momentary impatience with the lower class of natives. These, let us at once assert, in anticipation of sentimental excuses, are very irritating; and when a man, as was the case with Mr Reade, is something of a valetudinarian, their negligence of duty and transparently false excuses may sometimes provoke a harsh word, or even a box on the ear. There is nothing very wonderful in all this ; from the time of Shakspeare downwards the chastisement of such servants has been a fruitful source of situations for comedy. Unhappily, as we see here, it is capable on occasion of causing situations of tragedy aIBO ; and in this instance has cost two lives. In the evening of Tuesday, after the trial was concluded and sentence of death passed, the murderer was visited in the condemned cells by the superior officers of the deceased's department. At first he attempted to brave out the case by reiterating that he had been punished for a very slight fault; but, on being told that he had not shown that he had received any substantial provocation, he owned that he had always been spoiled and petted by his master, and added that he was now very sorry for his wild vindictive act, consoling himself at the same time with the Fatalist's anodyne, that "he had been the victim of destiny." From his statements it would seem that he sat down behind the bed-head and fired into the sleeper, whose death was instantaneous. It may be hoped, from the peaceful attitude that the corpse presented, that there was no suffering. There are two obvious morals to be drawn from this sad story. The one is, while treating Asiatic servants as creatures of flesh and blood, let us always beware of spoiling them by over-indulgence. The other, not to leave loaded firearms or amunition lying about in tents and houses. If Khadim Hosen had been strictly treated from the first, he would probably not have resented so deeply any apparent loss of his master's favor. If the weapon had not unhappily been lying within his reach, any such impulse, if felt, would probably have had an innocent termination,,