THE Manawatu Times. SATURDAY, SEPT. 4, 1880. A REAL OBJECT FOR SYMPATHY.

Manawatu Times, Volume IV, Issue 68, 4 September 1880, Page 2

THE Manawatu Times.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 4, 1880. A REAL OBJECT FOR SYMPATHY.

"Words are thiuft, and a drop ml ialt fulliig ltkt d«w upon & thought. pr«duc«« th*» wkiok stake* thousnnds, p»rl»ap« Millions think." :

If ever there wereatipc^asltoitupo^ "which sympathyj-^ndvthat 6f ia sub--stautial nature — should be bestowed upon object it, is certainly m the case of Mrs, Henderson, tho^yictiiQ ofthe slaTidefsof her perjured "and' cowardly husband. Even when a doubt existed of her right to bear .'his' worthier name, the public pitied her m- having the misfortune to have mated herself 'with such a : miscreant, and been the mother of his children. The veil has. now been raised, the ourtain of her domestic life drawn aside, that stain has been removed, and the most inoontestible proofs have been produced that for many long yeai'sisho has been another inj that.lpng'catalo'gue. of noble^ women who have m thie fape Jof trials and . persecutions .steadfastly fulfilled their; maternal and: wifely duties with a faithfulness which nothing could lessen, and borne their ero*s with heroic fortitude which nothing could daunt. Had Henderson rested satisfied with cruelly deserting iii hep pld/aufe' the woman whojn he solemnly swore to cherish and protect through-life until parted, by the grave for' ever, he would have been but. another example of that cursed infatuation which, alas, is but Gob'cbmitibn m every: clime and couutay, arid isJ confined to neither one sex nor the other, old nor young. "There have been persons whose morbid craving for notoritey has been of such a nature that they were willing to give up even life itself for the halo of romance . which they fondly imagined would attach to the .s;,c -ifice, and the troublehad been to --.devise a mode of exit,, surrounded by circumstances of such a character as would c%use a terror m a community, and 1 make their wretched name a nine days' talk. JNotKvvitlistanding ,a hypocritical display of blasphemous invdcatiorisJJon ithe mercy of that God jthey we about so terribly to outrage, Aineh like Hendbeson can jhavehd belief -in the dread hereafter, and consequently when they rush out of life, take with them either oneithey love or one they hate, to their unbelieving minds the present with for ever, the future a blank. Had he contented himself & j*___]_il n £ a murderer and a suicide, ffh'Pw^md have been a double-dyed scoundrel; Jiut no , better nor no worise than thousands- Jof his kind who have gone before and will come after him. But although his belief might be tbat m forcing liis young 1 victim to follow his cowardly example he was not dragging her down to eternaV p ! erditiorijA id penning the ; atrocious slanders against his wife, whom he knew to be innocent, and whose good name, with diabolical malignity he strove to. blast for ever, bastardising his own offspring, he exhibited a fiendish ness unparalelled. Here wasa man who was deliberately causing the ruin' body ■■'- and soul of one| woman and, striving to cause a live-long misery to ..another, about to send his soul before his terrible Judge ; and 1 his written statements alternating ( between prayers, lies and curses. The following damming contradictions to every statement made have been published by the Rev. Mij. Ltnoakd the Incumbent of St. JLuke's Ohttreb, - Christchurch : — Aniong the principal was the marriage certificate of JMJrs. HENnKRSON showing that, she (at Jthat^time. Mary Ann JLyford) married deceased, a merchant's clerk.at St Pancras, London, m April, 1886, 'the attesting wijne>se3 being deceased's own parents. !Dhis dooument does not conclusively dispose of the deceased's statement Ttliat he married -Mrs, .Henderson whiJe his lawful wife was Istill living. > °ther documents "were those l)y whioh the d<c i'a-«ed contrived to i ndyce .^rs. -Henderson to believe that lie was travelling to! Otago, to, wind .up a certain bankruptcy' estate: 'One ! rari as follbWs f ? ; k—" My address is— JHJerbert's Store. 'Lawrence. Will wire 1 * change. — M. Henderson." ,: ; It; . wj\s ; despatched from Lawrenoe, about seventy miles from Dunedin; Another— a letter — oolrimeiced— " My dp r vife . .., . I write' , 'tliis r at Christchurch station J to post it at the first' stopping place Rplleston. ... To my loving wife.— M. Henderson."- - The other document was one signed by Mrs. Henderson, for the , purpose of removing a,py suspicion that tbe poison deceased took was obta,in.e,d m the city, and was as follows — "19th August/ 1880.H-I have/ reason to be.:; lieve that my husband, Matthew Henderson, took a,way from, Christchurch, a packet of stryojiuine, made up m a ; "paper 'after the maiiner'of a,p : ordinary powder,— M. A. Hen^ . jierson. Witness— tSamuel Batt, draper, ClVrlstc'htircl£'.'TlJHENT>E^ , had his life insured for one thousand pounds m the Government . office, out although th,ey play upon a policy even though thaho!4w Qommits suii cide, the atipulatipn. has .been mude ;: tba,t it shall have Jb.eenMsiued.eleveir months... Thatj'unfortuhately, had no.t been so. m the present c^se, still we have- 'heard of insurances having been paid, even by private, com-, panics, when policies had lapsed % ajtqgesier, .and if Qy^r there yf^s %

case ii which generosity should be exhibited- it certainly is that of Mrs. Hebtdeesoht's. His other victim ;has: not ronly /been treated with; delicate sympathy by both Press and; public, but has the tender shand and : loving voice bf a fond mother to win her from the past, and. give the future. Not so, the injured and desolate wife. Now, m the evening of her days, she finds herself penniless, and, bereft— under the moist painful circumstances — of him who should have been the staff of her old "age and the light of her home. We are pleased toAsee, as might have been eipected, that the charitable m that city where she is known and respected, Jiaye. already tajken steps on her behalf but we believe if. the Press of the Colo uy were to bring tbe matter prominently before the head of the department, a portion, if not the whole, of the money would be obtained.