THE BOTANY TRAGEDY.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 336, 23 January 1889, Page 4

THE BOTANY TRAGEDY.

EXECUTION OF THE MURDERESS. The last scene of all that ended the strange eventful history of Louisa Collins (now known as the Botany murderess) closed on Tuesday morning, Jan. 8, ab the Darlinghurst Gaol, Sydney. Persistent efforts, were made to obtain a remission of the death sentence. The whole of the letters and petitions connected with the case were cnrofully considered at a special meeting of >he Executive Council held in Government House on January 4. The tenor of these documents has already been indicated. Nothing, however, appeared to the advisers ot the Governor to justify them in rocornmending his Excellency to commute the sentence to one of imptisonmenb for life. And it is noticeable that doubt a& to the wretched woman's guilt was scarcely more than suggested in any of the appeals for meicy. Indeed, it was taken to bo understood on all sides that she was guilty of the crime alleged against her, and not only of this, but of the death by the same means — slow poisoning — of her first husband. Consequently, the real object of the petitioners and others was not directed as much in her favour as it was against the infliction ot capital punishment when the culprit happens to be a woman. It was felb, however, by*the Executive Council that this was a pica which ought nob to prevail. As long as the law — which recognises no distinction of sex in cases of murder — pro\ails, sentimental considerations of this kind are wholly inadmissible.

THE GUILT OF LOCJISA COLLINSwas too clear to admit of reasonable doubtThere were no extenuating circumstances brought forward ; and it is believed that nono existed. Consequently, the law was bound to take its course ; and the Governor, kind-hearted as he is, could see no way of exercising the prerogative of the Crown. Sir Henry Parkes had betaken himself to Melbourne, and was, therefore, out of the way when this decision was arrived at ; but* when the matter had been settled he telegraphed his full agreement with what had been done. After the meeting' of the Executive concluded, a deputation, headed by Mr G. R. Dibbs, M.L.A., made

A LAST APPEAL to spare the life cf the woman ; but it was necessarily ineffectual.. Lord Carrington, in replying, spoke thus :—: — All those occasions on which the Governor is asked to exerci&e tho Royal prerognti- o of mercy are painful enough. But in this individual instance the paintul circumstances are ten thousand times intensified by the unhappy circumstance that the criminal is a woman. I do not for a moment wish to shrink from the responsibility placed on me ; but I am bound to conlessthat I teelit so deeply that had I had the smallest idea — m the light of a well-known case in which tho capital sentence was catricd into execution — had I known before I left .England that such a duty would be east on me, proud as I was and pleased as I was with tho great honour the Queen conferred on me, no power on earth would have induced me to corao here. But the duty is cast upon me ; and lam responsible for it, and bound in honour to carry it out. As tho law stands now, under our Constitution the Governor, much as he may desire it, can in no way relieve himself of the responsibility of saymg (Whether or not the prerogative of mercy may bo exercised. Should the Governor have fair and reasonable grounds for believing that the extreme sentence of the law should not be carried out, notwithstanding tho strongly expressed opinion of the Court, notwithstanding the advice given him by the Executive Council, it would be beyond all doubt his duty to interfere, and by the exercise of the prerogative to save the prisoner's life. I have given this case most anxious and caraf ul consideration. If it had been possible to sco any reason for interference on my part, I woula gladly have availed myself ot it. No such reason, however, presented itself. It is, therefore, my duty to accept the advice tendered to me by the Ministers of the Crown ; and I with deep sorrow have to refuse to interfere with the sentence of the Court. The most pitiable part of the business occurred on JSJonday afternoon, when some ill-advised persons sonfc up the three little children to Government House to beg for their mother's life. It was

A SENSATIONAL APPEAL, and doubtless intended as auch by the peop'e who instigated it. But the (Jovernor took the right course, and declined to see tho little ones. No good could possibly come of it ; and a very painful scene was avoided. All hope of mercy in this world was thus cut off; and tho criminal, who, so far, had been buoyed up with the hope that justice would be more merciful to hor than she had been to her husbands, at last was brought face to face with her awful condiI tion.

CONDUCT IN GAOL. Since her conviction and sentence, on December Bth last, Louisa Collins was confined, nob in the usual " condemned cells," which are in the "male division" of Darlinghurst Gaol, but in a cell specially arranged in the female wards. Here she was constantly under the supervision of the female warders. She was constantly attended by the Rev. Canon Rich, chaplain of the ' gaol, andwas most assiduous in attention to the prosecution of her religious duties. The feamo hardened, callous manner, though, was maintained throughout ; the only indications of any regret being frequent and oft-repeated expressions of sorrow and regret for " poor Mick " (evidently referring to Collins). Since the death sentence was passed the children had visited the unhappy mother, and, during one of those vis-its the child, JVJay, was catechised by her mother as to how she could see the " Bough on Rats," which was fouud on a shelf in the house, as stated in evidence. The child, in answer, pimply declared, "I saw it when I stood upon the chair."

EXTRACTS FROM HER LETTERS. A tow letters have been written by the condomned woman from the goal. Louisa Collins's mother .still lives, but is quite blind. To her Mrs Collins directed a letter, in which sho gave the date set down for the execution, From beginning to end the letters written by the condemned woman are interspersed with quotations from Holy Writ, which tend to show that in the retirement of her cell, at least, she had not been neglectful of her religious duties. But at the same time the tenor of all these quotations is such as to introduce to the minds of the readers the idea that tho writer wishesito convey the imputation that someone else was, at least,, implicated in his murder. For instance, she wrote in the early part of December : "There is another chapter in the Bible I want you to look for. I will not tell you this time the number of ifc, for if I do 1 will be telling ,you tpo much. . I will fleay.e you to look for it., I will tell you a few words that is in ifc, and thab is certain things thafc .happened before, the coming of Christ and. the signs, thereof. , You' .will see where nations will rise against nations ; and so on.' .u . > .

. . . So, we /will let thorn alone."" In other instances she has written in* the wildest and most „ extravagent of \ romantic language — endeavouring, as it were, to .overcome her Jack of education by writing rhapsodies, which , contain no meaning, and convey but little , sense to the reader. ,t, t Frequently, however, she has reverted to her natural style and, in cunningly-worded paragraphs, pointed to possible causes of the death of Collins, which theories are nevertheless untenable when subjected to slight analysis. She draws a scattered picture of the scene around her ajL> the court-house during her trials, and conveys part "f n , er idea . 3 in fcne following language: "It's the jury, and some good and some bad wishers I will not be so wicked as to think they are not some that has common feeling in them for to see me in such a sad deploiable position ; and, above all, I am compelled to sir and see my only daughter, that is just 11 years old the 17th of October. I am the mother that cherished her from her birth. In facb many a time I thought I could not real her. Being the only daughter, my heart and soul was wrapped up in her, and I hear her, I see her, before my eyes, made to stand in a witness-box, with a book in her right band, and she takes her oath, and she says, of course, she knows tho nature of an oath, and says sufficient to take her own poor mother to the gallows, and gives her evidence in such a straightforward manner that the words belong to another head and another mouth of some wicked and inhuman pieces of iniquity quite unfit to walk the earth '' Taken separately "and collectively her letters do not present, even alter careful scrutiny, one iota of either theory or evidence that had not been thoroughly and cleverly elucidated by Mr Lusk, the barrister who so patiently and energetically defended the woman, whose crime presented such peculiar and difficult complications as are seldom met with.

HER LAST HOURS were passed in the retirement of her cell in the female wards, until about an hour before the execution, when sho was removed to a cell opposite the condemned cells. On Monday, three of her children, Herbert, May, and Fred, were admitted to visit her, in addition to one friend. Canon Rich, the gaol chaplain, was in constant attendance during the whole of her confinement, and most earnestly did he attend her as the Lime for the execution approached. He was with her until a late hour on Monday ; he returned again long before the breakfast hour on Tuesday, and accompanied her to her last resting place in life, where they knelt together in solemn and earnest prayer to the Almighty. To her spiritual advisev the unhappy woman explained that the callous, unmoved demeanour during the trials and in public, was but a "shell" covering her real feelings.

SHE FELT HER POSITION KEENLY", and was much troubled until the end approached, and then it was she became resigned in the hope of receiving the forgiveness of God. When all hope of a remission of sentence was past, Louisa Collins, it is believed,

FREELY AND FULLY CONFESSED HER SINS TO GOD ; but, as far as known, she was reticent, even to Canon Rich, who attended her. At any rate, no confession by her of the case and murder have been forthcoming. At 6 minutes past nine the mournful procession started on its march to the scaffold, and as the solemn cortege progressed, a voice could be heard slowly repeating the soul-stirring words of the service for the burial of the dead : " Man that is born of a woman hath bub a short time to live," etc. A minute later Canon Rich, in his robes of office, was noticeable as he led the way to the place of execution, followed by the'prisonev pinioned in the usual way, and guarded on either side, and in the rear by female warders, and Howard the executioner.

THE APPEARANCE of the woman was painful. Those who had seen her during her many trials could nob but notice the careworn expression of her features and the stooping shoulders, denoting that the mental agony of the past few days had quite crushed all the hardihood that was manifested when before a judge and jury.

ON THE SCAFFOLD. The prisoner was placed on the trap-doo 1 of the scaffold afc eight minutes past 9 o'clock, and the usual religious ceremony occupied but a few moments, the responses being given out in a clear, audible tone. She did nob

UTTER A WORD after this, but cast a quick glance of inquiry towards the knot of reporteis who stood in the courtyard below. The cap was then adjusted, and the sign given to the assistant-executioner to

DRAW THE BOLT. In this he bungled, and fully thirty seconds passed ere the drop fell ; the time being occupied by Howard and his confrere in knocking' away the bolt-pin with a mallet. This

BUNGLING SENT A THRILL • | of pain through all who heard the strokes of the mallet doing their deadly task. At last, at ten minutes past 9 o'clock, the drop fell, and with it the life left the body of Louisa Collins. The length of drop was about sfc, and the

HEAD WAS ALMOST SEVERED from the trunk, the windpipe being severed* and the head appearing to only hang by the vertebral of the neck. For twenty minutes the body was allowed to hang 1 , in accordance with the regulations, and during the whole time a small, thin line of blood trickled down the front of the dark brown dress. — * Town and' Country Journal.'

According to the London "Daily Telegraph," it has transpired that a large amount of forged silver coins, estimated at) about £95,000, out of a total currency in that metal in the United Kingdom of £20,000,000, is now in the hands of the public. These coins, which impartially range from 3d -to 2s 6d apiece, cannot be called spurious, for they are made of good metal ; but bar silver has fallon during the past two years about 4d per oz., and hence there is a large profit on these transactions, ranging, it is calculated, from 50 to 70 per cent. Many ot these coins are clever imitations of the old coins in circulation, and they have been returned by the Bank of England only on the ground that they have not been issued by the Mint., Operations are believed to bs chiefly carried on abroad, and, as detection is almost impossible by the general public,' there is little check upon a further increase in the supply. The "Telegraph" understands that the attention of the Government has been directed to this important question by Mr Samuel Montagu,' M.F., and official action is looked for. Mormon S.uitor (who has just been accepted):, 'And now can, I see your — your — 7,— :' Young Lady (shyly) : .'My father," Mr Brigham ?' Mormon Suitpr :• • N— no ; ycur sistew, darling; and then I can see your father about you both.' ...-,.'