Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-03-15 00:00:00

-trtSDA-V, AtARCH 15 1859

once ." that she perceived she was discovered," and there-
von I,,jule a full confession of her guilt in writing. By
eonfew,,n it appeared that this criminal intercourse
had been ge,fr,,,r on since April, 1858, sometimes, in the
eisence of r.. b.,
at the house of her husband, and that
M
at the
eominewea:sent of the present session of Con-
gress Mr. Key
had h-2,,ed.an untenanted house on Fifteenth-
street, where they were 2n the habit of meeting frequently.
After he had
apprised nap of the foregoing facts, he con-
stilted me as to the course Ict.: should pursue. I advised
him to send his wife to her motL'er at New York ; that as
it was now near, the close of the secs ion, it would excite no
remark ; that, during the time intervening between the
close of this session and the commencement of the next,
he-could go to Europe for a few months, and in the mean-
time a separation could be arranged between himself and
his wife ; that I presumed the affair was known only to
one or two persons, beyond mere surmise. and that, for the
honour of his little- daughter, and his wife's friends, this
course- should be pinsued. To this Mr. Sickles replied,
" My friend, I would gladly pursue this course, but so aban-
doned, so reckless have. Key and my wife been, that all the
negroes in that neighbourhood, and I dare notsayhow,many
other persons, know all about the circumstances." I then
left Mr. S. in his bedroom, and on going down stairs I met
in the library Mr. George B. Wooldridge. a clerk of
the House of Representatives. I said to him, " This is
a terrible affair." He then handed to rise the written
statement made by Mrs. Sickles of her guilt-, which was
written and signed, as I was then informed, by Mrs, S.,
in the preset:lee of two females- and witnessed by them. I
read the statement, laid it down on the table,. and said,
" I will go down town for awhile, and return here. ao•ain."
I requested Mr. Wooldridge to say so to Mr. S. if he should
inquire for me. I immediately left the house and walked
to the Club House, on Sixteenth-street, drank a glass of
ale with a friend, and slowly returned to the house of

Mr. Sickles. On entering the library again, Mr. Wooldridge
informed me that Mr. Key had twice passed the house
during the morning, :and had a short time since waived
his handkerchief three times as a signal. Whilst con-
versing with him,. Mr. Sickles came into the library, and
said that he had seen the scoundrel making signals;
and he added, "My God, this is horrible." I said, " Mr.
Sickles, you must be calm, and look this matter square in
the face. If there be a possibility of keeping the-
certain knowledge of this crime from the public,
you must do nothing to destroy that possibility;
You may be mistaken in your belief that it is known to
the whole city." He instantly replied, " No, no, my
friend, lam not ; it is already town talk," I then said,.

"If tliat be so, there is but one course left for you, as a
man of honour—you need no advice." After a few
moments silence, Mr. Sickles said that he was satisfied
that Mr. Key had been in the habit of making his signals
from the window of the Club House opposite, and what
surprised him very much was that his wife strenuously
denied ails, though freely confessing her guilt. He then
walked into the hall. and said to me, " Come, go over with
me to Stewart's room, in the Club House, and he may be
able to inform me whether Key has a room there, and for
what purpose he uses it." I assented, and walked out into
the street, supposing that Mr. Sickles was following me. I
left the house for this sole purpose. When I left Mr. S. in
the hall I am satisfied he had no weapons on his person.
He was without an overcoat. He said nothing to me about
weapons, or the probability of encountering Mr. Key. I
walked slowly down the avenue, on the south side, to the
corner, and as I was crossing the street I saw Mr. Key
advance a few steps towards me, He saluted me, saying,
" Good morning Mr. Butterworth ; what a fine day we
have." I responded and said, "Have you come from the
club ? " He said, " I have." I asked, "Is Stewart in his
room ? " He answered, " Yes ; and he is quite unwell."
I then said, " I am going up to see him—good morning,"
and turned to leave him. As I did so, I saw Mr. Sickles
for the first time after leaving his house, coming rapidly
down Sixteenth-street, on the side next the square, and then
near the corner. I had walked about thirty feet on my
way to the Club House when I heard Mr. S. exclaim, in
a loud voice, " Key, you scoundrel, you have dishonoured
my house—you must die." I turned immediately and
saw Mr. Key thrust his hand in his vest or side
coat packet, take a step in the direction of Mr. Sickles, and
simultaneously I heard the discharge of a pistol. Mr. Key
then rapidly advanced on Mr. Sickles, seized him with his
left hand by the collar of the coat, and seemed to make an
effort to strike with something in his right hand, which I
then supposed to be a weapon. Mr. Sickles backed into the
middle of the street, when he succeeded in extricating him-
self from Mr. Key's grasp, drew a pistol from his over-
coat pocket,' and presented it at Mr. Key, who retreated
•backward up Sixteenth-street, towards the Club-house, and
threw something at Mr. Sickles. Mr. Sickles followed,
and when within ten feet fired. I saw that Mr. Key was
wounded. He staggered towards the sidewalk, saying,
" Don't shoot me." _ He leaned for a moment against a

tree, when Mr. Sickles advanced upon him; exploded a cap,
and then fired a third time. As Mr. Key was falling, Mr.
S. frequently exclaimed, " You villain, you have dis-
honoured my house, and you must die." Ire uttered these

words again:while standing over Mr. Key with his pistol in
his hand. I took no part in the contest. I believed them
both to be armed. When I left Mr. Sickles' house 1 had
no thought of meeting or seeing Mr. Key, my object being
to visit Mr.. Stewart. v I had no arms with me. I did not
know Mr. Sickles intended to take arms with him. He left
the house after me, and, without any suggestion from.me,
came towards the Club House, on the north side of
the square. When Mr. Key saluted me I did not
know Mr. Sickles was approaching, nor did I. see him
until I,turned to leave Mr. Key. I did not see Mr. S.
shoot Mr. Key after his fall, nor place his pistol in contact
with his head or clothing. After the third tare I advanced
and took Mr Sickles' arm, and walked with him up Six-
teenth-street, and advised him to go to his house or to the
Attorney-General's. He did so. I returned to the scene
of the encounter, and picked up an opera glass from the
middle of the street, and gave it to Mr. Sickles. This is
the whole of my connection with this unfortunate occur-
rence. It is not true that I either sought or detained Mr.
Key. He.ti.rst addressed me, and our interview did not last
one minute. I have known the late Mr. Key in New York
and Washington during the last ten years, and our relations
have ever been of the most friendly character. I did not
anticipate a collision on the Sabbath, though I did not
doubt but that it would take place at an early clay.