The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-13 00:00:00

The following is a copy of the confession :

"I, Edward William Pritchard, M.D., M.R.C.S.E., and
L.A.S., &c., hereby make in writing, in the presence of the
Rev. R. S. Oldham, M.A., the following confession, for
transmission by him to the proper authorities :
"It was when my wife was at Ardentinny,* in the
summer of 1863, that I first became intimate with the girl
Mary M'Leod, sleeping with her in my house at 22, Royal-
crescent. This continued at intervals up to the time of
our removal to 131, Sanchiehall-street. She became preg-
nant in May last [year], and with her own consent I
produced a miscarriage. I have reason to believe that Mrs.
Pritchard was quite aware of this, and rather sought to
cover my wickedness and folly. My mother-in-law, Mrs.
Taylor, came last February to our house, and caught Mary
M'Leod and myself in the consulting-room ; and the day
before her death, having apparently watched us, she said
to me in the same room, You have locked her into the
cupboard,' which was true ; but nothing more passed. I
declare Mrs. Taylor to have died in the manner I have
stated, and I now believe her death to have been caused by
an overdose of Battley's 'solution of opium. The aconite
found in that bottle was put in by me after her death, and
designedly left there in order to prove death by misadven-
ture in case any inquiry should take place. Mrs. Prit-
chard was much better immediately after her mother's
death, but subsequently became exhausted from want of
sleep. I accounted for this by the shock produced by her
mother's death ; and, hardly knowing how to act, at her
own earnest request I gave her choloroform. It was about
midnight. Mary M'Leod was in the room, and in an evil
moment (being besides somewhat excited by whisky) I
yielded to the temptation to give her sufficient to cause
death—which I did.

4,1 therefore declare before God, as a dying man, and
in the presence of my spiritual adviser, that I am innocent
of the crime of murder, so far as Mrs. Taylor is concerned,
but acknowledge myself guilty of the adultery with Mary
M'Leod and the murder of my wife.
"I feel now as though I had been living in a species of
madness since my connection with Mary M‘Leod ; and I
declare my solemn repentance of my crime, earnestly pray-
ing that I may obtain Divine forgiveness before I suffer the
penalty of the law.
(Signed) "EDWARD WILLIAM PRITCHARD." -
John Stirling, Governor, Witness.
IL S. Oldham, Witness.
John Mutrie, Witness.
North Prison, Glasgow, July 11, 1865.

* The convict afterwards desired this name to be altered
Kilmun.

MR. LAYARD AND TIIE ROMAN CATHOLICS.—The
right hon. gentleman in returning thanks yesterday
for his re-election for Southwark, in the course of his re-
marks paid the following tribute to Dr. Grant, the Bishop
of Southwark. He said the Catholic Oath Bill was a measure
to extend to our Roman Catholic fellow-subjects the same
privileges—no, he disliked the word privilege—the same
rights which were enjoyed by Churchmen and Dissenters.
It was brought in by a Roman Catholic member, Mr. Mon-
sel ; it had the entire support of the Government ; it was
opposed right and left by the Conservative party ; it passed
the House of Commons by a large majority, and when it
reached the House of Lords it was thrown out. Was there
no difference between those who desired to promote reli-
gious liberty and those who impeded it ? In that borough
there wore many Roman Catholics ; they were headed by
one of the most distinguished Roman Catholic prelates in
tho country, Dr. Grant. At the last election they opposed
him to a man, under the wrong impression that the Govern-
ment was endeavouring to overthrow the power of the
Pope. That was a mistake. If the Roman Catholics
would turn to the history of the country they would find
that no measure was ever brought forward for their relief
but it emanated from the Liberal party, and was opposed
by the Conservative party. Therefore the Liberal party
had a claim on the support of the Roman Catholics.