The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 24, 1860.

DUBLIN, SATURDAY EVENING.
THE MARCHIONESS OF LONDONDERRY AND HER

TENANTRY.

There is not on the property of this noble woman
—noble in every sense of the word—either sec-
tarian animosity or extreme poverty—those fertile
sources of crime and of the evils which had long
rendered Ireland a byeword of anarchy, outrage,
and social disorder amongst neighbouring nations.
At a social meeting with her tenantry the other
evening, at Carnlough, the Rev. Mr. Wilson, in-
cumbent of the parish, said that he had been con-
nected with it for thirty years, and during all that
time he could not bring to his recollection a single
dissension between clergymen of different deno-
minations. They learned to agree to differ ; and
while differing conscientiously, and honestly ex-
pressing their differences, they could cordially co-
operate in every work of practical benevolence.
Happy parish !—a green spot in the wilderness !
Who woald not like to sit under its palm of peace,
and repose beside its well of charity undefiled !
Yet this almost Utopian state of happiness and
tranquillity has been produced by the simplest means
—by the will of a woman to establish mutual in-
tarest and affection between herself and her tenants.
Carnlough enjoys no peculiar advantages of soil or
climate ; its people none of moral or physical supe-
riority. All the magic that has been at work to
produce an oasis of prosperity and peace out of a
desert of comparative misery and turmoil was the
will of a woman who saw the way to the accom-
plishment of this blissful change, and pursued it
till success rewarded her perseverance. What she
has done all other proprietors can easily achieve if
they go about it in the way that she has proved
must command success, as well as deserve it. The
Marchioness of Londonderry sets an example to the
landlords of Ireland which, if generally followed,
would very soon change the face of the country.
We have often heard of the maxim which has been
associated with the name of the late Mr. Drum-
mond—that "Property has its duties as well as its
rights." It is important and true ; but there is
more force in this maxim enunciated by Sir E.
W. M'Naghten —" Good landlords make good
tenants." The former maxim rubs human nature
against the grain, and provokes antagonism ;
the latter touches it gently, as a lady pats a
spirited and highly - conditioned horse, and so
gets most good out him. It is in this way
the Marchioness of Londonderry deals with her
tenantry. For six years she has been trying the
experiment whether good landlords make good
tenants, and it must be admitted that her efforts
have been crowned 'with great success. She pro-
mised six years ago that she would cross the sea
and visit annually her tenants as long as her health
would permit. She feels as if each visit would be
the last, and so the advice she gives is peculiarly
impressive and earnest. Whatever;we may think
of " the rights of women"—however we may feel
that essential differerces of form and temperament
fit the sexes to move in different spheres, and to
perform different duties—we feel that there is great
propriety in the conduct of the Marchioness of Lon-
donderry, on occasions like this, in pointing out to
her tenantry faults to be corrected and virtues to
be cultivated. . There is a thorough earnestness and
fearless frankness about Lady Londonderry's ad-
vice, which the honest hearts of her grateful te-
nantry can fully appreciate, and which must have
greatly contributed to their welfare.
Of course, such a clear-sighted philanthropist as
the noble marchioness could not be indifferent to the
advantages of the national system of education. In
returning thanks for her health, she addressed some
words of kind advice to her happy tenantry.
Among other things she urged [upon them the ne-
cessity of paying more attention to the education of
their children, and availing themselves more fully
of the advantages offered by the National Board.
In commenting upon this pleasant event, the Daily
Express avails itself of the opportunity to offer the
following pertinent remarks upon the duties of the
rich, and the vast advantages of their residing in
the midst of their tenantry—absenteeism having
been one of the most fertile of the many sources
of Irish evils :—" It is more than ever necessary
in this busy and selfish age that the rich and
powerful should exhibit a kind and considerate
spirit, and that the bonds of society should be
strengthened and drawn closer by social inter-
course. A feeling of desolation comes over a
neighbourhood when the big house' of the land-
lord is deserted. He is in England, or on the Con-
tinent, and silence reigns in his noble mansion.
There is no sound of merry voices along the corri-
dors, nor of horses or dogs about the house. There
is no motion, no life. The grass is growing on the
avenue, and among the pavement in the farmyard.
The stable is. empty—the garden is overrun with
weeds—the flowers are growing wild, and the fruits
degenerate on the unpruned trees, which fall down
from the sunny walls on which they were once care-
fully trained—nt emmems of a negli2nted and fail-
.,
ing tenantry. When a child takes 1:1, when some
severe trial visits a poor family, theri is no bene-
volent lady to run to for medicine and wine. The
landlady is not there, and the affections of the pea-
santry have nothing to cling to. There is not even
a resident agent to discharge, in some measure, the
duties of landlordism, and put forth those moral
influences which are the cement of society. We
cannot expect tenants under such circumstances to
be all that they should be. ' Good landlords make
good tenants'—but in order to do so, they must re-
side among their tenantry. And when this is im-
possible they must visit them annually, and meet
them at the social board, like the Marchioness of
Londonderry, and endeavour, as far as possible, to
have their places filled by worthy agents, such as
Mr. Wilson."

DOUBLE MURDER AND EXECUTION
OF THE MURDERER.

George Waines, a native of Sherborne, England,
was executed at Melbourne, Australia, on the 16th
of July. The murderer was 37 years old, and sailed
from Liverpool for Australia in the Duke of Rich-
mond in the year 1853. His victims, Robt. Hunt
and his wife, Mary Hunt, resided at a farm near
Caster ton, in October, 1858. The prisoner's house
and farm were about 200 yards or 300 yards dis-
tant Hunt and his wife were last seen at their hut
on Monday, the 4th October, 1858, and Mary Hunt
again on the evening of that day. Neither were
seen afterwards. It appeared that Hunt, by an
agreement dated sth May, 1858, had agreed to sell
his farm, consisting of 40 acres, to the prisoner,
for the sum of £139 155., payable by a bill of ex-
change at six months, which was duly given, and
would arrive at maturity on the sth November,
185‘l, and it was alleged that the double murder
was committed for the money in question.
The prisoner, who confessed his crime, gave the
following account of the murder :—" It was not
done for the money, I had no call to do it for that ;
it was done for Mrs. Hunt calling my wife a —.
After I had paid Hunt all that was due to him he
asked me if I would let them have the hut to live
in for a fortnight. I told him I could not, as I had
got a married couple coming the next day, and they
would want to live in it. With that Mrs. Hunt
spoke to me, and said, That's the doings of that
at the Wannon. She knows that I want to
stop in the hut until you come from Portland.'
When she said that I was just going to the wood
heap with the axe in my hand, and struck her over
the head and she fell. Hunt was at the wood heap
at the time, and took up a lump of wood and ran at
me to strike me, but I struck him instead ; and that
is the way they came by their death, which I after-
wards was very sorry for; but I could not call back
what was done. I thought once of confessing it :
but I afterwards turned afraid of it, thinking I
might be blamed and executed for it, as though I
had done it wilfully. The murderer then buried
the bodies of his victims, and it was eight months
before any of the remains were found. At length
some bones were discovered in the river. The doc-
tors declared they were the remains of a female,
and the prisoner was brought to trial for the mur-
der of the woman, the evidence against him being
principally his own confessions to different persons.
After his conviction he declared that the bones were
not those of Mrs, Hunt. In an interview with his
counsel he stated that " some eight months after
the murder and burial of the remains, he at mid-
night disinterred the body of Mary Hunt, and sub-
jected it to toe operation of an enormous wood fire,
and reduced the bones to ashes. This occupied some
hours, at the expiration of which time there was
but a solitary bone remaining, which Waines pul-
verised between his finger and thumb. Having
thus destroyed every trace of Mary, he proceeded
to the grave of John Hunt, whom he disinterred
With the intention of burning his body also,
but his nerves failed him, and he carried the bones,
together with some remnants of clothing which still
clung to the flesh, to the river Glenelg, and cast them
into a water hole. The night being moonlight he
perceived that they rose to the surface. He then
tied them up in a bag with some earth and stones,
and again threw them into the river. This time
they sank, and were never again seen by mortal eye
save his own, until they were found by the detec-
tive."

Whether the bones were those of the wife or hus-
band the prisoner was rightly condemned, and suf-
fered the extreme penalty of the law. Precisely at
ten o'cloek, the sheriff, with the usual formalities,
demanded the body of the convicted man, and
Waiues, who from an early hour in the morning had
been engaged in religious exercises with the chap-
lain of the gaol, the Rev. Mr. Stoddart, came forth
from his cell. As the executioner commenced to
pinion his arms a few tears witnessed the intensity
of his feelings at the situation in which by his