, 1864-05-07

sccHe was DTOupHL 10 CIOSc. nc his
cradle woman tainted; when the officers Of
justice-for such were the visitors-taking
advantage of her insensibility, hurried
away the prisoner, who had indeed him.
self pointed out the opportunity which
her condition presented; leaving Der in
charge of two female relatives who had
chanced to come in at the moment. Ere
leaving the house, Roderick stopped down
and imprinted fervcnt kiss on the pallid
lips OF his unfortunate parent, burst into
tears, then rushed out Of the house followed
by the officers. Two months after this.
Roderick Nlacrae stood at the bar of the
High Court of Justiciary, charged with the
horrible crime Of iratric dc--with having
murdered his brother, John Mac.a nc, in the
old Castle Of Droonan.
The first evidence called on his trial was
luboring man, who deponed, That, hav-
ing been at work in an adjoining field, he
had seen the prisoner at the bar and ano;h.
er man enter the building on the day Ii
belled: That, in about an hour afterwards,
he saw the prisoner suddenly rush out OF
the castle, and run awayat his utmost speed
That the other did not aga,n appear at all ::
That, on the same day, he and another per-
son found dead body in ole Of the apart,
ments Of the building, apparently that of a
murdered man, as there was deep wound
on his left side, as if inflicted by u sharL
instrument; and that they also found such
a knife, as is called in the II ghlLnds skeaa
dI", lying at little distance f.om the
corpse: That the apartment where the body
was discovered was one he had never been
in before, as, although he had lived TO-
twenty years in the immediate vicinity o.
the castle. and had been in il u thuusan.
times, he had never known that such u
chamber existed. This witness also de-
poned, that there was large Hag-stone IN
the center Of the apartment where the body
was found, and that il seemed to have bee,
recently raised from its bed on the floor.
they also found, he said, on the occasion
spoken Of, coarse earthen pot filed with
gold and silver coin, standing beside the
deceased. Th s pot was produced in cUur
and identified by the witness.
The mex evidence called was a boy about
fourteen years OF age. The deposition ol
this witness was conclusive; and in es;ab
fishing, as it did, the guilt Of the prisonci
presented one of the most startling view
Of both the weakness and wickedness OF
human nature, Of the fatal power Of it,
evil passions under the influence Of mo
men'ary impulses, that is, perhaps, upon
record. The testimony Of the boy was to
the following ciIect.-
On the day on which the murder wa,
perpctrated, he was climbing about tn,
ruins of the castle Of Dropnan, in search
OF bird nests. and was. at the moment the
prisoner and his brother entered it, in such
a situation as gave him from the dilapidatc,
state of the building, full view Of tn
apartment in which the crime was com
nitted, without exposing himself to dis
covery. Curiosity to know what the men
were going to do, induced him to remain
quietly where he was, to watch their pro
cecdinss; when, on the frmcr entering
the apartment. they imm diatc'y he an T.
RAISE the ia; stone alluded to by the pro-
ced.ng witne.s 1he operation seemed to
be difficult one, and took thcm consid-.
cradle time; but was at length successful.
On the stones being raised. the companion
of the prisoner made sudden plunge H.
b hand into hole VIII ch it had cwcred
md took out an earthenware pot, filled with
coin; when all ut once, the two men ap-
peared to quar- el, sceu.ilgy bout the con-
tents Of the pot, and the prisoner struck
the other on the side; but the witness