West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1878-06-08
Lord Leitrim-IIis Death the Penalty
for DishOnOred Home.


agrarian outrage, or was il dark pro.
duct of personal vengeance il ques-
uon which has been much discussed and
hitherto not satisfactorily settled, The
noble Lords relations with his tenants
gave warrant for either hypothesis, and
each thereof found numerous sup
porterS. The other day there came into
the possession of the Herald information
of a character which sweeps away the
presumption that land troubles had any
thing TO do with his taking of, and goes
far To prove that his death resulted
from the fierce resentment which sought
To aVenge II dishonorcd home. The in.
iormant is relative of two of the men
who were concerned in the death of the
Earl of Leitrim and who are now, he
says, safe IN America, technically, no
doubt, within reach of the extraditi0n
treaty, but practically beyond it's opera.
ton and beyond the potent and far
reaching sway of British gold Only
the other party, he says, had anything
10 do with the shooting of Lord Leitrim
and ms his security is not yet 80 perfectly
assured, he makes his communication
with some reserve. He himself left Ire
land when quite a boy, and has not been
there Tor twCnty-seVcn years.
lie has memories, however, Of some of
Its worst days, of landlord sway and au
tocratic tyranny, of dispossessed tenants.
OF profigatc opulence and dishonored
peasant families, and not having known
any OF the ameliorations of those evils
Is in quick sympathy with what he
would doubtless still call "wild Justice
OF revenge Upon this topic he burst
INTO "A strain of passionate, natural elo-
quencc. avowing that he would, without
ruth or mercy, kill the highest official in
the land if he should be guilty of viola
ting his home. "There was nothing
agrarian in this" he said "there was
no organization; three men, and only
three men, had anything to do with it.
and two of them are where British gold
can never bring them back" When
asked for his reason touching the motive
which led to the killing of Lord Leitrim,
he drew letter from his pocket, from
which he permitted the reporter To copy
all that bore upon the subject He
made the condition, however, that dates
and names of persons should be omitted.
and also names of places of inconsidera-
bic extent, but permitted free refer.
ence to large towns like Liverpool and
Glasgow, believing that they would af-
ford no clue to the police authorities.
The letter, which is written i'm n rather
indifferent hand, is not remarkable for
photographed exactness nor concise
structure, but it at least points very ex.
plicitly TO the motive of what society
calls crime, and what these men call
strict and stern justice. 1t runs as fol-
lows, no attempt being made TO improve
ITS diction or its orthography
DEAR COUSIN -: Before this reaches
you there will he news of the death Of the
ould VI lain whom you and some others don't
love over much. You know who / name
MS times up and passed. Nor he
didG'tdie in his bed either, but just in the
bed he made for many n hundred and thou.
sand OF hisown poor starved victims. --
aud young - came over from --- (their
place Of business) OF Liverpool more nor
Tore months ago. - Just forced - TO
company him. / suppose you weren't
aware that --'s niece --- died at --- last
harvest, aud --- says as how he thinks he
he isn't shure Of scarce anything since her
death She went against his will the day
she TUX the big wages from the Ould varmint
-- well, at any rate she died poor enough
poor thing, and the child died afore her, and
ever since then has his blood up, and no
wonder God help him, for lnany's the time
he would lie awake OF nights Just thinking
OF itall, and as he came over himself and
- and they both took lodgins in -- for
over fore weeks, and then went off TO -
and saw -'s brother for week and then
left can't give you any Of the particklers
OF the old yaruinps death, butmaybe you'll
hear 1t from their own lips afore | ng and
the death Of the Driver-that cud not be
helped, and the agent that was with them
both, rs they had not none OF them
time TO say much prayer Pm told. So you
see the law is Oilerin' grate sums Of money
for information, but there's nobody going TO
get ~, for uen can't inform much on them.
selves you kow. They'll sail this week If
possible, for there isn't the laste difficulty,
and maybe they'll go by Glasgow, in Scot
land, and maybe they'll go by Liverpool"
The niece" said the informant of
the writer" that accounts for it all
that was the pivst upon which the whole
thing turned. The land question never
entered into it, IL will be observed
that in the above letter the name of
the Earl Of Leitrim is not mentioned,
the references always being 10 the 'ould
villain or 4 the Ould varmint.'" This
fact was pointed out by the Herald rep
rcsentative, and in reply his informant
said that before receiving that letter he
had received another, in which that
matter was fixed beyond doubt,-a letter
which contained the head work" ashe
put it, and in which, in fact the Earl Of
Leitrim's death was planned. lie was
asked If he would not be willing TO give
publicity 10 this document also, but this
he could not consent to do until the re-
curiiy Of the third party involved was
assured beyond any possible doubt.
For the other two he had no apprehen.
sion whatever Their escape without
any difficulty or detention, he attributed
the fact that they had not lived in Ire
land. They we're not al engaged i'm
agrarian puruits, but were active workers
among the masses Of one Of the large
English industia communities The
dishonOr, however, which had befallen n
member of their family rankled in their
breasts, and their plans of retribution
brought them 10 Ireland There, with
the aid Of third party, a resdentOf the
country, they succeeded in their terrible
and unAinching purpose.
Their deed was denounced az mur
der and assassination, but they regarded
10 as retribution. They did not account
ltany worse than what has been done
ere now ~ shifting the smiter with the
cimiter" The circumstantial details Of
the killing Of Lord Leitrim the informer
OF the writer could not communicate,
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