The Herald of Wales and Monmouthshire Recorder. — 1886-04-03 (Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales)

THE MURDER IN MELBOURNE.  The MeThooorne Argos given some additional details of the murder at Coburg, a village to the north of Melbourne, of a little girl named Ethel May Hampton, who, as reported a short time since, was murdered by her mother and sister, while apparently under the influence of some strange form of mania. These details have been compiled by Dr. Cutts, jun., of Coburg :—'For many months they (the Hampton family) had been under the control of a secret influence, the nature of which they were unable to define with any accuracy. Their most collected impression was that the influence was that of a secret society, possessing many and powerful members, who furthered their own end by supernatural agencies, which end was to obtain poeeession of their minds that they, yUding,aliould in their turn exert a similar influence overothers, and so swell the ranks of this immoral society. By some subtle power this society had drugged them, having as an object their easier conquest, by removing the strength of their will to resist. They felt that their resistance was te.coming gradually more ineffectual, and prayed earnestly for advice and strength to not upon it. Their condition was becoming deplorably worse, and they consulted with their mother as to what should be done in the extremity of their helplesenent. She advised the murder of the child, that it should grow up to be tempted as they were, and that afterwards they, herself included. should kill themselves. I hey all agreed to this., but acting on the convieti ei of the youngest sist:r that Heaven would eventually guide them out of their trouble, they determined to watch and wait. One of the sisters had dreamed twice on the same night that Tuesday, Janum y 26, was to be the hottest day in the year. It was accepted literally, but its recurrence was mentioned to the others as a coincidence. On the night of Sunday the 24, however, a vision told them that it should be interpreted, metaphorically, to mean the day on which things should be made the 'hottest' for them. This much alarmed them, and the greater part of Monday they spent in prayer. Fearing the early part of Tuesday morning, they retired to their room on Monday night, remained dressed, and, contrary to usage, took their little dater in with then Shortly after midnight they heard thunder—a special thunder—which could be heard by none but themsdven and which they accepted as a proclamation of the power of their enemies; and a. warning that immediate decision was necessary. Between two peals of thunder a cart stopped in front of the house, which was surrounded by their enemies, who knocked at their window, and paced the verand .h into which it looks. This precipitated the murder. All were uteximous, and the strongest-minded of the sisters—Mary, aged nineteen—held the child's bead while the mother cut its throat with their brother's razor in the presence of, and with the approval of the other two sisters. Having satisfied themselves of the death of the child, they submitted their left arms to each other to be out with the name razor in the hope of bleeling to death. They all fainted, and finding on recovery that they were not losing sufficient blood to cause death, submitted the right arms also, and fainted a second time. When they recovered they experienced a sudden freedom from temptation, and the eldest sister had a revelation, that in the shedding of blood the confusion of their enrico, had been made complete. Their mother, ,A 11.1 WaS then about to mutilate herself, argued -given the fact of the triumph over their enemies, where was theneed for further bloodshed I' They asked her not to cut herself, as God's will had already been done, and mil that they had acted inobedieuee to the dictates of Heaven in killing their sister, and that God had spared their lives and had reserved them as His own chosen children for some special work of glory." Soon after the tragedy the eldest son, Charles, gave unmis: takable symptoms of insanity, and had to be placed under arrest. The sisters are reported to be gradually improving.