AGED WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 288, 2 December 1905, Page 13

AGED WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH.

9 ' ■' * ?■■ ■'■■ • ■[-. '.'•■ PITIFUL SCENE AT THE OLd> BAILEY. • ■• ' ' '■.. ■ .' •*" b ** .' . . .and that you be taken to thie o place whence you came and thence to a F place of execution and. there be. hanged.by the neck until you be dead . . .". ' , J If. Iβ the most dread eentence known to ° the English: law.. -So oue can. be ia a court v of justice without being thrilled to. bje •? innermost fibre when the bush of lowvoiced conversation is sttlled by the return oJf the jury, to their box, the question ask- c ed by the clerk of arraigns ie answered by " tJie foreman, and his answer breaks the - suspense by the word "Guilty"—guilty of murder. • • ■»•. . - B Then the small, square-folded black hand- t kerchief placed silently at his side by his clerk Is taken by the judge and placed ,ou j. the crown of his wig; the chaplain -motes t to his lordsliip'a side, and at the concluding r words of the death eentence, "May the Lord have mercy on your soul," utters a fervent "Amen." t This awful scene, which loses none of i its'impresslveness, by repetition., even to : t Judge, chaplain, counsel,' or warder, was i enacted solemnly at the Old Bailey on October 20th, the central figure at. which j the whole maj?sty' .of the law was directed j being a small, fwil, trembling, yet dignified c old woman, of sixty-five years. ( Nothing .more pitiful than the story of Marlon Seddon has been told at this grlni ,j old court for years. She was indicted .for j the wilful' murder .of h?r husband, John j Nliles Seddon, nged seventy-elgrit, and for. < attempted suicide. Only her own confes- j sion and her marvellous recovery from the ( effectsi of poison brought her to the dock. ■- There was little other evidence against the poor woman. '. J TRAGEDY 6F POVERTY. i Husband and wife had been married 12 - y.ears. They were fairly successful in a ] confectionery business at Stalncs. Theai: - .trade fell off, and they moved to a shop In i ' the High-streetj. Mortluke. Things went from bad to worse, and they were faced ' witih the tragedy of poverty. They were top old for a modern business. Trade pas-. ■ eed them by. ,On .September 12th ttey J tuid .only .80/ with which ip pay. theix qnarter'e rent, .and thoy were botli tired of ' the struggle. . ' - "We decided," said the condemned .woman, at the inquest, on her tmsband, "tha.l we had better both leave the world together." After lying awake worrying all night <4he got out of bed, saying, "I don't ' ts lnk I can stand this wear and tear any. • longer." She found a bottle of liniment, composed of belladonna and acontte. drank half'the contents, and asked' her husband "Are you going to take your chare? There Is' nothing but this or the workhouse." "Xes, give it to mc," said the .husband. ' and she ipoured It out and he drank it. Both then went back ito bed again. ... l!he rest of this pitiful story shows ,the removal of jthe aged couple .to /the workhouse, where the man ..died and -the woman was. brought round. coroners-jury found that Mr Seddon committed suicide while temporarily insane, hut the police arrested Mrs Seddon, .charged her with murder, ,aua. she stood yesterday before Mr Justice Jelf at ,the Old Bailey. Mr Arthur Hutton, -who ably .defended the woman, '.got from one witness that the busband 'had said he snatched tiie poison from ids wife's-hands i flnd ;drank It. *■ * ■ ■' ■ ,aßn ; t .is'.te true that eaya'««t *lf two pereons conspire together to .commit suklde.and one eurvives, that one is gnllty: r<f murder. rSo, iv spite of the 'Strong're- ; rwnmendation "to'mercy qf the-Jiirr, *A3 : thp sympathy expressed by "Mr Justice' Jelf, whe said that it was about the saddest ■race .'he .haft the formality .had to' be gone of sentenciiig herto deatli. It can only .be a .formality. But lit Iβ ,to. . hpihoped that the King's pardon will come •JirifUy, .so tftat this poor .soul may .ftad-i -«mc ..ease for her iew Temiintag yean. \ \