Untitled

Colonist, Volume IX, Issue 927, 14 August 1866, Page 4

Sullivan said he wished to have a written statement which he now handed in first read, as ho had dangerous men to deal with. Ha asked this merely to counteract anything which they might do against him, for the coinage of their brain was great.

The Eesident Magistrate said, I shall retain this for you for future consideration.

Burgess then commenced to recite in a firm voice the contents of the paper he produced, and which he requested should be headed as

"THE CONFESSION OF BURGESS THE

MURDERER,"

Written in my dungeon drear this 7th of August, in the year of Grace, 186f». To God be ascribed all power and glory in subduing the rebellious spirit of a most guilty wretch, who lias been brought through the instrumentality of a faithful follower of Christ, to see his wretched and guilty state, inasmuch, that hitherto he has led an awful and wretched life, and through the assurance of this faithful soldier of Christ, he has been led, and also believes that Christ will yet receive and cleanse him from all his deep dyed and bloody sins. I lie under the imputation which says, " come now and let U3 reason together saith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they bo red like crimson, they shall be a 9 •wool:" On this promise I rely. He has told me Christ will pardon me, when deeply dyed with the blood of my fellow creatures. He has shown me the inestimable value to be derived from fleeing from the wrath to come. He tells me that in order to attain this, I must unburden myself before God, just as a guilty wretch. He says that Christ will cleanse me if I will but go to him with a humble and contrite heart of the enormities of the unheard of ciimes of which I have been guilty. Thus humbled I will now unfold to you the heinous sins' that have been committed on the part,of. the prisoner Sullivan. He has been guilty in order to save his miserable and wretched life by trying to sacrifice the lives of others to save his own. But it shall not be done. Justice shall be done, and the murdered men who have been sent hurriedly out of this world at the expense of my own immolation on the altar of justice, and the lasting execration and odium of my fellow creatures, while time continues as a most bloody murderer. Therefore all you that are here assembled, listen, and while you listen, vieep. The confession of the murders of these men, who bnyo been foully murdered among you. Before bringing the bloody drama before you as it was enacted, you must accompany me in my revelations from the time I first saw prisoner Sullivan. It will only be a synoptical view I shall now give you, because it is ■very distressing to me to furnish you more, for I have not the facilities afforded me even to give you this ; for it. is written iv the dark, and on my knees, so that you will only have a brief account; but it is the truth you will thus have, for I hnve no further motive than, the furtherance of justice in this my bloodj confession. It can do me no good in a worldly point of view. It is not done thinking I should be able to spare this miserable life of mine. No; but the reward I look for on earlh is the execrations of my fellow creatures while the world continues. I trust I shall be rewarded by God,, and not by mnn, for I offer my vile body at any moment'Jo atone for ■wliafc I have done. But it is made to disabuse the public mind, pf 4 perjured p, d guilty statement of

the prisoner Sullivan, aud to spare the effusion of innocent blood from being shed, for the .murderer Sullivan would go to any length to savo his own life, sinco thero is undeniable proof of his guilt. I will now proceed to put you in possession of the truth : — I was walking in the streets of Hokitika one day with Kelly, when he drew niy attention to a man who passed us. He said, "I think I know thnt fellow ; if so, he is an old school-mate of mino. Hl3 name is Sullivan." Ho said, "such a character!', No more was then said; but in a" few days Kelly came to me, and said, " I was right tho oilier day, that was the same party. I left him just; now at the Eose, Thistle, and Shamrock Hotel; come up," which Idid ; and then I saw Sullivan sitting in the parlour. We amused ourselves by playing at cards for the most part of the evening. When Sullivan began playing a man for money. Sullivan began cheating ; words ensued between them. They went outside to fight, and Sullivan gave the man in charge for robbing him of a-half a sovereign. The man was locked up; and I said to him. what is this you have clone. ? He said, " do you think I was going to let a wretch like that best me?" This was the beginning of our acquaintance. Shortly after this, we became on very intimate terms, so much so that he agreed with mo to effect several robberies, two in particular, one being the banker at Rosstown, Mr Kerr, which was not accomplished. I may mention here, that Sullivan at the time of our first intimacy, showed mo the bottle of strychnine mentioned in his statement. I said what made you bring the like-of this. He said " you do not know the value of this. Who knows but we may require the like of this in some big thing we might do ?" These were his words as nearly as I can recollect. The other robbery was Mr Fox, the banker at the Grey. At this time T was meditating robbing the bank at Okarita. in order to effect which I said it would be necessary to procuro some troopei'3* clothes. I watched mv opportunity and robbed the camp at Hokifika of the same. I took four revolvers and cases, swordbelts nnd cartouche sashes, with their pants, &n. After I effected this, I said I must be very steady for some time, or else suspicion will fall on me. I said to provide agninst any accident from happening through neglect or any other mishap, I should provide myself with a competent witness ; so with that, T proposed taking the man Chamberlain, now in charge at Hokitikn, to go and see the Maria ship, as she lay on the beach a wreck, and on the way to find somo of the property taken from the camp. This was done. On the way I kicked the sand where they were planted, and then Chamberlain picked them up nnd gnve them to me. I said look about, their might ho something else. Shortly alter I wns taken on suspicion, and on searching my dwelling they found two revolver onspr belonging to the camp. The revolvers I had lent that night, just before I was arrested for the robbery. At the investigation Sullivan came up with Chamberlain, and sworo that ho was with me when they wore given to me by the latter, which resulted in my acquittal. This is but a specimen of his abili'ies. Since he has been in custody he has tried to mnke himself useful, at the sacrifice of all truth and justice, for he has given information agninst the said Chamberlain, whom we gulled into believing that he found those cases, which the man really thought he dki. With him, he hns charged Mr Carr the constnble, ngainst whom he knows he had a grentor antipathy than any man in the force. Perhaps this is the way he has chosen to pay him out. After I pot discharged, T said I must leave Hokitika for a while, at all events; ?o with that we proposed going to the Grey. We arrived there-on the Saturday, 26th May. I took up my residence at the Provincial Hotel. Sullivan began drinking, nnd spent what money he had, which was very little. He left the Greymouth township on the Sunday night, and did not return till the Tuesday following, late in the day. During this time Mr Dobson the Surveyor was murdered. He came to town, and sent the man Wilson, now charged with the murder in Hokitika, of Mr Dobson, to find me ana tell me to go to the Bridge, i went to the Bridge indicated, and there I saw Sullivan. He told me they had made a great mistake in stopping a man whom they took for a banker, but who turned out to be only a Surveyor. Ho said "he was such a nice young fellow, but after we stopped him we could rot let him go, so T took him off the road about 100 ynrds, nnd there T " burked" him, meaning chokpd him. He paid laughing as I was taking him into tho bush ; Did you think I was a banker? Hp.re is all I have, seme £0 odd." He said, T buried him Compass nnd all, he had 11 compass with him. He Ins since been found, I believe by the murderer Sullivan telling where ho was buried. Mark the atrocity of his acts. He has since charged an inoffensive man Wilson with complicity in the murder, who is as innocent ns the babe on its mothers breast. Sullivan said, whore is Tommy ? meani-g Kelly ; I said he's over at. Cobden ? Wall, he said, whnt is to be done P I told him that since he had been away, I had heard that there was a bank at the Buller, arid T thought of sending for a man I knew at Hokitilta, and ask him if he w.mld come with us, and put the bulk of the notps a.way for us. Hn said, a good idea, so with that I sent a note to Hokitikn, there and then to Levy, asking him if he would come. He replied to the letter, that if it wis worth while he would ; and come ho did. Wo shipped by the Wallaby, but before leaving I asknd Sullivan how much money he thought wa. might want to take with us. He remarked, oh you've got plenty. I said when we got. thero wo might have to wait; I said T'll get £10 more at all events. We arrived at the Buller and found that it was untrue that their was a bank there, aud so it. was settled thnt wo should gto on to Nelson by (he Wallaby, and from ther.ee to Havelock, nnd so on to Pieton. We came here as you have heard on the 6th Juno. We reached Canrastown, as you all know. But before leaving the Wallaby, Sullivan brought away with him the cook's large knife, which he ehnrgps Levy with doing. T asked him what he wanted with that tool; he. said I'd sooner have it and a revolver, than all thp number of arms you could give me. Armed with thpse I am a battery of defence, or something like it. After we reached Canvastown, I told Levy we should not go any further that day; so he might as well run up to Deep Creek and see what sorb of n. place it was. He went ; and after ho had gone we learned that Havelock was such another place as Canvastown. Wo said, thnt is me, Sullivan, and Kelly, if we were, going on to Pieton it would not do to go by the road', for there were no wayfarers travelling, and the residents on the road took great notice of all who passed, so that the best thing wo could do.wns to return to Nelson, and proceed by boat to Pieton. This was settled. During the time Levy wns away we ground the knives as Sullivan has said. Tn the, evening I cleaned the guns and pistols, but did not load them as Sullivan pwore. Levy returned on the Monday afternoon, no brought with'him a paper ; but for the life of me I can't say whether it was a Marlborough Press or not. I know it was a newspaper, and contained matter regarding tho bank at Pictou. I asked him tfhat sorb of a place it wns where he had been to. He said it'was a poor place, and thnt ho saw fifty or sixty people there.he should ;' imagine. He remarked that he knew many of them, and that he stopped at Mathieu's putlic-house, whom he also knew. He said Mathieu asked him during the evening how things were progressing on the West Coast. Ho told him; Mathieu's reply was that he was going to-morrow himself ar.d some more friends ; at the'■reorßt by Tuesday. I told Levy that we were going back to Nelson in the morning; that Pieton was a good distance from there, further I believed than from Nelson., He lay down, when me, Sullivan, and Kelly went out, when I said " we'll intercept these people on their way to Nelson ; Levy says that the publicans and storekeepers carried everything in the buying line." I remarked another thing, " they are going to the West Coast, and it is ten to one but they buy up all the gold they can." Kelly said, "do no such thing; wo did not come bore to do that; you could have done that where ■ you have come from with greater certainty of having something for your trouble." , "Well, (I said,) that's right enough, but we did not bring money sufficient with us ; we may hare to remain in Nelson a week, and then wait perhaps at Pieton." He said, " I've got about £16 besides what you have, and that will see over three or four weeks nicely." "Well," I said,"! shall put these people up, who will be any the wiser that it is mo ? I'll keep secluded after I have done it; so I'll do it." Ho (Kelly) said, " It's just like you, you wont' be reasoned -with, 1 should like before you set this road on j\ve, to bo at Nelson." I snul, "that you can do; these people don't leave till to-morrow, by that you can reach Nelson, we shall go as near iij ta possible," SulUvw eaid, "I flunk it is

tho best thing wo can do, who knows what gold they .might' bring down with them, so Dick, you and I will do it. Let them go on to Nelson, it don't want us all." So the next morning wo started. Sullivan said in his statement in Court, to save the boat-hire wo waded through the river. Now in the first place there wns no boat, but a Maori's canoe which could take only ono of us ovor at a time in consequence of the then" stnte of the river, which was that low that we crossed it without wetting our boots as high as the ancle. We all had big boots on. Mr Jervis can disprove what Sullivan 'said about crossing the river, for he was looking at us. "We proceeded on' our way without anything happening, until we reached three miles on the Nelson side of the Pelorus Bridge, where we stopped and had some dinner. While having it an old man came by carrying a shovel. He was going on to Nelson. As he passed he gave us the time of day, and passed on. There were no remarks passed whatever about the old man after dinner, we proceeded on our way, Sullivan, tis usual in front. We went for some distance without stopping. In journeying on I walked principally with Kelly. He tried all he could to dissuade me from having anything to do with these men. I got offended at his continued importunities,, so I went a-head nnd overtook Sullivan and the old man, who were sitting down near a bridge. I put my swag down which consisted of fire-arms, and joined them. Shortly after Kelly and Levy can.c up, and Kelly said well, " I'll wish you good-day." I said, "so long " Levy also said, " Grood-bye Master," meaning me. They then passed on. When they were gone, Sullivan remarked to me that bethought the old men "held it," which is a cant term, meaning that he possessed something. I pooh-poohed it, he said allow me to know, I see by the appearances. Shortly afterwards, the old man picked up his bit of a swag and went on. We followed not long after him. We went some distance, Sullivan still in advance a-good way of me. When I came up with him he had overtaken tho old man, who did not walk very fast. They were in serious conversation. I heard the old man in reply to a question, say he had been working at Wilson's, cutting flax up at so much the acre. The old man then proceeded up the range, when Sullivan said, "I don't like that old fellow; I noticed when I overtook him this last time, thnt he shifted the position of his knife ; he partly knows who we are, so since we ai-e going to do these people over, (his very words,)- I think we had better prevent him from doing us any harm hereafter." " I said, very well," so with that we put our swags in the bush, and turned back and met the old man coming up the range. Sullivan was in advance of me. He said^to tho old man. " Did you see a knife lying on ."the road for I have lost mine out of my sash." He said, "No." By this time I was close up with him. I pulled out a pistol I had taken out of the swag, and which was empty, but I had put some pieces of paper in the chambers of the cylinder. I told him I thought he had some gold ; he assured me ho had not. Sullivan said, " Let's see." He then caught him by the arm ; at this the old man put his other hand to his knife when I caught him by the wrist, nnd took it from him. [Here Burgess asked to bo allowed to retire for a few minutes, and on returning resumed his statement as follows.] I said come down here, and he replied "I won't," and then sat on the ground. He said, " Are you going to murder me ?" I said, " What an idea to enter your head; come on down the gully." He refused to go ; then I took him by the throat, and he said " I'll go ; I'll go." So with that we took him down the hollow some sixty or eighty yards on the lower side of the road. The old man said, "If you murder me, I shall he foully murdered," We made him sit on the ground ; I then took him by the throat, and held him till he was nearly dead. When I released my hold, the confined air or breath came bubbling up through his mouth. Then Sullivan drew his fist and gave him a severe blow on the abdomen. Sullivan took the old man's shovel and raked n hole just below where the old marflay ; we rolled him over, and he stopped in the hole with his face downwards. We covered him up and left him. When we regained the road, Sullivan said, " That's a bit of nasty work for nothing ; but it is not for what he had, he might have done us a deal of mischief." We went about a mile, nnd then camped for tho night at Franklyn's Flat, I believe it is called. We camped in one of the old skeletons of a former house ; we had no tent, but the fly of one. Kelly and Levy had the tent ,• we had no billy, that also wns with Kelly; we made shift with what we had. Before I lay down I loaded the guns "and pistols. In the morning we started early, towards Nelson. We went to where a rock crops out alongside the road; I must mention that this was the place we stopped at the first night we left Nelson for Canvastown. Wo put our swags in the bush, and cleared the place to take the horse oIT the road ; we then took up our stations. Sullivan remained behind the rock, because that gave him a view of the road the men were coming ; he could see a distance of six hundred yards or more; he was looking down a descent. I crossed the road and took up my position ; I had command of the road from Nelson. We remained secret ed for some time, when a horse came past; shortly after some men with cattle from Nelson, and then some Maoris on horseback. The dny was getting advanced, when we.changed positions in consequence of mine being in the shade, and Sullivan's in the sun. We remained like this till Sullivan came from his covert and said, " Here's a young woman and a fellow carrying a swag ; I'll put them up." I said, " No" ;he said, " I will." I replied, "If you do " with that they rose the incline, and came along. I wish to G-od I had let him stop them ; these men woiild not have been murdered ; but I should have shot Sullivan, for when he persisted in his demand, I rose my gun, nnd as sure as he had stopped them, he would have rolled over a dead mnn ; for in my hand a gun is a formidable weapon of destruction. So, Ann Fulton, for such ifc was who passed, I saved you from a worse fate than death. But that would have followed. So when you hear the fate that yon thus escaped, you, if no one else can spenk in the behalf of Burgess, the murderer, who now solicits your prayers on behalf of liis guilty soul. [Here his voice shook.] After they passed, Sullivan remarked " You are a fellow!" I made some answer about mothers and sisters of our own. Shortly after a horseman was coming in the direction of ;it was Mr Birrell. We were getting impatient, when we saw four men and a pack-horse coming. I left my cover and had a look at. the men, for* Levy had told me that Mathieu was a small man and wore a large beard, and that it was a chestnut horso. I said, " Here they come." They were then a good distance away ; I took the caps off my gun, and put fresh ones on. I said, " You keep where you are, I'll put them up, and you give me your gun while you tie them." It was arranged as I have described. The men came ; they arrived within about fifteen yards when I stepped out and said " Stand ! bail-up ! "That means all of them to get together. I made them fall back on the ripper side.of the road with their faces up tho range, and Sullivan brought me his gun, and then tied then* hands behind them. The horse was very quiet all this time, he did not move. When they were all tied, Sullivan took the horse up the hill, and put him in the bii3h ; he cut the rope and let the swags fall on the ground, nnd then came to me. We then marched the men down the incline to the creek ; the water at this time barely running. Up this creek we took tho men: we went I daresay five or six hundred yards up it, which took ns nearly half-an-hour to accomplish. Then we turned to the right up the range ; wo went I daresay 150 yards from the creek, and there wo sat down with the men. I said to Sullivan put down your gun and search these men, which he did. I asked them their several names ; they told me. 1 asked them if they were expected at Nelson, they snid no; if such their lives would have been spared. In money wg took £60 odd. I said "I 3 this all you have? you had better tell me." Sullivan said, "Here is a bag of gold."" I said "What's on that pack-horse? Is there any gold ?" when Kempthorne said " Yes, my gold is in the portmanteau, nnd I trust you will not take it all." "Well," I said, "We must take you away one at a time, because the range is steep just here, and then we will let you, go." They said "All right," most cheerfully. We tied their feet, and took Dudley with us; we went about sixty yards with him. This was through a scrub. It'was arranged tho night previously that it would be best to choke them, in case the report of the arms might bo heard from the road, and if they were missed they never would be found. So we tied a handkerchief over his eyes, when Sullivan took the sash off his waist, put it round his neck, and so we strangled him. Sullivan after we had killed the old man, found fault with the way he was choked she said,," the next we do I'll show you my way." I said,. " I had, never done such a thing before. I haye shot ii man, but aeyer uhok.ed, 0119." We returned, tQ the qUwi

when Kerapthornri »(ii(], " What nolie win that?" T said ifc was eausVcl by breaking through the sorub. This;was taking'too much time, so it was agreed to' shoot them. With that, I said, " we'll take you no further, but separate yon, and then loose one of you, and he can relieve the"others." . So with that, Sullivan took De Pontius to tho left of where Kernpthorne was sitting. I took Matthieu to the right. I tied a strap round his logs, and shot him with a revolver. He yelled. I ran from him with my gun in my hand. I sighted Kempthorne who had risen to his feet. I presonted the gun, and shot him behind the right ear, his life's blood welled from him, and he died instantaneously. Sullivan had shot De Pontius in the meantime, and then came to me. I said, "look to Matthieu," indicating the spot where ho lay. He shortly returned and said, " I had to" chiv' that fellow, he was not dead," a cant word meaning that he had. to stab him. Returning to the roud we passed where De Pontius lay and was dead. Sullivan said, " this is the digger, the others were all storekeepers; this is the digger, let's cover him up, for should the others be found, they'll think he done it and sloped," meaning he had gone. So with that we threw all the stones on him, and then left him. This bloody work took nearly an hour and n-half from the time we stopped the men. Sullivan says, in his guilty statement, I returned in the space of a quarter of an hour; we could not reach the place where the men were murdered under that. We searched only the box, and there we found the gold belonging to Kempthorne, some 46 ounces. We had repacked the horse, when a horseman passed, going to Canvastown. I.left the horse and went behind the rock, and then I saw a footman speak to the other. I heard the word "no." They then parted. The one passed in the direction of Nelson. 1 told Sullivan what I heard. We paid no attention to the men passing, because I asked the men if there was any one else belonging to them behind ;. they said no. We then led the horse on the road. We did not proceed far, when Sullivan threw the two shovels down the gully ; one is our own, the other belonged to the old man whom we murdered. We went about half a mile, or it might be more. The reason we took the horse away thus was to mislead any one from knowing the j?pot where the deed was done. On the road Sullivan threw the gun producedj.away. It was his own ; lie brought it with him to the Grey. He also put a shirt foul with tho blood of Mathieu off the road, and hid it behind a dead log. It was nearly a new shirt, and had a slight rent or tear on tho right arm.

Sullivan t I wish you would cause him to describe that rent.

Burgess: We took the horse down the gully, and then shot. him. It was not Levy who was afraid to lead him down, but Sullivan. We then proceeded on the road. We did not stop till we reached the old chimney on the side of the Mcungatapu range, where we had 'done these bloody deeds. Then we kindled a fire, not to make tea but to read the letters and papers which we took from the men, which we kept kindled with the papers. There I undid tho swags and put the gold in them, and threw the powder I had in my pocket away, and some pepper which was in the handkerchief with the remains of a cooked fowl, which we killed belonging to the Maoris at Canvastown, in consequence of Mr Jervis having no meat. Here he planted the satchel and gold bags. We then journeyed on. When within a mile of the first accommodation house in Nelson, I heard some speaking, when Kelly said, "Is that you Dick." I said "Yes." I remarked " How is it you did not reach Nelson1? He said, I got to tired, and could go no further. So me and Phil, meaning Levy, drew in off the road and covered ourselves in the bedding." Going along Kelly asked me if I put the men up. I said "Yes" ; but did not tell him I had murdered them. He said I did not like to be seen on the road, so I waited till it came dark, when I was going to start. He said "How much did you get from them ?" I said about £300. He remarked "I would not have it happen for ns many thousands!" He said, they (meaning the murdered men) will reach town to-morrow. It was arranged between me and Sullivan, before wo came unexpectedly on these men, meaning Kelly and Levy, that when we reached town I must take charge of Levy, in c^se these people should be missed. We can tell Tommy, meaning Kelly, th it we put these people up, there is no fear of him, besides we shall he away as aoon as possible. We must not, let that Jew know anything. Do you know Dick, (speaking to me,) I Vlont like him. po we must mis lead him, and tell him we put a fellow up, and got some gold; accordingly we did s>. Levy never knew till he,, was ■ arrested that the men had been murdered, Coming to town, a man came out of the accommodation house, distant from Nelson about four miles, with a light in his hand, became- his dogs gave the alarm of our coming. We hid ourselves, and he returned to the house. When we were pacing the woman..looked out, hut without a candle ; n her hand. She called her lit tie dog, and we'passed by ; but she could not tell if there were two or four men passed, but there were four. We readied town ; we separated. I told them to meet mem the morniny; at the port. I a?ked Levy to take me to some retired plfce ; he said, I am at a loss where to take you, as I fliri almost as great a stranger as yourself, at all events we went to the Italian's oyster saloon kept by Leonard. Levy asked him by way of introduction how fir it was to Collingwood. Ho then asked him about some acquaintance of Inn, and finally asked him if lie could accommodate us to a lodging, which was accorded us after a little more conversation. In the morning I met Sullivan at the place appointed. I said we'll go and sell the gold ; come on one sido and we'll alter the amount in the bags. Ito k one bag and Sullivan the others. I took mine to tho Hank of New South Wales in Trafalgar-street. 1 had on a dark rever.-ahle. coat, and a plush hat. He went I believe to the Union Bank with his. We met, that is, me and Sullivan, he produced a bank receipt of the amount of his goUl, which came to a hundred and odd pounds. He slid they asked him where the gold came from ? and he said, the.(m;y. He said lie sold it under the assumed name of Clarence Evere.sto. 1 produced a bank receipt for the amount of gold I scld, which enme to £70 odd pounds. Thr'y »pkcd me no name, but where the gold cune from. We met, that is, mo and Sullivan; we divided the money. Ho said there is some more gold I kept back to sell with the large nuggets we got off fife persons of those, men. I'll go and sell them by and by with the gold nuggets. 1 said, all right, I'll go and change myself. With that 1 had a hath, and altered the shape of my whiskers, which were at this time full all round my f-ice. I got them split at the chin. I then cleaned myself, and we all met at the lower end of Bridge-street. I told them (the three oilier men) that where I sold the gold was the easiest place to be done, that I ever saw. This, you must understand, to be the Hank.of New South Wales. I said when the Airedale comes, in. we'll go to Taranaki and wait there a month and come and do this in preference to the ono afc Pieton. 1 gave Kelly £20; he said I dont want any yet. To Levy I gave but not in the presence of tho others. In the afternoon Sullivan came to me by appointment opposite the church in Trafalgar-street, lie gave me about £10 as my portion of the remainder of the gold. He said they kept him a long time in consequence of the assayer being absent, and I'iis valued the large gold ftt £3 \3<, per ounce ; the other I solJ by itself. Ho said "I have got too many sovereigns, I want two or three large notes : I want to send that woman of mine something, meaning an abandoned woman, who— Sullivan (passionately): Do you tolerate this your Worship? vVill you allow him to speak thia way about my wife in my own pivsenc?

The He^idcnt Magistrate : Ie quiet, he must mako his statement, and you must not interrupt him.

Sullivan : Then your Wurshh* had better order me out of Court.

Burtfess : I do not mean his wife, your Worship, 1 have better sense than speak thus ot her. I mean a woman of infamous character, who came on ho.ml the ship with him and with whom he had illicit commerce at. Hokitika. 1 saiil I'll jro to tho hank and get the nolcs, aiulfeu whether they know mo or not. 1 relumed and told him they did nut know nift. Know you, he said, your mother would not know you. We used to Uiput, as he Paid, of an evening, because I never loft Levy for two minutes together all tho time we were in town. During these meetings Kelly said to :ne, ' There is nothing about that bit of work.' 1 said •O, they Hie keeping it quiet.' I silenced Levy the same way if ever lie alluilcd to thb fellow I put up. Things continued at this till* the Monday morning, when Sullivan walked into tho Oyster Saloon and licckoneil me out. I followed, him out. There was Kt:lly on the other side of tlie road. He motioned me ovit, and we went hs far a« Mr. Edwards' store. He said he was in Djipuig' the barbel's getting shampooed whe|i he heard the sergeant tolling (he barber about

these man hoing ihUspt), lie saM " WJi'U djd \m\ d" with lfion\, Dick ?"' Sullivan said " VVIwU odds ? let them find them; who knows it's im? was, nobody else on the road ?" I relumed to my lodgings and had breakfast. I kept Levy in the house till dinner time. 1, then took him out in the suburbs, and we sat down on the grass till nearly dusk. I saw Sullivan again in tho evening, in the absence of the others. He said its all right, Owens, the landlord of the Mitre Hotel, has quashed it altogether. He suspec's three Italians, so he has scut a telegram to intercept them ; they are supposed to have gone in the Kennedy. That night, just before going to bed, Levy said. •' Will you take a ! gUss of porter, master, before you g<r to bed?"' He did not return. 1 went to bed, and fell asleep waiting for him. I never missed him till the morning. 1 cleaned myself and went down the town, and then I saw Sullivan. He was the first wbo told me about Levy being apprehended. He said Owens described him* as a dark looking ruffian. I said, where is Tommy, meaning Kelly. He said, he is gone with Potter for a ride, I am going too, there is a horse left for me in the stable. I left him, and saw him soon after on the Waiinea road riding, a cream-colored pony. Ho said you might as well come for a ride. I said I want to see Tommy, for I think we had better go ; you don't know what might happen. With this 1 went and got a horse, and we went as far as the Plough Inn, and remained there some time to kill tho day. On the road* thither we stopped at the turnpike gate, when I threw down a shilling for the toll of the horses. A woman picked it up off the ground, and asked us in the presence of a young man, whom I took to be her son, if there was any news about these unfortunate men ? We said one man vvai arrested, being a suspected party. Further on the road I alighted at the first Inn. on the riglithand side. (The Tarf Hotel). Up to this I rode the cream colored pony. iSullivan had the bay horse hir«d for me. I asked for two plasses of ale. It was brought by the landlord, the landlady came to the door, and said, any news about these men ? when Sullivan said its all moonshine, they may huve gone overland to the Bu'ler or elsewhere. The landlady said it was very wrong of them if such was the case and they ought to be severely punished for upsetting the public mind. We started from the Plough where Mr. Potter came by in his gig driving his wife, child, and Kelly with him. I rode my horse ahead, because Sullivan stopped with them, I returned the horse and paid the hire. I asked what was to pay, the livery stable- keeper said 12s 6d, I said the hoise has only been as far as the Plough, and there he has been baited. He said well give me half-a-guinea, and added you were not the gentleman who hired tho horse. I said no, it was Mr Symons. I said we want two horses to-morrow, he said I'll let you have two fivsh ones. Sullivan came on with Kelly to Colling-wood-street Bridge. I told them since ' Phil,' meaning. Levy was takon, it would not do for me to return to my lodgings. Kelly said " well I shall stop where I am." I shook hands with him'and told Sullivan to come with me to see if there, was any hus ; icion of me where I lodged. I then left, Sullivan came after me at a great distance. I felt piqued that he did not come quicker. I saw a constable in disguise pretending to light his pipe, the constable is Mr Murphy. I knew his mission. I was aware who he was. Sullivan came by, I allowed him to pass. Tie crossed the road and moved on. I could see I was surrounded. Murphy stopped Sul'ivan, and asked him to go to the Oyster Saloon to fetch one of tho Italians to see if I was the nun that lodged there. This Sullivan told me tho next day in the watchhouse, Sullivan left pretending to go with the message. He went down the street instead of coming over to me and telling me, Shortly after I was arrested not far from the station. I had no arms with me or you would' never have been put in possession of the foul and bloody way we effected these murders. Sullivan said in his statement I removed my arms from the. Italians the night Levy way taken. .1 planted them the first night I came in town. They will be found where ten cottages are newly erected, at the end of the last one there is a gorse bush. There is an opening in the bush about twelve feet from the fence fronting the cottage. They consist of a double barrelled gun, one revolver, one pound canister of powder rolled up in an oilcloth. When we were all at the watchhouse they removed Levy, when Sullivan said, I was not far wrong about that bloody Jew.. 1 said 1 am surprised at you not knowing better. It's only a ruse on the part of the police, to create a misunderstanding among us, another thing if he'does suspect we killed those men, he'll put his foot in it if he opens his mouth. The day after we were in the watchhouse, the bill reporting the murder of Mr Dobson, was put up on the door. I read it aloud. I was cognisant of the murder of Mr Dobson. Two days after the man Stone arrived he was put in the same cell with.Levy-. He told him it was repoited in the papers that me and Kelly and Sullivan were supposed to have murdered him, which 'account was borne out by Constable Q'Brien who sftid there was a warrant issued for our arrest Sullivan said I blame the man Wilson for this. The night Levy wa« removed the bill was torn down, and another one put in its place. When we got up in the lri'irning I said " what have we here? here's a rum affair !" for you could not speak without the consta- | liles heaiing you, so I made little of it. I read it. I remarked to Sullivan " Now what do you think of the Jew ?" Shortly after he said he would write to , his wife. He was let out for that purpose

The Resident Magistrate : If this is to go on much longer I must adjourn the court until to-morrow, I don't see the use of all this. ;

Burgess: lam nearly done your worship.

Mr. Pitt: He has. only half a page to read ; but he is 'n your 'Worship's hands, if you think proper to stop his st-itcment, of course y< v can do so.

Sullivan : I wish to reply to some parts of this in a few word sir.

Mr Sharp: Oh, you can't reply,

Burgess continued : Ho was let out for that purpose when he made that guilty and bloody statement I have now finished this awful version. Let n>e again repeat my motive in making it. It is that the red handed bloody rnurdeifr my confrere in these bloody deeds, shall not abuse the public mind, by sacrificing the innocent lives of others for what he has done, by giving credence to his guilty statement, justice is outraged innocent blood in spilt and the clemency of the crown is abustd. Mark the victims he is about '■to sacrifice, who by my just and'offended God is innocent of those mcii's blood ; and had I been persuaded by him the men would have been alive this day. (Kelly I mean). Levy was a tnali we brought with usforanother tiling, and by my eternal damnation hereafter if I lie does he know anything about it. He was the cause of their being murdered ; but it was the innocent cause, for aftcrityrasdonehewas not, made a confident of. Chamberlain at Hokitika, he is innocent. -Wilson for the murder or Dobson where never was greater villany enacted towards one fellow against another than to charge him with complicity in this deed. I tru-t before the coining trial, if the Government will but show itself to see the innocent lighted, I shall he able to prove by competant witnesses, that the man Wilson is innocent with that ho is charged. Why has ho made these people his victims ? It is because thero is undeniable proof of his own guilt. There is his shirt, foul with blood, on the road ; the gun which the Government may be able to trace to lii'n, and the banker's where he sold the illgotten gold, all which ho knew would come against him. I was nearly forgetting to repeat the innocence of Mr Carr, the Constable. . I bore him eutnity once, hut I forgive him. and what is my reward for all this disclosure that f have'made to you ? Oh God, assist, ire in my hour of need, for I have incurred their everlasting curses, by >hus unfolding my guilty conscience to my fellow men. But what care 1 what they may say, or do to me if I can attain God's blessed forgiveness for these my bloody crimes? ; All you who acknowledge God as your Father in heaven, pray to his dear eon on my behalf. Amen.

Tims closed the statement, the dictation of which occupied fully five hours. It was delivered throughout in a clear and distinct voice, and save one exception near the close, without a quiver in the tone. The Court adjourned shortly after five, until this pay (Friday,) at eleven o'clock. During the delivery of the statement; Mr Poynter several times interrupted Burgess, sajing, that tho matter was not relevant; that he was not making a statement, but going into an argument; and that tliis should be reserved for his trial. It did not concern his case to bting in about these men at Hokitika.

Burgess said it did concern his case as he was accused of robbery at Hokitika, and ns he was arrested here, he had no opportunity ot making a statement there.

Mr Pitt and Mr Adams as often stated that Burgess had a right to made any statement he pleased, and Mr Adams said that he should not be interrupted.

After repeated remonstrances were made against his ruling. Mr Poynter permitted the statement to g« on to its clpje,