e it away.

A reverend father of the Roman Church told me that a long while ago
a man in confession made a statement which he wished the priest
to communicate to me. It was under the seal of confession, and he
refused, as he was bound to do, to mention a word. The man persisted
in asking him, and he as persistently declined.

Some considerable time, however, having elapsed, the same man went
to the priest, not to confess, but to repeat his request in ordinary
conversation. This the father could have no objection to, and the
culprit told him that he had undertaken to throw the bomb at the front
door of Number 5, but that through having in the gas-light misread
the figure, he had placed it against that of Number 2. He begged the
priest as a great favour to assure me on his word that the bomb was
certainly intended for me, and not for Brett.

On this subject the _Kent Leader_ had some interesting remarks on the
anarchists as well as their Judge.

"Speaking of dynamite," it said, "we have serious cause for alarm in
our free land. The wretches concerned in the abominable outrage of
Tuesday last cannot be too severely dealt with. It is evident that
their intent was against Justice Hawkins, and the fact that Sir Henry
was the presiding Judge at the recent anarchists' trial points the
connection between the outrage and other anarchists....

"Justice Hawkins has been spoken of as a harsh Judge. Ever since the
'Penge mystery' trial many have termed him the hanging Judge. We have
sat under him on many eventful occasions, and venture the opinion
that no one who has had equal opportunity would come to any other
conclusion than that he was painstaking and careful to a degree, and
particularly in criminal cases formed one of the most conscientious
Judges on the Bench. Hanging Judge! Why, we have seen the tears
start to his eyes when sentencing a prisoner to death, and, owing to
emotion, only by a masterful effort could his voice be heard. Above
all, he is a just Judge."

[Many persons were not aware, and thousands are not at the present
time, that when a verdict of "Wilful murder" is pronounced a Judge has
no alternative but to read the prescribed sentence of death. If this
were not so, the situation would be almost intolerable, for who would
not avoid, if possible, deciding that the irrevocable doom of the
prisoner should be delivered? In many cases the feelings of the Judges
would interfere with the course of justice, and mur