Crime & punishment > Whinny Park murder

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change his workmen, either from dissipated habits, inat¬
tention to business, or some other disqualification. He
was, however, a kind and steady master; and one man
who remained for a long time in his employment bears
ample testimony to his good qualities. This person, on
hearing of Mr Millie’s death, writes as follows to a com¬
mon friend :—“ I felt extremely sorry for the fate of my
old master, whom, with all his eccentricities, I cannot but
respect; to be hurried out of existence by a vagabond
whom he had fed and clothed, and to whom he acted in
every respect as a parent, is terrible: the seven years
and upwards that I wrought with James I must still look
back to as the happiest years of my existence.”
We shall conclude this sketch of Mr Millie’s character
by an extract from another letter by a young man once in
his employ, but now a shool-master in a village at some
distance : he had heard of the melancholy fate of his old
friend, and writes thus to Mrs Smith (Mr Millie’s sister)—
“ I do not think I could have felt more for a relation than
I did for James Millie: and the remembrance of a man
I so sincerely respected will be cherished while I live.
I need no token to keep him in view; yet I would like
very much to have some relic belonging to him : if there
be any trifle you could send me of his, you would in¬
dulge my weakness, and do me the highest pleasure. I
forbear making any observation on the terrible transac¬
tion which has deprived you of a brother, and me of a
much respected friend; as 1 could not do so without
agitating my own feelings; and recalling to your mind
recollections which must have been already too poig¬
nant.”
Such was the person who has fallen under the blow
of an assassin: we have not drawn too favourable a cha¬
racter ; but even if we had, we would plead for excuse,
that the deeper the interest excited in behalf of the vic¬
tim, so much the greater will be the horror against an
action so very contrary to the laws of God and all the in¬
stitutions of man.