poked the place with a stick, and a strong putrid smell was emitted, but at that time he desisted from any further examination, treating it as a mattter of no very serious moment. This took place about three weeks before the discovery was made; and if Holloway had ever visited the spot after the storm which has been already mentioned, he would have found that the torrents of rain had washed away the loose mould, and left the piece of gown protruding through the ground, the simple instrument selected by Providence for the discovery of the murder. Maskell communicated what he had found to some persons, but it was treated as a matter unworthy of any notice, until Friday the 12th of August, when Maskell again went to the spot, accompanied by a fisherman of the name of Gillam, in order to have a further inspection. To adopt their own account, they raked the earth with their hands, found a strong smell arise, but they again returned home without making any discovery of what was buried beneath. Gillam, however, was not satisfied with the result of his visit, and on reaching home he communicated what he had discovered, to his wife and mother. The curiosity of the women was roused, and they agreed to go with him to the place, to know all about it." It may now be easily conceived that, as the affair had been communicated to two females, the period of secresy had expired. jecture was heaped upon conjecture as to what could possibly be concealed under ground, and the most plausible conjecture to which they could arrive was, that it was the body of an illegitimate child. That this conjecture was sufficient to raise the curiosity of the females to the highest pitch, may be easily conceived, and the determination was consequently formed to repair to the place on the follow

U 2

Con

ing morning, and to investigate fully the contents

of the grave.

Holloway, speaking of the night previously to the discovery of the murder, says that it was one of the most torturing nights of his life; he felt a presentiment within him' that his fate was drawing to a close, but he appeared on a sudden to be under the influence of an irresolution of spirit, which was wholly foreign to his character, and which seemed to paralyse all the energies of his nature. One moment he was induced, before a living being was stirring, and whilst the darkness of the night would conceal him, to rise from his bed, and set forth, like Cain, his prototype, a wanderer upon the earth; then the next, impressed with the doctrines of fatalism, he considered it to be in vain to fly from the vengeance of the Almighty, for in whatever corner or nook of the earth he might conceal himself, there would the eye of God follow him, and bring him to punishment for his crimes. The sun had just risen, he says, when he fell into a restless slumber, and dreamed that he was walking near the copse, in which he had deposited the remains of Celia, when he saw a white figure approaching him, which he soon recognised to be Celia herself. She looked exactly as she did on the night when he murdered her, the same unsuspicious smile sat upon her countenance, and, on coming up to him, she beckoned him to follow her. He obeyed the summons, and she led him to the spot where he had buried her remains, and pointing to it, she said, They are gone.' He looked to the ground, the hole was there, but the contents of it were taken away. On a sudden two men rushed from amongst the trees, and seizing him by the throat, hurried him away. In the midst of this alarm he awoke, and so strongly

was the dream impressed upon his recollection, that he regarded it as a warning to him that his crime had been discovered: but anxious to satisfy himself, he rose, and determined to repair to the copse, for the purpose of examining the grave, and to ascertain if there were anything which could lead to a discovery. He bent his course over the hills, and having arrived at the Hole in the Wall, his knees trembled under him, when casting his eyes to the spot where Celia's remains were deposited, he saw two women standing on the bank, apparently in anxious attention to something which was passing within the copse. Terror-struck, he was nearly falling to the ground, for at that early hour of the morning, it being about six o'clock, he was convinced that mere accident did not bring the females to the spot; and as to any business, they could not have any to transact there at that early hour of the morning. After waiting a few seconds, he saw another woman and a man emerge from the copse, and concealing himself behind a wall, he determined to watch their motions. He saw them get over the stile at the Hole in the Wall, and direct their steps towards Preston. This circumstance gave him a momentary relief, as he supposed that, if any discovery had been made, they would have returned immediately to Brighton; and fearing, that if he prolonged his stay, he might be seen by some of the labourers going to their daily labour, he hastened back to Brighton, and going into the first coffee-shop that he found open, he meditated on the line of conduct it was prudent for him to pursue, and he ultimately came to the resolution to leave Brighton without any further delay, and to make the best of his way to the metropolis.

In the meantime, however, the work of discovery was going on. Agreeably to their resolution, Gil

lam, his wife, her mother, and a Mrs. Sherlock, repaired to the copse at about six o'clock in the morning; and it was two of these females that Holloway saw standing on the bank. They immediately began to prosecute their researches, and half a yard of a woman's dress was first freed from the earth; and being now convinced that a human being was buried beneath, they went immediately to the constable at Preston, who returned with them; and, by the use of a spade, they exposed to view a spectacle the most revolting and appalling; -the thighs of a human being, and the trunk of a female form, inclosed in a pair of stays, and wrapped round with a linen garment, the whole in a most putrid state, and a foetus, of what, on examination, turned out to be a male child, protruding from the trunk.

The spot where these parts of the mutilated body were found, is in a sort of hollow retreat, overhung by the branches of trees, a little to the left of the narrow footpath which serpentines up the ascent in a zigzag direction from the spot called the Hole in the Wall,' leading to Church Hill. Although this is a solitary path, it is nevertheless much frequented, being favourable to the soft whisperings of love-sick swains, and to the confessions of loveinspired damsels. Here, beneath the shady bower, has many a declaration of love been made, and faith plighted in return. It is the sweethearts' arbour, screened from the prying looks of cold-hearted observers and this spot, consecrated to the tender passion, was selected by the murderer to receive in its bosom a part of that female form which he had first relentlessly deprived of life, and then separated limb from limb.

;

The news of the horrid deed spread like wildfire -hundreds flocked to the spot the garment was

into strips, and eagerly seized by the populace. Enquiry was now busily set on foot. The pattern of the garment, corresponding with that of a gown which Celia Holloway was known to have worn, led to the supposition that she was the unfortunate woman, part of whose corpse had been discovered. The ill-treatment she had constantly received from her husband quickly connected him, in the minds of the people, with the foul deed; and her sudden and mysterious disappearance was corroborative that she had fallen a victim to his diabolical passions.

Speaking of the day on which the discovery was made, Holloway says,

66

66

Thus things past on until the day came "that the discovery was made. A person came "to me at the Pier, and said that a body was "found near Preston, and that the legs and "arms were cut off. You may guess my feelings. I thought I should have dropped; "but in a few minutes I recovered myself, and "began to consider what I had best to do. "However, in a little time I left the pier, and "went home, and told Ann Kennett what was "the matter. I had not been home long, be"fore my poor dear mother came up to me. She "said, that it was reported that the body that was found had been proved to be the body of poor Celia. She was nearly out of her mind. "I bade her be calm, for she might depend 66 upon it it was not Celia; and even if it was, "that she might rest assured that I was an "innocent person with regard to being the

66

murderer; but I said, Mother, that I will not "believe it is her. She then earnestly entreated "me to tell her where she was. I said, I do "not for certainty know, but have every reason "to believe she is alive and doing well. My