of prescience—if it were possible for him to con his own fate between the lines in the prayer book from which he recitedforK e n n e d y — h e would have descried amongst approaching, though still distant, shadows, the silhouette of another prison in another colony, wherein, not past the prime of life, he would himself be the occupant of a condemned cell, and the recipient of spiritual comforts such as he yvas n o w himself administering. In 1867, this identical person (O'Farrell), was executed in Sydney for the attempted assassination of the D u k e of Edinburgh, at Clontarf. T h e 18th October was n a m e d for the execution. Turnkeys relieved each other, in the culprit's cell, but yvith them he scarcely exchanged a word ; and, buried in himself, heedless of passing events, he spent the days in semi-somnolent abstraction. O f the poor yvife so ruthlessly murdered he spoke kindly, and was heard more than once to say : " M a r y was an excellent w o m a n , and a good mother to her children." A fellow-countryman, from R o s c o m m o n , m a d e him several visits, showing various small kindnesses. The Rev. Messrs. Bleasedale, Geoghegan, and M a d d e n arrived early, and Mass was offered in a cell known as the Gaol Chapel, after yvhich the procession m o v e d away, a hangman at each side, like two masters of ceremonies, eagerly scanning everything that happened, as if desirous that no hitch should occur. Kennedy approached the ladder with a firm but hurried step. This he climbed with alacrity, and stood erect and unshrinking under the rope, amidst ascending prayers. O n this occasion there were, for thefirsttime, two executioners in attendance. S o m e twelve months before the regular hangman (Jack Harris) committed a robbery in Geelong, lost his appointment, and was succeeded by James Cahill. This was»hisfirstjob; but, as Harris was serving a sentence of imprisonment in the gaol, it was deemed desirable to have him present, so that the tyro might have the benefit of his experience. Harris was, therefore, what might be considered the consulting, and Cahill the acting, engineer. Harris was loud and fussy in trying to " boss " Cahill, who performed his dreadful office with coolness and propriety. After the final death struggle, Harris turned round, rubbed his hands, and gleefully exclaimed to the few spectators in the yard : " I knew he wouldn't take more than three minutes; I said so. Hadn't the chap a nice, quiet tumble d o w n ?" Mr. William Corp, one of the two attendant journalists, was about to treat the bravoing hangman to a kicking, but yvas promptly prevented by the Sheriff sternly ordering Harris to quit the place, and a couple of warders, dragging him off, locked him up. A crowd of some 700 or 800 persons assembled to yvitness the execution. Kennedy yvas a native of the County Galway, Ireland, and was 30 years of age. H e was a strong, firmly built man, close upon six feet high, with a pleasing turn of countenance, though indicative of vicious propensities. His four children were provided for by the yvife of a settler near the scene of the murder adopting the infant, and tyvo others being taken care of by tyvo aunts living in Melbourne, whilst the fourth, a three-year-old boy, died suddenly the day the father was sentenced to death. F r o m conversations sometimes held by Kennedy with officials and visitors at the gaol, it was ascertained that he yvas a Fatalist, a firm believer that good or evil actions were inevitable. H e once said to a turnkey : " It was drink that did it all; if drink had not done it something else yvould, as it was to be done." H e also said he bad been married just nine years on the day of the crime. AVhat a frightful wedding anniversary ! O n e of his family was a boy called " Micky," and a strangely ominous occurrence in reference to him was a great trouble to the unfortunate father. AVhen " Micky " began to get the use of his tongue thefirstphrase he was able to string together was the childish refrain of " M a m m y dead and daddy gone !" T h e poor mother paid no attention to it; but the m o o d y predestinarian steadfastly believed that it boded some terrible catastrophe, and this impression grew rooted in his mind. T h e child's innocent tongue went on with its tinkling about " M a m m y " and "Daddy," whilst Kennedy became so painfully absorbed in the everrecurring thought of some looming calamity that he prayed for the death of the little boy, which by an awful coincidence happened on the same day and hour that the father's d o o m was pronounced. BANQUETING THE GENTLEMEN VOLUNTEERS.
An entertainment of this kind, the only instance on record in the colony, is a festive novelty of so peculiar a nature, that I a m induced to append an abridged notice of it as a rider to the foregoing chapter, and also to annex to it a few facts relating to the after career of the men, the authors of such a dash of gallantry as has found no parallel in the annals of Victoria.
