“A prisoner in H.M. Prison, Newgate,
November 5, 1878.
“My dearly beloved Wife,
“Oh! do forgive me for what I have brought on myself, and the disgrace upon you. Oh! have mercy on me all of you, and do forgive me for my drunken madness and do all you can for me on my trial, which I think will be about the 18th November, so, my dear wife, do have pity upon me and do your very best for me, for I think that you may do me a great deal of good, that is by doing just as I tell you to do. You must go and tell Mr. —— that I do very much want to see him at once about him coming to speak as to my character. I want to see Mr. —— to see if he will come to speak for me, and I want you to go with Mr. —— to Mr. —— to see if he will come forward to speak to my dealing with him in musical instruments, and tell him that I only want him to come forward and speak the truth of me. My dear wife, you must also find everyone of my letters about my income, and also every invoice about my dealing in musical instruments, and give them to Mr. —— for him to take along with his letters to my solicitor, now, at once, and also let them have some of my cards. My darling dear wife, this must really be attended to at once.
“My dear wife, I feel that there is one great favour, that this has been my first offence, and never having been in prison before, so that by your doing your best for me, and with the help of God, hope it may be better for me than may be expected, and as soon as ever this comes to your hands you must come direct to see me, and never mind the disgrace of your having come to see me in a prison, for I must really see you, so do come to see me, and I want to see my solicitor for something very particular, so that you must tell him to come and see me, and give my dear love to Mr. and Mrs. —— and also to my dear friends.
“I am, your ever loving husband,
“(Signed) John Ward.”
This gentleman, as Mrs. Thompson further went on to state, had been engaged with Peace in the getting out of a patent for raising sunken vessels. To him she applied when Peace was taken, she stating that he had left her and gone off with another woman.
He took her into his house, and under his persuasion she disclosed what she knew of him—not, she said, for her own protection, for she would willingly have been taken herself, but because it was represented to her that she must forward the ends of justice.
I then tried to obtain from her some particulars of the past life of Peace, but as to these she was extremely reticent.