There was not much more conversation when Peace and his friends rose from their knees, and then came the moment when the final separation had to take place.
For the first time since he was sentenced to death Peace was allowed to shake hands with his family.
Taking the hand of each in turn he held it for several minutes while he blessed them, and prayed for them, and then kissed their hands.
When he saw the great distress of his wife and children, he broke down himself, and the last few moments they were altogether were truly sorrowful moments for them all.
Then they were conducted from the cell, and the interview, which had lasted nearly three hours, terminated.
The relatives came away with the belief that Peace had committed no other great crimes, or he would have confessed them.
FINAL INTERVIEW WITH HIS BROTHER AND OTHER RELATIVES.
On Saturday, Dan Peace, his wife, John Peace, and Ellen Peace, their son and daughter, and Tom Neil, a relative, had their final interview with him in Armley Gaol.
Cheerful, and apparently unconcerned at his fate hitherto, the condemned man, knowing that he was speaking to his brother and those who accompanied him for the last time, lost his old buoyancy of spirits, and, although he did not seem at all alarmed at the end awaiting him, appeared very much depressed in mind, and manifested considerable emotion.
His brother, Dan Peace, and the other relatives mentioned, were with him nearly two hours. The invitation was extended also to Mary Ann Neil, but she was not present at the gaol, as she did not arrive in Leeds in time for the interview.