“‘Read it,’ said the judge.
“‘MR. ROCKLAND:
‘“DEAR SIR—When you read these lines, the hand that wrote them will be cold in death, and my soul will have appeared before its Creator. Perhaps God will have mercy on my sinful soul; for He alone knows how I was tempted and betrayed; and He, I hope, will have pity on a poor, unfortunate wretch like me. There was a time when I was an innocent, artless, confiding girl, the petted child of doting parents. I was the only daughter of Alexander Totten, who died when I was thirteen, leaving a small fortune, though ample for the support of myself and my mother. It is useless to warn other giddy girls to avoid a fate like mine, because until men change their natures unsuspecting girls will continue to listen to the honeyed words of the libertine and the villain. My great fault—the one that led me to destruction—was a love of display, and a fondness for theatres, balls and all kinds of frivolous amusements. Mr. Bowles drove fast horses, and spent money freely—dressed in style, and took me with him to all the balls and other places of amusement within reach. It would be folly to undertake to describe the manner in which I went, step by step, from the temple of honor to the gulf of infamy. It would merely be a reiteration of the old story. I did not leap from the high temple of honor to the bottom of the infamous pit at a single bound, but I went down by slow degrees, until I was at the very bottom.
“‘I have committed a most cruel, cold-blooded murder. Oh! that I had died when I was an innocent babe! Oh, God, have mercy on my sinful soul. My only hope is based on the boundless mercy of Him who knows how I was tempted. Miss Viola Bramlett is as pure as an angel, and has suffered innocently for a crime committed by me. When she and her little brother came to live at our house, Mr. Bowles began to speak of the large fortune that had been left them by their father. He told me that if the two children should happen to die I would be the richest lady in the land. At first he spoke of the matter cautiously, but in such a manner as to create a hope in my mind that such a thing might happen. He informed me that my husband’s habits of dissipation would soon put him out of the way, and that if the children were to die all the property would be mine.
“‘This matter formed the topic of his conversation every time we met, and it was a long time before he developed his murderous designs. While we lived in New Orleans Mr. Bowles kept a gambling hell, and often he induced me to entice men into it to be drugged and robbed. Step by step he led me down—down—down—until all conscience, all virtue, all honor was gone. I was frightened when he first began to persuade me to ensnare his unsuspecting victims, but I soon became familiar with crime, and embraced vice with pleasure. How truly did Mr. Pope describe things when he said:
“‘“Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As to be hated, needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.”
“‘Oh, how accurately those four lines describe the circumstances in my case! I never loved Mr. Ragland, and would not have married him, but I thought Mr. Bowles was dead at the time I became his wife. My love for Bowles had by no means diminished since my marriage with Mr. Ragland; and we met very often, sometimes in the summer-house, and frequently I went to his quarters. Miss Tadpoddle was mistaken when she said she saw Miss Bramlett go to Mr. Bowles’ apartments. It was I, dressed in Viola’s blue silk, which I had ordered my maid to steal for me. The paper of strychnine found in the pocket of the blue silk dress was placed there by me. The understanding between Bowles and me was that I was to put the children out of the way, so that my husband would inherit the great fortune; then he (Bowles) was to dispatch Mr. Ragland, and we were to be married, and reside in Italy. I stole into the room when I knew Miss Bramlett was in the kitchen preparing some tea for her little brother, and finding the child sound asleep, I hurriedly emptied the quinine out of one of the blue papers, and put the strychnine in it, and replaced it on the table. That was the fatal dose that killed the boy. I do not ask or expect forgiveness from the citizens of Memphis, because it will require a higher power to absolve me. I think I can muster courage to die, unloved and unmourned by any; but I have not enough to enable me to live in the face of the tornado of indignation which I know would confront me in this community.
“‘But for the awful load of guilt that presses like a great mountain on my soul, I would quit this cruel world without regret. I suppose that one who has committed so many cruel crimes as I have would not be considered a proper person to give advice to others. But the rich man who lifted his voice up in hell was anxious that his brothers should not come where he was; and I, who am about to appear before my God with the stain of murder on my soul, would gladly persuade others to shun a fate like mine. When you hear that I have inflicted on myself the same kind of murder that I did on Harry Bramlett, using the same deadly drug, you will doubtless conclude that I have gone mad; but no—the hand that directs this pen is as steady as it ever was, and the mind that manufactures these thoughts is as clear. I would prefer to live and repent of the awful crimes I have committed, but I know that the law would cry aloud for my blood.
“‘The letter that was found in Miss Bramlett’s dress pocket was placed there by me; or, rather, it was left there by mistake when I returned the dress. It was written by Mr. Bowles, and addressed to me, instead of Miss Bramlett, as was believed by the detectives.
“‘I shall instruct my maid to deliver this communication into your hands when court opens in the morning, and I most humbly ask you to read it to the court and jury, in order that all suspicion of Miss Bramlett’s guilt may be removed. I am sorry that this is all the reparation I can make for the great wrongs I have done to that innocent girl.