Mr. AVilliams moved an arrest of judgment, as the venue having been changed, the word "Geelong had been erased from the record ; and also as the information did not show that the Attorney General for Victoria was the proper officer to prosecute for the offence. His Honor reserved the second point, and passed sentence of death upon the prisoner, concluding a solemn address in these words :—" Almost every serious offence springs from this source (intemperance.) Indeed, I cannot remember a single crime of any magnitude but what could be traced to drunkenness. I beg of all present w h o are pursuing the drunkard's career, and sneer at any remonstrance that m a y be urged upon them, to take warning by the present example." T h e prisoner, during the Judge's parting remarks, seemed to thoroughly realize his awful position. Two UNAVENGED MURDERS.
Several murders occurred in the early days, the perpetrators of which escaped " unwhipt of justice." This was notably the case in the interior, when black and white homicides inter se, and the killing of blacks by yvhites, and vice versa, secured impunity by distance from Melbourne, the imperfect and tedious communication with the principal town of the Province, the paucity of post-offices, the non-existence of the electric telegraph, and the utter inadequacy of the foot and mounted police force. A rumour of one terrible murder in the Western Port district was generally credited, in 1848, though no data reliable enough for action ever reached the police authorities. A settler in a small way suddenly disappeared, and it was declared he had been murdered by his wife and an accomplice, who afterwards married her. The old man was garotted one night in his sleep, mirabile dictu ! his body was boiled down, the more easily to render the flesh and bones amenable to the action of thefire,and every trace of him was reduced to cinders of the most friable kind, when complete pulverization followed. Thus m u c h was vaguely known to the police, but not until time had rendered any attempt at investigation impracticable. T h e widow and her second husband (the accomplice ; a widower too when he espoused her) lived, if not really, at least apparently happy together for several years after in Melbourne, whither they had removed, and the latter before he died came to be regarded as a person of some political influence. They have both long since passed away to the eternal "bourne" where their guilt or innocence has no doubt long ere this been established. Over their names I throw the charity of silence, for they never got into the early newspapers, and as their innocence might be quite possible, notwithstanding the rumours and belief to the contrary, it is no purpose of mine to even risk an injustice to anyone either living or dead. But another shocking case occurred within half-a-dozen miles of Melbourne, and though it terminated in a total miscarriage of justice, as it formed the subject of a police office investigation in Melbourne, there can be no objection, from a historical point of view, to the following resume:— In August, 1849, J°hn Keane, T h o m a s Austin, and John Moroney, were employed as shepherds on the station of Mr. James Robertson, at Keilor. Keane yvas married, and his yvife lived with him; and so matters went on until one day Keane was not to be found, and no one could or would tell yvhat had become of him. Keane had been forfiveyears in service at the place, and when Mr. Robertson heard of the man's unaccountable absence on the 13th July, he questioned the wife as to her husband's whereabouts, and ivas told by her that he had gone to Melbourne to obtain payment of some money owing him by one M'Manus, a resident of Little Bourke Street. In a day or two after Austin was sent to inquire after the missing man. H e hunted up the supposed creditor (M'Manus), w h o declared he had seen nothing of Keane. Austin returned to Keilor with an account of the failure of his mission, and things were allowed to rest for some days ; but no tidings of Keane turned up. Before a week had passed Austin noticing the remains ,of |a fire a short distance from Keane's hut, some impulse prompted him to search, and from the ashes were picked up portions of charred bones, three or four shreds of burnt cloth, and a pipe belonging to the missing man, T h e search was extended, and some more burnt bones were discovered in the creek closer to the hut. Chief-Constable Brodie instituted a further search, and an examination of the creek, which led to the finding of some more bones and pieces of cloth, one ofthe latter of greenish woollen stuff, corresponding in colour and texture with the materials of a coat yvhich Keane was known to have worn, though on being questioned about it his wife declared that at the period of his disappearance her husband had no such garment, for he
