NARRATED BY THE REV. MR. BROOKS.

I was born in the year 1812, convenient to Woodstock, in the province of New Brunswick. My parents emigrated from England a short time previous to my birth, and I am happy to say that my mother is dead, so that she wo'nt feel the mortification of hearing or knowing of my untimely and ill-fated end, for she was, in early life doomed to drink deep of the galling cup of bitter sorrow. She was questioned by the minister, as to what she had reference to. She replied, I mean my ill-fated father, who lost his life when I was about eight years old, in attempting to take that of another, whose name was Murdock. My father killed Murdock, and was himself immediately devoured by a large dog which belonged to the house of Murdock. Soon after my father's death, my poor mother, (with a large family and the sole charge and responsibility of a large establishment, and not being acquainted with public life,—together with the disgraceful stigma of my father's death,) was compelled to sell out, and leave that section of the country, which she did in 1823, two years after my father's death. She then moved, taking with her the whole family, to Quebec, stopped there, and finding it difficult to maintain a large family, she then moved up the St. Lawrence River, and settled down about eighteen miles from Montreal, where I lived with her until I became eighteen years old, when I was married to Mr. Hamilton, in the year 1830. About ten months after my marriage, I moved with my husband to his native place, which was about ten miles from Kingston, Upper Canada, where I, during the first year, enjoyed the happiest portion of my natural life. But I soon began to discern a dark shade in his countenance, caused by jealousy, as if to signify that he was sorry that he ever beheld me. My mortification on beholding that, and listening to the taunting and sneering of his relatives, with which I was situated, was great. My solitary and melancholy contemplations were much easier imagined than described, being all alone, without one trustworthy friend to console my wounded feelings. Therefore I was left all alone to contemplate on my misfortune; during which time I often resolved, that if I could find no alternative, that I would rather die, than live to be made the tool of contempt, as I was innocent of the guilt with which I was charged. But I bore it with fortitude, for my resolute and arbitrary temper was hard to subdue. Although spurned with contempt, and looked upon as an inferior in rank, family and education, I at once resolved to teach them a lesson on the latter. (She then attempted to jump up, but was unable.) Soon after I found his health beginning to decline, in consequence of a pleuritic fever which seized him. I thought it was a good opportunity to put an end to my melancholy life; but alas! I was only dipping myself deeper into the pit of misery. I poisoned him when two years and eight months married to him, to free myself from the trials incident to a protracted illness. The poison I administered to him through my negro cook, and, in three months after, I strangled to death my first offspring, which was the only child that nature ever furnished me with. O! that ever memorable year and day! to it I will seal my condemnation, for it never left my memory either day or night. It has haunted me, and followed my footsteps through every moment of my unhappy life since. The cries of the innocent victim, I think just now——. (Here she got into a terrible rage of despair for some time, then, getting a little calm, proceeded):—Were I on the summit of Mount Ararat, and could utter language as loud as thunder, and could speak every tongue and language, and had around me all the nations of the earth, I would proclaim that I deserve the cruelest death of any being which ever existed, if I only thought that it would be the means of preventing one single misguided and cruel wretch from a similar offence. Yes, I wish that my name, and the memory of my cruelty, may be for ever, engraven on the memory of those who survive me, or hear of my cruel life and miserable death, that it may be a warning to those entering on the path of life, that they may suppress human passion, and untie the strong holds of Satan, who was my daily companion through life.—She was again interrupted by the good and meek parson, who tried to console her, by reminding her of the patience which holy Job exercised during his long affliction. She then became quite composed, and quite a consoling discourse was given by the minister, by telling her, that, as she soon expected to meet her eternal Judge, he hoped that her repentance might be sincere; at the same time reminding her of the sorrow of Judas, who despaired of salvation, and was consequently lost for ever. He then referred to the repentance of the thief on the cross, for example, to show that there was hopes for salvation even at the eleventh hour, and cautiously warned her against the awful consequences of dying in despair of the salvation of that good and bountiful providence, who is ever willing to extend the arm of mercy to each and every one of us, however black and grievous-looking may be our sins. And here he quoted some texts of Scripture, which says, that He desireth not the death of the sinner, but rather that they live and be converted; and said, that he had every reason to hope that it pleased the Almighty to punish her in this world. She then seemed quite composed and easy, though weak. She went on to say, I would bear all the torture and affliction with pleasure. Here the humble and consoling servant of God, who felt pleasure in the dark recess of the prison cell, then referred to the cruel torture and affliction which was endured by the primitive Christians and the early saints, who suffered, though innocent; as also the patience of the innocent and harmless, who suffered in England during the Reformation. Here he referred to Lady Jane Gray, and the innocent Mary, Queen of Scots, who laid their heads on the block, to appease the wrath of that blood-stained and cruel people.—She then proceeded as follows: After the death of my husband, I sold out my effects and left that part of the country, and lived with my mother a short time; but my disposition being unsettled, I soon after moved from there to Laparara, a village a short distance from Montreal, where I commenced keeping tavern in the fall of 1835, and, in two months after, I assisted to kill a gentleman from Quebec, whose name was Parker. Richard, son of one of my consorts, shot him through a window, as he sat at dinner. We robbed him of £2,000; his horse was afterwards sold in Plattsburg, New York. This was the first murder that I was guilty of after the death of my husband and child, which could never be erased from my memory, were I to live longer than I now desire. I was the principal deviser of the cruel act before related, of obstructing the road, by which the two men from Montreal were killed, and I was on the ground a few minutes after, just as they were expiring. I assisted to search their pockets and wallets, where we found over 2,000 sovereigns in gold; the ill-fated Brown, who was executed at Kingston, was my principal assistant, and perpetrator in the blackest deeds that ever disgraced a being. In 1840 I moved from my old stand to the village of St. Johns, where I commenced business in April, 1841. With my own hands I killed a gentleman from Albany, New York, (who stopped at my house,) while he was at breakfast; I robbed him of $800. In the month of November following, I assisted to rob a gentleman from Charleston, South Carolina, who stopped at my house. I, with two others, entered the room whilst he was sleeping, and cut his throat from ear to ear. We found in his wallet $4,000 in paper. Shortly after, I with my own hands killed a boy who was for some time in my house in the capacity of waiter, because he threatened to discover of what he had previously seen. About six months before I was taken, I murdered a smuggler, who put up at my house frequently on his way to the States; he came in at an unusually late hour, and ordered supper. I mixed a quantity of poison in the bread which I gave him; I then put him to sleep in a room separate from the main part of the house, so that if he should make any alarm during the night he would be unheard, taking care to secure the money which he left in my charge until morning. Six weeks after this, I murdered two emigrants, on their way from Montreal to New York. Finding that they had considerable money, as they inquired about the currency of English gold in the States, I inquired how much they had; they showed it to me, and I told them that it was generally too light. I then put them to sleep in a room adapted for such persons, and in the night we entered by means of a slide door which was for the purpose, where we found them asleep. Each of us were armed, but we found no resistance; we soon committed them to eternity. Their bodies we buried in the wood-house, and found £400, in gold, in their bed; we then divided the spoil. Their names I never knew. And last of all, I assisted to murder Morse, the Quaker, from New York, while boarding at my house. I am guilty of ten deliberate murders with my own hands, and accessory to many more. I will not confess any more, for I do not, nor cannot, expect forgiveness; for I already feel the wrath of an avenging God, searing my very soul,—for my crimes are too black, my deeds too heinous, to expect to reign in happiness with those innocent beings that I caused to leave the world by my cruel treachery; the tears of the bereaved widows, and the cries of the helpless orphans, will speak with tongues of indignation against me.

She here made another attempt to rise, but in vain. She then laid down for a little time quite still and motionless, but was again seized with another fit of despair. Placing her eyes fast on the object of her consolation, in the most terrific and agonizing cries, she exclaimed, that she now "felt the pains of hell searing her very soul!"

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The turnkey now came in, and assisted to support her. For some time she remained in most exquisite anguish, until she at last sunk back on her pillow, weak and exhausted, and her immortal spirit winged its way, to appear before its eternal Judge, there to answer for the deeds committed in the body, and we hope will, or has, found more favor and mercy, than she did from the human tribunal, which sentenced her to die, according to the civil law, which I hope will still continue to be rightly and justly administered, because on its administration depends our safety and happiness, as well as civil and religious liberties.

Her death was truly heart rending and awful, and should serve as a warning to all those who read this account, to be prepared to meet their eternal Judge, to render such an account of their past lives as may stand the test on that great day, when each and every one of us shall have the book of life unfolded, either to our everlasting happiness, or eternal condemnation. When we reflect how awful must be the afflictions of the guilty sinner in the last and terrible moments, when, finding their earthly career of misspent time about to close on them for ever, what price would they then give for a new life, or the opportunity which was so abused; what would then signify the paltry, ill-gotten treasure, which was obtained at the expense of the tears of the widow and the cries of the helpless orphan, or at the expense of the life and blood of their fellow being, and last of all, at the lost of their happiness here, and their immortal souls hereafter.

The ill-fated and long to be remembered Sophia Hamilton breathed her last on the evening of the 3d of September, 1843. Thus terminated the cruel, atrocious, and blood-thirsty career of father, son and daughter. And now, gentle reader, you may contemplate over this melancholy field of human wickedness, which, I venture to say, stands unparalleled in the annals of crime; for true it is, that as man lives, he generally dies; as we find Brown did, who was mentioned in the foregoing pages, and whose career ceased with hers; therefore it is to be sincerely hoped that the exposure of the lives of those atrocious beings may be a timely lesson to those who may read this; that all may learn to avoid a wicked, regardless course of life in youth, lest it might grow up to maturity, and cease only with their mortal career. When we behold the hardened and regardless sinner, who perhaps mocks at the idea of practical religion, as well as the boasting, disdainful infidel, who not only mocks, but tramples on the holy ordinances of religion, could we behold him prostrate on the couch of death, then indeed, we would find an awful lesson in the contradiction of his previous pretentions to attempt to mock, or at least disregard every thing that was sacred. Even the modern infidel Paine, who mused and cherished the grossest and most blasphemous infidelity in France, but thank God that the day was then arriving when infidelity together with the inquisition was about to find a deep grave in that once happy land he not content with that defeat in vain attempted to introduce it into the land of his nativity, but found himself again frustrated and it was then that he in his last effort turned his attention to America where he got permission to publish his works the fruits of which require but little commentary. Reader if I have wandered from my subject, it is in order to show that a miserable death is the fruits of a wicked life, for how did Paine seem to feel on the matter during the close of his earthly campaign, he died like Voltair his predecessor and many other remarkable infidels, yes reader, and like Judas who betrayed his divine master afflicted by the bitter gall of remorse and sorrow, but it is to be feared not true repentance. Therefore we should try to live as we would wish to die, or at least with a conscience as free from guilt as possible in order to render our last moments happy. Still keeping in view the subjects here quoted as a living lesson, which on due reflection will not fail to dictate to any thinking mind the true path to virtue here below, and to everlasting happiness hereafter, the true object for which man was created and endowed with reason to guide and direct his path through this life of troubles which he makes for himself by his own neglect of his duty.

In giving to the public on abridgement of the life of this atrociously wicked women, we hope that our numerous readers, either moral or immoral, will never need such a lesson as that already detailed; but it may be truly looked upon as one of the most astonishing circumstances of the age, in the midst of civilization and morality. Were we to attempt to give even an outline of the melancholy and sad-looking scene which the trial presented, it would, we fear, fill the minds of our gentle and tender-hearted readers with horror; but we have endeavored as much as possible to avoid the darker and more disagreeable portion of the cruelty with which this vile creature was charged. We assure you reader, that we entertain too much respect for the feelings, as well as the moral effect which the exposure of such crimes might have on the weaker minds, and we therefore consider it a duty we owe to the public to lay before the world the foregoing pages.

As regards the truth of the foregoing, we presume the greater portion of our readers throughout Canada and the United States have already seen an outline, if not a detail of her trial, through the columns of the numerous journals, and consequently we were induced to search after and find out a well authenticated account of her parentage, of which we gave an abridged account in the foregoing papers, hoping that it will not be doubted by any incredulous of the truth or authenticity of this narrative. If they will find a Montreal or Quebec journal of the middle or latter part of August their doubts will be satisfied. We hope the public will feel satisfied with the account here given, as we were prompted by no other view than that of preserving the honest fame of those who enjoy a moral reputation, and to secure a peace of mind to those who are yet unconscious of offence, as it is well known, to the misfortune of many, that an artful mind, actuated by illusion, if not checked in youth, may pass on to acts of fraud and violence, and in some instances to deliberate and cold-blooded murder; as it appears that then even the tenderness of the female sex, of which the foregoing pages furnish an example, is converted into the barbarity of the traitor, that she who should make her arm a pillow for the head of her husband, conspired to raise it against his life, that the bosom which should be filled with fidelity and affection, planned his destruction. Hence, as has been observed by the author, it is his sincere hope, in sending this narrative abroad, that it may be the means of saving some misguided youth from similar offence, as there are many in the moral retiracy of village life, little conscious of the wickedness and depravity of the world. They too often advance on the journey of life without caution; a road which every youth should walk with the vigilance of an experienced mariner, who watches the uncertain clouds in order to prepare in season for a coming storm, which, if the ill-fated subjects of this narrative had done in early life, they would have avoided their unhappy lives, and untimely and disgraceful end.