1850-51 PUBLIC EXECUTIONS 363 



me, the fact itself being certain as fate, that nobody 

 has yet in the least explained what the real cause 

 and conditions of it are.' 



'January 30. — Charles Dickens and Mr. For- 

 ster, of the " Examiner," here. Dickens brought 

 with him a curious letter, of the authenticity 

 of which there can be no doubt, written by the 

 wretched woman Maria Manning at the hour of 

 her execution. It is addressed to a relative of 

 hers, and in the most solemn terms avows her 

 innocence. This relative received it with the 

 notice that Maria Manning had undergone her 

 sentence of death before it was posted. The 

 person to whom the letter was sent had seen from 

 the papers that Dickens attended the execution, 

 and so concluded that he was impressed with the 

 idea that Manning was not guilty, and sent him 

 her letter as a confirmation, whereas Dickens was 

 merely agitating against executions being made 

 public. This letter was the outcome of the 

 woman's prevailing feeling strong in death — to 

 pose, and to show up well.' 



Dickens afterwards wrote to Owen about 

 an article which was to appear in ' Household 

 Words ' on the subject of public executions. 



Later on in this year Owen's opinion was asked 

 in the case of a woman, named Maria Clark, who 

 was under sentence of death for child murder. 

 The then Home Secretary wrote to ask what 



