se. Peace wrote a letter on
February 9 to his "poor Sue," asking her to come to the prison. But,
partly at the wish of Peace's relatives and for reasons of their own, a
permission given Mrs. Thompson by the authorities to visit the convict
was suddenly withdrawn, and she never saw him again.

III

HIS TRIAL AND EXECUTION

In the lives of those famous men who have perished on the scaffold
their behaviour during the interval between their condemnation and their
execution has always been the subject of curiosity and interest.

It may be said at once that nothing could have been more deeply
religious, more sincerely repentant, more Christian to all appearances
than Peace's conduct and demeanour in the last weeks of his life. He
threw himself into the work of atonement with the same uncompromising
zeal and energy that he had displayed as a burglar. By his death a truly
welcome and effective recruit was lost to the ranks of the contrite
and converted sinners. However powerless as a controlling force--and he
admitted it--his belief in God and the devil may have been in the past,
that belief was assured and confident, and in the presence of death
proclaimed itself with vigour, not in words merely, but in deeds.

In obedience to the wishes of his family, Peace had refrained from
seeing Sue Thompson. This was at some sacrifice, for he wished very much
to see her and to the last, though he knew that she had betrayed him,
sent her affectionate and forgiving messages. These were transmitted
to Sue by Mr. Brion. This disingenuous gentleman was a fellow-applicant
with Sue to the Treasury for pecuniary recognition of his efforts in
bringing about the identification of Peace, and furnishing the police
with information as to the convict's disposal of his stolen property. In
his zeal he had even gone so far as to play the role of an accomplice of
Peace, and by this means discovered a place in Petticoat Lane where the
burglar got rid of some of his booty.

After Peace's condemnation Mr. Brion visited him in Armley Jail. His
purpose in doing so was to wring from his co-inventor an admission that
the inventions which they had patented together were his work alone.
Peace denied this, but offered to sell his share for L50. Brion refused
the offer, and persisted in his assertion that Peace had got his name
attached to the patents by undue influence, whatever that might mean.
Peace, after wrestling with the spirit, gave way. "Very we