John, the younger brother, wrote two letters to his sister, from which it is clear that--constituted as the jury panel was at that day--he had no hope of acquittal. The matter omitted deals with sundry small debts which he desired should be paid:-- Kilmainham Prison: July 10, 1798. The troublesome scene of life, my dear Julia, is nearly closed, and the hand that now traces these lines will in a day or two be no longer capable of communicating to a beloved and affectionate family the sentiments of his heart. A painful task yet awaits me. I do not allude to my trial, or my execution. These--were it not for the consciousness I feel of the misery you all will suffer on my account--would be trivial in comparison with the pain I endure in addressing you for the last time. You, Julia, who have been kind to me beyond example; your solicitudes for my welfare have been unremitting, nor did they leave you a moment's happiness. As a wayward fate seems from the earliest moment of my life to have presided over my days, I will not now recapitulate the instances of a perverse destiny that seems to mark me out as the instrument of destruction to all I love. Robert--Richard--and Christopher, dear, valued brothers! If it be true that the mind survives the body, I shall shortly join you, and learn for what wise purpose Heaven thought fit to select me as your destroyer! My mother too--Oh! God! my tender revered mother, I see her torn looks--her broken heart--her corpse! What have I done to deserve this misery? I must forbear these thoughts as much as possible, or I must forbear to write.